Jesus says, “I am the arche and telos ” (Revelation 21:6). “Beginning and end” is too colorless, too geometric. Jesus is not the two points at either end of a line segment. Better to render this more “dynamically” and “organically” (forgive the hurrah . . . . Continue Reading »
Some aspects of Wes Howard-Brook and Anthony Gwyther’s Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then and Now (Bible & Liberation) are silly, but there is a lot of very helpful material on the book of Revelation. For instance, the authors point out that there are seven worship scenes in the . . . . Continue Reading »
“Cosmetic” comes from the Greek kosmos , which typically means “world,” and from techne , which means “art” or even “technique.” The etymology throws lines in several directions. A kosmos is an adorned, arranged, and beautified world. In the Genesis . . . . Continue Reading »
Puzzling over the overlapping images of the faces of the cherubim and the tabernacle furnishings, with the help of James Jordan’s essay on orientation in Revelation. The east-west orientation, lion-bull, is fairly clear. East is the place of the altar, therefore the origin of the bull, who . . . . Continue Reading »
Further reflections drawn from/inspired by Jordan’s essay on orientation in Revelation. Jordan matches the faces of the cherubim with the furnishings of the sanctuary, and particularly of the heavenly sanctuary. John enters heaven through an eastern door, looking west (we infer this from the . . . . Continue Reading »
“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power,” sing the twenty-four elders and four living creatures in the heavenly throne room (Revelation 4:11). The reason the Lord is worthy of glory, honor, and power is that He created all things (a chiastic clause: . . . . Continue Reading »
When saints first appear in heaven, they are beneath the altar (Revelation 6:9-11). The great multitude that is caught up to heaven “stands” around the throne (7:11). They have moved up, from a place beneath the altar to a place before the throne. But that is not the end of their . . . . Continue Reading »
The list “lightning, sounds, thunder” frames the “seal” section of Revelation, occurring in both 4:5 and in 8:5. Plus, there is a reference to fire in both 4:5 and 8:5. Though the phrase is repeated here, there is also a progression. In 4:5, the lightning, voices, and . . . . Continue Reading »
Jesus promises the saints at Sardis white garments (Revelation 3:4), and also puts white garments on sale at Laodicea (3:18). But how does one overcome so as to receive the white robe? Revelation 4-7 (the seal section) tells us. The section opens with John’s ascent into heaven to see . . . . Continue Reading »
Jesus threatens to spew the Laodiceans out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16. The OT background is in Leviticus 18 and 20, where Yahweh says that the land vomited out the Canaanites and will vomit out Israel if they defile the land as the Canaanites did. Jesus is the land. If Jesus is the land, though, . . . . Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
