Revelation Chapter 9. Vision 3, part 2 - Trumpets 5 &6.

Vision 3 The Seven Trumpets.

Study 2: Revelation Chapter 9 The 5th and 6^th Trumpets.

9:1-12 - The Fifth Trumpet.

REV 9:1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.

REV 9:2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.

REV 9:3 And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.

REV 9:4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

REV 9:5 They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man.

REV 9:6 During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

REV 9:7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces.

REV 9:8 Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth.

REV 9:9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.

REV 9:10 They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months.

REV 9:11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.

REV 9:12 The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.

9:1 " a star fallen from heaven" c/f 8:10, 12:7-9.

Greek literally:- "was thrown down" - implies a past act.

The idea of "coming down from heaven" is intended to indicate to us that this is not a human person, rather it is angelic. Therefore we are not seeing here the Antichrist who later rises out of the sea (REVELATION 13:1). This is the Spiritual force behind the Antichrist.

"he" - this star has a personality, therefore we are not to see it as being a literal star. We are intended to identify it with Satan.

Hence this trumpet occurs AFTER the event of ch 12:7-9 in earth time. Therefore this happens during the last 3 1/2 years, but exactly when is not certain. The fact that the effects of it are limited to "5 months" could suggest that it occurs only 5 months before the End.

"key to the bottomless pit" – Greek, "abyssos - same word as in Genesis 1:2LXX "the deep". This is not Sheol, or Hades.

1 Enoch tells us that this was where the fallen angels who had intercourse with the daughters of men (Genesis 6) were sent after the flood. Here they were bound until the End.

c/f 1 Peter 4:19, 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6.

According to Enoch the fallen angels were, after this, treated in two groups. One group had sex with women and were sent to the Pit/Abyss. The other group were still allowed freedom "in the heavenlies" to operate the Satanic kingdom. The NT references above clearly refer to this belief which was popular at the time of Christ.

It appears that in the last days the Satanic empire in the heavenlies is evicted - this is the theme of Revelation 12 and the first four trumpets. However with this the marshalling of Satan's forces is not complete. In the fifth trumpet we see the release of the fornicating angels. The limitation of their activity to 5 months is probably to prevent a reoccurrence of the Genesis 6 situation where the women brought forth Nephilim (or giants) who oppressed men.

However we can expect that they will indeed try that again and women will be raped by them. The time limit of 5 months simply prevents offspring from being born.

9:2 "sun and the air were darkened" c/f the 4th trumpet.

The abyss was traditionally believed to be the source of volcanoes, so the darkness is probably an indication of coming volcanic activity on earth in the natural sphere. This again is but a sign of a greater spiritual reality. There will be a greater spiritual darkness coming on man. Satan is the "prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2), and the air was given to man as his domain (Genesis 1). Hence we can assume that this means a spiritual blindness is coming on man greater than has ever been seen before.

Possibly air pollution will be a physical sign of this spiritual pollution.

9:3 "locusts" - Exodus typology again. However it is clear that these are not real locusts, but are spiritual forces.

C/f Joel 2:10, 1:4ff - they symbolise invading armies coming on the "fig tree and the vine", i.e., Israel and the Church.

"scorpions" c/f Astrology = Scorpio = Satan.

C/f :- Luke 10:9, 11:12.

Their poisonous sting is proverbial (Ezekiel 2:6). However it is usually not fatal, rather it causes excruciating pain.

"like" - they are not actually scorpions, just like them in that their sting is in their tail.

C/f Isaiah 9:15 - false prophets are the tail.

The plague here involves false prophets perverting truth which results in spiritual anguish for those who accept their teaching. The anguish arises from a guilty conscience.

9:4 "Those who have the seal of God" are therefore unaffected by this plague as their consciences have been cleansed by the blood of Christ.

Note again the idea of God's people being separated from those under judgement, again an Exodus typology idea.

C/f Exodus 8:20-24 - "set a division" literally = "set a redemption".

"not to harm any grass or earth or tree or any green thing".
This clearly tells us that we are not looking at literal locusts. The effect of this plague come only on men - it is a spiritual plague.

9:5 "5 months" - some locusts have a 5 month life span. The sting of a scorpion is generally not fatal, rather results in sickness for 3-4 days. Hence a literal interpretation is excluded.

C/f Genesis 7:24 "150 days" = 5x30 = 5 months.

The locust was one of the symbols of Apollo, which was a favourite god of some of the Roman emperors.

9:6 Guilt leads to insanity and suicide. Some interpreters feel that this verse suggests that men discover, with, Satanic help, a counterfeit eternal life. Men unlock secrets to life and death. Unfortunately the experiment backfires and only serves to prolong the agony of those who seek to escape from life.

9:7 "horses" symbolise conquest - physical or spiritual.

John's description here sounds like an Arab warrior on his steed, but he indicates again that the literal interpretation is not the crux. These locusts are only "like" i.e. are a symbol.

"for battle" implies organisation and planning. This is pre-planned, a prearranged deception that is coming on man.

The deception we are looking at here is Humanism in its purest form, symbolised in the worship of man in the person of the Antichrist. Several clear aspects of Humanism are revealed here:

(1) "crowns" - diadema – king’s crowns. They claim royal dignity, but it is not divinely conferred. Here we see man claiming royalty. Man is king. Natural scorpions have no corresponding feature.

(2) "like human faces" - It professes to be humanitarian, having a human intelligence and wisdom. On the surface it looks good. The problem with humanism is that its humanitarian face has no philosophical basis, so it collapses when under stress. Christianity gives the only basis for believing in the worth and nobility of man. Humanism only rates us among the animals.

(3) "like woman's hair" - they are effeminate. Part of this coming deception involves the confusion of the role of the sexes in society. God made us male and female with differing temperaments and functions in society. Humanism confuses this. Men tend towards feminism, women strive to compete with men. Because of the way men are denigrated in Humanism their roles as leaders in society and the family are undermined. Society ends up leaderless in the real sense, but crying out for a leader. Because of this need for leadership Humanism will bring society to the point where it will accept a strong tyrannical despot, the Antichrist.

The deception involving women supplanting men in ways God has not determined to be holy is as old as Satan himself. The whole system of Babylon is based on a “woman” (Revelation 17:3).

Again the symbolism could come from the Parthian armies who traditionally wore long hair.

(4) "teeth like lion's teeth" - the figure is of savage and cruel speech. Though humanism looks nice on the surface one only has to study its speech to see how evil it is. The Antichrist will be the epitome of this. This is the old "wolf in sheep's clothing".

C/f Joel 1:6.

(5) 9:9 "scales like iron breastplates" - the breast symbolises the heart, the seat of love and compassion. These demons have no love, compassion or conscience. Humanism distorts the meaning of love and compassion. We have only to think of abortion and euthanasia to see this.

(6) 9:9 "wings like ... many chariots" - a deafening noise, incessant, designed to batter you into submission. This work of deception never stops. People end up believing it because of its constant repetition. This is the tool of Humanism - repetition. We see this even in the work of government today - statements are made which are obviously ridiculous, but the constant repetition of them establishes them as "truth" which people end up believing.

Evolution is the most successful of Humanism’s doctrines. The scientific evidence actually is stacked against Evolution, but the constant repetition of it, and the assumption that it is true, has established Evolution as "FACT". Indeed anyone who questions it is ridiculed as being foolish. However the facts are on the side of the "foolish" (see 1 Corinthians 2&3).

The effect of Evolution as a doctrine is far more devastating than we can imagine. As it reduces men to be "nothing more than an advanced animal" it robs men of their potential and dignity before God. We kill animals for sport and food, hence as man is "nothing more than an animal" it is OK to kill people too. Hence abortion and euthanasia, genocide and other atrocities have their roots in Evolutionary doctrine.

Evolution also completely undermines all Biblical authority. If we accept Evolution, then we say that the Bible is wrong, in that the Bible claims God created mankind. Once we accept that one part of the Bible is wrong we have no way of determining if any of it is right.

(7) 9:10 "in their tails" - these spirits tempt men to sin, promising great things. But in the end there is only pain.

C/f Genesis 3 "you shall not surely die, but you shall be like God".

However sin always has its backlash. Humanism does this - promising men a better future it propagates all sorts of things. We have only to consider the torment many go through after an abortion to see this.

"Men live in peace before sin, but afterwards a fire burns."

The symbolism comes from the terror of the Parthian army whose mounted archers would shoot one volley as they advanced and then another over their horses tails as they withdrew. Hence they could "wound with their mouths and with their tails".

(8) 9:11 - "king" - C/f Proverbs 30:27 - locusts have no king.

"Name" = a character.

"Abaddon/Apollyon" = the Destroyer.

