Why Celebrate a Non-Rapture?

Let's just face it right now. As Christians, this hasn't been our best year. If it hasn't been those monsters at Westboro Baptist Church dancing like a bunch of lunatics at soldiers' funerals, then its been Terry Jones doing things that likely resulted in innocent people overseas being killed. Like I said - not the best year. Then, to top it all off, most people don't know that Harold Camping is a schismatic and believe that he speaks for a large section of Christians when he repeatedly attempts to predict the arrival of Christ. Altogether, lets just admit, the Gospel looks pretty foolish in the world's eyes. But then again, what's new? As far as I remember, the Apostle Paul saw that as a given and it didn't phase him.

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18).

True - what they are seeing in Westboro and Jones and Camping are hardly what I would call a robust representation of what Christ was about - but this is what the unbelieving world thinks we're like - whether it's fair or not. We've got to deal with it.

Watching the news coverage and reading the stories about Harold Camping's end of the world which did not transpire, I can't help but sense something. The coverage - as well as the half-joking Facebook statuses and Twitter updates from observers around the world actually seem to reflect more of a collective sigh of relief than it did a confident reaffirmation of something they already knew. I don't believe for one minute that the observers around the world weren't just a little curious if something wasn't going to go down on Saturday night.
Atheists as well as the generically secular speak very confidently that there is no coming day of judgment at all. But then Saturday came, and in many of these places as the clock struck 6 o'clock, there were dances of joy and what I choose to interpret as overwhelming relief. Of course, once the time passed the attitude transformed into one of pure mockery. Instead of mocking Harold Camping for being wrong, it is as if all the world experienced a larger relief and for one brief moment felt assured that there was no coming judgment - as though this one wrongly predicted Rapture proved that there would never be one. In one story, a man jokes, "You haven't partied until you've partied with the godless." For many, this is a time of rejoicing. But why? If you're an atheist, then this is just another false prophet like all the others who've ever lived. What's so special? I think that the partiers fear that there will be a judgment - otherwise, what is there really to celebrate? You celebrate a birthday when you really have one, you celebrate a close brush with death when there was a real threat of dying - and you celebrate the world not ending when there is a real possibility of that, as well.

The sad part is, judgment day is unavoidable. Even if the partiers live for another 80 years, they will meet judgment day - all of us will. Saturday's party will be quite short lived in the scheme of things.

The Unprofessional Book Review: Revelation and the End of All Things by Craig R. Koester

So here we are. If you've followed along with my last eleven posts then you will be somewhat familiar with Craig Koester's approach to the book of Revelation by this point. I found the idea of reading an Amillennial/Preteristic commentary of Revelation to be an exciting prospect since I'm somewhat of an eschatology newbie. By that I mean that I'm not the type to obsess over end times events or to really engage in argumentation somebody who has a different view of Revelation than me. The plus of this for me is that I'm not getting into arguments over stuff that I won't likely be around to witness anyway. The downside of this is that I lack a refined eschatology. Every good theological position needs to be raked over the coals by your rivals a few times before you can feel confident of its cogency, in my opinion.

Now, from the get-go let me say that Koester's commentary struck me as something more akin to reflecting a Preterist-Idealist understanding of Revelation. Almost every image in Revelation is interpreted symbolically by Koester. Even the beast whose number is 666 receives a possible historical interpretation, and yet Koester seems unwilling to ever really commit to a firm historical understanding of any one individual fitting the image of the beast. This is true in almost every area of Koester's interpretation of Revelation. His commitment to the idea that the things in Revelation are for every era of the church means that nothing can be taken as having historically happened in any firm sense. This is why I am tempted to repeal my labeling of Koester as being Preterist. Now, it may be that he believes the events of Matthew 24 to have happened, and he might rightly be a Preterist in some sense, but his reading of Revelation does not really make clear (at least to me) that he really deserves to be considered a Preterist. Like I said, his reading of Revelation appears to me as more like what I understand the Idealist reading of Revelation to be. To be sure, he is Amillennial in his reading since he does not literalize the time of the millennium. But though he mentions favorably Augustine's view that we are in the millennium now, I noticed that he never comes out, himself, and shares his own belief. I noticed this because I was explicitly looking for it in the text. I have difficulty, as you can see, actually labeling Koester's approach, and since I'm an eschatology novice, I am myself unable to really categorize his approach, though I'm almost set on Amil-Partial-Preteristic-Idealist. Maybe somebody more knowledgeable than me can read my summaries of his arguments and tell me what he would rightly be considered.

