Chapter 12 begins a new section of Revelation, with the focus on the conflict between the dragon (Satan) and the woman (God’s people). Jesus’ sacrificial death assures and actually commences victory for all who hold to his name, a victory whose consummation is anticipated as God protects the woman from the dragon’s onslaughts.
12:1
The picture of the woman is based on Gen. 37:9 (cf. T. Naph. 5:3), where sun, moon, and eleven stars are metaphorical respectively for Jacob, his wife, and the eleven tribes of Israel. All these bow down to Joseph, representing the twelfth tribe. The depiction could also reflect the portrayal in Judaism of Abraham, Sarah, and their progeny as sun, moon, and stars (T. Ab. [B] 7:4–16); in Midr. Rab. Num. 2:13 the sun symbolizes Abraham, the moon Isaac, and the stars Jacob and the seed of the patriarchs.
The twelve stars represent the twelve tribes of Israel. The woman’s appearance may also connote Israel’s priestly character (cf. 1:6; 5:10), since in Philo’s and Josephus’s explanations of Exod. 28; 39 they use the imagery of a crown, the sun, moon, and twelve stars in describing the vestments of the Israelite high priests because they represented the twelve tribes before Yahweh in the temple service (see Josephus, Ant. 3.164–172, 179–187; Philo, Moses 2.111–112, 122–124; Spec. Laws 1.84–95). In fact, in these same texts the parts of the priestly garment symbolizing sun, moon, and stars are explicitly said to symbolize the twelve tribes of Israel. Such dual imagery was meant to indicate that Israel on earth also had an inviolable heavenly identity. In fact, Judaism interpreted the twelve signs of the zodiac to symbolize the twelve tribes of Israel (Midr. Rab. Exod. 15:6; Midr. Rab. Num. 2:14; cf. b. Ber. 32b). Thus, in 12:1 the covenant community’s unbreakable link to a heavenly identity is pictured.
There are allusions in 12:2 to OT metaphors representing Israel as a pregnant mother whose birth pangs refer to the suffering of foreign captivity, with the imminent birth alluding to her future deliverance from foreign oppression and salvation: Isa. 26:17–18 LXX; 66:7–9; Mic. 4:9–10; 5:3, where either Judah or Jerusalem is depicted as a woman in labor ready to deliver (cf. Holtz [1971: 103], who sees allusion to the same OT texts; see also Hos. 13:13). Also noteworthy is Isa. 51:2–3, 9–11, which speaks of “Sarah, who gave birth . . . in pain” to her child the woman Zion, whom God promised to “comfort” in “all her desert places,” redeeming her out of captivity, as he did at the exodus when he “cut Rahab in pieces . . . and pierced the dragon” (note also that Zion is viewed as a mother with “seed” [sperma] in Isa. 54:1–3; 61:9–10; 65:9, 23; 66:10, 22). These prophetic texts themselves and Rev. 12:2 were inspired by Gen. 3:15–16, where it is prophesied that Eve will bear in the pain of birth a future seed who will smite the head of the serpent (see commentary on Rev. 12:17 below), which, of course, in Rev. 12 refers to Jesus Christ as the fulfillment. The Qumran text 1QHa XI, 7–12 makes use of similar imagery of a woman enduring the agonies of childbirth in order to bring forth a child who appears to be a messianic deliverer.
12:3
The imagery of the dragon is used throughout the OT to represent evil kingdoms that persecute God’s people, and this is in mind here. “Dragon” (drakōn) is another word in the OT for the sea monster that symbolizes wicked kingdoms that 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 (Ps. 74:13–14; 89:10; Isa. 30:7; 51:9; Ezek. 29:3; 32:2–3; Hab. 3:8–15; Pss. Sol. 2:29–30; see Ps. 87:4, where “Rahab” is a synonym for Egypt; cf. Jer. 51:34, where Babylon is the subject; see also Amos 9:3). The use of “a great dragon” is an allusion to Ezek. 29:3: “Pharaoh . . . the great dragon.” In Pss. Sol. 2:29–30 the sea monster is identified as Rome (the commander Pompey) lying “on the mountains of Egypt.” Sometimes there is allusion to, perhaps at the dawn of history, God’s past defeat of a more sinister, malevolent force behind Egypt and other evil kingdoms: God “shattered the sea monster . . . his hand has pierced the apostate dragon” (Job 26:12–13 LXX [cf. chap. 41; see also 7:12; 9:13]). The image of the dragon in Rev. 12:3 represents the devil (so see confirmation of this in 12:9) who instigates the evil kingdoms of the world to persecute God’s people. In the light of the comments on 12:2 and together with 12:4–5, 12:3 indicates the beginning fulfillment of Gen. 3:15–16.
12:4
The picture of the dragon’s tail sweeping away a third of the stars and casting them to the earth is taken from Dan. 8:10, which describes an endtime enemy persecuting the forces of God: “And it [the horn] grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down.” Although Dan. 8:10 first had application with respect to Antiochus Epiphanes, it now comes to be applied by John in an escalated way to the devilish power behind Antiochus. There is debate about whether the “host and some of the stars” in Daniel refers to angels or to Israelite saints. The debate may be moot, since both are likely true. In Daniel angels represent peoples (see 10:20–21; 12:1; cf. As. Mos. 10:8–10). The “stars” in Dan. 8 signify angels who represent saints on earth (so also Lacocque 1979: 161–62; see the excursus on Rev. 1:20 in Beale 1999a: 218–19). The same representational link is true between the “son of man,” Michael, angels, and the “saints” in Dan. 7 (Lacocque 1979: 126–28, 152). That stars can represent Israelite saints, not just angels, is apparent from Dan. 12:3, where the righteous are compared to “the firmament and . . . the stars” (for this application of Dan. 12:3, see Matt. 13:43; cf. Gen. 15:5; 22:17; 1 En. 43:1–4). Israelite saints have their true identity in heaven before the divine throne, so that when they are persecuted, the angels and God himself are seen also as being attacked (so Keil 1971: 296–97; Young 1980: 171; Leupold 1969: 346; Lacocque [1979: 130–34, 153], who also shows that “saints” in Daniel and Qumran include reference both to saints and angels; cf. 2 Macc. 7:1–8:15 with 9:10). Daniel 8:11 LXX/Θ 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. Thus, here in 12:4 both good heavenly beings and the saints whom they represent are portrayed as being attacked by the devil. Perhaps, the reference to a “third of the stars” being swept away indicates that only a portion of the covenant community was suffering attack from the devil’s forces at the time of Christ’s life (see 12:2, 4b–5), whereas at the very end of the age the attack will reach universal proportions (as in 11:7–10; 20:7–9).
12:6
The fleeing into the wilderness is an allusion both to Israel’s exodus from Egypt and the anticipated end-time exodus, which was to occur during Israel’s latter-day restoration from captivity. First, it refers to the time when Israel fled from Egypt into the wilderness and was protected and nourished by Yahweh (Exod. 16:32; Deut. 2:7; 8:3, 15–16; 29:5; 32:10; Josh. 24:7; Neh. 9:19, 21; Ps. 78:15, 19; 136:16; Hos. 13:5). The same pattern of fleeing into the wilderness is observable in the cases of Elijah (1 Kings 17; 19:3–8) and Moses (Exod. 2:15; Josephus, Ant. 2.256), who symbolize the church in 11:5–6. The woman’s flight into the wilderness also recalls the end-time exodus or restoration when Israel would return in faith to the Lord and again be protected and nourished by him in the wilderness (Isa. 32:15; 35:1; 40:3; 41:18; 43:19–20; 51:3; Jer. 31:2; Ezek. 34:25; Hos. 2:14). For Jewish application of these verses, especially Hos. 2:14, see Midr. Rab. Exod. 2:4; Sipre Deut. Piska 313; 1QM I, 2–3; 1QS VIII, 12–15; IX, 18–21; 4Q171 37.
Judaism developed the belief that the Messiah would gather his people in the wilderness at the end time partly on the basis of the aforementioned OT eschatological texts, and especially via a typological interpretation of Israel’s exodus wilderness experience (see TDNT 2:659; cf. Matt. 24:24–26; Acts 21:38). Revelation 12:6 is to be understood likewise. This belief is reflected in the writings of Josephus, where there is explicit identification of first-century messianic movements with the desert and exodus themes (J.W. 2.259–262; 7.438; Ant. 20.168–172; see also Ant. 20.97–99; J.W. 6.351–352). The association of the wilderness with the Zealots and similar groups probably is part of this larger messianic expectation (Josephus, J.W. 2.433, 508; 4.508). Moses was also to appear in the desert in the latter days and lead his people into the promised land (see Ginzberg 1967: 2:302, 373). Since here this flight takes place immediately after the ascension of Christ (12:5), the woman’s representative function now extends beyond ethnic Israel to all those who call upon the name of the Lord—that is, all Christians, whether Jew or Gentile.
The “place” (topos) in the desert where Christians are kept safe from the devil is the invisible, spiritual sanctuary of God, since that is to be the object of attack during the three and a half years in Daniel (8:11–13; 9:27), and since that is the idea in Rev. 11:1–2; 12:14; 13:5–6. The word topos (“place”) in 12:6, 14 is synonymous elsewhere in the NT for the “temple” and is a widespread synonym for the “sanctuary” in the LXX. This observation points further to the nature of the “wilderness” as being closely associated with a protective sanctuary (although, strictly speaking, the sacred “place” is not coterminus with the wilderness, but rather is in the wilderness). Matthew 24:15 identifies the “abomination of desolation” of Dan. 9:27 as occurring “in the holy place” (en topō hagiō), as does Dan. 8:11 LXX. The use of topos in the same Daniel texts to which the three and a half years alludes in Revelation makes the cultic appearance of topos in 12:6, 14 all the more natural. John may have identified the “sanctuary” with the “wilderness” because the Jerusalem “sanctuary” (hagiasmos) in the LXX is likened to a “wilderness” (erēmos), as a result of the attacks by Babylon (Dan. 9:17 Θ) and Antiochus Epiphanes (1 Macc. 1:39). In the same texts of Dan. 9 and 1 Macc. 1 the wilderness of the sanctuary is also identified with the three and a half years of trial predicted by Daniel to be directed against the sanctuary and the saints.
12:7
In 12:7 is developed Daniel’s heavenly combat imagery between Michael and the “son of man” against the wicked angels of Persia and Greece (Dan. 10:13, 21; cf. 10:6, 18 LXX; 10:16, 18 Θ). In Daniel, Michael is closely associated with the “son of man,” since both are set forth as heavenly representatives of Israel (cf., respectively, Dan. 12:1; 8:11 LXX/Θ and 7:13–27). This is why they are identified as fighting together for Israel against the forces of evil in Dan. 10:20–21. The two figures are not the same heavenly being, since the one in the “likeness of a son of man” in Dan. 10:16 is distinguished from Michael. Michael helps the “son of man” fight against malevolent angelic forces. On the basis of this evidence, a plausible conclusion is that Michael is a heavenly representative for Israel as is the “son of man,” although, in light of Dan. 10:20, he is a subordinate helper of the “son of man.” The link with Daniel is confirmed further from Dan. 8:10–11 LXX/Θ, where, after mention of the stars falling as a metaphor for Israel’s suffering (cf. Rev. 12:4), Michael is said to be the “chief captain” who will “deliver” Israel’s “captivity” in the end time (the “chief captain” of Dan. 8:11 is likely to be identified with “Michael the great prince” of Dan. 12:1).
Likewise, Dan. 12:1 has Michael as Israel’s latterday deliverer. This text from Daniel may well have given rise to other formulations in Judaism of Michael as guardian angel of Israel and of Jacob (cf. 1 En. 90:14; 1QM XIII, 9–10; XVII, 5–8; T. Levi 5:7; T. Dan. 6:1–7; see Ginzberg 1967: 7:312).
The defeat of Satan’s forces is described through the precise wording of Daniel. In Dan. 7:21 Θ (cf. 10:20) we read that the horn “was making war with the saints and was too powerful for them” (epoiei polemon meta tōn hagiōn kai ischysen pros autous), and in Rev. 12:7–8 that “Michael . . . made war [tou polemēsai] against the dragon . . . and he [the dragon] made war . . . and he was not strong enough [ouk ischysen].”
Daniel 10:20 refers to the “son of man” who makes war, but Michael is included with him in this battle. The “ruler” of the Persians and Greeks of the Daniel text is identified as Satan. The allusion to Dan. 7:21 has already been made in 11:7 and appears again in 13:7, both referring to the beast’s attacks against the saints (see commentary on Rev. 11:7–8 above and 13:7a below). The language of Dan. 7:21 is now applied to the defeat of the dragon. Like the woman, Michael now represents not simply ethnic Israel, but rather the church as a whole, which triumphs through Christ’s sacrifice (12:11). The overall context of Daniel 7 itself prophesied the final defeat of the beastly kingdoms. What better language to use to portray the devil’s defeat than that which Dan. 7:21 used to prophesy the evil kingdom’s victory over the saints. The reversed application of the wording of Dan. 7:21 appears to connote a parody whereby the devil is mocked by having his defeat described in the same way his own victory over God’s people was depicted. The heavenly struggle of v. 7 pictures the beginning of the earthly and celestial battle predicted by Daniel to occur in the last days (Dan. 7:21; 8:10; 12:1), an expectation also featured in Jewish tradition (Sib. Or. 3:796–808; cf. 2 Macc. 5:1–14, which may be related to Daniel). Since the woman, the dragon, the serpent, the wilderness, the wings of the eagle, and other descriptions throughout chapter 12 are clearly symbolic, so also is the war of angels here. The remainder of chapter 12 elucidates the manner in which the devil was defeated by Christ’s resurrection and the meaning of the symbolism in v. 7.
12:8
An immediate consequence of the defeat of the devil and his hosts is that “a place was not found for them any longer in heaven.” This is based on the nearly identical wording of Dan. 2:35, which also prophetically describes the immediate consequence of the destruction of the hostile world kingdoms in the latter days (cf. 2:28, 45), which is seen in Rev. 12:8 as a beginning realization of Christ’s resurrection.
12:9–10
The description of the dragon as the “ancient serpent” identifies him as the same diabolical character of Gen. 3:1, 14. The ancient foe of God’s people here in 12:9 is also “called devil and Satan,” meaning, respectively, “slanderer” and “adversary.” He is a slanderous adversary in two ways. Genesis 3 attributes to him the two functions of slanderer and deceiver. After the fall, the serpent and his agents do on a worldwide scale what he began in the garden (cf. Jub. 11:5; 1 En. 54:6; 2 En. 7; 18). Here in 12:9 he is called “the one deceiving the whole inhabited earth” and in 12:10 “the accuser” of God’s people.
On the basis of this description and the description of Satan in Job 1:6–11; 2:1–6; Zech. 3:1–2, it can be concluded that the devil was permitted by God to come before him in heaven and “accuse” his people of sin. The OT texts portray Satan accusing saints of unfaithfulness, with the implication that they did not deserve God’s salvation and gracious blessings (Zech. 3:1–5, 9; cf. Midr. Rab. Num. 18:21). Implicit also in the accusations was the charge that God’s own character was corrupt.
The emphasis on Satan’s accusatorial role here in 12:10 reveals that the angelic battle of 12:7–9 was figurative for a courtroom battle between two opposing lawyers, with one losing the argument and being disbarred for employing illegal tactics (so Caird 1966: 154–56). In addition to Satan’s accusatorial role in Job 1:6–11; 2:1–6; Zech. 3:1–2, the devil also had the role of a legal “accuser” in early Judaism (Jub. 1:20; 17:15–16; 18:9–12; 48:15–18; 1 En. 40:7; T. Levi 5:6; T. Dan 6:2), and Michael played the part of an advocate defending Israel from the accusations made by Satan in the heavenly court (T. Levi 5:6; T. Dan. 6:1–6; Midr. Rab. Exod. 18:5). Particularly interesting is Jub. 48:10–19, which says that essential to Israel’s victory over Egypt at the exodus was that Satan “was bound and imprisoned behind the children of Israel that he might not accuse them.” Christ’s death has freed Christians at a greater exodus from the devil’s accusations.
12:14
The image of the woman flying with “the two wings of a great eagle . . . into the wilderness” to a “place of nourishment” alludes to two OT pictures and adopts them analogically. First, 12:14 reflects the picture of God as an eagle protecting Israel in the wilderness, which is an allusion combining Exod. 19:4; Deut. 1:31–33; 32:10–15. This well-known image is also attested in the psalms, where David repeatedly alludes to the exodus figure by praying that God’s wings will shelter him from persecutors and slanderers, the same protection needed by the “woman” in Rev. 12:13–17 (see, e.g., the contexts of Ps. 17:8–9; 36:7–8; 63:1–2, 7; 91:4, 11–13; also Ps. 57:1; 61:4). Especially instructive for Rev. 12:14–18 is Ps. 54 LXX, where David prays for protection against “crafty men” arising from the covenant community who “oppress” him with “words . . . smoother than oil . . . [as] darts”: “Who will give to me wings as a dove? Then I would fly away, and be at rest. Behold, I have fled far away, and lodged in the wilderness. I waited for him [God], the one saving me from distress of soul and tempest” (Ps. 54:7–9 LXX [55:6–8 ET]; cf. Isa. 40:3).
12:15
The metaphor of an overflowing flood can have at least three ideas in the OT: (1) an army spreading out to conquer a country (Dan. 11:10, 22, 26, 40), sometimes as an indication of divine judgment (Ps. 88:7, 17; Isa. 8:7–8; 17:12–13; Jer. 46:8; 47:2; 51:55; Hos. 5:10; cf. Isa. 10:22; 59:19; Mic. 1:4; Nah. 1:8); (2) a more general reference to divine judgment (Ps. 32:6; 90:5); (3) persecution of God’s people by enemies from which God delivers them (2 Sam. 22:5; Ps. 18:4, 16; 46:3; 66:12; 69:1–2, 14–15; 124:4–5; 144:7–8, 11; Isa. 43:2). The third idea clearly is in view in 12:15. In Ps. 18:4 David describes Saul’s pursuit of him explicitly as “the torrents of Belial . . . assailing me.” Also noteworthy is Ps. 144:7–8, 11 because it is a prayer that God would deliver David “out of many waters,” which is a picture of those who speak “deceit and . . . falsehood”; likewise, “in a deluge of many waters” in Ps. 32:6 refers to threatening persecution from the ungodly.
