A Literal Reading of Israel and Its Enemies Misunderstands Revelation

A Spiritual, Worldwide Israel

While I respect all godly Christians who differ with me on Revelation, I think the spiritual, worldwide nature of Israel in Revelation is easy enough to demonstrate, beginning with Rev 5:9-10. This text builds on Exodus 19:5-6, where ethnic, geographical Israel is a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Israel in Exodus was an ethnic group heading for a geographical place. But the New Israel of Revelation is the purchase of the cross, and is applied to people from every tribe, language, and nation. Rev 5:9-10 adopts the language of Old Testament Israel. But there is no ethnic or geographical limitation to the New Israel of Revelation 5.

Another example of the New Israel in Revelation is the 144,000. In Rev 7:4-8 there is a description of 144,000 individuals made up of 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. It sounds like a very ethnic group. But in the vision John never sees this group. Instead, when he looks he sees a great multitude that cannot be numbered, made up of people from every tribe, language and nation (7:9-10). This “heard” and “saw” pattern is common in Revelation (Rev 1:10-12; 5:5-6; 17:1-3; 21:9-10). What John hears described and what he sees seem very different, and yet at another level they are the same. So although he hears about 144,000 Israelites, the meaning of the image is not focused on ethnic Israel. Israel has spiritual, worldwide characteristics in Revelation. This has huge implications for the interpretation of much of the symbolism in the book.

In Revelation, not only Israel is seen in spiritual and worldwide terms, but the same is true of Israel’s enemies, such as Babylon and the beasts. Let’s look at a specific geographical term in Revelation 16:12: “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east.” If you take the language of Revelation literally, the Euphrates River must mean the Euphrates River, a literal, geographical spot in the Middle East (in modern day Iraq). But John himself explains what the Euphrates River is all about. Revelation 16:12 is part of the sixth plague. In Rev 17:1 he elaborates on the sixth plague when he describes a prostitute called Babylon sitting on “many waters” (the Euphrates River as described in Jer 51:13). The Euphrates River passed right through ancient Babylon. So the angel who comes to John in Revelation 17 is the sixth bowl angel. He has come to explain something about the Euphrates River. That something is found in Revelation 17:15.

“Then the angel said to me, ‘The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.’” The waters John saw (in Rev 17:1) represented the Euphrates River. And what does the Euphrates River represent in Revelation? In verse 15 the angel tells us exactly. They are “peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.” The Euphrates River is a symbol of many nations– the political, secular, and economic powers of this world. In the Old Testament, the Euphrates River was a literal and local river but in the book of Revelation it is a symbol of world-wide powers in support of end-time Babylon. So not only Israel is seen in spiritual, worldwide terms, so are the enemies of Israel, represented as Babylon, the Euphrates River, Sodom, and Egypt. This is crucial for the interpretation of such symbols within Revelation.

The Church as a New Israel

But in what sense can the church be called Israel? Is it ethnic, geographical, or relational? In ethnic terms, Israel started out as a birth family with twelve sons physically descended from Jacob. But “Israel” as a name was not ethnic to begin with, it was the spiritual name given to Jacob after his wrestling match with the angel (Gen 32:24-30). The sons of Jacob/Israel first became a race, and then a nation. So should the church be called Israel in an ethnic sense? No. First of all, Israel as a name is a spiritual designation (Hebrew: yisra’el– “prince with God” or “one who strives with God” or simply “God strives”) rather than just a family name or the name of a country. From the beginning it applied to a spiritual victory in relation to God.

Revelation 5:9-10 applies the national language of kings and priests (Exod 19:5-6) to the New Testament people of God. It tells us that on the cross Jesus purchased His followers from every tribe, people, language, and nation and made them to be a kingdom of priests. So in Revelation the language of Israel is applied to all the people of the earth who accept Jesus Christ. Whoever is in relationship with Jesus belongs to Israel because Jesus Himself is the new Israel. When the language of Revelation 7:4-8, therefore, sounds as if the 144,000 are exclusively of the ethnic tribes of Israel, we need to remember that the things of Israel have been expanded in a spiritual way through relationship with Jesus Christ.