Apollyon - from Apollo - the link by which the Roman emperors claimed Divine status -i.e. there is a hint here that this deception takes men to the ultimate in humanism, the deification of man and the worship of him.

The double use of the name is probably so that we will have no difficulty in identifying who John is talking about later of when he tells us "the time has come for destroying the destroyers of the earth".

9:13-19 - The Sixth Trumpet.

REV 9:13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God.

REV 9:14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."

REV 9:15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.

REV 9:16 The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.

REV 9:17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur.

REV 9:18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths.

REV 9:19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

9:13 "a voice from the four horns of the golden altar" - the incense altar under which the dead saints rest (6:9-11).

This voice is possibly either:

(i) An angel calling out in response to the Church's prayers for vindication or,

(ii) The command of the Church itself. Whichever we take it to be it is part of the vindication of God on the Churches witness.

Hence this is part of the final judgement.

9:14 "the sixth angel who had the sixth trumpet" - one of the archangels.

"release the four angels...bound...at the river Euphrates"

C/f 7:1-3 - the same angels but their location has changed. The fact that they are now released shows that the Churches task is complete and the Church itself is complete. Hence we are very close to the end.

Who is the angel? - C/f notes on Ch 17 - we shall identify the restraining Angel as Gabriel. This is possibly the same angel.

The sixth trumpet leads into the day of the Lord so this probably coincides with the removal of the protection on the two witnesses (see ch 11).

These four angels are related to the apocalyptic horsemen, but here they seem to have a different task later in the program of the end.

"the great river Euphrates" - the change in the location is understandable. John was previously (in ch 6) describing judgement on the whole earth, but the final drama of this judgement centres on the Middle East, and Palestine in particular. Hence these four spirits which were restrained by the four angels are now orchestrating the kings of the east.

The Euphrates has great Biblical significance:

(i) It is the border of the Roman empire. The Parthians lived opposite to Rome across the river. They were excellent horsemen and archers. Persia is therefore one of the eastern Kings.

(ii) It is the ideal border of the Promised Land. There seems to be indications that at one stage of the latter days Israel will again extend her border up to the Euphrates.

(iii) The Euphrates was one of the "rivers of Eden", where sin began, so here it will be judged.

(iv) Babylon, the source of Satanic religion, is found on the Euphrates. The world religious, economic and political system which began there will also be judged there.

(v) As the northern border of the Promised Land the prophetic warnings of enemies from "the north" which we find repeatedly in the OT are hinted at here. We are expected to refer back to these prophecies to understand what John is taking about.

Isaiah 14:31; Jeremiah 1:14f, 6:1,22, 10:22, 13:20, 25:9,26, 46:20,24, 47:2; Ezekiel 26:7, 38:6,15, 39:2.

"Four angels" - implies several possibilities:

(i) Four nations in the confederacy.

(ii) Four is the symbol of completeness on earth, implying that all the nations of the east are involved.

(iii) Possibly at the end of the age East Asia will be made up of four power blocs which unite. These blocs could be based on the four major ethnic groups in the area.

9:15 "the hour, the day, the month, the year" - God's timing is exact. He will not be late.

"to kill 1/3 of mankind" - still only a limited destruction.

NOTE:- The continuous conflicts we see in REVELATION during the Tribulation is a clear sign that Antichrist never becomes a world dictator, as is often taught. Clearly at Armageddon there are at least three power blocs confronting each other.

"200 million" c/f Psalms 68:17,18. A "thousand thousand" is considered to be an innumerable number.

In China in 1969/70 they claimed an armed militia of 200 million men.

9:16 "Calvary" - horse troops - In 1969 Russia bred over one million horses, mainly for the use of the army. Russia is one of the few armies in the world to still maintain and equip a full cavalry force.

Again we are seeing something that has two levels of understanding: a spiritual and a natural. In REVELATION there are two levels of activity:

(i) A spiritual warfare between Satan and God, and their respective forces. Vs 4 implies a demonic force.

(ii) A working out of that conflict in the natural realm in man's political arena. Vs 16 implies a human manifestation.

9:17 "breastplates of fire" i.e. red.

"sapphire" - blue.

"sulphur" - yellow.

The smoke is the same colour as the flame. It could indicate some form of explosion.

9:18 "Fire, brimstone, smoke" - often interpreted to be separate plagues, but nuclear blasts would produce all three of these effects:

(i) The destruction of the blast.

(ii) The resulting fire.

(iii) The radiation of the "smoke".

C/f Zechariah 14:12 - seems to describe radiation sickness and atomic blast.

9:19 "in their mouths - and in their tails".

Alludes back to the fifth trumpet. In reality the sixth trumpet is but an intensification of the fifth.

The Parthians bound up their horses tails so as to make them look like serpents. But John is really trying to tell us that these things are devilish in nature and origin.

The thing about nuclear warfare is that there are two sources of death:

(i) The blast itself - "in their mouths".

(ii) The subsequent radiation - "in their tails"

9:20 - 21. Man's irrepentance.

REV 9:20 The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood- idols that cannot see or hear or walk.

REV 9:21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

The Church is now sealed, the rest of mankind, like Pharaoh and his forces in Egypt, are totally hardened. Their gods of materialism, humanism and Satanism have blinded them beyond repentance.

There are four things listed here that will characterise the last days. Truly "every man will do what is right in his own eyes". The four are:

"Plunder" = the violation of person, lawless violence.

"Sorcery" = the violation of Religion.

"Fornication" = the violation of home, family and morality, rape.

"Theft" = the violation of property.

The imagery of Gog from Ezekiel 36,37 is heavily used in this chapter, thus hinting at the end. But John is not yet ready for the end. Again his concern pastoral and he interrupts his narrative to talk of the situation of God's people.

Revelation Chapter 8, Vision 3, part 1 - Trumpets 1-4.

VISION 3: - THE SEVEN TRUMPETS.

Study 1: - Revelation 8:2,6-13. Trumpets 1-4.

INTRODUCTION.

“Now that the seven seals have been broken we would expect to see the End, the reading of the scroll, but the scroll simply drops out of sight” (Ladd).

However what we now see could be considered to be one of two things:

(i)The contents of the scroll. What we have already seen is the content of the seals themselves, now we see what is written on the pages, or

(ii) An entirely new vision. In this view each Seal opened a page of the scroll and what we read previously was the page thus opened. Thus when the seventh Seal is opened the scroll is fully visible and read. Thus there is no further revelation to be obtained from the scroll so the Trumpets are necessarily a new separate vision. Thus we would see Revelation 8:2 to be simply a stylistic literary way of connecting the Seals and Trumpets.

It is my feeling that (ii) is correct.

Even if we adopt view (i), that what we are about to read is the content of the pages of the scroll, then that does not imply that the events we are about to read occur after the events of the Seals in earth time. The opening of the seals would logically come before we could read the contents of the pages sealed thereby so logically we would read the seals before the pages. But to derive an implication from that that the events of the seals are necessarily prior to the events of the trumpets is unwarranted.

I have already discussed the fact that the seventh Seal (8:5), Trumpet (11:19) and Bowl (16:18) are clearly the same event in earth time and not a threefold repetition on earth of similar horrific events. I have also previously pointed out that certain events of one series are dependent on other events from another series that requires us to see these three series as being in some way concurrent in earth time. As we get to the relevant scriptures I will comments further on this.

Some interpreters insist that the trumpets follow the seals and the bowls follow the trumpets in earth time but the major problem with this view is that they have to have a final judgement three times. I feel the onus of proof is on them – it makes more sense to me to see 8:5, 11:19 and 16:18 as referring to the same event.

The trumpets are again a partial destruction; they are not the final judgement. Again, as with the Seals, I want to argue that they are not a direct judgement of God at all. The whole context of the portion of REVELATION that we are now engaged with is steeped in Feast of Tabernacles typology, hence of harvest motifs. The trumpets are a harvest, at least this is true of trumpets 1-6. "We reap what we sow" in the moral arena (Galatians 6:6-8) and God is not going to be mocked – this harvest will come in earth time in its full measure. The last generation will reap the full harvest of the sin of mankind for all generations. Where the Seals were the harvest of the curses of the broken covenant of Adam, the Trumpets are the harvest of the sins of mankind from Adam to the End. Thus they are not directly an act of God in judgement, rather they are the result of the inevitable operation of eternal law in the universe, the law of sowing and reaping.

However, having said this, we must acknowledge that God is at present restraining this harvest so that we do not ever reap the full harvest of our sins. What happens with the trumpets is that God removes this restraint of grace and for a short period the harvest of sin is full.

