John the Baptist was a metaphorical civil engineer. Isaiah had predicted his construction of a divinely ordained highway. He would cry out “in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isa. 40:3; Matt. 3:3).
The Baptist prepared the Lord’s highway by preaching “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2) and telling Israel they should respond by repenting and receiving baptism (Matt. 3:2, 6; Mark 1:2–5; Luke 3:2–6; John 1:19–28).
Another John—the Apostle John—finished the highway building project in his Revelation of Jesus Christ. He, too, preached the kingdom (Rev. 1:9; 11:15; 12:10). And, as we have seen, he preached it was “at hand.” The highway shows a consistent soon-coming-kingdom design along its entire length, from John the Baptist to John the Apostle.
The section of this highway marked “the Revelation” has twists and turns that require close attention. This post offers a map to help us navigate our way through this final leg of the road.
Let us examine our map of Revelation as a whole. Here is an outline1 of its seven visions:2
Prolog
- The Vision of the Seven Churches (Rev. 1:9–3:22)
- The Vision of the Seven Seals (Rev. 4:1–8:1)
- The Vision of the Seven Trumpets (Rev. 8:2–11:19)
- The Vision of the Seven Mystic3 Figures (Rev. 12:1–14:20)
- The Vision of the Seven Vials (Rev. 15:1–16:21)
- The Vision of the Great Whore (Rev. 17:1–20:15)
- The Vision of the Bride (Rev. 21:1–22:7)
Epilog
John arranged these seven visions in a 1-5-1 symmetry. The middle five visions (2 through 6) are parallel. The events in each occur during the same general period. Each vision ends with the same judgment event, which inmillennialism depicts as God’s judgment of unfaithful Israel. This judgment comes during a time of “great tribulation” (Matt. 24:21; cp. Rev. 1:9; 2:9, 10, 22; 7:14) and results in the Temple’s destruction in AD 70. As we have seen, Jesus and the disciples associated this judgment with “the end of the (Mosaic) age” (Matt. 24:3, NKJV; cp. Matt. 24:6, 13, 14). Commentators refer to the parallel nature of these visions as “recapitulation.”4
The repetition of these judgment visions signifies certainty and proximity. Many centuries before John wrote the Revelation, Joseph told Pharaoh the reason God repeated his dream: “the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass” (Gen. 41:32). Revelation’s fivefold repetition of the judgment visions places an even greater emphasis on the sureness and nearness of their fulfillment.
Visions 1 and 7 are also parallel; both depict aspects of the Messianic (or kingdom) Age. God started this new age during the “last days” of the Mosaic Age (Heb. 1:2). This involved Jesus establishing his church during this period (Matt. 16:18; 18:17). The church, as constituted by Jesus, belongs to the Messianic Age. The judgment event of the five central visions was about to “shake” Mosaic-Age Israel, but the “things which cannot be shaken” (i.e., Christ’s church) would remain after this shaking (cp. Heb. 12:27). The two outermost visions describe the environment in which God’s people worship and live in the Messianic Age.
Revelation’s first vision describes seven of Christ’s “churches.” Its last vision shows the “church” as a whole, “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (Rev. 21:9; cp. Eph. 5:21–33). In marked contrast to the other five visions, neither church vision ends with a “great tribulation” event. Instead, the final vision of the church shows her dwelling in a “new heaven and a new earth” (Rev. 21:1–22:5).
In the Olivet Discourse, the disciples had asked (and Jesus had answered) two questions: a sign question and a when question (Matt. 24:3, NKJV). There, Jesus limited his use of highly wrought (yet standard) prophetic imagery to the fall of the Temple itself (Matt. 24:29–30).5
John’s five central visions expand and embellish the signs associated with Israel’s judgment. They contain “cosmic collapse” images that resemble those Jesus used (Rev. 6:12–14), but add many others: locusts with lion teeth, horse riders with breastplates of fire, a woman clothed with celestial bodies, etc. (Rev. 9:7–8; 9:17; 12:1).