12:16
The swallowing of the flood by the earth is a further allusion to the exodus and Israel’s wilderness experience. The “earth swallowed” the Egyptians when they pursued Israel through the Red Sea (Exod. 15:12). The Tg. Ps.-J. to Exod. 15:12 expands on the MT and repeats that “the earth opened its mouth and consumed them.” Also, later in the wilderness “the earth opened its mouth and swallowed” the families of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram because of their rebellion against Moses’ leadership. This OT background is analogically applied to the church’s wilderness sojourn in the world.
12:17
That the “rest of her seed” of 12:17 is to be linked with Christ in 12:5, 13 is probable because those two verses are the only ones in 12:1–16 that refer to a firstborn offspring. Such a contrast between individual and corporate seeds is supported by the fact that 12:17 is an allusion to Gen. 3:16, where John would have seen that Eve’s messianic seed has both individual and corporate meaning.
Also, 12:17 is a partial fulfillment of the promise in Gen. 3:15, where God prophesies that the individual (messianic) and corporate seed of the woman will fatally bruise the head of the serpent. The Gen. 3 background also confirms the conclusion in 12:15–16 that the “serpent” opposes the “woman” not only through persecution, but also through deception, as in the Garden of Eden. This is but another instance of the end being modeled on the beginning (cf. 12:9, where “serpent” is derived primarily from Gen. 3 [see commentary on Rev. 12:9–10 above]).
The dragon, having been thwarted in his attempt to destroy the woman, enlists the aid of two beasts, creating a “satanic trinity” in mockery of the triune God. The two beasts are seen here in terms of the Roman state and its accompanying propaganda machine in the local governments of the province of Asia, though until the final parousia other states succeeding Rome could be included in the beast images. The apparent success of the beast in its wars leads people to worship and revere it, but God’s people are warned to worship God alone.
13:1
The depiction of the two beasts in chapter 13 is based in part on Job 40–41, which is the only place in the OT that portrays two satanic beasts that oppose God. The sea monster of the Job passage also has a companion classified as a land “beast” (thērion [40:15–32]). Both beasts are described with demonic attributes and are said to have been “made to be mocked by the angels” (LXX: 40:19; 41:25 [on the two demonic beings in Job 40, see Day 1985: 62–87]). The two beasts of Job 40–41 (cf. esp. LXX) are echoed throughout Rev. 13: one is called a “dragon” from the sea (40:25); the land beast is to be slain by God with a “sword” (40:19 MT); the sea dragon conducts a “war waged by his mouth” (40:32 LXX), and “burning torches” and “a flame goes out of his mouth” (41:11, 13 LXX); “there is nothing upon the earth like him” (41:25 LXX).
Job 40–41 alludes to a primordial defeat of the dragon by God (see 41:8 MT [so also Midr. Rab. Exod. 15:22]) but also implies a future battle (40:19 MT; 41:9 MT), which is necessitated by the sea beasts’ continued attitude of defiance (e.g., 41:33–34 MT). Although the beast was defeated, he continues to exist in a subdued condition (Job 7:12 MT; Amos 9:3; cf. Apoc. Ab. 10; 21). Jewish tradition held that on the fifth day of creation God created Leviathan to be in the sea and Behemoth to dwell on land (1 En. 60:7–10; 4 Ezra 6:49–52; 2 Bar. 29:4; b. B. Bat. 74b–75a; Pesiq. Rab Kah. Suppl. 2:4). These two beasts were symbolic of the powers of evil and were to be destroyed at the final judgment (explicitly in 2 Baruch; Midr. Rab. Lev. 13:3; b. B. Bat. 74b, and implicitly in the other three texts above [for further references to the two beasts in later Judaism, see Ginzberg 1967: 5:26–27, 43–46]). This tradition may have developed because people in Asia Minor associated whatever came “of the sea” as foreign and whatever came from the land as native. That is, one of the initial expressions of the first beast was Rome, whose governors came repeatedly by sea to Ephesus. The second beast represented native political and economic authorities (Ramsay 1904: 103–4). The Roman ships literally seemed to be rising out of the sea as they appeared on the horizon off the coast of Asia Minor.
The material in 13:1–2 is a creative reworking of Dan. 7:1–7. The “beast coming up from the sea” and his “ten horns” are based respectively on Dan. 7:2–3 and 7:7, 20, 24. Many understand the “seven heads” as a reference to an ancient Near Eastern sea-monster myth from before the time of Daniel (cf. Leviathan with seven heads in CTA 5.I.1–3; 3.III.37–39; cf. also Job 40–41; Ps. 74:13–14; 89:10; Isa. 27:1; 51:9; see also Odes Sol. 22:5). This is possible, but it is better to view the “seven heads” as a composite of the heads of all four of the beasts of Dan. 7 (so Hengstenberg 1853: 2:20; Farrer 1964: 152; Ernst 1967: 132; Kraft 1974: 175; Prigent 1981: 201). This view is preferable because other features of the Danielic beasts are also applied to the one beast in Rev. 13:2 (the ancient Near Eastern image could still be in mind secondarily). In addition, the “ten diadems” upon 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” are connected with the blaspheming figure of Dan. 7:8, 11, who is also associated with the fourth kingdom (cf. Rev. 13:5–6).
For Judaism’s identification of Rome with the fourth beast of Dan. 7:7–8, 11, 23, see, for example, Midr. Rab. Gen. 44:17; 76:6; Midr. Rab. Exod. 15:6; 25:8; cf. Matt. 24:15 with Luke 21:20; see also 4 Ezra 12:10; 2 Bar. 39:5–8; As. Mos. 10:8; cf. Josephus, Ant. 10.203–210 with Ant. 10.272–278; Pss. Sol. 2:25 identifies a Roman ruler as “the dragon.”
13:2
Whereas in Dan. 7:3–8 the images of the lion, bear, leopard, and “terrifying” beast represent four successive world empires, in Rev. 13:1–2 all four of these images are applied to the one beast. This probably includes a connotation of Rome as the fourth beast, which Daniel predicted would be more powerful and dreadful than the previous three beasts of Dan. 7:4–6 (for specific allusions to Daniel’s fourth kingdom, see commentary on Rev. 13:1 above). At the least, the gathering up of four beasts into one highlights the extreme ferocity of this beast. Since the prophesied fourth beast of Dan. 7 is the focus in Rev. 13:1–2, these introductory verses show inaugurated accomplishment of that prophesy (for more on this see 13:3).
Various exegetical traditions in Judaism also understood Daniel’s fourth kingdom as transtemporal (and the combination of Daniel’s four beasts into one might also suggest such a notion). In 4 Ezra 12:12–13 God tells the seer that the interpretation given to Daniel that the fourth kingdom was Greece is not wrong, but now that kingdom is to be identified as Rome. Midrash Rabbah Gen. 76:6 applies the horns of the fourth kingdom in Dan. 7:8 to numerous world empires: the eastern Palmyran-Roman kingdom under the reign of Odaenathus, Babylon, Persia (Media), Greece, and Rome. The same midrash goes on to state that Dan. 7:2–8 “informs us that every nation that rules in the world hates Israel and subjugates them.” The ten horns of Dan. 7:7 are taken by Midr. Ps. 75:5 to prove “that the [heathen] nations of the world are symbolized by the beasts described in Daniel, and that as long as the horns of the wicked endure, the horns of Israel remain cut off.”
13:3
John now sees the beast with a wound on one of his heads. God must be the unmentioned agent of the beast’s head “wound” (hē plēgē), since everywhere else in Revelation plēgē (usually rendered “plague”) is a punishment inflicted by God (so eleven times + the cognate verb in 8:12). Such a wound on the head of the grand nemesis of God’s people reflects Gen. 3:15, especially when seen together with Rev. 12:17 (cf. 12:17 with respect to Tg. Neof. Gen. 3:15; see Sweet 1979: 210). In Rev. 13:14 it is added that it was a sword that struck the beast’s head. The added mention of the sword in this connection recalls the prophecy of Isa. 27:1 LXX: “In that day God will bring the sword, the holy and great and mighty [sword] upon the dragon, the fleeing serpent, upon the dragon, the crooked serpent. He will destroy the dragon” (cf. Job 40:1; Rev. 13:14). The fact that Isa. 27:1 is also echoed in Rev. 12:3, 9 points further to the conclusion that the beast’s “death stroke” came through Christ’s death and resurrection in initial fulfillment of Isa. 27 (see Rev. 12:7–12). Also included in the OT reflection upon God’s defeat of the sea monster may be Ps. 74:13; Hab. 3:8–15. The healing of his wound constitutes a counterfeit of Christ’s resurrection.
13:4
The phrase denoting transferal of authority is based on Dan. 7:6, where authority is given to the third beast to rule over the earth and to persecute God’s people who live on it.
The multitudes worship the beast because of his purported incomparability: they proclaim in their worship, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to make war with him?” The expression of satanic incomparability is an ironic use of the same OT phraseology applied to Yahweh (esp. Exod. 8:10; 15:11; Deut. 3:24; Isa. 40:18, 25; 44:7; 46:5; see also Ps. 35:10; 71:19; 86:8; 89:8; 113:5; Mic. 7:18). This is a further attempt at satanic imitation of God.
13:5
The reference in 13:5 to the beast expressing his authority through speech for a period of three and a half years is a collective allusion to Dan. 7:6, 8, 11, 20, 25—for example: “a tongue was given to it . . . a mouth speaking great things” (7:6, 8 LXX).
13:6
Daniel 7:25 is referred to again in 13:6a to describe the effect of the beast’s authorization (cf. Dan. 11:36 LXX). Both texts speak of an eschatological fiend who speaks out against God, equates himself with God (implicitly in Rev. 13:4, 6), and persecutes the saints, which is likewise the case in Dan. 8:10, 25; 11:36 (cf. Dan. 8:11, 13; see also Mart. Isa. 4:6; Sib. Or. 5:33–34; As. Mos. 8:5). That “he blasphemes God’s name” implies speaking out against God through self-deification (as with the Roman emperors [see Suetonius, Dom. 13]). Also included in the blaspheming are accusations or actions against Christians, who have God’s name written upon them (3:12; 14:1; 22:4; cf. 7:3).
In 13:6b “his tabernacle” immediately followed by “the ones tabernacling in heaven” is a recollection of, respectively, the “sanctuary” and the heavenly “host” in Dan. 8:10–13: the end-time tyrant “caused some of the host [of heaven] and some of the stars to fall to the earth” and “magnified himself to be equal with the Prince of the host and . . . the place of his sanctuary was thrown down” (8:10–11). This continues the theme in Revelation of Christians being a part of the invisible end-time heavenly temple that extends to earth, who are attacked and persecuted but cannot be separated from God’s tabernacling presence despite whatever physical harm they may suffer (11:1–4; 12:6, 14), all in partial fulfillment of the Dan. 8:10–13 prediction.
13:7a
In 13:7a the focus shifts back again to the prophecy of Dan. 7 (i.e., 7:8 LXX, 21 MT/Θ) and the persecuting activities of the “horn” in order to show that the same activity of the beast is a beginning fulfillment and affects all classes of people throughout the earth. The phrase “to make war with the saints and to overcome them” is virtually identical to 11:7; both of these verses are based on Dan. 7:8b LXX, 21 MT/Θ. After the statement that the evil king had “a mouth speaking great things,” the Greek of Dan. 7:8 immediately adds that the tyrant “was making war with the saints.” The same pattern is followed here.
13:7b–8a
Influence from Dan. 7 continues through allusion to Dan. 7:14, which describes the “son of man’s” reception of universal worship as a result of the conferral of sovereign authority but here is ironically applied to the beast who attempts to usurp proper divine, messianic authority.
13:10
“If anyone [is destined] for captivity, to captivity he [must] go. If anyone by the sword is to be killed, by the sword he must be killed.” This is a paraphrase combining Jer. 15:2; 43:11. Jeremiah prophesies to Israel that God has destined them to go into “captivity” and suffer from the “sword.” This is a penalty for their unbelief and sin. In the present context, it appears to apply to genuine believers who suffer persecution for their witness. Nevertheless, this appears not to be inconsistent with Jeremiah’s thought, where it can be assumed that the remnant faithful of Israel would have experienced the same suffering as the unfaithful majority, although for the former group the trials would have had a refining effect on their faith (see the same idea in Ezek. 14:21–23 and its use in Rev. 6:8, on which, see commentary on Rev. 6:7–8 above; Beale 1999a: 704–5). Revelation 13:10 now sees that the same is true of the faithful Christian remnant.
13:11
As in 13:1, this vision begins with the image of an ascending beast, which is a collective recollection of the beasts of Dan. 7, especially 7:17 LXX: “These great beasts are four kings who will arise from the earth” (cf. 7:3a, 4b, 5a).
The two horns, in addition to parodying the two witnesses, lampstands, and olive trees, also reflect the evil ruler of Dan. 8. Just as the first beast was described with attributes from the beasts of Dan. 7, so also the description of the second beast as having “two horns as a lamb” is taken from Dan. 8:3 MT: “a ram that had two horns” (cf. Dan. 7:7 LXX).
13:13
The idea of imitation is carried on in 13:13. First, the beast’s activities are described by an ironic echo of the acts of Moses, whose prophetic authority was validated by “doing great signs” (e.g., Exod. 4:17, 30; 10:2; 11:10). Even in the Exodus narrative (7:11) Pharaoh’s magicians “did the same [signs] with their secret arts.” This is reinforced by Daniel, where God is praised for “doing signs and great wonders” (cf. Dan. 4:37a LXX with Rev. 13:13a). The casting down of fire from heaven in the presence of people recalls the prophetic demonstration by Elijah (1 Kings 18:38–39; 2 Kings 1:10–14), though now it describes a pseudoprophetic action.
13:14
The deception causes the earth dwellers to acquiesce to his command to “make an image to the beast” (for legōn as “order, command, demand,” cf. 10:9; Acts 21:21). The concluding command of 3:14c anticipates the explicit reference to Dan. 3 in 13:15. In the light of the influence from Daniel in 13:1–11, the beast “who deceives” in 13:14a may be an echo of the end-time king of Daniel, who “causes deceit to succeed by his influence” (Dan. 8:25 MT) and “by smooth words will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly” (Dan. 11:32 MT). Also “the signs” that are “given” to the beast to “perform” are a repeated expression of the authorization pattern from Dan. 7, which is viewed as recapitulated again during the church age.
In the OT God told Israel that the Torah was to be “as a sign 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; so also Exod. 13:16; Deut. 6:8; 11:18). This was done with phylacteries (leather pouches) containing portions of Scripture worn on the forehead and arm. The NT equivalent is the invisible seal or name of God (see commentary on Rev. 7:2–3 above). The “forehead” represents their ideological commitment and the “hand” the practical outworking of that commitment.
13:18
The response of “wisdom” (sophia) and “understanding” (nous) needed to comprehend the “number of the beast” is best understood as having its background in the “wise insight” (śākal) and “understanding” (bîn) required in Daniel to comprehend latter-day visions and events. Especially in Dan. 11:33; 12:10 the combination of these two Hebrew words refers to the same thing as sophia and nous in the present chapter: (1) the requirement for the saints to have spiritual perception in order to comprehend (2) end-time events of tribulation (3) brought about by an evil king who persecutes the saints, (4) deceives others into acknowledging his purported sovereignty, and convinces them to spread the deception; (5) furthermore, in both Daniel and Revelation this message is communicated through the medium of a vision to a prophet (on the full background in Daniel for the combined use of sophia and nous, see Beale 1980). If the saints have such perception, they will not be deceived.
The same response in 17:9 (with hōde [“here”] + sophia [“wisdom”] and nous [“mind”]) has precisely the same meaning as here. It serves to exhort Christians not to be taken in by the beast’s deceptions like the rest of “the earth dwellers” (17:8). It also functions to exhort them to perceive the symbolic meaning of the beast’s “seven heads,” which continues the idea from 17:7–8 about the state’s deception (see commentary on Rev. 17:9a, 9b below). Outside of 13:18; 17:9, sophia (“wisdom”) occurs only in 5:12; 7:12, where “wisdom” is attributed to the Lamb’s ability to plan and execute redemptive history. In 13:18; 17:9 believers are to have “wisdom” that enables them to know God’s wise plan and be prepared to discern divine imposters and their propagandists, which have been prophesied by Daniel (see Ruiz 1989: 207). Since the same exhortation in 17:9 refers to understanding the figurative meaning of a number, so the exhortation and number in 13:18 are to be understood likewise. John is exhorting saints to spiritual and moral discernment, not intellectual ability to solve a complex math problem. Unbelievers as well as spiritual Christians are mentally capable of solving a purely mathematical problem.
Consequently, the proper spiritual application of the 666 to wicked rulers and compromising institutions, as well as to false teachers, will reveal to believers their seductive and imperfect nature. “Wherever there is blasphemy, there the beast’s name is found” (Minear 1968: 260). Christians must be aware that the spirit of the antichrist can express itself in the most unexpected places, even, indeed especially, 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. They must be spiritually on the alert to discern such prophesied manifestations, which are unexpected by those not cultivating divine wisdom. Therefore, an interpretive approach must be rejected that attempts only a literal calculation of the number 666 in an effort to identify only one historical individual.
Fourth Ezra 12:37–38 alludes to Dan. 12:10 in saying that true saints will need “wisdom” and “understanding” to discern truth in the end-time trial caused by the Dan. 7 beast from the sea. The same thing is said in 2 Bar. 28:1 with respect to the last tribulation in direct connection with “Leviathan [who] will ascend from the sea” (cf. 2 Bar. 29:1–5). In 4 Ezra 14:13–17 the author is to “instruct those that are wise” not to love “the life that is corruptible, [to] let go from thee the cares of mortality,” presumably because of the same kind of economic persecution in view in Rev. 13. The readers of 4 Ezra 14 need such discernment because “truth . . . and falsehood be nigh at hand: for already the Eagle [the beast of Dan. 7] is hastening.” These parallels confirm the Daniel background. The parallels also support the idea that the exhortation in Rev. 13:18 concerns discernment of truth in the midst of Daniel’s predicted falsehood and not a calculation pinpointing only one specific evil individual. Nevertheless, an individual could be the embodiment of evil at any particular period of history, and Christians would need spiritual wisdom to discern the danger that such a person posed.
