As Vern Poythress would stress about the book of Revelation, there are many ways to outline the book. I will be relying heavily on Poythress for any posts on Revelation, but as you might imagine I am not simply rehashing his teaching but in some ways simplifying it and in other ways changing it. The two main methods of outlining are to look at the literary structure in terms of formal structure or rhetorical structure. The former is the focus of this post. We will observe the latter and its implications in later posts.

This letter of John to the seven churches has a prologue and epilogue. The prologue says, "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near" (Rev 1:1-3).

The epilogue says, "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen" (Rev 22:18-21).

The book of Revelation is apocalyptic literature. This word apocalyptic comes from the Greek for Revelation in 1:1, apokalupsis (depending on your transliterating standards). The word has to do with the action of uncovering, disclosing, revealing (to use words in a lexicon). The word "prophecy" is mentioned in both the prologue and epilogue. Prophecy is more than just telling the future (pro=before, phecy=telling), but indeed is a telling forth of the will of God (pro=forth, phecy=telling). But there are many reasons that we would call this apocalyptic literature rather than prophetic literature. Some OT prophetic books include apocalyptic chapters. Nevertheless, this is a New Testament Writing (the epistles) rather than a New Testament Prophetic Book (Acts). I am not suggesting that the book does not contain "a prophecy" since the book even says it does, just that it is not a prophetic book (i.e. I am talking about the genre identification of the book).

First of all, it is literally one of the writings rather than a prophetic book based simply upon the formal structure. It is an epistle (it is a letter). "John to the seven churches that are in Asia..." (Rev 1:4). Secondly, we see wisdom and other themes more associated with the writings than the prophets even in the prologue and epilogue (cf. Rev 1:3 and the language in Rev 22:18f concerning adding and subtracting). Third, the book builds upon all of Scripture but particularly upon the Book of Daniel (which is one of the writings, not the prophets). Fourth, the place in the canon is not next to Acts but at the end of the NT writings.

Some content and literary characteristics of apocalyptic literature, of which the Revelation to John is an excellent example, include an emphasis on eschatology (speaking of last things), a goal of bringing comfort to the suffering and emphasizing patience in the midst of it, reporting of dreams and/or visions, and the use of fantastic imagery (like multi-headed beasts) and symbolism. As Poythress says, a boy about 12 years old told him, "I read it just like a fantasy, except that I knew it was true" (The Returning King, 14). In fact, the best way to appreciate the difference between prophetic books and apocalyptic books is simply to read them. Children with active imaginations will tend to enjoy and understand apocalyptic. Even better than to read it is to hear it and keep it (Rev 1:3). It is not a puzzle that you need an expert to solve. And you cannot calculate a date and time for the end by using it (Matt 24:36, Mar 13:32).

The epistle includes an introduction (Rev 1:4-9). And then we hear four visions. The first is a vision of Christ "in the Spirit on the Lord's Day" (Rev 1:10). The second is a vision in heaven "in the Spirit" (Rev 4:2). The third is a vision in the wilderness "in the Spirit" (Rev 17:3). And the fourth is a vision on "a great, high mountain" also "in the Spirit" (Rev 21:10). Then Rev 22:6-17 is a conclusion to the epistle. The first vision includes the messages for the seven churches. The vision in heaven takes us through the 7 seals, 7 trumpets, symbolic figures and harvest, and the 7 bowls. The vision in the wilderness covers the judgment of Babylon, the white horse judgment, and the white throne judgment. The fourth vision is of the new Jerusalem. It is noteworthy that the four visions fits the 3+1 pattern of wisdom literature.

So the largest formal section markers are "in the Spirit" introducing each of the four visions. Poythress observes that "kai eidon" ("and I saw") or some variation on that often helps you to subdivide each vision. The first vision is naturally divided into two -- the encounter with Christ and the messages to the seven churches. The former can be divided with "I saw" ("eidon") at Rev 1:12 and then "and when I saw" ("kai 'ote eidon") at Rev 1:17.

The second vision includes a throne vision, "after this I saw" ("meta tauta eidon") at Rev 4:1; the scroll "and I saw" ("kai eidon") at Rev 5:1-2 twice, Rev 5:6 and Rev 5:11; the seven seals with "and I saw" (twice) and "and I heard" at Rev 6:1-2), "I heard" at Rev 6:3, "I heard" (twice) and "and I saw" at Rev 6:5-6, "I heard" and "and I saw" at Rev 6:7-8, "I saw" at Rev 6:9, and "and I saw" at Rev 6:12, then what Poythress calls a parenthesis and marked by "meta touto(a) eidon" at Rev 7:1 and 7:9, then the seventh seal is marked by silence at Rev 8:1. The point being that seeing and/or hearing mark the opening of each section of the seven seals (easy enough to divide without these syntactical markers). The seven trumpets include these markers less often at Rev 8:2, 8:13, 9:1, and 10:1. It is easy enough to divide out for each angel but these markers help, especially for the two subdivisions for the fourth and sixth angels. The phrases resume in frequency to what we saw earlier with the beast in Rev 13:1, 11, 14:1, 6, 14, 15:1-2 (twice) beginning the seven bowls, Rev 15:5 saying "and after this I saw." The phrase "and I saw" also appears at Rev 16:13 but does not help in dividing the bowls up, easy enough to do without markers.