In a sense then the trumpets are designed to lead man to repentance. When the seventh trumpet comes there is no further chance for repentance as God has taken his throne, but until then God attempts to turn men's hearts by prefiguring the horrific nature of the coming eternal judgement which men face if they continue in sin. Sadly there appears to be little response.

INTERPRETATION.

REV 8:2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

8:2 "the seven angels who stand before God"
A specific group is intended. The Bible says nothing else directly about them except to refer to their actions in REVELATION, but John expects that the reader knows who he is talking about.

In Jewish tradition there are several references to this group and they are named in tradition.

Tobit 2:15 - an angel identifies himself as "Raphael, one of the seven angels who stands in attendance on the Lord". They present the prayers of God's people.

Enoch 20 and 40 name them all - "Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Phanuel, Uriel, Saraquel, Remiel." Enoch identifies them as the archangels.

2 Esdras 4:36 c/f notes on Revelation 6:9-11 identifies this angel as an archangel, Jeremiel.

There may be more than eight archangels. Apparently Lucifer was one before he fell. It is possible that nine was the total number as nine is the number related to the Holy Spirit, and these archangels appear to have some sort of special relationship to the Holy Spirit.

Some of these are named in the Bible:

(i) Michael - Daniel 10:13,21; 12:1; Revelation 12:7 Jude 9 - He seems to have a special role as the protector of God's people.

(ii) Gabriel - Daniel 8:26; 9:21; Luke 1:18, 26 - He seems to have a special task of bringing Divine revelation to men.

Enoch 20 tells us they had special tasks in creation and ongoing functions in maintaining creation. Revelation indicates that they play a major role in the judgements of God at the end.

"seven trumpets" - better "war horns".

Trumpets are important in the OT and there is a rich symbolism.

(1) Numbers 10:1-10 - two silver trumpets. Silver speaks of redemption, so the trumpeter’s voice is always redemptive in content:

(a) For summoning the camp of God (v2) e.g. Joel 2:1,15.

(b) For breaking camp when moving on (v2).

(c) For war (v9) e.g. Joshua 6; Judges 7.

(d) For Feasts (v10).

(e) An alarm in times of danger.

(2) Leviticus 25:9. Blown on the Day of Atonement, New Years Day. In the jubilee year it signified release and redemption to the nation.

(3) Blown at the accession of the king to his throne, and hence during the feast of Tabernacles in rituals celebrating God's kingship - 1 Kings 1:34,39; 2 Kings 9:13; Psalms 47:5, 98:6 Numbers 23;21.

(4) Leviticus 23:21 - Blown at the daily sacrifices.

(5) There are three OT passages which talk of seven trumpeters which formed part of a ceremonial procession and two of these include a mention of an ark.

Joshua 6:1; 1 Chronicles 15:24; Nehemiah 12:41.

Caird (edited):
“The feast of trumpets par excellence was the autumn festival of Tishri 1, described in the Levitical code as a "remembrance day of trumpet blowing" (Leviticus 23:24). This was New Years day in the secular calendar. Tishri 1 became the first day of a great penitential season which culminated 10 days later at Atonement. Tishri 1 is therefore a day of judgement. The Talmud says it is a day when God judges the whole of mankind. The judgement itself is held in suspense until the Day of Atonement.”

The ten days are to typify the ten days journey from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea where Israel was to have entered into the Promised Land on the Day of Atonement.

Atonement is also the end of the harvest. The trumpets are to be seen as a warning that the harvest of the world is about to finish.

Points to note:

(i) Joshua 6 - seven trumpeters lead the congregation and the ark c/f Revelation 11:19. On the seventh day the seventh trumpet was blown and all seven blew together, the army shouted and the walls fell down. Jericho is typical of the future Babylon (Revelation 11:13).

(ii) The accession of the king to the throne, c/f the seventh trumpet of REVELATION.

(iii) An alarm - a call to repentance in the face of immanent judgement. C/f REVELATION 9:20ff. Therefore the trumpets, until the last one, are only a partial destruction, they are not the end, rather they are another God-given chance to repent.

The trumpet plagues are similar to the plagues of Egypt under Moses. Throughout ch 8-11 Exodus typology is heavily used, but in a different way to the rest of the NT.

The first four trumpets are all closely related to the same event and appear to describe the same event and its effects from different viewpoints.

The event which is the catalyst seems to be the expulsion of Satan and his forces from the mid heavens as recorded in REVELATION 12:7ff. In these four trumpets this event is described and an effect of it described on man's society.

This event seems to happen at the beginning of the last three and a half years of human history, so the effects are things which happen during this last 3 ½ years.

These four trumpets describe events in nature, but that is only to be seen as a surface meaning. The natural is a picture of spiritual events happening in man's society. The natural event is therefore only a visible sign of something more important.

1 Corinthians 15:46 “First the natural then the spiritual”.

This seems to be a key to understanding the relationship between physical events on the earth and spiritual events. What we are about to read describes apparently physical events on earth, but these events are only a sign that something more important is happening in the spiritual life of mankind.

The idea of something "coming down from the sky" is possibly intended to suggest to us that these events have a heavenly origin. They are in the plan of God.

Like the seals the trumpets are divides into a 4:2:1 sequence:

1-4 - affect the earth.

5,6 - affect man.

- An interlude. -

7 - affects man.

In a symbolic sense the first four trumpets are all talking about the same thing, and illustrating different aspects of it, namely the relationship of Satan to our atmosphere. He is, in this age, the prince of the power of the air.

8:7 The First Trumpet.

REV 8:6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

REV 8:7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

c/f Joel 2:30 Exodus 9:23,24 Psalms 105:32.

The Exodus, or the first deliverance of God's people became a type for all of God's later deliverances. In Egypt hail spoiled the crops, now it is "hail and fire" (lightening?).

It is possible that this trumpet is the cause of the famine of the third seal. The Biblical kind of "grass" includes all cereals. The plague could be the result of catastrophic weather disturbance caused by nuclear war. Thus this event – the first trumpet – would be prior to the 3^rd seal in earth time.

"1/3 of the earth...1/3 of the trees" - Which third is unknown.

It seems as if one third of the earth’s surface is devastated by this plague directly, while indirectly the rest of the world is also affected in that "all grass is burnt up". This seems to indicate that the air temperature of the world increases rapidly and markedly as a result of whatever causes this devastation. Though presumably localised to one continent the atmospheric changes are world-wide. The intensification of the heat of the sun in the fourth bowl (REVELATION 16:8,9) could be related to this.

Symbolism:

"trees" symbolise rulers of society c/f Isaiah 2:12-17.

"grass" symbolise the masses of humanity, the common people. Grass also speaks of prosperity as it includes the grain.

It seems as if the governments of the stable countries are put down somehow and prosperity, or wealth, is corrupted. The financial systems of the world will be destroyed. This is a great depression, which is possibly solved by the "wisdom" of Antichrist.

Possibly this points to the destruction of the Americas. At the moment they are the financial hub of the world, and North America is the world’s largest grain producing area. North America is also the seat of stable democratic government, and as such is held up by other nations as the ideal to strive for. If there was a totalitarian government aiming for world domination, then to succeed they would find it much easier by destroying the "defender of democracy". C/f notes on the seals.

8:8,9: The Second Trumpet.

REV 8:8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood,

REV 8:9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

"a huge mountain burning with fire".

Is this a meteorite? Or is John describing the effects of nuclear devastation in the only way he could? John says it was "Like a mountain" not that it actually was. It could be an underwater volcano (Psalms 46:2 - "the mountains in the sea shake"). Or it could refer to underwater nuclear explosions, such as the destruction of nuclear submarines. Such explosions could conceivably begin a chain reaction in the oceans which could alter the composition of the seas.

"blood" symbolises Death. C/f 16:3 "of a dead man" i.e. poisonous.

1/3 of the seas are polluted to death.

C/f Exodus plagues, and REVELATION 11:6, the power given to the two witnesses. This could happen as the result of the Churches’ prayers.

Scientists have been telling us for years that if we continue on as we are the seas will soon be dead from pollution. The Bible tells us that the process is going to be sped up at one point.

Symbolism:

"Seas" symbolise the rebellious masses of humanity in the nations (REVELATION 17:15).

"Great mountain" symbolises a great political power.

Besides the destruction of America there are other political changes. Europe becomes dominant under the Antichrist and he dominates 1/3 of the earth stretching from England to Iraq. His capital centres on Babylon in Iraq. Under his rule, as we shall see, the Church is persecuted to death. It appears that in his kingdom there are no surviving Christians by the Second Coming (see notes on REVELATION 11). Hence we read that “1/3 of the ships” are destroyed.

"Ship" = ARGO (from Astrology), symbolises the Church.

The Church has not yet seen persecution like what it will see under Antichrist. He will be seven times worse than any previous despot (see notes on REVELATION 17).