Jesus Himself is the new Israel, He has re-lived the experience of Israel during His earthly sojourn. Anyone who is in relationship with Jesus, therefore, is adopted into the family of the new Jacob. It doesn’t matter if you are German, African, Australian, Indian, or Chinese–it does not matter where you are from or what your ethnic background is–if you are in relationship with Jesus Christ, you are part of the family of Israel. So when Revelation uses the language and history of ancient Israel, we should not think in ethnic terms. When it comes to “Israel,” it is no longer who you are descended from but who you are related to that counts.

Old Testament Israel was also geographically oriented. The family/nation was attached to a particular place. They had borders–borders that would change from time to time–but were reasonably identifiable. Whenever individual Israelites moved away from that national territory, they would seize every opportunity to travel back home, particularly to Jerusalem. Should the church be thought of as Israel in geographical terms? The answer is also no. Jesus, the new Israel, is located in heavenly places (Rev 5:6-14; 7:15-17). There is no place on earth that is closer to Him than any other. No matter where you live you have equal access to Him through the Holy Spirit. To speak of the church in terms of Israel, then, is based on its relation to Jesus Christ. So while Revelation uses Old Testament language about Israel and its neighbors, the significance is neither ethnic nor geographical. Babylon, the Euphrates River, Jezebel, David, Egypt and Sodom are not to be understood in the old ethnic or geographical sense. They have to do with Jesus, the church, and the challenges the church faces in the course of Christian history.

The book of Revelation uses the geographical language of the Old Testament but the meaning of places and groups is different. Physical things about Israel and its neighbors are applied in a spiritual and world-wide sense. The new Israel, on the other hand, is not located in any one particular place or made up of any one particular people. Anyone in any place who is related to Jesus Christ can become a part of that new Israel. If the above is true, it has powerful implications for the interpretation of Revelation. An interpreter who misses this point will have as much difficulty understanding the book as will one who never heard of the Old Testament. Many sincere Christians do not read Revelation in this way. They believe that Revelation is not written to Christians, it is written to ethnic Jews living at the end of time. It really has nothing to do with the church, even though the beginning (1:11,19) and the end (22:16) seem to say that it does. We will look at evidence in Revelation that supports what I have been saying about New Testament Israel.

Israel and the Church in Revelation

This is the second in a series on Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation.

Just as Christ fulfilled the history of Israel in His own experience, so in Revelation the experience of the church is also modeled on that history. When the New Testament talks about the church, it often does so in the language of Israel. In 1 Peter 2:4-10, the members of the church are living stones built up into a spiritual temple. Peter then quotes texts in Hosea that applied to OT Israel and applies them to the church, including Gentiles in this new Israel. In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul likens baptism into Christ as a new Exodus through a new Red Sea. The experience of the church is modeled on that of OT Israel.

So when Revelation introduces the 144,000, 12,000 come from each of the twelve tribes of Israel (On the 144,000 as applying to the church rather than end-time literal Jews see Rev 7:4-8– Excursis on the 144,000). It is talking about the church as twelve spiritual tribes descended from the witness of the twelve apostles (see also Matt 19:27-28). The letters to the seven churches (chapters two and three) contain many references to the people of God in the OT. They will have access to the tree of life (Rev 2:7; Gen 2:17), they will receive the hidden manna (Rev 2:17; Exod 16:33), and they have among them Balaam (Rev 2:14; Num 22-24) and Jezebel (Rev 2:20; 1 Kings 18-21). The church, in the book of Revelation and throughout the New Testament, is modeled on the experience of Old Testament Israel.

