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The Four: A Survey of the Gospels
Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom
From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John
Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
A long title for a short post.
The prophets sometimes portray the collapse of Jerusalem by saying that the “voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride will be heard no more” (Jeremiah 7:34; 25:10; 33:11; Revelation 18:23). ”I say there shall be no more marriages,” Yahweh says. But of course the voices of the bridegroom and the bride are also the voices of Yahweh and Israel. Those voices too cease: Yahweh no longer will woo His bride, His bride will no longer speak her admiration of her Husband. When the temple falls, even the divine Bridegroom and His bride fall silent. ”I say there shall be no more festivals,” Yahweh says.
No wonder John rejoices when he hears the Bridegroom’s voice (John 3:29). If the Bridegroom starts speaking again, Daughter Zion is going to be called back to her Lover, the temple will be restored, the voice of gladness will again be heard.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 3:40 am
Revelation 7 describes the sealing of the 144,000, and this number is broken up into 12,000 among 12 tribes. It is a repetitive passage, and the rhythm of tribes and numbers is reminiscent of the description of the offerings presented to the tabernacle by each tribe in Numbers 7. Both passages are lists, both include numbers, both list tribes.
The sealed 144,000 are sealed for service in the heavenly tabernacle; they are sealed and marked to be sacrifices.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Saturday, February 7, 2009 at 5:55 am
Let’s say that angels ruled were associated with the great powers of the ancient oikoumene (the period between Nebuchadnezzar and Nero). This is (perhaps) what’s in view in Daniel 10:13, 20.
Jesus establishes the new imperium, and in Revelation 2-3 sends out letters to the “angels” of the churches. I believe that the angels are pastors, so why call them angels? Perhaps Revelation 2-3 is giving us a portrait of the new empire, the oikoumene of Jesus, also ruled by angels.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at 2:14 pm
In John’s vision, Jesus has bronze feet, a golden girdle, a face shining like the sun and hair as white as wool and snow (Revelation 1:13-15).
This seems to be a tabernacle image: The bronze altar, the gold of the holy place, and the shining glory of the cloud in the most holy place. Jesus is an upright human tabernacle, bronze feet planted on the ground and glorious head in the heavens.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Gregory Beale notes frequent allusions to Isaiah 41-48 in the opening chapter of Revelation. “Alpha and Omega” rings on the “first and last” of Isaiah 41:4.
John announces from the start that he’s prophesying about the fall of another Babylon, a third exodus.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, December 8, 2008 at 11:34 am
Revelation 1:4-8, the opening to John’s “apocalyptic” letter, is chiastically organized:
A. From One who is, was, shall be
B. From seven Spirits
C. From Jesus Christ
D. To Him who loved us and released by blood
E. And made us kings and priests
D’. To Him be glory and dominion
C’. Coming on clouds
B’. Look on the one pierced and will mourn
A’. Alpha/Omega, is, was shall be
Several things stand out in this structure:
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, December 8, 2008 at 10:34 am
Revelation 12 is a symbolic vision of Jesus’ ascension, which we celebrate this Thursday, the fortieth day after Easter. In that vision, John sees a woman clothed with the sun and wearing a crown of stars, who gives birth to a child.
At that same moment, a dragon appears and attacks the child. God snatches up the child to heaven where He rules the nations with a rod of iron. War in heaven follows, and the dragon is cast down. According to the vision, Jesus is born to be a king, and by His ascension He assumes that position, triumphing over Satan.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, May 13, 2007 at 7:58 am
A student, Amy Mertens, points out that the vine in Revelation 14 is bearing fruit, and thus is an unlikely symbol of the wicked or of apostate Israel. Jesus came looking for fruit on Israel’s fig tree and found none; why would we expect it to be found on the vine? It is certainly possible, given the OT uses of vine imagery for Israel, that the grapes of Rev 14 are faithful Jews, martyred for their faithful witness to the Messiah they had long expected. In any case, the vine of Revelation 14 must be the fruitful vine in the True Israel, Jesus.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, May 9, 2005 at 6:39 pm
As Beale points out, in Rev 12 John uses a technique of temporal telescoping. Jesus’ entire career is summarized as incarnation and exaltation. It is reasonable, then, to suggest, as Beale does, that the woman’s labor pains and the sweeping of stars from heaven are describing events of the intertestamental period. Out of the tribulations of intertestamental Israel, the Christ is born. During those tribulations, some of the 12 stars of heaven fall to the ground, but the dragon is not able to devour the Christ. It is also possible to fit Wright “return from exile” theme here: Labor pains, Beale suggests, symbolize the exile and birth is a symbol of return (cf Is 54). Thus, Revelation 12 is describing the birth of Jesus as the culmination of the tribulation of exile and the hope for return. It is fitting, then, that His birth and career should be described as an exodus (dragon lying in wait to kill a child; the child snatched away; woman in the wilderness). The woman is also, of course, a second Eve, giving birth to the seed of the Woman who will crush the dragon’s head. And that too is a part of a return from exile, the original exile from Eden.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, May 8, 2005 at 7:55 am
Revelation 20:1-3 claims that Satan is cast into the abyss, which is “shut” and “sealed” for 1000 years, and verses 7-10 add that at the end of the 1000 years, Satan will be released to gather the nations against the beloved city of God until they are devoured. What kind of restraint is being put on Satan? Is he utterly powerless? And, what’s the point of the release at the end of the millennium?
