Christ, Shepherd of the Nations: The Nations as Narrative Character and Audience in John’s Apocalypse 9780567677952, 9780567677976, 9780567677969

Citation preview

vi

i

CHRIST, SHEPHERD OF THE NATIONS

ii

Library of New Testament Studies 577 formerly the Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement series Editor Chris Keith Editorial Board Dale C. Allison, John M. G. Barclay, Lynn H. Cohick, R. Alan Culpepper, Craig A. Evans, Robert Fowler, Simon J. Gathercole, John S. Kloppenborg, Michael Labahn, Love L. Sechrest, Robert Wall, Steve Walton, Catrin H. Williams

iii

CHRIST, SHEPHERD OF THE NATIONS

The Nations as Narrative Character and Audience in John’s Apocalypse

Jon Morales

T&T CLARK Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK 1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA BLOOMSBURY, T&T CLARK and the T&T Clark logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published 2018 Paperback edition first published in 2019 Copyright © Jon Morales, 2018 Jon Morales has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work. For legal purposes the Acknowledgements on p. x constitute an extension of this copyright page. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: HB: 978-0-5676-7795-2 PB: 978-0-5676-8920-7 ePDF: 978-0-5676-7796-9 ePub: 978-0-5676-8173-7 Series: Library of New Testament Studies, volume 577 Typeset by Newgen KnowledgeWorks Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, India To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com and sign up for our newsletters.

v

For the Shepherd of the nations For my wife, who holds my hand as we follow the Lamb wherever he goes For my mother, who gave me life and sang to me, “Soy la Triste Oveja”

vi

vii

CONTENTS List of Tables Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations

ix x xi

Chapter 1 A BETTER WAY FOR THE NATIONS The Problem and the Purpose of the Present Study State of Research The Church Becomes the Nations (or the Nations Are Severely Judged) Assessment Thoroughgoing Universalism Assessment Large-Scale Conversion of the Nations The Text Is Inconsistent on the Nations Assessment The Language about the Nations Is Rhetorical Assessment Summary of Views on the Nations Proposed View: The Nations Belong to God

1 1 5 6 7 9 10 12 17 19 19 21 23 24

Chapter 2 THE NATIONS AS NARRATIVE CHARACTER: METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS Revelation as Narrative The Nations as Narrative Character Group or Unusual Characters The Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts The Church in Acts The World and the Crowd in John’s Gospel Theory of Character Narrative Criticism Narrative as Rhetoric

27 27 33 33 33 34 34 35 39 41

Chapter 3 AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS Revelation 2:27: A Complicated Introduction The Shepherding Metaphor in the Background Literature Ποιμαίνω in the Septuagint and the New Testament Revelation 2:27 and Its Interpreters

45 45 46 52 55

viii

viii

Contents

The Nations in Revelation 2:27 Conclusions Chapter 4 THE NATIONS: BENEFIT AND CONFLICT Benefit to the Nations: Revelation 5, 7, and 10 The Nations in Conflict: Revelation 11 Conclusions

63 67 71 71 78 84

Chapter 5 THE NATIONS IN COSMIC CONFLICT The Dragon, the Male Child, and the Nations: Revelation 12:1–6 The Beasts and the Earth-Dwellers: Revelation 13 The Nations, the Gospel, and Babylon: Revelation 14 The Church’s Hope for the Nations: Revelation 15 The Nations and the Seven Bowls of Wrath: Revelation 16 Conclusions

87 87 92 97 101 104 106

Chapter 6 DECEPTION AND HEALING OF THE NATIONS Babylon Sits on Many Nations: Revelation 17 Babylon Deceives the Nations: Revelation 18 The Rider and the Beast’s Demise: Revelation 19:11–21 The Defeat of Satan, the Deceiver of the Nations: Revelation 20:1–10 The New Jerusalem and the Nations: Revelation 21:9–22:5 Epilogue: Revelation 22:6–21 Conclusions

109 109 110 115 123 126 132 133

Chapter 7 THE NATIONS AND THEIR SHEPHERD: SYNTHESIS AND CONCLUSIONS The Nations as Narrative Character John’s Story of the Nations Christ, Shepherd of the Nations The Translation of Ποιμαίνω in Revelation 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15 Future Verbs and Present Reality Psalm 2 and John’s Story of the Nations The Nations as Audience The Church as Shepherd of the Nations Dualism and John’s Vision for the Nations Further Research Final Thoughts

137 137 137 146 150 151 153 156 157 160 163 164

Bibliography Index of Authors Index of References

167 179 183

ix

TABLES 1 2 3 4 5

References to Ποιμαίνω in the LXX and the NT Narrative appearances of the nations along the chapters of Revelation Actions of God and his agents toward the nations Actions of Satan and his agents toward the nations Actions by the nations (active verbs)

52 140 141 143 145

x

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To my precious wife, Anna Lee, who has journeyed with me faithfully, not only through the completion of this monograph, but also through every station of our lives. I am eternally in your debt. You more than anyone else have shown me the love of God. To my children, Rayne, Jett, Piper, and Saylor, who cheered me on and asked me, “How many words did you write today, Daddy?” Your love and encouragement carried me to the finish line. To my mother, Ana, who instilled in me faith in and love for Jesus Christ. To my father, Jamie, who made great sacrifices so that I could come to America. To my siblings, Marishel, Anita, Melissa, Lucas, and David, who were the first constant blessings in my life. To my mentor, Dr. Scott Kellum, whose rigor in scholarship is matched by his kindness in life. Dr. Kellum’s enthusiasm about this project helped me stay focused, and his probing feedback significantly refined my research. You made the process of learning an enjoyable experience. To Dr. Richard Bauckham, who, in private correspondence, alerted me to the topic of the nations in the book of Revelation, believing that more work on the subject should be done. His excellence in New Testament scholarship continues to challenge and inspire countless professors, students, and lay readers. To my pastor and friend, Wayne Brooks, who looked after my family and me during very crucial and vulnerable years. To Kim and Debby Williams, whose financial support made possible the completion of this project. To the people of Woodside Royal Oak. It is my joy to bring the word of God to you every week.

xi

ABBREVIATIONS 1 En. AB AIL Ann. AOTC AUSS AYBC Bar BBR BDAG BECNT BibInt BIS BR BTB BZNW CBQ EDNT ESEC HTR HTS ICC Int JETS Jdt JRT JSNT JSNTSS JSOT JSP JTS Jub. KEK LNTS L&N LXX MBC NCB

1 (Ethiopic) Enoch Anchor Bible Ancient Israel and its Literature Annales Apollos Old Testament Commentary Andrews University Seminary Studies Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries Baruch Bulletin for Biblical Research W. Bauer, F. W. Danker, W. F. Arndt, and F. W. Gingrich (eds), A GreekEnglish Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament Biblical Interpretation Biblical Interpretation Series Biblical Research Biblical Theology Bulletin Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft Catholic Biblical Quarterly Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament Emory Studies in Early Christianity Harvard Theological Review Harvard Theological Studies International Critical Commentary Interpretation Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Judith Journal of Religious Thought Journal for the Study of the New Testament Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Journal of Theological Studies Jubilees Kritisch-exegetischer Kommentar das über Neue Testament The Library of New Testament Studies Johannes E. Louw and Eugene A. Nida (eds), Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains Septuagint Mellen Bible Commentary New Century Bible

xii

xii NCBC NCCS Neot NICOT NovT NSBT NTL NTM NTR NTS OBO PC Pss. Sol. PTMS SBLSBS SBLSP SBT SNTSMS SP T. Benj. T. Jud. Tob TynBul T. Zeb. VT WBC WPCS WTJ WUNT WW

Abbreviations New Cambridge Bible Commentary New Covenant Commentary Series Neotestamentica The New International Commentary on the Old Testament Novum Testamentum New Studies in Biblical Theology New Testament Library New Testament Message New Testament Readings New Testament Studies Orbis biblicus et orientalis Proclamation Commentaries Psalms of Solomon Princeton Theological Monograph Series Society of Biblical Literature Sources for Biblical Study Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers Studies in Biblical Theology Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series Sacra Pagina Testament of Benjamin Testament of Judah Tobit Tyndale Bulletin Testament of Zebulun Vetus Testamentum Word Biblical Commentary Westminster Pelican Commentary Series Westminster Theological Journal Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Word & World

1

Chapter 1 A B ETTER W AY FOR THE N ATIONS

The Problem and the Purpose of the Present Study Scholars tend to frame the issue of the nations (τὰ ἔθνη) in the book of Revelation around two options: will the nations be converted or destroyed?1 The contention of the present study is that the fundamental question must be reconceived: will the nations realize who is their real enemy and who is their only shepherd? The former question focuses on outcome (salvation or judgment). The latter question shifts the focus to process. In other words, John2 is not giving a prediction of whether or not the nations will be finally converted to the worship of God. Rather—and this is the thesis of the present work—John has presented primarily, not the destiny, but the dilemma of the nations. His goal is to lead the gentile hearer (believing or unbelieving) to realize that the nations of the world have one enemy, the dragon, and one shepherd, Jesus Christ, the Lamb.3 The lively discussion of the conversion of the nations, regardless of method, approach, presupposition, or conclusion, has been mainly soteriological (salvation or judgment for the nations). In many ways, Richard Bauckham, though obviously not the first to raise the issue, has through his seminal The Climax of Prophecy set the terms for much of the subsequent dialogue. He writes, Will the church’s witness to the nations lead, as most interpreters have supposed, only to the destructive judgment of the nations, or will it convert them to 1. Cf. Richard Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2000), xv, 241–2; Allan J. McNicol, The Conversion of the Nations in Revelation, LNTS 438 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2011), 17; Ronald Herms, An Apocalypse for the Church and for the World: The Narrative Function of Universal Language in the Book of Revelation, BZNW 143 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2006), 1–2. 2. “John” is the author’s self-designation in Revelation (Rev 1:1, 4, 9; 22:8). The present study makes no argument or assumption based on the relationship between the author of Revelation and the author of the Johannine corpus. 3. This shift of focus is not to say that John has no interest in the destiny of the nations. Indeed, he does, in keeping with the prophetic nature of the vision he narrates. But shifting the emphasis from destiny to dilemma has the potential of helping the reader uncover a more nuanced story of the nations, one that includes the entirety of John’s narrative.

2

2

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations the worship of the true God, as a few interpreters have suggested? Will God’s kingdom come by eliminating all who presently join the dragon and the beast in opposing it, or will it come by winning them to and including them in God’s rule?4

Bauckham notes that the majority of interpreters conclude that Revelation envisions destruction for the nations. He further says that only a few interpreters see conversion for the nations. More importantly, the above quotation encapsulates the question that interpreters of Revelation, before and after Bauckham, have set out to answer with regard to the nations. But the dichotomy in the question (elimination or winning over) unnecessarily limits the range of options that might help the reader to discern what John is doing concerning the nations in the entirety of Revelation. In contrast, this work is not driven by soteriological concerns, but rather focuses on the narrative representation of the nations and asks the following related questions. Using tools from narrative criticism, the questions are: What is John’s story of the nations, and how does he tell it? Paying attention to John’s rhetorical strategy and its impact on the hearer, the questions are: What is John’s message to the nations, and what is his message to the Christians about the nations? This study makes original contributions in at least three areas. First, it offers a thorough narrative analysis of the nations in Revelation. While not denying the usefulness of other approaches, the commitment displayed here is to keep the storyline of the Apocalypse and its narrative logic in the forefront. Additionally, rather than assuming that “the nations” in Revelation are synonymous with every other group of human participants in Revelation (e.g., people, mankind, the dwellers on the earth, the kings of the earth, the tribes of the earth, etc.), in this study “the nations” are analyzed as a literary character.5 The goal is to discover the nuances of what John is doing with the nations in contradistinction to other groups: how they are treated differently or similarly, how they function within the overall plot of Revelation, and what their relationship is to other important characters in the story. No well-known comprehensive narrative analysis of the nations in Revelation has been completed.6 4. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, xv. 5. Ibid., 239–43, notes the differences in language and description of three groups: “the inhabitants of the earth,” “the kings of the earth,” and “the nations.” Terms like “humankind” (ἄνθρωπος) and “the rest” (οἱ λοιποὶ) function rather generically. 6. The following studies make use of narrative criticism in the book of Revelation in order to analyze either a character or another feature of the book. Benjamin Steen Stubblefield, “The Function of the Church in Warfare in the Book of Revelation” (PhD diss., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2012), employs narrative criticism to explore the various ways the church is characterized in Revelation; Thomas Wilson Fisher, “The Dragon/Serpent in Revelation: The Rhetoric of an Apocalyptic Motif ” (PhD diss., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2000), explores the dragon/serpent motif employing some narrative-critical tools but not as his main methodology; M. Eugene Boring, “Narrative

3

1. A Better Way for the Nations

3

Second, although narrative criticism has been amply and ably employed in the Gospels and Acts over the last three decades, the method has not been tested with similar enthusiasm in the Apocalypse. Grant Osborne, Cornelis Bennema, and Michael Gorman have acknowledged the potential in approaching Revelation as narrative.7 David Barr has written numerous works on Revelation as narrative,8 and A. J. P. Garrow has produced a short commentary with the aim of identifying the texts that carry the prophetic storyline of the narrative.9 John Bowman and James Blevins did treatments of Revelation as drama.10 James Resseguie has written a narrative commentary of the Apocalypse, and John Thomas a literary and theological commentary.11 Craig R. Koester’s excellent commentary includes a section on narrative aspects in the Apocalypse.12 This work is a contribution to the literary studies that—in addition to prophecy, apocalypse, and letter—seek to interpret John’s masterpiece as narrative. Christology in the Apocalypse,” CBQ 54 (1992): 702–23, considers the importance of narrative in deriving a proper christology in the Apocalypse; Robert William Klund, “The Plot of Revelation 4–22” (PhD diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 2002), uses narrative criticism to identify the plot of the Apocalypse; Alexander R. Gonzales, “The Point of View of the Book of Revelation: A Literary Study” (PhD diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 2012), looks at point of view; Diana Jill Kirby, “Repetition in the Book of Revelation” (PhD diss., The Catholic University of America, 2009), studies John’s use of repetition as a literary technique. 7. Grant R. Osborne, “Recent Trends in the Study of the Apocalypse,” in The Face of New Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research, ed. Scot McNight and Grant R. Osborne (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004), 473–504, see 479; Cornelis Bennema, A Theory of Character in New Testament Narrative (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2014), 188; Michael J. Gorman, Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness; Following the Lamb into the New Creation (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2010), 116–37. 8. David L. Barr, “The Apocalypse as a Symbolic Transformation of the World: A Literary Analysis,” Int 38, no. 1 (1984): 39–50; Barr, “Waiting for the End That Never Comes: The Narrative Logic of John’s Story,” in Studies in the Book of Revelation, ed. Steve Moyise (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2001); Barr, “The Lamb Who Looks Like a Dragon? Characterizing Jesus in John’s Apocalypse,” in The Reality of Apocalypse: Rhetoric and Politics in the Book of Revelation, ed. David L. Barr (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006), 205–20; Barr, Tales of the End: A Narrative Commentary on the Book of Revelation, 2nd ed. (Salem, OR: Polebridge, 2012). 9. A. J. P. Garrow, Revelation, NTR (London: Routledge, 1997). 10. John W. Bowman, The Drama of the Book of Revelation: An Account of the Book— with a New Translation in the Language of Today (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1955); James Blevins, Revelation as Drama (Nashville, TN: Broadman, 1984). 11. James L. Resseguie, The Revelation of John: A Narrative Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009); John Christopher Thomas, The Apocalypse: A Literary and Theological Commentary (Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, 2012). 12. Craig R. Koester, Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AYBC (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014), 115–22.

4

4

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

Third, the results of this study will contribute to the understanding of John’s vision for the nations in at least two respects. First, it gives attention to the gentile hearer (believing or unbelieving) who is part of Revelation’s audience. As is commonly agreed, the majority of people hearing the New Testament writings in a church setting were “recently converted gentiles.”13 These recently converted gentiles had a self-identity that was more at home with the Greco-Roman world than with the kingdom of Christ (various New Testament writings attest to this, as do the exhortations in Rev 2–3). Conversion and alignment are never a finished product; they are rather a process of coming to see God, the world, and the self with new eyes. Therefore, John’s presentation of and message to the gentiles (nations) would be quite intriguing and pose a great challenge to a gentile hearer, not only for the personal significance of his message, but also for the implications of his message to those in the gentile’s network of relationships. While Revelation 1:4 makes clear that John’s Apocalypse is addressed to the churches in Asia Minor (as do Rev 2–3), the possibility that some unbelieving gentiles had access to it should not be excluded for the following reasons: (1) Though Revelation and the rest of New Testament writings were addressed to the churches (or to specific Christ followers), it does not follow that only Christ followers had access to these writings; (2) Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:23 mentions the possibility of unbelievers (ἄπιστοι, notice the plural) entering a worship gathering of Christians; there is no reason to think that this state of affairs was unique to Corinth; (3) John expected his Christian hearers to bear witness to what he saw and heard;14 The best way for them to do that would be to expose unbelievers to his written words; (4) The role of social networks and guild associations in daily life in Asia Minor suggests that gentile converts might have had many opportunities to expose those in their networks to the content of Revelation;15 13. See G. K. Beale, Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Exegesis and Interpretation (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012), 10. See also Grant R. Osborne, Revelation, BECNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 311, and Steve Friesen, “Sarcasm in Revelation 2–3: Churches, Christians, True Jews, and Satanic Synagogues,” in Barr, Reality of Apocalypse, 137. 14. Cf. Rev 2:13; 6:9; 11:3, 7; 12:11, 17; 19:10. 15. On associations, local settings, and social networks in the Greco-Roman context of the first century, see Richard S. Ascough, Philip A. Harland, and John S. Kloppenborg, Associations in the Greco-Roman World: A Sourcebook (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012); Philip A. Harland, Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations: Claiming a Place in Ancient Mediterranean Society (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003); John S. Kloppenborg and Stephen G. Wilson, eds., Voluntary Associations in the Graeco-Roman World (London; New York: Routledge, 1996); Colin J. Hemer, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting, new ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986); Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries (New York: HarperOne, 1997).

5

1. A Better Way for the Nations

5

(5) Though the word “nation” sounds rather generic to a modern ear, the Greek word ἔθνος, at least in some contexts, addressed a specific group of people, who would identify with the word, much like saying “you Westerners” today addresses a specific, albeit broad, audience. This identification can be seen in texts like Ephesians 2:11 (ὑμεῖς τὰ ἔθνη, “you Gentiles”) and 3:1 (ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν τῶν ἐθνῶν, “on behalf of you Gentiles”) (cf. also Rom 11:13; 15:11). How such a person might hear John’s message concerning the nations is hardly ever explored in the literature.16 This monograph, second, treats with care the ways in which Jesus is and is not portrayed as the shepherd of the nations. Though Revelation repeats the shepherding metaphor with variation three times (Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15), in different contexts, and at strategic places in the narrative, nearly every interpreter has failed to give due consideration to this powerful, identity-defining metaphor. The theological, missional, and pastoral implications of the study are significant, given that the church is entrusted by Christ with authority to shepherd the nations (Rev 2:26–27).

State of Research I have grouped into five categories the main views concerning the nations in commentaries, monographs, and scholarly articles. Each view is assessed after the chosen scholars’ contributions have been described.17

16. Stephen Pattemore, The People of God in the Apocalypse: Discourse, Structure and Exegesis, SNTSMS 128 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 65n. 36, sees a wider group as the audience of Revelation than the members of the seven churches, based on the title and some elements of the ending. John Christopher Thomas, The Apocalypse: A Literary and Theological Commentary (Cleveland, OH: CPT Press, 2012) and Thomas, “New Jerusalem and the Conversion of the Nations: An Exercise in Pneumatic Discernment (Rev 21:1–22:5),” in The Spirit and Christ in the New Testament and Christian Theology: Essays in Honor of Max Turner, ed. I. Howard Marshall, Cornelis Bennema, and Volker Rabens (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012), 228–45, pays attention to the rhetorical effect on the hearer of Revelation. However, his focus is mainly on the Christian hearer. Similarly, the study of Peter Antonysamy Abir, The Cosmic Conflict of the Church: An Exegetico-Theological Study of Revelation 12, 7–12 (New York: Peter Lang, 1995), analyzes the rhetorical function of John’s vision, but, again, the focus is squarely on the church (see pp. 251–306). Cf. also Sean Michael Ryan, Hearing at the Boundaries of Vision: Education Informing Cosmology in Revelation 9, LNTS 448 (London: T&T Clark, 2012), for a study on the hypothetical responses to Revelation 9 of two ancient hearer-constructs, based on their level of Greek education. Jewish non-Christians, though surely a part of the flesh-and-blood audience of Revelation in various settings, are not the focus of the present study. 17. The exceptions to this format are the assessments of Bauckham and McNicol, which follow immediately after each of their views because, in the case of Bauckham, the assessment is more substantial.

6

6

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

The Church Becomes the Nations (or the Nations Are Severely Judged) On this view, the nations are severely judged or destroyed throughout the book of Revelation. The nations that appear in the new creation (Rev 21:24–26; 22:2) are the saints. On the whole, John did not hold an outlook of hope for the nations. For example, Martin Kiddle, in the early twentieth century, writes, “The notion of universal conversion of the heathen . . . did not agree with John’s views of the future. The conversion which he foresees is an exceedingly grim one; he sees mankind quailing at the sight of an angry God.”18 Who then are the nations in the New Jerusalem? “Not the heathen, certainly . . . The nations are the redeemed.”19 The prophetic traditions that led John to write “all nations will come and worship you” (Rev 15:4) must come true but not in true worship from the heart, but in homage and self-abasement, “for John was quite confident that the nations would cleave to Antichrist.”20 G. K. Beale is more nuanced than Kiddle in his discussion of the nations, but he arrives at a similar conclusion. Beale’s view of the nations at the end of Revelation is succinctly captured by this statement, “21:24–26 represents the peoples redeemed from the nations throughout the inaugurated end-time age of the church (including the very end of the age), who now inherit the earth and reign in place of the peoples who have shown allegiance to Babylon and the beast.”21 The nations in the final chapters of Revelation are presumably the same group in Revelation 5:9 and 7:9 from which the redeemed were gathered. He also characterizes the nations in various sections of his commentary as “the evil nations” because Daniel portrays them in like fashion.22 Eckhard J. Schnabel produced a long article in which he sought to refute Bauckham’s thesis with regard to the nations in The Climax of Prophecy.23 Schnabel’s negative view of the nations in Revelation features three major elements. First, Schnabel does not allow even for an evangelistic mission to the nations in much of the Apocalypse.24 Second, in some of the more positive texts of a response 18. Martin Kiddle, The Revelation of St. John (New York: Harper, 1940), 438. 19. Ibid., 439. 20. Ibid., 309. 21. G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, NIGTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999), 1101. 22. Cf. ibid., 44–5, 531. For a critique of Beale’s overreliance on Daniel for his understanding of Revelation, see Jean-Pierre Ruiz, Ezekiel in the Apocalypse: The Transformation of Prophetic Language in Revelation 16,17–19,10, European University Studies Series 23/376 (New York: Lang, 1989), 123–8. 23. Eckhard Schnabel, “John and the Future of the Nations,” BBR 12, no. 2 (2002): 243–71. 24. Ibid., 253. Schnabel does not agree with Bauckham that John envisions a conversion of the nations, and he interprets the ἐπὶ in Rev 10:11 as “prophesy” against (not the more positive to or the more neutral about) “many peoples, and nations, and languages and kings.” See Chapter 4 in this book for a discussion of Rev 10:11 and the translation of ἐπὶ.

7

1. A Better Way for the Nations

7

in worship, Schnabel sees only forced praise.25 Third, Schnabel, like most other interpreters, lumps the nations together with every other descriptor of humankind in Revelation, except the saints. Assessment There are other interpreters who hold the position that the church becomes the nations in Revelation 21–22.26 Proponents of this view rightly take seriously the language of exclusion from the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:8, 27 and 22:11, 15. They do not make the mistake of those who affirm universalism (see Mathias Rissi and Jeffrey Vogelgesang below), nor do they imagine a separate group other than the historic people of God in the new creation.27 Ulrich Müller, for example, concludes who the nations and kings of Revelation 21:24–26 are on the basis of Revelation 21:27 and the exclusions of Revelation 21:8 and 22:15.28 In no uncertain terms does John make clear that in the new creation only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life have access to the New Jerusalem. These exegetes are surely correct to bring out the force of the exclusions in these verses. However, three major issues make this view less than satisfactory. First, to say that the redeemed “become”29 the nations in the new earth does not agree with the

25. Ibid., 254. In the context, Schnabel is contesting whether Rev 11:13 describes true worship. Chapters 4 and 5 in this book address Rev 11:13 and 15:3–4, respectively, and the question of forced worship. 26. Notable ones include Robert H. Gundry, “The New Jerusalem: People as Place, Not Place for People,” NovT 29, no. 3 (1987): 254–64; Osborne, Revelation; George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1972); Ulrich B. Müller, Die Offenbarung Des Johannes, 2nd ed. (Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Echter Verlag, 1995); Resseguie, Revelation of John; Alan F. Johnson, “Revelation,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 12 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1981); Dennis E. Johnson, Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2001). While all these scholars interpret the nations in Rev 21–22 as the redeemed, not all view the judgment of the nations throughout Rev 1–20 in equally severe terms. 27. The latter point is one of the weaknesses with Bauckham’s thesis, whereby he envisions a large conversion of the nations, separate from the eschatological Israel (the church), but not the conversion of “each and every human being” (cf. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 313). More on this point below. 28. Müller, Die Offenbarung Des Johannes, 362. He says, “Es genügt nicht, hier nur die Universalität der vollendeten Gottesgemeinde demonstriert zu finden (Vögtle). Es muß schon gesagt werden, in welchem Sinne dies gemeint ist. Ver 27 stellt klar: . . . nur die erlösten Frommen, die im Lebensbuch des Lammes verzeichnet sind.” “It is not enough simply to find the universality of the completed community of God demonstrated here (Vögtle). It should be noted in what sense this is meant. Verse 27 makes clear: . . . only the redeemed saints who are included in the book of life of the Lamb [will enter into the New Jerusalem]” (author’s translation). 29. “Become” is exactly the way Gundry describes it. Cf. Gundry, “People as Place,” 263.

8

8

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

remaining occurrences of τὰ ἔθνη in Revelation 1–20 (some twenty times).30 Given John’s consistency it seems advisable to allow the nations as literary character to remain separate from the redeemed in Revelation 21–22, even if the identity of both the nations and the redeemed in the new creation cannot be other than those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev 21:27). Put another way, to say that the redeemed become the nations seems to imply that nothing would be lost had John left out the references to the nations and kings in Revelation 21–22. But there might be important literary, tradition-historical, and theological reasons John sought to include the nations in his final chapters.31 Second, the characterization of the nations in Revelation 1–20 by those interpreters surveyed above tends to be only negative and flat. Interpreters lump together the various terms John employs for humanity (e.g., “the kings of the earth,” “the dwellers on the earth,” “the nations,” “those marked by the beast,” etc.), and the result is a binary grid through which Revelation is then understood: the redeemed are good, the nations/kings/earth-dwellers are evil.32 Yet, in Revelation the earth-dwellers are always negatively portrayed, the kings of the earth are mostly negatively portrayed, but the presentation of the nations is mixed, and, it is the contention of this study, quite complex. Third, the binary grid mentioned above makes no room for the gentile hearer whose allegiance to Jesus or to the beast is not finally fixed. Schnabel is typical when in his conclusion he says that John envisions two fellowships in the history of humankind: the fellowship of the Lamb and the fellowship of those associated with and controlled by evil powers.33 But things, in life and in Revelation, are not quite as black and white. John holds out hope for the hearer not yet irrevocably marked by the beast; he or she may yet come and take of the water of life without price. Likewise, the group of the fellowship of the followers of the Lamb is not as static as Schnabel characterizes it. From the early chapters of Revelation,

30. Cf. G. B. Caird, A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John the Divine, 1st ed. (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), 279. 31. Jan Fekkes, Isaiah and Prophetic Traditions in the Book of Revelation: Visionary Antecedents and Their Development, JSNTSS 93 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994), 269n. 124, notes, “Despite the theological problems posed by the presence of the nations and kings in the New Jerusalem, one should not interpret them apart from John’s consistent use of these categories as collective symbols designating those formerly in opposition to God’s kingdom. They are political terms of reference which should not be completely spiritualized. Even if they are somewhat idealized, they are not abstract.” 32. Making a different point, this is precisely the way Heikki Räisänen, “The Clash between Christian Styles of Life in the Book of Revelation,” in Mighty Minorities? Minorities in Early Christianity—Positions and Strategies, ed. David Hellholm, Halvor Moxnes, and Turid Karlsen Seim (Oslo: Scandinavian University Press, 1995), 151–66, reads Revelation. Regarding “John’s black-and-white stance,” he says, “All non-Christians are demonized,” 164–5. 33. Schnabel, “John and the Future of the Nations,” 270.

9

1. A Better Way for the Nations

9

John warns those in the churches of Asia Minor who are not holding fast to the testimony of Jesus. They are in danger of migrating into the trap of their enemy, the devil. Christopher Rowland is more attuned to John’s layered work when he says “as the letters to the seven churches indicate, who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out’ is not at all clear.”34 Thus, in reality there are not two fellowships but four discernable groups in the Apocalypse: (1) the victorious saints; (2) those in the church who compromise; (3) those who receive the mark of the beast; and (4) those outside who are invited and accept the offer to follow the Lamb.35 But the one who receives the least attention in the literature is the last group: the hearer who belongs to the nations and who, on hearing John’s warning and invitation in his apocalyptic vision, might yet decide to follow the Lamb. It is to this type of gentile hearer, who would become the majority of the church in the next two hundred years, that the subplot of the nations in Revelation would be most relevant. Thoroughgoing Universalism On this view, everyone will finally receive salvation. God is making all things new (Rev 21:5), which means that perhaps even Satan has a chance of redemption. Those in the lake of fire are envisioned as streaming into the New Jerusalem. According to Mathias Rissi, the nations in Jewish apocalyptic works are portrayed merely as “the framework of the history of God’s people,” whereas in Revelation the nations “gain an independent significance,” that is, they are given “a genuine promise of salvation.”36 Thus, Rissi concludes that the promise of salvation ultimately reaches every single person. Rissi takes everything outside the New Jerusalem to be the lake of fire, the second death.37 Since Revelation 21:24–26 has the kings bringing the glory of the nations into the New Jerusalem (φέρω + εἰς), Rissi concludes that John is announcing “nothing less than that even for this world of the lost the doors remain open!”38 The kings—who throughout Revelation opposed God and his church and were later destroyed under Christ’s word and consigned to the lake of fire—are the same kings whom John sees coming through the gates of the holy city. Rissi argues

34. Christopher Rowland, “The Lamb and the Beast, the Sheep and the Goats: ‘The Mystery of Salvation’ in Revelation,” in A Vision for the Church: Studies in Early Christian Ecclesiology in Honour of J. P. M. Sweet, ed. Markus Bockmuehl and Michael B. Thompson (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1997), 189. 35. The case for how hearers in groups (2) and (4) above might have heard John’s vision for the nations is made in Chapters 3–7 in this book. 36. Mathias Rissi, The Future of the World: An Exegetical Study of Revelation 19.11– 22.15, SBT 23 (Naperville, IL: Allenson, 1966), 13. 37. Ibid., 74; cf. 68: “This latter passage [Rev 21:8], moreover, makes clear how John conceives of the ‘outside’: an existence in the lake of fire.” 38. Ibid.

10

10

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

that these kings have been “freed from the judgment of the lake of fire.”39 Even (evil) superhuman powers, Rissi speculates, have perhaps a place in the new order of things since such powers are a part of created reality and in Revelation 21:5 God announces, “Behold, I am making all things new.”40 Influenced by Rissi, Vogelgesang sees all existence outside the New Jerusalem as consisting of the lake of fire. However, he does not argue for such understanding but simply cites Rissi.41 Therefore, when Revelation 21:24–26 announces that the nations and kings of the earth come into the New Jerusalem, he concludes that what John is depicting is “a constant flow of the former outsiders and enemies of God from the lake of fire into the New Jerusalem after the final judgment of Rev 20:11–15.”42 For Vogelgesang, the implication of having the nations and kings come into the New Jerusalem is that even Babylon will be redeemed.43 On entering the holy city, the enemies are transformed by the glory of God. He insists, “The enemies who enter the city simply do not remain enemies.”44 All that is required is that these enemies who reside in the lake of fire respond to the beckoning of the holy city.45 Assessment The foundation of Rissi’s argument is the premise that in John’s conception of the new order everything outside the New Jerusalem is the lake of fire. His logic goes like this. Since everything outside the New Jerusalem is the lake of fire, and since the nations and kings stream into the New Jerusalem (from the outside), they must therefore be those who were consigned to the lake of fire. Vogelgesang simply states what Rissi implied: John envisions a constant flow from the lake of fire into the New Jerusalem. However, in the vision of Revelation 21–22, to say that there are those who live outside the New Jerusalem (implied by the coming of the nations and kings into the New Jerusalem) and that those “outside” are under judgment (Rev 22:15) is not the same as saying that everything outside the New Jerusalem is a place of judgment. John never makes such a statement. John’s focus in Revelation 21–22 is on the New Jerusalem, but he first establishes the existence of a new earth, on which the New Jerusalem descends (Rev 21:1–2). There is no textual warrant to deduce that everything in the new earth, save the New Jerusalem, is the lake of fire.46 In fact,

39. Ibid., 78. 40. Ibid., 81. 41. Jeffrey M. Vogelgesang, “The Interpretation of Ezekiel in the Book of Revelation” (PhD diss., Harvard University, 1985), 103. 42. Ibid., 104. 43. Ibid., 105, 112. 44. Ibid., 107. 45. Beale, Revelation, 1099, takes issue with Rissi’s and Vogelgesang’s “overly literal interpretation of the picture of continually opened gates” (emphasis original). 46. Cf. Osborne, Revelation, 731–2, for a discussion of Old Testament texts, including Isa 2:1–5, which picture Jerusalem as the center—but not the entirety—of the world in the last days.

11

1. A Better Way for the Nations

11

even the redeemed are portrayed as entering the city by the gates (Rev 22:14). Is one to suppose that they are entering the city from the lake of fire? Vogelgesang argues that the judged enemies become holy on entering the holy city. But this argument is problematic. Surprisingly, he bases his argument on Revelation 21:27 (καὶ οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθῃ εἰς αὐτὴν πᾶν κοινὸν, “and nothing unclean will ever enter into it”).47 Vogelgesang says that this verse is “an assertion of the redemption of any of the former enemies who venture into the New Jerusalem.”48 In other words, all that is required to have access to the New Jerusalem is for those in the lake of fire to “venture” into it, to “respond to the invitation (Rev 22:14, 15, 17).”49 However, Revelation 22:14 is a macarism that functions rhetorically as an invitation to οἱ πλύνοντες τὰς στολὰς αὐτῶν (“the ones who wash their robes”). Revelation 22:17 addresses ὁ διψῶν (“the one who is thirsty”) in the author’s present. Likewise, Revelation 22:15 is a stern warning to the hearers, not in the lake of fire, but in the author’s present.50 Therefore, these admonitions make little sense under Vogelgesang’s interpretation. Further, when Vogelgesang speculates that even Babylon will be redeemed, he has disregarded the narrative logic and rhetorical impact of Revelation 18. Babylon οὐ μὴ εὑρεθῇ ἔτι (“will be found no more,” Rev 18:21). Likewise, Rissi hazards that even superhuman powers (i.e., the devil and its agents) might be embraced by the promise of salvation; John simply did not address himself to the issue because his concern, in regard to salvation, was people. But to miss the narrative force of the destruction of Babylon, the beasts, and, finally, the dragon, is to misread the composition at the most basic level. Bauckham says of Rissi and others, “From 21:8, 27; 22:15, it is quite clear that unrepentant sinners have no place in the New Jerusalem. Attempts to see Revelation as predicting universal salvation . . . strain the text intolerably.”51 If Revelation envisions those in the lake of fire dwelling in the New Jerusalem, Babylon being redeemed, and even Satan being saved, then texts can mean anything, which is to say, they mean nothing.

47. Vogelgesang never addresses Rev 21:27 and the requirement for inhabitants of the New Jerusalem to have their names written in the book of life. Conversely, those in the lake of fire are not in the book of life (Rev 20:15), which means they cannot enter the holy city. All translations are the author’s unless otherwise noted. 48. Vogelgesang, “The Interpretation of Ezekiel,” 106. 49. Ibid., 107. 50. The exhortations in Revelation’s epilogue, usually considered to encompass Rev 22:6–21, are addressed to the churches (Rev 22:16), i.e., to the historical hearer addressed in Rev 1:4 (cf. Koester, Revelation, 847). For Vogelgesang to take the exhortations in Rev 22:14, 15, 17, as intended for the person in the lake of fire shows no sensibility to the literary features of the book. For a list of the many parallels between Revelation’s prologue and epilogue, see Barr, Tales of the End, 18. 51. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 313.

12

12

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

Large-Scale Conversion of the Nations On this view, John envisions a large-scale conversion of the nations toward the end of history. This conversion of the nations is separate from the gathering of the saints through the historical church. Bauckham and Allan McNicol arrive at their conclusions through different methods. Bauckham’s thesis and arguments in “The Conversion of the Nations”52 have been reviewed by various interpreters.53 Without repeating all those arguments here, this review focuses mainly on the way Bauckham has framed the issue of the nations and on some problems with his argument. Bauckham seeks to demonstrate that “the question of the conversion of the nations—not only whether it will take place but also how it will take place— is at the centre of the prophetic message of Revelation.”54 He proposes that the conversion of the nations will come, not through judgment, but through the prophetic witness of the church, even to the point of martyrdom. His argument hinges almost entirely on Revelation 11:13, though he finds confirmation in Revelation 14:14–16 and 15:4.55 Bauckham rightly wrestles with the presence of the nations in Revelation 21–22 without explaining their presence by collapsing the nations into the church. Further, he sees hope for the nations in Revelation beyond their appearance in the final chapters. His exegetical effort is a muchneeded corrective to the work of interpreters who see mostly judgment for the nations in the Apocalypse.56 Nevertheless, there are three issues with Bauckham’s overall thesis.57 First, Bauckham’s definition of the conversion of the nations runs into problems on his own standards. There are two key aspects to his definition. (1) The prophetic witness and martyrdom of the church accomplish the conversion of the nations. (He makes this point based on Rev 11:3–13).58 (2) The conversion of the nations 52. In Climax of Prophecy, 238–337. 53. See Schnabel, “John and the Future of the Nations,” 243–71; Herms, An Apocalypse for the Church, 37–42, 139–45; McNicol, The Conversion of the Nations, 7–12; Garrow, Revelation, 26–32; Marko Jauhiainen, “ΑΠΟΚΑΛΥΨΙΣ ΙΗΣΟΥ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ (Rev. 1:1): The Climax of John’s Prophecy?” TynBul 54, no. 1 (2003): 105–9. 54. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 238. 55. What is at issue is not that Bauckham takes Rev 11:13, οἱ λοιποὶ ἔμφοβοι ἐγένοντο καὶ ἔδωκαν δόξαν τῷ θεῷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (“The rest became afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven”), as describing true repentance. Many commentators agree (see Chapter 4). The issue is the larger formulation that Bauckham builds on Rev 11:13. 56. See review of Kiddle, Beale, and Schnabel above. 57. Schnabel, “John and the Future of the Nations,” 243–71, offers the most comprehensive (though not always persuasive) engagement with Bauckham’s exegesis of Rev 11:13; 14:14–16; and 15:4. 58. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 274, concerning Rev 11:3–13, says, “The story serves to show how it is that the prophetic witness of the church in the final period before the end can achieve a result which the prophecy of the past has not achieved: the conversion of the nations to the worship of the one true God.”

13

1. A Better Way for the Nations

13

refers not merely to the worship of God by many people from the nations, but also to the transfer of dominion from the beast to Jesus Christ.59 The problem with this definition is that Revelation 11:3–13 does not address the transfer of dominion from the beast to Jesus Christ. Therefore, by Bauckham’s own standards, the defining principles he has set up are incompatible. At most what Revelation 11:3–13 narrates is the turning of many (οἱ λοιποὶ) to give glory to God. In other words, Revelation 11:13 describes (granted, with a different emphasis) what Revelation 5:9 and 7:9 did: the innumerable crowd from every nation that worships the true God. But no one argues (Bauckham included) that the beast is defeated in Revelation 11:3–13. Rather, the transfer of sovereignty in Revelation 11 takes place at verse 15, after the blowing of the seventh trumpet. Bauckham agrees.60 For this reason, a choice must be made. The nations are converted either when their dominion is transferred to Christ at the last judgment (Rev 11:15) or when many turn to God as a result of the church’s witness (Rev 11:3–13). The latter idea simply reinforces the point Revelation 7:9 made. In short, in Revelation the nations are susceptible to the dragon’s deception all the way up until he is cast into the lake of fire (Rev 20:3, 8, 10). Since Bauckham made the transfer of the nations’ dominion part of his definition of their conversion, by his definition the conversion of the nations could not have taken place during the final period of history. Second, hope of conversion for the nations and narrated conversion are two different things. Bauckham says, “God’s kingdom will come, not simply by the deliverance of the church and the judgment of the nations, but primarily by the repentance of the nations as a result of the church’s witness.”61 While it is true that John displays a great hope for the nations (e.g., Rev 5:9; 7:9; 15:4; 21:24–26; 22:2), one looks in vain for clear statements of repentance on the part of the nations. (Rev 11:13 might be a possible exception.) As mentioned above, in Revelation 20:8, the last verse that features the nations prior to the new creation, the nations are once again deceived by the dragon.62 For this reason, the language of “conversion” might

59. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 330, says, “Reading Daniel 7:14, as John must have read it, we are led to expect something more: the transfer of dominion over the nations themselves from the beast to Jesus Christ.” Jauhiainen, “(Rev. 1:1): The Climax of John’s Prophecy?,” 107n. 36, points out that in Dan 7, the transfer of sovereignty takes place “after, and as a result of, the judgment (i.e., Rev. 20; cf. Dn. 7:9–14, 22, 26–27), whereas Bauckham appears to expect this transfer to take place through the conversion of the nations before the beast is defeated in Rev. 19” (emphasis original). Cf. also Ernest Lucas, Daniel, AOTC (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2002), 201, who sees “the idea of the final establishment of God’s rule” in Dan 7. 60. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 203, 330. 61. Ibid., 258. 62. Bauckham himself says that Rev 11:1–2, like Rev 11:3–13, are “both elaborations of the Danielic prophecy of this final period of world history” (cf. Climax of Prophecy, 267). If his understanding is correct, Rev 11:1–2 clearly shows the nations entrenched in antagonism against the people of God until the very end.

14

14

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

mislabel what John is doing with the nations.63 A better course might be not to focus on the nations’ conversion, but on their dilemma in the dragon’s grip during the church age. Third, Bauckham sees two strategies in Revelation: one to gather the church and another to gather the nations. He says:“The Lamb’s conquest, which had the initial effect of redeeming the church from all the nations, has the aim of bringing all the nations to repentance and worship of God.”64 Later on he says, “The immediate effect of the Lamb’s own victory was that his bloody sacrifice redeemed a people for God. But the intended ultimate effect is that this people’s participation in his sacrifice, through martyrdom, wins all the peoples for God.”65 A weakness of this formulation is that it views Revelation 5:9 and 7:9 (the church gathered from all nations) as something already done, the next step being the conversion of the nations. But clearly Revelation 5:9 and 7:9 are proleptic, both narratively and historically.66 The church from all nations, as Revelation was heard in the first century, was not yet a reality. If Revelation narrates a conversion of the nations (a proposal that has not persuaded many interpreters), this conversion would take place simultaneously as the church from all nations is gathered. Even if John at times presents the church from a place of victory and completion (e.g., Rev 7:1–17; 14:1–5; 15:2–4, etc.), Revelation 2 and 3 make it clear that the present reality of the church is anything but victorious. The Christians must persevere to the end, and their number must yet be completed (cf. also Rev 6:11). It is this understanding—of the initial and ultimate effect of the Lamb’s victory—that leads Bauckham to posit two different strategies for the church and for the nations. The church is gathered as a result of the Lamb’s victory; the nations are converted as a result of the church’s suffering and martyrdom. Thus, Bauckham summarizes his view of the nations, saying, “The history of the covenant people— both of the one nation Israel and of the church which is redeemed from all the

63. John Christopher Thomas, “New Jerusalem and the Conversion of the Nations: An Exercise in Pneumatic Discernment (Rev 21:1–22:5),” in The Spirit and Christ in the New Testament and Christian Theology: Essays in Honor of Max Turner, ed. I. Howard Marshall, Cornelis Bennema, and Volker Rabens (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012), 244–5, speaks of the conversion of the nations while maintaining that the process of conversion is not narrated. He says, “Though the hearers come away from the Apocalypse with the knowledge that the conversion of the nations is a foregone conclusion, they never learn at which point such a conversion takes place or even how it occurs” (cf. also p. 243). 64. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 258. 65. Ibid., 306. 66. Koester, Revelation, 430, brings out both the temporal and literary aspects of Rev 7 when he says, “The description of salvation in Rev 7:1–17 anticipates the final vision of New Jerusalem in 21:1–22:5. The principal contrast is between the present and the future, not between earthly suffering and heavenly bliss. . . The literary themes in Rev 7 bind this chapter to the new creation and New Jerusalem.”

15

1. A Better Way for the Nations

15

nations—will find its eschatological fulfilment in the full inclusion of all the nations in its own covenant privileges and promises.”67 But problems persist. Bauckham’s schema—that elect Israel, eschatological Israel (the church), and the nations will be found in the new creation—works well at the narrative level. That is, John importantly features the presence of the nations in the new creation, given his literary and theological concern to show God’s ultimate plan for the nations. But Revelation 21:27 is clear that only those whose names are written in the book of life of the Lamb can enter into the New Jerusalem. In the new creation the church from all nations and the nations minus the unrepentant are two ways of describing the same reality: the covenant peoples of God who belong in the book of life. Put another way, the church and the nations make it into the new creation by two different literary tracks but not by two different historical strategies. Lastly, Bauckham is not clear about what he means by “the full inclusion of the nations” in the new creation, in addition to the church, but not the inclusion of every human being. He does not elaborate on this point.68 But to insist on a twostrategy proposal perpetuates a division between the nations and the covenant people that, though present in the Old Testament and relativized in the New Testament by the Jew-Gentile constituency of the church, is not warranted in the new order. Bauckham himself says that Revelation 21:3 declares all nations to be covenant peoples.69 Bauckham will continue to be a part of the conversation on the nations because, though his thesis is unconvincing, he exegetes the text with great skill. Moreover, he has rightly emphasized the hope John’s vision extends out to the nations. Students of the Apocalypse stand to gain much from his discussions on the nations. McNicol has produced a monograph titled The Conversion of the Nations in Revelation. His starting point is Bauckham’s project. In fact, McNicol frames the issue of the nations in exactly the same way as Bauckham, though he rejects Bauckham’s thesis. Instead, he posits what he has called “eschatological covenantal restitution,” which can be described briefly as follows. After the parousia of Christ come the final judgment and the new order. In the new order God will renew two covenants: the people covenant (after the covenant with David) and the nations covenant (patterned on the Noahic covenant). The faithful people of God during the church age are the inheritors of the people covenant and the center of the New Jerusalem. Conversely, he explains the nations covenant in this way, “The people and tribes who sublimated themselves to Christ at the Parousia will become

67. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 313. Interestingly, John Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ: A Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody, 1966), 327, following very different interpretive methods, also sees three distinct groups in the eternal state: saved Israelites, the church, and “saved Gentiles who are not numbered among either Israel or the church.” 68. Bauckham comments in a footnote that full inclusion of the nations for him (or for John) does not mean every human being (cf. Climax of Prophecy, 313n. 100). 69. Ibid., 312.

16

16

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

participants in a renewed covenant with the nations.”70 These sublimated nations are not the same as the covenant people, nor do they enjoy the same status. John, McNicol holds, has patterned his view of the nations in the end-times after the pilgrimage of the nations motif found in the prophets. That is, “followers of the Lamb, the true Israel, will be joined by proselytes from the nations, formally in alliance with people like Babylon, in giving glory to God.”71 Why does McNicol locate his “covenant with the nations” after the parousia? Because, according to him, John inferred from “texts such as Isaiah 56.1–8; 60.1–22; 66.18–23 and Zechariah 14.1–21 that there were prophecies about the conversion of the nations that were yet to be fulfilled in the last days.”72 These texts could only be fulfilled when Babylon was destroyed and the nations were freed from its yoke. Thus, at the return of Christ, the people who “actively uphold the Roman power structure will be destroyed by Christ, the Divine Warrior. Many ordinary people, held captive by the evil powers, will be freed from the control of Babylon.”73 Note that this group of ordinary people does not refer to the faithful saints. McNicol makes many good exegetical points throughout his work, but there are a number of problems with his argument. First, the covenant with the nations, which is loadbearing for McNicol’s argument, receives no argumentation—only one footnote.74 Second, McNicol holds that the followers of the Lamb are the true Israel, which will be joined by proselytes from the nations. But here he assumes that the categories “Israel” and “nations,” found in John’s traditions from Isaiah, Zechariah, and others, function in the same way in Revelation. Yet, true Israel in the Apocalypse is redeemed from every nation. In Revelation’s context proselytes from the nations are followers of the Lamb, not a separate, eschatological group. Third, like Bauckham, McNicol does not demonstrate why the texts in Isaiah 56, 60, and 66, and Zechariah 14, concerning the nations, cannot be taken to be fulfilled during the church age. Clearly, in the description of the church in Revelation 7:9 John sees multitudes from the nations that no one can number. Fourth, in his interpretation of Revelation 19:11–21 McNicol sees two kinds of unbelievers: those who are destroyed (the bearers of the beast’s mark) and those who are merely defeated (ordinary people held captive by evil powers, but not followers of the Lamb). It is this latter group that, on the appearance of Christ, becomes “compliant,” “suppliant,” “subjugated,” “sublimated” to Christ, and comprises the nations in Revelation 21:24–26.75 However, there is no textual

70. McNicol, Conversion of the Nations, 138. 71. Ibid., 87. 72. Ibid., 103. 73. Ibid., 56. 74. But even in the footnote, on page 103, McNicol does not make a clear argument. On this same point, see Marko Jauhiainen, “Review of The Conversion of the Nations in Revelation, by Allan J. McNicol,” CBQ 75 (2013): 588–9. 75. McNicol uses these words at various places throughout the work to describe the referent of Rev 21:24–26 (cf. Conversion of the Nations, 86, 87, 106, 130, 131).

17

1. A Better Way for the Nations

17

evidence for a group that at Christ’s parousia had not responded to the gospel, was not visited by God’s wrath,76 but was given the opportunity to become subjugated nations under the rule of Christ in the new order. The entire concept is foreign to Revelation and indeed to other New Testament writings. McNicol’s argument rests on the existence of this group, but the group’s second-chance response, predicated on the supposed yet-to-be-fulfilled Isaiah and Zechariah traditions, is untenable. The present study identifies the nations and the beast’s allies as distinct groups in Revelation 19:11–21, but the distinction is literary, not eschatological.77 The Text Is Inconsistent on the Nations On this view, the presence of the nations in Revelation 21–22 is explained through poor editing or the mechanical use of sources and traditions. There is no attempt to consider the implications of the presentation of the nations from beginning to end as Revelation stands. R. H. Charles’s 1920 commentary on Revelation was one of the most influential commentaries in the twentieth century.78 The more Charles studied Revelation, the more convinced he became of the structural unity of Revelation 1:1–20:3, save a few interpolations by an editor. He wrote of “the clear and masterly development in thought, working up steadily to a climax.”79 The final section (Rev 20:4–22:21) came from the same author, with regard to content, but from an unintelligent editor, with regard to arrangement. The main inconsistencies and self-contradictory elements in these final chapters are related to the nations. First, Charles argued, how could a verse like Revelation 22:15, ἔξω οἱ κύνες καὶ οἱ φάρμακοι καὶ οἱ πόρνοι (“Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the

76. Or visited only by a temporary judgment without incurring eternal punishment (cf. McNicol, Conversion of the Nations, 106). 77. See Chapter 6 in this book. Other interpreters, who want to account for an allencompassing ingathering of the nations, without the extreme universalism of Rissi, are Caird, Revelation of St. John; Henry B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John, 3rd ed. (London: Macmillan, 1909); and J. P. M. Sweet, “Maintaining the Testimony of Jesus: The Suffering of Christians in the Revelation of John,” in Suffering and Martyrdom in the New Testament: Studies Presented to G. M. Styler by the Cambridge New Testament Seminar, ed. W. Horbury and B. McNeil, 1st ed. (London: Cambridge University Press, 2009). Walter E. Pilgrim, “Universalism in the Apocalypse,” WW 9 (1989): 235–43, prefers the phrase “universalistic possibility” of salvation. He writes, “[The phrase] neither shuts the door completely to anyone, even the rebellious kings and their deceived followers, nor does it automatically open the door to everyone, regardless of their conduct. It allows the possibility of God’s redemptive goal for all, yet leaves its actuality to God and God alone” (p. 242; emphasis original). 78. R. H. Charles, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John, 2 vols., ICC (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1920). 79. Ibid., 2:147.

18

18

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

sexually immoral . . .”), have a place in the New Jerusalem where there is neither spot nor blemish? Second, why is healing for the nations (Rev 22:2) granted or required in the new order? Third, the presence of the nations and kings bringing their glory into the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:24–26) made absolutely no sense to him. Charles solved the “contradictions” by rearranging the final section. Revelation 21:9–22:2, 14, 15, 17 should come immediately after Revelation 20:3. What this change does is to locate the New Jerusalem as the seat of the millennial kingdom. It is in the millennial kingdom that the nations and kings are evangelized (Rev 21:24–26) and healed from their spiritual ills (Rev 22:2), thus fulfilling the proleptic announcements in Revelation 14:6–7 and 15:4. Otherwise, as the book now stands, “not a single nation is mentioned as being brought beneath [the rule of God’s] sway.”80 Instead, they are consumed in Revelation 20:9–10. David E. Aune takes primarily a negative view of the nations throughout the Apocalypse.81 He finds “an apparently striking inconsistency” in the narration of the destruction of the kings and their armies (Rev 19:17–21 and 20:7–9) and the destruction of the first heaven and earth (Rev 21:1), but then the nations and kings are present in the new creation (Rev 21:24–26).82 Aune’s explanation affords little literary skill and care to John. In essence, the reason these seemingly conflicting visions find their place in John’s vision is because he was working or was familiar with Jewish traditions that possessed both visions. The Jewish traditions that expected the destruction of the gentiles (e.g., Jub. 15:26; 4 Ezra 12:33; 13:38) are reflected in Revelation 19:17–21. In contrast, Revelation 21:24–26 reflects the traditions that expected full gentile participation in the worship of Yahweh and eschatological salvation (e.g., Isa 2:2–4; 56:6–8; Amos 9:12; Tob 13:11; 14:6–7; etc.).83 Finally, Aune has little to say concerning Revelation 22:2 (“the healing of the nations”). The allusion to Ezekiel 47:12 is “simply mechanical.”84 Aune does not consider the potentially rich implications of John’s modification to Ezekiel by adding “the nations.”85

80. Ibid., 2:150. As part of his construal, Charles maintains that there are two descriptions of the holy city. The first presupposes the existence of the present earth and is located in the millennium. The other heavenly city, the eternal city of the new order, is the one described in Rev 21:1–4 and 22:3–5. 81. David E. Aune, Revelation, WBC 52 a, b, c (Dallas, TX: Word, 1997–1998). 82. Ibid., Revelation 17–22, 1171. 83. Ibid., 1172. Aune mentions two other strands of Jewish eschatological expectation concerning the gentiles: the restoration of Israel to the exclusion of other nations and the gentiles as subservient to Israel, making pilgrimage to Jerusalem to pay tribute. 84. Ibid., 1178. 85. Other interpreters who believe that John is inconsistent with his view of the nations, primarily because he failed to reconcile the sources he was working with, are Wilhelm Bousset, Die Offenbarung Johannis (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1906); BeasleyMurray, The Book of Revelation: Based on the Revised Standard Version (London: Butler & Tanner, 1974); Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, rev. ed., NICNT (Grand Rapids,

19

1. A Better Way for the Nations

19

Assessment It was not within the purview of source-critics to wrestle with the inner logic of a literary unit, though this comment hardly applies to Charles and his clever proposal sketched above. Even so, the solutions or explanations offered for the appearance of the nations in Revelation 21–22 are not satisfactory. For example, Robert Mounce explains the presence of the nations by saying, “As John utilized aspects of [the prophets’] visions in portraying the eternal scene he inadvertently retained certain elements that were not entirely appropriate to the new setting.”86 Wilhelm Bousset posits an editor who simply took over traditions that do not quite fit his context.87 However, the apparent or striking contradictions could also be understood within the logic of the text as it stands.88 Without denying the use and influence of traditions and sources, a literary approach to the Apocalypse takes seriously its structural arrangement and narrative development from start to finish and seeks to offer a more satisfying solution to the issue of the nations in Revelation’s denouement. The Language about the Nations Is Rhetorical On this view, John’s language of salvation and judgment for the nations is meant to create a rhetorical tension for the hearer. The scholars under discussion do not articulate the same view of the nations. Rather, their distinct positions hinge on John’s language about the nations and the way he juxtaposes contrasting views of the nations.

MI: Eerdmans, 1997); George W. Buchanan, The Book of Revelation: Its Introduction and Prophecy, MBC 22 (Lewiston, NY: Mellen, 1993). Isbon T. Beckwith, The Apocalypse of John: Studies in Introduction with a Critical and Exegetical Commentary (New York: Macmillan, 1919), 770, speaking about Rev 21:24–26 and 22:2, says, “Incongruities of the kind appearing here lie for the time being entirely beyond the Apocalyptist’s thought. The usage is similar to that found in 6:14; there also the conventional language of apocalyptic is employed, which if taken strictly, would declare the removal of the heavens and earth, though these are in the following visions seen to be in existence.” Ilaria L. E. Ramelli, “Origen’s Interpretation of Violence in the Apocalypse,” in Ancient Christian Interpretations of “Violent Texts” in the Apocalypse, ed. Jozef Verheyden, Tobias Nicklas, and Andreas Merkt, SUNT 92 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011), 56, resolves the “apparent inconsistencies” regarding the nations by positing, after Origen, that the destruction of the nations is “purifying” and “salvific.” What is eliminated is “sin (injustice, irrationality, falsity, and so on).” 86. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 397. 87. Bousset, Die Offenbarung Johannis, 451, 453. 88. e.g., Koester, Revelation, 840, 849, defends the “underlying unity” of the text where others see disorderly composition or editing. Osborne, Revelation, 28–9, considers the possibility of various redaction-critical theories, but in the end finds them speculative. He concludes, “The structure as it is makes a great deal of sense and fits together rather well” (p. 29).

20

20

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

Ronald Herms has addressed the problem of the fate of the nations in Revelation by looking at the function of universal language in Revelation as well as, for comparison purposes, in four selected Jewish apocalypses: Similitudes of Enoch, 4 Ezra, Tobit, and the Animal Apocalypse.89 Herms also pays attention to the narrative trajectory (i.e., overall structure and unifying plot) and to the biblical traditions operative within each of his chosen works. The question Herms sets out to answer is essentially the same as Bauckham’s and McNicol’s, “Will the nations persist in rebellion against God, or does John envision a comprehensive moment of repentance and conversion?”90 Herms concludes that the tension between universalistic hopes and particularistic perspectives is less real than apparent.91 Some of his lines of evidence include the suggestion that John’s use of biblical traditions belongs within an interpretive stream in which universal language functions to vindicate God and his people rather than envision a true conversion of the nations.92 Further, one of the main reasons the kings of the earth are featured in the New Jerusalem vision is because they were highlighted in the Babylon vision. He says, “Their important role in the former vision makes them an obvious choice as an anti-type in John’s communicative strategy.”93 David Mathewson briefly addresses the issue of the nations in Revelation 21–22.94 He evaluates various positions and offers his own understanding. The nations and kings in Revelation 21–22 refer to the same groups as in Revelation 1–20. The categories should not be spiritualized, nor should it be assumed that the church displaces them in the New Jerusalem. The many judgment scenes up to Revelation 20 give the impression that major sections of humanity have been judged and irrevocably destroyed. Further, in light of Revelation 21:8, 27; 22:15, an unqualified universalism (i.e., Rissi, Vogelgesang) cannot be sustained. Juxtaposition of negative and positive statements with regard to the nations, and

89. Throughout his project, Herms discusses “the kings of the earth” more than “the nations.” 90. Herms, An Apocalypse for the Church, 257. 91. Ibid., 170. 92. Herms arrives at this conclusion from his analysis of the Jewish apocalypses. He says, “This vindication was depicted variously: as positive (though qualified) response to God (4 Ezra 6.25–28; 1 En. 50; 90.30, 33); in scenes of God’s judgment over the nations (4 Ezra 13.5–11; 1 En. 48.4–5, 8–10; 62–63; 90.18–19); in descriptions of the restoration of Israel and Jerusalem (Tob 13.11–17; 4 Ezra 10.27, 39–56; 1 En. 90.28–29, 33); and, through Gentile acknowledgment of the supremacy of Israel’s faith (1 En. 62–63; 90.30; Tob 14.5–6),” ibid., 258. 93. Ibid., 253. 94. Dave Mathewson, A New Heaven and a New Earth: The Meaning and Function of the Old Testament in Revelation 21.1–22.5, JSNTSS 238 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2003), 158–85, especially 170–5. See also David Mathewson, “The Destiny of the Nations in Revelation 21:1–22:5: A Reconsideration,” TB 53, no. 1 (2002): 121–42.

