Where there’s fire…?

The Greek kapnos (“smoke”) appears twelve times in Revelation. Hold that number, because it might be significant.

The twelve uses are grouped into six scenes, alternating between smoke having to do with the worship and glory of God and smoke from hell or hell’s allies:

A. Smoke of incense, 8:4

B. Smoke from the abyss (4x), 9:2-3

A’. Smoke from the mouths of the myriad (implicitly angelic) army, 9:17-18

B’. Smoke of torment for those who worship the beast, 14:11

A”. Smoke of glory filling the heavenly temple, 15:8

B”. Smoke of Babylon, 18:9, 18; 19:3

Overarching this alternation is an implied narrative progression: The smoke of incense ascends to God with the prayers of the saints, the prayers of the martyrs for vindication. Those smoky prayers are finally answered by smoke, the smoke of Babylon’s burning, the smoke of the city that drank martyr blood. Smoke is answered by smoke, and when Babylon’s smoke rises, the saints sing Hallelujahs in heaven.

That there are twelve uses overall suggests that this story of smoke is a story of Israel. Those whose prayers rise as smoke constitute the true Israel; the locorpions that emerge from infernal smoke are a false Israel, and the harlot Babylon is a prostitute Israel. These distinctions are fittingly marked by smoke. Yahweh’s fiery presence makes the world burn (Exodus 19:18; Psalm 104:32; 144:5), and those who share in the flame of Yah create conflagrations wherever they go – ascending in prayer, torching enemies with self-sacrificial blood.

All tidy. But then we get to the end of Revelation and the smoke dissipates. There’s still fire and brimstone aplenty (19:20; 20:10; 21:8), but these fires give the lie to old adages about the convertibility of smoke and fire. Why would the last fires of Revelation be smokeless?

Perhaps it has something to do with the anti-sacrificial finality of these final judgments. Most of the uses of “smoke” in the Old Testament are variations on the Hebrew qatar, which means “to turn to smoke.” And most of the uses of this word group are linked with sacrificial procedures. Animals are destroyed in the process of burning, but the main point is that they are turned to smoke so they can “go up” (‘alah) to God. Babylon smokes because her destruction is a sign of the answer to the Lord’s assurance to His martyred saints. Babylon is no sacrifice, but she does send up smoke signals to God. 

At the end, the beast, the false prophet, the cowardly, unbelieving, murderers, and sorcerers burn, but their destruction is uncommunicative. The devil, the beast, and the false prophet are said to be “tormented day and night, forever and ever,” which echoes the language of sacrifice (morning and evening; tamid, everlasting). But they don’t smoke, and so though they burn forever but they don’t connect earth to heaven in their burning.