Revelation - A Woman, a Dragon, Two Beasts and more

Revelation - A Woman, a Dragon,

Two Beasts and more

Heavenly Drama: The Dragon Falls, the female Is stored

A professional creator, John borrows imagery from the old testament and

diverse pre-Christian traditions and weaves them into a brand new tapestry

showing exceedingly Christian threads. In Revelation 12, he attracts upon

historical, mythological traditions from Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome,

and of course, the Hebrew Bible. Out of those, he creates a mini drama

approximately cosmic redemption.

The drama that unfolds is largely the age old battle between Jesus and devil.

The plot functions a child of future, Jesus, who involves planet earth to rule

over all of the nations. For his part, devil resists this liberation movement by

means of attempting to kill the little one Jesus. Failing this, he unleashes his

venom towards the historic human beings from whom Jesus descended (the

Jewish people) and those who profess allegiance to him (the church). The

conflict that rages in this conflict is genuinely cosmic in scope involving the

celestial (heavenly) in addition to the terrestrial (earthly) nation-states. After

the closing battle, a brand new heavens and a brand new earth emerge from

the smoke of this protracted warfare (Rev. 21–22).

In composing this mini-drama, John consists of imagery and concepts drawn

from pre-Christian mythology and legend as window dressing. these

borrowings are a part of the shared traditions not unusual to the Greco-

Roman world to which John’s audience belonged. via using them, John adds

vividness and luster to the primary storyline. C. S. Lewis does much the

same in his Narnia books. The vital Christian message is dressed up inside

the language of fable and delusion. In neither John’s nor Lewis’ case are they

putting forward notion within the window dressing; they're simply creatively

retelling the acquainted gospel tale.

John sets up his dramatic vignette through depicting the main characters

beneath the guise of “portents.” those “portents” symbolize something of

amazing significance for know-how redemptive (biblical) history. inside the

following discussion, we provide our take at the identification and meaning of

these portents.

Meeting the forged of characters

John’s mini-drama entails 3 leading characters; two others appear in minor

roles. each of these figures performing on stage convey important realities

about redemptive records and hence are described as “portents” (omen).

due to the fact John and his first century target market share a not unusual

cultural background, which is not our personal, the imagery and symbolism

calls for deciphering.

Pregnant lady clothed with the sun

the primary character to appear at the degree is “a female clothed with the

sun, with the moon below her toes, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”

(Rev. 12:1). She speaks no intelligible lines but cries out in pain as she gives

delivery (Rev. 12:2). As is common in apocalyptic literature, John depicts

characters who feature as symbols. an amazing instance is an apocalyptic

portion inside a Jewish book known as 1 Enoch, relationship to a length

earlier than the beginning of Christianity. It retells the tale of Israel using

animals like cows, sheep, bulls, and rams as symbols for the leading

characters (1 Enoch 83–90). for that reason, modern scholars designate this

section because the “Animal Apocalypse.” If one is aware of the tale of Israel

in the Bible, the diverse symbols are as an alternative easily identified.

matters aren't so reduce and dried in Revelation 12—substantial

disagreement arises among scholars approximately the symbolic meaning of

the woman. right here are 4 differing perspectives:

The human beings of God: A majority of scholars pick out the female as the

humans of God — Israel of the old covenant and the church of the brand new

covenant. One motive for this connection lies in Genesis 37:9–eleven, which

shares a few common capabilities. In a dream, the 17-yr-antique Joseph sees

the solar, moon, and eleven stars bowing all the way down to him. His father

Jacob, whose name became modified to Israel (Genesis 32:28), interprets

this to imply that he and Rachel, Joseph’s mother, will bow down and submit

to Joseph’s authority. In John’s adaptation of this vision, the twelve stars

represent the twelve tribes of Israel (Jacob’s 12 sons became the 12 tribes of

Israel, as narrated in Genesis 29 thru Exodus 1). Moreover, in several poetic

passages, prophets confer with Israel within the parent of a girl (Jeremiah 2–

3; Ezekiel 23; Hosea 1–three) and, mainly full-size for this passage, as a

female in childbirth (Isaiah 26:17–18, 66:7; Micah four:10, 5:three).

