Revelation 12 has often been identified as the key to the whole Apocalypse. It starts off a new series of visions in the book, which ends at 15:4. 11:19 not only concludes the seven trumpets but also introduces the following vision from a literary perspective. The language of 11:19 serves elsewhere both as a thematic conclusion to the seven seals and as a literary introduction to the seven trumpets (see on 8:3-5; note “lightning and sounds and thunders” in 11:19, which also forms part of the introduction to the ch. 4 vision). Further, the mention of the opening of heaven or a temple in heaven introduces major visions in 4:1; 15:5; and 19:11.
Though the section from 12:1 to 15:4 can be divided in various ways, the best way objectively to discern its divisions is to trace the repeated introductory vision formulas such as “and I saw” or “and behold.” When this is done, seven sections or “signs” are revealed (though we subdivide these for purposes of discussion):
That seven sections can be discerned by objective means is not coincidental since other parts of the book are also divided into seven sections (seals, trumpets, and bowls), individually introduced by clear introductory formulas.
Despite the fact that ch. 12 starts a new vision, it does continue to develop the themes of the previous sections of the book. It goes into the deeper dimension of the spiritual conflict between the church and the world, which has been developed progressively in chs. 1–11. The letters speak of the pressures on Christians to compromise coming from inside and outside the church. The seals reveal that the spiritual forces of evil are unleashed against believer and unbeliever alike, in accordance with the command of the resurrected Christ. The trumpets demonstrate God’s judgment on hardened humanity. Yet in all this, sections are interspersed to show how God’s people will be protected spiritually throughout the woes.
Chs. 12–22 tell the same story as chs. 1–11, but explain in greater detail what the first chapters only introduce and imply. Ch. 12 now reveals that the devil himself is the deeper source of evil. Brief references to him have come already in 2:13; 6:8; and 9:11. The devil is the grand initiator of the trials and persecutions of the saints. He unleashes the beast and the false prophet. The harlot Babylon is also his servant. John pictures the four figures (the devil, the beast, the false prophet, and the harlot) rising in this order and then meeting their demise in the reverse order in chs. 12–20 in order to highlight the devil as the initiator, from first to last, of all resistance to God and His people. In this respect, ch. 12 can be seen as introducing the second half of the book.
But the devil is not autonomous. He and his agents can only persecute within divinely-prescribed time periods (12:6, 14; 13:5). In fact, the devil is enraged and attacks Christians, because his decisive defeat has already been set in motion by Christ’s resurrection, and his time of rage is limited by God (12:7-17). When Christians understand that behind their earthly persecutors stands the devil and his agents, they should be motivated to persevere all the more (cf. Eph. 6:12). Christ has already defeated the devil and his host through His death and resurrection (12:5, 7-12; cf. Eph. 1:19-21 with Eph. 6:10-13). In fact, the troubles of the persecuted saints occur now not because Satan is too powerful for them but because he has been decisively overthrown. The devil does all the damage he can, but he cannot prevail over the church in any ultimate way. The readers must know now that, if they compromise, they are not compromising merely with the world, but with the devil himself. This realization should shock them out of any degree of spiritual complacency.
The majority of the portrait in ch. 12 pictures the destiny of believers during the church age. In characteristic style, the story is told through repeated allusion to the OT. As will be seen, the three sections of the chapter, vv. 1-6, 7-12, and 13-17, are temporally and thematically parallel in order to tell the story over again from different perspectives. Vv. 6, 13-16, and 17 are essentially the same in that they all narrate the protection of God’s people through trial. The three segments in vv. 5, 7-9, and 10-12 describe the same victory over the devil. The first and third section form a frame around the middle, while the middle provides the central interpretation and theological underpinning of the first and third. Therefore, the main point of ch. 12 is the protection of God’s people against Satan because of Christ’s decisive victory over Satan through His death and resurrection. The purpose is to encourage the readers to persevere in their witness despite persecution.
1And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; 2and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. 3And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. 4And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. 5And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. 6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days.
1 After the temple scene of 11:19, John sees a great sign which appeared in heaven. He first sees a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Vv. 2-6 reveal that this woman is a picture of the faithful community, which existed both before and after the coming of Christ. This identification is based on the OT precedent, where sun, moon, and eleven stars metaphorically represent Jacob, his wife, and eleven of the tribes of Israel (Gen. 37:9), who bow down to Joseph, representing the twelfth tribe. Song of Solomon 6:10 was used in later Jewish literature to describe Israel in terms of the sun, the moon, and the stars, and restored Israel (which in Revelation is identified as the church) is described similarly in Isa. 60:19-20. In fact, in Isaiah a woman often represents the picture of restored Israel (e.g., 52:2; 54:1-6; 61:10; 62:1-5), and Isa. 62:3, 5 prophesies that restored Israel will be like a bride wearing a crown. The brightness of the woman’s appearance (clothed with the sun) reflects the same brightness in the face of Christ (1:16). Her glory is the reflected glory of Christ. Just as the sun, moon, and stars appear far from earth and immune from destruction by any earthly force, so also true Israel of the OT and NT epochs is ultimately indestructible on earth because ultimate identity is in heaven (mention of Michael, Israel’s heavenly representative and protector [Dan. 12:1], in vv. 7-8 points further to this). That the woman represents both the old and new covenant communities becomes even clearer in vv. 11-17, where her seed or offspring is not only Christ but also the entire community of His followers.
The crown on her head is best defined from within Revelation itself. It represents the saints’ share in Christ’s kingship and the reward which the true people of God throughout the ages receive for their victory over opposition to their faith (i.e., over persecution, temptations to compromise, and deception; so 2:10; 3:11; 4:4, 10; cf. 14:14). The stellar brightness of her appearance reflects the powerful and pure sunlight arising from God’s and Christ’s glorious image (as in 1:16; 10:1; 21:23; 22:5).
2 The woman is in labor and in pain to give birth. Catholic commentators have written an immense amount of literature arguing that the heavenly woman symbolizes Mary, the mother of Jesus. Though the mother of Jesus may be secondarily in mind, the primary focus is not on an individual but on the community of faith, within which the messianic line ultimately yielded a kingly offspring. This is evident, not only from the discussion of v. 1, but also from observing in the remainder of the chapter that the woman is persecuted, flees into the desert, and has other offspring than just the Messiah, offspring who are described as faithful Christians. The woman’s birth-pangs refer to the persecution of the covenant community and the messianic line during OT times and especially the intertestamental period leading up to Christ’s birth. The idea of persecution is expressed in the phrase in pain (literally “being tormented”), since the verb (Greek basanizō) is used in the NT of the suffering of punishment, trial, and persecution (Matt. 8:29; Mark 5:7; 6:48; Luke 8:28; 2 Pet. 2:8). The suggestion is that the woman is being tormented and suffering as she attempts to give birth, which fits with a picture of the faithful Jewish community being persecuted in the period leading up to the birth of Christ. It was a trial to continue to wait for the great deliverance which the Messiah would finally bring at His coming (cf. Luke 2:25-38). In John 16:19-22, Christ compares the grief of His disciples over His impending death to a woman about to give birth who “has sorrow” and is about to bear a child. There, in line with our view of Rev. 12:2, the disciples represent the mother, the messianic community, in the midst of which the Christ was born in resurrection, and which would later present the resurrected Christ to the world. In Rev. 12:2 it is, however, Christ’s first birth that is in mind and not this later resurrection birth.
Since the harlot of ch. 17 is symbolic of the unbelieving community, so here the contrasting figure of the righteous woman must represent the believing community. The ultimate source of John’s vision here is the prophetic word given in Gen. 3:14-16 that after Eve’s pain in childbirth, her seed would bruise the head of the serpent (see on 12:17 for an explicit allusion). The woman, representing God’s covenant people, gives birth to the One who will take back what was lost in the Garden. That the woman represents the faithful covenant community is shown also by the numerous parallels to Isaiah’s prophecies concerning Israel. According to Isa. 7:10-14, a sign will be seen as high as heaven, the virgin will be with child and bear a son. In Rev. 12:1-2, a sign appears in heaven: a woman is with child and gives birth to a son. In Isa. 26:17–27:1, Israel is likewise in labor, but fails to give birth, but the day will come when things will change (it being assumed that in that day Israel will safely give birth), and God will punish the dragon who lives in the sea (Rev. 12:1-2, 7-10). In Isa. 51:2-11, Sarah is said to have given birth to Israel in pain, and it is stated that God will one day restore Israel and in that day will pierce the dragon (Rev. 12:1-2, 7-10). See also Isa. 66:7-10 for the picture of Israel giving birth to a boy. The last three Isaiah passages relate the birth to Israel’s end-time restoration.
It is too limiting to view the woman (as do some writers) as representing only a remnant of Israelites living in trial at the last stage of history, since the following verses show that the woman symbolizes a believing community extending from before the time of Christ’s birth to at least the latter part of the first century AD (see on vv. 6, 13-17). Furthermore, in the following verses the persecution is not directed against a nation of believers and unbelievers but a pure community of faith.
3 Another sign appeared in the heaven, which was a great red dragon. The dragon is described as having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. Without exception, the imagery of the dragon is used throughout the OT to represent evil kingdoms who persecute God’s people. “Dragon” is in the OT another word for the evil sea monster which is symbolic of evil kingdoms who oppress Israel. Often, the wicked kingdom of Egypt is portrayed by this emblem. God is spoken of as defeating Pharaoh as a sea dragon at the exodus deliverance and at later points in Egypt’s history (Pss. 74:13-14; 89:10; Isa. 30:7; 51:9; Ezek. 29:3; 32:2-3; Hab. 3:8-15). At the conclusion of history, God will again defeat the Egyptian dragon (Isa. 27:1). John sees in ch. 12 a replay of the exodus pattern. That the evil spirit of Egypt resides in the dragon is also evident from the widespread influence of exodus themes elsewhere in the book, especially the plagues of trumpets and bowls and the reference to the Red Sea deliverance (15:2-4; cf. also 11:6, 8). In the typological replay of the Red Sea deliverance in 15:2-4, the beast in the sea is clearly a latter-day Egyptian foe (for the relationship of the beast to the dragon see on 12:13-17 and 13:1ff.). The dragon of 12:3 also has his home in the sea (13:1; 15:2). This is confirmed by the attribution to him of the ten horns of the fourth beast of Dan. 7:7, 24, who likewise had its origin in the sea. As is the case with the OT identifications of the dragon, the dragon of Revelation is to be identified with an evil kingdom (at least in part, first-century Rome). Yet the dragon is more than a mere metaphor for an evil kingdom. It also stands for the devil himself as the representative head of evil kingdoms, as 12:9 and 20:2, 10 will make explicit. The devil is the force behind wicked kingdoms which persecute God’s people.
As with the Lamb’s seven horns, so the number of seven heads and ten horns emphasizes completeness, but in this case, the completeness of oppressive power and its worldwide effect. The ten horns are those of Daniel’s fourth beast (Dan. 7:7, 24), and will reappear on the beast of ch. 13, showing that the devil performs his oppressive will against the church and world through his kingly representatives on earth. The red color connotes the oppressive character of the dragon, since in 17:3-6 the scarlet color of the harlot and the beast is linked directly with “the woman drunk with the blood of the saints.” Likewise, the second horse in 6:4 was red and had a sword with which people would slay one another, which included the shedding of the blood of the faithful (6:9-10). The concluding description of v. 3 is that seven diadems were on the heads of the dragon. The crowns represent the devil’s false claims of sovereign, universal authority, which is in opposition to the true “King of kings and Lord of Lords,” who also wears “many diadems” in 19:12, 19-21. The similarity between the two descriptions in Revelation 12 and 19 reveals a conscious intention to contrast them.
4 The picture of the dragon’s tail sweeping away a third of the stars of heaven is an allusion to the prophecy of Dan. 8:10, according to which the end-time enemy of God will throw some of the stars down to the earth. The stars are identified in Dan. 12:3 with God’s people, and those being oppressed in the vision of Dan. 8:10 are identified as the “holy people” in 8:24. However, in Daniel, angels represent peoples in the heavenly realm (Dan. 10:20-21; 12:1). That stars can represent Israelite saints and not only angels is apparent from Dan. 12:3, where the righteous are compared to “the brightness of the expanse of heaven … like the stars forever and ever” (for this application of Dan. 12:3 see Matt. 13:43; cf. Gen. 15:5; 22:17). Dan. 8:11 (according to Theodotion and the Old Greek, two versions of the Greek OT) interprets the falling “to the earth [of] some of the host of heaven and of the stars” and their being “trampled” in 8:10 to represent “the captivity” of Israel which will be “delivered” in the future. Hence, we can understand the meaning as follows: Israelite saints have their true identity in heaven before the divine throne, so that when they are persecuted, the angels and God Himself are also seen as being attacked.
Though Dan. 8:10 first had application with respect to Israel’s persecutor in the second century BC, Antiochus Epiphanes, it comes now to be applied by John in an escalated way to the devilish power behind Antiochus. The primary focus is on persecution of the godly community immediately before the birth of the Messiah, though in the telescoping style of the writer this could still include aspects of the OT age and the intertestamental period leading up to the time of Christ (e.g., Herod’s massacre of the infants in Bethlehem, as well as the early persecution of Christ in Luke 4:28-30). The oppression takes the form of persecution as well as attempts to deceive (as in Dan. 8:10, 22-25; 11:30-35). The portrayal of the stars in v. 4 must have a close relationship with the “twelve stars” only three verses earlier in v. 1. The falling stars must symbolize an attack on Israel, the faithful covenant community, since the twelve stars in v. 1 represent the heavenly identification of the true Israel. But the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. The intention of the dragon, the second part of the verse reveals, is not only to attack God’s people but to destroy the Messiah Himself, once the woman gives birth. Here we find a reference to all the ways in which the devil tried to tempt Jesus and to destroy Him during the time of His earthly ministry, as Jesus’ earthly lifetime is telescoped into a single phrase. At the cross it appeared that the devil finally had succeeded, but the resurrection snatched Jesus out from under the power of death wielded by the serpent.
5 That temporal telescoping is involved in v. 4 is suggested by the following verse. Now a snapshot of Christ’s entire life is given in one line — His birth, His destiny of kingship, and His incipient fulfillment of that destiny by ascending to God’s throne in heaven after the post-resurrection ministry. The NT elsewhere condenses Jesus’ life in a nearly identical way (John 13:3; 16:28; Rom. 1:3-4; 1 Tim. 3:16). The same kind of abbreviation occurs in Rev. 1:5, 17-18 and 2:8, though with a focus on Christ’s death and resurrection. Jesus is the firstborn from the dead (1:5; 2:8; Col. 1:18), and the church is His body and kin, the “rest of the seed” of the woman (cf. Rom. 8:29; Gal. 3:16, 29; cf. Heb. 2:17; 12:22-23; and see further on 12:17). The male child who is born (who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron) is the One prophesied in Ps. 2:7-9 to “rule all the nations with a rod of iron.” The context in the Psalm shows this to be a clear reference to Christ.
The destructive efforts of the dragon culminated in the cross, the very point where it appeared that he had succeeded in his evil plans. Yet something surprising happened next. Rather than being destroyed by the dragon’s attack, the child was caught up to God and to His throne. This is certainly a reference to Christ’s ascension, and probably alludes also to His resurrection. According to Rev. 2:27, it is the resurrected and ascended Christ who has received the “rod of iron” prophesied in Psalm 2. In fact, Christ is referred to as a “male son” to show that He is the fulfillment of the Psalm. The last clause about Christ’s ascent implies that the prophecy about God’s messianic Son has begun to be fulfilled. The period between Christ’s birth and ascension is skipped because He began to rule at the ascension in a more formal sense than before, which is the purpose for which He was born. Rev. 19:15 affirms that the Ps. 2:7-9 prophecy will find consummated fulfillment in Christ at the end of the age. This inaugurated fulfillment is confirmed from Rev. 2:26-28, where Christ affirms that He already has received from the Father the prophetic authority spoken of in the Psalm. The NT sees this prophecy of Christ’s kingly birth fulfilled in His resurrection and ascension (Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:2-6; 5:5). In context, this initial fulfillment means that, as in ancient times at the Red Sea, so once more the dragon has been defeated. This time, the defeat has occurred through the resurrection and ascension of Christ.
6 The woman flees from the dragon (And the woman fled into the wilderness) after the deliverance of her son. Consistent with the above identification in vv. 1-2, the woman represents the community of faith, though now it is not that of the OT epoch, but the messianic community, living in the post-resurrection age. She is now on earth, and not pictured in heaven because she represents the true people of God on earth.
The fleeing into the wilderness alludes to the time when Israel fled from Egypt into the wilderness and was protected and nourished by Yahweh (Exod. 16:32; Deut. 2:7). The same pattern of fleeing into the wilderness is observable in the case of Elijah (1 Kings 17; 19:3-8) and Moses (Exod. 2:15), who symbolize the church in 11:5-6. The parallel of v. 14 with v. 6 makes the Exodus background explicit, where the “two wings of the eagle” on which the woman is borne into the wilderness allude to God’s care of Israel after the exodus during the wilderness sojourn (see on v. 14). The woman’s fleeing to the wilderness refers to the end-time exodus or restoration, when true Israel will return in faith to the Lord and again be protected and nourished by Him in the wilderness (cf. Isa. 32:15; 35:1-10; 40:3-8; 41:17-20; 43:19-20; 51:3; Jer. 31:2; Ezek. 34:25-31). Hos. 2:15 explicitly compares the end-time wilderness expectation to “the day when she [Israel] came up from the land of Egypt.” Jesus Himself began to fulfill these end-time expectations, since He was an ideal and true Israel figure who before and during His ministry lived under the protection of the Spirit “in the wilderness” (Matt. 4:1; Mark 1:12; Luke 1:80; 4:1). He withstood the temptations of the wilderness to which Israel of old succumbed (Matt. 4:1-11 = Mark 1:12-13 = Luke 4:1-13; for other wilderness experiences of Jesus see Mark 1:35; Luke 4:42; 5:16). In 12:6, the messianic community is pictured as beginning to experience the end-time protection of God in the wilderness following the ascension of the Messiah. Though the community’s members experience tribulation in relation to the world, at the same time their covenant relationship with God is spiritually protected and nourished, as they continue to fulfill the OT promises of Israel’s restoration.
The wilderness itself does not protect, but is the invisible place where divine protection occurs. Even in the wilderness, the dragon’s oppressive efforts threaten the community of saints, but God protects them there. The nature of the protection is not physical, but God guards them from spiritual deception (see on 12:15-17). The wilderness is another image essentially identical to the sanctuary of 11:1 and the tabernacle of 13:6, since all three are attacked during the same period of one thousand two hundred and sixty days (or three and a half years), and since all three are metaphors of spiritual protection. Consequently, the woman is an equivalent picture to the two witnesses of ch. 11, since both suffer in body but are protected in spirit, by the wilderness and the sanctuary respectively. Yet even in the wilderness, the place of God’s protection, perils remain. This dual nature of the wilderness is suggested also by the OT and Revelation 17. In the OT, the desert was not only where Israel was protected from the pursuing Egyptians, but also an uninhabitable place of sin, evil, or judgment, where only fierce animals and evil spirits dwelt (e.g., Lev. 16:10; Isa. 13:20-22; 34:10-15; Jer. 9:10-12). The harlot of 17:1-9 also dwells in the wilderness (17:3). She deceives earth-dwellers (17:8) and persecutes the saints who, however, are not ultimately susceptible to her temptation. Therefore, the wilderness is the saints’ place of protection, but in the midst of a hostile world. Deut. 8:15-16 sums up the dual nature of Israel’s wilderness experience: “He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery [red?] serpents … in the wilderness He fed you manna … that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you at your end [your latter days?].” This text would have been highly charged with typological significance for John and probably lies behind his dual conception of the wilderness.
The one thousand two hundred and sixty days have been established as the time of tribulation predicted by Dan. 7:25 and 12:7, which commences at Christ’s ascension and continues until His return. Among all of John’s “three and a half years” formulas, v. 6 is the clearest in identifying the formulas’ temporal boundaries (cf. 11:2-3; 13:5). Undoubtedly here the limited age extends from the resurrection of Christ (v. 5) until His final appearance (14:14-20). We argued previously (see on 11:2-3) that the church’s three and a half years of witness during the inter-advent age was modeled after the approximate three and a half years of Christ’s earthly ministry. The forty-two months also echoes the time of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness and Elijah’s ministry of judgment (see on 11:1-3 for fuller analysis of this time period as the church age).
