It sometimes comes a s surprise to readers of
works on Revelation that they must understand the Old Testament prophets as
well. In this brief survey, we shall not do justice to the Old Testament;
rather, we shall be able to point out those prophets and writings which are
most significant for Revelation.
Why study the Old Testament?
There are a number of reasons:
·
First,
as we so often remember verses in the King James Version, the reader of
Revelation would have remembered passages from the Old Testament. He would
have used those images as we would memory verses -- they would be the
guidelines and touchstones of his thinking.
·
Next
-- and probably most important to twentieth century thinkers -- is that the Old
Testament serves as a type of Rosetta stone. Many of the prophecies of the Old
Testament have been fulfilled, and by seeing the prophecy and fulfillment, we
can see how prophecy is constructed.
·
Finally,
we will often encounter allusions in Revelation -- the passing reference to a
text in the Old Testament. The doctrines of those passing texts would be
groundwork for the prophecy. This is particularly important in interpreting
the work in an allegorical or poetic sense.
Certain principles of prophecy, taken from
our study of Daniel, deserve to be repeated:
·
Prophecy
centers around the people of God. This is not a world history course.
·
The
methodology of this type of prophecy -- the apocalyptic -- is the use of
symbols. More than one symbol may mean the same thing (for example, in Daniel
-- the bronze portion of the statue and the goat mean “Greece.”)
·
We
must always be aware of the “mountain range” effect. The Old Testament
prophets (and probably John as well) saw the high points; they could not gage
the valleys below. Time must not be expected to march in step; sequence might
be.
·
No
prophecy stands alone, particularly in apocalyptic literature. It needs to be
confirmed, at least in general, by another source. If not, there is a good
chance we have misinterpreted something.
·
The
nearer to the event, one would think, the clearer it becomes. This is
sometimes -- but not always -- the case.
There are certain figures and events in the
Old Testament with which every Jew would be familiar. John used these in
Revelation knowing that everyone would look back and see the original -- and
draw conclusions. Here are some of the things he might have expected us to
know intimately:
·
The
plagues of Egypt (see the bowls of wrath)
·
The
tabernacle in the wilderness
·
The
altar of the tabernacle.
·
The
ark of the covenant. This one bears a little examination, for it’s a good
example of how the poetic, or allegorical, method depends upon such a
comparison. Remember that in Old Testament times the ark was in the “Most Holy
Place” of the tabernacle
or in the “Holy of Holies” in the Temple.
But in Revelation 11:19 we read,
(Rev 11:19 NIV) Then God's temple in heaven was
opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came
flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great
hailstorm.
The difference may seem subtle to us -- but
note that anyone can see the ark, not just the high priest on one day of
the year. Symbolically, this would mean that God is now completely accessible
to us.
·
In
Zechariah chapter 6 we see four chariots; in Revelation 6 we see four horses.
Are they the same? The order of the colors is different; it’s chariots versus
horses (but the military technology had changed). It’s an example of the
problems the commentators face. We see similarities; we see differences.
Are they the same thing? If not, what two different things are they? As we
see some of the major prophets, we will see that this is a non-trivial problem.
The Great Pictures
The Throne of God
The Throne of God is portrayed in detail in
three places:
(Isa 6:1-5 NIV) In the
year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and
exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. {2} Above him were
seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two
they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. {3} And they
were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the
whole earth is full of his glory." {4} At the sound of their voices
the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. {5}
"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of
unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen
the King, the LORD Almighty."
(Ezek
1:4-20 NIV) I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north--an
immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The
center of the fire looked like glowing metal, {5} and in the fire was
what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a
man, {6} but each of them had four faces and four wings. {7} Their
legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like
burnished bronze. {8} Under their wings on their four sides they had the
hands of a man. All four of them had faces and wings, {9} and their
wings touched one another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as
they moved. {10} Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the
face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the
left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. {11} Such
were their faces. Their wings were spread out upward; each had two wings, one
touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering
its body. {12} Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would
go, they would go, without turning as they went. {13} The appearance of
the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved
back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of
it. {14} The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.