8:10-11 The Third Trumpet.

REV 8:10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water-

REV 8:11 the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

"a great star blazing like a torch"

A meteor? But how could it affect only clean water? Its effect is the poisoning of 1/3 of the world's water supply.

"wormwood" - i.e. poisonous. Wormwood is a tree that has the capacity to make water bitter, or poisonous. The death of those drinking the water is implied.

C/f Exodus 15:21ff - Marah - REVELATION is the reversal of this. Tradition has it that the tree Moses threw in was Wormwood.

Symbolism:

"Star" symbolises an angel - he has a personality, he is Satan.

"fell from heaven" Greek, Literally, "was cast down" c/f 9:1.

"rivers" symbolise the ordinary life of a nation, as is characterised by certain laws, principles, customs. "Fountains" are the source of these, i.e. family, Church, education, government. The sources are corrupted first, thus polluting the rest. The polluting doctrine is HUMANISM.

The image of the star has an astrological background. In mythology Venus, the morning star, tried to climb the walls of the city of the gods to make himself king of heaven. He was driven from heaven by the rising sun. This myth is given an historical application in Isaiah 14:12-20 where Venus = the Prince of Babylon, i.e. Satan. It is no coincidence that Babylon features here. Wormwood is simply the system of Babylon which is poisoning man's society. It is the Spirit of Antichrist.

Exodus typology continues. With each blow of the trumpet God says, "Antichrist let my people go."

8:12 The Fourth Trumpet.

REV 8:12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

"1/3 sun, 1/3 stars... 1/3 of their light darkened".

Does this mean:

(i) Air pollution causing a blanking out of the sun,

(ii) c/f Matthew 24:22 "shortened" days, c/f Daniel 7:25 "to change the times". Does the 24 hour day become 18? A major change to the earth's rotation due to a nuclear blast tilting the earth on its axis.

Symbolism:

"1/3 stars" - 1/3 angels fell with Lucifer (Revelation 12:4).

"Light" speaks of man's spiritual awareness. This could indicate a growing inability to hear the gospel and respond.

Imagine the following scenario (a bit of sanctified imagination wont hurt):

Imagine that most USA military hardware had a secret “self destruct” mechanism built in that the operators are not aware of.

“Why?” you may ask.

Well, to stop captured weaponry being used against them in the event of war. Such a motivation would make sense.

How would it work?

Quite simple really. Hidden in the fuel tank of every piece of hardware could be a small but powerful explosive, enough to destroy the item in question.

This could be set off by a signal from satellite, the signal in turn coming from the Pentagon or White House. To activate the code would maybe involve the entering of 4 pin numbers known only to 4 men, the President, and the chiefs of staff of the Army, Navy and Air Force. When these 4 pins are entered they are given the choice of destroying one piece of hardware (presumably captured by enemy forces), or a collection of hardware in a certain geographical area, or even all American military hardware around the world –every military plane, ship, missile, tank, motorized gun, etc.

“Impossible,” you say.

But why? The technology is simple and could be with us today. There is nothing complex in what I have described.

Now let’s imagine the Antichrist manages to get 4 men into those key positions of power. At a set point in time, when he is ready to make a bid for world domination, he sends the word to his 4 men to push the “all” button at such and such a time on such and such a day.

The 4 do as they are told, flee the White House by helicopter to a point just out of the nearest airport, board a secular jet (i.e. it is safe) and leave with their families for Britain. 5 minutes after they cross the coast into the Atlantic every bit of American military hardware self destructs all around the world – every plane, helicopter, ship, submarine boat, tank, missile, motorized gun, etc.

It could happen! Very simply!

Of course the 4 think that in the new order they will be greatly rewarded, but they don’t realize that their usefulness to the Antichrist is over, and the same technology used to render the USA impotent in the face of the Antichrist can be used on them…

Their plane suddenly disappears mid-Atlantic from the radar screens.

The results of such a destruction would be dramatic:

• Nuclear submarines exploding under water with their nuclear missiles. Large areas of sea are “turned to blood” (Trumpet 2). Fresh water supplies are also contaminated (Trumpet 3).
• Air pollution all around the earth on a grand scale never seen before, the sun’s light is reduced to a murky haze. 1/3 of its light is gone (Trumpet 4).
• There is an immediate international shortage of grain due to the fact that fireballs from the nuclear explosions burn up all grasses (Seal 3, Trumpet 1).
• Millions die in the holocaust.
• Millions die from radiation sickness over the following months (Seal 4).
• Cancerous sores develop over millions more (Revelation 16:8-11).
• The detonation of hundreds of nuclear bombs destabalises the earth’s crust and for the following few years there are massive earthquakes (Matthew 24). Half of California slips into the sea.

Of course the Antichrist is immediately occupied with establishing his rule throughout Europe and the Middle East (Seal 1) and ignores America for a few months. After all the sudden explosion of hundreds of land based nuclear warheads has left North America a bit of a desert waste. It has little chance of regrouping and being a threat to him.

However the surviving population of the USA, Canada and the rest of the Americas – north, central and south immediately recognize this disaster as the work of Antichrist and a major Christian revival results. Citizens arm themselves and prepare to repel any invaders, but there is no way they can do more than to defend themselves from invasion. They cannot take on the Antichrist in an attack mode because of lack of resources.

Meanwhile the financial hub of the Western world, which was New York, shifts - under Antichrist direction - to Babylon. The United Nations, the World Bank, IMF and similar organizations, now his pawns, go there too. Soon will follow the headquarters of the One World Religion…

It would be doubtful that many countries would dare to oppose Antichrist after seeing what happened to the USA.

Question: Why the emphasis on 1/3 throughout these trumpets?

Possibly because 1/3 of the Trinity was on the cross. This judgement is a testimony and a vindication of Christ. His victory is now complete, so judgement can be executed.

If the four trumpets speak of Satan's expulsion from heaven then 8:13 has great significance.

8:13 - Announcement of the three woes.

REV 8:13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"

"Eagle", the enemy of the serpent. In astrology is Aquilla.

"midheaven" - where Satan presently has his kingdom and resists God's plan and intentions. From there he is expelled (REVELATION 12).With his expulsion the way is now clear for the angels of God to carry out God's work without interruption or hindrance. Hence the eagle/angel can proclaim God's victory.

c/f REVELATION 14:6,7.

c/f Exodus 19:4 - The eagle symbolises God's protection and deliverance of his people.

c/f REVELATION 12:14 - the same eagle protecting the Church.

Walvoord sees in the first four trumpets the following scenario:

(1) Food destroyed.

(2) Distribution crippled.

(3) Water supply crippled.

(4) Production hampered.

The Book of Revelation and the Feast of Tabernacles

An Essay: The Hebrew Autumn - New Year Festival and the Book of Revelation.

(This is an essay I wrote for Theological College. As far as I know nothing else has been written about this subject from this point of view. I feel that it is essential introductory background to understanding the next section of REVELATION, particularly the Trumpets . Some parts may be unnecessarily technical for a blog like this but I hope you find it useful. I have added some comments along the way by means of explanation.

Unfortunately references to source books were numbered and put on the bottom of each page as footnotes. In the present format they sort of appear in the middle of bits of text. Just try to imagine wherever footnotes appear that it is the end of a page!

The Lecturer gave me an "A+" for this essay as he thought it broke new ground and was very well argued and researched. That mark helped greatly as this essay was worth 50% of the final mark. It meant I had passed the paper before sitting the exam - very helpful indeed!

I will draw on this paper as we return to the text of REVELATION.)

Introduction:

It is generally agreed now by Old Testament scholars that there was some form of New Year - Autumn - Harvest festival in Palestine dating from early (Pre-Israelite) times. This was adopted and modified by the Israelite people to conform to Yahwistic themes but some of the original intentions remained. The arguments now surround exactly what was involved in the festival and not on the existence of the festival itself. It is not the purpose of this essay to enter that debate but to draw some possible implications from the debate concerning the Book of Revelation.

Part 1: The Development of the Autumn Festival.

MacRae(1) discusses the evolution of the Feast of Tabernacles and notes three main phases in its development:

(1) Origin and Early celebration.

Originally a pagan agricultural thanksgiving festival celebrated at the end of harvest time. MacRae notes that in all four strands of the Old Testament, JEDP, there are traces of this festival.

E tells us that it was at the end of the autumn harvest, giving no fixed date. It is "at the end of the year", but he notes the phrase here probably means "at the beginning of the year". It was, after all, at the end of the agricultural year, the end of summer/autumn, but it was also the beginning of the calendar secular year.

J tells us that it was "at the return of the year", i.e. New Year. This way of speaking of the timing speaks of the festival's antiquity.