If John’s readers have spiritual perception, they will remain faithful and “come off victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name” (15:2). To identify with the beast by worshiping his image is to identify with his imperfect nature, which is symbolized by the triple six. Not to identify with him is “to come off victorious” from his deceptive influence. The victory in 15:2 must not be understood as winning a game by solving a riddle through intellectual cleverness, despite the fact that the NEB and the JB render the verse in a manner approaching such a perspective—for example, the JB translates, “There is need for shrewdness here; if anyone is clever enough he may interpret the number of the beast.”
Chapter 14 shows us the godly counterpart to the beast worshipers of chapter 13. These are the 144,000 followers of the Lamb, a symbol of the spiritually faithful saints of God. These faithful ones will see the overthrow of the beast’s counterfeit kingdom and the destruction of all who cling to this deception. In chapter 15 they celebrate the triumph of God’s kingdom just as the children of Israel celebrated the exodus deliverance, the former as an antitypical escalation of the latter.
14:1
In the OT “Zion” occurs approximately 155 times. Rarely does the name refer to a place of sin and judgment, “Jerusalem” being the term usually reserved for that reference. It can refer to God’s dwelling in the temple or be a symbol for the people of God. However, it most commonly refers to the city that God will establish and rule over at the end of the age, which subsumes and escalates the prior two ideas (TDNT 7:300, 312–17). Here it is symbolic for the place where God’s new-covenant people receive this eschatological promise.
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 Kings 19:31; Ps. 48:2, 10–11; 74:2, 7; Isa. 4:2–3; 10:12, 20; 37:30–32; Joel 2:32 [3:5 MT]; Obad. 17, 21; Mic. 4:5–8).
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; 65:12; cf. 56:5), all of which express the new nature of the restored people and city—for example, note the names “my delight is in her” (Isa. 62:4), “city that is not forsaken” (Isa. 62:12), “throne of Yahweh” (Jer. 3:17), “Yahweh our righteousness” (Jer. 33:16), and “Yahweh is there” (Ezek. 48:35) (for further OT references, see TDNT 7:315).
14:4a
The word “virgin” is repeatedly applied to the nation of Israel in the OT (see “virgin of Israel” and other similar variant phrases in 2 Kings 19:21; Isa. 37:22; Jer. 14:17; 18:13; 31:4, 13, 21; Lam. 1:15; 2:13; Amos 5:2). The Hebrew for “virgin” in the majority of these passages is rendered in the LXX by parthenos. As is typical in Revelation, this description of Israel is now applied to the church.
In the OT Israel’s idolatries, as well as their political and economic practices, were pictured as “harlotry” (Ezek. 23; Jer. 3:1–10; cf. Hos. 1:2). Their worship of idols also was referred to as “defilement” (Isa. 65:4; Jer. 23:15; 44:4; 1 Esd. 8:83). The picture of preventing “pollution” occurred earlier in Revelation to refer to Christians who have not identified with idolatrous institutions such as emperor worship or trade guild idolatry (cf. 3:4 with 14:4; see commentary on Rev. 2:14, 20; 3:4–5 above). The same notion is conveyed here.
14:5
The expression of the saints’ guilelessness is also an allusion to Zeph. 3, which itself may be an allusion to Isa. 53 (see Fekkes 1994: 191–92):
Isa. 53:9: “he did not do lawlessness, nor was guile in his mouth”
Zeph. 3:13: “and by no means was a deceitful tongue found in their mouth”
Rev. 14:5: “and a lie was not found in their mouth”
In addition to the parallel language with Revelation, Zeph. 3:11–14 speaks of God in the last days saving a remnant, who are identified with his “holy mountain” and “Zion.” This prophecy has become reality in the faithful Christian remnant. Also relevant is Ps. 15:1–3 (14:1–3 LXX), where those fit to dwell on God’s holy mountain are the “blameless” (amōmos) who speak truth in their hearts and do not lie with their tongues. Those who maintain a faithful witness will live with God.
14:8
The phrase “fallen, fallen is Babylon” derives from Isa. 21:9, and it is equivalent to the ensuing statement there that the idols of Babylon are destroyed. The destruction of the idolatrous system of the world is also in mind here, as chapter 13 and the immediately following verses 14:9, 11 bear out. The Isaiah allusion is merged with another OT reference. The title “Babylon the Great” is based on the identical name of the city in Dan. 4:30 (LXX/Θ [4:27 MT]). In Dan. 4 the name forms part of an expression of the king’s self-glorification, for which he is about to be judged. Now in Rev. 14:8 the latter-day Babylon meets its end.
Just as Babylon destroyed the first temple and sent Israel into exile, so Rome came to be called Babylon in some sectors of Judaism because it also destroyed the temple in Jerusalem and exiled Israel (cf. Midr. Rab. Num. 7:10; Midr. Ps. 137:8; see Hunzinger 1965). In fact, contemporary and later Jewish sources equated the name “Babylon” with Rome (see 2 Bar. 11:1; 33:2; 67:7; 79:1; Sib. Or. 5:140–143, 158–61, 434; 1 Pet. 5:13; Midr. Rab. Lev. 6:6; Midr. Rab. Song 1:6, 4; cf. 1QpHab II, 11–12; b. Sanh. 21b). “Babylon” is a symbolic name for Rome also in 4 Ezra 3:2, 31, especially in relation to 4 Ezra 12:10–39, where the metaphor of the eagle for Babylon from Dan. 7:4 is applied to Rome as the “fourth kingdom.”
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 intoxicating madness here appears to result from the terror of Babylon’s oppressive measures (so also in Hab. 2:15–16). This is borne out by Jer. 25:15–16, which also is included in John’s allusion: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand, and cause all the nations . . . to drink it. And they shall drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.” Since Jer. 25:15 (32:15 LXX) is alluded to also in 14:10, its language is likely borrowed here. This intoxication of the nations may refer to Rome/Babylon’s idolatrous economic activity, which will continue to express itself in all evil political and economic systems until Christ’s return. Such an interpretation of 14:8 is supported by Isa. 23:15–18, where Tyre’s economic domination of the nations is portrayed as immorality. Tyre’s benefiting from the wealth of the nations is pictured as a “harlot” receiving “harlot’s wages” (see Isa. 23:1–18; so also Nineveh is regarded in Nah. 3:4). Likewise, Ezek. 16:1–36 portrays as harlotry Israel’s political and economic dependence on other nations, as well as the idolatry that infected them from those nations (see 16:33–34).
14:10
The picture of pouring out wine resulting in intoxication indicates the unleashing of God’s wrath at the final judgment (Ps. 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). This imagery is inspired especially by the wording of Ps. 75:8; Jer. 25:15; 51:7, all three of which are grouped together and applied by Jewish exegetical tradition to the wicked who will “drink in the time to come” (Midr. Rab. Gen. 88:5; Midr. Ps. 11:5; 75:4; cf. Midr. Rab. Gen. 16:4).
The thorough and enduring effect of the judgment is expressed through the portrayal of the divine draught being “mixed undiluted,” in allusion to Jer. 32:15 LXX (cf. Ps. 74:8 LXX [75:8 ET]; Pss. Sol. 8:14; 3 Macc. 5:2).
The apocalyptic belief was that the wicked would be punished, often by fire, in the presence of the righteous (1 En. 48:9; 62:12; 108:14–15; Wis. 5:1–14; 4 Ezra 7:93; Tg. Isa. 33:17) forever (Isa. 66:22–24; 1 En. 27:2–3 [cf. with 1 En. 21]).
14:11
Together with the conclusion of 14:10, the portrait of 14:11a is drawn from Isa. 34:9–10, which describes God’s judgment of Edom. Isaiah pictures the historical annihilation of Edom because of its sin. Once destroyed by God’s judgment, Edom would never rise again. Likewise, the judgment of unbelievers at the end of time would be as absolute.
14:17–20
The imagery of the harvest is developed from Joel 3:13: “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; the wine vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.” The Joel passage is the only one in the OT where images of both harvest and treading the wine press occur, and there they connote judgment. Accordingly, the final judgment of evil earthly forces is pictured in 14:1–20. Since Joel 3:13 is a prophecy of God’s judgment of the evil nations, the same theme of judgment is expressed in both metaphors here (so Kiddle and Ross 1940: 285–95; contra Swete [1906: 190], who believes that John has transformed Joel’s punitive harvest image into a redemptive one; cf. Midr. Rab. Song 8:14, which also takes Joel 4:13 positively to refer to Israel’s redemption). “Reaping” is an image associated with judgment elsewhere, though God or his agents are not specified as the reapers (Job 4:8; Prov. 22:8; Jer. 12:13; Hos. 8:7; Gal. 6:7–8). Likewise, “harvesting” can be a picture of judgment (Jer. 51:33; Mic. 4:12–13; Matt. 3:12/Luke 3:17).
The overthrow of the nations implicitly takes place outside the holy city, not in it. Outside Zion there will be only destruction, as predicted by the prophets (Zech. 14:2–5, 12–16 affirm that the rebellious nations will be defeated in the vicinity of Jerusalem, as do other texts [e.g., Dan. 11:45; 4 Ezra 13:34–39; 2 Bar. 40:1–3; Sib. Or. 3:667–697; 1QM VII, 3–4; Midr. Rab. Song 2:2, 5]). Perhaps uppermost in thought is Joel 3:2, 11–12, 14, which say that God will enter into judgment with the “surrounding nations” outside of Jerusalem in the nearby “valley of Jehoshaphat.”
15:2
The sight of what appeared to be “like a sea of glass like crystal” could include allusion to the reflection of the laver in Solomon’s temple and the heavenly splendor of God’s holy separateness (see Beale 1999a: 327–28, 789–92). But uppermost in mind is the heavenly analogue to the Red Sea in connection with the new exodus. This identification is confirmed beyond doubt by the following mention of the new “song of Moses,” which is the latter-day counterpart of Moses’ song recounted in Exod. 15 (Mekilta to Exod. 14:16 and ʾAbot R. Nat. 30a say, on the basis of Exod. 15:8 [“the deeps were congealed”], that one of the miracles at the Red Sea episode was that the sea became congealed and appeared like glass vessels [see McNamara 1966: 203–4]; ʾAbot de Rabbi Nathan adds that fire was present in the midst of the glass; again on the basis of Exod. 15:8, Midr. Ps. 136:7 says that the sea appeared as a “crystallized . . . kind of glass”; for a sea in heaven, cf. T. Levi 2:7a; 2 En. 3:3). The exodus atmosphere is discernible through the prior mention of “plagues” (15:1), which clearly are modeled after the plagues of Egypt (so chap. 16), and by the subsequent mention of the “tabernacle of testimony” (so Caird 1966: 197). The first exodus, out of Egypt and out from under Pharoah’s tyrannical power, will be recapitulated by divine design in a final, end-time exodus of God’s people out from under the tyrannical oppression and rule of the “beast” over the world.
Daniel 7:10 pictures similarly a “river of fire” in heaven before the divine throne, with multitudes of angels standing around it. This prophetic picture in Dan. 7 indicates God’s decision to judge “the beast,” who was “slain and destroyed, and his body was given to be burnt with fire” (Dan. 7:11) (on the Dan. 7 background for the “sea of glass” in Rev. 4:6, see Beale 1999a: 327–28). The certainty of the beast’s prophesied demise is underscored in Rev. 15:2.
15:3a
Like God’s people of old, God’s new-covenant people will praise him by singing “the song of Moses,” extolling his end-time judgment of their oppressors. Their song is a hymn of deliverance and praise of God’s attributes like that in Exod. 15:1–18.
Deuteronomy 32 is also called a song of Moses (Deut. 31:19, 22, 30; 32:44), which is included in the allusion to Exod. 15, since it also describes judgment. Wrath against apostate Israelites because of idolatry is the focus in Deut. 32, as here judgment on apostate Christians together with the nations is in view. Just as “the song of Moses” includes reference to the earlier deliverance by Moses, so also “the song of the Lamb” includes reference to the fact that the deliverance of the saints from the beast will have been decisively led by Jesus himself.
15:3b
The content of the song itself comes not directly from Exod. 15, but rather from passages throughout the OT extolling God’s character. All of these are combined to explain the new exodus, which will happen again on a grander scale than the first. The first line of the song expresses God’s “great and marvelous works.” This is an OT allusion derived from Deut. 28:59–60 LXX, which predicts that Israel’s future judgment will be patterned after the Egyptian plagues. Also echoed is Ps. 110:2–4 LXX (111:2–4 ET), which glorifies God for his “great works” and “marvelous doings” when he redeemed Israel at the Red Sea. The psalm itself may be alluding to Exod. 34:10 (where God promises that the nations “will see that the works of the Lord [in his dealings with Israel], that they are great”; so also Exod. 15:11: God is “marvelous in glories, doing wonders”).
Just as the God of the exodus generation was praised as one whose “works are true” and “all his ways just” (Deut. 32:4), so he will be lauded again. The passage from Deuteronomy is introduced in 31:30 as a “song” by Moses, and it is applied by b. Taʿan. 11a to the judgment and reward “in the world to come,” which is further evidence that Deut. 32 also lay behind the “song” mentioned here in 15:3 (L.A.B. 19:4 affirms that Deut. 32:1 includes the idea that God “revealed the end of the world”).
15:4
Together with the last clause of 15:3 (“king of the nations”), the opening statement of this verse recalls Jer. 10:7: “Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?”
Psalm 86:9–10 is the basis for most of the language in 15:4: “Who will not . . . glorify your name? For you alone are holy, so that all the nations will come and worship before you.” Like Jeremiah, the description from the psalm explains further how God is incomparable in contrast to false gods (in addition to 86:10, cf. “there is no one like you among the gods” in 86:8; the eschatological prophecy of Isa. 2:2 could also be an included echo: “all the nations will come to” Zion). The prophetic theme of the nations streaming into Zion to worship God in the end time occurs elsewhere in the OT (Isa. 2:3; 49:22–23; 60:14; 66:23–24; Mic. 4:2; Zech. 8:20–22; 14:16, where language similar to Ps. 86:9–10 occurs). This prophetic theme is seen to achieve its fulfillment in the futuristic depiction of Rev. 15:4.
Bauckham (1993a: 296–307) provides a good analysis of how the OT allusions in Rev. 15:3–4 are used to fill out the themes of Exod. 15:1–18; the latter is best seen as typological of the former.
15:7
The image of bowls comes partly from the OT, where “bowls” are used (approximately thirty times) in conjunction with the priestly service at the altar in the tabernacle or temple. The bowls probably were used to carry out the ashes and fat of sacrifices. Sometimes these bowls are directly connected with “the tabernacle of witness” (Exod. 38:3; Num. 4:14–15; 7:13–89) and are referred to as “golden bowls” (1 Chron. 28:17; 2 Chron. 4:8, 21).
The image is derived also in part from Isa. 51:17, 22, where twice it is said that “the bowl of the cup of [God’s] wrath,” formerly poured out on sinful Israel, is now to be poured out on their pagan “tormentors,” which in context is Babylon. As in Isa. 51, the bowls in Rev. 16 are directed against end-time Babylon and its inhabitants and are also called a “cup” (16:19; as in 14:10).
15:8
God’s presence in the temple is highlighted as it is “filled with the smoke of God’s glory and from his power” (as in Exod. 40:34–35; 1 Kings 8:10–11; 2 Chron. 5:13; Isa. 6:1, 4 LXX). The description may be a collective echo of similar OT descriptions of God’s presence in the earthly temple, though the focus may be more on Ezek. 10:2–4, where an angelic being “clothed in linen” stands close to the four cherubim in the heavenly temple, and “the temple was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.” The Ezek. 10 scene is an introduction to an announcement of judgment, which brings it even closer to the function of the similar vision in Rev. 15 so that the former becomes analogous to the latter.
Chapter 16 concludes the series of seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments with the outpouring of the seven bowls, signifying God’s consummate judgment of the wicked. The sixth bowl features the decisive battle of Armaggedon (for the predominantly symbolic nature of the bowl visions, see Beale 1999a: 50–55). The bowls, like the trumpets, are modeled on the Exodus plagues that John views to be typological for the events described in the bowls. Some of these plagues occur throughout the church age (bowls 1–5) and others happen only at the very end of history (bowls 6–7).
16:1
That God is the speaker in 16:1 is confirmed by the fact that God has just been mentioned as being in his heavenly temple (15:5–8) and by the allusion to Isa. 66:6 (so also Holtz 1971: 132): “a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord rendering recompense to his adversaries” (which is applied to judgment of Rome in Midr. Ps. 18:11).
The phrase “pour out God’s wrath” (ekcheō + thymos) in the LXX is used to indicate judgment, either against covenant breakers or against those who have persecuted God’s people (cf. Ezek. 14:19; Jer. 10:25; similarly, Ps. 68:25 [69:24 ET]; Zeph. 3:8 [in substantial agreement with Kraft 1974: 204–5; Prigent 1981: 243; Roloff 1993: 161]). Sometimes the formula includes “fire” as the figurative destructive effect of the pouring, which enforces a figurative interpretation of the bowls (e.g., Jer. 7:20; Lam. 2:4; 4:11; Ezek. 22:21–22; 30:15–16; Zeph. 3:8; so also Ps. 78:5–6 [79:5–6 ET]; Ezek. 21:36–37 [21:31–32 ET]).
Standing also in the background is the “pouring out” of sacrificial blood by the priest at the base of the altar in direct connection twice with “the priest [who] . . . will sprinkle it [the blood] seven times . . . in front of the sanctuary” (Lev. 4:6–7, 17–18 [see J. M. Ford 1975: 265]). Just as the pouring out of sacrificial blood represented the cleansing of the tabernacle from defilement of sin, so also the pouring out of the bowls cleanses the earth from the defilement of sin through judgment.
16:2
The description of the first bowl’s effect is based on the Egyptian plague of boils (Exod. 9:9–11), which is summarized in Deut. 28:27, 35 as an “evil sore” (helkos ponēros). The punishment matches the crime: those who receive an idolatrous mark will be chastised by being given a penal mark (see Beasley-Murray 1974: 240).
16:6
Note the echo of Ps. 79:3, 10, 12: “They have poured out their [Israel’s] blood as water. . . . Let the vindication of your servants’ blood that has been poured out be known among the nations before our eyes. . . . Repay to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their reproach with which they have reproached you, O LORD.” The same truth is applied to the people of God during the interadvent age.
