Apocalyptic (Lawrence)

1. Brief Summary

• Two main examples of apocalyptic in the Bible are Daniel and Revelation. But neither is merely apocalyptic. Daniel is prophetic literature and Revelation is a prophetic epistle.
• Literary context is important. Biblical apocalyptic draws specifically on biblical images from the Old Testament (Babylon, plagues), as well as “stock” images from the wider genre (the horn, celestial bodies, etc.).
• Apocalyptic provides a schematization of history, but that scheme is not necessarily chronological. For example, each series of seven plagues in Revelation (seals, trumpets, bowls) ends with the end of the world. And yet, it would be easy to read the series as sequential. So how many times does the world end? In fact, there is a pattern in these series. History is recapitulated from different perspectives, leading to the climax of the last two chapters.
• Without going to detailed treatment of the various approaches to interpreting Revelation, we can all agree that the main point is clear. God’s people can endure present suffering because of their confidence that God wins. And they know he wins, not because of prophetic revelation, but because of what Christ has already accomplished in the past, through his death and resurrection.
• Example: Revelation 5 – the revelation of the Lion of Judah. John hears of the Lion of Judah, the one who will open the scroll and bring about God’s purposes in history. But when he turns to see the one he has heard of, he see the Lamb who was slain. Did he hear wrong? Are there in fact two different individuals? Not at all. On the contrary, what he sees explains what he heard about. Jesus is worthy to be the Lion, the one who accomplishes God’s purposes precisely because he humbled himself as the Lamb of God on the cross. Jesus is worthy of glory and honor and able to open God’s book of judgment, not merely because of his preexistent divinity, but especially because he purchased God’s people with his own blood. The cross therefore stands at the center of the revelation of the glory of God.
  2. The Genre of Revelation
     1. Apocalyptic – apokalypsis – to reveal or unveil
        1. Popular between 200 B.C. – 200 A.D.
        2. OT uses – Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, and parts of Isaiah
        3. Concerned with judgment and salvation during times of persecution and oppression rather than God’s activity within history.
        4. Emphasis on what is seen rather than what is heard (Rev. 1:19)

1. Letter – same structure as a letter, but still highly symbolic language. (1:4-7; 22:21)
2. Prophecy – what must soon take place (1:1, 3; 22:18-19; 19:10)

3. Keys to interpreting Revelation
   1. Read Revelation with humility – resist “Revelation made easy” approaches and beware of someone who claim to have absolute knowledge of every minute detail of Revelation.
   2. Try to discover the message to the original readers – What is going on in their culture and what situations are they facing. What was John trying to communicate to his audience?
   3. Do not try to discover a strict chronological map of future events – think camera angles at a sporting event. Same action, different perspectives.
   4. Take Revelation seriously, but don’t always take in a wooden literal sense – remember the genre. Take 17:9 for example – either a very large woman or seven very small mountains.
   5. Pay attention when John identifies an image – John gives clues in the text for interpretation. (1:12-20)
   6. Look to the Old Testament and historical context when interpreting images and symbols – references to the OT appear in almost 70% of Revelation’s verses.

Compare:

⁹ “As I looked, thrones were placed,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat;
his clothing was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
its wheels were burning fire.

¹³ “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. ¹⁴ And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. (Dan. 7:9, 13-14)

⁵ I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. ⁶ His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.  (Dan. 10:5-6)

⁷ Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

¹² Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴ The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, ¹⁵ his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. (Rev. 1:7, 12-15)

1. Above all, focus on the main idea and don’t press all the details – work from the big picture to the smaller details, remembering to not lose sight of the big picture.

4. Revelation 12:1-17 – the interpretive journey
   1. Step 1: Grasp the text in their town. What did the text mean to the biblical audience?
   2. Step 2: Measure the width of the river to cross. What are the differences between the biblical audience and us?
   3. Step 3: Cross the principlizing bridge. What are the theological principles in this text?
   4. Step 4: Grasp the text in our town. How should individual Christians today apply this theological principle in their lives?

Prophecy

1. A brief summary

• The basic feature – and problem – of interpretation is the promise-fulfillment dynamic. This is what divides interpreters. When, where, and how prophecy is fulfilled helps us understand its meaning.
• One important aspect of prophecy is the prophetic foreshortening of events. The prophets see the mountains on the distant horizon as a single, two-dimensional line. Once we actually get there in history and travel into those mountains, we discover that there are multiple ranges broad distances apart. This means that most, if not all, prophecies have multiple horizons of fulfillment.
• For example, in the flow of Isaiah’s narrative, the “sign of Immanuel” in Isaiah 7 is fulfilled in Isaiah 8 with Isaiah’s own son. But that is just the first range of mountains. Behind and towering over that range is the text’s ultimate fulfillment in the birth of Jesus Christ.
• Another example is found in the apocalyptic prophecy of judgment in Isaiah 24-27. This prophecy is fulfilled by the Babylonian invasion of Palestine. A second mountain range of fulfillment perhaps arrives with Rome’s destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Ultimately, in light of Revelation, we recognize that this prophecy is fulfilled at the end of the world on the last day.
• A common feature of prophecy is to use the language and images of the past in order to describe the future. Creation, garden of Eden imagery, the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, and the exodus are all used to describe future events. These provide a theological understanding of what is happening, not necessarily a literal understanding
• Not all prophecies are unconditional. The most famous example of this is Jonah preaching to Ninevah. He prophesied that in three days Ninevah would be overturned, unless the people repented. The people repented, so the prophecy was not fulfilled.
• Quite a bit of prophecy is not predictive, but descriptive (typological). For example, the New Testament understands that much of King David’s life anticipated the coming Messiah.
• As always, context is king. In the case of prophecy, the shape of the story of the Bible as a whole is crucial. We need to remember that revelation is progressive, and in the revelation of Jesus Christ, we have been given both the main point and the end of the story. This means that we have an advantage over Old Testament readers. We work from the story of the whole Bible back to the prophecy, not the other way around. As Peter assures us in 1 Peter 1:10-13, the gospel gives us clearer vision than even the Old Testament prophets had. Therefore, the New Testament determines the ultimate meaning of Old Testament prophecy, not the other way around.
  2. What Prophecy is not, primarily.
     • Less than 2 percent of OT prophecy is directly messianic
     • Less than 5 percent specifically describes the new-covenant age.
     • Less than 1 percent concerns events yet to come in our time.
     • The prophets did indeed announce the future, but it was usually the immediate future of Israel, Judah, and other nations surrounding them.
  3. What was the message?
     • You have broken the covenant; you had better repent!
     • No repentance? Then judgment!
     • Yet, there is hope beyond the judgment for a glorious, future restoration.
  4. How does prophecy function in Israel?
     • The prophets were covenant enforcement mediators.
       • Look for the simple pattern
         • An identification of Israel’s sin or of God’s love for his people
         • A prediction of curse or blessing, depending on the circumstance.
       • The prophet’s message was not their own.
         • God is the one who raised them up or called them
         • They each have their own unique style, vocabulary, and concerns, but the message is God’s
       • The prophets were God’s direct representatives.
         • They often held a kind of societal office.
       • The prophets’ message is unoriginal.
         • It flows from the Law

5. We must think Oracle as we attempt to interpret and apply the text.
6. Micah 6:6-8