Chapter 1 Introduction
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
Back in the 1960s a group of us met weekly in our homes in Kingston upon Hull to engage in extra Bible-study. We selected six Books of Scripture as a short list for our first enterprise, and held a ballot, giving 6 votes to the Book of our first choice, and so downwards. The votes were then added up, and we committed ourselves to accepting the highest total as the Book for study. Revelation was one of the candidates and it was nobody's first choice: we all felt that we would rather not study it, not just yet at least. But conscience made many of us give it second choice, and so, since there was no unanimity about our first choices, the accumulation of the 5-votes caused this Book to romp home an easy winner.
So for three years or so we went through the Book of Revelation, making it our aim to let the Book itself lead us, rather than commentaries about it. The result was beyond all measure rewarding, for the present author at least. Then tales of our conclusions got around, and addresses followed. So very many people said something like, "All that history we were supposed to know, as well as the complicated symbols in Revelation itself, put me off up to now, but at least the Book now means something to me", that repeated requests to put something into writing, as well as on tape as hitherto, had ultimately to be accepted.
Another four years, this time between 1973 and 1977, saw the First Edition of "Apocalypse for Everyman" come out in 18 parts, produced on various typewriters in various places, duplicated on various machines, and containing various typographical peculiarities. Only about 50 or so people were on the subscription list at first, but numbers grew rapidly, and by the time the last stencils were worn out beyond reuse something like 700 copies were in circulation. And still the demand continued, and a new edition was the only way to meet it.
This volume is the result. The Book has been completely rewritten, and considerably enlarged. The conclusions of the First Edition have survived a good deal of criticism, most of it given in a spirit, of great goodwill. They have found increasingly wide acceptance as their biblical basis has been examined. The uncertainties to which confession was made in the First Edition for the most part remain; the reason is the same as it was then: the Book bears its own witness to being very largely concerned with the closing days before the Lord's return, and it is simply not possible to be dogmatic about the details of prophecies yet awaiting fulfillment. "
In the First Edition an attempt was made to let the book, and the Book, speak for themselves without referring to other publications or other opinions more than was strictly unavoidable. However, the comparisons have of course been rnade, and it would be artificial to purport to ignore the fact. "As a result, comparisons have deliberately been made with the Continuous-Historic point of view, as it is called. The backward look at history which is characteristic of that point of view has been examined in some detail, mainly on the basis of historical notes kindly produced by my historian cousin, James B. Norris. To him goes the first of the grateful acknowledgements of help received. The words in which his historical critiques are expressed are largely his own, but some compression and selection has been made, so the responsibility for what appears is squarely mine.
One reason for the inclusion of this historical aspect is a defensive one. Since it is inherent in this work that there should be uncertainties with regard to future events, it is evidently open to damaging comparison with works on a continuous-historic basis, unless it can be shown that this basis, too, has its uncertainties or worse. If that can be shown — as readers will see it has — then the present exposition would be still in the field for careful consideration on its own merits.
It is unfortunate that some critics have chosen to make comparisons, not between the teaching of this book and Scripture, but between its teachings and those of other religious communities. There was no occasion for this, and it is not a profitable approach. The conclusions reached here owe most of all — far and away most of all — to the Bible itself. They owe something to insights on the Bible's message offered by other writers in our own community. (They owe nothing whatever to opinions expressed by others. And even if they did, the same is true of the Continuous-Historic approach, for in the middle years of the 19th century this was the prevailing approach in non-catholic circles, and it is impossible to ignore the contributions, say, of Joseph Mede and of E. B. Elliott, to the broad lines of exposition adopted in the writings of John Thomas, Robert Roberts, C. C. Walker, Joseph Hadley, and W. H. Barker and W. H. Boulton. There is, of course, original thinking in these works also, particularly those of the first-named, but it would be vain to pretend that the broad historical base of any of these works sprang only from these authors, with only their Bibles in hand. Nor is there anything discreditable in using the researches of others to provide the facts we need. We all do it when we read the Bible in translation, or when we use a Concordance or a Lexicon, and for most of us it is indispensable. But this does mean that anything any of us writes is subject to charitable analysis as to its correctness, without anyone saying or thinking unkind things about the motives of the writer .
In fact the conclusions of the present work are very conservative in matters of doctrine. On such matters as the nature of man and the Persons of our God and His Son, the nature of the tempter, the time of the judgments revealed in Scripture, the identities of the classes who will stand to be judged, and the events which will bring the Millennium to a close I have found, without any conscious effort to prejudge the case in either direction, that our accepted doctrinal basis stands up well to a rather searching examination of itself, and of the objections raised against it. And this gives opportunity to express gratitude to our forbears in the faith who led us so securely on the right doctrinal road..
Where differences between the author and his readers do exist, though, I am content to be shown where I am mistaken. I must hope that this is mutual. But we must all bear in mind that our views about the Apocalypse do not bind the divine Author of the Book. He knows what it means in its every detail, and it could be-no pleasure to Him if we were to insist on jour own rightness without stopping to think that whereas we do make mistakes, and in the interpretation of prophecy have made many, He makes none. As a man who surely made many mistakes of his own wrote toll community which was equally fallible, "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken" . Before the same high Judge we must in all meekness do the same
This book is offered to meet a real need. I am humbly glad that the encouragement to write it has come from many who have felt their need partly, if only partly, met by its earlier First Edition.
