Remember the nature of apocalyptic literature:

1
Background to Revelation

• Remember the nature of apocalyptic literature
• 1) This literature is analogical-- that is that
  it draws analogies between two otherwise unlike
  things that in some particular respect are
  similar e.g. I saw one LIKE a Son of Man

2
Background to Revelation

• 2) We are dealing with a disclosure rather than a
  descriptive model of reality. They are not meant
  to be literal pictures or replicas of the
  reality described.
• 3) we are dealing with an aspective approach to
  truth--it reveals an aspect of the truth or
  character of the subject in order to make a valid
  point about a particular character trait-- e.g.
  the Empire is beastly, the people of God is
  like a fleeing woman

3
Background to Revelation

• 4) Many of the symbols, metaphors and images in
  apocalyptic literature are universal or widely
  known, and so can serve as multivalent symbols,
  applying to many similar subjects in many ages--
  e.g. both Nero and Hitler are anti-Christ
  figures or types of the ultimate Anti-Christ.

4
Background to Revelation

• There is obviously a great fascination with
  numbers in all of apocalyptic literature.
  especially symbolic numbers--4, 7, 12 and its
  multiples, 666 etc. There is also a tendency to
  speak of times allusively or elliptically such as
  Daniel's a time, a time, and time and a half or
  Daniels interpretation of Jeremiah's 70 weeks.

5
Background to Revelation

• Yet it is extremely rare to find any sort of
  exact calculations in apocalyptic literature.
  Notice how in Dan. 12.11 1212 we have two
  very different numbers that appear to be meant to
  cover the same period of time
• It becomes clear that while many of the authors
  are conjuring with the possible nearness of the
  End, they are for the most part not interested in
  timetables.

6
Background to Revelation

• What these numbers signal is two things
• 1) That matters are fixed or determined already
  by God. He is still in control, however long he
  chooses to wait or delay judgment.

7
Background to Revelation

• 2) Since God is in control he will in due course
  put an end to this present evil age. We are not
  call to theological weather forecasting and
  timetables but reassurance that God is on His
  throne in heaven. All will be right with the
  world seems to be the function of these numbers.

8
Revelation Audience, Date, Author

• Answering the question of audience is easiest
  to address. The book was sent as a sort of
  circular letter to the seven churches in Asia
  Minor on the main road out of Ephesus, which he
  mentions in order of their location on the
  route. Their purpose was partly paraenetic and
  partly consolation and partly exhortation and
  partly information-- giving them a divine
  perspective on what was happening.

9
Revelation Audience, Date, Author

• Regarding the issue of date, there are really
  only two major periods in first century history
  that fit the descriptions of persecution and
  suffering we find in this book and the
  antagonistic attitude toward the secular
  government (cf. 13.1ff 17.1ff. 2.3,10 3.8
  2.13 6.9,11). Compared to Paul, a very different
  attitude than we find in the 50s (see Romans
  13).

10
Revelation Audience, Date, Author

• The attempt to suggest there was little such
  persecution in the 90s by Collins does not
  explain either (1) why the dominant images for
  Christ in this book are the slain lamb and the
  bloody warrior or (2) why the Christian heroes in
  this book are portrayed as those who have already
  been martyred and are now under the altar in
  heaven.

11
Revelation Audience, Date, Author

• Revelation was not just a voicing of John's
  fears of possible persecution. Indeed he himself
  seems to have suffered such punishment ending in
  his banishment to a God-forsaken island
  (deportatio in insulam was a normal Roman
  punishment).
• The two periods in which this book might well
  have been written is (1) during the latter part
  of Nero's reign--- after the fire of 64 and up
  to A.D. 68 or (2) during the reign of Domitian
  A.D. 81-96.

12
Revelation Audience, Date, Author

• Against the early date are the following factors
• 1) The Neroian persecution seems to have been
  confined to Rome, although provincial officials
  may have followed his lead
• 2) The Emperor cult was more fully developed by
  Domitian's time and he liked to call himself
  Dominus et Deus noster Our Lord and our God, a
  title reflected in Revelation but applied to
  Christ

13
Revelation Audience, Date, Author

• 3) The possible allusions to Nero risen again
  from the dead like a spook to haunt Rome are more
  plausible sometime after his death
• 4) This document was written at a time when
  churches had been in existence long enough to
  become luke-warm or undergo considerable
  transformation. This suits the later date better.

14
Revelation Audience, Date, Author

• 5) The authority of John the seer, who does not
  claim to be an apostle, over these churches, is
  better explained if it is written at a time after
  the apostolic or eyewitness founder of the
  community was deceased
• 6) Laodicea was destroyed by earthquake in A.D.
  60-61 yet in Revelation it is called rich. This
  too better suits a later date than the 60s.

15
Revelation Question of Author

• The issue of authorship seems on the surface
  simple. It is written by one John, a seer, from
  Patmos. But the question is which John is this,
  and what is his relationship to the authorship or
  substance of the other Johannine documents. Very
  early on in church history it was realized by the
  Greek experts such as Dionysius of Alexandria
  that there were severe problems grammatically,
  vocabulary wise, syntactically in saying all the
  Johannine corpus was by one person, and yet one
  had to account for the similarities between the
  documents as well.

16
Revelation Question of Author

• On similarities cf. Rev 2.2 to John 16.2 Rev
  20.6 to John 13.8 Rev 22.15 to John 3.21 Rev
  22.17 to John 7.37. There is a major problem
  with suggesting that one document represents
  early John and the others later John because
  while style does develop over time, it does not
  change as radically as the differences we find
  here.

17
Revelation Question of Author

• Indeed one out of every 8 words in Revelation are
  not found anywhere else in the NT, and this is
  only partly because of the different subject
  matter.

18
Revelation and the Fourth Gospel

• 1) In Rev axios is followed by the infinitive,
  in the Gospel by hina
• 2) the author of Rev often uses different words
  for the same thing than we find in John. For
  example, in the Gospel the author frequently uses
  mn plus the participle (11 times) but the
  author of Rev never does and he had plenty of
  occasions where he could have.

19
Revelation and the Fourth Gospel

• 3) Arnion is used for lamb 29 times in Rev.
  but not at all in the Gospel. In the Gospel
  amnos is used instead
• 4) In Revelation, Jerusalem is spelled
  Ierosalem while in the Gospel it is spelled
  Ierosalema
• 5) For exclamations (behold) Rev uses idou
  26 times, but the Gospel uses Ide

20
Revelation and the Fourth Gospel

• 6) Rev always uses the Greek word kaleo to
  call while the Fourth Gospel always has lego
• 7) even more striking is how the same word is
  used two very different ways in these two works--
  e.g. laos means Gentiles or Christians in Rev

21
Revelation and the Fourth Gospel

• but in John it always means Jews with one
  possible exception alnthinos means true as
  opposed to false in Rev. but in John it means
  genuine as opposed to phony.
• 8) proskunein plus the dative means to worship
  in Rev. and with the accusative object it means
  to do hommage, but just the opposite is the case
  in the Fourth Gospel.

22
Revelation Authorship Conclusions

• John 21 and other editorial remarks may indicate
  that the Beloved Disciple, while being the source
  of the material may not have been the Gospels
  final editor. (see John 1935 2124)

23
Revelation Authorship Conclusions

• Many persons may have been involved in the
  composition of these five documents. (John, 1-3
  John, Revelation) They were all likely part of
  the Johannine community in and around Ephesus.