MacRae suggests that to this agricultural festival the Israelites added a pilgrimage to remember their nomadic roots. Out of this, the traditional agricultural booths gained a sort of "tent-like" symbolism and became a cultic symbol for the festival.

(The assumptions made about the development of the OT into what we have now is what we commonly call “the Documents Theory”. I do not necessarily agree with this theory as it is generally presented but I have no wish to debate the Documents Theory. In this essay I have simply quoted the findings of my source scholars. Whether or not the Feast of Tabernacles developed exactly as described in this essay I do not know, but the fact that it did develop is indisputable. The Feasts of Israel were, and are today, living memorials and they are not static. There is a vast difference in the way the Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated today form how it was in the days of King David or of Isaiah – or even of 100 year ago before the founding of the modern state of Israel!)

(2) Development in Old Testament times.

D is assumed to be contemporary with the reforms of Josiah. D calls the festival the “Feast of Booths”, referring to the ramshackle huts made by those working in the fields to sleep in at night. D also tells us that the men of Israel had to make pilgrimage to the sanctuary.

P is a compilation of older sources but arrived in its final form in the exile. P distinguishes between feasts that come in a group - in this case trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. P also assigns dates to them using the Babylonian calendar, so that the festival becomes a mid year festival, not a New Year festival.

Mowinkel(2) compared the Biblical materials, particularly in Psalms, with the New Year celebrations of the surrounding nations and postulated that the whole idea of kingship and enthronement became a central part of the festival. The theory assumes that when David took Jerusalem he incorporated the Canaanite Zadokite priesthood into the worship of Israel. _________________________________________________________

(1) G.W.MacRae: The Meaning and Evolution of the Feast of Tabernacles. The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 1960 vol 22 p251ff.

(2) S.Mowinkel: The Psalms in Israel's Worship (2 Volumes) Oxford 1962.

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Present in the Canaanite cult in Jerusalem was an elaborate creation-kingship-conflict myth ritual which was reinterpreted in Yahwistic terms by Israel.

(The idea that Israel adopted aspects of Canaanite worship and reworked them into the worship of Yahweh is fairly well accepted by OT scholars today. This is what we should expect - the same call comes to us to be culturally relevant in our worship so that we can reach those in the culture we live in with the gospel. The people of God have always taken the forms of the world and "Christianised" them.)

Snaith(3) opposes the theory of Kingship-Enthronement but to me the evidence seems strong enough to suggest some incorporation of these ideas. Eaton (4) supports the theory and develops criteria for deciding which psalms are royal. He suggests Psalms with the following criteria, including: (5)

(1) Where the worshipper is both "I" and "we", i.e. the worshipper represents the nation, i.e. is the national leader.

(2) Where the enemies of Israel are portrayed as the worshipper's personal enemies.

(3) Where the enemies are "nations".

(4) Where the worshipper's suffering seems to have a national character or is brought on by outside influence.

(5) Where the worshipper's salvation is national in significance and results in national prosperity.

(6) Where the psalm is titled "Of David". “dwd” denoting the royal office not necessarily David himself. Some of the "Psalms of David" are clearly later in composition than the reign of David and refer to later events, so this use of "dwd" to mean "the king" is highly probable.

(7) Where the worshipper seems to be leading the congregation.

(8) Where the worshipper is at God’s right hand. He receives God’s counsel. He is Yahweh’s servant. Traditionally this person was the king.

(9) Where the royal interpretation gives the Psalm a consistent and meaningful interpretation where other interpretations do not hold together.

(10) Where there are national themes – covenant, election, promise to Davidic house, etc.

In carrying out an examination of the Psalms using these Criteria he arrives at certain “stock phrases” which then begin to be a sort of “in language” for Royal Psalms. Appearance of this language can then identify other royal psalms.

His argument seems to hold together fairly well, and for the purposes of this essay I will accept his conclusions.

McRae (6) objects to the theory in that he feels that it denies any originality of worship to the Israelites. This is not necessarily so as Mowinkel, Eaton and their followers are not suggesting the wholesale adoption of Canaanite, Egyptian or Babylonian patterns – all of which were quite different.(7)

The differences between countries are well documented in Mowinkel's book. Not only that, there was quite major differences within each culture as one moved from city to city. Thus there is allowance for quite a lot of originality on the part of the Hebrews.

McRae notes other events that were later identified with the festival – the dedication of the temple and the Messianic interpretation as depicted in Zechariah 14:16-19 However the agricultural roots remain(8).

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(3) Snaith: The Jewish New Year Festival.ch7.

(4) Eaton. John H.: Kingship and the Psalms SCM 1976. P19 “I found the royal interpretation to be the most satisfactory.”

(5) Eaton ibid p15,16,20.

(6) McRae ibid p267 “This seems to be a denial…of an element of revelation.”

(7) H. Frankfort: Kingship and the Gods, University of Chicago press 1948.

The feast developed a prophetic/apocalyptic interpretation based on the fact that the ideals of kingship were rehearsed. However the (present) king always fell short of the ideal thus pushing the fulfilment of the ideal out into the future to a coming Messiah who would reign as ideal king. Thus the feast came to be a prophecy of the coming victory and reign of the Messiah.

(3) Later Development in Inter Testament Times.

The Mishnah introduces the idea of waving of Palms, fruit and daily pouring of water and wine, however these could well be traditional and much older than the Mishnah itself(9).

Thus all of the elements of the full development of the festival are present.

Part 2. The Apparent Final Form of the Autumn Festival.

There is still some debate over exact details of how the Festival was celebrated in Israel. However some broad parameters are generally agreed upon. It is felt that Second and Third Isaiah (Ch40-66) are based on the ritual of the festival to some degree, and that many of the Psalms were used in it. Thus 2nd and 3rd Isaiah are a prophetic interpretation of the feast. This gives us some indications of the content of the festival ritual. Most writers assume some parallel between the celebrations in Israel and those of the surrounding nations, though McRae objects to this link.

(Again I don't necessarily agree there was a 2nd and 3rd Isaiah but it it the accepted position of my source scholars and I have no wish to debate the question.)

My own feeling is that the onus of proof is on those who reject a connection to prove their point. Israel did not live in a cultural vacuum, and the idea that they would adopt and modify ideas from surrounding cultures is highly probable. The existence of three factors:

(i) A New Year festival in Palestine and latterly in Israel,

(ii) This festival normally having kingship overtones and

(iii) The Psalms having many Psalms which fit this pattern,

all seem to me to be compelling proof of the theory.

Israel seems to have been somewhat different to the surrounding nations in that the harvest festival became separated from New Year, and the ritual of the Kings' Humiliation was reinterpreted in the ritual of the Day of Atonement as the king in Israel was never identified with the god, i.e. Yahweh. (In all surrounding cultures the king was identified with the god. The closest Israel comes to that is to call the king “God’s Son” – e.g. Psalm 2). These were separated out from the autumn festival by the later P dating. However the whole complex of the three events were still seen to be a unity.

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(8) MacRae ibid p267-270.

(9) Macrae ibid p270-274.

(10) MacRae ibid p266 "...everything depends on a supposed link between the Enthronement psalms and the feast, and this is the weak link of the theory. No strong external evidence has been adduced to prove such a connection..."
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Thus there are two structural areas that are of interest in the Festival:

(a) The division of the Festival into three parts.

(i) New Year's Day, the 1st of the 7th Month, celebrated by the blowing of Trumpets.(11) Called the Feast of Trumpets.

(ii) The Day of Atonement, the 10th Day of the 7th Month, containing the elaborate ritual of cleansing of sin.(12)

(iii) The Feast of Tabernacles, or Booths, itself, from the 15th to the 22nd of the 7th Month, a Celebration of the completed Harvest and enjoying the Land of Yahweh's provision.(13)

(b) The Ritual of the Festival of Tabernacles itself.

There is still a large amount of speculation as to the details. When we come to the application of Tabernacles to the Book of Revelation more details will be noted. For now a brief overview is given:(14)

Six Elements in this Ritual Pattern:

(1) A dramatic representation of the death and resurrection of the god, with whom the king was identified. This was common in the Ancient Near East New Year celebrations. In Israel the king was not identified with God but was clearly symbolic of God. Some writers feel that instead of the king the Ark of the Covenant was used in this drama. Thus the story of the entry of the Ark into Jerusalem through King David (2 Samuel 6) is thought to be not only an historical record of events occurring under the reign of David, but is also seen to have cultic significance in that it is the pattern that was reenacted every year at Tabernacles.

(2) A recitation or symbolic representation of the myth of creation.

(3) A ritual combat, in which the triumph of the god over his enemies was depicted.

(4) A sacred marriage.