Now to the remaining acknowledgements. The writings of those mentioned above have afforded real help even when, inevitably, their conclusions were not accepted. Sheila Harris helped greatly in checking Greek and marking misprints in the First Edition. A special word of thanks is due to the printer of this new edition. My wife Sylvia has done splendid work with indexes in addition to all her other ministerings. Anne Taberner of New Zealand helped with the Scripture index during a not-so-ill-wind convalescence in our home. Supporters of the enterprise in countless practical ways, including distribution work and economic help, would not wish to be named but should be assured that they are not forgotten. But to any who have helped and really have been overlooked —and there are sure to be come — twinned thanks and apologies are offered now.
In acknowledging help from above, in such matters as adequate health, a comfortable place to work and the time — however pressed — to spend on it, and all His other blessings; and in committing such a work as this into His hands that He might use it for good and shield it from any other outcome, the author has the uncomfortable feeling — as he does when other people make similar acknowledgements, throughout the whole spectrum of religious thinking—that he might seem to claiming that God is on his side. This is not his intention; something of his need for mercy and grace is apparent even to the author himself.
But the thanksgiving must be expressed, with the prayer for blessing too, for all that.
North Cave
4 February 1981
Alfred Norris
THE BOOK TELLS ITS OWN STORY
A Play in 10 Acts
It would defeat the purpose of this Commentary to attempt to lay down in advance the Plan of the Apocalypse. It was not the way in which the conclusions were reached by the author, and it would not be fair to the reader, who is to be encouraged to think for himself, to attempt to formulate in advance the conclusions to which he is expected to come. A book of symbol lends itself admirably to being retold on its own terms, as a drama in precis, and when the precis has been read, it is as though the reader had himself gone through the Book of Revelation with an unbiased mind, seeing it as a whole, and yet ready to go back to the beginning for instruction. It is just possible that expository ideas will filter through into the telling of the story, but this will be avoided as far as possible, and admitted if recognized.
1 PROLOGUE: 1.1-8
Scene: The island of Patmos, 40 miles S.W. of Ephesus. John's place of exile on account of the faith.
Characters: John; the angel of the Lord Jesus.
Action: The angel brings John a message concerning things to come, which is to be passed on to John's fellow-believers, with a blessing for those who read and hearken. John sends his own greetings to the Seven Congregations, and his assurance that Jesus would return in triumph to the earth.
2 ACT 1, SCENE 1: 1.9-20
Scene: The same. In John's mind, though, the scene is transformed into a Holy Place of Tabernacle or Temple, with seven golden lampstands in it.
Characters: John, presumably the angel in mute attendance, and a glorious Being called "One like to the Son of man" (1.11).
The appearance of the Latter is that He was (i) clothed with a full-length robe; (ii) girt with a golden girdle; and that He had (iii) eyes of flame; (iv) feet of polished brass; (v) a voice like many waters; (vi) seven stars in His hand; (vii) a two-edged sword proceeding from His mouth; (viii) a face shining like the sun.
Action: John falls senseless to the ground. The glorious Being raises Him and announces Himself as (i) the First and the Last; (ii) the Living One Who was dead; (iii) the Possessor of the keys of death and of Hades. He then instructs John to write the description of what he has just seen, of existing things (the state of things in the Seven Congregations?), and the future things which are about to be disclosed to him (1.19). He is told that the Seven Stars are the 'angels' of the Seven Congregations, while the Seven Larnpstands are the Congregations themselves (1.20).
3 ACT 1, SCENE 2 (2.1-3.22)
Scene: The same. Characters: The same.
Action: John writes successive messages to the Seven Congregations, in the geographically clockwise order of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. With each message the Glorious One describes Himself in terms of some of the characteristics listed under Act 1, Scene 1.
4 ACT 2, SCENE 1 (4.1-11) Scene: A heavenly Most Holy Place (in John's vision 'in spirit')
Characters: An exalted Person, called the Creator of all (4.11), sitting on a throne and surrounded by a rainbow; 24 other thrones with 24 elders seated on them, surrounding the principal throne. The elders are clad in white and have stephanoi on their heads. Seven lamps burn before the throne. A glassy sea before the throne is occupied by four Living Creatures with eyes fore and aft, resembling respectively lion, calf, man, and flying eagle.
Action: The four Living Creatures cry round the clock to the praises of the Lord God Almighty, and the 24 Elders fall down in worship before Him Who, as Creator, is worthy of aL honour.
5 ACT 2, SCENE 2 (5.1-14) Scene: The same.
Characters: The same, with the addition of "the Lamb as it had been killed" (5.6), and of many angels (5.11), and a chorus of all creation (5.13).
Action: John sees a book in the hands of the Creator, and weeps because a search throughout the universe fails to find anyone qualified to open it. His tears are assuaged, however, when one of the Elders speaks of "the Lion of Judah" as having overcome and being fitted to open the book (5.4). Whereupon he sees the "Lamb as it had been slain" present in the midst (5.6), Who takes the book, and thereupon receives the adoration of the Living Creatures and Elders (5.8), who present to Him the prayers of the saints in the form of incense, and speak of the redeeming by Him of saints of all nations (5.10). Upon this the angelic host and all creation join to sing His praises.