My experience reading Koester's commentary was very positive. Up until now, Revelation seemed to me - as it does for many - to be a confusing book which tended to radicalize people in unpleasant ways. On top of that, I never wanted to be an "eschatology guy," - a sentiment shared by most Reformed theologians that I know. But Koester's discussion of Revelation really opened the book up to me in that I knew there was a tremendous amount of symbolism in the book, and I had rarely seen it interpreted before. Even in the interpretations of Koester where I disagree (for example his contention that the "first resurrection" and "second resurrection" are actually the same resurrection seen in "slow motion") I was able to at least put the text into an intelligible framework within which I could at least consider alternative interpretations of different ideas.

I can't say that I agree wholeheartedly with Koester's approach or conclusions, but I agree with his recognition with Augustine that Revelation is a book of cycles, where we see the events unfolding from different "perspectives" as it were. And so I appreciate his basic structure and will be piggybacking off of the things which I have learned from his book for many years, to be sure.

I do recommend Revelation and the End of All Things to every person who is looking for a simplified approach to Revelation that doesn't involve sticking your wet thumb into the proverbial wind to see where we're at in the eschatological time line. My gut tells me that he over-spiritualizes too many elements of the book, but his skill in crafting a coherent overall approach to the book scares me off a bit from criticizing too much of his take on things since his spiritualization of much of Revelation is what lends consistency to the account he has crafted for Revelation and the message that it was/is meant to communicate to the Church.

Ultimately, his contention that Revelation is a book with Christ as its center is absolutely right, and a message for all Christians, whatever their view of the end of all things happens to be.

Links to all 11 Parts of my discussion of Revelation and the End of All Things:

• Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8; Part 9; Part 10; Part 11
• Audio of Koester's Series on Revelation is available for free here from Monergism.

Revelation and the End of All Things is available from Amazon for just under $13 (as of my writing this, someone is selling a used copy on Amazon for $4), and the Kindle edition is available for $9.99.

Craig Koester's Amil-Preterist Commentary of Revelation (Conclusion)

The Last Cycle of Visions: Revelation 19-22 (Part 2)

The Last Judgment: Revelation 20

So John has just witnessed the final defeat of the false prophet, of the beast, and of Satan himself. In a tremendous display of his might, Christ defeated them solely by his Word. But as John looks again, he sees a vision of a great white throne. As God enters the picture, we sense the dread fear with which His creation regards him. We read that "earth and sky fled from his presence."

The dead are all standing before the white throne, and we see that there are two books being opened - the contents of which are of tremendous importance. In one book are all of the deeds each person has done, and in the other, we have something like "a civic record, in which the citizens of the city of God have their names inscribed." Koester recognizes that this book was written "from the foundation of the world," and rightly recognizes that some readers will sense the helpless approach of Calvin's hoofbeats. "Note that in the judgment, both divine grace and human accountability are important, but God's decision is finally based on the grace that is represented by the book of life." He raises the concern that some have regarding the fact that the names have been written "from the foundation of the world," but seems to sidestep the question by simply recognizing that the rescue is at hand if they will only believe, since that is the path of escape. "[L]eave matters concerning the final judgment in God's hands" (191).

Notice that those whose names are not written in the book of life have plenty of deeds in the other book by which they are judged. I'm so tempted to start making my own comments about the predestinarian elements in this section of Revelation, but I will restrain my tendencies, since Koester himself does not dwell here. But let it unofficially be remembered that the Book of Life is a very counter-intuitive idea to your average modern evangelical Arminian.

The New Jerusalem: Revelation 21

Throughout Revelation, there has been this tension between promise and warning. "To the one who overcomes" is the common refrain which we hear, and now we see those promises fulfilled in the New Heaven and the New Earth. So throughout, from beginning to end, Revelation has consistently hammered the message of enduring hardship and persecution. All those trials, pains, hardships, and martyrdoms are finding their promises fulfilled here. Although at this point in the narrative, the city's inhabitants have been decided, the reader is still offered another reminder of warning: that "the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars" will not have any part in this new creation, but that, rather, their place will be in the lake of fire. The heavenly voice names off these sins - all of which we have broken to some degree " in order to move people to reject sins and to trust in the grace Christ provides." Revelation is in many respects an evangelistic book.

