{"id":174,"date":"2017-11-08T07:42:26","date_gmt":"2017-11-08T06:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/?p=174"},"modified":"2017-11-08T11:25:02","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T10:25:02","slug":"the-revelation-of-yeshua-the-messiah-to-yochanan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/2017\/11\/08\/the-revelation-of-yeshua-the-messiah-to-yochanan\/","title":{"rendered":"The revelation OF YESHUA THE MESSIAH TO YOCHANAN"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHAPTER 1<\/p>\n

1 The book of Revelation, the last book in the New Testament, polarizes readers. Some see in it the key to the universe, or at least the key to the future. Others find it completely opaque <\/span>or dismiss it as nonsense. Some regard its highly picturesque language as absolutely literal, others as entirely symbolic, and still others as sometimes one and sometimes the other, or even both at once. There are four major approaches to its interpretation: <\/span><\/p>\n

(1) Futurist<\/em>. The book of Revelation is an explicit forecast of a future yet to unfold.<\/p>\n

(2) Preterist<\/span>. The prophecies of Revelation were fu<\/span>lfilled in the first century. (Latin praeter<\/span> means \u201cbefore.\u201d)<\/p>\n

(3) Historical<\/em> or Presentist<\/span>. The prophecies of Revelation are being fulfilled now, during the period between Yeshua\u2019s resurrection and h<\/span>is second coming.<\/p>\n

(4) Idealist<\/em>. The book of Revelation does not refer to history at all but is a timeless allegory of the conflict between good and evil.<\/p>\n

To add to the confusion, some commentators c<\/span>ombine two or more of these approaches at once.<\/p>\n

Given no more information than this, it should be obvious that Revelation is the most difficult book in the Bible on which to comment. Dealing with the<\/span> historical assertions and theological opinions found in the other 26 books of the New Testament is hard enough; but when the subject matter touches on the future, it\u2019s everyone for himself! Making sense of such a book is a great challenge, and I am not the first to whom it has given pause\u2014John Calvin wrote an extensive commentary on the whole Bible<\/span>, Old Testament and New, except for Revelation. On the other hand, there are those so eager to read their own pre-formed opinions into Revelation that they ignore what it actually says; or they engage in what Arnold Fruchtenbaum, a Hebrew Christian scholar, calls (in his commentary on Revelation, <\/span><\/span>Footsteps of the Messiah<\/em>) \u201cnewspaper exegesis,\u201d that is, seeing in every current event a sensational fulfillment of some biblical prophecy.<\/p>\n

I myself d<\/span>o not hold strong views about the book of Revelation. I do not have a distinctly preferred pair of spectacles through which I see it. If readers perceive that my remarks shift from one perspective to another, a<\/span>nd if they find this disturbing, I apologize in advance\u2014I can\u2019t give more than I\u2019ve got. Fortunately, much of what I have to say about this book does not depend on which of the above four viewpoints is correct. <\/span><\/p>\n

In KJV the book is called \u201cThe Revelation of Saint John the Divine,\u201d but the text calls it the revelation which God gave to Yeshua the Messiah, \u2026 communicated \u2026 by sending his an<\/strong><\/span>gel to his servant Yochanan<\/strong>. Hence the Jewish New Testament<\/em> properly calls it \u201cThe Revelation of Yeshua the Messiah to Yochanan.\u201d The Greek word for \u201crevelation\u201d is \u201capokalupsis<\/span>\u201d (\u201cunveiling\u201d), which <\/span>gives the book its other popular title, \u201cThe Apocalypse,\u201d and raises the question of how this book relates to a category of Jewish writing called \u201capocalyptic literature.\u201d<\/p>\n

George Eldon Ladd calls Jewi<\/span>sh apocalyptic \u201ctracts for hard times.\u201d Biblical imagery and symbolic language are used to express the idea that this world offers no hope for improvement; but history will end with a cosmic catastrophe, at which time the appare<\/span>ntly victorious wicked will be punished and the downtrodden righteous rewarded. Such books as The Assumption of Moses, 1 Enoch, 4 Ezra and The Apocalypse of Baruch are examples. Moreover, <\/span>Isaiah 26\u201329<\/a>, Zechariah 12\u201314<\/a>, and Daniel 7\u201312<\/a> offer a biblical pattern for these later, extra-biblical books.<\/p>\n

The book of Revelation is sometimes said to be merely another example of<\/span> Jewish apocalyptic, but there are these differences:<\/p>\n

(1) Most of the Jewish apocalypses were written pseudonymously, in the names of heroes long dead. Revelation\u2019s author uses his own name, reflecti<\/span>ng the fact that in New Testament times God had restored prophecy (Ac 11:27<\/a>&N<\/a>), and Yochanan was a prophet (v. 3<\/a>).<\/p>\n

(2) Jewish apocalypses are pseudo-predictive\u2014the author writes from a viewpoint in t<\/span>he past and \u201cpredicts\u201d history that has already taken place. But Yochanan stands in his own time and looks forward to God\u2019s future consummation of his redemptive purpose.<\/p>\n

(3) The Jewish apocalypses a<\/span>re entirely pessimistic about the past and present. Revelation\u2019s author looks to the past work of Yeshua as the ground for present hope.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the book of Revelation is highly distinctive in the <\/span>way it uses the Tanakh<\/span>. There are very few direct quotations, but no less than five hundred allusions to the Tanakh<\/span>, especially the books of Exodus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah and Daniel. In<\/span> fact, they are so numerous and frequent that I have not attempted to note very many of them either in the text of the JNT<\/em> or in this commentary; the interested reader should consult other commentarie<\/span>s on Revelation. But the overall effect of so many Tanakh<\/span> references and allusions is to anchor every part of the book in the God-inspired words of Israel\u2019s Prophets.<\/p>\n

Yochanan<\/strong>. Tradition takes him to<\/span> be the emissary Yochanan, the same as the author of the Gospel and the three letters bearing this name. To this it is objected that the style of Greek used in Revelation is far rougher and more Hebraic than that of the othe<\/span>r four books, which all resemble each other. One possibility is that the fisherman from the Galil, for whom Greek was a second or third language, wrote the visions of Revelation himself, as commanded (v. <\/span>11<\/a>), and did not permit alterations (22:18\u201319<\/a>); whereas for the Gospel and his letters he had a native Greek-speaker to help edit and translate. Another possibility is that<\/span> this was a different Yochanan, known to history as an elder in the congregation at Ephesus (although Yochanan the emissary also is identified with Ephesus; see 2:1<\/a>).<\/p>\n

What must happen very soon<\/strong>. Comp<\/span>are Daniel 2:28\u201329<\/a>. To what degree the New Testament writers regarded the End as imminent is debatable. Contrast, for example, 1C 7:29\u201331<\/a> with 2 Ke 3:2\u201310<\/a>. Yet they did urge believers to stay alert, f<\/span>or the Messiah may return without warning, like a thief in the night (Mt 24:32\u201325:30<\/a>, Mk 13:32\u201337<\/a>, 1 Th 5:2\u20133<\/a>, 2 Ke 3:10<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout doubt the early church lived in expectancy of the imminent return o<\/span>f the Lord; but so should every generation of believers. The New Testament expresses a tension between imminence and perspective; the time is near, yet the end is delayed (Mt 24:42\u201344<\/a>, Lk 19:11ff<\/a>.).\u201d <\/span>(G. E. Ladd, Revelation, p. 292).<\/p>\n

A more strained rendering of the Greek, especially in view of v. 3<\/a> (\u201cFor the time is near\u201d), is, \u201cwhat must happen rapidly\u201d; i.e., once the events described commence<\/span>, it won\u2019t take long for all of them to occur.<\/p>\n

Yeshua uses his angel<\/strong> to mediate the vision. Angels play a significant role in the book of Revelation.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong> The Word of God<\/strong> is the Gospel (6:9<\/a>); it does n<\/span>ot come back void (Isaiah 55:11<\/a>); it is the \u201csword\u201d which comes from the Messiah\u2019s mouth, by which he conquers and rules (v. 16<\/a>&N<\/a>; 19:15<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The testimony of Yeshua the Messiah<\/strong>. See 1:9<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong> Blessed<\/strong>. Th<\/span>is is the first of seven blessings, the others being at 14:12\u201313<\/a>, 16:15<\/a>, 19:9<\/a>, 20:6<\/a>, 22:7<\/a>, 22:14<\/a>. See v. 4<\/a> on \u201cseven.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reader \u2026 hearers<\/strong>. Like Sha\u2019ul (Co 4:16<\/a>), Yochanan expected what he wrote to be re<\/span>ad aloud to the congregations.<\/p>\n

Hearers \u2026 obey<\/strong>. In both Messianic and non-Messianic Judaism, learning is supposed to lead to doing. Compare Exodus 24:7<\/a>, Ro 10:14\u201321<\/a>, MJ 6:4\u20138<\/a>, Ya 1:22\u201325<\/a>, 2 Ke 2:20\u201321<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi David Hoffman (1843\u20131921), the leading Orthodox rabbinical authority in Germany during his era, [wrote in a responsum:] \u2018The Torah<\/span> of Israel is not only a song and rhetoric which one studies<\/span> only to understand the religion of Israel. Rather, the purpose of Jewish religious learning is lilmod v\u02d2la\u02d3asot<\/span>, to study and to observe, and one who learns and does not observe, it would be better i<\/span>f he had not learned.\u2019 \u201d (Aron and David Ellenson, \u201cThe Dilemma of Jewish Education: To Learn and To Do,\u201d in Judaism, Spring 1984)<\/p>\n

Prophecy. The author of the book of Revelation claims to be a prophe<\/span>t. The term puts the book of Revelation on a par with the Tanakh<\/span>\u2014both are inspired by God.<\/p>\n

The time is near<\/strong>. See v. 1<\/a> on \u201cvery soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

4<\/strong> Seven<\/strong> is the number of completion and perfection in the Tanakh<\/span>.<\/span> God ended his work of creation on the seventh day (Genesis 2:1\u20133<\/a>). This is why the day of rest, Shabbat<\/span> (the Hebrew word means \u201crest\u201d), is the seventh day of the week (Exodus 20:8\u201310<\/a>); the year of sh<\/span><\/span>\u02d2mittah<\/span> (\u201cremission\u201d), when the land rests, is the seventh year (Leviticus 25:3\u20137<\/a>); and the year of yovel<\/span> (\u201cjubilee\u201d), in which both the land and possession of it rest, comes after seven years of sh\u02d2m<\/span><\/span>ittah<\/span> (Leviticus 25:8\u201317<\/a>). Sevenfold vengeance was to be taken on anyone who might kill Cain (Genesis 4:15<\/a>). Noah took seven of each clean animal on board the ark (Genesis 7:2<\/a>). From Pharaoh\u2019s dream o<\/span>f seven fat and seven lean cows Joseph predicted seven years of plenty and seven of famine (Genesis 41<\/a>). The number seven appears over and over in connection with sacrifices and temple ritual; here ar<\/span>e two examples: the blood of a sin offering was sprinkled seven times before Adonai<\/span> (Leviticus 4:3\u20134<\/a>); the leper appeared before a cohen<\/span> on the seventh day to be examined and pronounced clean (Levitic<\/span>us 13:5\u20136<\/a>). The festivals of Pesach<\/span> and Sukkot<\/span> each last seven days; and seven weeks intervene between Pesach<\/span> and Shavu\u02d3ot<\/span>, on which day seven lambs were offered (Leviticus 23<\/a>). If Israel is unrepenta<\/span>nt she will be punished sevenfold for her sins (Leviticus 26:18\u201328<\/a>). Jericho fell after Israel had marched around the city seven times, and seven cohanim<\/span> had blown seven shofars<\/span> (Joshua 6:4\u201315<\/a>). Chana<\/span>h, celebrating her fertility at the birth of Samuel, prayed, \u201cThe barren has borne seven\u201d (1 Samuel 2:5<\/a>; contrast Jeremiah 15:9<\/a>). Solomon took seven years to build the first Temple (1 Kings 6:38<\/a>). The<\/span> Shunammite woman\u2019s child sneezed seven times before opening his eyes when Elisha raised him from the dead (2 Kings 4:35<\/a>). After Israel\u2019s male population has been decimated, \u201cseven women shall take ho<\/span>ld of one man\u201d (Isaiah 4:1<\/a>). It will take seven days to consecrate the altar of the End-Time temple (Ezekiel 43:25\u201326<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Seven is also the number of fullness and completion in the book of Revelation, <\/span>speaking of God\u2019s perfection and the finality of his coming judgment on mankind. Yochanan writes about seven Messianic communities<\/strong> and the sevenfold Spirit<\/strong>, seven gold menorahs<\/span> (v. 12<\/a>), seven stars (v<\/span>. 16<\/a>), seven flaming torches (4:5<\/a>), seven seals (5:1<\/a>), a Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes (5:6<\/a>), seven angels with seven shofars<\/span> (8:2<\/a>), seven thunders (10:3<\/a>), a dragon with seven crowns on his sev<\/span>en heads (12:3<\/a>)\u2014which are also seven hills and seven kings (17:9\u201310<\/a>), and seven angels with the seven last plagues in seven gold bowls (15:1<\/a>, 7<\/a>); moreover, he pronounces seven blessings (above, v. 3<\/a>&N<\/a><\/span>). These references are only to the first mention of each; altogether \u201cseven\u201d and \u201cseventh\u201d appear nearly sixty times in this book.<\/p>\n

There were more than seven Messianic communities in the province of<\/strong><\/span> Asia<\/strong> (present-day Turkey), but those named in v. 11<\/a> represent them all.<\/p>\n

Grace and <\/strong>shalom<\/span> to you<\/strong>\u2014the same greeting as Sha\u2019ul gives in nine of his letters.<\/p>\n

The One who is, who was and who is coming<\/strong>. <\/span>This is based on God\u2019s self-identification in Exodus 3:14<\/a>, \u201cI am who I am,\u201d or, \u201cI will be who I will be.\u201d Compare MJ 13:8<\/a>. In the Siddur<\/span> a line from the popular Jewish hymn, Adon-\u02d3Olam<\/span>, reads: \u201cV\u02d2hu <\/span><\/span>hayah v\u02d2hu hoveh v\u02d2hu yihyeh l\u02d2tif\u02d2arah<\/span>\u201d (\u201cHe was, and he is, and he will be, into glorious eternity\u201d). The substitution of \u201cis coming\u201d for \u201cwill be\u201d seems to allude to Yeshua\u2019s return.<\/p>\n

The sevenfold<\/strong><\/span> Spirit<\/strong>. Although I believe the reference is to the Holy Spirit, for reasons given in the next paragraph, the literal translation, \u201cthe seven spirits\u201d (here and at 3:1<\/a>, 4:5<\/a>, 5:6<\/a>), has strong arguments<\/span> in its favor. The spirits could be seven angels attending God before his throne<\/strong> (Judaism recognized seven archangels\u2014Mikha\u2019el, Gavri\u2019el, Rafa\u2019el, Uri\u2019el, Suri\u2019el, Fanu\u2019el and Yechi\u2019el; see 8:2<\/a>). At M<\/span>J 1:14<\/a> angels are called \u201cspirits who serve,\u201d which is consistent with describing the Lamb\u2019s seven eyes (5:6<\/a>) as \u201cthe seven spirits sent out into all the earth.\u201d Messianic Jews 1:7<\/a> quotes Psalm 104:4<\/a>,<\/span> \u201c \u2026 who makes his angels winds [Hebrew ruchot<\/span>, also translatable as \u201cspirits\u201d] and his servants fiery flames.\u201d The rendering \u201cseven spirits\u201d would make 4:5<\/a> parallel to Psalm 104<\/a> (with the terms rever<\/span>sed): \u201c \u2026 before the throne were seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the above understanding presents a major difficulty in that it means the author, who opposes angel<\/span>-worship (19:10<\/a>, 22:8\u20139<\/a>), has sandwiched into his divine greeting, between God and Yeshua, a reference to seven created beings. Moreover, two passages from the Tanakh<\/span> suggest a special relationship be<\/span>tween the Holy Spirit and the number seven\u2014Isaiah 11:2<\/a>, which gives seven attributes of the Spirit, and Zechariah 4:2\u201310<\/a>, in which some of the \u201cseven\u201d-imagery of Revelation is associated with the Spir<\/span>it.<\/p>\n

5\u20136<\/strong> The original readers were greatly encouraged in their struggle against persecution by these three aspects of Yeshua the Messiah<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

(1) He is the faithful witness<\/strong> (or \u201cthe faithful martyr\u201d; see 2:13<\/a><\/span>&N<\/a>). He witnessed unto the point of his own death, and especially through<\/em> his own death, that God is in control of history. Compare Yn 1:18<\/a>, \u201cthe Only Son \u2026 , the one at the Father\u2019s side\u2014he has made <\/span>him known\u201d; and Isaiah 55:3\u20134<\/a>, \u201c \u2026 the sure mercies of David. Behold I have given him for a witness.\u201d<\/p>\n

(2) He is the firstborn<\/strong> (or \u201cforemost, chief\u201d) of those who get raised from the dead<\/strong>. This means t<\/span>hat faithful believers too can look forward to being resurrected and having eternal fellowship with God, even if in this world they receive no reward and die ignominiously. Compare Ro 6:5<\/a>; 1C 15:20<\/a>, 2<\/span>3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(3) He is the ruler of the earth\u2019s kings<\/strong>, the \u201cKing of Kings\u201d (17:14<\/a>, 19:16<\/a>) who will one day subject to himself even the most unbridled and oppressive governments (1C 15:24\u201325<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Moreover,<\/p>\n

(4) H<\/span>e loves us<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

(5) He has freed us from our sins at the cost of his blood<\/strong> (that is, by his bloody, sacrificial death; see Ro 3:24<\/a>N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

(6) He has caused us to be a kingdom<\/strong>, a community subject to him who<\/span> loves us.<\/p>\n

(7) He has caused us to be cohanim<\/span> (\u201cpriests,\u201d Mt 2:4<\/a>N<\/a>) for God, his Father.<\/p>\n

For these seven reasons, to him be the glory and the rulership forever and ever<\/strong>. On hearing this read (v. 3<\/a>&N<\/a><\/span>), the congregation is to respond by saying, \u201cAmen<\/span>\u201d (see paragraph on \u201cAmen<\/span>\u201d in Ro 9:5<\/a>N<\/a> and Mt 5:18<\/a>N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

7<\/strong> This verse states the theme of the book of Revelation, the second coming of Yeshua the Messiah<\/span> in a way that the world will be unable to ignore. When predicting his own second coming Yeshua himself combined the same phrases from Daniel and Zechariah (Mt 24:30<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Those who pierced him<\/strong>. The allu<\/span>sion is to Zechariah 12:10<\/a>, in which Adonai<\/span> says, \u201cThey will look to me, whom they pierced; and they will mourn him as one mourns an only son.\u201d The 19th-century Messianic Jewish commentator Yechiel Li<\/span>chtenstein (see MJ 3:13<\/a>N<\/a>) writes,<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be seen that the mourners will be the people of Israel, first, because Zechariah writes of the families of Israel\u2014the families of David, L\u2019vi, Shim\u201bi, Natan,<\/span> and \u2018all the rest\u2019 (Zechariah 12:10\u201314<\/a>), and second, because the phrase \u2018they will look\u2019 refers to \u2018the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem\u2019 (Zechariah 12:8\u201311<\/a>, 13:1<\/a>).\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus this great Me<\/span>ssianic prophecy from the Tanakh<\/span> speaks of the day when the entire Jewish people will recognize Yeshua, pierced on the execution-stake, as the Messiah and as fully identified with God, \u201cme, whom they <\/span>pierced.\u201d But in a midrashic sense the phrase, \u201cthose who pierced him,\u201d is not limited to Jews, nor does it mean only the Jews and Gentiles historically responsible for Yeshua\u2019s physical death. Rather<\/span>, it includes all who have not acknowledged his atoning sacrificial death, who by their sins participated in and continue to participate in piercing him. See Yn 19:37<\/a>&N<\/a>, where this verse of Zechariah <\/span>is also quoted.<\/p>\n

Lichtenstein\u2019s note continues,<\/p>\n

\u201cSome say they will weep because there is no longer any opportunity to repent, but this is wrong. True, there will be an obstacle to repentance, the un<\/span>belief of the majority of Israel in their Messiah and Savior, so that he will not be able to come and save them. But this is precisely why God \u2018will pour on [them] the spirit of grace\u2019 (Zechariah 12:1<\/span>0<\/a>), enabling them to recognize Yeshua as their Savior.\u201d<\/p>\n

I would put it this way: The tribes of Israel will mourn Yeshua, experiencing deep grief over centuries of having rejected him as a nation; this<\/span> grief will open the way to repentance and accepting him as Messiah and savior of the Jewish people. Some translations render this, \u201cwill wail because of him,\u201d implying that the Jewish people will experience neither grief nor repentance but only the anguish of judgment. But the Greek tex<\/span>t here quotes the Septuagint word for word, which in turn translates Hebrew safdu \u02d3alav<\/span> (\u201cwill mourn on him\u201d) wo<\/span>rd for word. In Hebrew \u201cto mourn on someone\u201d does not mean \u201cto wail because of him\u201d; it is simply how Hebrew says \u201cto mourn him.\u201d Mourning generally includes both grief over the death itself and sorrow at what one failed to d<\/span>o in relation to the deceased. There is no ground for supposing Yochanan meant anything other than what Zechariah meant.<\/p>\n

Lichtenstein again:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Talmud offers an astonishin<\/span>gly similar interpretation:<\/p>\n

\u2018\u201cThe land will mourn, each family by itself\u201d (Zechariah 12:12<\/a>). Why do they mourn? Rabbi Dosa and the Rabbis give different answers. One says it is because Mashiach ben-Y<\/span><\/span>osef<\/span> [the Messiah, the son of Joseph] has been killed, while the other says it is because the yetzer hara\u02d3<\/span> [the evil inclination] has been killed. The former is a good explanation, because we have Zec<\/span>hariah 12:10<\/a>, \u201cThey will look to me, whom they pierced; and they will mourn over him as one mourns over an only son.\u201d \u2019 (from Sukkah 52a)<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, \u2018Mashiach ben-Yosef<\/span>\u2019 is Yeshua ben-Yosef (son of <\/span>Joseph) from Nazareth.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoreover, when Zechariah 13:1<\/a> continues, \u2018On that day there will be opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a fountain to cleanse them from sin and impu<\/span>rity,\u2019 it refers to Yeshua\u2019s second coming; for it conveys the same idea as Sha\u2019ul\u2019s statement in Ro 11:25\u201326<\/a>,<\/p>\n

\u2018It is in this way that all Israel will be saved. As the Tanakh<\/span> says, \u201cOut of Tziyon wil<\/span>l come the Redeemer; he will turn away ungodliness from Ya\u201bakov; and this will be my covenant with them, \u2026 when I take away their sins.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Acts 1:11<\/a> one learns that just as the Messiah was taken fro<\/span>m the Mount of Olives with the clouds<\/strong>, so he will return there in the same manner [and this too the prophet knew\u2014see Zechariah 14:4<\/a>]. What is said here, that every eye will see him<\/strong> in perfection comin<\/span>g down on earth, is in keeping with Mattityahu 24:30<\/a>, which says that the mourning will be after \u2018the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky.\u2019 \u201d (Commentary on the New Testament<\/em>, ad loc<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

All <\/span>the tribes (or \u201cclans\u201d or \u201cfamilies\u201d) of the Land of Israel will mourn him. This alludes to more of Zechariah\u2019s prophecy about the people of Israel\u2014\u201cAll the Land will mourn, each family by itself\u201d (Ze<\/span>chariah 12:12<\/a>; the Septuagint translates \u201cfamily\u201d by the Greek word for \u201ctribe\u201d). Every other translation of this verse reads, \u201cAll the tribes of the earth will mourn him.\u201d This may indeed happen, but<\/span> in context Zechariah is referring to the Land of Israel, and there is no reason to suppose that Yochanan is altering or spiritualizing the original. Indeed the contrary is true, since both Zechariah and Revelation speak of Israel\u2019s future ackno<\/span>wledgement of her pierced Messiah. See Mt 5:5<\/a>N<\/a> for more on why Greek g\u00ea<\/span> should be rendered \u201cLand\u201d and not \u201cearth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, <\/strong>Amen<\/span>. Compare 22:20<\/a>, where the hea<\/span>rers are again encouraged to affirm Yeshua\u2019s soon coming. Therefore the sense is, \u201cYes, that is how it will be,\u201d or, \u201cYes, we want it that way.\u201d See last paragraph of vv. 5\u20136<\/a>.<\/p>\n

8<\/strong> The <\/strong>\u201cA<\/strong>\u201d and the <\/strong>\u201cZ,<\/strong>\u201d <\/span>literally, \u201cthe Alpha and the Omega,\u201d that is, the one who existed at the beginning and who will exist at the end. Here and at 21:6<\/a>&N<\/a> the phrase refers to God the Father; but at 22:13<\/a>&N<\/a> it refers to Y<\/span>eshua. It means the same thing as the One who is, who was and who is coming<\/strong> (on which see v. 4<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Adonai<\/span>, God of heaven\u2019s armies<\/strong>. The Greek is kurios o theos o pantokrat\u00f4r<\/span> literally, \u201cLord, the God, <\/span>the ruler of all.\u201d In the Septuagint at Amos 3:13<\/a>, 4:13<\/a> this phrase renders Hebrew YHVH Elohey-Tzva\u02d2ot<\/span> (\u201cYHVH<\/em>, God of hosts\u201d). These \u201chosts\u201d are the angelic armies of heaven, both the good and the evi<\/span>l, over which God rules; and since they are the most powerful of God\u2019s creatures, the title epitomizes God\u2019s absolute dominion over the universe. Readers are thus reassured that no matter what demonically evil things might happen to them, God remains in control. This is why the Septuagint w<\/span>riters rendered \u201ctzva\u02d2ot<\/span>\u201d (\u201cof hosts\u201d) into Greek as \u201cpantokrat\u00f4r<\/span>,\u201d which means \u201cruler over all\u201d but is ofte<\/span>n translated, \u201cthe Almighty.\u201d Thus the KJV\u2019s phrase here in v. 8<\/a>, \u201cthe Lord, God, \u2026 the Almighty,\u201d renders the Greek well but does not take account of its Hebrew source in the Tanakh<\/span>. The reference to<\/span> God\u2019s armies of angels highlights Revelation\u2019s concern with God\u2019s final judgment, in which\u2014as is clear from the book itself\u2014the angels play a major role; for example, see 19:14<\/a>&N<\/a>, where \u201cthe armies o<\/span>f heaven\u201d are seen following Yeshua on his white horse to defeat the forces of the beast.<\/p>\n

9<\/strong> On believers\u2019 sharing Yeshua\u2019s kingship<\/strong>, see 3:21<\/a>, 5:10<\/a>&N<\/a>, 20:4<\/a>&N<\/a>, and 2 Ti 2:12<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The island called Patmos<\/strong><\/span> is off the coast of Turkey.<\/p>\n

For having proclaimed the message of God and borne witness to Yeshua<\/strong>. Literally, \u201con account of the word of God and the testimony of Yeshua.\u201d There are two genitives here<\/span> (\u201cword of God,\u201d \u201ctestimony of Yeshua\u201d), and the question is whether these are subjective genitives (\u201cword which God gave,\u201d \u201ctestimony which Yeshua gave\u201d) or objective genitives (\u201cmessage about God\u201d and \u201ctestimony about Yeshua\u201d which believers proclaim). For background to this grammatical problem see <\/span>Ro 3:22<\/a>N<\/a>, Ga 2:16c<\/a>N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As translated here, \u201cthe message of God\u201d could be either subjective or objec<\/span>tive, while the second is objective. But a good case, based on 1:5<\/a>, 3:14<\/a> and 22:20<\/a>, can be made for rendering the second too as subjective in all six instances where the phrase appears in Revelation (<\/span>v. 2<\/a>, here, 12:17<\/a>, twice in 19:10<\/a>, and 20:4<\/a>). Even though the grammar then makes \u201cthe testimony\u201d that given by Yeshua and not by the believer, the believer still has an active role: here, for example,<\/span> Yochanan can be understood as having been exiled to Patmos not \u201cfor having \u2026 borne witness to Yeshua\u201d but \u201con account of [proclaiming] the testimony which Yeshua gave.\u201d<\/p>\n

10<\/strong> I came to be, in the Spirit<\/strong><\/span>. Alternative understandings: (1) Yochanan\u2019s body remained where it was, but in his spirit he saw visions; (2) the Holy Spirit came over him, with the result that he saw visions; or (3) the Holy Spiri<\/span>t caused him to be physically present (with this possibility compare Ezekiel 11:1<\/a>, Ac 8:39\u201340<\/a>, 2C 12:2<\/a>).<\/p>\n

On the Day of the Lord<\/strong>. If this is what Greek en t\u00ea kuriak\u00ea \u00eamera<\/span> means, as I believe it do<\/span>es, Yochanan is reporting the unique experience of having seen God\u2019s final Judgment. If it means \u201con the Lord\u2019s Day,\u201d that is, Sunday, the day on which Yeshua was resurrected (Mt 28:1<\/a>, Mk 16:2<\/a>, Lk 24:<\/span>1<\/a>)\u2014and this is the majority understanding\u2014then Yochanan is mentioning a relatively minor detail, the day of the week on which his visions took place.<\/p>\n

I think my translation is supported by the contex<\/span>t, since the whole book of Revelation is about the Last Judgment, which over and over in the Tanakh<\/span> is called in Hebrew \u201cyom<\/span>–YHVH<\/em>\u201d (\u201cthe Day of Adonai<\/span>,\u201d \u201cthe Day of the Lord\u201d). On the other hand, Igna<\/span>tius, who claimed to be a disciple of the emissary Yochanan, wrote letters only two decades or so after Revelation was written, in which he uses \u201ckuriak\u00ea<\/span>\u201d to mean Sunday\u2014as does modern Greek. This on<\/span>ly shows how quickly the Jewish roots of the New Testament were forgotten or ignored.<\/p>\n

(Even if \u201con the Lord\u2019s Day\u201d is correct, Shabbat<\/span> is not thereby moved from Saturday to Sunday; nor does \u201cthe Lord<\/span>\u2019s Day\u201d replace or abrogate Shabbat<\/span> (Mt 5:17<\/a>); nor is Sunday mandatory as a day of worship for Christians or Messianic Jews. On this see Ac 20:7<\/a>N<\/a>, 1C 16:2<\/a>N<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

The interpretative problem arises because<\/span> the Greek adjective \u201ckuriak\u00ea<\/span>\u201d is rare; it appears in the New Testament at only one other place, 1C 11:20<\/a>, which speaks of \u201ca meal of the Lord,\u201d that is, pertaining to the Lord; in context it means a<\/span> meal eaten in a manner worthy of Yeshua or of God, a \u201clordly\u201d or godly meal.<\/p>\n

According to Yechiel Lichtenstein\u2019s commentary (see MJ 3:13<\/a>N<\/a>), the late second-century writer Irenaeus mentioned a church<\/span> tradition that the Messiah will return during Pesach<\/span> and believed that en t\u00ea kuriak\u00ea \u00eamera<\/span> refers not to Sunday but to the first day of Pesach<\/span>. This calls to mind the Seder<\/span> ritual of opening the f<\/span>ront door for Elijah the prophet, forerunner of the Messiah.<\/p>\n

Actually, when the events of Yeshua\u2019s ministry are arrayed in relation to the Jewish calendar set forth in Leviticus 23<\/a>, Numbers 28<\/a> and De<\/span>uteronomy 16<\/a>, his return should be expected at Rosh-HaShanah<\/span> (\u201cNew Year\u201d), the biblical Feast of Shofar<\/span>s (\u201cTrumpets\u201d). The Jewish calendar is divided into the spring and fall holidays, corresponding t<\/span>o Yeshua\u2019s first and second comings. The first spring festival is Pesach<\/span> (\u201cPassover\u201d), when Yeshua\u2019s atoning death took place (Mattityahu 26\u201327<\/a>). The next is Shavu\u02d3ot<\/span> (\u201cWeeks,\u201d \u201cPentecost\u201d), when the <\/span>Holy Spirit was given to his talmidim<\/span> (Yn 7:39<\/a>, 14:26<\/a>, 15:26<\/a>, 16:7\u201315<\/a>, 17:5<\/a>; Ac 2:1\u20134<\/a>&NN<\/a>). The long summer break corresponds to the present period when Yeshua is not on earth. According to Mt 24:31<\/a>, 1<\/span>C 15:52<\/a> and 1 Th 4:16\u201317<\/a> (see notes there and at 8:2<\/a> below, and compare Isaiah 27:13<\/a>), Yeshua\u2019s second coming will be announced by shofar<\/span>s; this corresponds to the first fall holiday, the Feast of Sho<\/span><\/span>far<\/span>s. Interpreters expecting a Millennium (4:1<\/a>) see it in relation to the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh-HaShanah<\/span> and Yom-Kippur<\/span> (the \u201cDay of Atonement\u201d), which itself corresponds to the Day of J<\/span>udgment (20:11\u201315<\/a>). Finally, the new heaven and earth (21:1\u201322:17<\/a>&NN<\/a>) hold the position of the year\u2019s last holiday, the joyous pilgrim festival of Sukkot<\/span> (Yn 7:2<\/a>N<\/a>, 7:37<\/a>&N<\/a>), which all the nations of th<\/span>e world will one day celebrate (Zechariah 14:16\u201319<\/a>), just as through the New Covenant the nations of the world are invited to join Israel through faith in Israel\u2019s Messiah, Yeshua.<\/p>\n

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\n

11<\/strong> See the letters to these seven churches in chapters 2\u20133<\/a>.<\/p>\n

12<\/strong>Seven gold <\/strong>menorah<\/span>s<\/strong> (\u201ccandlesticks\u201d). Exodus 25:31\u201340<\/a> speaks of the seven-branched menorah<\/span> which stood outside the second curtain in the Tabernacle. The ten gold menorah<\/span>s in Solomon\u2019s Temple (1 Chronicles 28:15<\/a>) were carted off to Babylon (Jeremiah 52:19<\/a>). Zechariah 4:2<\/a> speaks of a single gold menorah<\/span> with seven nerot<\/span> (\u201clamps,\u201d \u201ccandles\u201d).<\/p>\n

According to v. 20<\/a>, \u201cThe seven menorah<\/span>s are the seven Messianic communities\u201d of v. 11<\/a>. With Yeshua\u2019s warning to the community in Ephesus, \u201cI will remove your menorah<\/span> from its place\u2014unless you turn from your sin!\u201d (2:5<\/a>), compare his remark in the Sermon on the Mount that believers are light for the world (Mt 5:15\u201316<\/a>); see also 2C 4:6<\/a>.<\/p>\n