16:12
The woe of the sixth bowl is depicted according to the description of God’s judgment of Babylon and Israel’s restoration, which itself was patterned after the drying up of the Red Sea at the exodus (cf. Exod. 14:21–22 with Isa. 11:15; 44:27; 50:2; 51:10; cf. also Josh. 3:16; 4:23). The OT prophesies that this judgment would include the drying up of the Euphrates River (Isa. 11:15; 44:27; Jer. 50:38; 51:36; cf. Zech. 10:11). The prophecy was fulfilled by Cyrus, who diverted the waters of the Euphrates (cf. Isa. 44:27–28). This allowed his army to cross the now shallow waters of the river, enter the city unexpectedly, and defeat the Babylonians (Herodotus, Hist. 1.190–191; Xenophon, Cyr. 7.5.1–36 [see also Tg. Jer. 51:36, 41–44; 4Q169 Frags. 1+2, 3–9]). Against this background, it can be seen that the battle in Revelation will end in the absolute destruction of all the opponents of God.
16:13
Mention of a woe of frogs again recalls the exodus plagues. In fact, the only places in biblical literature where the word batrachos (“frog”) appears are in the LXX of Exod. 8:2–13; Ps. 77:45 (78:45 ET); 104:30 (105:30 ET); Wis. 19:10, all of which describe the exodus plague (so likewise the accounts of the exodus in Josephus, Ant. 2.296–298; Philo, Sacrifices 69; Migration 83; Moses 1.103–106, 144). Here in Revelation the frogs are expressly said to be symbols for deceptive demonic spirits (16:14) that plague unbelieving humanity.
16:14
In this case, the deception is aimed at “the kings.” Likewise, in the exodus plagues the frogs were first to affect the king (Exod. 8:3–4), and Ps. 104:30 LXX (105:30 ET) says only that “kings” in Egypt were struck by the frogs.
The three synonymous phrases “gather together for war” with minor variants in 16:14; 19:19; 20:8 are based on OT prophecy, especially from Zech. 12–14 and possibly Zeph. 3, which foretold that God would gather the nations together in Israel for the final war of history (strikingly, Zech. 13:2 LXX says that the activity of “false prophets and the unclean spirit” will be active in Israel contemporaneously with the gathering of the nations). Revelation 16:14 continues this prophetic forecast.
That the battle is called “the war of the great day of God” indicates that the battle is one in which God will decisively judge the unrighteous. This is the meaning of the phrase “great day of God” in Joel 2:11; Zeph. 1:14, and especially of the eschatological prophecy of judgment in Joel 2:31. The nations are deceived to think that they are gathering to exterminate the saints, but they are gathered together ultimately by God in order to meet their own judgment at the hands of Jesus (19:11–21) (see Beasley-Murray 1974: 244–45). A striking parallel is 1 Kings 22:22–23, 30–31: a demonic spirit before the heavenly throne says, “I will go forth, and I will be a false spirit in the mouth of all the prophets” of Ahab, which results in the king “entering into war” and being slain.
16:16
That “Armageddon” (Heb. har mĕgiddô [“mount of Megiddo”]) is not literal is evident from the fact that OT prophecies of the final battle of history place its location, without exception, in the immediate vicinity of the city of Jerusalem and Mount Zion or its surrounding mountains. However, the Plain of Megiddo is about a two-day walk north of Jerusalem. Furthermore, John himself places the location directly outside of Jerusalem (14:20; 20:8–9), though he universalizes the OT references and speaks in spiritual rather than literal geographical terms. A figurative view of “Armageddon” is apparent also from the fact that no “mountain” of Megiddo has ever existed, although even in OT times the city of Megiddo sat prominently on a tell. It is possible that the Hebrew har could refer to a tell, since the word sometimes refers to settlements on hills. However, the word predominantly refers to “mountain” in the usual sense of the word (see TDOT 3:429–34). It is likely that the use of “mountain” is meant to provoke associations with the destruction of Israel’s enemies on mountains (e.g., Ezek. 38:21; Zech. 14:4).
Megiddo is the place where righteous Israelites were attacked by wicked nations (Judg. 5:19; 2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chron. 35:20–22, the latter two of which occur in connection with “the River Euphrates” [cf. 2 Kings 9:27]). The Judges 5 passage provides the most probable OT typological pattern for Rev. 16:16, since there God defeats an overwhelmingly powerful foe who had formerly oppressed defenseless Israel (cf. Judg. 4:3; 5:8; see Düsterdieck 1980: 423; Hendriksen 1962: 196; Morris 1987: 200); see Rev. 16:12–14, 16, and note Judg. 4:7, where God prophesies that he “will bring” to Israel “the captain of the host of Jabin . . . and his multitude . . . and I will deliver them into your hand,” and compare Judg. 5:19: “The kings set themselves in array, then they battled . . . at the waters of Megiddo” (see also Midr. Rab. Num. 23:7). Likewise, compare the striking wording of 2 Chron. 35:20–22 LXX: “Pharaoh went up . . . to the river Euphrates. . . . And he [Josiah] came to do battle [tou polemēsai] in the plain of Megiddo.” The end-time attack by the nations against Jerusalem is also compared in some way to the incident of Josiah’s defeat at Megiddo (Zech. 12:1–14), the latter of which, together with Ahab’s defeat in the same vicinity, had become almost proverbial in Judaism (Tg. Lam. 1:18; Tg. Zech. 12:11; b. Meg. 3a; b. Moʿed Qaṭ. 28b). And, if Armageddon is associated with nearby Mount Carmel, then the name might also include allusion to Elijah’s defeat of the prophets of Baal during the reign of Ahab and Jezebel (1 Kings 18:19–46) (so Shea 1980).
All of the aforementioned passages recording events occurring in the vicinity of Megiddo may stand behind the reference in 16:16, so that John’s reference to this place name may ring with the following typological and prophetic associations: the defeat of kings who oppress God’s people (Judg. 5:19–21); the destruction of false prophets (1 Kings 18:40); the death of misled kings, which led to mourning (2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chron. 35:20–25); and the future expectation that in direct connection with the one “whom they have pierced,” there would be destruction of “all the nations that come against Jerusalem” and a mourning by all of Israel’s tribes (Zech. 12:9–12) (so D. Ford 1979: 303; LaRondelle 1989, following Farrer 1964: 178).
For further discussion and overview of the history of interpretation of Armageddon, see Paulien 1992; Day 1994.
16:17
The seventh bowl describes the final destruction of the corrupt world system, which follows on the heels of the battle of Armageddon. The bowl being poured out on the “air” is best understood as part of the exodus plague imagery used already in the trumpets and preceding bowls and alluded to in reference to “the plague of hail” in 16:21. Therefore, 16:21 makes allusion to the plague of “hail” from Exod. 9:22–34. Similarly, Philo (Moses 1.129) calls the hail in Egypt, together with other trials, “plagues of heaven and air” (see also Moses 1.114, 119–120).
16:21
Why does hail come last in the presentation of bowl plagues? Bauckham (1977: 228) argues plausibly that the Exod. 9 plague of hail is being combined with the cosmic phenomena surrounding the Sinai theophany of Exod. 19, alluded to in Rev. 16:18. Furthermore, the placement at the end has been influenced by Ezek. 38:19–22, where hail and earthquake mark the final stage of judgment on the end-time enemy. The identification of the plague with that of the plague of hail in Egypt is evidenced further by the fact that both Rev. 16:21 and the Exodus account emphasize the severity or large size of the hail. If both Exodus 9 and Ezekiel 38 are in mind, the latter points forward to the events of Rev. 16:21 and the latter prophesy is underscored as still to happen in the future.
The destruction of Babylon, emblem of the anti-God forces in the world, is described in graphic detail. It becomes clear that Babylon is the great “counterfeit city,” a mockery and perversion of God’s new Jerusalem.
17:1
The description of end-time Babylon’s judgment is taken from Jer. 51:13 (28:13 LXX), where Jeremiah predicts absolute judgment on historical Babylon: “For his [God’s] wrath is against Babylon, to destroy it utterly . . . against the inhabitants of Babylon dwelling upon many waters” (28:11–13 LXX). This judgment, which occurred in the OT epoch, prefigures that which begins to be described in 17:1.
17:3a
The mention of the seer’s transport “into the desert” is an allusion to Isa. 21:1–2, where a vision from God (see 21:10) is revealed to the prophet Isaiah and is described as “coming from a desert [erēmos]” (as in Rev. 17:3). That this is an allusion and not coincidental language is borne out not only by the fact that Isa. 21:1–10 is a vision of judgment against Babylon, but by the fact that the phrase “fallen, fallen is Babylon” of Isa. 21:9 appears in Revelation in the following context of 18:2, as well in the preceding text of 14:8, which itself looks ahead to chaps. 17–18. Isaiah 21:1 uniquely combines the apparently disparate images of desert and sea (“the burden of the wilderness of the sea”) and associates them with Babylon (see MT and various LXX witnesses). Likewise, Rev. 17:1, 3 picture latter-day Babylon in a wilderness and as “sitting on many waters.”
17:4
The Israelite whore in the book of Jeremiah has “scarlet dress” (4:30 LXX), and on her “skirts is found the lifeblood of the innocent” (2:34 LXX). Likewise, the book of Isaiah portrays faithless Israel as a “harlot” whose sin is “as purple . . . and as scarlet,” which represents its sin of “murder,” her “hands” being “full of blood” and her “wine merchants mixing wine with water” (1:15–22 LXX). Nor is it accidental that in the LXX the high priest’s garments are also described as adorned with “gold, purple, scarlet, linen, and [precious] stones,” which is the identical combination of words used to describe the Babylonian harlot’s attire here in 17:4; 18:16 (for the significance of this, see commentary on Rev. 17:16 below). Thus Babylon may appear from one perspective to be religiously good, but she is, in reality, evil.
17:6
John’s response, “I marveled greatly,” is similar to Daniel’s response to the angelic revelation about the Babylonian king’s imminent demise in the LXX of Dan. 4. The metaphor of “being drunk with blood” is developed from Isa. 34:5–7; 49:26; Jer. 46:10, where it describes God’s judgment of the wicked. The imagery is applied now in reverse manner to show that Babylon will be punished by means of its own sin, as 16:6 reveals. In describing the judgment of wicked oppressors, 1 En. 62:12 also alludes to the passages in Isa. 34; Jer. 46.
17:9a
In 17:9a is a further development of Daniel’s prophecy that in the end-time tribulation true saints would need spiritual “understanding” and “wisdom” to keep from being deceived by an evil king who exalts his sovereignty over God and persecutes God’s people who do not acknowledge him (so Dan. 11:33; 12:10 [for further discussion of background, see commentary on Rev. 13:18 above; Beale 1980]). The beast that John has seen in the vision in 17:3 is none other than the wicked state force prophesied in Daniel.
17:9b
“Mountains” are symbolic for kingdoms in the OT and Judaism (e.g., Isa. 2:2; Jer. 51:25; Ezek. 35:3; Dan. 2:35, 45; Zech. 4:7; 1 En. 52; Tg. Isa. 41:15 (see commentary on Rev. 8:8–9 above; for the interchangeableness of “kings” and “kingdoms,” see Dan. 7:17, 23). The identification is also confirmed by Dan. 7:4–7, where seven is the total number of heads of the four beasts (= kingdoms), which also is the source for the seven heads in Rev. 13:1 (on which, see commentary above). That kings who represent kingdoms are thought of is apparent from Dan. 7:17 LXX (“the great beasts are four kings”) and Dan. 7:23 LXX (“the fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom”). The presence of allusions to Dan. 7 shows that its prophecy of an end-time persecuting foe is being developed in Rev. 17:9b.
17:12
As Dan. 7:4–7 was the source of the seven heads, so Dan. 7:7–8, 20, 24 are the source of the “ten horns.” Daniel identifies the horns with kings, and Rev. 17:12 does the same in beginning to reveal further details about how that prophecy will be fulfilled.
The kings’ future reign with the beast will last for a period referred to as “one hour.” The time period echoes that in Dan. 4:17a LXX, where it refers to the period during which God caused King Nebuchadnezzar to become like a beast. Here also God is sovereign even over the authority of ungodly kings who ally with the beast in order to prepare to oppose the Messiah (cf. 17:13–14). The phrase “one hour” is repeated in chap. 18 with reference to the time in which “Babylon the Great” was judged by God (18:10, 17, 19), which is a combined allusion to the “one hour” from Dan. 4:17a LXX with “Babylon the Great” from Dan. 4:30 LXX.
17:14
The purpose of forming the strong coalition mentioned in 17:13 is to do “battle with the Lamb.” However, “the Lamb will conquer them.” This battle phraseology in the first clause of the verse is from Dan. 7:21:
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Dan. 7:21 Θ (cf. the MT) |
Rev. 17:14a |
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“That horn was making war with the saints, and he overpowered them.” |
“These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them.” |
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The allusive connection is enhanced by the fact that, as in Daniel, here also it is kings who are portrayed as horns (17:12) who conduct the war (although in Dan. 7:21 it is a singular “horn” [for the parallel Greek with 17:14, see Beale 1999a: 880]). However, there is a change in the wording from Daniel that does not invalidate its allusive nature but reveals an ironic interpretive alteration like that already made with the Dan. 7:21 allusion in chap. 12 and in 1 En. 90:12, 13b (see further Beale 1999a: 652–54, 880–82 on 5:6; 12:7b–8a; 17:14). The last part of Daniel’s wording is reversed and applied to the champion of the “saints” instead of to the beast’s victory.
The same language by which the beast was described in Dan. 7:21; Rev. 11:7; 13:7a as defeating the saints is now applied to the portrayal of the Lamb overcoming the forces of the beast and his horned allies (for the allusion to Dan. 7:21, see Beale 1999a: 880 on 11:7; 13:7a). The reversal of language is not a result of random Scripture twisting, but rather is intended to express irony. The prediction of the beast’s victory over the saints in Dan. 7:21 becomes an ironic type of his own final defeat. His defeat must occur fittingly according to the same warlike method by which he attempted to oppress. The reversed portrayal shows that he must be punished by means of his own sin.
Revelation 17:14 is the answer to the concluding question of 13:4: “Who is able to make war with him [the beast]?” (so Ruiz 1989: 452). The “called and elect and faithful” (17:14c) who accompany the Lamb fight alongside him and represent the vindication of the persecuted saints of Dan. 7:21 and of Rev. 6:9–11; 12:11; 13:10, 15–17. Strikingly, Dan. 7:22 promises that after the horned beast attempts to conquer the saints, God will “give the judgment to the saints of the Most High.” This became the basis for the expectation that the saints would judge the wicked in the end time (see 1 Cor. 6:2; 1 En. 38:5; 91:12; cf. Wis. 3:8; 1 En. 90:19; 95:3; 96:1; 98:12). Perhaps the Dan. 7:22 prophesy is echoed here.
The basis for the Lamb’s victory in 17:14 is that “he is Lord of lords and King of kings.” The same title occurs only twice in biblically related material prior to the NT (1 En. 9:4; Dan. 4:37 LXX). It is possible that 1 Enoch is in mind here, since its context concerns eschatological judgment (i.e., of the fallen Watchers), as does that of Rev. 17. However, Dan. 4:37 LXX is the more likely influence (on which, see Beale 1999a: 881):
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Dan. 4:37 LXX |
Rev. 17:14b |
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“because he himself is God of gods and Lord of lords and King of kings” |
“because he is Lord of lords and King of kings” (cf. 1 En. 9:4: “Lord of lords, God of gods, King of kings”) |
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Just as the Babylonian king was addressed by this title, so the king of latter-day Babylon (Rome) in John’s day was similarly addressed. The title refers to God in Dan. 4 as the one who demonstrated his true divine sovereignty and revealed Nebuchadnezzar as an empty parody of the name by judging the beastly king of “Babylon the Great.” Now the title is applied typologically to the Lamb. The Lamb demonstrates his deity on the last day by judging the beast that carries “Babylon the Great.” And he exposes as false the divine claims of the emperor and others like him.
17:15
Isaiah 17:12–13 also uses the metaphor of “many waters” for “many nations” (cf. Isa. 8:7; 23:10; Jer. 46:7–9; 47:2; in Judaism, see Tg. Ps. 18:16; 4Q169 Frags. 1+2, 4; 3–4 III, 10). The “many waters” have already been seen to be an allusion to Jer. 51:13 (28:13 LXX), where they refer to the waters of the Euphrates and the channels and canals that surrounded the city. These waters helped Babylon to flourish economically and provided security against outside attack. The multitudes of humanity that the waters now represent are the basis for Babylon’s economic trade and security.
17:16
The portrayal of the harlot’s desolation is sketched according to the outlines of the prophesied judgment of apostate Jerusalem by God in Ezek. 23:25–29, 47: “your survivors will be devoured by the fire [23:25] . . . they will also strip you of your clothes [23:26] . . . and they will deal with you in hatred . . . and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your harlotries will be uncovered [23:29] . . . they will burn their houses with fire [23:47]” (cf. Ezek. 16:37–41). Also, Ezek. 23:31–34 portrays the harlot as having a cup in her hand and becoming drunk, strikingly similar to Rev. 17:4.
The portrait of the whore throughout Rev. 17 draws also from Israel’s depiction as a harlot in Jer. 2:20–4:30 (so D. Ford 1979: 270): there Judah is a harlot (2:20) who has “a harlot’s forehead” (3:3) and causes others to sin (2:33), on whose “skirts is found the lifeblood of the innocent” (2:34), whose “dress (is) in scarlet,” who “decorates herself with ornaments of gold” (4:30), and whose lovers will despise her and try to kill her (4:30). Israel is called a harlot because although she is supposedly committed to Yahweh, she has spiritual intercourse with idols.
However, “harlot” can also refer to other ungodly nations in the prophets, as in Isa. 23:15–18; Nah. 3:4–5 (although 4Q169 Frags. 3–4 II, 7–11 applies the Nahum text to the apostate leaders of Jerusalem). The “harlot” metaphor has the essential idea of an illicit relationship, whether that be religious, economic, political, or a combination of these. In both Nah. 3:4–5 and especially Isa. 23:15–18 Nineveh and Tyre are called harlots because they cause ruin and uncleanness among the nations by economically dominating them and influencing them by their idolatry (see Glasson 1965: 95). Furthermore, the whore in Rev. 17 is called “Babylon the Great,” which refers to the proud, pagan Babylonian city in Dan. 4. Therefore, “Babylon” refers both to the pagan world and apostate Israel and to the apostate church that cooperates with it.
The description of Babylon’s fall continues, with an emphasis on its idolatry and worldwide economic exploitation as a basis for its judgment. Except for 18:1, the clear OT allusions discussed in this chapter serve as foreshadowings of the fall of Babylon the Great.
