The Book of Revelation 9781608995660

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The Book of REVELATION

Based on the Rewed Standard Version

The Book of REVELATION G. R. BEASLEY-MURRAY

To PAUL, ELIZABETH, STEPHEN, ANDREW in gratitude for their affection, understanding and encouragement in all my labours

Wipf and Stock Publishers 199 W 8th Ave, Suite 3 Eugene, OR 97401 The Book of Revelation, Revised Based on the Revised Standard Version By Beasley-Murray, G. R. Copyright©1981 by Beasley-Murray, G. R. ISBN 13: 978-1-60899-566-0 Publication date 4/19/2010 Previously published by Oliphants, 1981

CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS

7

BIBLIOGRAPHY

9

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF REVELATION I The Form of the Work i The Revelation as an Epistle ii The Revelation as an Apocalypse iii The Revelation as Christian Prophecy 2 The Content and Structure of the Revelation 3 The Authorship and Date of the Revelation 4 The Abiding Significance of the Revelation COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF REVELATION Prologue I : 1-8 The Call of John to Prophesy I :g-20 The Letters to the Seven Churches 2: 1-3: 22 The Vision of Heaven 4: 1-5: 14 The Judgments of the Seven Seals 6: 1-8:5 The Judgments of the Seven Trumpets 8:6-r I: 19 The Conflict between the Church and the Evil Powers 12:1-14:20

11 12 12 I4 19 29

32 38 49 50 63 70 108 129 152 191 231 248 277

The Judgments of the Seven Bowl-Cups 15: 1-16:21 The Reign and Ruin of the City of the Antichrist 17: 1-19: 10 The Revelation of Christ and of the City of God 19: I 1-22 :5 Epilogue 22: 6-21

334

INDEX OF AUTHORS

35I

INDEX OF SUBJECTS

352

5

ABB RE VIA TIONS BIBLICAL OLD TEST AMENT ( 0 T)

Gen. Exod. Lev. Num. Dt. Jos.

I Chr. Jg. 2 Chr. Ru. I Sam. Ezr. 2 Sam. Neh. I Kg. Est. 2 Kg. Job

Ps. Prov. Ee. Ca. Isa. Jer.

APOCRYPHA I Esd. Toh. 2 Esd. Jdt. (= 4 Ezra)

Lam. Ezek. Dan. Hos. JI Am.

Ac. Rom. I C. 2 c.

Ad.Est. Sir. S. 3 Ch. Bel. Wis. Bar. Sus. Man. Ep.Jer.

Gal. Eph. Phil. Col.

I Th. Tit. 2 Th. Phm. I Tim. Heb. 2 Tim. Jas

Babylonian Talmud Tractates quoted include A both Baba Bathra Sanhedrin Shabbath Tamid

7

1 Mac. 2 Mac.

(NT)

JEWISH WRITINGS

A both B.B. Sanh. Shah. Ta.

Hag. Zech. Mal.

(Apoc.)

NEW TESTAMENT

Mt. Mk Lk. Jn

Ob. Jon. Mic. Nah. Hab. Zeph.

Pet. Pet. I Jn 2Jn 1

2

3Jn Jude Rev.

BIBLIOGRAPHY i. Commentaries on the Book of Revelation Allo E. B. St. Jean, l'apocalypse (Etudes Bibliques), Paris, 1921 Behm J. Die Ojfenbarung des Johannes (Das Neue Testament Deutsch), Gottingen, 5th edn, 1949 Bousset W. Die Ojfenbarung Johannes (Kommentar begrilndet von H. A. W. Meyer) Gottingen, 9th edn, 1906 Caird G. B. The Revelation of St. John the Divine (Black's New Testament Commentaries), London, 1966 Cerfaux L. and Gambier J., L'apocalypse de St. Jean lue awe chretiens, Paris, 1955 Charles R. H. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John (International Critical Commentary), Edinburgh, 2 vols, 1920 Farrer A. M. The Revelation of St. John the Divine, Oxford, 1g64 Glasson T. F. The Revelation ofJohn (The Cambridge Bible Commentary), Cambridge, 1965 Hendriksen W. More than Conquerors. An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1939 Hobbs H. H. The Cosmic Drama. An Exposition of the Book of Revelation, Waco, Texas, 1971 Hort F. J. A., The Apocalypse of St. John I-III, London, 19o8 Kepler T. S. The Book of Revelation, New York, 1957 Kiddle M. The Revelation of St. John (The Moffat New Testament Commentary), London, 1940 Ladd G. E. A Commentary on the Revelation of John, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1972 Lilje H. The Last Book of the Bible, Philadelphia, 1957 Lohmeyer E. Die Ojfenbarung des Johannes (Handbuch zum Neuen Testament), Tiibingen, 2nd edn, 1953 Lohse E. Die Offenbarung des Johannes (Das Neue Testament Deutsch), Gottingen, 1960 Moffatt J. The Revelation of St. John the Divine (The Expositor's Greek Testament), London, 1910 Morris L. The Revelation of St. John (Tyndale Commentaries), London, 1969 Newbolt M. R. The Book of Unveiling. A Study of the Revelation of St. John, London, 1952 Peake A. S. The Revelation of John, London, 1920 Preston R. H. and Hanson A. T. The Revelation of St. John the Divine (The Torch Bible Commentaries), London, 1949 Schlatter A. Die Briefi und die Ojfenbarung des Johannes (Erlliuterungen zum Neuen Testament), Stuttgart, 1938 Scott C. A. A. Revelation (The Century Bible), Edinburgh, 1go2 9