13<\/strong>Son of Man<\/strong>. Yeshua\u2019s preferred title for himself as the Messiah; see Mt 8:20<\/a>N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yeshua fulfills three main offices set forth in the Tanakh<\/span>\u2014prophet, priest and king. Yeshua served as a prophet during his life on earth (Mt 21:11<\/a>). At present he serves as high priest in heaven (MJ 2:17\u20133:6<\/a>, 4:14\u20135:10<\/a>, 6:20\u201310:21<\/a>); this is signified by his wearing a long robe and a gold band around his chest<\/strong>, the clothing of the cohen hagadol<\/span> (Exodus 28<\/a>). The rest of the description in vv. 14\u201315<\/a> suggests his future role as judge and Messianic king.<\/p>\n

14<\/strong> At Daniel 7:9\u201310<\/a> it is \u201can Ancient of Days,\u201d God the Father, who is described in similar language. Thus we see here Yeshua\u2019s identification with God.<\/p>\n

Eyes like a fiery flame<\/strong> against unholiness; see 2:18<\/a>, 19:11\u201312<\/a>.<\/p>\n

15<\/strong>Voice like the sound of rushing waters<\/strong> (literally, \u201c \u2026 of many waters\u201d), loud and majestic.<\/p>\n

16<\/strong>Seven stars<\/strong>. See v. 20<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth<\/strong>. This imagery is found Isaiah 49:1\u20133<\/a>, where Yeshua the Messiah and the people of Israel are identified with each other (see Mt 2:15<\/a>N<\/a>). This sword<\/strong>is the Word of God (6:9<\/a>, Ep 6:17<\/a>). With it Yeshua, in his role as judge and king, strikes down nations (19:15<\/a>); for earlier he had warned that people would be judged by it (Yn 12:48\u201349<\/a>). The Word of God is well-suited for judging, since it can discern the truth in people\u2019s hearts (MJ 4:12\u201313<\/a>&N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

17<\/strong>I fell down at his feet like a dead man<\/strong>. A common reaction to seeing the Sh\u02d2khinah<\/span>, the divine glory (see MJ 1:2\u20133<\/a>N<\/a>); compare Isaiah 6:5<\/a>, Ezekiel 1:28<\/a>; also 19:10<\/a> below and Daniel 8:17<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yeshua says, \u201cI am the First and the Last<\/strong>,\u201d here, at 2:8<\/a>, and at 22:13<\/a> (see v. 8<\/a> above). At Isaiah 44:6<\/a>, 48:12<\/a> it is God the Father who so describes himself. Many titles and descriptions which the Tanakh<\/span> applies only to YHVH<\/em> are in the New Testament applied to Yeshua (for another example, see 3:7<\/a>&N<\/a>). Since the New Testament distinguishes Yeshua from God the Father, we conclude: (1) Yeshua is to be identified with YHVH<\/em>, with God; yet (2) Yeshua is not the Father. See Yn 1:1<\/a>N<\/a>, 20:28<\/a>; Co 2:9<\/a>N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

18<\/strong>The Living O<\/strong>ne<\/strong>; compare the phrase, \u201cEl Chai<\/span>\u201d (\u201cthe Living God\u201d), at Joshua 3:10<\/a>, Psalms 42:3<\/a>, 84:3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I was dead<\/strong>, literally, \u201cI became dead\u201d\u2014by being executed on the stake. But look! I am alive forever and ever<\/strong> (compare v. 5<\/a>).<\/p>\n

And I hold the keys to death and Sh\u2019ol<\/strong>, the abode of the dead. Since keys are a symbol of authority (Mt 16:19<\/a>), the meaning is that Yeshua can release the dead (compare Hosea 13:14<\/a>, Yn 10:17\u201318<\/a>&N<\/a>, 1C 15:1\u201358<\/a>). But this authority is God\u2019s alone; compare these passages from the Talmud:<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi Yochanan said, \u2018The Holy One, blessed be he, has retained three keys in his own hands and not entrusted them to the hand of any messenger\u2014the key to the rain, the key to childbirth, and the key to revival of the dead \u2026. [We know this is true about] the key to reviving the dead because it is written, \u201cYou will know that I am Adonai<\/span> when I have opened your graves\u201d (Ezekiel 37:13<\/a>).\u2019 \u201d (Ta\u201banit 2a\u20132b)<\/p>\n

\u201cElijah prayed to be given the key to the raising of the dead but was told, \u2018Three keys have not been entrusted to an agent: those of birth, rain and resurrection. Is it to be said that two are in he hands of the talmid<\/span> [Elijah] and only one in the hands of the Rabbi? Bring me the other [the key to the rain, which he already had (1 Kings 17:1<\/a>; see Ya 5:17\u201318<\/a>&N<\/a>)], and take this one [temporarily, to raise the widow\u2019s son (1 Kings 17:17\u201323<\/a>)].\u2019 \u201d (Sanhedrin 113a)<\/p>\n

Thus in having authority over death and Sh\u2019ol, Yeshua is shown to have authority reserved to God and is thus identified with God.<\/p>\n

19<\/strong>Both what is now, and what will happen afterwards<\/strong>. This phrase can be used to support the Futurist, Preterist and Historical approaches to the book of Revelation, or a combination of them (see v. 1<\/a>).<\/p>\n

20<\/strong>Angels<\/strong>. Difficult. Alternative possibilities:<\/p>\n

(1) They are guardian-angels; but then it is odd that Yochanan is to write them letters (2:1<\/a>, 8<\/a>, etc.).<\/p>\n

(2) They are the pastors of the Messianic communities; but there is no precedent for calling pastors \u201cangels.\u201d<\/p>\n

(3) They are \u201cmessengers\u201d (an alternative meaning for Greek angeloi<\/span>) from the communities; but if so, why address them rather than the communities themselves?<\/p>\n

In any case the letters of chapters 2\u20133<\/a> are meant for the seven Messianic communities mentioned therein.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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CHAPTER 2 <\/strong><\/p>\n

2:1\u20133:21 Like the days of creation in Genesis 1<\/a>, the seven letters of chapters 2\u20133<\/a> to the Messianic communities named in 1:11<\/a> share a common form. Each commences with \u201cHere is the message from,\u201d followed by a characterization of Yeshua the Messiah based on specifics found in 1:12\u201318<\/a>. Next the congregation is praised for its virtues (except Laodicea) and warned about its faults (except Smyrna and Philadelphia). Yeshua then gives promises of good things, especially to \u201cthose winning the victory\u201d; often they are related specifically to the congregation\u2019s situation\u2014the Philadelphians, with \u201clittle power\u201d (3:8<\/a>) will be \u201cpillars\u201d (3:12<\/a>); those in Pergamum who avoid \u201cfood \u2026 sacrificed to idols\u201d (2:14<\/a>) will have \u201chidden manna\u201d (2:17<\/a>); the people of Smyrna who are suffering and being persecuted to death (2:9\u201310a<\/a>) will have life as their crown and not be hurt by the second death (2:10b\u201311<\/a>). Finally, he closes each letter with an admonition reminiscent of the Gospels (Mt 11:15<\/a>&N<\/a>): \u201cThose who have ears, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the Messianic communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>Angel<\/strong>. See 1:20<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ephesus<\/strong> had the most important Messianic community in the province of Asia. It was already a religious center, home of the pagan goddess Artemis (Ac 19:35<\/a>), and a focus for magic (Ac 19:19<\/a>). The congregation had been founded by Aquila and Priscilla (Ac 18:18<\/a>), and with Sha\u2019ul\u2019s guidance it quickly became an evangelistic center (Ac 19:10<\/a>). Timothy later took Sha\u2019ul\u2019s place (1 Ti 1:3<\/a>), and tradition has it that Yochanan the emissary lived here (Irenaeus, Eusebius).<\/p>\n

The seven stars \u2026 the <\/strong>seven gold <\/strong>menorah<\/span>s<\/strong>. See 1:12\u201313<\/a>, 16<\/a>, 20<\/a> and 1:12<\/a>N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>You have lost the love you had at first<\/strong>\u2014not the strong emotions, which cannot be expected to last, but the zeal for God, which can be renewed by repentance and rededication.<\/p>\n

5<\/strong>Remove your <\/strong>menorah<\/span>, so that you will cease to exist as a part of the Messiah\u2019s body, even though you may continue as an institution or social grouping.<\/p>\n

6<\/strong>Nicolaitans<\/strong>. A heretical sect which encouraged idolatry and sexual sin; see vv. 14\u201315<\/a>. Writing in the late second century, Irenaeus speculated that they were followers of Nicholas, the Jewish proselyte who was appointed shammash<\/span> in the Jerusalem community (Ac 6:5<\/a>) but, by implication, later went astray. There is no evidence for his hypothesis.<\/p>\n

7<\/strong>To him who wins the victory<\/strong> (or: \u201cto him who overcomes\u201d). The victory is over evil, temptation and apathy. According to 3:21<\/a>&N<\/a> Yeshua himself is our role-model.<\/p>\n

To eat from the Tree of Life<\/strong> means to have eternal life. Genesis 2:9<\/a>; 3:22<\/a>, 24<\/a> shows that this was true in the original Gan-Eden<\/span> (\u201cGarden of Eden\u201d or \u201cParadise,\u201d Lk 23:43<\/a>N<\/a>). It is also true in God\u2019s <\/strong>Gan-Eden<\/span>, which is the New Jerusalem (21:2<\/a>; 22:2<\/a>, 14<\/a>, 19<\/a>). In the Tanakh<\/span> the term \u201ctree of life\u201d is used at Proverbs 3:18<\/a>, 11:30<\/a>, 13:12<\/a> and 15:4<\/a> to describe wisdom, the fruit of the righteous, desire fulfilled, and a wholesome tongue\u2014all of which may be seen as aspects of eternal life.<\/p>\n

8<\/strong>Smyrna<\/strong> was a wealthy seaport, a competitor of Ephesus, and a center of emperor-worship.<\/p>\n

The First and the Last, who died and came alive again<\/strong>. See 1:17\u201318<\/a>&NN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

9<\/strong> Yochanan writes about Gentiles who call themselve<\/strong>s Jews but aren\u2019t\u2014on the contrary, they are a synagogue of<\/strong> Satan, the Adversary<\/strong> (see Mt 4:1<\/a>N<\/a>). Perhaps they, like the Gentile Judaizers of the book of Galatians, adopted a smattering of Jewish practices and tried to force them on Gentile Christians. They may have subjected themselves to a legalistic perversion of the Torah<\/span> (see 1C 9:20<\/a>&N<\/a>). They apparently organized a pseudo-Messianic synagogue. Their false doctrine probably led them to wrong and immoral behavior, since false doctrine usually does. They probably drew Gentile Christians away from the truth and thereby threatened the Messianic community.<\/p>\n

Virtually all the commentators ignore the obvious and straightforward interpretation that Yochanan is talking here about Gentiles who pretend to be Jews. The same kind of expression is used in v. 2<\/a>: \u201c \u2026 you tested those who call themselves emissaries but aren\u2019t\u2014and you found them to be liars.\u201d It obviously refers to false apostles, and there the commentators accept the literal sense without demur. But here they opt for the metaphorical interpretation that Yochanan is talking about Jews who reject Yeshua as the Messiah instead of the literal understanding that these are non-Jews who lie and say they are Jews but in fact are Gentiles. In this way a verse which says nothing about Jews is given a virulently antisemitic significance. The result is that over the centuries Jews have had the epithet \u201csynagogue of Satan\u201d hurled at them by Christians who thought they understood the Bible.<\/p>\n

But nowhere in the New Testament are unbelieving Jews called non-Jews, although Ro 2:28\u201329<\/a> is sometimes mistakenly brought as evidence to the contrary (see note there). Nor does anything in the present context call for a violent outburst against Jews. A good rule of interpretation is that when the literal sense makes good sense, seek no other sense. The only explanation I can see for its nearly universal disregard in this case is the anti-Jewish mindset that infected the Church, including its theologians and commentators, so that even those without antisemitic feelings rejected the p\u02d2shat<\/span> in favor of imposing on the text their own drash<\/span> (see Mt 2:15<\/a>N<\/a>). For another instance of this process, see Ro 10:4<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the first century, the Jewish religion was highly regarded; many Gentiles became Jewish proselytes. It is not surprising that other Gentiles preferred a short-cut, reaping the advantage of Jewish identification without the burden of adherence to Torah<\/span>. Sha\u2019ul had already encountered such types in Galatia (see Ga 6:12\u201313<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Should it nevertheless be thought improbable that Gentiles would call themselves Jews, Hebrews or Israelites, consider the following modern examples. The \u201cBritish Israelites\u201d regard the British as the Ten Lost Tribes. The Mormons not only consider themselves to be the Ten Lost Tribes but regard themselves as Jews and everyone else (real Jews included) as Gentiles! A sect of mostly American-born blacks consider themselves the true Hebrews; several thousand of them are living in Israel. All of these are outside the pale of Christianity. In addition, scattered about are well-meaning Gentile Christians whose strong identification with and love for the Jewish people has made them believe\u2014without a shred of evidence\u2014that they are actually Jewish themselves (see 1 Ti 1:3b<\/a>\u20134<\/a>). In fact, some years ago a congregation was expelled from the American Lutheran Church because, along with a general drift into weirdness, its pastor and dozens of its members claimed to have heard from God that they were really Jews; many even said they knew which tribe they belonged to.<\/p>\n

Without exception this phenomenon of Gentiles imagining and asserting they are Jewish when they are not leads to strange patterns of doctrine and practice. Such people are not accepted by Jews as Jewish; nor, as this verse shows, are they to be accepted by Christians as Christian. Isolated and self-defensive, they can easily become prideful, neither obeying the Torah<\/span> nor showing brotherly love to Yeshua\u2019s real followers. It is easy to see why Yeshua does not regard them as harmlessly neutral but pegs them as a synagogue of the Adversary<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

10<\/strong>Ten days<\/strong>, that is, a short time. It is impossible to recover what ordeal<\/strong> is referred to.<\/p>\n

11<\/strong>The second death<\/strong>, eternal death in the lake of fire, according to 20:6<\/a>, 14<\/a>; 21:8<\/a>.<\/p>\n

12\u201313a<\/strong>Pergamum<\/strong> was a center for pagan worship of many deities, hence it is called the site of the Adversary<\/strong> Satan\u2019s throne<\/strong>, with the result that the sins of vv. 14\u201315<\/a> are widespread.<\/p>\n

Sharp double-edged sword<\/strong>. See 1:16<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

13b<\/strong>You did not deny trusting me<\/strong>, or \u201cYou did not deny that I had been faithful.\u201d See Ro 3:22<\/a>N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Antipas<\/strong>, unknown except here, was apparently one of the early believers who died at the hands of the Roman overlords \u02d3al kiddush HaShem<\/span> (see Ac 7:59\u201360<\/a>N<\/a>; Greek marturos<\/span> can be translated either \u201cwitness<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cmartyr\u201d). Some twenty to forty years later the same Roman government put to death the ten Jewish martyrs recalled in the Musaf<\/span> liturgy on Yom-Kippur<\/span>, among them Gamli\u2019el II and Rabbi Akiva.<\/p>\n

14<\/strong>The teaching of Bil\u201bam<\/strong> (Balaam). Although God did not allow Bil\u201bam to do what Balak<\/strong> had hired him for, namely, to curse Israel (Numbers 22\u201324<\/a>; see 2 Ke 2:15\u201316<\/a>N<\/a>), Bil\u201bam made up for the king of Moab\u2019s disappointment by counseling Israel to engage in idolatry and harlotry (Numbers 25:1\u20133<\/a>, 31:16<\/a>). Bil\u201bam\u2019s counsel was indirect\u2014he taught <\/strong>Balak to set a trap for the children of Israel, so that they would eat food which had been sacrificed to idols and commit sexual sin<\/strong>. The issue here is not eating meat used in pagan rituals, as at 1C 8:1\u201313<\/a>, 10:21<\/a>, but actually participating in idolatrous feasts and sexual sin, thus violating the mitzvot<\/span> laid down for Gentile believers at Ac 15:28\u201329<\/a>.<\/p>\n

An alternative understanding here and at v. 20<\/a>, based on the Tanakh<\/span>\u2019s frequent figurative use of the word translated \u201csexual sin\u201d: the Israelites ate food sacrificed to idols, thus joining in idolatrous worship and thereby<\/em> \u201ccommitting adultery\u201d against God\u2014that is, they became apostate.<\/p>\n

15<\/strong>Nicolaitans<\/strong>. See v. 6<\/a>.<\/p>\n

17<\/strong>Hidden manna<\/strong>. The biblical data are that God fed Israel in the wilderness with \u201cbread from heaven\u201d (Exodus 16:4<\/a>, 35<\/a>; Yn 6:31\u201335<\/a>), which was called manna (Exodus 16:15<\/a>, 31<\/a>), and that a pot of it was preserved in the ark of the covenant (Exodus 16:32\u201334<\/a>, MJ 9:4<\/a>). The Talmud says that in the third heaven \u201cmills grind manna for the righteous\u201d (Chagigah 12b). According to 2 Baruch 29:8, in the Messianic Era \u201cthe treasury of manna will again descend from on high, and those alive then will eat of it.\u201d When the first Temple was destroyed, Jeremiah (2 Maccabees 2:4\u20138<\/a>) or an angel (2 Baruch 6:5\u201310) rescued the ark with its pot of manna, and they are being kept for the days of the Messiah, when God\u2019s people will again eat manna. Yochanan here uses the language of such traditions to show that believers in him will be admitted to the Messianic Banquet, \u201cthe marriage supper of the Lamb\u201d (19:9<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In the ancient world a white st<\/strong>one<\/strong> was used as an admission ticket to public festivals; believers will be admitted to the Messianic feast. On it is written<\/strong> either their own new name<\/strong> or that of the Messiah (19:12<\/a>); this reflects the quantum jump in purity and identification with Yeshua attained by those winning the victory<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

18<\/strong>Thyatira<\/strong> was a small town noted for its trade guilds, and these held meals probably dedicated to a pagan god. A believer whose livelihood depended on his membership in a guild was thus faced with the problem of whether he could in good conscience participate.<\/p>\n

Yeshua remains the Son of God<\/strong> (see Mt 4:3<\/a>N<\/a>) even after his resurrection and ascension into heaven. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (MJ 13:8<\/a>&N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Eyes like a fiery flame \u2026 feet like burnished brass<\/strong>. See 1:14\u201315<\/a>.<\/p>\n

20<\/strong>That Izevel wo<\/strong>man<\/strong>, that is, someone who resembles King Ahab\u2019s queen, Izevel (Jezebel). She supported idolatry and came dangerously close to eliminating true worship of God (1 Kings 16:30\u201333<\/a>; 18:4<\/a>, 13<\/a>, 22<\/a>; 2 Kings 9:22<\/a>). Evidently the \u201cIzevel woman<\/strong>\u201d injects occultism and other demonic practices into the Messianic community.<\/p>\n

22\u201323<\/strong> Those who join in the sins connected with what<\/strong> the Jezebel woman does<\/strong> are in turmoil; they are struggling with how to be loyal to the Messiah and at the same time function in their social and business environment (see v. 18<\/a>). But her children<\/strong> have no such ambivalence; trained by her, they are fully committed to her teachings. Hence their punishment, death, is worse than hers, a sickbed<\/strong> (literally, \u201ca bed\u201d; but see Exodus 21:18<\/a>).<\/p>\n

24<\/strong> \u201cDeep things.<\/strong>\u201d Various Gnostic philosophies appealed to people\u2019s pride by promising spiritual knowledge deeper than that available to ordinary mortals. Many modern cults and movements make the same empty promises.<\/p>\n

26\u201327<\/strong>Psalm 2<\/a> is understood as referring to the Messiah as early as in the first century b.c.e. Pseudepigraphic work, Psalms of Solomon 17:21\u201327. The believers will reign with the Messiah when he returns\u2014compare 20:4<\/a>, 6<\/a>; also Mt 5:5<\/a>, 19:28<\/a>; 1C 6:2<\/a>. Psalm 2<\/a> is also cited at 11:18<\/a>, 12:5<\/a> and 19:15<\/a>.<\/p>\n

28<\/strong>The morning star<\/strong>. Literally, this would be Venus, the brightest object in the sky after the sun and the moon. Here it means either great glory; or, as in 22:16<\/a>, the Messiah himself, whose coming was foretold by Bil\u201bam: \u201cA star shall step forth out of Jacob\u201d (Numbers 24:17<\/a>). See 2 Ke 1:19<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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CHAPTER 3 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1 The people of Sardis were spiritually apathetic, as a result of their luxurious, loose way of life.<\/p>\n

The sevenfold Spirit of God<\/strong>. See 1:4<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The seven stars<\/strong>. See 1:16<\/a>, 20<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You have a repu<\/strong>tation for being alive, but in fact you are dead!<\/strong> Today this statement about hypocrites describes people (Jews, Christians, other) who support charitable works but have no spiritual connection with the living God (Isaiah 64:5<\/a>(6<\/a>)); people who feel close to God or have correct theological doctrine but produce no evangelistic or social action fruit (Ya 2:17<\/a>); people whose lack of faith in God and ignorance or rejection of Yeshua produce dead religious formalism, social clubbiness, fortress mentality defensiveness, and\/or pride in self-accomplishment; and people who try to fill their spiritual vacuum with sensual gratification.<\/p>\n

2\u20135<\/strong> The Sardis congregation was severely backslidden; Yeshua prescribes the only possible cure: spiritual revival.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>I am coming like a thief<\/strong>, that is, suddenly and unexpectedly. The way to be prepared for it is to be ready and alert always, that is, always leading a godly life. Yeshua gives the same warning at 16:15<\/a>; compare his remarks at Mt 24:42\u201350<\/a> and Lk 12:39\u201346<\/a>; also 1 Th 5:2\u20138<\/a> and 2 Ke 3:8\u201313<\/a>, which speak of the Day of the Lord itself coming like a thief.<\/p>\n

4\u20135a<\/strong>Soiled their clothes \u2026 clothed in white<\/strong>. Throughout the Bible white, clean clothes refer to the righteous deeds God gives his people to do so that they may exercise and express their faith (19:8<\/a>, Isaiah 61:10<\/a>, Ep 2:10<\/a>); also see below at 3:18<\/a>; 4:4<\/a>; 6:11<\/a>; 7:9<\/a>, 13\u201314<\/a>; 16:15<\/a>; 19:14<\/a>. Contrast the outwardly righteous works which people without faith organize for themselves to do; these God calls \u201cfilthy rags\u201d (Isaiah 64:5<\/a>(6<\/a>), cited above, v. 1<\/a>).<\/p>\n

5<\/strong>I will not blot his name out of the Book of <\/strong>Life<\/strong>. Compare Pp 4:3<\/a>. On \u201cBook of Life<\/strong>\u201d see 20:12b<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I will acknowledge him individually before my Father and before his angels<\/strong>. Compare Mt 10:32\u201333<\/a>, Lk 12:8\u20139<\/a>, Yn 10:3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

7<\/strong> Of the seven cities Philade<\/strong>lphia<\/strong> was the one founded most recently. Its congregation was in a healthy condition, for Yeshua only praised it.<\/p>\n

HaKadosh<\/span> means \u201cthe Holy One.\u201d At 6:10<\/a> the term designates God the Father. Moreover, in the Talmud, the Prayerbook and other Jewish writings, it is common to refer to God as \u201cHaKadosh, barukh hu<\/span>\u201d (\u201cthe Holy One, blessed be he\u201d). But here (and possibly at 1 Yn 2:20<\/a>) this title refers to Yeshua. (So there is no need for a \u201cblessed be he,\u201d because here the Holy One is talking about himself.) Thus Yeshua is to be identified with God, yet he is not the Father (see 1:17<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Yeshua is also the True One<\/strong>, the one who is faithful and trustworthy.<\/p>\n

At Isaiah 22:20\u201322<\/a>, Elyakim was given \u201cthe key of<\/strong> the house of David<\/strong>,\u201d that is, full authority to act on behalf of King Hezekiah in his household. Likewise Yeshua, \u201cthe Root and Offspring of David\u201d (5:5<\/a>, 22:16<\/a>), has full authority (Mt 28:18<\/a>) to act on behalf of God, our King. Yeshua does not permit others to usurp this authority (see v. 9<\/a>), yet he voluntarily shares \u201cthe keys of the Kingdom of Heaven\u201d with those who commit themselves to him (Mt 16:19<\/a>). Two others named Elyakim appear in the genealogies of Yeshua (Mt 1:13<\/a>, Lk 3:30<\/a>). For other \u201ckeys\u201d Yeshua has in his possession see 1:18<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

8<\/strong>I know that you have but little<\/strong> worldly power<\/strong>, but much spiritual power, since you have obeyed my message and have not disowned me<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

9<\/strong>Those wh<\/strong>o call themselves Jews but aren\u2019t<\/strong>. On these Gentile pretenders, see 2:9<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I will cause them to come and prostrate themselves at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you<\/strong>. In his remarks on this phrase the non-Jewish commentator George Eldon Ladd notes verses from the Tanakh<\/span> in which it is prophesied that the pagan nations of the world will come and bow before Israel (Isaiah 45:14<\/a>, 49:23<\/a>,60:14<\/a>; Ezekiel 36:23<\/a>, 37:28<\/a>), and then writes,<\/p>\n

\u201cThese and many other passages look forward to a day of the triumph of Israel over the nations; sometimes it is expressed in terms of the humiliation of the gentiles before Israel, sometimes in the conversion of the gentiles to the faith of Israel.\u201d (Revelation, Eerdmans, 1972, pp. 60\u201361)<\/p>\n

On the term \u201cIsrael\u201d see Ro 11:17\u201326<\/a>&NN<\/a>, Ga 6:16<\/a>&N<\/a>, Ep 2:11\u201316<\/a>&NN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

10<\/strong>The time of trial<\/strong> (or: \u201ctemptation\u201d) coming upon the whole world<\/strong> is spoken of in the Tanakh<\/span> at Daniel 12:1<\/a>; in other books of the New Testament at Mt 24:4\u201328<\/a>, Mk 13:5\u201323<\/a>, 2 Th 2:1\u201312<\/a>; and in Revelation throughout chapters 6\u201318<\/a>. Premillennialists call this period the Tribulation (on these two terms see 4:1<\/a>, 7:14<\/a>&N<\/a>, 11:1\u20132<\/a>; 1 Th 4:15b<\/a>\u201317<\/a>).<\/p>\n

I will keep you from the time of trial<\/strong>. Those who believe in a \u201cPre-Tribulation Rapture\u201d (see 4:1<\/a>, 1 Th 4:15b<\/a>\u201317<\/a>) understand Yeshua to be saying here that he will remove (\u201crapture\u201d) the faithful from the earth before the time<\/em> of the trial begins. Others are satisfied to take it in a general sense to mean that God will seal his people against harm when the trial comes (9:4<\/a>) and will warn them to flee impending judgment (18:4<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The people living<\/strong> on earth<\/strong>. There are two equivalent Hebrew phrases in the Tanakh<\/span>. \u201cYoshvei-tevel<\/span>\u201d appears in the Tanakh<\/span> five times. Four times it means \u201cinhabitants of the habitable world,\u201d all human beings (Isaiah 18:3<\/a>, 26:9<\/a>, Psalm 33:8<\/a>, Lamentations 4:12<\/a>); but at Isaiah 26:18<\/a> it seems to exclude God\u2019s people and refer to the world\u2019s pagans. \u201cYoshvei-ha\u02d2aretz<\/span>\u201d (\u201cinhabitants of the Land\u201d or \u201c \u2026 of the earth\u201d) appears over 20 times? and can mean: (1) all human beings (Isaiah 24:6<\/a>, 26:21<\/a>; Jeremiah 25:30<\/a>; Psalm 33:14<\/a>), (2) the pagan tribes of Cana\u201ban (Exodus 23:31<\/a>, Joshua 2:9<\/a>, Jeremiah 47:2<\/a>, Nehemiah 9:24<\/a>), or (3) the Jews in their Land, Israel (Jeremiah 6:12<\/a>; 10:18<\/a>; Hosea 4:1<\/a>; Joel 1:2<\/a>, 14<\/a>; 2:1<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Here, by context, \u201cthe people living on earth\u201d are, as at Isaiah 26:18<\/a>, all humans on earth except those devoted to the Lord, in other words, all pagans, all who follow the beast (13:3<\/a>, 8<\/a>) and do not turn to God. This expression has the same meaning also at 6:10<\/a>; 8:13<\/a>; 13:8<\/a>, 14<\/a>; and 17:8<\/a> (13:12<\/a>, 17:2<\/a> and Ac 17:26<\/a> are similar); but at 11:10<\/a>&N<\/a> it probably refers to Jewish people living in Israel.<\/p>\n

The pagans will be put \u2026 to the test<\/strong> of experiencing God\u2019s judgment upon the earth (chapters 6\u201318<\/a>). Some will pass the test by repenting (11:13<\/a>), which is God\u2019s fervent desire (2 Ke 3:9<\/a>); but most will not (9:20\u201321<\/a>; 16:8\u201311<\/a>, 21<\/a>).<\/p>\n

12<\/strong>I will make those winning the victory pillars<\/strong> (leaders, Ga 2:6\u20139<\/a>) in the Templ<\/strong>e of my God<\/strong>. In Solomon\u2019s Temple were two pillars named Bo\u201baz and Yakhin (1 Kings 7:21<\/a>). Compare 1 Ke 2:5<\/a>, where believers are said to be \u201cliving stones, \u2026 being built into a spiritual house.\u201d Later in Yochanan\u2019s vision there is a Temple in heaven (7:15<\/a>, 11:19<\/a>, 14:15<\/a>, 15:5<\/a>, 16:1<\/a>), and Yeshua ministers there as cohen gadol<\/span> (MJ 2:17<\/a>&N<\/a>). But in the New Yerushalayim coming down out of heaven<\/strong> (see 21:2<\/a>&N<\/a>), God himself will be the Temple, so it is not surprising that its pillars will be believers.<\/p>\n

I will write on him the name of my God<\/strong>. People signify by the names they bear whom they belong to. In the Tanakh<\/span>, God put his name (YHVH<\/em>) on the people of Israel by having the cohanim<\/span> recite the Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:24\u201327<\/a>). The faithful bear the name of God (here, 22:4<\/a>) and the name of the Messiah (14:1<\/a>), including his own new name<\/strong> (2:17<\/a>, 19:12<\/a>). Likewise, the followers of the beast signify that they belong to him by bearing his name (13:17<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The name of my God\u2019s city<\/strong>. This signifies citizenship in that city (see 21:2<\/a>).<\/p>\n

14<\/strong> Sha\u2019ul worked hard for Laodicea<\/strong>\u2019s congregation (Co 2:1<\/a>, 4:13<\/a>), greeted them as brothers (Co 4:15<\/a>), and even wrote them a letter (Co 4:16<\/a>). Perhaps the fact that their letter is now lost is a sign of how little good it did them. Here Yeshua finds the Laodiceans worthy only of blame and exhortation; he does not praise them for anything.<\/p>\n

The word \u201cAmen<\/span>,\u201d from the Hebrew word meaning \u201ctruth,\u201d confirms the truth of a previous statement (see Mt 5:18<\/a>N<\/a>, Ro 9:5<\/a>N<\/a>). Compare \u201cthe God of Amen<\/span>\u201d (Isaiah 65:16<\/a>). Yeshua is the Ruler<\/strong> (Greek arch\u00ea<\/span>) of God\u2019s creation<\/strong>, literally, \u201cthe beginning of God\u2019s creation,\u201d who as the Word of God began it and continues to uphold and rule it (Genesis 1:2<\/a>, Yn 1:1\u20133<\/a>, Co 1:17<\/a>, MJ 1:3<\/a>). But the word \u201carch\u00ea<\/span>\u201d as used at 21:6<\/a> and 22:13<\/a> suggests a philosophical understanding of Yeshua as the supertemporal one, \u201cthe \u2018A\u2019 and the \u2018Z\u2019 \u201d (1:8<\/a>&N<\/a>). Thus in relation to the Laodiceans, Yeshua is the <\/strong>Amen<\/span>, confirming how serious is their spiritual condition. He is the faithful and true witness<\/strong> (see 19:11<\/a>) whose testimony on the subject cannot be controverted. And he is the Ruler of God\u2019s creation<\/strong>, capable of bringing judgment upon them if they do not repent.<\/p>\n

15<\/strong> While \u201chot<\/strong>\u201d is best, believers who feel threatened by people hostile to the Gospel and are more at ease with the apathetic, the indifferent, the complacent and the nominal should conform themselves to Yeshua\u2019s preference for \u201ccold<\/strong>\u201d over \u201clukewarm<\/strong>.\u201d \u201cZeal for God but not according to knowledge\u201d (Ro 10:2<\/a>) is more fertile ground for the Gospel than zeal for nothing.<\/p>\n

And now a dr<\/span>ash:<\/span> what about people who are \u201ccool\u201d (in the slang sense current since my high school days)? Someone seeking to be \u201ccool\u201d wants to be well regarded by the \u201cin-crowd.\u201d If his referent \u201cin-crowd\u201d consists of believers in Yeshua, then\u2014\u201ccool\u201d is hot<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

16\u201317<\/strong> Yeshua\u2019s strong words of judgment are meant to jar the Laodiceans from their complacency, so that they will repent (vv. 18\u201320<\/a>). To their false claim of spiritual well-being (I am rich<\/strong>) they add the spiritual pride of the \u201cself-made man\u201d (I have gotten rich<\/strong> by my own efforts) and a false and dangerous (Ya 4:13\u201316<\/a>) sense of self-sufficiency (I d<\/strong>on\u2019t need a thing<\/strong>). Compare Hosea 12:9\u201310<\/a>, where Efrayim (the Northern Kingdom, Israel) says, \u201cI have become rich, I have found wealth for myself, in all my labors they will find no iniquity in me that is sin\u201d; and in consequence God promises to make them dwell in tents (as nomads).<\/p>\n

18<\/strong> Yeshua here does not command but offers his advice<\/strong>. Being infinitely wise, he knows the Laodiceans are far too undisciplined to obey orders. Likewise, observe his courtesy at v. 20<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of course one does not buy<\/strong> for money Yeshua\u2019s spiritual gold<\/strong> which makes people truly rich<\/strong>; it is free (22:17<\/a>, Isaiah 55:1<\/a>, Ro 3:24<\/a>). But Yeshua is catering to the psychology of people who measure everything in monetary terms, who think that if you don\u2019t buy<\/strong> it, it isn\u2019t worth <\/strong>anything.<\/p>\n

Laodicea had a famous medical college where \u201cPhrygian powder\u201d was used to make eyesalve<\/strong>. Yeshua can heal not only the physically blind (Yn 9:1\u20137<\/a>), but also the spiritually blind; however, these must first admit that they cannot see (Yn 9:39\u201341<\/a>).<\/p>\n

White clothing<\/strong>. See 3:4\u20135a<\/a>.<\/p>\n

19<\/strong>I rebuke and discipline everyone I love<\/strong>. Compare MJ 12:6<\/a>. Yeshua still loves the errant Laodiceans; this is why he criticizes them in vv. 15\u201318<\/a>. Because God loves Israel he criticizes them throughout the Tanakh<\/span>; this is one of the glories of biblical truth.<\/p>\n