(5) A triumphal procession in which the king played the part of the god. The god is enthroned. (OR, in Israel, the ark is restored)

(6) The importance of the king for the well being of the community.

All of these clearly appear in 2nd and 3rd Isaiah so the theory holds together so far.

Detailed symbolism was involved in this presentation as we shall note later.

MacRae argues that the festival retained its agricultural motifs of harvest and added to them pilgrimage these being later developed later on - being joined to Messianic concepts.

It seems to me that MacRae is having a hard job at this point trying to cut out the Myth-ritual-enthronement theory. He glosses over the Messianic associations of the feast at embarrassing speed.

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(11) Leviticus 23:23-25.

(12) Leviticus 23:26-32.

(13) Leviticus 23:33-36.

(14) This summary from MacRae ibid p265, where he summarises from Oesterley. I have added the comment on 2 Samuel 6.
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Note on the Use of the Calendar in the book of Revelation and its relation to the Exodus and Conquest.

The Circle of the Agricultural Calendar and The Relation of the Calendar to the Feasts.

Dr. Rainey (15) presented the diagram attached to illustrate the relation of the agricultural and religious years.

(Diagram will appear later when my technology is fixed!)

The feasts cover the summer/autumn period, beginning with:

(i) Passover/ first fruits denoting the start of the grain harvest with the barley harvest. It was linked with the Exodus and Red Sea.

(ii) Pentecost signified the end of the grain harvest, the wheat being reaped by then. It was linked with Sinai.

(iii) The remainder of summer was traditionally for fruit and vintage, Tabernacles signifying the end of the harvest including fruit and vintage. Tabernacles was linked with the blessings of the Promised Land.

In terms of symbolic usage, or typology, of the calendar the New Testament outside of the book of Revelation majors on:

(i) The feasts of Passover/first fruits - speaking of Christ's death and resurrection, and

(ii) Pentecost, speaking of the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Tabernacles is not generally applied in the New Testament outside of Revelation except for:

(i) The mention of “trumpets” with respect to the Second Coming of Christ (1 Cor 15:52, etc.).

(ii) The Idea of the "Day of Redemption" (Eph 4:30).

(iii) The Concept of "the Day of the Lord" as the end of history. The "Day of the Lord" became another name for the "day of Atonement" so it was understood that the Day of Atonement prophesied in some way the coming of the Messiah.

(iv) Ideas of “harvest” - particularly in Christ's parables - wheat, vineyards, etc. These seem to be more general, referring to the idea of harvest rather than specifically applying the Feast of Tabernacles. Timing is not stressed.

In the book of Revelation, Passover/ Exodus is used in these ways:

(i) Ch5 the slain lamb - seems to be a clear Passover reference. The reference to redemption supports this as it hearkens back to Exodus 13. The Passover was a redemption sacrifice.

(ii) Ch 15 the passing through the “Sea of Glass” and the singing of the “song of Moses” - clearly refers back to Exodus 15.

(iii) The numbering of the 144,000 seems to refer back to Numbers 2.

(iv) There is also clear reference to the wilderness wanderings in Rev 12 where the seed of the woman is "taken to the wilderness".

Thus there seems to be a fluidity in the use of the symbolism of the Exodus - it refers back to Christ and also to the final salvation at the end of the age.
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(15) Visiting Lecturer at N.Z. Baptist College 1978 for a short series of lectures entitled "Putting the Bible on the Map".
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Part 4: Use of the Feast of Tabernacles in the Book of Revelation.

Other Authors find many other references to Exodus in Revelation(16), however I want to argue that the symbolism of Revelation is better understood from a viewpoint of the feast of Tabernacles, rather than a Passover/ Exodus viewpoint.

The Thesis of this Essay:

That "The Book of Revelation" is best understood in the light of the Ideas contained in the Feast of Tabernacles as celebrated in late Judaism.

That is to say that, just as 2nd and 3rd Isaiah are a Jewish prophetic interpretation of the Feast of Tabernacles, so REVELATION is the Christian prophetic interpretation of Tabernacles.

This seems to me to give a more coherent origin of the symbolism that other interpretations. I feel this can be demonstrated in both the overall programme of the Festival and also with much of the individual ideas.

(a) Main Themes of the Festival and the Book of Revelation:

(1) The Harvest.

A harvest festival - not so much of the grain harvest which was celebrated as being complete at Pentecost, but of the fruit and vintage.

Rev 14:14-20 The Harvest of the Earth.

A clear Tabernacles concept - we have here a celebration of Grain and vintage harvest. Tabernacles came at the end of the harvest and in a special way celebrated all the harvest - the grain included, even though it had been completed several months before.

In the first part of the vision the sickle suggests a harvesting of grain. in the second part the use of the sickle to harvest grapes is unusual, to say the least. Clearly the aim of the grape harvest is not to preserve the fruit for making good wine, rather it is a "slash and burn" mentality. The grapes are for judgement, not for enjoyment.

(2) Pilgrimage.

The idea of being on the move, going to a designated place.

MacRae (17) argues that the ancient agricultural festival of Palestine was supplemented by the arriving nomadic Israelites with ideas of travelling to a significant shrine. Originally the festival seems to have been a local affair, the idea of pilgrimage is added to this. He notes that the Islamic festival, the Hajj, is a pilgrimage - "Hajj" meaning "pilgrimage". This word derives from the same roots as the Hebrew "hag" (i.e., feast) thus suggesting the "hag Yahweh" may in the first instance have had pilgrimage roots.

Pilgrimage is clearly present in Revelation:

(i) The 144,000 "follow the lamb wherever he goes" (14:4).

(ii) The kings of the earth go up to Jerusalem (21:24).

(iii) Rev 12:6 - the woman is taken into the wilderness - the place of wandering/pilgrimage.

(3) Dwelling in Booths.

The booths were originally temporary shelters for those working in the fields so that they didn't have to travel to and from their homes during harvest. They gained a cultic significance as the feast developed (18).

They came to speak of the wilderness wanderings, reminding them that they were but sojourners on the earth.(19)

Here we have the ideas of:

(i) Tent Dwelling - related to the pilgrimage theme.

(ii) The contrast with having a place of permanent abode.

One of the themes of Revelation is the "place of dwelling".
(i) There are two possible dwelling places: One can either "dwell in the city" and be part of the world system, or one can "dwell in the wilderness" and be separated unto God. This is also pictured as a contrast between "dwelling on earth" and "dwelling in heaven" - where the reference is not to the physical place of living but to the place of commitment.

(ii) To be part of the people of God is to be part of God's dwelling place, his temple. You could become a "pillar" (Rev 3:12).

(iii) In the new order "the dwelling of God will be with men" (Rev 21:3).

In all of these motifs the idea is of permanent dwelling, the place of ones commitments and affections.
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(16) E.g. Beasley- Murray in his commentary, as do most commentators.

(17) MacRae ibid p257ff.

(18) MacRae ibid p 255.

(19) Hillyer. 1 Peter and the Feast of Tabernacles p40,42.
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(4) Joy. A Time of Celebration.

Wearing crowns and waving palms.

Wearing of crowns of leaves was common in Tabernacles(20). The carrying of fruit was part of the festival:

(i) Usually citrus in the left hand - the ethrog - to celebrate the harvest, (ii) In the right hand the lulab - a palm tied together with myrtle and willow to remind them of the wilderness journeys.

Rev ch 7: The Great Multitude waving Palms and wearing crowns made of leaves.

Clearly Tabernacles imagery. The climax of the song about them is that the Messiah "will lead them to springs of living water and wipe away their tears" (7:17). These are both strong motifs in Tabernacles.

Rev 20:4 reiterates this promise "there will be no more...crying".

(5) The number 7 .

Tabernacles was seven days long, in the seventh month, the sacrifices offered all bring multiples of 7(21). Seven signifying completion, perfection, fulfillment - in this case the end of the agricultural and liturgical year, thus foreshadowing the end of history.

The whole book of Revelation is built around "seven sevens"(22) :

(1) The seven churches 1:9-3:22.

(2) The seven seals 4:1-8:5.

(3) The seven trumpets 8:6-11:19.

(4) Seven oracles about the Actors of the last days 12:1-14:5.

(5) The Judgements of the Seven angels 14:6-20.

(6) The Seven Bowls 15:1-16:21.

(7) Seven Visions of the End 17:1-20:15.

(6) Prayers for Rain.

The concept of water is important in Tabernacles as it occurs after 7 months of no rain, just prior to the autumn and winter rains. Libations of water and wine formed a daily part of the Tabernacles ceremony(23) (e.g. John 7 is about Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles - see vss 37-39.). It was interpreted prayer for rain, but prayers were offered at this time by the Jews for the resurrection of the dead. The land was perceived as being dry, dead, and requiring resurrection. Resurrection was the work of the Spirit of God, thus this was seen to be a cry for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the whole earth as prophesied by Joel, and Isaiah.