So the church really has two models for its behavior. On the one hand, it is modeled on the experience of Old Testament Israel. In the book of Revelation the church is dealing with Sodom, Egypt, and Babylon (Rev 11:8) just as Old Testament Israel did. The experience of the church is described in the language of the past, the language of the Old Testament. But we have already seen that Jesus went through all the experiences of Old Testament Israel. So the church also models on Jesus Christ. “Where I am, there also will my servant be” (John 12:26). Jesus’ life, death and resurrection become models for the life, experience, and behavior of the church. In the book of Revelation, you can see it illustrated in some fascinating ways– the church is pursued into the wilderness (12:6,14), is put to death (6:9-10), endures suffering (13:9-10; 12:14), is made up of kings and priests (1:5-6; 5:9-10), serves 1260 days clothed in sackcloth (11:3– Jesus ministry was 3 1/2 years long), is slain and mocked (11:7-10), but is also resurrected and ascends to heaven (11:11-12). So in the book of Revelation, the church is described in terms of both Jesus and Israel.

Finding Christ in the Book of Revelation

From a New Testament perspective, all prophecy is Christ-centered. In other words, if one’s interpretation of prophecy does not deliver a clearer picture of Jesus, that prophecy has probably not been truly understood. If the interpreter is not careful, he or she might get the impression that the beasts, the vultures, the darkness, the earthquakes, and the hailstones are what the book of Revelation is all about. But they are more like the form in which the central message of the book is given. The true centerpiece of the book of Revelation is not war or catastrophe, it is Jesus Christ and him crucified. His presence permeates the book even when He is not named. Almost every chapter has a reference to Him in one way or another. Besides the direct use of His name, He is also observed in symbols like Son of Man (1:13), Lamb (5:6, and the male child of the woman (12;5). In addition to Christ, there are also references to churches and the cross (for example, Rev 1:5-6,11; 5:6; 11:11). To read this book without gaining a clearer picture of Jesus is to miss the key point.

In the book of Revelation, the symbols of the Old Testament are transformed because of what Christ has done. Revelation is built on the prior revelations in the Old Testament (also called the Hebrew Bible) and its major themes. But because of Jesus’ earthly life, His death and resurrection, and His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, these Old Testament themes find fresh and creative meaning. Since the book of Revelation is a New Testament book, it picks up on the New Testament’s understanding of Old Testament themes in the light of the Christ event. While it is full of Old Testament symbolism, Revelation is a Christian book designed to teach us something about Jesus, life in the church, and the meaning of the cross.

This general picture (Revelation is a Christian book) is confirmed by an introductory statement in plain language near the beginning of the book, Revelation 1:5-6. There we are addressed with a minimum of symbolism, in language that cannot be misunderstood, as if John wanted to establish without question, right at the beginning, just what this book is about. It is about Jesus Christ, the “faithful martyr” (cross), “the firstborn from the dead” (resurrection), and the “ruler of the kings of the earth” (His ministry in heaven). No matter how strange the language of the book may seem, therefore, it is a deeply spiritual book, it unveils Jesus Christ and calls forth mighty songs of worship and praise. Jesus Christ is the center and substance of each part of the book, even the seals and the trumpets. He transforms the symbols and ideas the vision draws from the Old Testament. Truly in the book of Revelation “all the books of the Bible meet and end” (Ellen G. White, Acts of the Apostles, 585).

There is a basic insight that we need to keep in mind here. Throughout the New Testament, Christ is seen as the one who fulfilled the whole experience of God’s Old Testament people. The author of Revelation is constantly pointing to the New Testament Christ, but he is using Old Testament language to do it. God meets people where they are. John, as he is writing Revelation, sees the Christ of the New Testament in the Old. This leads to amazing depth when you dig behind the surface of the text, discover the Old Testament allusions, and see how the gospel transforms the Old Testament in the light of the doing and dying of Christ. For detailed study on how Christ fulfills the life and experience of God’s Old Testament people, see my book Meet God Again for the First Time, published by Review and Herald, 2003.

What I Think I Know About Rev 17: 8) The ten horns of Revelation 17 are distinct in meaning from the seven heads of the beast.

