Show & Tell

The verb “show” (deiknuo) occurs eight times in Revelation, and the eight uses fall into a neat pattern. Twice at the beginning (1:1; 4:1) and twice at the end (22:6, 8), the verb is used with a generic object. God shows “things which must shortly take place” (1:1; 22:6), “what must take place after these things” (4:1), and “these things” (22:8). The book is framed by this fourfold indication of purpose. 

The four uses of the verb within this frame have to do with the contrasting female characters of the book. An angel “shows” the harlot (17:1), and particularly the judgment on the harlot. Then another of the bowl angels takes John to a mountain to “show” him the bride descending from heaven (21:9-10). Finally, the angel shows John the river flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb (22:1), which runs in the middle of the street of the bridal city.

Taking these together, we conclude that the judgment of the harlot and the descent of the bride are the specific “things which must shortly take place.” This becomes especially clear when we compare 1:1 with 17:1 and 21:9. 1:1 says that God shows His bond servants the near future through an angel to John, which is precisely what 17:1 and 21:9 describe. Whatever these women represent, John expected them to be revealed soon after he finished writing his visions. 

We can add too that the revelation of these two female characters is integral to the unveiling of Jesus. Jesus is fully unveiled as Son of Man and as Lamb only when the harlot has been judged and the bride has descended. Then the tabernacle of God is with men.