18:1
“The earth shone with a light from the glory around” God when Ezekiel saw a vision of the end-time restoration of Israel to its land and temple (Ezek. 43:2, also in conjunction with a loud “voice,” as in Rev. 18:1–2). The OT prophecy provides an appropriate allusion to introduce a chapter in which one of the major themes is an exhortation to God’s true people to separate from the world and be restored to the Lord (so also Caird 1966: 222; see commentary on Rev. 18:4 below).
18:2
The description of desolation most approximates the portrayal of Babylon’s and Edom’s judgment in Isa. 13:21; 34:11, 14. These judgments are viewed as anticipations of universal Babylon’s judgment at the end of history. The final stripping away of Babylon’s luxurious facade (17:4; 18:16) reveals her skeleton, within which sit only demonic birdlike creatures. Jewish interpretation of the creatures in Isa. 13:21; 34:11, 14 understood them to be demonic (e.g., Tg. Isa. 13:21; Midr. Rab. Lev. 5:1; 22:8; Midr. Rab. Gen. 65:15; and likely 2 Bar. 10:8).
18:3
This recalls Ezek. 27:12 LXX: “The Carthaginians were your merchants because of the abundance of your power” (cf. Ezek. 27:33 LXX: Tyre “enriched all the kings of the earth”). This is the first reference in this chapter from Ezek. 26–28. Tyre’s destruction is the model for the destruction of the latter-day Babylon, Rome and her evil descendants. Tyre’s demise looked forward implicitly to Babylon the Great’s fall.
18:4
The exhortation to separate from Babylon’s ways is patterned after the repeated exhortations of Isaiah and Jeremiah, especially that of Jer. 51:45: “Come forth from her midst, my people” (cf. Gen. 12:1; 19:15; Isa. 48:20; 52:11; Jer. 50:8; 51:6). As here, in Jer. 51 and the other OT parallels the coming judgment that Babylon must suffer forms the basis for the prophets’ exhortation to God’s people to separate (see esp. Jer. 51:35–45). Strikingly, the judgment that elicits the exhortation from Jer. 51 is portrayed with similar metaphors of desolation as in Rev. 18:2—Jer. 51:37 reads, “Babylon will become . . . a haunt of jackals, an object of horror, without inhabitants.”
That the exhortation of 18:4 also strongly echoes that in Isa. 52:11 is evident from the immediately following phrase in the Isaiah text: “do not touch the unclean,” which refers to the idols of Babylon. The exhortation in Jeremiah also includes separating from idol worship (see Jer. 51:44, 47, 52).
18:5
The reason that Babylon will be punished with such “plagues” is that “her sins have reached up to heaven.” Again, appeal is made to Jer. 51: “For her [Babylon’s] judgment has reached to heaven, it is lifted up to the skies” (Jer. 51:9 [note also an echo of Gen. 18:20; 19:13]). This foreshadows the judgment of the worldwide system, Babylon the Great. In some passages of the OT and early Judaism the expression becomes an idiom for an extreme degree of corporate sin (cf. Ezra 9:6; Jon. 1:2; 1 Esd. 8:75; 4 Ezra 11:43).
God “remembering unrighteous acts” is an expression of judgment found elsewhere in the OT (e.g., Ps. 109:14; Hos. 9:9).
18:6
Babylon’s punishment is commensurate with its crime. This is first expressed through wording that evokes Ps. 136:8 LXX (137:8 ET): “Blessed is he who will give back the recompense to you [Babylon] which you have given back to us [Israel].” Similarly, Jer. 27:29 LXX (50:29 ET) says of Babylon, “Render [antapodote] to her according to her works; according to all that she has done, do to her.” Likewise, in Jer. 28:24 LXX (51:24 ET) God says, “I will repay [antapodōsō] Babylon and all the inhabitants . . . for all their evil that they have done” (cf. Jer. 27:15 LXX [50:15 ET]; Ezek. 23:31–35). The punishment of historical Babylon prefigures that of the end-time Babylonian system.
18:7
The basis for Babylon’s judgment as a world system is reiterated (cf. 18:5a), this time patterned after the prediction of historical Babylon’s judgment in Isa. 47, which portends eschatological Babylon’s sinful arrogance.
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Isa. 47:7–8 LXX |
Rev. 18:7b |
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“She has said, ‘I will be a princess [MT: “queen”] forever’; you did not understand these things in your heart. But now hear these words, you luxurious one, who sits securely, who says in her heart . . . ‘I will not sit as a widow nor will I know bereavement.’” (Cf. Zeph. 2:14–15 LXX, concerning Nineveh: “. . . ravens in her porches . . . This is the scornful city which dwells securely, that says in her heart, ‘I am, and there is no longer any after me’; how she is become desolate, a habitation of wild beasts.”) |
“. . . because she says in her heart, ‘I sit as a queen, and I am not a widow, and I by no means will see mourning.’” |
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18:8
The political and economic arrogance noted in 18:7b is emphasized as the cause for Babylon’s sudden destruction, which “will come in one day.” This is a continued typological reference to Isa. 47 (47:9: “but now these . . . things will come upon you suddenly in one day”), as is the statement that Babylon “will be burned by fire” (47:14: “they all will be burned in fire”).
The prediction of Tyre’s judgment in Ezek. 26–27 forms the model for the prophecy of Babylon’s judgment in 18:9–19, although the cargo lists have been adapted to fit the realities of economic exploitation in the Roman Empire (see Bauckham 1993a). The past downfall of Tyre and those who mourn over it is a prophetic foreshadowing of the fall of the last great economic system (which needs to be kept in mind in the following explanation of these verses). Note the parallel of kings, merchants, and mariners in Ezek. 27:29–30, 35–36 (see Mounce 1977: 328).
18:9
The earthly rulers express despair in response to the destruction of Babylon, echoing Jer. 51:8: “Suddenly Babylon has fallen . . . wail over her,” which continues the allusion to Jer. 50–51 in Rev. 18:4–8. They weep because they have lost their lover. This idolatrous involvement allowed “the kings of the earth” to “live in luxury,” which is a partial allusion to Ezek. 27:33. The close connection between idolatry and economic prosperity was a fact of life in Asia Minor, where allegiance to Caesar and to the patron gods of the trade guilds was essential for people to maintain good standing in their particular trades.
18:10
In 18:9–10 we see the pattern of Ezek. 26:16–18 LXX, where, in response to the fall of prosperous Tyre, “princes of the nations . . . fear . . . and will groan . . . and they will take up a lamentation . . . and they will speak” in sorrow about how the city has been judged (likewise Ezek. 27:28–32). The Ezekiel background confirms the suggestion that the kings’ lament over Babylon’s desolation is grounded in the fear of their own imminent economic loss. The LXX of Ezek. 26:16b, adding to the Hebrew text, says that “they will fear their own destruction,” which is to be understood economically in the light of Ezek. 27:33–36. Likewise, the LXX of Ezek. 27:27–28 (which is partly formative for Rev. 18:17–19) narrates that “the rowers . . . and the pilots of the sea,” who “will wail over you . . . and cry bitterly, and put earth on their heads,” will also “perish in the heart of sea” together with Tyre and its “traders” and “they that traffic” with the city.
18:12–13
The list of products is based partly on Ezek. 27:7–25, where fifteen out of twenty-nine of the same items are listed together along with the repetition of emporoi (“merchants”) (so Rev. 18:11a, 15). Repeated allusion to Ezek. 26–27 in the immediately preceding and following contexts confirms reference to this segment of Ezek. 27.
18:16
The city’s apparel is composed of six prosperous trade products. This follows the same pattern of Ezek. 27, where a full list of goods is found (27:12–24) and where part of the list is metaphorically applied to Tyre’s clothing, “to clothe you with blue and purple from the islands,” with the clause “fine linen . . . from Egypt became your couch” (27:7 LXX).
The picture of an ungodly economic system as a person dressed in luxurious clothing made of trade products has been partly inspired also by the same figurative portrayal of the king of economically prosperous Tyre in Ezek. 28:13: “Every precious stone was your covering: the ruby, the topaz, and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald; and the gold.” In Tg. Ezek. 28:13 it is explicitly said that the stones were on clothing: “your robe was adorned with all kinds of jewels” (see Rist 1957: 502).
18:17b–19
The pattern of Ezek. 27 continues to be followed, since there too those who conduct the business of sea trade lament and throw dust on their heads because the demise of Tyre means the demise of the sea commerce by which they make their living (Ezek. 27:28–33).
18:20
That believers in general, not particular groups of the Christian community, are addressed is evident from the allusion to Jer. 51:48, which also refers to heaven and earth in order to represent the whole Israelite community: “Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for the destroyers of the earth will have come to her.” Jeremiah’s reference to “heaven” is repeated, but the reference to “earth” is now substituted by “the saints and the apostles and the prophets,” who compose the new people of God (so Jörns 1971: 141). It is not by chance that Jer. 51:49a states that “the slain of Israel” form part of the basis for Babylon’s fall and consequent rejoicing in 51:48 (cf. the following phrase in 51:49b: “the slain of all the earth”).
18:21
The judgment of Babylon here is based on Jer. 51:63, where Jeremiah commands his servant Seraiah to “bind a stone upon” a book that contains the prophecy of Babylon’s judgment and to “cast it into the midst of the Euphrates.” The angel in 18:21 interprets his symbolic action to mean that “in the same manner will Babylon the Great City be thrown down and will not be found any longer.”
18:22–23b
The allusion to Isa. 24:8 (“the sound of the harp has ceased”) and its context underline both economic loss and resulting loss of joy (Isa. 24:6 LXX: “the dwellers in the earth will be poor”; Isa. 24:8 LXX: “the joy of timbrels has ceased”). The reference to Isa. 24:8 in 18:22a has been combined with Ezek. 26:13 (cf. Jer. 25:10).
18:23c–23d
The implication of self-glorification as the basis for condemnation in 18:23c is suggested from the context of the OT allusion, where the judgment of Tyre includes overturning its merchants because they had become proud about their economic achievements and consequent power: “The Lord of hosts has purposed to bring down all the pride of the glorious ones, and to disgrace every glorious thing on the earth” (Isa. 23:9 LXX). About Tyre itself the prophet says, “Your heart is lifted up because of your riches,” which is equated with saying “I am a god” (cf. Ezek. 28:5 with 28:2–10). Tyre’s economic self-idolatry was the cause of its eventual judgment. Likewise, the evil world system will be judged because of human self-glorification.
The heavenly beings rejoice in God’s mighty judgments, and the destruction of the wicked is seen from yet another angle. This time the imagery is drawn from the destruction of the eschatological adversaries Gog and Magog in Ezek. 38–39.
19:7–8
The language of the marriage supper echoes the prophesy of Isa. 61:10: “I will rejoice in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for he has clothed me with garments of salvation, he has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness; as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels.”
19:10
For angels refusing worship, see Mart. Isa. 7:21; 8:5; Tob. 12:16–22; Apoc. Zeph. 6:11–15; Ps.-Mt. 3; Cairo Genizah Hekhalot A/2, 13–18 (see Bauckham 1993a: 118–49).
The statement that “no one knows” the name “except himself” does not mean that it is a secret to all others, as is commonly held (e.g., Swete 1906: 252; Kittel 1967: 126; Rissi 1972: 23; Mounce 1977: 345; Hailey 1979: 382–83). At issue is not the mysterious essence of the divine being, but rather his actions of judgment (Kraft 1974: 247–48). The expression could refer to the tetragrammaton (YHWH = “Lord” in the LXX), which the Jews would not pronounce (see McDonough 1999). This is supported by the fact that the name may be written on Christ’s head or diadems, just as the name “Yahweh” was written on a gold plate on the high priest’s forehead (M. Stuart 1845: 346, followed by, e.g., Farrer 1964: 198; Prigent 1981: 293). For example, Wis. 18:24 says, “Your majesty [= YHWH] [was written] on the diadem of his [the high priest’s] head.”
19:13
The rider is portrayed as “clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood,” an allusion to God judging the nations in Isa. 63:1–3 (cf. Tg. Ps.-J. Gen. 49:11): “with garments of red colors . . . garments like the one who treads in the wine press . . . their juice sprinkled on my garments.” The prophecy of God as a warrior in Isa. 63 is reaffirmed, and Christ is identified as that divine warrior. In Isaiah the warrior judges to achieve “vengeance” and “redemption” on behalf of his people (so Isa. 63:4), and the same goal is implicit in Rev. 19. Therefore, the stained garments symbolize an attribute of justice that will be exercised in the coming judgment (see Kiddle and Ross 1940: 384–85). Allusion to Isa. 63:2–6 is picked up again in 19:15.
In the OT “word” (LXX: logos) can take on the idea of “promise” or “prophecy” (e.g., 1 Kings 8:56 LXX). The fall of Babylon will “fulfill” the prophetic “words of God” about the final judgment found in both Testaments. Perhaps the title in 19:13 alludes to Christ’s execution of final judgment upon the remaining enemies of God in fulfillment of OT and NT prophecy. Such an understanding is confirmed from the phrase “these are true words of God” in 19:9, which has primary reference to the future fulfillment of OT prophecy, especially of Isa. 61:10, as do the nearly identical phrases in 21:5; 22:6. This is another of the various links between 19:7–9 and 19:11–19.
19:14
Elsewhere in the NT angelic armies accompany Christ from heaven in executing the final judgment (Matt. 13:40–42; 16:27; 24:30–31; 25:31–32; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; 2 Thess. 1:7; Jude 14–15 [cf. T. Levi 3:3; Apoc. El. (C) 3:4; 1 En. 102:1–3; 2 En. 17]). If the armies here in 19:14 are angelic, there may be no question of God’s people taking part in their own vindication. Nevertheless, 17:14 supports the initial suggestion that it is Christ himself who conquers the beast as a representative act on behalf of the “called and chosen and faithful” who accompany him.
The saints’ garments here and throughout the book should also be understood as priestly garments, since the same garments worn by the heavenly beings are also likely conceived of as priestly in Rev. 15:6; Ezek. 9:2; Dan. 10:5; 12:6. Note also the similar garments worn by Christ in 1:13 (for the full argument in favor of this, see Kline 1980: 47–50). The saints with white robes in 7:9, 14–15 also have a priestly function. Likewise, the “bright, pure linen” of 19:8 has priestly associations. Christ’s followers reflect their representative’s priestly character as they accompany him when he executes judgment.
19:15
The picture of the “sharp, two-edged sword proceeding from his mouth” (cf. 1:16; 2:12, 16) is based on Isa. 49:2, where the figurative language refers to the ability of “servant Israel” (Isa. 49:3) to accomplish God’s mission of restoring Israel and saving the nations (Isa. 49:6) by means of his word (Tg. Isa. 49:2 reads, “He placed his words in my mouth like a sharp sword”). Here in 19:15 the Isaiah prophecy is reaffirmed, and Jesus is identified implicitly as the “servant Israel” (as in Luke 2:32; Acts 26:23). An echo from the prophecy of Isa. 11:4 completes the depiction here: “in order that he should strike the nations.” The Hebrew text’s “he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth” is interpreted by the LXX as smiting with the “word of his mouth,” which supports the idea that “the word of God” in 19:13 is a name expressing the means by which Christ executes judgment. Likewise, 4 Ezra 13 alludes to Isa. 11:4 and interprets the instrumentality of the Messiah’s punishment to be the words of the “law,” which “shall reprove the nations . . . with their evil thoughts” (4 Ezra 13:10–11, 37–38 [cf. 1 En. 62:2]).
An allusion to Ps. 2:9 fills out the portrayal of judgment. In Ps. 2:8–9, 12 is foretold how God’s “son” (2:7) will overthrow the ungodly “kings of the earth” who “take their stand . . . and take counsel against the Lord and his Messiah” (2:2). The “rod” here in 19:15, like the “sword proceeding from the mouth,” connotes God’s word of accusation, which will condemn the ungodly and consign them to perdition.
The trampling of the grapes in the winepress is a continued allusion to the OT prediction of God’s last great act of judgment (Isa. 63:2–6) begun in 19:13, again applied to Christ.
19:16
Yet another name is adduced to explain further the ambiguous name of 19:12. The name is written on the rider’s garment and thigh. The thigh was the typical location of the warrior’s sword (e.g., Exod. 32:27; Judg. 3:16, 21; Ps. 45:3) and the symbolic place under which the hand was placed to swear oaths (e.g., Gen. 24:2, 9; 47:29). Christ’s victory over the wicked will be a fulfillment of God’s promise to judge.
The name for Christ in 19:16 is “King of kings and Lord of lords,” which is intended as a title expressing the idea of “ultimate ruler over all kings” (cf. Moulton, Howard, and Turner 1906–76: 2:443). The name is taken from Dan. 4:37 LXX, where it is a title for God, and which has already been applied to Christ in 17:14 (on which, see commentary above), underscoring his role as divine judge.
19:17–18
The angel announces the coming destruction of the beast, false prophet, and their troops through the same imagery by which the defeat of Gog and Magog was announced in Ezek. 39:4, 17–20: “I will give you as food to every kind of predatory bird. . . . Speak to the bird of every wing . . . , ‘Gather yourselves together and come . . . so that you may eat flesh. . . . You will eat the flesh of mighty ones and the blood of princes. . . . And you will be satisfied at my table with horses and chariots, mighty ones and all the men of war.’” Rev. 19:17–18 continues this prophetic portrayal and reaffirms that it will assuredly occur.
The portrayal from Ezek. 39 is included because its main point is that God will “make known” his “holy name” both to Israel and to their oppressors during captivity by means of defeating Gog and Magog. The goal of revelation of the divine name introduces (39:7) and concludes (39:21–25) the description of the slaughter (39:8–20).
19:19
In addition to Ezek. 39, Ps. 2:2 rings in the background. The prophetic picture in 19:19 of the final war develops and stresses that the Psalms prophecy will still certainly take place. “The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers gathered themselves together against the Lord and against his Anointed” (Ps. 2:2 LXX). The earlier undoubted reference in 19:15 to Ps. 2:9 substantiates the further allusion here.
19:21
The armies following the beast and false prophet will be “killed by the sword proceeding from the mouth of the one sitting upon the horse.” This is an allusion, repeated from 19:15, to the prophecy of Isa. 49:2 and 11:4, which will find accomplishment in the future.
The triumph of the saints is vividly depicted in the vision of the millennium, which is followed by another depiction of the final battle. Heaven and earth flee before the Lord seated on his glorious throne, making way for the new heaven and earth in chapter 21.