The word “place” (where she had a place prepared by God; cf. also v. 14), Greek topos, is synonymous elsewhere in the NT with “temple” (e.g., Matt. 24:15) and was often used in the LXX (about forty times) for the “sanctuary.” The place prepared by God is an invisible geographical area of cultic security like the temple of 11:1-2. The church at Ephesus is warned that an unrepentant spirit in the future will result in Christ removing their lampstand “out of its place (topos)” in His heavenly temple (2:5). This means that they will not have the benefit of spiritual protection provided by that temple.
The use of where (Greek hopou) to introduce the last half of v. 6 further highlights the unseen aspect of the cultic place, since that word elsewhere in Revelation always introduces symbolic realms of divine protection (see 12:14 and 14:4) or Satanic danger or presence (2:13; 11:8, 20:10; cf. 17:3 with 17:9, literally “where the woman sits”). Note the parallel between this verse, where God prepares a “place” of protection in the wilderness for believers following the death and resurrection of Christ, and John 14:2-3, where Jesus prepares a “place” (the place being His Father’s “house”) for believers, where He will again be with them following His death and resurrection (John 14:16-24; 15:26-27; 16:7, 13-16). Traditionally, we have understood this latter “place” to be heaven, but in the light of the parallel to Revelation, could it be that the “place” God prepares is simply the place of His presence, whether on earth or in heaven? Or it may be that the temple in heaven extends to earth, where believers participate in it. It is by being in the place where the Spirit is that believers are enabled to persevere and overcome temptations to compromise because of persecution (John 15:25-27; 16:1-16; 16:32-33). In this place, they are kept spiritually safe regardless of what other troubles they may suffer. Though they experience tribulation in relation to the world, at the same time their covenant relationship with God is spiritually protected and nourished.
Unlikely is the idea of some that, after v. 5 speaks of Christ’s resurrection, v. 6 skips the age of the church and jumps all the way to the time of ethnic Israel’s revival and a “Great Tribulation” directly preceding the second coming. This would mean that it is ethnic Israel and not the church that finds refuge from the dragon in the wilderness. But there is no evidence for such a time gap. Such a temporal hiatus can be read into the text only by a prior end-time scheme which an interpreter brings to the text. The natural reading is to see v. 6 following immediately in time from v. 5. The relation of the parallel sections of 12:10 to 12:11-17 bears out this reading, as does the relation of 1:5 and 1:6 (cf. also v. 9), 1:12-20 and chs. 2–3, 5:5-14 and 6:1-11, and 7:10-11 and 7:13-14. All of these parallel sections deal with aspects of the work of Christ and its immediate consequences in the life of the church, and the same is true of the relation of 12:5 to 12:6.
On the implications of the interrelationship of faithful Israel and the church. John here presents a picture of the woman giving birth to the male child, then fleeing into the wilderness. Reflect on how many parallels the commentary presents between faithful Israel and the church. Neither can be fully understood without the other. What are the implications of this interrelationship? In drawing lines of division between Israel and the church in the new covenant age do we fail to understand how the church is the heir to faithful Israel, and prophetically fulfills its role? Do we understand the corresponding lack of connection between the faithful Israel represented here, and those “who say they are Jews and are not” (Rev. 2:9; 3:9)?
On the complex nature of the wilderness. These verses speak of the wilderness, in both its OT and NT forms, as a place of complexity: it is where God protects His people, yet also a place of danger. How do we find the place of God’s presence in the midst of a hostile world? What is the nature of the safety or security He provides? What can we legitimately ask for in that respect?
7And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war, 8and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place for them in heaven. 9And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. 11And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death. 12For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”
7 John does not make the connection between vv. 1-6 and vv. 7-12 explicit, but a connection is demanded (apart from their adjacent placement) because the wording of v. 3 (“another sign appeared in heaven”) and here (and there was war in heaven) suggests that vv. 7-12 is a continuation of the vision of vv. 1-6. Vv. 7-12 explain how Michael and his angels defeated the devil (waging war with the dragon) and his angels in heavenly combat, and record actions which are the heavenly counterpart of earthly events recorded in vv. 1-6.
From John’s perspective, angels can be viewed as mediators for the church (cf. the angels in chs. 1–3 and the elders in chs. 4–5 as heavenly representatives of the church), primarily in the light of the following considerations of their representative nature as understood from Daniel. According to Daniel’s vision, Michael is the great angel appointed to represent God’s people (Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1). Michael is closely associated with the Son of man (as a subordinate helper), since both are set forth as heavenly representatives of Israel (Dan. 12:1 and 7:13-27 respectively). This is why they are identified as fighting together for Israel against the demonic rulers over Persia and Greece (nations oppressing God’s people) in Dan. 10:20-21 (cf. Dan. 10:5-21, where “one like a Son of man” is joined by Michael to fight these evil heavenly forces). John now sees Michael, representing God’s covenant community and the messianic leader of that community, fighting in heaven, even as Christ fought on earth. Michael thus stands in John’s vision beside the Son of man to fight for Him, even as he did in Daniel’s vision. As in Daniel, so in Rev. 12:7, Michael is a representative of Israel and has the same relation to the “Son of man,” Christ, as in Daniel 10. Rev. 12:1-5 has explained primarily what has occurred on earth in the person of Jesus, whereas Michael reflects Jesus’ earthly victory as His representative in the heavenly sphere.
Consequently, v. 7 explains the heavenly counterpart to Christ’s victory at the cross and resurrection. That is, Christ’s resurrection and the beginning of His rule are immediately reflected in heaven by the defeat of the devil and his hosts by Michael and his angels. Michael’s engagement in heaven was a direct, inexorable reflex action put into gear by Christ’s redemptive work on earth. It is also appropriate that Michael reflects Jesus’ earthly actions in heaven, since Jesus represents ideal Israel in His own person and Michael is Israel’s representative angel (Dan. 12:1). Michael’s actions on behalf of true Israel (which in Revelation 12 is Jesus) must be linked to Dan. 12:1, in which he is prophesied to “stand guard” in the latter-day tribulation as Israel’s heavenly representative to defend faithful Israel from the ultimate harm of the final tribulation. Michael’s prophesied representative work begins with his representation of Jesus’ victory in heaven. Michael’s later representative work on behalf of Jesus’ followers, the corporate true Israel, also merely reflects in heaven the subsequent effects of the victory that Jesus achieved for them.
Dan. 7:21 refers to the horn “making war” with the saints and being too powerful for them. An allusion to this text has already been made in 11:7 and appears again in 13:7, both referring to the attacks of the beast against the saints. The language of Dan. 7:21 is now applied to the defeat of the dragon. The “rulers” of Persia and of Greece, whom Michael fights according to Dan. 10:20, are now revealed to be Satan himself or one of his demonic angels. What better language to use to portray the devil’s defeat than that which the book of Daniel had used to speak of the devil’s victory over the saints? The reversed application of the wording “waging war” may connote a literary parody whereby the devil is mocked by having his defeat described in the same way in which his defeat of God’s people was described. Since the woman, the dragon, the serpent, the wilderness, the wings of the eagle, and other descriptions throughout ch. 12 are clearly symbolic, so also is the war of angels here. The remainder of ch. 12 elucidates the manner in which the devil was defeated by Christ’s resurrection and the meaning of the symbolism in v. 7.
8 Just as the beginning of v. 8 completes a description from Daniel of the demise of Satan begun in v. 7, the remainder of the verse adds a further sketch, again based on Daniel. An immediate consequence of the defeat of the devil and his hosts is that there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. This is based on the nearly identical wording of Dan. 2:35 (OG; “not a trace of them was found” in the Hebrew Bible), which also prophetically describes the immediate consequence of the destruction of the hostile world kingdoms in the latter days. In Daniel 2, a stone strikes a statue representing the last four kingdoms of world history. The stone is equated with the force of God’s kingdom (Dan. 2:44). Many commentators have equated the stone with the Son of man in Daniel 7, who overcomes and replaces the former oppressive regimes in the end times. Jesus saw the prophecy beginning its fulfillment in His own ministry (Luke 20:17-18). The Jews who rejected Him were identified with the ungodly nations who would be judged by Him. He was the stone of Daniel 2. Christ’s resurrection immediately unleashes the effect of Michael’s representative victory in heaven, and the Daniel 2 imagery shows this to be an absolute and universal judgment. The point of Dan. 2:35 and the allusion to it in Rev. 12:8b is that opposition to God’s kingdom and His people is decisively thwarted. Jesus’ defeat of the nations in fulfillment of Psalm 2 (cf. Rev. 12:5) is reflected in heaven by Michael’s defeat of the heavenly representatives of those nations in fulfillment of Daniel 2 (cf. Rev. 12:7). Whereas v. 8b shows that the decisive defeat has begun, the same allusion to Dan. 2:35 is repeated in 20:11 to indicate complete fulfillment of the prophecy at the end of the age and the final judgment. But if this prophesied judgment is only inaugurated, how can it be absolute and universal? The following verses will explain how this is so.
9 A further explanation is now given about what it means that “there was no longer a place found for them in heaven”: he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Even as he unjustly threw the stars onto the earth (v. 4), so now the devil suffers the same punishment (again illustrating the biblical principle of the punishment befitting the crime). The dragon is now described as the serpent of old, that is, the serpent of Gen. 3:1, 14. The ancient foe of God’s people is also called the devil and Satan, which respectively mean “slanderer” and “adversary.” According to Genesis 3, the serpent is both slanderer and deceiver. He slanders God by questioning His motives in giving His command (Gen. 3:5), and he deceives Adam and Eve by suggesting that their disobedience will have a positive consequence (Gen. 3:4-5). The remainder of ch. 12 and of the book reveals that Christ’s death and resurrection have resulted in drastically curtailing the devil’s role of deception and nullifying his role of slanderer. This curtailment and nullification is what is meant by the depiction of Michael and his angels throwing the devil and his angels out of heaven. The “place” which the devil lost was his hitherto privileged place of accusation, formerly granted him by God as a temporary privilege (see further on v. 10b).
10 John hears a loud voice in heaven making proclamation. Often in Revelation, a hymn interprets or summarizes a vision (see 4:1-7 and 4:8-10; 5:5 and 5:6-14; 14:1 and 14:2-5; 15:2 and 15:3-4). Sometimes what is seen interprets what has been heard in a preceding section (cf. 7:1-8 and 7:9-17). Therefore, the hymn of vv. 10-12 interprets vv. 7-9 to show clearly that what Michael does is a heavenly reflection of what Christ does on earth. The first three lines of the hymn are especially parallel with that in 11:15, where also the multitude of saints extol God for the establishment of the kingdom. Therefore, it would appear that the multitude of saints in heaven are those from whom the voice comes. This is confirmed from the fact that they refer, not only to our God, but also to our brethren. Normally in Revelation, angels give expressions of judgment or salvation, whereas humans offer declarations of praise.
The meaning of Christ’s ascension and the devil’s expulsion from heaven (vv. 5-9) is now explained to be the long-awaited inauguration of the prophesied messianic kingdom (not the consummation, as in 11:15): Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come. The similar ascriptions of power to God and the Lamb in 4:11 and 5:11-12 confirm that here, as in those chapters, the focus is on Christ’s resurrection, which has launched the initial stage of the kingdom. The introductory word now emphasizes the beginning aspect of fulfillment. Therefore, v. 10 is not a mere anticipation of the future kingdom, but celebrates the fact that the kingdom has begun immediately following Christ’s death and resurrection. This is the direct fulfillment of the prophecy of the beginning of the Messiah’s rule in Ps. 2:7-9 (alluded to in v. 5); the combination of God or “Lord” and His Christ, as in this verse, occurs in the OT only in Ps. 2:2. The resurrection is the turning point of all human history. It represents the moment at which the power of the enemy in heaven was crushed and his kingdom came crashing down to earth.
How in particular this happened can be seen from the declaration of the redeemed saints in v. 10b that the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down. Christ’s death and resurrection have resulted in Satan’s excommunication from heaven. Just as Satan and his hosts fell at the beginning of the first creation (Isa. 14:11-16; Ezek. 28:12-19 [possibly]; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6), so he had to fall at the start of what Scripture tells us is the second, new creation (see 1:5 and 3:14; cf. 2 Cor. 5:14-17; Gal. 6:15). Satan’s job had always been to accuse the saints (Job 1:6-11; 2:1-6; Zech. 3:1-2), and from these texts it can be concluded that the devil was permitted by God to accuse His people of sin. Implicit also in the accusations was the charge that God’s own character was corrupt. For example, Satan says to God in Job 1 that Job would not have been so faithful if God had not prospered or bribed him so much. The devil’s accusation is based on the correct presupposition that the penalty of sin necessitates a judgment of spiritual death. Until the death of Christ, it could appear that the devil had a good case, since God ushered all deceased OT saints into His saving presence without exacting the penalty of their sin, God having delayed executing just punishment for our sin (Rom. 3:25). However, the devil’s case was unjust even then, since the sins about which he was accusing and for which he wanted to punish people were instigated by his deceptions. This is why he is called both deceiver and accuser in vv. 9-10. Therefore, because of Satan’s unjust accusations and because of the Messiah’s anticipated redemptive death for His people (cf. Isaiah 53), OT saints were protected by God from the damning danger of these accusations.
Yet when Christ came, His death satisfied the anger of God against the sins of all the faithful, both those before Christ and after. He was the spotless, substitutionary Lamb who was slain and who purchased for our God by means of His blood a redeemed people from throughout the earth (so 5:6-9). The fact that the just judgment of God on human sin was visited on the sinless Christ has had the result that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1), and that no one can “bring a charge against God’s elect,” not even “angels, nor principalities … nor powers” (Rom. 8:33-34, 38). Now the devil has no basis for his accusations, and he is evicted from the heavenly courtroom and counsel of God. Jesus links the fall of Satan from heaven (Luke 10:18) with the empowering of the disciples over the work of the enemy (Luke 10:17, 19-20), and most of all with the fact that the disciples’ names are recorded in heaven (Luke 10:20). Jesus prophesied that when He was lifted up, the ruler of this world would be cast out (John 12:31). The decisive and legal defeat of Satan occurs as the kingdom of God is inaugurated on earth; the final and complete destruction of the enemy will occur when the Lord returns to establish His kingdom in its completed or fulfilled state (Rev. 19:20-21; 20:10-15).
11 Now the decisive victory of Christ on earth (vv. 5, 10) and of Michael in heaven (vv. 7-9) is identified as the basis of the victory which suffering Christians on earth win over the serpent throughout history: And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb. Specifically, the initial and may point to v. 10 as the basis for v. 11 or may denote similarly that v. 11 is a result of v. 10. V. 11 summarizes the purpose of the whole chapter and especially of vv. 7-12, which is is to assure believers who encounter Satanic evil on earth that evil has been defeated, even though it seems otherwise. Christians can be assured that the serpent begins to battle against their bodies only after he has lost the battle over their souls. This expresses one of the major themes of the book: the suffering of Christians is a sign, not of Satan’s victory, but of the saints’ victory over him because of their belief in the triumph of the cross, with which their suffering identifies them. The saints’ status in heaven has been legitimized finally by Christ’s suffering on the cross. All believers, past, present, and future, have overcome the devil and thus “follow the Lamb wherever He goes” (14:4).
They have also overcome the enemy because of the word of their testimony. Here the focus is not on OT saints but on followers of Jesus, as is apparent from the parallel phrases in the book which refer to the persecuted faithful of the NT church (so 1:9; 6:9; 19:10; 20:4). Just as both Satan’s and the world’s guilty verdict on Christ was overturned through His resurrection, so His followers have their verdict reversed in the same manner through their identification with that resurrection. The phrase they did not love their life even to death refers to any suffering for Christ up until the point of (even to) actual martyrdom. That not only martyrs are referred to is shown by the fact that the devil’s accusation comes against all believers, not just those who have laid down their lives for Christ. The parallel of 2:10 includes death, but does not necessitate that all who are imprisoned will die: “the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until [literally ‘up to the point of’] death.” All believers are participants in suffering and tribulation (1:9), and the “overcomers” of chs. 2–3 are all faithful members of the churches. Believers must be faithful “up until” the point of death — to death if necessary, but certainly to any trial of a lesser nature.
12 Apparently it is the saints who dwell in heaven who command all heavenly beings to rejoice: For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. They are to rejoice because (for this reason, alluding to the events recorded in vv. 7-11) Christ’s kingdom has been established, the enemy has lost his place in heaven as their accuser, and the saints can overcome his accusations. The command is rhetorically directed mainly to the saints themselves (those who dwell or tabernacle in the heavens; cf. 7:15; 21:3) because of the salvation which they now enjoy, though the address includes reference to all heavenly beings. While the heavens may rejoice because of the devil’s expulsion, woe is coming to the earth, for the devil’s power, though curtailed in the heavenlies, is still real in the earthly realm: Woe to the earth and sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath. The devil’s fury is expressed against Christians, as vv. 13-17 make clear. His destructive work on earth is also fueled by his great wrath over losing his position in heaven. But above all, his anger is sparked by his knowing that he has only a short time to work his destruction on earth. The expression a short time indicates an expectation of the imminent consummation of the kingdom and final defeat of Satan. First-century Christians hoped in the imminent coming of Christ, but acknowledged that only the Father knew the “day and hour” (Matt. 24:36; cf. Acts 1:7). The woe at the end of v. 12 shows that John understood that Satan had the same imminent perspective. Just as the imminent hope should motivate Christians to good works, it motivates Satan to do evil works, so that he can cause as much destruction as possible before the end comes. The short time is the same as the three and a half years of vv. 6, 14 and 11:2-3 and 13:5 and the time of the “delay” in 10:6. This identification fits well, since the three and a half years in Dan. 7:25; 12:7; Rev. 11:2; 13:5 is the period of the end-time enemy’s persecution of God’s people (see on 11:1-2), from which vv. 6 and 14 affirm that they are ultimately protected.
Hence, the short time is figurative, like the three and a half years. It probably also overlaps with or is equivalent to the “little time” of 6:11, during which deceased saints wait for the rest of the redeemed to join them in glory. The period in v. 12 is also synonymous with the “thousand years” of 20:3. That is, the deceased saints in heaven of 6:9-11 also reign triumphantly there (20:4-6) until the remainder of their brothers and sisters suffer and die and join them in their heavenly rule. This is the same time when the devil is locked in the abyss, where he cannot harm the souls of sealed saints, though he can harm their bodies through persecution (see on 20:1-6 for further discussion). Indeed, ch. 12 shows that, though the devil is “on the loose” against the church, he cannot ultimately thwart its spiritual, heavenly destiny and identification.
Because Christ’s kingdom is not yet present in its fulfilled or completed state, God’s people may physically suffer or even be killed, but because it is genuinely present in its initial or inaugurated state, their ultimate victory is assured, as much as was Christ’s when He was dying on the cross. And in the midst of our battle on earth, we now have all the resources of heaven open to us, the same resources that hurled the enemy down to earth in the first place. The resurrection is thus the decisive event which decisively won the battle in the unseen world and released the power of the kingdom into the seen world.
On the battle in the unseen world. In vv. 7-12, John presents an astounding insight into the unseen world. What light does this shed on Paul’s comment, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood … but against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12)? Christians can commit two errors, either being oblivious to the spiritual battle or being fixated on or fearful of demonic powers. How do these verses give us a balanced perspective?
On confronting the attack of the enemy by understanding God’s sovereignty. How is it true that Satan’s rampaging on earth is actually a reflection of his defeat in heaven and a portent of his ultimate doom? How can it be true that at the same time as the authority of Christ has been established in heaven, the devil is free to attack God’s people on earth with great wrath? These verses present a view of the utter sovereignty of God in all things. Even the work of the devil occurs only on terms determined by God. How critical is it that we hold to a biblical view of the sovereignty of God, given that God’s people will surely suffer during their earthly lifetimes? How do we find comfort in the fact of the establishment of God’s rule in heaven even as we face trials on earth?
13And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. 14And the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, in order that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. 16And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. 17And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
13 V. 13 picks up the story left off at v. 6, where the woman (representing the covenant community of Jesus’ followers) had fled into the wilderness, and at v. 12, where the devil had come down to the earth in great wrath. The devil, seeing his defeat (and when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth), and enraged over losing his heavenly office as a result of his inability to thwart the birth of Christ and especially His ultimate enthronement, expresses his anger by persecuting the woman who gave birth to the male child. It is clear that the woman (the church) is persecuted because of her association with the male child (Christ), who threw the devil down. Therefore, the dragon and his representatives also attack her (e.g., Matt. 5:11; 10:22; 24:9; John 15:18-21; Acts 9:4-5; 1 Pet. 4:14; Rev. 1:9; 14:13, assuming the latter verse includes reference to persecution).