A Christianized version of ancient mythology: every other possible source for

John’s symbolism can be historical mythology. A majority of students

maintain that John has clothed the Christian message within the dress of

historical mythology. The girl represents Isis (a popular Egyptian goddess),

Leto (a goddess worshipped in Asia Minor and Greece), or different

goddesses linked with the sun. Even as now not strictly biblical, this kind of

interpretation does now not make Revelation unique. Many different Jewish

and Christian authors did the equal. The crucial Christian message remains

constant; handiest the external garb differs.

The constellation Virgo: A minority of students hold that John’s imagery

should be identified with an astrological constellation. This is due to the fact

the imagery of the woman may be recognized with the constellation Virgo in

its astronomical context. In this view, the lady represents the constellation

Virgo, the sun clothes her, and the moon is at her feet. The crown of twelve

stars consists of the nine brightest stars in the constellation Leo together

with the planets Mercury, Venus, and Mars. This interpretation would also

accord properly with John’s appreciation for nature and creation located

elsewhere in Revelation.

Mary, the mother of Jesus: a few historic traditions perceive the lady with

Mary, the mom of Jesus. Despite the fact that no longer as famous today, this

interpretation has historical roots. For instance, one early Christian textual

content, the Protoevangelium of James (2nd century A.D.), identifies the girl

as Mary, the mother of Jesus. This interpretation could fit properly with the

narrative of the infant, who will rule the nations with a rod of iron (Rev.

12:five), which is an allusion to Psalm 2:9, a psalm that early Christians

identified with Jesus (Acts 4:25–26; 13:33; Hebrews 1:5; five:five).

The historic church observed all 4 perspectives as valid. In the end, it does

now not matter whether or not John had a particular supply in mind for his

symbolism. Each of these perspectives has its advantage. We believe that

the woman represents the folks of God within the historic covenant (Israel)

and the new covenant (the church). We have numerous reasons for

identifying the girl on this way. First, the symbolism is located in Israel’s

story. Second, it consists of overtones of divine maternity. Third, the new

Testament often employs woman and childbirth imagery for the humans of

God (Galatians four:19; Hebrews 12:22–23). Fourth, the concept of a woman

giving beginning to a male baby who will rule the nations is a well-trodden

theme in Old Testament prophecy (Genesis 3:15; Micah 5:2–five). For us, this

identification is adequate to make sense of John’s symbolism.

The Lamb and the one hundred forty four,000 (14:1–five)

Revelation 14 opens with an photo that offers consolation to all of us of God:

The Lamb is standing on Mount Zion with the redeemed. With the aid of

sharing a quick birthday party that includes thunder, harps, and a new

music, John assures believers that last victory belongs to the Lamb. The a

hundred and forty four,000 (the number is symbolic) first referred to in

Revelation 7 (see bankruptcy nine) reappear in John’s vision — this time on

Mount Zion, with the Lamb, across the throne of God. Etched on their

foreheads, as opposed to 666, is the call of the Lamb and the daddy

speaking to the individual and reputation of folks who endure it. Those are

sons and daughters of God. None of them have the dreaded mark of the

beast. They’ve resisted the most extreme strain and persecution possible.

Their loyal loyalty and dedication is expressed inside the following biblical

imagery: Virgins, or folks that saved themselves natural: This description

attracts attention to religious fidelity and chastity. Within the old testimony,

Israelites frequently turned far from God and worshipped other gods,

committing a type of religious adultery. In the New testimony, believers are

warned about combined loyalties (Matthew 6:14; 1 John 2:15, 5:21).