Beale offers a number of compelling arguments for suggesting that the restriction of Satan in Revelation 20 is a specific and not a general limitation of Satan’s activity. Grammatically, the purpose clause in verse 3b specifies the rationale for the binding and sealing of vv 1-3a; Satan is bound, thrown, shut, and sealed “so that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed.” That is the specific purpose of the binding; that is the specific limitation of Satan’s power that is noted in the text. Further, Beale explores the use of “binding Satan” language in the gospel, and argues that this binding (in, eg, Mark 3:27) does not restrict Satan in every respect. Further, the notion that Satan is “sealed” in the abyss does not limit it totally: “‘Sealing’ may connote an absolute incarceration, but could just as well connote the general idea of ‘authority over,’ which is its primary meaning also in Dan. 6:17 and Matt. 27:66. . . . God’s ‘seal’ on Christians does not protect them in every sense but only in a spiritual, salvific manner, since they suffer persecution in various physical ways [citing Rev 7:3; 9:4]. Conversely, God’s seal on Satan prevents him from harming the salvific security of the true church, though he can harm it physically.” (I’m not perfectly content with the way Beale says this, but the point is correct.) Finally, Rev 20:7-10 describes Satan’s activities at the end of the millennium, when he is “released from his prison, and will come out to receive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth” (v 7-8a). Satan does after the millennium what he has been prevented from doing throughout the millennium – deceiving the nations. In the context of Rev 20, this deception has the specific purpose of uniting the nations against the saints. So, Satan is bound and restricted insofar as he is under the authority of Christ (the God-MAN) and insofar as he is unable to deceive the nations in order to unite them against the “camp of the saints” (v. 9).
This conclusion can be filled out by exploring Satan’s role in the rest of Revelation. Satan is first referred to in connection with the “synagogue of Satan,” the false Jews who are guilty of blasphemy and lies (2:9; 3:9). I take the other references to Satan in the seven letters (“Satan’s throne,” 2:13; “deep things of Satan,” 2:24) in relation to the synagogue of Satan. That is, Revelation first talks about Satan (the “accuser”) as the power behind the Jewish and Judaizing opponents of the Christian church (cf. John 8). This makes sense within the double narrative of John’s gospel and apocalypse: The Jewish leaders took the role of Satanic accuser in relation to Jesus, and they do the same toward His followers. When Satan appears in the vision of Revelation 12, he is described as the “accuser of our brethren” who “accuses them before our God day and night” (v. 10).
Revelation 12 is the first time in the book that Satan is described as a “deceiver” (12:9), and he is called this as he is thrown down from heaven. There appears to be a sequence here: While he has access to the heavenly court, he can function as an accuser; that is the role he has played since the fall of Adam (Job 1-2; Zech 3). But once Jesus ascends to heaven, Satan is cast down from that position, and no longer has a standing to accuse the saints. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has justified us; who can condemn? But that does not end Satan’s campaign. Instead, he changes tactics. Instead of accusing, he begins to deceive, returning to the original strategy he employed in the garden of Eden. Through the rest of Revelation, Satan and the beasts he calls up from the sea embark on a propaganda campaign to deceive the “whole earth” [12:9; Greek, GE]; “those who dwell on the earth” [13:14; Greek, GE]. With James Jordan, I take GE here to refer specifically to the land of Israel (this is very evident in the contrast of land and sea beast in chapter 13). The specific point of this deception is to entice the people of the land to make an image of the sea beast (Rome) and do homage to it (vv. 14-15), and to persecute anyone who refuses to do homage to the beast (v. 15). Those who refuse to accept the mark of the beast, who refuse to do homage to Rome, will not be able to engage in the “buying and selling,” the liturgical exchanges of the Jewish temple. Because of the deceptions of Satan working through the false prophet, those who refuse to swear allegiance to Caesar are cast out of the synagogue (cf. John 9). In short, instead of attempting to turn God against His people by accusations in the heavenly court, Satan deceives the Jews to cooperate with Rome to destroy the church.
