If my argument in an earlier post about the angel of Jesus in Revelation 1:1 works, then we have a fully Trinitarian structure to the revelation given to John. The Father gives apocalypse to the Son; the Son shows/displays this unveiling to the slaves; the Son signifies this through His . . . . Continue Reading »
Who is the “angel” through whom Jesus signifies His apocalypse? We get a clue from the unusual phrase “His angel” (1:1). This is one of two places in Revelation that use the phrase “His angel” (cf. 22:6). Here His is specifically Jesus’. In 22:6, the . . . . Continue Reading »
The Greek doulos is used twice in the first verse of Revelation, first of the recipients of the apocalypse and then of John himself. The translation “bond-servant” is one of the leftovers of KJV, which tended to assimilate the social structure of the Bible to the social structure of . . . . Continue Reading »
Gregory Beale and other scholars have noted that John’s phrase “things that must shortly take place” echoes the LXX of Daniel 2:28: “GOd has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what must take place in the last days.” The crucial difference, of course, is the change of time . . . . Continue Reading »
In a 2000 article in JBL , Leonard Thompson points out how frequently Jesus is connected with death in the book of Revelation. He is the “firstborn of the dead” (1:5, 18; 2:8) and the slain Lamb (5:6). His blood is highlighted throughout the book (1:5; 5:9, 12; 7:14; 12:11; 19:13), and . . . . Continue Reading »
John receives a revelation from Jesus about things that “must” ( dei ) shortly take place. As Shylock would say, “Why must they? Tell me that!” In the gospels, the divine “must” has two main connections: It is the necessity that the Christ should suffer and enter . . . . Continue Reading »
Revelation begins and ends with the promise that the things written in the book will “shortly” ( en tachei ) take place (1:1; 22:6). It’s seems a fairly colorless time indicator, but the phrase comes with some baggage from the LXX. There, it is used only a handful of times, three . . . . Continue Reading »
In an article examining the use of the OT in Revelation, Steve Moyise notes the extensive parallels between Ezekiel and Revelation. This is not just a matter of scattered allusions; rather, Revelation overall, and in specific sections, follows the order of Ezekiel quite precisely. For instance: God . . . . Continue Reading »
In Revelation 11, John is given a rod to measure out the courts of the temple. That picks up on the imagery of Ezekiel 40ff, where a bronze man measures out the holy space of the new temple. But there are other rods in the Old Testament. Egypt is a rod (Ezkiel 29:6), an unreliable rod that will . . . . Continue Reading »
John tells us that his last book is an “unveiling” of Jesus Christ. But only a few verses later, there is Jesus in all His glory, unveiled. Short book. But then the book goes on for another 20 chapters, after Jesus has been unveiled. Maybe the unveiling is an unveiling of what the . . . . Continue Reading »
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