The third vision also can be divided noting these kinds of phrases. "And I saw" occurs twice in the first section (Rev 17:3, 6), "after this I saw" at Rev 18:1), "and I saw" at Rev 19:11, 17, 19, 20:1, 4, twice for the great white throne section at Rev 20:11-12, and then again at Rev 21:1. The phrase appears twice to open new major sections throughout the book of Revelation.

These observations highlight that this prophecy is a "vision" that is seen and heard. This always reminds me how the Torah notes that it is a less direct form of revelation (i.e. Numbers 12:6-7). The comparison there was with the words of Moses who was faithful as a servant in all the house of God. But we might as well compare to the words of Christ who is faithful over God's house as a son (cf. Heb 3:5-6). That is, apocalyptic literature can be understood as we were saying earlier by children but it is a less direct form of revelation, which must be taken into account when being interpreted. The main reason for this being that apocalyptic literature is best suited for a time when one cannot come out and say something too directly because it may spur persecution.

Labels: john, poythress, revelation

The current sermon series, I have been preaching on the temptations and the trial of Christ, has driven me back to the beginning. Book One of Genesis displays the same themes that I have been preaching.

In Book One, Adam is the one being tested but he responded by testing God. The serpent (aka the devil) proposed that God's word is but a hypothesis to be tested. Thus Adam put the LORD his God to the test when Adam was the one under the probationary test.

Furthermore, Adam should have believed that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. It is fitting then that Adam's test involved the word of God, food, and a punishment of death. The only stipulation (the word of God) was that he fast from the fruit of one particular tree. But instead of responding in faith, he decided that he was autonomous from God, he was independent of God, and could judge the truth of God's word. In a time of plenty, Adam forgot the LORD who had been good to him and failed to submit to the word of the LORD.

From the beginning, the serpent has casted doubt upon the word of God. His methodology is to make you think that you get to sit in judgment on the word. You get to test the word to see if it is true. You exalt yourself over the word of God rather than humble yourself before the word of God. Many people try out Christianity -- they test it out to see if it will work for them. Such an attitude is the one Satan promotes.

Adam was created to serve and worship God alone. He was a priest-king in the temple of God who was to keep/guard the grounds and defend God's word. He should have started with the truth of God's word, kept that word, and judged Satan's challenging words according to it as Jesus would later do.

Likewise, we need to presuppose the truth of God's word in our defense of the faith. An unbeliever does not get to weigh the evidence and decide if it is true. First of all, everyone is biased since all sin and fall short of the glory of God. But even apart from the fall, since we see that Adam should not have done this either, no one can judge the word of God because we are His creatures. We do have a task of judging, just as Adam did, but it is subordinate to the word of God. God is the creator and we are His creatures. God gives us the correct interpretation of the facts (not to imply that facts can exist without an interpretation, they cannot since they are created by God), we should strive to think His thoughts after Him. We are not autonomous. We are dependent upon God. For an unbeliever to pretend otherwise and sit in judgment on God's word is to forget that He is a created creature of God. It is a sinful and prideful posture to begin with, and to return to the other point given the fall, it is also to live in denial about the effects of sin on our reasoning capabilities.

For example, Jesus is not liar, lunatic or Lord. Jesus is Lord. The issue is not whether or not you will judge the evidence and come to the right conclusion. The issue is whether or not you will submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and submit to His word. We are the ones on trial, not Jesus and His word. The question is: Are we going to be identified with Jesus or are we going to deny having a relationship with Him?

To return to the beginning: Adam was in self-denial. He denied having a relationship with God -- being the Son of God. He decided that He would not be identified with God but rather with the serpent. Adam was the one on trial, not God and His word, but instead Adam put the LORD's word to the test.

The last temptation -- "If you are the Son of God, save yourself" (cf. Matt 27:40) -- at base is a temptation to pretend you are autonomous of God and do not need God. Adam did not face the temptation, "save yourself" because at that point he did not yet need salvation (at that point he did not need God as the redeemer). But he did face the temptation of pretending he was autonomous and did not need God the creator -- the serpent said, "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God [or "like gods"], knowing good and evil" (Gen 3:5). The temptation to judge the word of God is a temptation to be like gods. He was acting as if he did not need God.

