Apocalypse Now

This Sunday begins a series of three Adult Education discussions on the Book of Revelation, perhaps the most baffling (and most interesting) book of Holy Scripture. Credit where credit is due: the information below, covering the first third of Revelation, is taken from The Taylor Marshall Show podcast.

The Book of Revelation

Apocalypse, “The Unveiling”

Chapter 1—A Vision of Things to Come

A revelation from the Father to the Son “to show His servants what must soon take place.” St. John saw this in the 60s and circulated it in the 90s. A blessing is promised to all who read and hear this book “for the time is near.” We are priests in the Kingdom of God, and Christ is the eternal Alpha and the Omega. Jesus appears to John at Patmos (the prison isle, halfway between Rome and Jerusalem) on Sunday (a liturgical context), telling him to write to seven churches in Asia Minor. Jesus stands in a priestly robe and golden sash, with white hair (signifying wisdom), fiery eyes, bronze skin (heavenly being), and a two-edged sword (the Gospel) juts from His mouth. John falls “as though dead” and Jesus resurrects him. Seven golden lampstands are the seven churches, and seven stars are the churches’ angels—which appear to signify the bishops of those churches.

Chapters 2 & 3—The History of Salvation

St. John was associated with the churches of Asia Minor. The order of these seven churches follows the history of salvation. To Ephesus (St. Timothy?) He makes reference to the Garden of Eden, the Fall, and the Tree of Life. To Smyrna John writes about those who claim to be Jews but are not, from the age of the Patriarchs to Egypt. Pergamum corresponds to the Exodus, referencing Balaam and Balak, and eating manna. Thyatira signifies the kings of Israel, Jezebel, and David “the rod of iron.” Sardis symbolizes the Prophets, who called ever for repentance and mediated the covenant Book of Life. Philadelphia recalls the Maccabean era of the Old Testament, a struggle between those who are true Jews and those who are not Jews, with conquerors restored to the Temple. Laodicea signifies the coming of Christ in the early Church, with references to Baptism (“white garments”) and the Eucharist (“I will eat with him and he with Me”).

Chapter 4—The Heavenly Liturgy

John climbs up into Heaven before the throne of God the Father. God is surrounded by a rainbow, which recalls the covenant with Noah and points to God taking the death penalty upon Himself, but the rainbow appears “like an emerald,” the stone of Judah. The 24 elders wear both the white garments of priesthood and the crowns of kingship. 12 Tribes + 12 Apostles = 24 elders. Also, the book of Chronicles gives us 24 rotations of Levites to minister before God year round. (Think of Zechariah.) We see the fire of the Holy Spirit (in the menorah), a sea like glass (as was before the Temple), and the Four Living Creatures—man, lion, ox, and eagle—from Ezekiel, singing “Holy, holy, holy.” Why do the cherubim have these four faces? It could represent the corners of the Zodiac, or the tribes that surrounded the Tabernacle. The angels sing and the elders fall down in worship, casting their crowns before God. The theology here is very Trinitarian.

Chapter 5—The Lamb of God

God holds a scroll, the New Testament, sealed with seven seals. No one is able to break the seals except “the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, Who has conquered.” Christ appears as a Lamb “standing as though slain,” with seven horns and seven eyes (perfect power and perfect knowledge). The elders and angels worship the divine Lamb, each offering to Him bowls of incense that are the prayers of the saints (intercessory prayer). He is worthy to open the scrolls because He was slain and by His Blood He ransoms every tribe and tongue and nation to be a new Kingdom of priests for God. All the angels and all of God’s creatures sing praise unto the Lamb, for the New Covenant is given for the entire Creation. The Passover lamb is the icon of redemption in the Old Testament; Jesus appears before the enthroned Father and the burning Spirit as a sacrificial victim.

Chapter 6—The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

The Lamb breaks the first seal on the scroll, and a rider on a white horse with a bow and a crown comes forth to conquer the nations. This may well be Jesus, who goes out first to conquer the nations in fulfilment of the prophecy of Daniel. The second seal brings forth a red rider who takes away peace from the earth and bears a great sword. The third seal summons a black horse whose rider carries a scale balance and declares famine: you work all day and can’t afford enough grain, yet oil and wine remain, luxury but not necessity. The fourth seal brings forth a pale green horse carrying Death (the devil), and Hades follows him.

The fifth seal reveals the souls of the martyrs crying out for justice from beneath the altar. In the Old Testament, sacrificial blood was poured out at the foot of the altar; the martyrs’ blood is associated with the Blood of the Lamb. The Eucharist was celebrated on tombs, and later the relics of saints were placed within or beneath church altars. The martyrs are given a white robe and promised vindication when their number is complete. The sixth seal causes upheaval and disaster in the natural world and in the heavens. This imagery in the Old Testament represents political revolution; the kings who killed the martyrs attempt to hide from “the wrath of the Lamb.”

Chapter 7—The 144,000

“Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads.” This is a reference to Ezekiel: the foreheads of the righteous are marked with the letter tau, a cross. 144,000 represents the fullness of the Old Testament and New Testament saints (12 x 12) multiplied a thousandfold. Dan, the least faithful of the Israelite tribes, is excluded from the tally. An innumerable multitude in white robes, carrying palms, stands before the throne and the Lamb; the Feast of Tabernacles looked forward to all the nations coming to worship God. The sealing of the 144,000 appears to have triggered this greater multitude.

“These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.” This tribulation probably refers to the events of A.D. 62-70, including the martyrdom of St. James of Jerusalem, the deaths of Sts. Peter and Paul in Rome during the first great persecution under the Emperor Nero, and the destruction of Jerusalem and of the great Temple in the Jewish War. For Jews and Christians alike, this would be the end of the world as they knew it, but the faithful shall live forever with the Lamb, never to suffer again.