There is much debate about whether chapter 20 follows chapter 19 in historical chronological terms or whether it recapitulates the final battle narrated at the end of 19:17–21 and thus also narrates events leading up to that battle in 20:1–7. The overarching use of Ezek. 38–48 in chapters 19–22 deserves special mention. In 20:8–10 there is a repeated allusion to Ezek. 38–39 concerning the battle of Gog and Magog against the covenant community. This repeated allusion points to the likelihood that 20:8–10 is a recapitulation of the same battle narrated in 19:17–21, where allusions are made to the same battle of Ezek. 38–39 together with the virtually identical expression “gather them together unto the war” (see commentary on Rev. 20:8, 9–10 below; for corroboration, see White 1989: 326–28). Indeed, both 19:17–21 and 20:8–10 recount the same battle as 16:12–16, which is highlighted by the same phrase “gather them together unto the war” (cf. 16:14; 19:19). If 20:1–6 precedes the time of 20:7–10, and if 19:17–21 is temporally parallel to the battle of 20:7–10, then 20:1–6 is temporally prior to the battle of 19:17–21.
That John has in mind a specific prophecy-fulfillment connection with Ezek. 38–39 is borne out by the broader context of chapters 20–21, where a fourfold ending of the book reflects the ending of Ezek. 37–48: resurrection of God’s people (Rev. 20:4a; Ezek. 37:1–14), messianic kingdom (Rev. 20:4b–6; Ezek. 37:15–28), final battle against Gog and Magog (Rev. 20:7–10; Ezek. 38–39), and final vision of the new temple and new Jerusalem, described as a restored Eden and sitting on an exceedingly high mountain (Rev. 21:1–22:5; Ezek. 40–48) (for references to those observing the pattern, see Lust 1980: 179; similarly, White 1994: 543–44).
Note also that Ezek. 39 recapitulates the same battle narrated in Ezek. 38. This would suggest that if John is following any model in 19:17–21 and 20:7–10, it would be the generally acknowledged pattern of recapitulation in Ezek. 38–39. Indeed, recapitulation is typical elsewhere in Ezekiel, as well as in the other prophetic books of the OT (for other arguments in favor of recapitulation at this point in Revelation, see Beale 1999a: 972–1026).
Part of the thesis of this section (although there is not enough space to argue it thoroughly) is that the “binding” of Satan in 20:1–3 is not complete in every way but refers primarily to an inability to deceive the nations, so that they could mount an attack to annihilate the covenant community. This attack, indeed, will be mounted briefly after the “millennium,” but the effort will fail (20:8–10). Thus, Satan can still deceive during the “millennial” period, but he cannot deceive to accomplish the purpose of destroying the community of faith and its expansion.
20:1–3
Isaiah 24:21–22 is the basis for 20:2–3 (see Kraft 1974: 256) and finds its fulfillment there: “In that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven on high, and the kings of the earth on earth. They will be gathered together like prisoners in the pit, and they will be confined in prison, and after many days they will be punished.” This fulfillment was inaugurated at Christ’s death and resurrection and will be culminated when Christ returns at the climax of history. The prophetic connection of Isa. 24 with Rev. 20 is suggested also by Isa. 27:1, which appears to be a further explanation of the punishment of 24:21–22 (the Hebrew “in that day Yahweh will visit” occurs only in 24:21 and 27:1): “In that day Yahweh will visit the sea monster . . . with his . . . sword” (the LXX of 27:1 has “the dragon, the serpent,” which is almost identical to Rev. 20:2: “the dragon, the ancient serpent”).
Typically, early Judaism spoke of evil spirits, not Satan, imprisoned in an absolute manner either at the time of or prior to the Noahic deluge or subsequently in the OT epoch (cf. 1 En. 10:4–16; 18:11–19:3; Jub. 5:6–14; 1 En. 88:1–3; 2 Pet. 2:4; Tob. 8:3; see also Jude 6). Even the NT sees demonic spirits as absolutely imprisoned, while Satan and other spirits are on the loose (e.g., contrast 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6 with 1 Pet. 5:8). In 1 En. 54 is depicted the end of the age, when good angels will “cast into the abyss of complete condemnation” forever (53:2) human, and possibly demonic, subjects of Satan who were “leading astray those who dwell on the earth.”
The only apparently explicit references to the binding of Satan in Judaism speak of a “binding” that is not absolute, since immediately subsequent to the binding his “evil spirits” continue to exist in some form of opposition to the saints; we note T. Levi 18:12, “Beliar shall be bound by him [the Messiah], and he shall give power to his children to tread upon the evil spirits,” a text with such striking similarities to Luke 10:18–20 that the two probably are organically related in some way. In this respect, both of these texts appear to be developing the prophecy in Gen. 3:15 that Eve’s “seed” would fatally “bruise” the “serpent” (see T. Levi 18:9–14 and the margin of NA27 of Luke 10:19). In this light, it is likely not coincidental that Rev. 20:2 makes allusion to the same “ancient serpent,” so that the “binding” is part of the fulfillment of the primeval promise in Gen. 3:15 (on which, see Beale 1999a: 994, 998).
Jubilees 48:15–17 portrays Mastema, prince of demons, as being restrained only so that he could not accuse the Israelites at the time of their exodus from Egypt: “Mastema was bound and imprisoned behind the children of Israel that he might not accuse them.” Then he is “let loose” so that again he could work against and accuse Israel. So also 48:18: Mastema was “bound . . . that he might not accuse the children of Israel” (see also 48:9–11). Since the exodus theme dominates so much of the book of Revelation (e.g., the trumpet and bowl plague series), perhaps there is also a similar reflection here of Satan’s inability to keep Israel in Egyptian captivity but now applied to a limited binding of Satan in 20:1–3, so that he cannot stop the latter-day exodus of the church and its expansion during the church age. That the notion of “binding” with respect to an inability to “accuse” may be in mind is apparent because the parallel account of Satan’s defeat in 12:7–11 also refers to Satan twice as “the [former] accuser” of the saints and once as “the great dragon, the ancient serpent.” In some way (which limits of space do not allow us to expand upon here), Satan’s inability to “accuse” because of Christ’s death and resurrection is part of his “binding” (for the parallels with chap. 12, see Beale 1999a: 992–94). Reference to the fulfillment of the Gen. 3:15 promise also occurs in 13:3, again with notions of a continuing activity of the devil after his decisive defeat and also including allusion to the Isa. 27:1 prophecy of the slaying of the “sea monster” by the “sword” (which, as we saw, is likely also alluded to in 20:1–2 [on the significance of 13:3 in relation to Gen. 3:15; Isa. 27:1 and on other associated issues, see Beale 1999a: 677–80, 688–93; and for a full discussion of 20:1–9, see Beale 1999a: 972–1028]).
In wording strikingly similar to that in Rev. 20:2–3, Pr. Man. 3 speaks of God restraining the evil chaos powers at the beginning of creation: “he who bound the sea and . . . who closed the bottomless pit and sealed it.” Nevertheless, a complete restraint is likely not in view, since the OT portrays the sea monster as still being able to wreak havoc with the nations throughout history (see commentary on Rev. 12:3; 13:1 above). And if the “angels” who were “chained” in “pits of darkness” at the beginning of history or at the Noahic deluge (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6) were subsequently allowed to be active on earth (including, presumably, Satan), then the binding in Rev. 20 might also be so qualified.
20:4
There is much debate about whether this verse envisions physically resurrected saints reigning on earth during the “millennium” (the “premillennial” view) or whether it understands their reign as spiritual in heaven (part of an inaugurated millennial reign, typically know as “amillennialism”); for a more in-depth argument on this issue, see Beale 1999: 972–1031. The OT background for 20:4 appears to bear upon this issue.
The “thrones” and those who “sat on them” appear to represent the angelic court of Dan. 7 that declares the final judgment against the satanic fiend in vindication of the saints whom he oppressed; this would be in correspondence to Dan. 7:9–11: “thrones were set up . . . the court sat . . . the beast was slain” (cf. Dan. 7:26; Midr. Ps. 4:4 identifies the court as angelic; but see also Ps. 122:5, where the thrones are for human judges: “There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David”).
The inaugurated judgment against Satan (20:1–3) has been executed on behalf of God’s people. The judgment presumably has already been passed by the divine court in heaven. This is suggested by Dan. 7:9–27, where the heavenly court seems to be distinct from the saints on whose behalf the court declares the judgment. The vindication in Dan. 7 was a necessary condition enabling the saints to assume kingship together with the “son of man” (cf. 7:13–14, 18, 27). The judgment of the evil kingdoms paves the way for the “son of man” and his saints to reign (7:11–14, 18, 27). As in Rev. 20:4, so also in Dan. 7:22 the “judgment” is followed by the mention of the “saints possessing the kingdom.”
The same pattern of Dan. 7 is evident in Rev. 20:1–4, where the casting down of Satan is the inaugurated judgment enabling the saints to commence their reign in incipient fulfillment of Dan. 7:22. Though in Dan. 7 the heavenly court may be distinct from the saints in whose favor the court announces the judgment, the saints’ inaugurated reign in Rev. 20:4 appears also to take place in heaven, since the court in 20:4 probably includes exalted believers along with angels, and since the same scene of figures (“elders”) sitting on heavenly thrones in 4:4 included angels, who corporately represent exalted saints (cf. 4:4; 11:16). This receives support from the fact that the only places outside of 20:4 in the book where the plural “thrones” (plural of thronos) occurs are 4:4; 11:16, where it is elders who sit on the thrones. Indeed, the heavenly location of the thrones in 20:4 is apparent from the fact that forty-two of the forty-six times “throne[s]” (thronos) occurs elsewhere in the book, it is clearly located in heaven (so Hendriksen 1962: 230; Morris 1987: 236 [although the throne in 22:1, 3 is located in the new heaven and new earth]). The remaining three uses refer either to Satan’s or the beast’s throne, which likewise is not earthly, but rather is located in a spiritual dimension. Furthermore, the “thrones” of Dan. 7:9 are clearly also set in heaven (cf. b. Sanh. 38b, which views the court of Dan. 7:9–10 as consisting of God, angels, and the Davidic Messiah, while b. Ḥag. 14a sees only God and the Messiah sitting on the plural thrones). The focus on saints sitting on the thrones is evident from the third phrase of 20:4: “judgment was passed for them [autois],” where “them” refers to saints (see above the allusion to Dan. 7:22). The antecedent of “them” in 20:4 must be in “they sat,” which clearly places the saints on the “thrones.” That the word “them” appears abruptly without any antecedent is improbable.
One of the most substantial arguments in favor of the premillennial interpretation is based on the observation that the coming to life of “the rest of the dead” mentioned in 20:5a is clearly a physical resurrection (about which there seems to be nearly unanimous agreement among commentators). If the physical resurrection of the wicked is described with “they came to life” (ezēsan), and the identical word describes the resurrection of the saints in 20:4, then the resurrection of 20:4 must also be a physical resurrection. Mounce (1977: 356) notes likewise that if “they came to life” in 20:4 “means a spiritual resurrection . . . then we are faced with the problem of discovering within the context some persuasive reason to interpret the same verb differently within one concise unit. No such reason can be found.”
A word study of anastasis (“resurrection”) is adduced in further support of the literal interpretation of the initial resurrection in 20:4, which is formally called “the first resurrection” (hē anastasis hē prōtē) in 20:5–6. The word anastasis appears forty-one times in the NT, and it indicates a physical resurrection with but two exceptions (Luke 2:34; John 11:25). In this light, it appears probable that the term has a literal meaning in Rev. 20:5–6 (so Deere 1978: 71). According to this perspective, the word zaō (“live”), found in both 20:4 and 20:5, should also be understood literally in the same way. Indeed, it also can be found with the literal meaning both inside and outside of the book.
The design of the present commentary does not allow a full response here, though this has been carried out elsewhere (Beale 1999a: 1002–17; in counterreply, see Osborne 2002: 703–9, 718). Nevertheless, brief response is given here, including how the OT may bear on the issue. Before discussing the OT background, we should survey some of the relevant uses of zaō in the NT and in Hellenistic Greek.
The use of “live” (zaō) or the cognate noun “life” (zōē) referring to the intermediate heavenly state prior to physical resurrection is found elsewhere in the NT and Judaism and indicates that the range of meaning allows for this meaning in Rev. 20:4, 6. In Luke 20:37–38 Jesus quotes Moses, who calls “the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all are living to him.” The statement that God presently “is not the God of the dead” suggests that the patriarchs are living presently since their death and prior to their physical resurrection and that God is presently their God. Furthermore, the last clause, “for all are living to him,” utilizes the present tense of zaō (“live”) apparently to underscore the reality that if God is God of all the believing dead, then “all [who have died in the faith] are [presently] living to [before] him.” This is confirmed by the fact that the quotation is part of Jesus’ argument against the Sadducees, “who say that there is no resurrection of the dead” (Luke 20:27). Josephus (Ant. 18.16 [likewise J.W. 2:165]) says that the Sadducees not only denied bodily resurrection but also affirmed “that the soul perishes along with the body,” so that Jesus’ words are a polemic against both Sadducean heresies (so Hoekema 1979: 233–34). If this is a correct understanding of zaō (“live”) in Luke 20:38, then anastasis (“resurrection”) in Luke 20:35–36 also includes the idea of resurrection of the soul, as well as of the body.
Jubilees 23:27–31 speaks of the eternal bliss of the godly and figuratively refers to it as “one thousand years” when “they shall . . . live in joy and . . . they shall rise up and see great peace . . . rejoice with joy forever and ever . . . and their bones shall rest in the earth, and their spirits shall have much joy.” Significantly, this clearly speaks of a resurrection of the “spirit” (following Charles 1963: 240). Like Rev. 2:8; 20:4–5, 4 Maccabees portrays the same ironic picture of being translated to heavenly life through physical death by using forms of zaō (“live”). By persevering in faith through suffering unto death, the Maccabean martyrs win “victory over death” (7:3), which is referred to as the beginning of “eternal life” (17:12); though they die physically, “to God they die not, for they live to God” at the point of physical death (7:19; so also 16:25), receive “immortal souls,” and are gathered together with the deceased patriarchs (13:17; 18:23) in heaven (17:4–5). This “life” is termed “blessed” and is associated with being “crowned” (17:15–18). In 4 Macc. 17:17–18 it is said explicitly that unbelievers “admired their [the martyrs’] endurance, through which, also, they now stand beside the divine throne and live a blessed life” (even though zaō is not used, the cognate noun zōē does occur in 17:12, which introduces the paragraph and is equated with “endurance”). See also 2 Macc. 7:8–36; T. Ab. [A] 20:9–15; T. Isaac 7:1. Meanwhile, 2 Baruch can speak of “treasuries of souls” of saints that God “preserves” and “sustains” until they will be reunited with their bodies at the last resurrection (21:9; 30:1–3; 85:11–12) and that also are identified with “Abraham and Isaac and Jacob” (21:23–24). Wisdom 3:1–8 also attests clearly to the soul’s existence after death, the highlights of which are as follows: “But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God. . . . In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die . . . but they are in peace. . . . God . . . tried them and received them as a burnt offering. . . . They will judge the nations and have dominion . . . and their Lord will reign forever” (so also 4 Ezra 7:75–101).
Also of relevance is the observation made earlier that the broader fourfold ending of Revelation reflects the ending of Ezek. 37–48: resurrection of God’s people (Rev. 20:4a; Ezek. 37:1–14), messianic kingdom (Rev. 20:4b–6; Ezek. 37:15–28), final battle against Gog and Magog (Rev. 20:7–10; Ezek. 38–39), and final vision of the new temple and new Jerusalem (21:1–22:5; Ezek. 40–48). In the light of the structural parallelism, the word ezēsan (“they came to life”) in Rev. 20:4 is to be seen as an echo of Ezek. 37:10, where the identical word is used (so also Ezek. 37:6, 14, though using a future-tense form). If the parallelism is intentional, then it would support a spiritual resurrection in Rev. 20:4–6, since the resurrection of Ezek. 36–37 is also spiritual, or at least metaphorical (on this point, see Feuillet 1965: 121; Brütsch 1970: 2:340; White 1991). Revelation 20:4 would then reflect the “already and not yet” fulfillment of Ezek. 7:10 throughout the church age.
The understanding of 20:4–6 as a spiritual reality is consistent with the view reflected elsewhere in both the OT and the NT that there will be only one physical resurrection, which will occur at the conclusion of history (see Isa. 26:19–21; Dan. 12:2; John 5:28–29; Acts 24:15; 2 Thess. 1:7–10; cf. John 6:39–40, 44, 54; so also 1 En. 51:1–5; 4 Ezra 7:32; 14:35; 2 Bar. 42:8; Sib. Or. 4:179–182; L.A.B. 3:10). Thus, the “first” resurrection of 20:4–6 apparently refers to a spiritual resurrection of saints followed later by their final, physical resurrection.
Note the use of the number “one thousand” both as a literal temporal indicator and as a non-temporal indicator in the OT and the NT. See nontemporal figurative uses in Deut. 1:10–11; 32:30; Josh. 23:10; Job 9:3; 33:23; Ps. 50:10; 68:17; Song 4:4; Isa. 7:23; 30:17; 60:22; Dan. 7:10; Amos 5:3; for temporal figurative uses, see Deut. 7:9; Ps. 84:10; Eccles. 6:6; 7:28; Jub. 30:20. Especially noteworthy is 1 Chron. 16:15–17 (= Ps. 105:8–10), where God’s “covenant forever” and his “everlasting covenant” are equated with “the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.”
In Judaism there are numerous traditions about the nature and length of the future messianic reign. Some speculated that there would be no messianic reign at all, while others proposed periods of an intermediate reign from forty to 365,000 years. Only two rabbis calculate the period to be one thousand years (Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, cited in Midr. Ps. 90:17; Rabbi Eliezer ben Jose the Galilean, cited in Pesiq. Rab. Piska 1 [cf. b. Sanh. 97a, where a thousand-year reign is implied from the teaching of Rabbi Kattina]). Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus (ca. AD 90) represents the earliest attested view of a thousand-year reign, a conception that he likely learned from earlier rabbinic tradition (so Str-B 3:826–27; cf. b. Sukkah 28a). Samaritan tradition also held to a thousand-year messianic reign (see Bailey 1934: 179–80).