In 21:9, an angel tells John, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." But the next thing he shows him is a city - the New Jerusalem. Some readers might be expecting then, to look into the city and see the Bride, but alas, the city itself is His Bride. Whereas Babylon is associated with the Harlot, the New Jerusalem is associated with the Bride - the same one who was earlier pursued by the Dragon.

When we come to the dimensions of the New Jerusalem, we receive another clue to the symbolic nature of the New Jerusalem, because we are told that its dimensions are 12,000 stadia on each side; this is not-so-coincidentally the same as the number of each tribe in the 144,000. Consider the alternative; if this is not a symbolic representation of the city, then for the first time in human history, we have a city that looks suspiciously like the Borg Cube from Star Trek. Also consider that this cube would cover about half of the United States in its size, since it would actually be around 1500 miles on every side and also extend 1500 miles into space. This is hardly a picture of a literal city. Also, remember that Ezekiel's vision of the restored city pictured it as being only a mile and a half on each side (Ezekiel 48:8-9). The city is the Church, and she is His beautiful Wife (ESV). By referring to its size as being perfectly cubical and 12,000 stadia on each side, "The New Jerusalem's holiness and perfection is expressed." The point is not the quantity of the city, but rather, the quality. (Koester also points out that the city's cubic shape suggests that the city is a sanctuary, much like the inner chamber of the tabernacle and temple, which were also cubical in shape.)

The River of Life/The End Is Near: Revelation 22

In addition to being a city in which there will no longer be any uncleanness, the church is also pictured as returning to the state of pre-fall Eden. Not only will the river of life run through the city, but the Tree of Life, which eluded Adam and Eve at the time of the Fall will be returned to redeemed humanity.

In the New Jerusalem, the barriers of sin and mortality are removed by the grace of God, and the redeemed find themselves again in the garden. Instead of hiding from God's face, they turn towards God's face...The promise that the righteous might one day see the Lord comes to its fulfillment (Ps. 11:7; Matt. 5:8; 1 John 3:2). The night of sin and death is gone; the uncertainty issues into understanding (1 Cor. 13:12). The story of God's people reaches its culmination when they 'rest and see, see the love and praise. This is what shall be in the end without end' (Augustine, The City of God 22.30).
(200)

Koester says that there are two reasons why Revelation "can and should speak to people today."

• Christians culturally encounter similar situations to those in the seven churches to whom this letter was written.
• Revelation speaks of the timeless one Who "was and is and is to come." Because Christ is objective and real and does not change, the realities communicated about Him in Revelation are still every bit as true now as they were when they were first written.

The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.'
And let everyone who hears say, 'Come.'
And let everyone who is thirsty, come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.
Revelation 22:17

I will be writing one more blog post with regards to Koester's book, and in that post I will be offering what essentially amounts to a review of the book, now that I have tried to present Koester's views and basic arguments.

Craig Koester's Amil-Preterist Commentary of Revelation (Part 10)

The Last Cycle of Visions: Revelation 19-22

Christ the Conqueror: Chapter 19

After another cycle of glorious worship in heaven, John sees heaven open and Christ comes riding on a white horse wearing a bloody robe. Once again, we see him brandishing his weapon of choice once again; the sword which comes out of his mouth. Notice that it is by the Word that he slays all of his enemies.

Disturbingly, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb actually begins with the saints worshiping before God and concludes with birds feasting on the corpses of God's destroyed enemies. The birds dine on Christ's enemies who were slain by His Word until they are "gorged with their flesh." Koester points out that this marriage supper is both a promise as well as a warning, depending on who the reader happens to be. The beast and false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire. Notice again and again that Christ's Word is the weapon which strikes down his enemies.

The Millennial Kingdom: Chapter 20

Having eliminated Satan's partners in evil, Christ only has Satan to deal with, now. The angel sizes Satan and "bound him for a thousand years...so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended." Koester asks two questions with reference to this verse. His first question is, could you identify or find the "bottomless pit" in a geographic location? His answer to this is, no. In the same vein, he asks, could we then, find the timing of Satan's binding on a calendar?