In this context, the redeemed are called virgins (some translations are extra

descriptive, indicating they avoided sexual family members) due to the fact

they acknowledge and confess that most effective Jesus is Lord: “these

comply with the Lamb wherever he is going” (Rev. 14:4). Actual believers in

Jesus are, figuratively, the natural bride of Jesus. Inside the first century CE,

Christians had to make a desire: Is Caesar Lord or is Jesus Lord? Folks who

selected Jesus ended up as macabre enjoyment and meals for lions. In step

with Revelation, the end Time technology will have to make a comparable

preference: Is the beast of the sea Lord or is the Lamb Lord? The redeemed

choose the Lamb and have fun their preference by means of making a song

a song of redemption that most effective they are able to sing. First fruits:

inside the antique testimony, Israelites had been commanded to bring a part

of the early harvest of the land to the Temple of God as an act of

thanksgiving and gratitude for the total harvest to comply with (Leviticus

19:23–25, 23:9–21; Deuteronomy 26:1–eleven). These first-fruit services also

supplied the priestly and Levitical households (the ones belonging to the

tribe of Levi and assigned to assist the monks at the tabernacle as specified

in Numbers 3–four) who ministered before the Lord at the sanctuary and

were not capable of spend the time within the fields themselves.

Metaphorically, the expression refers to that that's first (Jeremiah 2:three)

and that which belongs completely to the Lord. inside the New testament,

believers are referred to as first fruits (James 1:18; 2 Thessalonians

2:thirteen; Romans eight:23). innocent: The a hundred and forty four,000

mirror their reputation as followers committed absolutely to the Lamb by

using distinctive feature in their distinctive feature. obvious integrity

characterizes those redeemed. John in all likelihood alludes to a prophetic

text in Zephaniah three:13: “. . . the remnant of Israel; they shall do no

incorrect and utter no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be located in their

mouths.” The stark assessment to the deceit and deception of the dragon

and the beasts is unmistakable.

This vision of the Lamb on Mount Zion surrounded via a hundred and forty

four,000 bearing his name stands in fantastic assessment to the previous

phase. by the time bankruptcy 13 concludes, one wonders how the

fellowship of the Lamb can in all likelihood continue to exist such an

onslaught .but right here there are making a song a brand new tune in the

presence of the Lamb! the bottom line is that this: faith inside the Lamb

triumphs over demonic deception, financial deprivation, and brute pressure.

John says in prose in his first epistle what he here depicts in imagery: “And

this is the victory that conquers the arena, our religion. who's it that

conquers the sector but the one that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

(1 John five:four).

3 Angels with three Messages (14:6–13)

have you ever seen a faculty production of Peter Pan or a few different play

requiring actors to “fly” by way of “invisible” wires? What John witnesses is

manner higher! three wi-fi angels seem in mid-air, each with a special

message. these announcements expect and summarize the final series of

seven judgments, the seven bowls of God’s wrath. these bowls, when

eventually poured out, end off the antichrist’s state based in Babylon the

outstanding (14:eight). All those who follow the beast suffer the same

destiny: They ought to drink the wine of God’s wrath. This includes a fiery

punishment whose smoke “goes up for all time and ever” (Rev. 14:eleven).

Proclaiming an eternal gospel the primary statement is in Revelation 14:6–7:

“Then I saw every other angel flying in mid-heaven, with an eternal gospel to

proclaim to folks that stay on the earth — to each country and tribe and

language and people. He stated in a noisy voice, ‘fear God and provide him

glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made

heaven and earth, the ocean and the springs of water.’” The eternal gospel

is more extensively based than the good news of Jesus’ atoning dying. This

message spoken via the angel addresses the essential offense people

commit: failure to renowned God as creator. This primal offense (Genesis 3)

replicates itself in every human heart and ends in our alienation from him

and all others. The Apostle Paul is making the equal factor in Romans while

he says: “. . . for though they knew God, they did now not honor him as God

or supply thanks to him, however they have become futile of their thinking,

and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be clever, they

became fools; and they exchanged the honour of the immortal God for pix

corresponding to a mortal person or birds or four footed animals or reptiles”

(Romans 1:21–23).