Exert yourselves, and turn from your sins.<\/strong> Repentance is not a gift placed in waiting hands. The excuse, \u201cI\u2019m not ready to repent yet,\u201d often hides such a passivist theology of repentance. Yeshua, however, has a different idea, a Jewish idea: it takes effort to lift oneself out of apathy and turn from sin.<\/p>\n

20<\/strong> God\u2019s readiness to receive repentant sinners, well known from the Tanakh<\/span> (for example, Zechariah 1:3<\/a>: \u201cThus says Adonai<\/span> of Heaven\u2019s Armies: \u2018Return to me, and I will return to you.\u2019 \u201d) and restated in the New Testament (Ac 2:38<\/a>), is the ground for what Yeshua says in this verse. Look, I am standing at the door, knocking<\/strong>. Yeshua does not barge in or bang at the door, but courteously stands there knocking, waiting to be invited in. He does not force his way into people\u2019s hearts, either those of believers who have turned away from him like the Laodiceans, or those of nonbelievers who have not yet received him. On the other hand, he does not stand silently, so that no one could suspect his presence, but he makes his presence insistently yet not intrusively felt through the behavior of believers, through the preaching of the Gospel, through the conformity of history to prophecy, through nature, through conscience. He waits until someone hears<\/strong> Yeshua\u2019s still small voice<\/strong> prompting belief and trust, removes the intellectual and emotional barricades, and opens the door<\/strong> to faith and the first steps of repentance. Then, when thus invited, I will come in and eat with him, and he will<\/strong> eat with me<\/strong>. It might be added that unlike most guests Yeshua provides the food, the spiritual nourishment that gives the strength needed for exerting oneself to take the more difficult steps of repentance. The metaphor of meal-sharing (compare Lk 15:2<\/a>, Yn 14:23<\/a>, Ac 11:3<\/a>) is appropriate to Jewish and to most oriental cultures, where table fellowship implies affection, intimacy and mutual confidence. In short, Yeshua is promising to be intimately and truly present with anyone who genuinely asks him, Jew or Gentile alike.<\/p>\n

21<\/strong> Yeshua presents himself as the model for anyone who wants to win the <\/strong>victory<\/strong> over evil, temptation and apathy. Compare Pp 2:6\u201311<\/a>, and also MJ 2:9\u201311<\/a>, 18<\/a>; 4:15\u201316<\/a>. There too the Messiah is depicted as having overcome temptation, and we are invited to \u201capproach\u201d God\u2019s throne boldly when we have need. Here Yeshua promises that believers who overcome will actually sit<\/strong> with him on the throne<\/strong> (see 20:11<\/a>) which he shares with God the Father.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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CHAPTER 4 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Futurists who are also Dispensationalists find in this verse an indication of the Church\u2019s Pre-Tribulation Rapture (on the terminology and theological background of this note see 1:1<\/a>, 1 Th 4:15b\u201317<\/a>). Clearly at this point Yochanan\u2019s visions shift from earth to heaven (there are many shifts in the book of Revelation; see R. H. Charles\u2019s commentary, Volume 1, p. 109), but nothing is said about removing believers. The Pre-Tribulationists\u2019 interpretation requires three assumptions:<\/p>\n

(1) The sequence of Yochanan\u2019s visions corresponds to the sequence of events in future history.<\/p>\n

(2) The Messianic Community (the Church, the Body of the Messiah) does not appear at all in chapters 4\u201318<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(3) Those believers who come to faith during the Tribulation are not part of the Messianic Community.<\/p>\n

Against these assumptions it may be argued:<\/p>\n

(1) The text gives no reason to suppose that the sequence of Yochanan\u2019s visions is the same as the order in which the events depicted occur; therefore one should not assume it. On the contrary, 12:1\u20135<\/a>&N<\/a> provides a counterexample. Moreover, if, as may be the case, a given event is depicted by more than one vision, then a direct chronological correspondence is also impossible logically.<\/p>\n

(2) It is not true that the Messianic Community is absent from chapters 4\u201318<\/a>. It is true that the Greek word \u201cekkl\u00easia<\/span>\u201d (usually translated \u201cChurch\u201d and in the Jewish New Testament translated \u201cMessianic Community\u201d; see Mt 16:18<\/a>N<\/a>) does not appear after 3:22<\/a> until 22:16<\/a>. But from this fact one might also infer that the Church does not take part in the marriage supper of the Lamb (19:7\u20139<\/a>) or in the Millennium and Last Judgment (chapter 20<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Believers are clearly present throughout the visions of chapters 6\u201318<\/a>\u2014see 6:9<\/a> (the martyred souls under the altar), 7:1\u20138<\/a>, 14:1\u20135<\/a> (the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel), 7:9\u201310<\/a>, 13\u201314<\/a> (the huge crowd from all nations dressed in white robes), 11:13<\/a> (those who give glory to the God of Israel after the two witnesses are resurrected), 12:17<\/a> (the rest of the woman\u2019s children, who obey God\u2019s commands and bear witness to Yeshua), 13:8\u201310<\/a> (those whose names are written in the Book of Life), 14:12\u201313<\/a> (God\u2019s people, who observe his commands and exercise Yeshua\u2019s faithfulness), 15:2\u20133<\/a> (those defeating the beast, who sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb), 18:4<\/a> (God\u2019s people called to come out of Babylon).<\/p>\n

In most cases these believers are on earth, not in heaven. The descriptions applied to them in these verses are exactly those appropriate to members of the Messianic Community. However, the next assumption excludes them from being members of the Messianic Community; therefore assumption (3) must be addressed.<\/p>\n

(3) The argument that Tribulation believers do not belong to the Messianic Community depends on drawing a rigid distinction between Israel and the Church, as do all Pre-Tribulation theologies with which I am acquainted. It is assumed that during the present era\u2014what Dispensationalists call the \u201cparenthesis\u201d or \u201cChurch Age,\u201d defined as the period between Pentecost (Acts 2<\/a>) and the Tribulation\u2014God\u2019s clock with Israel has stopped at the end of the 69th week of Daniel 11:26\u201327<\/a> and he is now dealing only with the Church. After the Rapture, Israel\u2019s clock will again begin to tick, as Daniel\u2019s 70th week, the Tribulation, unfolds.<\/p>\n

There is circular reasoning here; for if it is only believers who come to faith during the \u201cChurch Age\u201d who are counted as part of the Messianic Community, and the \u201cChurch Age\u201d is defined as ending with the Tribulation, then by definition no one who comes to faith during or after the Tribulation is in the Messianic Community, even though by every other criterion their faith is identical with that of Messianic Community members.<\/p>\n

Moreover, for the following three reasons Israel (the Jewish people) is not as fully distinct from the Messianic Community as the Pre-Tribulationists would have one think:<\/p>\n

(a) Gentile believers have been grafted into Israel, that is, into the Jewish people (Ro 11:17\u201324<\/a>). Thus there is an indissoluble connection; they are not to be ungrafted at some future date unless they cease to have faith.<\/p>\n

(b) The New Covenant, even though it creates the Messianic Community, has been made, not with the Messianic Community, but with Israel, (Jeremiah 31:30\u201333<\/a>(31\u201334<\/a>), MJ 8:8\u201312<\/a>). The Messianic Community, if separated from the Jewish people, is deprived of its constitutional basis for existence.<\/p>\n

(c) Sha\u2019ul, a member of the Messianic Community when he wrote his letters, writes that he is an Israelite (2C 11:22<\/a>, Ro 11:1<\/a>). He does not say he was formerly an Israelite and has now left Israel to join the Messianic Community. Rather, like every other Jewish believer, he is both.<\/p>\n

But if Sha\u2019ul and other Jewish believers are members both of Israel and of the Messianic Community, Pre-Tribulationists must answer this question: when the rapture takes place, do Jewish believers in Yeshua stay behind with the rest of physical Israel, or do they join the rest of the Messianic Community with Yeshua in the air? They can\u2019t be in both places at once. Is it a matter of our personal choice? Do we have to choose whether to be more loyal to the Jewish people or to our brothers in the Messiah? This is an absurd question, absurd because the situation proposed will never arise. The Jewish believer does not abandon his people. He never has to choose between loyalty to the Jews and loyalty to the Messianic Community, except in worldly relationships\u2014that is, in order to follow the Jewish Messiah, he may have to choose rejection by the Jewish community as presently constituted in the world.<\/p>\n

Some Dispensationalists are not unnerved by this question but answer unequivocally, \u201cIt is not a matter of individual choice. Jews who accept Jesus are raptured along with other Christians. Only unbelieving Jews will remain behind to face the terrors of the Tribulation.\u201d But when told this Messianic Jews very often are<\/span> unnerved. This is not what they bought into when they came to faith. They were told, \u201cNow you\u2019re a Jew who has accepted his Messiah.\u201d They were not told, \u201cNow you have abandoned your Jewish people and will spend eternity without them.\u201d Yet this is the clear implication of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture position, based, as it is, on the idea of two eternally separate peoples of God.<\/p>\n

Israel and the Messianic Community are two, yet they are one. Overemphasizing the \u201cone\u201d-ness led Christian theologians to conclude that the Church had replaced the Jews as God\u2019s people. But overemphasizing the \u201ctwo\u201d-ness yields errors just as serious, and, in their own way, just as potentially antisemitic. Messianic Judaism should set for itself the task of elucidating correctly the relationship between the Jewish people and the Messianic Community of Jews and Gentiles by means of \u201colive tree theology\u201d (Ro 11:23\u201324<\/a>N<\/a>, 11:26a<\/a>; Ga 6:16<\/a>N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

2a<\/strong>Instantly I was in the Spirit<\/strong>. Yochanan was already in the Spirit (1:9<\/a>). This seems to refer to his experiencing a change of circumstances within his vision.<\/p>\n

2b\u20138<\/strong> Although both Tanakh<\/span> and New Testament teach that God is invisible (Exodus 33:20<\/a>, Yn 1:18<\/a>, 1 Ti 1:17<\/a>), both report that people have seen God (to be specific, God the Father; God the Son is described differently in chapter 5<\/a>). Indeed, Yochanan\u2019s vision closely resembles several found in the Tanakh<\/span>. Exodus 24:9\u201311<\/a> says that Moses, two sons of Aaron and seventy elders \u201csaw the God of Israel\u201d on \u201ca paved work of sapphire stone as clear as heaven,\u201d very much like the sea of glass, clear as crystal<\/strong> of v. 6<\/a>a (also see 15:2<\/a>). Thek\u02d2ruvim<\/span> Ezekiel saw closely resemble the living beings<\/strong> of vv. 6b\u20138a<\/a> (Ezekiel 1:5\u201311<\/a>; 10:12<\/a>, 14\u201315<\/a>); he also saw a man on a throne with surroundings similar to those Yochanan describes in vv. 2\u20136<\/a>a (Ezekiel 1:22<\/a>, 26\u201328<\/a>; 10:1<\/a>). The prophet Mikhayahu (Micaiah) said, \u201cI saw Adonai<\/span> sitting on his throne and all the army of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left\u201d (1 Kings 22:19<\/a>, 2 Chronicles 18:18<\/a>). Isaiah wrote, \u201cI saw Adonai<\/span> sitting on a throne, high and lifted up\u201d (Isaiah 6:1<\/a>). He too saw winged beings (s\u02d2rafim<\/span>) who worshipped God in language like that of v. 8<\/a>b, crying to each other, \u201cHoly, holy, holy is Adonai<\/span> of heaven\u2019s armies\u201d (Isaiah 6:2\u20133<\/a>), a phrase which is part of the Kedushah<\/span> (\u201cSanctification\u201d of God) in the synagogue prayers (see the third blessing of the \u02d3Amidah<\/span>).<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>Twenty-four elders<\/strong>. Who are they? Four possibilities:<\/p>\n

(1) Representatives of the 24 divisions of cohanim<\/span> (see Lk 1:5<\/a>N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

(2) The twelve emissaries of Yeshua plus the twelve founders of the tribes of Israel; if so, they represent all of redeemed humanity.<\/p>\n

(3) A special group of angels, since at 5:10<\/a> they refer to the redeemed as \u201cthem\u201d and not \u201cus.\u201d<\/p>\n

(4) Unspecified representatives of saved humanity in the \u02d3olam haba<\/span>. In this regard it is interesting that Yochanan\u2019s description, including the gold crowns<\/strong> and the worship of vv. 10\u201311<\/a>, closely resembles the imagery used by Rav in the Talmud to depict saved human beings in the age to come:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the \u02d3olam haba<\/span> \u2026 the righteous sit with their crowns upon their heads and feast on the Sh\u02d2khinah<\/span>.\u201d (B\u2019rakhot 17a)<\/p>\n

(On \u201cSh\u02d2khinah<\/span>\u201d see Paragraph (3) of MJ 1:2\u20133<\/a>N<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

5<\/strong>Voices<\/strong>. Or: \u201crumblings\u201d; see Ac 2:4b\u201313<\/a>&N<\/a>. The sevenfold Spirit of God<\/strong>. See 1:4<\/a>.<\/p>\n

6<\/strong>In front of the throne was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal<\/strong>. The description resembles that of Exodus 24:10<\/a> and Ezekiel 1:22<\/a>, 26<\/a>.<\/p>\n

8b<\/strong> See 1:4<\/a>, 1:8<\/a>.<\/p>\n

11<\/strong> This wonderful New Testament Hallel<\/span> (\u201cdoxology,\u201d \u201cexpression of praise\u201d) is the first of several in the book of Revelation; others are found at 5:9\u201310<\/a>, 12<\/a>, 13<\/a>; 7:10<\/a>, 12<\/a>; 11:15<\/a>, 17\u201318<\/a>; 12:10\u201312<\/a>; 14:7<\/a>, 8<\/a>; 15:3\u20134<\/a>; 16:5\u20136<\/a>, 7<\/a>; 19:1\u20132<\/a>, 5<\/a>, 6\u20138<\/a>. See also Ro 11:33\u201336<\/a>; 1 Ti 1:17<\/a>, 3:16<\/a>; Yd 24\u201325<\/a>; and in the Tanakh<\/span>, of course, the whole book of Psalms.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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CHAPTER 5 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Scroll, or, possibly a book with pages. See 10:8\u201311<\/a>. Most of the rest of the book of Revelation describes God\u2019s judgments, revealed when the scroll\u2019s seven seals are removed.<\/p>\n

5<\/strong>The Lion <\/strong>of the tribe of Y\u2019hudah<\/strong>. This description of the Messiah draws on Jacob\u2019s blessing upon his son Judah, which has been understood in Judaism as a Messianic prophecy:<\/p>\n

\u201cY\u2019hudah is a lion\u2019s cub.<\/p>\n

My son, you stand over the prey.<\/p>\n

He stoops down, crouching like a lion,<\/p>\n

a mighty lion\u2014who will dare make him get up?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scepter will not depart from Y\u2019hudah,<\/p>\n

or the ruler\u2019s staff from between his feet,<\/p>\n

until he comes to whom it belongs [or: \u201cuntil Shiloh comes\u201d],<\/p>\n

and the peoples obey him.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Genesis 49:9\u201310<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Within the Messianic Community many peoples obey Yeshua, to whom the scepter belongs (compare Isaiah 9:5\u20136<\/a>(6\u20137<\/a>); MJ 1:8<\/a>, 7:14<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The Root of David<\/strong>. (See also 22:16<\/a>&N<\/a>.) This draws on Isaiah 11:1\u201310<\/a>, which commences with, \u201cThere will come forth a rod from the stem of Yishai\u201d (Jesse, King David\u2019s father), \u201cand a branch will grow out of his roots.\u201d This description of the Messiah is followed by details about his rule (compare Isaiah 9:5\u20136<\/a>(6\u20137<\/a>)) and the Messianic Age of peace which he establishes. The passage concludes with: \u201cOn that day nations [or: \u201cGentiles\u201d] will seek the root of Yishai, which stands as a banner [or: \u201cas a miracle\u201d] \u201cfor the peoples; and his dwelling-place will be glorious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of particular interest are the two verses which follow, where there is an astonishingly clear prophecy of the present and future ingathering of the Jewish people:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that day Adonai<\/span> will set his hand again a second time to recover the remnant of his people, \u2026 the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.\u201d (Isaiah 11:11\u201312<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The description does not fit either the Exodus from Egypt or the return from Babylon; and \u201cthat day\u201d can only be the Messianic Age, which has not yet fully come. Both the rabbis and the writers of the New Testament adhere to the principle that a biblical citation implies its context. Therefore Yochanan, by alluding to Isaiah 11<\/a>, affirms that God will yet fulfill his promises to restore the Jewish people to our Land, Israel. I stress this because it is sometimes claimed that the New Testament cancels the promises God made to the Jewish people. Quite the contrary: of the Jewish people the New Testament says, \u201cWith respect to being chosen they are loved for the Patriarchs\u2019 sake, for God\u2019s free gifts and his calling are irrevocable\u201d (Ro 11:28\u201329<\/a>; see Mt 5:5<\/a>N<\/a> for references on refuting Replacement theology).<\/p>\n

By his incarnation, obedient life and atoning death Yeshua has won<\/strong> the victory over human sin which gives him the right to open the scroll and its seven seals<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

6<\/strong>A Lamb that appeared to have been slaughtered<\/strong>. The allusion is to Isaiah 53:7\u20138<\/a>, \u201cLike a lamb brought to be slaughtered \u2026 he was cut off out of the land of the living.\u201d Philip expounded this passage to the Ethiopian eunuch as being about Yeshua (Ac 8:26\u201339<\/a>). Yochanan 1:29<\/a> speaks of \u201cGod\u2019s lamb \u2026 taking away the sin of the world.\u201d See also Mt 26:26\u201329<\/a>; Ro 8:3\u20134<\/a>; 1C 5:6\u20138<\/a>, 11:23\u201326<\/a>; MJ 9:11\u201310:20<\/a>; 1 Ke 1:19<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Lion of Y\u2019hudah<\/strong> is a Lamb \u2026 slaughtered<\/strong>. The juxtaposition of these contrasting descriptions of the Messiah in vv. 5\u20136<\/a> is one of the clearest expressions in the New Testament of the dual functioning of Yeshua, who came first as a Lamb <\/strong>sacrificed for sin, and returns (6:16\u201317<\/a>) as a Lion<\/strong> to execute judgment, rule the world and bring peace. Jewish tradition, unable or unwilling to reconcile these two roles in one person, invented the idea of Mashiach Be<\/span>n-Yosef<\/span> who dies and a different Mashiach Ben-David<\/span> who rules.<\/p>\n

Seven horns<\/strong>. In the Tanakh<\/span> horns symbolize power; seven is the number of completeness (1:4<\/a>). Hence Yeshua has complete power (compare Mt 28:18<\/a>, Yn 17:1\u20132<\/a>). In the Apocrypha at 1 Enoch 90:9 the Maccabees are symbolized by \u201chorned lambs.\u201d In Testament of Joseph 19:8<\/a> is imagery similar to that of this verse: the Messiah is designated a lamb who goes forth from the midst of horns with a lion on his right.<\/p>\n

Seven eyes, which are the sevenfold Spirit of God<\/strong> (see 1:4<\/a>) sent out into all the earth<\/strong>. Compare Zechariah 4:10<\/a>, a difficult verse, which apparently says that the seven lamps of Zechariah 4:2<\/a> (see 1:12<\/a>&N<\/a> above) represent \u201cthe eyes of Adonai<\/span>\u201d which \u201crove to and fro throughout the whole earth,\u201d preventing anything from impeding the building of the second Temple under Z\u2019rubavel. If the Lamb has \u201cseven eyes,\u201d he has complete knowledge to match his complete power.<\/p>\n

7<\/strong> The Messiah\u2019s normal position in the present age is at the righ<\/strong>t hand of the One sitting on the throne<\/strong> (Psalm 110:1<\/a>; Mt 22:44<\/a>; Ac 2:34\u201335<\/a>, 7:56<\/a>; MJ 1:3<\/a>).<\/p>\n

8<\/strong>Harp<\/strong>. The usual instrument of praise in the book of Psalms.<\/p>\n

Gold bowls filled with incense<\/strong> are also among the accoutrements of worship in the Tanakh<\/span>; they symbolize the prayers of God\u2019s people<\/strong> (compare 6:9\u201310<\/a>, 8:3<\/a>).<\/p>\n

9a<\/strong>A new song<\/strong>, as in Psalms 33:3<\/a>, 98:1<\/a>, 144:9<\/a>, 149:1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

9b\u201313<\/strong> These verses, like 1:12\u201316<\/a>, repeat elements of the Daniel 7:9\u201314<\/a> vision, in which an \u201cAncient of Days,\u201d served by \u201ca thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand\u201d is visited by \u201cone like a son of man,\u201d to whom is given \u201cdominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and tongues should serve him.\u201d The context there and in Revelation thus shows that the phrase, \u201cevery tribe, language, people and nation<\/strong>\u201d (and its variations at 7:9<\/a>, 10:11<\/a>, 11:9<\/a>, 13:7<\/a>, 14:6<\/a> and 17:15<\/a>), refers to the Gentile nations of the world.<\/p>\n

10<\/strong>You made them into a kingdom for God to rule, <\/strong>cohanim<\/span> to serve him<\/strong>. The language comes from Exodus 19:6<\/a>, Isaiah 61:6<\/a>. See 1 Ke 2:9<\/a>&N<\/a>; also compare 1:6<\/a> above.<\/p>\n

They will rule over the earth<\/strong> in the Millennium (20:4<\/a>) and on the new earth (22:5<\/a>); see also Mt 5:5<\/a>; 1C 4:8<\/a>.<\/p>\n

12\u201313<\/strong> God the Father, the One sitting on the throne<\/strong>, already has power, honor<\/strong>, etc., from time immemorial. He grants these attributes to the Lamb<\/strong>, who is worthy to receive<\/strong> them because he did not grasp at them (Pp 2:5\u201311<\/a>). They henceforth belong<\/strong> both to him and to his Father forever and ever.<\/strong> See also 7:12<\/a>, and compare Yochanan 17<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Every creature<\/strong> will acknowledge God\u2019s universal rule (Pp 2:9\u201311<\/a>&N<\/a>, Co 1:20<\/a>), but demons and the wicked will not enjoy its benefits (20:11\u201315<\/a>&NN<\/a>, Ya 2:19<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

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CHAPTER 6 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1\u201320 Six of the seven seals are broken in this chapter; the scroll itself is open when the seventh seal is broken, at 8:1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1\u20138<\/strong> The breaking of the first four seals releases the \u201cfour horsemen of the Apocalypse,\u201d who represent, respectively, (1) war in its aspect of subjecting peoples one to another, (2) war in its aspect of hate between nations and individuals, (3) inequitable economic distribution (or, less likely, general scarcity of goods), and (4) the death which results from the first three (war, wild animals<\/strong> = hate, famine<\/strong> = inequitable distribution) and from disease (= plagu<\/strong>es<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

This section is apparently related to Leviticus 16:14\u201326<\/a> and Ezekiel 14:12\u201320<\/a>, which speak of similar judgments. Compare also the ravagers at Jeremiah 15:3<\/a>, 24:10<\/a>, 29:17<\/a>; Ezekiel 5:17<\/a>, 14:21<\/a>; and the four horses at Zechariah 6:2\u20133<\/a>. The four living beings<\/strong> were introduced at 4:6<\/a> above.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong> Some consider the rider<\/strong> on the white horse<\/strong> to be the Messiah depicted as a conqueror<\/strong> (as at 19:11ff<\/a>.) in the sense that his Gospel conquers the world. But this makes him only one rider among many; moreover, the rest of the \u201cfour horsemen of the Apocalypse\u201d bring judgment, not relief. Better to see this rider as bringing judgment in the form of war and conquest.<\/p>\n

6<\/strong> The rich are cushioned by their wealth from the effects of economic inequality and scarcity; but the poor, who must pay a day\u2019s wages<\/strong> (literally, \u201ca denarius\u201d; see Mt 20:2<\/a>) for starvation rations, are brusquely ordered not to meddle with<\/strong> (or \u201cdamage\u201d) the <\/strong>olive oil or the wine<\/strong>, now luxuries far beyond their means.<\/p>\n

Yechiel Lichtenstein (see MJ 3:13<\/a>N<\/a>) comments:<\/p>\n

\u201cWeighing the bread is a sign of a curse, according to Leviticus 26:26<\/a>, \u2018They shall dole out your bread by weight; you will eat, but you will not be satisfied.\u2019 \u201d (Commentary to the New Testament, ad loc.)<\/p>\n

8A pallid, sickly-looking horse (or: \u201ca green horse\u201d). Lichtenstein comments,<\/p>\n

\u201cThe greenness is a sign of death. Death causes the face to turn green, as it says in the Talmud, referring to the angel of death: \u2018 \u2026 they throw in the mouth of the dying the drop which caused his death, and his skin and face become green\u2019 (\u201bAvodah Zarah 26b).\u201d<\/p>\n

9<\/strong>Underneath the altar th<\/strong>e souls<\/strong>. This odd image should be understood in the light of rabbinic literature. According to a work attributed to the second-century Rabbi Natan HaBavli,<\/p>\n

\u201cHaKadosh<\/span> [\u201cthe Holy One\u201d], blessed be he, took the soul of Moses and stored it under the Throne of Glory \u2026. Not only the soul of Moses is stored under the Throne of Glory, but the souls of the righteous are also stored there.<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi Akiva used to say, \u2026 \u2018Whoever is buried beneath the altar is as though he were buried beneath the Throne of Glory.\u2019 \u201d (Avot diRabbi Natan<\/span> 12:4, 26:2)<\/p>\n

According to the Talmud, the third-century Rabbi Abba Arikha, known as Rav, taught that the archangel Michael offers a sacrifice on the heavenly altar in the heavenly temple (M\u2019nachot 110a). The Tosafot, medieval commentators on the Talmud, said about this passage that this sacrifice consists of the souls of the righteous, of Torah<\/span>-scholars. Similarly Shabbat 152b. On the altar itself, see 8:3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Put to death \u2026 for bearing witness<\/strong>. The Greek word for \u201cwitness\u201d is \u201cmarturia<\/span>,\u201d from which is derived the English word \u201cmartyr.\u201d See Ac 7:59\u201360<\/a>N<\/a> on the Jewish concept of death \u02d3al kiddush HaShem<\/span> (\u201cto sanctify the Name\u201d of God).<\/p>\n

10<\/strong>HaKadosh<\/span>, \u2026 how long \u2026 bef<\/strong>ore you \u2026 avenge our blood?<\/strong> People who oppose vengeance on principle can appeal to both Yeshua\u2019s example and his teaching (Mt 5:42<\/a>, 26:51\u201354<\/a>; Lk 23:34<\/a>). Yet the Scriptures make room for vengeance. The martyrs recognize that while vengeance is not properly within the human domain, it is a proper function of God. As Ro 12:19<\/a> puts it,<\/p>\n

\u201cNever seek revenge, my friends; instead, leave that to God\u2019s anger; for in the Tanakh<\/span> it is written, \u0091Adonai<\/span> says, \u201cVengeance is my responsibility; I will repay.\u201d \u2019 [Deuteronomy 32:25<\/a>]\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, just as the voice of Abel\u2019s blood cries out to God from the ground (Genesis 4<\/a>), righteousness demands payment (vengeance) for murder or wrongful death. Psalm 79:10<\/a> and Lk 18:7\u20138a<\/a> suggest that the martyrs here are praying for vindication rather than vengeance. But a similar prayer in the Pseudepigraphic book 1 Enoch 47:1\u20134 is for vengeance.<\/p>\n

11<\/strong>White robe<\/strong>. See 3:4\u20135a<\/a>.<\/p>\n

12\u201317<\/strong> The description of the breaking of the sixth seal<\/strong> alludes to descriptions of the end of the world found in Isaiah 2:10\u201312<\/a>, 2:19<\/a>, 13:10<\/a>, 34:4<\/a>, 50:3<\/a>; Jeremiah 4:23\u201329<\/a>; Joel 3:4<\/a>(2:31<\/a>), 4:15<\/a>(3:15<\/a>); Nahum 1:5\u20136<\/a>; Haggai 2:6<\/a> (compare Mt 24:29<\/a>, Lk 23:30<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The fury of the Lamb<\/strong> will be fearful because the Lamb is also a Lion (see 5:5\u20136<\/a>&NN<\/a>). According to Yn 5:22<\/a>, Ac 17:31<\/a>, Ro 2:16<\/a> and 2C 5:10<\/a> God has entrusted judgment to this Lion\/Lamb. It will take place on the Great Day<\/strong>, also known as the Day of the Lord (1:10<\/a>&N<\/a> above, 2 Th 2:2<\/a>, 2 Ke 3:10<\/a>, and more than a dozen places in the Tanakh<\/span>), the Day of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah (1C 1:8<\/a>), the Day of our Lord Yeshua (2C 1:14<\/a>), the Day of the Messiah (Pp 1:10<\/a>), the Great Day of Adonai-Tzva\u02d2ot<\/span> (16:14<\/a> below, Isaiah 2:12<\/a>, Jeremiah 46:10<\/a>), the Day of Anger (Ro 2:5<\/a>; Zephaniah 1:18<\/a>, 2:2\u20133<\/a>; Lamentations 2:22<\/a>), and the Day of Judgment (Mt 10:15<\/a>, 2 Ke 2:9<\/a>, 1 Yn 4:17<\/a> and five other places in the New Testament).<\/p>\n

On the Great Day \u2026 who can stand?<\/strong> Those of the world who glory in their power will realize that it was all an illusion. Even weak people who manipulate and try to gain power in small ways will be revealed for what they are. Only those who restrict \u201cpraise, honor, glory and power\u201d to God and the Lamb (5:13<\/a>), will survive their fury<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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 <\/p>\n

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CHAPTER 7 <\/strong><\/p>\n

2\u20133 The servants of our God are sealed on their foreheads so that certain plagues, such as the one from the fifth trumpet (9:4<\/a>), will not affect them. Yechiel Lichtenstein writes, \u201cFrom 14:1<\/a> it seems that on the seal was written the name of the Lamb and of his Father.\u201d See also Ezekiel 9:4<\/a>, where a mark is set on the foreheads of those who oppose the abominations done in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>1<\/strong>44,000<\/strong>. Whether this number is to be taken literally or figuratively, the obvious question is: why exactly this number? The answer is usually along these lines: there are twelve tribes of Israel and twelve emissaries; there are Ten Commandments; squaring the former and cubing the latter bespeaks perfection, the perfection and fullness of Israel. Yechiel Lichtenstein (MJ 3:13<\/a>N<\/a>) offers an intriguing explanation:<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael numbered 7,200,000 at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple. The t\u02d2rumah<\/span> [the offering to cohanim<\/span> from the firstfruits] is normally one fiftieth (Mishna, T\u2019rumot 4:3), which here comes to 144,000. At Ro 11:16<\/a> Paul remarked that \u2018if the challah<\/span> offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole loaf.\u2019 Thus the meaning is that if the firstfruits of Israel, the 144,000 Messianic Jews who put their trust in Yeshua, is holy, then the whole loaf, all of Israel, is holy. Therefore Paul continues, \u2018In this way all Israel will be saved. As the Tanakh<\/span> says, \u201cOut of Zion will come the Redeemer; he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob\u201d (Ro 11:26<\/a>).\u2019 This is in accordance with my comment on 1:7<\/a>, which says that when the sign of the son of man is seen in heaven, the children of Israel will repent, recognize the Messiah, and mourn because they pierced him unjustly. That is when all Israel will be saved. Yet the condition for this is the prior salvation of 144,000.\u201d (Commentary to the New Testament, on Rv 7:9<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Although there is no way of knowing exactly how many Jews there were in 70 c.e., scholars agree that the number was between five and ten million. The number of Messianic Jews then, as now, was surely in six figures (see Ac 21:20<\/a>N<\/a>), but it would be sheer speculation to fix it at 144,000.<\/p>\n

From every tribe of the people of Israel<\/strong>. The plain sense, the p\u02d2shat<\/span>, of this phrase is \u201cfrom among the entire Jewish people.\u201d But many commentators say it refers to the Church. In Ro 2:28\u201329<\/a>N<\/a> I suggest that even where the p\u02d2shat<\/span> of a text refers to Jews, there may be a midrashic application to the entire Body of the Messiah. Moreover, at Ga 6:16<\/a> and Ep 2:11\u201313<\/a> (see notes there and at Ro 11:26a<\/a>), \u201cIsrael\u201d is used in a way that does include saved Gentiles, new creations formerly distant but now brought near and grafted in (Ro 11:17\u201324<\/a>). However, the case that the 144,000 from every tribe of the people of Israel<\/strong> means \u201cthe Church\u201d is harder to make here; because v. 9<\/a> below speaks of \u201ca huge crowd, too large for anyone to count, from every nation, tribe, people and language.\u201d Apparently, this innumerable crowd of saved Gentiles is to be contrasted with the delimited number of saved Jews in the present verse. Furthermore, to emphasize the fact that these 144,000 are Jews, vv. 5\u20138<\/a> lists the twelve tribes; this would have no immediate relevance to the Church. See also 14:1\u20135<\/a>&NN<\/a>, where the number 144,000 reappears.<\/p>\n

One objection sometimes made to interpreting these 144,000 as Jews is that there is supposedly no reason why Jews would be singled out for special protection. Such thinking contradicts the whole of salvation history as set forth in the Tanakh<\/span> and reflects an unawareness on the part of Gentile Christian commentators that they have been joined to Israel, that is, to the Jewish people. God, by his grace, has singled out the Jewish people for special protection for thousands of years. After centuries of dispersion and persecution, culminating in the Holocaust, we would not exist at all without such protection. This protection is promised over and over by the Prophets, even when Israel becomes sinful and breaks covenant; though it is not always promised to the entire people, but rather only to a remnant (see Ro 9:27\u201329<\/a>, 11:1\u201332<\/a>)\u2014such as the 144,000. Moreover, the sealing of the Jewish people from judgment corresponds specifically to God\u2019s promise at Zechariah 9:14\u201316<\/a> (see 8:2<\/a> on \u201cshofar<\/span>s\u201d).<\/p>\n

The Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses used to claim that their adherents constituted the 144,000. When their membership came to exceed this number, they simply revised their theology! Such a blatant appeal to pride at being among the supposed spiritual elite is a favorite tactic of cults.<\/p>\n