14 V. 14 restates the content of v. 6 and interprets it further: And the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, in order that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time. The latter phrase is equivalent to the three and a half years or forty-two months of 11:2-3 and 13:5 or the one thousand two hundred and sixty days of 12:6, that is, the time of the church’s earthly existence. The purpose for her pilgrimage is to find protection from the threatening presence of the serpent. The image of the two wings of the great eagle has as its background Exod. 19:4 and Deut. 32:10-12, where God speaks of carrying Israel as an eagle in the wilderness, and it is undoubtedly this picture which is repeated here. The church is once again portrayed as latter-day Israel taking over the role of the old Israel, and with the spiritual wilderness representing God’s protective presence substituted for the physical wilderness of Sinai. David likewise speaks of being given the wings of a dove to flee into the wilderness and await God’s protection from his enemies (Ps. 55:1-8). But perhaps most significant as background for this verse is the prophecy of Isaiah that in the wilderness God’s people will receive wings like eagles when He comes to deliver them in the last days (Isa. 40:27-31; cf. vv. 3-11 for context). So God will strengthen and nourish the church in its exodus wanderings through the wilderness of the world. He does this by providing manna, even as He did in the wilderness of Sinai (Exod. 16:32; Deut. 8:16). John 6:31-58 affirms that the presence of Christ Himself was the beginning of fulfillment of the latter-day, promised manna (and see Rev. 2:17 for God’s promise of manna to those who overcome). V. 14 should thus be seen as portraying the escalated fulfillment of the manna expectation and of the restoration prophecies in the church, since the Isaiah restoration prophecies concerning Israel were never completely fulfilled. His presence nourishes, assures, and strengthens them in the midst of persecution and suffering in the place of His protection in the wilderness, thus causing the church to remain faithful in their testimony to Christ.
15 The devil’s persecution of the church is pictured as the serpent pouring water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. The picture is figurative, as are John’s other metaphors of weapons coming out of someone’s mouth. These figurative weapons represent words by which Christ and His agents judge sinners (1:16; 2:16; 11:5; 19:15, 21; cf. 3:16) or by which the devil and his agents deceive people (9:17-18; 16:13). V. 9 traces the first expression of this deceiving trait to the Garden of Eden by calling the devil “the serpent of old … who deceives the whole world.” This is picked up again in vv. 14-15 by the repeated references to the devil as the serpent. In the OT, “flood” speaks of an army spreading out to conquer (Dan. 11:10, 22, 26, 40), and of persecution of God’s people by enemies from whom the Lord delivers them (2 Sam. 22:5; Pss. 18:4, 16; 66:12; 69:1-2, 14-15; 124:4-5; 144:7-8; Isa. 43:2), which is the idea in mind here. In Ps. 18:4, David describes Saul’s pursuit of him explicitly as “the torrents of Belial” which assailed him. Ps. 144:7-8, 11 is noteworthy because it is a prayer that God would deliver David “out of great waters,” which is a picture of those who speak “deceit and … falsehood.” Likewise, “a flood of great waters” in Ps. 32:6 refers to a threat of persecution by the ungodly.
The devil attempts to destroy the church from within (using deception) and without (using persecution). Just as the serpent deceived the first woman with words, so he attempts to deceive the latter-day woman with a flood of words (cf. 2 Cor. 11:3). Satanic agents in the form of false teachers, compromisers, and demons infiltrate the church in order to deceive her and to contribute to her demise (2:14-16, 20-22; 3:15-17; Rom. 16:17-20; 2 Cor. 11:3-4, 13-15; 1 Tim. 4:1; 5:15; 2 Tim. 2:23-26). Chs. 2–3 reveal that the churches to which John was writing had already begun to experience the devil’s flood of deception (2:2, 14, 20), false accusations (2:9; 3:9), temptations, and persecution (2:10, 13). It is beyond coincidence that wherever chs. 2–3 mention these problems, the devil’s “synagogue” (2:9; 3:9), “throne” (2:13), or “deep things” (2:24) is mentioned.
The waters of v. 15 allude to at least three OT backgrounds: the Red Sea, which was a barrier to the safety of the children of Israel, the waters standing in the way of His people’s return to Zion which Isaiah prophesies in the last days God will again dry up or cause to be blocked (Isa. 42:15; 43:2; 44:27), and the flood associated with the end-time attack on God’s people in Dan. 9:26. John’s allusion to both the exodus and to Dan. 9:26 would be in line with his preceding allusions, which have combined the same two backgrounds (see on 11:2, 6, especially on the “forty-two months” and its background in the exodus and Daniel).
16 The swallowing of the flood by the earth is a further allusion to the Exodus and Israel’s wilderness experience. The earth swallows the flood (the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth). The flood swallowed Pharaoh and his armies (Exod. 15:12; the Aramaic Bible [Palestinian Targum] expands on the Hebrew of this verse and repeats that “the earth opened her mouth and consumed them”). And later the earth swallowed the families of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, who were in rebellion against Moses (Num. 16:31-32). In both OT instances, God caused the earth to open and swallow that which opposed the establishment and welfare of His people. Interestingly, both Isaiah and the Psalms say that God defeated the evil dragon when He divided the Red Sea to allow Israel through, but closed it again over Egypt (Ps. 74:13-14 [where Leviathan represents Pharaoh]; Isa. 51:9-10), and Ezek. 29:3 and 32:2-3 identify Pharaoh with the sea-dragon. And so here, the allusion to the exodus deliverance once again connotes God’s preservation and deliverance of His people and defeat of the serpent. The barrier of the sea had to be removed so that Israel could be guided to the “place” God had made in the wilderness for His dwelling (Exod. 15:17). The purpose of the protection in v. 16, as in Exodus, is to guide the church in the wilderness to the “place” prepared by God for her (12:6, 14), which is a sanctuary of protection.
17 The dragon becomes enraged with the woman because his efforts to destroy the church have been thwarted, but he does not cease his efforts to exterminate God’s people. Thus, he goes off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. The relation of v. 17 to the preceding verses is one of the most challenging interpretive problems in the book. The difficulty focuses on the nature of the difference, if any, between the woman and her offspring, and how they are respectively depicted. The most plausible view is that the woman in vv. 6, 13-16 depicts the church (and the suffering she undergoes) as she is seen from the ideal, eternal, or heavenly perspective, and her offspring in v. 17 depict the multitude of individual believers (and the suffering they experience) as seen from an earthly or historical perspective. The woman is presented in v. 1 as “in heaven” and in heavenly attire, and the same woman is also presented as suffering on earth (vv. 6, 13-16). She continues to be viewed from a heavenly, ideal perspective even in the consideration of her sufferings on earth. In v. 17, however, the same suffering is portrayed from an earthly perspective as the suffering of individual believers. This simply represents two different ways of viewing the church: as a corporate or “ideal” body, the way God sees it from His perspective, and as a community of individuals, which is the way we experience it on earth. Likewise, in the OT the one female figure of Zion is always explained as the many people of Israel (Isa. 49:14-26; 50:1; 51:1-3, 16; Ezekiel 16; Hos. 4:4-5; and see on 12:2). The antithesis to the woman, the harlot of chs. 17–18, also represents a community composed of individuals. Perhaps specifically still hovering in the background is Isa. 66:7-10, 22, where Zion is referred to as a mother who, “before she travailed, brought forth … a boy” (66:7), which has already been alluded to in v. 2 (on which see). Strikingly, in the very next verse, Isaiah speaks of the same thing in referring to Zion: “as soon as (she) travailed, she also brought forth her sons.” This is virtually the same as the woman of ch. 12, who bears a male and who also has other children.
If correct, this view of v. 17 is best taken as a contrast between the whole heavenly and the whole earthly church. Consequently, the point of vv. 13-17, taken together, would be that the one heavenly church being persecuted on earth cannot be destroyed (God’s perspective) because it is heavenly and ultimately inviolable spiritually, but the many who individually compose the church can suffer physically from earthly dangers (our perspective), but not be destroyed spiritually. In relation to Revelation 11, this would mean that the woman would be equivalent to those dwelling in the spiritually invincible inner court of the temple and her offspring equivalent to those living in the outer court, which is susceptible to physical harm (see on 11:1-2). It amounts to two ways of viewing the same phenomenon. Understanding it from God’s perspective, as John unfolds it to us, helps us in the very real battle we face in our earthly lives.
A viable (though somewhat less likely) view of the phrase the rest of her offspring is that four temporal stages are revealed as the narrative of ch. 12 progresses:
It is possible to view the third stage as the church age in general (parallel to 11:1-6), and the fourth as an era at the very end of history (parallel to 11:7-13). This temporal scheme is based on the possibility that v. 17 may affirm a distinction between the woman, as she implicitly represents part of her offspring as a group of believers in vv. 6, 13-16, and then the remainder of her offspring in v. 17. This would mean that the group pictured in vv. 6, 13-16 is distinct from that in v. 17. Even if this interpretation is correct, however, the heavenly, invincible nature of the church prominent in vv. 6, 13-16 is not lost sight of in v. 17, since the group there is called the rest of the offspring of the (heavenly) woman. This phrase shows a continuity between the groups of vv. 6, 13-16 and v. 17, since both are related to the heavenly woman.
The church keeps the commandments of God and holds to the testimony of Jesus. The latter phrase is intentionally ambiguous, as in 1:2, including both the “testimony from Jesus” given to the church and “the testimony to Jesus” given by the church. The focus of the phrase may be on Jesus’ testimony to God, which the church is to reproduce. God’s beneficent care and nourishment of the church consists in enabling it to continue to be faithful to Him and to Jesus. This is the “perseverance of the saints” (14:12). When this happens, the king of the abyss suffers a setback, since he loses subjects over whom to rule in his own murky kingdom. This is another escalated element of the original exodus pattern, in which Israel’s obedience to God’s commandments, contained in the earthly tabernacle, was seen as the very thing preserving them through the sea and the wilderness. Jesus now sums up in Himself the OT commandments of God (the commandments of God = the testimony of Jesus), as represented by the contents of the heavenly tabernacle of testimony (see further on 15:5).
V. 17 is also a partial fulfillment of the promise of Gen. 3:15, where God prophesies that the individual (messianic) and corporate seed of the woman will fatally bruise the head of the serpent (note the Aramaic Bible’s corporate interpretation of the woman’s “seed” in Gen. 3:15: “when the sons of the woman keep the commandments of the law … they will smite you [the Serpent] on the head; when they abandon the commandments you will wound them in the heel … in the days of King Messiah”). In Rev. 13:3 one of the heads of the beast is depicted as “slain,” not only because of Christ’s work, but also because of His followers’ faithfulness (so 12:11, 17). Whenever persecution, deception, and compromise are resisted, the devil is seen as continuing to be defeated (as in 12:11; Rom. 16:17-20). On the other hand, the allusion to Genesis also shows that the church’s persecution is prophetically determined by God’s hand, since Gen. 3:15 is a prophecy that the serpent “will bruise” the woman’s “seed.” The Genesis 3 background also confirms our conclusion that in vv. 15-16 the serpent opposes the woman once again not only through persecution but also by deception, as in the Garden of Eden. This is but another instance of the end being modeled on the beginning (see on v. 9, where “serpent” is derived primarily from Genesis 3).
On the ebb and flow of spiritual battle. In vv. 13-17, we see portrayed both the violence of the enemy’s attack and the magnificence of God’s protection. The wings of the great eagle are given to the woman even while the serpent pours out water like a flood to destroy her. When there is a victory for the woman, the enemy becomes enraged and takes the battle elsewhere. How does this portray the ebb and flow of spiritual battle both through the ages and in our own personal experience? How can we take comfort in the midst of the storm that at some point God will deliver us? And how do we avoid the delusion in times of peace that times of testing will never come — which sometimes thus find us unprepared?
On the importance of spiritual nourishment. John tells us that the woman, representing the church, will be nourished in her time in the wilderness. What does it mean to be nourished by God? How is the church corporately nourished? How are we individually nourished? How in particular do we find nourishment in times of great testing? How could passages such as Rev. 1:3; 3:8, 10; and 22:7 contribute toward answering these questions (cf. also 1 John 2:14b)? If a malnourished church is ill-prepared for such a time, how vital it is to maintain nourishment even during the times of peace.
12:18–13:18 explains in further detail the nature of Satan’s persecution of the church and is temporally parallel with 12:13-17. Though the devil has been defeated, he still has ability to oppress the saints. The segment also delineates the agents through whom the devil executes his persecuting will. These agents are none other than the governing political and economic powers of the earth. In ch. 13, John draws predominantly from Daniel, especially Daniel 7. There has been debate since the earliest church fathers about the identification of the antichrist figure of ch. 13: Is he a personal figure or an evil spirit? The two interpretations are not incompatible. The context of Revelation and of the NT (especially 1 and 2 John) indicates that the antichrist has manifested himself as a corporate spirit inspiring false teaching and persecution since the first century, yet at a future time before the end will manifest himself individually in the flesh as the leader of opposition to God’s people.
18And he stood on the sand of the seashore. 1And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. 2And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. 3And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; 4and they worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” 5And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. 6And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. 8And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.
18 (= 13:1a in NASB) The dragon positions himself on the sand of the seashore to call up his helpers who will carry out his will on earth. He summons them from the same hellish waters from which presumably he himself came. What the dragon was described as doing in ch. 12, he actually does through his servants portrayed in ch. 13. Some English translations include 12:18 as part of 13:1.
13:1 V. 1 (marked by And I saw) begins the second section of the major vision segment which commenced at 12:1. The first agent of the devil is a beast coming up out of the sea. Vv. 1-2 are a creative reworking of Dan. 7:1-7. The beast with ten horns and seven heads is based on Dan. 7:2-7, 19-24. This beast is like a leopard, a bear, and a lion. The seven heads are a composite of the heads of the four beasts Daniel saw, one like a leopard, one like a bear, one like a lion, and a fourth with ten horns. Other features of the Danielic beasts are also applied to the one beast in v. 2. In addition, the ten diadems on the ten horns are a reference to Daniel’s fourth beast, whose “ten horns” are interpreted as “ten kings” (Dan. 7:24). Likewise, the blasphemous names on his heads are connected with the blaspheming figure of Dan. 7:8, 11, who is also associated with the fourth Danielic kingdom (see on vv. 5-6 below). That the monster in vv. 1-7 is modeled primarily on Daniel 7 is supported by the above analysis of the similar portrayal of the dragon in 12:3-4 (on which see), which was predominantly taken from Daniel 7–8.
Without exception, the imagery of the sea monster is used throughout the OT to represent evil kingdoms which persecute God’s people (see on 12:3 for references). The same Daniel imagery of horns and heads (Dan. 7:7, 24; cf. 7:3-6) applied to the dragon in 12:3-4 is applied here to another sea beast to depict the dragon’s earthly minion. As with the dragon’s horns and heads, so here the number of seven heads and ten horns emphasizes the completeness of oppressive power and its worldwide effect, even as the crowned heads of demons in 9:7, 17-19 denote oppressive power and as the seven horns of the Lamb in 5:6 express His worldwide dominion. Because of the primary figurative force of the numbers seven and ten, the heads and horns are not to be identified only with a specific series of rulers of either the first century or later (on this transtemporal aspect, see further on v. 2 below). That the dragon had diadems on his heads and the beast has them on his horns shows that the dragon has the ultimate rule and mandates his will through the beast, who arises from the watery, dark home of the dragon (see 12:3). The dragon stations himself by the sea, spewing out floods after the church (12:15), the beast comes out of the sea, and the harlot “sits on many waters” (17:1), thus indicating that the sea is pictured symbolically as the dwelling place of evil. The dark realm of evil encompasses unbelieving people, so that the beast may also be seen as having its earthly origin from the mass of unregenerate humanity (for which idea see also 17:1, 15).
The diadems symbolize the beast’s false claims of sovereign, universal authority which are in opposition to the true “King of kings and Lord of lords,” who also wears “many diadems” (19:12, 16). The blasphemous names written on the beast’s heads represent blasphemous claims to earthly, divine kingship by the beast in feeble imitation of Christ’s true kingship (contrast 13:1 to 17:3 and 13:7-13 to 1:5; 17:14; 19:12-16).
2 Whereas in Dan. 7:3-8 the images of the lion, bear, leopard, and “terrifying” beast respectively represent four successive world empires, here these four images are all applied to the one beast: And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The combination of the four oppressive kingdoms of Daniel into one here does not merely signify the extreme power of first-century Rome but appears to symbolize also the temporal transcendency of the oppressive beast portrayed in v. 2. Just as the four beastly kingdoms in Daniel 7 spanned hundreds of years, so the empire dominant in the first century has latent within itself manifestations of other oppressive kingdoms that may be manifested in the future, as 17:10-11 shows. In the light of Daniel 7, the Roman Empire transcends many centuries and represents all world powers who oppress God’s people until the culmination of history. The evil spirit behind Rome will also dominate other world powers which follow it, in the same way that in the OT, the sea beast symbolized not merely oppressing nations but the system of spiritual evil standing behind the nations and manifesting itself in successive world empires spanning hundreds of years (see on 12:3). Dan. 7:12 notes that when each of the first three world empires are defeated, their evil spiritual life will continue to exist in the next kingdom: “as for the rest of the beasts [the first three], their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them.” That the beast is described in v. 1 in exactly the same terms as the dragon (12:3), as having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, shows that its activity spans the same time period as that of the dragon, from OT history through to the return of Christ. The multifaceted character of the antichrist figure is confirmed by the Johannine epistles, where purely religious manifestations of its activity are present (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:4; 2 John 7).
The beast’s ability (and more particularly that of the false prophet; see on vv. 11-18 below) to use religious institutions is evident from Rev. 2:9, where the persecution of the church by unbelieving Jews is called “blasphemy,” the same word used elsewhere only of the beast and his followers (13:1, 5, 6; 16:9, 11, 21; 17:3). And, like the beast, the Jews there have Satan as their ultimate inspirer (they are “a synagogue of Satan,” 2:9). The beast can express himself through subsequent religious institutions, whether or not they profess to be Christian institutions. The dragon authorizes this empire to act with his very own power: And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. This is a power which denies the true God and therefore perverts the original divine intention for the state (as in Rom. 13:1-7). Such rulers are described as beastly because they have fallen below the human standard of rule which God has ordained for them (cf. the examples of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4 and Belshazzar in Daniel 5).
3 John now sees the beast with a wound on one of his heads: And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. The wound comes from God, because the Greek word for “wound” (plēgē) is the word translated “plague” eleven times elsewhere in Revelation, always signifying something of divine origin. This wound on the beast’s head is none other than that inflicted by Christ at His resurrection and is the fulfillment of Gen. 3:15: “He shall crush [or bruise] you on the head.” Mention of the sword that struck the beast’s head in Rev. 13:14 recalls the end-time prophecy of Isa. 27:1: “In that day the Lord will punish Leviathan [or sea monster] the fleeing serpent, with His fierce and great and mighty sword, even Leviathan [or sea monster] the twisted serpent; and He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.” The fact that Isa. 27:1 is also echoed in Rev. 12:3, 9 points to the conclusion that the death blow administered to the beast came through Christ’s death and resurrection in initial fulfillment of the prophet’s words. That one of the heads of the beast is depicted as slain because of Christ’s death and resurrection is borne out by 12:5, 10-12, together with 1:5 and 5:9 (see on 12:10-12, where also other NT parallels are cited affirming that Christ’s death and resurrection defeated the devil). The effects of this defeat are carried on by the faithfulness of Christ’s followers (so 12:11, 17; Rom. 16:17-20).
One of the heads of the beast appeared as slain (not “as if it had been slain” as in the NASB text quoted above), but his fatal wound was healed. The use of as (Greek hōs), as elsewhere throughout the book, is part of John’s visionary style in introducing something he has seen (cf. 4:6; 8:8; 9:7; 15:2; 19:6). It is his attempt to give an approximate description in earthly terms of what he saw in the heavenly vision. The wound was real and fatal, and yet it seems to have been healed, because the enemy is able to continue his activity. It is fatal because, from the resurrection on, Satan’s power was fatally restricted and his days numbered. The temporary healing represents the fact that God allows the enemy to continue to use his agents through the three and a half year period until Christ’s return, all the while safeguarding the spiritual security of His people. The phrase as slain is almost identical to that referring to the Lamb in 5:6, where Christ is described as “standing as slain” (not “standing as if slain,” as in NASB). This alerts us to the fact that the beast is being set up as a Satanic counterfeit of Christ.
