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appeared in print. The original pagination has been maintained, despite the resulting odd page breaks, for ease of scholarly citation. However, scholars quoting this article should use the print version or give the URL.]
Journal of the Adventist Theological Society, 8/12 (1997): 8289. Article copyright 1997 by Hans K. LaRondelle.
Introduction The fundamental problem the futuristic interpreters have with the book of Revelation is their assumption that John describes the end-time events with photographic accuracy and absolute literalness. The Apocalypse, however, portrays what God has signified through an angel to John (Rev 1:1, NKJV). To take Johns images of future events in absolute literalness is, therefore, to misunderstand at the outset the basic intent of the prophecy. Such a procedure can only lead to speculation. John presents the future in a complex imagery and symbolism. A key to understanding Johns literary style is His pattern of anticipation and amplification. For instance, Christs promises to the conquerors in chapters 2-3 are fulfilled in chapters 21-22. The announcement of Babylons fall in chapter 14 is explained later in chapters 16-19. The persecuting beast in chapter 11:7 is described more fully in chapters 13 and 17. John thus uses the technique of interlocking his anticipatory visions in the first half of the book with the end-oriented narrative in the second half. The Apocalypse is a cohesive body, an organic whole that displays a beautiful architectural design. A major challenge is how to understand the apparent reiterations in the book. The end of this age is described several times (1:7; 6:12-17; 11:15-19; 14:14-20; 19:11-21; 20:11-15). These recurrent visions of the end are part of the design of the author. They forbid the assumption that John describes the
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In his final act the angel uses the censer no longer for intercession but for judgment: fire without incense. This indicates that the prayers of the saints (in 6:9-11) will be answered by judgments on earth, followed by the appearance of the Judge of all the earth in conjunction with a cosmic earthquake. A striking prototype is found in Ezekiel, who describes a vision of the curse of Yahweh on an impenitent Jerusalem:
The LORD said to the man clothed in linen, Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city (Ezek 10:2).
The historical context of Ezekiels vision may be summarized briefly. Just before the fateful year of 586 B.C., Israels God was leaving Jerusalems temple with a mighty sound (Ezek 10:4, 5, 18; 11:23). The casting of burning coals symbolized the execution of Gods judgment on
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This text teaches that when Gods time has come, the plagues can no longer be delayed by intercessory prayers. The smoke from the glory of God reminds us of the Shekinah cloud which was manifested in Israels temple as the visible presence of God (see 2 Chron 5:13, 14; 7:1, 2; Ezek 10:2-4). When Isaiah saw the Lord seated on a throne, while the temple was filled with smoke (Isa 6:1, 4), he received messages of doom for an apostate Israel (Isa 6:9-13). Similarly, as soon as John sees the presentation of the golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, the temple fills with smoke (15:7-8). The meaning is evident: The time for intercession is past. God in his unapproachable majesty and power has declared that the end has come. No longer does he stand knocking: he enters to act in sovereign judgment.7 If the seven last plagues constitute the woes of the seventh trumpet, this implies that the previous six trumpets symbolize Gods preliminary judgments which take place during the church age. If the bowl-judgments mark the beginning of post-probationary time, then the trumpet-judgments fall within probationary time and cover the church age. This interlocking of the trumpets and the bowls presents a
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