BIBLIOGRAPHY

IO

Swete H.B. The Apocalypse of St. John London, 3rd edn, 1909 Zahn T. Die Ojfenbarung des Johannes (Kommentar zum Neuen Testament, herausg. v. T. Zahn), Leipzig, Erlangen, 2 vols, 1924 u. Other Literature Barclay W. Letters to the Seven Churches, London, 1957 Bietenhard W. Das tausendjiihrige Reich, Ziirich, 1955 Burkitt F. C. Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, Oxford, 1914 Bousset W. The Antichrist Legend, London, l 896 Farrer A. M. A Rebirth of Images, London, 1949 Feuillet A. L' Apocalypse: l'itat de la question, Paris, 1963 Gunkel H. Schiipfung und Chaos in Ur;:,eit und End;:,eit, Gottingen, 1895 Holtz T. Die Christologie der Apokalypse des Johannes, Berlin, 1962 Leonertz R. J. The Apocalypse of Saint John, London, l 94 7 Niles D. T. As Seeing the Invisible, London, 1962 Oman J. The Book of Revelation, Cambridge, 1923 Porter F. C. The Messages of the Apocalyptical Writers, London, 1905 Prigent P. Apocalypse r 2: Histoire de l'exlgese (Beitrage zur Geschichte der Biblischen Exegese), Tiibingen, 1959 Ramsay W. M. The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, London, 1904 Rissi M. Time and History, A Study on the Revelation, Richmond, Virginia, 1966 The Future of the World. An Exegetical Study of Revelation 19: 11-22: 15 (Studies in Biblical Theology, 2nd series), London, 1972 Rowley H. H. The Relevance of Apocalyptic, London, 2nd edn, 1947 Satake A. Die Gemeindeordnung in der Johannesapokalypse (Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament), NeukirchenVluyn, 1966 Scott E. F. The Book of Revelation, London, 1939 Shepherd M. H. The Paschal Liturgy and the Apocalypse (Ecumenical Studies in Worship), London, 1960 Stauffer E. Christ and the Caesars, London, 1955 Torrance T. The Apocalypse Today, London, 1960 Welch A. Visions of the End. A Study in Daniel and Revelation, London, 1922 Charles R. H. The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, 2 vols, Oxford, 1913 Kittel G. and Friedrich G. (ed.) Theologisches Worterbuch ;:,um Neuen Testament, Stuttgart, 1933, E. T. Grand Rapids 1964 (cited as TWNT) Strack H. L. and Billerbeck P. Kommentar ;:,um Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch, 5 vols, Miinchen, 1922-8 (cited as StrackBillerbeck)

INTRODUCTION to The Book of Revelation

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF REVELATION I. THE FORM OF THE WORK

The unique place which the Book of Revelation occupies in the Bible and in Christian tradition has led many to look upon it as though it has no counterpart in literature by which it may be judged, or from which guide-lines can be supplied. This assumption has encouraged an undisciplined freedom in the elucidation of the book such as would be inadmissible in other types of literature, and it has made possible that chaotic diversity of interpretation for which the book is notorious. The unique character of the work is indisputable, but it is a mistake to consider it to be without analogy. Within the first five verses of the prologue John employs three different categories of composition in referring to his work. The first word he pens is the term 'revelation', the Greek word for which is apocalypsis, and this self-description of the book has given the name to the whole class of writings with which it is most closely related, namely the 'apocalypses'. In verse 3 John speaks of his work as a 'prophecy', and in verse 4 he proceeds as though he were writing an 'epistle', or letter of instruction (cf. also v. 11). John's book takes its unusual character from its combination in a unique fashion of all three of these forms. To relate the work to them will help us to grasp its message in the way John wished it to be understood.