21

1. A Better Way for the Nations

21

the inherent tension therein, appears in various Old Testament texts, particularly in the prophets and psalms.95 In light of these considerations, Mathewson concludes, I would suggest that the effect of this tension in John’s vision is primarily rhetorical: by juxtaposing pictures of absolute judgment and salvation the writer contrasts the opposing options that confront the nations—judgment and destruction for those who persist in rebellion, and salvation and a share in the New Jerusalem for those who repent and give God glory.96

Thus, Mathewson highlights the hortatory nature of the visions. Both must be given equal priority; neither supersedes the other. M. Eugene Boring includes a section at the end of his commentary, where he articulates his view on John’s visions of salvation and judgment.97 He clearly defines what he means by universal and limited salvation. Universal salvation means that “all human beings will finally be redeemed.” Limited salvation means that “only those who prior to their death are converted to Christ as Lord will finally be saved.”98 John, like Boring, holds “no one consistent view. Neither group of texts can be subordinated to the other.”99 The message of Revelation is to be found, not in resolving the tension, but precisely in holding the tension. Assessment These three interpreters make very different proposals regarding the nations. But in a sense, their explanations, all in different expressions, propose that the tensions in regard to the nations are simply part of John’s rhetorical strategy. For Herms the presence of the nations in Revelation 21–22 is not really about the nations. John’s primary concern lies with the vindication of God and his people. Yet, the vindication of God and his people is clearly narrated in Revelation 19–20 with the victory over Babylon, the wedding feast of the Lamb, the destruction of the beast and his allies, the millennial reign, and the final judgment. From a literary standpoint, the conclusion of the book with the New Jerusalem, as a counterpoint to Babylon, is much more satisfying. But if the vindication of God and his people was John’s main point, he could have ended at Revelation 20. The point is made loud and clear. Thus, when Herms opts for vindication as an explanation for the

95. e.g., Ezek 38–39 describes universal destruction, while texts like Isa 2:2–5; 60:1–16; and Zech 14:16–19 point to universal salvation. 96. Ibid., 174–5. 97. M. Eugene Boring, Revelation: Interpretation; A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1989), 226–31. Boring comments on John’s overall eschatological outlook rather than making a specific argument about the nations. 98. Ibid., 226–7. 99. Ibid., 228 (emphasis original).

22

22

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

presence of the nations in the new creation, he does not get us any closer to the core dynamics at work. Mathewson is more balanced in his statements, but his short proposal does not go far enough.100 To say that John lays two options before the hearer— options that must be fully weighed and not minimized—lacks literary specificity. Wisdom literature, the psalms, the Gospels, perhaps even the majority of classic texts, present the hearer with (at least) two options. More probing would be to underscore how these options function within the larger narrative. The contention of this study is that the crux of the matter for the nations lies precisely in the contrasting forces that John unveils. Boring clarifies his terms at the beginning of his discussion.101 But in his definitions, he imports meaning into John’s visions and pictures that John might have disavowed. When Boring says that universal salvation means that “all human beings will finally be redeemed by God’s unconditional grace manifest in Jesus Christ” and then says that John “offers us word pictures of both universal and limited salvation,” he has imported his specific definition to the texts he adduces for universal salvation: Revelation 1:7; 4:3; 5:13; 15:4; 21:5; 21:22–22:3. But interpreters do not agree on whether Revelation 1:7, for example, should be taken as a positive or negative response to Jesus, let alone as a statement that every single person will finally be redeemed.102 Similarly, Revelation 4:3 does make reference to the rainbow and may thereby activate allusions to the covenant with creation in the Noah episode, but this is a far cry from implying that all human beings will be saved. Boring says, “John deals in pictures, not theological concepts,”103 a disjunction not espoused in the present work. Nevertheless, Boring has superimposed a theological concept over John’s pictures, and a very rigid one at that. Moreover, an author’s use of all-encompassing language may have the purpose of intensifying his message through omitting, ignoring, or erasing aspects of a reality, and not simply affirming totality without exception.104

100. Koester, Revelation, 227, and Thomas, “New Jerusalem and the Conversion of the Nations,” 228–45, deal with the nations in a similar manner as does Mathewson. They bring out the two contrasting options John lays before the hearer. Cf. also Susan Hylen, “Metaphor Matters: Violence and Ethics in Revelation,” CBQ 73, no. 4 (2011): 777–96. 101. Part of the confusion surrounding the issue of the nations in Revelation is the imprecise but ubiquitous use of the word “universal” in discussions of John’s visions. Throughout the present work the word “universal” is closer to “large-scale” or “worldencompassing” as opposed to “particularistic” or “limited to one’s group.” The word is not taken to mean that John envisioned the conversion of every human being to the Christian faith. 102. For a negative interpretation of this verse, see Aune, Revelation 1–5, 58–9, and for a positive take, Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 318–26. 103. Boring, Revelation, 227. 104. See, e.g., Luis A. Schökel and Cecilia Carniti, Salmos II: Traducción, Introducciones Y Comentario, 3ra ed. (Estella, Navarra: Editorial Verbo Divino, 2002), 1230, on the use of

23

1. A Better Way for the Nations

23

Summary of Views on the Nations The following five positions on the nations in Revelation have been surveyed:105 (1) The church becomes the nations: The nations are severely judged or destroyed throughout the book of Revelation. The nations that appear in the new creation are the saints (Rev 21:24–26; 22:2). (2) Thoroughgoing universalism: Everyone will finally receive salvation, perhaps even Satan. (3) Large-scale conversion of the nations: John envisions a large-scale conversion of the nations toward the end of history. This conversion of the nations is separate from the gathering of the saints through the historical church. (4) The text is inconsistent on the nations: The presence of the nations in Revelation 21–22 is explained through poor editing or the mechanic use of sources and traditions. (5) The language about the nations is rhetorical: John’s language of salvation and judgment for the nations is meant to create a rhetorical tension for the hearer. View (1) takes seriously the language of exclusion in Revelation 21–22 along with the language of judgment throughout Revelation. But the explanation that the church becomes the nations in the new creation goes against John’s consistent usage in Revelation 1–20. This view also suffers from an overly negative and flat assessment of the nations when John’s portrayal is more complex. View (2) does away with the language of exclusion. View (3) corrects some of the flat readings of view (1) and finds more hope for the nations in Revelation. But the language of “conversion” is unhelpful, given that up to Revelation 20, the very end of the present age, the nations are deceived by Satan. View (4) explains the presence of the nations in the new creation, not through a literary or theological proposal, but rather through the clumsy hand of an editor or the use of traditions not skillfully reconciled. View (5) is right in what

universal language in Psalm 96. In order to highlight God’s serene and universal reign, the authors aver, the psalmist erases the dramatic moments of struggle. 105. Other scholars show hope for the nations but are too brief in their comments: Jurgen Roloff, Revelation: A Continental Commentary, trans. John E. Alsup, 1st Fortress ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1993); Barr, Tales of the End; Robert W. Wall, Revelation (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1991); Adela Yarbro Collins, The Apocalypse, NTM 22 (Wilmington, DE: Glazier, 1979); Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Revelation: Vision of a Just World, PC (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1991); Eduard Lohse, Die Offenbarung des Johannes (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1960); Ricardo Foulkes, El Apocalipsis de San Juan: Una Lectura Desde America Latina (Buenos Aires, Argentina: Nueva Creacion, 1996); Gordon D. Fee, Revelation: A New Covenant Commentary, NCCS 18 (Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2013).

24

24

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

it affirms—the contrast of two possible paths for the nations—but it does not go far enough in exploring the many dynamics at work in John’s portrayal of the nations. All the views, perhaps with the exception of view (2), have advanced the understanding of the nations in Revelation but have also shown weaknesses. The goal of the present work is to build on previous scholarship and offer a new solution to the issue of the nations in John’s Apocalypse.

Proposed View: The Nations Belong to God In the end, in the New Jerusalem, the covenant people and the nations will be one and the same. Revelation 21:27 leaves no other option. Kαὶ οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθῃ εἰς αὐτὴν πᾶν κοινὸν καὶ ὁ ποιῶν βδέλυγμα καὶ ψεῦδος εἰ μὴ οἱ γεγραμμένοι ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ ἀρνίου (“But neither the unholy nor the one who does what is detestable or false will ever enter it, but only those who are written in the book of life of the Lamb”). But John has transported both groups to the New Jerusalem on separate narrative tracks, as it were, in order to show, with regard to the nations, that (1) in the present order the nations are under the devil’s deception; (2) Christ by his death is their rightful shepherd; (3) Christ must crush the dragon or the nations will not be free; (4) although Jesus is the nations’ rightful shepherd, those in the nations who do not come under his rule will be judged; and (5) the nations will ultimately not be destroyed but healed in the new creation. In a word, John’s purpose concerning the nations is, from beginning to end, to show that the nations belong to God.106 The proposed view is rather simple but usually missed in the literature. Attention to the narrative representation of the nations—related to but distinct from John’s other terms for humanity—will clear the way for nuanced exegesis. The focus will be on John’s narrative and not primarily on the traditions he employed or the Jewish literature that might have influenced him. Such studies have their place, but if the interpreter is not careful, these contexts, extrinsic to the narrative, can saturate interpretation and obscure understanding. The narrative analysis will also demonstrate that John’s story of the nations is complex; the label “the rebellious nations” assumed in much of the literature hardly does justice to the evidence or accounts for the dynamics at work. Attention to John’s rhetorical strategy is also an important aspect of the present work. While most works emphasize John’s message about the nations, the concern here is both to improve on our understanding of John’s message to the church about the nations and to be discerning about John’s message to the nations. To repeat, the guiding questions are: What is John’s story of the nations? How does he tell it? What is his message to the nations? And what is his message to the church about the nations?107 The contention here is that these questions, rather

106. This proposal will be amplified by the analysis in Chapters 3 through 7 in this book. 107. The final question—what is John’s message to the church about the nations?—is present throughout but primarily discussed in Chapters 5 and 7 in this book.

25

1. A Better Way for the Nations

25

than the question that has animated the scholarly discussion (are the nations saved or destroyed?), have the potential to bring us closer to a satisfying explanation and a more robust understanding of the nations in John’s masterful book. The defense of the proposal begins with a discussion of methodological issues (Chapter 2). These include narrative theory and the question of whether Revelation should be approached as a narrative. A discussion of theory of character and characterization will demonstrate that the nations in Revelation can be viewed as a narrative character. Finally, an overview will follow of narrative criticism and rhetorical theory of narrative as it will be deployed in the monograph. Chapters 3 through 6 comprise the body of the narrative analysis. The focus in these chapters will be a systematic walk through the texts on the nations in Revelation with a view toward their literary and theological functions in the narrative. In order to locate the subplot of the nations within John’s larger work, the analysis is also focused on the major plot developments in the Apocalypse. Literary tools will be employed selectively in order to maximize clarity of presentation and maintain the focus squarely on the guiding research questions. The rhetorical effect on the hearer, particularly the gentile hearer (believing or unbelieving), will be kept in view throughout the analysis. Chapter 7 contains a broad synthesis. Here the various strands of information about the nations from Chapters 3 through 6 will be studied synchronically. The chapter highlights the ways in which the resultant portrayal of the nations challenges some of the most common readings of Revelation in general and the interpretation of the nations in particular. Lastly, some implications of the study will be summarized, including a few areas for further research.

26

27

Chapter 2 T HE N ATIONS AS N ARRATIVE C HARACTER: M ETHODOLOGICAL C ONSIDERATIONS

Four methodological issues are explored in this chapter. (1) Should Revelation be approached as a narrative text? (2) How can the nations be treated, if at all, as a narrative character? The last two discussions address the ways in which (3) narrative criticism and (4) narrative as rhetoric (or rhetorical theory of narrative) are employed in the subsequent chapters.

Revelation as Narrative “Whatever else the Apocalypse is, it is a story.”1 Many commentators acknowledge the literary unity of Revelation and attend to its literary qualities, but only a handful have approached it as narrative. Insofar as this monograph analyzes the Apocalypse as a narrative, it builds on the work of those who have found “narrative” not only a legitimate but also a fruitful category for the exploration of John’s complex composition. Given that treating Revelation as narrative is not intuitive to every New Testament interpreter,2 the following seven statements provide justification for approaching Revelation as narrative. 1. David L. Barr, “Waiting for the End That Never Comes: The Narrative Logic of John’s Story,” in Studies in the Book of Revelation, ed. Steve Moyise (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2001), 101. 2. e.g., Christopher Rowland, “The Lamb and the Beast, the Sheep and the Goats: ‘The Mystery of Salvation’ in Revelation,” in A Vision for the Church: Studies in Early Christian Ecclesiology in Honour of J. P. M. Sweet, ed. Markus Bockmuehl and Michael B. Thompson (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1997), 182, says that John did not leave us a narrative. He left us an apocalypse or a prophecy, which requires special interpretative skills, like imagination and emotion. Ironically, two of the most important skills in interpreting a narrative are imagination and emotion. Likewise, Dennis L. Stamps, “Rhetorical and Narratological Criticism,” in Handbook to the Exegesis of the New Testament, ed. Stanley E. Porter (Boston, MA: Brill Academic, 2002), 228, says that there are five narratives in the New Testament (the Gospels and Acts). He leaves out Revelation altogether. See also Paul T. Penley, “Review of The Revelation of John: A Narrative Commentary, by James L. Resseguie,” JETS 53 (2010):

28

28

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

First, Revelation displays remarkable unity from start to finish. Though Aune is skeptical,3 Bauckham’s conclusion, based on multiple detailed studies, bears repeating—Revelation is “one of the most unified works in the New Testament.”4 Various works on Revelation by Barr,5 Boring,6 Herms,7 Resseguie,8 Garrow,9 Gorman,10 and Richard Hays11 present cogent evidence that Revelation should be approached as a narrative. Second, Revelation’s cast of characters is consistent throughout the book: God and Christ, the church, humanity, and Satan and his beasts. Many of these characters appear by various names and terms,12 and there have been disagreements as to the referent of certain symbols, but by and large there is little debate as to who the

423–5. Penley says, “To write a narrative commentary on an apocalypse is by definition a genre mistake.” 3. David E. Aune, Revelation 1–5, WBC (Dallas, TX: Word, 1997), cvii–cix. However, see Dal Lee, The Narrative Asides in the Book of Revelation (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2002), 9, who says his teacher, David E. Aune, “introduced [him] to the narrative perspective on Revelation.” 4. Richard Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2000), 1. 5. e.g., David L. Barr, “The Story John Told: Reading Revelation for Its Plot,” in Reading the Book of Revelation: A Resource for Students, ed. David L. Barr, SBLSBS 44 (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003); Barr, “The Apocalypse as a Symbolic Transformation of the World: A Literary Analysis,” Int 38, no. 1 (1984): 39–50; Barr, “The Lamb Who Looks Like a Dragon? Characterizing Jesus in John’s Apocalypse,” in The Reality of Apocalypse: Rhetoric and Politics in the Book of Revelation, ed. David L. Barr (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006), 205–20; Barr, Tales of the End: A Narrative Commentary on the Book of Revelation, 2nd ed. (Salem: OR: Polebridge, 2012). 6. M. Eugene Boring, “Narrative Christology in the Apocalypse,” CBQ 54 (1992): 702–23. 7. Ronald Herms, An Apocalypse for the Church and for the World: The Narrative Function of Universal Language in the Book of Revelation, BZNW 143 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2006). 8. James L. Resseguie, The Revelation of John: A Narrative Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009); Resseguie, Revelation Unsealed: A Narrative Critical Approach to John’s Apocalypse, BIS 32 (Leiden: Brill, 1998). 9. A. J. P. Garrow, Revelation, NTR (London: Routledge, 1997). 10. Michael J. Gorman, Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness; Following the Lamb into the New Creation (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2010), 116–37. 11. Richard Hays, “Faithful Witness, Alpha and Omega: The Identity of Jesus in the Apocalypse of John,” in Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation, ed. Richard B. Hays and Stefan Alkier (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012), 69–83. 12. The church is, e.g., the seven lampstands (Rev 1:20), the 144,000 sealed from Israel (Rev 7:4–8), the innumerable multitude (Rev 7:9), the two witnesses (Rev 11:3–13), the woman clothed with the sun (Rev 12:1), the bride of the Lamb (Rev 19:7), and the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:2).

29

2. The Nations as Narrative Character

29

major players are. Even at the level of literary structure, the dragon, the beasts, and Babylon receive their final judgment in the opposite order of their introduction: first Babylon (Rev 17–18), then the beasts (Rev 19), and finally the dragon (Rev 20).13 Third, Revelation exhibits one main plot, with many interrelated subplots. The words and schemes employed by interpreters differ, but the substance of the overriding conflict and resolution is hard to miss. The following statements of conflict or plot in the Apocalypse are representative of hundreds of such statements one finds in scholarly and popular literature. Yarbro Collins says, “God and the Lamb, as representatives of creation, life, and order, will be victorious over the dragon and his two bestial allies.”14 Elisabeth Fiorenza writes about plot from the perspective of the hearer. She says, “Either one succumbs to the oppressive world power of Babylon/Rome and its religious legitimization or one engages in the struggle for God’s qualitatively new cosmopolis that is free from all oppression and evil.”15 Bauckham says, “[John] anticipates the eschatological crisis in which the issue will come to a head and be resolved in God’s ultimate triumph over all evil and his establishment of his eternal kingdom.”16 The challenge and excitement of Revelation lie in exploring its many webs of relationships, themes and subplots, structural chiasms, and more beyond. But few are confused about its main plot. Fourth, Revelation’s narrativity works at various levels and presupposes a (nonnarrated) meta-narrative. Boring maintains that the stories in Revelation—of God/Christ, the churches, and the world—must be heard in tandem. They must interpret each other. Additionally, the non-narrated (but mentioned) acts of God in creation, in history through Jesus, and in the coming future create a metanarrative into which the other stories must be embedded.17 Fifth, narrative is not a genre that competes with vision, apocalypse, and letter. On the contrary, each of those genres can appear in narrative mode. There is no linguistic or literary contradiction in presenting otherworldly imagery in story form. Besides, those who hold to a strong “Revelation is an apocalypse” hermeneutic would be served well by considering Gregory Linton’s discussion

13. Aune’s statement that there is “little to no continuity in the dramatis personae that appear in the embedded episodic narratives in the text” is hard to understand (cf. Aune, Revelation 1–5, cviii). The main actor, Christ, is present from the first to the last verse, and every other main participant in between is defined by its relationship to him. 14. Adela Yarbro Collins, Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse, 1st ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1984), 150. 15. Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Revelation: Vision of a Just World, PC (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1991), 130. 16. Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 9. The “issue” he refers to is the answer to the question: Who is Lord over the world? 17. Boring, “Narrative Christology in the Apocalypse,” 702–23.

30

30

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

on this issue.18 Genre is both necessary and artificial.19 He writes, “Genres are heuristic devices constructed by readers to help them explain and interpret texts.”20 Yet, the most complex literary works, like Moby Dick and the Apocalypse, says Linton, defy genre classifications. They belong to a “hybrid genre.” Further, Linton draws attention to the inherent circularity in genre definitions. He concludes, “First, readers construct and define the genre of apocalypse by deciding which conventions will be considered essential. Second, the reader foregrounds the aspects of the Apocalypse that conform to those conventions.”21 These remarks are meant to highlight the slippery nature of genre identifications. Revelation is no less than an apocalypse, as the genre has been defined in scholarly discourse. But it is more, and readers stand to gain understanding by embracing Revelation’s hybrid genre and its narrative mode.22 Sixth, narrative is hard to define, yet common elements of narrative, as defined in narrative theory, are present in Revelation. How then do narrative theorists define narrative? A few examples will suffice. Mieke Bal says, “A narrative text is a text in which an agent or subject conveys to an addressee (‘tells’ the reader) a story in a particular medium, such as language, imagery, sound, buildings, or a combination thereof.”23 Robert Scholes, James Phelan, and Robert Kellogg, likewise, define narrative by two characteristics: “The presence of a story and a story-teller . . . For writing to be narrative no more and no less than a teller and a tale are required.”24 By these definitions Revelation is clearly a narrative text.

18. Gregory L. Linton, “Reading the Apocalypse as Apocalypse: The Limits of Genre,” in Barr, The Reality of Apocalypse, 9–41. 19. Stanley Hauerwas and L. Gregory Jones, “Introduction: Why Narrative?,” in Why Narrative? Readings in Narrative Theology, ed. Stanley Hauerwas and L. Gregory Jones (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989), 14, say the following related to Nussbaum’s article (on which see more below), “Her argument thus shows the artificiality of distinctions between ‘prophetic’ and ‘narrative’ discourse; Nussbaum’s account shows how Beckett used narrative to provide a prophetic critique of a society’s dominant self-understanding.” 20. Linton, “Reading the Apocalypse as Apocalypse,” 17. 21. Ibid., 36. 22. Even the scholars who defined apocalypse as a genre in Semeia 14 included “narrative framework” as constitutive of the genre; cf. John J. Collins, “Introduction: Towards the Morphology of a Genre,” in Semeia 14, ed. John J. Collins (Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1979), 9. They define apocalypse as “a genre of revelatory literature with a narrative framework, in which a revelation is mediated by an otherworldly being to a human recipient, disclosing a transcendent reality which is both temporal, insofar as it envisages eschatological salvation, and spatial insofar as it involves another, supernatural world.” 23. Mieke Bal, Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative, 3rd ed. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009), 5 (emphasis original). 24. Robert Scholes, James Phelan, and Robert Kellogg, The Nature of Narrative, 40th anniv. ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), 4.

31

2. The Nations as Narrative Character

31

Aristotle defined tragedy as “an imitation of an action that is complete, and whole, and of a certain magnitude . . . a whole is that which has a beginning, a middle, and an end.”25 Of course, Revelation is not an imitation of an action, which is not to say that some of John’s visions do not imitate the social, religious, and political realities of his day. Clearly, they do. But every other part of Aristotle’s definition applies. Further, Phelan characterizes the story/discourse distinction in narrative theory as “structuralism’s most enduring insight.” The former refers to the what of a story; the latter to the how of a story. The distinction works heuristically to facilitate analysis of events, characters, and setting.26 What is salient for this discussion is that a narrative consists of events, characters, and setting, all of which are present and in complex interaction in the Apocalypse. Seventh, narrative is one of the most helpful modes or genre classifications to understand the Apocalypse. Everyone, even children, can follow a story. Insofar as the gospel is a story of God’s action in Jesus, a narrative reading of Revelation is more in tune with its gospel essence. Hays makes the case that the gospel is a narrative, and therefore even in Paul, the gospel, at the very least, presupposes a narrative substructure. Hays observes, Paul writes: “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us”. This sentence demonstrates not only that the gospel can be narrated but also that it must be; the demonstration of God’s love is precisely an event that occurred within our temporal flow, an event that nonetheless redefines everything else within the temporal plane in which it occurred.27

If the gospel “must be” narrated, then Revelation should be interpreted at a minimum as a story of Jesus’ conquest by death and resurrection.28 Furthermore, beliefs about what is most important in life are only changed by means of narrative. John endeavors to change the way Christians (and, indirectly, unbelievers) feel about Rome’s social, religious, and political claims and transfer them into a new reality, the New Jerusalem—the enduring reality of God. This kind of monumental paradigm shift, according to Martha Nussbaum, can only be effected through narrative. Nussbaum has written extensively on the relationship between philosophy and literature.29 She argues that belief is the necessary basis and ground of emotion.30 25. Aristotle, Poetics (Mineola, NY: Dover, 1997), 14. 26. Scholes, Phelan, Kellogg, Nature of Narrative, 289. 27. Richard B. Hays, “Is Paul’s Gospel Narratable?,” JSNT 27, no. 2 (2004): 238. 28. See also Michael Root, “The Narrative Structure of Soteriology,” in Hauerwas and Jones, Why Narrative?, 263–78, where he argues that narrative is not merely “ornamental in soteriology, but constitutive” (p. 263). 29. For an extensive bibliography of her works on the topic, see Martha Nussbaum, “Narrative Emotions: Beckett’s Genealogy of Love,” in Hauerwas and Jones, Why Narrative?, 220. 30. Ibid., 223.

32

32

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

Emotions are not “simply blind surges of affect, stirring, or sensations that arise from our animal nature.” Rather, emotions have cognitive content. They are “intimately related to beliefs or judgments about the world in such a way that removal of the relevant belief will remove not only the reason for the emotion but also the emotion itself.”31 Not only so. Emotions “can be assessed in the way that beliefs are assessed—as rational or irrational . . ., as helpful and obnoxious, even as true and false.”32 If with the Stoics one believes that emotions, or certain emotions, are harmful (or false), one would engage in a process of undoing the beliefs that undergird those emotions.33 However, Nussbaum writes, The criticism of emotion cannot proceed in the same way in which the criticism of, for example, scientific or mathematical beliefs proceeds—by giving the person a logical argument, or fresh perceptual evidence. For the evaluative beliefs that ground our emotional life are not learned in logical arguments either. They are learned through exposure—usually very early and very habitual—to complex social forms of life, in which these beliefs and the related emotions are housed, so to speak, and by which, for the individuals who learn them, they are constructed.34

Nussbaum is addressing the way children learn to make behavioral judgments. They do not sit in an ethics class. Rather, they learn through the stories the culture and the parents (who belong to the culture) tell. Nussbaum adds, “These interactions provide paradigms of emotion and teach the cognitive categories that underlie the experience of emotion.” Therefore, “stories will be a major source of any culture’s emotional life.”35 She continues, “So a criticism of emotion must be, prominently, an unwriting of stories.”36 This unwriting must be done in the same way the original writing of the emotions took place: by means of story. In this regard, Stanley Hauerwas and Gregory Jones say, Nussbaum thereby makes a strong case for the social significance of narrative, both in its role as transmitter of a culture’s beliefs, attitudes, and emotion, and in its capacity of criticizing the dominant culture through the “unwriting” of the dominant narratives and the writing of an alternative account.37

31. Ibid. 32. Ibid., 224. 33. Nussbaum contends that Beckett’s trilogy Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable is his narrative attempt at undoing the Christian account of emotions. 34. Ibid., 225. 35. Ibid. 36. Ibid., 226. 37. Hauerwas and Jones, “Introduction: Why Narrative?,” in Why Narrative?, 13–14.

33

2. The Nations as Narrative Character

33

Applied to Revelation the above insights imply that if John wanted to be effective in transforming the way his congregations viewed (felt about) Rome and transferring them to the reality of God, he had to present more than a logical argument. He had to unwrite the self-evident claims of Rome’s greatness, in the context of late-first-century Asia Minor, by presenting an alternative account, or narrative, of reality. Therefore, Revelation must be understood, above all, perhaps, as a narrative. For in experiencing John’s narrative, beliefs that other modes of learning cannot even touch are subverted, transformed, and replaced.38 In summary, is Revelation a narrative text? While Bal suggests that asking “whether or not an object ‘is’ narrative is both obvious and futile,”39 defending a narrative approach to Revelation was both necessary and beneficial. John’s Apocalypse, whose essence is the gospel message and whose purpose is to undermine and undo the Roman culture’s, and every other culture’s, story of reality, is most appropriately interpreted as a narrative.

The Nations as Narrative Character Treating the nations as narrative character is defended below in two steps. First, an overview is offered of the ways some interpreters (William Shepherd, Richard Thompson, and Cornelis Bennema) have dealt with group or unusual characters in New Testament studies. How do they justify their approach in either theory or practice? Second, elements from Thompson’s and Bennema’s theory of character are considered in order to lay the groundwork for character analysis in subsequent chapters. So, then, if the nations preliminarily fulfill the kinds of criteria commonly employed for character study in the New Testament, a full narrative analysis of the nations as character is justified. Group or Unusual Characters The Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts In his study on the function of the Holy Spirit as character in Luke-Acts, Shepherd, following Baruch Hochman, concludes that characters must act and engage in conflict in the narrative. Many actions are attributed to the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts. For example, he teaches, testifies, leads, forbids, and speaks. Further, the Holy Spirit participates in the conflict between God and Satan (e.g., the temptation narrative in Luke; cf. also Luke 10:21; Acts 5:3, 9). Shepherd concludes, “Indeed, conflict follows naturally from action—one who

38. Nussbaum, “Narrative Emotions,” 221, speaks of Proust’s claim “that it is only in a text having narrative form that certain essential truths about human life can be appropriately expressed and examined.” 39. Bal, Narratology, 226.

34

34

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

acts independently inevitably falls into conflict with another. The Spirit is involved in conflict, and can be said to be a ‘character.’ ”40 The Church in Acts Thompson considers the church as a narrative character in Luke-Acts. He does not present an apologetic for treating the church as such, but rather states plainly, “The purpose of this study is to examine critically the different portrayals of churches or groups of Christian believers within the ancient narrative context of the book of Acts.”41 Rather than simply extracting theology or beliefs or historical developments in early Christianity—as a traditional, historical-critical reading would do—Thompson keeps the church in its narrative place. One of his conclusions, contra studies that have ignored or downplayed the role of the church in Luke’s narrative, is that the church is a central character in the plot of Acts. See the discussion below for Thompson’s theoretical underpinnings. The World and the Crowd in John’s Gospel In his character studies in John’s Gospel, Bennema, unlike authors who have done similar studies, treats “the world” as a character. He says, “It appears that Johannine scholarship has not paid much attention to the world as character but simply perceived it as the arena in which the Johannine drama is acted out.”42 Bennema focuses on aspects of John’s characterization of the world, such as the world’s epistemic darkness and love for evil, the devil as the world’s driving force, the world’s rejection of Jesus, and its hatred of Jesus’s disciples. The world, though in sin, remains the creation of God, is the object of God’s love, and thus the recipient of Jesus’s mission to save it.43 Bennema says that the world is personified, “functioning as Jesus’ major opponent and interacting with him through its people. Thus, the world also stands for humanity, particularly a sinful humanity estranged from God and opposed to Jesus and his saving revelation.”44 Some individuals from the world, however, escape it by believing in Jesus; so they remain in the world but no longer belong to it. The world, in Bennema’s theory of character, shows no development, has multiple traits but little complexity, and is primarily in opposition to Jesus; the world is a type. Bennema also analyzes “the crowd.” He says, “The crowd is not an obvious character—it has received virtually no attention from Johannine scholarship—but it comprises the largest number of people.”45 Bennema identifies a Galilean crowd 40. William H. Shepherd Jr., The Narrative Function of the Holy Spirit as a Character in Luke-Acts (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 1994), 97. 41. Richard P. Thompson, Keeping the Church in Its Place: The Church as Narrative Character in Acts (New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2006), 29. 42. Cornelis Bennema, Encountering Jesus: Character Studies in the Gospel of John (Colorado Springs: Paternoster, 2009), 32. 43. Bennema’s chapter title is “The World: Enveloped in Darkness but Loved by God.” 44. Ibid., 37. 45. Ibid., 110. His chapter title is “The Crowd: A Faceless, Divided Mass.”

35

2. The Nations as Narrative Character

35

in John 6 and two Jerusalem crowds in John 7 and 12. Bennema makes careful distinctions in an effort to identify differences and similarities. While many blur the distinctions between the crowd and “the Jews” (Koester) and others treat it not as a character but as part of the setting (Resseguie) or do not treat it at all, Bennema is attuned to subtle variations in presentation. In Bennema’s character categorization, the crowd shows no development, has multiple traits and more complexity than the world, and its stance toward Jesus is inadequate; the crowd is a corporate personality. In summary, the foregoing section has shown the ways various scholars have treated group or unusual characters—not Peter, Mary, or Pilate, but the Holy Spirit, the church, the world, and the crowd. Under the rubric of action and conflict, the nations can be treated as a character in Revelation. The nations trample the holy city, rage, drink the wine of Babylon’s passion, come and worship (as depicted in the song of Moses and the Lamb), and walk by the light of the New Jerusalem (Rev 11:2, 18; 14:8; 15:4; 21:24).46 The nations are also involved in intense and protracted conflict: with the church (Rev 2:26–27; 11:2, 9; 20:3, 8), with God (Rev 11:18), with the dragon and his allies (Rev 12:5; 13:7), with Babylon (Rev 14:8; 17:15; 18:3, 23), and with the Divine Warrior (Rev 19:15).47 In fact, it is the persistent conflicts in which the nations find themselves throughout most of the Apocalypse that have caused so many interpreters to puzzle over the positive references about the nations in Revelation 21:24–26 and 22:2. My contention is that the nations in Revelation are a group and unusual character, but a character nonetheless. In fact, the nations in Revelation are a complex character, as the later chapters demonstrate. Theory of Character Is it legitimate to employ modern literary tools in the study of ancient characters? The answer to this question is decidedly affirmative. In fact, many literary critics argue, not only for the legitimacy of using modern literary tools in the study of ancient characters, but also for the impossibility of approaching character study in any other way. Further, it is not necessarily a liability, but rather an asset, if proper caution is observed, that we can only read as moderns, from within our idiosyncratic place in history and conceptual frameworks.48 The following 46. To be sure, much of this language is symbolic, as is John’s language concerning the majority of his characters. Shepherd, Narrative Function, 252, also mentions symbolic language in Luke’s description of the Holy Spirit. 47. See Chapters 3–6 in this book for the narrative analysis. 48. Cf. Cornelis Bennema, A Theory of Character in New Testament Narrative (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2014), 31–60; Robert Alter, The World of Biblical Literature (New York: Basic Books, 1992), 20; Seymour Chatman, Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1980), 138; Baruch Hochman, Character in Literature (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1985), 54–57; Thomas A. Schmitz, Modern Literary Theory and Ancient Texts: An Introduction (Malden,

36

36

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

discussion on theory of character is primarily based on the work of Thompson and Bennema. Characters, Thompson avers, cannot be studied in isolation. The reader forms and evaluates the character as a whole “in the progressive reading of that narrative.”49 Thompson relies on features of Greco-Roman literature for his analysis: indirect and direct description, categories of character depiction, the accumulation of pictures and effect, and interaction between narrative characters. A few brief comments about the last three features are germane to this study. In GrecoRoman literature, there were two categories of character portrayal: typical figures and individual personalities.50 Though Thompson does not give this example, the religious leaders in the Synoptic Gospels come to mind as representative of a typical figure. The focus is less on these religious leaders as individuals than on what they represent—socially, religiously, and politically. These categories (typical and individual) are illuminating because modern readers of novels are primarily familiar with the characterization of individual personalities. Characters who receive little description or whose function is basic in the course of a narrative are termed “flat,” as in E. M. Forster’s categorization.51 Yet, the typical figure is neither flat nor individual; the focus is more on the realities and conventions (social or otherwise) it represents. The typical figure is also termed an “illustrative,” as opposed to a “representative,” character by Scholes, Phelan, and Kellogg. Whereas representative narrative seeks to “duplicate reality,” illustrative narrative “seeks only to suggest an aspect of reality.”52 They write, “The illustrative is symbolic; the representational is mimetic.”53 The majority of characters in Revelation, perhaps with the exception of John himself as a character narrator, are illustrative. They lack many “human qualities and behaviors, including speech, thought, argumentation, and decisionmaking.”54 This observation is true even of such an important character as the Lamb, who never speaks.55 Scholes and Kellogg write, “Illustrative characters are concepts in anthropoid shape or fragments of the human psyche masquerading as whole human beings. Thus we are not called upon to understand their motivation

MA: Blackwell, 2007), 7–10. See also Shepherd, Narrative Function, 43–50, who makes the point that literary criticism, once focused on the novel, has widened its scope to include narrative, fictional or nonfictional, as its proper object of study. He references the work of literary critics Northrop Frye, Robert Scholes, and Robert Kellogg; Mikhail Bakhtin; structuralist Claude Lévi-Strauss; and historian Hayden White. 49. Thompson, Keeping the Church in Its Place, 18. 50. Ibid., 22–6. 51. E. M. Forster, Aspects of the Novel (New York: Harcourt, 1927). 52. Scholes, Phelan, and Kellogg, Nature of Narrative, 84. 53. Ibid. 54. Diana Jill Kirby, “Repetition in the Book of Revelation” (PhD diss., Catholic University of America, 2009), 139. 55. Of course, Jesus, the referent of the Lamb, does speak.

37

2. The Nations as Narrative Character

37

as if they were whole human beings but to understand the principles they illustrate through their actions in a narrative framework.”56 Modern readers are most accustomed to the representative characters they encounter in novels, characters whose inner life is described in detail. For this reason, it is important in reading texts like Revelation (though Diana Kirby holds that the same applies to many of the characters in the Gospels)57 that the reader be aware of illustrative characterization, within which the nations as character can make sense. In terms of the accumulation of pictures and effect, it is through the successive reading of the narrative that the reader begins to accumulate, evaluate, and refine a coherent picture of character. Discrete episodes have a coherence of their own, yet an understanding of the character is not complete if the episodes are divorced one from another. Finally, characters are known in their interaction with other characters. Such interactions prompt comparisons and contrasts by which the nature of a given character acquires more specificity.58 The nations as character in Revelation are closer to the typical figure or illustrative category. To repeat, “typical” does not mean “flat.” The nations are a group character that represent a certain reality in John’s vision world. As a typical figure, the nations allow for—indeed, invite—comparison and contrast with John’s other designations for humanity, such as, for example, the saints (οἱ ἅγιοι), the kings of the earth (οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς), and the dwellers on the earth (οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς).59 One of the weaknesses in the scholarly discussion of the nations is that by and large interpreters tend to lump all these designations for humanity together.60 Yet, according to Thompson, one of the functions of a group character is to allow for comparison and contrast with characters of a similar category, that is, other typical figures.61 Moreover, given the many conflicts in which the nations in Revelation are entangled, it is impossible to understand the nations as character without duly attending to “the accumulation of pictures and effect through the successive or progressive reading of the narrative.”62 Interpreters often make decisions about John’s “severe and unrelenting views”63 of the nations based on either a few verses

56. Scholes, Phelan, and Kellogg, Nature of Narrative, 88. 57. Cf. Kirby, “Repetition in the Book of Revelation,” 140. 58. Thompson, Keeping the Church in Its Place, 26–8. 59. In fact, Kirby, “Repetition in the Book of Revelation,” 142, makes this statement, “Rather than following an evolving dialogue between a central figure, such as Jesus, and various other characters, readers compare the scenes in Revelation by noting repetition in descriptions of appearance, environment, or behaviors as provided by John.” 60. Specific examples are referenced in Chapters 3–7 in this book. 61. Thompson, Keeping the Church in Its Place, 23. 62. Ibid., 26. 63. Martin Rist, “The Revelation of St. John the Divine: Introduction and Exegesis,” The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 12 (New York: Abingdon, 1957), 539–40.

38

38

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

or a confused amalgam that includes all other terms for humanity in Revelation. However, it is in the narrative progression—the development of plot, the descriptions of and interactions with other characters—that the reader comes to refine her understanding of character, oftentimes overturning earlier judgments by encountering new evidence in the narrative. In sum, the nations in Revelation can be analyzed under the five features of characterization in Greco-Roman literature: direct and indirect descriptions, the category of typical figure, accumulation of pictures and effects, and interaction with other characters.64 Bennema’s goal is to develop a theory of character that is comprehensive and nonreductionistic.65 His model represents an advance in the discussion in a few ways. First, he synthesizes the main issues and approaches of thirty years of practice. Second, he allows for historical context to inform character reconstruction, a move that most narrative critics, with good reason but somewhat artificially, disavow. Third, his model escapes the reductionism of fixed categories and allows for degrees of characterization. Fourth, Bennema recognizes that Yosef Ewen’s continua of complexity, development, and inner life are sufficiently comprehensive to accommodate, for example, Hochman’s categories while remaining manageable. Fifth, Bennema’s evaluation of character in terms of plot and point of view takes into account the fact that characters cannot be understood apart from other constitutive aspects of the narrative. Sixth, Bennema understands that characters were presented by the New Testament authors for the purpose of influencing their hearers or readers. An adequate theory of character must account for the rhetorical effect of a character. The remaining chapters focus on John’s story of the nations in Revelation—what the story is and how he tells it—using narrative categories. Thus, the full analysis of the nations as narrative character is conducted in the following chapters. The limited purpose of the foregoing discussion was to give a partial justification for treating the nations as a narrative character. Some summarizing statements are in order. First, the work of Shepherd, Thompson, and Bennema (on the Holy Spirit, the Church, and the world and the crowd, respectively) demonstrates that group and unusual entities, such as the nations, can be treated as characters. Second, insofar as the requirements of a character, following Shepherd’s conclusion, are action and conflict, the nations are without a doubt a character in

64. Additionally, it is not only through techniques of characterization in Greco-Roman literature that the nations can be analyzed as a character. Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, 2nd ed. (New York: Basic Books, 2011), 146, develops a “scale of means” by which characters in biblical narrative can be analyzed, most of which apply to the nations. He says, “Character can be revealed through the report of actions; through appearance, gestures, posture, costume; through one character’s comments on another; through direct speech by the character; through inward speech, either summarized or quoted as interior monologue; or through statements by the narrator about the attitudes and intentions of the personages, which may come either as flat assertions or motivated explanations.” 65. Cornelis Bennema, A Theory of Character.

39

2. The Nations as Narrative Character

39

John’s drama. Not only that, by Forster’s definition—that the difference between a flat and round character is whether it surprises the reader—the nations are a round, complex character.66 This observation is not an endorsement of Forster’s construal of character, nor are the nations complex in the same way that, say, Peter is complex in the Gospels. Recall Thompson’s observation, following Christopher Gill, that in antiquity some characters were typical figures while others represented individual personalities. The nations approximate the former designation; they represent a certain social, religious, political reality in John’s vision world. But at a minimum, Forster’s dictum converges with the narrative fact that forms in part the impetus for this project—the nations’ surprising appearance in Revelation 21–22. Third, the analysis of the nations in the following chapters employs categories of character analysis in Thompson’s and Bennema’s models, things like direct and indirect descriptions, interactions (with other characters), complexity, development, inner life, evaluation in terms of point of view and plot, and rhetorical effect on the hearer. Further, as will become evident, the majority of the categories employed in analyzing a traditional character67 can be used fruitfully and without distortion in the analysis of the nations, thereby reinforcing the legitimacy of viewing the nations as a narrative character.

Narrative Criticism The research questions that guide the present work are as follows: What is John’s story of the nations? How does he tell it? What is John’s message to the nations? Also, what is his message to the church about the nations? The first two questions are primarily addressed through narrative criticism, and the latter two questions through rhetorical theory of narrative. Some comments are offered about these two approaches in this and the next sections. Narrative criticism provides tools to the exegete that allow him or her to approach biblical narratives as story, in full color, vividly restored from the drab nonimages of commentary with little nuance.68 Robert Alter says it well, “The 66. Forster, Aspects of the Novel, 73–81. 67. “Traditional” refers to characters such as Peter, Pilate, Nicodemus, Mary Magdalene, and so on. 68. For introductions to narrative criticism, see Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, In the Company of Jesus: Characters in Mark’s Gospel (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2000), especially her essay, “Narrative Criticism: How Does the Story Mean?,” 1–40; James L. Resseguie, Narrative Criticism of the New Testament: An Introduction (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005); Mark Allan Powell, What Is Narrative Criticism? (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1990); Mark Allan Powell, Cecile G. Gray, and Melissa C. Curtis, The Bible and Modern Literary Criticism: A Critical Assessment and Annotated Bibliography (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1992); Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative; David Rhoads, Joanna Dewey, and Donald Michie, Mark as Story: An Introduction to the Narrative of a Gospel, 3rd ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2012); Daniel Marguerat and Yvan Bourquin, How to

40

40

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

narrative art of the Bible, then, is more than an aesthetic enterprise, and learning to read its fine calibrations may bring us closer than the broad-gauge concepts of intellectual history and comparative religion to a structure of imagination in whose shadow we still stand.”69 Learning to read the fine calibrations of the biblical narratives is what narrative critics endeavor to do. Narrative critics pay attention to story (the what) and discourse (the how), to use Seymour Chatman’s categories.70 However, as Phelan holds, the storydiscourse distinction is a heuristic device, helpful for analysis. The reader experiences the narrative as a whole. The main elements of analysis in the story are plot, character, and setting. In discourse, elements such as point of view and narrator are discussed. In addition, literary critics pay attention to countless literary techniques and devices present in complex narrative works. These include repetition (of words, motifs, themes), symbolism, metaphor, parallelisms, reversals, irony (verbal or situational), contradiction, paradox, ambiguity, opacity, formal frames, cause and effect relationships, juxtapositions, omissions, reticence, types of narration, manipulation of time, displacement, selectivity, symmetries, destabilization, defamiliarization, and, frequent in biblical narratives, mystery.71 What is important is not the proliferation of literary jargon or techniques. The goal is to hear the text and to develop nuanced interpretations that are congruent with the internal movement of the narrative. Recall Thompson’s comment that characters cannot be studied in isolation, but are rather formed and evaluated as a whole in the progressive reading (or hearing) of the narrative.72 For this reason, in the following chapters, attention is given to Read Bible Stories: An Introduction to Narrative Criticism (London: SCM, 1999); Michael Fishbane, Biblical Text and Texture: A Literary Reading of Selected Texts (Oxford: Oneworld, 1998); Wesley A. Kort, Story, Text, and Scripture: Literary Interests in Biblical Narrative (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988). 69. Alter, Art of Biblical Narrative, 162. 70. Chatman, Story and Discourse, 19. The story-discourse distinction is termed by Phelan as “structuralism’s most enduring insight” in Scholes, Phelan, and Kellogg, Nature of Narrative, 289. For discussions and critiques of structuralism, see Peter Brooks, Reading for the Plot: Design and Intention in Narrative, reprint ed. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984), 3–36; Scholes, Phelan, and Kellogg, Nature of Narrative, 286–92; Leonard J. Thompson, “The Mythic Unity of the Apocalypse,” in Society of Biblical Literature 1985 Seminar Papers, ed. Kent H. Richards, SBLSP 24 (Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1985), 13– 28; Schmitz, Modern Literary Theory and Ancient Texts, 26–42; Gérard Genette, Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1980). 71. For various lists and definitions of literary devices that narrative critics employ, see Alter, Art of Biblical Narrative; Resseguie, Narrative Criticism of the New Testament; Mark W. G. Stibbe, John, RNBC (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993); and Bal, Narratology. 72. Thompson, Keeping the Church in Its Place, 18. Herms, An Apocalypse for the Church, 42, identifies the problem of dealing with the passages about the nations in isolation, without attending to the narrative to which they belong. He says, “While identification of the most relevant (and problematic) passages emerges with striking

41

2. The Nations as Narrative Character

41

the overall plot of Revelation, to the development of the nations as character, and to the narrative relationships between the nations and other characters.73 The nations, it will be argued, constitute an important subplot within John’s story.74

Narrative as Rhetoric The two other main questions that drive this project are related to the biblical author’s strategies to affect his audience: what is John’s message to the nations? And what is John’s message to the churches about the nations? Certain aspects of the model of narrative as rhetoric developed by Phelan are employed in the forthcoming analysis.75 The elements of his rhetorical model of importance for this work are briefly sketched out. The first principle is that “narrative can be fruitfully understood as a rhetorical act: somebody telling somebody else on some occasion and for some purpose(s) that something happened.”76 Though New Criticism sought to separate what a work of literature is from what it does (e.g., the affective fallacy), since Aristotle, Phelan reminds us, rhetoric has been a part of poetics. Aristotle said, “Tragedy is

consistency, rarely are they located convincingly within the overall narrative trajectory of the document.” 73. This work does not give much attention to the narrative category of “setting.” For a discussion of setting in Revelation, see James Resseguie, Revelation Unsealed: A Narrative Critical Approach to John’s Apocalypse, BIS 32 (Leiden: Brill, 1998), 70–102. 74. M. H. Abrams and Geoffrey Galt Harpham, A Glossary of Literary Terms, 10th ed. (Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2011), 295, define a subplot as “a second story that is complete and interesting in its own right . . . when it is skillfully invented and managed, the subplot serves to broaden our perspective on the main plot and to enhance rather than diffuse the overall effect.” 75. Phelan has produced five volumes in which he continues to refine his rhetorical theory of narrative. They are James Phelan, Worlds from Words: A Theory of Language in Fiction (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1981); Phelan, Reading People, Reading Plots: Character, Progression, and the Interpretation of Narrative (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1989); Phelan, Narrative as Rhetoric: Technique, Audiences, Ethics, Ideology (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1996); Phelan, Living to Tell about It: A Rhetoric and Ethics of Character Narration, 1st ed. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004); and Phelan, Experiencing Fiction: Judgments, Progressions, and the Rhetorical Theory of Narrative (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2008). For a concise statement of his rhetorical theory of narrative, see “Rhetoric/Ethics,” in The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative, ed. H. Porter Abbott, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 203–16. 76. Phelan, Experiencing Fiction, 3. For his critique of deconstruction and pragmatism, as these systems undermine the purposive dimension of texts, see Phelan, Narrative as Rhetoric, 7–18.

42

42

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

an imitation not only of a complete action, but of events inspiring fear or pity. Such an effect is best produced when the events come on us by surprise; and the effect is heightened when, at the same time, they follow as cause and effect.”77 Every choice an author makes is rhetorical.78 Further, the model identifies at least five main audiences: (1) the flesh-andblood or actual reader; (2) the authorial audience (the author’s ideal reader); (3) the narrative audience (the observer position actual readers adopt, responding to, say, characters as if they were real people); (4) the narratee (the audience addressed by the narrator; in Revelation, the members of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 are the narratee);79 and (5) the ideal narrative audience (the narrator’s hypothetical perfect audience; the audience that grasps every nuance).80 Though these terms overlap and can be confusing, their heuristic value resides in identifying more than the proverbial “implied reader.” In Revelation, while John as narrator addresses his letter to the seven churches in Asia Minor (the narratees), there are other flesh-and-blood readers whom he likely expected to read or hear his work as well. These actual readers have to follow the author’s conventions (authorial audience) and enter into the author’s narrative world (narrative audience), even though not all of them will understand everything John put into his work (because they are not the ideal narrative audience). Moreover, the rhetorical approach to narrative calls attention to the author’s purposive communication and to the various types of responses in the audience, responses that involve the whole person and that are perspectival, foregrounding mimetic, thematic, or synthetic concerns. Most germane to the current project is Phelan’s attention to the textual and readerly dynamics of a narrative text. From the rhetorical perspective, writes Phelan, “Narrativity involves the interaction of two kinds of change: that experienced by the characters and that experienced by the audience in developing responses to 77. Aristotle, Poetics, 18–19. 78. An early proponent of the rhetorical nature of all literature is Wayne C. Booth. See his The Rhetoric of Fiction, 2nd ed. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1983) and The Company We Keep: An Ethics of Fiction, reprint ed. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989). Likewise, Martha C. Nussbaum, Love’s Knowledge: Essays on Philosophy and Literature (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), makes a compelling case for the ethical nature of literature and the power of literary form, and not simply literary content, to shape readers. Nussbaum’s insights about literary form in general are applied to biblical literature by Kevin J. Vanhoozer, “Love’s Wisdom: The Authority of Scripture’s Form and Content for Faith’s Understanding and Theological Judgment,” JRT 5 (2011): 247–75. For an account of the “ethical turn” in literary criticism, see Lisbeth Korthal Altes, “Ethical Turn,” in Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory, ed. David Herman, Manfred Jahn, and Marie-Laure Ryan (New York: Routledge, 2005). 79. See Gerald Prince, “Introduction to the Study of the Narratee,” in Reader-Response Criticism: From Formalism to Post-Structuralism, ed. Jane P. Tompkins (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980), 7–25. 80. See Phelan, Narrative as Rhetoric, 135–53, for an explanation of the terms.

43

2. The Nations as Narrative Character

43

the character’s changes.”81 Criticism does not often call attention to the latter. Phelan draws attention to a simple but often neglected fact in interpretation: from the very first words of a text, the reader is responding to what she sees, whether consciously or unconsciously. Also, these responses are guided by the author. For example, from the very first lines of the story of David and Abigail in 1 Samuel 25, the narrator aligns our sympathies with Abigail (“the woman was discerning and beautiful”) and against Nabal (“but the man was harsh and badly behaved,” 1 Sam 25:3). As changes are introduced and developed in the narrative, changes begin to take place in the audience. Every part of a narrative—beginning, middle, and end—features both textual and readerly dynamics.82 Textual dynamics (overall information and plot) include the presence of “instabilities,” which refer to the unstable relationships between narrative characters. Readerly dynamics include “tensions,” which refer to the unstable relationships between author/narrator and audience. Such tensions could be generated, for example, by the difference in knowledge, values, beliefs, and expectations between the author/narrator and the audience.83 Phelan’s model will prove helpful in exploring the ways John shapes his audience’s understanding of the nations by means of his presentation of the nations within his overall drama. The aspects of Phelan’s model that are deployed most consistently in the following chapters are instabilities (in order to trace plot development) and tensions (in order to trace the way the author shapes his hearers’ judgments). But here, as with narrative criticism above, a word of caution is in order. These literary methods and tools are only that—tools. Insofar as they lead to new questions, responsible textual exploration, and satisfying interpretation, they will have served as trustworthy guides. Anthony Thiselton acknowledges the mixed bag that literary theory represents in biblical scholarship. But he also concedes that gold—such as Gérard Genette on narrative time or Alter on complementary points of view in 1–2 Samuel—could, through literary approaches, yet be found.84 To this literary and narrative approach to the nations in Revelation we now turn.

81. Phelan, Experiencing Fiction, 7. 82. By “readerly” Phelan means “the activities of audiences” (cf. Phelan, Experiencing Fiction, 3). 83. Cf. Phelan, Experiencing Fiction, 16. John W. Erwin, Lyric Apocalypse: Reconstruction in Ancient and Modern Poetry (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1984), 20, speaking of images of divorce and marriage in Revelation, says, “It is precisely when writers emphasize tensions between themselves and their readers that they project the most radiant images of conjugal reconciliation.” In other words, exploring the tensions between the author and his readers/ hearers can yield great insight into the meaning of the Apocalypse. 84. Anthony C. Thiselton, “The Future of Biblical Interpretation and Responsible Plurality in Hermeneutics,” in The Future of Biblical Interpretation: Responsible Plurality in Biblical Hermeneutics, ed. Stanley E. Porter Jr. and Matthew R. Malcolm (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2013), 27.

44

45

Chapter 3 A UTHORITY OVER THE N ATIONS

Revelation 2:27: A Complicated Introduction The introduction of the nations as a narrative character in Revelation 2:26–27 is also one of the thorniest passages in interpretation, demanding a thorough exegetical analysis. With the address to Thyatira the narrative reaches a dramatic point.1 The letter to Thyatira is the longest2 of the seven and comes at the midpoint. Psalm 2, the most important psalm within Revelation’s structural and interpretative scheme, is without a doubt foregrounded in this letter.3 It is within this richly allusive and structurally significant juncture that John introduces τὰ ἔθνη (“the nations”) in his narrative. To the conqueror in Thyatira the son of God promises, δώσω αὐτῷ ἐξουσίαν ἐπὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν (“I will give to him authority over the nations,” Rev 2:26). The nature of this authority is defined as follows: καὶ ποιμανεῖ αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ ὡς τὰ σκεύη τὰ κεραμικὰ συντρίβεται, ὡς κἀγὼ εἴληφα παρὰ τοῦ πατρός μου (“And he will shepherd them with a rod of iron as vessels of pottery are broken to pieces, as I also have received from my father,” Rev 2:27–28).

1. Leslie N. Pollard, “The Function of ΛΟΙΠΟΣ in the Letter to Thyatira,” AUSS 46, no. 1 (2008): 48, draws attention to the particular function of the address to Thyatira within the seven letters by the presence of the clause, καὶ γνώσονται πᾶσαι αἱ ἐκκλησίαι (“and all the churches will know,” Rev 2:23). 2. Cf. Colin J. Hemer, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting, new ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986), 106. 3. Rev 1:5 and the reference to “the kings of the earth” is allusive of Ps 2, but other Old Testament traditions could also be in view, such as Ps 89:27; cf. Sweet, Revelation, WPCS (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1979), 66. In Rev 2:18–29 it is clear that Ps 2 is in the foreground; cf. Konrad Huber, “Psalm 2 in Der Offenbarung Des Johannes,” in Horizonte Biblischer Texte : Festschrift Für Josef M. Oesch Zum 60. Geburtstag, ed. Andreas Vonach and Georg Fischer, OBO 196 (Göttingen: Academic Press Fribourg, 2003), 247–73. A longer discussion of Ps 2 within the structure of Rev will be deferred to Chapter 7 in this book.

46

46

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

The majority of commentators and Bible translations take ποιμανεῖ in Revelation 2:27 as “he will rule,” whereas some commentators take it as “he will destroy,” and almost none take it as “he will shepherd” them.4 The contention in this analysis is that the meaning of ποιμανεῖ must be filled out by the context— both the immediate and the narrative contexts before and after the reference. Additionally, as Peter Cotterell and Max Turner note, “Words are signals, and they form part of a signaling system. So, the significance of the words cannot arbitrarily be changed by the individual if his signals are to be correctly perceived by others.”5 It is important then to determine the most widely used meaning of ποιμαίνω in the Old Testament, the intertestamental literature, and the New Testament in order to have a point of departure from which to allow the narrative to specify and expand the function of the term in John’s story. Moreover, because ποιμαίνω and its cognates function as a shepherding metaphor in many of the Old Testament texts, most of the New Testament texts, and all the texts in Revelation, it is also important briefly to survey the various ways the metaphor of shepherding was used in this body of literature.6 To this literature we now turn.

The Shepherding Metaphor in the Background Literature In what follows, a summary of Jack Vancil’s study on the shepherd symbolism is supplemented by the studies of James Seibel, Wayne Baxter, Young Chae, Jonathan

4. The following discussion elaborates on the representatives of each view. By way of summary, commentators who take ποιμαίνω as “rule” at Rev 2:27 include Aune, Satake, Hemer, Moyise, and McNicol. Bible translations that interpret it as “rule” include the ESV, ASV, GNV, KJV, NAB, NAS, NET, NIV, NLT, NRS, RSV, and TNIV. Commentators who take ποιμαίνω as “destroy” at Rev 2:27 include Charles, Osborne, Ozanne, Beale, and Trudinger. Sweet and Harrington take ποιμαίνω in Rev 2:27 as “shepherd” but without much elaboration. Similarly, Brian K. Blount, Revelation: A Commentary, NTL (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 2009), 64, says of the same verse, “The symbol mimics Christ’s own rule at 12:5 and 19:15 as one of shepherding. Such symbolism provides not only for the reality of the nations’ judgment but also for the possibility and even hope of repentance.” A notable exception among Bible translations is the HCSB, which translates ποιμαίνω as “shepherd” at Rev 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15. 5. Peter Cotterell and Max Turner, Linguistics & Biblical Interpretation (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1989), 18. Similarly, Brent A. Strawn, “Why Does the Lion Disappear in Revelation 5? Leonine Imagery in Early Jewish and Christian Literatures,” JSP 17, no. 1 (2007): 73, observes, “Images do have histories and histories of use and metaphors have systems of associated commonplaces and these ought not to be neglected in interpreting images and metaphors and their specific deployment” (emphasis original). 6. The exploration of the shepherding metaphor below goes beyond the use of ποιμαίνω and its cognates and includes the concept of shepherding (cf. Cotterell and Turner, Linguistics, 180–1).

47

3. Authority over the Nations

47

Huntzinger, and Andreas Köstenberger on the same topic.7 As an introduction to his study of the shepherd imagery in Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Greek, biblical, and intertestamental literature, Vancil writes, “The shepherd represented the kind of paragon of all virtues. Here was the archetype, the exemplar of one who would be responsible, considerate, strong, intelligent, and a real protector of the flock or herds.”8 He further explains, “The idea of sheep would typify the notion of the helpless, the vulnerable, the weak, and that which was in need of oversight and protection.”9 “Shepherd” and “Good Shepherd” as titles are attested as early as the third millennium BC. The title was applied to the king in Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Egyptian literature.10 In Egyptian literature the pharaoh as an ideal ruler and god was viewed as a “benign, kind, and watchful shepherd over the people.”11 In Mesopotamia the shepherd metaphor is more extensively used in the extant literature when compared to Egyptian literature. Gods as shepherds were protectors of cities and temples. Adjectives, such as exalted, rightful (true), wonderful, and prayerful, and nouns, such as protector and guardian, were employed of those in positions of authority, who were also called shepherds.12 In Greek literature the shepherd metaphor was used of the good and wise ruler and of the triumphant military commander. Pastoral poetry depicted the idyllic countryside, with the simple lifestyle of shepherds, and functioned as a means of escape from the hectic urban lifestyle.13 Vancil also cites an instance in Aeschylus’s Agamemnon when a raging storm that threatens to destroy a ship at sea is called an “evil shepherd.”14 One of the main differences between Egyptian and 7. Jack Wayland Vancil, “The Symbolism of the Shepherd in Biblical, Intertestamental, and New Testament Material” (PhD diss., Dropsie College, 1975); James William Seibel, “Shepherd and Sheep Symbolism in Hellenistic Judaism and the New Testament” (PhD diss., Yale University, 1964); Wayne Baxter, Israel’s Only Shepherd: Matthew’s Shepherd Motif and His Social Setting, LNTS 457 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2012); Young S. Chae, Jesus as the Eschatological Davidic Shepherd: Studies in the Old Testament, Second Temple Judaism, and in the Gospel of Matthew, WUNT 2/216 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006); Jonathan David Huntzinger, “The End of Exile: A Short Commentary on the Shepherd/ Sheep Metaphor in Exilic and Post-exilic Prophetic and Synoptic Gospel Literature” (PhD diss., Fuller Theological Seminary, School of Theology, 1999); Andreas J. Köstenberger, “Jesus the Good Shepherd Who Will Also Bring Other Sheep (John 10:16): The Old Testament Background of a Familiar Metaphor,” BBR 12, no. 1 (2002): 67–96. Cf. also Timothy Laniak, Shepherds after My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions and Leadership in the Bible, ed. Don Carson, NSBT (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2006). 8. Vancil, “Symbolism of the Shepherd,” 4. 9. Ibid., 3. 10. Ibid., 4. 11. Ibid., 37. 12. Ibid., 98. 13. Ibid., 117–26. 14. Ibid., 107. The Greek phrase is ποιμένος κακοῦ στρόβος (“the whirling gust of an evil shepherd”).