There is a kind of chiasm to Satan’s career:
A. Deceiver in Eden
B. Accuser
A’. Deceiver of the new Eden of the church
Satan’s deception is not, however, restricted to the “people of the land.” The climax of the prophetic denunciation of the merchandizing of Babylon in Rev 18 is the judgment that Babylon/Jerusalem has “deceived” the nations (Greek, ETHNE) “by your sorcery” (18:23). This is immediately followed by the charge that “in her was found all the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth” (18:24). Thus, the deceived people of the land become deceivers for the whole world. Sound familiar? Liberal churchmen deceive the nations into an ideology of tolerance and pluralism.
When the city falls, Jesus makes war against the kings of the earth, who have been enticed by the sea beast and the false prophet (= land beast) and tosses them into the lake of fire (19:19-20). Those particular carriers of Satanic deception are destroyed. And Satan himself is prevented from carrying out a similar scheme during the 1000 years of the millennium. Though deceived religious leaders will continue to deceive political leaders in order to persecute the church, Satan will not be able to unite all the nations to battle the saints until the millennium is complete. That is the specific limit on his power during the present period. Like an imprisoned Mafioso, Satan is still able to pull strings, foment confusion, and harass the church. But he does not have the power to unite the nations against the Lord and against His Anointed.
Why would he be given that power and permission at the end of the millennium? Let me suggest, tentatively, that this is part of the church’s outliving of the life of Jesus. Jesus cast out demons and claim to have bound Satan to plunder his house. But at the end of his ministry, Satan worked through Jews and Romans to put Jesus on the cross. At his resurrection and ascension, however, He cast Satan out. That was the end of Satan’s power to accuse in heaven. This whole story is played out on a broader scale in the history of the church. The church’s history begins with the restriction of Satan’s power to deceive. But at the end of the church’s story, Satan will again unite the nations against the Lord and against His anointed, until fire falls from heaven, and Satan is thrown, with the beast and the false prophet, into the lake of fire.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Saturday, May 7, 2005 at 11:11 am
Warren Gage presents a compelling case for the conclusion that the harlot of Revelation 17-18 becomes the bride of chapter 21, or at least that many escape from the city of the whore to inhabit the bride-city that comes from heaven. Gage rests a good bit of his case on a Joshua typology that runs through Revelation. Some of the salient points are:
1) Both “Babylon” in Revelation and Jericho are “great cities” and filled with wealth. Achan actually finds Babylonian treasure in Jericho (Joshua 7:21).
2) Two witnesses appear in Babylon and are killed, matching the two spies in Joshua.
3) There is a prostitute in Jericho and in Babyolon.
4) Jericho falls when the priests blow trumpets; Babylon falls after trumpets and bowls. At the end of the trumpet sequence in Revelation, the ark of the covenant appears (11:19).
5) Both cities are burned with fire.
Given this typology, we would expect the “Rahab” of Revelation to be saved, as was the original Rahab.
The Exodus typology that also runs through the book lends further support to this (admittedly, this is conjectural). Israel left Egypt accompanied by a mixed multitude of Egyptians and other Gentiles, who had no doubt concluded that Egypt was no longer a pleasant place to settle down. When Roman troops started amassing in Judea in the late 60s AD, many in Jerusalem would have drawn the same conclusion. The “exodus” from Jerusalem is not merely an exodus of people who have long been Christians, but the exodus of a mixed multitude. It is entirely likely that many Jews who escaped Jerusalem and looked back to see the city destroyed would have embraced Jesus as prophet and Messiah. They had been Rahab; but they were married finally to Jesus.
In short, when the voice from heaven commands “Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues” (18:4), we have reason to believe that some, perhaps many, heeded that call. The gates of the city that comes from heaven, after all, are labeled with the names of the tribes of Israel (21:12).
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Tuesday, May 3, 2005 at 7:34 am
INTRODUCTION
Ascension Day doesn?t have the cultural charge that Christmas and Easter do, but it?s equally important. Jesus?Eascension is one of the chief goals of His entire ministry, the day on which the Father installed His king on Zion to rule the nations with a rod of iron and to shatter them like earthenware. Ascension Day marked the end of Jesus?Ecombat against Satan, and the beginning of ours.
THE TEXT
?And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven . . .?E(Revelation 12:1-17).
KING JESUS
The ascension was the climax of the work of Jesus is underscored in this passage. The story of Jesus is told in miniature: A woman (Israel) gives birth to a boy who is threatened by the dragon, Satan (Revelation 12:1-4). But the boy is caught up to God?s throne to rule the nations (v. 5), and throws Satan out of heaven (vv. 7-9). The announcement in verse 10 tells us what has happened: ?the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down.?E What did Jesus come to do? According to Revelation 12, Jesus came to rule the nations and to cast Satan out of heaven, so that he might no longer accuse the saints.