These visions amplify Jesus’ answers to the when question (Matt. 24:3) just as they do for his sign-question answers. Jesus predicted the “great tribulation” and the Temple’s demise in his “generation” (Matt. 24:21, 34), but did not specify the “day and hour” (Matt. 24:36). Revelation brings these events into John’s immediate future. The “bookend” time statements set up the pattern, as we have seen.6 In the judgment visions themselves, God shows John that the time for “the end” has arrived: “there would be no more delay” (Rev. 10:6, ESV; emphasis added) and “in a single hour . . . judgment has come” (Rev. 18:10, HCSB; emphasis added).
This amplification of Jesus’ sign and when answers fits within the overall intensification created by the repetition and recapitulation we have mentioned.
These overall observations will form the basis of our analysis of each vision in future posts. They will serve as our road map, if you will. We will make an occasional detour to discuss specific topics (e.g., the number of the beast) related to the application of our model to Revelation. Our goal is to show how this map can help us traverse the final section of God’s New Testament highway.
We have provided a diagram of inmillennialism as derived from the Olivet Discourse (here) and have shown how it fits within the book of Hebrews (here). We supply the following diagram—showing our application of inmillennialism to the Revelation. This will aid our future studies:
Future posts will explain the individual elements of this chart.
Footnotes
- This is a modified version of the outline given by J. Stuart Russell, The Parousia: The New Testament Doctrine of Our Lord’s Second Coming, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1999), 381–537. It differs from Russell’s in at least one significant point: here, the sixth vision includes the bodily resurrection and final judgment at the end of the “thousand years.”
- William Hendriksen provides a similar chapter outline: 1. Seven Golden Lampstands (1-3); 2. Seven Seals (4-7); 3. Seven Trumpets (8-11); 4. Woman, Man-Child, Dragon, Beast, and Harlot (12-14); 5. Seven Bowls (15-16); 6. Great Harlot and Beasts (17-19); and 7. Dragon Judgment, New Heaven and Earth (20-22). He asserts the parallel nature of the seven visions but believes they terminate at the end of history. —William Hendriksen, More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1939), 28.
- Meaning “symbolic,” not “occult” throughout this post.
- See, for example, Sam Storms, Kingdom Come: The Amillennial Alternative, (Fearn, Scotland: Mentor, 2013), 404.
- See our post The World Ended and We Missed It!
- Please see our post The Bookends of Revelation.
2 comments
Mike,
I must confess that the last two blogs have left me somewhat confused. As I’ve tried to sort through my confusion in order to provide beneficial feedback, I’ve tried to narrow down what is not making sense. The source of my confusion seems to be that there are underlying assumptions that are being presented as factual statements which seem to be at odds with the scope of a surface reading of the texts involved. I understand that you are limited by the length of each blog entry, but there may be others like me who do not yet have a fully formed opinion on eschatology and are carefully weighing and considering what is being written. The best thing I can do is maybe provide some examples of what I mean.
In Mapping God’s Highway blog, you began with general statements concerning John the Baptist and the Apostle John, I had no problems with that, but didn’t feel it was very helpful to me in understanding the topic at hand. I was intrigued by the breakdown of Revelation which you presented and was willing to consider it if the assertions concerning how we are to understand Revelation seemed reasonable. This is where I got stuck. I read through Revelation paying a little closer attention to where the model established the breaks. I struggled to find the symmetry within the 5 visions. I don’t have much of an issue with asserting that “The events in each occur during the same general period” depending on the length of the period because it seems that there is some element of time where these things will take place (5 kings that were, one that is, and one that will come, plus the beast yet to come). When I examined these visions in terms of “recapitulation”, that just seemed absent. Yes, there is a mirroring of 7, yes there seems to be a building up to the end, but the content of each of the visions and the transition from one “vision” to the next seems to be more of one flowing into the other rather than a recapitulation. Additionally, the grammatical structure of the passages don’t seem to reinforce recapitulation either. Consider for a moment Genesis 1. There are seem to be definite opening and closing statements in 1:1 and 2:4. Within the passage there are obvious grammatical associations between each of the days, few if any maintain that these are merely reiterated statements of a single creative day. This is because the content is expressed differently and there are clues within the text that they are different even if they have the same framework and one day gives way to another. This is the similar feel that Revelations has, not a recapitulation, but a bleeding into each vision. As an example of recapitulation, you provided the dreams that Pharaoh had, but even there the recapitulation is almost a one to one correlation from one dream to another. When you compare the first seal, the first trumpet, and the first vial, those 1 to one correspondences don’t seem to hold true. That said, I would be willing to consider that it is a recapitulation, but those differences need to be reconciled in some way.