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(20) Hillyer ibid p49.

(21) Hillyer ibid p44.

(22) This outline from M. Kiddle: Commentary on Book of Revelation. Moffat N.T.Commentary.

(23) Hillyer ibid p46,47.
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The concept of "water also appears in Revelation in:

Rev 22. The Provision of Never Ending waters.

Rev 15,16 The Seven Bowls of Wrath.

Wine, poured "mixed unmixed" (14:10) - this stuff is straight off the vine, there hasn't been time to tamper with it. The phrase "mixed unmixed" makes sense in the context of Tabernacles as the wine was mixed with water in the temple libations, thus is diluted. Here there is no dilution of the wrath of God.

(7) New Years Day.

Traditionally seen to be 1st Tishri. (25)

Snaith (24) argues that 10 Tishri was actually New Years Day but for the purposes of this discussion the fact that New Years Day was part of the celebration is all that concerns us.

Another Tabernacles hint is found in Rev 2:10 "persecution for ten days."

The time span between New Years Day (1st Tishri) and Atonement (10 Tishri) was traditionally seen as a time of affliction and self examination, of penance and suffering leading up to the forgiveness of sins at Atonement. (25)

(8) A Day of Redemption.

In Leviticus 25 we have the laws concerning buying and redeeming land. The Day of Atonement every 50th year is labelled a day of Redemption (25:8ff).

Rev 5: The Seven Sealed Scroll.

We are here into redemption language.

In Jeremiah 32 we see this process of redemption of land in progress. Traditionally scrolls were drawn up covering the sale details. Clearly in Rev 5 the scroll is the title deed of earth and the issue is one of legal ownership.

God is thus here as judge and Christ as the representative man, the second Adam, who alone has legal rights to claim the earth as his inheritance. His legal right is based on his perfect sacrifice, the cross, the payment of the price of death. We are clearly left with the impression that legal right and possession of ownership are not simultaneous in time (though in heaven - which we are viewing - time is not a problem). On the earthly scene the writing on the scroll must be read, i.e. experienced by mankind, as each seal is opened. There is thus a gap between the payment of redemption and the release of redemption.

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(24) Snaith: The Jewish New Year Festival ch4

(25) Article: N.Z.Herald 28\9\96 "The Divine Wake up Call": "...a time of repentance and renewal known as High Holy Days."
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This sets us up for the rest of the book - the price is paid, but it was paid on behalf of others who must in turn accept the redemption. The rest of the book explains the outcome on those who reject and those who accept the vicarious redemption. For this to happen there must be a time of preaching so mankind can hear and decide, so claim of title awaits the coming day of redemption, the day of the Lord, by which time all men will have decided (at least this is how the theory looks to me).

This sets us up into ideas of the Day of Atonement, the Day of the Lord, the Day of Redemption. The Day of Redemption - which was the Day of atonement every 50th year - now becomes clearly important in the scheme of the book. 50 is the year after the end of the cycle of "seven sevens" i.e. 49 years. The Day of the Lord is clearly ushered in by these seven sevens. The fulfillment of Redemption is thus a primary theme, salvation is completed. Thus a major theme of the Feast of Tabernacles - the salvation of Yahweh - is depicted clearly.

Thus although Rev 5 is clearly based on Exodus 13 and the Passover episode, it is reinterpreted here as the basis of something far greater which the rest of the Book of Revelation develops out of Tabernacles. The reference to Passover is thus incidental and foundational. At various points in the Tabernacles festival Passover was remembered, particularly in the early days of the festival. As the week of tabernacles progressed so did the ideas from Passover to Canaan. This is what we seem to see in Revelation - Passover is introduced at this early stage but it is not developed greatly after this, the ideas develop from there into Canaan ideas.

(9) The Festival of Trumpets.

Here we are clearly in the Autumn festival. Trumpets were blown on the 1st Tishri and also on the 10th. The commemoration on the 1st Tishri was so significant that it became a solemn festival in itself.

Rev ch 8: The seven Trumpets.

We do not know where John gets seven trumpets from. It is possible that:

(i) Seven trumpets were blown on these occasions (in unison?), or

(ii) On other days between the 1st and 10th trumpets were blown thus making up seven blowings altogether, or

(iii) The Seven trumpets refer to the seven trumpets of the new moon – a trumpet was blown each new moon, i.e. each month so seven months = seven trumpets.

(iii) John just rounded it up to fill up a series of seven.

The last option is not likely as the way John introduces the seven trumpets suggests he is using a traditional motif and giving it new meaning. Virtually all of the other symbols in the book are traditional so we should suspect this to be also. Along with this we have the obscure reference to the "last trump" (1 Cor 15:52) which suggests that Paul knew of some sequence of trumpets which tied in with the doctrine of the Second Coming. The word "last" here suggests at least some before it! This would suggest that the idea of seven trumpets was around a long time before John wrote Revelation.

In the Synagogue today trumpets are blown every morning of this ten day period (25).

(10) A recollection of the conquest of Jericho.

At Tabernacles there was a recollection of the conquest of Jericho c/f Rev 11:13.(26)

(11) The dedication of the temple - idea of access to God.

Tabernacles was tied in firmly with ideas of the dedication of the temple and its sanctity before God. Pilgrimage was to "the place of his choosing".

Tabernacles was known as "the Feast of his Appearing". The ark of the covenant went in procession through the city and God, thought of as being on the ark, his footstool, was enthroned again on the cherubim.

Rev ch 4. The Appearance of God.

The four living creatures here are clearly cherubim ( c/f Ezek 1 & 9) and speak of the rule of God over all creation. The rule of Yahweh over all creation is a major theme of the enthronement Psalms(27). .

Rev ch 11: The idea of measuring here suggests Gods protection of the temple which was a major theme of the festival.

Rev 3:12: "...a pillar in the temple of my God" - the temple is no longer a physical building but is made up of people. It is relational, implying an open communion between God and man.

Rev 11:19, 15:5 "God's temple in heaven was opened" - access is opened.

Rev 21:22 "There is no temple" - permanent personal relationship with God is achieved thus temples are redundant.
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(26) Hillyer ibid p40.

(27) A point Eaton comes back to so often that it doesn't bear documentation.
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(12) The Festival of Lights

Four large candelabra were lit and burned all night. The whole of Jerusalem was lit as in daytime (28).

Rev 21:23,25; 22:5.- no darkness.

Rev 1-3 - The seven candlesticks at least hint towards the candelabra ceremony.

(13) Jerusalem the Centre of the Earth.

(a) The motif of the nations coming up to Jerusalem - to war against it - is prominent in Tabernacles Psalms - c/f Rev 11, 20:9.

(b) The glorious future of Zion is a major part of the Tabernacles ceremony and this is seen in the latter parts of Isaiah.

c/f Rev 21,22. The Blessing of Jerusalem. The kings of the nations flow to it.

(14) The Missionary Outlook of Tabernacles.

Tabernacles was perceived to be of universal significance in Ancient Israel. It was "THE feast of the Lord" par excellence. It was the feast that all were expected to pilgrim to from all over the earth. This applied to Jews initially but came to be seen as applying to all men as the symbolic meaning of the feast developed.

This is seen clearly in the seventy bullocks offered in total - speaking of the 70 nations of the earth (by Jewish reckoning the 3 sons of Noah founded 70 "nations"), thus the festival is missionary in character. (29)

The Universal nature of Tabernacles is clear in Revelation:

(a) The 144,000 have "been redeemed from all the earth" (14:3) and are clearly the same group as the great multitude who come "from every nation, tribe people and tongue" (7:9).

(b) The nations share in the blessings of the New Jerusalem -particularly the healing coming from the leaves and fruit of the tree of Life(22:2), who is presumably Christ.
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(28) Hillyer ibid p49,50.

(29) Hillyer ibid p45.
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(b) The Enthronement-myth-ritual Theory and the Book of Revelation.

In this section I will compare the Book of Revelation to the elements of the kingship ritual listed above as summarised by Oesterley.

However some general comments can be made:

(1) This whole concept of ideas was presented - it seems - as an extended drama or recital. The key ideas are conflict and kingship, which are intertwined with agricultural fertility.

At the end of summer the ground in Palestine was baked hard and dry and this was seen to be a sign of the victory of the powers of Chaos over good order in creation. Hence the drama is intended to represent the victory over the forces of chaos in creation, but in a prophetic sense - bringing it up to date and making the victory real again for this year.