ACT 3 (6.1-17)
Scene: The same. But from the heavenly vantage point John sees events unfold on the earth below, on which, therefore, attention is concentrated.
Characters: The Lamb, the four Living Creatures, four horsemen with their horses on the earth, dead persons under the altar in heaven; people of all kinds on the earth.
Action: The Lamb opens the First Seal, and white horse with . bowman enters the scene on earth; then the Second Seal, resulting in a red horse and its rider appearing; then the Third Seal, resulting in a black horse, mounted by a rider with a balance; then the Fourth Seal, resulting in a pale horse mounted by death and accompanied by Hades.
On the opening of the Fifth Seal, John sees in heaven dead martyrs under the altar, hears their cry for vindication, sees them given each a white robe, and hears the promise that, after a further trial for living saints, their hopes will soon be realised.
The Sixth Seal ushers in a scene of portents in the heavenly bodies, chaps in heaven and among mountains and islands, and terror among people of all classes on the earth at the pending"outpouring of the anger of God and the Lamb on the earth. The scene fades out on this note of imminent disaster to the existing world.
6 ACT 4 (7.1-17)
Scene: The same heavenly temple. Angels holding winds which will soon be allowed to blow in judgement on the earth.
Characters: The angel with the seal of God, a great multitude of people; angels, Elders, and Living Creatures.
Action: John hears 144,000 persons sealed, 12,000 from each of the tribes of Israel, counting Ephraim in addition to Joseph (Manasseh?), but omitting Dan. Then he sees a countless multitude from initiations, standing before the throne and the Lamb. The Elders and Living Creatures resume their praises, and one of the Elders explains to John that the great multitude consists of those who have withstood the 'great tribulation' (7.14), and profited from the redemption procured through the blood of the Lamb. They are therefore allowed to dwell in God's temple and in the praises round the clock (7.15),and will never hunger nor thirst nor sorrow, for they will always be in the company of the Lamb."
6 ACT 5, SCENE 1 (8.1-9.21) •
Scene: The same, but with the same downward look to the earth as characterized Act 3.
Characters: The Lamb; seven angels carrying Seven Trumpets;
an angel who carries a censer of incense; a flying eagle. f)
Action: The Lamb opens the Seventh Seal, and half an hour's silence issues in the preparation to sound the Seven Trumpets, before which incense is offered together with the prayers of the saints, and the same angel who offered the incense then throws fire from the golden altar of incense on the earth, to the accompaniment of voices, thunders, lightnings, and an earthquake (8.1-5).
At the sounding of the First Trumpet, hail, fire, and blood are poured on the earth, one third of which and whose trees, and all its grass, are burned up. The Second Trumpet causes a burning mountain to fall into the sea, a third of which becomes blood, and a third of whose life and shipping was destroyed. The Third Trumpet causes a star to be cast on the rivers and fountains, a third part of which becomes bitter. With the Fourth Trumpet a third part of the heavenly bodies is darkened.
The eagle then flies across heaven promising three Woes on the inhabitants of the earth on account of the remaining three Trumpets.
With the Fifth Trumpet John sees a star fall from heaven to earth, and open the pit of the abyss, from which smoke and locusts emerge, whose task is to torment those who have not been sealed by God (7.1-17). The locusts resemble battle-horses adorned with golden stephanoi, with men's faces, women's hair, lions' teeth; they are as though clad with iron breastplates; they sound like hosts of chariots, and they havt tormenting stings. Their leader is called in Hebrew Abaddon and in Greek Apollyon, both signifying Destroyer. The Sixth Trumpet, which is the Second Woe, leads to its angel being told to release the four angels bound at Euphrates (9.14), with power to kill a third part of men, commanding an army numbering, so John heard, 200,000>000. The horses in this company had heads of lions, and fire, smoke and brimstone issued from their mouths; they also had tails terminating in serpents' heads. The remainder of men, who survived this slaughter, did not repent (9.20).
7 ACTS, SCENE 2 (10.1-11) Scene: The earth. Characters: An angel descending, clothed in a cloud, with a
rainbow on his head, a face bright as the sun, and feet as
pillars of fireijohnjimself.
Action: The angel, carrying a little book, puts his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the earth, and as he cries Seven Thunders speak, but John is not permitted to record their message (10.4).
The angel swears by the Creator that "there shall be time no longer", and that the Seventh Trumpet will complete the fulfillment of the good tidings revealed in prophets and gospel (10.7). He then tells John to take and eat the little book and, as he says will be, it was sweet to his taste but bitter in his inward parts. John is then told that he must prophesy again over many nations.
8 ACTS, SCENES (11.1-14) Scene: The earth; temple, outer court, and a great city.
Characters: John, Two Witnesses, The Beast from the Abyss; peoples from all nations, the voice of a heavenly Being.
Action: John is himself asked to measure the temple-proper, but to leave unmeasured its outer court (11.2) which is to be in possession of Gentiles for 42 months. The rest of the action is prophesied rather than witnessed, but in the course of it the •Two Witnesses preach for 1260 days dressed in mourning clothing. They are also described as two olive trees and two lampstands standing before the Lord of the earth (11.4). They are granted miraculous powers to defend themselves against their enemies, including a devouring fire from their mouths, the power to cause total drought, and to turn waters into blood, and the ability to produce plagues as often as they wish (11.5-6).
