Few are surprised to find apocalyptic literature operating as “crisis literature.”[1] Reddish notes that the crisis, whether perceived or actual, varies. The audiences of Daniel faced military and political oppression, while 4 Ezra’s readers encountered a theological crisis. Irrespective of the crisis, the apocalyptic author uses vivid images of powerful military, political, or theological systems to oppress innocent victims.[2] The author places himself and his hearers amidst a seemingly catastrophic end of an epoch, anticipating a divine perspective and justice that brings vindication and peace to the subjugated. Hence, the heavenly realities of earthly eschatological events enable the righteous to endure till the end.
Such apocalypticism encompasses much of the literature under consideration, including 1 Enoch, 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, and more. God took up Enoch, who could then see the world from God’s vantage point, seeing the secrets of the universe and the predetermined fate of humanity.[3] First Enoch expresses “a common worldview that characterizes this present world and age as evil and unjust and in need of divine adjudication and renewal.”[4] Fourth Ezra highlights eschatological woes prior to God’s people ruling with the Messiah and before the end arrives with the resurrection of all people.[5] Second Baruch likewise asserts God’s revelatory sovereignty as “major sources of hope and optimism.”[6] Thus, the Jewish apocalyptic milieu provides a source of hope, enabling the oppressed to endure, knowing God is still sovereign even during times of crisis.
Likewise, John’s apocalyptic worldview assumes a catastrophic crisis. Stephen S. Smalley suggests that “the Church was entering a period of crucial conflict between the forces of evil, epitomized by Rome, and the forces of good, found in the vindicated Lord of the Church.”[7] Additionally, Jewish opposition to Christianity likely added to “the problems which directly confronted the churches of John’s time and shaped the contents of Revelation.”[8] Beckwith aptly concludes that the nature of Christianity was hostile to the social, moral, and first-century religious life. Consequently, “it was making to itself bitter enemies in every rank of society, Jew and Gentile were uniting against it; and finally, it ranged among the forces opposing it the power of the imperial government.”[9]
For John and his hearers, the beast of the sea (13:1ff) and the beast of the land (13:11ff) wreaked havoc upon them. Led by the great red dragon (12:3; 13:1, 11), these forces of evil blasphemed against God (13:6) and made war with the saints (13:7), deceiving all who dwell on the earth (13:14). They threatened the Christians’ way of life. Consequently, John identifies himself as a brother and fellow partaker of tribulations with his readers (1:9). The crisis was felt by the Ephesian brethren who persevered and endured for the sake of Christ (2:3). The blasphemy against Smyrna brought them hardship and poverty (2:9). Antipas’ martyrdom typified faithfulness (2:13), and the Philadelphian brethren anticipated the hour of testing (3:10).
Collins stresses that an apocalyptic crisis “is viewed in the light of a transcendent reality disclosed by the apocalypse.”[10] Accordingly, the function of apocalyptic literature is the shaping of “one’s imaginative perception of a situation and so lay the basis for whatever course of action it exhorts.”[11] Typical of Jewish apocalypses, John’s audience was encouraged to endure their oppression and remain faithful to their cause, knowing they served a sovereign God. Despite appearances, their victory was at hand. Thus, John wrote, “to comfort and encourage God’s people in the perilous times before them and to call them to sustained fidelity in this great trial of their faith and patience.”[12]
John consistently maintained a “heavenly backdrop” of “earthly actions.”[13] His revelatory visions provided heavenly perspectives of earthly realities to share with his audience (4:1). In chapter four, John is among the privileged few to behold the throne of God (c.f. Isa 6:1–13; Ezk 1:1–29). “There he beholds a vision of a sovereign God in full command of the course of human affairs as they move swiftly to their denouement.”[14] Thus, the recipients of John’s Apocalypse are assured of God’s control in a world seemingly out of control. Each individual in the seven churches was strongly encouraged to persevere and endure that they might be rewarded with the “tree of life” (2:7), “the crown of life” (2:10), “the hidden manna” (2:17), “the morning star” (2:28), his name preserved in “the book of life” (3:5), making him a “pillar in the temple of My God” (3:12), and granting him to “sit down with Me on My throne” (3:21). Chapter five models the victorious sacrificial Lamb, standing as if to receive those who persevered unto death (5:6, 9–10), those who had “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (7:14).
Furthermore, John’s Apocalypse extends beyond the typical apocalyptic milieu of transcendent sovereignty and appeal for enduring faithfulness. For John, faith demanded an evangelical risk exemplified by Christ’s witness, Antipas (2:13). The brethren of Ephesus were rebuked for internalizing the Gospel, leaving their first love for their fellow man (2:4–5). John’s eating of the little book, sweet as honey in his mouth, symbolically refers to sharing the Gospel, precisely what he was told to do (10:10, 11). The two witnesses in chapter eleven prophesized until their death (11:3, 7). Their resurrection illustrates the destiny of faithful servants, “and they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them ‘Come up here.’” (11:11–12). After Satan and his angels were thrown down to the earth, the brethren are said to have overcome him, not just by the blood of the Lamb but also by the work of their testimony, even when faced with death (12:9–11). In chapter fourteen, an angel flies in the midheaven proclaiming the eternal Gospel to those who live on the earth (14:6, 7).
Hence, John’s Apocalypse displays the apocalypticism of a sovereign God watchful for the needs of his people and a reward for the faithful. Additionally, Revelation exhorts the faithful to proclaim the Gospel regardless of the earthly consequences, looking forward to a heavenly reward.
[1] Michael G. Reddish, Apocalyptic Literature: A Reader (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995), 24.
[2] Reddish, Apocalyptic Literature, 24.
[3] E. Isaac, “1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch (Second Century B.C. – First Century A.D.),” vol. 1 of The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. James H. Charlesworth (New York: Yale University Press, 1983), 5.
[4] George W. E. Nickelsburg and James C. VanderKam, 1 Enoch: The Hermeneia Translation (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012), 1.
[5] Nickelsburg and VanderKam, 1 Enoch, 60.
[6] Nickelsburg and VanderKam, 1 Enoch, 97.
[7] Stephen S. Smalley, The Revelation to John: A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Apocalypse (London: SPCK, 2005), 3.
[8] Smalley, The Revelation to John, 4.
[9] Isbon Thaddeus Beckwith, The Apocalypse of John: Studies in Introduction with a Critical and Exegetical Commentary (New York: Macmillan, 1919), 208–9.
[10] John J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016), 51.
[11] Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination, 52.
[12] Beckwith, The Apocalypse of John, 240.
[13] Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination, 342.
[14] Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 116.