{15} As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground
beside each creature with its four faces. {16} This was the appearance
and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like chrysolite, and all four looked
alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. {17} As
they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures
faced; the wheels did not turn about as the creatures went. {18} Their
rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.
{19} When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and
when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. {20} Wherever
the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them,
because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
(Rev
4 NIV) After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in
heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said,
"Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."
{2} At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven
with someone sitting on it. {3} And the one who sat there had the
appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled
the throne. {4} Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones,
and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had
crowns of gold on their heads. {5} From the throne came flashes of
lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were
blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. {6} Also before the throne
there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center,
around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes,
in front and in back. {7} The first living creature was like a lion, the
second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a
flying eagle. {8} Each of the four living creatures had six wings and
was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they
never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was,
and is, and is to come." {9} Whenever the living creatures give
glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever
and ever, {10} the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on
the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns
before the throne and say: {11} "You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your
will they were created and have their being."
Questions:
·
Are
the seraphim the four living creatures?
·
Are
they different creatures, or different visions of the same creatures
·
Do
we combine all the details of the throne, or are the 24 elders a change in
vision since Christ has come?
Babylon
Throughout the Scripture Babylon -- whether
the real city or figurative -- has stood for the city of evil. We see the
“mountain range” effect in Isaiah. He begins with a prophecy which clearly
applies to the physical Babylon (and which has come true):
(Isa
13:19-20 NIV) Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians'
pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. {20} She will
never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; no Arab will pitch his
tent there, no shepherd will rest his flocks there.
But shortly thereafter, in a passage clearly
relating to Satan (and very much in tune with Revelation) we see this:
(Isa
14:12-15 NIV) How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the
dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
{13} You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my
throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. {14} I will ascend above
the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." {15} But
you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.
Babylon is doomed -- not just the literal
city, but the figurative one as well. Here’s how John put it:
(Rev
17:1-5 NIV) One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to
me, "Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who
sits on many waters. {2} With her the kings of the earth committed
adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her
adulteries." {3} Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into
a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with
blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. {4} The woman was
dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones
and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things
and the filth of her adulteries. {5} This title was written on her
forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Who, then, is this Babylon -- or what?
New Heaven and Earth
For a real puzzler, this is a good one.
Isaiah and John both talk about a New Heaven and Earth:
(Isa
65:17-25 NIV) "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The
former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. {18} But
be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem
to be a delight and its people a joy. {19} I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard
in it no more. {20} "Never again will there be in it an infant who
lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who
dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred
will be considered accursed. {21} They will build houses and dwell in
them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. {22} No longer will
they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the
days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long
enjoy the works of their hands. {23} They will not toil in vain or bear
children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD,
they and their descendants with them. {24} Before they call I will
answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. {25} The wolf and the
lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will
be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy
mountain," says the LORD.
(Rev
21:1-4 NIV) Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and
the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. {2} I
saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. {3} And I heard
a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men,
and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be
with them and be their God. {4} He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of
things has passed away."
OK -- you figure it out. Do these passages
talk about the same thing? If so, why is there still death in Isaiah’s vision
and not in John’s? If not, then what are they talking about?
The Millennial Temple
Sometimes God sticks in a passage just to
puzzle the reader, I think. Such a section occurs in Ezekiel, chapters 40-48.
Nine chapters of description -- of the millennial temple. It is clearly not
the vision of any temple yet constructed. John dismisses it thusly:
(Rev
11:1 NIV) I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and
measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there.
Later on he tells us there is no temple in
the New Jerusalem, saying:
(Rev
21:22 NIV) I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty
and the Lamb are its temple.
How do we reconcile these? Is the
reconciliation related to the previous little problem? Where do we find the
answers?