5\u20138<\/strong> No matter who the 144,000 are, there is a problem with these verses, in that the listing of the twelve tribes is very strange: (1) Dan is missing, (2) Efrayim is missing but included in Yosef<\/strong>, who was Efrayim\u2019s father, (3) M\u2019nasheh<\/strong> is counted twice, since Yo<\/strong>sef<\/strong> was also his father, (4) Y\u2019hudah<\/strong>, not Re\u2019uven<\/strong>, is mentioned first, and (5) L\u2019vi<\/strong> is included, even though this tribe is sometimes not counted, since it was not assigned a portion in the Land. Efrayim and M\u2019nasheh<\/strong> were the two sons of Yosef<\/strong>, and their descendants were at first counted as half-tribes; but over time they became elevated to the status of tribes because Yosef, after saving his family from starvation, was treated like the firstborn and given a double portion (Genesis 48:22<\/a>).<\/p>\n

On these verses Yechiel Lichtenstein writes in his Commentary to the New Testament<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi Yitzchak of Troki\u2019s Chizzuk-Emunah<\/span> accused Yochanan of not knowing the number of the tribes. This is nonsense, since Yochanan in his book demonstrates wonderful knowledge of the Tanakh<\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome say Dan is excluded because he sinned by worshipping idols (Judges 18:30<\/a>, 2 Kings 10:29<\/a>); as proof they quote 1 Chronicles 2\u20137<\/a>, where the tribe of Dan is not mentioned. But this is not a valid proof, because Z\u2019vulun is not mentioned there either; and the reason in both cases is that the author, Ezra, wrote in his book only what he found in the scrolls available to him. This is why the subjects there often follow one another without logical connection\u2014there are missing links.<\/p>\n

\u201cConcerning Dan, Ya\u201bakov, when blessing his sons, said, \u2018Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel\u2019 (Genesis 49:16<\/a>). Moreover, Ezekiel 48:32<\/a> attributes one gate to Dan, one to Yosef, since Joseph includes Efrayim and M\u2019nasheh in respect to the heritage, and one to L\u2019vi.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is Lichtenstein\u2019s solution to the problem:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to me that a scribal error was made when the book of Revelation was being prepared for transmission to the world. Instead of \u2018M\u2019nasheh\u2019 we should read \u2018Dan.\u2019 Yochanan also mentioned Y\u2019hudah before Re\u2019uven, because the Messiah came out of Y\u2019hudah (see 1 Chronicles 2\u20137<\/a>, where Y\u2019hudah is also mentioned first, and the Jewish commentators on it). Next he mentions Re\u2019uven, because he was the firstborn of the tribal patriarchs. But after this Yochanan paid no more attention to the subject.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, when Yochanan proofread the manuscript of his book he failed to notice anomalies in the tribal listing. It is always tempting to attribute a difficult reading to scribal error, but I am not sure this explanation should be invoked so quickly here.<\/p>\n

Shim\u201bon is missing from Moses\u2019 blessing of the tribes in Deuteronomy 33<\/a>. There too corruption of the manuscript is offered as a possible reason, although a more specific one is that his tribe had no extended area of its own\u2014his inheritance of 19 cities was spread through the territory of Y\u2019hudah (Joshua 19:2\u20139<\/a>).<\/p>\n

It is suggested that Dan is absent from the present list because the Anti-Messiah is to come from this tribe. This idea can be found in the second-century church father Irenaeus; in Jewish tradition it can be traced back to the Pseudepigraphic Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, written around 100 b.c.e., where Dan is told:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last days you will depart from the Lord \u2026. For I have read in the book of Enoch the righteous that your prince is Satan.\u201d (Testament of Dan 5:4\u20137<\/a>)<\/p>\n

But for this idea there is no biblical evidence.<\/p>\n

Another reason for Dan\u2019s omission might be this tribe\u2019s poor reputation due to its weakness for idol-worship. The Midrash Rabbah explains Numbers 2:25<\/a>, \u201cThe standard of the camp of Dan is to be on the north side,\u201d thusly:<\/p>\n

\u201c \u2018The north.\u2019 From there comes darkness [since the sun is in the south]. Why is this relevant to Dan? Because Dan darkened the world by idolatry. For [King] Jeroboam made two calves of gold. And idolatry is darkness, as it is said, \u2018Their works are in the dark\u2019 (Isaiah 29:15<\/a>). Jeroboam went about all over Israel, but they would not receive his teaching, except for the tribe of Dan, as it is said, \u2018The king took counsel, made two calves of gold \u2026 and set the one in Dan\u2019 (1 Kings 12:28\u201329<\/a>). This is why the Holy One commanded that Dan should set up his camp on the north.\u201d (Numbers Rabbah 2:10)<\/p>\n

If it is meant literally that 12,000 from each tribe are to be selected, it can be objected that no one will know who belongs to which tribe, since genealogies no longer exist. One answer: God, who will be doing the choosing, will know.<\/p>\n

9<\/strong>A huge crowd \u2026 dressed in white robes<\/strong>. See vv. 13\u201317<\/a>. From every nation, tribe, people and language<\/strong>. See 5:9b\u201313<\/a>.<\/p>\n

10<\/strong>Victory<\/strong>. Greek s\u00f4t\u00earia<\/span> usually means \u201csalvation\u201d or \u201cdeliverance,\u201d but KJV\u2019s \u201cSalvation to our God \u2026 \u201d is awkward, since God does not need to be saved. Here (and at 12:10<\/a>, 19:1<\/a>) the sense is as at Psalm 98:2<\/a>: \u201cHis right hand and his holy arm have gotten him [God] the victory.\u201d The Hebrew word there is the verb related to \u201cyeshu\u02d3ah<\/span>\u201d (\u201csalvation\u201d).<\/p>\n

11\u201312<\/strong> \u201cAmen<\/span>\u201d always refers back to something said previously (Mt 5:18<\/a>N<\/a>). The first \u201cAmen<\/span>\u201d of the elders and the four living beings<\/strong> in v. 12<\/a> is their response to the shout of the crowd at v. 10<\/a>. The second one is a signal to that crowd to respond by affirming the elders\u2019 and living beings\u2019 own words of praise (see Ro 9:5<\/a>N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

To our God<\/strong>. Or: \u201ccome from our God.\u201d See v. 10<\/a>.<\/p>\n

14<\/strong>The Great Persecution<\/strong> (KJV, \u201cgreat tribulation\u201d); compare Daniel 12:1<\/a>, also Mt 24:21\u201322<\/a>&N<\/a>. Verses 14\u201317<\/a> offer comfort to any believer undergoing persecution.<\/p>\n

They have washed their robes and made them white with the blood of the Lamb<\/strong>. The metaphor, which only gains power from being contradictory when taken literally, means that those who did not capitulate under persecution have become clean and are regarded by God as sinless (compare Isaiah 1:18<\/a>) because they have remained faithful to Yeshua, who shed his blood for them (see 1:7<\/a>&N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

15<\/strong>His Temple<\/strong>. According to Jewish tradition, God has a temple in heaven. Compare the book of Messianic Jews, in which Yeshua is presented as a cohen<\/span> serving God in heaven. See also MJ 8:2\u20136a<\/a>&N<\/a>, which refers to the Tent (Tabernacle) in heaven and gives references in Exodus.<\/p>\n

Will put his <\/strong>Sh\u02d2khinah<\/span> upon them<\/strong>. Or: \u201cwill spread his tent over them,\u201d giving protection. The Greek word \u201csk\u00ean\u00f4sei<\/span>\u201d (\u201cwill spread his tent, will dwell\u201d) is related to the Hebrew words \u201cmishkan<\/span>\u201d (\u201ctent, tabernacle\u201d) and \u201cSh\u02d2khinah<\/span>\u201d (\u201cdwelling,\u201d used in rabbinic Judaism to mean \u201cGod\u2019s manifest glory dwelling with mankind\u201d; see MJ 1:2\u20133<\/a>N<\/a>). Compare Ezekiel 37:27<\/a>, where, in the valley of dry bones, God says, \u201cV\u02d2hayah mishkani \u02d3aleihem<\/span>\u201d (\u201cand my tent will be upon them\u201d).<\/p>\n

17<\/strong>The Lamb<\/strong> can be at the center of the throne<\/strong> because he is identified with God. Springs of living water<\/strong>. See 21:6<\/a>. Wipe away every tear<\/strong>. See 21:4<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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CHAPTER 8 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1 After the seventh seal the scroll (5:1<\/a>) is not mentioned again, but what follows is a description of its contents.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>The seven angels who stand before God<\/strong>. Seven \u201cAngels of the Presence\u201d have a well-documented history in Jewish literature (see 1:4<\/a>), possibly commencing with Isaiah 63:9<\/a>, which mentions \u201can angel of his [God\u2019s] presence\u201d (compare Lk 1:19<\/a>, \u201cI am Gavri\u2019el,\u201d the angel answered him, \u201cand I stand in the presence of God.\u201d), and Ezekiel 9:2<\/a>, which speaks of \u201csix men \u2026 with slaughter weapons, and one man among them clothed in linen with a writer\u2019s ink well at his side,\u201d to whom God speaks. In the Apocrypha, Rafa\u2019el identifies himself as \u201cone of the seven holy angels\u201d (Tobit 12:15<\/a>). 1 Enoch 20 gives the names and functions of seven \u201choly angels who watch\u201d: Uri\u2019el, Rafa\u2019el, Ragu\u2019el, Mikha\u2019el, Saraka\u2019el, Gavri\u2019el and Remi\u2019el. The first four are called \u201cministering angels\u201d (\u201cmal\u02d2akhey-hasharet<\/span>\u201d) in the Talmud, the siddur<\/span>, and the kabbalah<\/span>; compare the fact that in vv. 7\u201312<\/a> four angels are singled out to announce the four \u201cnon-woe\u201d shofar<\/span> judgments. See also 1:4<\/a> on \u201cthe sevenfold Spirit\u201d and v. 4<\/a>&N<\/a> below. On whether angels exist at all, see MJ 13:2b<\/a>N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shofars<\/span> (\u201cram\u2019s horns\u201d), not trumpets. The idea that the Great Judgment of the Last Days is heralded by blasts on the shofar<\/span> has its roots in the Tanakh<\/span>. \u201cYHVH<\/em> will be seen over them, his arrow will go forth like lightning, and Adonai YHVH<\/em> will sound the shofar<\/span> and will move in the stormwinds of the south \u2026. And YHVH<\/em> their God will save them [Y\u2019hudah and Efrayim] on that day as the flock of his people\u201d (Zechariah 9:14<\/a>, 16<\/a>). Similarly God protects Israel at 7:1\u20138<\/a> before setting the shofar<\/span> judgments in motion \u201con that day,\u201d half an hour afterwards (8:1<\/a>). Compare Isaiah 27:13<\/a>, Joel 2:1<\/a>, Zephaniah 1:16<\/a> and, in the Pseudepigrapha, Psalms of Solomon 11 and 4 Ezra 6:23\u201326<\/a>. In the New Testament see Mt 24:31<\/a>&N<\/a>, 1C 15:52<\/a>&N<\/a> and 1 Th 4:16<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong> It is not clear from the Greek grammar whether this verse speaks of two altars or one. The temple in Jerusalem had two\u2014one for burnt offerings and another for incense. But, as R. H. Charles puts it, \u201csince there could be no animal sacrifices in heaven\u201d (this is also consistent with MJ 9:18\u201310:20<\/a>), there is only the altar<\/strong> for incense<\/strong>. Moreover, the rabbinic citations in 6:9<\/a> mention only one altar.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>The smoke of the incense<\/strong> added by another angel<\/strong> accompanies the pra<\/strong>yers of all God\u2019s people<\/strong> (not only those of the martyrs, as at 6:9\u201310<\/a>); both rise to God together\u2014but it is not clear just what this means. Nevertheless, compare Exodus Rabbah 21:4:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is the meaning of \u2018O Thou that hearest prayer\u2019 (Psalm 65:3<\/a>)? Rabbi Pinchas in the name of Rabbi Me\u2019ir and Rabbi Yirmiyahu in the name of Rabbi Chiyya bar-Abba said, \u2018When the people of Israel pray, you do not find them all praying at the same time, but each assembly prays separately, first one and then another. When they have all finished, the angel appointed over prayers collects all the prayers that have been offered in all the synagogues, weaves them into garlands and places them upon the head of God.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Also Testament of Levi 3:5\u20136:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn [the heaven next to the highest heaven] are the angels of the presence of the Lord, who minister and make propitiation to the Lord for all the sins of ignorance of the righteous. And they offer to the Lord a sweet-smelling savor, a reasonable and bloodless offering.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prayers are evidently for judgment to begin, and God answers at once (v. 5<\/a> through 14:20<\/a>); but see also 6:10<\/a>.<\/p>\n

7\u201312<\/strong> The first four shofar<\/span> judgments affect nature directly and people indirectly (compare Mt 24:4\u20138<\/a>) and resemble the plagues of Egypt (see Psalm 105:29<\/a>, 32<\/a>), while the last three plagues (v. 13<\/a>) affect people directly (compare Mt 24:13\u201322<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The idea that the End-Time plagues will recapitulate those of Egypt can be found in the Midrash Rabbah:<\/p>\n

\u201c \u2018Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail such as has not been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now\u2019 (Exodus 9:18<\/a>).\u2026 However, there will be one like it in the time to come. When? In the days of Gog and Magog, as it is written, \u2026 \u2018A torrential rain, and great hailstones, fire and sulfur\u2019 (Ezekiel 38:2<\/a>, 22<\/a>).\u201d (Exodus Rabbah 12:2)<\/p>\n

Compare below at 11:19<\/a>, 16:21<\/a>, 20:7<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Consider the function of the Egyptian plagues. The well-known song, \u201cDayenu<\/span>\u201d ([It would have been] \u201cEnough for us\u201d), from the Passover Haggadah<\/span>, says that God through the plagues judged both the Egyptians and their gods (compare 9:20<\/a>). He did this by turning against the Egyptians the very things they worshipped. They worshipped the Nile River; it became blood. They worshipped beetles (scarabs); they got lice and locusts. They worshipped frogs and found them in bed. They worshipped the weather and had their crops destroyed by hail.<\/p>\n

If these verses in Revelation are to be understood literally, then, since God uses nature to accomplish his purposes, one can imagine asteroids plunging into the earth, other materials from outer space darkening the skies and infecting the water, and heat flashes setting fire to the vegetation; and one can seek scientific explanations for such phenomena. But if these are graphic but figurative ways of describing God\u2019s judgment and the terror it will evoke, such speculations and researches are irrelevant. There are intelligent, well-informed, God-fearing New Testament scholars taking each approach.<\/p>\n

10\u201311<\/strong>Bitterness<\/strong>, literally, \u201cwormwood, absinthe\u201d; compare Jeremiah 9:15<\/a>, 23:15<\/a>: \u201cI will feed this people wormwood and give them water of gall to drink.\u201d<\/p>\n

13<\/strong>A lone eagle<\/strong>, representing swiftness, or \u201ca lone vulture,\u201d representing pursuit of carrion (as at Mt 24:28<\/a>&N<\/a>, Lk 17:37<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Woe! Woe! Woe!<\/strong> The remaining shofar<\/span> judgments are directed not at nature but at the people<\/strong> living on earth<\/strong> (the pagan world hostile to God; see 3:10<\/a>) in order to get them to repent (9:20\u201321<\/a>), while the sealed are spared (9:4<\/a>; 7:1\u20138<\/a>). These three \u201cwoes\u201d are announced by the remaining<\/strong>shofar<\/span>blasts<\/strong>, and are described at 9:1\u201312<\/a>, 9:13\u201311:14<\/a> and 11:15\u201318:24<\/a> respectively. Just as the seventh seal (v. 1<\/a>&N<\/a>) included the seven \u201cshofar<\/span>\u201d judgments, so the seventh shofar<\/span> blast includes the seven \u201cbowl\u201d judgments, which begin at 16:1<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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CHAPTER 9 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1 The star is not Satan (despite Isaiah 14:12<\/a>, Lk 10:17<\/a>), but an angel, who still has the key at 20:1<\/a>. The Abyss is not Sh\u02d2ol<\/span> (as at Ro 10:7<\/a>), but a place where demonic beings are imprisoned (vv. 2\u201311<\/a>, 11:7<\/a>, 17:8<\/a>, 20:2\u20133<\/a>). In the Apocrypha, God is called, \u201cYou who close and seal the Abyss with your fearful and glorious name\u201d (Prayer of Manasseh 3<\/a>).<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>Like the smoke of a huge furnace<\/strong> or volcano, evoking images of Sodom (Genesis 19:28<\/a>) and of Sinai; there too a shofar<\/span> sounded (Exodus 19:18\u201319<\/a>).<\/p>\n

3<\/strong> Demonic monsters are released which fly like locusts<\/strong> (Exodus 10:12\u201320<\/a>; Joel 1:4<\/a>, 2:4\u201314<\/a>) and sting like scorpions<\/strong> (Ezekiel 2:6<\/a>, Lk 11:12<\/a>).<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>The people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads<\/strong>. See 7:1\u20138<\/a>&NN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

5<\/strong> \u201cFive months<\/strong>\u201d may mean \u201ca few months, a short time.\u201d<\/p>\n

6<\/strong> Compare 6:16<\/a>, Jeremiah 8:3<\/a>, Hosea 10:8<\/a>, Job 3:21<\/a>, Lk 23:30<\/a>.<\/p>\n

7\u20139<\/strong> The descriptions are from Joel 1:4\u20136<\/a>, 2:4\u20135<\/a>.<\/p>\n

11<\/strong> \u201cThe locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank\u201d (Proverbs 30:27<\/a>). Here they have as k<\/strong>ing over them the angel of the Abyss<\/strong>, probably not the same angel as in v. 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In our language, <\/strong>\u201cDestroyer.<\/strong>\u201d Literally, \u201cin Greek, he has the name \u2018Apollu\u00f4n<\/span>.\u2019 \u201d Hebrew \u201cAbaddon<\/span>\u201d and Greek \u201cApollu\u00f4n<\/span>\u201d both mean \u201cDestroyer.\u201d<\/p>\n

12<\/strong> See 8:13<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

13\u201319<\/strong> The fifth shofar<\/span> brought suffering, the sixth brings death.<\/p>\n

16<\/strong>Two hundred million<\/strong>. Perhaps a literal number, but compare Psalm 68:18<\/a>: \u201cThe chariots of God are twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands.\u201d<\/p>\n

18<\/strong>Fire \u2026 and sulfur<\/strong>. See 14:10a<\/a>.<\/p>\n

19<\/strong> Those who interpret literally take this as a description of some modern invention. On literal and figurative interpretation see 8:7\u201312<\/a>.<\/p>\n

20<\/strong> The locusts in Joel 2:4\u201310<\/a> were intended to bring about repentance (Joel 2:11\u201314<\/a>); likewise here, but the people refused.<\/p>\n

Idols<\/strong>, though themselves not real (1C 8:4<\/a>, Psalm 115:4\u20138<\/a>), have real demons<\/strong> behind them (1C 10:19\u201320<\/a>). Moreover, not every idolatry involves bowing to statues (see Ep 5:5<\/a>, Co 3:5<\/a>, 1 Yn 5:21<\/a>&N<\/a>). On this and plagues<\/strong> see 8:7\u201312<\/a>.<\/p>\n

21<\/strong>Nor did they tu<\/strong>rn<\/strong> \u2026. Compare 16:9<\/a>, 11<\/a>, 21<\/a>. All the sins named are connected with idolatry (v. 20<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Misuse of drugs in connection with the occult<\/strong>. Greek pharmakeia<\/span>, usually translated \u201csorceries,\u201d \u201cwitchcraft\u201d or \u201cmagic arts,\u201d is here rendered by this longer phrase in order to focus on the fact that using potions and drugs is an essential part of the word\u2019s meaning\u2014as is clear from the derived English words \u201cpharmaceuticals\u201d and \u201cpharmacy.\u201d The usual renderings suggest to many people a setting so removed from the fabric of their lives that the text does not speak to them. The reason I employ this lengthy expression is that the Jewish New Testament<\/em> is a product of the 1980\u2019s, when the Western world has seen an explosion of drug abuse, and I want readers to understand that this subject is dealt with in the Bible.<\/p>\n

Spiritually speaking, there are four distinct categories of drug misuse: (1) taking drugs in order to explore spiritual realms, (2) taking drugs in order to engage in \u201csorcery, witchcraft and magic arts\u201d while under their influence, (3) giving drugs to other people in order to gain control over them, which is another form of \u201csorcery, witchcraft and magic arts,\u201d and (4) taking drugs for pleasure. The last is a misuse because the drugs in question\u2014besides whatever temporary enjoyment they provide, and apart from their adverse medical and psychological effects\u2014open a person to supernatural or spiritual experiences; but these experiences are almost always demonic and not from God, since the Holy One of Israel reveals himself through his Word (Ro 1:16\u201317<\/a>, 10:8\u201317<\/a>), not through drugs. (I know of one instance where God overruled LSD and spoke to someone under its influence; he became a believer immediately, was instantly sober and never used drugs again.)<\/p>\n

Just as a virgin who has sexual intercourse can never again be a virgin, so a person is not the same after having taken mind-altering drugs. His range of experience has been broadened, but not every experience is edifying (1C 10:23<\/a>). As Sha\u2019ul puts it:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou say, \u2018For me, everything is permitted\u2019? Maybe, but not everything is helpful. \u2018For me, everything is permitted\u2019? Maybe, but as far as I am concerned, I am not going to let anything gain control over me. \u2018Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food\u2019? Maybe, but God will put an end to both of them. Anyhow, the body is not meant for sexual immorality\u201d [or for drugs] \u201cbut for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.\u201d (1C 6:12\u201313<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cI want you to be wise concerning good, but innocent concerning evil.\u201d (Ro 16:19<\/a>)<\/p>\n

From other New Testament passages where \u201cph<\/span>armakeia<\/span>\u201d and its cognates appear, we learn that those who misuse drugs \u201chave no share in the Kingdom of God\u201d (Ga 5:20<\/a>), so that they remain outside the holy city, New Jerusalem; and instead, \u201ctheir destiny is the lake burning with fire and sulfur, the second death\u201d (below, 21:8<\/a>, 22:5<\/a>). (At 18:23<\/a>pharmakeia<\/span> has a different meaning.)<\/p>\n

So much for the Bad News. The Good News is that when a pride-filled, weak-willed, uncaring, despairing drug-user trusts Yeshua the Messiah, God can turn him into a person of faith and right action.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CHAPTER 10 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Legs (as in most versions; KJV, \u201cfeet\u201d). This is a good proof that the Jewish author, Yochanan, thought in Hebrew. In Greek, \u201cpodes<\/span>\u201d means \u201cfeet,\u201d and \u201cskel\u00ea<\/span>\u201d means \u201clegs.\u201d But Hebrew has only one word, \u201craglayim<\/span>,\u201d which can mean either. The text here has \u201cpodes,<\/span>\u201d but feet cannot be like columns (or \u201cpillars\u201d), only legs can. Either the author, thinking in Hebrew but writing in Greek, believed \u201cpodes<\/span>\u201d was the appropriate Greek rendering of \u201craglayim<\/span>\u201d; or the author thought and wrote in Hebrew, but someone else, equally unacquainted with Greek nuances, translated \u201craglayim<\/span>\u201d as \u201cp<\/span>odes<\/span>\u201d instead of \u201cskel\u00ea<\/span>.\u201d (I know from living in Israel that this specific confusion does occur: even my own children, bilingual in Hebrew and English, used to call feet \u201clegs.\u201d)<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>His right foot on<\/strong> the sea and his left foot on the land<\/strong>, symbolizing the fact that this angel\u2019s mission involves the whole world.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>Thunderclaps sounded with voices<\/strong>. Compare 1:15<\/a>, 4:5<\/a>; and see Ac 2:4b\u201313<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>The se<\/strong>ven thunders<\/strong> are aspects of divine wrath which God orders concealed and not revealed. Sha\u2019ul mentioned a similar experience at 2C 12:3\u20134<\/a>. Compare Daniel 12:9<\/a>.<\/p>\n

6<\/strong>No more delay<\/strong>. Compare Ro 9:28<\/a>, 2 Ke 3:9<\/a>.<\/p>\n

7<\/strong>The hidden plan<\/strong> (\u201cmystery\u201d; see Ro 11:25<\/a>N<\/a>) of God<\/strong> is the Good News<\/strong>, the Gospel. It includes both judgment, as described in the book of Revelation, and the overall outworking of history, including the salvation of the Jewish people and of others who come to faith, as outlined at Ro 11:25\u201336<\/a>, 16:25<\/a>; Ep 1:9\u201310<\/a>; 3:3\u201311<\/a>; and Co 1:26\u201327<\/a>; compare Mt 13:11<\/a>. God proclaimed it to his servants the pro<\/strong>phets<\/strong> (the phrase echoes Daniel 9:6<\/a>), even though, since they lived centuries earlier, they did not fully understand it (Daniel 12:8ff<\/a>.); compare Ga 3:8<\/a>.<\/p>\n

8\u201311<\/strong> On eating the scroll, compare Jeremiah 15:16<\/a>, Ezekiel 2:8\u20133:3<\/a>; also Psalms 19:11<\/a>(10<\/a>), 119:103<\/a> on its words\u2019 being sweet as honey<\/strong>. On the bitterness, see Ezekiel 3:4\u201311<\/a>; also compare Yeshua weeping over Jerusalem (Mt 23:37\u201338<\/a>, Lk 19:41<\/a>)\u2014there is no joy in preaching the wrath of God.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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CHAPTER 11 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1\u201314 Although some take this passage as referring symbolically to the Church, many see it as a graphic way of saying that after the Anti-Messiah and his minions do all in their power to destroy the Gospel witness to the Jewish people (v. 7<\/a>) and to destroy the Jewish people themselves (v. 2<\/a>b), then \u201cAll Israel will be saved\u201d (Ro 11:26a<\/a>&N<\/a>). Verses 1\u20132<\/a>&N<\/a> show that the focus is on Jews, not Gentiles.<\/p>\n

1\u20132<\/strong>Measuring<\/strong> symbolizes reserving a city either for preservation (Ezekiel 40:3\u201348:35<\/a>, Zechariah 2:5\u20139<\/a>(1\u20135<\/a>)) or for destruction (2 Kings 21:12\u201314<\/a>, Isaiah 34:11<\/a>, Lamentations 2:8<\/a>). Verses 2<\/a>, 8<\/a> and 13a<\/a> suggest that Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish nation and therefore a figure for the Jewish people (as at Isaiah 40:1\u20132<\/a>, Mt 23:37\u201339<\/a>&N<\/a>, Lk 2:38<\/a>), deserves judgment and destruction. But v. 13<\/a>b shows that its destiny is repenting and being preserved.<\/p>\n

The Temple of God<\/strong>. In addition to the Tent of Meeting (the Tabernacle) and the heavenly original after which it was modeled (see 15:5<\/a>&N<\/a>, MJ 8:2\u20136a<\/a>&N<\/a>), Scripture mentions six literal temples:<\/p>\n

(1) Solomon\u2019s, the First Temple (1 Kings 5\u20138<\/a>).<\/p>\n

(2) Z\u2019rubavel\u2019s, the Second Temple (Haggai 1\u20132<\/a>, Ezra 3:4\u201313<\/a>).<\/p>\n

(3) Herod\u2019s, called the rebuilt Second Temple or, by some, the Third Temple (Mt 21:12ff<\/a>., 24:1\u20132<\/a>; Yn 2:19\u201320<\/a>).<\/p>\n

(4) A future temple in the days of Anti-Messiah (Daniel 9:27<\/a>, 11:45<\/a>, 12:7<\/a>; Mt 24:15<\/a>; 2 Th 2:3\u20134<\/a>; and here).<\/p>\n

(5) A future temple in the days of the Messiah (Ezekiel 40\u201348<\/a>, Zechariah 6:12\u201315<\/a>).<\/p>\n

(6) The temple in heaven (below at 7:15<\/a>; 11:19<\/a>; 14:15<\/a>, 17<\/a>; 16:17<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Besides, there are three figurative ones:<\/p>\n

(1) The Messianic Community (1C 3:16\u201317<\/a>, 2C 6:16<\/a>, Ep 2:21<\/a>).<\/p>\n

(2) The physical body of a believer (1C 6:19<\/a>).<\/p>\n

(3) God and the Lamb (in the New Jerusalem; Revelation 21:22<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The people \u2026 worshipping<\/strong> in the Temple are Jews, and perhaps not all the Jews but the believing Jewish remnant (see Ro 9:6<\/a>N<\/a>, 9:27\u201329<\/a>, 11:1\u20136<\/a>, 11:26a<\/a>); since the court outside the Temple<\/strong>, known as the Court of the Gentiles (see Ep 2:14<\/a>N<\/a>) is to be left out and not measured. In fact, the role of the Goyim<\/span> (see Mt 5:46<\/a>N<\/a>) here is to trample over the holy city<\/strong>, Jerusalem (as at Lk 21:24<\/a>&N<\/a>), while the remnant is spared. At v. 9<\/a> Gentiles prevent the burial of the two witnesses.<\/p>\n

42 months<\/strong> (also at 13:5<\/a>). This is apparently identical with the \u201c1,260 days\u201d of v. 3<\/a> and 12:6<\/a> (compare Daniel 12:11\u201312<\/a>, where \u201c1,290 days\u201d and \u201c1,335 days\u201d are mentioned) and the \u201cseason and two seasons and half a season\u201d of 12:14<\/a> below (and Daniel 7:25<\/a>, 12:7<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Related, but pertaining rather to a period twice as long, seven years, are Daniel 8:14<\/a> (\u201c2,300 evenings and mornings\u201d) and Daniel 9:25\u201327<\/a> (referring to 7 weeks of years, 62 weeks of years and 1 week of years). A Talmudic passage cited in Mt 24:1\u201339<\/a>N<\/a> speaks of a seven-year period during which various plagues occur. Also see 13:1\u20138<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3\u20136<\/strong>My<\/strong> (the Messiah\u2019s) two witnesses<\/strong> are identified with the two olive trees<\/strong> of Zechariah 4:3<\/a> and the two <\/strong>menorah<\/span>s standing before the Lord of the earth<\/strong>. Zechariah 4:2<\/a> speaks of one menorah<\/span> with seven branches, while Zechariah 4:14<\/a> identifies the two olive branches with \u201cthe two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

These two witnesses testify about Yeshua, spread his Good News among the Jewish people in Jerusalem, prophesy and perform miracles; during this time they enjoy God\u2019s special protection (vv. 5\u20136<\/a>). Then the beast from the Abyss kills them (v. 7<\/a>). Their bodies lie in the main street of Jerusalem for three-and-a-half days (vv. 8\u20139<\/a>), after which they rise from death and go up into heaven (vv. 11\u201312<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In the context of Zechariah 3\u20134<\/a>the two \u201canointed ones\u201d are Joshua the cohen hagadol<\/span> and Z\u2019rubavel the governor. Various midrashic traditions identify them as Aaron and Moses (Exodus Rabbah 15:3), Aaron and David (Numbers Rabbah 14:13, 18:16<\/a>), Aaron and the Messiah (Avot diRabbi Natan<\/span> 30b), possibly Mashiach Ben-Yosef<\/span> and Mashiach Ben-David<\/span> (Pesikta Rabbati 8:4; the text is ambiguous). In the Talmud Rabbi Yitzchak calls the scholars of Eretz-Israel<\/span> \u201canointed ones\u201d (b\u02d2nei-yitzhar<\/span>, literally, \u201csons of clear oil\u201d) because they debate amicably, and those of Babylon \u201colive trees\u201d because their disputes are bitter (like uncured olives; Sanhedrin 24a).<\/p>\n

So then, who are the two witnesses? Often they are said to be Moses and Elijah, since these appeared with Yeshua at the Transfiguration (Mt 17:1\u20138<\/a>). The problem with this understanding is that the witnesses must die (v. 7<\/a>), and human beings die only once (MJ 9:27<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The case for Elijah is a good one. He has not yet died (2 Kings 2:1<\/a>, 9\u201312<\/a>), he is expected to return before the Messiah comes (Malachi 3:23\u201324<\/a>(4:5\u20136<\/a>)), and he has already shut up the sky, so that no rain falls<\/strong> (1 Kings 17:1<\/a>, 18:42\u201345<\/a>; Lk 4:25<\/a>; Ya 5:17\u201318<\/a>&N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

While Moses did turn the waters into blood and str<\/strong>ike the earth with every kind of plague<\/strong> (Exodus 7:17\u201312:30<\/a>; 1 Samuel 4:8<\/a>), Scripture says that he died, so that he cannot die again. Nevertheless Jewish tradition is not satisfied to let him rest in peace. To prove he is still alive one Talmudic rabbi used the principle of interpretation called g\u02d2zerah shavah<\/span>. The term means \u201canalogy\u201d (literally, \u201cequal decision\u201d) and operates by inferring that if a word has a particular meaning in one passage of Scripture it must have the same meaning in a second passage. (The rabbis saw that this technique could easily be misused to reach conclusions contrary to Scripture and therefore prohibited its further use; only the instances cited by the early interpreters are recognized.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been taught that Rabbi Eli\u201bezer the Elder said, \u2018Over an area [about two miles square], the size of the camp of Israel, a bat-kol<\/span> [heavenly voice] proclaimed, \u201cSo Moses died there, the great sage of Israel.\u201d But others say that Moses never died. For although the Tan<\/span>akh<\/span> says, \u201cSo Moses died there\u201d (Deuteronomy 34:5<\/a>), it elsewhere says, \u201cAnd he was there with Adonai<\/span>\u201d (Exodus 34:28<\/a>). Just as in the latter passage the word \u201cthere\u201d means \u201cstanding and ministering,\u201d so likewise in the former it means \u201cstanding and ministering.\u201d \u2019 \u201d (Sotah 13b)<\/p>\n

In any case, perhaps only because Moses\u2019 death was unusual (Deuteronomy 34:5\u20136<\/a>; Yd 9<\/a>&N<\/a>; below, v. 12<\/a>), there is a popular belief that he and Elijah will return:<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi Yochanan Ben-Zakkai \u2026 [taught that God] said, \u2018Moses, I swear to you that in the time to come, when I bring Elijah the prophet to [Israel], the two of you will come together.\u2019 \u201d (Deuteronomy Rabbah 3:17)<\/p>\n

Yochanan himself is sometimes suggested as one of the witnesses, on the basis of Yn 21:20\u201324<\/a>. But the two witnesses had lived and were already in heaven in the fifth century b.c.e., when Zechariah prophesied (see Zechariah 4:11\u201314<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Besides Elijah, only one person has been taken into heaven without dying\u2014Enoch (Genesis 5:21\u201324<\/a>; MJ 11:5<\/a>). Both lived before 500 b.c.e., and both were prophets (they will prophesy<\/strong>; see Yd 14<\/a>). Since they have never died, they can yet undergo the death of v. 7<\/a>. If the \u201ctwo witnesses\u201d are two literal persons and we are not dealing with a figurative expression, I nominate Enoch and Elijah.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, believers in Jerusalem have grown used to being presented with other candidates. They appear every few months, often dressed in sackcloth<\/strong> like the Prophets of the Tanakh<\/span> (Isaiah 20:2<\/a>; compare 2 Kings 1:8<\/a>, Zechariah 13:4<\/a>, Mt 3:4<\/a>), and claiming to be \u201cin the spirit and power of Elijah\u201d (Lk 1:17<\/a>) or even to be Elijah himself. Whatever the spirit, till now the power (vv. 5\u20136<\/a>) has not been in evidence.<\/p>\n