Just as the door of the great abyss cannot be located on a map, the duration of the thousand years cannot be located on a calendar. One does not draw nearer to heaven by means of a space shuttle or nearer to the abyss by digging a shaft into the ground, and one does not enter the thousand-year period by turning a calendar page. John refers to time in order to point readers to a reality that lies beyond time (181).

He then points to other numerical references in Revelation that are non-literal:

• The allies of the beast who receive kingly power "for one hour," referring to a short period of time (17:12), not a mere 60 minute reign.
• The persecution lasting 3 1/2 years (11:1-2).
• The use of 144,000 to denote a perfect number of the redeemed (7:4-8).
• The multiples of "thousand" used to show the dimensions of the New Jerusalem (21:16).

Rather than counting off a thousand cycles around the sun, Koester says, the thousand years is meant to represent a fullness of time which comports with and satisfies the will of God.

What are the actual traits of the thousand year reign? It might seem like somewhat of a letdown to dispensationalists, because they are used to inserting all sorts of promises from other places in scripture and using this section as "a container" for those promises, though they are completely absent from verses 4-6 where we read about the millennial kingdom.

• Those seated on the thrones receive a good judgment from God (he says this is the best translation from the original language in contrast to most modern translations which have the saints judging).
• The souls of the faithful come to life and reign with Christ (we are not told if this reign is in heaven or on earth). John calls this the first resurrection.

These three verse are really quite a disappointment if you're a dispensationalist. The only way to juice up this passage is to bring in texts from other places, such as Isaiah 65 (which don't really find fulfillment until chapter 21). Since we are not told if this reign will take place on heaven or on earth, all we can affirm with the text is that the saints are reigning "with Christ."

The statement regarding the first resurrection in verses 5-6 read, "This is the first resurrection! Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years." Koester understands this to be a reference to the general resurrection. The way he sees it, the first resurrection is a way of speaking of the resurrection of the saints, while the second resurrection is a reference to the general resurrection of the ungodly. Koester acknowledges that Revelation is unique among the New Testament books in its referring to the Resurrection in two stages, but he does not see this as problematic. Note that the text says that the one who takes part in the first resurrection is "blessed." Essentially, then, Koester sees the distinction between the "first" and "second" resurrection to be a way of prioritizing the resurrections of the faithful and the wicked, not of actually separating them into completely different events.

We soon discover that the millennial reign "was not the climax of the cycle, but merely one point along the way to the New Jerusalem." The last chapters of Revelation are where we see the unfolding and fulfillment of the prophecies in Ezekiel 38 and 39. However, Revelation does not picture their fulfillment in the same chronology as Ezekiel does. Evidently, Koester says, we once again see that chronology is hardly a priority for John.

So Satan is released again to deceive the nations. Koester seems as puzzled by this event as the rest of us, but he derives from this the principle that it is not enough for evil to be bound; it must be brought to an end. Ultimately, the faithful saints reside in a "camp" which is surrounded by God's enemies for the last time. As we have seen time and time throughout Revelation, God's enemies are relentless and seek every possible opportunity to devastate the Christian community. As we have also seen, this pattern never ends well for Satan, and 20:9-10 is no exception, as fire falls from heaven consuming them. Finally, Satan himself is thrown into the lake and fire along with his cronies, the false prophet and the beast. It is a happy ending for the saints, as these three enemies of God "will be tormented day and night forever and ever." To the very end, Revelation stays true to its message that we may not ever think ourselves "neutral" with regards to God. Either we are for Him, or we are for Satan. There is no middle-ground. If we side with the Devil and his angels by disregarding Christ, we will share in his fate, and so the fate of the Devil as expressed here is a warning for the ungodly and a joyful promise for the Saints.

Craig Koester's Amil-Preterist Commentary of Revelation (Part 9)

The Harlot and the Bride: Revelation 15-19

Chapter 14, in keeping with the pattern, concludes with worship in heaven. We are again reminded that neutrality in this cosmic struggle is not possible. If we are not God, then we are against Him; we cannot hide ourselves among His enemies and expect to avoid their fate in facing the wrath of God.