In Revelation 16 and 17 one encounters the kings of the east (16:12), the kings of the whole inhabited world (16:14), the kings of the earth (17:2), the seven kings (17:10), and now the ten kings (17:12)! We have seen that the kings of the whole inhabited world and the kings of the earth both represent the secular political alliance of the end-time. As such, they are to be equated with the Euphrates River and with the beast of Revelation itself in its final phase. We have seen that the kings of the east (Rev 16:12) are the end-time equivalent of Cyrus the Persian and his allies who conquered Babylon by drying up the Euphrates River. The kings of the east are represented by the Lamb and His called, chosen and faithful followers in Revelation 17:14. This leaves two groupings of kings unaccounted for, the seven heads of the beast, which are seven kings (Rev 17:9) and the ten horns of the beast, which are explained in 17:12-14. Both the seven heads and the seven horns are attached to the beast in the initial vision (Rev 17:3). What relationship do the seven kings and the ten kings have with each other, if any?

We have noticed already that the seven kings (the seven heads of the beast) are consecutive. In the explanation (17:7-18) of the vision (17:3-6), John is told that five are fallen, one is now, and one is yet to come. So while the beast is pictured with seven heads, the heads are not contemporaneous, they are consecutive. As in Revelation 13:14, when one of the beast’s heads is wounded to death (Rev 13:3), the whole beast dies and is then resurrected with a new head (Rev 13:14). So the seven heads (kings) represent seven consecutive phases of the beast.

In contrast, the ten horns, which are also pictured on the beast (17:3), are ten kings (Rev 17:12). As one pictures the beast, with its seven heads and ten horns, one might get the impression that the ten horns are scattered fairly evenly across the ten heads. But whoever they are, they are not an entity that existed in John’s day. They do not, in reality, have any connection with the seven heads except that all seventeen kings have some relation to the beast. But the seven and the ten are not contemporaneous with each other. The ten kings do not come into play on the world scene until the seventh head has passed off the scene. They are an end-time group without a pedigree or back story. Rather than being consecutive, they come to power together (17:12), they have authority together and take actions together (Rev 17:13-14), and they go out together (Rev 17:12, 14, 17). They receive their dominion along with the beast (17:12) in the last period of earth’s history, the time of the “eighth” (Rev 17:11), earth’s final crisis. It is not until the beast rises in support of Babylon during the final crisis, that they come into play.

Conclusion to the Whole Series
Revelation 17 is one of the most difficult passages in the whole Bible. For many years it made little sense to me. Little by little, some things began to fall into place and in this essay I have attempted share those things I think I have come to know about the chapter. There are many aspects of the chapter that are still a puzzle to me. I am hoping that, working together, we might be able to expand the elements of the chapter that I think I know.

What I Think I Know About Rev 17: 7) While Daniel 7 plays a strong role in the background of Revelation 17, the major Old Testament background is the fall of Babylon motif.

The fall of Babylon motif is signaled by Revelation 16:12 and 17:1, as noted earlier. The mention of the Euphrates River (Rev 16:12) and the “many waters” (Rev 17:1) are clear allusions to ancient Babylon and its fall to the armies of Cyrus, King of Persia. To understand this relationship, it is helpful to visit the fall of Babylon texts in Jeremiah and Isaiah. A good beginning point is Jeremiah 50:33-34 (NIV): “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. Yet their Redeemer is strong; the LORD Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.’” This text makes it clear that Babylon’s fall was not an accident. It was part of the direct purpose of God on account of Babylon’s oppression of God’s people.

God continues His indictment of the Babylonians in Jeremiah 50:35-36: “’A sword against the Babylonians!’ declares the LORD—‘against those who live in Babylon and against her officials and wise men! A sword against her false prophets! They will become fools. A sword against her warriors! They will be filled with terror.’” Yahweh’s attack against the Babylonians specifically targets Babylon’s officials, her wise men, her false prophets and her warriors. This is a listing of the people who made Babylon strong; her administrators, her thinkers, her religious leaders and her military personnel.