At the end of their witness, however, their protection ceases, and they are killed by the Beast which is to come out of the Abyss (11.7) and wage war against them. Their corpses lie in the street of the great city described spiritually as Sodom and Egypt, where Jesus was crucified, to the general rejoicing of many people of all nations, who make spectacle of the bodies for 3 ½ days (11.9-10).
At the end of this period, however, the Witnesses rise from the ground and, quickened by breath of life from God, stand on their feet to the fear of those around, and are bidden by the great voice ascend to heaven. This they do and are lost to sight in a cloud as their enemies watch. At this very moment an earthquake shakes the city, 7,000 people die, and the remainder submit to God.
9 ACTS, SCENE 4 (11.15-19) Scene: The earth viewed from heaven.
Characters: The 24 Elders, great voices of unseen Persons, the Seventh Angel.
Action: The Seventh Trumpet is blown. The heavenly voices announce the imminent establishment of the kingdom of God to replace that of men. God's power is about to be shown; the wrath of the nations is about to be quelled by the mightier wrath of God; the dead are about to be judged and the faithful of all ages rewarded, and the rebels are about to be destroyed. At the end of the scene the heavenly temple is seen open, with the Ark of God's covenant and portents of coming disaster.
8 ACT 6, SCENE 1 (12.1-17)
Scene: Heaven, yet not the immediate proximity of the throne of God as shown in Act 2. Once again the earth is seen from the heavenly vantage point, so events on earth are also included.
Characters: A woman clothed with the sun, her feet on the moon, a stephanos of 12 stars on her head; she is about (o give birth to a child. The child when born. A red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with diadems on his heads. Michael and his angels. A great voice from a heavenly Being. The spiritual followers of the woman.
Action: The dragon casts down one third of the stars of heaven. He waits the delivery of the Child so that he can devour it, but it is snatched from his grasp to the heavenly region of God on His throne. The woman flees to a prepared place in the wilderness. The dragon is cast out of heaven with his angels after losing a war in heaven against Michael and his angels, to the accompaniment of voices of triumph that salvation has been achieved by his expulsion (12.10). Meanwhile the earth is to be troubled by the wrath of the dragon who has only a short time left (12.12).
Having been cast down, the dragon persecutes the woman by casting a flood of waters from its mouth. She flies away with the wings of an eagle, and the earth swallows up the Hood to help her. Her sojourn in the wilderness lasts for 1260 days (12.13-15,6).
Failing to destroy the woman, the dragon makes war with the remnant of her spiritual offspring, which keep the commandments of God and the witness of Jesus.
9 ACT 6, SCENE 2 (13.1-18) Scene: The earth, by the sea-shore.
Characters: The Dragon; the Beast from the Sea; saints; the Beast from the earth; the nations of the earth, branded with the name and number of the Beast.
Action: The Dragon stands by the seashore awaiting the coming of the Beast from the Sea. When it emerges it is like a leopard, but with characteristics also of hear and lion. It has seven heads, and seven horns bearing diadems. One of its heads is wounded, and miraculously healed, so that the world is lost in wonder, worshipping both Beast and Dragon (13.3-4). The Beast blasphemes against God, and during a period of 42 months wages successful war against the saints (13.5,7). AH' except those inscribed in the Book of Life worship him, but are warned of retribution if they engage in its persecutions (13.8).
The Beast arising from the earth has lamb-like horns but dragon-like speech, and acts as plenipotentiary for the earlier Beast, demanding worship for it, and working miracles in support of his campaign, making a talking image of the Beast. Those who do not worship the image are to be killed. Those who are not branded with the name or number (666) of the Beast lose their rights to buy or sell.'
10 ACT 7, SCENE 1 (14.1-20)
Scene: Mount Zion; heaven with angelic reapers; the earth in the process of being reaped.
Characters: The Lamb; the 144,000; angels; a sickle-bearer on a cloud; an angel bearing a sickle coming from the heavenly temple; another angel from the altar.
Action: The Lamb stands on Mount Zion with the 144,000 redeemed, who learn a new song which none but they can know.
An angel announces the imminence of the day of judgement (14.6), and another that of the fall of Babylon (14.8). A third warns against receiving the tokens of the Beast (14.9), for whom endless torment is prepared.
A promise is given that those who die for their faith in the period which follows will have peace (awaiting the day of resurrection to blessing). The occupant of a white cloud is bidden by an angel to reap the earth with his sickle, and does sc (14.16). A further reaper gathers in the harvest of the earth's vineyard (14.17-20).
11 ACT 7, SCENE 2 (15.1-8)
Scene: Heaven. The temple of the tabernacle of the testimony opened.
Characters: Seven angels carrying the seven last plagues; the saints who have withstood the Beast, bearing harps. The Living Creatures.
Action: On a sea of glass mingled with fire the saints who have gotten victory over the Beast sing the Song of Moses and of the Lamb. The seven angels bearing the plagues emerge from the temple, being given their vials by one of the Living Creatures. The temple is filled with smoke, and no one is allowed access until the seven plagues are ended.
