The End

Revelation 14: 14-2014 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand!15Another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, ‘Use your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.’16So the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.18Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, ‘Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.’19So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God.20And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse’s bridle, for a distance of about two hundred miles.*

Revelation 14

The Grim reaper and the Grapes of Wrath

Revelation 13: 1-4

131And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads; and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names.2And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority.3One of its heads seemed to have received a death-blow, but its mortal wound* had been healed. In amazement the whole earth followed the beast.4They worshipped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?’

Does the leopard with 4 heads and 4 wings (above, left) from Daniel 7 look a lot like the leopard with 7 heads and 10 horns from Revelation 13? Does that suggest that the same rules that govern the understanding of the leopard of Daniel 7 should also govern the understanding of the leopard of Revelation 13? Think about it!

16Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,17so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

Revelation 13: 17-18The mark of the beast

Chapter 19: 11-16

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.12His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed that no one knows but himself.13He is clothed in a robe dipped in* blood, and his name is called The Word of God.14And the armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.15From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule* them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.16On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’.

Revelation 12: 1-4

12A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.2She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth.3Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.4His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born.

William Blake“Angel of the Revelation”

Revelation 10:1-7Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down." Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, "There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets."

1. Level of conflict is cosmic Involves the whole earth, and spiritual worlds. Irony in that the Jews and Christians were very small people groups.

2. Two mighty opposites in mortal combat The good will triumph, but it will be a good fight. The evil people are raised up to a level nearly equal with God.

3. More concerned with the end of the world than presenting specific details

Still, they are written in specific contexts. There is a present age (era), and an age to come.

4. Usually in comes in the form of a vision So, the writer is not the “author.” Fantastic allegory (beast against beast rather than nation against nation). Involves a writer, a seer, a vision(s), an interpreter, an interpretation.

5. Ascribed to a great individual of the past Revelation is an important exception Helps to get people to pay attention to the work Success with one work, encourages imitation of its conventions

Chs 1-6 is about Daniel, 7-12 is by Daniel (“I, Daniel…”) Daniel was a traditional folk hero. Perhaps his stories make

an attractive introduction. There are four visions that apparently relate to the same

events of the recent past, present, near future, and final days

Book composed around 110BCE under the oppressive control of Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

Summarizes Israel’s history from exile to present. Encourage readers by saying the present suffering will

soon end and the oppressors will be punished. No human solution is possible to solve the Jews’ problem. Only God’s intervention can save the people. Living Jews and resurrected dead would be judged and

rewarded or punished eternally in accord with how they behaved during the terrible persecution.

Prophetic Books Daniel Written to people doing wrong Written to the faithful

Repent Doesn’t ask people to repent

Changed behavior can change the bad situation

It’s too late. What’s going to happen will happen.

God is upset What’s happening is part of god’s plan

Focused on the real world Given up on the real world

Practical steps to take No practical advice

God will someday punish and reward

God is about to dramatically intervene

It follows most conventional features of an apocalypse. “We are currently living in the worst possible

circumstances” (surely these are the last days). Faithful believes are encouraged to remain faithful, for

their deliverance will come and it will be great! It will be worth the wait!

Christians at the time of the writing of Revelation were facing a situation quite similar to that of the Jews when Daniel was written.

Three phases of Satan’s defeat in the heavens (by the birth of Christ) on the earth (by the destruction of Rome) in the underworld (by the final elimination of the Devil, Death,

Hades and the Sea at the end of the age)

1 John’s greetings and the circumstance of his call2-3 The Letters to the seven churches4-5 The heavenly court of the lamb6-7 The seven seals8-11 the final seal brings seven angels with 7 trumpets

between 6 & 7 trumpet, 7 thunders (kept secret)12-13 The pregnant woman, the dragon’s defeat, the two beasts14 visions of reassurance and warning (an interlude)15-16 the seven bowls of wrath climaxing in battle of Armageddon

that involves all the kings of the earth17-18 the whore of Babylon and the beast19-20 the defeat of the dragon’s forces, the final judgment

dragon chained up for one thousand years21-22 the New Jerusalem, conclusion

Here humans will dwell in face-to-face relationship with God, sustained by the water of life, the tree of life, and the presence of God.

Religious and mythic material is shaped according to conventions

The purpose is to provide comfort to the faithful This makes the book less mysterious Consider the literary challenge and effect of

representing evil symbolically as dragon, beast, etc.

In a sense, all victories of good over evil are the same.

Perhaps that is why we see the repeated pattern: Various forms of evil, destruction of evil, rejoicing in heaven, New evil that’s much like the old evil, but in new form.

It is linked to extreme action and great destruction Apocalyptic writing and a belief in God’s intervening

hand prompted fanatical Jewish resistance against Rome.

Patriots tried to force God’s hand by warring against Rome and forcing a situation in which God must intervene.

A lot of Jewish apocalyptic literature was written during the exile and post-exile period, but…

“The Writings” which were canonized around 100 CE do not include many apocryphal apocalyptic books, perhaps because of the negative influence in stirring up trouble with Rome.

Why Daniel survives is a little mysterious.

Jesus life, death, and resurrection meant a partial fulfillment of ancient apocalyptic literature.

Jesus’ first coming paves the way, and prepares things for his second coming which will still fulfill apocalyptic writing of the past

Jesus first coming was already a triumph over darkness, evil, Satan, the devil.

Whereas Jews eventually rejected apocalyptic thinking, it became an important part of Christian thought.

Other apocalypses were written revealing visions of Peter, Paul, James, Thomas, the Virgin Mary, and others.

Other apocalyptic passages in the New Testament 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 Mark 13

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,* about those who have died,* so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.* 15For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.* 16For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord for ever. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.* 21For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24Then comes the end,* when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27For ‘God* has put all things in subjection under his feet.’ But when it says, ‘All things are put in subjection’, it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. 28When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.

The whole chapter is apocalyptic, but the following lines may feel especially so.

24 ‘But in those days, after that suffering,

the sun will be darkened,   and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven,   and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in clouds” with great power and glory. 27Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

Great days are coming for the faithful! This is an appealing message for any troubled time. Proposes “solutions that are abrupt, dramatic, and

violent (in comparison to the Prophets). Unlike prophecy, there is no room for repentance or

a change in God’s intentions. A flash of God’s power

Harsh punishment for those who have taken advantage of the misery of others.

Glorious rewards for those who have suffered undeservedly. Can these writings apply specifically to our times?

People have thought this many times over the centuries This fact proves the effectiveness of the literature, the

themes and symbols.

William Blake 1809

John sees a woman in royal dress riding on a seven-headed scarlet beast; she is called “Babylon the Great” and is “drunk with the blood of the saints.”

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  (Revelation 21:1) (Duncan Long)

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld,

1851

Merian, Matthaeus the Eldercirca 1625

New Jerusalem

And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  (Revelation 21:2 )

Duncan Long

Rev 21:21-22:6

And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass. (21:21)

Bamberg about 1020

The angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the tree is for the healing of the nations. (Rev 22:1-3)

John 4:10 Living waterIsaiah 53:7 Lamb who sufferedGen 2:9 Tree of life

William Heartland, 2005 John Martin, The Plains of Heaven

Ted Larson Rev 22:13

See, I am coming soon; my reward

is with me, to repay according

to everyone's work. I am the Alpha and the

Omega, the first and the last, the

beginning and the end.

(Rev 22:12-13)