A dramatic presentation of the overcoming of the forces of chaos by the god of creation is part of the autumn festival of the surrounding nations. This was clearly tied into the concept of kingship(30). We can safely assume Israel adopted this into their autumn festival. Hints of this are present in the Psalms and Isaiah in contexts which would seem to be associated with this festival.

Though we do not have any direct references to creation in REVELATION except in Chapter 4, the creation motif is never far away. The beast with 7 heads is a clear reference to the creation monster of mythology. The use of this monster is a clear indication that we are seeing, in REVELATION the working out of a conflict begun at the Fall.

(2) Ideas of Enthronement, kingship, rulership of God.

Hayes (31) demonstrates how Ps2, 110 were used to interpret Christ's ascension in the early church, but the application of them went beyond the events of Acts 1. In the Autumn festival it was traditional to give the king universal powers. Universalism of the "salvation" of the king and his subsequent global rule is an important motif.

(3) This battle with evil was often presented in stages in the surrounding culture(30). This is seen in:

(i) The Tammuz myth (Canaan)

(ii) The Osiris myth (Egypt).

(iii) The Marduk myth (Babylon).

This conflict was dramatically enacted by the king of Babylon, and possibly elsewhere, in an overnight ritual. Night thus means death, defeat. The coming of day speaks of salvation.

Israel must have been aware of these ideas but how much they adopted them is unsure. (32)
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(30) Frankfort: Kingship and the Gods. (This is part of the essence of Frankfort's thesis. He develops this in relation to Egypt and Babylon, developing his theory in part VII of his book in detail.)

(31) Hayes: Resurrection as Enthronement.

(32) Eaton brings out hints of this pattern in the Psalms in ch2 of "Kingship and the Psalms". He refers to the ideas of night, darkness, the floods or waters overwhelming the Psalmist, etc.
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The stages were:

(a) Conflict and victory of the creator/king in creation.

(b) The overcoming and "death" of the creator/king (Messiah) by the forces of evil. This death is seen as vicarious - on behalf of the nation. This "death" is the cause of the deadness of the land, which awaits the resurrection of the king-god for its fertility.

(c) The king's subsequent "resurrection" and victory over the chaos/death powers.

(d) A final battle in which the chaos monster is totally destroyed and there is a sort of recreation.

These ideas are clearly seen in the servant songs of Isaiah, particularly ch 53 and Eaton brings out the ideas in the Psalms.

Revelation and this complex of Ideas:

(1) A recitation or symbolic representation of the myth of creation.

This seems to be missing in Revelation, but the thrust of Revelation is not the beginning but the End, so this is not unexpected.

(2) A dramatic representation of the death and resurrection of the god, with whom the king was identified.

Ideas of the enemies of God being overcome, particularly Tiamat, the seven headed creation monster. Tiamat is the god of death and destruction so ideas of overcoming death, i.e. resurrection are prominent in this festival.

Rev 5: One set of ideas here is that of the Humiliation of the Messiah. Clearly here the king (Christ) has conquered - but the way to that victory was a humiliating death.

Rev 12:1-5. The conflict between the Dragon and the Manchild is traditional. The Dragon kills the child who is the king, though that is not stated in Rev 12 - it is implied by the use of the title "lamb" (12:11). The king then rises from the dead and ascends to God.

(3) A ritual combat, in which the triumph of the god over his enemies was depicted.

The combat features of Revelation are vast. Note these:

Rev 12, 13, 17: The Battle with the Seven Headed Chaos Monster.

(4) A sacred marriage.

Throughout the Ancient Near East the Marriage of the king was re-celebrated at the Autumn festival. Often there was a sort of victory, marriage banquet.

Rev 19, 21. The Marriage of the Lamb, the King.

(5) A triumphal procession in which the king played the part of the god. The god is enthroned.

Rev 19:11-16 - A triumphal procession.

Rev 11:15-18 The Seventh Trumpet.

The language here is so strongly Enthronement language that it would be impossible to deny a connection with Tabernacles. it is clearly something new "you have...begun to reign", i.e. a new phase of rulership/ enthronement. References to Psalm 2 are so strong at this point of Revelation that many commentators argue that this section of Revelation is an exposition of Psalm 2.

Rev 12:10.

(6) The importance of the king for the well being of the community.

His death was vicarious - as was the humiliation of the king in the Psalms and the Servant of Isa 53. This is a strong theme of the Tabernacles literature and of the role of the king in the festival throughout the Ancient Near East. The king’s suffering is because of the nation's sin and his subsequent victory over death is for their salvation.

Rev 5:9 12:11.

(7) Chaos monster Destroyed and a Recreation.

Chaos Monster destroyed: Rev20:1-6

Also Rev 12 – the chaos monster was Leviathen – the seven headed serpent.

Recreation: Rev 21,22.

Summary:

It seems clear from this overview that Tabernacles themes are clearly present in every chapter of Revelation from ch 4 onwards, and there are hints even earlier than that. If Second Isaiah is a Jewish interpretation of the feat of Tabernacles, then we can also say that Revelation is a Christian application and interpretation of the same festival.

Part 5: Ideas of Liberation from Revelation.

Revelation is, as we have noted previously, the exposition of the final outworking of redemption, of salvation, and the full manifestation of the kingship of Christ on earth.

Liberation motifs are thus strongly underlying the book- particularly the idea of the 50 year jubilee release of land and people. This is not systematically brought out but is, in my view, the underlying dominant concept which holds the whole book together.

The key idea which seems to thread right through the book is the liberation of mankind from "Death" - the evil power which enslaves and controls mankind (33).

Ch 5 - Christ died a substitutionary, vicarious death which overcame Death.

Ch6,7 - Yet if mankind reject this death the only outcome is Death - as each seal is opened Death reigns on every side. Every plague of the book results in ever increasing death of man and destruction of his inheritance, earth.

ch12 - we can over come Death - by the blood of the Lamb, by confession, by not loving our own lives unto death.

Those whose affections are on this word partake in the Death of this world - those who "dwell in heaven" are mysteriously preserved from Death - even if they die a martyr's death. Over them the "second death" has no power, and even the consequences of their physical death are reversed by a bodily resurrection. They have the right to the tree of life which is in the garden of God. They shall dwell in the inheritance God has planned for mankind - they shall reign on earth.

But lest we think that all of this is in the great beyond, we are called now, as members of the local church to overcome - "He who has ears to hear let him hear...he who overcomes shall..." The liberation from Death is thus to be a present reality in some way for the present people of God. In this way we are to witness to the "nations" (Rev 22:2). Tell me, what are the nations doing here in Rev 22 if this is the eternal state? The implication is that the healing of the tree of life gets to the nations because of those who partake of the waters of life now.

Revelation is thus a call to missionary activity in the face of the hoards of Hell, a call to witness even at the expense of your own life, to die a witness, a martyr.

The message of Revelation is thus that God has liberated his people - but they are liberated to mission, the aim of which is the liberation of the world from the dominion of Satan, the power of Death.

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(33) I will in this section personify "Death" by capitalising it. "Death" thus refers to that which we need liberation from; "death" (small "d") refers to physical death.

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The use of Tabernacles imagery is thus significant - Israel here celebrated in the land the fullness of God's blessing and provision under his rule - yet were surrounded by hostile and warring nations bent on her destruction. John's use of Tabernacles tells us much the same message: we are living in the fullness of Gods provision - if we have ears to hear - but we are surrounded by opposing forces. We should rejoice in the kingship of our God and thus overcome the darkness with the light of his rising.

Bibliography:

Cited in this Essay:

Frankfort. H. Kingship and the Gods. Univ of Chicago 1948.

Eaton. John H. Kingship and the Psalms SCM 1976.

Hayes. John H. The Resurrection as Enthronement and the Earliest Church Christology. Interpretation Vol 22/3 p333-345.

Hillyer. N. 1st Peter and the Feast of Tabernacles. Tyndale Bulletin 1970 Vol21. p39-70.

MacRae. George W. The Meaning and Evolution of the Feast of Tabernacles. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 1960 Vol22. p251-277.

Leigh. Jack. The Divine Wake Up Call. N.Z.Herald 28\9\96.

Mowinkel. S. The Psalms in Israel's Worship vol2. Oxford 1962.

Snaith. N.H. The Jewish New Year Festival. London 1948.

Beasley Murray. G.R. A Commentary on the Book of Revelation.

Kiddle. M. A Commentary on the Book of Revelation.

Also Read:

Mowinkel. S. He That Cometh. Oxford. 1956.

Ringgren. H. The Messiah in the Old Testament. ET 1956.

Hooke.S.H.(ed) Myth, Ritual and Kingship. Oxford 1958.

Johnson.A.R. Sacral Kingship in Ancient Israel. Cardiff 1967.