The Cosmic Battle

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The Cosmic Battle
A.D.? Anno Domini The Year of our Lord We owe
this to a monk named Dionysius Exiguus in 465
A.D. Throughout history, dating has been done
when a new king or sovereign came to power. e.g.
Diocletian 248A.D. 132 AD Bar Kochba 1792 in
French Revolution
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The Cosmic Battle
In 465 Dionysius Exiguus changed the calendar to
declare that Jesus was sovereign. He chose March
25th, not Dec 25th or Easter Why? It was the day
of Gabriels announcement to Mary This did not
change for the next 1,000 years, Pope Gregory in
1582.
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The Cosmic Battle

• A. None of the imagery of this section of the
  last book of the Bible would have been foreign to
  its first readers/hearers.
• 1. Much of it comes from the Old Testament
• Pharaoh as a dragon (Ezekiel 293, 322)
• King of Babylon as dragon (Jeremiah 5134)
• Powerful nations as beasts (Daniel 7)
• Leviathan the sea monster, Behemoth the earth
  monster (Job)
• 2. Much of it comes from the mythology of the
  day (We need to understand deep stories to
  understand other cultures or another person.)
• Python the dragon seeking to kill the child
• Apollo slays the dragon

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The Cosmic Battle

• B. The imagery of this section is very fluid
  more like a music video than a political cartoon.
• C. Remember the two-fold pastoral purpose of
  apocalyptic literature
• The present in light of the unseen realities of
  the future
• The present in light of the unseen realities of
  the present
• D. This section is the theological center of
  the book (see chiastic structure).
• E. The setting of this apocalypse
• - a throne in heaven 41-514
• - an altar before the throne 82-5
• - the temple/sanctuary is opened (naos Holy
  of Holies)
• - the ark of the covenant appears
• the ark place where God resides/dwells on
  earth

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The Cosmic Battle

• What we have in this section is a drama in seven
  scenes.
• We know it constitutes a separate unit within the
  whole book because it is bracketed by the
  words (121, 151)- the only place in the book
  where the term is used-and overcome (1211,
  152).

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The Cosmic Battle

• 1. Scene one (121-17)
• a. the characters
• a woman
• a dragon
• a child
• b. the plot
• war in heaven
• won on earth
• thrown down lit. bounced
• goes after the rest of her offspring
  (1217)
• c. how to overcome - 1211

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The Cosmic Battle

• 2. Scene two (131-10).
• a. the beast from the sea (131)
• b. usurps
• c. death-wound healed (133)
• d. Revelation 13 and Romans 13
• 3. Scene three (1311-18)
• a. the beast from the earth (1311)
• b. imitates
• signs
• image-making
• mark (cp.71-3)
• false prophet (1613)
• c. encourages worship of the beast of the sea
• d. the mark of the beast (1316-18) 666

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The Cosmic Battle

• 4. Scene four (141-5)
• a. the Lamb and His followers
• b. Mt. ZionPsalm 2
• 5. Scene five (146-13)
• a. the angel-messengers
• b. their three-fold message
• 146
• 148
• 149
• c. perseverance of the saints (1412)

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The Cosmic Battle

• 6. Scene six (1414-20)
• a. one like a son of man with a sickle
• b. two harvest
• 1414-16 reaping grain
• 1417-20 treading grapes
• 7. Scene seven (151-4)
• a. prelude to the seven bowls (151)
• b. overcame the beast the great mystery of
  the Gospel
• c. the Song of the Lamb (152-4)
• Exodus 15118
• Deuteronomy 32 1-43

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The Cosmic Battle

• Discipleship implications of this section
• 1. To be in Christ is to be in a battle,
  against Christs enemy
• 2. Please, do not take it personally
• 3. Enemy does not come at us directly
• 4. Develop a healthy suspicion of institutions
  both religious and political