48

48

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

Mesopotamian literature vis-à-vis Greek literature is that in the latter the concept of kindness applied to the shepherd does not occur.15 In his analysis of the Old Testament material, Vancil concludes the following. The earliest material portrays Yahweh as shepherd, not by title, but the implication is clear. Israel’s leaders are likened to shepherds. Those who fail to keep watch over the flock commit “a heinous crime,” which results in the scattering of the flock. The ruler as shepherd may have originated during the monarchy. Though no king of Israel is addressed as shepherd, understood as a title, King Cyrus is called a shepherd by Yahweh (Isa 44:28). The period before, during, and after the exile shows affinity for the shepherd metaphor as seen in a number of Psalms and the prophets. Jeremiah employs the term in military contexts. Vancil suggests that Jeremiah’s use might be influenced by his context, wherein he was surrounded by nations who called their kings and military officials by the title. Ecclesiastes calls a great teacher “shepherd” (Eccl 12:11), and Psalm 49:14 calls death the shepherd of “man in his pomp” (Ps 49:12 ESV). The concept of undershepherd is present in the Old Testament; leaders of the nation are responsible before Yahweh for their care of the flock. In contrast to some of the adjectives that modify the term in Mesopotamian literature, in the Old Testament the term is simply “shepherd,” “good shepherd,” or “evil shepherd.”16 The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha preserve the main core of the concept found in the Old Testament. The God of Israel is portrayed as a shepherd, and so are the leaders of the people, who are responsible for “protecting and caring for the people.”17 Sirach expands the role of the shepherd as educator, one who “rebukes,” “trains,” and “disciplines” those under his care. The Zadokite fragments speak of the compassion and kindness of the shepherd, and 1 Enoch might apply the image to angelic beings.18 The New Testament use of the shepherd metaphor is taken from the Old Testament and second-Temple literature. Jesus is the shepherd who comes from Davidic lineage as announced in the birth narratives. Jesus is likely to have seen his ministry in terms of one sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Οὐκ ἀπεστάλην εἰ μὴ εἰς τὰ πρόβατα τὰ ἀπολωλότα οἴκου Ἰσραήλ, Matt 15:24). He reproved Israel’s leaders for being false shepherds. In the early church “Jesus was identified as the second David, the Good Shepherd of Israel, and indeed, of the whole world.”19 The New Testament continues the imagery of the shepherd guiding and directing the sheep, but it goes further with the motif of the shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. Ezekiel 34 looms large in New Testament appropriation of the shepherd motif, with an emphasis on the shepherd’s responsibility to bring peace and well-being to those under his care. Zechariah 9–14 seems to have

15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

Ibid., 127. Ibid., 247–50. Ibid., 271. Ibid. Ibid., 335.

49

3. Authority over the Nations

49

formed a core around which Jesus’s followers understood the life, ministry, and death of their leader. Πατάξω τὸν ποιμένα, καὶ τὰ πρόβατα διασκορπισθήσονται (“I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered,” Mark 14:27; cf. Zech 13:7). The nations at the end of the age would stand as a flock before Jesus, the eschatological judge.20 After the pattern of Jesus, the early church employed the term “shepherd” and the activity of shepherding for its leaders.21 As part of his conclusions Vancil speaks of the impact that Ezekiel 34 had on the New Testament writers. He says, The passage in Ezek. 34 is one of the strongest rebukes against tyranny and oppressive rule to be found . . . The ideas in Ezek. 34 are deeply embedded in the New Testament. This indicates that the passage made a lasting impression on the readers of this material. The shepherd image was apparently used because it was a thought which could best illustrate the subject of legitimate and concerned leadership; it was also a symbol which might be used to show how bad leadership resulted in an oppressed and chaotic society.22

According to Vancil responsibility and concern represent the common core of meaning attached to the shepherding metaphor. Chae develops a profile of the eschatological/Davidic shepherds based on material in the Old Testament and the second-Temple literature.23 Some of the elements include the hope of the coming of Yahweh as an eschatological shepherd (Ezek 34–37), but in the Animal Apocalypse the vision is extended to include all of humanity.24 The activities of the shepherd found in Ezekiel 34–37 are also found in a number of Qumran texts. These activities include seeking, rescuing, gathering, healing, and feeding the flock. Justice and righteousness, with the concomitant renewed obedience to the law on the part of the community, are hallmarks of the rule of the Davidic appointee. In his study of the shepherd motif, surveying Old Testament, second-Temple, Roman, and New Testament texts, Baxter concludes the following. In the Old

20. Vancil, ibid., 336, says, “It is possible that several places in Rev. reflect the idea of shepherd rule. In Rev. 2:27 is the thought of ‘ruling with a rod of iron,’ probably echoing the control of a military shepherd (cf. Ps. 2:8, 9; Rev. 19:15).” 21. Ibid., 334–6. 22. Ibid., 342. To this formulation Seibel’s thought should be added. He says, “According to Ezekiel the shepherding of God is not all comfort and mercy, however, for there exists also a strong element of judgment. As the perfect shepherd-king God is the embodiment of justice, and in justice he will destroy all those leaders of the community who have misled his people. The shepherd will judge among the sheep, distinguishing the fat from the lean, the strong and wealthy from the oppressed” (cf. Seibel, “Shepherd and Sheep Symbolism,” 12). 23. Chae, Jesus as the Eschatological Davidic Shepherd, 168–72. 24. In the Animal Apocalypse the rationale for Israel’s excessive suffering is due now, not to the wicked shepherds of Ezek 34, but to the wicked shepherds, which are angelic powers.

50

50

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

Testament both Yahweh and earthly rulers are called shepherds. Yahweh as the ideal shepherd is the one who gathers the flock, leads it to pasture, and watches over it in protection from danger. The pastoral imagery—of leading, guiding, gathering, protecting, and pasturing—is found in the Old Testament, the second-Temple literature, and the New Testament.25 The element of wisdom, and the teacher as shepherd, is found in Ecclesiastes 12:11. Baxter says that the shepherd metaphor is applied to Israel’s leaders in a context of judgment in approximately two-thirds of the texts. This high judicial context suggests to him that when the shepherd metaphor is employed with ‫“( רעה‬shepherd”) an “implicit negative critique of the ruling establishment” is in view.26 One of the most striking findings in Baxter’s study comes from his analysis of Roman texts. In these texts, owing to the Romans’ low view of shepherds and shepherding, the shepherd motif is “peripheral,” rarely metaphorical, and never applied to the emperor.27 In the witness of the second-Temple literature Baxter finds three patterns. First, the metaphor was used of earthly rulers and the activity of ruling. When applied to Yahweh, the shepherd metaphor emphasizes his mercy and compassion. Second, pastoral imagery that describes the ideal shepherdruler here is similar to that found in the Old Testament: pasturing, guarding, protecting, leading, watching over the afflicted, and so forth. Similarly, Yahweh as shepherd gathers and pastures the sheep, binds them up, heals, feeds, and protects them from danger. Third, in terms of the hope for political-national or moral restoration, it is Yahweh who accomplishes the restoration, but in some cases Israel’s leaders—royal, messianic, or religious—are the ones who bring about a new day.28 Moving on to the New Testament, Baxter finds that New Testament writers use the shepherd motif for assembly (church) leaders, associate the activity of teaching with shepherding, and depict Jesus as shepherd by means of pastoral imagery in Matthew, Mark 6:34, John 10, and Revelation 7:17.29 In Matthew, Jesus is presented as the Davidic shepherd as early as the infancy narrative (Matt 2:6). Though the connection between kingship and shepherding is not made explicit until Matthew 25, it is implied in Matthew 2 in the strong contrast between Herod and Jesus. Jesus is the eschatological shepherd-king to whom Jews and Gentiles must submit. Baxter suggests a strong correspondence between Ezekiel 34 and Matthew 8–9, the miracle chapters. Jesus’s healing ministry is part of his shepherding of the nation and delivering it from satanic oppression (cf. Matt 8–9 and the focus on demonic

25. Baxter, Israel’s Only Shepherd, 55–6. 26. Ibid., 57. 27. Ibid., 113. 28. Ibid., 114–15. 29. Ibid., 118–19. Baxter separates his findings in Matthew from the rest of the New Testament in order to make his point about Matthew’s socioreligious location in relation to second-Temple literature. Such a distinction is irrelevant for the purposes of this study.

51

3. Authority over the Nations

51

oppression with the climax in Matt 9:36 about the people’s lack of a shepherd). The connection between sin, political and physical suffering, and Satan is best illustrated in Matthew 8–9. Baxter says, “For Matthew, Satan’s rule over Israel and the Roman Empire is most evident in the physical sicknesses which plague the people of God (8.16, 28–32; 9.32–36; 10.1,8), and in the illegitimate rule of Herod (2.1–16), and the Jerusalem leadership (3.5–9; 21.43–46; 23.37–39).”30 The Davidic shepherd heals his people’s illnesses, shows he is stronger than Satan, is shown to be the rightful Davidic heir (over against Herod), and delivers his people from their sins. These activities are part of what it means for the shepherd to be present with his people.31 Köstenberger conducts a survey of the developing shepherd metaphor in the Old Testament, intertestamental literature, and New Testament. His findings are in line with those previously discussed.32 He concludes, John the evangelist presents Jesus as both the Jewish Messiah and the universal Savior of the world. The message of John’s Gospel was designed to appeal to the cosmopolitan population of the Asia Minor of his day and to strengthen the Johannine churches against Jewish opposition. By including Jesus’ self-portrait as the Good Shepherd, of both believing Jews and Gentiles, John holds up the lofty vision of a community united by faith in the God-sent Messiah.33

Jesus is the Good Shepherd par excellence, who has one flock made up of Jews and Gentiles. In summary, this brief survey of the shepherd metaphor has shown that the metaphor has a long history in Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Greek, biblical, and intertestamental literature. Moreover, the metaphor was freshly put to good use by Jesus and his followers. A good ruler was a good shepherd who led and protected his people. The biblical imagery uses words like leading, guiding, gathering, feeding, and healing in describing the actions of the faithful shepherd. In John’s Gospel the good shepherd dies for the sheep. In no instance does the good shepherd, in any of the literature surveyed by the authors mentioned, destroy the sheep.

30. Ibid., 164. 31. Chae’s findings are similar in his study of the shepherd metaphor in Matthew. The activities associated with Jesus as the Davidic shepherd are healing, teaching, presiding as judge over Israel and the nations, seeking the lost, and showing compassion and mercy (cf. Chae, Jesus as the Eschatological Shepherd, 387–90). See also Huntzinger’s similar conclusions in “The End of Exile,” 251–5. 32. See especially the helpful extended outline in which he traces the development of shepherding imagery in biblical and intertestamental literature in Köstenberger, “Jesus the Good Shepherd,” 92–5. 33. Ibid., 96.

52

52

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

Ποιμαίνω in the Septuagint and the New Testament A good point of departure for the analysis of ποιμαίνω is BDAG. The most common meanings of ποιμαίνω are “to serve as tender of sheep” (literal sense) and “to watch out for other people, to shepherd” (figurative sense).34 Under the figurative sense there are two main semantic ideas: (1) to lead, guide, and rule and (2) to protect, care for, and nurture.35 Table 1 References to Ποιμαίνω in the LXX and the NT Uses of ποιμαίνω in LXX and NT

References

Literal tending of sheep (19 ref.)

Gen 30:31, 36; 37:2, 13; Exod 2:16; 3:1; 1 Sam 16:11; 17:34; 25:16; Jdt 8:26; Ps 151:1; Song 1:7, 8; 2:16; 6:2, 3; Isa 61:5; Luke 17:7; 1 Cor 9:7 2 Sam 5:2; 7:7; 1 Chr 11:2; 17:6; Prov 22:11; Jer 3:15 [2x]; 6:18; Mic 5:4, 7:14; Zech 11:4, 7 [2x], 9; Matt 2:6; 1 Pet 5:2 Ps 23:1; 27:9 [28:9];38 36:3 [37:3]; 47:15 [48:14]; 77:71 [78:71]; 77:72 [78:72]; 79:2 [80:1]; Isa 40:11; Ezek 34:23; Pss. Sol. 17:40; Hos 13:5; Jer 23:4; Rev 7:17 Jer 23:2; Ezek 34:10; Zech 11:17

Figurative shepherding of people (16 ref.) (emphasis on ruling36) Figurative shepherding of people (13 ref.) (emphasis on ruling and nurturing37)

Figurative shepherding of people (3 ref.) (emphasis on ruling and nurturing) antishepherd polemic Figurative shepherding of people (2 ref.) (emphasis on ruling and possibly nurturing) Special cases (12 ref.)

John 21:16; Acts 20:28 Ps 2:9; 49:14; Prov 9:12; 28:7; 29:3; Mic 5:6; Jer 6:3; 22:22; Jude 1:12; Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15

The core meaning of ποιμαίνω is fairly constrained. The metaphorical use of the term is predominant in the biblical literature, and the shift from the literal to the figurative use can be seen in the narrative of David, who is first a shepherd of sheep (1 Sam 16:11; 17:34) and then called by God to shepherd Israel (2 Sam 5:2).

34. From “ποιμαίνω” in BDAG, 842. 35. Ibid. BDAG has one more distinction under the figurative sense of ποιμαίνω, which they label “destructive results.” Their examples under this heading are Jer 22:22 and the verses in question, Ps 2:9; Rev 2:27; 12:5; and 19:15. L&N similarly identifies three semantic ideas for ποιμαίνω: shepherd (to herd and tend flocks of sheep or goats), 518; guide and help (a figurative extension of ποιμαίνω, to lead with the implication of providing for), 466; and rule (with the implication of direct personal involvement; under “rule” L&N cites Rev 2:27), 479. 36. “Ruling” includes BDAG’s definition to lead and guide. 37. “Nurturing” includes BDAG’s definition to protect and care for. 38. References in brackets correspond to MT.

53

3. Authority over the Nations

53

While some texts highlight the leading, guiding, and ruling and others highlight the protecting, caring for, and nurturing aspects of shepherding, both concepts are inherently present in the shepherd metaphor. As the survey in the previous section showed, the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Old Testament, intertestamental, and New Testament literature reinforce the idea that the shepherd both rules well and cares for his flock. The main exception was found in the Greek literature, in which the concept of the shepherd’s kindness toward his people was absent, though not his concern for the good of the people. Let us now focus on the special cases of ποιμαίνω. The question to ask concerning the special cases is whether ποιμαίνω preserves the figurative sense of shepherding (with an accent on ruling and/or nurturing) or whether something else, like “destruction,” is intended by the metaphor. (Ps 2:9; Rev 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15 will not be treated at present since part of the concern of this study is to clarify the meaning John assigned to the latter three references, which are allusions to Ps 2:9.) In four instances the object of shepherding is inappropriate. Three proverbs refer to the unwise son. The evil (κακὸς) son of Proverb 9:12 LXX is like one who attempts to control the wind, ὃς ἐρείδεται ἐπὶ ψεύδεσιν οὗτος ποιμανεῖ ἀνέμους (“the one who becomes fixed on falsehoods, this one shepherds/rules the wind”). Proverb 28:7 LXX reads, φυλάσσει νόμον υἱὸς συνετός ὃς δὲ ποιμαίνει ἀσωτίαν ἀτιμάζει πατέρα (“a discerning son keeps the law, but the one who shepherds/ nurtures debauchery dishonors [his] father”). Proverb 29:3 LXX says, ἀνδρὸς φιλοῦντος σοφίαν εὐφραίνεται πατὴρ αὐτου ὃς δὲ ποιμαίνει πόρνας ἀπολεῖ πλοῦτον (“when a man loves wisdom his father rejoices, but he who shepherds/ keeps prostitutes destroys riches”). In these three proverbs ποιμαίνω retains the figurative sense of ruling and/or nurturing. The impertinence is found in the object of ποιμαίνω. The wind cannot be ruled; debauchery should not be nurtured; prostitutes should not be kept company with. The last use of ποιμαίνω with an inappropriate object is found in Jude 1:12 and concerns the false teachers who ἑαυτοὺς ποιμαίνοντες (“shepherd [only] themselves”). All four of these uses of ποιμαίνω come in colorful contexts in which the subject doing the shepherding is a negative example. The rebuke is all the more biting because of the use of ποιμαίνω, a word that usually describes the close and right relationship between subject and object. To take ποιμαίνω as “destroy” would be nonsensical and erase the implied irony and rebuke. In two instances the subject that does the shepherding is a menacing agent: death and the wind. Psalm 48:15 LXX says the following about “man in his pomp” or those who have “foolish confidence,” in contrast to the upright, ὡς πρόβατα ἐν ᾅδῃ ἔθεντο θάνατος ποιμαίνει αὐτούς (“like sheep they are placed in Hades; death shepherds them”). In Jeremiah 22:22 the leaders of Judah are under judgment; thus the prophet says to personified Judah, πάντας τοὺς ποιμένας σου ποιμανεῖ ἄνεμος (“the wind will shepherd all your shepherds”). The impertinence of the subject-ποιμαίνω-object relationship in these two cases lies in the kind of subject. Death and the wind are not the kind of agent one wants as one’s shepherd. The irony works, however, because the objects (prideful man and Israel’s failed leaders) are under judgment. To take ποιμαίνω as “destroy” would

54

54

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

cancel the power of the metaphor. The destruction implied in these two verses (if it is implied) comes not from ποιμαίνω but from the subject. In all the uses of ποιμαίνω so far, fifty-nine out of sixty-five (though an analysis of undisputed uses in Table 1 cannot be offered due to space limitations), the literal or figurative sense of shepherding, with an emphasis on ruling and/or nurturing, has the most explanatory power. The last two special cases are Jeremiah 6:3 and Micah 5:6. Jeremiah 6:3 LXX is an oracle of judgment against Jerusalem. The verse says, εἰς αὐτὴν ἥξουσιν ποιμένες καὶ τὰ ποίμνια αὐτῶν καὶ πήξουσιν ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν σκηνὰς κύκλῳ καὶ ποιμανοῦσιν ἕκαστος τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ (“against her will come shepherds and their flocks, and they will build tents against her, all around, and they will shepherd/pasture, each with his hand”). There is no doubt that the scene describes a context of judgment. Military generals and their troops are pictured surrounding the forsaken city of Jerusalem. The entire chapter graphically describes the destruction God is threatening. However, it should not be assumed that the contribution of ποιμαίνω to the entire drama of the chapter is destruction proper. The established semantic range of the word militates against too quick an assumption. Moreover, in Jeremiah 6:3 the besieged city is not the direct object of ποιμανοῦσιν, making the translation “they will pasture” more fitting.39 The flocks in view are foreign troops.40 Jerusalem is the field to be grazed. The picture is of foreign generals (shepherds) providing for their troops (flocks) by means of an open, unprotected field to graze in (Jerusalem).41 Of course, the result of this scene, as is clear from all of Jeremiah 6, is destruction for Jerusalem. But in Jeremiah 6:3 ποιμαίνω reflects the “care” of foreign generals for their troops by means of the field that is Jerusalem.42 Thus, from the perspective of Jerusalem, this is “no gentle pastoral scene.”43 The metaphor is menacing for Jerusalem, as the field to be grazed by the Babylonian soldier flocks. The shepherds’ care for their flocks spells disaster for Jerusalem. The last verse to be surveyed is Micah 5:6, which is the one example in the entire LXX and NT (setting aside for the moment Ps 2:9, Rev 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15) where ποιμαίνω would seem to denote “destruction.” The verse reads, καὶ ποιμανοῦσιν τὸν Ασσουρ ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ (“and they shall shepherd the Assyrian with a sword”). This verse is part of a song of confident hope of victory in war. It speaks of the shepherds and princes of Judah coming up against the Assyrian who invades. However, there are reasons to consider that ποιμαίνω here retains its well-attested meaning of ruling and/ or nurturing, but is being employed with irony. First, ποιμαίνω is used two other times in Micah (5:4 and 7:14) and in both these instances the word refers clearly to the just 39. The verb has no direct object. William Lee Holladay, Jeremiah 1: A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, Chapters 1–25, Hermeneia (Philadelphia, PA: Fortress, 1986), 206, speaks of “grazing.” 40. See Vancil, “The Symbolism of the Shepherd,” 207. 41. See Jack R. Lundbom, Jeremiah 1–20, AB (New York: Doubleday, 1999), 418. 42. See Vancil, “The Symbolism of the Shepherd,” 249, who argues that Jeremiah might have applied the shepherd metaphor to military officials and their armies because of his context amid nations that used the shepherd title in this way. 43. Holladay, Jeremiah 1, 206.

55

3. Authority over the Nations

55

and strong rule over his people of the coming messiah (Mic 5:4) and to the rule and care of Yahweh himself (Mic 7:14). Micah 5:6 is just two verses after the idealized rule/ shepherding of the messiah has been described by ποιμαίνω in Micah 5:4. It would be very awkward if the author assigned a diametrically opposed meaning to the same word, having no precedent for such usage, as far as the extant literature is concerned, in such close proximity. It is more natural to preserve a similar sense in the two uses.44 Leslie Allen says about this verse, “It is implied here that the generals would be subordinate to God’s man: their ‘shepherding,’ v. 6, corresponds to his own in v. 4 as merely the outworking of royal policy.”45 Second, if the sense of destruction was conveyed by ποιμαίνω, then the complement ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ (“with a sword”) would be superfluous. The fact is that ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ is required precisely because the author seems to produce an ironic play on words. The rule/shepherding of the messiah will be so strong (cf. ἐν ἰσχύι κυρίου in Mic 5:4) that his followers will rule over their enemies, except not benevolently, as is his rule over them, but rather with the sword.46 Another possible, though less likely, interpretation of this verse is that the flock in view consists of the captives from Judah. On this view, though Assyria is the grammatical object of ποιμαίνω, the proper object of the activity of shepherding are the captives that must be rescued from the land of Assyria.47 In any event, there is no need to resort to an otherwise unattested sense of ποιμαίνω in order to make sense of this verse.

Revelation 2:27 and Its Interpreters Having looked at the function of the shepherding metaphor in the relevant literature, and the semantic range of ποιμαίνω, we now turn to the main ways interpreters have dealt with Revelation 2:27, καὶ ποιμανεῖ αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ ὡς τὰ σκεύη τὰ κεραμικὰ συντρίβεται (“and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron as clay vessels are broken to pieces”). Colin Hemer says the promise to the conquerors in Thyatira is “probably the most difficult of the seven.”48 The main lines of interpretation can

44. Three, if the cognate ποιμένες in Mic 5:5 is included. There is clearly a play on words in Mic 5:4–6. 45. Leslie C. Allen, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah, NICOT (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1976), 348. Also, Francis I. Andersen and David N. Freedman, Micah: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AB (New York: Doubleday, 2000), 480, maintain that the act of the seven/eight shepherds is “like that of the ‘ruler’ ” in Mic 5:4. 46. David J. Clark and Norm Mundhenk, A Translator’s Handbook on the Books of Obadiah and Micah (New York: United Bible Societies, 1982), 143, say that the presence of the sword, instead of the rod and staff of Ps 23:4, brings out the kind of ruling intended, which is not the “gentle, helpful kind that ‘shepherd’ suggests.” 47. See Andersen and Freedman, Micah, 480. They say, “The purpose of this enterprise is not so much to capture another country as to rescue their captives.” 48. Hemer, Letters to the Seven Churches, 124.

56

56

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

be divided in two: those who take ποιμαίνω in Revelation 2:27 with the sense “to destroy” and those who take it with the sense “to subdue/subjugate/rule,” but here the ruling is not benevolent. First, ποιμαίνω as destruction. R. H. Charles has been one of the most influential interpreters of Revelation in the twentieth century. Many who take ποιμαίνω in Revelation 2:27 as destruction reference Charles’s work and his certainty on the matter. Charles arrives at his interpretation in three movements. First, he looks at Revelation 19:15. Charles acknowledges that the sense “devastate, lay waste” for ποιμαίνω is “not found outside our author and the LXX (if indeed it is found in the latter).”49 It is important to pause and consider that Charles, an expert in philology, showed doubt as to whether the sense “to destroy” for ποιμαίνω was indeed present in the LXX. So why does he assign that meaning nonetheless? He does it because Revelation 19:15 uses ποιμαίνω in parallel with the verb πατάσσω just as Revelation 2:27 uses ποιμαίνω in parallel with the verb συντρίβω. These parallel verbs (strike and break) are for Charles “strong evidence that our author attached two distinct meanings to ποιμαίνειν.”50 The parallels ῥομφαία ὀξεῖα (“sharp sword”) in Revelation 19:15 and ῥάβδῳ σιδηρα (“rod of iron”) in Revelation 2:27 are further confirmation for Charles. Second, there was the conflict among nations in World War I. After stating that what John has in mind in Revelation 2:27 is “the actual destruction of the heathen nations,” Charles says, in a rather moving autobiographical reflection, At this moment that I am writing we can witness at least a partial fulfilment of this dread forecast, in which England and her allies are engaged in mortal strife with the powers of godless force and materialism . . . The present heathen system of international relations will sooner or later be destroyed and replaced by international relations of a Christian character.51

England and her allies, in other words, are like “the triumphant martyrs” who “are active agents” of the nations’ destruction “as members of the heavenly hosts which should follow the word of God, xix.13–14.”52 Third, the translation issue at Psalm 2:9.53 Ποιμαίνω generally translates the Hebrew ‫( רעה‬to shepherd). The Hebrew ‫( רעע‬to break) is almost identical. Charles

49. R. H. Charles, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John, ICC (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1920), 1:76. 50. Ibid. 51. Ibid., 75. 52. Ibid. 53. See the fine discussion on this thorny issue found in Gerhard Wilhelmi, “Der Hirt Mit Dem Eisernen Szepter: Überlegungen zu Psalm II 9,” VT 27, no. 2 (1977): 196–204. The question is whether ‫( רעע‬to break) or ‫( רעה‬to shepherd) underlies the MT ‫ תרעם‬of Ps 2:9. Wilhelmi argues for the latter on the basis of the LXX translation, the parallel in Mic 5:6, and the poetic structure of the verse.

57

3. Authority over the Nations

57

says that since ‫ רעה‬and ποιμαίνω are used in Micah 5:6 and Jeremiah 6:3, there was apparently a secondary meaning attached to ποιμαίνω that meant “to break.” Thus, ποιμαίνω can be understood to have two meanings: to pasture (as in Rev 7:17) and to devastate (as in Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15). Charles says that though most translations (the Vulgate, the Syriac versions, and the AV and RV) render ποιμαίνω as “to rule,” the parallelism and the context are in favor of destruction. He adds, “The object with which authority is given to them over the apostate nations is not that they may ‘rule’ them, but may utterly destroy them.”54 In fact, Charles does not like the passive form and rendering of συντρίβεται in Revelation 2:27. He says the passive is too weak, arguing, “The writer means to say that the righteous will ‘dash to pieces’ the strong and the mighty among the heathen as easily as one dashes to pieces a potter’s vessels.”55 Thus, even though both the MT and the LXX in the second half of Psalm 2:9 have ‫ נפץ‬and συντρίβω (“to dash to pieces”) in the active form, which suggests that the verb was deliberately changed to a passive form in Revelation 2:27, Charles still thinks John meant to use the active form. Osborne takes the same position as Charles but does not present any new arguments. He says that those who take ποιμαίνω at Revelation 2:27 to mean “rule” (John Walvoord, Mounce, David Chilton, Hemer) “are wrong.”56 John’s point according to Osborne is that the “hostile” nations that “oppose” the saints will be destroyed by them. In like manner, C. G. Ozanne takes ποιμαίνω as destruction on analogy with Micah 5:6. He has a brief discussion in which he asserts that ποιμαίνω, in addition to “tend, pasture, and guide” refers to the shepherd’s “destructive activity toward wild beasts and robbers.”57 It is this latter meaning that fits Revelation’s context.58 Beale, likewise, sees a double meaning in ποιμαίνω, shepherd and destroy. He says, “Accordingly, the ‘authority’ that Jesus received to begin to rule in fulfillment of the Psalm is understood to be the authority that a king wields in protecting his subjects and defeating his enemies.”59 Paul Trudinger retains the usual meaning of ποιμαίνω but resorts to a sourcecritical solution. He strongly disagrees with assigning to ποιμαίνω a different lexical meaning from “to feed/shepherd” (in the sense of benevolent rule). He says, It would seem, from a lexicographical study of this verb (ποιμαίνειν), that it is too “mild” in meaning to fit naturally into the contexts in which it appears, both in Rev. ii. 27 and xix. 15. Even where it carries the meaning “to rule”, it has the 54. Charles, Revelation, 1:76n. 1 (emphasis original). 55. Ibid., 77. 56. Grant R. Osborne, Revelation, BECNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 166. 57. C. G. Ozanne, “The Language of the Apocalypse,” TynBul 16 (1965): 5. 58. Ozanne, ibid., thinks that the MT ‫“( ְּתרֺעֵם‬you shall break them”) of Ps 2:9 should be revocalized to yield ‫“( ְּת ְרעֵם‬you shall shepherd them”), as the LXX and the Peshitta have it, and as ‫“( שֵׁבֶט‬rod”) makes clear a shepherd’s staff is in view. 59. G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, NIGTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999), 267.

58

58

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations sense overtones of “to protect” or “to foster”, and nothing of the fierceness or high-handedness in its connotations.60

Nevertheless, he insists that Revelation 2:27 carries the strong Semitic sense of “you shall break them,” because in his opinion John was familiar with the LXX of Psalm 2:9, but the thought he sought to communicate was that of his Semitic source.61 How then does Trudinger explain the presence of ποιμαίνω in Revelation 2:27? He says that ποιμαίνω was used simply because of its association with ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ in the LXX tradition.62 In other words, ποιμαίνω is a mistranslation. Quite a number of scholars are unwilling to translate ποιμαίνω as “destroy,” but understand it as “rule” with negative overtones. Aune opts for “rule” with a “contextually negative meaning.”63 Akira Satake labels it a “decisive subjugation” (entscheidende Unterwerfung). He briefly considers the possibility that John might have intentionally selected ποιμαίνω in Revelation 7:17 and 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15. He writes, “Es ist denkbar, dass er durch die Anwendung des gleichen Verbs die untrennbar enge Beziehung zwischen dem harten Handeln Christi den Gottlosen und dem gnadenvollen den Christen gegenüber zum Ausdruck bringen will.”64 Hemer in the final analysis takes the emphasis of ποιμαίνω, along with the context in Revelation 2:27, to be more about the “promise of power over those to whom the Thyatiran church is now in helpless subjection.”65 Steve Moyise and McNicol take ποιμαίνω as “rule” with the sense of “subdue.”66 Müller says

60. L. Paul Trudinger, “Some Observations Concerning the Text of the Old Testament in the Book of Revelation,” JTS 17 (1966): 84. 61. Though Rev 2:27 seems to be one of the clearest texts underlain by a LXX tradition, Trudinger advocates a Semitic source. He makes his point on the basis of the marked difference in the second half of Ps 2:9 from Rev 2:27. Ps 2:9 has ὡς σκεῦος κεραμέως (“as a potter’s vessel”), while Rev 2:27 says ὡς τὰ σκεύη τὰ κεραμικὰ (“as clay vessels”). The rendering in Revelation, Trudinger says, is a possible translation of the Hebrew of Ps 2:9. 62. Trudinger, “Some Observations,” 85. 63. David E. Aune, Revelation 1–5, WBC (Dallas: Word, 1997), 211. 64. Akira Satake, Die Offenbarung des Johannes, KEK 16 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008), 175n. 98. He states, “It is possible that by using the same verb [the author] wants to express the inextricably close connection between the hard actions of Christ toward the wicked on the one hand and his gracious acts towards the Christians on the other” (author’s translation). Allen D. Callahan, “The Language of Apocalypse,” HTR 88 (1995), 455, is rare among interpreters when he gives credit to John for deliberately choosing ποιμαίνω to express his particular thought at Rev 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15. He says, “The seer is inspired here by the Septuagint’s reading of the psalm.” 65. Hemer, Letters to the Seven Churches, 124–5. 66. Steve Moyise, “The Psalms in the Book of Revelation,” in The Psalms in the New Testament, ed. Steve Moyise and M. J. J. Menken (London: T&T Clark, 2004), 233; Allan J. McNicol, The Conversion of the Nations in Revelation, LNTS 438 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2011), 48.

59

3. Authority over the Nations

59

Revelation 2:27 is more about the sovereign power (herrscherliche Macht) of the conquerors than about the eschatological destiny of the nations.67 In what follows, five problems are highlighted with taking ποιμαίνω as “destroy” or as “subdue/subjugate/rule” in a negative sense.68 First, the so-called secondary meaning of ποιμαίνω, meaning “devastate, lay waste,” is unattested. This sense is “unparalleled in Greek” (Hemer)69 and “an unattested meaning” (Aune).70 Matthew Black labels ποιμαίνω a mistranslation of the Hebrew word, but still asks whether John “understood the word in the sense of ‘devastate’ ” or “intended to convey this meaning to his readers.”71 Trudinger, as mentioned above, says that if attention is paid to lexicography, ποιμαίνω means in essence the opposite of “devastate.” Moreover, the survey of passages that use ποιμαίνω in the LXX and the NT pointed to a stable core of meaning for the metaphorical use of the word, including ruling and nurturing. The two instances that come closest to “destroy” for ποιμαίνω (Jer 6:3 and Mic 5:6) fit well with better explanations. While the contexts of those two passages are negative, other contextual factors convey the meaning of destruction, if such was in view.72 Charles was right to doubt whether the sense “devastate, lay waste” for ποιμαίνω occurred in the LXX at all. Second, the use of συντρίβω in Revelation 2:27 does not require the destruction of the nations.73 J. P. M. Sweet says the breaking of clay vessels “evokes Jer. 19

67. Ulrich B. Müller, Die Offenbarung Des Johannes, 2nd ed. (Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Echter Verlag, 1995), 121. 68. The sense “to rule” for ποιμαίνω is legitimate, and the metaphor does imply guidance and discipline toward the flock. What stretches the semantic range of ποιμαίνω is to assign a priori the sense of “subjugation” or “negative rule” toward the object of ποιμαίνω (the flock) in light of the vast literature that treats the shepherding metaphor and ποιμαίνω as an activity of responsibility, concern, leadership, and care by the shepherd toward the flock. 69. Hemer, Letters to the Seven Churches, 124. 70. Aune, Revelation 1–5, 211. 71. Matthew Black, “Some Greek Words with ‘Hebrew’ Meanings in the Epistles and Apocalypse,” in Biblical Studies: Essays in Honor of William Barclay, ed. Johnston R. McKay and James F. Miller (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1976), 137. 72. Cf. Aune, Revelation 1–5, 211, who says that in Mic 5:6 “subjugation rather than destruction is in view” (emphasis original). Osborne (Revelation, 166) and McNicol (Conversion of the Nations, 48) say that Ps 48:14 and Pss. Sol. 17:24, respectively, yield the meaning “destroy” for ποιμαίνω. But this is incorrect. Ps 48:14 says, αὐτὸς ποιμανεῖ ἡμᾶς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας (“He [God] will shepherd us forever”), and Pss. Sol. 17:24 does not even employ ποιμαίνω. The only verse in Pss. Sol. that uses the verb is Pss. Sol. 17:40 and there the meaning refers clearly to the ruling and care of the coming messiah toward his people, ποιμαίνων τὸ ποίμνιον κυρίου ἐν πίστει καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ (“shepherding the Lord’s flock in faithfulness and righteousness”). 73. L&N identifies three semantic ideas for συντρίβω: to break or shatter, 226; to cause damage to an object by crushing (they cite Luke 9:39, in which συντρίβω clearly does not mean destruction), 227; and to overcome (as a figurative extension of “to cause damage”),

60

60

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

(destruction) but also Jer. 18:1–11 (reconstruction).”74 Interestingly, in Jeremiah 19:11 the symbolic action of the broken flask (συντρίβεται) dramatizes the judgment and discipline that are coming on Judah. However, utter destruction is not in view.75 William Klassen says, “The imagery points in the direction of ‘universal, judicial authority.’ ”76 For G. B. Caird, the smashing of the nations takes place, ironically, through the martyr death of the Christians. He says, The psalmist had looked forward to the day when God’s Messiah would smash all resistance to God’s kingly rule and assume authority over the nations. John sees this ancient hope transfigured in the light of the Cross. Pagan resistance will indeed be smashed, but God will use no other iron bar than the death of his Son and the martyrdom of his saints.77

Moyise makes an insightful comment, which brings into view Psalm 2:8 and the promise of the nations to the king as his inheritance. He says, “Now unless this is a promise of a wasteland full of corpses, it would appear that the next verse must be an exaggerated expression for the completeness of the victory rather than the annihilation of the nations. It is their futile resistance that will be utterly smashed, not the people themselves.”78 The image of smashing clearly refers to judgment or discipline of some kind.79 While some of the views outlined above are more plausible than others, it is clear that destruction of the nations qua nations is not the only (or best) explanation of συντρίβεται. The nature and result of the judgment implied are not exhausted by Revelation 2:27. John’s prophecy must still be heard in order to fill out the meaning of “smashed.” Third, the interpretive movement Charles and others make, in their attempt to understand Revelation 2:27, is to go directly to Revelation 19:15. The move is understandable but premature. John’s use of the same phrase in three places constitutes, it would seem, a deliberate repetition by which the hearer is alerted 500. Similarly see BDAG, 976. To be broken to pieces (συντρίβεται) at Rev 2:27 does not necessarily imply ultimate destruction either semantically or in the logic of the narrative. 74. Sweet, Revelation, 96. 75. Jer 19:11 is one of four references in the LXX and NT that use the exact form of the verb (συντρίβεται) that Rev 2:27 uses. The other two are Prov 6:16 and 26:10. 76. William Klassen, “Vengeance in the Apocalypse of John,” CBQ 28, no. 3 (1966): 307. He writes, “The imagery of smashing a potter’s vessel is found in the coronation ritual in Egypt where the King proclaims his universal power by symbolically smashing potter’s vessels on which the names of foreign kings are inscribed.” 77. G. B. Caird, A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John the Divine, 1st ed. (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), 46. 78. Moyise, “The Psalms in the Book of Revelation,” 234. 79. Peter C. Craigie, Psalms 1–50, WBC 19 (Waco, TX: Word, 1983), 67, in his analysis of Ps 2, observes the contrast between the strength of the Davidic king (symbolized by the rod of iron) and the constitutional fragility of earthly monarchs (symbolized by the clay vessels).

61

3. Authority over the Nations

61

to interpret the texts together, but—and here is where the misstep is made—not to the exclusion of Revelation 7:17 (which also uses ποιμαίνω) and not without having carefully traversed the narrative and understood the characterization of the nations and their relationship to other characters in the overall plot. Fourth, when τὰ ἔθνη (“the nations”) are introduced for the first time in Revelation 2:27, it is not at all evident that they function as “enemies” in John’s narrative. This implication is significant. When Charles and Osborne, for example, speak of the “apostate” and “hostile” nations,80 their understanding of “nations” cannot be exegetically derived because Revelation 2:27 is the first time the hearer learns that τὰ ἔθνη are even involved in John’s drama. There is little to no literary data to make such an interpretive judgment.81 If an enemy has emerged from Revelation 1:1 to Revelation 2:27, it is likely the various local opponents to the churches: the so-called Jews and apostles, the Nicolaitans, and, within the context of the letter to Thyatira, Jezebel. Further, within the narrative flow of Revelation 2–3, Satan—not the nations—is the archrival of the churches.82 The fact that John introduces the nations with strong allusions to Psalm 2 could hint at an implied polemic. But Psalm 2 itself, as Moyise reminds us above, portrays the nations as the king’s inheritance. Besides, the careful hearer, familiar with Psalm 2 traditions, must suspend judgment and allow John’s narrative to take its course, in order to assess whether John is simply reinscribing the conflict between the nations and the Lord’s anointed or introducing important developments.83 Fifth, in our survey of the word, ποιμαίνω does not have an enemy as its object. This assumption underlies many interpretations but is ultimately unwarranted. With the exception, perhaps, of Micah 5:6, ποιμαίνω invariably depicts a close subject-object relationship, especially when used metaphorically. κύριος ποιμαίνει με (“the Lord shepherds me,” Ps 23:1). The anti-shepherd polemic, in texts like Jeremiah 23:2, Ezekiel 34:10, and Zechariah 11:17, works precisely because the shepherds failed to guide and care for the flock. Part of the job of a shepherd is to protect the flock against the attacks of enemies, be they wild animals or robbers. But the wild animals and robbers are not the flock; they are not the object of shepherding. Interpreters often confuse the shepherd’s

80. Cf. Charles, Revelation, 1:76; Osborne, Revelation, 167. 81. Joseph L. Mangina, “God, Israel, and Ecclesia in the Apocalypse,” in Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation, ed. Richard B. Hays and Stefan Alkier (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012), 100, says, “In the story John tells, the nations are not, as we might anticipate, simply cast in the role of enemies.” 82. That the nations have not been cast in the role of enemies prior to and including Rev 2:26–27 is one of the main differences between that text and Mic 5:6, in which “the Assyrian” is clearly the enemy. 83. Charles’s take on John’s view of the nations in Revelation was colored in part by his experience during War World I. But while every interpreter brings his or her sociocultural context to the task of interpretation, part of the exegetical task is to limit the influence of those external factors on the interpretation of texts (cf. Charles, Revelation, 1:75).

62

62

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

object of shepherding (the flock) and the shepherd’s object of attack (the flock’s enemies).84 For example, McNicol writes, “The Davidic king comes with authority expressed in his scepter to destroy his enemies. As the shepherd uses the rod to subdue any opposition he encounters, so the Lord’s anointed and his army of followers will exercise the same power over the nations.”85 It is true that the Davidic king has enemies, but the enemies are not whom he shepherds. The enemies are whom he attacks and from whom he protects (ποιμαίνει) his flock. Similarly, George Buchanan notes that the metaphor of the king as shepherd implied not only care for the flock but also protection against intruders.86 This assessment is true. The problem when it comes to Revelation is that interpreters cast the nations in the role of the intruders and then say that ποιμαίνω must mean “destruction” or “strong subjugation.”87 Yet, ποιμαίνω means neither of these things. The usual object of ποιμαίνω is not the enemy but the flock, and in the narrative of Revelation, up to Revelation 2:27, there is no evidence that the nations are the churches’ enemy. Other avenues must then be pursued. It is possible that John, by intentionally using ποιμαίνω with the nations as its object, three times no less, is casting the nations as some sort of flock. If so, then some of the pressing interpretive questions would include the following: Who is the intruder? Why do the nations need to be shepherded? What does such shepherding entail? And, of course, what is the nature of the discipline/judgment the nations receive? Interpreters rarely pause to consider these options.88 Yet, it is here suggested, in light of the evidence above, that John has appropriated a powerful symbol—Christ as shepherd of the nations. The narrative analysis in the following chapters explores in part some of the ways this symbol works in Revelation.89

84. This is the mistake made by those who see a negative use of ποιμαίνω in Jer 6:3 (see comments above). 85. McNicol, Conversion of the Nations, 49. 86. George W. Buchanan, The Book of Revelation: Its Introduction and Prophecy, MBC 22 (Lewiston, NY: Mellen, 1993), 104–5. 87. This is precisely what Buchanan, ibid., does. He takes the nations as the intruders who must be destroyed by a militant messiah, on analogy with Pss. Sol. 17:21–25, which he quotes (p. 104). Interestingly, Pss. Sol. 17:21–25 does not use ποιμαίνω to describe the nations. Cf. also Stephen S. Smalley, The Revelation to John: A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Apocalypse (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2005), 320, who in commenting on Rev 12:5 equates “all the nations” with the “dragons” that Jesus will shatter. 88. Wilfrid J. Harrington, Revelation, SP 16 (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1993), 66, without elaboration, makes the following comment, “Here is the great paradox, the supreme irony, already present in the ambivalent poimainein: to smash and to shepherd.” 89. The symbol of God’s anointed as shepherd of the nations is already present in the LXX version of Ps 2:9, but John is the only New Testament writer who identifies Jesus as shepherd of the nations, making use of the Ps 2:9 tradition.

63

3. Authority over the Nations

63

The Nations in Revelation 2:27 The preceding discussion supports the conclusion that ποιμαίνω does not mean “destroy” or “subjugate.” Further, the translation “rule” is legitimate, but it erases the metaphor of shepherding.90 For this reason, the path taken here will be to translate ποιμαίνω as “shepherd,” allowing the symbol of Christ (and the church) as shepherd of the nations a place at the interpretive table. As stated above, the two main semantic ideas in the figurative use of ποιμαίνω are “lead, guide, rule” and “protect, care for, nurture.”91 While the precise meaning of the symbol in John’s narrative, as applied to the nations, must be adjusted in light of the narrative progression, it seems preferable initially to assign the former semantic value (lead, guide, rule) and withhold the latter (protect, care for, nurture) until it is warranted by the narrative, if at all. The three key terms in Revelation 2:27, set side by side, look thus: ποιμανεῖ αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ ὡς τὰ σκεύη τὰ κεραμικὰ συντρίβεται92

he will shepherd them with a rod of iron as pottery vessels are broken to pieces

Shepherding here would refer to the church’s role to the nations as leader and guide, under delegated authority from the son of God. This role is a role he himself has from the father (Rev 2:28). The rod of iron is a symbol of discipline, strength, and stability.93 In the Greco-Roman context, the activity of shepherding was viewed as 90. Of the many symbols and metaphors in Revelation, the only one erased by the translators of the ESV is ποιμαίνω in Rev 2:27; 12:5; and 19:15, which the ESV translates as “rule.” Similar results are likely to be found in other English translations, since they usually translate ποιμαίνω as “rule.” 91. BDAG, 842. 92. The phrase “as pottery vessels are broken to pieces” (ὡς τὰ σκεύη τὰ κεραμικὰ συντρίβεται) is problematic because the verb is singular while the noun is plural. However, John could have taken “vessels” as a collective noun (cf. Charles, Commentary on Revelation, 1:77, for discussion). 93. Seibel, “Shepherd and Sheep Symbolism,” 110–11, says the rod and staff came to be seen as the same object, implying protection and guidance, but also discipline often in Philo (cf. similar usage in Paul, 1 Cor 4:21). Ps 23:4 brings out the aspect of the rod’s comfort, while T. Jud. 15:3 brings out the aspect of stability, ἔδωκα γὰρ τὴν ῥάβδον μου, τουτέστι τὸ στήριγμα τῆς ἐμῆς φυλῆς (“for I gave my staff [that is, the stability of my tribe]”) (trans. by H. C. Kee in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. James H. Charlesworth [Peabody : Hendrickson, 2013], 1:799). The term ῥάβδος refers to “eschatological dominion over the nations” in Revelation, EDNT 3:206. Pss. Sol. 17:24 is the only other text, besides Rev 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15, which employs the phrase ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ, a clear allusion to Ps 2:9. There are, however, two important differences between the Pss. Sol. reference and the references in Revelation. In addition to συντρῖψαι Pss. Sol. 17:24 uses the verb ὀλεθρεῦσαι (“kill” or “destroy”) with the nations as its object, and it does not use the positive verb ποιμαίνω, as Revelation does three times, toward the nations.

64

64

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

a lowly occupation and, as mentioned above, the metaphor was never employed to describe the emperor.94 For the shepherd metaphor to function persuasively, the shepherd must be endowed with the right weapons. A shepherd without power is useless. A shepherd with a rod of iron is an immovable protector.95 It is important to note that the shepherd’s staff, or rod, is primarily used to guide the flock and to defend against marauders. If, as suggested above, we take the nations as the flock in Revelation 2:27, then the narrative is yet to specify who the nations’ enemy might be. At the same time, the element of discipline is present, especially in light of συντρίβεται (“broken to pieces”) in Revelation 2:27. Finally, the activities of smashing and shepherding are certainly paradoxical, even formally contradictory for some.96 But rather than eliminating one and privileging the other, a better course of action might be to allow them both to stand and to discern narratively how this dynamic is resolved.97 There is an obvious instability in the relationship of the church to the nations. The majority of interpreters take the instability to be one of hostility—the church will rule, subdue, or destroy the nations. But it seems the relationship is more complex than that. ποιμανεῖ αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ ὡς τὰ σκεύη τὰ κεραμικὰ συντρίβεται

Positive term (lead, guide, rule) Mixed term (defend and/or discipline) Negative term (significant judgment)

The nations must undergo both guidance and judgment just as the churches do. The issue in Thyatira is clearly that the church is deceived (cf. Rev 2:20)98 and thus losing its distinction from the nations, from the cultures around it; the church is losing its identity as Christ’s priestly kingdom (Rev 1:6) and is thus becoming like 94. Baxter, Israel’s Only Shepherd, 86–98. 95. Hans Wildberger, Isaiah 1–12: A Commentary (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1991), 477, writes, “According to Ps 2:9, the king strikes down his enemies with an iron staff (‫)שׁבט‬. And, in fact, this emblem of the king’s sovereign authority is not only to repulse the enemy from without, but is also to guarantee the rule of justice from within: ‘Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity (‫)שׁבט מישׁור‬,’ (Ps. 45:7).” 96. Cf. McNicol, Conversion of the Nations, 49. 97. Cf. Susan Hylen, “Metaphor Matters: Violence and Ethics in Revelation,” CBQ 73, no. 4 (2011): 777–96. Hylen persuasively argues for the need to hold in tension multiple metaphors, rather than privileging one over another, in order to explain complex concepts in Revelation. See, similarly, Steve Moyise, “Intertextuality and Historical Approaches to the Use of Scripture in the New Testament,” in Reading the Bible Intertextually, ed. Richard B. Hays, Stefan Alkier, and Leroy A. Huizenga (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2009), 29, who says the lion/lamb metaphors must be allowed to interact without privileging one or the other. 98. Rev 2:20 features the first use of πλανάω to describe the church. The verb becomes key in John’s description of the nations in the latter part of Revelation (cf. Rev 18:23; 20:3, 8, 10).

65

3. Authority over the Nations

65

the nations at a most profound and damaging level—its involvement in πορνεία.99 It would make little sense if in this context Jesus said, “Because you are involved in πορνεία, just as the nations are, I will give you the right to destroy them, if you keep my words.” An interpretation more in step with the narrative context might go thus: “You, the church, need refinement and purification, as do the nations. Therefore, do not become like them. As my priestly kingdom I am giving you a role to shepherd the nations so that they might see my light and be healed.”100 If the nations are indeed deceived, as their involvement in πορνεία would seem to indicate (though narrative confirmation awaits), then the church must have a clarity of vision similar to the son of God’s (cf. Rev 2:18), in order adequately to evaluate the nations, with the goal for the nations being the same as for the church, μετάνοια (“repentance;” cf. Rev 2:21–22). To repeat, up to this point in the narrative there has been no polemic against the nations. The groups condemned are the so-called apostles and Jews, the Nicolaitans, and Jezebel (Rev 2:2, 6, 9, 15, 20). Whatever their historical referent, there is no direct narrative association between these groups and the nations. Therefore, when interpreters assume that Revelation 2:27 refers to destruction for the nations, or to strong subjugation of the nations, they are importing a significant part of the storyline of Israel in the Old Testament context, but it is a storyline that has not been made explicit in Revelation, at least up to this point in the book. Of course, the introduction of the allusion from Psalm 2 could activate for the hearer versed in the Old Testament the hostility of the nations toward God’s anointed (as John will go on to do in Rev 11). But the same hearer familiar with the MT would notice that John did not adopt the Hebrew ‫“( רעע‬break”) but rather

99. Gordon D. Fee, Revelation: A New Covenant Commentary, NCCS 18 (Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2013), 38, speaking of guilds that undergirded the social structure in Thyatira, writes, “Each of these guilds had their patron deities, and the primary social events among the guilds were the festive meals, where food was served in a context where it had been sacrificed to the patron deity. Very often these meals became an occasion for sexual immorality to flourish, where ‘girls’ were made available at the male-only meals.” 100. Admittedly, at Rev 2:27 the light of Christ and the healing of the nations (Rev 21:24; 22:2) would be information that is not yet available to a first-time hearer, but would aid retrospective hearing (more on this in Chapter 7 in this book). This interpretation still holds if πορνεία in Rev 2:21 is taken figuratively to refer to spiritual idolatry as Räisänen and Yarbro Collins do; cf. Heikki Räisänen, “The Clash between Christian Styles of Life in the Book of Revelation,” in Mighty Minorities? Minorities in Early Christianity—Positions and Strategies: Essays in Honour of Jacob Jervell on His 70th Birthday, 21 May 1995, ed. David Hellholm, Halvor Moxnes, and Turid Karlsen Seim (Oslo: Scandinavian University Press, 1995), 156–8; Adela Yarbro Collins, “Insiders and Outsiders in the Book of Revelation and Its Social Context,” in “To See Ourselves as Others See Us”: Christians, Jews, “Others” in Late Antiquity, ed. Jacob Neusner and Ernest S. Frerichs (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1985), 214. Jesus’s message to the church, then, would be, “Do not become idolatrous like the nations. Your priestly role to them is to shepherd them.”

66

66

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

ποιμαίνω (“shepherd”). John’s use of ποιμαίνω is all the more intriguing, if not revealing, given that, as most scholars agree, he relied primarily on the MT for his Old Testament traditions. The introduction of the nations within this narrative complex presents a number of tensions for the gentile hearer. The church is in a precarious condition; many are deceived and, therefore, receive a strong warning. The gentile world as a culture of πορνεία is at best ethically misaligned with the son of God and at worst deceived. Yet the church will have authority over the nations to shepherd them in strength. At the same time, the nations must undergo a breaking to pieces, though the nature of the breaking is not altogether clear. In relation to ποιμαίνω the present argument is that John deploys to good effect the symbol of Christ as shepherd of the nations. The concept is present in the Fourth Gospel, whereby Jesus speaks of “other sheep” he must bring into his flock (John 10:16), and in Matthew, with Jesus as the eschatological shepherd judge before whom all nations must stand (Matt 25:31–46).101 But it is John the Seer of the Apocalypse who develops the symbol and allows it to carry structural, thematic, and sustained narrative importance. Of all the new characters introduced in Revelation 2 and 3, the most positive language is used about the nations (“he will shepherd them”). Even though the language employed to describe the nations is not all positive, the language of being broken to pieces is not nearly as negative as the language against many in the church in Thyatira, καὶ τὰ τέκνα αὐτῆς ἀποκτενῶ ἐν θανάτω (“and her children I will put to death,” Rev 2:23). Moreover, of the characters introduced in Revelation 2 and 3 the nations become the most prominent, based on both repetition and complexity of plotline development.102 Finally, the majority of characters in Revelation 2–3 are aligned in some oblique way with Satan. These are the Nicolaitans, the so-called apostles and Jews, and Jezebel.103 None of these characters stands in positive relationship to Jesus or to the church. The relationship is rather oppositional. In contrast, the only new character in Revelation 2–3 that has a positive, though complicated, relationship to the church (and, by extension, to Jesus) is the nations.104

101. Cf. Köstenberger, “Jesus the Good Shepherd”; and Chae, Jesus as the Eschatological Davidic Shepherd, 219–33. 102. Satan and his allies emerge as the chief antagonists in the story, but he is not mentioned as frequently as the nations in subsequent chapters, nor does he undergo character development. 103. The so-called apostles of Rev 2:2 are not related to Satan because the latter has not been introduced in the narrative by that point, but they are characterized as “false” (ψευδεῖς) and placed in close proximity with the doers of evil (κακούς). 104. The earth-dwellers (τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς) in Rev 3:10 have a role in the rest of the narrative, but their characterization is always negative. In Rev 3:10 they are the target of a coming time of testing. Their alignment either with Satan or Jesus is not specified in that context.

67

3. Authority over the Nations

67

Conclusions Some summarizing comments about the nations as narrative character are in order. (1) The church receives its call to shepherd the nations at its lowest point in the narrative, when it has been evaluated as deceived, indicted for πορνεία, and threatened with death for those who fail to repent. The plot development in Revelation 1–3 shows that while Jesus has a close relationship to the churches (he loves them and died for them, Rev 1:5–6) there are also instabilities in the relationship (cf. the many rebukes to the churches in Rev 2–3), not the least of which surface in the letter to Thyatira. It is from this place of vulnerability that the church learns the manner of its relationship to the nations. (2) The most common usage of ποιμαίνω should be the point of departure for interpreting this term in Revelation. Based on the survey conducted above the most common usage for ποιμαίνω includes leading, guiding, and ruling, but without negative connotations for the flock. The specific function of the term should then be confirmed by the subsequent narrative. (3) Interpreters err when they assign to ποιμαίνω the meaning rule, subdue, or destroy, with an emphasis on conquest by physical force. Even within a Greco-Roman value system, let alone an early Christian framework, rule by force was not a high ideal. Speaking of Roman emperor titles, Peter Garnsey and Richard Saller say, “The name [Caesar] recalls the princeps civitatis of Cicero’s De Re Publica, who dominates the state by virtue of moral authority rather than physical force or even constitutional office.”105 Only a complete disregard for literary and historical context would justify assigning to ποιμαίνω the meaning of rule by physical force and subjugation.106 (4) Another reason not to assign destructive results to ποιμαίνω is related to the verb δίδωμι, which is the verb employed in Revelation 2:26 in the “giving” of authority over the nations to the church. In Revelation when the authority given is destructive or in judgment, though the implied agent is God or someone with divine sanction, the form of δίδωμι is always passive.107 Put another way, God and Jesus never give authority directly (i.e., through an active form of δίδωμι) to the dragon or the beast, and certainly not to the church, if the purpose in view is destruction. But in Rev 2:26 Jesus directly gives (active form of δίδωμι) authority to the conqueror to shepherd the nations (δώσω αὐτῷ ἐξουσίαν ἐπὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν).

105. Peter Garnsey and Richard Saller, The Roman Empire: Economy, Society and Culture, 2nd ed. (Oakland: University of California Press, 2015), 10. 106. Again, to reiterate, when the literature assigns the shepherd title to, say, a military commander (as in some Greek texts), the flock in view is the commander’s soldiers and people, for whom he has achieved peace and prosperity by defeating their enemies. But the rule itself of the soldiers and people is not by physical force; cf. Vancil, “The Symbolism of the Shepherd,” 99–120. 107. Cf. Rev 6:2, 4, 8; 7:2; 9:1, 3, 5; 11:2; 13:5 [2x], 7 [2x], 14, 15; 16:8. Conversely, the dragon (Rev 13:2, 4) and the ten kings (Rev 17:13, 17) do give authority directly (i.e., through the active form of δίδωμι).

68

68

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

(5) It is better to allow the metaphors of shepherding and smashing to stand side by side and let the subsequent narrative resolve the tension. If what the nations need is guidance and judgment, these two activities are precisely what the churches receive in Revelation 2 and 3.108 The message to the churches is that they should not become like the nations but rather exercise a shepherding role toward them, as a priestly kingdom.109 (6) The nature of shepherding and smashing has not been precisely defined up to this point. The hearer, and no less the interpreter, must pay close attention to the unfolding narrative. (7) Taking ποιμαίνω in its most common usage, however, characterizes positively the relationship between the church, Jesus (by extension), and the nations, even as συντρίβω highlights the complexity of this relationship. No character in this section, other than the nations, is described in a similarly positive, if complex, relationship to the church and to Jesus. (8) It is significant that as John introduces the nations, he underlines the church’s, not Jesus’s, shepherding role toward them. (John will of course go on to highlight explicitly Jesus’s shepherding of the nations in Rev 12:5 and 19:15.) The problem in Thyatira was neither persecution (as in Smyrna), nor powerlessness (as in Philadelphia), so that the authority Christ gives them is the promise to become powerful over those to whom they are now in “helpless subjection.”110 Thyatira’s problem was accommodation to the pagan culture.111 The church must not become like the nations but rather repent, so that it might fulfill its priestly role to the nations.112 (9) Of all the characters introduced in Revelation 1–3, the

108. More precisely, in Rev 2–3 the churches receive guidance by way of evaluation, with its concomitant commendation and/or rebuke, and the threat of judgment for unrepentance. The promise of protection is also present, which could also be implied toward the nations in the verb ποιμαίνω, but such a nuance would need to be borne out by the subsequent narrative. 109. Craig R. Koester, Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AYBC (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014), 309, sees the faithful conqueror as one who keeps Jesus’s works of love, faithfulness, service, and endurance. Through his faithful witness to Jesus, the conqueror breaks the power of the nations. Koester, thus, sees in the letter to Thyatira a transformation of the militaristic imagery, only he does not connect the transformation to the shepherding metaphor. 110. Contra Hemer, Letters to the Seven Churches, 125. 111. So Charles H. Talbert, The Apocalypse: A Reading of the Revelation of John, 1st ed. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1994), 20, 24–5. Cf. also David E. Aune, “The Social Matrix of the Apocalypse of John,” BR 26 (1981): 27–8, who notes the scholarly consensus regarding the identity of the movement represented by Jezebel in Thyatira with the Nicolaitans of Ephesus and Pergamum. There is no doubt that accommodation was the issue for the church in relation to the Nicolaitans; cf. also Koester, Revelation, 291; Panayotis Coutsoumpos, “The Social Implications of Idolatry in Revelation 2:14: Christ or Caesar?,” BTB 27, no. 1 (1997): 23–7. 112. Cf. W. H. Brownlee, “The Priestly Character of the Church in the Apocalypse,” NTS 5 (1958): 224–5, who argues that the teaching aspect of the priestly office is that to which the Apocalypse alludes.

69

3. Authority over the Nations

69

nations become the most prominent and complex character in the rest of the narrative.113 The so-called apostles and Jews, Jezebel, and the Nicolaitans drop off the narrative after chapter 3. The kings, tribes, and dwellers of the earth remain but are less developed. Satan becomes a key character in the overall plot, but, though he is the main antagonist, he is not a complex character. (10) The language about the nations is not as strongly negative as the language of subjugation used about the so-called Jews in Revelation 3:9 (ποιήσω αὐτοὺς ἵνα ἥξουσιν καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν ἐνώπιον τῶν ποδῶν σου)114 or even the language used against some within the church in Revelation 2:23 (τὰ τέκνα αὐτῆς ἀποκτενῶ ἐν θανάτω).115 In fact, the twin activities of shepherding and smashing might prove to be precisely what the nations need, just as love and rebuke from Jesus is what the churches need (Rev 3:19). In both cases one without the other would be insufficient. The subsequent chapters of John’s Apocalypse give greater definition to the nations’ struggle, thereby clarifying the nature of the shepherding and smashing they receive.

113. This statement excludes the main characters, which so far are God, Jesus, John the narrator, and the churches. 114. “I will make them come and bow down before your feet,” Rev 3:9. Some could argue that “smashed” (συντρίβεται) is more negative than bowing in submission. But the present point is that the combination of ποιμαίνω/συντρίβω is a more balanced and complex statement than that in Rev 3:9. 115. “Her children I will put to death,” Rev 2:23.

70

71

Chapter 4 T HE N ATIONS: B ENEFIT AND C ONFLICT

The narrative exploration of the nations and the rhetorical effect on the gentile hearer continue in this chapter. Revelation 4–5 contain the central and centering vision of the entire book.1 The throne of God and the Lamb who was slain become two of the most important symbols in the narrative: God rules nature and history with complete authority, and his will for the earth is achieved through the Lamb’s sacrificial death—conquest through death. In these two short chapters John employed the word “throne” nineteen times (out of forty-seven in the book) to characterize the kingship and sovereignty of God over the whole universe.2 Three times John draws attention to the worthiness of Jesus (Rev 5:2, 9, 12), and three times he emphasizes his death (Rev 5:6, 9, 12). The two go together; he is worthy to open the scroll because he died for the redemption of people from the nations. Further, the kingdom constituted by Jesus’s death is again qualified by the word ἱερεῖς (“priests,” Rev 5:10; cf. 1:6). His is a priestly kingdom, a kingdom whose membership must undergo affliction and patient endurance (Rev 1:9).3

Benefit to the Nations: Revelation 5, 7, and 10 The nations make their second appearance in Revelation 5. They are featured in the first of seven uses of a formula that always includes four groups (though not always the same four and never in the same order). The fourfold formula conveys 1. “The Central and Centering Vision: God and the Lamb” is the title of chapter 6 in Michael J. Gorman, Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness: Following the Lamb into the New Creation (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2010), 102. 2. Cf. David E. Aune, “The Influence of Roman Imperial Court Ceremonial on the Apocalypse of John,” BR 28 (1983): 5–26, who argues that the description of the throne room in Rev 4 is a parody of Roman imperial court ceremonial and an antithesis to the emperor’s court. 3. J. P. M. Sweet, Revelation, WPCS (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1979), 130–1, brings out the similarity between Rev 5:10 and Exod 19:6, calling the former “a slight alteration” of the latter’s “a kingdom of priests.”