Fire comes out of their mouth and consumes their enemies<\/strong>. At Jeremiah 5:14<\/a>, the prophet addresses Israel: \u201cTherefore thus says Adonai<\/span>, God of the armies of heaven: \u2018Because you speak this word, I will make my words fire in your mouth, and this people wood, and it will consume them.\u2019 \u201d See also 2 Kings 1:10<\/a>, 12<\/a>; Lk 9:54<\/a>.<\/p>\n

7<\/strong>The beast<\/strong> seems to be the same as the Anti-Messiah (1 Yn 2:18\u201319<\/a>&N<\/a>). See 13:1\u201318<\/a>&NN<\/a>, 14:8\u201311<\/a>&NN<\/a>. The Abyss<\/strong>. See 9:1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

8<\/strong>The city where their Lord was executed on a stake<\/strong> can only be Jerusalem. \u201cTheir\u201d refers to the Jewish people, as does the city itself (vv. 1\u20132<\/a>). The author, speaking to his own people, uses hard language. Their spiritual condition<\/strong> is that of \u201cS\u2019dom<\/strong>\u201d (compare Isaiah 1:10<\/a>), where sexual sin and misuse of people were rife (Genesis 19<\/a>), and \u201cEgypt<\/strong>,\u201d where false religion, hatred of the one true God and antisemitism flourished (Exodus 1\u201315<\/a>).<\/p>\n

9<\/strong>Some from the nations<\/strong>, tribes, languages and peoples<\/strong>, that is, from the Gentiles (see 5:9b\u201313<\/a>), are so hostile to God, his Word and his Prophets that they prevent the burial of the two witnesses whose bodies lie exposed in the main street of Jeru-salem to dogs and flies, and, more importantly, to shame (19:21<\/a>, Psalm 69:2\u20134<\/a>, 1 Kings 13:22<\/a>; Josephus\u2019 Wars of the Jews<\/em><\/a>4:5:2<\/a>).<\/p>\n

10<\/strong>The people living in the Land<\/strong>. I believe this refers here not to the pagans of the earth, as elsewhere in Revelation, but to Jews living in Israel. This conclusion is based on the facts that (1) the Hebrew antecedents of the Greek expression frequently mean this (see 3:10<\/a>), and (2) a Gentile reaction to the death of the witnesses has been given already in v. 9<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yochanan foresees a time when Jewish opposition to the Gospel is intensified by the appearance of these two prophets<\/strong>. From the point of view of believers, they evangelize the non-Messianic Jews of the Land, testifying to Yeshua and proclaiming the Good News. But the non-Messianic Jews\u2019 evaluation is that the two prophets tormented<\/strong> them. For this reason they not only reject the witnesses\u2019 message but, instead of sitting shiv\u02d3ah<\/span> (Yn 11:19\u201320<\/a>N<\/a>), they celebrate and send each <\/strong>other gifts<\/strong>\u2014like the Jews of Shushan after slaying Haman\u2019s sons (Esther 9:22<\/a>). The difference, of course, is that Haman and his sons were truly oppressors, whereas the Messiah\u2019s witnesses offer deliverance.<\/p>\n

11\u201312<\/strong> The resurrection and ascension of the witnesses, similar to Yeshua\u2019s own, causes great fear<\/strong> in their enemies<\/strong>, because this demonstrates in power (1C 2:14<\/a>, 4:20<\/a>, 6:14<\/a>, 15:54\u201357<\/a>) that our God reigns. The Word of Adonai<\/span> is powerful (Isaiah 55:10\u201311<\/a>; MJ 1:3<\/a>) and indestructible (Isaiah 40:8<\/a>; 1 Ke 1:23\u201325<\/a>); it cannot be silenced by killing those who speak it.<\/p>\n

They went up to heaven in a c<\/strong>loud<\/strong>, not only like Yeshua (Ac 1:9\u201311<\/a>), but also, according to Josephus, like Moses. Notice how Josephus deals with the contrary witness of Deuteronomy 34:5\u20136<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs [Moses] was going to embrace El\u201bazar [the cohen hagadol<\/span>] and Y\u2019hoshua [bin-Nun<\/span>], while he was still talking with them, all of a sudden a cloud stood over him, and he disappeared in a certain valley\u2014although he wrote in the holy books that he died. This he did out of fear that people might say that because of his extraordinary virtue he went to God.\u201d (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews<\/a>4:8:48<\/a>)<\/p>\n

See also vv. 3\u20136<\/a>, 6:9<\/a>, Yd 9<\/a>N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

13<\/strong> The e<\/strong>arthquake<\/strong> is a frequent form of judgment in the Last Days (6:12<\/a>, 8:5<\/a>, 11:19<\/a>, 16:18<\/a>; Ezekiel 38:19\u201320<\/a>). It kills seven thousand people<\/strong> (about 1.3% of Jerusalem\u2019s present population) and causes widespread damage (a tenth of the city collapsed<\/strong>). The result, for the survivors, is nothing less than salvation, the fulfillment of God\u2019s promise through Sha\u2019ul that \u201call Israel will be saved\u201d (Ro 11:26a<\/a>&N<\/a>). \u201cJews ask for signs\u201d (1C 1:22<\/a>). At Mt 16:1\u20134<\/a>, the P\u02d2rushim<\/span> asked Yeshua for a sign, but he promised none \u201cexcept the sign of Jonah,\u201d whose being vomited from the stomach of the fish is a type of resurrection. The two witnesses\u2019 resurrection and ascension, along with the simultaneous earthquake (in that hour<\/strong>), are correctly understood by the Jewish people as signs from God\u2014the rest were awestruck<\/strong>. Even while grieved at the death of 7,000 people, they handled their pain in God\u2019s way (2C 7:10<\/a>&N<\/a>)\u2014it led them to repentance, so that they gave glory to the God of heaven<\/strong>. Throughout the book of Revelation, only those in a right relationship with God give him glory (1:6<\/a>; 4:9<\/a>, 11<\/a>; 5:12\u201313<\/a>; 7:12<\/a>; 15:4<\/a>; 19:1<\/a>, 7<\/a>). Conversely, those who are not in a right relationship with God glorify themselves (18:7<\/a>) instead of God (14:7<\/a>, 16:9<\/a>)\u2014compare the hardened pagans of Ro 1:21<\/a>: \u201cAlthough they know who God is, they do not glorify him as God or thank him.\u201d This mass repentance breaks the back of the Jewish national establishment\u2019s centuries-long opposition to the Gospel. May it come speedily, in our days.<\/p>\n

14<\/strong> See 8:13<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

15\u201317<\/strong> When the seventh angel<\/strong> sounds his <\/strong>shofar<\/span>, then The kingdom of the world has be<\/strong>come the Kingdom of our Lord and his Messiah<\/strong>, and Adonai<\/span> has begun to rule<\/strong>. The active reign of God on earth, the Messianic Kingdom, promised at 1:5\u20138<\/a> and 6:10<\/a>, now begins to become real. Between these verses and chapter 19<\/a> are the various judgments and other events associated with the overthrow of the system of this world and the inauguration of the Messiah\u2019s rulership. This is why essentially the same cry is heard again at 19:6<\/a>: \u201cHalleluyah<\/span>! Adonai<\/span>, God of heaven\u2019s armies, has begun his reign!\u201d<\/p>\n

18<\/strong> This is a midrash<\/span> on the whole of Psalm 2<\/a>, contrasting God\u2019s righteous judgment and rage<\/strong> with that of the <\/strong>Goyim<\/span>, the pagan nations opposed to God and his ways.<\/p>\n

19<\/strong>The Temple of God<\/strong>. See vv. 1\u20132<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In heaven \u2026 the Ark of the Covenant<\/strong>. The earthly ark, mentioned in the New Testament at MJ 9:4\u20135<\/a>&NN<\/a>, is first described at Exodus 25:10\u201322<\/a>. Initially kept behind the Tabernacle\u2019s curtain and later inside the Holy of Holies in Solomon\u2019s temple, this chest was afterwards apparently either removed by Shishak, king of Egypt, when he \u201ctook away the treasures of the house of the Lord\u201d (1 Kings 14:25<\/a>), or destroyed along with the temple by the Babylonians (compare Jeremiah 3:16<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Extra-biblical narratives say that the ark was hidden \u201cin its place\u201d (Talmud, Yoma 53b) or elsewhere. Yoma 52b says it was King Josiah who hid it; but in the Apocrypha, 2 Maccabees 2:4\u20138<\/a> tells that Jeremiah rescued the ark and brought it to a cave on Mount Sinai to be preserved until God gathers his people together in Messianic times (see 2:17<\/a>). Mention of the ark in the present verse accords with this tradition, since Israel\u2019s salvation, a Messianic event, is reported above at v. 13<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If the earthly ark symbolized God\u2019s presence guiding his people, the appearance of the heavenly ark symbolizes God\u2019s being about to fulfill the rest of his covenanted promises.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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CHAPTER 12 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1\u20135 Whether favoring literal or figurative interpretation of the book of Revelation, nearly all commentators agree that these verses depict the birth of Yeshua the Messiah and his ascension to heaven after being resurrected. This means that Revelation is not simply a presentation of future events in chronological order, since this passage flashes back to past history.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong> The woman<\/strong> is not Miryam, Yeshua\u2019s mother, but Israel, in its normal sense, the Jewish people, because the imagery is from Isaiah 66:7\u201310<\/a> (compare also Isaiah 26:17<\/a>, Micah 4:10<\/a>). Because of v. 17<\/a> this cannot be the \u201cextended Israel\u201d concept which includes Gentile Christians (see 7:4<\/a> on \u201cfrom every tribe of the sons of Israel\u201d).<\/p>\n

Although Israel is on earth, Yochanan sees her in heaven<\/strong>, symbolizing the fact that God protects and preserves the Jews; this is made more explicit at vv. 6<\/a>, 13\u201316<\/a>. Moreover, Mikha\u2019el is Israel\u2019s angelic protector (v. 7<\/a>&N<\/a>). There is an obvious resemblance between the woman and \u201cheavenly Jerusalem\u201d (Ga 4:26<\/a>, MJ 12:22\u201324<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Twelve stars<\/strong>. Some think this means the twelve signs of the zodiac. While writers draw on materials from their own culture, and Judaism became embroiled with astrology well before Yochanan lived, it is clear that his purposes have nothing to do with astrology. At 21:12\u201314<\/a> the number twelve refers to the tribes of Israel and the emissaries of Yeshua, and this understanding is adequate to the context here too.<\/p>\n

She screamed in the agony of labor<\/strong>. See Mt 24:8<\/a>N<\/a> on the \u201cbirth pains\u201d of the Messiah.<\/p>\n

3\u20134<\/strong> The dragon<\/strong> is Satan, the Adversary (see v. 9<\/a>); its seven<\/strong> heads and ten horns<\/strong> also equate it with the \u201cfourth beast\u201d of Daniel 7:7<\/a>, 24<\/a> (see 13:1<\/a>). It stood in front of the woman<\/strong>, opposing Yeshua, ready to devour the child the moment it was born<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Stars<\/strong>. Possibly natural stars (6:13<\/a>, 8:12<\/a>; Mt 24:29<\/a>), but more likely \u201chis angels\u201d (v. 7<\/a>; compare 1:20<\/a>, 9:1<\/a>), who rebelled with Satan against God (see 2 Ke 2:4<\/a>N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

5<\/strong>A male child<\/strong>. Compare Isaiah 66:7<\/a>; see v. 17<\/a>&N<\/a>. Who will rule all the nations with a staff of iron<\/strong>. This phrase from Psalm 2<\/a>, in its entirety about the Messiah, is also quoted at 2:26\u201327<\/a>&N<\/a> and 19:15<\/a>; see also 11:18<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

6<\/strong> See vv. 14\u201317<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

7<\/strong>Mik<\/strong>ha\u2019el, one of the ruling angels<\/strong> (see 1 Th 4:16<\/a>N<\/a>, Yd 9<\/a>&N<\/a>). In Jewish popular thought, angels are a Christian invention reflecting a departure from pure monotheism. Actually, angels are frequently mentioned in the Tanakh<\/span>, although Mikha\u2019el<\/strong> (Michael) and Gavri\u2019el (Gabriel; see Lk 1:19<\/a>N<\/a>) are the only ones it identifies by name. Post-Tanakh<\/span> Judaism developed an elaborate angelology.<\/p>\n

At Daniel 10:13<\/a>, after Daniel had fasted three weeks, Gavri\u2019el explains his delay in coming: \u201cThe prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days, until Mikha\u2019el, one of the first-ranked angels, came to my aid, and I was no longer needed there with the kings of Persia.\u201d At Daniel 10:21<\/a>, Gavri\u2019el tells Daniel about \u201cMikha\u2019el, your prince\u201d; and \u201cyour\u201d is plural\u2014Mikha\u2019el is the Jewish people\u2019s prince or guardian angel, who fights alongside Gavri\u2019el against the angels of Persia and Greece. Daniel 12:1<\/a>, speaking of the End of Days, adds, \u201cAt that time Mikha\u2019el, the great prince who stands [guard] for the children of your people, will arise; and there will be a period of trouble greater than any which has been from the time nations began until then; but at that time your people\u2014that is, everyone whose name is found written in the book\u2014will be delivered.\u201d (This verse is alluded to at 20:15<\/a>, Mt 24:21<\/a>.) Here Mikha\u2019el is seen with his heavenly armies, defeating the dragon.<\/p>\n

The aggadah<\/span> names many other angels, for example, Rafa\u2019el and \u201bAza\u2019zel, referred to in the quotation from 1 Enoch in 2 Ke 2:4<\/a>N<\/a>. (See also 1:4<\/a> on \u201cthe sevenfold Spirit\u201d and 8:2<\/a>.) Moreover, the tradition expands the roles of Mikha\u2019el and Gavri\u2019el. According to Pesikta Rabbati 46:3, they are two of the four angels surrounding God\u2019s throne; but the Talmud states that Mikha\u2019el is greater than Gavri\u2019el (B\u2019rakhot 4b). Mikha\u2019el was the angel who called on Avraham not to sacrifice Yitzchak (Midrash Va-Yosha<\/span> in A. Jellinek, Beit-HaMidrash<\/span> 1:38, referring to Genesis 22:11<\/a>). According to Exodus Rabbah 18:5, it was Mikha\u2019el who smote Sennacherib and the Assyrian army (2 Kings 19:35<\/a>); the passage adds that<\/p>\n

\u201cMikha\u2019el and Samma\u2019el [identified with Satan; see Yd 9<\/a>N<\/a>] both stand before the Sh\u02d2khinah<\/span>; Satan accuses, while Mikha\u2019el points out Israel\u2019s virtues, and when Satan wishes to speak again, Mikha\u2019el silences him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Esther Rabbah 7:12 says it was Mikha\u2019el who defended the Jews against each of Haman\u2019s accusations. When the Messiah comes, Mikha\u2019el and Gavri\u2019el will accompany him and will fight the wicked (Alphabet Midrash of Rabbi Akiva).<\/p>\n

One of the most moving passages in the Midrash Rabbah occurs at its close. When the time came for Moses to die, Samma\u2019el, the angel of death, came to take his soul. But Moses objected, reciting a long list of his accomplishments to prove that he need not surrender his soul to Samma\u2019el. Finally it was God himself who<\/p>\n

\u201ccame down from the highest heavens to take away the soul of Moses; and with him were three ministering angels, Mikha\u2019el, Gavri\u2019el and Zagzag\u2019el. Mikha\u2019el prepared his bier, Gavri\u2019el spread out a fine linen cloth by the pillow under his head, and Zagzag\u2019el put one at his feet. Then Mikha\u2019el stood at one side and Gavri\u2019el at the other. The Holy One, blessed be he, summoned Moses\u2019 soul; but it replied, \u2018Master of the Universe, I beg you, let me stay in Moses\u2019 body.\u2019 Whereupon God kissed Moses, taking his soul away with a kiss of his mouth; and God, if one may say so, wept. And the Ruach HaKodesh<\/span> said, \u2018Since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses\u2019 (Deuteronomy 34:10<\/a>). Blessed be the Lord forever. Amen<\/span> and Amen<\/span>.\u201d (Condensed from Deuteronomy Rabbah 11:10)<\/p>\n

Though compiled in the fourth century c.e., the writers of the Midrash Rabbah did not recognize that Yeshua was the \u201cprophet like Moses\u201d and had already \u201carisen in Israel\u201d; see Ac 3:22\u201323<\/a>N<\/a>. Y\u2019hudah 9<\/a> alludes to this tradition concerning Mikha\u2019el\u2019s role in Moses\u2019 death; see notes there and at 11:3\u20136<\/a> above.<\/p>\n

In the kabbalistic (Jewish occult) literature the status of Mikha\u2019el is further exalted. He is associated or even identified with the angel Metatron, himself sometimes equated with the Messiah. Mikha\u2019el is given a role in redemption and becomes a personification of grace. He is sometimes portrayed as bringing before God the souls of the righteous (see 6:9<\/a>&N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

9\u201310<\/strong> Is the New Testament merely warmed-over Greek mythology? If not, why does it have a chapter about a great<\/strong> dragon<\/strong>? Yochanan answers here and at 20:2<\/a> by identifying the dragon (Greek drak\u00f4<\/span>) in Jewish terminology as:<\/p>\n

(1) That ancient serpent<\/strong>, Greek ophis<\/span>, used in the Septuagint at Genesis 3<\/a> to translate Hebrew nachash<\/span>, the serpent in the Garden of Eden.<\/p>\n

(2) The Devil<\/strong>, Greek diabolos<\/span>, \u201cslanderer, accuser,\u201d the Septuagint\u2019s word for \u201cSatan\u201d; this is precisely his role at Job 1\u20132<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(3) Satan (the Advers<\/strong>ary)<\/strong>. I render Greek Satanas<\/span> twice, first by a transliteration, then by a translation; see Mt 4:1<\/a>N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(4) The deceiver of the whole world<\/strong>. Compare 20:2\u20133<\/a> below.<\/p>\n

(5) The accuser of our brothers<\/strong>. Satan\u2019s accusing God\u2019s people is familiar in non-Messianic Judaism; one may say that antisemitism is one of its manifestations.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the Tanakh<\/span> uses \u201cmonster language\u201d of its own when speaking of Satan:<\/p>\n

(1) Rahav<\/span> (\u201cRahab\u201d\u2014no connection with the woman who sheltered the spies in Jericho), meaning Egypt, but with Satan\u2019s power lurking beneath (Isaiah 51:9<\/a>, Psalm 39:10<\/a>, Job 26:13<\/a>).<\/p>\n

(2) Livyatan<\/span> (\u201cLeviathan, sea monster\u201d; Isaiah 27:1<\/a>; Psalms 74:14<\/a>, 104:26<\/a>; Job 40:25\u201341:26<\/a>(41:1\u201334<\/a>)); the description in the last passage makes it clear that Leviathan is no natural sea monster.<\/p>\n

(3) Behemot<\/span> (\u201cBehemoth, hippopotamus\u201d; but in Job 40:15\u201324<\/a> a supernatural being).<\/p>\n

(4) Tanin<\/span> (\u201cdragon, crocodile\u201d; Isaiah 51:9<\/a>, Psalm 74:13<\/a>, Job 7:12<\/a>).<\/p>\n

(5) Nachash<\/span> (\u201cserpent\u201d; Genesis 3:1\u201319<\/a>, Isaiah 27:1<\/a>, Amos 9:3<\/a>, Job 26:13<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In the Septuagint \u201cdrak\u00f4n<\/span>\u201d (which underlies the English word \u201cdragon\u201d) is used frequently to translate \u201ctanin<\/span>,\u201d \u201cnachash<\/span>\u201d and \u201clivyatan<\/span>\u201d; the KJV Old Testament uses \u201cdragon\u201d twenty times.<\/p>\n

In v. 3<\/a> above this dragon is also identified with the \u201cfourth beast\u201d of Daniel 7:7<\/a>, 24<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The great dragon was thrown out<\/strong>. Compare Lk 10:18<\/a>, where Yeshua says, \u201cI saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was hurled down to earth<\/strong>. What does he do here? Answer: \u201cYour enemy, the Adversary, stalks about like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour\u201d (1 Ke 5:8<\/a>). This is confirmed in vv. 12\u201317<\/a>, 13:7<\/a>. What should we do about it? \u201cStand against him \u2026 \u201d (1 Ke 5:9\u201310<\/a>, Ya 4:7<\/a>; compare Ep 6:10\u201317<\/a>, also 13:10<\/a> and 14:12<\/a> below).<\/p>\n

The coming of God\u2019s victory<\/strong> (or \u201csalvation\u201d; see 7:10<\/a>) is the subject of the next six chapters; the cry is repeated at 19:1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

11<\/strong> Our brothers defeated<\/strong> Satan, the Accuser, because of<\/strong> God\u2019s gracious act on behalf of mankind, the shedding of the Lamb\u2019s blood<\/strong> (see Ro 3:25b<\/a>N<\/a>), and also because of \u2026 their<\/strong> fearlessly doing their part, giving witness<\/strong> to this act of God and his son Yeshua, even when facing death<\/strong>. See Ac 7:59\u201360<\/a>N<\/a> on being martyred \u02d3al kiddush HaShem<\/span>.<\/p>\n

12<\/strong>His ti<\/strong>me is short<\/strong>. After unknown ages in heaven (Isaiah 14:11\u201315<\/a>), the Adversary<\/strong> spends a relatively short interlude on earth before being banished to \u201cthe lake of fire and sulfur\u201d (20:10<\/a>), \u201cthe fire prepared for the Adversary and his angels\u201d (Mt 25:41<\/a>). During this time he is very angry<\/strong>\u2014see 1 Ke 5:8<\/a> and vv. 9\u201310<\/a> above.<\/p>\n

13\u201316<\/strong>He went in pursuit of the woman<\/strong>, that is, went to persecute the Jewish people (v. 1<\/a>), and perhaps the Messianic Jews in particular. The precise meaning of the details is not clear; the general sense is that God foils Satan\u2019s most demonic attempts to destroy Israel.<\/p>\n

17<\/strong>The res<\/strong>t of her children<\/strong> are Gentile Christians. They obey God\u2019s commands<\/strong>, not the 613 mitzvot<\/span> but the Torah<\/span> with the necessary changes (MJ 7:11<\/a>, 8:6<\/a>; Ac 15:22\u201323<\/a>; Yn 13:34<\/a>; Ro 13:8\u201310<\/a>) that give us \u201cthe Tor<\/span>ah<\/span>\u2019s true meaning, which the Messiah upholds\u201d (Ga 6:2<\/a>). See notes to these passages. And<\/strong>, like Messianic Jews, they bear witness to Yeshua<\/strong> (see v. 11<\/a>). R. H. Charles uses convoluted reasoning to equate the woman with the Church and \u201cthe rest of her seed\u201d with all believers; nevertheless, even he says that the phrase \u201coriginally\u201d meant \u201cGentile Christians.\u201d Revelation<\/em>, Volume 1, p. 315. See also Isaiah 66:8<\/a>.<\/p>\n

18<\/strong>The dragon stood on the seashore<\/strong> to call forth the two beasts of 13:1<\/a>, 11<\/a>, his instruments for persecuting both Israel and Gentile believers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

CHAPTER 13 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1\u20138 These verses and 11:7<\/a>, 17:24<\/a> place this chapter in the context of Daniel 7<\/a>. The beast is a composite of Daniel\u2019s four beasts. Like the dragon (12:3\u20134<\/a>&N<\/a>), it has the ten horns and seven<\/span> heads of Daniel\u2019s \u201cfourth beast\u201d (v. 1<\/a>, Daniel 7:7<\/a>); although unlike the dragon, it also resembles the other three (lion \u2026 bear \u2026 leopard; v. 2<\/a>, Daniel 7:4\u20136<\/a>). It comes up out of the sea (v. 1<\/a>, Danie<\/span>l 7:3<\/a>). It speaks arrogant blasphemies (vv. 5\u20136<\/a>; Daniel 7:8<\/a>, 20<\/a>, 25<\/a>). It has authority to act for 42 months (v. 5<\/a>, Daniel 7:25<\/a>). Daniel himself explains,<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom up<\/span>on earth, which will be different from all kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, tread it down and break it in pieces. The ten horns are ten kings which will arise out of this kingdom, and another king will arise after them, and he will be d<\/span>ifferent from the former ones, and he will subdue three kings. He will speak great words against the Most High, he will wear out the holy people of the Most High, and he will think to change times and laws; and they will be given into his hand for a season, seasons and half a season. But they will sit in judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed in the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of <\/span>the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the holy ones of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions will serve and obey him. Here is the end of the matter.\u201d (<\/span><\/span>Daniel 7:23\u201327<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Many scholars regard Daniel\u2019s prophecy as fulfilled in 168\u2013164 b.c.e. by the <\/span>Seleucid king Antiochus IV, who \u201cchanged times and laws,\u201d even causing pigs to be offered to idols in place of the daily sacrifice, an abomination which desolated the Temple (Daniel 9:27<\/a>, 11:31<\/a>, 12:11<\/a><\/span>) for three-and-a-half years (\u201ca season, seasons and half a season\u201d), until the Maccabees recaptured and rededicated it, an event memorialized by the festival of Chanukkah<\/span> (see Yn 10:22<\/a>N<\/a>). But since Y<\/span>eshua renewed the prophecy two centuries later, there must be a later fulfillment as well. See 17:8<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the Tanakh<\/span>, \u201chorn\u201d often means \u201cking.\u201d Many identify \u201canother king\u201d arising from the ten with<\/span> the second beast (vv. 11\u201312<\/a>&N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The four beasts of Daniel are four kingdoms; and most scholars identify them as Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. Since all are ancient history, futurists (see 1:1<\/a>) e<\/span>xpect the beast of vv. 1\u20138<\/a> to be a revived Roman Empire, or a nation covering the same territory, or a nation in which the brutal and depraved spirit of the Roman Empire finds expression. C. I. Scofie<\/span>ld, expressing the Dispensationalist view, regards the head with a fatal wound<\/strong> (v. 3<\/a>) as the restored Roman Empire, which is \u201cdead\u201d now but will live again, to everyone\u2019s amazement<\/strong>. A few years ago th<\/span>e \u201cnewspaper exegetes\u201d (1:1<\/a>) saw the fulfillment of this prophecy in the ten members of the European Common Market. The fact that the Common Market now comprises more than ten participating nations do<\/span>es not necessarily disprove the futurist approach.<\/p>\n

Non-futurists sometimes make this beast an allegory of all Satanic power mobilized against God\u2019s people on earth, especially governmental power (as <\/span>opposed to religious).<\/p>\n

3\u20134, 8<\/strong> The whole earth followed after the beast <\/strong>and worshipped <\/strong>it, except for believers in Yeshua, those whose names are written in the Book of Life <\/strong>(see 20:12b<\/a>) belonging to t<\/strong><\/span>he Lamb, Yeshua, slaughtered before the world was founded <\/strong>(God planned his atoning death before creating the world; 5:6<\/a>&N<\/a>, Ep 1:3\u201312<\/a>, Co 1:14\u201323<\/a>).<\/p>\n

4<\/strong> Who is like the beast<\/strong>? This beast-worship litany i<\/span>s a parody of the name of the angel Mikha\u2019el (Hebrew, meaning \u201cWho is like God\u201d), who defeated the dragon (12:7\u20139<\/a>), and of the Song of Moses (see 15:3<\/a>&N<\/a>):<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is like you, Adonai<\/span>, among the gods?<\/p>\n

W<\/span>ho is like you, glorious in holiness,<\/p>\n

fearful in praises, doing wonders?\u201d<\/p>\n

(Exodus 15:11<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The authority of the beast comes through the dragon, but the ultimate source of all authority is God (Isaiah <\/span>45:6\u20137<\/a>; Job 1:12<\/a>, 2:6<\/a>).<\/p>\n

6<\/strong> And his <\/strong>Sh\u02d2khinah<\/span>, and those living in heaven<\/strong>, literally, \u201cand his tent, those tenting in heaven.\u201d See 7:15<\/a>.<\/p>\n

7<\/strong> Everyone living on earth<\/strong>. See 3:10<\/a>.<\/p>\n

8<\/strong> Book of Life<\/strong>. See 20:1<\/span>2b<\/a>.<\/p>\n

9<\/strong> See note at beginning of chapter 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

11\u201312<\/strong> Another beast<\/strong>. This second beast is the \u201cfalse prophet\u201d (16:13<\/a>, 19:20<\/a>, 20:10<\/a>). It is the \u201cAnti-Messiah\u201d (1 Yn 2:18<\/a>); as a travesty of the real Messiah<\/span>, it has two horns, like those of a lamb<\/strong> (5:6<\/a>&N<\/a>). It is the \u201cman who separates himself from Torah<\/span>\u201d (2 Th 2:3\u201310<\/a>&NN<\/a>), who fulfills Yeshua\u2019s prophecy that \u201c \u2018the abomination which causes devastation\u2019 sp<\/span>oken about through the prophet Daniel\u201d will one day \u201cstand in the Holy Place\u201d of a rebuilt temple (Mt 24:15<\/a>, citing Daniel 9:27<\/a>, 11:31<\/a>, 12:11<\/a>). It is the \u201cother king\u201d which arises from the ten (Daniel<\/span> 7:23\u201327<\/a>, quoted in v. 1<\/a>). Non-futurists see this beast as symbolizing organized, institutional religion enforcing worship<\/strong> of the first beast<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

13\u201314<\/strong> Miracles<\/strong> pose two problems: (1) Do they happen at <\/span>all? (2) If they do, are they signs from God? Whether miracles happen depends on how one defines a miracle. Without entering into subtleties, I will define a miracle as an event outside the ordinary which involves supernatural intervention. A<\/span>lthough this displaces the locus of uncertainty onto what is meant by \u201csupernatural intervention,\u201d the Bible, most religions and many nonreligious sources agree that miracles so defined do occur. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Bible takes some miracles as signs from God, but others are acknowledged as having demonic origin. Thus the second beast deceives the people living on earth<\/strong>,<\/span> just as the magicians in Pharaoh\u2019s court deceived him into discounting the God of Israel (Exodus 7:11<\/a>, 22<\/a>; 8:3<\/a>(7<\/a>); in the New Testament compare Ac 13:6b\u20139<\/a>, 16:16\u201318<\/a>, 19:13\u201316<\/a>). However, God sets limi<\/span>ts to demonic and Satanic capacity to perform miracles (Job 1:12<\/a>, 2:6<\/a>; Mt 24:24<\/a>), just as he did as in Moses\u2019 day (Exodus 8:14\u201315<\/a>(18\u201319<\/a>), 9:11<\/a>; see also Deuteronomy 18:9ff<\/a>.).<\/p>\n

Fire \u2026 from heaven<\/strong>. This<\/span> mimics Elijah\u2019s miracle (2 Kings 1:10\u201313<\/a>); compare Lk 9:54<\/a>. The word \u201cfire\u201d appears more than twenty times in the book of Revelation, generally signifying judgment. Thus the beast even mimics God\u2019s j<\/span>udgment.<\/p>\n

16\u201317a<\/strong> A mark on his right hand or on his forehead<\/strong>. Compare 20:4<\/a>, which says \u201cand,\u201d not \u201cor\u201d: \u201cthose who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received the mark on their fore<\/span>heads and<\/em> on their hands.\u201d This makes mockery of t\u02d2fillin<\/span> (see Mt 23:5<\/a>N<\/a>), which Orthodox and Conservative Jews wear in the synagogue on the hand and forehead to obey Deuteronomy 6:8<\/a>, \u201cYou shall bind t<\/span>hem [that is, God\u2019s mitzvot<\/span>] for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

This \u201cmark of the beast\u201d (16:2<\/a>, 19:20<\/a>; also 14:9\u201311<\/a>) also mimics the sealing of the 144,000 (7<\/span>:2\u20133<\/a>&N<\/a>). Some suggest that this \u201cmark\u201d refers to a computerized credit-card system coupled with a transmitter-identifier implanted in people\u2019s foreheads and hands or some other high-technology develop<\/span>ment. Regardless of whether such speculations are true or fanciful, the mark points to a time of complete totalitarian control over economic life by religious elements.<\/p>\n

17b\u201318<\/strong> The number of its name<\/strong>.<\/span> In both Hebrew and Greek each letter of the alphabet corresponds to a number\u2014the first nine letters correspond to 1 through 9, the next nine to 10 through 90, and the last few letters to the hundreds.<\/span> The number of a word or name is the sum of the numerical equivalents of its letters.<\/p>\n

In Jewish interpretation, gematria<\/em> (the Hebrew word derives from the Greek word \u201cge\u00f4metria<\/span>,\u201d which underlies En<\/span>glish \u201cgeometry\u201d) is a system of deducing the sod<\/em> (\u201csecret\u201d; see Mt 2:15<\/a>N<\/a>) of a text by positing a meaningful connection between words whose numbers are either identical or related by simple arithmeti<\/span>c. Example: in rabbinic literature, God is sometimes called the \u201cPlace\u201d (\u201cMakom<\/span>\u201d). Why this should be is not evident, so Gematria<\/em> explains it in this way: the letters of \u201cYHVH<\/em>\u201d\u2014yud<\/span>, heh<\/span>, vav<\/span> and heh<\/span>\u2014a<\/span>re equivalent to 10, 5, 6 and 5. The sum of the squares of these four numbers is 186, which is the same as the number of \u201cMakom<\/span>\u201d\u2014mem<\/span>, kuf<\/span>, vav<\/span>, mem<\/span> (40 + 100 + 6 + 40).<\/p>\n

Those who understand should co<\/strong><\/span>unt the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person, and its number is 666.<\/strong> This has evoked even more speculation than the beast\u2019s mark. Who is the beast? Certain forms of the name of the Ro<\/span>man Emperor Nero have that number; moreover, a first-century cult expected him to be resurrected after his death in 68 c.e. Napoleon and other historical figures have been suggested. Moreover, if one <\/span>uses other languages and manipulates the numerical correspondences, then, as George E. Ladd writes, \u201cAlmost anything can be done with these numbers \u2026. If A = 100, B = 101, C = 102, etc., the name Hitler totals 666.\u201d Thus <\/span>wisdom is needed<\/strong>, so that one will remain alert but not be misled.<\/p>\n

The number could be entirely symbolic. The name of Messiah in Greek, I\u00easous,<\/span> equals 888; 7 is regarded as the <\/span>perfect number; and triple repetition symbolizes absolute ultimacy (as in Isaiah 6:3<\/a>, \u201cHoly, holy, holy is Adonai<\/span> of Hosts.\u201d). Therefore 888 means that Yeshua is absolutely and ultimately beyond perfe<\/span>ction, while 666 means that the beast in every respect falls short of perfection and is therefore absolutely and ultimately imperfect and evil.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