12 ACT 7, SCENES (16.1-21)
Scene: The heavenly temple, but once more with a downward glance to events produced on the earth.
Characters: The angels bearing the vials; men bearing the brand of the Beast.
Action: A voice bids the angels pour out their Vials. The first is poured on the earth, and produces boils on the worshippers of the Beast (16.2). The third is poured into the sea, which becomes blood, and all its creatures die (16.3). The third is poured into rivers and fountains, whose drinking water becomes blood (16.4-7). The fourth is poured on the sun, which scorches men on the earth who, however, decline to repent (16.9). The fifth is poured on the seat of the Beast, and produces darkness and pain, but results only in impenitence and blasphemy. The sixth is poured on the river Euphrates whose waters dry up, and evil spirits from Dragon, Beast, and False Prophet (the Beast of the Earth, 13.11) gather the nations to war against God at Har Magedon.
The seventh is poured into the air, and unheard of portents, accompanied by the breaking of "the great city" into three parts, and the total dissolution of the entire terrestrial system, herald the final crisis and the victory of God over evil (16.17-21).
13 ACT 8, SCENE 1 (17.1-.L8) ,.• Scene: The wilderness.
Characters: A Harlot mounted on the scarlet Beast with seven heads and ten horns. Ten kingdoms represented by the horns.
Action: John is taken by one of the angels with Vials to see the judgement of the great Harlot sitting on many waters. He goes to the wilderness and finds her seated on the Scarlet Beast, gorgeous but repulsively arrayed, and bearing names of Blasphemy and Babylon. She is drunk with the blood of martyrs. The heads of the Beast on which she sits represent seven mountains. The heads also denote seven 'kings' of which John is told five have passed, the sixth exists, the seventh is yet to come for a brief time, and then be succeeded by the eighth, the phase which will finally be destroyed and consigned to 'perdition' (17.11). The horns will wage war under the Beast against the Lamb (17.13-14), but not before they have utterly destroyed the Harlot (17.16-18).
14 ACTS, SCENE 2 (18.1-24)
Scene: Heaven, but looking down on earth at the scene of the destruction of Babylon.
Characters:Angels, the peoples of the earth, and the people of God.
Action: An angel comes from heaven and announces the fall of Babylon, and distress among all peoples of the world because of it. The people of God are bidden come out, so that they shall not be involved in its terrors (18.4). The smoke of the burning Babylon is seen. An angel throws a millstone into the sea as a symbol of the violence with which Babylon will be overthrown, and pronounces its perpetual desolation.
15 ACTS, SCENES (19.1-10)
Scene: Heaven. The marriage feast of the Lamb.
Characters: A great multitude; saints, depicted as the Bride of the Lamb; an angel; John himself.
Action: The destruction of the harlot (19.2, cf. 17.1), and of Babylon (19.3, cf. 18.18), evidently two names for the same subject, is celebrated in heaven by the heavenly multitude,
the four Living Creatures and the 24 Elders (see Act 2). The emergence of the Bride, purified by her tribulations, is announced, with a blessing for those invited to the marriage supper. John seeks to worship the angel but is restrained.
16 ACTS, SCENE 4 (19.11-20.3)
Scene: Characters from heaven emerging to come to earth.
Characters: One called Faithful and True mounted on a white horse, bearing on His head many diadems and clad in a garment dipped in blood. Armies of men dressed in white following Him. The Beast and associated kings and the False Prophet and their followers. Angels; the Dragon.
Action: The armies gain their victory over the Beast and his associated powers, and he and the False Prophet and their committed followers are destroyed in the Lake of Fire. The Dragon is taken and bound in the Abyss for 1000 years.
17 ACT 9, SCENE 1 (20.4-6)
Scene: The judgement seat. ' •
Characters: Judges on thrones, the saints of the two classes named in 6.9-11.
Action: The saints are judged worthy and given their reward, to life and reigning with Christ 1000 years, during which no other resurrection occurs.
18 ACT 9, SCENE 2 (20.7-15)
Scene: The earth. A Judgement Seat.
Characters: The Dragon, the nations (Gog and Magog), the saints in their camp; the Judge on a Great White Throne; the resurrected dead.
Action: The Dragon is released and stirs the nations to rebellion. They besiege the camp of the saints, but are devoured by fire from heaven. The Dragon is cast into the Lake of Fire. All the dead are raised and judged. The unworthy, and the death and Hades which have cursed mankind, are cast into the Lake of Fire. Those written in the Book of Life go to their reward.
19 ACT 10 (21.1 - 22.5)
Scene: The New Jerusalem
Characters: John, God on His throne,angels, the Lamb, the saints.
Action: John sees a new heaven and earth. New Jerusalem comes down from heaven, pictured as a Bride (21.2,9); and also as a richly adorned city of enormous size (21.16), which John sees descending as he stands on an exceedingly high mountain (21.10). The city has no temple, and needs no external light, nor does it experience night and day. A river of life flows from the throne (22.1), with the Tree of Life on both sides (22.2). The saints of God dwell in the city perpetually, and from it all curse is removed.