72

72

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

universality.4 What is the nations’ characterization in Rev 5:9–10? First, the Lamb died so that he could buy by his blood people from every tribe and nation and make them a kingdom and priests who will rule on the earth. The emphasis here is not on the nations’ being ruled/shepherded (ποιμαίνω), but on the benefit to them from the Lamb’s death as a purchase for God (ἠγόρασας τῷ θεῷ), and on their own ruling (βασιλεύσουσιν).5 Second, whereas in Revelation 1:6 the kingdom and priests of Jesus were the churches (Rev 1:4), in Revelation 5:9–10 they are those purchased from (ἐκ) the nations. What is the effect of this subtle shift? It puts proximity between the Lamb and the nations. The Lamb died to purchase people for God from every nation. Put another way, we could ask: Who makes up the church? The people from every nation bought by the blood of the Lamb. In other words, the only thing separating the church and the nations is their stance on the death of Jesus. The presentation of the Lamb and the throne room of heaven is in direct confrontation with Greco-Roman ideology.6 Thus, John’s presentation, no doubt, created several tensions for the unbelieving gentile hearer.7 John maintains that

4. See David E. Aune, Revelation 1–5, WBC (Dallas, TX: Word, 1997), 361. See also Richard Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2000), 326–37, for a thorough discussion of the fourfold formulas in Revelation. 5. The manuscript tradition is rather evenly split at Rev 5:10. βασιλεύσουσιν is supported by ‫א‬, P, 1, 94, 1854, 2053, 2344, itgig, vg, syrph, copsa, arm, and others while βασιλεύουσιν is supported by A, 046, 1006, 1611, it61, syrh, etc. The UBS4 committee chose βασιλεύσουσιν (“they will reign”) and gave the variant an A rating because it is “more suited to the meaning of the context” (Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. [New York: United Bible Societies, 1994], 667). However, if the Lamb already “made” (ἐποίησας) his people into a kingdom, their reigning on earth could be understood as a present activity. Nothing contextually necessitates a temporal split between (1) having been made a kingdom and (2) the activity of reigning, especially since the nature of reigning is priestly (Rev 1:6; 5:10), not political or military. Cf. G. B. Caird, A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John the Divine, 1st ed. (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), 77, who says, “Whichever reading we adopt, the sense will remain unchanged.” R. H. Charles, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John, ICC (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1920), 1:148, takes βασιλεύουσιν as the more difficult and correct reading, though he understands it proleptically to refer mainly to the millennial reign. 6. Cf. Craig R. Koester, Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AYBC (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014), 383–5. 7. In the remainder of this work “instabilities” and “tensions” function as technical terms, following Phelan’s definitions in Chapter 2 in this book. To repeat, “instabilities” refer to the unstable relationships between narrative characters (i.e., they refer to plot development), whereas “tensions” refer to the unstable relationships between author/narrator and audience (i.e., they refer to rhetorical strategy). Such tensions could be generated, e.g., by the difference in knowledge, values, beliefs, and expectations between the author/narrator

73

4. The Nations: Benefit and Conflict

73

only the Lamb is worthy of worship,8 and that his death was a purchase for God of people from every nation and constitutive of a priestly kingdom. Would the hearer agree and join the praise to God and the Lamb narrated in Revelation 5:13, or resist it? In sum, the first two characterizations of the nations placed them in close association with Jesus and the church, more so than with any other character.9 The relationship is complex, however, not only because of the juxtaposition of shepherding and smashing in Revelation 2:27, but also because a purchase by the blood of the most worthy individual in the universe was required in order to constitute people from the nations into Jesus’s kingdom (Rev 5:9). The nations make their third appearance in Revelation 7:9. Like Revelation 5:9, Revelation 7:9 features the nations as part of the fourfold formula (nations, tribes, peoples, and languages), except this time παντὸς ἔθνους (“every nation”) comes at the head of the formula.10 The context is positive. John hears the number of those sealed with the seal of God, 144,000, but he sees a great crowd that no one can number (Rev 7:4, 9). Having heard Revelation 6, which goes from plagues (Rev 6:1–8) to cosmic upheaval (Rev 6:12–17), the hearer would perhaps expect after the sealing of the saints to hear of the harm unleashed on the earth, sea, and trees by the four angels (Rev 7:1–3). But instead of harm, a picture of victory is narrated in detail. An innumerable crowd from every nation has identified itself with the Lamb. In Revelation 5:9 the Lamb’s constituency was said to come from every tribe, language, people, and nation. The thought is advanced in Revelation 7:9 as John proclaims that the Lamb’s people from every nation cannot be counted (ὃν ἀριθμῆσαι αὐτὸν οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο). John narrates his amazement in the expression, ἰδοὺ ὄχλος πολύς (“Behold, a great crowd,” Rev 7:9). It is a great multitude from every nation that stands close to the throne of God, dressed in white robes, praising God for his salvation. If the early church was seen as a Jewish sect, then John in Revelation is pressing the fact that the constituency of the universal church comes from every nation.11 and the audience; cf. James Phelan, Experiencing Fiction: Judgments, Progressions, and the Rhetorical Theory of Narrative (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2008), 16. 8. Adela Yarbro Collins, “Insiders and Outsiders in the Book of Revelation and Its Social Context,” in “To See Ourselves as Others See Us”: Christians, Jews, “Others” in Late Antiquity, ed. Jacob Neusner and Ernest S. Frerichs (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1985), 218, writes, “The Romans and their allies ordered their lives in terms of a symbolic universe based on polytheism.” 9. However, the characterization of the nations within the fourfold formula aligns the nations closely with the other groups (tribes, people, languages, etc.). This alignment is important as the formula changes in the narrative progression (cf. Rev 10:11 and the inclusion of “kings”). 10. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 333–6, makes much of the order of items in the fourfold formula, but not always convincingly. 11. John, of course, also defines the true Jew theologically as the one who recognizes Jesus as the Messiah; cf. Philip L. Mayo, Those Who Call Themselves Jews: The Church and

74

74

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

A final comment about Revelation 7 pertains to the second use of ποιμαίνω. John says, ὅτι τὸ ἀρνίον τὸ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ θρόνου ποιμανεῖ αὐτοὺς (“Because the Lamb in the midst of the throne will shepherd them,” Rev 7:17).12 There are a few differences between the use of ποιμαίνω in Revelation 7:17 and in 2:27. First, the object of ποιμαίνω in Revelation 7:17 is the great crowd from every nation who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, whereas the object of ποιμαίνω in Revelation 2:27 were the nations in their totality. Second, pastoral imagery in Revelation 7:17 is very strong, whereas it is completely absent in Revelation 2:27. Third, the rod of iron (ῥάβδος σιδηρᾶ) and the action of shattering (συντρίβεται), present in Revelation 2:27, are absent in 7:17. In other words, the semantic idea in Revelation 2:27 relates to leading, guiding, and ruling, but in Revelation 7:17, while leading is present (cf. ὁδηγήσει in Rev 7:17), the concepts of protecting, caring for, and nurturing, so central to the shepherding metaphor, are dominant.13 John underlines different aspects of the activity of shepherding toward the nations and the servants of God. Nevertheless, there are also some similarities. John uses the same verb (ποιμαίνω), albeit with different nuances, to describe the activity of Jesus toward the nations and his servants. The nations are present in both uses of ποιμαίνω so far. Both the nations and the people from the nations who washed their robes in the Lamb’s blood are shepherded by Christ.14

Judaism in the Apocalypse of John, PTMS (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2006). The universal nature of the people of God, as emphasized in Rev 7, is recognized by interpreters, whether they take the 144,000 and the countless multitude as one or two groups; cf. Jonathan A. Draper, “The Heavenly Feast of Tabernacles: Revelation 7:1–17,” JSNT 19 (1983): 133– 47; Stephen S. Smalley, The Revelation to John: A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Apocalypse (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 189–92; G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, NIGTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999), 424–31. 12. The uniqueness and theological potency of the symbol John has produced in Rev 7:17 should not be missed. The (slain) Lamb shepherds the flock. Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 64, says, “When the slaughtered Lamb is seen ‘in the midst of ’ the divine throne in heaven (5:6; cf. 7:17), the meaning is that Christ’s sacrificial death belongs to the way God rules the world” (emphasis original). 13. Richard B. Hays, “Faithful Witness, Alpha and Omega,” in Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation, ed. Richard B. Hays and Stefan Alkier (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012), 74, speaks of Rev 7:9–17 as a picture of the granting of life, consolation, and rewards that will be given to the faithful at the final judgment. Of this text, Hays says, “The Lamb (Jesus) is portrayed—in a paradoxical formulation—as the shepherd who will protect and guide his people to ‘springs of the water of life’ (echoing Psalm 23)” (emphasis original). 14. As mentioned before, although the shepherding of the nations in Rev 2:27 is done by the church (under the delegated authority of Jesus), Rev 12:5 and 19:15 explicitly portray Jesus as shepherd of the nations.

75

4. The Nations: Benefit and Conflict

75

In terms of readerly tensions, the earth-dwellers (τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, Rev 8:13) are now singled out for their works and wrong worship.15 This expansion of the rationale for their punishment marks a development. Prior to Revelation 8–9, the earth-dwellers received wrath because of their involvement in the killing of the saints (Rev 6:10). Further, in previous sections it was members of the church who were reproved for their involvement in πορνεία (“sexual immorality,” Rev 2:14, 20, 21). Finally, worship prior to these chapters was focused on the activity of those in heaven and in the created order who offer true worship to God and to the Lamb (Rev 4:10, 5:14; 7:11). But in this unit the characterization of the earth-dwellers has been significantly augmented. The earth-dwellers are specifically those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads (Rev 9:4). At least some of them are involved in the killing of the saints (Rev 6:10); they practice things at odds with the moral alignment of the Lamb, such as sexual immorality, and murder, sorcery, and theft (Rev 9:21). The earth-dwellers also worship, not God and the Lamb, but demons and idols. This revelation is momentous. The hearer learns that in the authoritative stance of the narrator everyone worships: the choices are God and the Lamb or demons and idols. No other option is available. These idols are blind, deaf, and cannot walk (Rev 9:20). In contrast, John has characterized Jesus as having “seven eyes” and able to remove people’s blindness (Rev 5:6; 3:18); he is also the one who walks among the churches (Rev 2:1). Whom will the hearer worship? Another tension concerns the mention of repentance (or lack thereof) in relation to the earth-dwellers. All the prior references to repentance were applied to the members of the seven churches.16 Now, although the earth-dwellers were not called to repent explicitly in the narrative, the hearer has been trained by Revelation 2–3 to understand that works and practices that receive critique are to be abandoned. Turning from these practices is expected by the Lamb. In Revelation 2–3 all the exhortations to repent were addressed to churches whose response is unknown insofar as they were addressed to people who were both narratee and flesh-and-blood hearers all at once (i.e., a historical audience in Asia Minor). By contrast, in the narrative world, the response of the earth-dwellers is made clear. They failed to repent (Rev 9:20). Among other possible rhetorical goals, the Seer of Revelation places before the gentile both the possibility and the necessity to repent. The next mention of the nations takes place in Revelation 10:11. John is told, Δεῖ σε πάλιν προφητεῦσαι ἐπὶ λαοῖς καὶ ἔθνεσιν καὶ γλώσσαις καὶ βασιλεῦσιν πολλοῖς

15. Although the explicit narratee of Revelation are the seven churches (Rev 1:4), announcements like the one in Rev 8:13 (“Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth”) function rhetorically to engage the larger authorial audience. Koester, Revelation, 454, mentions that Greeks and Romans considered the eagle as a messenger of the gods. He writes, “So when this eagle issues a heightened warning, the sense is that ‘those who dwell upon the earth’ have every reason to take it seriously.” 16. Rev 2:5 [2x], 16, 21 [2x], 22; 3:3, 19.

76

76

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

(“You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and languages and kings”).17 The previous two references to the nations (Rev 5:9; 7:9) had highlighted

17. Interpreters are divided as to whether ἐπὶ in Rev 10:11 should be translated “against” or the more neutral “about/concerning.” The reasons offered in favor of “against” are (1) Ezekiel has influenced John’s portrayal of the little scroll, and προφητεύω + ἐπὶ in Ezekiel is mostly negative (18 out of 21 times, according to Beale and Schnabel); (2) the scroll and message in Ezekiel contained words of lament, mourning and woe (Ezek 2:10) and refers primarily to judgment; (3) “against” reflects the negative view of the ungodly nations in apocalyptic texts; (4) use of the fourfold formula and John’s message to the nations is primarily negative in the rest of the book; (5) the addition of “kings” adds a negative character to Rev 10:11; (6) the focus in Rev 11:1–13 is judgment; and (7) the parallels with Matt 10:18 and Mark 13:9, which emphasize the negative character of Christian witness. These seven reasons appear in Aune, Revelation 6–16, 573–4; Beale, Revelation, 554–5; Eckhard Schnabel, “John and the Future of the Nations,” BBR 12, no. 2 (2002): 251–3. There are problems with each of these arguments, however. They will be taken in the same order as above. (1) προφητεύω + ἐπὶ in Ezekiel is not negative 18 out of 21 times, as Beale and Schnabel hold, but only 14 out of 19 times. The sense “against” occurs in Ezek 4:7; 6:2; 11:4; 13:2, 17; 21:2, 7; 25:2; 28:21; 29:2; 34:2; 35:2; 38:2; 39:1, while the sense “to” or “concerning” occurs in Ezek 13:16; 36:1, 6; 37:4, 9. Exceptions of 26 percent (instead of 14 percent) should give one pause before making a generalization. (Aune lists only thirteen occurrences with a negative meaning, but he missed Ezek 21:7. Schnabel followed Beale, and Beale followed E. Hatch and H. A. Redpath, A Concordance to the Septuagint and the Other Greek Versions of the Old Testament, Vols. I–II [Graz: Akademische, 1954]). (2) The context of Ezek 2–3 as well as many of the oracles throughout the book include messages of judgment. But attention to Ezek 2–3 reveals other elements that are pertinent to Rev 10–11. (a) Ezekiel is told that he must not be rebellious like Israel (Ezek 2:8). He is set apart for a task just as the churches in Revelation are set apart for a task, a task that they are in danger of forfeiting through accommodation and compromise (cf. Rev 2–3). (b) There is a focus on the need for Ezekiel not to be afraid of the people (Ezek 2:6); he must ingest the scroll and proclaim the message. This accent on boldness in witness is very much in view in Rev 11:1–13. (c) The rebelliousness of the house of Israel is emphasized (Ezek 2:3, 4, 6–8; 3:7). However, within this context, Ezekiel is told that were he being sent to “many peoples” (λαοὺς πολλοὺς), they would listen to him (Ezek 3:6). Rev 10:11 is the only instance where John adds the word “many” (πολλοῖς) to the fourfold formula. The implication in Revelation would be that since John is being sent to many peoples (at least his written vision is), they will listen to his message. This conclusion does not, of course, mean that everyone will listen (so also Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 264). (d) Even though the people to whom Ezekiel is sent are rebellious, Ezekiel is made a watchman in order to warn them. Yet, within the commission of the prophet itself, there are statements that speak of Ezekiel’s responsibility to speak “in order to save [a person’s] life” and of the possibility that someone will not sin; the final statement says, “He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse” (Ezek 3:18, 21, 27, ESV). Much of the message is judgment and many (a majority?) of the people are rebellious, but there is also an overall purpose (and a strand

77

4. The Nations: Benefit and Conflict

77

the benefit to the nations from the Lamb’s death, more from the standpoint of result. Revelation 10:11 emphasizes John’s responsibility in the process of bringing this message to the nations. Even if John is not commanded to prophesy to the nations, his message about (ἐπὶ) the nations is indirectly for them. Perhaps John understood his prophetic call to the nations in Rev 10:11 as directed in part toward the composition of the Apocalypse.18 If this assessment

of hope) for the prophet to speak in order to spare people from destruction; cf. Daniel I. Block, The Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 1–24, NICOT (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997), 147–8, who says of Ezek 3:21, “The watchman has announced the danger; the backslider has heeded the warning, and achieved for himself the sentence of life.” Therefore, when Beale, Schnabel and Aune say the context in Ezekiel is “negative,” their generalization is unhelpful because it ignores important aspects of the context, aspects that are relevant to the context in Revelation. (3) To say that “against” reflects the negative attitude of apocalyptic texts toward the nations has some validity, but it neglects second-Temple texts like Tob 13:11; 14:5–7; 1 En. 10:21; 57:3; 90:30, 33, 37–38; 91:14; 4 Ezra 6:25–28; 13:12–13; T. Zeb. 9:8; T. Benj. 9:2; Pss. Sol. 17:31–34. The statement also disregards the distinctive, more positive, view of the nations in the early church as a result of Jesus’s mandate (Matt 28:18–20) and the Pauline mission. (4) The fourfold formula from Rev 11 onward is generally negative, but much more is going on (see Chapters 5–7 in this book). But even the final references to the nations, the kings, and the peoples in Revelation should lead interpreters to more nuanced statements (cf. Rev 21:3; 21:24–26; 22:2). (5) It is true that the insertion of “kings” to the fourfold formula gives it a negative character in Rev 10:11. But then interpreters need to ask what kind of conflict John is narrating. The negative character of the nations-kings alliance is not determinative of God’s message to them through John. If that were the case, there would be no gospel (cf. Rom 5:8). (6) Rev 11:1–13 is not only about judgment. There are intense conflicts, ungodly alliances, reassurance to the church, partial judgments, and a final judgment as well as people giving glory to God and the bestowal of reward to God’s servants (see more on this point below). (7) If a possible allusion to Matt 10:18 and Mark 13:9 is present in Rev 10:11, it would confirm the positive character of Rev 10:11. Dale C. Allison and W. D. Davies, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988), 1:184, maintain that an accusatory witness in these verses would make no sense at all. Schnabel agrees but opts to reject the allusion to Matt 10:18 in Rev 10:11 because he interprets this verse as conveying only prophetic judgment. Charles, Osborne, Ladd, Resseguie, and others take προφητεύω + ἐπὶ as “prophesy about/ concerning/in regard to”; cf. Charles, Commentary on Revelation, 1:269; Grant R. Osborne, Revelation, BECNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 405; George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1972), 148; James L. Resseguie, The Revelation of John: A Narrative Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009), 157. This interpretation is preferable because it does not limit the sense of the verb (and the whole of Rev 10–11) to judgment while still affirming the presence of judgment. 18. Three times he calls his composition τοὺς λόγους τῆς προφητείας τοῦ βιβλίου τούτου (“the words of the prophecy of this book,” Rev 22:7, 10, 18).

78

78

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

is right, it would explain the increased characterization and plot development of the nations after Revelation 10. Nineteen out of twenty-three times that the nations appear in Revelation (by use of the word ἔθνος) occur between Revelation 11 and 22.19 Furthermore, this message to/about the nations is sweet and bitter in character.20 The introduction of “kings” (βασιλεῦσιν) to the fourfold formula complicates the characterization of the nations. Based on allusions to Psalm 2, prominent in Revelation 11:18, the nations and the kings of the earth are intricately connected, and the kings’ involvement with the killing of the Lamb’s people (Rev 6:10, 15) gives a decidedly negative character to the nations-kings association in Revelation 10:11. When the evidence from Revelation 10 is put together, it seems best to allow for elements of salvation and judgment in John’s commission to the nations, while at the same time acknowledging that the insertion of “kings” to the fourfold formula begins to darken the generally positive characterization of the nations up to this point.

The Nations in Conflict: Revelation 11 In Revelation 7:9 John mentioned the success of the Lamb’s death to redeem an innumerable multitude from the nations. In Revelation 10–11 John devotes space to impress on the churches their role in that process, that is, their role as witnesses in the gathering of Christ’s kingdom.21 Witnessing is part of what it means to be a kingdom and priests. John holds back no punches. The church’s engagement would be hostile, gruesome, and, at times, it would feel and look like the church had lost. Yet, the final word belongs to God. Because Revelation 11 is a pivotal chapter in the characterization of the nations, more space is given to its discussion.

19. See Chapter 7 in this book for another reckoning of narrative appearances of the nations. 20. The experience of sweetness and bitterness is properly John’s, but a similar effect is likely to be intended both for those who are partners with John in the kingdom and affliction (Rev 1:9) and for the recipients of his/their message. Resseguie, Revelation, 157, writes, “[The scroll] is bitter to the prophet who suffers persecution because of the good news, and it is bitter to those who receive the word not as a message of salvation but as a word of judgment.” 21. Peter S. Perry, The Rhetoric of Digressions: Revelation 7:1–17 and 10:1–11:13 and Ancient Communication, WUNT 2, Reihe 268 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009), 105, writes, “The group of witnesses is also expanded and their role developed from Rev 7 to Rev 10– 11. Before Rev 7, Jesus is the faithful witness, followed by John and Antipas, and the souls under the altar. In Rev 7, the role of witness is extended to the innumerable crowd via the symbol of the white robe. Two anonymous witnesses in Rev 11 are added and in Rev 12–22 all saints are invited to consider themselves witnesses.”

79

4. The Nations: Benefit and Conflict

79

There are five movements in Revelation 11, which correspond roughly to the five events of the chapter. First, in Revelation 11:1–2 John is told to measure the temple of God, but to leave unmeasured the outer court, which is given to the gentiles. Καὶ τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἁγίαν πατήσουσιν μῆνας τεσσεράκοντα καὶ δύο (“And they will trample the holy city for forty-two months,” Rev 11:2).22 John begins by narrating the hostile environment in which the church does its witnessing mission. The church is at once protected and exposed to opposition; it will accomplish its task, but not without suffering harm.23 Revelation 11:1–2 could be taken as an overview of the developments in Revelation 11:3–13.24 Second, in Revelation 11:3–6 the two witnesses (the church) fulfill their task of prophesying despite the desire by ἐχθροὺς αὐτῶν (“their enemies”) to harm them (Rev 11:5). The church is portrayed as endowed with supernatural power, which enables it to complete its witnessing task.25 Third, once the church completes its testifying, the beast conquers them and kills them (νικήσει αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀποκτενεῖ αὐτούς, Rev 11:7). In other words, from the perspective of the earth-dwellers, the church loses the struggle. The witnesses are conquered, and the earth-dwellers make merry and celebrate their defeat. Fourth, from the perspective of God, and by the action of God, the witnesses are vindicated,26 the judgment of God comes on those who opposed them, and

22. For “trampling” as a topos of persecution, see Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 270–1; Aune, Revelation 6–16, 608. 23. Many interpretative issues, which cannot be entered into here, come up in Rev 11:1– 13. Beale, Revelation, 556–608, and Aune, Revelation 6–16, 575–632, provide some of the most detailed discussions. 24. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 267, takes Rev 11:1–2 and 11:3–13 as “different, but parallel interpretations” of the final period of world history. 25. Rev 11:5 contains strong language about the two witnesses’ ability to defend themselves during their witnessing period. The verse says, καὶ εἴ τις αὐτοὺς θέλει ἀδικῆσαι πῦρ ἐκπορεύεται ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτῶν καὶ κατεσθίει τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτῶν· καὶ εἴ τις θελήσῃ αὐτοὺς ἀδικῆσαι, οὕτως δεῖ αὐτὸν ἀποκτανθῆναι (“And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouths and consumes their enemies; if anyone would harm them, in this way he must be killed”). Charles, Revelation, 1:285, does not take the language figuratively. Osborne, Revelation, 422–3, takes it literally and symbolically. Sweet, Revelation, 185, and Koester, Revelation, 499, understand the imagery of fire from the witnesses’ mouths to place emphasis on the latter’s speech. The latter interpretation is more in line with the focus on the church’s speech witness in other parts of the Apocalypse (e.g., Rev 6:9; 12:11). 26. David Mathewson, Verbal Aspect in the Book of Revelation: The Function of Greek Verb Tenses in John’s Apocalypse (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2010), 142–3, argues against Bauckham’s emphasis on the vindication of the witnesses and the conversion of the nations in this section (cf. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 273–83). He says, based on aspectual analysis, that the author’s emphasis falls on the suffering and martyrdom of the two witnesses.

80

80

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

a number of people from the hostile audience turn and give glory to God (Rev 11:11–13).27 Fifth, on the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the culmination of the age arrives, not in dramatized form, but as an announcement, Ἐγένετο ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ κόσμου τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ, καὶ βασιλεύσει εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων (“The kingdom of the world has become [the kingdom] of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever,” Rev 11:15). Judgment follows, which includes reward and destruction (Rev 11:18). The characters are the two witnesses, the nations, the beast, people from the nations (peoples, tribes, languages), and the earth-dwellers. There is also an address to “anyone” (τις) twice, which seems to pull the audience as a character right into the narrative. This “anyone” is also characterized as the witnesses’ “enemies” (Rev 11:5). The setting is the great city (τῆς πόλεως τῆς μεγάλης), which seems to represent the world in hostility to God (Rev 11:8), and the time is fortytwo months, or 1,260 days, which symbolizes a limited time of tribulation.28 There

27. Both Beale and Bauckham press the narrative details of Rev 11:13 too far (cf. Beale, Revelation, 603–8; Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 273–83). The former is concerned to deny a second-chance view of conversion at the end of history. The latter affirms a mass conversion at the end of history, though he does not call it a “second-chance.” It seems better to conclude that the narrative flow allows for a turning of formerly hostile people to God without requiring (1) a mass conversion (2) at the end of history. The arguments for this conclusion are (1) in Revelation the impenitent never give glory to God in acknowledgment of his sovereignty. Rather, they curse God and do not give him glory (Rev 16:9). (2) Not once in Revelation is “glory” ascribed to God or the Lamb by an unbeliever (Rev 1:6; 4:9, 11; 5:12, 13; 7:12; 19:1, 7). Rev 14:7 commands all to “fear God and give him glory” and Rev 16:9 speaks of earth-dwellers who did not repent and give God glory. Beale has to appeal unconvincingly to the Old Testament for examples of people ascribing glory to God out of subjugation. However, this move is unnecessary, since John has established very well the function of the term within his narrative. Other interpreters who do not see genuine repentance at Rev 11:13 are Martin Kiddle, The Revelation of St. John (New York: Harper, 1940), 206; Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, rev. ed., NICNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997), 224; and Akira Satake, Die Offenbarung des Johannes, KEK 16 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008), 271. Those who conclude that genuine repentance is in view include Allan J. McNicol, The Conversion of the Nations in Revelation, LNTS 438 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2011), 126; Osborne, Revelation, 433–5; Aune, Revelation 6–16, 514; Charles, Revelation, 1:291; Sweet, Revelation, 189; Caird, Revelation, 140; Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Revelation: Vision of a Just World, PC (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1991), 79; Isbon T. Beckwith, The Apocalypse of John: Studies in Introduction with a Critical and Exegetical Commentary (New York: Macmillan, 1919), 604; Ladd, Revelation, 159; Adela Yarbro Collins, The Apocalypse, NTM 22 (Wilmington, DE: Glazier, 1979), 73; and Resseguie, The Revelation of John, 166. 28. Osborne, Revelation, 414, says, “The period refers to a limited time in which God allows the Antichrist and his followers to triumph (see also Rev 13:5–8) and the people of God to be persecuted and martyred.”

81

4. The Nations: Benefit and Conflict

81

is also a reference to the three and a half days during which the earth-dwellers rejoice over the two witnesses’ death (Rev 11:9, 11). There are five main instabilities in the chapter. First, the nations are said to trample (πατήσουσιν) the holy city (Rev 11:2). This action of trampling is the nations’ first clearly negative appearance in the narrative. Second, and closely related to the first, the church has entrenched enemies, even though it also has great power to be preserved until its task is finished. Third, the beast conquers (νικήσει) the church. By his use of the same verb for conquering (νικάω) here, John is signaling a rival ideology of what it means to conquer on earth.29 Whereas the beast conquers by killing, the Lamb and his followers conquer by dying.30 No more profound difference in ideology could be conceived. Fourth, in a surprising turn God’s action (πνεῦμα ζωῆς, a living breath/spirit, Rev 11:11) overturns the fate of the witnesses. This reversal highlights that the church’s witnessing was not in vain and that the short-lived celebration of the earth-dwellers was. Related to this, unlike in Revelation 9:20–21, where the rest (οἱ λοιποὶ) did not repent, in Revelation 11:13 the rest (οἱ λοιποὶ) give glory to God. Judgment and salvation are present. Finally, the nations are characterized in rage (τὰ ἔθνη ὠργίσθησαν, Rev 11:18). The allusion is to Psalm 2:1, which casts the nations and kings in alliance with one another but against the Lord and his anointed.31 The nations’ rage is met with God’s rage (ἦλθεν ἡ ὀργή σου, Rev 11:18), a sort of lex talionis. God wins, and what follows is the final judgment of reward and destruction. Thus far in Revelation the highest degree of characterization for the nations occurs in chapter 11 and, not coincidentally, they are found in the most vicious conflict with the church, which is another way of saying the most vicious conflict with God.32 The nations are hostile to the people of God; they trample them for 29. On one hand, Jesus conquered (Rev 3:21), and his church is told to conquer, and it does conquer (Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 12:11). On the other hand, the first horseman is given authority to conquer (Rev 6:2), and the beast conquers (Rev 11:7; 13:7). 30. Cf. Stephen L. Homcy, “‘To Him Who Overcomes’: A Fresh Look at What ‘Victory’ Means for the Believer according to the Book of Revelation,” JETS 38, no. 2 (1995): 193–201. 31. The wording of the LXX of Ps 2:1 is different (ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη), but Rev 11:18 is widely recognized as an allusion to it; cf. Konrad Huber, “Psalm 2 in Der Offenbarung Des Johannes,” in Horizonte Biblischer Texte: Festschrift Für Josef M. Oesch Zum 60. Geburtstag, ed. Andreas Vonach and Georg Fischer; OBO 196 (Göttingen: Academic Press Fribourg, 2003), 259. See Chapter 7 in this book for a discussion of Ps 2 within the framework of the Apocalypse. 32. In other words, Rev 11 presents a shift and intensification in the characterization of the nations. Whereas in the previous four instances of their appearance (Rev 2:27; 5:9; 7:9; 10:11) they were acted on by another actor, in Rev 11:2, 9, and 18, it is the nations who act toward/against another character (πατήσουσιν in Rev 11:2 is the first active verb of which the nations are the subject). The nations trample the holy city, (some out of) the nations gloat over the two witnesses’ dead bodies and refuse them burial, and the nations rage. The intensification in characterization is brought out by their appearance three times within seventeen verses (Rev 11:2–18).

82

82

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

forty-two months, which is a time reference to the entire inter-advent age (Rev 11:2).33 Some (or many) from (ἐκ) the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations gaze at the dead bodies of the two witnesses, who were killed by the beast, and refuse them burial (Rev 11:9). Next, the earth-dwellers rejoice, are gladdened, and exchange gifts with one another because the two witnesses were a source of torment to them; “good riddance” seems to be their attitude. The implication from Revelation 11:7 to 10 is that this group from the nations is aligned with the beast who killed the two witnesses and with the earth-dwellers, who have only received a negative characterization in the course of the narrative. This same group from the nations later sees God’s vindication of the two witnesses and is identified as “their enemies,” a descriptor also given in Revelation 11:5.34 Two different ends meet this group from the nations: some die in the great earthquake, while some give glory to God. Finally, the nations raged. In the context, it is clear that their rage was directed against God’s people. Their rage is met with a counter-rage from God.35 In other words, the nations’ rage is as futile as it is pronounced and enduring. But with God’s rage/wrath comes the final judgment, a time to reward his servants and destroy the destroyers of the earth (διαφθεῖραι τοὺς διαφθείροντας τὴν γῆν, Rev 11:18). It is important to notice that while God’s rage is presented as a response to the nations’ rage, the judgment falls on the dead (καὶ ὁ καιρὸς τῶν νεκρῶν κριθῆναι, “and the time of the dead to be judged,” Rev 11:18), from which two distinct groups emerge: the servants of God (composed of the prophets, the saints, and those who fear God) and the destroyers of the earth. There is reward for the former and destruction for the latter, but the nations qua nations are not destroyed. The characterization of the nations in Revelation 11 is highly nuanced. The four appearances of the nations prior to Revelation 11 emphasized the actions of others towards them. They were to be shepherded and smashed by the church (Rev 2:27). Many, in fact an innumerable crowd, from (ἐκ) the nations would receive the benefits of the Lamb’s death and be made into a kingdom and priests (Rev 5:9; 7:9, 14). Finally, Revelation 10:11 highlighted John’s responsibility to prophesy about the nations. By contrast, in Revelation 11 the nations act. They trample the holy city and rage against God and his people, actions that, to put it prosaically, do not go well for them. God meets rage with rage, and judgment comes. As a

33. See Beale, Revelation, 108–51, 520–2. 34. The group from (ἐκ) the nations in Rev 11:9 is identified as the same group that witnessed the resurrection of the two witnesses in Rev 11:11–12 through the repetition of verbs of seeing (βλέπω in Rev 11:9 and θεωρέω twice in Rev 11:11–12). This link also connects the group from the nations (Rev 11:9) with the two witnesses’ enemies (ἐχθροὶ) in Rev 11:5, though such a connection does not make them synonymous in every respect. Rather, the connection lies in their common actions against the two witnesses. 35. A clear play on the word “rage” seems intended (καὶ τὰ ἔθνη ὠργίσθησαν, καὶ ἦλθεν ἡ ὀργή σου) in Rev 11:18, though ἡ ὀργή σου is usually translated “your wrath.”

83

4. The Nations: Benefit and Conflict

83

character in John’s overall drama, the nations achieve more characterization as the narrative develops. They appear in close relationship to the main characters, Jesus and the churches, even though in Revelation 10–11 the primary relationship is oppositional. Revelation 10 portrayed the nations in alliance with the kings of the earth (Rev 10:11), while Revelation 11 foregrounded their alignment with the beast and the earth-dwellers. However, it should also be noted that those so aligned are a group from (ἐκ) the nations, and not the nations in their totality. The ἐκ (in Rev 5:9, 7:9, and 11:9) is John’s way of distinguishing a subgroup within the larger “nations” group. This nuance in all instances should be brought out in interpretation. The tensions for the gentile hearer revolve around the nations’ hostility to the people of God in Revelation 11. Will he or she be aligned with the group from the nations who receives the benefits of the Lamb’s death and gives glory to God (Rev 5:9; 7:9; 11:13), or will he or she side with the earth-dwellers and the beast? The abrupt introduction of “the beast” (τὸ θηρίον) itself is likely to bring up questions for the hearer: who is this beast, and what is the extent of its power? Its place of origin, the abyss (ἄβυσσος), the same place from where the demonic locusts who tormented the earth-dwellers proceeded (Rev 9:1–3), would intensify the hearer’s dilemma in being aligned with the beast and against the Lord who was crucified (Rev 11:8). Rhetorically, it is interesting that John, in Revelation 11:3–6, which gives the description of the church’s power over those who would harm them, does not narrate a character from his ample cast (e.g., the earth-dwellers, the kings of the earth, the nations, mankind, etc.). Instead, the antagonist is “anyone” (τις), twice mentioned in a warning. This “anyone” then becomes the two witnesses’ “enemies” (Rev 11:5). It is as if John were breaking the fourth wall, so to speak, and giving the warning directly to the hearer. The hearer thus becomes an active participant in the drama and must answer the question: will he assume the stance of the church’s narrated enemy? If he remains an outsider, he is an enemy.36 But in the end, there is only room for one kingdom, the Lord’s and Christ’s kingdom. The gentile hearer must decide to which kingdom he belongs before time draws to a close. John, it seems, highlights an element of hope in the judgment scene of Revelation 11:18. The destroyers of the earth are destroyed, and the servants of God receive their reward. But it is interesting that John has three categories of people under “servants,” τοῖς προφήταις καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις καὶ τοῖς φοβουμένοις τὸ ὄνομά σου (“the prophets and the saints and those who fear [God’s] name”). The prophets and the saints are expected in light of previous appearances (Rev 10:7; 11:10; cf. 5:8; 8:3, 4). But “those who fear your name,” which is further qualified by “small and great” (τοὺς μικροὺς καὶ τοὺς μεγάλους), have not appeared before, suggesting perhaps a group that heeded the warnings in Revelation 11:5–6, if not the warnings in the

36. In John’s narrative logic, those on the outside do not have the seal of God and are, therefore, the earth-dwellers. And the earth-dwellers kill God’s saints (Rev 7:3; 8:13; 9:4; cf. 6:10).

84

84

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

entire narrative. In short, there is a group that sees the earthquake, does not die, becomes terrified (ἔμφοβοι ἐγένοντο), and gives glory to God (Rev 11:13). Will the hearer, small or great, belong to this group?37

Conclusions A few important comments about the characterization of the nations are offered by way of summary. (1) Revelation 5:9 highlights the benefit to a group out of (ἐκ) the nations on account of the Lamb’s death. (2) Revelation 7:9 reveals that this group from the nations is a large multitude that no one can number, and it describes an announcement about this group from the perspective of the end, as something already achieved. (3) These two verses (Rev 5:9; 7:9) have placed the Lamb and the nations in narrative proximity. What brings the hearer from the nations into a positive relationship with Jesus is the former’s stance on the death of the latter. (4) Ποιμαίνω (“shepherd”) is used in Revelation 7:17 for the Lamb’s activity toward the large crowd from the nations that washed its robes in his blood, namely, the saints. In this verse pastoral imagery is strong and no elements of discipline, such as “the rod of iron” or “shattering” of Revelation 2:27, are present. At the same time, it is noteworthy that both uses of ποιμαίνω feature the nations, though the reference in Revelation 7:17 is more directly to a subgroup from the nations and the emphasis is on the group’s stance regarding Jesus’s death. (5) Revelation 10–11 bring out the prophetic responsibility that John and the churches have toward the nations during the 1,260 days of the inter-advent. This prophetic activity has a sweet and bitter character to it. (6) John might have understood his commission to prophesy about the nations (Rev 10:11) in terms of foregrounding the message to (or concerning) the nations in the remaining part of his composition. Out of twenty-three uses of the word “nation” (ἔθνος), nineteen occur in Revelation 11–22.38 (7) In Revelation 11 the nations are hostile to the church. A group from the nations is aligned with the beast and the earth-dwellers. Part of this group is destroyed in judgment (by an earthquake), while another part (“the rest”) gives

37. The relationship between the various groups in Rev 11:18 has been configured in different ways. See Osborne, Revelation, 446–7, and Aune, Revelation 6–16, 644–5, for a discussion. See also Jan Willen van Henten, “The Concept of Martyrdom in Revelation,” in Die Johannesapokalypse: Kontexte, Konzepte, Rezeption, ed. Jörg Frey, James A. Kelhoffer, and Franz Tóth, WUNT 287 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012), 596, who argues that the words “witnesses,” “prophets,” “saints,” and “servants” are “more or less interchangeable” in Revelation. Regardless of the configuration one chooses, the point above stands. The designation, “Those who fear [God’s] name” in Rev 11:18, also looks forward to exhortations that function as invitations to belong to this group (Rev 14:7; 15:4; 19:5). 38. Pieter G. R. de Villiers, “The Septet of Bowls in Revelation 15:1–16:21 in the Light of Its Composition,” APB 16 (2005): 198–9, notes that the second half of Revelation reflects the command to the Seer in Rev 10:11 to witness prophetically to the nations.

85

4. The Nations: Benefit and Conflict

85

glory to God (Rev 11:13). (8) Though the nations rage and face judgment, they are not destroyed. Destruction is specifically reserved for “the destroyers of the earth” (Rev 11:18). John has narrated the nations in close relationship to Jesus and the church, yet at the end of Revelation 11 that relationship is primarily oppositional. Here it is important to notice how John has characterized the nations in Revelation 1–11. The first four references (Rev 2:27; 5:9; 7:9; 10:11) pertained to the actions of Jesus, John, and the church toward the nations. These actions included the authority given to the church to shepherd the nations, the benefit from and success of Jesus’s death to purchase a large multitude from the nations, and the prophetic activity of John (and the church) toward the nations. The next three references (Rev 11:2, 9, 18) focused on the nations’ actions against God and his people. John’s vision presents two perspectives to the gentile hearer. The first perspective—the actions of Jesus and the church toward the nations—is that of benefit and promise. This is a perspective about which the hearer might be completely ignorant, because this is not something he does but something that is done on his behalf. By placing the perspective of benefit and promise first, John has narratively established the priority of the Lamb’s death to purchase people from the nations. John has also established the uniqueness of conquering by dying visà-vis the kind of conquering that was typical of the Roman world and the world at large—conquering by killing. The second perspective—the nations’ actions against God’s people—is that of conflict. “The nations raged” (Rev 11:18). The gentile hearer would be more likely to be aware of his (degree of) antagonism toward the church. Further, the perspective of conflict reveals that there is another force at work, a demonic beast with whom the nations seem to be aligned. This beast, unlike the Lord who was crucified, conquers by killing. Although it would seem that the perspective of conflict wins the day, the narration of Revelation 11 highlights the futility of the nations’ rage. Through the perspectives of benefit/promise and conflict, John offers the gentile hearer two options, two groups from (ἐκ) the nations that she or he can belong to: the group that receives the benefit of the Lamb’s death or the group that receives God’s wrath. But John is not done. In fact, in the remaining chapters of Revelation he gives considerable attention to the conflict in which the nations are engaged. And, as it turns out, that conflict is not primarily, or most importantly, with the people of God.

86

87

Chapter 5 T HE N ATIONS IN C OSMIC C ONFLICT

Three important narrative elements appear within the first few verses of Revelation 12: Satan, the shepherding of the nations, and the theme of deception. These elements had first been sounded out in Revelation 2–3, but only indirectly addressed in Revelation 4–11. As with previous chapters, the narrative analysis focuses on plot instabilities, readerly dynamics as tensions for the hearer, and the unfolding characterization of the nations in the narrative progression. Momentous developments take place in Revelation 12–16.

The Dragon, the Male Child, and the Nations: Revelation 12:1–6 The hostility between the nations and the church in Revelation 11 is quickly overshadowed by the cosmic conflict narrated in Revelation 12–13.1 The two main instabilities of the unit are related to the woman and the dragon. The woman is described in great splendor, yet this same woman writhes in pains of childbirth. The double characterization of the woman—at once exalted and vulnerable— coheres with the characterization of the people of God elsewhere in the book (e.g., Rev 11:1–13).2 Another instability relates to the dragon’s intent to destroy the child 1. Stefan Alkier, “Witness or Warrior?,” in Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation, ed. Richard B. Hays and Stefan Alkier (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012), 131, says, “Chapters 12 and 13 [of Revelation] are, in terms of Aristotelian poetics, the peripeteia.” Many interpreters recognize the critical importance of the developments beginning at Revelation 12. N. T. Wright, “Revelation and Christian Hope,” Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation, 114, writes, “Up until chapter 12, it might have seemed as though the church simply faced all kinds of miscellaneous challenges, temptations, dangers, and threats. But from chapter 12 onwards it becomes clear that these are neither random nor isolated. They are part of a concerted campaign conducted by an ultimate enemy who will stop at nothing to prevent the purpose of the world’s Creator from being carried out.” 2. Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Revelation: Vision of a Just World, PC (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1991), 81, says, “If the figure of the woman in chapter 12 is an image of the messianic community, then like the vision of the sealing of the 144,000 (chap. 7) and

88

88

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

as soon as he is born. His menacing intention, brought out by his sinister stance before the woman,3 is unsuccessful, since the child ascends to the throne of God. However, the dragon’s purposes are only partially frustrated in Revelation 12:1–6, given that even after the safe escape and exalted place of the male child, the woman must flee to the desert (Rev 12:6). It is important to note that even though the dragon is described as menacing, powerful, and purposeful, nothing is narrated about his actual interaction with the child, once the child is born. There is no struggle, no battle.4 A war is narrated in the following verses (Rev 12:7–17), one against Michael and his angels, and another against the woman and her offspring. But the omission of any actual confrontation between the dragon and the child—indeed the narrative brevity between the child’s birth and his final position on God’s throne—heightens the child’s royal status. The dragon is no match for him.5 Although a majority of commentators overlook the reference to the nations in Revelation 12:5, the appearance of the nations in this verse is perhaps one of the most important references about the nations in all of Revelation.6 The following observations highlight some of the key narrative dynamics with respect the prophetic sign-action of measuring the priestly worshipers (11:1–2), it promises that Christians will be eschatologically protected and saved, although the war waged with the beast might harm and even kill them (12:13–17).” 3. Revelation 12:4, ὁ δράκων ἕστηκεν ἐνώπιον τῆς γυναικὸς τῆς μελλούσης τεκεῖν, ἵνα ὅταν τέκῃ τὸ τέκνον αὐτῆς καταφάγῃ (“The dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, so that when she gave birth to her child, he might devour it”). 4. Cf. András Dávid Pataki, “A Non-combat Myth in Revelation 12,” NTS 57, no. 2 (2011): 268. He concludes, “[The devil] is miserably defeated in a ‘non-combat’ ” (p. 272). 5. The royal status of the child is signaled by the allusion to Ps 2:9 in Rev 12:5 as well as by his destination at the throne of God; cf. Craig R. Koester, Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AYBC (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014), 547; David E. Aune, Revelation 6–16, WBC (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1998), 676. 6. The reference is hardly explored in its literary context. Comments tend to focus on other issues but not on the nations. Aune, Revelation 6–16, says the messiah’s “judicial authority” over the nations is emphasized (p. 688) and the allusion in Rev 12:5 to Ps 2:9 is messianic (p. 712). G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, NIGTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999), 639–40, and Allan J. McNicol, The Conversion of the Nations in Revelation, LNTS 438 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2011), 51, say the exaltation of Christ inaugurates the fulfillment of the promise to subdue all nations. Richard Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2000), offers passing references but no exegetical treatment of Rev 12:5. Brian K. Blount, Revelation: A Commentary, NTL (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 2009), 230, is among the few interpreters who comment at any length on Rev 12:5 in relation to the nations. He says, “The son will shepherd not just believers but also all the nations with an iron rod. The implication is that he will institute a rule of discipline that will turn people in the proper direction, toward faith in the lordship of God and God’s Christ. . . . Having described the child, John also indicates why he would be a threat to the dragon. He would shepherd the

89

5. The Nations in Cosmic Conflict

89

to the nations. First, there is the narrative location of Revelation 12:5. Osborne says, “It is common to label 12:1–13:8 the heart of the book, for it establishes the core theme, the war between God/his people and the dragon/his people and between the Lamb and his counterpart, the beast.”7 As mentioned in Chapter 4, the majority of references to the nations (nineteen out of twenty-three) appear between Revelation 11 and 22. Beyond counting narrative appearances, in terms of plot development, the presence of the nations in Revelation 12:5, in the midst of the conflict between the now-clear main antagonist and the main protagonist, gives the character prominence in the overall plot. Second, but related to the first point, is that the only action of the male child in Revelation 12:5 is his shepherding of the nations. In this cosmic portrayal of the people of God, symbolized by the woman, the narrative progression could be schematized as follows (omitting for heuristic purposes the countermoves of the dragon): The woman suffers in the task of giving birth to a child (12:1–2) The child is born (12:5a) The child is to shepherd the nations with a rod of iron (12:5b) The child is caught up to God and to his throne (12:5c) The woman flees to the desert (12:6) Both the child’s being born and his being caught up to God are actions done to the child by the woman and God, respectively, and they frame the child’s only proper action, ὃς μέλλει ποιμαίνειν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ (“one who is to shepherd all the nations with a rod of iron,” Rev 12:5).8 The child is born and, despite the dragon’s intentions, the child is enthroned. But in between these two stages of origin and culmination, John highlighted, surprisingly, not the child’s role toward the church, but his role toward the nations. The child is to shepherd all (πάντα) the nations. As argued in Chapter 3, ποιμαίνω does not mean “to destroy.” “To rule” is an appropriate translation, but it obscures the rich picture

people toward a belief in God’s power and rule and therefore away from allegiance to the dragon” (pp. 230–1). 7. Grant R. Osborne, Revelation, BECNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 454. See also A. J. P. Garrow, Revelation, NTR (London: Routledge, 1997), 61–5, 80–92, for the centrality of Rev 12–14 in Garrow’s understanding of the Apocalypse. 8. Sam Janse, “You Are My Son”: The Reception History of Psalm 2 in Early Judaism and the Early Church (Walpole, MA: Peeters, 2009), 133–4, notes the allusion to Ps 2, as do most commentators; cf. Stephen S. Smalley, The Revelation to John: A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Apocalypse (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2005), 319–20; Aune, Revelation 6–16, 676, 688. Janse says that the struggle in Rev 12:1–6 “reminds us of the war of Ps. 2, where the nations are also opposed to the Lord and his Messiah” (p. 133). But he makes no mention of the significant difference in characterization in Rev 12:1–6, in which the enemy of the Messiah is the dragon, not the nations.

90

90

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

within Old Testament and New Testament traditions of a shepherd’s ruling. The rule of a shepherd—a good shepherd—toward his flock is always benevolent, even as shepherding includes important elements of discipline. Third, other important details add to the characterization of the nations in Revelation 12:5. (1) The inclusion of πάντα (“all”) gives an added universality to this terse statement about the nations.9 (2) The omission of ὡς τὰ σκεύη τὰ κεραμικὰ συντρίβεται (“as pottery vessels are smashed to pieces”), featured in Revelation 2:27, de-emphasizes the element of discipline toward the nations.10 (3) The presence of ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ (“rod of iron”) is an important descriptor of strength in light of the apparent vulnerability of the woman and of the male child vis-à-vis the dragon.11 The child is a royal son, and his rule is immovable. He is God’s son, God’s enthroned king. Although commentators take “rod of iron” to symbolize the destruction the royal son inflicts on the nations,12 it is preferable to see it as a symbol of the Messiah’s authority, an authority explicitly mentioned in Revelation 12:10 and absolutely required if this child is to be taken seriously as a king capable of ruling all the nations and conquering all cosmic enemies.13 Fourth, Revelation 12:5 places Jesus and all the nations in the closest narrative relationship up to this point. Revelation 2:27 foregrounded the relationship of the church to the nations. Revelation 5:9 had in view the benefit to some (or many) from the nations as a result of Jesus’s death, and Revelation 7:9 announced the successful gathering of people from every nation into Jesus’s kingdom—a great multitude, indeed. Finally, Revelation 10:11 emphasized John’s (and, contextually, the church’s) prophetic responsibility to the nations. In other words, while

9. Cf. Smalley, Revelation, 299, 320, who translates πάντα τὰ ἔθνη as “the totality of nations.” 10. Some might object that the simile ὡς τὰ σκεύη τὰ κεραμικὰ συντρίβεται from Rev 2:27 is omitted but assumed at Rev 12:5 (and Rev 19:15). Though commentators tend to not make this argument from silence, if the argument were made, it would ignore John’s careful use of repetition (cf. Diana Jill Kirby, “Repetition in the Book of Revelation” [PhD diss., Catholic University of America, 2009]) as well as the rhetorical effectiveness of repetition with variation (cf. Janice Capel Anderson, Matthew’s Narrative Web: Over, and Over, and Over Again, JSNTSS 91 [Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1994], 49–53). Smalley, Revelation, 299, puzzlingly translates ποιμαίνειν as “shatter,” even though he readily admits that “destruction” is not a connotation of ποιμαίνειν in the LXX translation of Ps 2:9 (p. 319). 11. Peter C. Craigie, Psalms 1–50, WBC 19 (Waco, TX: Word, 1983), 67, says, “An ‘iron rod’ is something intrinsically strong.” 12. Cf., e.g., Osborne, Revelation, 463, as well as the discussion on Rev 2:27 in Chapter 3 in this book. 13. Smalley, Revelation, 299, translates ῥάβδῳ as “crook,” since crook “picks up the positive aspects which remain beneath the shepherding imagery.” For Smalley, the overall context of Rev 12:5 refers to the authority of the Messiah “when he acts for purposes of judgement . . . even if that judicial activity leads to the possibility of salvation” (p. 320).

91

5. The Nations in Cosmic Conflict

91

Revelation 5:9 and 7:9 featured Jesus in close relationship to a group from (ἐκ) the nations, Revelation 12:5 is the first instance of Christ’s relationship to all the nations (πάντα τὰ ἔθνη), and that relationship is characterized by his shepherding activity toward them. Narratively, Revelation 13–20 show many of the reasons the nations must be shepherded. But even the brief unit of Revelation 12:1–6, if not Revelation 12:1–17, begins to tease out this part of Revelation’s overall plot. That is, while the explicit intention of the dragon in Revelation 12:1–4 is to destroy the male child, the overall context of danger in the unit, together with the use of ποιμαίνω and the iron rod, suggests that the nations might also be in danger, in a vulnerable state. The subsequent chapters in Revelation confirm this oblique inference. Fifth, the juxtaposition of Revelation 11 and 12 brings out some important shifts in plot development. The dragon and Jesus were not active characters in Revelation 11,14 but the nations were. In fact, Revelation 11 offered a sustained characterization of the nations’ hostility toward the people of God (Rev 11:2, 9, 18). By contrast, the appearance of the nations at the outset of Revelation 12 allows John to present a different aspect of reality for the nations. Revelation 11 offers the nations’ point of view with regard to God and his people. The nations trampled, gloated over (at least some of them did), and raged against the people of God. In contrast, Revelation 12 offers the point of view “in heaven” (Rev 12:1) or of the Christ child. He is to shepherd the nations. From this heavenly perspective, the nations are placed in close narrative proximity to the main character, Jesus, who is cast in a role of protection and royal authority. Moreover, the impression on the hearer, at the end of Revelation 11, is that the nations are the main (or at least a main) antagonist to the people of God. But John quickly overturns the origin and direction of hostility in his overall narrative by offering the perspective from above. The nations-as-antagonist in Revelation 11 fades into the background as the towering figure of the dragon is introduced in Revelation 12 and graphically depicted as a formidable, purposeful, and sinister monster who is bent on the destruction of the woman and her offspring. With this move, John unveils the true conflict of the Apocalypse, a conflict of cosmic proportions. Two tensions for the hearer should be noted. The woman dressed with the sun and the great red dragon are intriguing new characters, whereas the child would be easily recognized by his description as υἱὸν ἄρσεν (“a male son”; cf. Rev 2:18), by the activity of shepherding (Rev 2:27), and by his place on God’s throne (Rev 3:21). The male child is Jesus Christ, the son of God. The tension lies in the contrast between the child and the dragon. While the child seeks to shepherd all the nations, the dragon seeks to devour the child. The dragon is always at war, pursuing the woman, issuing fire from its mouth, fighting those who are aligned with Jesus. The dragon has great fury (θυμός), but he is also said to rage (ὠργίσθη ὁ δράκων, Rev 12:12, 17). This characterization is similar to the way the nations

14. However, there is a brief mention of Jesus in Rev 11:8, ὅπου καὶ ὁ κύριος αὐτῶν ἐσταυρώθη (“where also their Lord was crucified”).

92

92

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

were characterized in Revelation 11:18 (τὰ ἔθνη ὠργίσθησαν). Both the dragon and the nations rage, and their rage is directed toward the people of God. In all of Revelation, only two active verbs have been predicated on the nations: πατέω and ὀργίζω (Rev 11:2, 18),15 and the latter verb is shared in common with the dragon. As the world’s deception stems from the dragon (Rev 12:9), so might the nations’ rage. What the gentile hearer must consider is whether he or she will identify with the dragon in its rage toward God’s people, or will conquer him by the blood of the Lamb (Rev 12:11). Another tension concerns the third use of ποιμαίνω in the narrative. ποιμανεῖ αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ (Rev 2:27) τὸ ἀρνίον τὸ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ θρόνου ποιμανεῖ αὐτοὺς (Rev 7:17) υἱὸν ἄρσεν, ὃς μέλλει ποιμαίνειν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ (Rev 12:5) In each instance either Jesus or his church is the subject of ποιμαίνω. In Revelation 2:27 and 12:5 the object being shepherded is the nations, while in Revelation 7:17 the object of shepherding is the multitude from the nations who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. The hearer might notice a contrast in characterization. The element that is emphasized in Jesus’s shepherding of the nations is his authority to do so, signified by the rod of iron (ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ). Conversely, the emphasis in Revelation 7:17 is the pastoral imagery of care and protection, which the Lamb extends to his beleaguered people. It would not be hard for the hearer to make associations that intermingle the shepherd as authoritative leader (Rev 2:27, 12:5) and as protector/comforter (Rev 7:17). Such associations at the metaphorical level might be one of John’s rhetorical strategies to move the hearer who belongs to the nations to the group from the nations that belongs to the Lamb. But just as importantly, John’s different characterizations are likely to guide the hearer to ponder why the pastoral imagery of Revelation 7:17 is absent in the case of the nations qua nations.

The Beasts and the Earth-Dwellers: Revelation 13 Having introduced the dragon at length in Revelation 12, John goes on in Revelation 13 to describe the two beasts that do the dragon’s work on earth.16 15. The actions in Rev 11:9 are not included because these are done only by a group from the nations, and not by the totality of the nations. 16. Edith M. Humphrey, “To Rejoice or Not to Rejoice? Rhetoric and the Fall of Satan in Luke 10:17–24 and Rev 12:1–17,” in The Reality of Apocalypse: Rhetoric and Politics in the Book of Revelation, ed. David L. Barr (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006), comments, “The dragon takes his stand on the shore (v. 18), so as to superintend the events of chapter 13, that is, the ravages of the dragon’s beast from the sea, and the deceit of the beast from the earth.”

93

5. The Nations in Cosmic Conflict

93

Authority is given to the sea beast over the nations. The verse reads, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ἐξουσία ἐπὶ πᾶσαν φυλὴν καὶ λαὸν καὶ γλῶσσαν καὶ ἔθνος (“And it was given to it authority over every tribe and people and language and nation,” Rev 13:7). Earlier in Revelation, the conqueror from Thyatira was promised authority over the nations (Rev 2:26). Now the embattled identity of the nations becomes more pronounced as the narrator makes clear that the sea beast also possesses authority over them. This instability relates to one of the main tensions of the unit for the hearer. Revelation 13:7 shows the gentile hearer once again a perspective on the reality of the nations that might be hidden from him or her. Since the other activities of the beast receive the narrator’s negative evaluation (i.e., the beast’s blaspheming of God’s name and conquering of the saints, Rev 13:6–7), the conclusion to which the hearer is led is that the beast’s authority over the nations is also negative, both from the perspective of alignment with God and in terms of the effect of such authority on the nations themselves. Indeed, if the beast’s goal is to make everyone worship him (Rev 13:4, 15), a goal clearly at odds with the central vision of the book in Revelation 4–5, then the hearer must reject the beast’s authority, whatever the consequences. This conclusion is precisely what John directs the hearer’s attention to next, Εἴ τις ἔχει οὖς ἀκουσάτω (“If anyone has an ear, let him hear”), followed by an exhortation to go into captivity and receive death by the sword if such is what escaping the grip of the beast entails (Rev 13:9–10).17 The themes of counterfeit authority and worship, prominent in the first section of Revelation 13, are further developed in Revelation 13:11–18, but the focus here is on the appearance of the beast from the land. The event featured is the activity of the second beast to create a system of worship for the first beast.18 (In Rev 13:11– 18 there are a total of nine references to the first beast.) The characters are the beast from the land, the beast from the sea (or first beast), and the earth-dwellers, further described as τοὺς μικροὺς καὶ τοὺς μεγάλους, καὶ τοὺς πλουσίους καὶ τοὺς πτωχούς, καὶ τοὺς ἐλευθέρους καὶ τοὺς δούλους (“small and great, rich and poor, free and slave,” Rev 13:16).19

17. Koester, Revelation, 587–8, says the cryptic saying of Rev 13:10 “yields a double meaning.” The saying addresses the faithful (who must be ready to endure to the point of death, if it comes to it) and also the followers of the beast (who will receive retributive justice for their actions). His comment indirectly acknowledges that Revelation’s audience was broader than the narratee of Rev 1:4, the seven churches. 18. Commentators have identified the beast from the land with the priesthood that served in the imperial courts, Asia’s provincial council (koinon), regional Roman authorities, polytheistic religion, and the wealthy elite in Asian society. See Steven J. Friesen, “The Beast from the Land: Revelation 13:11–18 and Social Setting,” in Reading the Book of Revelation: A Resource for Students, ed. David L. Barr, SBLSBS 44 (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2004), 49–64, for an overview of views and relevant literature. 19. Rev 14:9 brings together two distinctive aspects of the followers of the beast: they worship the beast and they receive its mark. The earth-dwellers worship the beast (Rev

94

94

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

There are four instabilities in the plot related to authority, worship, deception, and threat. First, although at one level a voice from heaven celebrated the authority of Christ (Rev 12:10), at another level, part of the woe to the earth, anticipated in Revelation 12:12, is the authority that flows from the dragon to the first beast to the second beast. Once again, John shows that the limits of beastly authority are set by God through the use of ἐδόθη αὐτῷ (“it was given to him,” Rev 13:14, 15). Second, the beast from the land uses his authority to develop and enforce a system of worship on behalf of the first beast. Through the use of σημεῖα μεγάλα (“great signs”), the land beast causes those who dwell on the earth to worship the first beast (Rev 13:13, 14). Three times with variation the descriptor “the dwellers on the earth” (τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς) is used in this short section, in order to describe those over whom the land beast holds sway (Rev 13:13, 14 [2x]).20 The repetition is significant because it reinforces the alignment between these earthdwellers and the beasts. Third, the land beast works through deception, which is not surprising because the dragon is the deceiver of the whole world (Rev 13:14; cf. 12:9). The land beast deceives (πλανᾷ) the earth-dwellers through his signs and succeeds in making them erect an image of the first beast. The land beast, like Jezebel (Rev 2:20), works deception through speaking. John describes him thus, καὶ εἶχεν κέρατα δύο ὅμοια ἀρνίῳ καὶ ἐλάλει ὡς δράκων (“and he has two horns like a lamb but speaks like a dragon,” Rev 13:11).21 Fourth, the system of counterfeit worship to the first beast is reinforced with threats. Those who do not bow before the image of the beast are to be killed, and those who do not receive the mark of the beast cannot buy or sell (Rev 13:15, 17).22 The counterfeit system of worship has a public, religious, 13:12); therefore, it is appropriate to take the group that receives the mark of the beast in Rev 13:16 (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave) as earth-dwellers. 20. The second reference to the earth-dwellers (τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς) in Rev 13:14 is usually not brought out in English translations, but is glossed with “them” (see, e.g., ESV and NIV). 21. Interpreters recognize the similarities between the land beast, who has two horns like a lamb, and Jesus Christ the Lamb. Koester, Revelation, 602, writes, “The passage is provocative, pressing readers to ask whether they have too readily blurred the lines between the claims of the Lamb and those of the seemingly benign group that promotes the ruler cult. Recognizing that some readers find the situation to be ambiguous, John directs attention to what the beast says.” 22. Leonard L. Thompson, “Ordinary Lives: John and His First Readers,” in Barr, Reading the Book of Revelation, 43, makes a direct application from John’s visionary world to the historical world and says that John would consider anyone who made a living by buying and selling as possessing the mark of the beast. However, more nuanced is Koester, Revelation, 605, who argues thus, “The vision presses for clarity about the readers’ commitments, asking whether their identities are determined by the power to purchase goods in the market or by the power of the Lamb.”