Proclaiming the fall of Babylon

A 2d angel publicizes the soon-to-take place crumble of Babylon the

awesome: “Then any other angel, a 2d, followed, announcing, ‘Fallen, fallen

is Babylon the notable! She has made all international locations drink of the

wine of the wrath of her fornication’” (Rev. 14:8). That doesn’t sound like a

completely attractive antique! In chapter 12, we go into greater detail as to

the identity of Babylon. But for now, all you need to know is that Babylon is

not always a literal metropolis but could be a political electricity. here’s a

sampling of the main perspectives on what this angelic message means (for

greater on widespread methods to examine Revelation, see bankruptcy 4):

Literal method: people adhering to a strictly literal method insist that historic

Babylon (which is placed in Iraq) will upward thrust from the wasteland sands

and grow to be the global capital of the Antichrist’s evil empire. Lower back

within the 1990s, whilst Saddam Hussein started recuperation paintings on

the ancient website online of Babylon, prophecy buffs were humming.

Unnecessary to mention, the preliminary enthusiasm has cooled in mild of

extra latest events. Still, some of the faithful maintain to educate that

historical Babylon will actually be rebuilt. Symbolic approach: those holding a

symbolic approach argue that Babylon is more likely to be a code name for

Rome. An apocalyptic work contemporaneous with the ebook of Revelation

makes use of Babylon as a symbolic call for Rome.

In this view, John is encouraging the trustworthy of his day by using

predicting the death of imperial Rome. Futurist method: A reasonably

futuristic technique understands John to be using first-century imperial Rome

as the lens through which to consciousness at the closing strength middle of

the Antichrist. John borrows prophetic language from the vintage testimony

prophet Isaiah that predicts the autumn of historical Babylon for destroying

Jerusalem and the first Temple in 586 B.CE (Isaiah 21:9). John reapplies this

prophecy to Rome of the first century CE God will judge Rome, the new

Babylon, for destroying Jerusalem and the second one Temple in 70 CE It’s

feasible, but, that Rome represents that ultimate Babylon the superb, the

capital of Antichrist’s empire. Where this will be located is, just like the

identity of the Antichrist himself, to be known only at the stop. Proclaiming a

warning with guarantee All who be given the mark of the beast are destined

to enjoy God’s wrath.

There’s in reality no manner to soften this. The third angel can provide a

somber caution that makes this pretty darn clean: “‘people who worship the

beast and its photo, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their arms,

they may additionally drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into

the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulfur inside

the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the

smoke in their torment is going up ad infinitum. There’s no relaxation day or

night time for people who worship the beast and its picture and for anyone

who receives the mark of its name’” (Rev. 14:9–eleven). The imagery

employed for this punishment derives from the antique testament and is

related to undiluted wine, fire, and sulfur — not a delectable combo of

flavors. The first metaphor stresses the efficiency of God’s judgment

(Jeremiah 25:15–16, 51:7), and the second one recalls the devastation of

Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24). What’s mainly hard is the reputedly

never-ending nature of the judgment: “And the smoke of their torment goes

up forever and ever” (Rev 14:11). We appearance greater carefully at this

judgment in chapter thirteen. That’s the horrific news; now the coolest

information: On a brighter notice, the angel ends with a word of exhortation

to the devoted, encouraging them to “preserve rapid to the faith of Jesus”

(Rev. 13:9–10). A voice from heaven affirms this encouragement with a

benediction or beatitude (a blessing): “Blessed are the useless who any

further die in the Lord” (14:13). Who does this voice belong to? Most

probable it’s the voice of Jesus. That is strengthened by using the reality that

the Spirit responds. This is one of those biblical passages that recommend

the threefold nature of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Revelation 14:13 is

the second one of seven beatitudes or benedictions (“Blessed are”)

interspersed for the duration of the e book of Revelation. The others are in

Revelation 1:3, sixteen:15, 19:9, 20:6, and 22:7, 14. Harvesting and the

Grapes of Wrath (14:14–20) A -part, multi-layered, harvest-themed vision

caps off Revelation 14: in the first harvesting, an angel tells someone sitting

on a cloud and maintaining a sickle to reap the harvest of the earth.

