There was a time in Jewish history when things were worse than they ever had been since leaving the province of Goshen centuries before. Jerusalem was sacked by Nebuchanezzar's army and many Jews were deported to his capital city of Babylon. That was a terrible, terrible part of the Jew's story. The prophets had given oracles from God that this would happen if the Jews didn't change from their outrageous habits of indecently representing God on the Earth. The prophets warned and warned, still nothing changed. So, God visited their nation with captivity.
Its scars filled their literature for hundreds of years thereafter. Stories, memoirs, and songs contained the people's hopes of returning to Judah and reestablishing Jerusalem as their capital and rebuilding their temple to God. The literature contained oracles from more prophets not to fall into the same pitfalls that the people before the captivity had fallen into. It contained historical accounts of the Law of God being reinstituted in Jerusalem when a number of captives were allowed to return there almost a century after they had been deported. And, it contained stories of Jewish people who still served God in the empires where the Jews had been scattered after deportation.
The prophets that still actively delivered their oracles from God after the Jews' return to Jerusalem seemed to say the same thing. The oracles of God's prophets before the captivity had talked about restoration after captivity in very glowing terms. Isaiah 9. 2-17 shows some of the first seeds of this thinking. After the return, Joel 2 is representative of the developed line of reasoning from the post-exilic prophets as the Jews contemplated their captivity experience. And added to the oracle is the hope of Israel for God to chastise the nations for enslaving his people again. Joel 3. 1-3 portrays this condemnation of non-Jewish nations. Malachi, one of the last prophets, if not the last, represents a well developed philosophy of the Jews' rationale about 435 BCE. Its four small chapters contain a cohesive, sequential unit of thought of the reason for the captivity, the aftermath of judgment against those who opposed God and his people, and the promise of bringing all his people back together. This became the blueprint for the literature that followed during the first, second, and third centuries BCE.
Although different types of literature came out of the post-exilic centuries, such as the story of Esther, a really different form of expression developed in order to propagate the blueprint found in Malachi. It was called apocalyptic literature. The form became very popular and had predictable features. The principal traits were to have a main character, a human messenger to relay heavenly secrets to through visions, and an angel from Heaven to reveal the meanings of the visions. God's people would be reminded to live a clean life and to repent if they hadn't. Then, God would promise destruction in order to save his people from a relentless empire making them suffer. They nearly all talked about God's people being brought together for a last age with God in a restored blissful state with him. A good number of these apocalypses were produced by Jewish authors, but some by Christian writers. The tradition using the apocalypse lasted about 400 years, 200 years before and after Jesus' life. Some of the most common revelations were The Book of Enoch, 2 Esdras, Daniel, a portion of the War Scroll from Qumran, Testament of Levi, Apocalypse of John, Apocalypse of Peter, and a portion of the Shepherd of Hermas.
The Apocalypse, or Revelation, of John is squarely in the center of this tradition and contains the features mentioned above. The seventh trumpet of Revelation 11 serves as a good example of the last feature, that of God bringing his people into a kingdom just for them at the end of the age. It is very reminiscent of Second Esdras chapter 6. 11-34 and chapter 13.25-38, and Daniel 7, all three of which were written in the two hundred years before Jesus. They dealt with interpretations of a vision that introduced the beginning of a dominion or realm in which God took over from the powers of the Earth. All three deal with God judging a terrible empire who had oppressed his people and whose power he is taking from them and establishing his own realm. In Revelation 11, the last 5 verses containing the 7th trumpet, the trumpet signals a time people have been waiting for and comes after warning all of the Christians' enemies that their oppression and persecution would be repaid.
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| Doomsday Earth on Fire |
Verse 13
Καὶ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ ἐγένετο σεισμὸς μέγας καὶ τὸ δέκατον τῆς πόλεως ἔπεσεν καὶ ἀπεκτάνθησαν ἐν τῷ σεισμῷ ὀνόματα ἀνθρώπων χιλιάδες ἑπτὰ καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἔμφοβοι ἐγένοντο καὶ ἔδωκαν δόξαν τῷ θεῷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ
(And in that hour, a great earthquake caused a tenth of the city to crumble. 7000 names of men were extinguished in the earthquake. Fear gripped the rest of the city and they honored the God of Heaven. )
Verse 15
Καὶ ὁ ἕβδομος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν· καὶ ἐγένοντο φωναὶ μεγάλαι ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ λέγοντες·
ἐγένετο ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ κόσμου τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν
καὶ τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ,
καὶ βασιλεύσει εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων
(The seventh angel sounded his trumpet. Loud voices in Heaven shouted, "The realm of the world has become the realm of our Lord and his Chosen One, and he will be its ruler forever.")
Second Esdras 6.23 and 13.25-38 in particular contain the exact idea of Revelation 11.13b, 15 in a vision given to Ezra about judgment on those who have humiliated Jerusalem's inhabitants. Daniel 7.13-14 also express the idea of the Son of Man joining the Ancient of Days and establish his rule.
Second Esdras 6.23
Then the trumpet will sound, and sudden terror will grip the heart of everyone when they hear it.
Second Esdras 13. 25, 26
The man you saw coming out of the sea, represents the one whom God Most High has kept ready for many ages. He will free the world he created and establish the new order for those who survive.