95

5. The Nations in Cosmic Conflict

95

socioeconomic dimension, by which those who do not conform are pressured to comply. A few tensions that relate to the instabilities above emerge for the gentile hearer. First, the framework of authority by which the unholy trio (dragon, sea beast, and land beast)23 achieves its purposes is complex and overwhelming. Behind the surface actions of counterfeit worship by the dwellers of the earth, there is a demonic orchestration and force that should make the hearer pause and tremble. That is certainly John’s goal when he says, οὐαὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν, ὅτι κατέβη ὁ διάβολος πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔχων θυμὸν μέγαν, εἰδὼς ὅτι ὀλίγον καιρὸν ἔχει (“Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you having great fury, knowing that his time is short,” Rev 12:12). According to John’s vision, people do not worship idols and demons (emperors and gods) of their own free will, so to speak. Rather, they are made to do so by the authority of the unholy trio.24 John leads the hearer to this realization by the language he employs. The land beast ποιεῖ τὴν γῆν καὶ τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ κατοικοῦντας (“makes the earth and those who dwell in it”) worship the beast (Rev 13:12); he πλανᾷ (“deceives”) the earth-dwellers through his signs (Rev 13:14); he says (λέγων) to the earth-dwellers that they must ποιῆσαι εἰκόνα τῷ θηρίῳ (“make an image to the beast,” Rev 13:14); and he enforces beast worship by the threats of death and socioeconomic pressure (Rev 13:15, 17). In other words, the hearer should feel powerless against such a mighty and destructive system of worship. Indeed, the declaration by those who worship the dragon and the beast, Τίς ὅμοιος τῷ θηρίῳ καὶ τίς δύναται πολεμῆσαι μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ (“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” Rev 13:4), meant in the context to draw attention to the beast’s unique power, should draw the perceptive hearer to find an alternative answer. Who can fight against the beast? The next unit, Revelation 14:1–5, offers another dimension of the same answer John has provided from the beginning: the Lamb who has conquered by his blood. The end of Revelation 13 also confronts the hearer with an identity-defining option—everyone must receive either the mark of the beast or the seal of God (Rev 13:16–17; cf. Rev 3:12; 7:2, 3; 14:1). Revelation 12–13 unveiled for the hearer the war in heaven, which Satan and his angels lost as a result of the enthronement of the male child. But it also unveiled the power and authority behind false worship

23. Osborne, Revelation, 591, calls the evil triumvirate “the false trinity,” whereas Beale, Revelation, 831, calls them “the wicked trio.” 24. The point of John’s unmasking of the evil forces behind the earth-dwellers’ actions is not to deny personal responsibility. Throughout the Apocalypse the earth-dwellers are actors who kill the saints (Rev 6:10), rejoice over the two witnesses’ corpses (Rev 11:10), worship the beast (Rev 13:8), and marvel at it (Rev 17:8). John’s point is rather to alert the hearers to the unseen and imperceptible ways by which the unholy trio exerts an enormous control over them.

96

96

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

that has been unleashed on the earth.25 People are either marked for the beast or sealed for God. There is no middle ground. Finally, in this section the earth-dwellers received the most sustained characterization up to this point. They are described as those who belong to the beast: They worship the sea beast; they believe the deceptive signs of the land beast; they make the image for sea beast worship; and, presumably, they receive the mark, that is, the name of the beast (Rev 13:12, 14, 16, 17).26 Previously, the earth-dwellers had been described as those targeted in the hour of trial coming on the world because they killed the people of God (Rev 3:10; 6:10; 8:13). They are the ones who rejoiced and made merry when the two witnesses were killed by the beast (Rev 11:7, 10). If someone’s name does not appear in the book of life of the Lamb, he or she is an earth-dweller who follows the beast (Rev 13:8; 17:8).27 In contrast to the earth-dwellers, the nations are not characterized as worshiping the beast. The beast makes war against and conquers the saints, and he has authority over the nations (Rev 13:7), but there is no response to the beast on the part of the saints or the nations. By contrast, in the very next verse, John says, καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτὸν πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, οὗ οὐ γέγραπται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ ἀρνίου τοῦ ἐσφαγμένου ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου (“All the dwellers on earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world,” Rev 13:8). The earth-dwellers do respond to the beast in worship. Thus, whereas in Revelation 11 (some from) the nations were portrayed as complicit with the beast and the earth-dwellers in the killing of the two witnesses and gloating over their dead bodies, in Revelation 12–13 John creates distance between the nations and the beast and his earth-dwellers. He does this by highlighting the shepherding activity of the male child over the nations, by intensifying the characterization of the bond between the beast and the earth-dwellers, and by placing the nations in similar relationship to the beast as he does the saints: the beast conquers the saints and has authority over the nations, but no corresponding action from the saints or the nations is narrated.

25. James L. Resseguie, The Revelation of John: A Narrative Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009), 221, connects Balaam and his incitement of those in Pergamum to cultural accommodation through false teaching with the land beast (cf. Rev 2:14). He says, “The crisis of chapters 2 and 3 is worked out in more detail in chapters 12 and 13.” 26. The construction τὸ χάραγμα τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θηρίου is likely an accusative in simple apposition; cf. Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), 198–9. He lists Rev 13:17 as an example. 27. Cf. Peter Antonysamy Abir, The Cosmic Conflict of the Church: An ExegeticoTheological Study of Revelation 12, 7–12 (New York: Peter Lang, 1995), 256, for a similar understanding of οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.

97

5. The Nations in Cosmic Conflict

97

The beast’s (limited) authority over the nations should be understood in a similar way as his authority to conquer the saints (Rev 13:7). From the perspective of the beast, he has conquered the saints by killing them. However, from the perspective of heaven, the saints conquer the dragon by identifying with Jesus and not fearing death (Rev 12:11). Similarly, from the perspective of the beast, he has authority over the nations (Rev 13:7). But from the perspective of heaven, it is the male child who rules/shepherds the nations (Rev 12:5). Both perspectives capture the dilemma of the nations, the dilemma of the gentile who has an ear to hear John’s vision. In distinguishing the earth-dwellers from the nations, John has created narrative space to allow the gentile hearer to distance himself or herself from the beast, a move that is only possible διὰ τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀρνίου (“by the blood of the Lamb,” Rev 12:11).

The Nations, the Gospel, and Babylon: Revelation 14 The plot instabilities in the section feature, first, the need to respond to God in light of the hour of judgment; second, the introduction of fallen Babylon as a narrative character; third, the strong warning to beast worshipers, a warning meant to overturn any perceived benefits from association with the beast in Revelation 13; and fourth, a different view of death as death ἐν κυρίῳ (“in the Lord,” Rev 14:13). There are two important appearances of the nations in Rev 14:6 and 14:8. In Revelation 14:6, the nations are the target of the proclamation of εὐαγγέλιον αἰώνιον (“an eternal gospel”) by the first angel. The verse reads, Καὶ εἶδον ἄλλον ἄγγελον πετόμενον ἐν μεσουρανήματι, ἔχοντα εὐαγγέλιον αἰώνιον εὐαγγελίσαι ἐπὶ τοὺς καθημένους ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶν ἔθνος καὶ φυλὴν καὶ γλῶσσαν καὶ λαόν (“And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel to proclaim to the inhabitants on the earth and to every nation and tribe and language and people,” Rev 14:6).28 Three observations are made concerning the appearance of the nations in Revelation 14:6.

28. Beale, Revelation, 747–53, is in the minority when he takes Rev 14:6–7 as focusing exclusively on judgment. However, even he acknowledges that his analysis of the command to worship in Rev 14:7 as a coerced action goes against the usage of προσκυνέω (“worship”) everywhere else in Revelation (p. 753). Most commentators take Rev 14:6 as a final summons to humanity to repent in light of God’s hour of judgment. These include Koester, Revelation, 612; Osborne, Revelation, 535–6; Joachim Jeremias, Jesus’ Promise to the Nations (London: SCM, 1958), 22, 69; Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, rev. ed., NICNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997), 271; George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1972), 193; G. B. Caird, A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John the Divine, 1st ed. (New York: Harper & Row, 1966) 182; G. R. Beasley-Murray, The Book of Revelation (London: Butler & Tanner, 1974), 224–5; J. P. M. Sweet, Revelation, WPCS (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1979), 225; Charles H. Talbert, The Apocalypse: A Reading of the Revelation of John, 1st ed. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1994), 64; Aune, Revelation 6–16, 827; Jurgen Roloff, Revelation: A Continental

98

98

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

First, in the narrative progression, the proclamation of the eternal gospel comes after the narrator’s clear unveiling in Revelation 12–13 of the nature of the evil powers behind rival systems of worship on earth. The angel’s eternal gospel would then function as a message of liberation for every nation/tribe/language/people who found themselves ensnared by the beast’s authority (Rev 13:7).29 Second, the angel’s eternal gospel is not for τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς (“the dwellers on the earth”),30 but for τοὺς καθημένους ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς (“the inhabitants on the earth”). The distinction is important because while κατοικέω in the phrase οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς is always negative in Revelation, such is not the case with κάθημαι.31 The angel’s message is not particularly for the earth-dwellers who have cast their lot with the beast, but more generally for those who live on the earth, a term further defined by “every nation and tribe and language and people.”32 The implication of this observation is that nothing in the text necessitates an interpretation of only judgment at Revelation 14:6.33 Third, the response of the nations is not narrated. The emphasis falls on their access to the eternal gospel and their opportunity to Commentary, trans. John E. Alsup; 1st Fortress ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1993), 175– 76; and Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 286–9. Cf. also Pieter G. R. de Villiers, “The Septet of Bowls in Revelation 15:1–16:21 in the Light of Its Composition,” APB 16 (2005): 198. 29. Koester, Revelation, 612, says, “In Revelation the good news focuses on the establishment of God’s reign and liberation from other powers that dominate the earth (Rev 11:15–18).” Sweet, Revelation, 225, writes, “The good news (euangelion) for the Gentiles, as we gather from Acts and Paul, was God’s victory over the evil powers by Christ’s death and resurrection.” 30. A variation of this descriptor for earth’s people is always negative and is found in Rev 3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8, 12, 14 [2x]; 17:2, 8. 31. Manuscripts ℘115vid A 051 ar bo Bea have κατοικουντας. Manuscripts ℘47 ‫ א‬C 025 have καθημένους. MA conflates the readings (καθημενους τους κατοικουντας). The more difficult reading, and likely the lectio originalis, is καθημένους, for it is hard to explain the origin of the phrase τοὺς καθημένους ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, given that John does not use it anywhere else in Revelation (so Aune, Revelation 6–16, 786; cf. also R. H. Charles, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John, ICC [Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1920], 2:12). καθημενους and κατοικουντας in Rev 14:6 are taken as synonymous by Beale (Revelation, 749), Aune (Revelation 6–16, 826–7), and Ladd (Revelation, 193), but Akira Satake, Die Offenbarung des Johannes, KEK 16 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008), 313–14, is perceptive to note that these two expressions should be distinguished from each other. He posits that the author used καθημενους (and not the negative κατοικουντας) because those addressed included Christians. κάθημαι (“to sit, live, dwell”) appears thirtythree times in Revelation, and it describes God (Rev 4:2, 3, 9, 10; 5:1, 7, 13; 6:16; 7:10, 15; 19:4; 20:11; 21:5), Jesus (Rev 19:11, 19, 21), the twenty-four elders (Rev 4:4; 11:16), the inhabitants of the earth (14:6), one like a son of man (14:14, 15, 16), various horse riders (6:2, 4, 5, 8; 9:17; 19:18), and Babylon (17:1, 3, 9, 15; 18:7). 32. See Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 271. 33. Regarding Rev 14:6, John Christopher Thomas, The Apocalypse: A Literary and Theological Commentary (Cleveland, OH: CPT Press, 2012), 430, says, “These groups are

99

5. The Nations in Cosmic Conflict

99

repent. It would be very strange if the commands Φοβήθητε τὸν θεὸν . . . δότε αὐτῷ δόξαν . . . καὶ προσκυνήσατε τῷ ποιήσαντι τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ θάλασσαν καὶ πηγὰς ὑδάτων (“Fear God . . . give him glory . . . and worship the one who made heaven and the earth and the sea and the springs of water,” Rev 14:7) did not include an opportunity to genuinely turn to God.34 The contrast between the beast(s) and the Lamb in Revelation 13:1–14:5 demands a choice, a choice open to all the inhabitants of the earth, that is, to every nation. The nations appear once again in Revelation 14:8, the message against fallen Babylon. Ἔπεσεν ἔπεσεν Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη ἣ ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ τῆς πορνείας αὐτῆς πεπότικεν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη (“Fallen, fallen, Babylon the great, who caused all the nations to drink from the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality”). First, in the introduction of Babylon, which becomes an important character in Revelation 17–18 (and in Rev 21–22, by way of contrast to the New Jerusalem), the narrator foregrounds its relationship to the nations. This narrative move raises the importance of the nations within the overall plot of John’s vision. Second, the main activity for which Babylon is indicted is πορνεία (“sexual immorality”). Πορνεία had been previously associated with false teaching as well as with the worship of demons and idols (Rev 2:20–21; 9:20–21). Moreover, the narrator makes clear that the church (or at least some within it) are guilty of πορνεία (Rev 2:20–21), the earth-dwellers practice πορνεία (Rev 9:20–21),35 and the nations are drunk with πορνεία at the hand of Babylon (Rev 14:8). The critique of πορνεία continues to intensify. Third, although the nations are clearly negatively associated with Babylon, through their involvement in πορνεία, the narrator highlights Babylon’s role in making the nations drink (πεπότικεν) from the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality. Babylon is portrayed as the agent of the action, the aggressor, the seducer. The nations receive Babylon’s action as the victim, the seduced.36 The narrator could have presented the nations actively drinking (πίνω instead of ποτίζω) from Babylon’s πορνεία, but he did not.37 In fact, the narrator used πίνω

those to whom God, the Lamb, and his church are to bear witness for the purpose of their conversion.” 34. Contra Beale, Revelation, 747–53. 35. The immediate referent of those who practice sexual immorality in Rev 9:21 is οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων (“the rest of mankind”). However, in the context, the recipients of the fifth and sixth blowing of the trumpets are τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς (“those who dwell on the earth,” Rev 8:13). In other words, the rest, that is, the earth-dwellers who did not die from the plagues, did not repent of their πορνεία. 36. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 347, understands the intoxication with wine of Rev 14:8 as a critique of the Pax Romana system of economic exploitation over the peoples of the empire. He says, “Rome offered the Mediterranean world unity, security, stability, the conditions of prosperity. But in John’s view these benefits are not what they seem: they are the favours of a prostitute, purchased at a high price.” 37. However, see comments on Rev 18:3 in Chapter 6 in this book.

100

100

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

two verses later to describe the punishment of the one who worships the beast, αὐτὸς πίεται ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ (“he will drink from the wine of God’s wrath,” Rev 14:10). The choice of verb (ποτίζω) allows the narrator to keep the focus on Babylon as the purveyor of πορνεία. Previously, the narrator had underscored the nations’ condition under the authority of the beast (Rev 13:7). Now, while the nations are not without blame in their involvement with πορνεία, the narrator has foregrounded Babylon’s role in placing the nations under an immoral, drunken spell. Fourth, the announcement of Babylon’s fall would be good news and a warning to the nations. In light of the narrator’s characterization of Babylon as a woman who seduces and intoxicates the nations with the wine of her sexual immorality, it would be good news that her irresistible allure and position of power have been finally removed.38 At the same time, the image of Babylon as a loose woman offering wine and sex to the nations, her male partners, functions as a warning to the nations. Men who frequent places with wine, women, and sex are hardly forced but rather willing participants. Herein lies the conflict John has been unveiling for the nations—they are acted on by the sea beast and Babylon, yet willingly complicit in the beast’s and Babylon’s idolatrous activities. Finally, the nations’ participation in πορνεία contrasts with the 144,000 who have not defiled themselves with women (Rev 14:4).39 The main ethical critique against the nations up to this point is their involvement in πορνεία. Not coincidentally, in the letter to Thyatira, in which the nations were first introduced in the Apocalypse, the church was criticized for its involvement in Jezebel’s πορνεία (cf. Rev 2:20–23). A few verses later, in Revelation 3:4, the son of God praised those few in Sardis who had not ἐμόλυναν (“soiled”) their garments. Μολύνω is the same word John uses in Revelation 14:4 of the 144,000 who did not defile (ἐμολύνθησαν) themselves with women. In other words, the church must be pure, not defiled, so that it might offer a counter sex ethic to the πορνεία in which the nations find themselves ensnared. This counter sex ethic might very well be one of the ways the church smashes (συντρίβω) the πορνεία of the nations to pieces (cf. Rev 2:27). If this assessment is correct, then the church’s purity in sexual conduct is one of the ways the church fulfills its priestly role to shepherd the nations.40

38. See Sweet, Revelation, 226. 39. Fiorenza, Revelation, 88, says that the clause οὗτοί εἰσιν οἳ μετὰ γυναικῶν οὐκ ἐμολύνθησαν (“these are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women”) should not be taken as a misogynist term, as Tina Pippin, Death and Desire: The Rhetoric of Gender in the Apocalypse of John (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992), 70–1, takes it, because such a stance appears nowhere else in the Apocalypse. Rather, the language should be taken metaphorically to refer to “the idolatry of the imperial cult.” 40. Sweet, Revelation, 237, says, “Purity also is a testimony (cf. 1 Peter 3:1–4) and the theme of influence over the nations (2:26–28) is woven in.”

101

5. The Nations in Cosmic Conflict

101

The Church’s Hope for the Nations: Revelation 15 The narrator makes two important references to the nations in Revelation 15:3–4, in the song both of Moses and of the Lamb. The conquerors sing, Μεγάλα καὶ θαυμαστὰ τὰ ἔργα σου, κύριε ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ· δίκαιαι καὶ ἀληθιναὶ αἱ ὁδοί σου, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν ἐθνῶν·41 τίς οὐ μὴ φοβηθῇ, κύριε, καὶ δοξάσει τὸ ὄνομά σου; ὅτι μόνος ὅσιος, ὅτι πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἥξουσιν καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν ἐνώπιόν σου, ὅτι τὰ δικαιώματά σου ἐφανερώθησαν.42 The song of Moses and of the Lamb gives the perspective on the nations on the part of the people of God as conquerors. This song is the first and only occurrence of direct speech by the saints about the nations in all of Revelation. The conquerors affirm the authority of God as king over the nations. The narrative section of Revelation 12–14 has revealed that the beast claims (is given) authority over the nations and that Babylon makes the nations drunk with πορνεία (Rev 13:7; 14:8). But because the beast’s authority over the nations is given (ἐδόθη) to him and it is, therefore, not absolute, the conquerors assert that God is the true king of the nations. In light of the deception and coercion by which the beast achieves his purposes, the kingship of God over the nations must be understood as a positive declaration of ownership. In other words, it is the God whose works are genuinely great and amazing (as opposed to the land beast’s great signs, Rev 13:13) and 41. The external evidence is fairly evenly divided between ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν ἐθνῶν (‫א‬2a A P 046 051) and ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων (℘47 ‫*א‬.2b C 1006 1611). A copyist could have been influenced by 1 Tim 1:17 to write αἰώνων (though Aune, Revelation 6–16, 853, finds it unlikely and thinks “King of the ages” simply had “general currency”; e.g., Jer 10:10 in the MT). The context of Rev 15:4 (“all nations”) slightly favors ἐθνῶν; cf. Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. (New York: United Bible Societies, 1994), 679–80. Beale, Revelation, 796, adds that God’s eternity is not in view contextually, though the same reason could be used to argue that αἰώνων is the harder reading. An added contextual element in favor of ἐθνῶν is that without ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν ἐθνῶν in Rev 15:3, there would be no narrative relationship between God and the nations in all of Revelation (Rev 21:23–24 might be an exception, but even then the imagery does not yield a direct relationship). Yet John narrates the main evil characters in relation to the nations (the dragon in Rev 20:3, 8; the sea beast in Rev 13:7; and Babylon in Rev 14:8; 18:3, 23) as well as the main good characters in relation to the nations (God in Rev 15:3, if taken as original; Jesus in Rev 12:5; 19:15; and the church in Rev 2:26–27). 42. “Great and amazing are your works, Lord God Almighty; righteous and true are your ways, King of the nations! Who, Lord, will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy; for all the nations will come and worship before you; for your righteous acts have been revealed” (Rev 15:3–4).

102

102

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

whose ways are righteous and true (as opposed to the sea beast’s blasphemous speech, Rev 13:5) who is the nations’ king. Of course, the king would also have the right to judge any unfaithful subjects. But while the element of judgment is clearly brought out in Revelation 11:18, it is not the main attribute foregrounded in God’s kingship of the nations at Revelation 15:3.43 There is, in fact, great symmetry in Revelation 15:3–4 as God is declared to be king of the nations, and the nations respond to his kingship with worship. The perspective of hostility between the people of God and the nations in Revelation 11 is replaced by a perspective of hope in Revelation 15:4. The conquerors sing that in response to the manifestation of God’s works, ways, and righteous acts, the nations will come and worship before him. Earlier in the narrative, the son of God had given the churches authority to shepherd (and smash) the nations (Rev 2:26–27). Later on, John (and, by implication, the church) had been given a prophetic commission concerning the nations (Rev 10:11; 11:3). Now, the conquerors in their own words confess God’s kingship over the nations and the nations’ appropriate response of worship before God. While Revelation 11:18 narrated the nations’ perspective of rage toward God and his people, Revelation 15:3–4 expresses the saints’ hope that the nations will come to worship God. In the narrative progression, the hearer is led to infer that the unveiling of the dragon and his beasts, along with their methods of deception and oppression in Revelation 12–13, might have something to do with the confidence of the saints concerning the nations. That is, given the ways of the unholy trio, who would not come and worship God? The hope for the nations expressed by the conquerors in Revelation 15:4 is thrown into greater relief when contrasted to the statement of the saints in Revelation 6:10. There, the saints cried out from the altar for God to avenge their blood. Ἕως πότε, ὁ δεσπότης ὁ ἅγιος καὶ ἀληθινός, οὐ κρίνεις καὶ ἐκδικεῖς τὸ αἷμα ἡμῶν ἐκ τῶν κατοικούντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς (“How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood from the dwellers on the earth?”). The saints’ statement concerns the earth-dwellers, who after Revelation 6 continue to

43. Beale, Revelation, 799–800, says, “The fact that the eulogy in Rev. 15:3–4 is sandwiched between major sections narrating judgment suggests that the emphasis is on God’s righteous acts in judging the ungodly nations.” Steve Moyise, “Singing the Song of Moses and the Lamb: John’s Dialogical Use of Scripture,” AUSS 42, no. 2 (2004): 359, disagrees with the import Beale gives to Old Testament allusions, such as Exod 15 and Deut 32. He says, “The prominent allusion in Rev 15:3–4 is to Ps 86:8–10, a psalm noted for its particularly universal outlook.” Moyise continues, “The pointers [to Exod 15] are sufficiently specific to maintain an almost subliminal presence that accompanies a reading of the text. But it is no more than that. It is certainly not loud enough to turn a universalist song into a judgment song.” Smalley, Revelation, 388–9, says Beale’s evidence to support his negative view of Rev 15:3–4 is inconsistent. Aune, Revelation 6–16, 876, says τὰ δικαιώματά σου (“your righteous deeds”) could be negative or positive, but opts for the latter in Rev 15:4 since the result is “the pilgrimage of all nations to worship before God.”

103

5. The Nations in Cosmic Conflict

103

receive a negative characterization, in which their allegiance to and worship of the beast is central. In contrast, the saints as conquerors in Revelation 15:4 display an expansive hope for the nations, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἥξουσιν καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν ἐνώπιόν σου (“all nations will come and worship before you”).44 There is no other statement in direct speech from the saints, before or after this narrative point, that either surpasses or overturns the high hopes for the nations expressed in Revelation 15:4.45 It does not seem appropriate to label the hope for the nations expressed in the song as a narrated conversion of the nations, given that in later texts the struggle of the nations under satanic influence persists (e.g., Rev 20:3, 8).46 It seems better 44. Juan Hernández, Scribal Habits and Theological Influences in the Apocalypse: The Singular Readings of Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, and Ephraemi (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006), 94, notes that in a variant reading of Sinaiticus “only those nations that are characterized by righteous deeds can worship God (15:4b).” 45. Matthew J. Streett, Here Comes the Judge: Violent Pacifism in the Book of Revelation, LNTS 462 (London: T&T Clark, 2012), seems to miss the rhetorical contribution of Rev 15:4 to the shaping of the church’s attitude toward the nations. He writes, “One does not hold to nonviolence because of love of one’s enemies; rather, hostility towards one’s enemies and a desire to see them pay for their crimes fuels the resistance needed to live and die as Christ did. This certainly seems horrific compared to much modern Christian theology, but John’s theology cannot easily be harmonized with less radical approaches” (p. 237). However, the martyred saints cry out for God’s vengeance on τῶν κατοικούντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς (“the dwellers on the earth,” Rev 6:10), but they sing about the future worship of πάντα τὰ ἔθνη (“all the nations,” Rev 15:4) before God, despite the nations’ hostility in Rev 11:2. The destroyers of the earth must pay for their crimes (Rev 11:18), but John holds out hope for the nations and, just as importantly, he shapes the church’s view of the nations by placing on their lips the song of hope. 46. While Beale (Revelation, 792–9) and Eckhard Schnabel (“John and the Future of the Nations,” BBR 12, no. 2 [2002]: 264–5) see primarily judgment in Rev 15:2–4, Moyise (“Singing,” 359–60) and Bauckham (Climax of Prophecy, 296–307) are surely right to affirm universal hope for the nations in the same text. Where Bauckham goes beyond the evidence is in positing a two-stage process for how God’s kingdom comes. Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation (New York: Cambridge University Press), 101, says, “In the first stage of his work, the Lamb’s bloody sacrifice redeemed a people for God. In the second stage, this people’s participation in his sacrifice, through martyrdom, wins all the peoples for God. This is how God’s universal kingdom comes.” As stated in Chapter 1 in this book, this formulation has problems. First, the Lamb’s sacrifice is the only strategy to redeem his people (or the nations) in the entire inter-advent age. This assertion does not negate the role of the church as witness to Jesus. Second, the martyrdom of the Christians, to whatever degree John envisioned it, is not a part of a later (second) stage in the church’s witness. From the early years of the church, Christians have been killed for their witness to Jesus (cf. McNicol, Conversion of the Nations, 10–11, for exegetical and theological problems with the view of Christian martyrdom as a strategy for conversion). Third, to speak of “a people for God” and “all peoples for God” is confusing. “A people for God” from every

104

104

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

to interpret Revelation 15:4 as a text by which the narrator presents the view toward the nations that he wants his narratees (the churches in Asia Minor) to adopt. In other words, those who would be conquerors should adopt the stance that the nations will respond to John’s vision. They will see God’s greatness, see the unholy trio’s deception, and, as a result, come and worship before God. There are two aspects of the church’s mission to the nations that John highlights. In light of the nations’ hostility toward the testimony of Jesus, the Christians needed to know that they would be protected to complete their task (Rev 11:5– 6). Yet, despite the nations’ hostility toward the testimony of Jesus, the Christians needed to harbor not resentment, but boundless hope that the nations would turn and worship God (Rev 15:4). The narrative fulfillment of the conquerors’ hope for the nations in Revelation 15:4 takes place in the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:24–26; 22:2). Two main tensions will be highlighted. The gentile hearer would be likely to find it remarkable that the saints/conquerors display not hostility, but hope for the nations. The perspective offered in Revelation 15:4–5 surpasses that of Revelation 11, on the part of both the people of God and the nations. What the conquerors in Revelation 15:4 envision for the nations is the same telos as theirs—the worship of God. This characterization of the conquerors is surely meant to align the gentile hearer with the church and alienate him or her from the beast. Lastly, the hearer is once again compelled to imitate the nations in their worship of God, as presented in Revelation 15:4, in light of the description of God’s character and acts—as holy, righteous, and true—in sharp distinction to the rage, deception, and coercion that characterize the dragon and the beasts.

The Nations and the Seven Bowls of Wrath: Revelation 16 The first plot instability in Revelation 16 describes the pouring of God’s wrath on the beast and his kingdom. The environment as setting (the earth, the sea, the river, and the sun) receives the bowl plagues, but the specific target is τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοὺς ἔχοντας τὸ χάραγμα τοῦ θηρίου καὶ τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας τῇ εἰκόνι αὐτοῦ (“the people having the mark of the beast and worshiping his image,” Rev 16:2). Throughout the chapter, references are made back to these people (cf. Rev 16:6, 8, 9, 10, 21).47 An important explanation of their judgment relates to the blood of the nation, on the basis of Rev 5:9 and 7:9, seems rather similar to “all peoples for God,” unless by “all” Bauckham means “everyone without exception,” which he does not (cf. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 313). Fourth, Bauckham places the saints and the nations on different chronological tracks with respect to salvation; first the saints, then the nations. But the evidence for this construal, Rev 11:13 and 15:2–4, is rather slim. The approach in this study has been to treat the saints and the nations as distinct narrative characters and trace what John does with each from beginning to end, with primary emphasis on the nations. 47. Cf. Koester, Revelation, 649, who takes “works” in Rev 16:11 as including the worship of the beast. One of the ways John characterizes the people who belong to the beast in Rev

105

5. The Nations in Cosmic Conflict

105

saints, αἷμα ἁγίων καὶ προφητῶν ἐξέχεαν (“they poured out the blood of the saints and of the prophets,” Rev 16:6). Therefore, God has given them blood to drink by turning water sources (the sea and the river) into blood. Despite these judgments, the people of the beast do not repent of their works or give glory to God (Rev 16:9, 11). The second instability relates to the battle that is instigated by the unholy trio. The magnitude of the battle is heightened by the presence of kings from the east and from the whole world, by the mention of all three members of the unholy trio in tandem (Rev 16:13, the only occurrence in Revelation), by the abrupt interjection of a warning and blessing from Jesus (Rev 16:15), and by the mention of τῆς ἡμέρας τῆς μεγάλης τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ παντοκράτορος (“the great day of God the almighty,” Rev 16:14). The text does not clearly state whom the war is against, but the appearance of Jesus, warning of his coming ὡς κλέπτης (“like a thief,” Rev 16:15), points to his involvement, as Revelation 19 confirms. The third instability relates to the earthquake and the judgment of Babylon and the cities of the nations. When the seventh bowl is poured out, a voice from the temple announces, Γέγονεν (“It is done!” Rev 16:17). An earthquake of unprecedented proportions ensues, and the great city is split into three parts. Some observations about the nations are in order. Revelation 16:19 advances the thought of Revelation 14:8 in important ways. In the latter, the nations were characterized as the male clients of Babylon, whom she made drunk with sexual immorality. The announcement then was, Ἔπεσεν ἔπεσεν Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη (“Fallen, fallen Babylon the great”). Now Revelation 16:19 reveals that the nations will also fall (ἔπεσαν) insofar as they are allied with Babylon.48 Revelation 16:19 thus serves as an introduction of the dominant motif in Revelation 17–18, the demise of Babylon, an important element of which is her relationship to the nations. Further, Revelation 16:19 offers the perspective from heaven on judgment.49 That is, all the action of the seven bowls originates with μεγάλης φωνῆς ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ (“a great voice from the temple,” Rev 16:1). Back in Revelation 15:3, God’s ways were deemed δίκαιαι καὶ ἀληθιναὶ (“righteous and true”), on account of which

16 is by their blaspheming (βλασφημέω) of the name of God (Rev 16:9, 11, 21), which is the same kind of speech about God uttered by the sea beast (Rev 13:6). Those who worship the image of the beast become like him. 48. The emphasis in Rev 16:19 is on the fall of αἱ πόλεις τῶν ἐθνῶν (“the cities of the nations”), likely because the narrator is using an earthquake metaphor, and many of the cities in Asia Minor, addressed in Rev 2–3, had suffered much destruction from earthquakes in the first century and before; cf. Colin J. Hemer, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting, new ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986), 4, 62, 71, 134, 144, 150, 156–7, 166, 175, 182, 193–4. 49. For a fine study on John’s innovation of the urban earthquake as a polemic to show the superiority of God over Caesar, see James S. Murray, “The Urban Earthquake Imagery and Divine Judgement in John’s Apocalypse,” NovT 47, no. 2 (2005): 142–61.

106

106

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

the nations were invited to come and worship him. Similarly, God’s judgments are deemed ἀληθιναὶ καὶ δίκαιαι (“true and righteous”) in Revelation 16:7 because he called to account those who filled the earth with blood and because he broke up into three parts (ἐγένετο ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη εἰς τρία μέρη) the hegemony of Babylon over the nations and the system by which she lured them into patronage, even if the nations must suffer loss in the process (Rev 16:19). Thus, although the people of the beast curse God because of the plagues, the heavenly perspective is that God is righteous and true in dismantling Babylon’s control over the nations. Three tensions are likely to surface for the hearer. First, the intensity of punishment for those marked by the beast might produce in the gentile hearer a desire to either turn and worship God (as Rev 15:4 invites her to do) or rage toward God (as in Rev 16:9, 11, 21, and as has happened often in the history of interpretation of Revelation).50 If the hearer experiences rage, she would identify with the response of those who curse (blaspheme) the name of God for the plagues (Rev 16:9, 11). On the other hand, if the hearer agrees with the angel who says to God, Δίκαιος εἶ (“Righteous are you!” Rev 16:5), she would overcome the beast. Another tension concerns the demonic control of the unholy trio over the kings of the whole world (Rev 16:13–14). Their authority clashes with the earlier claim that God is the king of the nations and that Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the earth (Rev 15:3; 1:5). How exactly will this conflict be resolved? Lastly, the hearer must face the reality that not only Babylon but also the nations in alliance with her will fall. The practices of Babylon, such as sexual immorality, must come under the hearer’s scrutiny, lest he or she receive the same fate as the great city.

Conclusions Unlike in Revelation 4–11, the Satan character, the theme of deception, and the activity of shepherding were prominent features in Revelation 12–16. As mentioned above, the introduction of Satan as the main antagonist of the book is important for present purposes because, at the close of Revelation 11, it seemed that the nations, in their trampling, gloating over, and raging against the people of God, occupied that narrative space. But John quickly overturned the direction of Revelation 11 by the sustained description, in Revelation 12–13, of the architects of evil, who accomplish their purposes through deception and coercion. A number of summary comments are made about the nations. (1) The prominence of the nations within the overall plot of Revelation is highlighted by their appearance at the beginning of Revelation 12 (verse 5) and by their appearance in the introduction of Babylon (Rev 14:8). (2) The first and only narrative interaction between Jesus and πάντα τὰ ἔθνη (“all the nations”) up to this point in Revelation featured his shepherding activity toward them. (3) In addition

50. Cf. D. H. Lawrence, Apocalypse, reprint ed. (London: Penguin Books, 1995), 63, 100, 120–2.

107

5. The Nations in Cosmic Conflict

107

to the idea of ruling inherent in ποιμαίνω, it is possible to see strands of the idea of protection in Revelation 12:5, given the absence of the element of discipline (smashing to pieces) in the allusion to Psalm 2:9 (ὃς μέλλει ποιμαίνειν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ, “who is about to shepherd all the nations with a rod of iron,” Rev 12:5) as well as the context of peril marked by the presence and fury of the dragon. While the dragon destroys and deceives the whole world, the male child is charged with shepherding the nations. (4) The nations and the dragon share in common their rage (Rev 11:18; 12:17). Rage is one of the only activities predicated on the nations in Revelation. By this characterization, John might have hoped to cause the gentiles to want to distance themselves from the dragon. (5) While the church is given authority over the nations, and Jesus also has authority over the nations, the beast is likewise given authority over the nations (Rev 2:26; 12:5; 13:7). Clearly, this embattled characterization complicates matters for the nations (if not for the interpreter). (6) The access granted to the nations to the eternal gospel message, by which they are called on to turn and worship God (Rev 14:6), must be seen as a message of liberation, especially in light of the strong system of deception and oppression perpetuated by the dragon and the beasts, unveiled in Revelation 12–13. (7) The announcement of the fall of Babylon functions as good news and as a warning to the nations. It is good news because Babylon exerted power over the nations to induce them to sexual immorality. But it is also a warning because John has depicted the nations in Revelation 14:8 as willing men seduced by a loose woman into committing sexual immorality with her. (8) Insofar as the nations are allied with Babylon and do not reject her practices, they will fall (Rev 16:19). (9) The one statement in all of Revelation on the lips of the saints concerning the nations expresses unrestrained hope for them. Πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἥξουσιν καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν ἐνώπιόν σου (“All the nations will come and worship before you,” Rev 15:4). With great symmetry, the saints affirm both God’s kingship over the nations and the nations’ worship of God in response. Surely, the statement about the nations in Revelation 15:4, on the lips of the Christian victors, is one of the ways the narrator seeks to influence his narratee and authorial audience. The church must hold out a large hope, not for the destruction of the nations, but for their conversion to the worship of God. The church’s priestly role, by word and purity of life, is an essential aspect of their shepherding task toward the nations. Many interpreters make the mistake of assuming that what John has to say about the earth-dwellers, he also says about the nations.51 A careful analysis of the characterization both of the nations and of the earth-dwellers reveals the inaccuracy of this assumption. Revelation 13:11–17 display the most sustained

51. Examples include Martin Kiddle, The Revelation of St. John (New York: Harper, 1940), 309; Osborne, Revelation, 39, 658; Ronald Herms, An Apocalypse for the Church and for the World: The Narrative Function of Universal Language in the Book of Revelation, BZNW 143 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2006), 181; Eckhard Schnabel, “John and the Future of the Nations,” 264; and McNicol, Conversion of the Nations in Revelation, 11.

108

108

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

characterization of the earth-dwellers and presents them in close relationship to the sea and land beasts. The nations are different. Though in Revelation 11:9–10 a group from the nations shared some similarities with the earth-dwellers in their common joy at the death of the two witnesses, in Revelation 12–16 John puts distance between the nations and the beast and his earth-dwellers. He does so by the shepherding activity of Jesus toward the nations (Rev 12:5), by the lack of narrated response in worship to the beast on the part of the saints and the nations (Rev 13:7), and by the high hope for the nations that the conquerors affirm in their song (Rev 15:4). In Revelation, the nations never worship the beast.52 The nations are neither the victorious saints of Revelation 4–22 nor the beastmarked earth-dwellers throughout the book. The nations are cast in an embattled condition.53 They rage like the dragon. They are made drunk with Babylon’s sexual immorality and will fall, insofar as they are aligned with her. They are under the beast’s authority. But they are also shepherded by Jesus. They, like the saints, do not respond with worship to the beast’s authority. They have access to the eternal gospel message, which extends to them an opportunity to repent and be free from the unholy trio’s grip. And they are envisioned by the conquering Christians as nations that worship God. In other words, John does not merely offer two options to the hearer by means of his character the nations, which is the conclusion a number of interpreters reach.54 The two stark options in Revelation are most clearly portrayed by John through the saints in Revelation 4–22 and the earth-dwellers from start to finish. The saints and the earth-dwellers represent the diametrically opposed paths taken by two constituencies. Conversely, what John does with the nations is of a different order. He shows that while the nations are under strong, satanic influence, God is their king, Jesus is their shepherd, and the church is their prophet. The Christians maintain a prophetic and priestly role to the nations by which they hold to the testimony of Jesus, offer a counter-ethic of purity (not πορνεία), and proclaim the hope that all nations will come to recognize God as king and worship him. God, the Lamb, and the church offer a different reality and lay a claim on the nations as those who belong to God.

52. Contra Osborne, Revelation, 658. 53. While the Christians could also be said to be in an “embattled condition” in Rev 2–3, because many of them were compromising, in Rev 4–22 the Christians are always portrayed from a perspective of allegiance to God and the Lamb, even as they are shown to endure suffering. Similarly, the earth-dwellers are never in an “embattled condition.” They are always hateful of God and allied with the beast. 54. See, e.g., Koester, Revelation, 636, 833, and David Mathewson, A New Heaven and a New Earth: The Meaning and Function of the Old Testament in Revelation 21.1–22.5, JSNTSS 238 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2003), 174–5.

109

Chapter 6 D ECEPTION AND H EALING OF THE N ATIONS

The final chapters of Revelation feature the demise of the antagonists of the vision: Babylon, the beasts, and the dragon as well as those associated with them. The subplot of the nations is developed in important ways through the nations’ characterization in relation to the main antagonists and their appearance in the New Jerusalem. As in previous chapters, the following analysis locates the nations within the larger plot of Revelation and in relation to other characters. Readerly tensions, as part of John’s rhetorical strategy to shape the hearer’s commitments, continue to receive attention.

Babylon Sits on Many Nations: Revelation 17 A significant development in the Babylon-nations relationship is narrated in Revelation 17:15. Previously, Babylon was portrayed as a loose woman who made the nations drunk with sexual immorality (Rev 14:8). While Babylon was cast in the role of power, using her seductive appeal to lure the nations, the nations as drinking, sex-hungry men were hardly “forced” victims; the nations would be but happy clients of the woman Babylon. Then, in Revelation 16:19, it becomes clear that it is not only Babylon who would fall (as Rev 14:8 announced), but also the nations in alliance with her. However, Revelation 17:15 unveils the Babylon-nations relationship for what it really is. Theirs is not really a friendly alliance but a tyranny, with Babylon as the ruling queen who sits on (controls, dominates) the nations.1 The narrator 1. Cf. Grant R. Osborne, Revelation, BECNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 625; Justo L. Gonzalez, For the Healing of the Nations: The Book of Revelation in an Age of Cultural Conflict (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999), 77, 80; and Craig R. Koester, Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AYBC (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014), 672, who say the image of “sitting” on many waters is “an image of dominion.” Barbara R. Rossing, The Choice between Two Cities: Whore, Bride, and Empire in the Apocalypse, HTS 48 (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity, 1999), 67, says, “The term ‘sitting’ has theological and political importance for Revelation as an image of enthronement and divinity.”

110

110

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

says twice that Babylon sits on (many) waters. Δεῦρο, δείξω σοι τὸ κρίμα τῆς πόρνης τῆς μεγάλης τῆς καθημένης ἐπὶ ὑδάτων πολλῶν (“Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters,” Rev 17:1), and Τὰ ὕδατα ἃ εἶδες οὗ ἡ πόρνη κάθηται, λαοὶ καὶ ὄχλοι εἰσὶν καὶ ἔθνη καὶ γλῶσσαι (“The waters which you saw, on which the prostitute sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages,” Rev 17:15). Though from the standpoint of the nations, they might perceive their relationship to Babylon as one of pleasure, in reality Babylon uses the nations’ weakness for sexual immorality as a means to control them. Destruction, says the narrator, is the only possible outcome of this tyrantsubject relationship (Rev 16:19). The theme of Babylon’s dominion, expressed through the image of Babylon “sitting on” many waters, on the beast, and on seven mountains (Rev 17:1, 3, 9, 15), helps explain the hatred of the ten kings toward the ruling city (Rev 17:16).2 Though the great city presents herself as a benefactor, in reality the strong control she exerts over her client nations and peoples breeds resentment and hostility.3

Babylon Deceives the Nations: Revelation 18 In Revelation 17 (verses 15–18, specifically) the narrator explained the undoing of Babylon at the hand of the beast and his coalition of kings by the judgment of God. Now, in Revelation 18, the narrator elaborates on the reasons for the great city’s demise.4 The main instability concerns the fall of Babylon. The perspective both of Babylon sympathizers and of heaven is offered in the narration. The great and strong city, the source of wealth and power for so many, is at the same time portrayed as a place of demons, unclean spirits, unclean birds, and unclean beasts

2. The image of Babylon’s sitting on many waters and mountains, coupled with her statement in Rev 18:7, Κάθημαι βασίλισσα (“I sit as queen”), also invokes the claim to sovereign power made by Babylon. Conversely, one of the main descriptions of God throughout Revelation is the one who “sits” on the throne (cf. Rev 4:2, 3, 9, 10; 5:1, 7, 13; 6:16; 7:10, 15; 19:4; 20:11; 21:5); cf. Stephen S. Smalley, The Revelation to John: A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Apocalypse (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2005), 449, who says that Babylon’s claim as queen challenges the nature of God as king. 3. The prosperity of Rome came at a price. N. T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God, 1st North American ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1992), 154, writes, “Rome kept the peace by means of military might, crushing dissent and resistance with ruthless efficiency. Taxes had to be paid to Rome as well as to one’s local country, taxes which were used to keep Rome in luxury while her massive empire continued in relative or actual poverty.” 4. Brian K. Blount, Revelation: A Commentary, NTL (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 2009), 324, notes that by the use of the formulaic Μετὰ ταῦτα εἶδον (“After this I saw”) in Rev 18:1 “John signals a narrative intent to shift to a new way of thinking about a previously explored topic.”

111

6. Deception and Healing of the Nations

111

(Rev 18:2). On one hand, the city is condemned for intoxicating the nations and kings of the earth with πορνεία and for making merchants rich through στρῆνος (“luxury,” Rev 18:3); on the other hand, heaven, the saints, the apostles, and the prophets are told to rejoice over Babylon’s fall (Rev 18:20). On one level, Revelation 18 narrates the fulfillment of Revelation 6:10, Ἕως πότε, ὁ δεσπότης ὁ ἅγιος καὶ ἀληθινός, οὐ κρίνεις (“How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge?”). On another level, kings, merchants, and seamen lament Babylon’s fall, precisely because the power, pleasure, and wealth the great city afforded to them would be found in it no more (Rev 18:9–19). Two important references to the nations appear in Revelation 18. The first is Revelation 18:3, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ τῆς πορνείας αὐτῆς πέπωκαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη (“because all the nations have drunk from the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality”). The first reason adduced for the judgment of Babylon is her effect on the nations.5 The same was true in Revelation 14:8, where Babylon was introduced in the narrative. Both texts, Revelation 14:8 and 18:3, express a similar idea but with a different emphasis. While in the former John used ποτίζω (“to make drink”), in the latter he used πίνω (“to drink”). There is symmetry when the verses are taken together. First, John emphasized Babylon as the causative agent of the nations’ intoxication with πορνεία (Rev 14:8), and then he focused on the nations’ active imbibing of Babylon’s πορνεία (Rev 18:3).6 The responsibility for this immoral activity does not fall equally on Babylon and the nations, but it is shared by both. The nations also appear in close association with the kings of the earth (Rev 18:3); both are guilty of πορνεία and similarly influenced by Babylon. It should be noted that the kings of the earth, who presumably exercised leadership over the nations (though Revelation does not make this statement in so many words), fail to keep the nations away from Babylon’s intoxicating influence. On the contrary, these kings are fully invested in Babylon and lament her demise. At the same time, there is a difference in the characterization of the nations and the kings of the earth. Unlike the kings of the earth (and the merchants and seamen), the nations do not lament Babylon’s fall. The kings of the earth are guilty of ἐπόρνευσαν (“committing sexual immorality,” Rev 18:3), and they, not surprisingly, lament the fall of the great city (Rev 18:9–10). The merchants are indicted thus, ἐκ τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ στρήνους αὐτῆς ἐπλούτησαν (“they became rich from the power of her luxury,” Rev 18:3), and they likewise lament Babylon’s fall (Rev 18:11–17). Various types

5. Paul B. Duff, “Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing: Literary Opposition and Social Tension in the Revelation of John,” in Reading the Book of Revelation: A Resource for Students, ed. David L. Barr, SBLSBS 44 (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2004), 65–79, argues for the similarity of characterization between Babylon and Jezebel. It is important to note that the character Jezebel appears in the letter to Thyatira, the same letter in which the nations are introduced within Revelation (Rev 2:20, 26–27). 6. See G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, NIGTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999), 756, 896, for his analysis on the distinction between both verbs.

112

112

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

of seamen also lament the city’s fall (Rev 18:17–19). However, the nations, while charged with drinking from Babylon’s sexual immorality, do not respond with the reciprocal action of lamenting the city’s fall. Perhaps the narrator omitted the lament of the nations because each of the lamenting parties (kings, merchants, and seamen) speak their laments in direct speech, and the nations in Revelation never speak.7 In any event, the omission of the lament over Babylon on the part of the nations distances them from the kings, the merchants, and the seamen. These three latter groups seem to share the perspective of the earth-dwellers in their amazement at the great city and her fall. Their amazement comes out in the question, Τίς ὁμοία τῇ πόλει τῇ μεγάλῃ (“Who is like the great city?” Rev 18:18), a question that parallels the earth-dwellers’ earlier statement about the beast, Τίς ὅμοιος τῷ θηρίῳ (“Who is like the beast?” Rev 13:4).8 The nations, while complicit in Babylon’s immoral activities, do not share the other groups’ amazement at the beast or at the fallen city. Revelation 18:23 says, ὅτι ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη (“because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery”). This verse marks the first time that the theme of deception is specifically linked to the nations. Previously, the narrator said that Jezebel πλανᾷ (“deceives”) some (or many) in the church at Thyatira (Rev 2:20); the devil is called ὁ πλανῶν τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην (“the deceiver of the whole world,” Rev 12:9); and the beast from the land (or false prophet) πλανᾷ (“deceives”) the dwellers on earth (Rev 13:14). Further, Revelation 19:20 alludes to the Revelation 13:14 reference, the false prophet’s deception of those who received the mark of the beast. The rest of the references to deception by means of the verb πλανάω—Revelation 18:23 and three others (Revelation 20:3, 8, 10)—relate to the nations. More will be said in the analysis of Revelation 20, but it is clear that the theme of deception becomes more pronounced toward the end of the vision, and the nations are the clear object of the verb, the target of the action.9 The dragon, the beast (who works by means of the false prophet), and Babylon— all work by means of deception. And in John’s characterization, the nations receive the lion’s share.10

7. However, to lament is the expression of an emotion, and the nations do show emotion, such as rage in Rev 11:18. Furthermore, Nancy L. DeClaissé-Walford, Rolf A Jacobson, and Beth LaNeel Tanner, The Book of Psalms, NICOT (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2014), 66, say that the Hebrew word behind the nations’ raging (‫ )רגשׁ‬in Ps 2:1 implies speaking. The rage of the nations in Rev 11:18 is a clear allusion to Ps 2:1. 8. The earth-dwellers also θαυμασθήσονται (“will be amazed”) at the beast in Rev 17:8. 9. Cf. Beale, Revelation, 985–6, 1022–8. Regarding Rev 18:23, Beale writes, “The emphasis rests not so much on the practice of magic but on the deception of people into idolatry” (p. 922). 10. Cf. Pieter G. R. de Villiers, “Prime Evil and Its Many Faces in the Book of Revelation,” Neot 34, no. 1 (2000): 64–5, 70.

113

6. Deception and Healing of the Nations

113

The use of φαρμακεία (“sorcery”) describes the means by which Babylon controlled the nations.11 Whether John conveyed the idea of magic or of demonic influence, at the narrative level the introduction of φαρμακεία widens the scope and means of Babylon’s influence over the nations. Previously, it was πορνεία (“sexual immorality”) that defined Babylon’s allure to the nations (Rev 14:8; 18:3). But φαρμακεία, which is certainly connected to demonic activity (cf. Rev 9:20– 21; 22:15), deepens the metaphor of Babylon’s sitting on many waters, that is, nations. Πορνεία brings pleasure. Φαρμακεία brings delusion and oppression.12 Φαρμακεία, more clearly so than πορνεία, brings out the tyrannical nature of Babylon’s relationship to the nations. A few concluding comments are in order. (1) In all the texts and sections that deal with Babylon, the nations are prominently featured (Rev 14:8; 16:19; 17:15; 18:3, 23). This emphasis is not the case with other characters, such as the kings of the earth, the merchants of the earth, or the saints. The repeated mention of the nations in conjunction with the Babylon storyline not only heightens their importance in the overall plot of Revelation, but also foregrounds the negative effect of Babylon over the nations. In the opening and closing frames of Revelation 18 (i.e., verses 1–3 and 21–24), Babylon’s actions over the nations are preeminent reasons for her judgment.13 (2) Babylon is portrayed both as a prostitute and a tyrant who sits on the nations and uses sexual immorality, deception, and sorcery to bring the nations under her control. (3) The kings who presumably should lead the nations are as helpless under Babylon’s spell as are the nations. In other words, as long as the kings of the earth have authority over the nations, the nations remain hopeless. (4) While the nations are aligned with Babylon in πορνεία (Rev 14:8; 18:3), they do not share the amazement at or the lament over Babylon that the kings, merchants, and seamen do. (5) In Revelation 18, the main theme is Babylon’s judgment. The narrator says nothing about judgment on the nations. In fact, the nations are featured on the same side of the ledger as are the saints. That is, Babylon is guilty of deceiving the nations and of spilling the blood of the saints (Rev 18:23–24). Obviously, the 11. David E. Aune, Revelation 17–22, WBC (Dallas, TX: Word, 1998), 1010, takes φαρμακεία literally to refer to the magic by which Rome achieved its power; Osborne, Revelation, 658, takes it metaphorically, for demonic deception. One does not exclude the other. See the discussion on φαρμακεία by Rodney Lawrence Thomas, Magical Motifs in the Book of Revelation (London: T&T Clark, 2010), 22–44. 12. Koester, Revelation, 724, notes that in Jewish and Greco-Roman tradition, those who practiced sorcery were condemned. He writes, “Sorcery was associated with the demonic realm, and its practitioners were seen as a threat to society.” 13. See the detailed analysis of Revelation 18’s ring composition by Pieter G. R. de Villiers, “Unmasking and Challenging Evil: Exegetical Perspectives on Violence in Revelation 18,” in Coping with Violence in the New Testament, ed. Pieter De Villiers and Jan Willem van Henten (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 201–25.

114

114

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

nature of Babylon’s action toward the nations and the saints is radically different. The former share culpability in willingly drinking Babylon’s sexual immorality; the latter are brutally killed. But the observation simply points to the narrator’s choice to highlight Babylon’s oppression of nations and saints alike. This oppression shared by the nations and the saints creates commonality, not in every respect, but in relation to the shared joy that both the nations and the saints should feel over Babylon’s judgment (Rev 18:20). Three tensions for the hearer stand out in Revelation 18. First, the vision depicts the great and strong city as fallen and full of everything unclean. General support for Rome and its imperial agenda of prosperity was strong in Asia Minor toward the end of the first century.14 The gentile hearer is faced with a sharply different picture of reality in Revelation 18. Moreover, the narrative of Revelation 18 forces a certain alignment on the part of the hearer. Will he rejoice with heaven (and the saints, apostles, and prophets) over Babylon’s fall (Rev 18:20), or will he lament with the kings, merchants, and seamen over its desolation (Rev 18:9–19)? Second, while the exhortation Ἐξέλθατε ὁ λαός μου ἐξ αὐτῆς (“Come out from her, my people,” Rev 18:4), is targeted to the narratee (the churches in Asia Minor), the hearer has already learned what is required in order to belong to the people of God—he or she must wash his or her robe in the blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:14). The verb ἐξέρχομαι (“come out”) requires movement, and movement away from the authority of the beast and from the tyrannical control of the prostitute is precisely the hearer response toward which John has shaped his narrative. In fact, what Revelation 18:4 calls for, on the part of the Asia Minor church members, is movement away from (out of) Babylon. Thus, gentile hearers, believing and unbelieving alike, must depart from Babylon, lest they share in her sins and her plagues.15 Third, the hearer has learned that the great city is a prostitute, a low-class purveyor of sexual pleasure. But she is also a deceptive sorcerer who controls and oppresses her clients. John’s point is that Babylon is a terrible influence and deceptive tyrant from whom the nations must be liberated. In other words, after the hearer has been exposed to the narrative of Revelation 17 and 18, he or she should find it sensible to agree with the point of view expressed in Revelation 18:20, Εὐφραίνου ἐπ᾽ αὐτῇ, οὐρανε (“Rejoice over her, O heaven!”). Additionally, in the fall of Babylon, God has judged not only the blood of the saints and prophets, but also the blood πάντων τῶν ἐσφαγμένων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς (“of all who have been slain on the earth,” Rev 18:24). To the degree that the gentile hearer agrees that Rome’s injustice and debauchery must be judged, he or she would be relieved to

14. Cf. Koester, Revelation, 93–5. Speaking of the overall cultural attitude in Asia Minor of approval toward the Roman empire, he says, “People had the sense that divine providence undergirded Roman rule” (p. 94). 15. Richard Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2000), 377, says, “The command [to come out in Rev 18:4] is for the readers to dissociate themselves from Rome’s evil, lest they share her guilt and her judgment” (emphasis original).

115

6. Deception and Healing of the Nations

115

hear of the strong city’s downfall. But even if the hearer leans more on the side of sympathy toward Rome, John’s narrative confronts him or her with the fact that the sexual immorality, deception, and sorcery of Babylon will blind and numb the nations perpetually. For this reason, the fall of Babylon means liberation for the nations.

The Rider and the Beast’s Demise: Revelation 19:11–21 Having narrated Babylon’s demise and the heavenly multitude’s celebration of her demise, John moves on to describe the capture and destruction of the beast and his allies. The main instability relates to the war between the Lamb and his armies and the beast and his armies. Another instability concerns τὸ δεῖπνον τὸ μέγα τοῦ θεοῦ (“the great supper of God,” Rev 19:17), a gory banquet (to say the least), which contrasts with τὸ δεῖπνον τοῦ γάμου τοῦ ἀρνίου (“the marriage supper of the Lamb,” Rev 19:9). The final verse making reference to the shepherding of the nations appears in Revelation 19:15. The verse says, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ ἐκπορεύεται ῥομφαία ὀξεῖα, ἵνα ἐν αὐτῇ πατάξῃ τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ αὐτὸς ποιμανεῖ αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ, καὶ αὐτὸς πατεῖ τὴν ληνὸν τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ παντοκράτορος (“and from his mouth proceeds a sharp sword, in order that he might strike the nations, and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron, and he will trample the winepress of the wine of the passion of the wrath of God, the almighty”). A number of interpreters take the accumulation of the three images— striking with the sword, ruling with the rod of iron, and trampling the winepress— as a description of the destruction of the nations.16 Others see defeat for the nations17 or strong control.18 However, there are at least six reasons not to conclude that John has in view defeat or destruction for the nations in Revelation 19:15. First, the battle in Revelation 19:11–21 is between the Rider and the beast, not the Rider and the nations.19 The nations have not been characterized as hostile 16. See R. H. Charles, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John, ICC (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1920), 2:136; Jurgen Roloff, Revelation: A Continental Commentary, trans. John E. Alsup, 1st Fortress ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1993), 219; Koester, Revelation, 766; Beale, Revelation, 961–3; and Osborne, Revelation, 684. 17. Allan J. McNicol, The Conversion of the Nations in Revelation, LNTS 438 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2011), 53. McNicol nuances his position by stating that “the focus falls on the real enemies of the Lamb, who promote the power structure of the Roman Empire,” and not on every person (p. 56). 18. Ben Witherington III, Revelation, NCBC (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 244, speaks of “strong control, not annihilation.” 19. Tobias Niklas, “The Eschatological Battle according to the Book of Revelation: Perspectives on Revelation 19:11–21,” in Coping with Violence in the New Testament, 243, while interpreting Rev 19:15 as depicting the defeat of the nations, also says, “Concretely, however, [the text] is interested only in the Satanic beast and the false prophet.”

116

116

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

toward God since Revelation 11. In the intervening chapters, the narrator has highlighted the nations’ need to be shepherded away from the dragon, hinted at narratively in Revelation 12:5 but made explicit in Revelation 20:3;20 the authority given to the beast over the nations, an authority not fully realized, since the nations, unlike the earth-dwellers, do not turn to the beast in worship; and the control and oppression of the nations by Babylon, even as the nations are implicated in Babylon’s πορνεία crimes. At the same time, the narrator highlighted the male child’s action of shepherding toward the nations (Rev 12:5), the authority of God as ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν ἐθνῶν (“king of the nations,” Rev 15:3), and the hope of the victorious church for a time when the nations will come and worship God (Rev 15:4). In short, John has shown how the dragon, the beast, and Babylon are against the nations and how God, Jesus, and the church are for them. The narrative representation of the nations does not exonerate them from their πορνεία crimes (Rev 16:19 is explicit about their culpability) and other actions that are misaligned with the Lamb, a point clearly made in Revelation 11. And yet the burden of the narration in Revelation 12–19 has lain with unmasking the oppressive forces that deceive the nations, not with the nations’ destruction. The text is clear about who receives destruction—the beast, the false prophet, and those aligned with them (Rev 19:20–21).21 Second, the two allusions to Isaiah in Revelation 19:15 militate against taking the striking of the nations as destruction. The sharp sword that comes out of the Rider’s mouth is an allusion to Isaiah 49:2, which reads, καὶ ἔθηκεν τὸ στόμα μου ὡσεὶ μάχαιραν ὀξεῖαν (“And he made my mouth like a sharp sword”).22 The striking (πατάσσω) of the nations alludes to Isaiah 11:4, which reads, καὶ πατάξει γῆν τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ (“And he shall strike the earth with the word

20. Rev 20:3 makes explicit for the first time the dragon’s purpose to deceive the nations, but the verse also is clear that the dragon’s deception of the nations is not something new. Note the ἔτι in the clause, ἵνα μὴ πλανήσῃ ἔτι τὰ ἔθνη ἄχρι τελεσθῇ τὰ χίλια ἔτη (“so that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were completed,” Rev 20:3). Cf. Koester, Revelation, 770–1, who says that the purpose of Satan’s imprisonment was “to prevent further acts of deception.” 21. Ronald Herms, An Apocalypse for the Church and for the World: The Narrative Function of Universal Language in the Book of Revelation, BZNW 143 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2006), 163–4, is nuanced when he says, “In a general sense 19.18 appears to envision a broader sweep of judgment (‘eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses, and their riders, and the flesh of all people. . .’). However, 19.20 clearly depicts ‘. . . the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered to make war. . .’ thereby setting up the main actors in this particular drama and only making reference to the rest of the inhabitants of the earth by virtue of their association” (emphasis original). Even Osborne, Revelation, 702, who usually sees destruction for the nations throughout Revelation, says with regard to Rev 19:19, 21, “It is important to realize that it is ‘the armies’ and not ‘the nations’ that are slaughtered.” 22. MT reads, ‫( וישׂם פי כחרב חדה‬Isa 49:2).