The prophecy continues in verse 37: “A sword against her horses and chariots and all the foreigners in her ranks! They will become women. A sword against her treasures! They will be plundered.” The previous verses talk about officials, wise men and warriors. Now this verse talks about horses and chariots, mercenary troops and treasures. Again this is a listing of the resources that make Babylon strong! But there is one more resource that has not yet been listed (Jer 50:38 [NIV]): “A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror.” What are the waters being dried up here? The waters of Babylon, the Euphrates River!
You see, the Euphrates River was part of the defenses of ancient Babylon. It provided a moat around the city that made an attack against the walls almost impossible to carry out. But the Euphrates River was even more than this in Jer 50:38. It had become a symbol of all the resources that supported ancient Babylon, including the warriors and officials and treasures that made Babylon strong. When Revelation 17:15 interprets the Euphrates River as a symbol of the civil and secular powers of this world in support of end-time Babylon, it is using the Euphrates River in a way consistent with its usage in the Old Testament. The drying up of the Euphrates symbolizes the loss of Babylon’s strength to defend herself. This theme is repeated in Jeremiah 51:36-37 and Isaiah 44:24-28, with the inclusion of Cyrus as a key player in the drama of drying up the Euphrates (Isa 45:1-4).

With this in mind, let’s summarize the fall of Babylon, as narrated in the Old Testament, in a sequence of five events. Cyrus, king of Persia (a “king from the east”—Rev 16:12), dried up the literal Euphrates River, conquered the city of Babylon, permitted Israel to go free, and arranged for the rebuilding of Jerusalem. This five-part narrative clearly sets the foundation for the last portion of the Book of Revelation (chapter 15-22). In the Book of Revelation an end-time Cyrus (the “kings from the rising of the sun”—Rev 16:12), dries up the end-time Euphrates River (Rev 16:12, cf. 17:15), delivers end-time Israel (Rev 18:20 – 19:1-5), leading to a New Jerusalem (Revelation 21-22). In other words, the fundamental narrative substructure of the Revelation 16-22 is grounded in the Old Testament story of Cyrus and Babylon’s fall. The conquest of Cyrus is, so to speak, a subtext for everything that happens in Revelation 16-22.

What I Think I Know About Rev 17: 6) While Revelation 17 takes a global approach to the end-times, The Great Controversy approaches the same events from a local perspective.

Revelation’s global (world-wide) approach to the final events of earth’s history is evident in the description of the major players. The secular/political entity of Revelation 17 involves “the kings of the earth” and “the inhabitants of the earth” (Rev 17:2), and “the kings of the whole inhabited world” (Rev 16:14). When “the cities of the nations fell” every mountain and island was affected, also a very global picture. The beast is venerated by “those who live on the earth” (Rev 17:8). The waters of 17:1 are “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and languages” (Rev 17:15).

Babylon is likewise global in scope. It is “the great city that rules over the kings of the earth”. It rides the beast, which represents the people and kings of the earth. So the interaction between Babylon and the beast, including Babylon’s destruction by the ten kings, is portrayed in world-wide, global terms. The experience of the saints at this time, therefore, is also seen in terms of the world-wide situation (Rev 17:6).

In the final crisis of earth’s history (as portrayed in Revelation 17) Babylon, which represents a worldwide alliance of religious institutions, controls the beast, which represents a worldwide alliance of secular, political, military institutions. Like the papacy in the Middle Ages, Babylon dominates “the kings of the earth” for a short time. But when the kings of the earth realize that in joining Babylon they have ended up on the losing side (Rev 17:14), they take out their frustration on the religious alliance that led them astray (Rev 17:16).

In sharp contrast, Ellen White, in the book The Great Controversy, approaches the same events from a local perspective. She begins her account of the final events with the close of probation, which she describes as “Christ ceasing His intercession in the sanctuary” (GC 627.3—this parallels Revelation 15:5-8). On page 628 of GC, she then describes the first four plagues of Revelation 16 with appropriate citations. She then pauses to describe the physical and emotional trauma that both God’s people and their opponents will experience during the plagues (GC 628-634). She also describes God’s efforts to help and encourage the saints during that time when some are in prison cells, and others are hidden in solitary retreats in the forests and the mountains (GC 635). She sees companies of armed men approaching these solitary groups to execute the death decree (Rev 13:15—GC 640). To human sight it appears that they are about to die (GC 630).

