Revelation and Human Reality Session 50 A-level Amphitheater LLUMC Dec 11, 2010, 10:20-11:20 AM

Freedom Fallacy: Principle vs. Expediency  “While debating the issue of privacy of correspondence…deputies of all representatives…firmly maintained that one could not govern in time of war and revolution as in time of peace ─ in other words, that the rights they were proposing to grant to all citizens depended on circumstances. This was to become the doctrine of the revolutionary government.” (Lefebvre, p. 125)

Freedom: Rhetoric and Reality  “Yet all these factions of opinion were called Liberal: Montesquieu, because he was an intelligent Tory; Voltaire, because he attacked the clergy; Turgot, as a reformer; Rousseau, as a democrat; Diderot, as a freethinker. The one thing common to them all is the disregard for liberty.” (Acton, p. 243)

Church and Empire 1804

Execution of Felix Manz

Vindication  NRS Revelation 19:1-2 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power to our God, for his judgments are true and just; he has judged the great whore who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

Recalling the Problem  NRS Revelation 6:9-10 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given; they cried out with a loud voice, “Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?”

The Question and the Answer  “How long, holy and true Lord, will it be before you act justly and vindicate us for our blood [shed] by those who dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6:10, translation mine).  “For true and righteous are his judgments, and he has judged the great whore who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has vindicated the blood of his servants shed by her hand” (19:2, translation mine).

‘How Long?’ Well, How Long Was It?  “How long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?” (6:10)  “He has judged the great whore who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants” (19:2).

‘How Long?’ Or Merely: ‘How?’  “How long, holy and true Lord, will it be before you act justly and vindicate us for our blood [shed] by those who dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6:10, translation mine).  “For true and righteous are his judgments, and he has judged the great whore …, and he has vindicated the blood of his servants shed by her hand” (19:2, translation mine).

The Story as a Line in Time Rev Rev ” How long?” “He has judged” Rev 8-18

Relief and Joy in the Heavenly Council 1.The audience in chapters 5 and 19 is the same. 2.The members of the ‘internal audience’ are themselves ‘re-readers,’ i.e., they know in chapter 5 what we (the non-re-reader) only know in chapter The admiration and praise in chapter 19 is of one piece with the admiration and praise in chapter 5.

The Story as a Display before an Audience Revelation 5 Revelation 19 Rev 8-18

If the Story is a Display, then… 1.…the primary audience is the heavenly council. 2.…it is easier to understand the character of the narration, i.e. the ‘internal audience’ is seeing the finished story. 3.…the resolution of the plot is already known to the heavenly council in chapter 5.

Who Is Talking?  Rev 19:3-4 Once more they said, “Hallelujah! The smoke goes up from her forever and ever.” And the twenty- four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!”

Who Is Talking?  NRS Revelation 19:5 And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, and all who fear him, small and great.”  Cf. Rev 14:7

Who Is Talking?  Rev 19:6-8 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready; to her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure”-- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

Audience in Revelation 5 and 19 REVELATION 19  the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures  the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven  voice of a great multitude REVELATION 5  the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders  the voice of many angels  every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea

Wedding Invitation  NRS Revelation 19:9 And the angel said to me,  “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”  And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”

The Testimony of Jesus  NRS Revelation 19:10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your comrades who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Jesus’ Personal Testimony  “Martyria....is virtually the personal testimony of Jesus. This is also an attractive explanation of his name, logos tou theou, Its eschatological pericope is not only the watershed of the book, but also the fulfilment of many of the allusions in Jesus’ address to the churches.” F. Mazzaferri, “Martyria Iēsou Revisited,” BT 39 (1988), 119.

Jesus’ Testimony - 1  “But the most striking feature in Rev. is the phrase ή αρτνρία (1:2, 9; 12:17; 19:10 twice; 20:4). The gen. is a subj. gen. In many cases the (1:2, 9; 6:9; 20:4) or (12:17) are closely related to the αρτνρία, so that we have a twofold expression.”

Jesus’ Testimony - 2  “The combination is not to be construed as referring to the OT on the one hand and the Christian message on the other. We have rather a “plerophoric expression for the Christian revelation in general.” The Word of God and the witness of Jesus Christ are inseparably interwoven.” (TDNT, p 500)

Having Jesus’ Testimony  “I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who are in possession of Jesus' testimony.”  For Jesus' testimony is the spirit of the prophecy, that is to say, the testimony that Jesus gave is the sum and substance, the gist and the meaning of the gift of prophecy (19:10, translation mine).

Next Time  January 8, 2011  Topic: Revelation 19  Starting at 10:30 AM