i. The Revelation as an Epistle The letter as a form of instruction became established in Greek literature before Christian times. Its popularity as a form of treatise was aided through the rise of a multiplicity of centres of learning in the Greek-speaking world, by which the virtual monopoly of scholarship formerly enjoyed by Athens was ended. The letters of counsel written by Aristotle to Alexander the Great and to Themison king of Cyprus were well known, and Epicurus wrote letters of instruction to his followers. Accordingly we find letters used in a similar way by philosophers, moralists, scientists, physicians, and even comedians. It is not surprising that Christian leaders adopted this mode of instruction from the earliest times of 12

13

INTRODUCTION

the Church. The New Testament letters were intended to be read during services of worship (cf. Col. 4 : I 6). The same is true of the Book of Revelation, as is evident from its introduction (I : 3) and conclusion (22: 6ff.), the letters to the seven churches (chs. 2-3), the hymns and songs scattered through the book, and the nature of the work as a whole. An important corollary of this feature of the work is the relation which the book was intended to have to a group of Christian people in a known area of the world at a particular time in history. Nothing could be further from John's mind than the statement which occurs in the opening paragraph of the Book of Enoch, that what the prophet saw was 'not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come'. The situation and the needs of the churches in proconsular Asia were as truly in John's mind while he wrote as, say, the situation of the nearby churches of Galatia was present in Paul's mind and spurred him to write to them in the manner that he did a generation or so earlier. The circumstances of John's contemporaries naturally did not create John's theology ofjudgment and redemption, any more than those of the Galatian churches gave rise to Paul's gospel. But just as Paul was compelled to adapt his message to the needs of the Galatians, so John was constrained to adapt the Christian hope to the situation which was developing in Asia Minor. Whatever the precise date of the book, it is evident that the clouds of persecution were darkening the churches' sky in the writer's time. For him it was apparent that to be a Christian was to share in 'the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance' which is the lot of those who live in the fellowship of Jesus (1 : 9). He himself was suffering exile, presumably for no other reason than his activity as a leader of Christian churches. There are hints in the letters to the seven churches that similar difficulties were being experienced in at least some of the churches (e.g., 2: IO, I3), and the whole book is written in the conviction that such persecution would become universal. From various passages (above all, ch. I3) it would appear that the current adulation of the Roman emperor was assuming serious proportions in Asia Minor. For John this foreshadowed the movement of the Antichrist, of which prophecy, ancient and modern, spoke. He therefore wrote to the churches for whom he had special responsibility, warning them of the gravity of the issues, and drawing out in accordance with the teaching of

REVELATION

biblical prophecy the ultimate consequences of what was beginning to come to pass. This message was for his friends in the seven churches and for all who would receive it. By giving it the form of a letter he lent to his appeal the highest degree of urgency and effectiveness. ii. The Revelation as an Apocalypse The heading is strictly tautologous, for apoca!,ypse means revelation. Yet it may be allowed to stand, for the term apocalypse is generally reserved for a particular class of writings, chiefly Jewish, which claimed to reveal or unveil God's purpose in history. The works so characterized found their classic representative in the book of Daniel, which was the first complete work of this order, and whose style was imitated in a succession of works produced during the two centuries before and the century after the birth ofJesus. The apocalyptic movement, as expressed in this literature, may be regarded as the child of prophecy. As in prophecy, the great theme of apocalyptic writings was the coming of the day of the Lord and the kingdom of God. But the doctrine became more systematized, even more transcendent, and reflection on the relation of that day to the processes of history led to the formulation of a kind of philosophy of history, of which the all important factor was God's sovereign purpose working towards its triumphant end despite the resistance of evil powers. Unlike prophecy, apocalyptic was literary rather than oral, composed in longer prose episodes rather than in short poetic oracles. This facilitated the habit of apocalyptic writers freely to borrow materials both from Old Testament prophetic works and from other apocalypses. This was not thought of as plagiarism; rather it was a product of their conviction that the word of the Lord would surely be fulfilled. Consequently the apocalyptists rewrote earlier prophecies, freshly combined them, and applied them to the differing situations of their times. Perhaps the most striking characteristic of these writings is their pseudonymity. Whereas prophecy was usually the direct utterance of a prophet, speaking openly on behalf of the Lord God of Israel to the writer's contemporaries, apocalyptic writings were commonly written in the name of ancient saints and heroes of Israel's history. Accordingly we find several books ascribed to

INTRODUCTION

Enoch, an Apocalypse of Abraham and a Testament of Abraham, Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the Assumption of Moses, Psalms of Solomon, an Apocalypse of E.