Although this worship is happening, we are reminded in the first verse of chapter 15 that the Beast still rages upon the earth. Therefore, God, in Chapter 16, sends seven plagues upon the Beast and his cronies. As stressed with the visions of seven in the previous cycles, these plagues are not futuristic predictions, but rather warnings to move the readers to repentance. This is the common theme which Koester consistently emphasizes with reference to the plagues and displays of wrath which we find throughout Revelation. "When readers are moved to ask where their own deepest loyalties lie, the text has its proper effect" (148).

Armageddon (16:16)

The word "Armageddon" certainly conjurs wild images to the modern reader. In modern english nomenclature, the word "armageddon" is often used as shorthand for incredibly epic and potentially world-ending war involving jets and tanks and bombs and suicide donkeys. However, the name "armageddon" is a combination of two hebrew words: "har," which means "mountain" and the name "Megiddo" - a location in northern Israel. Koester notes that this combination of words is "peculiar... since Megiddo is actually located on a plain rather than a mountain." Based on the fact that John does not use Hebrew names in a literal fashion (they are almost always used symbolically), Koester points out that this Hebrew name is also symbolic. Based on the way that Megiddo occurs in the Old Testament (2 Chr. 35:22; Zech. 12:11; Judges 5:19; these are all places where enemies of the Lord are destroyed), Koester says that Megiddo is symbolic of "a place name that portends the coming destruction of the adversaries of God."

The Fall of Babylon and the Great Harlot (Revelation 17-19)

Once again, observe the non-linear structure of Revelation. Just as Babylon was shattered by an earthquake in 16:19, we see it once again in chapter 17.

Recall that John has a particular intention; namely to compel his readers to identify with the woman who is pursued by the beast (that being the Church). Part of his approach is to depict the enemies of God as ten-headed monsters, as prostitutes, as Beasts, as hideous creatures - not only that we might see them for what they are, but so that we would be repulsed to think that we could have partnership with them.

So we're rooting for the church, all the way, and the church is depicted as this woman who is dodging danger at every turn. John presents us with her evil counterpart, the Great Prostitute (ESV). "The women in Revelation 12 and 17 are portrayed in sharply contrasting ways in order to win the readers' allegiance to the persecuted woman, who represents the people of God, and to alienate them from the repulsive harlot, who represents the adversaries of God" (154). Consider the contrasts:

• The church is depicted as "the mother of the Messiah and the faithful (12:5, 17).
• The harlot is depicted as "the mother of whores and of earth's abominations" (17:5).
• The church is depicted as being "pursued by a seven-headed monster."
• The harlot, meanwhile, "happily rides a seven-headed monster and drinks the blood of the saints (17:6)."

When it comes to the somewhat confounding discussion in verses 9-14 of chapter 7, Koester discusses the difficulty interpreters have had attempting to identify who the seven kings who will share in their reign with ten lesser kings and so on. Koester chooses a rather different path by claiming that "John uses evocative imagery that resists decoding." He does suggest that "Picturing an eighth king as a return of one of the seven seems to play on legends that Nero would return, so that one could say of a future persecution of the people of God: 'It is Nero all over again'... Despite the ambiguity in its detais, the end of the story is clear. Evil self-destructs. The beast and its allies begin by waging war against the Lab (17:13-14), but they end up destroying the harlot (17:16)" (161).

When we turn our attention to Babylon's Funeral in chapter 18, Koester suggests verse 4 as the key verse for understanding what is happening:

Come out of her, my people,
so that you do not take part in her sins,
and so that you do not share in her plagues.

As Koester points out, the right reaction to the Fall of the Harlot and of Babylon "is not fatalism, but an 'altered life.'" Again and again, the primary pattern we see in Revelation involves Satanic attempts to destroy the church, with God at every stage demonstrating his superiority by inflicting on the Beast and his followers plagues, disasters, and judgments of all sorts. In the face of reality, of sin, of death, of mortality, of God's obvious superiority, the fallen world continues to worship anything and everything but the God who made all things.

If we are confounded at the unwillingness of most of the earth's population to worship God and turn away from Satan and his idols, we need look no further than heaven, once again, to find the heavenly company singing God's praises. Again, we see "a great multitude crying out."

Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
small and great.

The horrors always recede for us to see the universe as it should be, and as it will be. God's superiority is proclaimed at all times, regardless of how violently the dragon might lash out. And an even happier time lies ahead, as we prepare to witness the marriage supper of the Lamb and the millennial reign. This should be an interesting near-conclusion.