In 13:14, the beast’s recovery is even referred to as a resurrection — though 17:8 will reveal that this is a “resurrection” which will end in eternal destruction. There is a difference between the Lamb’s recovery and that of the beast. Whereas the Lamb really did overcome the defeat of death by resurrection, the beast’s continued existence is not a reversal of his actual defeat, even though he continues to exist after being vanquished along with the dragon. He loses his authority to accuse the saints and has no authority except that allowed him by God. Nevertheless, the dragon and the beast deceptively cover up the fact that their authority has been removed. 17:8 likewise notes that the beast’s apparent rising from death (“coming up out of the abyss”) is only for the ultimate purpose that he should “go to destruction.” Christ’s defeat of the devil was like D-Day in the Second World War, and the subsequent existence of the devil (and his servant the beast) like the subsequent resistance of the German forces to the inevitable advance of the Allies. Like the turning point of D-day, the decisive outcome is now assured, even though the battle still rages.
Most commentators favor identifying the beast primarily with the Roman emperor Nero. However, the problem of narrowing the interpretation of v. 3 primarily to the fate and legend of Nero, who committed suicide in AD 68, is that the legend of Nero’s death and resurrection does not fit precisely with either the historical facts or the descriptions in Revelation 13 and 17. Rumors spread after his death that Nero had not died and would stage a return. But the wound of Rev. 13:3, 12, 14 is inflicted by God or Christ, rather than self-inflicted. And Nero’s death was not a blow to Rome — quite the opposite, as when he died he was an enemy to Rome and a fugitive. Furthermore, v. 4 says that the beast’s revival resulted in his universal worship and authority, but the opposite would have been true with Nero, because he was considered a threat to the empire.
The key to a correct understanding of the beast’s identity is in the fact there are so many parallels between the description of the beast in ch. 13 and that of Christ elsewhere in Revelation. Note the parallels between Christ and the beast:
The beast’s career is thus a kind of parody of Christ’s death and resurrection, employed to show how the evil spirit behind the beast continues to operate (though within divinely imposed limits) in the period from Christ’s resurrection until His return. The parallels show that the transtemporal beast is set up as the supreme enemy of Christ and His people. The figure behind this is the devil himself, as he repeatedly works through his chosen agents throughout history.
The significance of the parallels is that the chief opponent of Christ cannot be limited to one historical person or epoch. That is, just as the rule of Christ spans the whole church age, so the evil activities of His ultimate counterpart, the devil and his servants, span the same time. This analysis leaves open the possibility of an antichrist figure who comes at the very end of history and incarnates the devil in a greater way than ever before. Whether this consummate expression of evil will be manifested in an individual or an institution is hard to say. Probably, as throughout history, so at the end the individual tyrant is not to be distinguished from the kingdom or institution he represents (as in Dan. 7:17, 23).
Regarding the end of history, Rev. 17:7-18 also portrays the beast’s career as a parody of Christ’s, but this time the parody focuses on the final destinies of the two: whereas Christ’s final coming results in the establishment of His kingdom, the final coming of the beast results in his decisive destruction (see on 17:8, 10-11). The healing of the beast’s wound recorded here is thus a different event from the beast’s re-emergence from the abyss and consequent destruction. In ch. 13, the beast’s activity, together with that of its allied “ten kings,” occurs during the time period of the church age (“forty-two months,” 13:5; see on 11:2-3; 12:6), whereas in ch. 17 the activity of the beast lasts only “one hour” (probably equivalent to the “three and a half days” of 11:11).
The dragon is so convincing at camouflaging his defeat as apparent victory that the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast. Those not protected by God’s seal (7:1-4) give him allegiance.
4 The allegiance of the ungodly multitudes mentioned in v. 3 now expresses itself in worship of the dragon: and they worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast. The phrase denoting this transferral of authority is based on Dan. 7:6, where authority is given to the third beast to rule over the earth and to persecute. The multitudes likewise worship the beast because of his purported incomparability. They proclaim in their worship, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” Their words are a mockery and ironic use of similar words rightly used toward God in the OT (Exod. 8:10; 15:11; Pss. 35:10; 71:19; 86:8; 89:8; 113:5; Isa. 40:18; Mic. 7:18). In all of these OT texts, Yahweh’s incomparability is contrasted polemically with false gods and idols.
5 The Danielic references to the beast and his reception of authority in vv. 1-4 are developed further in vv. 5-8. The point of the repeated Daniel allusions is to show that the fulfillment of the prophecy of Israel’s oppression at the hands of a fiendish divine opponent commenced at Christ’s death and resurrection and is continuing to be fulfilled in the persecution of the church. The reference to the beast expressing his authority through speech for a three and a half year period in v. 5 is a collective allusion to Dan. 7:6, 8, 11, 20, and 25. Much of the allusion is taken word for word from these texts in Daniel:
In fact, these three elements, taken together, are unique in the OT to Daniel. The Danielic time period has been clearly alluded to in the preceding context at 12:6, 14b, and earlier in 11:2-3. As shown in our examination of those verses (see also on vv. 2-3 above), this covers the period of time between Christ’s death and resurrection and the end of history.
That God is the ultimate source of the beast’s authority in these verses is implied by the decreed time limit of v. 5 and the predestined number of those who worship the beast in v. 8. Only God, not the devil, sets times and seasons. The devil would never want to limit his work against God’s kingdom to a mere three and a half years, even if that is construed figuratively.
The beast’s speech refers to three aspects of his activity. It alludes:
His activity includes carrying out the dragon’s will to “flood” even the church with deception.
6 Dan. 7:25 is referred to again here to describe the effect of the beast’s authorization. Both texts speak of an eschatological fiend who speaks out against God: And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. He equates himself with God (implicitly in vv. 4 and 6), and persecutes the saints, which is likewise the case in Dan. 8:10, 25; 11:36 (the time of “indignation” there includes persecution). Also included in his blaspheming are accusations or actions against Christians who have His name written upon them (3:12; 14:1; 22:4; cf. 7:3). The mention of His tabernacle, followed by the words that is, those who dwell (tabernacle) in heaven alludes respectively to the “holy place” in Dan. 8:11 and the heavenly “host” in Dan. 8:10, where the end-time tyrant causes some of the heavenly host and stars to fall to the earth and throws down the place of the prince’s sanctuary (all this representing the suffering of God’s people). The equation of the saints with the heavenly tabernacle is virtually the same as the equation already in 11:1-2 of true believers living on earth and dwelling in the invisible, indestructible sanctuary of God. Paul similarly views the whole church as seated in heaven (Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:1). The saints are oppressed because loyalty to their heavenly citizenship demands disobedience to their earthly citizenship. Yet the picture in 7:15 of the saints “tabernacling” in heaven, where the reference is to deceased believers, indicates that those who have died and are with the Lord are included in the number of those who dwell in heaven.
7a In v. 7a, the focus shifts back again to the prophecy of Daniel 7 (cf. Dan. 7:8, 11, 21) and the persecuting activities of the “horn” in order to show that the same activity of the beast is beginning its fulfillment. The phrase to make war with the saints and to overcome them is virtually identical to what is found in 11:7, both of which are based on Dan. 7:21. Daniel 7 predicts a final kingdom on earth which will persecute and defeat Israel. Afterward, the persecutors themselves will be judged, and the saints will inherit the kingdom of the world (so Dan. 7:22-27). John sees that the Daniel prophecy about Israel will be fulfilled in the world’s persecution of the church in the latter days, which for him began with Christ’s death and resurrection.
7b-8a The antagonistic activity of the beast affects all classes of people throughout the earth: and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. In Daniel, the same language is thus used to describe both false (Dan. 3:7) and true (Dan. 7:14) worship. John may have noticed this and drawn an ironic implication from it. It may have been such a recognition which led him to apply the wording of Dan. 7:14 to the beast in order to show that the beast’s conquering efforts are but an ironic parody of the “Son of man’s” final triumph. Note similar ironic features comparing the beast and the Lamb in vv. 3 and 4 (on which see), as well as reference to the second beast as a “lamb with horns” (v. 11). The authority by which the beast overcomes the saints and wins universal worship, however, comes from the same source (ultimately God, as the authorization clause was given indicates) from which ultimately the Lamb will triumph over the beast, receive authority, and obtain universal adoration. Drawing the readers’ attention to the context in Daniel 7 is intended to encourage them about the ultimate outcome of history and their own destiny. Though they suffer from oppression by the state, they will be the ultimate conquerors and will rule eternally with the Son of man. The fourfold formula for humanity in 13:7 has universal reference to all unredeemed people throughout the created earth, since it has such all-inclusive scope in Dan. 7:14. This universal geographical and temporal meaning is confirmed from the second part of v. 8, which says that these unbelieving multitudes were ordained not to have eternal life from before the creation of the whole world. The whole mass of unbelieving humanity living throughout the entire interadvent age is likely in mind here and not merely a part of it from one brief period of that age. This suggests further the trans-historical applicability of ch. 13.
8b All earth-dwellers will worship the beast, that is, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. Since the context of Daniel 7 has been in mind, it is not surprising that now the “book” or “books” of Dan. 7:10 and 12:1 (see also Ps. 69:28) should come into focus. The phrase “book of life” appears five times in Revelation outside 13:8 (3:5; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27). The notion of predetermination is expressed by the phrase from the foundation of the world here and in 17:8. That saints were written in the book before history began is implied by the fact that the beast-worshipers are said not to have been so written. This implication that the names of saints have been written in the book of life occurs explicitly in 3:5 and 21:27 (cf. also 20:12, 15). This book stands in contrast to “the books” which record the sins of the ungodly (20:12-13). The notion of “a book of life” for the righteous and “books” of judgment for the wicked is based on the same dual idea in Daniel, respectively Dan. 12:1-2 (a book of redemption) and Dan. 7:10 (books in which sinful deeds of the ungodly are recorded). The phrase of the Lamb who has been slain may indicate that it is the Lamb who possesses the book or that the Lamb is the source of life associated with the book. Either way, He has sovereignty over who has life and who does not. This phrase, the Lamb who has been slain, is also a contrast with the similar description of the beast and the second beast in vv. 3 and 11. People reject Christ, the true Lamb who has been slain, because they follow the beast “having been slain” and the beast-like lamb of 13:11-17. Genuine believers have assurance that their souls can weather any Satanic storm because of the safety accorded by the Lamb’s book. Because the book of life is unreservedly ascribed to Christ, the salvation of all, implicitly including OT saints, is represented as depending on the one redemptive act of Christ, who has been slain for the sins of His people.
On the beast as a parody of Christ and our response to civil government. These verses present the beast as a demonic counterpart to Christ. He draws his authority from the dragon, even as Christ draws His authority from the Father. He has been slain, as was Christ, and experienced an apparent resurrection. He exercises power on earth through human governments, opposing the rule of the ascended Christ and corrupting God’s order for civil government as expressed in Rom. 13:1-7. How then are we to honor the command to obey civil government as laid out by Paul in those verses? Are governments universally corrupted by the beast, or is this an occasional phenomenon? Should Christians seek to be involved in civil government or to affect it positively? How could the relation of Daniel and his three friends to the state in Daniel 1–6 help answer this question?
On God’s granting authority to the beast. If, as the commentary suggests, God is the source of even the beast’s authority, should this, as the commentary suggests, augment rather than diminish our concept of God’s sovereignty? How do these verses bring comfort and assurance to the suffering church today? Have believers in the western world lost an understanding of what is expressed here because they have not had to endure persecution? Has this caused some western believers to see Revelation as having applicability only to the times immediately preceding Christ’s return, when they do believe Christians will experience persecution?
9If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.
9 The scenario of vv. 1-8 is not something to occur only at some future time, but is happening in the midst of the seven churches. In the light of what has been narrated in vv. 1-8, John addresses the readers with the same exhortation with which he addressed them at the conclusion of each of the letters: If anyone has an ear, let him hear. As in Isaiah 6, the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) and the conclusions to the seven letters, the exhortation alludes to the fact that John’s parabolic message will enlighten some while blinding others within the covenant community. Those not having ears will be further hardened by the parable (which in this context occurs in 13:1-8). But the command to “let him hear” is intended to jolt true believers caught up in the compromising complacency of the majority. Those shaken back into spiritual reality will perceive God’s parabolic revelation in the book and discern the dangerous reality of the Satanic nature of the pagan institutions to which they may be tempted to accommodate.
10 The exhortation of v. 9 refers not only to the preceding verses, but also to the following decree: If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword (or, better, if anyone is to be killed with the sword), with the sword he must be killed. This is a paraphrase combining Jer. 15:2 and 43:11, which both say the same thing. Jeremiah prophesies to Israel that God has destined its people to go into “captivity” and suffer from the “sword.” In Israel’s case, this was a penalty for their unbelief and sin. But many texts from the major prophets affirm that a faithful remnant will also suffer the penalty of captivity, as Ezek. 14:12-23 especially makes clear. The text from Ezekiel has been used in 6:2-8 (on which see), with its original dual idea of punishing unbelievers and refining believers through suffering. The emphasis here, as in 6:2-8, 9-11, is more on the suffering of God’s people than on the punishment of the wicked.
The exhortation in v. 9 was used repeatedly in the letters to encourage the readers not to compromise, and to bear up under the consequences of suffering for their faith (cf. 1:9; 2:10; 6:9; 11:7; 12:11; 17:6; 19:2; 20:4). Their spiritual insight should motivate them to “suffer according to the will of God” and to “entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right” (1 Pet. 4:19). The concluding phrase, Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints, confirms this interpretation. It links v. 10 with v. 7, where the last mention of “saints” occurred, and gives the proper response of believers to the warfare conducted against them by the beast, who makes war on them and overcomes them (see v. 7). Just as such perseverance meant that John was reigning in a “kingdom,” yet in the midst of “tribulation” (1:9), so it meant the same for his readers. These things must happen, but believers must persevere in their faith and not give in. This conclusion is confirmed by noting that every use of “faith” or “faithful” in Revelation refers to the faith of Christ or the saints in the face of persecution (1:5; 2:10, 13, 19; 3:14; 14:12; 17:14).
On the perseverance of the saints. We think of the concept of the saints’ perseverance as a theological truth related to the security of the believer’s position in Christ. Yet this verse shows us that perseverance is walked out through times of testing, hardship, and even persecution. Do we sometimes fall into the trap of thinking of biblical doctrines as theoretical without realizing that every biblical truth must be made real in our lives? Some believers may ask God to spare them from testing, yet it is often testing that proves the genuineness of our faith and results in God being glorified: “that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even when tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:7).
11And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. 12And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13And he performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. 14And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. 15And there was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, 17and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
11 A new section begins, the third of seven in the larger vision series commencing at 12:1, marked by the phrase And I saw. Here John has another vision of a further beast: And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. Vv. 11-17 concern the same situation as vv. 1-8, but from the perspective of the state’s ally, the second beast. As in v. 1, this vision also begins with the image of an ascending beast, which is a collective recollection of the beasts of Daniel 7, especially 7:17: “These great beasts … are four kings who will arise from the earth.” As is generally accepted, this image is also a parody of the resurrected messianic Lamb of 5:6 and has an ironic relation with it. It, too, is a lamb with horns. But why two horns instead of the seven of the messianic Lamb in ch. 5? Perhaps one reason is to mimic the two witnesses, two lampstands, and two olive trees of 11:3-4. Yet the two horns also reflect the evil ruler of Daniel 8. Just as the first beast was described with attributes from the beasts of Daniel 7, so the description of the second beast as having two horns like a lamb is taken from Dan. 8:3: “a ram which had two horns” (similarly the opposing figure of Dan. 7:7 also “had ten horns”).
Like the first beast, this beast speaks with the full authority of the devil: he was speaking as a dragon. This beast is later called “the false prophet” (16:13; 19:20; 20:10), suggesting that its role is primarily religious. A true prophet leads people to worship God, but the false prophet leads them to worship the state (and, by extension, the devil). False prophets and teachers have already infiltrated the churches (2:2, 6, 14-15, 20-24), even as Jesus prophesied (Matt. 7:15; 24:5, 11) and Paul warned (Acts 20:28-29). That manifestations of the beastly prophet occur within the church is also suggested by the OT, where false prophecy almost always takes place within the covenant community. The image of a wolf in lamb’s clothing suggests a traitor within the fold of the church. Though the beast professes to represent the truth and appears harmless as a lamb, his inner Satanic nature is revealed through his speaking with the authority of the dragon. His speaking as a dragon reflects the alluring, deceptive speech of Satan, the dragon, which led to the sin of Adam and Eve (cf. 12:9). Therefore, this imagery and background suggest deception within the covenant community itself. Whereas the first beast speaks loudly and defiantly against God, the second beast makes the first beast’s claims sound plausible and persuasive. False teachers within the church are encouraging compromise with the culture’s idolatrous institutions.
12 The second beast is identified with and exercises the authority of the first beast, which is emphasized by saying that he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. The second beast uses the first beast’s authority for the purpose of making the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.
13 The idea of counterfeit imitation is carried on in v. 13. The religious character of the second beast becomes clearer here. First, it is said that he performs great signs. This makes him a Satanic counterfeit of the true prophet Moses, who also performed signs (Exod. 4:17, 30; 10:2). Then it is said that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men, making him a counterfeit of the true prophet Elijah, who did likewise (1 Kgs. 18:38-39; 2 Kgs. 1:10-14). The allusions to Moses and Elijah cannot be accidental, given the similar allusion to them in regard to the two witnesses in 11:3-12, who, taken together, represent the church (cf. Luke 9:54). 11:5 portrays “fire proceeding out of the mouth” of the two witnesses. There the fire indicates the speaking of God’s word that convicts and judges sinners (cf. also fire consuming the saints’ enemies in 20:9b). Therefore the fire represents the speaking of God’s true word which judges sinners, and here the beast poses as a spokesman for truth but is a false prophet and false teacher. This is part of what Christ prophesied in Matt. 24:24: “False Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect” (so likewise Matt. 7:15; 24:5, 11; 2 Thess. 2:9; 2 Pet. 2:1-3). The second beast is a counterfeit of the church and the Spirit who empowers and indwells it. That an inside threat by a “false apostle” is alluded to (perhaps developing the “false apostles” of 2:2) is apparent from noticing that the second beast’s authority is modeled on the authoritative credentials of Christ’s apostles:
Daniel warns (11:30-39) that a latter-day deceiver will infiltrate the church and turn people away from God. When purported Christian teachers take their primary cues from the surrounding culture instead of from God’s word, they corrupt the covenant community spiritually by encouraging it to live by norms and a faith that ultimately oppose the reign of God and Christ.
14 Why are the two beasts described with so many traits borrowed from those of OT prophets and of God and in terms strikingly similar to the descriptions of God, the Lamb, and Christians elsewhere in the Apocalypse? The reason is that they attempt to validate their divine authority in a similar manner to true prophets (see the description in 2 Cor. 11:13-15). This is explicitly expressed by the phrase: And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast. True prophets receive their inspiration and commissions as they stand before the presence of the Lord (11:4, on which see). Likewise, the false prophet receives his inspiration and commission as he acts in the presence of the beast. God’s true agents, by the power of the Spirit, perform signs to bring glory to God, whereas these demonic signs convince the “earth-dwellers” of the authority not of God but of the beast.
The deception causes them to acquiesce to his command to make an image to the beast. This command anticipates the explicit reference to the image of Daniel 3 in v. 15. The command to perform idolatry alludes partly to the pressure placed on the populace and the churches in Asia Minor to give homage to the image of Caesar as a divine being. By the end of the first century all the cities addressed in the letters had temples dedicated to the deity of Caesar. In the light of the influence from Daniel throughout this chapter, the beast who deceives here may be an echo of the end-time king of Daniel who “causes deceit to succeed by his influence” (Dan. 8:25), and “by smooth words [turns] to godlessness those who act wickedly” (Dan. 11:32). The concluding description of the beast as he who had the wound of the sword and has come to life is an expanded repetition of the similar preceding descriptions of the beast as having been healed from his fatal wound (13:3, 12).
15 Again, the oft-repeated “authorization” concept of Dan. 7:6 appears (“and dominion was given to it,” which is interpreted in the Greek OT as “speech was given to him”): And there was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might even speak. This may include reference to magical tricks and similar phenomena attested among the superstitious, and even at the courts of Roman emperors, but the “signs” may include actual demonic activity, since demons were behind the idols. The expression is a metaphorical way of affirming that the second beast was persuasive in demonstrating that the image of the first beast (which in the first century context could apply to Caesar) represented the true deity, who really stands behind the image and makes decrees. This again points to the identity of the second beast as a counterfeit of the church and especially of the Spirit who empowers it (“breath” being a biblical metaphor for the Spirit; cf. Ezek. 37:9-14). Because of the trans-temporal nature of ch. 13 seen so far, the image transcends narrow reference only to an idol of Caesar and includes any substitute for the truth of God in any age. The description of the beast, who causes as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed, is inspired by Nebuchadnezzar’s command in Daniel 3 that all should worship his image or be killed. The reference to the classes of people under the beast’s control in v. 16 is also an echo of the diverse groups required to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s image in Dan. 3:2-7. In the light of the exhortation in 13:9-10, the implication is that Christians were to persevere as did Daniel’s friends in the fire; and, as in Daniel 3 but on an escalated scale, the reward for endurance will be deliverance from the eternal torment of fire and exaltation with Christ.