117

6. Deception and Healing of the Nations

117

of his mouth”).23 Isaiah 49:1–7 describes the calling and role of the Servant, a role that is larger than gathering Israel, namely, to bring the salvation of the Lord to the ends of the earth.24 In both the MT and the LXX of Isaiah 49:6, the Servant’s role is to be light to the nations and, by parallelism, salvation to the whole earth.25 In short, in the context of Isaiah 49:1–7, when the Servant opens his mouth and a sharp sword comes out, the nations receive light and salvation.26 Isaiah 11:4 belongs to a section (Isa 11:3–5) that characterizes the messiah’s “absolute justice” in ruling.27 The clause καὶ πατάξει γῆν τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ (“And he shall strike the earth with the word of his mouth”) is complemented by καὶ ἐν πνεύματι διὰ χειλέων ἀνελεῖ ἀσεβῆ (“and by the breath of [his] lips he shall kill the ungodly”). The question is whether “the earth” in the first clause is synonymous with “the ungodly” in the second. This is not necessarily the case. Literary progression might be in view. Concerning this verse, John Oswalt observes, “Hebrew poetic form also permits a development in the two stichs. Thus, in the first stich, it is said that the Messiah will carry out God’s function of judging the earth, while the second stich emphasizes that it is the wicked who will have cause to fear that judgment.”28 A similar sense fits the context of Revelation 19. When the Rider strikes (or afflicts) the nations, judgment has come.29 But those

23. MT reads, ‫( והכה־ארץ בשׁבט פיו‬Isa 11:4). Note that the MT has “rod of his mouth” where the LXX reads “word of his mouth.” 24. The LXX of Isa 49:6 reads, ἰδοὺ τέθεικά σε εἰς διαθήκην γένους εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν τοῦ εἶναί σε εἰς σωτηρίαν ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς (“Behold, I have placed you for a covenant of a race, for a light to the nations, so that you might be salvation to the end of the earth”). The MT of Isa 49:6 reads ‫“( ונתתיך לאור גוים להיות ישׁועתי עד־קצה הארץ‬I have appointed you [as] a light to the nations to be my salvation to the end of the earth”). 25. Cf. R. N. Whybray, Isaiah 40–66, NCB (London: Oliphants, 1975), 139. 26. Beale, Revelation, 961, agrees that the context of Isa 49:1–7 refers to the servant’s “ability to accomplish his mission of restoring the nation of Israel and saving the nations (49:6) by means of his word.” 27. See John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1–39, NICOT (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986), 278. 28. Ibid., 281. 29. Πατάσσω can mean “kill” (Matt 26:31; Mark 14:27; Acts 7:24; 12:23), though BDAG, 786, lists the first meaning of “πατάσσω” as “to physically strike a blow, strike, hit” (e.g., Matt 26:51; Luke 22:49, 50; Acts 12:7). The two instances of πατάσσω in Revelation (11:6; 19:15) seem to yield the sense “strike” as in “afflict.” If John intended the sense “slay” or “eliminate” in Rev 19:15, he could have used ἀποκτείνω, which is the verb he uses in Rev 19:21 when his sense is clearly the destruction or killing of the beast’s allies. Brian K. Blount, Revelation, 355, says, “The language of ‘striking’ is also important because John uses it of the two witnesses who strike the earth with plagues (ch. 11). The idea behind such striking was rehabilitative, however. God’s strikes, even in the plagues, were intended to motivate repentance (2:5, 16, 21–22; 3:3, 19; 9:20–21; 16:9, 11).”

118

118

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

who are slain (ἀπεκτάνθησαν in Rev 19:21) as a result of the messiah’s judgment are the beast’s allies (Rev 19:17–21).30 Third, related to the point above, the sword from the Rider’s mouth does various things. At a minimum, it afflicts (πατάσσω, Rev 19:15) and slays (ἀποκτείνω, Rev 19:21), and the two activities should not be conflated into one. Some interpreters assign to the Rider’s sword only a function of destruction,31 while others seek to bring out the proclamation of the gospel as the weapon with which God judges (and saves) the world and ultimately destroys his enemies.32 The point is that to afflict the nations and to slay the beast’s allies—both actions performed by the Rider’s sword from his mouth—are not the same thing. The difference in verb (πατάσσω and ἀποκτείνω) corresponds to the object of the action. The nations are

30. Beale (Revelation, 963), Aune (Revelation 17–22, 1060), and Charles (Revelation, 2:136) draw attention to Pss. Sol. 17:24, which interprets Ps 2 and Isa 11 messianically, combining the “rod of iron” from Ps 2:9 and the “word of his mouth” from Isa 11:4. The verse reads, ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ συντρῖψαι πᾶσαν ὑπόστασιν αὐτῶν ὀλεθρεῦσαι ἔθνη παράνομα ἐν λόγῳ στόματος αὐτοῦ (“to smash with a rod of iron all their substance, to destroy the lawless nations with the word of his mouth”). Their interpretation of Rev 19:15 is heavily influenced by Pss. Sol. 17:24. Yet, for all the similarities between these two verses, two factors should give pause to interpreters before assigning like meanings. First, Psalms of Solomon depicts an expectation of a yet-future, conquering messiah who would restore Jerusalem by destroying Israel’s enemy nations and illegitimate rulers (though cf. Pss. Sol. 17:34, καὶ ἐλεήσει πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐν φόβῳ [“and he will have mercy on all the nations (who stand) before him in fear”]). Conversely, the vision of Revelation is controlled by the work of Jesus the Messiah, who came not to slay, but to be slain, so that God’s people from every nation could be redeemed (Rev 1:5; 5:9). Second, though the influence of Ps 2:9 LXX on the extant Greek manuscripts of Pss. Sol. 17:24 is evident (cf. Herbert Edward Ryle and M. R. James, Psalms of the Pharisees: Commonly Called the Psalms of Solomon [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1891], 139, who say that the translator of the psalms shows “close familiarity with the LXX.”), Pss. Sol. conspicuously does not use ποιμαίνω with the nations as its object (Pss. Sol. 17:40 uses ποιμαίνω with the Lord’s flock as its object). In sum, the conquest of Jesus by dying and the use of ποιμαίνω with the nations in Rev 19:15 sufficiently distance this verse from the theology expressed in Pss. Sol. 17:24. 31. e.g., Osborne, Revelation, 684. Charles, Revelation, 2:136, takes the sword as “a figure for forensic or judicial condemnation.” 32. Richard B. Hays, “Faithful Witness, Alpha and Omega,” in Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation, ed. Richard B. Hays and Stefan Alkier (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012), 81; Michael J. Gorman, Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness; Following the Lamb into the New Creation (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2010), 143, 155; G. B. Caird, A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John, 1st ed. (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), 245; J. P. M. Sweet, Revelation, WPCS (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1979), 283.

119

6. Deception and Healing of the Nations

119

struck or afflicted, that is, visited by the presence and power of the Rider’s word.33 The beast’s allies are killed. The fourth reason not to take Revelation 19:15 as describing destruction for the nations relates to the plot of Revelation. The narrative plot reveals the nations’ vulnerability before the beast and their need for shepherding by the Lamb. Babylon had deceived and controlled the nations, yet, in the narrative sequence, it lies in ruins at Revelation 19:1–10. The dragon in Revelation 20 is characterized three times as the one who deceives or seeks to deceive the nations (Rev 20:3, 8, 10). In between Babylon’s desolation (Revelation 18) and the dragon’s attempts over the nations (Revelation 20), the narrator resumes the plotline of the beast and his coalition of kings.34 They intend to make war against the Lamb (Rev 16:14; 17:13–14; 19:19). But beyond the beast’s hostility toward the Lamb, the beast’s and the ten kings’ hatred toward Babylon represents the clash of various powers and kingdoms.35 In her time of glory, Babylon had βασιλεία (“dominion”) over the kings of the earth (Rev 17:18). Another way of saying this is that Babylon sat over many waters, which represented λαοὶ καὶ ὄχλοι εἰσὶν καὶ ἔθνη καὶ γλῶσσαι (“peoples and multitudes and nations and languages,” Rev 17:15; cf. Rev 17:1). But the ten kings were also poised to receive βασιλεία (Rev 17:12), and when they received it, they handed over their βασιλεία to the beast by the plan of God (Rev 17:17). What Revelation 17 reveals is that Babylon’s βασιλεία and the beast’s βασιλεία are at odds with each other, even though for a time the beast had carried Babylon (Rev 17:3).36 One implication to draw from the juxtaposition of Revelation 17:15 and 16—Babylon’s sitting over the nations and the beast’s hatred for Babylon—is that the beast and his kings want to take Babylon’s place, which would make them have dominion over the peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.37 Therefore, when Revelation 19:11 opens, Babylon is out of the way and the beast and his kings are firmly in place, not only to make war against the Lamb, but also to take over

33. Jesus also threatens to use the sword of his mouth against those in Pergamum who do not repent from the teaching of Balaam (Rev 2:16). Clearly, discipline is in view, but not necessarily destruction. 34. See Adela Yarbro Collins, Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse, 1st ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1984), 149. 35. Koester, Revelation, 693, writes, “It can seem absurd for the beast that embodies imperial power to devastate the whore who personifies the imperial city. Yet the beast has traits of Nero, giving the spectacle a sordid realism. Nero may have ruled Rome, but he was also implicated in the fire that destroyed it (Tacitus, Ann. 15.38). In an ironic twist, destruction by fire means just that for the whore; it is ‘Nero all over again’ (Boring 164).” 36. Caird, Revelation, 221, says, “The savaging of the whore by the monster and its horns is John’s most vivid symbol for the self-destroying power of evil.” 37. Cf. Adela Yarbro Collins, The Combat Myth in the Book of Revelation, HDR 9 (Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1976), 184, who, in explaining the function of the beast in Rev 13 and 17, says, “The combat myth regularly involves a struggle for kingship.”

120

120

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

the nations. The only hope the nations have in their vulnerable condition is the appearance of the Rider who comes to shepherd the nations with a rod of iron and to defeat the beast. Although the beast’s move to control the nations is not explicitly narrated, this conclusion emerges when two other things are considered: first, the dragon’s goal to deceive the whole world and the nations (Rev 12:9; 20:3, 8) and second, the fact that the dragon achieves his goal through the beast, καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ δράκων τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξουσίαν μεγάλην (“and to it [the beast] the dragon gave his power and throne and great authority,” Rev 13:2). The conclusion is strengthened when in Revelation 20, once the beast is defeated and captured, the dragon’s main purpose is resolutely to deceive the nations, so that with their help he might conquer the saints (Rev 20:3, 7–10). In short, the dragon’s ultimate purpose is to destroy the people of God, and he achieves his purpose by deceiving the nations and turning them against God’s people. But in Revelation, prior to chapter 20, the dragon works through the agency of the beast, who, having laid waste the great city of Babylon, was poised to control the nations. However, the beast’s bid for control fails, for the rightful shepherd of the nations appears in order to remove the beast once and for all. Fifth, for the reasons given above, it is best to take τὴν ληνὸν (“the winepress”) as “filled” with those slain in Revelation 19:21, not with the nations. Otherwise, it is difficult to explain the presence of the nations in Revelation 20:3.38 Interpreters struggle to explain the appearance of the nations in Revelation 20 because many assume that the nations were the target of the Rider’s attack in Revelation 19.39 38. It is beyond the scope of this book to enter into discussions of the millennium in Rev 20. The commitment to understand Revelation as a narrative entails a sequential reading from Rev 1 to 22. However, a sequential reading in the narrative world does not necessarily lead to a strict chronological interpretation in the history world. For discussions of the millennium, see R. Fowler White, “Reexamining the Evidence for Recapitulation in Rev 20:1–10,” WTJ 51, no. 2 (1989): 319–44; Charles Homer Giblin, “The Millennium (Rev 20.4–6) as Heaven,” NTS 45, no. 4 (1999): 553–70; David Mathewson, “A Re-examination of the Millennium in Rev 20:1–6: Consummation and Recapitulation,” JETS 44, no. 2 (2001): 237–51; Michel Gourgues, “The Thousand-Year Reign (Rev. 20:1–6): Terrestrial or Celestial?,” CBQ 47 (1985): 676–81; Sverre Bøe, Gog and Magog: Ezekiel 38–39 as Pretext for Revelation 19,17–21 and 20,7–10 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001); R. J. McKelvey, The Millennium and the Book of Revelation (Cambridge: Lutterworth, 1999); Anthony A. Hoekema, The Bible and the Future (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979), 173–287; Koester, Revelation, 768–90; Beale, Revelation, 972–1031; Aune, Revelation 17–22, 1069–108; and Smalley, Revelation, 500–15. 39. e.g., David E. Aune, “Apocalypse Renewed: An Intertextual Reading of the Apocalypse of John,” in The Reality of Apocalypse: Rhetoric and Politics in the Book of Revelation, ed. David L. Barr (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006), 65, regarding Rev 20:1– 10, says, “Oddly, the destruction of the hostile nations mentioned in 19:17–21 has been forgotten.” Bøe, Gog and Magog, 322, 344, challenges the usual identification of the nations, Gog and Magog, in Rev 20:8 with demons, or some kind of spirits, or mythological figures.

121

6. Deception and Healing of the Nations

121

However, once the correct enemy has been identified (the beast and his allies) and ποιμαίνω (“shepherd”) is allowed to carry its usual semantic meaning—of rule, guide, and lead—it becomes easier to see that John has cast the nations in the vulnerable condition of needing a shepherd. Revelation 19:11–21 has as its literary climax the battle between the beast and the Rider, a war that had been anticipated but not resolved in previous narrative units (Rev 16:14; 17:14). If the winepress that the Rider tramples must be assigned a content (something that the narrator does not explicitly do), it must be the allies of the beast—those who are killed (ἀπεκτάνθησαν) by the sword from the Rider’s mouth. Additionally, earlier, in Revelation 14, the grape harvest was thrown into τὴν ληνὸν τοῦ θυμοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν μέγαν (“the great winepress of the wrath of God,” Rev 14:19). The winepress is a metaphor for the wrath of God. In the same chapter, the narrator had used the related metaphors of wine to describe the wrath of God (τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ τοῦ θεου, Rev 14:10) and of the cup of his anger (τῷ ποτηρίῳ τῆς ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ, Rev 14:10). The indisputable recipient, who was made to drink from the cup of the wine of God’s wrath undiluted, was the person who worshiped the beast and received his image (Rev 14:9). In other words, according to the narrative flow, it would seem that it is the beast’s followers who populate the winepress of God’s wrath. Nothing in Revelation 19 yields a different conclusion. On the contrary, once the beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire, the beast’s followers are slain (Rev 19:20– 21). Therefore, the winepress in Revelation 19:15 and the sword from the Rider’s mouth in Revelation 19:21 are two images to describe the means of destruction of the beast’s followers. Sixth, the combination of πατάσσω (“afflict”) and ποιμαίνω (“shepherd”) with the same object, τὰ ἔθνη (“the nations”), yields a similar tone in Revelation 19:15 as in 2:27. Both passages highlight the need for the nations to be shepherded by the church (Rev 2:27) and Jesus (Rev 19:15). Both passages likewise emphasize an element of discipline for the nations—Revelation 2:27 through συντρίβω (“smash”) and Revelation 19:15 through πατάσσω (“afflict”).40 The combination of

He concludes that the most satisfactory explanation of the nations in Rev 20:8 is human beings. However, he recognizes the challenge of his conclusion, given the destruction of “the rest” in Rev 19:21. In the understanding of this study, “the rest” refers to the armies of the beast (Rev 19:19) and not to the nations as character. 40. Matthias Reinhard Hoffmann, The Destroyer and the Lamb: The Relationship between Angelomorphic and Lamb Christology in the Book of Revelation, Reihe 203; WUNT 2 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005), 179, acknowledges that the use of ποιμαίνω at Rev 19:15 would recall the shepherd imagery of Rev 7:17 and 12:5. But then he says, “A minor difference, however, is marked in Apc 19 by the fact that the act of shepherding in verse 15 does not so much represent an act of taking care of the flock, but rather a juridical picture of fight and judgment.” Yet, Hoffmann does not ask in what ways, if any, the juridical activity of Jesus is related to, and congruous with, taking care of the flock.

122

122

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

shepherding and discipline is precisely the kind of activity the nations need from the hand of God and those aligned with him.41 After all, the nations are far from an innocent character in Revelation. They are hostile to God and enmeshed in sexual immorality (Rev 11:2, 18; 14:8; 18:3). Much in their makeup and allegiance must be smashed and stricken. (Incidentally, shepherding necessarily entails positive and negative direction; cf. Rev 3:19 and the church’s need for Jesus’s love and rebuke. In fact, his rebuke and discipline are an expression of his love.)42 The larger point is, however, that while the unholy trio goes after the nations to destroy them, God, the Lamb, and the church also go after the nations, but their intention is to liberate and heal them. In conclusion, two texts in Revelation feature the destruction of the nations insofar as they are aligned with Babylon or the dragon—Revelation 16:19 and 20:9. The point of the previous discussion was to ask whether defeat and/or destruction for the nations was in view in Revelation 19:15. The narrative analysis above offered an interpretation that explains the presence of ποιμαίνω in combination with πατάσσω, while at the same time bringing out the true enemy of the unit at Revelation 19:11–21. It is the beast and his allies that are destroyed in Revelation 19:11–21, not the nations. The nations are subject not only to judgment and discipline, but also to shepherding by the Lamb—actions that are required in order to free them from the oppression and dominion of the beast.43 If the analysis above is correct, at least two tensions emerge for the gentile who hears it. First, to the degree that the gentile hearer identifies with the ways of the beast, the gruesome depiction of the end for the beast’s followers would cause the hearer to either reject or embrace the narrator’s viewpoint. If he rejected it, even though the narrator has once again reiterated the beast’s deceptive way of gaining allegiance,44 the hearer is ideologically implicated in the beast’s actions. He is deceived. If he embraced it, the hearer has already begun to move toward the Lamb. A second tension concerns the appearance of Jesus, the Rider, in relation to the nations. Revelation 19:15 is the third time that the narrator has used ποιμαίνω

41. Sweet, Revelation, 283, says, “Rule is poimainein—the result of this ‘shepherding’, severe though it be, is seen at 2124–222. The nations are the Son’s heritage (Ps. 28)” (emphasis original). Cf. also Wilfrid J. Harrington, Revelation, SP 16 (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1993), 193. 42. John Christopher Thomas, The Apocalypse: A Literary and Theological Commentary (Cleveland, OH: CPT Press, 2012), 581, says concerning the shepherding metaphor in Rev 19:15, “The idea appears to be wide enough to include kind and gentle tending of the flock, on the one hand, to strong and dominating action that is sometimes required, on the other hand.” 43. Cf. Mark Bredin, Jesus, Revolutionary of Peace: A Nonviolent Christology in the Book of Revelation (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2003), 200–16, for an interpretation of Rev 19:11–16 as the transformation of holy war by the Messiah’s martyrdom. 44. See the use of πλανάω (“deceive”) to describe the false prophet’s tactics in Rev 19:20.

123

6. Deception and Healing of the Nations

123

to describe the activity of Jesus and the church toward the nations (previously in Rev 2:27 and 12:5). Ποιμαίνω highlights positively the goal or direction toward which an object is shepherded (led, guided, ruled), but it also highlights negatively the place or entity away from which the object must be moved. The narrative of Revelation has described the dragon and his allies (the beast, the false prophet, and Babylon) as entities that vie for the allegiance of the nations. Yet, as demonstrated in the beast’s hatred toward Babylon, these entities are neither trustworthy nor true. Their power and dominion is so universal and deceptive that it takes the counteractions of God, the Lamb, and the church in order to remove their control from the peoples and nations of the world. The place toward which the gentile hearer is shepherded was already anticipated in the letter to Philadelphia, the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven, but awaits yet further definition in the final chapters of the Apocalypse (cf. Rev 3:12). Will the hearer belong with the army of the Rider who shepherds the nations, or will he or she cast his or her lot with the army of the destructive and coercive beast?

The Defeat of Satan, the Deceiver of the Nations: Revelation 20:1–10 The most sustained characterization of Satan in relation to the nations occurs in Revelation 20.45 With Babylon laid waste and the beast in the lake of fire, Satan moves in to deceive the nations and turn them against the people of God. Four instabilities are outlined. First, the binding and release of Satan after a thousand years introduces instability into the plot. Why must Satan be released for a little while (μετὰ ταῦτα δεῖ λυθῆναι αὐτὸν μικρὸν χρόνον, Rev 20:3)? Second, the mention of ἡ ἀνάστασις ἡ πρώτη (“the first resurrection”) and ὁ δεύτερος θάνατος (“the second death”) in antithesis, placed as a narrative aside in beatitude form,46 makes the hearer a participant in the plot and accentuates the reward and punishment associated with allegiance to Christ or to the beast. The reward is stated thus, μακάριος καὶ ἅγιος ὁ ἔχων μέρος ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει τῇ πρώτῃ (“Blessed and holy is the one who has a share in the first resurrection!” Rev 20:6). The punishment of the second death alludes to the reverse of the promise to the conqueror in Smyrna, ὁ νικῶν οὐ μὴ ἀδικηθῇ ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ δευτέρου (“The one who conquers will not be harmed by the second death,” Rev 2:11). Third, the devil’s successful attempt to deceive the nations, even after a thousand years of inactivity toward them, points to the nations’ propensity to follow him (Rev 20:7–8). Fourth, the destruction by fire of the nations in allegiance to Satan highlights the futility and peril of this alliance (Rev 20:9).

45. Cf. the excellent study on the characterization of Satan in Revelation by de Villiers, “Prime Evil and Its Many Faces,” 57–85. 46. See Dal Lee, The Narrative Asides in the Book of Revelation (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2002), 111.

124

124

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

In the overall plot of Revelation, chapter 20:10 resolves one of the global instabilities of the book—the total defeat of the main antagonist. The dragon, the beast, and the false prophet are in the lake of fire receiving their just deserts. Καὶ ὁ διάβολος ὁ πλανῶν αὐτοὺς ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν λίμνην τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ θείου ὅπου καὶ τὸ θηρίον καὶ ὁ ψευδοπροφήτης, καὶ βασανισθήσονται ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων (“And the devil who deceives them was cast in the lake of fire and sulfur where also the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever,” Rev 20:10). The great antagonist, whose rage and machinations against the earth, the nations, and the people of God dominated much of the plotline in Revelation 12–20, has come to an end, not an end of existence but an end of authority and power to oppose God and destroy the earth. As for the nations, there are seven references to them in Revelation 20:1–10, twice as τὰ ἔθνη (“the nations,” Rev 20:3, 8), twice as part of the implied subject in the verbs ἀνέβησαν (“they went up”) and ἐκύκλευσαν (“they surrounded,” Rev 20:9), and three times as the referent of αὐτούς (“they,” Rev 20:8, 9, 10).47 Revelation 20 presents not only the most sustained, but also the first direct characterization of Satan in relation to the nations. The aspect the narrator foregrounds (three times) in the Satan-nations relationship is Satan’s deception of the nations. First, in Revelation 20:3 the angel binds Satan ἵνα μὴ πλανήσῃ ἔτι τὰ ἔθνη (“so that he will no longer deceive the nations”). The use of ἔτι suggests that Satan’s deception of the nations was something already in progress. The angel’s binding action does not prevent the deception from starting but rather from continuing during the thousand years in view. Since angels in Revelation act on behalf of God,48 it would seem that God purposes to stop the devil from further deceptive activity toward the nations for a period of a thousand years. Second, in Revelation 20:8, after the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison, καὶ ἐξελεύσεται πλανῆσαι τὰ ἔθνη τὰ ἐν ταῖς τέσσαρσιν γωνίαις τῆς γῆς (“and he will go out to deceive the nations from the four corners of the earth”). His attempt is successful, συναγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν πόλεμον, ὧν ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτῶν ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης (“he gathers them for battle; their number is as the sand of the sea”). The devil and his large army from the nations march up against the saints and the beloved city. Third, in Revelation 20:10, when the narrator is describing the capture of Satan before he is thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, he says, καὶ ὁ διάβολος ὁ πλανῶν αὐτοὺς (“and the devil who deceives them”). In other words, the foremost reason within the narrative unit given as justification for Satan’s punishment is his activity of deception toward the nations. A number of implications about the nations can be suggested. It is noteworthy that in the final narrative account about Satan, the main antagonist of the entire book, the nations are featured prominently. A similar phenomenon was observed in 47. This tabulation takes αὐτούς in Rev 20:8 to refer to the nations, to which “Gog and Magog” stand in apposition (see Bøe, Gog and Magog, 312; Beale, Revelation, 1022; cf. also Aune, Revelation 17–22, 1094). 48. Cf. Charles H. Talbert, The Apocalypse: A Reading of the Revelation of John, 1st ed. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1994), 63–4.

125

6. Deception and Healing of the Nations

125

the narratives about Babylon. The first two times that Babylon was mentioned (Rev 14:8; 16:19), the nations’ relationship to Babylon was highlighted. The narratives about Babylon’s demise, likewise, present its deception of the nations through sorcery and sexual immorality as important reasons for the city’s destruction (Rev 18:3, 23). The point is that the subplot of the nations as narrative character is given literary prominence by such characterizations. The deception of the nations, by Babylon and Satan, is one of the main reasons for the undoing and punishment of the latter pair (Rev 18:23; 20:10). Without exonerating the nations for their participation in Babylon’s and Satan’s crimes, Babylon and Satan have been consistently characterized as those in the role of the aggressor. They oppressed the nations by their deception, and they are given a fuller share of the wrath of God.49 As long as Satan is allowed to act on the nations, the nations will be deceived. This observation is one of the main narrative functions of the binding and release of Satan in Revelation 20. The purpose for which Satan is bound is so that he will not deceive the nations for a thousand years. When he is released, he comes out to deceive the nations. No sooner is Satan out of his prison than the nations gather under his authority. Even though Satan is more powerful than the nations, and thus is targeted as the main antagonist in the Apocalypse, the nations are all too willing to follow his lead. Put another way, the nations are not safe, even without the influence of the devil.50 They must turn to the Lamb and be counted among the 49. The language and imagery used to describe the discipline and judgment of the nations are not as severe as those employed to describe the undoing and punishment of Babylon, the beasts from land and sea, and the dragon. Concerning Babylon, the narrator says, Οὕτως ὁρμήματι βληθήσεται Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη πόλις καὶ οὐ μὴ εὑρεθῇ ἔτι (“In this way, with violence, will Babylon the great city be cast down and found no more,” Rev 18:21). Concerning the beasts from land and sea and the dragon, the narrator says that they are thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 19:20; 20:10). The beasts are thrown in alive (ζῶντες, Rev 19:20), and the beasts and dragon alike βασανισθήσονται ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων (“will be tormented day and night forever and ever,” Rev 20:10). The two texts that describe the nations’ destruction (Rev 16:19 and 20:9) are not nearly as graphic. Rev 16:19 says, αἱ πόλεις τῶν ἐθνῶν ἔπεσαν (“the cities of the nations fell”), and Rev 20:9 says, καὶ κατέβη πῦρ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ κατέφαγεν αὐτούς (“but fire from heaven came down and consumed them”), where “them” seems to refer primarily to the nations gathered in coalition with Satan; see Koester, Revelation, 779. 50. Koester’s comment about the church, Revelation, 693, could apply similarly to the nations. He says, “The problem is that those who belong to the Lamb continue to be threatened by powers opposed to God, and as long as the threat is real, the Lamb’s work is not done (13:7–10). Final victory will be won when the Lamb removes the threat by utterly defeating the agents of evil and death through his word (19:11–21; 1 Cor 15:24–26).” One of the functions of Rev 20 is to show that as long as the devil is still given authority on earth, the threat to the nations is real and sustained. Cf. also Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 53, who says, “At the parousia the beast himself is removed (19:20), but not yet the potentiality for evil.”

126

126

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

saints, or they remain vulnerable. There is no safe third option. The choices for the nations are either to belong to the Lamb or to be aligned with the devil. Even when the devil is in prison, the nations’ allegiance to him is still present (if latent). The proof of the nations’ predisposition to follow Satan is narrated in Revelation 20:8, when, having been released, he successfully gathers them for war against the saints. Lastly, the nations’ predisposition to follow Satan leads to their destruction. Though interpreters tend to lump the nations together with the earth-dwellers, in the previous chapters of this book a distinction has been made between the two. The distinction yields a more nuanced and complex characterization of the nations. John envisioned more than destruction for the nations. Having said that, there are texts that portray the demise of the nations insofar as their allegiance is given to the destroyers of the earth (Rev 11:18). Revelation 20:9 is one such text, καὶ κατέβη πῦρ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ κατέφαγεν αὐτούς (“And fire from heaven came down and consumed them”). “Them” refers to the nations allied with Satan. The narrative suggests that as long as Satan is allowed to act on the nations, the nations will yield themselves to him, and the result will be their destruction. Two tensions bring home for the hearer once again the stability and safety that are found only in the Lamb. First, the second death, first mentioned in Revelation 2:11, reinforces the narrator’s perspective on death. Throughout Revelation, it has become evident that conquering has nothing to do with escaping death, but rather it relates to keeping Jesus’s works and testimony until the end (cf. Rev 2:26). While the beast defines his own conquering of the saints by killing them (Rev 11:7; 13:7), the narrator’s perspective, which is the heavenly perspective, defines conquering by washing one’s robe and making it white in the blood of the Lamb and by keeping the testimony of Jesus, even to the point of death (Rev 7:14; 12:11). Further, to die in the Lord is blessed because rest follows death (Rev 14:13). Now, in Revelation 20, the hearer learns that those who die without succumbing to the beast’s pressure cannot be harmed by the second death (Rev 20:6), which is the lake of fire (Rev 20:14). In other words, the only way to avoid the lake of fire, the second death, is to conquer by the blood of the Lamb. A second tension relates to the power of Satan to deceive the nations. The hearer learns that he or she, as a member of the nations, cannot resist the power of Satan. Though Satan is deceptive and destructive, the nations willingly follow him, nonetheless. Even the absence of Satan’s deceptive activity on the nations for a long period, a thousand years, is not enough to cure them from their “potentiality for evil” and their propensity to follow his ways in hostility toward God and God’s people. The hearer by this point of the narrative knows that the only ones who successfully conquer Satan are those aligned with the Lamb (Rev 12:11). Revelation 20:1–10, through a different narrative lens, forcefully makes the same point.

The New Jerusalem and the Nations: Revelation 21:9–22:5 In the final section of the vision, prior to the epilogue, the narrator gives definition to the picture of the New Jerusalem, the holy city in the new order, which stands

127

6. Deception and Healing of the Nations

127

in contrast to Babylon, the defiled city. No instabilities are narrated in this section. Everything is stable in terms of the narrative progression. The narrator describes the New Jerusalem as an environment of purity, brilliance, and great worth.51 There is no antagonist, no threat, no pain, no death, no curse. There is not even a need for lesser sources of light, like sun and moon, ἡ γὰρ δόξα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐφώτισεν αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ λύχνος αὐτῆς τὸ ἀρνίον (“for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb,” Rev 21:23). Just as the nations appeared prominently in the Babylon storyline, so are they also featured in the description of the New Jerusalem. At least five important aspects of John’s characterization of the nations emerge out of the contrast between the Babylon-nations relationship and the New Jerusalem-nations relationship.52 First, in the new order of things, the nations walk by the light of the New Jerusalem. Revelation 21:24 says, καὶ περιπατήσουσιν τὰ ἔθνη διὰ τοῦ φωτὸς αὐτῆς (“and the nations will walk by her light”).53 Light, along with other related descriptions, is one of the main characterizations of the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem has τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ (“the glory of God,” Rev 21:11), which is later defined as a lightgiving quality (Rev 21:23). The narrator goes on, ὁ φωστὴρ αὐτῆς ὅμοιος λίθῳ τιμιωτάτῳ ὡς λίθῳ ἰάσπιδι κρυσταλλίζοντι (“its brilliance is like a most precious jewel, like a shiny jasper stone,” Rev 21:11). Then, καὶ ἡ πόλις οὐ χρείαν ἔχει τοῦ ἡλίου οὐδὲ τῆς σελήνης ἵνα φαίνωσιν αὐτῇ, ἡ γὰρ δόξα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐφώτισεν αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ λύχνος αὐτῆς τὸ ἀρνίον (“And the city has no need of the sun nor the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb,” Rev 21:23).

51. While Robert H. Gundry, “The New Jerusalem: People as Place, Not Place for People,” NovT 29, no. 3 (1987): 254–64, argues strongly that the New Jerusalem refers strictly to people, Osborne, Revelation, 733, is more precise in recognizing the New Jerusalem as a depiction of both place and people. 52. Cf. Rossing, The Choice between Two Cities; Jean-Pierre Ruiz, Ezekiel in the Apocalypse: The Transformation of Prophetic Language in Revelation 16,17–19,10, European University Studies Series 23/376 (New York: Lang, 1989), 238–43, analyzes the similarities between the Babylon and the New Jerusalem visions. Ruiz says, “The author presents two female figures, the Prostitute and the Bride; he presents two cities, Babylon the Great and the New Jerusalem; he offers two protagonists, the Beast and the Lamb. Therein is found the underlying metaphoric consistency of the whole concluding portion of Revelation” (p. 241). Cf. also the contrast analysis between Babylon and the New Jerusalem in Peter Antonysamy Abir, The Cosmic Conflict of the Church: An Exegetico-Theological Study of Revelation 12, 7–12 (New York: Peter Lang, 1995), 296–302. 53. The rest of Rev 21:24 says, καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς φέρουσιν τὴν δόξαν αὐτῶν εἰς αὐτήν (“and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it”), which is the most positive characterization of the kings of the earth in Revelation. The kings of the earth as character are not the focus of this study. See Herms, An Apocalypse for the Church, 197–256, for a thorough discussion of the kings of the earth. Abir, Cosmic Conflict of the Church, 255n. 18, says that the references to the kings of the earth in Revelation are always negative, but he seems to miss Rev 21:24.

128

128

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

Then, καὶ νὺξ οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι καὶ οὐκ ἔχουσιν χρείαν φωτὸς λύχνου καὶ φωτὸς ἡλίου, ὅτι κύριος ὁ θεὸς φωτίσει ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς (“And night will be no more, and they need no light of lamp or light of sun, because the Lord God shines light on them,” Rev 22:5). From the first to the last description of the New Jerusalem, the narrator characterizes it as a place of supreme light. The light of the New Jerusalem guides the nations, in contrast to the deception and sorcery (or deception by sorcery) by which Babylon controlled and oppressed the nations (Rev 18:23).54 Moreover, the image of the New Jerusalem shining light on the nations, a light from which the nations benefit, contrasts starkly with the image of Babylon sitting on the nations (Rev 17:1, 15), a term of domination.55 Second, the nations walk by the light of the New Jerusalem. The verb περιπατέω is used only a handful of times in Revelation.56 Commentators assign various meanings to the imagery of walking with Christ in Revelation 3:4—identification and fellowship with Christ,57 the new life of the Christian,58 the approval of Christ,59 and a close relationship with Christ.60 Aune mentions that in the New Testament περιπατέω often has the meaning “behave,” a term of discipleship.61 In contrast, under the influence of Babylon the nations drank (πέπωκαν) and were made to drink (πεπότικεν) from Babylon’s sexual immorality (Rev 18:3; 14:8). Babylon numbs and deceives the nations with πορνεία, a defiling activity, whereas the New Jerusalem provides a powerful, never-ending light, so that the nations might willingly and lucidly walk.62 Third, the narrative leads the hearer to infer that the nations are no longer involved in πορνεία. The combination of the verb περιπατέω (“walk”) with φῶς (“light”) as well as the clause in Revelation 21:27—οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθῃ εἰς αὐτὴν πᾶν κοινὸν (“nothing unclean will ever enter into it”)—strongly suggests that the effect of the New Jerusalem on the nations is the opposite of Babylon’s. The nations

54. Koester, Revelation, 832, says, “The image of light connoted life and well-being, which is what the nations receive in God’s city (Pss 56:13; 97:11; Bar 5:9).” 55. Jan Fekkes, Isaiah and Prophetic Traditions in the Book of Revelation: Visionary Antecedents and Their Development, JSNTSS 93 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994), 269, says, “The dependence of the nations on the light of the New Jerusalem in the new age is a deliberate antithesis of the former relationship between the nations and Babylon.” 56. Rev 2:1; 3:4; 9:20; 16:15; 21:24. 57. Beale, Revelation, 276. 58. Osborne, Revelation, 178. 59. Koester, Revelation, 314. 60. Aune, Revelation 1–5, 222. 61. Ibid. 62. A play on words might be present in the reversal of the nations “trampling” (πατήσουσιν) the holy city in Rev 11:2 and then “walking” (περιπατήσουσιν) by the light of the New Jerusalem in Rev 21:24.

129

6. Deception and Healing of the Nations

129

are attracted to the New Jerusalem’s beautiful light as opposed to being lured by Babylon’s sexual immorality.63 A fourth aspect of the characterization of the nations in Revelation 21–22 relates to their glory and honor, which are brought into the New Jerusalem: καὶ οἴσουσιν τὴν δόξαν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰς αὐτήν (“and they will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it,” Rev 21:26). “Glory and honor” are attributes of God in Revelation and appear in contexts of worship (Rev 4:9, 11; 5:12, 13; 7:12). Aune says, “The phrase ‘glory and honor’ probably has a double meaning and includes wealthy gifts as well as fame and adoration.”64 This reference to the glory and honor of the nations is important because the strong denunciation of Babylon’s commerce could lead the hearer wrongly to conclude that the wealth of the nations was inherently evil. Yet, economically speaking, Revelation 18 takes aim primarily at Babylon’s στρῆνος (“sensuality, luxury, indulgence”); ἐδόξασεν αὐτὴν καὶ ἐστρηνίασεν (“[Babylon] glorified herself and lived in luxury,” Rev 18:7; cf. Rev 18:3, 9).65 The judgment of Babylon also indicts the city’s trading practices, which included the sale of human souls (Rev 18:13). In the new order, the glory and honor of the nations are brought as worship and gifts into the New Jerusalem.66 Moreover, the narrator makes clear that the New Jerusalem does not make itself rich by the glory and honor of the nations. Rather than water being brought into the city, as cities in antiquity had to do,67 the New Jerusalem’s source of water is the throne of God (Rev 22:1). Likewise, the tree of life produces superabundant food, twelve kinds of fruit, yielding them monthly (Rev 22:2). The New Jerusalem produces its own light, water, and food, and is rich in natural resources. This selfsufficiency contrasts with Babylon’s tyrannical control of the nations and peoples of the world. The nations in the New Jerusalem, rather than falling along with Babylon (Rev 16:19), are productive, rich, and glorious. Fifth, the nations receive healing in the New Jerusalem, καὶ τὰ φύλλα τοῦ ξύλου εἰς θεραπείαν τῶν ἐθνῶν (“and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of

63. The purifying aspect of New Jerusalem’s light on the nations is strengthened when the presence of God in the city is considered. God is holy. Therefore, everything about the New Jerusalem is or will become holy. 64. Aune, Revelation 17–22, 1173. 65. Cf. Eva Maria Räpple, The Metaphor of the City in the Apocalypse of John (New York: Peter Lang, 2004), 145–7. 66. Mark B. Stephens, Annihilation or Renewal? The Meaning and Function of New Creation in the Book of Revelation, Reihe 307, WUNT 2 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 253, says, “This intertextual background [with Isaiah 60] could mean that John intends a double meaning by the phrase καὶ οἴσουσιν τὴν δόξαν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν, which includes both the bringing of praise and the offering up of material gifts to the glory of God” (emphasis original). 67. Koester, Revelation, 832.

130

130

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

the nations,” Rev 22:2). As interpreters often note, John added τῶν ἐθνῶν to his use of Ezekiel 47:12.68 This addition functions narratively to bring the storyline of the nations to an end. John’s final word on the nations in Revelation features their healing by the leaves of the tree of life. When the nations were aligned with Babylon or with the dragon, they were destroyed (Rev 16:19; 20:9). When they walk by the light of the holy city, they are healed.69 Healing (θεραπεία) implies the (former) presence of sickness. Even though Revelation 21:9–22:5 depicts the new order of things, John’s vision is not static, but rather it seems to include a process of restoration from the negative and destructive effects of the present order.70 The nations need healing just as the tears in the eyes of God’s people need wiping (Rev 21:4). Babylon, by her sorcery and immorality, led the nations to destruction; the New Jerusalem leads them to life and well-being, possessing as it does the resources required for the healing of the nations. In sum, tyranny and domination do not characterize the relationship between the New Jerusalem and the nations. The New Jerusalem is a source of life for the nations as Babylon was a source of death. The light in the New Jerusalem never goes out, whereas a mighty angel announces about Babylon, φῶς λύχνου οὐ μὴ φάνῃ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι (“the light of a lamp will shine in you no more,” Rev 18:23). The strong control that Babylon exerted over the nations led to resentment, hatred, and chaos (Rev 17:15–16). But the glory of God, which is the light of the New Jerusalem, fosters life, harmony, and healthy dependence among the nations. In addition to the contrast with Babylon, the nations in the New Jerusalem present an alternative to the hostility between the nations and the people of God in earlier sections of Revelation, especially in Revelation 11 and 20. Revelation 11:2 introduced the first action (active verb) of the nations thus, ὅτι ἐδόθη τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, καὶ τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἁγίαν πατήσουσιν μῆνας τεσσεράκοντα καὶ δύο (“because it is given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for fortytwo months”). The trampling of the holy city by the nations represents a limited time of threat and oppression for God’s people.71 Then, in Revelation 11:9, some from (ἐκ) the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations gaze (βλέπουσιν) at the dead bodies of the two witnesses and refuse them burial. Toward the end of the chapter the narrator says, τὰ ἔθνη ὠργίσθησαν (“the nations raged,” Rev 11:18). The object of wrath is not specified, but given the clear allusion to Psalm 2:1 as well as the context of Revelation 11:1–13, it is safe to assume that the nations’

68. Aune, Revelation 17–22, 1178. Steve Moyise, The Old Testament in the Book of Revelation, LNTS (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2014), 81, calls John’s addition of τῶν ἐθνῶν a “conscious expanding of Ezekiel’s horizons.” 69. Stephens, Annihilation or Renewal?, 253, notes that while in Ezek 47:8–12 healing language applied to the “refreshment of the land,” in Rev 22:2, the healing is “anthropologically focused.” 70. Stephens, ibid., 252, speaks of “transformation and transition.” 71. Koester, Revelation, 496.

131

6. Deception and Healing of the Nations

131

rage was aimed at God’s people. The final scene featuring the nations, prior to the new order, portrays them under the deceptive control of the dragon launching an attack on God’s people and their city (Rev 20:9). The attack was futile, and the nations were consumed by fire. The final vision presents a reversal of the hostility between the nations and the people of God. Rather than trampling the court outside the temple (which is symbolic for God’s people),72 the nations walk by the light of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:24). The nations come to the New Jerusalem not to fight, but to receive light and healing, and to offer their glory and honor (Rev 21:26; 22:2). The deception and rage of the dragon incited the nations against the holy city and its people (Rev 12:12; 20:8, 9), but with the dragon finally in the lake of fire, and with the presence of God and the Lamb in the New Jerusalem, harmony and compatibility between the nations and the people of God become a reality. In Revelation 15:4, the narrator gave voice to the hope of the victorious church for the conversion of the nations to the worship of God. They said, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἥξουσιν καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν ἐνώπιόν σου (“all nations will come and worship before you”). Revelation 21:24–26 and 22:2 are the fulfillment of the church’s hope. The climax of John’s prophecy narrates the presence of the nations actively worshiping God and living in harmony with and in healthy dependence on the people of God, that is, the New Jerusalem. Two tensions arise for the hearer in this final section of the Apocalypse. First, only those who belong to the Lamb’s book of life are allowed into the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:27). This statement of exclusion would not surprise the hearer who has followed the entirety of John’s narrative carefully. The denunciation of what is unclean, detestable, or false reiterates the moral alignment with the Lamb required from the early chapters of the book. Second, the hearer learns that the relationship between the nations and the New Jerusalem is neither destructive nor self-destructive; rather it represents life, purity, and true riches for the nations. The narrative progression has led the hearer to see that the nations’ trampling of the people of God (Rev 11:2) came at the instigation and deception of Satan (Rev 20:8–9). Not only has the narrator led the hearer to see the forces at work behind his or her posture of hostility toward God’s people (to the degree that antagonism exists), but he has also displayed the righteous and true ways and words of God. Such a revelation of the character of God is animated by John’s conviction that when people see God as he truly is—great and amazing, righteous and true—they will turn to him in worship.73 All nations will come and worship before God, ὅτι τὰ δικαιώματά σου ἐφανερώθησαν (“because your righteous acts have been revealed,”

72. Cf. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 272; Caird, Revelation, 132; and Koester, Revelation, 485. 73. Stephens, Annihilation or Renewal?, 249, writes, “The vision of kings and nations streaming into the New Jerusalem is ultimately a picture of switched allegiance from the failed rule of Babylon to the eternal rule of God and the Lamb” (emphasis original).

132

132

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

Rev 15:4). Will the hearer in the final analysis choose to identify with the holy city, the New Jerusalem, or with the great city, Babylon the whore?

Epilogue: Revelation 22:6–21 The literary form of the last part of Revelation is a concluding epistolary frame that includes a number of exhortations to the audience coupled with repeated words announcing the coming of Jesus. The unit shares a number of similar elements with the opening epistolary frame and recalls many of the images and much of the language employed throughout the book, which ties the entire composition from beginning to end.74 The main characters of the book appear in the unit: God, Jesus, the interpreting angel, John, and God’s servants. The unrighteous person is also featured in the account. There are two noteworthy instabilities. First, John attempts once again to worship the revelatory angel (Rev 22:8–9; cf. Rev 19:10). Second, he mentions on three occasions those who are not aligned with Jesus or his servants (Rev 22:11, 15, 18–19). In Revelation 22:18–19, John warns anyone who would add or take away from the words of his prophecy. While in Revelation’s narrative world, the antagonists and evildoers were judged and destroyed, in the hearers’ world those who are not aligned with Jesus are still present. For this reason, the book’s epilogue, in which John addresses his narratee and authorial audience directly, acknowledges the presence of evildoers as a present reality.75 Thus, Revelation does not end with a vision of the future, but with a strong exhortation to the hearer in the present.76 The final resolution of this instability (the warning to evildoers) is only realized as each hearer responds to John’s vision. Because Revelation’s epilogue involves the hearer directly in the narration, there are a number of important tensions. First, the hearer is repeatedly confronted with the coming of Jesus: ἰδοὺ ἔρχομαι ταχύ (“Behold, I am coming soon,” Rev 22:7, 12); Ναί, ἔρχομαι ταχυ (“Yes, I am coming soon,” Rev 22:20). Just as the book opened with the announcement of Jesus’s coming (Rev 1:7), so also does it close. The hearer is reminded that the coming of Jesus means salvation for those who walk with him and judgment for those who do not. Each one will receive according to what he or she has done (Rev 22:12).

74. Cf. David L. Barr, Tales of the End: A Narrative Commentary on the Book of Revelation, 2nd ed. (Salem, OR: Polebridge, 2012), 15–18. 75. Even the final unit of the vision (Rev 21:9–22:5), which portrayed a future reality in the new order, had narrative comments that acknowledged the presence of evildoers in the author’s present and, by implication, in other subsequent moments in history; cf. Rev 21:8, 27. 76. Koester, Revelation, 847, writes, “The entire conclusion also makes a transition from the visionary world to the readers’ world (22:6–21).”

133

6. Deception and Healing of the Nations

133

Second, John’s error in attempting to worship the angel reminds the hearer of how easy it is to worship the wrong object (Rev 22:8–9). The narration of the event also functions to address the hearer by way of imperative with the most important command of the entire book, τῷ θεῷ προσκύνησον (“worship God,” Rev 22:9). Third, the three oppositional pairs (at Rev 22:11, 14–15, and 17–19) highlight in strong terms for the hearer the inescapable difference between ὁ ἀδικῶν (“the evildoer”) and ὁ δίκαιος (“the righteous,” Rev 22:11). The hearer must make a choice. He or she belongs in either one group or the other. The consequences for those who remain misaligned with Jesus’s moral commands are dire. Finally, the invitation is offered once more to the hearer to identify with Jesus, Μακάριοι οἱ πλύνοντες τὰς στολὰς αὐτῶν, ἵνα ἔσται ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τοῖς πυλῶσιν εἰσέλθωσιν εἰς τὴν πόλιν (“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go into the city by the gates,” Rev 22:14). Earlier, the saints were identified as those who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:14). The same unit described the saints as those who would thirst no more “because the Lamb in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water” (Rev 7:17). At the end of Revelation, the invitation to the one who thirsts is extended again, καὶ ὁ διψῶν ἐρχέσθω (“and let the one who is thirsty come,” Rev 22:17). The coming of Jesus elicits movement, “coming,” on the part of the hearer. The one who is thirsty is invited to take the water of life without price (Rev 22:17), the water offered by the Lamb who is the only shepherd. The gentile hearers who acknowledge their thirst for this water acknowledge their desire for Jesus to shepherd and lead them into the New Jerusalem.

Conclusions Revelation 17–22 feature sequentially the undoing of the agents responsible for instability and violence in the narrative plot. Babylon, the beast (and false prophet), the dragon, and death itself are judged by God. Not the absence of evil but the presence of a new order brings the book to a conclusion. When the narration of the vision proper ends (at Rev 22:5), a stable condition characterizes the new heaven and new earth. The characters aligned with God are Jesus, John, the twenty-four elders, the four living creatures, the saints (who also appear as a bride and the holy city), angels, multitudes and armies in heaven, prophets, and apostles. The characters aligned with the dragon are the beast, the false prophet, Babylon, the earth-dwellers, the kings of the earth and their armies, the merchants of the earth, various seamen, the evildoers, and the dead who did not belong to the Lamb. As mentioned before, the nations cannot be easily placed on either side, since they appear in relationship to both and can be described as in an embattled condition. A number of summary comments must be made about the nations. (1) The relationship between the nations and Babylon is tyrannical in nature. Babylon controls and deceives the nations by means of sorcery (Rev 17:15; 18:23). (2) While Babylon bears greater culpability for utilizing her power to seduce the

134

134

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

nations, the nations themselves are also guilty of crimes of sexual immorality. The nations were made to drink (ποτίζω) of Babylon’s wine of immorality, but the nations also actively drank (πίνω) the wine themselves (Rev 14:8; 18:3). (3) The kings of the earth are as negatively and idolatrously influenced by Babylon as are the nations (Rev 18:3). In other words, if the well-being of the nations depends on the leadership of their kings, the nations are without hope. (4) The characterization of the nations and the kings, merchants, and seamen in Revelation 18 was not equally negative. The nations are guilty of sexual immorality, as are the kings. But unlike the kings, merchants, and seamen, the nations neither show amazement over Babylon nor do they lament her downfall. (5) In the same chapter, the narrator establishes some commonality between the nations and the saints. Both the nations and the saints should rejoice over Babylon’s fall; the former because Babylon deceived them by sorcery, the latter because Babylon slayed them (Rev 18:23–24). (6) While Revelation has two texts that describe the destruction of the nations, insofar as they are allied with Babylon and the devil (Rev 16:19; 20:9), Revelation 19:15 is not about the destruction of the nations. Revelation 19:11–21 is about the battle between the Rider and the beast. In the vulnerable condition in which the nations have been characterized throughout Revelation, preyed on by the vision’s great antagonists, what they need is striking and shepherding, discipline and righteous rule. This combination—striking and shepherding (Rev 19:15), smashing and shepherding (Rev 2:27)—is similar to the love and rebuke the churches need in order to remain faithful to the Lamb (Rev 3:19). (7) The sustained characterization of the nations in relation to Satan in Revelation 20, the final narrative appearance of the devil, raises the prominence of the nations in the narrative plot. While God, acting through an angel, purposes to prevent the devil from deceiving the nations for a period of a thousand years, the release of Satan and his subsequent success in deceiving the nations show that the nations have a predisposition to follow the devil. One of the functions of the account in Revelation 20:1–10 is to show that the nations are not safe unless the devil is destroyed. (8) The appearance of the nations in the New Jerusalem should be understood in contrast to the relationship of the nations to Babylon. Rather than being deceived by sorcery and induced to sexual immorality, in the New Jerusalem the nations walk by the light of the city, are purified by the presence of God, bring their glory and honor, and receive healing from the tree of life. In other words, the New Jerusalem is a source of life and perpetual light for the nations, and of the harmony and well-being that spring from the glory of God. (9) The portrayal of the nations in the New Jerusalem offers an alternative reality to the hostility that characterizes the nations’ relationship to the people of God in Revelation 11:2, 9, 18 and 20:9. The nations’ rage mimicked the devil’s rage (Rev 11:18; 12:17). The nations’ trampling of the people of God was instigated by the devil (Rev 11:2; 20:8– 9). But once the devil was cast into the lake of fire, the nations under the influence of God and of the Lamb could come into the New Jerusalem not to fight, but to worship. In sum, the nations are present in the new earth because the destruction of Babylon should not be taken as a rejection of the nations themselves; because

135

6. Deception and Healing of the Nations

135

John envisions life and healing, not destruction, for the nations; and because both the nations and the church need a vision that replaces their hostile relationship with one of harmony and healing. According to John’s vision, the nations must be present in the new earth because, despite the resolute attacks on them by the unholy trio, they belong to God.

136

137

Chapter 7 T HE N ATIONS AND THEIR S HEPHERD: S YNTHESIS AND C ONCLUSIONS

The preceding analysis offered a sequential reading of the nations as character in the book of Revelation. The analysis kept in view the main plot instabilities in the Apocalypse because, as mentioned before, character is constructed and evaluated not in isolation, but rather in the narrative progression.1 The analysis also highlighted the main tensions—that is, the unstable relationships between the author/narrator and his audience—in order to trace the rhetorical and cumulative effect of John’s vision on the gentile hearer. This final chapter synthesizes the findings of the study and draws some conclusions.

The Nations as Narrative Character John’s Story of the Nations Given the denouement of Revelation, with the nations fully participating in the new creation, how did John create space throughout his narrative so that his readers/hearers would be both surprised and prepared to find the nations in the new creation? The following synthesis of the nations as character is an attempt to integrate everything that John has said about the nations (albeit, briefly). This section focuses on the two research questions: what is John’s story of the nations and how does he tell it? The way John introduces the nations and concludes the narrative of the nations must be given due consideration. The first and final word on the nations is intended dramatically to influence the hearer’s understanding. As literary critic Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan notes, “Placing an item at the beginning or at

1. Cf. Richard P. Thompson, Keeping the Church in Its Place: The Church as Narrative Character in Acts (New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2006), 18. C. Kavin Rowe, Early Narrative Christology: The Lord in the Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009), makes a similar point. He says, “To understand a character’s identity is to receive it through narrative” (p. 202; emphasis original).

138

138

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

the end may radically change the process of reading as well as the final product.”2 Similarly, Peter Rabinowitz, in his essay on beginnings and endings, writes, “Last sentences, of course, cannot serve to focus a reading experience (at least, not an initial reading experience). But they do often serve to scaffold our retrospective interpretation of the book.”3 John’s first word about the nations placed them under the shepherding authority of the church (Rev 2:26–27). At the same time, John complicated the story line of the nations when he added the simile “as earthen pots are smashed to pieces” in his introduction. Shepherding and smashing—two seemingly incongruous activities introduce the nations to the hearer. John’s last word about the nations is an innovation to his Ezekiel source, not found anywhere else, “The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Rev 22:2). These verses, the first and last on the nations, suggest that the nations are a character of hope, that is, a character for which John holds out hope. Revelation 22:2, the verse on the healing of the nations, should aid the hearer’s retrospective interpretation of the nations. John envisions healing for the nations, which implies hope for their final destiny. But healing, or the need for healing, also suggests the presence of sickness, a lack of well-being. If healing is required, it is not hard to see why the activity of shepherding introduces the nations in the Apocalypse. In biblical traditions, one of the main activities of the shepherd, and especially of the eschatological shepherd, was to bring healing.4 Likewise, the image of being smashed as clay pots (Rev 2:27) can be understood as the discipline that precedes healing.5 It is the mixture of shepherding and smashing—righteous rule and discipline—that leads to the nations’ healing. The structure of Revelation and the narrative appearances of the nations also illumine the story of the nations John tells. In the first ten chapters, John developed the plotline of the nations, primarily with positive references (the exception is Rev

2. Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan, Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2002), 121. 3. Peter Rabinowitz, “Reading Beginnings and Endings,” in Narrative Dynamics: Essays on Time, Plot, Closure, and Frames, ed. Brian Richardson (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2002), 303. 4. Cf. Wayne Baxter, Israel’s Only Shepherd: Matthew’s Shepherd Motif and His Social Setting, LNTS 457 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2012), 125–65; Young S. Chae, Jesus as the Eschatological Davidic Shepherd: Studies in the Old Testament, Second Temple Judaism, and in the Gospel of Matthew, WUNT 2/216 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006), 279–326. 5. Stephen S. Smalley, The Revelation to John: A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Apocalypse (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2005), 79, says about Rev 2:27, “The old order is broken up; but this is followed by the reconstruction of a new order in Christ, the head of the glorified community of the Church.” Cf. also Hos 6:1, “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up” (ESV). The Hebrew word ‫“( טרף‬tear”) in Hos 6:1 is different from συντρίβω (“smash to pieces”) in Rev 2:27 but equally violent (cf. Gen 37:33; 44:28; 49:27).

139

7. The Nations and their Shepherd

139

2:27 and the simile of smashed clay pots). In other words, John endeavored to establish well in the mind of the hearer the benefit to the nations from the Lamb’s death (Rev 5:9; 7:9), and he made clear that both the church and he himself had a commission to the nations, to shepherd them and to prophesy about them (Rev 2:27; 10:11).6 It is only after John has shaped the hearer’s understanding of the roles of Jesus, the church, and John himself toward the nations that he introduces the nations’ hostility toward God’s people in Revelation 11. As can be seen in Table 2, Revelation 11 focuses on the active hostility of the nations toward God’s people, seemingly acting of their own accord (Rev 11:2, 9, 18). Yet, immediately following Revelation 11, John reveals the larger conflict in which the nations find themselves. The sea beast, acting as the dragon’s representative, has authority over the nations, and Babylon makes them drunk with sexual immorality (Rev 13:7; 14:8). John does not hesitate to narrate the destruction of the nations insofar as they are aligned with Babylon (Rev 16:19). But even in this embattled condition, John shows that the nations are not left alone, at the disposal of the unholy trio and the whore. Instead, John features the male child who will shepherd all the nations, the angel who proclaims to them the eternal gospel, God who is the just and true king of the nations, and the victorious church that proclaims with boundless hope, “All the nations will come and worship before you” (Rev 12:5; 14:6; 15:3, 4). The nations in this section could be described the way Joel Marcus describes Peter in Mark 8:32, as “a man in the middle, a disciple in whose heart the forces of God and Satan contend fiercely with each other.”7 The next section, Revelation 17–20, shows an intensification on the part of Babylon, the dragon, and even the beast, to control and deceive the nations. Deception—previously describing some Christians at Thyatira, the whole world, and the earth-dwellers (Rev 2:20; 12:9; 13:14)—is used four times to characterize Babylon’s and the dragon’s activity on the nations (Rev 18:23; 20:3, 8, 10). At the same time, John narrates the undoing of the unholy trio. But the final word about the nations, prior to the new creation, portrays them under the deception of the dragon, actively attacking the people of God once again. The narrative of Revelation 20 reveals that while the nations in Revelation 11 seemed to be acting against God’s people of their own accord, their actions are in reality the result of the dragon’s control and deception. Fire from heaven consumes them, since there 6. Rimmon-Kenan, Narrative Fiction, 121, speaks of the “primacy effect,” saying, “The text can direct and control the reader’s comprehension and attitudes by positioning certain items before others” (emphasis original). 7. Joel Marcus, Mark 8–16: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AYBC (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009), 615. Obviously, the nations are not “a disciple.” To use Scholes, Phelan, and Kellogg’s terminology, described in Chapter 2 in this book, they are an “illustrative” character; they suggest an aspect of reality that John seeks to portray.