Craig Koester's Amil-Preterist Commentary of Revelation (Part 8)

The Beast and the Lamb (Revelation 12-15)

The Dragon (Chapter 12)

• Dragon = Satan
• The Woman = The Church
• The Child = Jesus

In Koester's take on this section of Revelation, we see that Satan pursues the church, attempting to overtake Christ and end his rule. Satan believed that he had succeeded in his attempt, in the crucifixion. However, after the resurrection, instead of remaining on earth, Jesus is caught up into heaven and demonstrates that Satan has been defeated in his rising. This is what we see in verses 7 and following; after a war in heaven, the dragon is defeated and is now confined to the earth. He is restricted from again entering heaven. Because of this, Satan is flailing; he knows that he is defeated, and like a beaten animal in an enclosed space, he lashes out in "great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!" (12:12) After this, the dragon tries repeatedly to make war on the church, yet is repeatedly foiled in its attempts.

The Two Beasts (Chapter 13)
Satan stands on the shore of the sea "as if to conjure up a new and terrible specter of evil." Satan, as well as his two minions - the beast of the sea and the beast from the land - form a new sort of "Unholy Trinity." The beast of the sea wears ten crowns - emphasizing its desire for renown and power. Revelation presents this beast as something of an evil counterpart to the Lamb. Whereas the Lamb's suffering brings glory to God, the first Beast's apparent suffering brings worship to Satan. The beast is an amalgamation "of oppressive powers from various times and places, creating a composite picture of evil."

While the beast of the sea brings worshippers to Satan, the Beast of the land serves as a false prophet. If the people of the world will not identify with this servant of Satan, then they will face economic pressures (13:17). It would be easy to simply say that Koester takes the typical Preterist approach and names Nero as the Beast from the land right away. However, Koester sees the beast of the Land as something larger and more epically far-reaching than simply one individual who functions in a single moment. He says that this is part of the reason why so many throughout history seem to "fit the bill" of the Beast; because while John does link the Beast with a single individual, the Beast also represents leadership which demands worship over and above that which God deserves. This is a common and persistent enemy of the Church throughout all eras of history.

666

This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666 (13:18).

A couple of observations. First, John believes that his readers in the churches - if they have wisdom - will be able to identify the Beast. 666 "is the number of a man." A historical figure. A literal person whom first century readers would have known.

Koester sets forth Nero as a prime candidate. Several of his traits line up with what we expect from the Beast:

• Nero ruthlessly persecuted Christians of John's time, "making war on the saints" (13:7).
• Nero killed himself by slitting his own throat, though, like Elvis, rumors persisted that he was still alive (13:3, 12, 14).

Koester points out that deducing the identity of the Beast merely by way of gematria is insufficient, since it is possible to spell out many names which add up to 666. For example, if simply adding up 666 were sufficient, one would discover that Barney the "Cute Purple Dinosaur", "Ronald Raegan" or "Computer" were the Beast. Rather, he says that gematria is only one piece of the puzzle. If you already knew somebody's name, you could easily see if their name matched a given number. Nevertheless, he does substantiate the claim that Nero matches up with 666, and in his demonstration he does not disappoint.

The gematriatic method of communication has a historical basis. For example, in Pompeii a man proclaimed his love for a girl in graffiti by writing, "I love her whose number is 545." This was a known method of communication. In many respects, Nero did, in fact, fit the bill for the Beast. When written in Hebrew, "Caesar Neron" transiterates as "nron qsr."

• nun (50) + resh (200) + waw (6) + nun (50) + qof (100) + samech (60) + resh (200) = 666

One interesting textual variant found in some manuscripts lists the Beast's number as being 616. This is exactly what the name "Caesar Neron" adds up to if you dropped the second "n" from "Neron" and simply transliterated his name as "Nero." This variant is tremendously insightful as to what the earliest scribes understood to be happening here in this section of the text. It shows that the earliest textual scribes understood Nero to be the Beast.

This is as far as my own demonstration goes, since I know next to nothing about Hebrew or gematria. Even though I was public schooled, I do know enough about math to know that those numbers do equal 666 when added together.

In his conclusion of this section, Koester seems to appreciate other historical interpretations. For example, some identify the beast of the sea as Rome, with the beast of the land standing for "the local Asian supporters of Rome." He says, however, that the difficulty of identifying a single historical figure to identify with these enemies of the Lamb is not a problem.