The background to this verse may lie in the establishment of an emperor cult at Ephesus, marked by the erection of a colossal statue to Emperor Domitian. Citizens of towns in Asia Minor were even pressured to offer sacrifices on altars outside their own houses as festive processions passed by. Such a major event at Ephesus, and others like it elsewhere on varying scales, may explain also why John himself alludes in this chapter to the narrative in Daniel 3 about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s refusal to bow down to the huge statue, which was an image representing Nebuchadnezzar (especially according to the OG of Dan. 3:12, 18). Possibly this event in Ephesus and the persecution it aroused inspired the early church to view Daniel’s three friends as the model for martyrs and for persecuted Christians and to see the Babylonian king’s image as prototypical of the Roman emperor’s image. In fact, there is early-second-century evidence for this in the catacombs of Rome, as well as evidence from the third and fourth centuries.
Popular pressure on Christians to show allegiance to Rome at various festive occasions would be understandable in this context. And when Christians would not participate, it is also understandable that this aroused animosity on the part of the general populace. It is not necessarily the case that all those refusing to worship the image will be killed, as John does not assert this unequivocally. Many (presumably Jews) refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s image, but only the three young men were thrown into the furnace. Degrees of persecution varied from city to city. Surely much persecution in John’s day was due to local enthusiasm for the imperial cult, which was probably not felt in every town of Asia Minor. Nevertheless, suffering would definitely be involved, and death for some, as had already happened with Antipas (2:13) and doubtless others as well (as implied in 6:9, 11; 12:11; 20:4, though the idea of death is figurative in these texts). The situation in the Asia Minor churches is generally relevant for all churches until the return of Christ, just as in the letters the historical situation of one church was generally relevant for the other six (the Spirit speaks to the “churches” in each case). The trans-historical nature of ch. 13 is a basis for universalizing the application of vv. 15-17 to all times.
16-17 The demand that everyone, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, receive a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead could be an allusion to the ancient practice of branding or tattooing disobedient slaves, soldiers, and loyal devotees to gods of various religions. If the association with slaves is in mind, then the beast’s worshipers are seen as his property; if soldiers or religious devotees are in view, the worshipers are seen as the beast’s faithful followers. Here, the mark is clearly figurative for the way in which the state keeps check on whether people are submitting to compulsory idol worship. Those not submitting to receiving the mark are unable to buy or to sell. This is a reference back to 2:9 and 6:5-6 (on which see), where economic measures are directed against Christians. The mark (Greek charagma) was used for the emperor’s seal on business contracts and for the impress of the Roman ruler’s head on coins. If this background is in mind, then it enforces the metaphorical idea that the mark in Revelation 13 alludes to the state’s political and economic “stamp of approval,” given only to those who go along with its religious demands. The mark on their forehead, which is the name of the beast, or the number of his name, is the parody of and the opposite to the “seal” in 7:3-8, which is the divine name written on the foreheads of true believers (14:1; so likewise 22:4; cf. 3:12). Since the seal or name on the true believer is invisible, so is the mark on the unbeliever. That the two are of a parallel spiritual nature and intended to be compared is evident from the immediately following mention of the names of God and Christ written on the foreheads of the saints (14:1). Believers are protected by the power of Christ’s name, which is His presence with them. They may suffer and even die, yet they will receive the ultimate reward of eternal life (20:4, on which see). Unbelievers may receive temporary prosperity, but will be punished ultimately with eternal death (see on 14:9-11). The mark may also connote that the followers of Christ and the beast both are stamped with the “image” (= character) of their respective leader.
That the mark of the name is figurative and not literal is also evident from the picture of the beast, who has written on his heads “blasphemous names,” which figuratively connote false claims to earthly, divine kingship (see on 13:1). Likewise, the point of saying that the worshipers of the beast have his name written on their heads is to underscore the fact that they pay homage to his blasphemous claims to divine kingship. In the OT, God told Israel that the Torah was to “serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead” in order to remind them continually of their commitment and loyalty to God (Exod. 13:9). The NT equivalent is the invisible seal or name of God (see on 7:2-3). The “forehead” represents ideological commitment and the “hand” the practical outworking of that commitment. Likewise, as a travesty of the signs of membership in the OT community of faith, the beast’s marks on the foreheads and the hands of the worshipers refer to their loyal, consistent, and wholehearted commitment to him.
The second beast, though generally to be identified with the first, is not identical. Vv. 11-17 show that the expression of the beast in John’s time included the political, religious, and economic institutions of the culture, all of which were connected with emperor worship, thus giving the second beast a primarily religious focus and identifying him as a counterfeit to the church and especially the Spirit who empowers it. Even the patron deities of the trade guilds were worshiped in association with the imperial cult (see on 2:9-21). There were few facets of social interaction in which Christians could escape pressures of idolatry.
On guarding against false teachers. According to the commentary, these verses express an assumption that false teachers will infiltrate the church. How can such a thing happen? What are the ways we can guard against it? In an age where truth is presented to us via the internet from teachers we rarely know personally, are we sufficiently cautious and discerning in how we receive this teaching? How do we apply Paul’s exhortation to Timothy: “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them” (2 Tim. 3:14)?
18Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.
18 V. 18 is one of the most debated verses in the entire book because of widespread disagreement over the identification and meaning of the number 666. The most common line of interpretation is that of gematria. In the ancient world, letters of the alphabet substituted for numerals (our numerical system derives from later Arabic mathematicians). Hence, each letter stood for a number. The problem is that no clear identification can be made linking 666 with any particular name. Attempts have been made to alter spellings and incorporate titles to try to make a multitude of names fit, but nothing conclusive has emerged from this. Most commonly, the number has been identified with Nero, on the basis of a Hebrew transliteration of the title “Nero Caesar.” However, this flounders on confusion concerning the exact Hebrew spelling of “Caesar” and does not fit the fact that John’s readers were largely Greek-speaking, and Nero had many titles other than “Caesar.” Additionally, if John were using gematria, he would have alerted his readers by saying something like “the number in Hebrew (or Greek) is … ,” as he uses the phrases “in Hebrew” or “in Greek” in 9:11 and 16:16 when he wants to draw the readers’ attention to the significance of the language. Attempts have been made unsuccessfully to identify the number with other Roman emperors or combinations of emperors. According to one study, over one hundred names were proposed in Britain between 1560 and 1830. In the past century the names of Kaiser and Hitler, among others, were also calculated to equal 666.
Through any interpreter’s creative ingenuity, the number can be worked out on the basis of Greek, Hebrew, or Latin to identify hundreds of possible ancient and modern candidates. There are so many proposals because it is easy to turn a name into a number, but complicated to deduce the right name from a number. Salmon formulated three “rules” which commentators have used for making any desired name equal 666: “First, if the proper name by itself will not yield it, add a title; secondly, if the sum cannot be found in Greek, try Hebrew, or even Latin; thirdly, do not be too particular about the spelling…. We cannot infer much from the fact that a key fits the lock if it is a lock in which almost any key will turn” (G. Salmon, An Historical Introduction to the Study of the Books of the New Testament [London: Murray, 1904], 230-31).
All attempts to identify the number with the literal calculation of some individual’s name encounter difficulty because of the metaphorical manner in which language and numbers are used in the book. If the number were intended to be identified with some ruler by means of such calculation, it would be a rare exception from the way numbers are employed elsewhere in the book (e.g., the twenty-four elders, the seven seals, the 144,000, three and a half years, the two witnesses, seven heads, and ten horns). There is no evidence of any other number in the book being used in such a way. All the numbers have figurative significance and symbolize some spiritual reality. None involve any kind of literal gematria calculation. This position is supported from the immediately following vision in 14:1 of saints with Christ’s and God’s name “written on their foreheads.” The direct placement of this verse shows a parallel contrast is meant between the beast’s name (= his number) and the Lord’s name. If the Lord’s name refers to a purely spiritual reality, which it does, then so does the former! This is true also of the beast’s number, since it is synonymous with his name.
In addition, the word number (Greek arithmos) is always used figuratively in Revelation to connote an uncountable multitude (5:11; 7:4 [144,000 standing symbolically for all the saved], 9 [in verbal form]; 9:16 [2×]; 20:8). Neither is the number meant to be calculated here. The number seven refers to completeness and is repeated throughout the book. However, 666 appears only here. This suggests that the triple sixes are intended as a contrast with the divine sevens throughout the book and signify incompleteness and imperfection. The sixth seal, the sixth trumpet, and the sixth bowl depict God’s judgment on the followers of the beast. The seventh trumpet, by contrast, portrays the eternal kingdom of Christ, though it also includes the final judgment. The seventh seal and bowl still depict a judgment, but one which, by implication and in the broader contexts of these two passages, eventuates in the establishment of the kingdom.
Furthermore, if the number of 144,000 saints in the following verse has the figurative force of signifying the complete number of God’s people (see on 14:1), then the intentional contrast with the number 666 in the preceding verse would refer to the beast and his people as inherently incomplete. The number three in the Bible signifies completeness as, for example, is expressed by the completeness of the Godhead in 1:4-5, which is parodied by the dragon, beast, and false prophet here in ch. 13 and in 16:13. Therefore, 666, the repetition of six three times, indicates what might be called the “completeness of sinful incompleteness” found in the beast. The beast epitomizes imperfection, while appearing to achieve divine perfection. Three sixes are a parody of the divine Trinity of three sevens. Sometimes the number seven is appropriate to apply to the devil or beast in order to emphasize their thoroughgoing evil nature, severe persecution, and universal reign of oppression (e.g., 12:3; 13:1; 17:3, 9-11). The reason for using sixes instead of seven to describe the beast here is the repeated emphasis in vv. 3-14 on the beast as a counterfeit Christ and the second beast as a counterfeit prophet. When believers successfully resist the beast’s deception, they avoid being identified with the essence of his name, which is imperfection personified, because to be identified with someone’s name is equivalent to partaking of that person’s character (see on 2:17).
V. 18 begins with an exhortation to believers not to be taken in by falsehood because Christ has given them ability to withstand it. This response is the main point of vv. 11-18: saints are exhorted to have spiritual wisdom and understanding to see through the deceptive and imperfect nature of the beast as narrated in vv. 11-17. The concluding exhortation is parallel to the exhortation concluding vv. 1-9. The exhortation of v. 18 has the identical meaning, except that the metaphor of an intellect able to calculate is used instead of the ear metaphor. If the exhortation to exercise intellect by calculating is taken literally, then the exhortation to “have ears to hear” must absurdly be taken in literal fashion to refer to hearing with physical ears.
This discussion so far points to understanding the number of the beast collectively, rather than only as a reference to an individual antichrist figure. This is suggested further by the phrase for the number is that of a man, which could be translated individually as, “for it is a number of a specific person” or better generically as “for it is a number of humanity.” The word “man” (Greek anthrōpos) is often generic when it occurs without an article as here and in 21:17, where the “measurement of a man” (the literal Greek phrase) means a “human measurement.” Likewise, the omission of the definite article (“a man,” as opposed to “the man”) in 13:18 suggests the general idea of humanity, not some special individual who can be discerned only through an esoteric manner of calculation. It is a number common to fallen humanity. This generic notion is consistent with 13:1, which affirms that the beast has its earthly origin in the sea of fallen humanity (for the latter idea see also on 17:15). The beast is the supreme representative of unregenerate humanity, separated from God and unable to achieve divine likeness, but always trying. Humanity was created on the sixth day, but without the seventh day of God’s own rest, which Adam and Eve were designed to fulfill, they would have been imperfect and incomplete. The triple six emphasizes that the beast and his followers fall short of God’s creative purposes for humanity.
The admonition here is wisdom teaches that believers are to beware of compromise, not just with a historical individual such as Nero but with all the facets of the state throughout the course of history, insofar as it colludes with the religious, economic, and social aspects of the idolatrous culture, all of which epitomize fallen humanity. Wisdom is best seen in the light of the words “wise insight” and “understanding” used in Dan. 11:33 and 12:10. Here, as there, the saints are to have spiritual perception to comprehend the latter-day tribulation brought about by an evil kingly figure who deceives others into acknowledging his sovereignty. The similar admonition in 17:9 (“Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits”) also involves interpretation of a number figuratively (see on 17:9). John is exhorting saints to spiritual and moral discernment, not intellectual ability to solve a complex mathematical problem, which unbelievers as well as spiritual Christians are mentally capable of solving. Christians must be aware that the spirit of the antichrist can express itself in the most unexpected places, even in the church (so 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:1-3; 2 John 7). The prophecy of Dan. 11:30-39 already warned that apostates from the covenant community would be allies of the ungodly state and infiltrate the believing community. If John’s readers have spiritual perception, then they will remain faithful and “come off victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name” (15:2).
On discerning the identity and activity of the enemy. The commentary suggests that wisdom and understanding be directed not toward calculating literal numbers in order to identify a particular person, but instead toward developing discernment in relation to all the ways the enemy, as a demonic parody of the Trinity, opposes and infiltrates the church throughout its history. How is this related to one’s interpretation of “666”? Is it possible, in the midst of a fixation on identifying demonic personalities in our own day, that we might miss the actual, subtler work the enemy is engaged in even within the church? Would you agree with the commentary’s view that Revelation gives warnings against the activity of the enemy in every generation, not just his activity in the time immediately preceding Christ’s return? If that is the case, what implications does this have for the way we understand and apply this aspect of Revelation in our lives?
Revelation 13 has been influenced by a recurring pattern in Daniel 7:
For example, the “Son of man”
The same threefold pattern is found in the vision of the beasts in Dan. 7:3-6. The first element of the pattern, the stepping forward, is to be seen in the rising from the sea of all the beasts (7:4a, 5a, 6). Secondly, in each case, something is given over to the beasts. The authorization of the beasts in Dan. 7:4b, 6c is designated with the same terminology employed for the Son of man’s authorization. The third part of the threefold pattern is not clearly expressed in the case of the first three beasts, but it is implied that they make use of the authority which they receive. However, the effect of the fourth beast’s reception of authority is explained in detail. While there are differences between the portrayal of the beasts and that of the Son of man, the authorization schemes of both are essentially the same. This points to an intention of parody or irony in the book of Daniel itself. That the threefold authorization scheme of Daniel 7 prevails throughout Revelation 13 supports our previous conclusion that ch. 13 has been shaped primarily according to Daniel 7. In the light of this, the combination of an authorization clause with the idea of the beast’s universal worship in vv. 12, 14, and 15 may be a development of the ironic use (apparently contrary to the original meaning) of Dan. 7:14 in Rev. 13:7b-8a. In view of this, the combined concepts of Satanic authorization and the universal worship of Satanic figures is best seen through this ironic understanding of Daniel.
As past commentators have also observed, the dragon, the sea-beast, and the land-beast in Revelation 13 form a trinity competing with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As the Son receives authority from the Father (2:27; 3:21), so the beast receives authority from the dragon (13:4). The beast has crowns (13:1), as does Christ (19:12), and appears as slain and is resurrected (13:3, 14), as does Christ (1:18; 5:6). As the Son of man steps forward and receives authority from God by which all peoples and nations serve Him (Dan. 7:13-14), so the beast steps forward, is given authority from the dragon, by which the whole world serves him (13:1-3). As the Spirit represents the breath of God (the meaning of the Hebrew word ruaḥ, Ezek. 37:9-14), so the false prophet gives breath to the statue of the beast (Rev. 13:15). As the Spirit glorifies the Son (John 16:14), so the false prophet glorifies the beast (Rev. 13:12-15). The parody of the Trinity is also hinted at by the triple six in imitation of but short of 777 for the divine Trinity. The point of the parody in Daniel and especially in Revelation is that, though the Satanic beasts appear successfully to feign the truth in their attempts to deceive, they remain ever evil and never achieve the divine character they are mimicking.
John views the apostasy, deception, and persecution prophesied by Daniel 7–12 as beginning to occur in his own day. As he informs Christians of this, they should be all the more watchful of deception. They should understand that God is the One who ultimately sends the beasts of deception in order to test the genuineness of their faith and to purify it (as we have argued in regard to 6:2, 8). Likewise, in the history of Israel God “tested” Israel’s love for him by sending false prophets to give “a sign or a wonder … saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’ ” (Deut. 13:1-3; cf. Deut. 13:6-8; Rev. 13:13-14).
Ch. 14 marks the end of another cycle of visions. This cycle began in ch. 12 with the anticipation of Christ’s birth, and ends here with the final judgment. As we have seen, the section is best divided by tracing the repeated introductory vision formulas “and I saw” or “and behold.” When this is done, seven sections, visions, or “signs” can be observed, as listed in the introductory comments to ch. 12.
The majority of chs. 12–13 concerned the persecution of believers by the forces of unbelief led by Satan and his two beastly allies. These allies deceive multitudes into following them. Now ch. 14, together with 15:2-4, show the final reward of the persecuted faithful and the final punishment of the beast and those who follow him. The segment ends with the saints’ victory over the beast and the praise of God’s glory (15:2-4). God is glorified because He is the One who has judged the beast and enabled the saints to defeat him. Therefore, everything narrated in the segment of chs. 12:1–15:4 is to be seen as moving toward the end result of the glory of God. The same design has been observed in chs. 4–5, the seal judgments, and the trumpet judgments. It is best to view 14:1–15:4 as another prophetic narration of the actual, future final judgment and reward (as in 6:12-17 and 11:15-19).
1And I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. 2And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. 3And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. 4These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 5And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.
1 And I looked marks the beginning of the fourth visionary segment of the major vision section commencing at 12:1. The immediate juxtaposition of the Lamb in 14:1 to the beasts of ch. 13 serves as a contrast. The point of the contrast is to emphasize that Jesus is the true Lamb to whom allegiance is to be given in contrast to the pseudo-lamb of 13:11 and the first beast. He is seen standing on Mount Zion. Zion, the word used one hundred and fifty-five times in the OT to refer to the true city of God, can refer to God’s dwelling in the temple or be a symbol for His people, but usually refers to the eternal city God will rule over at the end of history. In the last days God will install His Messiah or king on this hill: “But as for me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘Thou art my Son, today I have begotten Thee’ ” (Ps. 2:6-7). The fuller name Mount Zion, in distinction to “Zion” by itself, occurs only nineteen times in the OT, at least nine of which allude to a remnant being saved, in connection with either God’s name or God’s sovereign rule and sometimes both (2 Kgs. 19:31; Isa. 4:5; 10:12; 37:30-32; Joel 2:32, etc.).
Against this OT background, Mount Zion in Rev. 14:1 is to be seen as the end-time city where God dwells with and provides security for the remnant who have been bought out from the earth. Interestingly, elsewhere in the NT, OT prophecies of Yahweh’s salvation of Israel at Mount Zion are viewed as having begun fulfillment during the church age (Acts 2:16-21; 13:33; Heb. 1:1-5; Rev. 2:26-27; 12:5). According to Acts 13:33, this promise has already been fulfilled in Christ, so that in one sense Christ is already installed on Mount Zion and reigning over His people. That the same notion of latter-day inaugurated fulfillment is conveyed in Rev. 14:1 is supported by the observation that vv. 1-5 present a contrast to the beast and his worshipers in ch. 13, who dwell on earth during the same period of the church age. Accordingly, Zion could be the ideal heavenly city to which saints aspire during the course of the church age (Gal. 4:25-27; Heb. 12:22-23). In this respect, deceased and glorified saints who have attained standing in that city may be included in the vision. This is supported by the fact that the only other times in the book when the Lamb is seen, he is always in heaven (7:9-14 portrays the Lamb in heaven with the redeemed multitudes). “Zion” thus can speak of God’s presence in the church age, though its ultimate fulfillment is yet to come. This is consistent with 7:9-17, since that vision blends past, present, and future (see on 7:16-17).
It is beyond coincidence that a “new name” is repeatedly associated with eschatological Zion. The city is to be given various new names (Isa. 62:2; 65:15 LXX; cf. 56:5), all of which express the new nature of the restored city, for example, “My delight is in her” (62:4), “a city not forsaken” (v. 12), “throne of the Lord” (Jer. 3:17), “The Lord is our righteousness” (Jer. 33:16), and “The Lord is there” (Ezek. 48:35). This OT background suggests that the divine name written on believers (having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads) is a figurative way of speaking of God’s presence with His people, which protects them. This is confirmed by the same conclusion reached earlier with regard to the new name (see on 2:17) and the seal (7:2-3). This is clarified further by 22:4: “they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads” (cf. 21:3). Likewise, in 3:12 Christ emphasizes the nuance of security by saying that He will write upon the overcomer “the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God … and My new name,” and metaphorically equates this with making the “overcomer” an immovable “pillar in the temple of My God.”