20 EPILOGUE (22.6-21)
The Lord Jesus announces that He will return quickly (22.7,20). John is moved to offer worship to the angel through whom the revelations have been given (22.8), but is prevented. The visions given are to be kept open "for the time is at hand" (22.10). At that time there will be no further opportunity for repentance (22.11). Those who heed the warnings of the Book will be allowed access to the Tree of Life (22.14), but all others will be excluded (22.15). The promised Heir to the throne of David has given these messages (22.16). The Holy Spirit has confirmed them, and the potential Bride must proclaim them (22.17).
The revelation must not be tampered with, by adding or removing. To do either will be to incur loss of the blessing of life, and affliction by the evils which the Book threatens on the enemies of God.
All join in the plea that the Lord will soon return, and, as in more conventional Letters, John concludes by invoking the grace of God on all the saints.
Apocalypse For Everyman
CHAPTER I
THE ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF THE BOOK (1.1-3)
1.1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him to show to His bondservants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel to His bondservant John,
1.2 .. who bore witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus and of all things that he saw.
1.3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep the things written therein; for the time is at hand.
This is a very detailed chain of transmission: GOD — JESUS CHRIST — HIS ANGEL — HIS BONDSERVANT JOHN — (HE THAT READETH) — THEY THAT HEAR AND KEEP. There is some doubt as to whether those who render "he that readeth aloud" for the penultimate link in that chain are right, for although the verb anaginosko is indeed associated with reading aloud in Luke 4.16; Acts 8.28-30; 13.27; 14.21;Colossians 4.16; 1 Thessalonians 5.27; it is the context rather than the word itself which tells us so. The word is the only one rendered 'read' in the New Testament, and the remainder of its 33 occurrences clearly have no suggestion that reading aloud is any part of their meaning. Exactly the same form of the verb occurs in Matthew 24. f 5, Mark 13.14 ("he that readeth, let him understand"), where there can be no question of understanding being restricted to the public lector. So we must regard the rendering "reading aloud" of RSV, Moffatt, AB, NWT, and no doubt other modern translations, as being somewhat fanciful. It is a little difficult to understand why special blessings should be invoked on the actual public lector in any case, and the difference between the singular of "he that readeth" and the plural of "they that keep" can be well understood on the assumption that the Lord Jesus is simply quoting His own earlier saying about the reader before going on to make it plain that every one who hears the message is involved in its import. Perhaps we could render the sense as "Blessed is each one who reads, and blessed are all they who hear, the words of this prophecy."
In any case, "hear" has a much deeper meaning than merely to apprehend sounds. The common word for 'hear', akoud, though so rendered in effect on almost all its 433 or so occurences,
obviously on many occasions means something like "attend to and act upon", as we can see from such expressions as:
Whoever shall not receive you nor hear your words (Matthew (10.14); He that hath ears to hear, let him hear (11.15 ); Lest they should hear with their ears and understand (13.15); Hear and understand (15.10), —
among many others. But, that minor uncertainty at the end of the chain apart, the remainder of the chain is impressive.
As always in Scripture, though by no means always outside Scripture, God, that is the One whom in the New Testament we come to know as the Father, is placed first in the hierarchy of authority. All knowledge and all purpose flows from Him, and to Him all, including His own best-beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord, are subject. In fact, the revelation "which God gave to Jesus" not only appropriates the title 'God' as belonging primarily to the Father, but also indicates that it has pleased the Father to repair an earlier lack in the knowledge of His Son. When the Lord Jesus had been asked about the future in the days of His flesh He had needed to reply: "Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only (Matthew 24.36, RV ). Now God, in giving Him this complete revelation, has no doubt committed all knowledge to the Son as surely as He has committed all power- to Him (Matthew 28.19). Yet for all this the Son remains the Father's second-in-command in all things. God gives Him the revelation, and no doubt the charge to transmit it, and the angel who goes at the Son's command goes because "it has pleased the Father that in the Son all fulness should dwell" (Colossians 1.19). Even when it is the duty of every man to bow the knee to the risen and glorified Lord, and even when men actually come to do what it is their duty to do, it remains and will remain that all will be received "to the glory of God, the Father" (Philippians 2.11). No Book surpasses the Revelation, as we shall see, in the honour and titles which it bestows on the Son of God: but no Book makes it plainer that all this honour is derived from, and rendered again to, the God who became Father when He begot Him.
He sent and signified it.
The Book of Revelation is obviously a Book of symbol. From the glorious Being with head like wool, eves like flaming fire, and feet like burnished brass, as \ve are about to encounter Him in this chapter, to the grotesque beast with seven heads and ten horns, with traits drawn from leopard, bear and lion, whom we meet later (13.1-2), the dramatis personae are visionary creatives conveying truth in acted metaphor rather than actual living beings.
This is perfectly obvious on the face of it, and needs no support from the word "signified".
Yet this word has been pressed into service in such a cause, as though "signified" had to be understood as meaning "conveyed by sign or symbol". But this is in all probability not the case. The verb (semaino) occurs only here and in John 12.33; 18.32; 21.19; Acts 11.28; 25.27. In these Jesus "signifies by what death He should die" in terms of being "lifted up", or by what death Peter will glorify God, in terms of being bound and carried unwillingly away; or a prophet "signifies" (or communicates) by inspiration that a drought was to come on the world; or Festus wonders how he will "signify" (again communicate) the charges laid against Paul who is to be committed to trial before Caesar. None of these has the slightest connection with symbolism such as this Book contains. The corresponding noun, semeion occurs 77 times translated 'sign' or 'miracle', or more rarely 'token' or 'wonder': but on none of these occasions is the idea of symbolism any part of its meaning. The Book is one whose message the Lord Jesus communicates plainly through His angel, and it does contain many elaborate symbols. But it is the idea of plain communication, and not that of symbolism, which is conveyed in the word rendered "signified".