140

140

Table 2 Narrative appearances of the nations along the chapters of Revelation Rev 1–10

The nations trample the holy city (11:2) Some from the nations gaze at and refuse burial to the two witnesses (11:9) An innumerable multitude from The nations rage (11:18) the nations stands before the throne (7:9) John to prophesy to/concerning the nations (10:11)

Rev 12–16

Rev 17–20

Rev 21–22

The male child to shepherd all the nations (12:5) The sea beast has authority over the nations (13:7)

Babylon sits on the nations (17:15) The nations drank Babylon’s πορνεία (18:3)

The nations walk in the light of the New Jerusalem (21:24) Their glory and honor are brought into the New Jerusalem (21:26) The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations (22:2)

An angel proclaims the eternal Babylon deceives the nations gospel to the nations (14:6) by sorcery (18:23) Babylon makes the nations drunk with πορνεία (14:8) God is “King of the nations” (15:3) The saints sing, “All nations will come and worship before you” (15:4) The cities of the nations fall with Babylon (16:19)

Jesus strikes and shepherds the nations (19:15) The devil is restrained from deceiving the nations (20:3) The devil deceives the nations (20:8) The nations go up and surround the camp of the saints (20:9) Fire consumes the nations (20:9) The devil who deceived them is thrown in the lake of fire (20:10)

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

Church to shepherd/smash the nations (2:26–27) Jesus’ death purchases many from the nations (5:9)

Rev 11

141

7. The Nations and their Shepherd

141

Table 3 Actions of God and his agents toward the nations Type

Agent

Action

Positive

Church

Shepherd (2:27)

Jesus

John Angel God

New Jerusalem

Discipline/judgment

Leaves of the tree of life Church God

Destruction

Jesus Earthquake

Fire

Action

Hope of conversion (15:4) Innumerable Purchased by his multitude’s blood many robes made from the nations white in (5:9) Jesus’ blood (7:9, 14) Prophesy (10:11) Proclaim eternal gospel (14:6) Just and true king of the nations (15:3)8 Glory and By its light the honor of nations walk the nations (21:24) brought in (21:26) Heal the nations (22:2) Smash to pieces (2:27) His wrath came (11:18) Strike (19:15) Cities of the nations fell (16:19) Consumed them (20:9)

Action

Action

Shepherd (12:5)

Shepherd (19:15)

is no other possible outcome for the nations as long as they remain aligned with the dragon (Rev 20:9). The final section, Revelation 21–22, shows the prosperity of the nations under the influence of the New Jerusalem. They come to the New Jerusalem, not to trample it, but to walk in its light. Their glory and honor have a place in the city. The abundantly fruitful tree of life has leaves for the healing of the nations. The deception, prostitution, and death that characterized Babylon’s tyrannical relationship to the nations are replaced by the light, purity, and life that emanate from the glory of God and of the Lamb. In short, the story of the nations in Revelation could be summarized in five episodes. (1) The death of Christ is for the nations, to purchase from them an innumerable 8. Rev 15:3 does not describe an action of God toward the nations but announces that he is the king of the nations, with the implication that the actions of a king toward his subjects are appropriate for God toward the nations; cf. Craig R. Koester, Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AYBC (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014), 632.

142

142

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

multitude. The church has authority to shepherd them, and John and the church are commissioned to prophesy concerning them. (2) But the nations are hostile to God’s people and rage against them. (3) Yet, greater than their conflict with God’s people is the cosmic conflict in which the nations find themselves against the dragon and his allies. But the nations are not alone. God and his agents lay a claim on the nations as those who belong to God. (4) As the destruction of the evil forces approaches (the devil knows that his time is short, Rev 12:12), their attempts to deceive the nations intensify, and the nations aligned with the devil suffer destruction. (5) But in the vision of God’s new world, the nations walk by the light of God’s city. Tables 3 and 4 show a contrast between the actions of God (and his agents) and the actions of the devil (and his agents) toward the nations. A few observations are in order. (1) The majority of activity toward the nations in Revelation comes from God and his agents. (2) Most of God’s activity toward the nations is positive (“positive” means that the activities bring or lead to life). This reckoning would still hold even if the three references to “shepherding” were taken out and viewed as judgment (as most interpreters do). (3) Only three references relate to “discipline” (Rev 2:27; 11:18; 19:15).9 But it must be emphasized that the discipline of God in biblical understanding is often redemptive.10 The letters to the churches in Revelation 2–3 also train the hearer to understand discipline as an expression of Christ’s love—“I, as many as I love, I rebuke and discipline; therefore, be zealous and repent” (Rev 3:19). (4) Two references narrate the destruction of the nations (Rev 16:19; 20:9). But these verses also narrate the close association of the nations to Babylon and to the devil. That is, the destruction is envisioned insofar as the nations give their allegiance to these destructive forces. Further, in these two instances the destruction is initiated from heaven, but the agency is indirect (by earthquake and fire), whereas the beast’s allies were destroyed directly by the sword from the Rider’s mouth (Rev 19:21). (5) As a character, the nations are primarily acted on. Notice in Table 5 that of the twenty-nine appearances of the nations in Revelation only ten times are the nations the subject of an active verb.11

9. Rev 11:18—“The nations raged but your wrath came”—is not considered as destruction for the nations because while the context is clearly one of judgment, the verse is nuanced as to how God’s judgment is expressed, “and the time for the dead to be judged and to give the reward to your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, small and great, and to destroy the destroyers of the earth.” Rev 12–20 make clear who the destroyers of the earth are: the dragon, the beasts, Babylon, and those aligned with them. 10. Cf. Ps 94:10, “He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?” Then, Ps 94:12 says, “Blessed is the man whom you discipline” (ESV). Also, Job 5:17–18, “Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal” (ESV). 11. A form of ἔθνος appears twenty-three times in Rev 2:26; 5:9; 7:9; 10:11; 11:2, 9, 18; 12:5; 13:7; 14:6, 8; 15:3, 4; 16:19; 17:15; 18:3, 23; 19:15; 20:3, 8; 21:24, 26; and 22:2. Four times a form of ἔθνος is the referent of αὐτούς (Rev 2:27; 19:15; 20:9, 10). Twice the referent ἔθνος is embedded in the verb (Rev 11:2; 20:9). The double action of the nations in Rev 11:9

143

7. The Nations and their Shepherd

143

Table 4 Actions of Satan and his agents toward the nations Type

Agent

Action

Action

Action

Negative

Beast

Authority over nations (13:7) Makes nations drunk (14:8) Not allowed to deceive the nations (20:3)

Sits on the nations (17:15) Deceives the nations (20:8)

Deceives the nations (18:23) Who deceived them (20:10)

Babylon Devil

The narrative of the nations reveals both a sympathetic view toward the nations and a substantive critique. The way John has portrayed the nations, as primarily acted on, shows a nuanced understanding of the nations’ plight. On one hand, the narrator draws attention to the destructive actions of the dragon and his allies toward or against the nations—the control, deception by sorcery, and inducement to sexual immorality to which the nations are subjected. On the other hand, the nations willingly drink Babylon’s immorality and rage against God’s people. In addition, and above all, there is the reality made possible by the death of the Lamb, namely, that God’s purpose for the nations, accomplished through his Son’s and the church’s shepherding task, is not destruction but light and healing.12 For this reason, it is a mistake to identify the nations wholesale with John’s other designations for humankind, particularly the earth-dwellers.13 The nations are not the earth-dwellers. Without repeating the discussion in previous chapters,14 οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς (“the dwellers on the earth”) are characterized as those (gaze and refuse), Rev 15:4 (come and worship), and Rev 20:9 (march up and surround) is counted as one appearance of the nations in each verse, though each verb is tallied up separately for the purposes of Table 5. 12. Regarding the theme of God’s concern for the world in Revelation, Barbara R. Rossing, “For the Healing of the World: Reading Revelation Ecologically,” in From Every People and Nation: The Book of Revelation in Intercultural Perspective, ed. David M. Rhoads (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2005), 172, argues that οὐαί should be consistently translated as “alas!” or “How awful!” She says, “If we translate ouai as ‘alas,’ God can be understood as sympathizing in mourning and lament over Earth’s pain, even while God is threatening plagues as a means to bring about Earth’s liberation from injustice” (p. 173). 13. A majority of interpreters make this mistake. Examples include Jeffrey M. Vogelgesang, “The Interpretation of Ezekiel in the Book of Revelation” (PhD diss., Harvard University, 1985), 103–4; Walter E. Pilgrim, “Universalism in the Apocalypse,” WW 9, no. 3 (1989): 235; Ronald Herms, An Apocalypse for the Church and for the World: The Narrative Function of Universal Language in the Book of Revelation, BZNW 143 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2006), 181; Allan J. McNicol, The Conversion of the Nations in Revelation, LNTS 438 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2011), 53; Grant R. Osborne, Revelation, BECNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 36, 39. 14. See especially Chapter 5 in this book.

144

144

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

who worship the beast and receive his mark (Rev 13:8, 12, 14; 16:2). The final verse about the earth-dwellers reads, καὶ θαυμασθήσονται οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὧν οὐ γέγραπται τὸ ὄνομα ἐπὶ τὸ βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, βλεπόντων τὸ θηρίον ὅτι ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν καὶ παρέσται (“And the dwellers on the earth, whose name is not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will marvel to see the beast because he was and is not and is to come,” Rev 17:8). When compared to the healing envisioned for the nations, the end of the earth-dwellers is notably different—and tragic. The narrative of Revelation makes clear that the earth-dwellers are objects of destruction, while the saints are objects of salvation. In other words, the earthdwellers, because of their allegiance to and worship of the beast, are the target of the judgment woes in the trumpets’ cycle (Rev 8:13), of the bowls of wrath (Rev 16:2), and of the slaying sword from the Rider’s mouth (Rev 19:21). The earthdwellers belong to the beast and are not found in the book of life. Conversely, the saints, especially in Revelation 4–22, receive salvation.15 Although they are persecuted and even killed, the narrative emphasizes their victory as a result of the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony (Rev 12:11). In short, John envisions destruction for the earth-dwellers and salvation for the saints. Therefore, when interpreters ask whether the nations receive salvation or destruction, they are making a category mistake, or better, a character mistake. The question is valid when speaking of the earth-dwellers and the saints.16 But John seems to do something different with the nations as character.17 John’s portrayal of the nations allows him to cast an expansive vision for the world; thus, there is hope for humanity in the character of the nations. This vision has been part and parcel of the Christian message from its inception (“the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations,” Rev 22:2).18 The characterization of the nations allows John to sharpen his vision of judgment—those who oppose God until the end (the earth-dwellers) will receive God’s wrath—while also 15. The historical situation of the seven churches in Asia Minor, narrated in Rev 2– 3, is not one of sure victory from the perspective of the author’s present. They are yet to overcome until the end. 16. Cf. Stephen Pattemore, The People of God in the Apocalypse: Discourse, Structure and Exegesis, SNTSMS 128 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 217, who says the people of God stand “in direct contrast” with the earth-dwellers. 17. Of course, the judgment-or-salvation question with regard to the nations could be answered thus, “The nations receive judgment, if allied with Babylon and the dragon, and salvation, if allied to God and the Lamb.” Such an answer is correct as far as it goes, but it does not provide much insight into the different narrative functions that John assigned to the earth-dwellers and to the nations. 18. In this regard, missiologist Andrew F. Walls, The Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1996), xvi, says, “The bewildering paradox at the heart of the Christian confession is not just the obvious one of the divine humanity; it is the twofold affirmation of the utter Jewishness of Jesus and of the boundless universality of the Divine Son.”

145

7. The Nations and their Shepherd

145

Table 5 Actions by the nations (active verbs) Type

Agent

Action

Action

Hostile (seemingly of own accord)

Nations

Trample the holy city (11:2)

(Some from) the Rage nations gaze at and (11:18) refuse burial to the two witnesses (11:9)

Positive (as Nations envisioned by victorious church) Negative Nations Hostile (instigated by the dragon) Positive

Nations Nations

Action

Will come and worship before God (15:4) Drank Babylon’s sexual immorality (18:3) March up and surround camp of the saints (20:9) Walk by the light of New Jerusalem (21:24)

preserving God’s commitment to the nations as his Son’s inheritance (Ps 2:8). The nations as character also allow John to maneuver the dialectic of shepherding and smashing, love and discipline, which is necessary if anyone is to turn from idols to the living God. Neither aspect is sufficient. In this sense, Bauckham is right to say that judgment alone does not bring about repentance.19 What is needed is the testimony and purity of the church through which the nations experience the shepherding of the Lamb.20 Furthermore, John through his character the nations is able to teach his auditors how to view the world, how to view the nations. When the story line of the nations is obscured by the wholesale identification of the nations and the earth-dwellers, the resultant readings of the Apocalypse tend to be sectarian and dualistic (see more later).21 But a more nuanced reading of the 19. Richard Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2000), 277. 20. Regarding Rev 19, Eugene H. Peterson, Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination, reprint ed. (San Francisco, CA: Harper One, 1991), 159, brings out the dialectic of God’s activity on earth, when he says, “Salvation is the intimacies and festivities of marriage; salvation is aggressive battle and the defeat of evil. Salvation is neither of these things by itself. It is the two energies, the embrace of love and the assault on evil, in polar tension, each defined by the other, each feeding into the other.” 21. e.g., the otherwise fine discussion of violence and nonviolence in Revelation by Matthew J. Streett, Here Comes the Judge: Violent Pacifism in the Book of Revelation, LNTS (London: T&T Clark, 2012), suffers from a failure to distinguish the nations from the earth-dwellers. He concludes, “In the Great Vision, John’s rhetorical lines are more sharply drawn between righteous martyrs and the faceless dehumanized wicked . . . In the Great Vision, repentance, or rather the refusal to repent, simply functions as a rhetorical foil in order to justify what John would like to happen to the Romans and their ilk” (p. 236). For

146

146

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

story of the nations shows that even though the devil has great authority on earth for a short while, God is reclaiming his creation. John transcends the us-versus-them mentality found in sectarian literature, not by denying the reality of judgment, but rather by exposing the dark forces that lie behind the deception of the nations (and of many in the churches; cf. Rev 2:20) and by unveiling the true shepherd of the nations—the Lamb who was slain. In sum, if the devil deceives the nations, and his activity is a parody of God’s reality, what is the counter-activity on God’s part to undo the devil’s work? The answer is not destruction for the nations, but the faithful and true witness of Jesus and his church.22 Christ, Shepherd of the Nations The contention of this study is that John has appropriated and elaborated on a powerful symbol that was present in his sacred literature: Christ, shepherd of the nations. The symbol in its Psalm 2:9 (LXX) context formulated the thought of Yahweh’s king as shepherd of the nations.23 But although Psalm 2 is used christologically by New Testament writers, only John deploys the symbol of Jesus as shepherd of the nations, and he does it in such a way that it is narratively (and, of course, theologically) significant within his overall vision. To say that Jesus is the shepherd of the nations is not to say that Jesus shepherds the nations in the same way that he shepherds the saints. John preserves important distinctions. The main difference between the two objects of shepherding, the nations and the saints, is the intimacy conveyed toward the latter, which is completely absent toward the former. Revelation 7:15–17 contains the one use of ποιμαίνω (“shepherd”) toward the saints. The whole passage is rich in pastoral imagery, and Revelation 7:17 is reminiscent of Psalm 23:1–2.24

a brief but incisive critique of pessimistic, sectarian readings of John’s Apocalypse, see N. T. Wright, “Revelation and Christian Hope,” in Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation, ed. Richard B. Hays and Stefan Alkier (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012), 107–10. 22. Cf. the emphasis on the trustworthy and true (ἀληθινός) character of God, Jesus, and his word in Rev 3:7, 14; 6:10; 15:3; 16:7; 19:2, 9, 11; 21:5; 22:6. 23. Cf. Gerhard Wilhelmi, “Der Hirt Mit Dem Eisernen Szepter: Uberlegungen Zu Psalm II 9,” VT 27, no. 2 (1977): 196–204, who argues that ‫“( רעה‬shepherd”) rather than ‫רעע‬ (“break”) is original to the MT of Ps 2:9. 24. Cf. Koester, Revelation, 422–3. Incidentally, John’s use of ποιμαίνω in Rev 7:17, which is well within the usual semantic range of the word, should be the starting point when interpreters try to assign meaning to the word in Rev 2:27, 12:5, and 19:5, before resorting to unattested senses. The verse says, ὅτι τὸ ἀρνίον τὸ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ θρόνου ποιμανεῖ αὐτοὺς καὶ ὁδηγήσει αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ ζωῆς πηγὰς ὑδάτων, καὶ ἐξαλείψει ὁ θεὸς πᾶν δάκρυον ἐκ τῶν

147

7. The Nations and their Shepherd

147

In contrast, the main emphasis in Revelation 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15 in relation to ποιμαίνω is the shepherd’s iron rod (ῥάβδος σιδηρᾶ).25 While interpreters tend to infer destruction for the nations because of the presence of the rod, the GrecoRoman context within which John was writing, context in which the image of a shepherd would not be impressive,26 the formidable enemies whom Jesus takes on in Revelation at 12:5 and 19:15–21, and the fact that Jesus is King of kings, make it a necessity to bring out the superior strength of this shepherd.27 Of course, the rod of iron can be (and is) employed as an instrument of discipline for the flock, and the analysis in the previous chapters has shown that there was plenty in the constitution of the nations that had to be shattered, such as their active involvement in sexual immorality, their hostility toward God’s people, their propensity to follow the devil and his allies, and their deception by Babylon’s sorcery.28 Revelation 22:2, the last verse on the nations, is the first reference to pastoral imagery in relation to the nations—healing. Moreover, the invitations to the thirsty in Revelation 21:6 and 22:17 recall Revelation 7:15–17 with its wonderfully idyllic description of the fate of God’s people. Put another way, part of John’s strategy in deploying the shepherding metaphor is to create a thirst in the hearer for the intimate relationship with God and the Lamb that is only the right of those who wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:14). Therefore, while Jesus is said to shepherd the nations, the nations are never called ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν (“Because the Lamb in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes”). 25. The absence of pastoral imagery in the shepherding metaphor at Rev 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15 does not mean that the overtones of beneficent rule and vigilant protection, often associated with a shepherd, are absent. In fact, according to Baxter, Israel’s Only Shepherd, 97–122, the majority of New Testament writers deploy the shepherd metaphor without emphasizing pastoral imagery (with the exception of Matthew, Mark 6:35–44, and Rev 7:17) while keeping the attributes of beneficent rule and vigilant protection, as well as others, in view. 26. See Chapter 3 in this book. 27. Cf. Mic 7:14, ποίμαινε λαόν σου ἐν ῥάβδῳ σου πρόβατα κληρονομίας σου (“Shepherd your people with your rod/staff, the sheep of your inheritance”). The presence of the rod in this verse is for the flock’s protection; cf. also Mic 5:4 and the emphasis on the shepherd’s strength. 28. It is important to note the difference in John’s narrative world between being under the authority of the dragon/beast (Rev 13:7) and receiving the mark of the beast (Rev 14:9–11), which excludes its recipients from the book of life (Rev 17:8). While the earthdwellers, by their worship of the beast, show that they have received his mark (Rev 13:12; 19:20), the nations in Revelation never worship the beast. That the nations are under the beast’s authority but have not received his mark is John’s way of expressing in narrative terms something akin to what Luke says in theological terms in Acts 26:18. There, Luke says that Paul was sent to the nations (τῶν ἐθνῶν, Acts 26:17), ἀνοῖξαι ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν,

148

148

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

“sheep” (πρόβατά) or “flock” (ποίμνη). For that to be the case, in a theological sense, the vision of Revelation 15:4 would have to first come true—the nations must come and worship before God. The focus is rather on Christ’s activity toward the nations. The nations become sheep when they turn to the shepherd (though Revelation does not say this in so many words).29 The symbol of Christ as shepherd of the nations can perhaps be understood in terms akin to the way John writes about Jesus in 1 John 2:2 and 4:14.30 Robert Yarbrough explains 1 John 2:2 thus, His death should rather be seen as for “the whole world” in the sense that it provides the basis throughout all human history for God the Father to extend patience and forbearance to those who merit his rejection (i.e., every person since the fall) until the day Christ reappears. The reason God can temporarily overlook human sin (cf. Acts 17:30), so to speak, not judging it eschatologically on the spot, is that the cross carves out a place for the exercise of divine longsuffering, with not only the already saved but also those yet to be saved in view.31

Yarbrough’s view goes beyond the view of Augustine and others who understand “the whole world” as “the church throughout the whole world.”32 Similarly, the shepherding metaphor in Revelation brings out the reality that the nations have only one true and good shepherd. This shepherd has died to purchase them for God, and he will also fully defeat the nations’ enemies (the dragon and his allies), τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι ἀπὸ σκότους εἰς φῶς καὶ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ Σατανᾶ ἐπὶ τὸν θεόν (“to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the authority of Satan to God”). Luke’s point is that the nations are under the authority (ἐξουσίας) of Satan, but they may turn to God. In Revelation, the nations are similarly under the authority (ἐξουσία) of the beast, but they are never said to be marked by the beast, the implication being that they may turn to God. In short, while the mark of the beast seals one’s destiny, the authority of the dragon/beast can be escaped. 29. Revelation narrates the turn of the nations to Christ, not through the symbol of sheep, but through the image of walking. In contradistinction to their former trampling of the holy city (Rev 11:2), the nations now walk by New Jerusalem’s light, and that light comes from/through Christ who is New Jerusalem’s lamp (Rev 21:23–24). Cf. Rev 3:4 and Christ’s promise to the conquerors in Sardis, “They will walk with me in white, because they are worthy.” 30. Καὶ αὐτὸς ἱλασμός ἐστιν περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν, οὐ περὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων δὲ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου (“And he is the propitiation for our sins, not only for ours but also for those of the whole world,” 1 John 2:2). Καὶ ἡμεῖς τεθεάμεθα καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν ὅτι ὁ πατὴρ ἀπέσταλκεν τὸν υἱὸν σωτῆρα τοῦ κόσμου (“And we have seen and testify that the father sent the son [to be] the Savior of the world,” 1 John 4:14). 31. Robert W. Yarbrough, 1–3 John, BECNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 79. 32. Ibid.

149

7. The Nations and their Shepherd

149

so that the nations might be liberated from their oppressive control. All this is true—what the Lamb has accomplished and will accomplish—even if individual nations or individuals from the nations do not turn and follow the Lamb. In short, that Jesus is the shepherd of all nations does not make every nation (or person) a sheep any more than calling Jesus the Savior of the world (John 4:42; 1 John 4:14) makes every person saved. Likewise, J. P. M. Sweet gets at the same concept, although without connecting it to the shepherding metaphor. He says, But the root cause [of the false and deceiving structures of the world] can only be dealt with by supplying the basic deficiency, which is God, ἀλήθεια; that is, by witness to the truth (John 18:37), which is not just verbal but the coming of God himself; and this coming must be not momentary but an abiding presence (παρουσία can mean both) carried through to the end, like a course of penicillin, if the cure is to be complete. This presence we have in the historical testimony of Jesus, the Word made flesh, carried on in those who maintain his testimony, and consummated in what we call the parousia, which gives place to the Holy City, one of whose names is “The Lord is there.” Thus faithful testimony to the truth is the defeating of Satan who deceives the whole earth; obedience to God’s commandments is the crushing of the ancient serpent’s head.33

Sweet’s insight is that the deceptive system of evil in the world is only rooted out by the presence of God. That presence was in the world in the faithful and true witness, Jesus Christ, and his presence continues still through the testimony of the church. To his insight (of the church’s faithful and true witness) must be added the need for the church’s counter-ethic of purity, in light of the sustained critique of sexual immorality in Revelation and the call to the saints not to defile themselves (Rev 14:4). This testimony of the church, by word and life, is the way that the nations experience the shepherding activity of Christ. It makes sense, then, that John fixed in the minds of the Christian auditors their shepherding role to the nations (Rev 2:27) before modifying it in Revelation 12:5 and 19:15 to be understood as an extension of Jesus’s own shepherding to the nations. In short, John shows that Jesus is the only shepherd who can lead the nations to the New Jerusalem, where they will drink from the water of life without price, and who can protect them from the deceptive control of the dragon.34 It is up to each nation, and each individual from the nations, to decide whether they will become sheep and follow the Lamb wherever he goes. 33. J. P. M. Sweet, “Maintaining the Testimony of Jesus: The Suffering of Christians in the Revelation of John,” in Suffering and Martyrdom in the New Testament, ed. W. Horbury and B. McNeil, 1st ed. (London: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 116 (emphasis original). 34. The testosterone-charged portrayal of the Lamb in Christopher A. Frilingos, Spectacles of Empire: Monsters, Martyrs, and the Book of Revelation (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), 78–87, would be improved if it were balanced by a proper understanding of the shepherding metaphor as advocated in this study.

150

150

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

The Translation of Ποιμαίνω in Revelation 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15 The interpretation of the book of Revelation has not been helped by the decision on the part of Bible translations to erase the shepherding metaphor at Revelation 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15. The usual rendering of ποιμαίνω in these verses in English translations is “rule,” which is legitimate but does away with the metaphor.35 An analysis of the Greek text (NA28) and the ESV translation reveals that the only metaphor in Revelation erased by the translation was the shepherding metaphor at Revelation 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15.36 Yet, one of the trademarks of John, compared to other apocalypse writers, is that very rarely does he interpret his symbols. Bauckham notes, “The symbols can thus retain a surplus of meaning which any translation into literal terms runs the risk of reducing.”37 Further, the great job of a metaphor, according to Paul Ricoeur, is the creation of a new semantic pertinence.38 The resistance created by the juxtaposition of seemingly incongruent items is precisely where the strength of metaphor lies. Far from being a mere linguistic decoration, metaphor engages what Ricoeur calls “the productive imagination” and produces “new logical species by predicative assimilation.”39 Kevin Vanhoozer, influenced by Ricoeur’s philosophy of metaphor, says, “Metaphors say something new, something that cannot be reduced to a literal paraphrase. For metaphor is not about how things are classified or labelled, but about how things relate.”40 Of course, the shepherding metaphor is anything but new. The innovation in Revelation (and in all of the New Testament) is John’s appropriation of Psalm 2:9 LXX—not once but three times—in which the object of shepherding is the nations. John’s use of the metaphor is so surprising that most interpreters refuse to consider the provocative nature of the statement John makes, καὶ ἔτεκεν υἱὸν ἄρσεν, ὃς μέλλει ποιμαίνειν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ (“And she gave birth to a male child, one who is to shepherd all the nations with a rod of iron,” Rev 12:5). When a metaphor is paraphrased, it is necessarily reduced.41 35. A notable exception is the HCSB, which translates ποιμαίνω as “shepherd” at Rev 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15. 36. The ASV, GNV, KJV, NAB, NAS, NET, NIV, NLT, NRS, RSV, and TNIV all translate ποιμαίνω at Rev 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15 as “rule.” For a list and treatment of many of Revelation’s metaphors, see Lynn R. Huber, Thinking and Seeing with Women in Revelation, LNTS 475 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2013), 202–4. Interestingly, Huber does not list the shepherding metaphor, in relation to either the nations or the church. 37. Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 10. 38. Paul Ricoeur, Time and Narrative, trans. Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer, 1st ed. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1990), 1:ix. 39. Ibid., 1:x. 40. Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Is There a Meaning in This Text? The Bible, the Reader, and the Morality of Literary Knowledge, anniversary ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998), 128. 41. Lynn R. Huber, Like a Bride Adorned: Reading Metaphor in John’s Apocalypse, ESEC 10 (New York: T&T Clark, 2007), 45, writes, “Metaphor makes it possible for an audience to ‘see’ something in a particular way and in a way that it might not have been seen before.”

151

7. The Nations and their Shepherd

151

For this reason, translators should preserve the metaphor in translation and let interpreters wrestle with its meaning. Perhaps the “productive imagination” of the church needs to mull over the significance of Jesus as shepherd, not of gentile sheep (John 10:16), but of the nations qua nations.42 Future Verbs and Present Reality An objection could be raised concerning the future tense of ποιμαίνω in Revelation 2:27 and 19:15.43 Is not the ruling/shepherding envisioned for a future time, such as the final war, the millennium, or the new earth?44 Additionally, the overall tenor of the promises to the conquerors in Revelation 2–3 has a future orientation, pointing to fulfillment in the New Jerusalem. In response, it could be said, without denying the future dimensions of John’s prophecy, that temporal dynamics in John’s narrative tend to be elastic. A few examples suffice to make the point. Resseguie, in his discussion of temporal point of view in the Apocalypse, says, “The blending of past, present, and future makes it difficult to distinguish future events from past or present events.”45 Making a similar point, Barr writes, “It is worth recalling here that the temporal setting of John’s vision is ‘on the Lord’s Day’—that is, on the day of present worship which celebrates the past event of Christ’s resurrection and points ahead to that future ‘Day of the Lord’ spoken of by the prophets. It is the essential element of worship to blend the three together.”46 Lastly, Leonard Thompson concurs with Barr’s and Resseguie’s concept of blended temporality when he says, “From the seer’s perspective, no hard boundary separates present and future, as John sees both ‘what is and what is to take place hereafter’ (1:19).”47 In a word, John can take his hearers to the end of the age (Rev

42. Huber, ibid., 74, adds, “Through the tension inherent within a metaphor, the audience or interpreter gains a new insight into the nature of the primary subject being described.” 43. In Rev 12:5 ποιμαίνω is not in the future tense, but the form μέλλει ποιμαίνειν (“who is about to shepherd”) has a future orientation. 44. e.g., the authority of the church over the nations in Rev 2:26–27 is taken to be fulfilled in the final war (Osborne, Revelation, 167) or in the millennium (Alan F. Johnson, “Revelation,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 12 [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984], 446). Cf. also G. B. Caird, A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John the Divine, 1st ed. (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), 46, who locates the fulfillment of the promise in Rev 2:26–27 within the present order. 45. James Resseguie, Revelation Unsealed: A Narrative Critical Approach to John’s Apocalypse, BIS 32 (Leiden: Brill, 1998), 46. Resseguie holds that some events in the Apocalypse are “future-oriented.” They are the parousia of Christ, the millennial kingdom, the judgment of the dead, and the New Jerusalem. 46. David L. Barr, “The Apocalypse as a Symbolic Transformation of the World: A Literary Analysis,” Int 38, no. 1 (1984): 47–8. 47. Leonard J. Thompson, “The Mythic Unity of the Apocalypse,” in Society of Biblical Literature 1985 Seminar Papers, ed. Kent H. Richards, SBLSP 24 (Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1985), 23.

152

152

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

11:15–18) and two verses later introduce a mythic woman about to give birth to the Christ child (Rev 12:1–2). More important is the purpose for which John made such particular choices with narrative time. Bauckham maintains the following, “The point was not so much to enable [the Christians] to foresee the future as to enable them to see their present from the perspective of the future.”48 He gives the example of the eschatological Bride at the end of Revelation, who prays for Jesus to come (Rev 22:17). He continues, “Hearers of the prophecy are then invited to join in this prayer of the Spirit and the Bride, and as they join their own voices to that of the Spirit the eschatological church is becoming present reality already—in the congregations at Ephesus, Smyrna or wherever.”49 Herms is in agreement and adds, “In fact, one may argue even further that [John’s] purpose in elaborately developing this narrative scheme is to assert that at some unseen/intangible level, such participation in the setting of the New Jerusalem is already possible.”50 The upshot of Bauckham’s and Herms’s insight is that the hearers of the Apocalypse do not have to wait for a future time for many of the realities described in the Apocalypse to begin taking place in their lives and world. Those who have ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches begin to shape their lives in the present to correspond with the moral alignment and faithful worship John reveals.51 For this reason, the fulfillment or implication of a number of events that are conceptualized through future tense verbs need not be delayed until the Day of the Lord. For example, all the verbs in the scene of praise in Revelation 4:9–10 are in the future tense. But the context specifies that the four living creatures never cease to praise God day and night (Rev 4:8).52 Revelation 11:2 says the nations “will trample” (πατήσουσιν) the holy city for forty-two months. Yet, interpreters generally take the period of forty-two months to encompass the entire interadvent age and not only a yet future time.53 Revelation 7:17 also has the Lamb’s shepherding activity over the saints in the future tense (ποιμανεῖ). While the scene in Revelation 7:15–17 pictures the saints from a standpoint of victory, no one denies that in the present Jesus shepherds his church. This reality is part of the rhetorical point of Revelation 2–3, the presence of Jesus in the midst of his churches in the now (Rev 1:13; 2:1). In fact, Mathewson in his study on verbal aspect in Revelation argues that “time cannot explain the tense usage in Rev 7.9–17. Once again, verbal

48. Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 167. 49. Ibid., 168. 50. Herms, An Apocalypse for the Church, 166. 51. On this point, see Kevin E. Miller, “The Nuptial Eschatology of Revelation 19–22,” CBQ 60, no. 2 (1998): 301–18. 52. When a man says to his wife, “I will love you until my dying breath,” he usually does not mean that in the present he does not love her. 53. G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, NIGTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999), 566; Koester, Revelation, 498.

153

7. The Nations and their Shepherd

153

aspect and its ability to structure discourse and indicate prominence can explain the various tense forms throughout this visionary segment.”54 The point of the preceding discussion is not to deny any future dimensions and fulfillment to John’s promises/prophecies. The point is rather to affirm the present import of such promises. The church is charged to shepherd the nations in the present through her witness by word and life.55 Her actions are an extension of the unbreakable authority that Jesus himself has from the Father now and for all eternity to shepherd πάντα τὰ ἔθνη (“all the nations”). The healing of the nations will be qualitatively unique and complete in the new order, but when someone in the present lives by word and deed in a manner that bears faithful witness to Jesus, healing for the nations takes place.56 Psalm 2 and John’s Story of the Nations It is widely recognized that Psalm 2 was influential in John’s composition of Revelation not only by way of quotations57 or allusions, but also by structural analogy, themes, and motifs.58 After noting many similarities between Psalm 2 and the book of Revelation, Konrad Huber notes a striking difference, the extension

54. David Mathewson, Verbal Aspect in the Book of Revelation: The Function of Greek Verb Tenses in John’s Apocalypse (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2010), 133. His comment is not limited to Rev 7:9–17, but is part of a larger argument against temporally oriented explanations of the tense shifts in Revelation (cf. pp. 117–72). 55. Cf. Koester, Revelation, 309, who says of Rev 2:27, “At present, the faithful break the power of the nations by their witness to God and Jesus.” 56. On the relationship between future-oriented visions and present reality in Tyconius’s and Bede’s interpretation of the Apocalypse, see Christopher Rowland and Ian Boxall, “Tyconius and Bede on Violent Texts in the Apocalypse,” in Ancient Christian Interpretations of “Violent Texts” in the Apocalypse, ed. Jozef Verheyden, Tobias Nicklas, and Andreas Merkt, SUNT 92 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011), 161–79. Rowland and Boxall note, “It need not have been the case that Tyconius abandoned hope of imminent eschatological fulfilment, but, as far as he was concerned, the necessity was to ensure that his communities perceived the struggle between [sic] and evil as a present reality” (p. 171). 57. John’s use of Ps 2:9 is the closest he comes to employing an Old Testament quotation in Revelation (Rev 2:27; 12:5; and 19:15; cf. Osborne, Revelation, 170). 58. So Konrad Huber, “Psalm 2 in Der Offenbarung Des Johannes,” in Horizonte Biblischer Texte: Festschrift Für Josef M. Oesch Zum 60. Geburtstag, ed. Andreas Vonach and Georg Fischer, OBO 196 (Göttingen: Academic Press Fribourg, 2003). See also Steve Moyise, “The Psalms in the Book of Revelation,” in The Psalms in the New Testament, ed. Steve Moyise and M. J. J. Menken (London: T&T Clark, 2004), 231–6; Werner Kahl, “Psalm 2 und das Neue Testament,” in Gottessohn und Menschensohn: Exegetische Studien zu zwei Paradigmen biblischer Intertextualität, ed. Dieter Sänger (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 2004), 245–6; and Sam Janse, “You Are My Son”: The Reception History of Psalm 2 in Early Judaism and the Early Church (Walpole, MA: Peeters, 2009), 131–4.

154

154

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

of the Messiah’s authority from the Father to the Christians (Rev 2:26–28).59 For present purposes, two advances over the plotline of Psalm 2 made by John are highlighted. Commentators on the Psalms regularly observe four sections or stanzas in Psalm 2, roughly thus: (1) the nations and kings plot against Yahweh and his anointed (Ps 2:1–3); (2) God laughs and responds by affirming the appointing of his king on Zion (Ps 2:4–6); (3) the anointed king speaks of the decree Yahweh made with him as son and of the promise to give him universal dominion (Ps 2:7–9); and (4) the kings of the earth are warned to be silent, kiss the son, and find refuge in him (Ps 2:10–12).60 In relation to the content of the psalm, Luis Schökel says that Psalm 2 expresses “el principio formal de autoridad . . . No apela el heraldo a los valores del rey, de su reinado (cf. Sal 45); blande simplemente la autoridad amenazante.”61 Unlike Psalm 2, Revelation and the rest of the New Testament do appeal to the values of the king, the character of his kingdom. This elaboration is one of the main advances over Psalm 2’s raw appeal to the anointed’s authority. Revelation depicts not only who Jesus is as the Son of God but also what he achieved for the nations by his death. Immediately after introducing Jesus as ὁ ἄρχων τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς (“the ruler of the kings of the earth”) in Revelation 1:5, a title that alludes to Psalm 2:2’s οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς,62 John continues thus, Τῷ ἀγαπῶντι ἡμᾶς καὶ λύσαντι ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ αἵματι αὐτου (“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood”). This description of Jesus is one of

59. Huber, “Psalm 2 in Der Offenbarung,” 263, 270. There are many additional striking differences between Ps 2 and Revelation (see the discussion below), but an important one is the climactic democratization of the anointed king’s inheritance as well as the title “son,” which is promised to all the conquerors. Rev 21:7 says, ὁ νικῶν κληρονομήσει ταῦτα καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτῷ θεὸς καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται μοι υἱός (“The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be to him God and he will be to me a son”). The LXX of Ps 2:7 says of the anointed king, υἱός μου εἶ (“You are my son”), and uses κληρονομίαν for the son’s inheritance in Ps 2:8. Revelation, however, reserves the title “Father” for the relationship between Jesus and God (cf. Rev 1:6; 2:28; 3:5, 21; 14:1). Cf. Beale, Revelation, 1058, who speaks of “the concept of corporate representation by which Christ represents people.” 60. See, e.g., Peter C. Craigie, Psalms 1–50, WBC 19 (Waco, TX: Word, 1983), 65; and Nancy L. DeClaissé-Walford, Rolf A. Jacobson, and Beth LaNeel Tanner, The Book of Psalms, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014), 65–6. 61. Luis A. Schökel and Cecilia Carniti, Salmos I: Traducción, Introducciones Y Comentario, 3ra ed. (Estella, Navarra: Editorial Verbo Divino, 2002), 156, 160. Ps 2 expresses “the formal principle of authority . . . The herald makes no appeals to the values of the king, of his kingship (cf. Psalm 45); he simply wields [the king’s] threatening authority” (author’s translation). 62. Interpreters recognize Ps 89:27 as the primary allusion behind ὁ ἄρχων τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς in Rev 1:5. Even though they recognize that the conflict between Christ and the kings of the earth, prominent throughout Revelation, is first highlighted here (cf. Osborne, Revelation, 63), they tend to not see the similarities between Rev 1:5 and Ps 2:2.

155

7. The Nations and their Shepherd

155

the most compelling for the hearer in all of the Apocalypse. The present point is that John leads his characterization of Jesus with precisely what Schökel rightly says is absent from Psalm 2: the king’s love and death for his people. To be sure, elements of the Son of God’s power and judgment are not lacking in Revelation, but it must be remembered that the controlling image of Jesus, the most used title for Jesus, in the Apocalypse, is the Lamb—the Lamb who was slain. The hearer of the Apocalypse, great and small, cannot understand the threatening authority of God’s Christ apart from understanding the victory he has achieved for his people and for the nations by shedding his blood. There is one more key development in Revelation to the story line of Psalm 2, especially in the second part of the book (Rev 12–20), namely, the unmasking of the dragon and his forces of evil. In Psalm 2:3, the nations and their kings experience the kingship of God and his anointed as “bonds” (‫מוסרה‬, δεσμός) and “chords” (‫עבת‬, ζυγός), from which they want to free themselves. Their effort is in vain because God’s anointed will have universal dominion by God’s decree. But John does something masterful. On analogy to Psalm 2:1–5, John depicts in Revelation 11 the hostility of the nations toward God’s people and, by implication, toward his anointed.63 This perspective of hostility had to be preserved, narrated, because it typified the historical reality of John’s Christian and unbelieving gentile hearers. But, as argued in Chapter 5 in this book, John immediately follows up and overshadows the nations-God hostility with a sustained narrative explanation of the origin of such hostilities, rooted in the cosmic reality of war in heaven and then on earth (Rev 12–13). John peels back the curtain, as it were, and reveals to the nations and kings the architect of their hostility, who is in reality the source of their bonds and chords. Far from being free, the nations are under the controlling and deceiving influence of Babylon and the dragon (Rev 17:15; 20:8). In the second half of John’s vision (Rev 12–20) the enemy of the Lord’s anointed is not the nations, but the dragon. This shift of chief antagonist is a monumental development to the theology of Psalm 2. In sum, Derek Wittman, in his discussion of Psalm 2 and Israel’s postexilic community, writes, “The strategic canonical placement of the rhetoric surrounding God’s kingship in Pss 2 and 149 emerged out of a setting characterized by the threat of foreign domination.”64 But in Revelation, the threat of foreign domination is replaced by the cosmic domination that besieges both God’s people and the nations. John does not merely wield before the nations God’s threatening authority, as Psalm 2 does; he unmasks the deceptive power of the dragon and reveals the

63. The rage of the nations in Rev 11:18 can be in part understood narratively as a response to the angel’s announcement that the kingdom of the world had become the kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ (Rev 11:15). 64. Derek E. Wittman, “Let Us Cast off Their Ropes from Us: The Editorial Significance of the Portrayal of Foreign Nations in Psalms 2 and 149,” in The Shape and Shaping of the Book of Psalms: The Current State of Scholarship, ed. Nancy L. DeClaissé-Walford, AIL 20 (Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2014), 62.

156

156

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

shepherd who died to wrest control away from the dragon and begin the healing of the nations by the faithful witness of his church.65

The Nations as Audience Having offered some synthetic comments about the first two research questions— what is John’s story of the nations and how does he tell it?—it is now time to turn to the third question, what is John’s message to the nations? The discussion in Chapters 3–6 focused in part on tensions that emerged from the narrative progression.66 The goal was to attend to the particular ways the narrator sought to elicit responses in his auditors, especially a sympathetic, unbelieving gentile hearer.67 The following brief remarks summarize John’s message to the gentile hearer, specifically by means of the character “the nations.” The choice before the hearer of the Apocalypse, believing or unbelieving, is to worship either the Lamb or the beast; be a saint or an earth-dweller. There is no other option. These statements propose nothing new. But this study has sought to uncover not a third option, but a third character: the nations. The character “the nations” allows the hearer to see the stance of God and his agents toward all the nations of the world. In the past, when interpreters have read Revelation, they have construed the binary destiny John puts forth in this way: Babylon or New Jerusalem, beast or Lamb, dragon or God. Revelation is rather grim for the earthdwellers, while offering victory and manifold promises to the (persevering) saints. What interpreters have usually not seen is this third character, the nations, who could be described as embattled in their condition. Everything in Revelation is judgment for the earth-dwellers, but everything is not judgment, or even discipline, for the nations. The nations are a character of hope because despite the repeated, and at times successful, attacks from the dragon cohort, God as creator of the

65. James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark, PNTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), 122, makes a similar point when he says, “As the Son of God Jesus does something for humanity before doing something to it. He must liberate humanity from the power of evil (1 John 3:8) before restoring it to the image of God” (emphasis original). 66. “Tension” throughout this work has been a technical term to describe the unstable relationships between the author and his audience, generated by the narrator’s withholding of key information, differences in value, belief, and expectation, and so forth. Cf. James Phelan, Experiencing Fiction: Judgments, Progressions, and the Rhetorical Theory of Narrative (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2008), 16. 67. As mentioned in Chapter 1, in the majority of secondary literature (commentaries, etc.), one finds interspersed comments about readers, but the reader in mind is primarily a Christian reader. See, e.g., the commentaries by Talbert and Resseguie: Charles H. Talbert, The Apocalypse: A Reading of the Revelation of John, 1st ed. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1994); James L. Resseguie, The Revelation of John: A Narrative Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009).

157

7. The Nations and their Shepherd

157

universe—John narrates—is reclaiming his creation and asserting his rightful place as king of the nations. But he is not a king who coerces and deceives, like the land beast; rather, he is the just and true king of the nations (Rev 15:3). Likewise, Jesus by his death purchased from every nation a people for God. As shepherd, his rod of iron means that he is indestructible while also emphasizing his ability to break the nations’ deception and addiction to destructive alliances. For her part, the church is given Jesus’s authority to shepherd the nations, which consists primarily of her prophetic task to bear faithful witness to Jesus by word and purity of life. Part of her witness includes the cherished hope that all the nations will come and worship God (Rev 15:4). Put another way, while the characters of the saints and the earth-dwellers place before the hearers salvation or destruction, the character of the nations unveils for them the stance of God, Christ, and the church toward the nations. Their goal is to shepherd them into the New Jerusalem where they will receive complete healing. Various readings of the Apocalypse tend to make it sound as though the nations had two enemies, the dragon and the Lamb. Yet John’s rhetorical purpose is to bring the hearer from τῶν ἐθνῶν to realize that he or she has one enemy, the dragon, and one shepherd, the Lamb. In short, John’s nuanced story of the nations—the balance of shepherding and smashing, both of which the unbelieving hearer needs, just as the Christian hearer needs love and rebuke—allows the gentiles to hear the shepherd’s voice (John 10:16). The presence of the nations and kings in Revelation 21–22 tells the nations and kings in Revelation 1–20 (that is, in the present order) that they are a part of God’s redemptive plan. It is important to recall that whether the hearer in view is a believing or unbelieving gentile, John’s rhetorical strategy functions in similar ways for both audiences. In the real world, as in Revelation, the formation of identity and one’s deepest commitments are never static but always in-process of becoming. In Asia Minor both gentile Christians who were compromising (Rev 2–3) and gentile unbelievers who had ears to hear were to understand John’s vision and begin identifying more fully with the Lamb and his people. The goal for both groups was the same: to follow the Lamb wherever he goes (Rev 14:4). The character of the nations carved space for the person who identified with the nations (τὰ ἔθνη) to see the cosmic forces that besieged him or her and move toward the Lamb. “ ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come” (Rev 22:17 NIV).

The Church as Shepherd of the Nations The final research question is: what is John’s message to the church about the nations? N. T. Wright notes, Revelation shows us, in and through all its puzzling and arcane imagery, a vision of the Creator God reclaiming sovereignty over the whole world through the slaughtering of the Lamb, and entrusting to the present worshipping church the

158

158

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

responsibility to bear witness to Jesus as the world’s true lord, and to his way of victory as the power that is greater than the power of Babylon. That is the ground of Christian hope.68

The Christian church is charged to bear witness not only to Jesus’s victory but also to his way of victory. John is careful to shape his Christian hearers’ understanding of conquering. No weapons are placed in the hands of the church.69 Jesus’s sword comes from his mouth as does the fire from the two witnesses (Rev 1:16; 2:16; 19:15, 21; 11:5). The church conquers by the blood of the Lamb and by the power of her testimony (Rev 12:11).70 Moreover, in his first three references to God’s kingdom, John highlights its priestly character (Rev 1:6; 5:10) and the affliction that accompanies its members (Rev 1:9). He leaves no room for triumphalism. For these reasons, it is difficult to understand the triumphalist readings of the church’s authority to shepherd the nations, as if Christ or his church were a Roman imperial army.71 The crushed become the ones who do the crushing. This line of reasoning might have some exegetical warrant, but interpreters should be careful to articulate the mode of crushing Revelation envisions. The church does conquer, but it conquers by dying (or being willing to die), not by killing, which is the way of the beast.72 68. N. T. Wright, “Revelation and Christian Hope,” 124. 69. Pattemore, People of God in the Apocalypse, 195, says, “With the possible exception of 11:5, nowhere in this portrayal of the people of God as an army do we see them actually engaged in offensive activity of any kind.” Regarding Rev 11:5, Koester, Revelation, 499, adds, “To say that their adversaries ‘must be killed in this way’ (11:5) means that they are overcome by the prophets’ speech, just as Jesus will slay the beast and its allies with his word, symbolized by the sword from his mouth (2:16; 19:15, 21)” (emphasis original). 70. Interestingly, DeClaissé-Walford, Jacobson, and Tanner, The Book of Psalms, 66, draw attention to the priority of speech in Ps 2. They say, “It is with speech that the kings of the earth rebel, it is with speech that God answers their rebellion, it is with speech that the Davidic king answers their challenge, and in the end, the kings of the earth find themselves speechless before the power of God.” 71. See, e.g., McNicol, Conversion of the Nations, 48–50; R. H. Charles, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John, ICC (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1920), 1:75; G. R. Beasley-Murray, The Book of Revelation (London: Butler & Tanner, 1974), 93; Osborne, Revelation, 167; Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, rev. ed., NICNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997), 90. An important corrective to this kind of interpretation is sounded by Richard Bauckham, “Reading Scripture as a Coherent Story,” in The Art of Reading Scripture, ed. Ellen F. Davis and Richard B. Hays (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2003), 51–2, who says, “These visions [in Daniel and Revelation] empower nonviolent resistance to oppression, enabling God’s people to continue to refute the finality and divinity of the empires . . . The tragic irony of Christian history has been that so often Christian empires have taken over the symbol of the kingdom of God to justify the same kind of rule as that of the empires it was forged to oppose.” 72. The following interpreters take the authority given to the church in Rev 2:26–27 as related to their witness to Jesus, including suffering: Beale, Revelation, 268; Koester,

159

7. The Nations and their Shepherd

159

It should be remembered that contextually the church received her call to shepherd the nations in a place of vulnerability. The church in Thyatira was guilty of compromise with the surrounding culture and of assimilating, among other things, the practice of sexual immorality (Rev 2:20). This very activity (πορνεία) is the main vice associated with the nations (Rev 14:8; 18:3). Thus, the call to the compromised church is not to destroy the nations, but to embrace her role and authority to bear witness to the nations of a life bright and pure as white linen. If the church loses her counter-ethic of purity and becomes like the immoral nations around her, she has nothing to offer. If one blind person leads another, both will fall into a pit. In a compromised state, even the church’s witness by word would lose its power. John also shaped the church’s attitude toward the nations by identifying a degree of commonality between the church and the nations through his narrative characterization. Revelation 13:7 and 18:23–24 portray both the church and the nations under the attack and influence of the beast and Babylon, respectively. What the beast and Babylon do to the saints is not of the same nature as what they do to the nations. The former are killed for their witness to Jesus; the latter are deceived and lured into sexual immorality.73 But in both cases, the beast and Babylon are the oppressors. Such characterization would have the effect of helping the church see that Christians and nations alike have a common enemy. When Christian hearers realize that the nations are as much the target of the evil forces at work in the world as they are, their bond with humanity should increase without reducing their alignment with Christ, precisely because the only way to defeat their and the nations’ common enemy is the blood of Christ. Finally, John shapes the church’s attitude toward the nations in a remarkable text of expansive hope. The jubilant tone of a song of victory has embedded in it the most positive declaration about the nations in all of Revelation, prior to the new creation. The singers, who are the victorious saints, declare, Μεγάλα καὶ θαυμαστὰ τὰ ἔργα σου, κύριε ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ· δίκαιαι καὶ ἀληθιναὶ αἱ ὁδοί σου, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν ἐθνῶν· τίς οὐ μὴ φοβηθῇ, κύριε, καὶ δοξάσει τὸ ὄνομά σου; ὅτι μόνος ὅσιος, ὅτι πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἥξουσιν καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν ἐνώπιόν σου, ὅτι τὰ δικαιώματά σου ἐφανερώθησαν74

Revelation, 308–9; J. P. M. Sweet, Revelation, WPCS (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1979), 96; Henry B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John, 3rd ed. (London: Macmillan, 1909), 47; and Caird, Revelation, 46. 73. However, many from the church are also deceived by the activity of Jezebel, whose characterization—as deceptive and sexually immoral—aligns her with Babylon and the dragon (Rev 2:20–21). 74. “Great and amazing are your works, O Lord God Almighty; righteous and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, Lord, and glorify your name? For you

160

160

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

Through this song, John gives the church a different vision of the nations from the one of hostility in Revelation 11. The nations might continue to rage, so long as their character reflects that of the dragon (Rev 11:18; 12:17), but the church must believe that as a result of the revelation of God’s righteous deeds, the nations will come to God. At times in her history, the church has had no category for tender power, the power of a slain Lamb, the power that heals and frees, not by force, but by courage, sacrifice, and forgiveness. In many ways, interpreters (and humanity in general) misread the Apocalypse because they mostly understand, and operate out of, crushing power. Yet, the rod of iron is held by the slain Lamb. This paradox is the innovation of the Apocalypse, and in just this mode does Jesus come to the nations. In sum, it is the universal hope of the victory of God’s way of conquering that empowered the early church to go out into the nations and suffer and die as she witnessed to Christ. Such was the Seer’s goal and his message to the church about the nations.

Dualism and John’s Vision for the Nations When interpreters miss the nuances and overall tenor of the story line of the nations in Revelation as foregrounded in this study, it is easy to read a simplistic dualism into the Apocalypse that is more akin to the protracted hostility found, for example, in the Psalms of Solomon between God’s people and the nations.75 Adela Yarbro Collins, who has made one of the most prominent defenses of such a reading in her monograph Crisis and Catharsis, is the discussion partner in the following section.76 Yarbro Collins identifies the same basic plot recapitulated from Revelation 6:1 to 22:5. She writes, “Each section implies a movement from persecution of the faithful, to punishment of the opponents of the faithful, to salvation of the faithful.”77 The vision enables Christian hearers to release feelings of fear and alone are holy; all the nations will come and worship before you, because your righteous deeds have been revealed” (Rev 15:3–4). 75. See R. B. Wright, “Psalms of Solomon,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2, ed. James H. Charlesworth (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2013), 645, for a discussion of the sharp conflict between Israel and the nations in Psalms of Solomon. 76. Adela Yarbro Collins, Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse, 1st ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1984). Crisis and Catharsis is chosen not only because the monograph has been both highly influential and representative of a dualistic interpretation of John’s vision, but also because Yarbro Collins takes seriously John’s historical situation, which is not the case with other interpreters of Revelation; see, e.g., Tina Pippin, Death and Desire: The Rhetoric of Gender in the Apocalypse of John (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992), 43, 46, who labels her interpretation as “postmodern.” See also Thompson, “The Mythic Unity of the Apocalypse,” for his argument against dualistic interpretations of the Apocalypse. He argues, contra Yarbro Collins, that in Revelation there is no “dualistic division of humanity” (p. 24). 77. Yarbro Collins, Crisis and Catharsis, 149. Beale, Revelation, 144, has a similar scheme but reverses the first two elements to yield judgment, persecution, and salvation.

161

7. The Nations and their Shepherd

161

resentment through the “repeated presentations of the destruction of the hearers’ enemies.”78 She continues, The element of persecution represents the present, conflict-ridden, and threatened situation in which the author invites the hearers to see themselves. The second two elements in the repeated plot, judgment and salvation, represent the resolution of that situation: the persecutors are destroyed by divine wrath and the persecuted are exalted to a new, glorious mode of existence.79

However, the schema of persecution-judgment-salvation does not quite work. John does devote Revelation 11 to narrate with sufficient detail the hostility within which the church must witness to Jesus’s death. Persecution is an appropriate label for the church’s condition during the inter-advent period. But rather than moving his narrative in a simplistic way from persecution to punishment of the persecutors, John presents a powerful innovation. He unveils the cosmic, demonic powers under which the nations (the oppressor of Rev 11) find themselves (Rev 12–13). In other words, John redraws the enemy lines. Moreover, having made visible the presence and power of these evil forces, he proceeds to narrate not two but three characters with whom the hearer may identify: (1) the earth-dwellers, who receive destruction; (2) the saints, who receive salvation; and (3) the nations, who could go either way. These two aspects, unmasking the true enemy and hope for the nations, both absent from Yabro Collins’s understanding of the basic plot, have the effect of showing concern for the human oppressor. The oppressor of Revelation 11:2 could come and worship God (Rev 15:4) and be healed (Rev 22:2).80 Another important aspect not emphasized by Yarbro Collins is the stance of God, Jesus, and the church toward the nations— as king, shepherd, and prophet/priest—the ultimate goal of which is to bring the nations to walk by the light of New Jerusalem and be healed (Rev 21:24; 22:2). Put another way, while the final resolution of conflict in Revelation is binary— judgment or salvation—the present-day struggle, for hearers in any age, is characterized by process. Each person’s allegiance is in the process of being formed, not ever quite completed until the end. Who belongs to Christ is not known ἄχρι τέλους (“until the end,” Rev 2:26). Who is an earth-dweller is only infallibly known

78. Yarbro Collins, Crisis and Catharsis, 154. 79. Ibid. 80. Adela Yarbro Collins, “Persecution and Vengeance in the Book of Revelation,” in Apocalypticism in the Mediterranean World and the Near East, ed. David Hellholm (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1983), 746, says, “One must ask whether prayers (and their equivalent) for the destruction or impoverishment of one’s enemies should ever be encouraged.” Her statement would be balanced in important ways if she seriously considered what the song of Rev 15:3–4 (an equivalent to prayer?) does to shape the attitude of God’s people toward the oppressor. For a different analysis of vengeance in Revelation, see William Klassen, “Vengeance in the Apocalypse of John,” CBQ 28, no. 3 (1966): 300–11.

162

162

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

by his or her absence from the book of life, of which no human person has intimate knowledge (Rev 17:8).81 This is the genius of John’s characterization of the nations. As mentioned above, the nations as distinct from the earth-dwellers allowed John to sharpen his portrayal of judgment without erasing God’s commitment to the nations, something interpreters have tended to do. Yarbro Collins concludes thus, The dualist division of humanity in the Apocalypse is a failure in love. The division of all people into those with the mark of the beast and those with the seal of God is problematic also because of its lack of credibility. It is an oversimplification that eliminates not only the possibility of neutrality but also the complexities of life in which there are always shades of gray. But most important, this dualism is destructive and dehumanizing. One’s enemies, including large numbers of unknown people with whom one supposes oneself to be in disagreement, are given a simple label, associated with demonic beings, and thus denied their full humanity. The act of denying others their full humanity diminishes the actor’s humanity as well.82

In response a few final comments can be made. First, the simplistic dualism is found not in Revelation, but in the interpretations that mute the story line of the nations. The concern is not that there are ultimately two paths, two destinies for earth’s inhabitants. Those who take issue with this finally binary outcome and advocate a third category of neutrality must level their critique beyond Revelation to the entire New Testament corpus.83 Second, the issue is, rather, whether John simply labels his enemies, associates them indiscriminately with demonic forces, and thus denies them their full humanity, as Yarbro Collins holds. John does label his enemies, but the enemy is not the one who disagrees with him. The enemy is the dragon, the beasts, and Babylon. The enemy is also the earth-dweller, but that is precisely the genius of John’s narrative characterization. In John’s story, an earth-dweller is not an individual, but a kind of person, a person who has cast his or her lot with the beast. John’s hearers could then identify with either the earth-dwellers or the saints. But either way, it is not John but rather the individual hearer who chooses the group to which he or she will belong. Moreover, the character of the nations allows the

81. Tobias Niklas, “The Eschatological Battle according to the Book of Revelation: Perspectives on Revelation 19:11–21,” in Coping with Violence in the New Testament, ed. Pieter De Villiers and Jan Willem van Henten (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 244, says, “It remains a secret who will be among God’s enemies that are killed at the end together with Satanic powers.” 82. Yarbro Collins, Crisis and Catharsis, 170. 83. Steve Moyise, “Does the Lion Lie Down with the Lamb?,” in Studies in the Book of Revelation, ed. Steve Moyise (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2001), 193, argues that the ethos of Revelation “challenges the very possibility of ethical or political neutrality.”

163

7. The Nations and their Shepherd

163

hearer to see his or her embattled condition, under the authority of the beast, and yet to realize what God and the Lamb have done to take on and defeat the dragon and his allies. The nations are not alone in their plight. Finally, as mentioned above, who finally belongs to the people of God or to the company of the beast is beyond the ability of human actors to know, since no one has access to the book of life of the Lamb. Third, John narrates not only the association of many humans with demonic beings, but also the deception and oppression under which these humans find themselves (Rev 17:15; 18:3; 20:8). If someone is deceived, those who would help them must name the malaise, since it is of the nature of deceivers to distort reality. The understanding of Revelation 2:26–27 as a text of destruction (at worst) or severe rule (at best) has led many interpreters to misunderstand the role of the church toward the nations as envisioned by John.84 However, when interpreters recognize the shepherding role of the church toward the nations (Rev 2:27) along with her expansive hope for their worship of God (Rev 15:4), the picture that emerges is much more nuanced and in line with the Lamb’s mode of conquering by sacrificial death and of shepherding as the Lamb who had been slain (Rev 5:6; 7:17). Although Yarbro Collins sees the destruction of one’s enemies as the animating impulse that gives release to feelings of fear and resentment,85 higher motivations are at work in John’s vision, such as the mode of conquering of the Lamb, the liberation of those in the clutches of the dragon, and the renewal of the earth, where the nations—at one point the church’s enemies—will walk by God’s light and receive healing. This expansive vision of hope for the nations must be held in dialectic with the reality that the destroyers of the earth must be destroyed (Rev 11:18).

Further Research As stated in Chapter 1, New Testament scholars have not employed narrative approaches to Revelation as much as to the other five narratives in the New Testament (the Gospels and Acts). Yet, narrative exploration of the Apocalypse should continue. Particularly, attention should be given to narrative christology, a project in Revelation akin to Rowe’s in Luke.86 Full narrative analyses of the characterization of God and the church in Revelation, to name only two, should also be conducted.87

84. Rev 2:26–27 is one of the texts Yarbro Collins interprets as perpetuating the “degradation of others” (cf. Yarbro Collins, Crisis and Catharsis, 172). 85. Ibid., 154. 86. Cf. Rowe, Early Narrative Christology. 87. Pattemore, People of God in the Apocalypse, has done an excellent study of the people of God, but his focus was primarily the vision in Rev 4:1–22:9 and his methodology was

164

164

Christ, Shepherd of the Nations

The results of this study on the nations should also be incorporated with the thought on the nations from other New Testament writers, particularly Paul and Luke. From a canonical perspective, John in Revelation, with his expansive hope for the nations, contributes a great deal to the missionary zeal and universal vision that characterized the early Christian movement. Additionally, the results of this study could be contrasted with various texts from second-Temple literature, apocalyptic or otherwise, and their outlook on the nations. More studies could incorporate the rhetorical approach to narrative to the various New Testament narratives, whether employing James Phelan’s method or any other. Studies that consider the reader/hearer, employing reader-response approaches, focus primarily on the reader, often affording them an unwarranted place of control over the meaning of the text. Conversely, the rhetorical approach to narrative advocated in this study is likewise interested in the judgments readers make during the process of reading, be they interpretive, ethical, or aesthetic, but the approach focuses on the literary techniques authors employ to shape their audiences’ experiences and responses. Finally, new studies on John’s use of metaphor should analyze the shepherding metaphor in Revelation and integrate the results with John’s other metaphors. Such a study could further our understanding of violent imagery in the Apocalypse. The metaphors of shepherding and smashing the nations seem paradoxical, yet “the combination of metaphors can make sense,” as Susan E. Hylen maintains about the use of metaphorical language in general, “because metaphorical mapping is partial, not total.”88

Final Thoughts It is noteworthy that by the middle of or the late third century CE the symbol of Jesus as shepherd of the nations had taken hold at least within the Christian communities from which 4 Ezra 2:34 originated. The Vulgate reads, “ideoque vobis dico, gentes quae auditis et intellegitis: expectate pastorem vestrum, requiem aeternitatis dabit vobis” (“Therefore I say to you, O nations that hear and understand, ‘Await your shepherd; he will give you everlasting rest’ ”).89 It is also interesting that the way the metaphor of Jesus as shepherd of the nations was deployed, with its pastoral imagery of “everlasting rest,” has thematic similarities

relevance theory. A narrative analysis of the church in the Apocalypse that includes the entire book and focuses on the church’s priestly role could yield significant insights. 88. Susan E. Hylen, “Metaphor Matters: Violence and Ethics in Revelation,” CBQ 73, no. 4 (2011): 786. 89. For the date, translation, and explanation of the confused nomenclature in the works associated with the Old Testament figure Ezra, see Bruce M. Metzger, “The Fourth Book of Ezra,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. James H. Charlesworth; vol. 1 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2013), 517–59.