Since Zion was also where God sat enthroned in the temple of Israel, the Lamb’s position on Zion shows that He is the only true claimant to the throne of the cosmos. The mention of His Father, together with mention of the Lamb only a few phrases later, further confirms Christ as the only legitimate heir to the throne at Zion in an “already and not yet” fulfillment of Ps. 2:6-9. Acts 13:32-35; Heb. 1:2-5; and Rev. 2:26-28 and 12:5 apply the Psalm 2 text to Christ’s resurrection and subsequent reign.
The one hundred and forty-four thousand pictured with Christ here on Mount Zion are the same as those sealed in 7:4 — the saints of all ages. The name of Christ and of the Father are placed in opposition to the “name of the beast,” which is written on the foreheads of unbelievers (13:16-17). The number — the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles, representing the church, multiplied by one thousand as symbolic of completeness — connotes the full number of God’s true people throughout the ages who are viewed as true Israelites and is in antithesis to the beast’s followers with 666 on their foreheads, which connotes their incompleteness in achieving the divine design for humanity. 22:3-4 suggests that those having His name “on their foreheads” represent the entire community of the redeemed from throughout history (the “bondservants” of 22:3). The name of Christ and God inscribed on Christians’ foreheads is equivalent to the seal placed on the foreheads of the 144,000 in 7:1-8. The equation of the seal with the divine name is confirmed by recognizing that the “mark” (= the seal) of the beast on the forehead of unbelievers in 13:17 is identified as “the name of the beast,” and in 14:9-11 “a mark on his [the beast-worshiper’s] forehead” is also called “the mark of his [the beast’s] name.” And as we have seen in 2:17, identification with the divine name actually begins when Christ reveals Himself to people and they confess His name. When this occurs, it means that they have a new spiritual status and have been imparted with power not to deny His name (3:8-10), and thus to persevere through the latter-day tribulation (cf. 3:8-10; 2:13a). Hence, the seal empowers the 144,000 to perform the role of witness intended for true Israel (e.g., Isa. 42:6-7; 49:6; 51:4-8). Therefore, the divine name and the seal are marks of genuine membership in the community of the redeemed, without which entry into the eternal Zion is impossible. Therefore, the entire community of the redeemed, not part, is pictured here.
2-3 The 144,000 praise God with a voice like the sound of harpists playing on their harps and sing a new song. The images of harpists and a heavenly host singing a new song occur elsewhere in the book only in 5:8-10 and 15:2-4, which both emphasize the praise of the saints because of their victory, ch. 5 stressing victory over sin and ch. 15 underscoring victory over the beast. The imagery of 14:2-3, therefore, portrays redeemed saints praising God for this victory. Therefore, what John now hears in v. 2 interprets what he saw in v. 1 (for the pattern of sayings interpreting visions and vice-versa see on 5:5ff.; 12:10). What was seen in the OT and Jewish background of the latter-day Mount Zion in v. 1 is now expressed. Mount Zion, as in Ps. 2:6-12, is where the redeemed remnant from throughout the world have found divine refuge and final victory. In the OT the “new song” was always an expression of praise for God’s victory over the enemy, which sometimes included thanksgiving for God’s work of creation (cf. Pss. 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Isa. 42:10). Now the “new song” is sung again, but on an escalated scale and for the last time, “last” understood as carrying on into eternity. This means that vv. 1-5 focus not only on an ideal description of the church throughout the ages but also on the end of the age, when at last the church has been fully redeemed.
The loud sound of the singing is compared to the sound of many waters and the sound of loud thunder. The nearly identical expression occurs in 19:6, where it refers to the victorious reign of God as a result of judging the “great harlot” (19:2). The chorus is so loud because it originates from the “great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues” (7:9). These are the same ones whom Christ purchased (see 5:9). The voices are so loud because they come from such a multitudinous host, not a mere literal 144,000 but the full number of the redeemed of all ages. Just as only those redeemed by Christ can know the “new name” of God which they possess (2:17), so no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. The reference to the voice from heaven speaks of the dimension from which revelation comes and could also be another reference to Mount Zion (v. 1) or to the heavenly Jerusalem in its pre-consummate as well as its consummated form (as in 21:2, 10ff.). Thus, there is a blurring of these two temporal stages of the heavenly Zion or Jerusalem.
4a In vv. 4-5, a description of the redeemed is given. First, they are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste (literally “male virgins”). The symbolism of v. 4 could well be based on the background of Israelite soldiers being required to preserve ceremonial purity before battle (e.g., Deut. 23:9-10; 1 Sam. 21:5; 2 Sam. 11:8-11; 1QM VII.3-6). Richard Bauckham develops this idea, seeing a figurative presentation of a remnant of saints fighting an ironic holy war, “ironic” in that the power inherent in Christian warfare lies in self-sacrifice in imitation of the Lamb (The Climax of Prophecy: Studies in the Book of Revelation [Edinburgh: Clark, 1993], 229-32). While possible, this does not account for the dominating metaphor of virginity, which is an essential part of the symbolism. This view also unnecessarily limits the 144,000 to a remnant of the true church. Nevertheless, the link via the number between 14:1 and 7:4-8 bears out to some degree the idea of a holy war, since the concept of holy warriors is present in ch. 7. The holy war theme receives further confirmation from the parallel of 14:4 (those “who follow the Lamb wherever He goes”) and 19:14, the latter portraying Christians as an army following their military, messianic leader: “And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him [Christ] on white horses.”
Some think chaste (or virgin in some translations) refers to a select group of Christians who are especially righteous in comparison to other saints who are married, thus suggesting that the latter are more tainted with sin. However, that chaste is to be taken symbolically is apparent since nowhere else does Scripture view sexual relations within the bond of marriage as sinful. Furthermore, if the 144,000 are symbolic for the entire people of God, then it would mean that John required celibacy for the whole church, which is highly improbable. It is preferable, on our view, to understand the chaste as a metaphor of all true saints (not just a remnant), who have not compromised in various ways with the world but have remained loyal as a pure bride to her betrothed (as in 19:7-9; 21:2; 2 Cor. 11:2). Of course, this must be the case if the conclusion already reached above is correct that the number represents all true believers. The only other times when saints surround Christ (7:9, 17; so apparently also in 19:8-9), it is always the whole redeemed community that does so. Additionally, if the 144,000 is figurative for completeness, why should not “virgins” also be figurative in like manner? This figurative interpretation is reinforced from the fact that not only is Jerusalem as a bride based on the OT (see 21:2), but “virgin” is a repeated name applied to the nation of Israel in the OT (see “virgin of Israel” and other similar variant phrases in 2 Kgs. 19:21; Isa. 37:22; Jer. 14:17; 18:13; 31:4, 13, 21; Lam. 1:15; 2:13; Amos 5:2). That at least the broad background of Israel as “virgin” may well be in mind is further suggested by the fact that behind the notion of “defilement” in Rev. 14:4 is “virgin” Israel’s defilement with idolatry, and the same notion is ready at hand in 14:8 (on which see).
Chaste (Greek parthenos, which can also be translated “virgin”) could be in the masculine simply because it is a picture of men who have kept themselves undefiled from women. They have not had illegitimate intercourse with “the great harlot” (17:1). Preventing defilement was mentioned earlier in the book in reference to Christians who have not identified with the idolatrous institutions such as emperor worship or trade guild idolatry (on defilement or non-defilement of professing Christians see on 2:9, 13-15, 20; 3:4-5). This is the same kind of portrayal as in 2:14, 20-22, where the idea of committing “acts of immorality” is a metaphor primarily referring to believers tempted to engage in spiritual intercourse with pagan gods. Likewise, Paul wants believers to be presented as a “pure virgin” to Christ by warning them to avoid the serpent’s deception and perverted gospel (2 Cor. 11:2-4, 13-15).
4b Another characteristic of the truly redeemed is that, instead of identifying with the idolatrous world, they identify with Christ: These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. Like the sacrificial Lamb, they offer their lives up in sacrifice to God (cf. Rom. 12:1). The saints have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. In v. 4, first fruits could identify a small group of Christian (or especially Jewish Christian) martyrs living at various points in the church age or at the very end of history who are a foreshadowing of a greater ingathering of more believers later, which could then be narrated in the harvest of 14:14-20. This view is supported by the use of the first fruits elsewhere in the NT, where it can refer to converts who were the first of many more to come (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:15; 2 Thess. 2:13 mg.), to the Spirit as the beginning evidence of a greater end-time inheritance (Rom. 8:23), or to Christ’s resurrection as the beginning of the subsequent resurrection of all Christians (1 Cor. 15:20, 23).
However, it is better to view first fruits as referring here to the totality of believers throughout the ages. The presentation of saints as first fruits develops further the idea of Christians as sacrifices to the Lord. In the OT, the first fruits were offered to God to signify His rights of ownership, and in like manner the rest of the harvest was gathered to be used by God’s people according to His sovereign plan. The word here probably refers to the totality of believers throughout the ages who finally receive their full and final redemption. This is supported by recalling that the group in 14:1-5 is the same as that in ch. 7, which represents the complete number of God’s true people, true Israel. The holistic concept of first fruits is in line with Jer. 2:2-3, which calls the whole nation of Israel redeemed from Egypt “holy to the Lord, the first of His harvest.” This text has relevance for Revelation 14 since chs. 8–11 and chs. 15–16 (the trumpet and bowl judgments) rely heavily on exodus themes. The passage in Jeremiah highlights Israel as set apart to God in distinction from the unbelieving nations: “Israel was holy to the Lord, the first of His harvest; all who ate of it became guilty; evil came upon them.” Here Israel is pictured as the redeemed first fruits in distinction to the nations who were antagonistic toward Israel and were judged. Like Jas. 1:18 (literally “first fruits among that which is created [anew]”), Revelation 14 may also be affirming that the elect people inhabiting the new Jerusalem (= Mount Zion) in the new creation are the “first fruits” or beginning of the rest of the new creation, not an anticipation of more people to be redeemed. This is because of their identification with their first-born representative Head, Jesus (cf. 1:5; 3:14; Col. 1:18; 2 Cor. 5:17).
As with the redeemed nation in the OT, so the new Israel is an offering to be set apart for God and separated from the remainder of humanity, which has been contaminated with idolatry. Just as in the OT, the portion remaining after the first fruits was considered common or profane, so now the redeemed are specially set apart from the rest, which are unclean, common, or profane. In this respect, the idea of first fruits continues the thought behind the virgin imagery of v. 4a (see above). The use of “purchase” (or “redeem”) twice in vv. 3-4 requires the conclusion that the complete number of redeemed saints is in mind. The only other use of the word with a redemptive meaning is in 5:9, which speaks of the salvation of all Christians, not a select group.
5 Because genuinely redeemed saints follow the Lamb, they take on the attributes of the Lamb. They have “followed” Him wherever His sacrificial example has led them. Now an allusion to Isa. 53:9 enforces further the sacrificial nature of Christian commitment: And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless. They stand in contrast to those “who say they are [true] Jews, and are not, but lie” (Rev. 3:9). The reference to not lying is not speaking merely of general truthfulness but in context focuses on the saints’ integrity in witnessing to Jesus when under pressure by the beast and false prophet to compromise their faith and go along with the idolatrous lie (note references to the perseverance of the saints in 13:10; 14:12; cf. 1 John 2:22). As already briefly noted, the expression of integrity is an allusion to the character of the messianic Servant prophesied in Isa. 53:9: “nor was there any deceit in His mouth.” This is striking, because it comes immediately after mention of the Servant as “a lamb that is led to slaughter” (Isa. 53:7). The saints reflect both of these messianic traits. Similar language is also found in Zeph. 3:13: “Nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths.” In addition to the parallel language with Revelation, Zeph. 3:11-14 speaks of God saving a remnant in the last days, those who are identified with His “holy mountain” and Zion. It appears that Zephaniah may himself be alluding to Isaiah 53, thus connecting Isaiah’s Servant with the remnant. Rev. 14:1-5 depicts in part the fulfillment of the Zephaniah and Isaiah prophecy. Saints are included in the fulfillment of the Isaiah 53 prophecy because they are represented by the messianic Lamb who died for them and in whom was no lie or guilt.
On the rule of Christ and His protection of the redeemed. Chs. 12 and 13 have painted a picture of persecution and of the church’s suffering at the hands of the devil and his agents. Yet here a counterpoint is presented in the form of a magnificent picture of Christ ruling on Mount Zion in the midst of His people. According to the commentary, the fact that this rule has already begun means that, even in the midst of suffering, Christ is protecting His people spiritually. Do we fail to understand this truth because we place too much value in external things the enemy may take from us and not enough in the saving relationship we have with Christ? How important is it, particularly for suffering believers, to understand these things in order to persevere?
On the response of praise. In vv. 2-3, the people of God, both those on earth and those in heaven, are pictured as giving heartfelt praise to God and the Lamb for the victory they have won. Is the “new song” of praise characteristic of our relationship with Christ? Do we truly focus on the greatness of what He has done for us? How important is it to observe Paul’s command, “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:18)? How does a response of praise affect us positively and draw us closer to the Lord?
On the twofold nature of discipleship. In v. 4, the Christian life is presented two ways: we turn away from the world and refuse to compromise with its values, regardless of the cost to us, and we follow the Lamb unconditionally — “wherever He goes.” These are two sides of the same coin — yet do we emphasize one at the expense of the other? Why do they need to be held in balance?
On becoming like Christ. The section closes with the observation that those who follow Christ will eventually become like Him (v. 5). Why is this so? Does it equally apply in a negative sense to those who seek money, power, or position for selfish purposes? Discipleship means following Christ “wherever He goes.” How characteristic is this of our Christian lives? What a tragedy it is when believers fail to follow Christ wholeheartedly and thus fail to exhibit His character to the watching world around them.
6And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; 7and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.” 8And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.” 9And another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon his hand, 10he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” 12Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. 13And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”
A warning of judgment to the unbelieving world is announced (vv. 6-7), but it will not be heeded by the world system and its followers, which results in their final judgment at the end of history (v. 8). This final historical judgment is the precursor to the final, eternal judgment (vv. 9-11). However, the warning is intended to influence true believers to remain faithful to Christ in order to receive an eternal reward (vv. 12-13).
6 The phrase and I saw begins the fifth visionary segment since the commencement of the major vision section at 12:1 (the previous four sections began at 12:1; 13:1; 13:11; and 14:1). The time of this section immediately precedes that of the consummation, which is part of the focus in vv. 1-5. The focus now shifts from the redeemed to the unredeemed (vv. 6-11) in order to contrast the destiny of the two: And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth. The angel is a messenger not primarily of grace but of judgment. His announcement emphasizes the judicial side of the gospel more than the offer of grace. The absence of the article (“the”) before gospel is suggestive, since elsewhere in the NT the article always precedes the word, which without exception emphasizes the offer of grace in Christ. The angel does not announce a different gospel, but one that carries with it dire consequences if rejected, as Paul underscores in Rom. 1:16–3:21; 2 Cor. 2:14-16; and Acts 17:18-32 (cf. 1 Pet. 4:17). The following verses (8-11) suggest that the gospel which is announced here includes, at the least, a penal aspect; indeed, these succeeding verses emphasize the judicial side. Ch. 14 reaches its climax with two descriptions of the final judgment (vv. 14-20), which highlights the judicial tone introduced in v. 6 and further elaborated in vv. 10 and 11. The gospel is called eternal because it is immutable and permanently valid.
The wrathful nature of the heavenly being is also suggested by the similarity to the messenger of the three woes in 8:13. Each delivers his message by speaking in a loud voice while flying in midheaven and addressing unbelieving earth-dwellers. Those who live on the earth is a phrase synonymous with “those who dwell upon the earth” (for the latter phrase with its negative idolatrous connotation see 3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10a, 10b; 13:8, 12, 14a, 14b; 17:2, 8). An additional description of the heavenly being’s addressees is given at the end of the verse: and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. This formula in the first part of the book refers to the saved (5:9; 7:9), but commencing in 10:11 (and again in 13:7 and 17:15) refers to the lost. There may be an allusion here to the sayings of Jesus in Matt. 24:14 concerning the preaching of the gospel to all nations, where the context speaks of the hostility of the world and apostasy within the church, even as both ideas are included in Rev. 13:1-18 and 14:9-12.
7 Whether this verse gives the only content or the further contents of the gospel preached in v. 6 is not clear. It serves well as a conclusion to the announcement of the gospel. The theme of the verse is judgment. This is “good news” (the literal meaning of “gospel”) to the saints because it means the downfall of the ungodly system headed by the beast and ultimately by Satan. The preaching of the gospel (good news) in 10:7 (on which see) has the same idea, since its primary reference is to the fact that the suffering of saints, which is part of God’s “mystery,” will be followed by the defeat and judgment of their persecutors. Christians can be encouraged because God will defend His reputation after all.
The appropriate response to the gospel is to fear God and give Him glory. The expression poses the difficult question of whether the command is expected to result in genuine conversion or is a compulsory edict for antagonistic humanity, signifying that they will be forced to acknowledge the reality of God’s imminent judgment (as in Phil. 2:9-11). When glory is given to God in Revelation, it is given by those who are part of God’s spiritual community (so twelve times). Likewise, whenever worship of God is mentioned in the book, it is always carried out by true believers or angelic beings (so twelve times). The closest parallel verse, 15:4, bears this out. However, the next closest parallel, 11:13 (“the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven”), we have understood to be about coerced acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty on the basis of the allusion to Dan. 4:34, where unbelieving Nebuchadnezzar’s giving glory to God follows his punishment (see on 11:13).
In this regard, vv. 6-8 are also based on a series of expressions concerning Nebuchadnezzar from the LXX version of Daniel 4:
Although Nebuchadnezzar responded to God, there is no evidence he became a monotheistic, God-fearing believer. The judgment which God imposed upon him left the humiliated king no choice but to acknowledge that God, not he, was the true sovereign of earth’s affairs. The same will happen at the end of time for the ungodly.
The hour of His judgment has come suggests that the angelic command does not primarily apply during the whole course of the age before Christ’s return, but is an edict that directly precedes and inaugurates the last judgment itself. This is supported by the use of “hour” in 17:12-18 in connection with the judgment of Babylon. Commencement of the judgment is the reason for issuing the command. It is only when the hour of His judgment has come that those hitherto immovable in their rebellious spirit will be made to confess that God is their sovereign judge and that He glorifies Himself by judging them.
However, the verb “worship” (proskyneō) refers elsewhere in the book to voluntary worship of either God or the beast, though it can have the notion of “respectfully welcome” or “prostrate oneself before,” which could be consistent with the idea of a coerced acknowledgment of God. But if the notion of a coerced fearing, glorifying, and worshiping is ultimately not satisfactory, then the angel of 14:7 must be seen as issuing a final decree for genuine conversion, which the directly following context shows will go unheeded, and v. 7 would be an exhortation to unbelievers to turn from idolatrous worship of creation to worship of the Creator. God is identified as the Creator of all things as a motivation for people to worship Him instead of the creation. The verse could be analogous to Acts 14:15: we “preach the gospel in order that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.” Acts 14:18 notes that the audience continued in their idolatrous attitude, which is also the expectation in Revelation 14. The phrase “every nation” (v. 6), that is, those addressed in v. 7, is identical to the phrase “all the nations” in v. 8 and 18:3, those who are to be judged along with the Babylonian harlot because they have drunk her deceptive, intoxicating wine.
8 In the vision another angel … followed with a declaration of judgment, which draws out more explicitly the judicial nature of the prior angel’s announcement in vv. 6-7. Babylon has so infected the nations as to render them incapable of heeding the first angel’s declaration of the gospel. Fallen, fallen is Babylon is from Isa. 21:9a, where it is equivalent to the statement that the idols of Babylon are destroyed (in Isa. 21:9b). The destruction of the idolatrous system of the world is also in mind here, as the immediately following vv. 9-11 bear out.