She then resumes her midrash on the seven bowl-plagues on page 636. God intervenes with a dense blackness, deeper than the darkness of the night (corresponding to the fifth bowl-plague (Rev 16:10-11). God then stops the angry multitudes in their tracks with a shining token of His approval of the huddled and praying saints. The angry mobs realize they have been deceived. This corresponds to the sixth bowl-plague, with its drying up of the Euphrates and its elaboration in 17:14-16. She then quotes portions of the seventh bowl-plague to describe the terror of the unsaved at many heavenly and earthly signs (GC 636-640).

Ellen White then returns to the forest scene where God’s people were suddenly delivered from the angry mobs (GC 640). She notes that the enemies of God’s law include from the ministers (religious leaders) down to the least among them (the followers). They find out “they have been fighting against God. Religious teachers have led souls to perdition while professing to guide them to the gates of Paradise” (still GC 640). Local religious leaders are the equivalent of Babylon in Revelation 17. The people who follow the religious leaders are the local equivalent of the beast and its ten horns. The angry mobs’ change of heart (GC 640) is the local equivalent of the drying up of the Euphrates. And the focus of God’s regard in this whole account is groups of faithful ones in prison or in hiding. These are the equivalent of the “saints” in Revelation 17:6. So while Revelation 17 takes a global approach to the end-times, The Great Controversy approaches the same events from a local perspective.

What I Think I Know About Rev 17: 5) The vision of Babylon in Revelation 17:1 to 19:10 is strongly parallel to the vision of the New Jerusalem in 21:9 – 22:5.

In the latter part of the book of Revelation, the New Jerusalem as the bride of the Lamb is set off in contrast to Babylon the prostitute. This parallel is tipped off by the opening lines of 17:1 and 21:9. Each verse begins with “One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me” (Greek of 17:1: kai ēlthen eis ek tōn hepta angelōn tōn echontōn tas hepta phialas kai elalēsen met emou; Greek of 21:9: kai ēlthen eis ek tōn hepta angelōn tōn echontōn tas hepta phialas . . . kai elalēsen met emou). The Greek of the two verses is identical with the exception that in 21:9 there is an explanatory insertion “which are filled with the seven last plagues” (Greek: tōn gemontōn tōn hepta plēgōn tōn eschatōn). This is way too many words in common to be an accident. The bowl angel of chapter 17 and the bowl angel of chapter 21 are one and the same.

The speech that follows in each case opens in the same way. “Come, I will show you” (Greek: deuro, deixō soi). In 17:1 the angel shows John the judgment of the great prostitute. In 21:9 the angel shows John the bride, the wife of the lamb, which is the New Jerusalem (21:9-11). The comparison between Babylon and the New Jerusalem could not be any clearer. The New Jerusalem comes down from heaven and settles on the ruins of Babylon (Robert Badenas, “New Jerusalem—The Holy City”, in Symposium on Revelation—Book II, edited by Frank B. Holbrook [Silver Spring, MD: Biblical Research Institute, 1992], 255-257).

There are numerous parallels that flow from this double introduction. In each case John is carried away in the Spirit (17:3; 21:10). He sees the great city Babylon (17:5, 18) and the holy city Jerusalem (21:10). The prostitute sits on many waters and the beast (17:1, 3), the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven from God (21:10). Both “women” are covered with previous jewels (17:4; 21:11). One city is the dwelling place of demons (18:2), the other is the dwelling place of God and His people (21:3). One is filled with unclean spirits, the other is empty of anything unclean (18:2; 21:27). The inhabitants of Babylon do not have their names written in the Book of Life (17:8), the inhabitants of Jerusalem do (21:27). The kings of the earth give their power to the beast (17:12-15), they bring glory and honor into the New Jerusalem (21:24).