By His angel.
There are a number of occasions in this Book where one angel in particular stands in attendance on the Lord or on His servant (1.1; 5.2;7.2; 8.3-5; 8.13; 10.1,5,8-10; 11.1; 14.6,8,9, 15, 17, 18, 19; 17.7; 18.1; 18.21; 19.17; 20.1, 17; 22.6, 8, 16), and though these cannot be in every case the same angel, it is tempting to speculate that the angel who appeared to John in the first and last chapters might be one and the same with that mighty being who represented God before the children of Israel in the wilderness.
The case for the existence of such an angel is, of course, strong. In fact the RevisedVersion constantly renders (mat' ahh y:howah) as'V/if angel of the Lord" when the words are not linked, and as "an angel of the Lord" when they are joined by maqqeph ( a kind of Hebrew hyphen), though this point is entirely disregarded in the Greek Old Testament. There are clear occasions, though, when, in spite of the fact that it is an angel which is present, the word spoken are said to have come directly from the LORD, so that God is evidently manifesting Himself and giving instruction to His people through His special angel. There are numerous examples of this in the Old Testament, such as Exodus 23.20, 23 referred to later in Isaiah 63.9, but even on these occasions it is going beyond the certain evidence to affirm that it is necessarily
the same angel on every occasion. Any angel sent out on a divine mission is clearly for the occasion "the angel of the Lord", just as any royal delegate would be "the messenger of the king".
In the New Testament, in any case, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is so uniquely the supreme Intermediary between God and man that He is Himself "the angel of the covenant Whom we delight in" (Malachi 3.1), that it is not to His honour to speculate extravagantly as to the identity of the angel through whom He carries out His revealing work. All angels are subject to Him, and any of them would gladly have obeyed His command to communicate with John in Patmos.
This angel in particular is given nothing of the majesty and terror attaching to "the angel of His presence" in Isaiah 63.9. The office of the risen Lord Jesus Himself might be thought to render all such lesser mediation needless. Indeed, when John is moved to offer reverence to this angel, he is gently rebuked with the humble words, "See thou do it not: I am a fellow servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them that keep the words of this Book. Worship God." (22.9)
1.2: The word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
John, who receives the message from the angel, bears witness to this Word and this Testimony. It might at first seem that this simply means, "John passed on the message he received", but it must be more than this. Similar expressions are found in 1.9; 6.9; and 20.4. In the first of these John explains that he is a prisoner in Patmos because of his witness to these things; in the second we are introduced to the saints who have died for their witness to these same things; and in the third those who have so died rise to receive their reward at the hands of their Judge. It follows therefore that John is telling us is that he was a witness to the whole counsel of God, and not only to this present Apocalypse, and that this was the reason why he suffered, and why others later were to die. The witness of John included the transmission of the Apocalypse certainly, but it was also the witness of the life he lived personally, in the fulfillment of the faith he held.
1.1: Things which must shortly come to pass.
This presents all expositors of the Apocalypse with a problem. On any showing the ultimate purpose of the Book to lead us to the second coming of the Lord has not been fulfilled quickly. The expression rendered 'shortly' is en takhei 'with speed', and occurs also in Acts 12.7; 22.18; 25.4; Luke 18.8; Romans 16.20; and Revelation 22.6. In the first three of these the idea is certainly 'without delay', but in Luke 18.8 we have the promise based on the Parable of the Unjust Judge that God will speedily avenge His suffering saints, coupled with a clear statement that the time will not in fact be short ("though He tarry long with them", or "and He is longsuffering over them"); while in Romans the promise that "the God of peace will bruise Satan under your feet shortly" is one which was also to stand for a long time before it would be finally fulfilled. The passage in Luke is the most helpful for our understanding of the expression in Revelation. God does not delay, and "is not slack concerning His promise" (2 Peter 3.9); the vision does not tarry, but must be waited for "though it tarry long" (Habakkuk 2.3). The Apocalypse itself provides for a considerable period of time before the travail of the servants of God will be rewarded (6.10), and yet Jesus promises: "Behold, I come quickly" (3.11; 22.7, 12, 20). No doubt we are being told that the Lord will come without avoidable delay; we may also be told that, when He does come He will come at lightning speed, "as the lightning from one end of the heaven shineth to the other part under heaven" (Luke 17.24).
The meaning may also be that the earliest events with which the Book opens are on the doorstep. If (though this is a view to which the present writer is not committed) the Book was written at a date before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70, and so this event is one of its themes, then such happenings, which would be imminent when the Book reached tts readers, would give an urgent meaning both to the events shortly to occur, and to the coming of the Lord which they prefigured, which would make the first fulfillment of its promises very speedy indeed. And if this view is not substantiated, some of the prophecies given to the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3 (such as 2.10) could obviously not have been far away. And the understanding of chapter 6 which will be developed in this work shows that there have been experiences throughout the present dispensation which were shortly to begin to come to pass when John received his revelation, whether this was a little before 70, or a little before 100 as is usually supposed.