It is fitting that the word of God begin by telling us that Adam tested the word of God. We should not test it, but submit to the word of the LORD. Amen.

Labels: adam, apologetics, scripture, temptation, testing

The parallel book in the chiasm, Song of Songs, is incredibly difficult to divide into poems. In fact, that book seems to be a disorganized compilation of erotic poetry. On the other hand, Lamentations describes a very chaotic situation in a very structured way. There are five poems just as there were five books of Torah and just as there are five books of the Psalms.

The first two poems are alphabetic acrostics in Hebrew where each verse begins with a new letter of the alphabet from a-z (so to speak). The emphasis of the first chapter is on the likeness of Jerusalem to a widow -- lonely and bereaved. It says, "she has none to comfort her" or something similar five times (Lam 1:2, 1:9, 1:16 (twice), and 1:21) in addition to the poetic way the text puts it in the first verse and elsewhere. The chapter also stresses just how faint and weak the people are due to lack of food. The second chapter stresses how it is the Lord who has done this destruction ("he has") in "his anger, wrath, fierce anger, and fierce indignation." Also the emphasis here is on the prophets, priests, and kings and their palaces/temple. The only structural difference between these chapters with long poetic lines for each letter is the order of the letters 'ayin and pe.

The second chapter also appears to have some other patterning within it. The order goes something like this: "the daughter of Zion" (Lam 2:1), "the daughter of Judah" (Lam 2:2), "the daughter of Zion" (Lam 2:4), "the daughter of Judah" (Lam 2:5), "the daughter of Zion" (Lam 2:8), "the daughter of Zion" (Lam 2:10), "the young women of Jerusalem" (Lam 2:10), "the daughter of my people" (Lam 2:11), "daughter of Jerusalem" (Lam 2:13), "virgin daughter of Zion" (Lam 2:13), "the daughter of Jerusalem" (Lam 2:15), "the daughter of Zion (Lam 2:18). It is almost a pattern. Also, the order of Israel and Jacob: "Israel" (Lam 2:1), "Jacob" (Lam 2:2), "Israel," "Jacob" (Lam 2:3), "Israel" (Lam 2:5). Often, Jacob the fallen name is put first and Israel the new creation name follows, but here that pattern is reversed. Perhaps it is hopeful in that it ends with Israel?

In any case, the alphabet allows for order in the midst of the chaos the poetry describes. While the first two chapters were acrostics with long lines, Lamentations 3 is an alphabetic acrostic with three verses for each letter. Thus Lam 1-2 are 22 long verses and Lam 3 is 66 shorter verses. In any case, Lam 1-3 consist in long treatment of each of the 22 letters. Some suggest this fits the "qinah meter" of laments in Scripture: long, long, long, short, short. The thought is that this resembles a lament in sound.

It may be important that Lamentations 3 is the middle poem as well as the last long one. Lam 3:22-27 are important in this regard as this third poem is the only one with lines that offer any hope. After words explaining that it was the Lord who brought this upon him, He says, "The loyal-love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in Him."" The reason for what has befallen them is their lack of faith and hope in Him -- their faithlessness to Him. But God is faithful even when we are not, and it will take time and there will be suffering, but God will remember them one day.

This poem like those before it reveals that the reason for the suffering of Israel is their sins and it calls those who read it to test and examine themselves and repent (Lam 3:39-40). All of these poems are also very concerned about judgment of those who have sinned against them. The thought is that God has used them to bring judgment upon Israel but they have been most willing participants and have sinned gravely against Israel in doing so. In other words, just because God willed the judgment of Israel does not excuse the sin of the nations that carried out that judgment. The day has come for Israel, let it come also for the nations. This is somewhat different than the attitude of Jesus when he prayed, "Father, forgive them," but it does fit well with our prayers, "Come, Lord Jesus" when we will see justice done.

Lamentations 4 is also an alphabetic acrostic. It has much shorter lines and the focus returns to the chaos among the peoples. Like in the second poem there is mention made of parents eating their children. I can think of nothing more chaotic and gross. Lamentations 5 appears to have 22 lines but is not an alphabetic acrostic. It ends on a down note: "unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us" (Lam 5:22). It is closer to the pattern of lament psalms in the Psalms, but without the hope.

While the alphabetic acrostics serve to give order in the midst of chaos they also note the totality of the grief experienced (from a-z, so to speak). The destruction of Jerusalem was thorough. This is complete chaos. It is an apt description of Christ on the cross.

Labels: acrostic, alphabetic acrostic, five, israel, jacob, lamentations, poetry