The only other use of the millennial period is clearly figurative for the complete perfection of the eternal time of blessing for God’s people: “And the days shall begin to grow many and increase among those children of men till their days draw near to one thousand years, and to a greater number of years than (before) was the number of the days. And there shall be no old man. . . . And all their days they shall complete and live in peace and joy . . . and rejoice with joy for ever and ever” (Jub. 23:27–30). The number “one thousand” is derived from an earlier passage in Jubilees (4:29–30), which alludes to Isa. 65:22 LXX (“For as the days of the tree of life shall be the days of my people, they shall long enjoy the fruits of their labors”): “Adam died. . . . He lacked seventy years of one thousand years; for one thousand years are as one day [= Ps. 90:4] in the testimony of the heavens, and therefore was it written concerning the tree of knowledge, ‘On the day you eat thereof you shall die.’ For this reason he did not complete the years of this day, for he died during it.” Jubilees understands that the ideal life of the probationary period (“day”) in Eden should have been one thousand years (so also Midr. Rab. Gen. 19:8; Midr. Rab. Num. 5:4; Midr. Ps. 25:8 on the basis of Ps. 90). Therefore, the Jubilees text concludes that the future messianic reign must achieve what Adam did not. Jubilees bases this on three pieces of evidence: (1) Adam’s age at death, which did not quite last one thousand years; (2) Isa. 65:22, which prophesies that the messianic age will last as long as the ideal meant for the first paradise (likewise T. Levi 18:8–13); (3) Ps. 90:4 (the Jubilees tradition of the ideal millennial span of the first paradise is reflected in Irenaeus [Haer. 5.23.2]). At least in part, Jub. 23:27–30 was influenced to conceive of this millennium figuratively because of the Ps. 90 formula, whereas early fathers such as Justin (Dial. 81) used the same reasoning to formulate a literal premillennial perspective (likewise Hippolytus, Comm. Dan. 2.4–6).
20:8
The assembling of these antagonistic forces against God’s people is seen as a fulfillment of the prophecy in Ezek. 38–39, which foresaw that “Gog and Magog” and the nations would “gather together for war” against Israel. Ezekiel 38–39 distinguishes the enemy “Gog and Magog” from the other nations of the earth that ally with them (38:2–7, 15, 22; 39:4). In particular, the language of “gathering together” the nations derives from Ezek. 38:2–8; 39:2, together with passages from Zech. 12–14; Zeph. 3, which also stand behind the parallel phrases in Rev. 16:14; 19:19. All of these OT texts foretell that God would gather the nations together in Israel for the final war of history (see commentary on Rev. 16:14; 19:19 above and the introduction to this section on Rev. 20).
That the “number” of the nations assembled is “as the sand of the sea” underscores their innumerability and the overwhelming odds in their favor against the saints; in Josh. 11:4; Judg. 7:12; 1 Sam. 13:5 the same metaphor is used for the multitudinous forces of the nations arrayed to fight against Israel at various times.
20:9–10
In 20:9–10 there continues allusion to Ezekiel, where we find the unique parallel of the multitudinous end-time enemy (38:15, 22) who will “ascend [anabainō] upon the land” (38:11 [see also 38:16; 39:2; Tg. Ezek. 38:9]) and be judged by “fire” from heaven (39:6) and by “fire and brimstone” (38:22).
In its attack against Israel, Babylon was described as “going forth on the plain of the earth in order to inherit tabernacles not his own” (Hab. 1:6 LXX). The same wording is drawn on now to depict the end-time foe’s attack against the saints. The former OT episode foreshadowed the latter.
Next in John’s prophetic vision he sees that the enemy nations “surrounded the camp of the saints and the holy city.” In the OT the “camp” referred often to the wilderness encampment of Israelite tribes around the tabernacle (esp. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). Those remaining in the camp had to be ritually clean because of God’s presence residing in its midst (e.g., Num. 9:18–23; 2 Chron. 31:2; see Hamilton 1980: 300). Most comparable among OT texts is Deut. 23:14: “Because the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy” (cf. 1QM III, 5–9; 1QM X).
The attacking nations will be destroyed by God before they can annihilate the saints: “fire descended from heaven and consumed them.” This follows the pattern of Ezekiel’s prophecy (noted just above on Rev. 20:9–10) where the demise of Israel’s enemy is by fire, which is also reflected upon in Judaism (see Tg. Ps.-J. Num. 11:26, where the destruction of Magog by fire is noted, also in allusion to Ezek. 39; similarly, in 1QM XI, 16–17 God “will battle against them [Gog] from heaven above”).
The actual wording of the fiery defeat is drawn from 2 Kings 1:10–14, which describes God’s deliverance of Elijah from the armies of the ungodly king Ahaziah.
20:11
The vision of “a great white throne and one sitting on it” harks back to 4:2; 5:7 (on which, see commentary above), where God is pictured “sitting on a throne,” which is an allusion primarily to Dan. 7:9; Ezek. 1:26–28. Both there and here Dan. 7 is the focus, since the “opening of books” from Dan. 7:10, as well as other allusions to Daniel, directly follow in the two contexts. The phrase “a place was not found for them” is taken from Dan. 2:35 Θ, where it describes the destruction of the wicked kingdoms at the end time. Revelation 12:8 makes the same allusion to underscore the inaugurated defeat of the devil and his forces by the death and resurrection of Christ. Now the same Danielic wording is applied to the complete destruction of the entire evil world system. Thus Rev. 20:11 pictures the future fulfillment of both Dan. 2:39 and 7:9.
20:12
“The books were opened, and another book was opened, which is of life” combines allusion to Dan. 7:10 (“the books were opened”) and Dan. 12:1–2 (“everyone who is found written in the book . . . will be rescued . . . to everlasting life”). The point of the books in Dan. 7 is to focus on the evil deeds of the end-time persecutor of God’s people, for which the persecutor(s) would be judged. The book in Dan. 12:1 also concerns the end time, but it is an image of redemption. Those written in the book will be given life, but those excluded from the book will suffer final judgment (12:1–2). These two Daniel prophesies are depicted to find realization at the time of the last judgment.
The last vision of Revelation is a magnificent view of the new creation, which is, we will argue, portrayed as equivalent to the new Jerusalem, the eschatological cubic temple, and to end-time Eden, the eternal home of God’s people.
21:1
The new cosmos will be an identifiable counterpart to the old cosmos and a renewal of it (Harrisville 1960: 99–105), just as the body will be raised without losing its former identity (Farrer 1964: 213; Sweet 1979: 297 [see b. Sanh. 92a–b; Midr. Ps. 104:24, which see the future resurrection of the body as a part of the larger “renewal” of the earth]). The qualitative antithesis between the first world and the second one is highlighted by Isa. 65:17; 66:22, which stand behind the wording of Rev. 21:1; note Isa. 65:17 LXX: “For there shall be a new heaven and new earth; and they will by no means remember the former” (cf. 66:22). Isaiah 65:16–18 makes a qualitative contrast between the “former” earth, where the “first affliction” of captivity occurred, and “a new heaven and a new earth,” where there will be only enduring “joy and exultation.” Isaiah 66:22 affirms that one of the qualitative differences is that “the new heaven and new earth” will “remain” forever, in contrast to the old, which passed away. Revelation 21:1 portrays the future fulfillment of the two Isaianic new creation prophecies.
Judaism also conceived of the new creation as a renewal or renovation of the old creation (see Jub. 1:29; 4:26; 1 En. 45:4–5; 2 Bar. 32:1–6; 57:2; 4 Ezra 7:75; Tg. Ps.-J. Deut. 32:1; Tg. Hab. 3:2).
21:2
The new world that 21:1 portrays as replacing the old is now, in 21:2, called “the holy city, new Jerusalem.” Not surprisingly, the language comes from another Isaiah passage, “Jerusalem, the holy city” (52:1b). The marital imagery in the OT contexts of the prior two Isa. 52 and 62 allusions comes to the fore at the end of 21:2: the city is now seen “as a bride adorned for her husband.” Isaiah 61:10 LXX personifies Zion speaking in prophetic perfect style: “He adorned me with ornaments as a bride” (Isa. 62:5 also uses “bride” as a metaphor for the people of Israel). This second verse of Rev. 21 gives assurance that these Isaiah promises will find consummation in the new cosmos.
21:3
In the light of the following references to the Ezek. 40–48 temple (cf. 21:9–22:5), the promise in Ezek. 43:7 is echoed and fulfilled in 21:3: the end-time temple would be “where” God “will dwell [kataskēnōsei] among the sons of Israel forever.” Leviticus 26:11–12 and Ezek. 37:26–28 (cf. Zech. 2:10–11) equate this final dwelling of God among his people with the coming latterday tabernacle, and following suit are Jub. 1:17, 29; 2 Cor. 6:16; Rev. 7:15; 21:3a, 22. Thus, 21:3 now interprets the vision of the new creation in 21:1 and the vision of the new Jerusalem in 21:2 to be the “the tabernacle of God among men [all believing inhabitants in the new creation].”
21:4
In 21:4 is a fulfillment of prophecy from Isa. 25:8: “The LORD God has taken away every tear from every face” (see commentary on Rev. 7:16–17 above). The same verse in Isaiah says that this will be a comfort from “death,” which formerly “prevailed” during Israel’s captivity in the world, which gives rise to the directly following mention of “death” being done away with in 21:4 (see Fekkes 1994: 254). Also in mind are Isa. 35:10; 51:11 LXX, which predict that “pain and grief and groaning” will have “fled away.” It is more than coincidental that only one verse earlier in Isa. 51 the prophet reflects on the first exodus, when God caused the “sea” to pass away (on which see Rev. 21:1): “Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the sea a pathway for the redeemed to pass over?” (51:10).
The conclusion of 21:4, that “the first things have passed away,” continues the Isa. 35; 51 allusions while at the same time calling to mind again the wording of Isa. 65:17 (together with Isa. 43:18). The parallelism between 21:1 and 21:4 is further confirmed by noticing that both expressions of cosmic dissolution serve as the cause (respectively, gar and hoti) of the new world conditions. In this light, Isa. 65:19 is likely combined with Isa. 35; 51, since it also says that in the new creation “there shall no more be heard in her the voice of weeping or the voice of crying” (see commentary on Rev. 21:1 above). Similarly, Isa. 65:20a says that “no longer will there be” unnecessary death, as in the old age. Consequently, even the formula “there will be [is] no more” derives from Isa. 65:19–20 (see Fekkes [1994: 254], who apparently understands that the formula is based on the Hebrew of Isa. 65:19–20). These Isaiah predictions again find their realization in the new creation.
21:5
God says, “Behold, I am making all things new,” which repeats for a third time the Isaiah prophecies about the coming new creation. In 21:1 appeal is made to Isa. 65:17; 66:22, in 21:4b is an allusion to Isa. 65:17; 43:18, and 21:5 draws from Isa. 43:19 LXX: “Behold, I make new things” (cf. Isa. 66:22).
21:6
Isaiah 49:10 continues a prior string of Isaiah prophecies and is the basis for the reward of being given water for sustenance, which is metaphorical for eternal life.
21:7
The reference to “inheriting” the blessings promised in the Davidic prophecy of 2 Sam. 7:14 shows a hint of further inspiration from the promise of Isa. 55:1–3, where God promises those who “thirst” (55:1) that he will make with Israel “an everlasting covenant, the sure mercies of David” (55:3) (so Kraft 1974: 265).
21:9–10
In 21:10 is a combination of Ezek. 43:5 LXX (“And the Spirit took me up”) and 40:1–2 LXX (“the hand of the Lord was upon me and brought me . . . and set me on a very high mountain, and upon it there was, as it were, the edifice of a city before me”). This combination indicates beyond doubt that the following vision in Rev. 21:10–22:5 is to be identified with the prophetic culmination of the blissful vision of the future temple in Ezek. 40–48, which was located “on a very high mountain.” The angel transports John to a “great and high mountain,” where also the new city-temple is likely located, since OT prophecy understood the coming Jerusalem to be situated on a high mountain (Isa. 2:2–3; 4:1–5; 25:6–26:2; Mic. 4:1–2; cf. Ps. 48:2; Jub. 4:26).
In the light of the clear allusions to Isa. 40–66 in 21:1–22:5, the reference to “the glory of God” must derive from Isa. 58:8; 60:1–2, 19, where there is the prophetic portrayal of “the glory of the LORD” residing in the latter-day Jerusalem (for allusions to Isa. 40–66, see, e.g., 21:1–2, 4–5, 19–21, 23–26; 22:5).
That “the city, the holy Jerusalem” is described as “having the glory of God” and “its luminary like a precious stone, as a jasper stone shining like crystal” continues the prophetic portrait of Ezek. 43.
21:12–13
The broad structure of the city from 21:12 through 22:5 is based on the vision of Ezek. 40–48, which prophesies the pattern of the final temple (chaps. 40–44), as well as the arrangement of the eschatological city and divisions of the land around the temple compound (chaps. 45–48). Also, 21:12–22:5 further interprets the yet-future fulfillment of Ezekiel by collapsing temple, city, and land into one end-time picture portraying the one reality of God’s presence and communion with his people in the unending new creation.
That the first part of the city structure that John sees is a “wall” and “gates” continues the allusion to Ezek. 40 begun in 21:10–11; note Ezek. 40:5–6: “And behold, there was a wall on the outside of the temple all around. . . . Then he went to the gate. . . .” The multiple gates of the Ezekiel temple in chap. 40 and the twelve gates of the city listed in 48:31–34 are, in John’s vision, merged into one group of twelve gates arranged around the one city-temple. Like Ezekiel’s city in 48:31–34, there are four groups of three gates, with each trio of gates facing respectively east, north, south, and west (though Ezekiel’s list begins with north and then east). Furthermore, each of both Ezekiel’s and John’s gates has one of the names of the twelve tribes of Israel written on it. John is also influenced by Ezek. 42:15–19, where the angel measures first at the east gate, then the north, south, and lastly at the west gate (see Kiddle and Ross 1940: 427; Caird 1966: 271–72).
21:15
The image of an angelic figure measuring parts of the city-temple with a measuring rod is a continued allusion to Ezek. 40:3–5. This shows yet further influence by the model of the Ezek. 40–48 vision, where measuring signifies the future establishment and security of the new city, which is portrayed as finally achieved here.
21:16
John next sees that the “city lies square [lit., ‘four-cornered’].” He also sees an angel who “measured the city with the rod . . . the length and width and height of it are equal.” The scene again resonates with the Ezekiel portrayal. In particular, Ezek. 45:2–3 asserts that the whole temple complex will be a “square” and that the prophet was “from this area . . . [to] measure a length . . . and a width.” Throughout the description of measuring the area of the temple in Ezek. 45:1–5 and the area of the city in Ezek. 48:8–13 is the repeated refrain of measuring by “a length and a width” (similarly Ezek. 40 [for a description of the square structure of Ezekiel’s temple, see McKelvey 1969: 9–10]; cf. Zech. 2:2).
Also striking is the equal measurement of the “length . . . and the breadth . . . and the height” of the holy of holies in the temple (see 1 Kings 6:20; cf. 1QS VIII, 5–9; Jub. 8:19), which, together with Ezekiel, could form part of the background here (so Caird 1966: 272–73). The dimensions of the holy of holies in 1 Kings 6:20 may be foremost in mind.
21:18–20
The gold intensifies the attribute of the city as reflecting God’s glory. This feature is partly based on 1 Kings 6:20–22, where not only were the inner sanctuary and altar overlaid with gold, but also Solomon “overlaid the whole house [= temple] with gold” (Farrer 1964: 218; Beasley-Murray 1974: 324).
The list of the twelve jewels adorning the foundation stones of the wall is based on the list in Exod. 28:17–20 (so also 39:8–14), which describes the twelve stones on the high priest’s “breastpiece of judgment.” The breastpiece was the pouch containing the Urim and Thummim. Eight of the stones are identical to the precious stones here in 21:19–20, while the other differently named stones are semantic equivalents of the ones in Exodus (for the rationale, see Caird 1966: 274–75). Written on each stone of the breastpiece was one of the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (Exod. 28:21; 39:14). The priest was “to carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment . . . when he enters the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.” Therefore, these stones symbolized all Israel, so that the priest in his cultic actions represented all Israel before the presence of God in the temple. As in the rest of Revelation, imagery formerly applied to Israel is now applied to the church of Jews and Gentiles who are part of the city-temple complex.
The notion that the foundations are composed of precious stones, not just decorated with them, is pointed to by Isa. 54:11–12, which is alluded to in 21:18–19, 21: “I prepare sapphire for your foundations, and I make your buttresses jasper and your gates stones of crystal . . . and your wall precious stones.”
21:22
The OT prophesied that a temple would be rebuilt along with the renovation of Jerusalem. However, John says, “I saw no temple” in the new Jerusalem. It is not that John saw no temple at all, but only that he saw no material temple like Israel’s old temple. The reason that he saw no material temple in the city is that “the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb are its temple (or ‘sanctuary’ [naos]).” Or, more precisely, God and the Lamb have filled the entire new creation with their glorious presence, a glorious presence formerly sequestered in the holy of holies and in the heavenly temple. This is why the new Jerusalem is portrayed as a cube, since that was the shape of the holy of holies in Israel’s former temple; and now God’s glorious presence, formerly limited to that back room of the temple, has burst forth and filled the entire new cosmos (on which, see below the excursus “The Worldwide Extent of the Paradisal City-Temple”). The temple pictured in four detailed chapters of Ezekiel’s prophecy (chaps. 40–43) is now summarized and interpreted by a brief statement affirming that God and the Lamb are the temple (see Glasson 1965: 120).
Haggai 2:9 prophesied that “the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,” and Jer. 3:16–17 predicted, “They shall say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ And it shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they miss it, nor shall it be made again. At that time they shall call Jerusalem ‘The throne of the LORD,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, for the name of the Lord in Jerusalem.” Thus, the Jeremiah text affirms that in the eschatological future God’s holy of holies presence will extend out over Jerusalem and become coequal with it.
In the light of the portrayal in 21:22, John probably would have understood these OT prophecies as being fulfilled in the future by God and Christ replacing the former material temple and ark with their glorious habitation, which will make the glory of the former temple fade in comparison.
21:23
The wording of the entire verse is based directly on the forecast of Isa. 60:19 (though the similar prophetic depiction of God’s glory in Isa. 24:23 could be secondarily in mind): “No longer will you have the sun for light by day, and the brightness of the moon will not give light to you; but the Lord will be to you an everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.” See also Isa. 60:20; 24:23.