165

7. The Nations and their Shepherd

165

with the vision of Revelation 7:17 (“For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water”). In other words, without a doubt, the Christian author of 4 Ezra 2:34 assigned to Jesus as shepherd of the nations a meaning consonant, not with destruction, subjugation, or severe rule, but rather with the tender care of the shepherd found in texts such as Psalm 23. The careful reader or hearer of the Apocalypse should be surprised to find the nations in the New Jerusalem after their destruction by fire in Revelation 20:9. At the same time, on retrospective interpretation, the hearer should come to understand John’s narrative strategy. It was important for John to show the end result of those who follow the path of the dragon. Yet, in John’s narrative terms, while the destiny of the earth-dwellers is sealed (they have received the mark of the beast), the destiny of the nations is open. In John’s narrative world, it is clear which path he wants the nations to take, by the way the story line of the nations concludes—the nations receive healing (Rev 22:2). But in the historical world, the world of his flesh and blood hearers, each nation and each individual from the nations must make a choice. The choice they make will depend on how well they have understood their dilemma in light of John’s unveiling or ἀποκάλυψις. Will they see the dragon who deceived them and act with commensurate wisdom? Will they thirst for the water of life without price that only the shepherd Lamb who was slain can provide them? John has crafted the story line of the nations, from beginning to end, to highlight, amid the schemes of the dragon, that God is the just and true king of the nations, Jesus is their shepherd, and the church is their prophet and priest. Viewed in this light, the appearance of the nations in the new creation is both surprising and expected—the appropriate culmination to the grand biblical narrative, “Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage” (Ps 2:8 ESV). The nations belong to God and his Messiah.

166

167

BIBLIOGRAPHY Abbott, H. Porter. The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Abir, Peter Antonysamy. The Cosmic Conflict of the Church: An Exegetico-Theological Study of Revelation 12, 7–12. New York: Peter Lang, 1995. Abrams, M. H., and Geoffrey Galt Harpham. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 10th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2011. Alkier, Stefan. “Witness or Warrior? How the Book of Revelation Can Help Christians Live Their Political Lives.” Pages 125–41 in Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation. Edited by Richard B. Hays and Stefan Alkier. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012. Allen, Leslie C. The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah. NICOT. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1976. Allison, Dale C., and W. D. Davies. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988. Alter, Robert. The Art of Biblical Narrative. 2nd ed. New York: Basic Books, 2011. Alter, Robert. The World of Biblical Literature. New York: Basic Books, 1992. Altes, Lisbeth Korthal. “Ethical Turn.” Pages 142–6 in Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory. Edited by David Herman, Manfred Jahn, and Marie-Laure Ryan. New York: Routledge, 2005. Andersen, Francis I., and David Noel Freedman. Micah: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. AB. New York: Doubleday, 2000. Anderson, Janice Capel. Matthew’s Narrative Web: Over, and Over, and Over Again. JSNTSS 91. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1994. Aristotle. Poetics. Mineola, NY: Dover, 1997. Ascough, Richard S., Philip A. Harland, and John S. Kloppenborg, Associations in the Greco-Roman World: A Sourcebook. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012. Aune, David E. “Apocalypse Renewed: An Intertextual Reading of the Apocalypse of John.” Pages 43–70 in The Reality of Apocalypse: Rhetoric and Politics in the Book of Revelation. Edited by David L. Barr. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 2006. Aune, David E. “The Form and Function of the Proclamations to the Seven Churches (Revelation 2–3).” NTS 36, no. 2 (1990): 182–204. Aune, David E. “The Influence of Roman Imperial Court Ceremonial on the Apocalypse of John.” BR 28 (1983): 5–26. Aune, David E. Revelation 1–5. Annotated edition. WBC 52A. Dallas, TX: Word, 1997. Aune, David E. Revelation 6–16. WBC 52B. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1998. Aune, David E. Revelation 17–22. WBC 52C. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1998. Aune, David E. “The Social Matrix of the Apocalypse of John.” BR 26 (1981): 16–32. Bal, Mieke. Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. 3rd ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009. Barr, David L. “The Apocalypse as a Symbolic Transformation of the World: A Literary Analysis.” Int 38, no. 1 (1984): 39–50.

168

168

Bibliography

Barr, David L. “The Lamb Who Looks Like a Dragon? Characterizing Jesus in John’s Apocalypse.” Pages 205–20 in The Reality of Apocalypse: Rhetoric and Politics in the Book of Revelation. Edited by David L. Barr. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006. Barr, David L., ed. Reading the Book of Revelation: A Resource for Students. SBLSBS 44. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. Barr, David L. “The Story John Told: Reading Revelation for Its Plot.” Pages 11–23 in Reading the Book of Revelation: A Resource for Students. SBLSBS 44. Edited by David L. Barr. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. Barr, David L. Tales of the End: A Narrative Commentary on the Book of Revelation. 2nd ed. Salem, OR: Polebridge, 2012. Barr, David L. “Waiting for the End That Never Comes: The Narrative Logic of John’s Story.” Studies in the Book of Revelation. Edited by Steve Moyise. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2001. Bauckham, Richard. The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation. Edinburgh: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2000. Bauckham, Richard. “Reading Scripture as a Coherent Story.” Pages 38–53 in The Art of Reading Scripture. Edited by Ellen F. Davis and Richard B. Hays. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2003. Bauckham, Richard. The Theology of the Book of Revelation. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Baxter, Wayne. Israel’s Only Shepherd: Matthew’s Shepherd Motif and His Social Setting. LNTS 457. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2012. Beale, G. K. The Book of Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999. Beale, G. K. Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Exegesis and Interpretation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012. Beasley-Murray, G. R. The Book of Revelation: Based on the Revised Standard Version. London: Butler & Tanner, 1974. Beckwith, Isbon T. The Apocalypse of John: Studies in Introduction with a Critical and Exegetical Commentary. New York: Macmillan, 1919. Bennema, Cornelis. A Theory of Character in New Testament Narrative. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2014. Bennema, Cornelis. Encountering Jesus: Character Studies in the Gospel of John. Colorado Springs: Paternoster, 2009. Black, Matthew. “Some Greek Words with ‘Hebrew’ Meanings in the Epistles and Apocalypse.” Pages 135–46 in Biblical Studies: Essays in Honor of William Barclay. Edited by Johnston R. McKay and James F. Miller. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1976. Blevins, James. Revelation as Drama. Nashville, TN: Broadman, 1984. Block, Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 1–24. NICOT. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997. Block, Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 25–48. NICOT. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998. Blount, Brian K. Revelation: A Commentary. New Testament Library. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 2009. Bockmuehl, Markus, and Michael B. Thompson, eds. A Vision for the Church: Studies in Early Christian Ecclesiology in Honour of J. P. M. Sweet. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1997. Bøe, Sverre. Gog and Magog: Ezekiel 38–39 as Pre-text for Revelation 19,17–21 and 20,7– 10. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001. Booth, Wayne C. The Company We Keep: An Ethics of Fiction. Reprint ed. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1989.

169

Bibliography

169

Booth, Wayne C. The Rhetoric of Fiction. 2nd ed. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1983. Boring, M. Eugene. “Narrative Christology in the Apocalypse.” CBQ 54 (1992): 702–23. Boring, M. Eugene. Revelation: Interpretation; A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1989. Bousset, Wilhelm. Die Offenbarung Johannis. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1906. Bowman, John W. The Drama of the Book of Revelation: An Account of the Book—with a New Translation in the Language of Today. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1955. Bredin, Mark. Jesus, Revolutionary of Peace: A Nonviolent Christology in the Book of Revelation. Carlisle: Paternoster, 2003. Brooks, Peter. Reading for the Plot: Design and Intention in Narrative. Reprint ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984. Brownlee, W. H. “The Priestly Character of the Church in the Apocalypse.” NTS 5 (1959): 224–5. Buchanan, George W. The Book of Revelation: Its Introduction and Prophecy. MBC 22. Lewiston, NY: Mellen, 1993. Caird, G. B. A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John the Divine. 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1966. Callahan, Allen D. “The Language of Apocalypse.” HTR 88 (1995): 453–70. Chae, Young S. Jesus as the Eschatological Davidic Shepherd: Studies in the Old Testament, Second Temple Judaism, and in the Gospel of Matthew. WUNT 2. Reihe 216. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006. Charles, R. H. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John. 2 vols. ICC. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1920. Charlesworth, James H., ed. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. 2 vols. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2013. Chatman, Seymour. Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1980. Clark, David J., and Norm Mundhenk. A Translator’s Handbook on the Books of Obadiah and Micah. New York: United Bible Societies, 1982. Collins, Adela Yarbro. The Apocalypse. NTM 22. Wilmington, DE: Glazier, 1979. Collins, Adela Yarbro. The Combat Myth in the Book of Revelation. HDR 9. Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1976. Collins, Adela Yarbro. Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse. 1st ed. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1984. Collins, Adela Yarbro. “Insiders and Outsiders in the Book of Revelation and Its Social Context.” Pages 187–218 in “To See Ourselves as Others See Us”: Christians, Jews, “Others” in Late Antiquity. Edited by Jacob Neusner and Ernest S. Frerichs. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1985. Collins, John J., ed. Semeia 14: Apocalypse; The Morphology of a Genre. Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1979. Cotterell, Peter, and Max Turner. Linguistics & Biblical Interpretation. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1989. Coutsoumpos, Panayotis. “The Social Implications of Idolatry in Revelation 2:14: Christ or Caesar?” BTB 27, no. 1 (1997): 23–27. Craigie, Peter C. Psalms 1–50. WBC 19. Waco, TX: Word, 1983. DeClaissé-Walford, Nancy L., ed. The Shape and Shaping of the Book of Psalms: The Current State of Scholarship. Ancient Israel and Its Literature 20. Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2014.

170

170

Bibliography

DeClaissé-Walford, Nancy L., Rolf A. Jacobson, and Beth LaNeel Tanner. The Book of Psalms. NICOT. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2014. Draper, Jonathan A. “The Heavenly Feast of Tabernacles: Revelation 7:1–17.” JSNT 19 (1983): 133–47. Duff, Paul B. Who Rides the Beast? Prophetic Rivalry and the Rhetoric of Crisis in the Churches of the Apocalypse. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Edwards, James R. The Gospel According to Mark. PNTC. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002. Erwin, John W. Lyric Apocalypse: Reconstruction in Ancient and Modern Poetry. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1984. Fee, Gordon D. Revelation: A New Covenant Commentary. NCCS 18. Cambridge: The Lutterworth Press, 2013. Fekkes, Jan. Isaiah and Prophetic Traditions in the Book of Revelation: Visionary Antecedents and Their Development. JSNTSS 93. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994. Fiorenza, Elisabeth Schüssler. Revelation: Vision of a Just World. PC. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1991. Fishbane, Michael. Biblical Text and Texture: A Literary Reading of Selected Texts. Oxford: Oneworld, 1998. Fisher, Thomas Wilson. “The Dragon/Serpent in Revelation: The Rhetoric of an Apocalyptic Motif.” PhD dissertation, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2000. Forster, E. M. Aspects of the Novel. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1927. Foulkes, Ricardo. El Apocalipsis de San Juan: Una Lectura desde America Latina. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Nueva Creacion, 1996. Frey, Jörg, James A. Kelhoffer, and Franz Tóth, eds. Die Johannesapokalypse: Kontexte, Konzepte, Rezeption. WUNT 287. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012. Friesen, Steven J. “The Beast from the Land: Revelation 13:11–18 and Social Setting.” Pages 49–64 in Reading the Book of Revelation: A Resource for Students. Society of Biblical Literature Sources for Biblical Study 44. Edited by David L. Barr. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. Friesen, Steven J. “Sarcasm in Revelation 2–3: Churches, Christians, True Jews, and Satanic Synagogues.” Pages 127–44 in The Reality of Apocalypse: Rhetoric and Politics in the Book of Revelation. Edited by David L. Barr. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 2006. Frilingos, Christopher A. Spectacles of Empire: Monsters, Martyrs, and the Book of Revelation. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004. Garnsey, Peter, and Richard Saller. The Roman Empire: Economy, Society and Culture. 2nd ed. Oakland: University of California Press, 2015. Garrow, A. J. P. Revelation. NTR. London: Routledge, 1997. Genette, Gérard. Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1980. Giblin, Charles Homer. “The Millennium (Rev 20.4–6) as Heaven.” NTS 45, no. 4 (1999): 553–70. Gonzales, Alexander R. “The Point of View of the Book of Revelation: A Literary Study.” PhD dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 2012. González, Justo L. For the Healing of the Nations: The Book of Revelation in an Age of Cultural Conflict. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999. Gorman, Michael J. Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness; Following the Lamb into the New Creation. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2010. Gourgues, Michel. “The Thousand-Year Reign (Rev. 20:1–6): Terrestrial or Celestial?” CBQ 47 (1985): 676–81.

171

Bibliography

171

Gundry, Robert H. “The New Jerusalem: People as Place, Not Place for People.” NovT 29, no. 3 (1987): 254–64. Harland, Philip A. Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations: Claiming a Place in Ancient Mediterranean Society. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003. Harrington, Wilfrid J. Revelation. SP 16. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1993. Hatch, Edwin, and Henry A. Redpath. A Concordance to the Septuagint and the Other Greek Versions of the Old Testament. 2 vols. Graz: Akademische, 1954. Hauerwas, Stanley, and L. Gregory Jones, eds. Why Narrative? Readings in Narrative Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989. Hays, Richard B. “Faithful Witness, Alpha and Omega: The Identity of Jesus in the Apocalypse of John.” Pages 69–83 in Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation. Edited by Richard B. Hays and Stefan Alkier. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012. Hays, Richard B. “Is Paul’s Gospel Narratable?” JSNT 27, no. 2 (2004): 217–39. Hays, Richard B., and Stefan Alkier, eds. Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012. Hays, Richard B., Stefan Alkier, and Leroy A. Huizenga, eds. Reading the Bible Intertextually. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2009. Hellholm, David, ed. Apocalypticism in the Mediterranean World and the Near East. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1983. Hemer, Colin J. The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting. New ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986. Henten, Jan Willem van. “The Concept of Martyrdom in Revelation.” Pages 587–618 in Die Johannesapokalypse: Kontexte, Konzepte, Rezeption. Edited by Jörg Frey, James A. Kelhoffer, and Franz Tóth. WUNT 287. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012. Herman, David, Manfred Jahn, and Marie-Laure Ryan, eds. Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory. London: Routledge, 2005. Herms, Ronald. An Apocalypse for the Church and for the World: The Narrative Function of Universal Language in the Book of Revelation. BZNW 143. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2006. Hernández, Juan. Scribal Habits and Theological Influences in the Apocalypse: The Singular Readings of Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, and Ephraemi. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006. Hochman, Baruch. Character in Literature. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1985. Hoekema, Anthony A. The Bible and the Future. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979. Hoffmann, Matthias Reinhard. The Destroyer and the Lamb: The Relationship between Angelomorphic and Lamb Christology in the Book of Revelation. WUNT 2. Reihe 203. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005. Holladay, William Lee. Jeremiah 1: A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, Chapters 1–25. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1986. Homcy, Stephen L. “‘To Him Who Overcomes’: A Fresh Look at What ‘Victory’ Means for the Believer According to the Book of Revelation.” JETS 38, no. 2 (1995): 193–201. Huber, Konrad. “Psalm 2 in Der Offenbarung Des Johannes.” Pages 247–73 in Horizonte Biblischer Texte: Festschrift Für Josef M. Oesch Zum 60. Geburtstag. Edited by Andreas Vonach and Georg Fischer. OBO 196. Göttingen: Academic Press Fribourg, 2003. Huber, Lynn R. Like a Bride Adorned: Reading Metaphor in John’s Apocalypse. ESEC 10. New York: T&T Clark, 2007. Huber, Lynn R. Thinking and Seeing with Women in Revelation. LNTS 475. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2013. Humphrey, Edith M. “To Rejoice or Not to Rejoice? Rhetoric and the Fall of Satan in Luke 10:17–24 and Rev 12:1–17.” Pages 113–25 in The Reality of Apocalypse: Rhetoric and

172

172

Bibliography

Politics in the Book of Revelation. Edited by David L. Barr. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 2006. Huntzinger, Jonathan David. “The End of Exile: A Short Commentary on the Shepherd/ Sheep Metaphor in Exilic and Post-Exilic Prophetic and Synoptic Gospel Literature.” PhD dissertation, Fuller Theological Seminary, School of Theology, 1999. Hylen, Susan. “Metaphor Matters: Violence and Ethics in Revelation.” CBQ 73, no. 4 (2011): 777–96. Janse, Sam. “You Are My Son”: The Reception History of Psalm 2 in Early Judaism and the Early Church. Walpole, MA: Peeters, 2009. Jauhiainen, Marko. Review of The Conversion of the Nations in Revelation, by Allan J. McNicol. CBQ 75 (2013): 588–9. Jauhiainen, Marko. “ΑΠΟΚΑΛΥΨΙΣ ΙΗΣΟΥ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ (Rev. 1:1): The Climax of John’s Prophecy?” TynBul 54, no. 1 (2003): 99–117. Johnson, Alan F. “Revelation.” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 12. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1981. Johnson, Dennis E. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2001. Kiddle, Martin. The Revelation of St. John. New York: Harper, 1940. Kirby, Diana Jill. “Repetition in the Book of Revelation.” PhD dissertation, Catholic University of America, 2009. Klassen, William. “Vengeance in the Apocalypse of John.” CBQ 28, no. 3 (1966): 300–11. Kloppenborg, John S., and Stephen G. Wilson, eds. Voluntary Associations in the GraecoRoman World. London and New York: Routledge, 1996. Klund, Robert William. “The Plot of Revelation 4–22.” PhD dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 2002. Koester, Craig R. Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. AYBC. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014. Kort, Wesley A. Story, Text, and Scripture: Literary Interests in Biblical Narrative. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988. Köstenberger, Andreas J. “Jesus the Good Shepherd Who Will Also Bring Other Sheep (John 10:16): The Old Testament Background of a Familiar Metaphor.” BBR 12, no. 1 (2002): 67–96. Ladd, George Eldon. A Commentary on the Revelation of John. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1972. Laniak, Timothy. Shepherds after My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions and Leadership in the Bible. NSBT. Edited by D. A. Carson. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2006. Lawrence, D. H. Apocalypse. Reprint ed. London: Penguin Books, 1995. Lee, Dal. The Narrative Asides in the Book of Revelation. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2002. Linton, Gregory L. “Reading the Apocalypse as Apocalypse: The Limits of Genre.” Pages 9–41 in The Reality of Apocalypse: Rhetoric and Politics in the Book of Revelation. Edited by David L. Barr. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 2006. Lohse, Eduard. Die Offenbarung des Johannes. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1960. Louw, J. P., and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. New York: United Bible Societies, 1989. Lucas, Ernest. Daniel. AOTC. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002. Lundbom, Jack R. Jeremiah 1–20. AB. New York: Doubleday, 1999. Malbon, Elizabeth Struthers. In the Company of Jesus: Characters in Mark’s Gospel. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2000.

173

Bibliography

173

Mangina, Joseph L. “God, Israel, and Ecclesia in the Apocalypse.” Pages 85–103 in Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation. Edited by Richard B. Hays and Stefan Alkier. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012. Marcus, Joel. Mark 8–16: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. AYBC. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009. Marguerat, Daniel, and Yvan Bourquin. How to Read Bible Stories: An Introduction to Narrative Criticism. London: SCM, 1999. Mathewson, David. A New Heaven and a New Earth: The Meaning and Function of the Old Testament in Revelation 21.1–22.5. JSNTSS 238. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2003. Mathewson, David. “A Re-examination of the Millennium in Rev 20:1–6: Consummation and Recapitulation.” JETS 44, no. 2 (2001): 237–51. Mathewson, David. “The Destiny of the Nations in Revelation 21:1–22:5: A Reconsideration.” TynBul 53, no. 1 (2002): 121–42. Mathewson, David. Verbal Aspect in the Book of Revelation: The Function of Greek Verb Tenses in John’s Apocalypse. Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2010. Mayo, Philip L. Those Who Call Themselves Jews: The Church and Judaism in the Apocalypse of John. PTMS. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2006. McKelvey, R. J. The Millennium and the Book of Revelation. Cambridge: Lutterworth, 1999. McNicol, Allan J. The Conversion of the Nations in Revelation. LNTS 438. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2011. Metzger, Bruce M. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. 2nd ed. New York: United Bible Societies, 1994. Miller, Kevin E. “The Nuptial Eschatology of Revelation 19–22.” CBQ 60, no. 2 (1998): 301–18. Mounce, Robert H. The Book of Revelation. Rev. ed. NICNT. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997. Moyise, Steve. “Does the Lion Lie Down with the Lamb?” Pages 181–94 in Studies in the Book of Revelation. Edited by Steve Moyise. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2001. Moyise, Steve. “Intertextuality and Historical Approaches to the Use of Scripture in the New Testament.” Pages 23–32 in Reading the Bible Intertextually. Edited by Richard B. Hays, Stefan Alkier, and Leroy A. Huizenga. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2009. Moyise, Steve. “The Psalms in the Book of Revelation.” Pages 231–46 in The Psalms in the New Testament. Edited by Steve Moyise and M. J. J. Menken. London: T&T Clark, 2004. Moyise, Steve. “Singing the Song of Moses and the Lamb: John’s Dialogical Use of Scripture.” AUSS 42, no. 2 (2004): 347–60. Müller, Ulrich B. Die Offenbarung Des Johannes. 2nd ed. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Echter Verlag, 1995. Murray, James S. “The Urban Earthquake Imagery and Divine Judgement in John’s Apocalypse.” NovT 47, no. 2 (2005): 142–61. Nicklas, Tobias. “The Eschatological Battle According to the Book of Revelation: Perspectives on Revelation 19:11–21.” Pages 227–44 in Coping with Violence in the New Testament. Edited by Pieter De Villiers and Jan Willem van Henten. Leiden: Brill, 2012. Nicklas, Tobias. Jews and Christians? Second-Century “Christian” Perspectives on the “Parting of the Ways.” Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014. Nussbaum, Martha C. Love’s Knowledge: Essays on Philosophy and Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.

174

174

Bibliography

Nussbaum, Martha C. “Narrative Emotions: Beckett’s Genealogy of Love.” Pages 216–48 in Why Narrative? Readings in Narrative Theology. Edited by Stanley Hauerwas and L. Gregory Jones. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989. Osborne, Grant R. “Recent Trends in the Study of the Apocalypse.” Pages 473–504 in The Face of New Testament Studies: A Survey of Recent Research. Edited by Scot McNight and Grant R. Osborne. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004. Osborne, Grant R. Revelation. BECNT. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002. Oswalt, John N. The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1–39. NICOT. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986. Oswalt, John N. The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66. NICOT. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998. Ozanne, C. G. “The Language of the Apocalypse.” TynBul 16 (1965): 3–9. Pataki, András Dávid. “A Non-combat Myth in Revelation 12.” NTS 57, no. 2 (2011): 258–72. Pattemore, Stephen. The People of God in the Apocalypse: Discourse, Structure and Exegesis. SNTSMS 128. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Penley, Paul T. Review of The Revelation of John: A Narrative Commentary, by James L. Resseguie. JETS 53, no. 2 (2010): 423–5. Perry, Peter S. The Rhetoric of Digressions: Revelation 7:1–17 and 10:1–11:13 and Ancient Communication. WUNT 2. Reihe 268. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009. Peterson, Eugene H. Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination. Reprint ed. San Francisco, CA: HarperOne, 1991. Phelan, James. Experiencing Fiction: Judgments, Progressions, and the Rhetorical Theory of Narrative. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2008. Phelan, James. Living to Tell about It: A Rhetoric and Ethics of Character Narration. 1st ed. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004. Phelan, James. Narrative as Rhetoric: Technique, Audiences, Ethics, Ideology. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1996. Phelan, James. Reading People, Reading Plots: Character, Progression, and the Interpretation of Narrative. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1989. Pilgrim, Walter E. “Universalism in the Apocalypse.” WW 9, no. 3 (1989): 235–43. Pippin, Tina. Death and Desire: The Rhetoric of Gender in the Apocalypse of John. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992. Pollard, Leslie N. “The Function of ΛΟΙΠΟΣ in the Letter to Thyatira.” AUSS 46, no. 1 (2008): 45–63. Porter, Stanley E., ed. Handbook to the Exegesis of the New Testament. Boston, MA: Brill Academic, 2002. Powell, Mark Allan. What Is Narrative Criticism? Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1990. Powell, Mark Allan, Cecile G. Gray, and Melissa C. Curtis. The Bible and Modern Literary Criticism: A Critical Assessment and Annotated Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1992. Prince, Gerald. “Introduction to the Study of the Narratee.” Pages 7–25 in ReaderResponse Criticism: From Formalism to Post-Structuralism. Edited by Jane P. Tompkins. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980. Rabinowitz, Peter. Before Reading: Narrative Conventions and the Politics of Interpretation. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1987. Räisänen, Heikki. “The Clash between Christian Styles of Life in the Book of Revelation.” Pages 151–66 in Mighty Minorities? Minorities in Early Christianity—Positions and Strategies: Essays in Honour of Jacob Jervell on His 70th Birthday, 21 May 1995. Edited

175

Bibliography

175

by David Hellholm, Halvor Moxnes, and Turid Karlsen Seim. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press, 1995. Ramelli, Ilaria L. E. “Origen’s Interpretation of Violence in the Apocalypse.” Pages 46– 62 in Ancient Christian Interpretations of “Violent Texts” in the Apocalypse. SUNT 92. Edited by Joseph Verheyden, Tobias Nicklas, and Andreas Merkt. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011. Räpple, Eva Maria. The Metaphor of the City in the Apocalypse of John. New York: Peter Lang, 2004. Resseguie, James L. Narrative Criticism of the New Testament: An Introduction. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005. Resseguie, James L. The Revelation of John: A Narrative Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009. Resseguie, James L. Revelation Unsealed: A Narrative Critical Approach to John’s Apocalypse. BIS 32. Leiden: Brill, 1998. Rhoads, David, Joanna Dewey, and Donald Michie. Mark as Story: An Introduction to the Narrative of a Gospel. 3rd ed. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2012. Richardson, Brian, ed. Narrative Dynamics: Essays on Time, Plot, Closure, and Frames. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2002. Ricoeur, Paul. Time and Narrative. Vol. 1. Translated by Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer. 1st ed. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1990. Rimmon-Kenan, Shlomith. Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2002. Rissi, Mathias. The Future of the World: An Exegetical Study of Revelation 19.11–22.15. SBT 23. Naperville, IL: Allenson, 1966. Rist, Martin. “The Revelation of St. John the Divine: Introduction and Exegesis.” Pages 345–613 in The Interpreter’s Bible. Vol. 12. New York: Abingdon, 1957. Roloff, Jurgen. Revelation: A Continental Commentary. Translated by John E. Alsup. 1st Fortress ed. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1993. Root, Michael. “The Narrative Structure of Soteriology.” Pages 263–78 in Why Narrative? Readings in Narrative Theology. Edited by Stanley Hauerwas and L. Gregory Jones. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989. Rossing, Barbara R. The Choice between Two Cities: Whore, Bride, and Empire in the Apocalypse. HTS 48. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity, 1999. Rossing, Barbara R. “For the Healing of the World: Reading Revelation Ecologically.” Pages 165–82 in From Every People and Nation: The Book of Revelation in Intercultural Perspective. Edited by David Rhoads. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2005. Rowland, Christopher. “The Lamb and the Beast, the Sheep and the Goats: ‘The Mystery of Salvation’ in Revelation.” Pages 181–91 in A Vision for the Church: Studies in Early Christian Ecclesiology in Honour of J. P. M. Sweet. Edited by Markus Bockmuehl and Michael B. Thompson. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1997. Rowland, Christopher, and Ian Boxall. “Tyconius and Bede on Violent Texts in the Apocalypse.” Pages 161–79 in Ancient Christian Interpretations of “Violent Texts” in the Apocalypse. SUNT 92. Edited by Joseph Verheyden, Tobias Nicklas, and Andreas Merkt. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011. Rowe, C. Kavin. Early Narrative Christology: The Lord in the Gospel of Luke. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009. Ruiz, Jean-Pierre. Ezekiel in the Apocalypse: The Transformation of Prophetic Language in Revelation 16,17–19,10. European University Studies Series 23/376. New York: Lang, 1989.

176

176

Bibliography

Ryan, Sean Michael. Hearing at the Boundaries of Vision: Education Informing Cosmology in Revelation 9. LNTS 448. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2012. Ryle, Herbert Edward, and M. R. James. Psalms of the Pharisees: Commonly Called the Psalms of Solomon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1891. Sänger, Dieter, ed. Gottessohn und Menschensohn: Exegetische Studien zu zwei Paradigmen biblischer Intertextualität. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 2004. Satake, Akira. Die Offenbarung des Johannes. KEK 16. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008. Schmitz, Thomas A. Modern Literary Theory and Ancient Texts: An Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007. Schnabel, Eckhard. “John and the Future of the Nations.” BBR 12, no. 2 (2002): 243–71. Schökel, Luis A., and Cecilia Carniti. Salmos I: (Salmos 1–72) Traducción, Introducciones Y Comentario. 4ta ed. Estella, Navarra: Editorial Verbo Divino, 2009. Schökel, Luis A., and Cecilia Carniti. Salmos II: (Salmos 73–150) Traducción, Introducciones Y Comentario. 3ra ed. Estella, Navarra: Editorial Verbo Divino, 2002. Scholes, Robert, James Phelan, and Robert Kellogg. The Nature of Narrative: Revised and Expanded. 40th anniversary ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Seibel, James William. “Shepherd and Sheep Symbolism in Hellenistic Judaism and the New Testament.” PhD dissertation, Yale University, 1964. Shepherd Jr., William H. The Narrative Function of the Holy Spirit as a Character in LukeActs. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 1994. Smalley, Stephen S. The Revelation to John: A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Apocalypse. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005. Stamps, Dennis L. “Rhetorical and Narratological Criticism.” Pages 219–40 in Handbook to the Exegesis of the New Testament. Edited by Stanley E. Porter. Boston, MA: Brill Academic, 2002. Stark, Rodney. The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries. New York: HarperOne, 1997. Stephens, Mark B. Annihilation or Renewal? The Meaning and Function of New Creation in the Book of Revelation. WUNT 2. Reihe 307. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011. Stibbe, Mark W. G. John. RNBC. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993. Strawn, Brent A. “Why Does the Lion Disappear in Revelation 5? Leonine Imagery in Early Jewish and Christian Literatures.” JSP 17, no. 1 (2007): 37–74. Streett, Matthew J. Here Comes the Judge: Violent Pacifism in the Book of Revelation. LNTS. London and New York: T&T Clark, 2012. Stubblefield, Benjamin Steen. “The Function of the Church in Warfare in the Book of Revelation.” PhD dissertation, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2012. Sweet, J. P. M. “Maintaining the Testimony of Jesus: The Suffering of Christians in the Revelation of John.” Pages 101–17 in Suffering and Martyrdom in the New Testament: Studies Presented to G. M. Styler by the Cambridge New Testament Seminar. Edited by W. Horbury and B. McNeil. 1st ed. London: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Sweet, J. P. M. Revelation. WPC. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1979. Swete, Henry B. The Apocalypse of St. John. 3rd ed. London: Macmillan, 1909. Talbert, Charles H. The Apocalypse: A Reading of the Revelation of John. 1st ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1994. Thiselton, Anthony C. “The Future of Biblical Interpretation and Responsible Plurality in Hermeneutics,” Pages 11–28 in The Future of Biblical Interpretation: Responsible

177

Bibliography

177

Plurality in Biblical Hermeneutics. Edited by Stanley E. Porter Jr. and Matthew R. Malcolm. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press Academic, 2013. Thomas, John Christopher. The Apocalypse: A Literary and Theological Commentary. Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, 2012. Thomas, John Christopher. “New Jerusalem and the Conversion of the Nations: An Exercise in Pneumatic Discernment (Rev 21:1–22:5).” Pages 228–45 in The Spirit and Christ in the New Testament and Christian Theology: Essays in Honor of Max Turner. Edited by I. Howard Marshall, Cornelis Bennema, and Volker Rabens. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012. Thomas, Rodney Lawrence. Magical Motifs in the Book of Revelation. London and New York: T&T Clark, 2010. Thompson, Leonard L. “The Mythic Unity of the Apocalypse.” Pages 13–28 in Society of Biblical Literature 1985 Seminar Papers. Edited by Kent H. Richards. Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers 24. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1985. Thompson, Leonard L. “Ordinary Lives: John and His First Readers.” Pages 25–47 in Reading the Book of Revelation: A Resource for Students. SBLSBS 44. Edited by David L. Barr. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. Thompson, Richard P. Keeping the Church in Its Place: The Church as Narrative Character in Acts. New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2006. Trudinger, L. Paul. “Some Observations Concerning the Text of the Old Testament in the Book of Revelation.” JTS 17 (1966): 82–8. Vancil, Jack Wayland. “The Symbolism of the Shepherd in Biblical, Intertestamental, and New Testament Material.” PhD dissertation, Dropsie College, 1975. Vanhoozer, Kevin J. Is There a Meaning in This Text? The Bible, the Reader, and the Morality of Literary Knowledge. Anniversary ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998. Vanhoozer, Kevin J. “Love’s Wisdom: The Authority of Scripture’s Form and Content for Faith’s Understanding and Theological Judgment.” JRT 5 (2011): 247–75. Villiers, Pieter G. R. de. “Prime Evil and Its Many Faces in the Book of Revelation.” Neot 34, no. 1 (2000): 57–85. Villiers, Pieter G. R. de. “The Septet of Bowls in Revelation 15:1–16:21 in the Light of Its Composition.” APB 16 (2005): 196–222. Villiers, Pieter G. R. de. “Unmasking and Challenging Evil: Exegetical Perspectives on Violence in Revelation 18.” Pages 201–25 in Coping with Violence in the New Testament. Edited by Pieter De Villiers and Jan Willem van Henten. Leiden: Brill, 2012. Villiers, Pieter G. R. de, and Jan Willem van Henten, eds. Coping with Violence in the New Testament. Leiden: Brill, 2012. Vogelgesang, Jeffrey M. “The Interpretation of Ezekiel in the Book of Revelation.” PhD dissertation, Harvard University, 1985. Wallace, Daniel B. Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996. Wall, Robert W. Revelation. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1991. Walls, Andrew F. The Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1996. Walvoord, John F. The Revelation of Jesus Christ: A Commentary. Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1966. White, R. Fowler. “Reexamining the Evidence for Recapitulation in Rev 20:1–10.” WTJ 51, no. 2 (1989): 319–44. Whybray, R. N. Isaiah 40–66. NCB. London: Oliphants, 1975. Wildberger, Hans. Isaiah 1–12: A Commentary. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1991.

178

178

Bibliography

Wilhelmi, Gerhard. “Der Hirt Mit Dem Eisernen Szepter: Überlegungen zu Psalm II 9.” VT 27, no. 2 (1977): 196–204. Witherington III, Ben. Revelation. NCBC. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Wright, N. T. The New Testament and the People of God. 1st North American ed. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1992. Wright, N. T. “Revelation and Christian Hope: Political Implications of the Revelation to John.” Pages 105–24 in Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation. Edited by Richard B. Hays and Stefan Alkier. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012. Yarbrough, Robert W. 1–3 John. BECNT. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.

179

INDEX OF AUTHORS Abir, P. A. 5, 96, 127 Abrams, M. H. 41 Alkier, S. 87 Allen, L. C. 55 Allison, D. C. 77 Alter, R. 35, 38, 39, 40, 43 Altes, L. K. 42 Andersen, F. I. 55 Anderson, J. C. 90 Ascough, R. S. 4 Aune, D. E. 18, 22, 28, 46, 58, 59, 68, 71, 72, 76, 77, 79, 80, 84, 88, 89, 97, 98, 101, 102, 113, 118, 120, 124, 128, 129, 130 Bakhtin, M. 36 Bal, M. 30, 33, 40 Barr, D. L. 3, 11, 23, 27, 28, 132, 151 Bauckham, R. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 22, 28, 29, 72, 73, 74, 76, 79, 80, 88, 98, 99, 103, 104, 114, 125, 131, 145, 150, 152, 158 Baxter, W. 46, 47, 49, 50, 64, 138, 147 Beale, G. K. 4, 6, 10, 12, 46, 57, 74, 76, 77, 79, 80, 82, 88, 95, 98, 99, 101, 102, 103, 111, 112, 115, 117, 118, 120, 124, 128, 152, 154, 158, 160 Beasley-Murray, G. R. 18, 97, 158 Beckwith, I. T. 19, 80 Bennema, C. 3, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38 Black, M. 59 Blevins, J. 3 Block, D. I. 77 Blount, B. K. 46, 88, 110, 117 Bøe, S. 120, 124 Booth, W. C. 42 Boring, M. E. 2, 21, 22, 28, 29, 119 Bourquin, Y. 39 Bousset, W. 18, 19 Bowman, J. W. 3 Boxall, I. 153 Bredin, M. 122 Brooks, P. 40

Brownlee, W. H. 68 Buchanan, G. W. 19, 62 Caird, G. B. 8, 17, 60, 72, 80, 97, 118, 119, 131, 151, 159 Callahan, A. D. 58 Carniti, C. 22 Chae, Y. S. 46, 47, 49, 51, 138 Charles, R. H. 17, 19, 46, 56, 57, 59, 60, 61 63, 72, 77, 79, 98, 115, 118, 158 Chatman, S. 35, 40 Chilton, D. 57 Clark, D. J. 55 Collins, J. J. 30 Cotterell, P. 46 Craigie, P. C. 60, 90 Curtis, M. C. 39 Davies, W. D. 77 DeClaissé-Walford, N. L. 154, 158 Dewey, J. 39 Draper, J. A. 74 Duff, P. B. 111 Edwards, J. R. 156 Erwin, J. W. 43 Ewen, Y. 38 Fee, G. D. 23, 65 Fekkes, J. 8, 128 Fiorenza, E. S. 23, 29, 80, 87, 100 Fishbane, M. 40 Fisher, T. W. 2 Forster, E. M. 36, 39 Foulkes, R. 23 Freedman, D. N. 55 Friesen, S. J. 4, 93 Frilingos, C. A. 149 Frye, N. 36 Garnsey, P. 67 Garrow, A. J. P. 3, 12, 28, 89

180

180

Index of Authors

Genette, G. 40, 43 Giblin, C. H. 120 Gill, C. 39 Gonzales, A. R. 3 Gonzalez, J. L. 109 Gorman, M. J. 3, 28, 71, 118 Gourgues, M. 120 Gray, C. G. 39 Gundry, R. H. 7, 127 Harland, P. A. 4 Harpham, G. G. 41 Harrington, W. J. 46, 62, 122 Hatch, E. 76 Hauerwas, S. 30, 32 Hays, R. B. 28, 31, 74, 118 Hemer, C. J. 4, 45, 46, 55, 57, 58, 59, 68, 105 Henten, J. W. van. 84 Herms, R. 1, 12, 20, 21, 28, 40, 107, 116, 127, 143, 152 Hernández, J. 103 Hochman, B. 33, 35, 38 Hoekema, A. A. 120 Hoffmann, M. R. 121 Holladay, W. L. 54 Homcy, S. L. 81 Huber, K. 45, 81, 153, 154 Huber, L. R. 150, 151 Humphrey, E. M. 92 Huntzinger, J. D. 47, 51 Hylen, S. E. 22, 64, 164 Jacobson, R. A. 154, 158 James, M. R. 118 Janse, S. 89, 153 Jauhiainen, M. 12, 13, 16 Jeremias, J. 97 Johnson, A. F. 7, 151 Johnson, D. E. 7 Jones, L. G. 30, 32 Kahl, W. 153 Kee, H. C. 63 Kellogg, R. 30, 31, 36, 37, 40, 139 Kiddle, M. 6, 12, 80, 107 Kirby, D. J. 3, 36, 37, 90 Klassen, W. 60, 161 Kloppenborg, J. S. 4 Klund, R. W. 3

Koester, C. R. 3, 14, 19, 22, 35, 68, 72, 75, 79, 88, 93, 94, 97, 98, 104, 108, 109, 113, 114, 115, 116, 119, 120, 125, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 141, 146, 153, 158 Kort, W. A. 40 Köstenberger, A. J. 47, 51, 66 Ladd, G. E. 7, 77, 80, 97, 98 Laniak, T. 47 Lawrence, D. H. 106 Lee, D. 28, 123 Lévi-Strauss, C. 36 Linton, G. L. 29, 30 Lohse, E. 23 Lucas, E. 13 Lundbom, J. R. 54 Malbon, E. S. 39 Mangina, J. L. 61 Marcus, J. 139 Marguerat, D. 39 Mathewson, D. 20, 21, 22, 79, 108, 120, 153 Mayo, P. L. 73 McKelvey, R. J. 120 McNicol, A. J. 1, 5, 12, 15, 16, 17, 20, 46, 58 59, 62, 64, 80, 88, 103, 107, 115, 143, 158 Metzger, B. M. 72, 101, 164 Michie, D. 39 Miller, K. E. 152 Mounce, R. H. 18, 19, 57, 80, 97, 98, 158 Moyise, S. 46, 58, 60, 64, 102, 103, 130, 153, 162 Müller, U. B. 7, 58, 59 Mundhenk, N. 55 Murray, J. S. 105 Niklas, T. 115, 162 Nussbaum, M. 31, 32, 33, 42 Osborne, G. R. 3, 4, 7, 10, 19, 46, 57, 59, 61, 77, 79, 80, 84, 89, 90, 95, 97, 108, 109, 113, 115, 116, 118, 127, 128, 143, 151, 153, 154, 158 Oswalt, J. N. 117 Ozanne, C. G. 46, 57 Pataki, D. 88 Pattemore, S. 5, 144, 158, 163

181

Index of Authors Penley, P. T. 27 Perry, P. S. 78 Peterson, E. H. 145 Phelan, J. 30, 31, 36, 37, 40, 41, 42, 43, 72, 73, 139, 156, 164 Pilgrim, W. E. 17, 143 Pippin, T. 100, 160 Pollard, L. N. 45 Powell, M. A. 39 Prince, G. 42 Rabinowitz, P. 138 Räisänen, H. 8, 65 Ramelli, L. E. 19 Räpple, E. M. 129 Redpath, H. A. 76 Resseguie, J. L. 3, 7, 28, 35, 39, 41, 77, 78, 80, 96, 151, 156 Rhoads, D. 39 Ricoeur, P. 150 Rimmon-Kenan, S. 137, 138, 139 Rissi, M. 7, 9, 10, 11, 17, 20 Rist, M. 37 Roloff, J. 23, 97, 115 Rossing, B. R. 109, 127, 143 Rowe, C. K. 137, 163 Rowland, C. 9, 27, 153 Ruiz, J. P. 6, 127 Ryan, S. M. 5 Ryle, H. E. 118 Saller, R. 67 Satake, A. 46, 58, 80, 98 Schnabel, E. 6, 8, 12, 76, 77, 103, 107 Schökel, L. A. 22, 154, 155 Scholes, R. 30, 31, 36, 37, 40, 139 Schmitz, T. A. 35, 40 Seibel, J. W. 46, 47, 49, 63 Shepherd Jr., W. H. 33, 34, 35, 36, 38 Smalley, S. S. 62, 74, 89, 90, 102, 110, 120, 138 Stamps, D. L. 27

181

Stark, R. 4 Stephens, M. B. 129, 130, 131 Stibbe, M. W. G. 40 Strawn, B. A. 46 Streett, M. J. 103, 145 Stubblefield, B. S. 2 Sweet, J. P. M. 17, 46, 59, 60, 71, 79, 80, 97, 98, 100, 118, 122, 149, 159 Swete, H. B. 17, 159 Talbert, C. H. 68, 97, 124, 156 Tanner, B. L. 154, 158 Thiselton, A. C. 43 Thomas, J. C. 3, 5, 14, 22, 98, 122 Thomas, R. L. 113 Thompson, L. L. 94, 151, 160 Thompson, R. P. 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 137 Trudinger, L. P. 46, 57, 58, 59 Turner, M. 46 Vancil, J. W. 46, 47, 48, 49, 54, 67 Vanhoozer, K. J. 42, 150 Villiers, P. G. R. de. 84, 98, 112, 113, 123 Vogelgesang, J. 7, 10, 11, 20, 143 Wallace, D. B. 96 Walls, A. F. 144 Walvoord, J. 15, 57 Wildberger, H. 64 White, H. 36 White, R. F. 120 Whybray, R. N. 117 Wilhelmi, G. 56, 146 Witherington, B. 115 Wittman, D. 155 Wright, N. T. 87, 110, 146, 157, 158 Wright, R. B. 160 Yarbro Collins, A. 23, 29, 65, 73, 80, 119, 160, 161, 162, 163 Yarbrough, R. W. 148

182

183

INDEX OF REFERENCES Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Genesis 30:31 30:36 37:2 37:13 37:33 44:28 49:27

52 52 52 52 138 138 138

2:1 2:1–3 2:1–5 2:2 2:3 2:4–6 2:7–9 2:7 2:8 2:9

Exodus 2:16 3:1 15 19:6

52 52 102 71

Deuteronomy 32

102

1 Samuel 16:11 17:34 25 25:3 25:16

52 52 43 43 52

2 Samuel 5:2 7:7

52 52

1 Chronicles 11:2 17:6

52 52

Job 5:17–18

142

2:10–12 23 23:1 23:1–2 23:4 27:9 36:3 45 47:15 48:14 48:15 LXX 49:12 49:14 56:13 77:71 77:72 79:2 86:8–10 89:27 94:10 94:12 97:11 149

45, 60, 61, 78, 81, 89, 118, 146, 153, 154, 155,158

Proverbs 6:16 9:12

Psalms 2

81, 112, 130 154 155 154 155 154 154 154 49, 60, 122, 145, 154, 165 49, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, 62, 63, 64, 88, 90, 107, 118, 146, 150,153 154 74,165 52 61 146 55 63 52 52 154 52 59 53 48 48 52 128 52 52 52 102 45 154 142 142 128 155

60 52 53

184

184

Index of References

22:11 26:10 28:7 29:3

52 60 52 53 52 53

Ecclesiastes 12:11

48 50

Song of Solomon 1:7 1:8 2:16 6:2 6:3

52 52 52 52 52

Isaiah 2:1–5 2:2–4 2:2–5 11 11:3–5 11:4 40:11 44:28 49:1–7 49:2 49:6 56 56:1–8 56:6–8 60 60:1–16 60:1–22 61:5 66 66:18–23

10 18 21 118 117 116, 117 118 52 48 117 116 117 16 16 18 16 129 21 16 52 16 16

Jeremiah 3:15 6 6:3 6:18 10:10 18:1–11 19 19:11 22:22 23:2 23:4

52 54 52, 54, 57 59 62 52 101 60 59 60 52 53 52 61 52

Ezekiel 2–3 2:3 2:4 2:6 2:6–8 2:8 2:10 3:6 3:7 3:18 3:21 3:27 4:7 6:2 11:4 13:2 13:16 13:17 21:2 21:7 25:2 28:21 29:2 34 34–37 34:2 34:23 34:10 35:2 36:1 36:6 37:4 37:9 38–39 38:2 39:1 47:8–12 47:12

76 76 76 76 76 76 76 76 76 76 76 77 76 76 76 76 76 76 76 76 76 76 76 76 48 49 50 49 76 52 52 61 76 76 76 76 76 21 76 76 130 18 130

Daniel 7 7:9–14 7:14 7:22 7:26–27

13 13 13 13 13

Hosea 6:1 13:5

138 52

185

Index of References Amos 9:12

185

14:27

49 117

Luke 9:39 10:17–24 10:21 17:7 22:49 22:50

59 92 33 52 117 117

John 4:42 6 7 10 10:16 12 18:37 21:16

149 35 35 50 66, 151 157 35 149 52

Acts 5:3 5:9 7:24 12:7 12:23 17:30 20:28 26:17 26:18

33 33 117 117 117 148 52 147 147

Romans 5:8 11:13 15:11

77 5 5

1 Corinthians 4:21 9:7 15:24–26

63 52 125

Ephesians 2:11 3:1

5 5

1 Timothy 1:17

101

1Peter 3:1–4

100

18

Micah 5:4 5:4–6 5:5 5:6 7:14

52, 54, 55 147 55 55 52, 54, 55, 56, 57 59 61 52, 54, 55 147

Zechariah 9–14 11:4 11:7 11:9 11:17 13:7 14 14:1–21 14:16–19

48 52 52 52 52 61 49 16 16 21

New Testament Matthew 2 2:1–16 2:6 3:5–9 8–9 8:16 8:28–32 9:32–36 9:36 10:1 10:8 10:18 15:24 21:43–46 23:37–39 25 25:31–46 26:31 26:51 28:18–20

50 51 50 52 51 50 51 51 51 51 51 51 51 76 77 48 51 51 50 66 117 117 77

Mark 6:34 6:35–44 8:32 13:9

50 147 139 76 77

186

186

Index of References

5:2

52

1 John 2:2 3:8 4:14

148 156 148 149

Jude 1:12

52 53

Revelation 1 1–3 1–10 1–11 1–20 1:1 1:1–20:3 1:4 1:5 1:5–6 1:6 1:7 1:9 1:13 1:16 1:19 1:20 2–3

2:1 2:2 2:5 2:6 2:7 2:9 2:11 2:13 2:14 2:15 2:16 2:17 2:18 2:18–29 2:20 2:20–21 2:20–23 2:21

120 67 68 140 85 7, 8, 20, 23 157 1 13 61 17 1, 4, 11, 72 75 93 45, 106, 118 154 67 64, 71, 72, 80, 154 158 22 132 1, 71, 78 158 152 158 151 28 4, 14, 61, 66, 67, 68, 75, 76, 87, 96, 105, 108, 142, 144, 151, 152 157 75, 128 152 65 66 75 117 65 81 65 81, 123 126 4 75 96 65 75, 117, 119 158 81 65 91 45 64, 65, 75, 94, 111, 112, 139, 146 159 99 159 100 65 75

2:21–22 2:22 2:23 2:26 2:26–27

2:26–28 2:27

2:27–28 2:28 3:3 3:4 3:5 3:7 3:9 3:10 3:12 3:14 3:18 3:19 3:21 4–5 4–11 4–22 4:1–22:9 4:2 4:3 4:4 4:8 4:9 4:9–10 4:10 4:11 5 5:1 5:2 5:6 5:7 5:8 5:9–10

65 117 75 45 66 69 45, 67, 81, 93, 107, 126, 142 161 5, 35, 45, 61, 101, 102, 111, 138, 140, 151, 158 163 100 154 5, 46, 49, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 73, 74, 81, 82, 84, 85, 90, 91, 92, 100, 121, 123, 134, 138, 139, 141, 142, 146, 147, 149, 150, 151, 153 163 45 63 154 75 117 100, 128 148 81 154 146 69 66 96 98 81, 95 123 146 75 69, 75, 117, 122, 134 142 81, 91 154 71 93 87 106 2, 108 144 163 98 110 22, 98 110 98 152 80, 98, 110 129 152 75, 98 110 80 129 71 98 110 71 71, 74, 75 163 98 110 83 72

187

5:9

5:10 5:12 5:13 5:14 6 73 6:1 6:1–8 6:2 6:4 6:5 6:8 6:9 6:10 6:11 6:12–17 6:14 6:15 6:16 7 7:1–3 7:1–17 7:2 7:3 7:4 7:4–8 7:9

7:9–17 7:10 7:11 7:12 7:14 7:15 7:15–17 7:17

8–9 8:3 8:4 8:13 9

Index of References

187

9:1 9:1–3 9:3 9:4 9:5 9:17 9:20 9:20–21 9:21 10 10–11 10:7 10:11

67 83 67 75 83 67 98 75 128 81, 99, 113 117 75 99 78 76, 77, 78 83 84 83 6, 73, 75, 76, 77, 78, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 90, 102, 139, 140, 141 142 13, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, 91, 96, 102, 104, 106, 116, 117, 130, 139, 140, 155, 160 161 84 13 79 88 76, 77, 79, 87 130 35, 67, 79, 81, 82, 85, 91, 92, 103, 122, 128, 130, 131, 134, 139, 140, 142, 145, 148, 152 161 81 4 102 79 83 12, 13 28 79 79, 80, 82, 83 158 83 104 117 79, 81, 82, 96 126 80 83 91 35, 81, 82, 83, 85, 91, 92, 130, 134, 139, 140, 142 145 108 83, 95 96 98 81 82 80 7, 12, 13, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85 104 13, 80 155 152 98 4

6, 13, 14, 72 71, 76, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 90, 91, 104, 118, 139, 140, 141 142 71, 72 158 71, 80 129 22, 73, 80, 98, 110 129 75 102 160 73 67 81 98 67 98 98 67 98 4 79 75, 78, 83, 95, 96, 98, 103, 111 146 14 73 19 78 98 110 14 74 78 73 14 67 95 83 95 73 28 6, 13, 14, 16, 28, 73, 76, 78, 82, 83, 84, 85, 90, 91, 104, 139, 140, 141 142 74, 152 153 98 110 75 80 129 82, 114, 126, 133, 141 147 98 110 146, 147 152 50, 52, 57, 58, 61, 74, 84, 92, 121, 133, 146, 147, 152, 163 165 75 83 83 75, 83, 96, 98, 99 144 5

11

11–22 11:1–2 11:1–13 11:2

11:2–18 11:3 11:3–6 11:3–13 11:5 11:5–6 11:6 11:7 11:8 11:9

11:9–10 11:10 11:11 11:11–12 11:11–13 11:13 11:15 11:15–18 11:16 11:7

188

188 11:10 11:18

12 12–13 12–14 12–16 12–19 12–20 12–22 12:1 12:1–2 12:1–4 12:1–6 12:1–17 12:1–13:8 12:4 12:5

12:6 12:7–12 12:7–17 12:9 12:10 12:11 12:12 12:13–17 12:17 13 13–20 13:1–14:5 13:2 13:4 13:5 13:6 13:6–7 13:7

13:7–10

Index of References 82 95 35, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 91, 92, 102, 103, 107, 112, 122, 126, 130, 134, 139, 140, 141, 142, 145, 155, 160 163 87, 91, 92 106 87, 95, 96, 98, 102, 106, 107, 155 161 89 101 87, 106, 108 140 116 124, 142 155 78 28 91 89 152 91 88 89 91 91 92 89 88 5, 35, 46, 52, 53, 54, 57, 58, 62, 63, 68, 74, 88, 89, 90, 92, 97, 101, 107, 108, 116, 121, 123, 139, 140, 141, 142, 146, 147, 149, 150, 151 153 88 89 5 88 92, 94, 112, 120 139 90 94 4, 79, 81, 92, 97, 126, 144 158 91, 94, 95, 131 142 88 4, 91, 107, 134 160 92, 93, 95, 97 119 91 99 67 120 67, 93, 95 112 67 102 105 93 35, 67, 81, 93, 96, 97, 98, 100, 101, 107, 108, 126, 139, 140, 142, 143, 147 159 125

13:8 13:9–10 13:10 13:11 13:11–17 13:11–18 13:12 13:13 13:14 13:15 13:16 13:16–17 13:17 14 14:1 14:1–5 14:4 14:6 14:6–7 14:7 14:8

14:9 14:9–11 14:10 14:13 14:14 14:14–16 14:15 14:16 14:19 15:1–16:21 15:2–4 15:3 15:3–4 15:4

15:4–5 16 16:1 16:2 16:6

95, 96, 98 144 93 93 94 107 93 94, 95, 96, 98, 144 147 101 67, 94, 95, 96, 98, 112, 139 144 67, 93 94 95 93 94 96 95 94 95 96 121 95 154 14 95 100, 149 157 97, 98, 107, 139, 140, 141 142 18 97 80, 84 97 99 35, 97, 99, 101, 105, 106, 107, 109, 111, 113, 122, 125, 128, 134, 139, 140, 142, 143 159 93 121 147 100 121 97 126 98 12 98 98 121 84 14, 103 104 101, 102, 105, 106, 116, 139, 140, 141, 142, 146 157 7, 101, 102, 160 161 6, 12, 13, 18, 22, 35, 84, 101, 102, 103, 104, 106, 107, 108, 116, 131, 132, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 145, 148, 157, 161 163 104 104 105 105 104 144 104 105

189

Index of References 16:7 16:8 16:9 16:10 16:11 16:13 16:13–14 16:14 16:15 16:17 16:17–19:10 16:19

16:21 17 17–18 17–20 17–22 17:1 17:2 17:3 17:4 17:8 17:9 17:12 17:13 17:13–14 17:15

17:15–16 17:15–18 17:16 110 17:17 17:18 18 18:1 18:2 18:3

18:4 18:7 18:9 18:9–10 18:9–19 18:11–17

106 146 67 104 80, 104, 105, 106 117 104 104, 105, 106 117 105 106 105, 119 121 105 128 105 6 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 113, 116, 122, 125, 129, 130, 134, 139, 140, 141 142 104, 105 106 109, 110 119 29, 99, 105 114 139 140 133 98, 110, 119 128 98 98, 110 119 120 95, 96, 98, 112, 144, 147 162 98 110 119 67 119 35, 98, 109, 110, 113, 119, 128, 133, 140, 142, 143, 155 163 130 110 119 67 119 119 110, 111, 113, 114, 119, 129 134 110 111 35, 99, 101, 111, 113, 122, 125, 128, 129, 134, 140, 142, 145, 159 163 114 98, 110 129 129 111 111 114 111

18:13 18:17–19 18:18 18:20 18:21 18:23

18:23–24 18:24 19 19–20 19:1 19:1–10 19:2 19:4 19:5 19:7 19:9 19:10 19:11 19:11–16 19:11–21 19:11–22:15 19:13–14 19:15

19:15–21 19:17 19:17–21 19:18 19:19 19:20 19:20–21 19:21 20

20:1–10 20:3

20:4–22:21 20:6

189 129 112 112 111 114 11 125 35, 64, 101, 112, 113, 125, 127, 130, 133, 139, 140, 142 143 113, 134 159 114 13, 29, 105, 117, 120, 121 145 21 80 119 146 98 110 84 28 80 115 146 4 132 98, 119 146 122 16, 17, 115, 121, 122 125 9 56 5, 35, 46, 49, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, 60, 63, 68, 74, 90, 101, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 121, 122, 134, 140, 141, 142, 146, 147, 149, 150, 151, 153 158 147 115 18, 118 120 98 116 98, 116, 119 121 112, 116, 122, 125 147 116 121 98, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 142, 144 158 20, 21, 23, 29, 112, 119, 120, 123, 124, 125, 126, 130, 134 139 120, 123, 124, 126 134 13, 18, 35, 64, 101, 103, 112, 116, 119, 120, 123, 124, 139, 140, 142 143 17 123 126

190

190 20:7–8 20:7–9 20:7–10 20:8

20:8–9 20:9

20:9–10 20:10 20:11 20:11–15 20:14 20:15 21–22

21:1 21:1–2 21:1–4 21:1–22:5 21:2 21:3 21:4 21:5 21:6 21:7 21:8 21:9–22:2 21:9–22:5 21:11 21:22–22:3 21:23 21:23–24 21:24 21:24–26 21:24–22:2 21:26 21:27 22 22:1 22:2

Index of References 123 18 120 13, 35, 64, 101, 103, 112, 119, 120, 121, 124, 126, 131, 139, 140, 142, 143, 155 163 131 134 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 130, 131, 134, 134, 140, 141, 142, 143, 145 165 18 13, 64, 112, 119, 124, 125, 139, 140, 142 143 98 110 10 126 11 7, 8, 10, 12, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 39, 99, 129, 140, 141 157 18 10 18 14 28 15 77 130 9, 10, 22, 98, 110 146 147 154 7, 9, 11, 20 132 18 130 132 127 22 127 101 148 35, 65, 127, 128, 131, 140, 141, 142, 145 161 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 16, 18, 19, 23, 35, 77, 104 131 122 129, 131, 140, 141 142 7, 8, 11, 15, 20, 24, 128, 131 132 78, 89 120 129 6, 13, 18, 19, 23, 35, 65, 77, 104, 129, 130, 131, 138, 140, 141, 142, 144, 147, 161 165

22:3–5 22:5 22:6 22:6–21 22:7 22:8 22:8–9 22:9 22:10 22:11 22:12 22:14 22:14–15 22:15 22:16 22:17 22:17–19 22:18 22:18–19 22:20

18 128, 133 160 146 11 132 77 132 1 132 133 133 77 7, 132 133 132 11, 18 133 133 7, 10, 11, 17, 18, 20, 113 132 11 11, 18, 133, 147, 152 157 133 77 132 132

Apocrypha/Deutero-canonical Books Tobit 13:11 13:11–17 14:5–6 14:5–7 14:6–7

18 77 20 20 77 18

Judith 8:26

52

Baruch 5:9 Psalm 151:1

128 151 52

Pseudepigrapha 1 Enoch 10:21 48:4–5 48:8–10 50 57:3 62–63 90:18–19

77 20 20 20 77 20 20

191

Index of References

191

90:28–29 90:30 90:33 90:37–38 91:14

20 20 77 20 77 77 77

17:31–34 17:34 17:40

77 118 52, 59 118

4 Ezra 2:34 6:25–28 10:27 10:39–56 12:33 13:5–11 13:12–13 13:38

164 165 20 77 20 20 18 20 77 18

Testament of Benjamin 9:2 77

Jubilees 15:26

18

(The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs)

Testament of Judah 15:3 63 Testament of Zebulun 9:8 77 Latin Works

Psalms of Solomon 17:21–25 62 17:24 59, 63 118

Tacitus Annales 15.38

119

192