CHAPTER 14 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1\u201320 In this chapter God is shown working behind the scenes of history, preparing rewards for his people and punishments for those who disobey him. Believers are warned against falling away and encouraged to remain faithful.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>The<\/strong> slain Lamb<\/strong> (5:6<\/a>&N<\/a>) is seen on Mount Tziyon<\/strong> (Mount Zion), the highest point in Jerusalem. In 4 Ezra the seer is told that he<\/p>\n

\u201cwhom the Most High is keeping many ages and through whom he will deliver his creation [i.e., the Messiah] will stand on the summit of Mount Zion. Yes, Zion shall come and be seen by everyone, prepared and built, just as you saw the mountain cut out without hands. But he, my Son, will reprove the nations who have come for their ungodliness.\u201d (4 Ezra 13:26<\/a>, 36\u201337<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Here \u201cZion\u201d refers to the heavenly Jerusalem; see MJ 12:22<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 144,000 are the Messianic Jews of 7:4<\/a>&N<\/a>. Their foreheads<\/strong> are \u201csealed\u201d (7:2\u20133<\/a>&N<\/a>, 9:4<\/a>) with both the Lamb\u2019s name<\/strong> and his Father\u2019s name<\/strong> (contrast 13:16\u201317<\/a>). One of the two t\u02d2fillin<\/span> is worn on the forehead and contains the Father\u2019s name, YHVH<\/em> (see 13:16\u201317a<\/a>); it symbolizes complete devotion and open profession. These 144,000 will be equally open and devoted about proclaiming the name of the Lamb, Yeshua.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>The ones who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins<\/strong>. These are not male celibates, despite the explicit mention of women. Rather, they are people of both sexes who are faithful to God and his Son, as the rest of vv. 4\u20135<\/a> makes clear. Fornication is a common biblical metaphor for idolatry\u2014for several examples from the Tanakh<\/span> see Ezekiel 16<\/a>, 23<\/a> and Hosea 1\u20135<\/a>. Here in the book of Revelation, misdirected worship is explicitly called whoring at v. 8<\/a> below, as well as at 17:2<\/a>, 4<\/a>; 18:3<\/a>, 9<\/a>; 19:2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On celibacy itself, R. H. Charles writes, \u201cThe superiority of the celibate life, though un-Jewish and un-Christian, was early adopted from the Gnostics and other Christian heretics,\u201d such as Marcion, the religions of Isis and Mithra and the Vestal Virgins in Rome (Revelati<\/em>on<\/em>, Volume 2, p. 9). For more concerning this subject see 1C 7:1\u20139<\/a>&NN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

5<\/strong>On their lips no lie was found<\/strong>. This is prophesied of Yeshua at Isaiah 53:9<\/a> and of Israel\u2019s remnant at Zephaniah 3:13<\/a>.<\/p>\n

6\u201313<\/strong> The three angels exhort God\u2019s people to remain faithful (vv. 6\u20137<\/a>, 12<\/a>; compare 13:9b<\/a>, 10b<\/a>), so as to avoid the judgment against Babylon the Great<\/strong> (vv. 8\u201311<\/a>, v. 8<\/a>). They must persevere, observe God\u2019s mit<\/span>zvot<\/span> and exercise Yeshua\u2019s faithfulness<\/strong> (v. 12<\/a>), the same faithfulness Yeshua had (see Ro 3:22<\/a>&N<\/a>, Ga 2:16c<\/a>&N<\/a>). Note that works and faith go hand in hand (Ro 3:27\u201328<\/a>&N<\/a>, Ep 2:8\u201310<\/a>&N<\/a>, Ya 2:14\u201326<\/a>&NN<\/a>), and that the works of the righteous go with them for reward (v. 13<\/a>; compare Ro 2:6\u201316<\/a>, 1C 3:8\u201315<\/a>). Verse 13<\/a> is a reassurance when any believer dies.<\/p>\n

6\u20137<\/strong> The Good News<\/strong> of v. 6<\/a>is<\/em> what the angel says in v. 7<\/a>. It is not the whole of the Gospel but the aspect relevant here.<\/p>\n

8<\/strong>She has fallen! She has fallen! Babylon the Great!<\/strong> This cry, combining Isaiah 21:9<\/a> with Daniel 4:21<\/a>, is repeated at 18:2<\/a>, when the destruction of Babylon is being detailed (chapters 17\u201318<\/a>). In the Tanakh<\/span> Babylon epitomizes evil. Already in Genesis 11<\/a> it is the site of the Tower of Babel. In Isaiah 14<\/a> the king of Babylon is a thinly veiled stand-in for Satan (especially Isaiah 14:12\u201316<\/a>). Following are discussions of four possible meanings for \u201cBabylon<\/strong>\u201d here and at 16:19<\/a>; 17:5<\/a>; 18:2<\/a>, 10<\/a>, 21<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(1) Literal Babylon.<\/em> Babylon was located on the Euphrates River (16:12<\/a>) and was crisscrossed by canals (\u201csitting on many waters,\u201d 17:1<\/a>, alluding to Jeremiah 51:13<\/a>, \u201cO you who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, and the measure of your greed.\u201d). But against a literal interpretation is 17:15<\/a>, which interprets the \u201cwaters\u201d figuratively, and Jeremiah\u2019s prophecy that Babylon\u2019s \u201cdesolation\u201d would be \u201ceverlasting\u201d (Jeremiah 25:12<\/a>; also Isaiah 13:19\u201322<\/a> and most extensively Jeremiah 50:1\u201351:64<\/a>), along with the fact that Babylon in the first century c.e. was hardly worthy of the attention Yochanan gives it, since it was neither a center of Gospel activity (see 1 Ke 5:13<\/a>N<\/a>) nor the major world power center it had once been.<\/p>\n

(2) Rome.<\/em> The arguments in favor of Babylon as a codeword for Rome are weighty. Rome was widely known as the city set on seven hills (17:9<\/a>). Caution militated against portraying the evils of Rome\u2019s oppressive rule too directly. \u201cBabylon\u201d was a common euphemism for \u201cRome\u201d in the Pseudepigrapha (2 Baruch 11:1, 67:7; Sibylline Oracles 5:143, 159) and in rabbinic writings. Midrash Rabbah on Song of Songs 1:6<\/a>.4 states directly, \u201cOne calls Rome \u2018Babylon.\u2019 \u201dYechiel Lichtenstein on 1 Ke 5:13<\/a> remarks that \u201cRome is called \u2018Babylon\u2019 since it is always described as the worst kingdom.\u201d Because Rome\u2019s political power has declined since the book of Revelation was written, making the literal understanding of Rome less relevant, there are Protestants who equate Babylon<\/strong> with Rome and Rome with Roman Catholicism, turning the passage into an anti-Catholic polemic.<\/p>\n

(3) The wicked world-sy<\/em>stem<\/em>, ruled in the spiritual realm by Satan and ultimately in the physical world by the anti-Messiah. Viewing Babylon allegorically as the evil world-system accords with the extensive description of the rule of the anti-Messiah in chapters 12\u201313<\/a> and the return of this imagery in the immediate context (vv. 9\u201311<\/a>).<\/p>\n

(4) The ungodly in general<\/em>. This less specific understanding of Babylon the Great as the ungodly in general as over against the godly would derive from a hermeneutic that interprets the whole book along such figurative lines (see 1:1<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The wine of God\u2019s fury<\/strong>, here and at v. 10<\/a>: see vv. 14\u201320<\/a> below.<\/p>\n

10a<\/strong>Fire and sulfur<\/strong>, which KJV renders \u201cfire and brimstone.\u201d Because this expression is used to describe Christian preachers who vividly portray the tortures of hell, it is sometimes thought foreign to Judaism. Actually the destiny of evildoers is described in this way throughout the Tanakh<\/span>. Four examples: Genesis 19:24<\/a> (God\u2019s destruction of Sodom), Isaiah 34:8\u201310<\/a> (the coming \u201cday of vengeance\u201d against Edom), Ezekiel 38:22<\/a> (prophecy against Gog) and Psalm 11:6<\/a> (the fate of the wicked). The phrase is found in Revelation also at 9:17\u201318<\/a>, 19:20<\/a>, 20:10<\/a>, 21:8<\/a>. See 19:20<\/a>.<\/p>\n

10b\u201311<\/strong>Be<\/strong>fore the holy angels \u2026 forever<\/strong>. The idea that the judgment of the wicked is eternally on display before the righteous is found in a Pseudipegraphic Jewish work:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis cursed valley [Gey-Hinnom (Gehenna, hell; see Mt 5:22<\/a>N<\/a>)] is for those who are cursed forever \u2026. Here they will be gathered together and here will be their place of judgment. In the last days there will be upon them the spectacle of righteous judgment in the presence of the righteous forever.\u201d (1 Enoch 27:1\u20133)<\/p>\n

13<\/strong>What they have accomplished follows along with them<\/strong>. The Mishna puts it this way:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the hour of a person\u2019s departure, neither silver nor gold nor precious stones nor pearls accompany him, only Torah<\/span> and good works.\u201d (Avot 6:9)<\/p>\n

14\u201320<\/strong> As a whole, the passage echoes Joel 4:9\u201313<\/a>(3:9\u201313<\/a>), in which grape harvesting and wine pressing are used as a metaphor for judgment in the context of the eschatological war, and Isaiah 63:1\u20136<\/a>, in which God treads the winevat in his fury, pressing out the lifeblood of the peoples. The same metaphor is found at Jeremiah 25:15<\/a>, 28\u201331<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Judgment is also symbolized by the harvest at Jeremiah 61:33 and Hosea 6:11<\/a>. Also see Yeshua\u2019s own parable of the wheat and the weeds, especiallyMk 4:29<\/a> and Mt 13:39\u201342<\/a>; both there and here the Messiah is the reaper at the final judgment, using angels as his instruments. Moreover, here it is the Messiah who treads the winepress (see below, 19:15<\/a>).<\/p>\n

14<\/strong>On the cloud was someone like a Son of Man<\/strong>. The prophecy of Daniel 7:13<\/a> is made to refer to Yeshua; compare Mt 24:30\u201331<\/a>, Mk 14:61\u201362<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

20<\/strong>Outside the city<\/strong> of Jerusalem, in the valley of Y\u2019hoshafat (the name means \u201cGod judges\u201d), mentioned in Joel 4:2<\/a>, 12<\/a>(3:2<\/a>, 12<\/a>). Jewish authorities understand this as Kidron Valley (Yn 18:1<\/a>) or the Hinnom Valley (see 10b\u201311<\/a>, Mt 5:22<\/a>N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Blood flowed \u2026 a<\/strong>s high as the horses\u2019 bridles for two hundred miles.<\/strong> Compare the Midrash Rabbah:<\/p>\n

\u201cThey [the Romans under Hadrian] slew the inhabitants [of Betar, after Bar-Kosiba, its defender, had been killed] until the horses waded in blood up to the nostrils, and the blood rolled along stones of the size of forty se\u02d2ah<\/span> and flowed into the sea a distance of four miles.\u201d Lamentations Rabbah 2:2:4.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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CHAPTER 15<\/p>\n

1 Seven angels have \u201cseven bowls\u201d (16:1<\/a>) containing the seven plagues. These bowls are poured out on the earth (16:2\u201321<\/a>); and with them, God\u2019s fury is finished.<\/p>\n

2\u20134<\/strong> Those defeating the be<\/strong><\/span>ast<\/strong> (13:1\u20138<\/a>&N<\/a>, 13:11\u201312<\/a>&N<\/a>), its image<\/strong> (13:14\u201315<\/a>), and the number of its name<\/strong> (13:17\u201318<\/a>&N<\/a>) are seen standing by the sea of glass<\/strong> (see 4:6<\/a>), just as the Israelites stood by the Red Sea after their Egypt<\/span>ian pursuers were drowned in it. At that time the Israelites sang the song of Moshe<\/strong> (Exodus 15:1\u201318<\/a>; see 13:4<\/a>&N<\/a>), which is included in its entirety in the daily morning synagogue service and liberally<\/span> quoted again in the twice-daily blessing after the Sh\u02d2ma<\/span>. The victors over the beast will sing the Song of Moses, signifying that true believers in Yeshua fully identify with the Jewish people.<\/p>\n

The <\/strong><\/span>song of the Lamb<\/strong>, as given in vv. 3b\u20134<\/a>, is not sung to or about the Lamb, but by the Lamb to God\u2014just as the Song of Moses was sung by Moses and not to him. Just as the victorious Jewish people learne<\/span>d and sang the song which Moses sang (Exodus 15:1<\/a>), so the victorious believers in heaven learn and sing the song which the Lamb sings. Like the Song of Moses the Song of the Lamb exults in the just w<\/span>ays of God, using the language of the Tanakh<\/span> as found in Jeremiah 10:7<\/a>; Amos 3:13<\/a>, 4:13<\/a>; Malachi 1:11<\/a>; Psalms 86:9\u201310<\/a>, 92:6<\/a>(5<\/a>), 98:1<\/a>, 111:2<\/a>, 139:14<\/a>, 145:17<\/a>; 1 Chronicles 16:9<\/a>, 12<\/a>. But unlike the Song <\/span>of Moses it also brings out that in the final judgment God is revealed as king of the nations<\/strong>, king of the whole world, as prophesied in Zechariah 14:9<\/a>, so that all nations will come and worship befor<\/strong><\/span>e<\/strong> him\u2014as predicted in the continuation of that passage (Zechariah 14:16\u201320<\/a>).<\/p>\n

5<\/strong> The sanctuary (that is, the Tent of Witness).<\/strong> The word \u201ctent\u201d appears only here in Revelation. If there was a Hebrew ori<\/span>ginal underlying our Greek text, this phrase, unique in ancient literature, could be explained as a corruption of \u201cthe Temple of God in heaven,\u201d which appears with the same verb (\u201cwas opened<\/strong>\u201d) at 11:1<\/span>9<\/a>. If the phrase stands as translated, the \u201csanctuary\u201d is the Holy of Holies, which was also the location (or \u201ctent\u201d) of the ark of the Covenant (MJ 9:4<\/a>&N<\/a>), called the ark of the Testimony throughout <\/span>Exodus 25\u201340<\/a>. Verse 8<\/a> supports this rendering, for we read that the smoke from God\u2019s Sh\u02d2khinah<\/span> filled the sanctuary; in Exodus and Ezekiel God\u2019s glory inhabited the sanctuary. These final \u201cbowl\u201d plagu<\/span>es come from God\u2019s ultimate holiness.<\/p>\n

7\u20138<\/strong> Messianic Jews 9:5<\/a> understands \u201cthe k\u02d2ruvim<\/span> \u2026 , casting their shadow on the lid of the Ark,\u201d as \u201crepresenting the Sh\u02d2khinah<\/span>,\u201d in the earthly Holy of Holies.<\/span> Thus it is no surprise to find that in heaven the sanctuary was filled with smoke from God\u2019s <\/strong>Sh\u02d2khinah<\/span> (see Paragraph (3) of MJ 1:2\u20133<\/a>N<\/a>). At 13:6<\/a>, the beast insulted God\u2019s \u201cname and his Sh\u02d2khinah<\/span>, and<\/span> those living in heaven\u201d and \u201cwas allowed to make war on God\u2019s holy people and to defeat them.\u201d Now the tables are turned, with God\u2019s people victorious, and God\u2019s fury<\/strong> about to be poured out on those <\/span>who follow the beast.<\/p>\n

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CHAPTER 16 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1 The seven bowls of God\u2019s fury, introduced in 15:1<\/a>, 7\u20138<\/a>, contain the third set of seven judgments in the book of Revelation, the others being the seal judgments of 5:1\u20139<\/a>, 6:1\u201317<\/a>, 8:1ff<\/a>., and the shofar<\/span> judgments of 8:2\u201311:15ff<\/a>. The bowl judgments are poured out in this chapter.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong> Like the plague of boils which affected only the Egyptians (Exodus 9:8\u201311<\/a>), these disgusting and painful <\/strong>sores<\/strong> appear only on unbelievers, the people who had the mark of the beast and worshipped its image<\/strong>. According to v. 11<\/a>, despite the pain of these sores, their hearts, like Pharaoh\u2019s, remain hard\u2014they never turn from their sins to glorify God (v. 9<\/a>) but curse him to the end (v. 21<\/a>).<\/p>\n

5<\/strong>O <\/strong>HaKadosh<\/span>, \u201cO Holy One.\u201d Rabbinic writings often refer to God as HaKadosh<\/span>, barukh hu<\/span>, \u201cthe Holy One, blessed be he\u201d; as, for example, in the well-known \u02d3Aleinu<\/span> prayer recited near the end of each synagogue service: \u201cWe bend the knee, bow and acknowledge before the supreme King of kings, HaKadosh<\/span>, barukh hu<\/span> [the Holy One, blessed be he], \u2026 that he is our God, there is none else.\u201d Here too the reference is to God the Father, but at Ac 2:27<\/a>, 13:35<\/a>, quoting Psalm 16:10<\/a>, the term applies to the Messiah.<\/p>\n

6<\/strong> This verse and 17:6<\/a>, 16<\/a> echo Isaiah 49:26<\/a>, where God says to Israel, \u201cI will feed your oppressors with their own flesh, and they will be drunk on their own blood.\u201d The nations that fight against God\u2019s people will shed each other\u2019s blood in internecine warfare. Compare Ezekiel 38:21\u201322<\/a>, Haggai 2:21\u201322<\/a> and Zechariah 14:12\u201313<\/a> (which also suggests the first and fifth bowl judgments).<\/p>\n

9<\/strong> Here is the New Testament\u2019s most cogent description of the normal behavior of hardened sinners. They cursed the name of God \u2026 instead of turning from their sins<\/strong>, the result of which would have been to give him glory<\/strong>. Although God had the authority over these plagues<\/strong>, these unbelievers, in their irrationality, instead of entreating the only one who could help them, curse him. They recognize that God controls the plagues but blame him instead of themselves, since, being amoral and materialistic, they see no causal connection between their own sinful behavior and these events as judgment. They remain unrepentant throughout the chapter (see vv. 11<\/a>, 21<\/a> and v. 2<\/a>).<\/p>\n

12\u201316<\/strong> The War of Armageddon (Hebrew Har Megiddo<\/span>, v. 16<\/a>&N<\/a>), the final earthly battle, is demonically inspired (vv. 13\u201314<\/a>). In v. 14<\/a> it is called the war<\/strong> of the Great Day of <\/strong>Adonai-Tzva\u02d2ot<\/span> (\u201cthe Lord of Heavenly Armies\u201d or \u201cYHVH<\/em> of Hosts\u201d; see 1:8<\/a>). In this conflict the kings of the whole inhabited world<\/strong> (vv. 12<\/a>, 14<\/a>, 16<\/a>) come against God\u2019s people; but God, through his Messiah Yeshua (v. 15<\/a>), wins the victory (19:11\u201321<\/a>&NN<\/a>) after \u201cBabylon the Great\u201d has been destroyed (v. 19<\/a>&N<\/a>; compare Zechariah 12<\/a>, 14<\/a>).<\/p>\n

12<\/strong> The River Euphrates<\/strong> was the center of the major pagan civilizations that pressed against Israel in Tanakh<\/span> times, and when Revelation was written it was the center of the Parthian kingdom which continually warred with Rome. Think of the Euphrates as the launching point of attack, whether of angel-mediated judgment (9:14<\/a>), the kings from the east<\/strong> (v. 12<\/a>), or the whole inhabited world<\/strong> (v. 14<\/a>).<\/p>\n

15<\/strong>I am coming like a thief<\/strong>. Yeshua interjects his own personal warning into the vision of the bowl judgments. Quoting his own words (3:3<\/a>&N<\/a>) he cautions believers to keep their clothes clean<\/strong> (compare 3:4\u20135a<\/a>&N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

16<\/strong>The place which in Hebrew is ca<\/strong>lled <\/strong>Har Megiddo<\/span> (\u201cMount Megiddo\u201d) or possibly \u201c \u02d3Ir Megiddo<\/span>\u201d (\u201cCity of Megiddo\u201d). The Greek word here is \u201cArmageddon<\/span>\u201d\u2014there is no Greek letter to represent the Hebrew \u201ch\u201d sound, and \u201cn\u201d is often added to Greek renderings of foreign words. But in Zechariah 12:10\u201311<\/a>, which also places Megiddo in the context of the Last Days, the Hebrew word is actually \u201cMegiddon<\/span>\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201c \u2026 they will look on Me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son \u2026. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning of Hadad-Rimmon in the valley of Megiddon<\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hadad-Rimmon was the place in the Valley of Yizre\u201bel (Jezreel) near Megiddo where king Yoshiyahu (Josiah) fell at the hands of Pharaoh Nekhoh in 609 b.c.e. (2 Kings 23:29\u201330<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The city of Megiddo, which overlooks the Yizre\u201bel Valley and guards a major pass on the ancient Via Maris<\/span> (\u201cWay of the Sea\u201d) connecting Egypt with Syria, has seen many battles and much mourning. The archeological remains, spanning a period from the Chalcolithic Age (4th millennium b.c.e.) to the Persian conquest (7th century c.e.), consist of twenty levels, indicating the city was destroyed and rebuilt many times. In this valley Dvorah and Barak defeated the Canaanites (Judges 4\u20135<\/a>; Megiddo is mentioned at Judges 5:19<\/a>) and Gid\u201bon the Midianites (Judges 6\u20138<\/a>). In modern times both Napoleon (1799) and General Allenby (1918) defeated the Turks near Megiddo. The hundred square miles of the Yizre\u201bel Valley would provide more than enough space for the conflict envisioned in the book of Revelation.<\/p>\n

However, the final war may not take place at Har Megiddo<\/span> at all, but in Jerusalem, at Har Migdo<\/span>, the \u201cmount of his choice fruit,\u201d i.e., the mountain of God\u2019s blessing, Mount Zion. Mount Zion has already been mentioned at 14:1<\/a>; moreover, the imagery resembles Joel\u2019s picture of the Day of Adonai<\/span>, when God\u2019s power goes forth from Mount Zion against the forces of evil (Joel 2:1\u201311<\/a>, 4:16\u201317<\/a> (3:16\u201317<\/a>); compare also Isaiah 31:4\u20139<\/a>). The next passage (vv. 17\u201321<\/a>) resembles 14:14\u201320<\/a>, which also draws on imagery from Joel 4<\/a> (see 14:14\u201320<\/a>). Strengthening the case further Zechariah 12:11<\/a>, cited above, mentions Jerusalem along with Megi<\/span>ddon<\/span>.<\/p>\n

19<\/strong>Babylon the Great<\/strong> (see 14:8<\/a>) was split into three parts<\/strong>, that is, destroyed, as detailed in the next two chapters. The judgment imagery is taken from the Prophets; see 14:14\u201320<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Made her dr<\/strong>ink the wine from the cup of his raging fury<\/strong>. Compare Jeremiah 25:15<\/a>, 25:26\u201331<\/a>.<\/p>\n

21<\/strong>The people cursed God for the plague of hail<\/strong>. See v. 2<\/a>, v. 9<\/a>, 8:7<\/a>, Exodus 9:22\u201335<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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 <\/p>\n

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CHAPTER 17 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1\u20132 The judgment, except for v. 16<\/a>, is described in chapter 18<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sitting by many waters<\/strong>. See 14:8<\/a> on Babylon.<\/p>\n

Great whore \u2026 The kings of the earth went whoring with her.<\/strong>Nahum 3:4<\/a> calls Nineveh, another of Israel\u2019s nemeses, \u201cthe charming and bewitching harlot who sells nations with her lewd practices and families by her witchcrafts.\u201d Compare 18:3<\/a>, 7<\/a>, 12\u201323<\/a>. Isaiah 23:17<\/a> says that Tyre \u201cwill play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The people \u2026 have become drunk<\/strong>. See 18:3<\/a>; also Jeremiah 51:7<\/a>, quoted in v. 4<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>Beast \u2026 having \u2026 ten horns<\/strong>. See 12:3\u20134<\/a>, 13:1\u20138<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>Gold cup<\/strong>. Jeremiah 51:7<\/a>: \u201cBabylon was a gold cup in the hand of Adonai<\/span> that made all the earth drunk; the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cup filled wi<\/strong>th obscene and filthy things<\/strong>. At 18:6<\/a> this cup becomes the cup of God\u2019s raging fury, as at 14:10<\/a>, 16:19<\/a>.<\/p>\n

5<\/strong> Contrast this name with that written on the forehead of the redeemed (see 14:1<\/a>&N<\/a>, 22:5<\/a>&N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Babylon the Great<\/strong>. See 14:8<\/a>.<\/p>\n

6<\/strong>On seeing her, I was altogether astounded<\/strong>, since a whore does not usually dress so magnificently (v. 4<\/a>; see G. E. Ladd, Revelation<\/em>, ad loc<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

7\u201314<\/strong> See 13:1\u20138<\/a>&NN<\/a>, and compare Daniel 7:19\u201325<\/a>.<\/p>\n

8<\/strong> The beast once was<\/strong> (in the form of Antiochus IV \u201cEpiphanes\u201d), now is not<\/strong> in such an evil form, and will come<\/strong> as the anti-Messiah\u2014as explained in 13:1\u20138<\/a>. Since the beast pretends to the position of God, the angel sarcastically describes him in language similar to that used to describe God, \u201cthe One who is, who was and who is coming\u201d (1:4<\/a>&N<\/a>). This beast, Satan, will come up <\/strong>from the Abyss<\/strong> and be \u201cset free for a little while\u201d (20:2\u20133<\/a>, 7\u20138<\/a>), but he is on his way to destruction<\/strong> in \u201cthe lake of fire and sulfur\u201d (20:9\u201310<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The people living on earth<\/strong> (those in v. 2<\/a>; see 3:10<\/a>)whose names have not been written in the Book of Life<\/strong> (see 20:12b<\/a>) since the founding of the world<\/strong> are to be contrasted with \u201cGod\u2019s people \u2026 who testify about Yeshua\u201d (v. 6<\/a>). Also compare 13:3\u20134<\/a>, 8<\/a>; Ep 1:3\u201312<\/a>; and Co 1:14\u201323<\/a>.<\/p>\n

9<\/strong>Seven hills<\/strong>. See 14:8<\/a> on Babylon.<\/p>\n

10<\/strong>Seven kings\u2014five have fallen, one is living now, and the other is yet to come<\/strong>. A difficult verse in a difficult book. If \u201cBabylon\u201d means Rome or the Roman Empire (see 14:8<\/a>), the fallen<\/strong> could be the first five emperors, of whom Nero was the last. After three emperors who ruled for a very short time each came Vespasian, who would be the sixth, ruling from 69 to 79 c.e., and living now<\/strong>. Titus would be yet to come<\/strong>. In his commentary on Revelation R. H. Charles considers Nero to be the \u201cbeast\u201d of this chapter, expected to return from the dead leading the kings of the east against Rome (see 13:17b\u201318<\/a>).<\/p>\n

12<\/strong>Ten horns<\/strong>. See v. 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

14<\/strong>He is Lord of lords and King of kings<\/strong>. See 19:16<\/a>.<\/p>\n

16<\/strong>They will hate the whore<\/strong>. The ten horns and the beast, who are evil, hate the whore, who is also evil. Those who are good love even those who, unlike themselves, are evil. But those who are evil hate not only the good but also even those who are like themselves, evil.<\/p>\n

And consume her with fire<\/strong> (also 18:8<\/a>). The same punishment as for the daughter of a cohen<\/span> who profanes her father by playing the whore, Leviticus 21:9<\/a>.<\/p>\n

17<\/strong>God put it in their<\/strong> hearts to do what will fulfill his purpose<\/strong>. In the Tanakh<\/span> God often uses the wicked to accomplish his purposes; see Exodus 10:1<\/a>, Habakkuk 1:5\u201311<\/a>. This verse is a strong statement of God\u2019s sovereignty, like Ro 9:6\u201329<\/a>&NN<\/a>. Though much is said in the book of Revelation about Satan and his power, there is no dualism, not the slightest suggestion that Satan is on a par with God. God\u2019s words<\/strong> must accomp<\/strong>lish their intent<\/strong> (compare Isaiah 55:10\u201311<\/a>, Mt 24:35<\/a>, Ro 8:28<\/a>).<\/p>\n

18<\/strong>The Great City<\/strong>. See 14:8<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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 <\/p>\n

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CHAPTER 18 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1\u201324 The judgment against Babylon (see 14:8<\/a>) is against her pride, ruthlessness, greed (1 Ti 6:9\u201310<\/a>) and materialism. It is a just judgment (15:3<\/a>; 16:5<\/a>, 7<\/a>; 18:10<\/a>, 20<\/a>; 19:2<\/a>), praised by God<\/span>\u2019s people but mourned by the worldly and wicked who share her values.<\/p>\n

Much in this chapter resembles the lamentation in Ezekiel 27\u201328<\/a> over the commercial center and port of Tzor (Tyre). It is highly <\/span>significant that Tyre is often understood as a surrogate for Satan\u2019s realm of activity and its king for Satan himself (this identification is based especially on Ezekiel 28:11\u201319<\/a>). By analogy, the des<\/span>truction of Babylon in this chapter is really the destruction of Satan\u2019s kingdom; the destruction of Satan himself in chapter 20<\/a> invokes \u201cGog and Magog\u201d as described in Ezekiel 38\u201339<\/a>, which also resem<\/span>bles Ezekiel 27\u201328<\/a>.<\/p>\n

21<\/strong> The size of a great millstone<\/strong>. The name \u201cGat-Sh\u2019manim\u201d (\u201cGethsemane,\u201d Mt 26:36<\/a>&N<\/a>) means \u201coil press,\u201d that is, a stone mill for grinding olives into pulp for their oil. Until qu<\/span>ite recently the Arabs in the villages here in Israel used such presses for the same purpose, and many of the millstones are still around. They are circular with a hole in the center about 9 inches square; diameter averages about five feet, thickness a foot and weight well over a ton. <\/span><\/p>\n

23<\/strong> The voice of bridegroom and bride<\/strong> (a phrase found at Jeremiah 7:34<\/a>, 16:9<\/a>, 25:16<\/a>, 33:1<\/a>) will never again be hea<\/strong><\/span>rd in you<\/strong>, but they will be heard soon at the inauguration of God\u2019s reign (19:7\u20139<\/a>&N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

24<\/strong> Compare 6:9\u201311<\/a>, 16:5\u20137<\/a>, 17:6<\/a>, 19:2<\/a>; also Mt 23:35<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
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\n

CHAPTER 19 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1\u20136 Halleluyah<\/span>! Hebrew for \u201cPraise Yah<\/span>!\u201d (\u201cPraise the Lord!\u201d), rendered in the Greek text as Allelouia<\/span>, and found in the Bible 22 times in Psalms 104\u2013150<\/a> and 4 times in these six verses. The huge crowd in heaven praises God for judging Babylon the Great and for actively beginning to rule his Kingdom (v. 6<\/a>).<\/p>\n

6<\/strong>Halleluyah<\/span>! <\/strong>Adonai<\/span>, God of heaven\u2019s armies<\/strong> (see 1:8<\/a>), has begun his reign<\/strong> (or: \u201chas become King\u201d). God\u2019s universal rule is a major theme of the Tanakh<\/span> (Psalms 103:19<\/a>, 145:13<\/a>; Isaiah 2:2\u20134<\/a>, 9:5\u20136<\/a>(6\u20137<\/a>), 11:6\u20139<\/a>; Micah 4:1\u20134<\/a>; Zechariah 14:9<\/a>). On the one hand, the New Testament presents the \u201cKingdom\u201d or \u201crulership\u201d of God (see Mt 3:2<\/a>N<\/a> on \u201cKingdom of Heaven\u201d) as a reality present at this moment through trusting in Yeshua the Messiah (Mt 5:3<\/a>, 10<\/a>; 11:11<\/a>; 12:28<\/a>; 25:34<\/a>; 26:29<\/a>; Lk 17:21<\/a>; Ro 14:17<\/a>; 1C 4:20<\/a>; Co 1:13<\/a>). On the other hand, it also describes the Kingdom as a future promise yet to be fully manifested (Mt 6:10<\/a>, 7:21<\/a>; Lk 22:30<\/a>, 23:42<\/a>; 1C 6:9\u201310<\/a>; Ga 5:21<\/a>; 2 Ke 1:11<\/a>). The present verse inaugurates God\u2019s kingly reign<\/strong>, although its establishment requires several stages: first is the wedding feast of the Lamb (vv. 7\u20139<\/a>), climaxed by the return of the Messiah (vv. 11\u201315<\/a>); then Satan must be chained (20:1\u20133<\/a>, 7\u201310<\/a>), judgment must take place (20:11\u201315<\/a>), and only then does Yeshua actually rule (21:3\u20134<\/a>, 22:3\u20135<\/a>); compare 1C 15:23\u201328<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The \u201cHallelujah Chorus\u201d in George F. Handel\u2019s oratorio, The Messiah<\/em>, consists of the KJV renderings of this verse and phrases from 11:15<\/a> and 19:16<\/a>. Messianic prophecies from the Tanakh<\/span> and other Bible verses about Yeshua constitute its entire libretto.<\/p>\n

7<\/strong>The wedding of the Lamb<\/strong> (Yeshua the Messiah), and his bride<\/strong> or \u201cwife\u201d (the Body of all believers throughout history, the Messianic Community). Although in the \u02d3olam haba<\/span> individual resurrected believers will not marry (Mt 22:30<\/a>), the Messianic Community as a whole is the Bride of the Messiah. Similar imagery of the Messiah as bridegroom and the inauguration of the Kingdom as wedding is found also at Mt 22:1\u201314<\/a>, 25:1\u201313<\/a>; Mk 2:18\u201320<\/a>; Yn 3:28\u201330<\/a>; Ro 7:1\u20134<\/a>; 1C 6:13\u201320<\/a>; 2C 11:2<\/a> and Ep 5:25\u201333<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Tanakh<\/span> similarly pictures Israel as the wife of YHVH<\/em>\u2014see Isaiah 54:1\u20138<\/a>, 62:4\u20135<\/a>; Jeremiah 31:31<\/a>(32<\/a>); Ezekiel 16<\/a>; and the whole book of Hosea, especially chapters 1\u20133<\/a>. Midrash Rabbah to Song of Songs 4:10<\/a> names ten places in the Tanakh<\/span> which speak of Israel directly or allegorically as a bride.<\/p>\n

Arnold Fruchtenbaum, a Jewish believing scholar whose theology might be categorized as a modified Dispensationalism, distinguishes radically between the \u201cwife of Jehovah,\u201d Israel, and the \u201cbride of the Messiah,\u201d the Messianic Community; see his commentary on Revelation called The Footsteps of the Messiah<\/em>, Appendix III (\u201cThe Wife of Jehovah and the Bride of Christ\u201d).<\/p>\n