Rather, it shows that the imagery depicts threats that cannot be limited to a single time and place. On the one hand, the portrayal of the two beasts does not convey coded information that will allow readers to know when the end of time has come. On the other hand, the visions may have called first-century readers to resist Roman practices...The summons to persevere is not simply a message for a generation living in the first century or at the end of time; it is a message for all generations that are confronted with idolatry and violence.
(Pg. 135)

Craig Koester's Amil-Preterist Commentary of Revelation (Part 7)

The Second Cycle of Seven: Revelation 8-11
Now, instead of seals being opened, we have a new cycle; this time with trumpets being blown. Again, as before, each trumpet ushers in new disasters:

• First Trumpet: Hail, Fire, Blood; All grass is burned up
• Second Trumpet: Sea of Blood, Sea Life Killed, Ships Destroyed
• Third Trumpet: Wormwood in the water makes it undrinkable; Many die from the bitter water
• Fourth Trumpet: Sun darkened, Moon, and Stars darkened

These scenes should not be seen as depicting future disasters for the following reasons:

• "After the sixth seal is opened, the sun becomes black...the stars fall, and the sky vanishes, which seems like a decisive end of heavenly bodies, yet by Revelation 8, the sky and the heavenly bodies are back again so that they can become dark all over again in the new cycle of threats."
• In 8:7 all of the grass on the earth is burned up, and yet we see that in 9:4 the grass has very quickly returned so that God can tell the locusts not to eat it up. "These inconsistencies disrupt attempts to take the visions as a linear sequence of events" (97).

Rather, according to Koester, these "stylized" events are warnings designed to "strip away the readers' sense of security," and thus bring repentance. He cites 9:20 as evidence. In spite of all these events, the wicked "did not repent of the works of their hands or give up worshipping demons and idols." As before, again and again, Revelation is pressing the readers of the seven churches not to find security in the World, because that security is an illusion, preserved only temporarily by God Himself.

Just as the first four trumpets bring danger upon the earth, the fifth trumpet shows that there is danger from under the earth, as well. "The text has a surreal quality that makes it impossible to situate in time and space - one would be hard pressed to locate the shaft of the bottomless pit on a map - but the repulsive images that appear effectively display the horrors of falling under God's wrath" (99).

Chapter 11 opens with John measuring the temple and altar, which Koester identifies as representing "the Christian community being preserved despite threats by the unbelieving world to overwhelm it. The inner part of the sanctuary, which is kept safe from the nations, is the community in which true worship continues. The comment about the outer court being given over to the nations cautions that God will allow a part of the community to come under the sway of the pagan world" (107).

The two witnesses, who represent the "community of faithful Christians," make an appearance in 11:3-14. Koester points out the different elements of their witness:

• The speech of the witnesses is like fire; a trait shared by the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 5:14).
• They can call fire from heaven and stop the rain, like the prophet Elijah.
• They turn water to blood like Moses.
• They witness for God unto death. "The deaths of these witnesses are parabolic of the fate of the faithful in many times and places."

The blowing of the seventh trumpet results in praises to God being sung in heaven. In what sense, then, is the seventh trumpet a "woe"? Koester points out that "God's kingdom does not bring the destruction of the world, but the destruction of 'those who destroy the earth' (11:18)." He also points out that the "appearance of the ark in 11:19 is a signal that people should be prepared to meet God, but such a meeting can bring either blessing or judgment...The lightning, thunder, earthquake, and hail portend disaster for his adversaries (11:19)."

Craig Koester's Amil-Preterist Commentary of Revelation (Part 6)

The Second Cycle of Seven: Opening The Seven Scrolls: Revelation 4-7 (Continued)

If, as Shakespeare said, brevity is the soul of wit, then this has by far been the most witless book review in history. As such, I'm going to step it up by dealing more broadly with Koester's interpretation of the more difficult symbolism and less on substantiating his claims.

Revelation 7: The 144,000 of Israel Sealed

Some observations about the 'seals' which are placed on God's people:

• The seal suggests that "the people belong to God."
• The seal "also suggests protection."
• God's sealed people are not immune to suffering.
• However, the seal "does shield people from the wrath of God and the Lamb (6:16-17)."

So who are the 144,000?