The fates of the two cities are also in strong comparison and contrast. The fate of both cities is introduced with “It is done” (16:17; 21:6). Babylon receives the wine of God’s wrath (16:19), Jerusalem is for those who desire the water of life (21:6). The plagues of Babylon result in death (18:8), the New Jerusalem is a place where there is no more death (21:4). In Babylon the lamps go dark (18:23), in the New Jerusalem, the Lamb is its lamp, it is brightly lit (21:23, 25, 22:5). Babylon is thrown down with violence (18:23), the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem reign forever and ever (22:5). Underlying this whole contrast is the imagery of a prostitute (unfaithfulness to God) and the image of a bride (faithfulness to God). Human beings get to decide which city to live in and which fate will be theirs. So I think I know that the Babylon of Revelation 17 is strongly parallel to the New Jerusalem of 21-22.

What I Think I Know About Rev 17: 4) Revelation 17 divides into two main parts, a vision (17:3-6a) and an angelic explanation of the vision (17:7-18).

This distinction has important implications for interpreting the heads of the beast in this chapter. Like Daniel 2 and 7, Revelation 17 contains a clearly defined contrast between vision and explanation. The first two verses of the chapter are an extension of the vision in chapter 16. They serve duodirectionally, looking back to the bowl-plagues and looking forward to the vision of the woman riding on the beast (Rev 17:3-6a). The prophet’s reaction to the vision is given at the end of verse six (Revelation 17:6b). The rest of the chapter (Rev 17:7-18) involves an angel interpreting the audition and vision of the first six verses to John. In the vision, John is carried to the time of the seven last plagues. In the explanation, he is addressed in terms of his own time and place.

This means that in assessing Revelation 17, distinction must be made between the time of the vision and the time of its interpretation. Within a vision, the prophet can travel from earth to heaven and range back and forth from time past to the end of time. Apocalyptic visions are not necessarily located in the prophet’s time and place. But when a vision is explained to the prophet afterward, the explanation always comes in the time, place and circumstances of the visionary.

For example, in Daniel 2 the vision of the statue carries Nebuchadnezzar down a sequence of time to end of earth’s history (Dan 2:31-35). The explanation of the vision by Daniel, however, is firmly grounded in the time and place of Nebuchadnezzar. The interpretation begins with a straightforward, unambiguous assertion, “You are that head of gold (Dan 2:38).” Nebuchadnezzar is then told that the series of kingdoms that follow are “after you” (2:39) in point of time.

As was the case with Daniel 2, the apocalyptic prophecy of Dan 7 is divided into two parts; a description of the vision, in which the prophet is transported through time and space (Dan 7:2-14), and an explanation of the vision, given in the language, time and place of the prophet (Dan 7:15-27). So whenever vision moves to interpretation, the principle of “God meets people where they are” must be applied to the explanations given. This has profound implications for the interpretation of difficult apocalyptic texts like Rev 17:7-11.

After the vision of the woman and the beast in Revelation 17: 3-6a, John’s interpreting angel comes to explain the vision. Among other things, he tells John that the seven heads of beast “are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come. . . .” (Rev 17:10). The crucial question is how to interpret the sequence of the seven heads of the beast (Rev 17:10). When is the time of the “one is,” the head that comes between the five that are fallen and the one that is “not yet come?” Is it the time of John, who received the vision, or is it the time of the vision itself, which is an addendum to the bowl-plagues? In Scripture, visionary explanations like this are always given in the time, place and language of the one receiving the vision.

If the explanation comes in the time and place of John, the five kings that “are fallen” are already in the past when John writes the book of Revelation. These were probably to be understood as the five Old Testament superpowers that oppressed the people of God; Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia and Greece. The one that “is” would be the empire of pagan Rome, which dominated the world of John’s day. The one yet to come would exist between John’s time and the very final events in which the beast becomes an “eighth” (Rev 17:11), which is “of the seven”. In other words, I think I know that the apocalyptic pattern of vision and explanation gives us the key to understanding the sequence of kings represented by the seven heads of the beast.

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