"Revelation! What Did The First Audience Hear?"

AuthorHouse

Chapter One

The Introduction

The original occasion of this study was my reaction to the publishing of the book "The Late Great Planet Earth" by Hal Lindsey. It almost instantly had become a best seller in my congregation—so it also became a book in my library. After reading it (stewing through it might be a better description) and a then finding a new commentary by the late Dr. Martin Franzmann of the LC-MS, I proceeded to study the book of Revelation at some length. This became a continuous three year study with my Sunday morning Adult Bible Class at St. John Lutheran Church in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. By the God's grace I was able to repeat and improve this three year study for my Bible Class at Fox Point Lutheran Church.

After reading about 10 more commentaries of various and sundry views and slants and hundreds of web pages, I never actually heard or saw what the original hearers were hearing in their time and culture. From the old Lutherans I did read a lot about how the Pope was the Beast/ Antichrist. They apparently saw only this as the ultimate meaning of the book. Others took the Lindsey approach, that all signs point to the late 20th century as a road map of future events unfolding now. To those who claim to know the signs and symbols, they have fixed upon their own century as the century for the fulfillment of the prophecies of this book. This approach always forms the basis of the tabloids at the checkout stand. You've seen them as you stand in line at the supermarket and read the blaring headlines in the racks. Why not count how many you'll see; something like "The Bible Predicts the End of the World."

There is an unusual word which could describe this commentary -"cosmology." In Greek the [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.]/kosmos/is the orderly or ordered creation. That means it did not start out in order but in chaos. Genesis 1 begins the creation story in the same way, i.e from created chaos and moving to the created order. In the first century minds and culture, a god or gods had ordered chaos into the ordered and predictable reality. After all, the dependable and predictable Zodiac/Astrology, directed many of their lives. The moveable stars/planets of the heavens depended upon their predictable positions. The ordering of the cosmos became the primary feature and focus of religious and cultural thought. The close of the first century AD can only be described as being the most totally religious era in human history. The Satan seemed to be saying, "If I can't beat them, I'll join them. If religion is what they want I'll concoct so many false and counterfeit religions they will never know the Truth in Jesus the Christ!"

So I ask the not so obvious question, what is "religion?" In the Latin original it means "to bind back together re-ligare." The re-prefix means to do over. We hear ligare in the derivative words today in liga-ment, liga-tion and liga-ture. Re-lig-a-tion is that which binds all of reality back together. Re-ligion implies a prior scattering as in chaos, but then a reuniting to present a comprehensive view of the cosmos. Re-ligio literally "ties reality together." The book of Revelation is really about re-lig-ating, or a re-tying together the entire universe/cosmos in the Triune God, Who revealed Himself in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John, shows us Who it is that brought the cosmos into existence and Who now is the sovereign Lord of the ordered creation. Revelation begins assuming we know about chaos, disorder, sin and the shattered and fractured nature of the fallen world (to Christians) as the result of rebellion and sin. St. John assumes this because all religions had a creation myth that was fundamental to understanding the world. (St. John will tell us his story of the early world in chapter 12:7ff.)

What makes something a religion? Not everything we label as a religion really is one. For any system, belief or philosophy to be a religion it must have this following elemental triad.

1. A theology. The religion must define a god, gods as the organizing principle of the cosmic reality.

2. A soteriology. A way of salvation, i.e. how does one come to be at one with this god? How does one achieve salvation, by self or by grace or some combination?

3. A liturgy or cultus. What is expected of humanity? How is the God of the cosmos served or worshipped?

All true religions must have this tripod. Without one leg the schema falls.

The religious world at the end of the first century Anno Domini had a variety of competing religions. The following are certainly the targets of St. John's polemics and apologetics.

1. The Jews who rejected Jesus as Messiah.

2. The Gnostics.

3. The Pantheonic inclusivists.

4. The cult of the Emperor.

5. The mystery religion of Mithras. (Some feel that elements of Persian Zoroastrianism are basic to Mithraism, especially the dualism of a good god and an evil god who were virtually equal in power.)

What is common among this quintet is that they are all self-directed religions of works or special or mysterious knowledge necessary in order to achieve salvation. I assert that St. John's Revelation is an apologetic for the Christian religion being the one true religion, and a polemic against the feeble, false, and satanically inspired religions. St. John, taking the battle for souls to their playing field, uses the coded language of the mystery religions. I have reached this conlusion after having studied the book carefully for more than eight years. It is certainly possible to hold other views about the book. I feel that what the original hearers heard when they heard this opening chapter for the first time was an apology for Jesus the Christ and a polemic against the Satan.

1. The Jews, who rejected Jesus as Lord, often were mortal enemies of the early Christians. St. Paul's preconversion testifies amply to that. Cf. Acts 6:1ff. I also interpret St. Matthew's Gospel as an attempt to convert the scattered Messianicly oriented Jews after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. Revelation is an apology for the witness to Jesus as "the Messiach Adonai, the Lord's Anointed."

2. Gnosticism, like Christianity, claimed to be a "mystery" religion. The mystery is that knowledge that can only be learned from those who knew the mystery. The mysteries were revealed knowledge not discoverable knowledge. The Gnostics were "The Big House" theory of ancient religion. All religions could live under the "Big House" that Gnosticism built. It was the ancient version of the B'hai faith. It was mysterious and had elaborate explanations of the cosmos. Jesus, along with the whole host of pagan gods and goddesses, was one of many demi-urges or emanations from the Godhead. He was an avenue to their spiritual goal, a messenger/angel who brought people the true [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.]/gnosis/knowledge about life beyond this world. They regarded the mortal flesh as evil and incapable of redemption and restoration. An example I'll cite later on...