21:24–26
These verses continue to allude to Isa. 60, with the mention of the nations walking by (or in) the light of the city (60:3), the nations bringing their wealth/glory (60:5), and the city gates being open continuously (60:11). Isaiah 60 develops further Isa. 2:2, 5—“all the nations will stream” to Zion, and devout Israelites will “walk in the light of the Lord”—which also stand in the background of 21:24 (see Bauckham 1993a: 314–15). The scene envisions a time when all nations will devote their gifts and energies to the worship of the one true God and not to idols in completion of the Isaiah 60 forecast.
The opening verse of chapter 22 combines the prophetic pictures of a spring or river of “living water” flowing out of latter-day Jerusalem (Zech. 14:8) and its temple (Ezek. 47:1–9).
The introductory verse of chapter 22 reaches farther back even than the OT prophecies of Ezekiel, Joel, and Zechariah to the description of the primeval garden in Gen. 2:10: “a river was going forth from Eden.” In association with the first Eden’s river, the “gold . . . the bdellium and the onyx stone” were features around one of the river’s tributaries, which compares to the precious stones surrounding the river of Rev. 22:1 (cf. 21:18–21). The point is that God “will make the end like the beginning” (Barn. 6:13), though the consummated garden will exist on an escalated scale in comparison to the first (see Beasley-Murray, 330).
As in Ezek. 47, the living water flows from the temple, though now God and the Lamb are the temple (21:22). Although the Holy Spirit may be in mind, the water metaphor primarily represents the life of eternal fellowship with God and Christ, which is borne out by the way 22:3–5 develops 22:1–2 (for water as symbolic of the Spirit in the OT, Judaism, and the NT, see Ezek. 36:25–27; John 3:5; 4:10–24; cf. 1 John 5:7–8; 1QS IV, 21; in Pesiq. Rab. Piska 1:2 water from the earthly temple is interpreted as being the Holy Spirit).
22:2b
The scene of a future, permanent fertile land with a river and trees whose leaves have healing properties is based on Ezek. 47:12: “And by the river . . . on one side and on the other, will grow all trees. . . . They will bear [fruit] every month . . . their leaves [will be] for healing.” The scene in Ezekiel itself is modeled partly on the primal garden and its adjacent river of Gen. 2:9–10, so that both Ezekiel and Revelation envision an escalated reestablishment of the garden of the first creation, in which God’s presence openly dwelt. Even the decorative palm trees and cherubim portrayed as part of the Ezekiel temple (41:18–26) allude to the garden setting of Eden; the depiction in the Ezekiel temple was anticipated earlier in the Solomonic temple, which also included carvings of flowers (e.g., 1 Kings 6:18, 29, 32, 35; 7:18–19) (see Kline 1980: 42).
The river in Ezek. 47:8–9, 12 “purifies” (lit., “heals”) much water (cf. the “[pure] river” in Rev. 22:1), gives “life” to the creatures swimming in it and causes trees to grow whose “leaves are for healing.” Ezekiel’s river is the source that renovates the natural world and symbolizes God’s fellowship with his people (cf. Isa. 35:6–9; 41:17–20; 43:18–20; Joel 3:18).
Elsewhere in the OT the waters of the new creation are designed not merely to renew the natural world, but to be given to God’s people so that they may refresh themselves (Isa. 41:17–20; 43:18–20).
22:3
The “healing of the nations” is further explained by 22:3. First, “there will no longer be any curse.” The phrase is taken from Zech. 14:11 and applied to the eternal new order in which it finds its final attainment. Although for “curse,” the LXX of Zechariah has anathema and Revelation has katathema, both are legitimate renderings of the Hebrew ḥerem (cf., possibly, Isa. 34:1–2). In the OT ḥerem typically referred to people being put under a ban for complete destruction because of sin (cf. the Canaanites in the Hexateuch). Likely echoed also is the curse in the first Eden, which will be removed here.
Second, the earlier observation in 7:15 that the saints serve God as priests in his heavenly temple shows that here also they are performing priestly service in the temple of the end-time city. This echoes the prophecy of Isa. 61:6 (“you will be called priests of the LORD . . . the ministers of God”), which will be fulfilled in the new cosmic temple. That Isa. 61:6 is in mind is evident from the fact that allusions to Isaiah have been woven throughout 21:1–22:5 (especially note Isa. 61:10 in 21:2 and allusions to Isa. 60 in 21:23–26; 22:5).
22:4
The divine presence fully permeates the eternal temple and dwelling place of the saints, since “they will see his face,” a hope expressed by OT saints (Ps. 11:4–7; 27:4; 4 Ezra 7:98; cf. Ps. 42:2; T. Zeb. 9:8). The whole community of the redeemed are considered as priests serving in the temple and privileged to see God’s face in the new holy of holies, which now encompasses the entire city-temple (see Schüssler Fiorenza 1972: 375–89).
22:5
The repeated prayer of OT saints was that God would reveal his presence by “shining the light of his countenance” upon them (Num. 6:25–26; Ps. 4:6; 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 119:135; Pesiq. Rab. Piska 1:2). This prayer is consummately answered here in 22:5 (as promised in T. Zeb. 9:8; 4 Ezra 7:97–98). Uppermost in thought is the blessing in Num. 6:25–27, since there the shining of God’s face is to result in preservation and “peace” for the saints, which is equated with the Aaronic blessing of “putting my name on the Sons of Israel” (following Sweet 1979: 312).
Excursus: The Worldwide Extent of the Paradisal City-Temple
The paradisal city-temple appears to encompass the entirety of the newly created earth. That is, John does not see a city and a gardenlike temple in a particular geographical location in the new earth, but rather he depicts the new creation as equivalent to the city and temple. Such an equation is implicit from, for example, 21:27, which declares that “nothing unclean . . . shall ever come into” the urban temple (which receives further support from 22:15 together with 21:8, where, respectively, the ungodly cannot enter into the city and are in “the lake of fire,” all of which must be outside the new creation, the city, and the temple [for reasons in favor of this equation, see Beale 1999a: 1111]). The rationale for the worldwide encompassing nature of the paradisal temple lies in the ancient notion that the OT temple was a microcosmic model of the entire heaven and earth (see Fletcher-Lewis 1997: 156–62). One of the most explicit texts affirming this is Ps. 78:69: “And he built the sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he founded forever.”
Josephus understood the tripartite structure of the tabernacle to signify “the earth [= outer court] and the sea [= inner court], since these . . . are accessible to all, but the third portion [= holy of holies] he reserved for God alone, because heaven also is inaccessible to men” (Ant. 3.181 [cf. Ant. 3.123; see also Midr. Rab. Num. 19:19]). Josephus and Philo discuss various ways in which the tabernacle or temple or parts of it symbolically reflect the cosmos (Philo, Moses 2.71–145; Josephus Ant. 3.123, 179–187; Josephus [J.W. 4.324] refers to priests as leading the “cosmic worship” [kosmikē thrēskeia]). They also observe that the veil of the tabernacle and temple was made to reflect the four elements of the cosmos: earth, air, water, and fire (Philo, QE 2.85; Moses 2.87–88; Josephus, J.W. 5.212–213; Ant. 3.183). The curtains of the temple were woven of things that resembled the elements of which the world was made, since the created world itself was “the universal temple which existed before the holy temple [of Israel]” (Philo, QE 2.85). Likewise, both writers understand the garments of the high priest to symbolize the cosmos (Philo, Moses 2.117–126, 133–135, 143; Josephus, Ant. 3.180, 183–187). Philo (Moses 2.135) even says explicitly that the high priest “represents the world” and is a “microcosm” (or “small world” [brachys kosmos]). Also, the seven lamps on the lampstand were viewed as cosmic symbols (see commentary on Rev. 1:12; 1:13–16 above). It is true that Philo and Josephus had varying particular interpretations of this symbolism, but it is probable that they both testify to a general cosmological understanding of the temple held by mainstream contemporary Jewish thought, as well as by the OT itself (see Kline 1980: 41–47; Poythress 1991: 13–35). For similar notions in the ancient Near East, see Niehaus 1995: chap. 5; Fletcher-Lewis 1997: 159n47.
This cosmic reflection of the temple implicitly suggested that its purpose was to point to a future time when it would encompass the whole world (much like an architect’s model of a newly planned building is but a small replica of what is to be built on a much larger scale). Since the OT temple was the localized dwelling of God’s presence on earth, the temple’s correspondence with the cosmos pointed to an eschatological goal of God’s presence tabernacling throughout the earth, an eschatological goal that 21:1–22:5 appears to be developing (cf. 21:3). This imagery ultimately appears to be traceable back to the garden of Eden itself (note the proliferation of Eden imagery in chaps. 21–22), if one accepts the likely argument that the garden was understood as a kind of proto-temple that was to be expanded to cover the whole earth (see esp. Beale 2004, the thesis of which is to support this idea; see also Kline 1989: 31–32, 54–56; 1980: 35–42; Wenham 1994; to lesser degree, Poythress 1991: 19, 31, 35).
This particular interpretation finds striking parallel in Qumran (4Q418 Frag. 81). The members of the Qumran community are those who are the true “sons of Adam” who will “walk” in an “eter[nal] plantation” (lines 13–14), and who are to “honour” God “by consecrating yourself to him, in accordance to the fact that he has placed you as a holy of holies [over all] the earth, and over all the angels” (line 4 [following the rendering of García Martinez and Tigchelaar 1997–1998, on which, see Beale 2004: chap. 4]). It appears that John and Qumran are not dependent on one another, but rather are on parallel trajectories in interpreting the OT in this manner, though both may have been familiar with a common earlier tradition that interpreted the OT like this (for further analysis in support of an equation between the new creation, the new Jerusalem, the new temple, and the new Eden in the OT and in Rev. 21:1–22, see Beale 2004: chap. 12 [beginning segment]).
Revelation 22:6–21
The vision ends with a warning that its words must be heeded because Jesus is coming soon.
22:10
The prohibition “Do not seal the words of the prophecy” is linked to the command to Daniel at the conclusion of his prophecy: “Close the words and seal up the book until the time of the end” (Dan. 12:4 Θ; so also 8:26; 12:9 [cf. LXX readings]). Daniel prophesied about a final tribulation for God’s people, the consummate defeat of wicked kingdoms, and the eternal establishment of God’s kingdom. However, Daniel did not understand precisely how these events would transpire or when in history the final end would occur and the prophecies at last be fulfilled (Dan. 8:27; 12:8–9), though he was assured that the end had not yet come (Dan. 12:13). Therefore, the “sealing” of Daniel’s book meant that its prophecies would neither be fully understood nor be fulfilled until the end.
What Daniel prophesied can now be understood because the prophecies have begun fulfillment and the latter days have begun, but they have not been consummated. “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy” here in 22:10 means that now, at last, the end-time prophecies of the OT, especially those in Daniel, have begun fulfillment, and, in the light of this fulfillment, these prophecies can now much more fully be understood. Therefore, the language about not sealing up the book indicates not only beginning fulfillment, but also the revelation of greater insight into the prophecies that was kept from OT saints (so likewise Eph. 3:4–5). In particular, Christ’s death, resurrection, and reign over history, as well as the saints’ tribulation, are the inaugurated fulfillment of OT prophecies. Through Christ’s initial fulfillment and teaching, saints can have greater insight into OT prophecy and better obey God’s word for their generation not only with respect to how OT prophecies have commenced fulfillment but also to how they will finally be completed.
22:11
Again the angel appeals to the conclusion of Daniel’s prophecy:
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Dan. 12:10 |
Rev. 22:11 |
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“Many will be purged, purified, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.” (Cf. Ezek. 3:27.) |
“Let the one doing unrighteousness [or ‘harm’] continue to do unrighteousness [or ‘harm’], and let the filthy one continue to be filthy; and let the righteous one continue to be righteous, and let the holy one continue to be holy.” |
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How does the Daniel allusion contribute to the theological background of dual exhortations in Rev. 22:11? The Daniel text predicts that during the latter days false members of the covenant community will not understand the dawning fulfillment of prophecy (alluded to in Rev. 22:10), and consequently they will continue to disobey God’s laws; the godly, however, will have insight and discern the beginning fulfillment of prophecy occurring around them, and they will respond by obeying God’s word. The change from prediction in Daniel to imperatives in Rev. 22:11 expresses awareness that Daniel’s prophecy is commencing fulfillment in John’s own time and that genuine believers should discern this revelation and respond positively.
22:12a
The theme of unexpected, quick execution of judgment in the end time occurs already in the OT (see Isa. 47:11; Mal. 3:1; cf. Jer. 6:26). Perhaps the ideas of “nearness” and of a swift, “unexpected” appearance are both included, the latter with respect to the possibility that Jesus could come at any time, as in Matt. 24:36–25:13 (cf. Acts 1:7; 1 Thess. 1:9–10; 2 Tim. 4:8; Titus 2:13).
22:12b
Jesus’ second assertion in 22:12 is an allusion to Isa. 40:10; 62:11:
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Isa. 40:10 LXX |
Rev. 22:12 |
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“Behold, the Lord comes with strength . . . behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him.” (Isa. 62:11 LXX is virtually identical; see also Wis. 5:15–16.) |
“Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me to render to each as his work is.” |
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What is prophesied of the Lord in Isaiah is now prophesied by Jesus to be fulfilled by himself, another of the many affirmations of Jesus’ deity found in the book (see Gill 1811: 382). The last clause in Isaiah concerning the “work” defines “reward” further and refers to God’s work of bestowing blessings of salvation on his faithful people, though judgment of the unfaithful is likely implicit.
22:14
The language about a tree of life and open gates picks up on the Isa. 60 and Gen. 3 imagery in 21:24–22:3, where the worshiping nations file through the opened gates of the holy city and have access to the “tree of life,” in contrast to the unholy, who are not able to enter (see commentary on Rev. 21:24–26; 22:1–2a, 2b, 3 above). Here appeal is made specifically to Isa. 62:10 LXX (“Go through my gates”), possibly together with Isa. 26:2 LXX (“Open the gates; let a people enter that keeps righteousness”). This clause from Isa. 62:10 is further explained with salvation metaphors in Isa. 62:11, one of which already has been alluded to in 22:12, only two verses prior to the present one. At the end of history true saints will inherit the reward of “the tree of life” that Adam and his unbelieving progeny did not inherit, and they will enjoy the realization of Isaiah’s prophetic anticipations.
Perhaps Ps. 118:20 is included in the allusion (“the righteous shall enter by it [the gate]”), since Ps. 118:22 is one of the most frequently used messianic prophecies elsewhere in the NT: the rejected stone that became the chief cornerstone (see also Ps. 100:4).
22:15
The phrase “everyone practicing a lie” in Jer. 8:10 may lie behind Revelation’s “everyone loving and practicing a lie.” The wording is applied to idolatrous Israelites (Jer. 8:2) and equated with “apostasy” and “deceit” (8:5). Similarly, Ps. 101 identifies “those who practice apostasy” (101:3) with those who practice deceit, lying, and iniquity, and who therefore must be excluded from God’s city (101:7–8): “He who practices deceit will not dwell within my house; he who speaks falsehood will not be established before me. . . . [I will] cut off from the city of the Lord all those who do iniquity.”
Likewise, “dogs” in the OT can refer to Israelites who violate God’s covenant (Ps. 59:6, 14). In Deut. 23:19 LXX (23:18 ET) “the wages of a dog [kynos]” are equated with “the hire of a harlot” and refer to Israelites making votive offerings in the temple bought with money, which apparently they have earned from being a cult prostitute in the temple of an idol (cf. Deut. 23:17: “None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, nor shall any of the sons of Israel be a cult prostitute”).
Thus, the “liars” and “dogs” primarily portray those who claim to be part of the true covenant community of the church but are, in reality, counterfeit, just as many professing to be part of Israel’s covenant community were not true Israelites by faith.
Malachi 3:5 has a sin list similar to that in 22:15 in conjunction with the statement that God would be a “quick witness” against such sinners by “sending his angel” (Mal. 3:1), which is alluded to in the directly following verse (“I have sent my angel to witness” [22:16a]). The list of sinners in Malachi is “sorcerers . . . adulterers . . . ones swearing falsely in my name” and ones committing economic sins by “keeping back the wage of the hireling . . . oppressing the widow . . . afflicting orphans . . . perverting the judgment of the stranger.” This continues the theme of counterfeit in the prior two images of “liars” and “dogs.”
22:16–17
In 5:5 the title of Jesus was “root of David”; now “offspring” is combined with the name. “Root and offspring of David” may well be a shorthand paraphrase for the fuller Greek clause of Isa. 11:1 (“a rod [Heb. ‘shoot’] from the root of Jesse and a blossom [Heb. ‘branch’] from his root”). The point may be to identify Jesus generally with the fulfillment of the Davidic messianic hope as expressed in Isa. 11:1.
Even more explicitly than in 21:6, here the thought of Isa. 55:1 is drawn on (perhaps together with John 6:35; 7:37): “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” The three imperatives “Come” to people in Isaiah are likely the model for the three in 22:17 with the same prophetic hope in mind (see Lang 1945: 391–92; for further validation of the Isaiah allusion, see Fekkes 1994: 260–64).
These verses summarize the book of Revelation as a new law code to a new Israel, which is patterned on the old law code to ethnic Israel. Although many commentators note only Deut. 4, John alludes to a series of warning passages throughout Deuteronomy:
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Deut. 4:1–2; 29:19–20 |
Rev. 22:18–19 |
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“Hear the statutes. . . . You shall not add to the word . . . nor take away from it” (4:1–2 [likewise 12:32]). “And it will be when he hears the words . . . every curse which is written in this book will rest on him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven” (29:19–20). |
“I testify to everyone who hears the words . . . : If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which have been written in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book . . . , God will take away his part of the tree of life and of the holy city. . . .” |
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What is the meaning of “adding to” and “taking away from” the revelatory words? The answer must be sought in Deuteronomy. In Deut. 4:1–2; 12:32 the language serves as a twofold warning against deceptive teaching that affirmed that idolatry was not inconsistent with faith in the God of Israel (see Deut. 4:3 [which alludes to the Baal-Peor episode of Num. 25:1–9, 14–18]; 13; see also 1 En. 104:11). Those who deceive in this way are false prophets (so Deut. 13:1–18). Such false teaching amounts to “adding to” God’s law; furthermore, it is tantamount to “taking away from” God’s law, since it violates the positive laws against idolatry (for the theological problem of God taking away someone’s “part of the tree of life and of the holy city,” see Beale 1999a: 1150–54). Revelation 22:18–19 applies Deuteronomy analogically to the situation of the Christians.
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