[Good News Translation]
Daniel 7
Verse 13
חָזֵ֤ה הֲוֵית֙ בְּחֶזְוֵ֣י לֵֽילְיָ֔א וַאֲרוּ֙ עִם־עֲנָנֵ֣י שְׁמַיָּ֔א כְּבַ֥ר אֱנָ֖שׁ אָתֵ֣ה הֲוָ֑ה וְעַד־עַתִּ֤יק יֹֽומַיָּא֙מְטָ֔ה וּקְדָמֹ֖והִי הַקְרְבֽוּהִי׃
(In night visions, I saw the Son of Man in the sky meeting the one who is without time, the Ancient of Days. As he approached,)
Verse 14
לֵ֨הּ יְהִ֤יב שָׁלְטָן֙ וִיקָ֣ר וּמַלְכ֔וּ וְכֹ֣ל עַֽמְמַיָּ֗א אֻמַיָּ֛א וְלִשָּׁנַיָּ֖א לֵ֣הּ יִפְלְח֑וּן שָׁלְטָנֵ֞הּ שָׁלְטָ֤ן עָלַם֙דִּֽי־לָ֣א יֶעְדֵּ֔ה וּמַלְכוּתֵ֖הּ דִּי־לָ֥א תִתְחַבַּֽל׃ פ
(he was given the power to rule, and all the honor that comes with it. Many people, nations, and languages would worship him. His realm would not end and could not be destroyed.)
There are a lot of things I cannot imagine - hiking the mountains in winter without a coat, visiting other countries without reading about their cultures first, and diving into the ocean without knowing how to swim. Likewise, I cannot imagine anyone taking on the task of interpreting Revelation without knowledge of the literature of the apocalyptic movement among the Jews. Each work individually would trigger a hope for the end of the world and the saints of God joining him in his realm. But, taken all together, it is easy to see that the hope of Israel was given an expression for what they thought God had promised. Shortly before the time of Jesus, the Qumran sect of Jews, in their War Scroll, definitely had linked the Messiah to the last age when God would come and set up a kingdom for the Messiah to reign with God's saints. Second Esdras as well mentions the Son of Man. So, as Christianity began to take hold in Asia Minor, it is no wonder that John would turn to the apocalypse to express to Christians to hold on through persecution and oppression because God would stand up for his people, come for them, and embarrass the nations that had treated them harshly.
The visions of Revelation that began with the seven seals show clearly the blueprint used in nearly all apocalypses. The visions built on each other. One led to another, so that seals number 5 and 6 set up the vision of the trumpets. The Christian martyrs asked God how long their suffering would last and received an answer through the imagery of a Day of the Lord happening. As each trumpet sounded, the events that took place showed more in detail the cause for the Day of the Lord and the events that drove God to cleanse the Earth as he had done in the past. This time Roman leaders and military forces were persecuting his people. God told his people in symbols that the root of the problem was that the the Romans had taken on God’s role, thinking they were the controllers of destiny on Earth. They weren't, so they would be eradicated along with the other main source of their suffering, the Parthians. The Jews, also, would see that God's saints were those following Christ, God's chosen, the Messiah. Seal 7 (Revelation 11.15) opened to the announcement that the realm of God with Christ, the Messiah, was starting - the last age when God would restore his people and establish his realm.
The response in Heaven to this news was acknowledgment of by the twenty-four elders around the throne. They appeared before the seals (Revelation 5) with praise for God before knowing what was going to happen. Here they appeared again, doing the same thing at the end of the trumpets after knowing what was going to happen.
Verse 16
Καὶ οἱ εἴκοσι τέσσαρες πρεσβύτεροι [οἱ] ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ καθήμενοι ἐπὶ τοὺς θρόνους αὐτῶν ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν καὶ προσεκύνησαν τῷ θεῷ
(The twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones in God's presence fell on their faces and worshiped God)
Verse 17
λέγοντες·
εὐχαριστοῦμέν σοι, κύριε ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ,
ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν,
ὅτι εἴληφας τὴν δύναμίν σου τὴν μεγάλην
καὶ ἐβασίλευσας
(saying,
We thank you Lord God Almighty
The one who is and who was,
Because you have taken the reins of your great power,
And started your rule.)
Very predictably, and according to the apocalyptic blueprint, after announcing the end of the age, God was next going to destroy the nations and reward his people (verse 18). Then, the scene introducing the trumpets, the temple in Heaven, opens again. This time it is not the altar that is seen, but the ark, or chest, containing the covenant . God would keep his promise. The scene that had started with God hearing the prayers of his people ended with a sign that he would powerfully show his glory for those who had reverenced him!
Verse 19
Καὶ ἠνοίγη ὁ ναὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ καὶ ὤφθη ἡ κιβωτὸς τῆς διαθήκης αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ ναῷ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐγένοντο ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταὶ καὶ σεισμὸς καὶ χάλαζα μεγάλη
(God's temple in Heaven opened up and the chest containing his covenant could be seen it. This was accompanied by lightning and thunder, an earthquake and rumbles.)
There is this bit of garnish around the morsel as the chapter closes. It's God's trademark, his signature. All of the apocalypses didn't fail to use God's signature move in showing his glory. The signature started with his people at Mt. Sinai, it was used with every Day of the Lord oracle through his servants the prophets, and it continued into the expressions of hope of restoration in the apocalypses. John uses it here in Revelation as God promises to visit the nations with destruction on behalf of the ones who sing his hallelujah in the name of his son. When God moves, the earth and sky quake and rumble and flash.
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[Songs used are I Am by David Crowder Band, Majesty and Our God Reigns by Delirious, and Forever by Kari Jobe]
[Artwork Doomsday Earth on Fire, retrieved from http://www.fotosearch.com/CSP953/k9531862/]
[The Greek text used is the Nestle-Aland 28th edition]
[The Hebrew text used is the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 1967/77.]
[Second Esdras 6:23 and 13.25, 26 used The Good News Translation (US Version), American Bible Society, 1976]
[Translations from Greek and Hebrew are my own.]
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