Further, this chapter is in the exact center of the book of Revelation. As Warren Gage has pointed out, John and Revelation together form a crossing structure that centers on the announcement of Jesus?Etriumph over Satan at His ?lifting up.?E John?s gospel begins with an announcement of the ?tabernacling?Eof the Word (John 1:14) and a celebration of a wedding (John 2:1-11), and Revelation ends with an invitation to the marriage Supper of the Lamb (19:8) and declaration that the ?tabernacle of God is among men?E(Revelation 21:3). On the other hand, Revelation begins with a vision of the glorified Jesus (Revelation 1:12-20), and John?s gospel ends with the resurrection of Jesus. These two narrative lines cross at John 12 and Revelation 12. As Gage writes, this is ?the thematic center of the story told by the two books, tells of the great reversal that takes place as the Son is lifted up and Satan is cast down. John 12:28-31 and Revelation 12:9-10 are anchored by word combinations that occur nowhere else in either book. These passages constitute the literary axis of the two Johannine books. . . . Both passages concern the announcement of Christ’s kingdom. In John 12, Jesus rides into Jerusalem upon a donkey. The crowds proclaim Him “King of Israel” and the Pharisees worry that “the world has gone after Him” (John 12:13,15,19). The Revelation passage that corresponds to the Triumphal Entry of the Gospel opens with the announcement that “the kingdoms of the world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever” (Rev 11:15; cf. Rev 12:10). In John 12:32, the Son is lifted up. The matching declaration of Revelation 12:9 is that the Dragon is cast down to earth.?E
SATAN AND ASCENSION DAY
Throughout the Old Testament, Satan had access to the courtroom of God. Satan comes as a prosecuting attorney, the ?accuser?E(which is the meaning of the Hebrew word ?Satan?E. He is among the ?sons of God?Ewho appear before Yahweh in Job 1-2, and He brings a charge against the blameless Job. In Zechariah 3, Satan is at the side of the defiled high priest Joshua ?to accuse him?E(v. 1). Because God had not dealt definitively with sin, Satan was in a position of considerable authority under the old covenant.
Ascension Day is bad news for Satan. Already during Jesus?Eministry, Jesus was waging war against the accuser, and He says at one point that He saw Satan fall from heaven (Luke 10:18). But Satan doesn?t finally lose his position of authority until Jesus ascends to the right hand of the Father. Then, as Revelation 12 shows, Satan is thrown down with his angels (v. 9). This is not, however, the end of Satan?s campaign against God. Instead, once thrown down, He begins to persecute the woman (12:13), and then calls up a sea beast and a land beast to assist him (ch. 13). He continues the assault on the saints until the city of Babylon (Jerusalem) falls (chs. 17-18), after which He is thrown into the abyss so that he will not deceive the nations (20:1-3), as he had done previously (cf. 13:14). This doesn?t mean that Satan is completely powerless, but that he cannot do anything that will inhibit the spread of the kingdom of Jesus.
ASCENSION DAY AND US
Ascension Day occurred nearly 2000 years ago, and at that time Jesus triumphed over Satan and cast him from heaven. But Ascension Day also has implications for us. Revelation highlights two. First, Revelation shows that the Ascension of Jesus involves the ascension of the saints. This is evident already in Daniel 7, where the angelic interpreter tells Daniel that the ascension of the Son of Man to the Ancient of Days means that ?the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom?E(v. 18; cf. v. 27). The ascension of the saints is one of the over-arching themes of the entire book of Revelation. At the beginning of the book, John sees twenty-four angelical ?elders?Eenthroned and crowned (4:4), but before long, they are casting their crowns at the foot of God?s throne (4:10). Throughout the book, twenty-four angels carry out God?s orders, as the old creation is destroyed and a new creation is formed. By the end of the book, the angelic rulers have been replaced by saints who participate in the first resurrection and ?reign with Christ a thousand years?E(20:4). Revelation moves from the old covenant, where angels rule the world, to the new covenant, where the saints rule the world.
Second, in Revelation 12 in particular Jesus?Eascension means that Satan is cast down to earth. This looks like a threat to the faithful on earth, and in one sense it is. The serpent pursues the woman, and elsewhere Peter warns about Satan seeking the saints like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8-9). Yet, Satan?s fall is also an advantage for us. So long as Satan was in heaven, we could not fight him directly. Now that Michael the chief of the angels has thrown Satan from heaven, Satan is within our grasp. Satan is alive on planet earth. And that?s good news to us because God promises that we will trample him under our feet (Romans 16:20).
CONCLUSION
In Revelation, the saints triumph over Satan by witnessing faithfully despite persecutions and threats, persevering unto death. Our triumph over Satan takes the same form as Jesus?Etriumph: suffering leading to exaltation, cross leading to resurrection, descent leading to ascent. Our struggles in Moscow are part of that triumph.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, May 2, 2005 at 9:32 pm
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