My view is that the distinction between the Church and the Jewish people is less sharp and more subtle than Dispensationalism has generally depicted it (see Ro 11:23\u201324<\/a>&N<\/a>), and that Yeshua the Messiah sometimes represents and sometimes is intimately identified with the Jewish people (see Mt 2:15<\/a>&N<\/a>). For these reasons I see no significant substantive distinction to be made between the bride of the Messiah and the wife of YHVH<\/em>. Rather, the Bible employs a variety of metaphors to express the future intimacy of God with his people; different ones are used at 21:2\u20133<\/a>, 22:3\u20135<\/a>.<\/p>\n

8<\/strong>Fine linen, bright and clean<\/strong> contrasts with the garish dress of the harlot (17:4<\/a>). \u201cFine linen<\/strong>\u201d means<\/strong> or \u201cresults from\u201d (literally, \u201cis\u201d) the righteous deeds<\/strong>, etc.<\/p>\n

10<\/strong>I fell at his feet to worship him<\/strong>, etc. Compare Ac 10:25\u201326<\/a>&N<\/a>. The early believers sometimes were led astray into angel-worship, but this was condemned (Co 2:18<\/a>). Perhaps Yochanan, in awed confusion, thought the voice of the angel was that of the Messiah and reports his embarrassment at his mistake.<\/p>\n

The testimony of Yeshua is the Spirit of prophecy<\/strong>. A difficult phrase. I think the author is explaining why he was instructed not to worship the angel; compare Kefa\u2019s similar remark to Cornelius (Ac 10:25\u201326<\/a>&N<\/a>). Yochanan and his brothers<\/strong> have in themselves Yeshua\u2019s testimony<\/strong> or \u201cevidence,\u201d that is, what Yeshua said about himself and his Messianic Community (similarly at 1:2b<\/a>, 22:16<\/a>). This evidence which believers have in them is the Spirit of prophecy<\/strong> (Greek proph\u00eateia,<\/span> \u201cspeaking forth\u201d on behalf of God), that is, the Holy Spirit, who speaks forth God\u2019s truth whenever they live a godly, Messianic life and communicate the Good News to others.<\/p>\n

11\u201316<\/strong> At Ti 2:13<\/a>&N<\/a> we are taught \u201cto expect the blessed fulfillment of our certain hope, which is the appearing of the Sh\u02d2khinah<\/span> of our great God and the appearing of our Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah.\u201d The present verses describe this eagerly awaited Second Coming.<\/p>\n

In the Tanakh YHVH<\/em> wars victoriously over his enemies (Isaiah 13<\/a>, 31<\/a>, 63:1\u20136<\/a>; Ezekiel 38\u201339<\/a>; Joel 4:9\u201321<\/a>(3:9\u201321<\/a>); Zechariah 14<\/a>); here we see that it is through Yeshua the Messiah that he does this. Moreover, Yeshua\u2019s work upon his return is not only to reward the righteous (vv. 6\u201310<\/a>) but also to conquer and judge the wicked, as seen from Mt 13:41\u201342<\/a>, 25:41\u201346<\/a>; Ro 2:5\u20136<\/a>, 8\u20139<\/a>, 16<\/a>; 1 Th 1:7\u20139<\/a>, 2:8<\/a>. The first time, God did not send his Son into the world to judge but to save (Yn 3:17<\/a>); however, God has entrusted all judgment to the Son (Yn 5:22<\/a>), and this takes place at his Second Coming.<\/p>\n

11<\/strong>A white horse<\/strong>, different from the one at 6:2<\/a>&N<\/a>, with a different rider.<\/p>\n

Faithful and True<\/strong>\u2014words applied to the Messiah also at 3:14<\/a>. The two words mean virtually the same thing, since the Hebrew idea of truth was not correspondence to reality (as in Greek thought), but reliability. The \u201cGod of truth\u201d (Elohim emet<\/span>, Jeremiah 10:10<\/a>) is not primarily the God who reveals eternal verities, but the God who can be trusted to keep his covenant. When Yochanan in his Gospel wrote that \u201cgrace and truth came through Yeshua the Messiah\u201d (Yn 1:17<\/a>), he meant that in the life, death and resurrection of the Messiah, God\u2019s faithfulness was revealed in fulfillment of his covenant. Likewise, the return of Yeshua will be the faithful reappearance of him who has already appeared among men; this time he comes to bring God\u2019s covenant promises to their final and full consummation. (Adapted from George E. Ladd, Revelation<\/em>, ad loc<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

12\u201315<\/strong>His eyes were like a fiery flame<\/strong> (1:14<\/a>) \u2026. the name by which he is called is, <\/strong>\u201cTHE WORD OF GOD<\/strong>\u201d (1:2<\/a>, 6:9<\/a>, 20:4<\/a>) \u2026. Out of his m<\/strong>outh comes a sharp sword<\/strong> (1:16<\/a>; 2:12<\/a>, 16<\/a>). The sword here and at v. 21<\/a> is the Word of God (see 1:2<\/a>, 1:16<\/a>). See MJ 4:12\u201313<\/a>&N<\/a> for the same three metaphors (Word of God, sword, eyes).<\/p>\n

12<\/strong>A name written <\/strong>which no one knew but himself<\/strong>. Yeshua has three public names in vv. 11\u201316<\/a>; each reveals aspects of his nature (see Yn 1:12<\/a>N<\/a> on how names were understood in antiquity). Yet even on the day of the eschatological battle there are elements which remain hidden.<\/p>\n

13<\/strong>Soaked in blood<\/strong>. This could be the blood of the enemies\u2019 armies (vv. 19<\/a>, 21<\/a>), Yeshua\u2019s own blood shed on the execution-stake or the blood of martyred believers (6:9\u201310<\/a>&N<\/a>, 12:11<\/a>&N<\/a>). Most interpreters opt for the first.<\/p>\n

14<\/strong>The armies of heaven<\/strong>, the angels. God is called \u201cAdonai<\/span>, God of heaven\u2019s armies\u201d many times in the book of Revelation (see 1:8<\/a>&N<\/a>). \u201cAdonai<\/span> my God will come, and all holy ones with him\u201d (Zechariah 14:5<\/a>). Yeshua returns with angels (Mk 8:38<\/a>, Lk 9:26<\/a>, 1 Th 3:13<\/a>, 2 Th 1:7<\/a>). However, the believers too accompany him as he overcomes his enemies (17:14<\/a> above; also Mt 24:31<\/a>, 1 Th 4:15b\u201317<\/a>&N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

15<\/strong>He will rule them with a staff of iron<\/strong>. See 2:26\u201327<\/a>, 11:18<\/a>&N<\/a>, 12:5<\/a>. Winepress<\/strong>, etc. See 14:14\u201320<\/a>.<\/p>\n

16<\/strong>KING OF KINGS AND LORD O<\/strong>F LORDS<\/strong> (in reverse order at 17:14<\/a>). A title expressing Yeshua\u2019s rulership over all creation (1C 15:25\u201328<\/a>&NN<\/a>, Pp 2:9\u201311<\/a>&N<\/a>, MJ 2:8<\/a>&N<\/a>). It is equivalent to the phrase \u201cKing of kings of kings\u201d which the Siddur<\/span> (prayerbook) applies to YHVH<\/em> in this song which introduces Shabbat<\/span> in many Jewish homes:<\/p>\n

\u201cShalom \u02d3aleikhem, mal\u02d2akhey-hasharet, mal\u02d2akhey-Elyon,<\/span><\/p>\n

miMelekh-malkhey-ham\u02d2lakhim, HaKadosh, barukh <\/span>hu.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bo\u02d2akhem l\u02d2shalom<\/span>, \u2026 barkhuni l\u02d2shalom<\/span>, \u2026 tzetkhem l\u2019shalom<\/span> \u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome, ministering angels, messengers from the Most High,<\/p>\n

from the King of kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be he.<\/p>\n

Come in peace, \u2026 bless me with peace, \u2026 go in peace \u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

The extra \u201ckings of\u201d in Yeshua\u2019s title is necessary because the ruler of Persia styled himself \u201cking of kings\u201d\u2014and truly so, since Esther 1:1<\/a> says that Achashverosh (Ahasuerus, Xerxes) ruled 127 countries (and, by implication, their kings as well). See also citation of Avot 3:1 in 20:11\u201315<\/a> below.<\/p>\n

17\u201321<\/strong> This is the Battle of Armageddon (see 16:16<\/a>&N<\/a>); the Messiah defeats the anti-God forces, both the instigators in the spiritual realm (v. 20<\/a>) and their human followers (v. 21<\/a>).<\/p>\n

17\u201318<\/strong>Birds<\/strong> of carrion feast<\/strong> on their flesh<\/strong> (vv. 17\u201318<\/a>). The imagery is from the book of Ezekiel 39:17\u201320<\/a>, although Ezekiel is speaking of the battle of Gog and Magog, which does not appear in Revelation until 20:8<\/a>&N<\/a>. See v. 21<\/a>.<\/p>\n

19<\/strong> Compare Psalm 2:2<\/a>, Joel 4:9\u201317<\/a>(3:9\u201317<\/a>); see 14:14\u201320<\/a>, 16:16<\/a>.<\/p>\n

20<\/strong> Here is God\u2019s answer to the logical conundrum, \u201cHow do you throw away the trash can?\u201d The beast \u2026 and with him the false prophet<\/strong> (see 13:1\u201318<\/a>&NN<\/a>, 14:8\u201311<\/a>&NN<\/a>) are thrown a<\/strong>live into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur<\/strong> (compare Ezekiel 38:22<\/a>), \u201cprepared for the Adversary and his angels\u201d (Mt 25:41<\/a>). At 20:10<\/a> Satan himself joins these \u201cangels\u201d of his to be \u201ctormented forever and ever\u201d; compare Daniel 7:11<\/a>, and see 12:12<\/a>, 14:10a<\/a>. Death and Sh\u2019ol themselves are thrown into this lake of fire, as there is no longer any need for them (20:13\u201314<\/a>&N<\/a>). And in the final judgment of humanity, \u201cAnyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was hurled into the lake of fire\u201d (20:15<\/a>&N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Compare Mt 3:10\u201312<\/a>; 5:22<\/a>, 29\u201330<\/a>; 10:28<\/a> (\u201cDo not fear those who kill the body but are powerless to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Gey-Hinnom\u201d; and see Lk 12:4\u20135<\/a>); 13:40\u201343<\/a>; 18:8\u20139<\/a>; 23:15<\/a>, 33<\/a>; 25:46. Also note Mk 9:43<\/a>, 48<\/a> (\u201cIf your hand makes you sin, cut it off! Better that you should be maimed but obtain eternal life, rather than keep both hands and go to Gey-Hinnom, to unquenchable fire \u2026 , where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.\u201d There Mark is citing the most important Tanakh<\/span> reference to eternal fiery punishment, Isaiah 66:24<\/a> (quoted below in 21:1\u20138<\/a>). In Lk 16:23\u201324<\/a> torment by fire is experienced by the dead already in Sh\u2019ol, even before the lake of fire. In Lk 17:29\u201330<\/a> fire and sulfur are cited as God\u2019s means of punishment and destruction in the days of Sodom (Genesis 19<\/a>). See also 2 Th 1:8<\/a>, MJ 12:29<\/a>,2 Ke 3:7<\/a>, Yd 7<\/a>.<\/p>\n

21<\/strong>And all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh<\/strong>. In Judaism, following biblical practice, the honored dead are buried. Not to be buried is a disgrace (see 2 Kings 9:34<\/a>), and being torn apart by buzzards and dogs is the ultimate disgrace (note Yeshua\u2019s figurative use of this fact at Mt 24:28<\/a>&N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Elijah prophesied about Ach\u2019av (Ahab), the king of the Northern Kingdom (Israel), and his wife Izevel (Jezebel):<\/p>\n

\u201cAdonai<\/span> also said of Izevel, \u2018The dogs will eat Izevel by the wall of Yizre\u201bel. Any of Ach\u2019av\u2019s people that die in the city the dogs will eat, and the birds flying around will eat those who die in the field.\u2019 \u201d (1 Kings 21:23\u201324<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Elisha later confirmed that<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dogs will eat Izevel in the area of Yizre\u201bel, and no one will bury her.\u201d (2 Kings 9:10<\/a>)<\/p>\n

God fulfilled the prophecy about Izevel at 2 Kings 9:32\u201337<\/a>. Yehu (Jehu, later the king) had her thrown to her death from a high window of her castle. But even he wanted to show her dead body the respect of burial:<\/p>\n

\u201cGo, take care of this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king\u2019s daughter. So they went to bury her; but all they found of her was the skull, the feet and the palms of her hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yehu then recognized that Elijah and Elisha\u2019s prophecies about her had come true. See also above, 11:8\u201310<\/a>&NN<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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CHAPTER 20 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1\u201310 Now that Satan\u2019s front-men have been taken care of (19:21<\/a>), the Messiah attends to Satan himself.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong> An angel \u2026 who had the key to the Abyss<\/strong>. See 9:1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2\u20137<\/strong> A thousand years<\/strong>, the Mille<\/span>nnium. Depending on their overall approach to the book of Revelation (see 1:1<\/a>), interpreters are divided over whether this period is symbolic (Amillennialists) or historical; and if historical, possib<\/span>ly present (Postmillennialists) or definitely future (Premillennialists); and if future, literally 1,000 years (most Dispensationalists) or not. Amillennialism sees chapter 20<\/a> as recapitulating the ev<\/span>ents described in earlier chapters, rather than describing a chronologically later period. Postmillennialism understands the Millennium as the present historical age, with the Body of the Messiah establishing righteousness on<\/span> earth in increasing measure (in which case chapter 19<\/a> does not speak of the Messiah\u2019s victorious return, but of the triumph of good over evil at the end of the age). Premille<\/span>nnialism alone expects a future Millennium in which the Messiah himself will rule on earth, and I share this opinion. But I also agree with Lance Lambert, a Messianic Jew living in Jerusalem, who writes: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is my belief that there will be a millennium. It would not alter my faith or joy in the Lord if there were no such period. I find myself unable to hold such a conviction in an argumentative o<\/span>r hotly dogmatic spirit. If we are honest, both views present us with problems which are not easily answered. The vital need is to be ready for the Lord\u2019s coming and for all that will follow it.\u201d (Til<\/span>l the Day Dawns, Eastbourne: Kingsway Publications, 1982, p. 160)<\/p>\n

For more on the different eschatological positions, including the varieties of Premil-lennialism, see 4:1<\/a>, 1 Th 4:15b\u201317<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A millenni<\/span>um of sorts appears in the lengthy collection of opinions about Messianic times found in chapter 11<\/a> of Babylonian Talmud tractate Sanhedrin:<\/p>\n

\u201cRav Kattina said, \u2018The world will exist for six thousand <\/span>years, then for one thousand years it will lie desolate \u2026.\u2019 \u201d (Sanhedrin 97a)<\/p>\n

This passage and a related one are quoted fully and discussed in 2 Ke 3:3\u20139<\/a>N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Likewise, although the events leading up t<\/span>o the Messianic Age are described differently in the Zohar (the central text of Jewish mysticism compiled in the 13th century), it tells us:<\/p>\n

\u201cHappy are those left alive at the end of the sixth millen<\/span>nium to enter into [the millennium of] the Shabbat<\/span>.\u201d (Zohar 1:119a)<\/p>\n

With this compare MJ 4:1\u201311<\/a>&NN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Traditional Judaism has other views of how long the \u201cDays of the Messiah\u201d will last. In the follow<\/span>ing passage ellipses stand for the Scripture verses the rabbis bring in support of their estimates.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was taught: Rabbi Eli\u201bezer said: \u2018The days of the Messiah will be forty years \u2026.\u2019 Rabbi El\u201bazar<\/span> ben-\u201bAzaryah said: \u2018Seventy years \u2026.\u2019 Rabbi [Y\u2019hudah the Prince] said: \u2018Three generations \u2026.\u2019 \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother taught: Rabbi Eli\u201bezer said: \u2018The days of the Messiah will be forty years \u2026.\u2019 Rabbi Dosa said<\/span>: \u2018Four hundred years \u2026.\u2019 Rabbi said: \u2018Three hundred sixty-five years, like the days of the solar year \u2026.\u2019 Abimi ben-Rabbi Abbahu taught: \u2018The days of Israel\u2019s Messiah will be seven thousand years \u2026.\u2019 Rav Y\u2019hudah said in Shmu\u2019el\u2019s name, \u2018The days of the Messiah will last as long as from the Creation u<\/span>ntil now \u2026.\u2019 Rav Nachman ben-Yitzchak said, \u2018As long as from Noach\u2019s days until our own.\u2019 \u201d (Sanhedrin 99a) <\/span><\/p>\n

This chapter of Revelation portrays the Millennium and the events at its close as distinct from the period following, when there will be \u201ca new heaven and a new earth\u201d (chapters 21\u201322<\/a>); a s<\/span>imilar differentiation is found in the Tanakh<\/span> in Ezekiel 36\u201348<\/a> (see v. 8<\/a> below). Likewise, traditional Judaism sometimes makes a distinction between the Days of the Messiah and the \u02d3olam haba<\/span> (\u201cthe wo<\/span>rld to come\u201d):<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi Chiyya ben-Abba said in Rabbi Yochanan\u2019s name: \u2018All the prophets prophesied [the good things] only for the Days of the Messiah; but as for the \u02d3olam ha-ba<\/span>, \u201cno eye but yours, Go<\/span>d, has seen what He has prepared for him who waits for Him\u201d (Isaiah 64:3<\/a>(4<\/a>)).\u2019 \u201d (Sanhedrin 99a; similarly B\u2019rakhot 34b)<\/p>\n

However, in the following passage specifying the length of the Messianic Era, <\/span>eschatological events which the New Testament assigns to different periods are conflated. This excerpt from a first-century C. E. Jewish book pseudepigraphically attributed to Ezra the Scribe is remarkable for the sheer quantity of ideas similar to those elaborated in the New T<\/span>estament: it refers to the Messiah as the Son of God (Mt 3:17<\/a>), speaks of his death (Mt 27:50<\/a>), mentions \u201cthose with him\u201d <\/span>(whether angels or saints returning to rule, v. 6<\/a> below; and see 19:14<\/a>), and alludes to the New Jerusalem (21:1\u20132<\/a>), resurrection (vv. 4\u20136<\/a>, 12<\/a> below), the doing away with what is corruptible (1C 15:42\u2013<\/span>54<\/a>), the throne of judgment (vv. 11\u201315<\/a>), judgment on the basis of deeds (vv. 14\u201315<\/a>; Mt 25:34\u201346<\/a>), the Abyss (9:1<\/a>, 2<\/a>, 11<\/a>; 11:7<\/a>; 17:8<\/a>; vv. 1\u20133<\/a> above), torment and Gey-Hinnom (14:10<\/a>, 19:20<\/a>, vv. 9\u201315<\/a> belo<\/span>w, 21:8<\/a>; Mt 5:22<\/a>, 5:29\u201330<\/a>, 10:28<\/a>, 18:9<\/a>, 23:15<\/a>, 23:33<\/a>; Mk 9:44\u201347<\/a>), the final Paradise (21:1\u201322:9<\/a>), and a seven-year period (Daniel 9:24\u201327<\/a>; also compare above, 12:14<\/a>, with Daniel 7:25<\/a>, 12:7<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cEzra, <\/span>\u2026 the time will come when the signs I have told you about will come to pass, that the city now unseen will appear and the land now concealed be revealed. Everyone delivered from the predicted evils will see <\/span>My wonders. My Son the Messiah will be disclosed, along with those who are with him, and he will gladden the survivors four hundred years [variant readings: 1,000 years, 30 years (close to the length of Yeshua\u2019s life)]. After those years My Son the Messiah will die, and all in whom there is human breath. Then the world will be turned into the primeval silence for seven days, as it was at the first beginn<\/span>ings, so that no one is left. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter seven days the age not yet awake will be roused, and what is corruptible will perish. The earth will restore those who sleep in her, and the dust wi<\/span>ll restore those who rest in it. The Most High will be revealed upon the throne of judgment, and then comes the End. Compassion will pass away, pity be distant, longsuffering withdrawn; only judgment will remain, truth stand, faithfulness triumph. Recompense will follow, the reward will be made manifest. Acts of righteousness will awake and acts of iniq<\/span>uity not sleep. Then the Abyss of torment will appear, and in contrast the place of refreshment; the furnace of Gey-Hinnom will be manifested, and in contrast the Paradise of delight. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen the Most High will say to the nations that have been r<\/span>aised [from the dead]: \u2018Look now and consider whom you have denied, whom you have not served, whose commandments you have despised! Look, now, before you: here delight and refreshment, there fire and torments!\u2019 Thus will he speak to them in the Day of Judgment<\/span>. For thus shall the Day of Judgment be: a day on which there is no sun, moon, stars; no clouds, thunder, lightning, wind, rainstorm, cloud-rack; no darkness, evening, morning; no summer, fall, winter; no heat, frost, cold, hail, rain, dew; no noon, night, dawn, shining, brightness or light\u2014except for the splendor of the brightness of the Most High, whereby all shall be destined to see what has been determined for them. And its duration shall be, as it wer<\/span>e, a week of years. Such is my Judgment and its prescribed order; I have shown these things only to you.\u201d (<\/span><\/span>4 Ezra 7:25\u201344<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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2 The dragon, that ancient serpent, etc. (see 12:9\u201310<\/a>) must be chained, his powers severely limited for a period; afterwards he \u201cmust be set free for a little while\u201d (vv. 3<\/a>, 7<\/a>) to deceive the nations (vv. 3<\/a>, 8<\/a>) and Israel (v. 9<\/a>a) before his final defeat and eternal punishment (vv. 9b\u201310<\/a>). The ideas of binding demonic beings and of punishing them with eternal fire are also found in the Jewish apocrypha (Tobit 8:3<\/a>) and pseudepigrapha (1 Enoch 10:4\u201317, 18:12\u201319:2, 21:1\u20136, 54:4\u20136; Testament of Levi 18:12; Jubilees 48:15\u201316), and in Christian apocrypha (Acts of Pilate 22:2). See also 2 Ke 2:4<\/a>&N<\/a>, which quotes 1 Enoch 10:4\u20136.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them received authority to judge \u2026. They came to life and ruled with the Messiah for a<\/strong> thousand years<\/strong>. Compare Daniel\u2019s prophecy:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I looked, thrones were placed, \u2026 and millions \u2026 sat in judgment \u2026. And the time came when the holy ones possessed the kingdom.\u201d (Daniel 7:9\u201310<\/a>, 22<\/a>)<\/p>\n

According to G. E. Ladd,<\/p>\n

\u201c[Revelation 20:4\u20136<\/a>] is the only passage in the entire Bible which teaches a temporal millennial kingdom, and there is only one other passage in the New Testament which may envisage a temporal reign of Christ between his parousia [coming] and the telos<\/span> [consummation, final goal]: I Cor. 15:23\u201324<\/a>.\u201d (Revelation, p. 267)<\/p>\n

But elsewhere Yeshua promises to share his rulership with believers (2:26\u201328<\/a>, 3:21<\/a>, 5:9\u201310<\/a>; Mt 19:28<\/a>; 1C 6:2<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Also those who had not worshipped the beast<\/strong> \u2026. Greek kai<\/span> could mean not \u201calso<\/strong>\u201d but \u201cin other words,\u201d in which case there is only one group ruling with the Messiah, not two.<\/p>\n

5\u20136<\/strong>The first resurrection<\/strong> is the coming to life of God\u2019s holy people, as described in vv. 4<\/a> and 6<\/a>. The second resurrection is not mentioned as such; it is implied by the parenthetical remark that the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over<\/strong> (see v. 12<\/a>), at which time they are alive only long enough to experience the second death<\/strong> (see v. 14<\/a>, 2:11<\/a>), which has no power<\/strong> over the believers.<\/p>\n

They will be <\/strong>cohanim<\/span>, \u201cpriests,\u201d of God and of the Messiah<\/strong>. \u201cYou [the people of Israel] shall be for me [God] a kingdom of cohanim<\/span> and a holy nation\u201d (Exodus 19:6<\/a>). \u201cYou [believers in Yeshua] are \u2026 the King\u2019s cohanim<\/span>\u201d (1 Ke 2:9<\/a>, alluding to Exodus 19:6<\/a>, Isaiah 61:6<\/a>). These promises reach their fulfillment here.<\/p>\n

8<\/strong>To deceive the nations in the <\/strong>four quarters of the earth, God and Magog, to gather them for battle<\/strong>. Compare the structure of Ezekiel 36\u201348<\/a> with Revelation 20\u201322<\/a>. Ezekiel 36\u201337<\/a> speaks of Israel\u2019s salvation, with David ruling over them (compare this<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

chapter, vv. 1\u20136<\/a>). In Ezekiel 38\u201339<\/a> Gog from Magog interrupts this rule with an eschatological battle, in which the nations come against the Kingdom (compare this chapter, vv. 7\u201310<\/a>). The final order is described in Ezekiel 40\u201348<\/a> in terms of a rebuilt temple in a new Jerusalem (compare Revelation 21\u201322<\/a>). In both places a temporal kingdom is followed by an eternal kingdom after a final war.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel writes that Gog, from the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshekh and Tuval, will come with armies from a number of other places against the Jewish people regathered into the Land of Israel from the other nations and living at peace in unwalled towns. Those nations are the same in Ezekiel 38<\/a> as in Ezekiel 27<\/a>, in the lament against the king of Tyre, who is, as is clearest fromEzekiel 28:11\u201319<\/a>, a stand-in for Satan.<\/p>\n

9<\/strong>Fire came down from heaven<\/strong>. Compare Ezekiel 38:22<\/a>, 39:6<\/a>.<\/p>\n

10<\/strong> This is the final event in the long and wicked history of the one who originated rebellion against God. Already at the beginning, after enticing Adam and Eve to commit the first human sin, God knew and said what the end would be:<\/p>\n

\u201cI will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman [Eve], and between your seed [all who sin and rejoice in the sin of others, whether angelic (Ep 6:10\u201313<\/a>) or human (Ro 1:32<\/a>)] and her seed [her descendants, i.e., humanity; but more particularly, the unique \u201cseed\u201d spoken of in Ga 3:16<\/a>&N<\/a>, Yeshua]; he [the Hebrew is singular, referring to Yeshua, not plural] will bruise [or: crush] your head, and you will bruise their heel [the Hebrew is plural; humanity can be injured, Yeshua cannot].\u201d (Genesis 3:15<\/a>)<\/p>\n

This prediction of Satan\u2019s ultimate downfall is fulfilled in stages. Thus when Yeshua said, \u201cNow is the time for this world to be judged, now the ruler of this world will be expelled\u201d (Yn 12:31<\/a>), he was speaking of how his death on the execution-stake would defeat the Adversary (compare Revelation 12<\/a>). The Messianic Community also has a part in causing Satan\u2019s ruin, as Sha\u2019ul writes, \u201cGod, the source of shalom<\/span>, will soon crush the Adversary under your feet\u201d (Ro 16:20<\/a>). In vv. 1\u20133<\/a> above that Adversary is chained in the Abyss, and here he is hurled into the lake of fire and sulfur (on this see v. 15<\/a>) to be tormented forever and ever.<\/p>\n

11\u201315<\/strong> Everyone is to face God\u2019s judgment. Although God is a God of mercy, he is also a God of judgment. This is taught equally by the Tanakh<\/span>, the New Testament, and Jewish tradition.<\/p>\n

The Prophets speak of this judgment as the Day of YHVH<\/em>; see Isaiah 2:12<\/a>, 13:6\u201313<\/a> (a verse of which is alluded to in Mt 24:29<\/a>);Ezekiel 30:3<\/a>; Joel 1:15<\/a>, 2:1<\/a>, 3:4<\/a>(2:31<\/a>) (quoted at Ac 2:20<\/a>), 4:14<\/a>(3:14<\/a>); Amos 5:18\u201320<\/a>; Obadiah 15<\/a>; Zephaniah 1:17\u201318<\/a>; Zechariah 14:1\u20139<\/a> and Malachi 4:5(3:23<\/a>) (alluded to at Mt 17:10\u201311<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prominent feature of these passages is a dramatic sense of doom, underlined by a few characteristic motives, such as a darkness and wailing \u2026. The warning is given that the Day of the Lord is near \u2026. The wicked will be punished, justice established, mankind confounded, and its destiny somehow definitely changed \u2026. God will \u2026 act\u2014suddenly, decisively, and directly, in a single day, with vehemence and terror.\u201d (Encyclopedia Judaica 5:1387\u20138)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In the New Testament can be found the terms \u201cDay of God\u201d (2 Ke 3:12<\/a>), \u201cGreat Day of Adonai-Tzva\u02d2ot<\/span>\u201d (16:14<\/a> above), Day of the Messiah Yeshua (Pp 1:6<\/a>, 10<\/a>; 2:16<\/a>), and the ambiguous phrase, \u201cDay of the L<\/span>ord,\u201d which can mean either \u201cDay of YHVH\u201d or \u201cDay of the Lord [Yeshua the Messiah]\u201d (1C 1:8<\/a>, 5:5<\/a>; 2C 1:14<\/a>; 1 Th 5:2\u20133<\/a>; 2 Th 2:1\u20132<\/a>; 2 Ke 3:10<\/a>). (Also see 1:10<\/a>&N<\/a>, where the Greek expression is unique, m<\/span>aking my rendering, \u201cDay of the Lord,\u201d controversial.)<\/p>\n

Moreover, God judges not only outward deeds, but the inner man. In the New Testament we see this when Yeshua confronts the P\u02d2rushim<\/span> (Lk 12:1\u20135<\/a>, <\/span>Mt 23:23\u201328<\/a>) and in the whole tenor of his Sermon on the Mount (Mattityahu 5\u20137<\/a>); also compare Yn 2:23\u201325<\/a>; Ro 2:16<\/a>; MJ 4:13<\/a>, 10:30<\/a>. The Tanakh<\/span> too speaks of secret deeds and motives when it says: \u201cGod <\/span>will bring every work into judgment, concerning every hidden thing, whether it be good or evil\u201d (Ecclesiastes 12:14<\/a>). Compare also Psalm 139<\/a>. The Oral Torah<\/span> affirms this:<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi [Y\u2019hudah HaNasi, 135\u2013<\/span>219 c.e.] said, \u2018 \u2026 Pay attention to three things and you will not come under the power of transgression: know what is above you\u2014an all-seeing eye, an all-hearing ear, and all your deeds recorded in a<\/span> book\u2019 \u201d (Avot 2:1)<\/p>\n

So there is no room either for the common misunderstanding on the part of both Christians and Jews that the Old Testament portrays God as stern, judgmental and lacking mercy, with<\/span> the New Testament picturing him as so merciful that he overlooks judgment and even justice; or for the opposite mistake of thinking that the New Testament, with its talk of hellfire, focuses on judgment more than the <\/span>Tanakh<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Quoting Hosea 10:8<\/a>, which depicts how the inhabitants of Samaria will feel when God judges them by having Assyria carry them away, Yeshua warns that the Day of God\u2019s judgmen<\/span>t will be fearful: \u201cThen they will begin to say to the mountains, \u2018Fall on us!\u2019 and to the hills, \u2018Cover us!\u2019 \u201d (Lk 23:30<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The Bible gives a symmetrical picture of salvation history. In its first tw<\/span>o chapters, at the beginning of history, a sinless world is described; and at the beginning of the third chapter (Genesis 3:1\u20137<\/a>) Satan the serpent (see above, v. 2<\/a>) entices Eve and Adam into sin, resu<\/span>lting in damage both to humanity and to the world (Ro 8:19\u201322<\/a>). God\u2019s plan from the very beginning was to remedy this damage through the death and resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah, the slaughtered L<\/span>amb (5:6<\/a>, 9<\/a>; 13:8<\/a>; Ep 1:4\u20137<\/a>; Yn 1:29<\/a>); 1,256 chapters of the Bible deal with the outworking of this plan. Now, at the end of history, here in the third-to-last chapter of the Bible, sin is judged, wit<\/span>h Satan (v. 10<\/a>) and the wicked (v. 15<\/a>) condemned to the lake of fire; while the final two chapters of Revelation present a newly created world and a humanity restored to Eden-like sinlessness. This is<\/span> what is meant when God says (21:6<\/a>), \u201cI am the \u2018A\u2019 and the \u2018Z,\u2019 the Beginning and the End.\u201d There is but one asymmetry: Satan and the first man, Adam, cause sin at the beginning; while God the Father <\/span>and the second man, Yeshua, cause sinlessness at the end (1C 15:45\u201349<\/a>, Ro 5:12\u201321<\/a>).<\/p>\n

11<\/strong> The One sitting on<\/strong> the throne<\/strong> is Yeshua. Although he shares the throne with God the Father (3:21<\/a>), it is through<\/span> Yeshua alone that God renders the final judgment (see also v. 12a<\/a>N<\/a>). According to Yochanan\u2019s Gospel,<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Father does not judge anyone, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son \u2026. [The Father] has <\/span>given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Don\u2019t be surprised at this; because the time is coming when all who are in the grave will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to a resurrection of life and those who have done evil to a resurrection of judgme<\/span>nt.\u201d (Yn 5:22<\/a>, 27\u201329<\/a>)<\/p>\n

What the Gospel calls the \u201cresurrection of life\u201d is in this chapter called the f<\/span>irst resurrection, for believers only; while the \u201cresurrection of judgment\u201d applies to \u201cthe rest of the dead\u201d (v. 5<\/a>), who experience the second death (v. 14<\/a>). See Yn 5:22<\/a>N<\/a> and compare Ac 17:31<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earth<\/strong><\/span> and heaven fled from his presence and no place was found for them<\/strong>, because they are corrupted by sin, unholy and impure (Ro 8:19\u201322<\/a>). Although in the present age the impure defiles the pure, when God<\/span> himself appears in glory his purity banishes the impure, for his holiness cannot abide that which is corrupted by sin (see Mt 9:20<\/a>&N<\/a>). The only remedy is \u201ca new heaven and a new earth, for the old he<\/span>aven and the old earth had passed away\u201d (21:1<\/a>).<\/p>\n

12a<\/strong> I saw the dead, both great and small, standing in front of the throne.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us will stand before God\u2019s judgment seat \u2026. For we must all appear <\/span>before the Messiah\u2019s court of judgment, where everyone will receive the good or bad consequences of what he did while he was in the body \u2026 on a day when God passes judgment on people\u2019s inmost secrets. (According to the Good News as I proclaim it, he does this through the Mes<\/span>siah Yeshua.)\u201d (Ro 14:10<\/a>, 2C 5:10<\/a>, Ro 2:16<\/a>)<\/p>\n