Daniel -- the Rosetta Stone of Prophecy
Daniel’s work is for us the key to
interpreting prophecy. It shows us a number of principles of prophecy, for it
foretells the coming of Christ, even to the time of his coming. We need to go
through this book very quickly, so that we may outline the prophecies of
importance. (We’ll skip the lion’s den -- I hope).
Opening: The four kingdoms
The coming of Christ is clearly prophesied in
Daniel chapter 2:
(Dan
2:40-45 NIV) Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron--for iron
breaks and smashes everything--and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will
crush and break all the others. {41} Just as you saw that the feet and
toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided
kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw
iron mixed with clay. {42} As the toes were partly iron and partly clay,
so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. {43} And just
as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and
will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. {44} "In
the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will
never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all
those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
{45} This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain,
but not by human hands--a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the
silver and the gold to pieces. "The great God has shown the king what will
take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is
trustworthy."
Note the ten toes on the statue; they will
be important later on.
The Beast
No figure is more common between Daniel and
Revelation than The Beast. This is found in chapter 7. Note the following
common characteristics:
·
The
beast has ten horns.
Some interpret this as the ten kingdoms into which Rome was divided; other
interpretations include the Common Market.
·
Three
horns are uprooted
-- but only in Daniel.
Time, times and half a time
In one of those magic phrases that runs
through books on prophecy, we have this:
(Dan
7:25 NIV) He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try
to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for
a time, times and half a time.
This is almost always interpreted as 1260
“days.” In one interpretation, this is three and a half years, the first half
of the tribulation. Another interpretation makes in 1260 years, usually from
606 AD to 1866 AD, the time when the Pope held temporal sovereignty.
The 2300 Years
In Daniel chapter 8 we read of another time
period:
(Dan
8:13-14 NIV) Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to
him, "How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled--the vision
concerning the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, and the
surrender of the sanctuary and of the host that will be trampled
underfoot?" {14} He said to me, "It will take 2,300 evenings
and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated."
Again, we have controversy. Is it 2300
days? 1150 days (meaning to count an evening as one and a morning as one)?
2300 years? Those who think days usually try (rather poorly) to fit this in
between the defiling of the temple (Antiochus Epiphanes) and its rededication.
The “day year” interpretation yields an interesting result: from the time
Alexander started his conquest of the Holy Land, (334 BC) to the time the Jews
finally regained complete control of Jerusalem (1967 AD) is (allowing for
calendar problems) 2300 years.
Daniel’s 70 weeks
Of all the passages which deal with time in
prophecy, this is the most critical. It is most critical because it is
partially fulfilled (thus opening up the interpretation):
(Dan
9:24-27 NIV) "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy
city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to
bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to
anoint the most holy. {25} "Know and understand this: From the
issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One,
the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will
be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. {26} After
the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.
The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and
desolations have been decreed. {27} He will confirm a covenant with many
for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice
and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination
that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on
him."
The first 69 “sevens” have been
accomplished; that is the time from the decree until the crucifixion of
Christ. The last “seven” -- a seven year period -- has traditionally been
interpreted as the Tribulation. Here again we see the “mountain range”
principle.
The Antichrist
Perhaps no clearer example of the mountain
range principle can be found than in Daniel 11. The first 33 verses are
explicit about the history of the Greek occupation of Palestine (remember how
we put name tags on everyone?). The rest of the chapter refers to the
Antichrist, coming in the future.
The Millennium
So when does this all happen?
Daniel gives us something of a timetable.
First, from Revelation, we see:
(Rev
12:6 NIV) The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God,
where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
and Daniel gives us two longer periods:
(Dan
12:11-12 NIV) "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and
the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
{12} Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335
days.
Are these the same events? Are they in the
same sequence?
The problems are non-trivial. If nothing
else, I submit we need to recognize the following:
·
Reasonable
men will come up with different, reasonable answers.
·
Those
answers must take into account the Old and New Testament words
·
Those
answers will change with time, as more of history unfolds.