A second point of confusion was the rolling up of all references to tribulation and asserting that they are the same. In Matthew 24, your assertion that the great tribulation referred to is the destruction of Jerusalem and associated events seems reasonable based on the text. In Rev 1:9, it is possible that John is referring to the same thing, but he also may be referring to tribulation in a more general sense. However, in writing to the church at Smyrna, a church over 600 miles away from Jerusalem, maintaining that the events surrounding the destruction of the temple in AD70, are the tribulation the John is referring to, is beginning to be a stretch. The tribulation in Rev 2:10 is described as “for ten days” whereas Matthew seems to indicate a lengthy time with God needing to cut it short lest none be saved. This tribulation seems to be for the purpose of testing, and perhaps not in every case leading to death. I had the same confusion concerning the “great tribulation” for the Jezebel and her followers in Thyatira. This was for punishment and seemed to be conditional. In 7:14, there seems to be another point of difference in correlating it to Mat 24. The scope in 7:14 seems to be global in nature (all tribes, every nation 7:9) and this does not seem to reflect the scope of the great tribulation in Mat 24, which seems to be focused upon the nation of Israel. Furthermore, in Mat 24, there is at least the possibility of 2 different tribulations being referenced. In v. 9 there is a tribulation that will kill them, yet the instructions for the great tribulation (v.21) those in Judea are to flee from it (v.16) in order to be saved. Mike, you may have good reasoned arguments for why we need to understand each of these “instances” of tribulation as being part of the great tribulation in Mat 24:21, and if so, they need to be presented. In my mind, these differences are not small things, and should be addressed at some point.
While there are other points of confusion for me, I’ve run out of time in this email. As I have time I may try to provide feedback on those as well. Feel free to use whatever thoughts I’ve cobbled together in whatever way best suites the needs of what you are trying to present. Mike, you have spent a great deal of time and no small amount of effort in studying this. I’m praying that God will give you a clarity of mind as you continue to study and that He will increase your love for the saints. Be patient and kind towards those of us who do not yet see it in the same light.
In Christ.
Lester
Thank you for taking the time to provide these comments! The “breakdown of Revelation” presents many challenges. Commentators have offered a wide variety of options regarding how to understand its structure. I do not claim to be the final authority.
Regarding your first point, one dictionary says “to recapitulate” means “to repeat the principal points or stages of.” That is what I mean to convey regarding the five central visions in Revelation.
Your comments seem to imply you agree that this definition applies to the visions. You said, “the events in each occur during the same general period.” And, “there seems to be a building up to the end.”
I mean little more than this by “recapitulation.” The five central visions describe the same time period. They culminate in the same judgment scene at “the end.”
The same is true for “symmetry.” I assert that the time period required to reach the climax of each vision is short (Rev 1:1, 3; 22:6, 7, 10, 12, 20). It was in John’s near future. “The end” of each vision describes God’s judgment of Israel. My “symmetry” implies little more than this.
“Recapitulation” and “symmetry” do not require underlying assumptions unique to inmillennialism. William Hendriksen has an extended discussion of these ideas in his More Than Conquerors (pp 25–28). Instead of my two terms, he uses “parallel.” (Perhaps his is a better word.)
Your second point relates to the “great tribulation.” I feel the weight of the differences you mention regarding Revelation and the Olivet Discourse (Matt 24–25). To do them justice would require more than I can provide here. Perhaps I can address them in the future. For now, I will observe Jesus said the tribulation(s) of which he spoke would occur in his generation (Matt 24:34). John said the one(s) of which he spoke would “shortly come to pass in their entirety” (Rev 1:1; Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament). I think we should explain the differences between the Olivet Discourse and Revelation with these statements in mind.
Again, thanks for these insightful comments. May the Lord enlighten the eyes of our understanding (Eph 1:18).