12b<\/strong> Books \u2026 another book, the Book of Life<\/strong>. There seem to be two elements in the<\/span> Final Judgment. First, there is judgment for eternal salvation (v. 5<\/a>) or damnation (vv. 14\u201315<\/a>) on the basis of being written in the Book of Life. Second, there is judgment according to works from<\/strong> wha<\/strong><\/span>t was written in the books<\/strong> (plural); this concept appears in the Tanakh<\/span> at Daniel 7:9\u201310<\/a>. From these books God judges all our deeds (see Ro 2:6<\/a>&N<\/a>), both public and secret, and even our innermost thoug<\/span>hts (see vv. 11\u201315<\/a>, v. 12a<\/a>N<\/a>). For the saved this judgment determines rewards (1C 3:8\u201315<\/a>&N<\/a>), while for the lost it determines degrees of punishment (Lk 12:47\u201348<\/a>). But third, in traditional Judaism ther<\/span>e is yet another meaning to these books<\/strong>\u2014they determine what a person will experience in this world, not in the world to come.<\/p>\n

The Hebrew term \u201csefer-chayim<\/span>\u201d (\u201cbook of life,\u201d \u201cbook of the living\u201d) app<\/span>ears in the Tanakh<\/span> only at Psalms 69:28\u201329<\/a>(27\u201328<\/a>),<\/p>\n

\u201cAdd iniquity to their iniquity,<\/p>\n

don\u2019t let them come into Your righteousness.<\/p>\n

Let them be blotted out of the book of life<\/p>\n

And not be written with<\/span> the righteous.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Incidentally, this is a continuation of the passage quoted at Ro 11:9\u201310<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

The first reference to such a book is in Exodus 33:32\u201333<\/a>. After the Israelites made the golden calf, Moses<\/span> prayed that God would forgive them for this great sin, \u201cand if not, then I pray that you blot me out of your book which you have written\u201d (compare what Sha\u2019ul writes at Ro 9:2\u20134a<\/a>&N<\/a>). Adonai\u2019s<\/span> respons<\/span>e to Moses was, \u201cWhoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other places in the Tanakh<\/span> referring to a book containing individual destinies in the \u02d3olam haba<\/span> are Malachi 3:16<\/a> (\u201ca b<\/span>ook of remembrance was opened\u201d) and Daniel 12:1<\/a> (\u201cevery one whose name shall be found written in the book\u201d); while Psalm 139:16<\/a> (\u201cyour book\u201d) seems to refer to the \u02d3olam hazeh<\/span>. In the New Testament th<\/span>e term \u201cBook of Life\u201d appears at Pp 4:3<\/a> and MJ 12:23<\/a> (and compare Lk 10:20<\/a>), as well as six times in Revelation (3:5<\/a>; 13:8<\/a>; 17:8<\/a>; 20:12<\/a>, 15<\/a>; 21:27<\/a>), always signifying eternal salvation. There are othe<\/span>r references in the Pseudepigrapha (Jubilees 30:22, which mentions a second book, the book of those who will be destroyed, with the possibility of having one\u2019s name transferred to it from the Book of Life; 1 Enoch 104:7; 108:3, 7; 1 Baruch 24:1) and in e<\/span>arly Christian literature (Vision of Hermas 1:24, Similitude 2:12). In the Mishna it is spoken of in Pirkey-Avot 2:1 (quoted above in vv. 11\u201315<\/a>), <\/span>3:17<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From God\u2019s answer to Moses in Exodus, together with 3:1\u20135<\/a> above, we learn that it is possible to fall from grace, to have one\u2019s eternal destiny changed from salvation to condemnation, in conseq<\/span>uence of unrepented sin in one\u2019s life, even though such passages as Ep 1:3\u201314<\/a> and 1 Ke 2:9<\/a> suggest that salvation is predestined. One way to deal with this antinomy is to suppose that everyone\u2019s name <\/span>is initially written in the Book of Life\u2014babies who die before the age of responsibility go to heaven. But upon reaching the age of responsibility, everyone sins (Ro 3:23<\/a>); and only those who turn to <\/span>God through Yeshua the Messiah (Yn 14:6<\/a>) can know that they are saved. A name is not removed from the Book of Life unless the person has committed the unpardonable sin, the sin against the Holy Spirit<\/span>, of finally and definitively rejecting God and his Son Yeshua (Mt 12:32<\/a>&N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The term \u201cbook of life\u201d finds a prominent place in the liturgy for the High Holy Days. Thus the final blessing of the \u02d3Ami<\/span><\/span>dah<\/span> is expanded so as to conclude:<\/p>\n

\u201cMay we and all your people, the house of Israel, be remembered and inscribed in the book of life, blessing, peace and prosperity, so that we will have a life of go<\/span>odness and peace. Blessed are you, Adonai<\/span>, the maker of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some Messianic Jews take exception to the customary greetings for Rosh-HaShanah<\/span>\u2014\u201cShanah tovah tikatevu<\/span>\u201d (\u201cMay you be inscribed [in the b<\/span>ook of life] for a good year\u201d)\u2014and Yom-Kippur<\/span>\u2014\u201cChatimah tovah<\/span>\u201d (\u201c[May you have] a good sealing [of your destiny in the book of life]\u201d)\u2014on the ground that as believers in Yeshua our names are already w<\/span>ritten in the Book of Life. This is unnecessary scrupulousness, for here the \u201cbook of life\u201d is not concerned with eternal salvation but with life in this world. The tradition is that on Rosh-HaShanah<\/span> <\/span>God opens the heavenly books and judges people according to their works, writing in them who will die and what kind of life the living will enjoy during the coming year. The Ten Days of Penitence, Ros<\/span><\/span>h-HaShanah<\/span> through Yom-Kippur<\/span>, are thought of as offering an opportunity for repentance that will influence God to change these fates for the better. But on Yom-Kippur<\/span> these fates are fixed or \u201csealed<\/span>.\u201d All of this is portrayed most clearly in the important High Holy Days prayer Un\u2019tanneh Tokef<\/span> (literally, \u201cLet us recount the authority\u201d of this day), quoted in full at MJ 9:22<\/a>N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

13\u201314<\/strong> All the dead<\/span> who have not participated in the first resurrection are now resurrected and judged (see vv. 5\u20136<\/a> above). There is no longer any need for Sh\u2019ol<\/strong>, where the dead are held for judgment, since this is<\/em> the <\/span>judgment. Nor is there need for death<\/strong>, the punishment for sin, since sin is now being banished from the universe, as foretold by Sha\u2019ul at 1C 15:54\u201355<\/a>. Likewise the sea<\/strong>, a biblical metaphor for death,<\/span> destruction and turmoil (see Isaiah 57:20<\/a>, Ezekiel 28:8<\/a>, Psalm 107:25\u201328<\/a>), harboring fearsome, Satanic creatures such as Leviathan (Isaiah 27:1<\/a>, Psalm 104:27<\/a>, Job 40:25\u201341:26<\/a>(41:1\u201334<\/a>)) and the beast <\/span>of 12:18\u201313:8<\/a> above, releases its dead for judgment, so that, having served its purpose, it too disappears (21:1<\/a>).<\/p>\n

15<\/strong> This is the event foretold by the parable of the sheep and the goats in Mt 25:31\u2013<\/span>46<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThen he will also speak to those on his left, saying, \u2018Get away from me, you who are cursed! Go off into the fire prepared for the Adversary and his angels!\u2019 \u2026 They will go off to eternal punish<\/span>ment, but those who have done what God wants will go to eternal life.\u201d (Mt 25:41<\/a>, 46<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The \u201ceternal life\u201d spoken of is depicted in 22:1\u201322:5<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It is possible that the lake of fire<\/strong> is meant literally, <\/span>to the degree that the wicked, in resurrected physical bodies, will experience physically the torment of burning and stench forever. Or it may be a metaphor for the eternal pain of knowing that one is forever to be denied<\/span> the bliss of being present with the God of the universe and must be separated from him, to burn forever with frustration, anger and regret; Jean-Paul Sartre\u2019s play, \u201cNo Exit,\u201d is one man\u2019s expression of this understanding. For more on <\/span>the lake of fire<\/strong>, see 19:20<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was hurled into the lake of fire<\/strong>. (On \u201cBook of Life\u201d <\/span>see v. 12b<\/a>N<\/a>.) This is the climactic moment for the wicked. Yet it is not God who has determined their fate, but they themselves, by their deeds that fall short of God\u2019s holiness, and by their lack of <\/span>trusting Him for salvation through Yeshua the Messiah. \u201cThe Lord \u2026 is patient with you; for it is not his purpose that anyone should be destroyed, but that everyone should turn from his sins\u201d (2 Ke 3:<\/span>9<\/a>). And compare Ro 2:1\u20138<\/a>, especially vv. 5b\u20136<\/a>: \u201c \u2026 by your unrepentant heart you are storing up anger for yourself on the Day of Anger, when God\u2019s righteous judgment will be revealed; for he will pay <\/span>back each one according to his deeds,\u201d as taught in Psalm 62:13<\/a>(12<\/a>) and Proverbs 24:12<\/a>. God\u2019s desire is that the wicked should turn from his evil ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore I will judge you, O house of Israel,<\/span> every one according to his ways, says Adonai<\/span>, God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed against<\/span> me and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says Adonai<\/span>, God; so turn, and live!\u201d (Ezekiel 18:30\u201332<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cFor <\/span>God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the worl<\/span>d, but rather so that through him, the world might be saved. Those who trust in him are not judged; those who do not trust have been judged already, in that they have not trusted in the one who is God\u2019s only Son.\u201d (<\/span>Yn 3:16\u201318<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The Judaism of today tends to finesse or minimize the punishment to be meted out to the wicked. Orthodox Judaism speaks of a probationary period (like the Roman Cathol<\/span>ic purgatory) of not more than eleven months for members of the House of Israel. In this sense Judaism does not take sin seriously, in terms of its consequences to the individual sinner.<\/p>\n

To those who<\/span> cannot relate to vv. 11\u201315<\/a> because they find the doctrine of eternal punishment for the wicked too fearsome, or because they cannot accept that God would be \u201cso mean\u2014it\u2019s against his loving nature,\u201d <\/span>the Tanakh<\/span> replies, \u201cThe fear of Adonai<\/span> is the beginning of wisdom\u201d (Psalm 111:10<\/a>). Justice and mercy, holiness and love are qualities which God balances in his own way, which may not be the way we wo<\/span>uld choose.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy thoughts are not your thoughts, says Adonai<\/span>,<\/p>\n

and my ways are not your ways.<\/p>\n

As the heavens are higher than the earth,<\/p>\n

so are my ways higher than your ways<\/p>\n

and my thoughts higher t<\/span>han your thoughts.\u201d (Isaiah 55:8\u20139<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a way which seems right to a man,<\/p>\n

but at its end are the ways of death.\u201d (Proverbs 14:12<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\n

CHAPTER 21<\/p>\n

1\u20138 The judgment of chapter 20<\/a> is one side of a coin; this is the other. The sinless conditions of the Garden of Eden are restored (see last paragraph of 20:11\u201315<\/a>). It is the time when \u201cth<\/span>e creation,\u201d which \u201chas been groaning as with the pains of childbirth,\u201d will be \u201cset free from its bondage to decay\u201d to \u201cenjoy the freedom accompanying the glory that God\u2019s children will have\u201d (Ro 8:1<\/span>9\u201323<\/a>). It is the restoration spoken of in Ac 3:21<\/a>, in which Yeshua \u201chas to remain in heaven until the time comes for restoring everything, as God said long ago, when he spoke through the holy prophets<\/span>.\u201d It is the fulfillment of Isaiah\u2019s prophecy:<\/p>\n

\u201cBehold, I create new heavens and a new earth;<\/p>\n

the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.<\/p>\n

Rather, you will be glad, you will rejoice f<\/span>orever over what I create,<\/p>\n

for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy;<\/p>\n

and I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take joy in my people\u2014<\/p>\n

no longer shall there be heard in her the so<\/span>und of weeping or crying.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Isaiah 65:17\u201319<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The interconnection between new creation and judgment is even clearer in the words of Isaiah 66:22\u201324<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor as the new heavens and the new earth, which I<\/span> will make, are to remain before me, says Adonai<\/span>, so will your seed and your name remain. And it will come to pass that every new moon and every Shabbat<\/span> all flesh will come to worship before me, says <\/span>Adonai<\/span>. And they will go out and look at the carcasses of the people who rebelled against me, for their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched, and all flesh will regard them with disg<\/span>race.\u201d<\/p>\n

1<\/strong> The sea was no longer there.<\/strong> Early JNT<\/em> editions have \u201cThere was no longer any sea.\u201d The change reflects my conclusion that the author, whose viewpoint is the Land of Israel, is not saying tha<\/span>t there will no longer be oceans on the earth but that the Mediterranean Sea will no longer be the Land\u2019s western boundary. (Is my being a surfer influencing my exegesis?)<\/p>\n

The Bible depicts creation a<\/span>s war. Light conquers darkness (Genesis 1:1\u20135<\/a>, Yn 1:1\u20135<\/a>), but the sea is allied with the darkness. (This metaphor does not require our text to refer to all the oceans; the Mediterranean suffices.) The<\/span>refore the sea has to be contained, limited\u2014this is done on the second day of creation (Genesis 1:6\u201310<\/a>; see also Job 38:8\u201311<\/a>, Isaiah 27:1<\/a>, and possibly Isaiah 51:9\u201352:12<\/a>). The sea is active in bringin<\/span>g destruction and death through the flood of Noach, an event mentioned five times in the New Testament (Mt 24:37\u201338<\/a>, Lk 17:26\u201327<\/a>, MJ 11:7<\/a>, 1 Ke 3:20<\/a>, 2 Ke 2:5<\/a>). But the sea is under God\u2019s control, as <\/span>seen most clearly in the Exodus, where God\u2019s \u201cstrong hand and outstretched arm\u201d turn the Red Sea into a means of salvation for the Israelites, though a means of destruction for the Egyptians. God has promised never again to use water as a mea<\/span>ns of universal destruction (Genesis 9:11<\/a>), but equally he has promised that he will<\/em> use fire for that purpose (2 Ke 3:10\u201312<\/a>). The Lake of Fire (20:15<\/a>) is a f<\/span>iery sea of eternal destruction; it conquers finally and universally what the Red Sea conquered temporally and locally\u2014namely, sin. Water is powerful, but fire is more powerful; hence Yochanan the Immerser sa<\/span>ys he immerses in water but another is coming, Yeshua, who will immerse in the Holy Spirit and in fire (Lk 3:16\u201317<\/a>).<\/p>\n

2<\/strong> The holy city, New Yerushalayim<\/strong>, \u201cthe Jerusalem above\u201d which \u201cis our mot<\/span>her\u201d (Ga 4:26<\/a>), \u201cthe city with permanent foundations, of which the architect and builder is God\u201d (MJ 11:10<\/a>, 16<\/a>), \u201cthe city of the living God, heavenly Yerushalayim\u201d (MJ 12:22<\/a>&N<\/a>), the permanent city to<\/span> come (MJ 13:14<\/a>), is seen coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband<\/strong>, as described in 21:9\u201322:5<\/a> below. The wedding imagery here, at v. 9<\/a> and at 22:17<\/a><\/span> identifies the New Jerusalem with God\u2019s people (compare 19:7\u20139<\/a>; also in the New Testament Mt 9:15<\/a>, 25:1\u201313<\/a>; Yn 3:27\u201330<\/a>; 2C 11:2<\/a>; Ep 5:21\u201333<\/a>; and in the Tanakh<\/span> Isaiah 54:1\u20138<\/a>; Jeremiah 3:1<\/a>, 20<\/a>; Hosea 1<\/span>\u20132<\/a>). Contrast \u201cthe great whore, \u2026 Babylon\u201d (17:1<\/a>, 5<\/a>).<\/p>\n

3<\/strong> This important verse tells the final fulfillment of one of the most frequently repeated covenant promises in the Tanakh<\/span>, that God will dwell wi<\/span>th his people and be their God, with full fellowship restored as in the Garden of Eden. See Genesis 17:7<\/a>; Exodus 6:7<\/a>, 29:45<\/a>; Leviticus 26:11\u201312<\/a> (which is particularly related to this verse); Numbers 1<\/span>5:41<\/a>; Deuteronomy 29:12<\/a>(13<\/a>); 2 Samuel 7:24<\/a>; Jeremiah 7:23<\/a>, 11:4<\/a>, 24:7<\/a>, 30:22<\/a>, 31:33<\/a>(34<\/a>), 32:38<\/a>; Ezekiel 11:20<\/a>, 34:24<\/a>, 36:28<\/a>, 37:23<\/a>, 27<\/a>; Zechariah 8:8<\/a>; MJ 8:10<\/a>; and v. 7<\/a> below.<\/p>\n

\u201cSh\u02d2khinah<\/span>\u201d and \u201che wil<\/strong><\/span>l live<\/strong>\u201d translate the Greek words \u201csk\u00ean\u00ea<\/span>\u201d (\u201ctent, tabernacle, lodging\u201d) and \u201csk\u00ean\u00f4sei<\/span>\u201d (\u201che will dwell\u201d); and both are related to the Hebrew word \u201cshakhan<\/span>\u201d (\u201cto dwell\u201d), from which is derived \u201cSh\u02d2<\/span><\/span>khinah<\/span>,\u201d referring to the glorious manifesting presence of God who can dwell among men (see 7:15<\/a>). Thus God will dwell with them, be the Sh\u02d2khinah<\/span> and the Tabernacle with them, be the glory (kavod<\/span> = S<\/span><\/span>h\u02d2khinah<\/span>) in the midst of them (Zechariah 2:9<\/a>(10<\/a>)). \u201cBut will God indeed dwell with man on earth?\u201d (2 Chronicles 6:18<\/a>). Yes, he will.<\/p>\n

Peoples<\/strong> or \u201cpeople\u201d; the manuscripts vary. Here are Bruce M. Metz<\/span>ger\u2019s remarks on this:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is extremely difficult to decide between the reading laoi<\/span> [peoples], which is supported by [several very important early manuscripts], and the reading laos [people], which <\/span>is supported by [a larger number of mostly less important sources]. Has the author followed the prophetic Scriptures that consistently speak of the one people of God (e.g., Jeremiah 31:32<\/a>(33<\/a>), Ezekiel<\/span> 37:27<\/a>, Zechariah 8:8<\/a>)? In that case, laoi<\/span> was introduced by copyists who pedantically conformed the word to the preceding autoi<\/span> [they]. Or [on the other hand], did the author deliberately modify the <\/span>traditional concept, substituting \u2018the many peoples of redeemed humanity for the single elect nation, the world for Israel\u2019 (Swete)? In that case, laos betrays the hand of the emendator, who conformed<\/span> the reading to the imagery of the Old Testament. Chiefly on the basis of what was taken to be very slightly superior manuscript evidence a majority of the Committee [who put together the UBS edition of the Greek New Testament] preferred <\/span>laoi<\/span>.\u201d (A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, London & New York: United Bible Societies, 1975, p. 763)<\/p>\n

If the correct reading is \u201cpeoples,\u201d it confirm<\/span>s not only that God \u201cmade every nation living on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the limits of their territory and the periods when they would flourish\u201d (Ac 17:26<\/a>), but that God will sav<\/span>e entire non-Jewish peoples, corporately; compare Isaiah 19:25<\/a>.<\/p>\n

God-with-them<\/strong>. This phrase tells us of the consummation of Isaiah 7:14<\/a>, which foresees that the Messiah is to be called Immanu\u2019el (\u201cGod<\/span> with us\u201d); see Mt 1:23<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong> Wipe away every tear \u2026 no longer any death<\/strong>, as written at Isaiah 25:8<\/a>.<\/p>\n

6<\/strong> I am the <\/strong>\u201cA<\/strong>\u201d and the <\/strong>\u201cZ,<\/strong>\u201d the Beginning and the End<\/strong>, here and at 22:13<\/a>. See 1:8<\/a> and the last par<\/span>agraph of 20:11\u201315<\/a>. Compare Ro 11:36<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Beginning<\/strong>, Greek arch\u00ea,<\/span> \u201cbeginning, ruler, initiator, beginner,\u201d that is, he who stands above and beyond time, who created and rules everything (see 3:14<\/a>).<\/p>\n

T<\/strong><\/span>o anyone who is thirsty I myself will give water free of charge from the Fountain of Life.<\/strong> Thirst represents spiritual need, water spiritual satisfaction. Compare Psalm 36:9<\/a> (\u201cFor with you is the foun<\/span>tain of life\u201d); Proverbs 13:14<\/a> (\u201cThe teaching of the wise is a fountain of life\u201d), 14:27<\/a> (\u201cThe fear of Adonai<\/span> is a fountain of life\u201d); Mt 5:6<\/a>, 10:42<\/a>; Yn 4:5\u201314<\/a>, 7:37\u201339<\/a>; and especially Rv 7:17<\/a>; 22:1<\/a>, <\/span>17<\/a>.<\/p>\n

7<\/strong> He who wins the victory<\/strong>. The phrase occurs seven times in chapters 2\u20133<\/a>; see 2:7<\/a>, 3:21<\/a>. \u201cThey defeated him,\u201d won the victory over the dragon, \u201cbecause of the Lamb\u2019s blood and because of the mess<\/span>age of their witness\u201d (12:11<\/a>).<\/p>\n

8<\/strong> See 9:21<\/a> and 22:15<\/a>.<\/p>\n

21:9\u201322:5<\/strong> The vision of the new Yerushalayim<\/strong> resembles that of Ezekiel 40\u201348<\/a>. Compare v. 10<\/a> with Ezekiel 40:2<\/a>, v. 11<\/a> with Ezekiel 43:2<\/a>, vv. 12\u201313<\/a><\/span> with Ezekiel 48:31\u201334<\/a>, v. 15<\/a> with Ezekiel 40:3<\/a>, 5<\/a>, v. 27<\/a> with Ezekiel 44:9<\/a>, 22:1<\/a> with Ezekiel 47:1<\/a>, 22:2<\/a> with Ezekiel 47:12<\/a>. See vv. 1\u20138<\/a> above.<\/p>\n

9\u201310<\/strong> The bride, the wife of the Lamb,<\/strong> \u2026 the New Yerush<\/strong><\/span>alayim<\/strong>. See v. 2<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

12\u201314<\/strong> Inscribed on the gates were the names of the twelve tribes of Israel \u2026. twelve foundation-stones, and on these were the twelve names of the twelve emissaries of the Lamb<\/strong> (co<\/span>mpare Ep 2:20<\/a>). The twelve tribes of Israel are mentioned in the New Testament at Mt 19:28<\/a> and Lk 22:30<\/a>, where the emissaries are to judge them; at Ac 26:7<\/a> as a synonym for the entire Jewish people; a<\/span>t Ya 1:1<\/a> in the greeting; and at 7:4\u20138<\/a> above (by name). The twenty-four elders of 4:4<\/a> may represent the tribes plus the emissaries. See notes in all these places. Conclusion: there is no Church apart <\/span>from the Jewish people and no Israel apart from the New Covenant. See related discussions in Ro 11:26a<\/a>N<\/a>, Ga 6:16<\/a>N<\/a>, and Ep 2:11\u201313<\/a>&NN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

15\u201321<\/strong> A cubical city 1500 miles on a side\u2014can one imagine it proj<\/span>ecting so far from the earth without setting up gravitational and other forces that would destroy it? Gold resembling glass\u2014whatever can that mean? A wall of diamond 216 feet high? On the one hand, the world\u2019s largest cut diamond weighs less than 5 ounces; on<\/span> the other, this wall is minuscule in relation to the city. Each gate made of a single pearl\u2014from what size oyster? It is all a dramatic way of saying that the new heaven and earth and the New Jerusalem are beautiful, valuable, wondrous and glorious beyond anything we can know or imagine. <\/span><\/p>\n

19\u201320<\/strong> Compare the judgment breastplate of the cohe<\/span><\/span>n hagadol<\/span>, which also had twelve different stones. They represented the twelve tribes of Israel, whose judgment Aaron was to \u201cbear on his heart before Adonai<\/span> continually\u201d (Exodus 28:15\u201321<\/a>, 29\u201330<\/a>). Als<\/span>o see Isaiah 54:11\u201312<\/a>.<\/p>\n

23\u201326<\/strong> This section draws on the imagery of Isaiah 60<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cArise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of Adonai<\/span> has risen upon you \u2026. Nations will walk at your light, an<\/span>d kings at the brightness of your rising \u2026. The wealth of the nations will come to you \u2026. Your gates will be open continually\u2014day and night they will not be shut, so that people can bring you the wealth of the nations, and their kings in procession \u2026. The su<\/span>n will no more be your light by day, nor will the moon give light to you for brightness, but Adonai<\/span> will be for you an everlasting light, and <\/span>your God your glory.\u201d (Isaiah 60:1\u20135<\/a>, 11<\/a>, 16<\/a>, 19\u201320<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The nations (or \u201cGentiles\u201d) will walk by its light. There are not unregenerate nations living outside the city. Rather, as George E. Ladd says in <\/span>his comment on this verse,<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the divine consummation, the redeemed will consist of peoples from every nation and tribe and people and tongue (7:9<\/a>) who will not lose their national identity. John\u2019s <\/span>language means no more than the statements of the prophets: \u2018and many peoples shall come and say: \u201cCome, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob\u201d\u2019 (Isaiah 2:3<\/a>) \u2026. Th<\/span>is is the affirmation of the universality of the knowledge of God, as promised in Jeremiah\u2019s presentation of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:30\u201333<\/a>(31\u201334<\/a>)).\u201d (Revelation<\/em>, p. 284)<\/p>\n

27<\/strong> See 20:12b<\/a>, 22:15<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

CHAPTER 22 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1 The river of the water of life \u2026 , flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb. \u201cThere is a river, whose streams make glad the city of God, the holiest dwelling-place of the Most High. God is in the midst of her \u2026.\u201d (Psalm 46:5\u20136<\/a>; compare Zechariah 14:8\u20139<\/a>). See also 3:21<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2\u20133a<\/strong>The Tree of Life<\/strong> was in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9<\/a>), but after sinning, Adam and Eve had to be kept from it (Genesis 3:22<\/a>) and the way to it guarded by a keruv<\/span> (\u201ccherub,\u201d Genesis 3:24<\/a>). Here in restored Eden, the tree of life too is restored. Like the other phenomena of the new creation (see 21:14\u201321<\/a>) it is unlike anything we now know, producing twelve kinds of fruit, a different kind every month.<\/strong> Moreover, the leaves of the tree<\/strong> are for healing the nations\u2014no longer will there be any curses<\/strong>. Here \u201chealing\u201d seems to mean \u201cmaking whole.\u201d The \u201ccurses\u201d are evils that come upon nations\u2014both Israel and the Gentile nations\u2014due to their continued and unrepented sins; most of the biblical prophets pronounced curses at one time or another.<\/p>\n

3b\u20135<\/strong> The central theme of existence in the redeemed world will be worship of God and of the Lamb<\/strong> Yeshua the Messiah, who share the throne<\/strong>. His servants will<\/strong> be fully focused and completely satisfied when they worship him<\/strong> (which is not always the case today!), because (1) having unimpeded fellowship with God, they will see his face<\/strong>, and (2) his name will be o<\/strong>n their foreheads<\/strong>, meaning that God will have made them fully his own (see also 7:2\u20133<\/a>&N<\/a>, 13:16\u201317a<\/a>&N<\/a>, 14:1<\/a>&N<\/a>, 17:5<\/a>). Night<\/strong>, with its darkness symbolizing God\u2019s absence (Yn 1:5\u20139<\/a>, 3:19\u201321<\/a>; 1 Yn 1:5\u20137<\/a>, 2:7\u201311<\/a>), will no longer exist, \u2026 because <\/strong>Adonai<\/span>, God, will shine upon them.<\/strong> Moreover, the physical and the spiritual will be intimately interconnected, since God\u2019s immediate presence will make them ne<\/strong>ed neither the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun. And<\/strong>, as promised at 3:21<\/a> and 1C 6:2\u20133<\/a>, they will reign<\/strong> over the universe with the Messiah and with God as kings forever and ever.<\/strong><\/p>\n

6\u201321<\/strong> This is the epilogue to the Book of Revelation.<\/p>\n

6, 7, 10, 12<\/strong>Soon \u2026 very soon \u2026 near \u2026 soon<\/strong>. See 1:1<\/a> on \u201cwhat must happen very soon.\u201d The repetition adds to the urgency.<\/p>\n

8\u20139<\/strong> See 19:10<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

10\u201311<\/strong> Contrast these verses with Daniel 12:9\u201310<\/a>, where the prophet was told, \u201cDaniel, go your way, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.\u201d (See also Isaiah 8:16<\/a>; Daniel 8:26<\/a>, 12:4<\/a>). Here Yochanan is told, \u201cDon\u2019t seal up the words of the prophecy in this book, because the time of their fulfillment is near.<\/strong>\u201d Moreover, in Daniel 12:10<\/a> Daniel is told, \u201cMany will purify themselves.\u201d But here, \u201cWhoever keeps acting wickedly, let him go on acting wickedly,<\/strong>\u201d because he is past the point of being able to repent (see Yn 12:39<\/a>&N<\/a>); yet compare v. 17<\/a> below, still an invitation to repent.<\/p>\n

12<\/strong>My rew<\/strong>ards are with me to give to each person according to what he has done<\/strong>. See first paragraph of 20:12b<\/a>.<\/p>\n

13<\/strong>I am the <\/strong>\u201cA<\/strong>\u201d and the <\/strong>\u201cZ<\/strong>\u201d (\u201cthe Alpha and the Omega\u201d; see 1:8<\/a>&N<\/a>), the Beginning and the End.<\/strong> Repeated from 21:6<\/a>; see 3:14<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The First and the Last.<\/strong> Quoted from Isaiah 44:6<\/a>, where Adonai<\/span> says it:<\/p>\n

\u201cThus says Adonai<\/span>, the King of Israel, and its redeemer Adonai<\/span> of Hosts [heavenly armies]: I am the first, and I am the last, and beside me there is no God.\u201d<\/p>\n

By applying this text to himself Yeshua once again identifies himself as Adonai<\/span>.<\/p>\n

14\u201315<\/strong> These verses may be the words of Yeshua (as this version has it), or of Yochanan.<\/p>\n

Those who wash their robes<\/strong>, who obtain forgiveness for their sins. How? \u201cWith the blood of the lamb\u201d (7:14<\/a>), that is, through the atoning work of Yeshua the Messiah, so that their robes are \u201cwhite\u201d (7:14<\/a>; see also 3:4<\/a>, 19:7\u20138<\/a>, Isaiah 1:18<\/a>).<\/p>\n

To eat from the Tree of Life and go through the gates into the city<\/strong> is to enjoy eternal life in fellowship with God.<\/p>\n

Outside<\/strong>, in the lake of fire (20:12b<\/a>, 21:8<\/a>, 21:27<\/a>), are<\/strong> unrepentant sinners. They are outside not only in the future, but outside even now, to the extent that the Kingdom of God has broken through into this world in the hearts and lives of the saved.<\/p>\n

Homosexuals<\/strong>, Greek kunes<\/span> (\u201cdogs\u201d). One can imagine literal wild dogs slavering over the wicked excluded from the city (compare Mt 15:26<\/a>&N<\/a>, Lk 16:21<\/a>). But Deuteronomy 23:18\u201319<\/a> illustrates the figurative use of the word \u201cdog\u201d in the Bible to mean \u201cmale (homosexual) prostitute\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201cNo daughter of Israel is to be a female prostitute (k\u02d2deshah<\/span>), nor is a son of Israel to be a male prostitute (kadesh<\/span>). You are to bring neither the wages of a female prostitute (zonah<\/span>) nor the wages of a dog (kelev<\/span>) into the house of Adonai<\/span> your God in payment of any vow; both of them are an abomination to Adonai<\/span> your God.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the New Testament\u2019s attitude toward homosexuality see Ro 1:24\u201328<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Those who misuse drugs in connection with the occult<\/strong>. See 9:21<\/a>.<\/p>\n

16<\/strong>I, Yeshua, h<\/strong>ave sent my angel to give you this testimony for the Messianic communities<\/strong>, as stated in 1:1\u20132<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Root and Offspring of David<\/strong>. King David sprang from this Root, because Yeshua pre-existed David (Micah 5:1<\/a>(2<\/a>), Yn 8:58<\/a>), and through Yeshua everything, including David\u2019s ancestor Adam, was made (Yn 1:1\u20132<\/a>, 14<\/a>). But Yeshua is also David\u2019s offspring; in particular, he is the promised Son of David who would be the Messiah (see Mt 1:1<\/a>&N<\/a>). Yeshua\u2019s Davidic ancestry is referred to in the rest of the New Testament also at Mt 1:6<\/a>, 9:27<\/a>, 15:22<\/a>, 21:9<\/a>; Lk 1:32<\/a>, 2:4<\/a>, 3:31<\/a>; Ro 1:3<\/a>; 2 Ti 2:8<\/a>. In Revelation the term \u201cRoot of David\u201d is found also at 5:5<\/a>&N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The bright Morning Star<\/strong>. See 2:28<\/a>&N<\/a>, 2 Ke 1:19<\/a>N<\/a>.<\/p>\n

17<\/strong> As in vv. 14\u201315<\/a>, either Yeshua or Yochanan may be speaking here. No matter which, both the Holy Spi<\/strong>rit<\/strong> and the Bride<\/strong>, the Messianic Community, identified also with the New Jerusalem (21:2<\/a>&N<\/a>), agree with Yeshua in reiterating his call to the thirsty<\/strong> to take the water of life free of charge<\/strong> (see 21:6<\/a>&N<\/a>).<\/p>\n

18\u201319<\/strong> The warning of either Yeshua or Yochanan follows the form of Deuteronomy 4:2<\/a>, which reads:<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t add anything to the word which I am commanding you, and don\u2019t take anything away from it, so that you may keep the mitzvot<\/span> of Adonai<\/span> your God which I am commanding you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yochanan\u2019s warning refers to the Book of Revelation, not to the whole Bible. However, it is a warning which I or anyone who deals with the Word of God must keep in mind at all times. It is my fervent hope that both my translation and my commentary have not distorted what God meant us to know, for work of this kind mediates eternal destinies. My prayer is that the eternal destinies of the readers of this commentary will be with God and his son Yeshua, and that my work has not distanced anyone from him but brought people closer.<\/p>\n

20\u201321<\/strong> The congregation is instructed to say \u201cAmen<\/span>\u201d (Ro 9:5<\/a>&N<\/a>) at the close of the public reading of the book (1:3<\/a>). The two final sentences, one for heaven and one for earth, set the tone for those inspired to do the Lord\u2019s will. So I echo the words of Yochanan: Come, Lord Yeshua<\/strong>, and May the grace of the Lord Yeshua be with all.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHAPTER 1 1 The book of Revelation, the last book in the New Testament, polarizes readers. Some see in it the key to the universe, or at least the key to the future. Others find it completely opaque or dismiss it as nonsense. Some regard its highly picturesque language as absolutely literal, others as entirely … <\/p>\n

\u201eThe revelation OF YESHUA THE MESSIAH TO YOCHANAN\u201c <\/span>weiterlesen<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179,"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions\/179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}