What part did the angel play ?
We might have almost supposed, from the words that Jesus "sent and signified it by His angel", that the messenger was sent with a complete version of the Apocalypse in his lips, which John could simply take down to dictation. But this is obviously not the case. Throughout the Book John is reporting his own actual experiences as he receives the message. He was "in spirit" and saw a vision of the Lord in glory (1.10). He wrote the messages to the seven churches to dictation, indeed, but it was to the dictation of the Lord Whom he saw in vision (1.11) rather than to that of the angel; and immediately afterwards he reports that he was taken
in the spirit into heaven (4.2), where he saw a vision of glory, and witnessed the opening of the sealed book (6.1). He underwent in his experiences the eating of the book in the hand of the angel (10.10), and experienced in his senses its sweetness and its bitterness. The frequent repetition of "I saw" and "I heard" and "He showed me" reveals John as an active participant in the events which this Book discloses to us; and the angel's own part in this was never clearer than in 22.1, where "He (the angel) showed me a river of water of life". So when we are told that "the Lord, the God of the holy prophets, sent His angel to show to His servants the things which must shortly come to pass" (22.6), it is plain that John in receiving this vision has been nothing like an amanuensis, taking down a message to dictation. He has been led and accompanied by the angel through the events themselves with which the Book is concerned, even though they are presented in visionary form. John was like Ezekiel who, though in bodily reality he remained all the time by the canal of Chebar in Babylonia, was nevertheless transported in the Spirit back to Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8.3ff) and onwards in his vision to the very high mountain into the age of the future (40.1-2ff)- So John is conducted on a personal tour of future events by the angel who was sent to him, and it is small wonder that at the end of his thrilling experiences he "fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed him these things" (22.8).
This is another excellent reason for being sure that, when the Lord Jesus "signified it by His angel to His servant John", He did not by that term mean "caused the angel to reveal symbols". It is rather that the Lord announced to John that the revelation was about to begin, and that he must now commence his angel-conducted tour through events to come. In some sense the Book of Revelation is a piece of autobiography. In this Book John uses the verb in the first person about 80 times in relation to his own experiences. He records what he saw under inspiration and divine instruction, certainly, but for all that the Book is a record of his own mysterious experiences in the Spirit. It is no doubt impossible for us to go beyond this, and try to understand how this could happen, and how a real angel could conduct a real man through visionary events. But this is the point at which we have to remind ourselves that "as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God's ways higher than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts" (Isaiah 55.9).
1.3: Blessed he that readeth and they that keep. It is not often that one can catch out AV or RV in bad grammar, but it has happened here! It arises from trying to supply one part of the verb 'to be' where the Greek has none. Some versions
(Moffat, for example) have spotted the error and remedied the translation to "Blessed is he that reads (aloud) and blessed are they who hear". The word 'blessed' is makarios, the word repeated in each of the Beatitudes of Matthew 5.1-11, and elsewhere — sometimes in evident allusions to those same Beatitudes, as in the parallels in Luke 6.20-22, and in James 1.12; 1 Peter 3.14; 4.14. The same word is used later in this Book (14.13; 16.15; 19.9; 20.6; 22.7, 14). Its meaning is not so much that God bestows favour on those who do or suffer whatever is described, as that theirs is a happy condition. To read brings with it contentment, comfort, strength, and hope. The blessing here is somewhat like that in Matthew 13.16, "Blessed are your eyes, for they see", in which the Lord contrasts the yearning for light by prophets and righteous men of old, with the actual experience of the fulfillment in Him which His own disciples were able to enjoy. Here also, then, disciples are happy because in reading this Book they are prepared for the trials which will come, and given a sure hope of the glory beyond. So later in the Book, the dead who rest in peace when their own sufferings under persecution are over are happy compared with those who survive to suffer still; the watchful believer's are happy compared with the careless, for the former avoid the shame of walking in spiritual nakedness; and he that has part in the first resurrection is blessed compared with those who do not, for he is now fashioned after the power of an endless life, and the second death has no power over him.
An analysis of all the occurrences of this word, in passing, again indicates how artificial is the attempt to divide between the supposed one person who earns his blessing by reading the message aloud, and the plural hearers who take heed to the message. In Matthew 24.46; Luke 7.23; 12.43; 14.15; Romans 4.8; 14/22; 1 Corinthians 7.40; James 1.12, 25; Revelation 16.15; 20.6; 22.7 the word is used in the singular of "he" or "she" who forms the subject, without any reference to some particular person: it applies to all who are in that position, as it surely does in this verse also.
If, then, happiness is the lot of those who pay attention to the Book, then it is folly to neglect its study. Even though its symbols seem complex and its message hard to apprehend, the Lord would not offer such a blessing and expect it to be ignored. To plead that it is too deep for us to follow is by implication to accuse the Lord of having adopted the wrong method, and this we must not do. We can be sure, though, that the Lord would not give with one hand and take away with the other: that He would not promise blessing to the people who read and understand, and then make very sure that none except the scholar and the historian could do so. Prima facie, we have good reason to feel that if