Babylon the great is Nebuchadnezzar’s prideful description (Dan. 4:30). End-time Babylon is about to fall, just as was Nebuchadnezzar. The past tenses fallen, fallen function like the Hebrew prophetic perfect tense, which expresses a future occurrence as though it has already occurred. The repetition expresses emphasis and anticipates the larger portrayal of Babylon’s fall in 16:19 and ch. 18 (the latter passage begins its depiction with the same double expression). The ungodly social, political, and economic system dominated by the Roman Empire placed believers in the same position as Israel under Babylon. Therefore, Rome and all wicked world systems take on the symbolic name “Babylon the great.” Indeed, this symbolic interpretation of Babylon is assured beyond reasonable doubt by the prophecies of God’s judgment on historical Babylon, which foretold that Babylon “will be desolate forever” (Jer. 51:26) and “not rise again” (Jer. 51:64; cf. 50:39-40; 51:24-26, 62-64; so also Isa. 13:19-22). Thus, that “Babylon the Great” is applied to the ungodly kingdom in the new covenant era shows clearly that it cannot refer to literal Babylon.
There are many who go along with the religious and idolatrous demands of the ungodly earthly order. The reason for this compliance is that Babylon has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality. The metaphor of drunkenness comes from Jer. 51:7-8: “Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore, the nations are going mad. Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken.” The literal meaning of the Greek (technically termed genitives of cause) is “the wine that causes a passion to have immoral relations with her.” The Greek word for “immorality” (porneia) appears elsewhere in Revelation and is linked with idolatry (2:14, 20-21; 9:21; 17:2). The nations’ cooperation with Babylon ensures their material security (see on 2:9, 13; 13:16-17). Without this cooperation, security would be removed. Such security is a temptation too great to resist. The phrase “made to drink” means that people must comply with society’s demands in order to prosper. Once one imbibes, the intoxicating influence removes all desire to resist Babylon’s destructive influence, blinds one to Babylon’s own ultimate insecurity and to God as the source of real security, and numbs one from any fear of a coming judgment. This same combination of ideas finds a parallel in Hos. 4:11-12: “harlotry, wine and new wine take away the understanding. My people consult their wooden idol … for a spirit of harlotry has led them astray.” Here it is unfaithful Israel who has become drunk and spiritually blind. See also Isa. 29:9: “They become drunk, but not with wine…. For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets….”
The economic interpretation of the nations’ intoxicating passion for Babylon is clear from ch. 18, especially 18:3, where “the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality (Greek porneia) with her” is parallel with “and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality” (see on 18:3). The nations weep and lament about the fall of Babylon in ch. 18 because they fear that it means their own imminent demise (18:9-10, 15, 19). But a much more ultimate collapse than economic depression is at hand. Those experiencing economic tragedy in the contemporary world should be warned that it is a forerunner of a final world collapse and universal judgment by God; accordingly, they should pay heed and take stock of their own standing before God. The influence of Babylon extends to the end of history, so that people must be exhorted to the very end not to be deceived by her (note the exhortations implied in v. 9 and expressed in v. 12, as well as in 18:3-4 and similarly elsewhere in the book).
9 Yet a third angel appears after the first two. Like them, he also announces judgment. The present tenses worships (the beast and his image) and receives (a mark on his forehead or his hand) connote continued worship of the beast and allegiance to him despite the warnings of judgment in vv. 6-8 and the penalty stated in vv. 10-11.
10 The consequences of worship of the beast are now stated. The punishment fits their crime. V. 8 has explained that the nations have allowed themselves to drink from Babylon’s wine, which has made them desire to cooperate with her economic-religious system. Therefore, since the nations have willingly drunk from the wine of passion for Babylon, so they will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, in demonstration of the “eye for an eye” principle. The picture of pouring out wine resulting in intoxication indicates the unleashing of God’s wrath, under which people are completely subjugated through judgment, resulting in extreme suffering (Pss. 60:3; 75:8; Isa. 51:17, 21-23; 63:6; Jer. 25:15-18; 51:7; cf. Job 21:20; Obad. 16). Sometimes the drunken stupor ends in physical death and destruction (Jer. 25:27-33; Obad. 16; Rev. 18:6-9). While the intoxicating effect of Babylon’s wine seemed strong, it is nothing in comparison to God’s wine. Babylon’s wine has only temporary effects; the effects of God’s wine stand forever. The divine draught is mixed in full strength, implying that Babylon’s wine is not. The following clause in the cup of His anger emphasizes the definitiveness and severity of the last judgment to which all unbelievers are forced to submit.
At the last day they will be tormented with fire and brimstone. As throughout the book, fire is figurative for judgment (1:14; 2:18; 3:18; 4:5 [fire in conjunction with lightning and thunder]; 8:5, 7-8; 15:2; 19:12). Uppermost in thought is the suffering which results from judgment; see 9:17-18; 11:5; 16:8-9; 20:10. The idea of suffering is emphasized when “brimstone” is added to the image of “fire.” The “torment” is primarily spiritual and psychological suffering, which is the meaning of the word elsewhere in the book, with reference to the nature of trials which either precede the final judgment or are part of it (9:5-6; 11:10; 18:7, 10, 15; 20:10). That their torment takes place in the presence of the Lamb means that those who have denied the Lamb will be forced to acknowledge Him as they are being punished in His presence (as in 6:16).
11 Together with the conclusion of v. 10, the portrait in v. 11a is drawn from Isa. 34:9-10, which describes God’s judgment of Edom. Once destroyed by God’s judgment, Edom would never rise again. Likewise the judgment of unbelievers at the end of time will be absolute and complete. Isaiah’s prophecy is universalized to refer to the final judgment of all unbelievers throughout history who have given allegiance to the ungodly world system.
However, there is a theological debate about the nature of the final judgment. Does the portrayal mean the annihilation of unbelievers, so that their existence is abolished forever? Or, does it refer to a destruction involving not absolute annihilation but the suffering of unbelievers for eternity? The OT context could support the view that the final judgment involves annihilation of unbelievers rather than their eternal suffering. The smoke represents a memorial of God’s annihilation of sin. On the other hand, the parallel in 20:10 refers to the devil, the beast, and the false prophet undergoing the judgment in “the lake of fire and brimstone,” where “they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” There is no justification in not identifying the fate of those in 14:10-11 with that of their Satanic representatives in 19:20 and 20:10. The fact that the ungodly are thrown into the same “lake of fire” as their Satanic leaders further confirms this (so 20:15). In addition, the word torment (Greek basanismos, verb basanizō) in 14:10-11 is used nowhere in Revelation or biblical literature in the sense of annihilation of existence. Without exception it refers in Revelation to conscious suffering on the part of people (9:5; 11:10; 12:2; 18:7, 10, 15; 20:10; so also Matt. 4:24 [“pains” in NASB]; 8:6, 29; 18:34; Mark 5:7; 6:48 [“straining” in NASB]; Luke 8:28; 16:23, 28; 2 Pet. 2:8). The word group occurs approximately one hundred times in the LXX, always referring to conscious suffering. Therefore, the genitival phrase the smoke of their torment is a mixed metaphor, where smoke is figurative of an enduring memorial of God’s punishment involving a real, ongoing, eternal, conscious torment.
The phrase day and night further clarifies the ceaseless nature of the suffering of the lost. The phrase is parallel with the preceding phrase forever and ever, so that the idea expresses a long period of uninterrupted restlessness. The same two phrases are linked in 20:10 in relation to the eternal suffering of the devil, the beast, and the false prophet. The phrase forever and ever occurs twelve other times in the book and always refers to eternity (i.e., God’s or Christ’s eternal being, God, or the saints’ eternal reign; note the close verbal parallel with 19:3). In particular, the expression describing the eternal duration of the punishment (“tormented day and night forever and ever”) in 20:10 appears to be balanced antithetically by the identical phrase describing the eternal duration of the saints’ reign (“forever and ever”) in 22:5. In 7:15, the clause “day and night” refers to the time when the whole congregation of saints will worship in God’s temple in the new creation at the end of the age. Such worship and relief will continue forever; the same is true of use of the phrase “day and night” in relation to the worship of the four living creatures in 4:8.
The nature of the torment is explained in the second part of v. 11 not as annihilation but as lack of rest. Therefore, the smoke is metaphorical of a continued reminder of the ongoing torment of restlessness, which endures for eternity. Only two verses later in 14:13, believers find eternal “rest” when they die, which appears as the opposite of the restlessness of unbelievers. The phrase and they have no rest day and night describing those who worship the beast and his image is a verbatim repetition of the same phrase in 4:8, describing the ceaseless and eternal worship of the cherubim in heaven, which they had been doing at least since the time of Ezekiel 1.
12 Now true saints are exhorted to persevere through temporary suffering because of loyalty to Christ, in order to avoid the eternal consequences of loyalty to the beast and to receive an eternal reward (v. 13). The warning of vv. 6-11 is aimed to result in believers being motivated to persevere. Therefore, v. 12 is the main point of the segment so far (vv. 6-12). Vv. 9-13 thus follow the pattern of 13:11-18. There, mention of the worshipers of the beast and his image who bear the mark on their foreheads and hands is followed by reference to the persevering faith of believers, which enables them not to be deceived by the beast. Likewise, 14:12-13 follows vv. 9-11.
Note the parallel phrases here is the perseverance of the saints and “here is the perseverance and faith of the saints” (13:10), along with the further parallel “here is wisdom” (13:18). Faith involves the ability to accept the suffering entailed in refusing to compromise (13:10), and faith also provides wisdom which enables believers to avoid deception and discern the true character of the beast (13:18). Both of these definitions from ch. 13 concerning faithfulness, discernment of evil, and non-compromise are in mind with the summary statement of faith here. Included also is the idea that, if wisdom is exercised, it will prevent divine judgment, which will entail worse suffering than what Christians experience through persecution. The fact of coming judgment against their persecutors also motivates Christians to persevere. This is a motivation arising not from revenge but from a desire that judgment will show their cause to be true and will therefore vindicate the righteous name of God, which has been blasphemed by the beast and his allies.
Perseverance is explained to be keeping the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. The commandments of God is a holistic reference to the objective revelation of the old and new covenants to which the faithful remain loyal. That faith (Greek pistis) refers to the doctrinal content of the Christian faith (cf. Jude 3) is further evident from 2:13, where the same word occurs with the same meaning. The occurrence of perseverance in 13:10 and here emphasizes that what is needed in withstanding the beast’s deceptions and temptations to compromise is not a temporary faith but one that endures through constant watchfulness.
13 If Christians remain loyal to the Lamb, they will suffer in the present, but afterward they will gain a reward of eternal rest: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. The desire to persevere is to be motivated not only by the warning of judgment (vv. 6-11) but also by the promise of reward. Just as vv. 8 and 9-11 were interpretative elaborations of the judgment announced in vv. 6-7, so v. 13 likewise expands on the statement of persevering faith in v. 12. This is suggested by a voice from heaven, saying, which is similar to the elaborating phrases in vv. 8 and 9, both containing the word “saying.” All believers who die in the Lord (the reference is to all who remain faithful to death, not just martyrs) now enter into their eternal rest and reward, for their deeds follow with them. The emphasis is on those “dying in the Lord,” not on the precise manner of death. Like martyrs, those dying from other causes than martyrdom also will receive the blessing because they likewise in their own ways are resisting pressures to conform to idolatry (see on 6:9 and 12:11). Christ was rewarded after death for His endurance, and so will Christians, since Christ is their corporate representative (even as the angels represented the churches in 1:20).
The interjection that this blessing is pronounced by the Spirit (“Yes,” says the Spirit) assures Christians that the blessing will be bestowed. Unlike their persecutors and compromisers, who find restful security in this life but not in the next (vv. 8, 11), Christians who endure through hard labors of oppression now will find the blessing of rest later. In 6:11 “rest” is also used (together with the bestowing of “white robes”) to refer to the believers’ reward after death for their enduring faith in the midst of trials. So here also not just general works of righteousness, but faithful deeds of bearing up under oppression are referred to (see further below). That the rest is eternal is apparent, since it is in contrast with the eternal restlessness of the wicked in v. 11. The implicit eternal duration is suggested also by the promises of comfort from life’s storms made to Christians in 7:13-15 and 21:2-7, where the duration is open-ended. Though the “rest” may appear “temporary” in 6:11 (“for a little while longer”), 14:13 together with 7:13-15 and 21:2-7 show it to be the beginning of an eternal reward.
The last clause, for their deeds follow with them, serves as the logical basis for the preceding: people will experience rest because, despite persecution, they have persevered in keeping the commandments of God and in their faith in Jesus (v. 12). Labors (plural of kopos) in the preceding clause (that they may rest from their labors) does not refer to mere good works, but to faithful works which endure through distress and difficulties, which is its typical meaning throughout the NT. Deeds is synonymous with labors. People will be judged or rewarded on the basis of their deeds, which are a tell-tale sign of their inward faith (cf. 2:23; 22:12). The main point of vv. 6-13 is reward for the faithful, since that theme concludes the section in vv. 12-13 and represents the response by the faithful to the announcement of judgment in vv. 6-11. The record of their deeds identifies them before the divine court as those deserving rest (cf. 1 Cor. 15:58).
On the judicial aspect of the gospel message. According to the understanding of the commentary, in vv. 6-7 the gospel is presented primarily as a message of judgment. How often do we ignore this judicial aspect? Paul says the same thing: in the gospel the righteousness of God by faith is revealed (Rom. 1:16-17), but in the same gospel is also revealed the wrath of God from heaven (Rom. 1:18-32). What consequences does it have when we ignore the judicial aspect in our understanding or presentation of the gospel?
On the power of materialism and the world system. The devil and his agents use the world economic system to ensnare people through their love of money and material pleasures. V. 8 presents this in terms of being drugged or drunk, and thus becoming totally insensitive to and unaware of what is truly happening around us because of our overweening enjoyment of worldly comforts. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money]” (Matt. 6:24). What a battle we face in this materialistic culture, yet how great the consequences of our decisions!
On the concept of everlasting conscious punishment of the lost. According to the commentary, vv. 9-11 present a picture of the everlasting conscious punishment of the unbeliever. Do you agree with the reasoning adopted by the commentary? Why is this a difficult subject for many believers? If we deny this concept, is it the beginning of a process which will end in the denial of hell’s existence? For what would Jesus then have died? If Jesus suffered the penalty of sin, and if that penalty is annihilation and not eternal suffering, then would not Jesus have been annihilated and thus gone out of existence at the cross? If this logic be accepted, then it involves a Christological heresy: How could the second person of the Trinity have gone out of existence at any point?
On perseverance and reward. In vv. 12-13, the perseverance of the saints and their eternal reward are emphasized. God enables us to persevere, and He helps us in our weakness. The point of the portrayal of judgment in vv. 6-11 is to motivate believers to persevere in spite of suffering. Yet they are to rejoice not in the punishment of their enemies but in the ultimate vindication of God and His character. Perhaps we wonder if we should be motivated by the prospect of an eternal reward, yet this is how God presents it here.
14And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a Son of man, having a golden crown on His head, and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap, because the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16And He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth; and the earth was reaped. 17And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18And another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.” 19And the angel swung his sickle to the earth, and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.
14 Vv. 14-20, beginning with the visionary marker And I looked, form the sixth of seven sections extending from 12:1 to 15:4 (the previous such markers occurring at 12:1; 13:1, 11; 14:1, 6). Like the sixth seal, this sixth vision describes the judgment at the end of history, which is followed by a seventh section also narrating the last judgment (15:2-4; cf. 8:1, 3-5). Vv. 6-13 have announced the coming climactic judgment as a warning to professing Christians. That judgment is now depicted as actually taking place.
The judge is one like a Son of man who is sitting on the cloud, which is an allusion to Dan. 7:13 and stands in the interpretative tradition of Matt. 24:30. This tradition usually associates the Son of man’s coming with both redemption and judgment. In Matthew 24, Jesus prophesies that as the Son of man He is to come on the clouds both to judge and redeem. However, the context of Rev. 14:15-20 suggests that only the judicial aspect of the Son of man’s role appears to be connoted in v. 14. The heavenly figure has a golden crown on His head, which identifies Him as King over His people, who rule with Him and also wear “golden crowns” (4:4, 10; cf. also 2:10; 3:11; 12:1). His crown also evokes kingship over His enemies (see on 19:12). The following verses show the “sharp sickle” to be a metaphor of judgment. Seven heavenly beings are described in vv. 6-20, but the Son of man here is the only one not referred to as an angel, and 1:7, 13-20 portrays the Son of man from Dan. 7:13 as the divine Christ with precisely the same wording as here. In the OT, God alone comes from heaven or to earth in a cloud, and Dan. 7:13 is no exception to this pattern.
15-16 Another angel now appears and issues a command to the Son of man. That the angel conveys a message to the Son of man indicates the latter’s functional subordination to God, not to the angel, in light of the observation that the angel (who came out of the temple) merely conveys a divine message from God’s throne room. Christ must be informed by God about the time for judgment to begin, since “of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Mark 13:32; Acts 1:7). It is not clear that Christ being in heaven means that His knowledge about the timing of the final judgment changes, since even after His resurrection and ascension He is still subject to the Father’s authority. Furthermore, He equates His limited knowledge to that of “the angels in heaven,” so that heavenly status does not seem a sufficient condition for such a change. Angels in Revelation never announce a message which has its ultimate derivation from themselves, but are always mere conveyors of messages representing the divine will. Christ is commanded to harvest in judgment because the harvest of the earth is ripe. Just as God determines the time each year when the season for growing crops ends, so God has determined the time when the end of the age has been reached and when judgment must begin, because the sins of humanity have reached their full measure (cf. Gen. 15:16; Dan. 8:23-26; 1 Thess. 2:16).
17-20a The imagery of harvest in vv. 17-19 is almost identical to vv. 15-16, though there is amplification of the picture. These are not similar accounts of different judgments, though it is conceivable that the descriptions portray actions respectively of the Son of man and of the sixth angel during the time of the last judgment. However, because only in the second picture is the image of judgment explicit, many have thought that the first picture represents the ingathering of the saints, while the second represents the judgment of the wicked. If only the one judgment of the wicked is referred to, why would two parallel but somewhat different depictions be placed side by side? The presence of the Son of man in the first segment and the gory imagery of trampling grapes in the second are taken respectively as suggesting redemption and judgment. Jesus also taught a dual harvest of the saved and the lost (Matt. 3:12; 13:24-30). In fact, sometimes Jesus (and also Isaiah and Amos) referred to the harvest only as a harvest of the saved (Isa. 27:12-13; Hos. 6:11; Matt. 9:37-38; Mark 4:26-29; John 4:35-38).
On the other hand, both pictures in vv. 15-16 and in vv. 17-19 may speak of judgment only. Both feature a angel coming out of the temple and commanding the Son of man to put in his sickle and reap a ripe harvest, and in other places in Revelation such orders from the heavenly temple or altar bring only judgment (6:1-5; 9:13; 16:7, 17). Also, the phrase “the hour to reap has come” in v. 15 points our attention to the nine other times in Revelation where the word “hour” occurs, always in reference to a time of judgment. Finally, the vision John sees appears to be a fulfillment of Joel 3:13, “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great….” The Joel passage is the only one in the OT where both images of harvest (as in vv. 15-16) and of treading the wine press (as in vv. 17-20) occur, and there they are both images connoting judgment (for a similar OT passage, see Isa. 63:2-3). On balance, therefore, the passage probably refers to judgment only, though the alternate view is possible. But why would there be two identical accounts of the same judgment in vv. 15-20? The double narration emphasizes the severity and unqualified nature of the punishment, which reaches its climax with the extensive blood-letting of v. 20.
In any event, it is clear that vv. 17-20 portray the judgment of the wicked. The picture of the altar in conjunction with the angel … who has power over fire (v. 18) has unique correspondence with 8:3-5, where an angel by a golden altar obtains fire from the altar and throws it to the earth (twenty-three out of twenty-four occurrences of the word “fire” in the book are in scenes of judgment; see on 14:10). Since 8:3-5 depicts a judgment scene introducing the punishments of the trumpets, the same kind of scene is discernible here. This conclusion is supported further by the fact that the image of treading a wine press is without exception a metaphor of judgment in the OT. And the only other mention in Revelation of the wine press occurs in 19:15, where it refers to Christ’s judgment of the evil nations. The phrase “the wine of the wrath of God” in v. 10 and the great wine press of the wrath of God here, together with the identical phraseology in 19:15, show that vv. 19-20 are developing only the theme of judgment from v. 10. Why “one like a Son of man” (v. 14) is introduced into one of the segments and not the other is not clear, other than that He is in some way similar to the other angelic figures (probably Christ; see on v. 14). In all, there are seven heavenly figures in vv. 6-20, reflecting the notion of completeness.
