Naming the Beast (Rev 13)

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american culture, apocalyptic, daniel, hermeneutics, new testament, politics, Revelation

Reflecting on the text (Revelation 13)

One of the most notable features of the book of Revelation is “the beast” in Revelation 13 (actually there are two of them). Since the beast is a central aspect of John’s work, we’re going to spend two days discussing it.

The first day will be Reflecting on the Text, focusing on meaning of Revelation 13. The second day will be Living What We Learn, focusing on the application of Revelation 13.

Another way of looking it is that today we’ll be discussing who or what John has in mind when he talks about the beast. Later we’ll explore what John reveals about the beast, and how it applies to us.

Because the beast is such a controversial topic, we need to start by laying out some guidelines for an answer. If we are going to have the right explanation, it must fit certain criteria. More specifically, our answer must correspond to the genres of Revelation.

Do you remember the three genres of Revelation? They are letter, prophecy, and apocalypse (see Rev 1.1-6).

What is the book of Revelation? (pt 3)

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hermeneutics, new testament, Revelation

Reflecting on the text

Hopefully you have gotten the chance to read the book of Revelation  (if not all the way through, then at least much of it). So tell me, what do you think? If you had to come up with a few words to describe the book of Revelation, what would they be?

Colorful. Glorious. Twisted. Exciting. Dramatic. Confusing. Epic.  Victorious. Vengeful. Strange. Interesting. Ridiculous. Inspiring. Hopeful. (Certainly not “polite”!) And let’s all admit it, weird. The book of Revelation is like nothing else we’ve ever read. Sure it’s a letter, and a work of prophecy, but that’s definitely not all that’s going on here.

If you had some of these thoughts, then you are right on. And the more colorful (and confusing) elements are due to the fact that Revelation is an example of apocalyptic literature.

After today, I promise I’ll stop using that funny little French word genre so frequently. Apocalyptic is the third and final genre that describes the book of Revelation.

The word “apocalyptic” comes from the first Greek word of the book, apokalypsis. This word means “to reveal, uncover, or unveil what was previously hidden” (thus the title of this book).

Ironic, is it not? The word used to describe this book has to do with making things clear.

Hmm.

So the purpose of Revelation is to reveal. In addition to noting the interesting strategy employed by the author for such a task, we do well to ask what John intended to reveal. Well, no matter how I answer that question, some people will disagree. And since it is best answered as we go through the book, for now let’s stay fairly general.

What is the book of Revelation? (pt 2)

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genre, hermeneutics, new testament, Revelation

Reflecting on the text

Just to make sure we’re on the same page, let’s begin today with a little review. Yesterday we noted that Revelation is a mix of three genres: letter, prophecy, and apocalypse.

What is the significance of saying that Revelation is a letter?

(Your answer should include something about the importance of keeping in mind the original recipients of Revelation.)

The second genre that characterizes the book of Revelation is prophecy. We know that Revelation is a book of prophecy because John tells us so (1.3; 22.7,10, 18-19).

What comes to mind when you hear the word “prophecy”?

Most of you probably included something about prediction. When we think about prophecy, we immediately think of someone predicting the future, telling us what will happen before it actually does.

Actually, however, prediction was only one aspect of most Jewish and early Christian prophecy (in the Jewish Bible, Joshua—2 Kings is known as the “former prophets,” not “books of history”).

There are two things I want to show you about the prediction part of biblical prophecy:

What is the book of Revelation? (pt 1)

Tags

genre, hermeneutics, Revelation

Reflecting on the text

Okay, let’s get down to it. The first question most of us ask about this book is quite appropriately, “What is this thing?”

Indeed, what is the book of Revelation?

This is the question we’ll be exploring for the rest of the week.

Let me start by asking another question. Have you ever noticed the fact that we read different types of “literature” differently? It’s so obvious that it’s easy to miss, but think about it for a minute.

Do you read the newspaper the same way you read a novel?

Do you read a poem the same way you read the phonebook?

Do you read the comics the same way you read a cooking recipe?

Of course not. There is a word for this that you’ve probably heard: genre. Genre basically refers to different types of literature (or music, movies, etc).

So when we ask the question, “What is the book of Revelation?” we are asking a question about genre.

There are three basic things that specify a genre: the form (or characteristics) of the work, the purpose for writing, and consequent guidelines for how to read it.

Thinking about our previous examples, we can see how this plays out in everyday life.