In the 2d harvesting, every other angel tells a one-of-a-kind angel

maintaining a sickle to reap grapes, which might be then thrown into a

winepress and trampled. Are those scenes fantastic or bad pics? Or is one

advantageous and the different negative? A majority of commentators agree

that the second one harvesting is a image of divine judgment. Good sized

confrontation, but, surfaces over the nature of the primary harvesting.

Following the harvestings is an image of conflict. Reaping the earth in most

agrarian settings, and in the course of the Bible, harvest time typically

denotes a joyous time of thanksgiving. On this passage of Revelation, but,

what's reaped (that is, to accumulate a crop in by cutting) isn't always corn,

wheat, or any sort of grain. Human beings are reaped. Therefore, a few

interpreters apprehend the reaping imagery as the ingathering (or rapture)

of the church. This view is bolstered via the fact that the one sitting on the

white cloud who does the reaping is stated to appear like “the Son of man,”

which is every other name for Jesus. Jesus’ parable of the sower (Mark 4)

might also provide further assist for this view. Within the parable, a few

“hear the word and be given it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a

hundredfold” (Mark 4:20). Even closer in notion is the parable in which a

farmer sows a area with seeds. In a while, it sprouts and yields ripe grain.

The farmer “goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come” (Mark

4:29). But even nearer yet is John’s narrative of the Samaritan girl in his

Gospel. Jesus says to his disciples, “‘however I inform you, look around you

and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already

receiving wages and is gathering fruit for everlasting life, so that sower and

reaper can also have fun together’” (John four:35–36). Now not incredibly,

then, some expositors take a positive view of the primary harvesting of the

earth. Treading the grapes (of wrath) the second one harvesting involves

gathering after which stomping on symbolic grapes. The grape vintage is

commonly some other joyous occasion in biblical times.

The whole family might take part with singing and games even as crushing

the grapes barefoot within the wine press. But in a few passages, treading

grapes serves as a terrifying metaphor of God’s judgment. In reality, John

appears to borrow the imagery from Isaiah 63:1–6. There, in a startling

phrase picture, the prophet describes the Lord’s coming upon the land of

Judah bedecked in clothes stained crimson. Whilst requested why his royal

robes are red, he replies, “i've trodden the wine press on my own . . . I trod

them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their juice spattered on

my clothes, and stained all my robes. For the day of vengeance turned into

in my coronary heart, and the 12 months for my redeeming paintings had

come. . . . I trampled down peoples in my anger, I crushed them in my wrath,

and i poured out their lifeblood on earth.” most probable, then, the picture of

squeezing out the juice, like blood, vividly conveys another image of God’s

wrath poured out on unbelievers all through the first-rate Tribulation. War-

spilled blood as excessive as a bridle chapter 14 ends with a grisly one-

sentence depiction of death: “Blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a

horse’s bridle, for a distance of approximately hundred miles” (Rev. 14:20).

This is every other dramatic image that most commentators don’t take

actually. Several debts of historic battles employ hyperbole so that it will

impress upon the reader the enormity of the lack of lifestyles. Josephus in his

epic The Jewish battle is a prime example. Similar exaggeration appears in

Jewish money owed of the fall of Bar Kokhba’s citadel to the Romans in a

hundred thirty five CE (Bar Kokhba was the chief of the second rebellion

towards Rome [132–135 CE]and declared to be the Messiah with the aid of

Rabbi Akiva). It appears possibly that John is using hyperbole to describe his

vision as well. Having stated that, don’t minimize the primary factor —

namely, the colossal lack of lifestyles. Word that the wine press is trodden

“out of doors the metropolis” (Rev. 14:20). What metropolis? Does John

mean Babylon the great, whose disintegrate him extra absolutely describes

in Revelation 18? Or does he imply Jerusalem, wherein the 2 witnesses

ministered? Possibly his way Babylon the exceptional, a code name for Rome

and the lens thru which John tasks the closing imperial city of the beast.