20b The concluding statement in v. 20 that the treading of the wine press was outside the city, and the blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles presents some difficulties. If the city refers to Babylon, the trampling could refer to the persecution of saints, the phrase being parallel to 11:2, where the phrase “they will tread under foot the holy city” alludes to Christians who are persecuted like their Lord. However, if the “city” is the true holy city (so fifteen times elsewhere in the book), then the meaning of the trampling is punishment of unbelievers, which occurs outside the eschatological holy city of righteous saints. The latter option is the better. The last clause of v. 19 (the “wine press of the wrath of God”) continues the judgment language of v. 10. The first part of v. 20 is based on Joel 3:13 and Isa. 63:2-3, referring to the judgment of unbelieving nations. The context of the Isaiah text may provide additional help in identifying the city and the meaning of the trampling. In Isa. 60:12 and 63:1-6, the destruction of the nations is noted immediately after mention that the gates of the holy city will remain open for the faithful (60:11; 62:10). Therefore, though it is not stated in this way, the overthrow of the nations implicitly takes place outside the holy city and not in it. This could be what John intends to recall when he refers to the devastation of the unrighteous occurring outside the city. This analysis is borne out by 20:8-9, which pictures unbelieving opponents of the saints as being judged outside the “beloved city.” Likewise 21:8, when taken in conjunction with 21:27 and 22:15, locates the judgment of the ungodly outside the eternal city of God. This fits with our conclusion about Mount Zion in v. 1 as a primary reference to the protection of the people of God in their new, latter-day city. Outside Zion there will be only destruction, as predicted by the prophets. For example, Zech. 14:2-5, 12-16 affirms that the rebellious nations will be defeated in the vicinity of Jerusalem. God will stand on the Mount of Olives, in front of Jerusalem (Zech. 14:2-4), to destroy the enemy armies who have invaded the beloved city.
Perhaps uppermost in mind is Joel 3:2, 11-12, 14, which says that God will enter into judgment with the “surrounding nations” (v. 11) outside Jerusalem in the nearby “valley of Jehoshaphat” (v. 2). The presence of this thought is evident, since it is in this context that Joel 3:13, the model for Rev. 14:14-20, describes the judgment as both a grain harvest and a grape harvest in which the winepress is trodden. 19:15 will apply Isa. 63:2-6 to the scene of the defeat of the wicked living on earth at the end of time, which further confirms the presence of the same scenario here. Immediately after this, the judgment of all the wicked dead from throughout the ages will occur (14:9-11; 19:20; 20:11-15; 21:8, all describing the same set of events).
The statement about blood mounting up to the horses’ bridles at the end of the verse is figurative battle language and functions as hyperbole to emphasize the severe and unqualified nature of the judgment. This picture of slaughter, in association with battle and horses, is a feature of the last judgment inaugurated by Christ’s return, and is paralleled in 19:17-18, where destruction of the ungodly in conjunction with horses is also noted. The spreading of blood for a distance of two hundred miles (“1,600 stadia” or about 184 miles = 300 km.) from the city corresponds with the approximate length of Palestine measured from Tyre to the border of Egypt (1,664 stadia). This would underscore by hyperbole the extent of the nations’ destruction prophesied to occur outside Jerusalem. But the number could be figurative for complete, worldwide judgment. 1,600 is the product of the squares of four and ten, both of which are figurative for completeness elsewhere in the book (the four living creatures representative of all orders of animate life, 4:6; the “four corners of the earth,” 7:1; the ten horns of the dragon and the beast, 12:3; 13:1; the ten horns and kings of 17:12). The number also could well have been thought of as the square of forty, a traditional number of punishment.
In the light of the above analysis of ch. 14, the segments do not portray a strict chronology:
On the terrible reality of judgment. Drawing from rich biblical imagery, these verses convey a vivid sense of the dreadful nature of the final judgment. Again, the twofold aspect of the gospel is at the forefront, for it is Jesus, the Son of man who, notwithstanding His role as Savior, executes the judgment (vv. 14-16). How seriously do we take the content of these verses in our daily lives and our consideration of the spiritual state of those around us?
1And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished. 2And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had come off victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. 3And they sang the song of Moses the bond-servant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the nations. 4Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou alone art holy; For all the nations will come and worship before Thee, For Thy righteous acts have been revealed.”
The seventh vision in the series which began in 12:1 is interrupted by the introduction in v. 1 of the seven bowl angels, who do not return until v. 5. The best explanation is that vv. 2-4 serve both as a conclusion to 12:1–14:20 and as part of the introduction to the bowls. We have observed that the literary transitions between the major segments of the book have an “interlocking” function (see comments following 8:5). These transitional segments both conclude the previous section and introduce the following section. Vv. 2-4 thus resume the idea of the last judgment, announced in 14:6-11 and depicted as occurring in 14:14-20, with a song praising God’s justice expressed in the judgment. But the focus is on the saints’ victory over the ungodly as well as the judgment of their opponents. The scene expands that of the saints’ redemptive position in 14:1-5. These two segments together (14:1-5; 15:2-4) form a kind of parenthesis surrounding sections of judgment (14:6-11, 14-20), with the exhortation to persevere and the promise of reward in the middle (14:12-13). 8:3-5 likewise is preceded by an introductory reference to the seven angels (8:2), whose sevenfold presence is repeated again in 8:6 and whose function is narrated in 8:7ff. It temporarily interrupts the beginning of the narration of the plague series by continuing a description of the final judgment scene found in 8:1.
But how does the interlocking parenthesis of vv. 2-4 relate precisely to vv. 5ff.? As in 8:3-5, so here the interlocking indicates a thematic literary connection, which functions as a transition from one sevenfold series to the next. The seven bowls are clearly modeled on the Exodus plagues, as will be seen, and the song of 15:3-4 is an imitation of the song of Moses after the Red Sea crossing. The reference to a new, final exodus victory in vv. 2-4, which concludes the segment of 12:1–14:20, inspires a flashback in ch. 16 to the latter-day plagues leading up to the final victory. Therefore, the parenthesis in 15:2-4 primarily continues the subject of the last judgment in 14:14-20 and secondarily links the following series of bowls to the preceding segment both literarily and thematically.
1 This is the beginning of the formal introduction of the seven bowl plagues, and may serve as an introductory summary statement for 15:5–16:21. The opening clause, And I saw another sign in heaven, is an appropriate marker for the start of a major new section, since the nearly identical clauses inaugurate the segment beginning at 12:1-3. John sees seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, which is a further explanation of the immediately preceding great sign in heaven. A futurist perspective takes the bowls to be the last plagues which occur in history, after the woes of the seals and the trumpets have taken place. Some qualify this slightly by seeing the bowls as the content of the seventh trumpet or third woe, just as they believe that the trumpets are the content of the seventh seal.
However, last (Greek eschatos) more likely indicates the sequential order in which John saw the visions rather than the chronological order of the events depicted in the visions. This would mean that the bowls are the last formal series of sevenfold visions John saw, after he had seen the visions of seals and trumpets and those recorded in chs. 12–14. Therefore, the bowls do not have to be understood as occurring as the last events of history but are the last of the formal sevenfold visions John saw, which are expanded by further visionary scenes in the following chapters. This interpretation is supported by v. 5, which reintroduces the bowl visions with the phrase “and after these things.” Throughout Revelation, the phrase “after these things” indicates the sequential order in which John saw the visions, not necessarily the order of the events they depict (so 4:1; 7:1, 9; 18:1; 19:1; see on 4:1). Therefore, v. 5 notes only that the bowls occurred last in the order of visions presented to John. Since v. 5 reintroduces the same vision that v. 1 began to introduce, it is reasonable to place “and after these things I saw” (v. 5) in synonymous parallelism with “and I saw another sign … seven last plagues” (v. 1).
Therefore, the introductory “and I saw … seven last plagues” of v. 1 is expanded in the continued introduction in v. 5 to “and after these things I saw,” so that v. 1 also affirms that the bowls come last in the sequence of formal sevenfold visions seen by the seer. This means that the bowl judgments do not have to come chronologically after the series of judgments in chs. 6–14. The bowls go back in time and explain in greater detail the woes throughout the age culminating in the final judgment. One indication of this is that the final judgment has already been described as happening at the end of the seals (6:12-17; 8:1), at the end of the trumpets (11:15-19), and most recently in 14:8-11 (the final punishment of Babylon and her followers) and 14:14-20. The same judgment scene will in fact be again described at the end of the bowls (16:17-21; 19:19-21).
A second option is that “last” may be a redemptive-historical reference to the last events of history. The plagues in Revelation are “last” in the sense that they occur in the latter days (hence, “seven eschatological plagues”), in contrast to the former days when the Egyptian plagues occurred. John and the NT writers believed the latter days were inaugurated with Christ’s first coming and will be culminated at His return (see on 4:1). Accordingly, the bowl plagues would extend throughout the course of the latter-day period, from Christ’s first to His second coming. Ch. 16 bears out clearly that these are typological equivalents of the Egyptian plagues, as does the Red Sea imagery and context of 15:2-4 (on which see below).
A third alternative is that “last” could explain how the wrath revealed in the seals and trumpets reaches its goal. This has some merit, since the bowl judgments in contrast to the other sevenfold series have more explicit statements about the purpose of divine judgments (to punish people for worship of the beast and persecution: 16:2, 5-7, 19). The bowls are “last” in order of presentation of the visions because in them the wrath of God is finished. The bowls complement and round out the portrayal of divine wrath in the seals and trumpets.
A final possibility takes finished (Greek teleioō) as meaning “filled up” and thus as parallel to 15:7 and 21:9, which speak of seven bowls full of God’s wrath (though the Greek word for “full” in the latter texts is a different one). The consequent meaning of the metaphor in 15:1 is that the seven bowls are referred to as “last” because they portray the full-orbed wrath of God in a more intense manner than any of the previous woe visions.
Whichever of these options is preferred makes little difference to the overall meaning of the passage, in which the bowls refer to the judgments of God throughout the “last days” of human history, understood as the period between Christ’s resurrection and His return. However, the first option might be most preferable.
2 Introduced by the visionary marker And I saw, this is the seventh and concluding section of the broader segment begun in 12:1. It interrupts the introduction of the bowls and resumes the theme of the final judgment from ch. 14. 14:14-20 portrayed the last judgment, and 15:2-4 builds on that scene by picturing the beast’s defeat as completed and the saints enjoying the results of that victory, praising God for it.
The sight of what appeared to be, as it were, a sea of glass mixed with fire represents the heavenly counterpart to the Red Sea. This becomes clear in v. 3, where the saints are pictured as singing the new song of Moses, which is the latter-day counterpart of Moses’ song in Exodus 15. The “sea” in Revelation generally connotes cosmic evil (see also on 4:6; 13:1; 16:3; 21:1). In the OT, the Red Sea was seen as the dwelling place of the evil sea monster (Isa. 51:9-11; Ps. 74:12-15; Ezek. 32:2). The four evil beasts of Daniel 7 are seen as arising from the sea (Dan. 7:3). In Rev. 13:1, the beast comes up out of the sea, while in the new heaven and new earth, there is no longer to be any sea (see below on 21:1). John now sees the chaotic powers of the sea as calmed by divine sovereignty. 4:6 and 5:5-6 revealed that Christ’s overcoming through His death and resurrection has defeated the power of evil and so calmed the devil’s watery, tumultuous abode, which has become “a sea of glass like crystal” (4:6; Jewish commentators sometimes viewed the Red Sea as becoming a sea of glass [e.g., Midrash Psalms 136.7]). Dan. 7:10-11 picture a river of fire in heaven before God’s throne, in which the beast is judged and destroyed. The fact that the sea of glass is mixed with fire shows that the sea has become the place where the Lamb has judged the beast. Almost everywhere else in Revelation (see on 14:10 for references), “fire” signifies the judgment of God upon the wicked.
In fulfillment of Dan. 7:10-11, the Lamb’s “overcoming” has also paved the way for the saints’ “overcoming” of the beast at the sea, those who had come off victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name. They are victorious only because the Lamb has conquered and granted them a share in the effects of His victory at the sea. They are those who have refused to compromise their faith in the midst of pressure and persecution, like the three faithful youths who refused to worship the king’s image in Daniel 3 (for full explanation of the threefold reference to the beast, his image, and his number in v. 2 see on 13:15-18). Victory over the number of his name is included to emphasize that they have resisted alliances with the beast which would cause them to fall short of their redemption (see on 13:18 with respect to the meaning of 666). That they are standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God shows that they themselves have been involved in battle against the sea-beast and have fought in the midst of the unbelieving world (see 17:15, where the “waters” are defined as ungodly masses of people in the world).
The saints now stand before God’s throne in heaven (in light of where the heavenly analogue to the earthly sea of glass exists in 4:6). The reality of their resurrection is pointed to by the mention of the saints standing on the glass sea in striking similarity to the clear resurrection portrayal of the Lamb standing (5:6) by (or on) the glass sea (4:6). The conquering of both is clearly linked (“overcome” in 5:5 and “come off victorious” in 15:2 translate the same Greek verb, nikaō). In both passages, there are the playing of harps and singing of a redemptive song (for the same idea of “standing” in 7:9, see further in the introduction to ch. 7). The saints’ weapon has been their fiery, faithful testimony (see on 11:3-7), which the beast and his allies have tried to extinguish with the waters of deception (see on 12:15-16). They are the same group as the totality of the redeemed pictured in 14:1-5, since they also hold harps in their hands. The playing of harps which they hold will form part of the praise which they render in vv. 3-4.
3a Just as the Israelites praised God by the sea after He had delivered them from Pharaoh, so the church praises God for defeating the beast on its behalf. Like God’s people of old, so God’s new covenant people praise Him by singing the song of Moses the bond-servant of God. Moses is called God’s servant in Exod. 14:31, immediately before his singing in ch. 15. However, the song now is about the much greater deliverance accomplished through the work of the Lamb. The saints praise the Lamb’s victory as the typological fulfillment of that to which the Red Sea victory pointed. There are references in later Judaism which affirm that the song of Exod. 15:1 implies the resurrection of the Israelite singers to sing once again in the new age (b. Sanhedrin 91b and Mekilta de-Ishmael, Shirata 1.1-10). This could be a further hint suggesting that vv. 2-3 portray a resurrection scene.
Deuteronomy 32 is also called a song of Moses (Deut. 31:19, 22, 30; 32:44), which is included together with the allusion to Exodus 15 (see on v. 3b below), since it also describes judgment (in this case against apostate Israel because of their idolatry, as also apostate Christians are warned in Revelation against being judged along with the nations). That song concludes with the thought that God will punish the enemy nations and will atone for His people (Deut. 32:43), and the same ideas are included here in vv. 2-4, where God has vindicated His people and caused them to be victorious over the power of the beast. The song is the same as the “new song” of 5:9ff. and 14:3, where the singers likewise hold harps while lauding the Lamb for His work of redemption (cf. 5:8; 14:2). That this is also a “new song” is evident since they sing not only the old song of Moses but also the song of the Lamb, which has hitherto not been sung. Therefore, the song is sung in praise not only to God but also to the Lamb, since 5:9ff. also lauds the Lamb for His redemptive work (and implicitly also the new song of 14:3).
3b The actual contents of the song itself do not come from Exodus 15 but from passages throughout the OT extolling God’s character, combined here to explain the new exodus, which has happened on a grander scale than the first. Later OT interpretations of the first exodus have been selected to explain the new exodus, in order to praise God for the redemption and implicit scene of judgment pictured in v. 2. These subsequent interpretations fill out the framework of the Exodus 15 song of Moses which is in John’s mind.
Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty reflects Ps. 111:2-3, which speak of the great, splendid, and majestic work of God (see also Deut. 28:59-60 LXX, referring to the “great and marvelous plagues” to come on Israel, which are patterned after the Exodus plagues). The one praised is the Lord God, the Almighty, because He is absolute sovereign over the historical affairs of His chosen people. “The Lord God, the Almighty” is repeatedly found in the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi to refer to God who sovereignly directs His people’s history, and this is its meaning elsewhere in Revelation (see further on 1:8).
Just as the God of the exodus generation was praised as One whose works are perfect and all His ways just (Deut. 32:4), so likewise is He lauded again: Righteous and true are Thy ways. This emphasizes that God’s sovereign acts are not demonstrations of raw power but moral expressions of His just character. His redemption through Christ has brought to supreme expression how He demonstrates His justice. Those trusting in Christ have the penalty of their sin paid for by His blood (so 1:5-6; 5:9; 7:14; 12:11), but those rejecting the divine provision will bear their own penalty for sin (cf. Rom. 3:19-20). The concluding title King of the nations explains further that God is sovereign in His people’s history because He rules all the nations with whom they come into contact. The same idea is expressed in 11:15-18, where the kingdoms of this world have become His kingdom. The title may well include Christ, since He is called “Ruler of the kings of the earth” (1:5) and “Lord of lords and King of kings” (17:14; likewise 19:16).
4 The great and true acts of the Sovereign stated in v. 3b are the reason that people should fear and glorify Him. The words the saints are singing, Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? recall Jer. 10:7: “Who would not fear Thee, O King of the nations?” Surely they will fear Him, both texts suggest, because they have witnessed His great and righteous acts. Jer. 10:1-16 contrasts God with humans and idols, affirming that God alone is due worship. The singing saints here likewise know worship is due God and the Lamb only, in contrast to the beast and his image. God is worshiped because He is holy: For Thou alone art holy, which again gives the basis or reason (“for” = hoti) for the saints’ worship in v. 4a: God is worshiped because He is holy. The holiness of God refers not simply to a set of moral attributes but to the fact that God is completely set apart in those attributes from His creation.
The latter part of the verse, For all the nations will come and worship before Thee, for Thy righteous acts have been revealed, derives from Ps. 86:9-10. The sense of v. 4c, requires that hoti be translated this time not as “for” (as in NASB) but as “so that.” The previous clause (v. 4b) gave the basis for the saints’ worship: God is holy. This clause now gives the result of that truth: God is holy, so that all nations will worship Him. The effect of God’s unique holiness is that people from all nations will recognize it and stream to worship God, which repeats the primary thought of v. 4a that God is to be feared and glorified. The phrase all the nations is a figure of speech called metonymy (or, more specifically, synecdoche), where the whole is substituted for the part in order to emphasize that many will worship. It does not mean that every person in every nation (the whole) will worship the Lord, but that people from every nation (the part) will do so (see also 5:9; 7:9; 13:7; 14:8; 18:3, 23 for other examples of metonymy (or more specifically synecdoche): if all without exception are referred to, some of these verses would contradictorily suggest that all are redeemed and others that all are deceived and lost).
The idea of God’s incomparability from the Jeremiah and Psalm texts has not arisen in vv. 3-4 by chance, since the first formulas of divine incomparability originate from the narrative of the exodus redemption itself (Exod. 15:11; Deut. 33:26-27), which is the interpretative framework of vv. 3-4 and has been explicitly highlighted first in v. 3a by the expression “the song of Moses.”
V. 4 is concluded by yet a third hoti clause, For Thy righteous acts have been revealed (v. 4d). V. 4d is poetically parallel with v. 4b, likewise providing a reason that people should fear and glorify God (v. 4a). God should be feared because He is holy and because His righteous acts have been revealed. V. 4 concludes suitably with another OT reminiscence of the exodus from Ps. 98:2: “The Lord … has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.” The Psalm begins with a reference to Exod. 15:1, 6, 12: “O sing to the Lord a new song…. His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.” It also encourages the singers of the “new song” to play harps (98:5), as in Rev. 5:8; 14:2-3; 15:2-3. The Psalm’s references to the exodus form part of the basis for a final statement that God “will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity” (Ps. 98:9). The same transition of thought (the exodus leading to God’s judgment of the nations) is present in Revelation 15, where the “song” of the first exodus serves as a broad model for the end-time exodus. The seven plagues of the bowl judgments will emphasize this exodus theme. God pours out His judgments on the unbelieving nations over the course of the church age, culminating in His final triumph over the beast, the latter-day Pharaoh.
The use of the OT in vv. 3-4 is not the result of random selection, but is guided by the theme of the first exodus and the development of that theme later in the OT. This is but a continuation of the latter-day Red Sea setting of v. 2. The main point of vv. 2-4 is the adoration of God and the Lamb’s incomparable act of redemption and judgment.
On the theme of God’s justice in Revelation. That the saints are pictured standing on the sea and praising God and the Lamb for their victory (vv. 2-3) gives assurance that in the very place where they suffered and were sometimes apparently defeated, God’s people will be vindicated and will give praise to Him and the Lamb for deliverance. Consider how often the theme of God’s justice, toward both believers and unbelievers, is visited in Revelation, and how it relates back to the portrayal of the slain Lamb in ch. 5.
On worship and the holiness of God. What does it mean for you to worship God based on the fact of His holiness alone? Why should the holiness of God inspire us to worship Him?