• Just as the new Jerusalem is not literally a 12,000 Stadia (1500 mile) cube (Rev. 21:16), so we understand that 12,000 from each tribe of Judah is not literal, but symbolic of completeness.
• The 144,000 referred to in 7:4-8 are the same group as the multitude in 7:9-17. This happens by first hearing and then seeing. First he hears about the 144,000 and then he sees the great multitude.
• Just as Jesus is the Lion and the Lamb, whereby we learn about Jesus' multifaceted character, so we learn about the church from this discussion that the church is identified with Israel, and that the church is an ingrafted mass of Gentile humanity. We see from the 144,000 that God has not abandoned his promises to preserve Israel.

Anticlimactically, the seventh scroll is opened, and the heavens are silent for a half an hour. As we prepare for the next cycle of seven, the heavens are silent, that we might "be still and know that" he is God.

Craig Koester's Amil-Preterist Commentary of Revelation (Part 5)

The Second Cycle of Seven: Opening The Seven Scrolls: Revelation 4-7 (Continued)

Revelation 6: The First Six Seals
As the Lamb opens each of the first four seals, we are presented with the arrival of a new horseback rider who ushers in portents of danger. Koester spends some time arguing against seeing the visions of chapter six as predictions of future events. Many think that this is a chapter issuing predictions of coming disaster. However, it is not right to describe these visions as "predictions" for various reasons:

• The horsemen and seals represent "threats that do not fall neatly on a time line."
• Virtually everyone realizes that the horsemen have a symbolic quality.
• The visions "stand for larger realities" that cannot be confined to any one period: "waves of conquest, outbreaks of violence, and periods of economic hardship have occurred repeatedly in human history, and death finally comes to all."

According to Koester, the primary purpose of Revelation 6 "is to awaken a sense of uneasiness in readers by vividly identifying threats to their well-being so that the understanding reader will cry out, "Who is able to stand?" (6:17). The four horsemen show that one cannot find security or well-being even within the borders of a seemingly secure nation or empire.

• The first horseman with the bow represents threats by foreign powers.
• The second horseman with the sword represents threats from within society.
• The third horseman with the scales represents economic insecurity.
• The fourth horseman is death, whom none can escape.

The opening of the fifth seal results in a vision of "under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne" (6:9). "The martyrs rest in heaven (6:9-11) and the remainder of humanity is disturbed on earth (6:12-17). These visions press readers to give up the idea that they can remain neutral, asking if they identify with the martyrs or with the rest of humanity. There is no middle ground." He also points out that the vision of martyrs is a notice to believers that martyrdom is not meant to be a special event or a rarity, but it is meant to awaken in readers a willingness to identify with those who have suffered for the faith. Notice that again and again Koester returns us to the audience, reminding us constantly to consider the first century response to these visions, and then to apply this to our own lives. For Koester, Revelation should not be read strictly as a devotional work, devoid of context (as the modern reader is prone to do), or as a mere historical document (as the professor within us Reformed types is prone to do).

The opening of the sixth seal presents us with a world full of earthquakes, a blackened sun, stars falling to earth, the sky being "rolled up," and every mountain being "moved from its place." These events "echo prophetic warnings about the coming day of divine wrath, showing how the creation itself responds to the will of its Creator (Isa 34:4; Joel 2:30-31; Amos 8:9)." These are all events which happen by the will of God; they are supernatural events which do not fit within the natural order. Pairing a vision of God's sovereignty with prophetic warnings of coming judgment, the idea is challenged that we can live in society, blend in, and have a compromise of our faith "in order to blend in with the beliefs of the general populace, as some of the readers of Revelation were inclined to do" (88). If we seek refuge in the world and compromise ourselves for safety's sake, we are actually taking shelter with a damned throng who are themselves terrorized by God's might to the point of helplessly cowering under the mountains.

Now, before the seventh seal can be opened, we encounter an images which deserve careful attention. This image is of the 144,000 whose foreheads are sealed. We will encounter this issue in our next post.

Audio of Craig Koester 16-Part Lectures on Revelation

To me, it's simply divine timing. Monergism is now hosting a sixteen-part series by Craig Koester discussing the book of Revelation. I haven't had a chance to listen to these lectures yet, but you can bet that I will, once I finish reading his book Revelation and the End of All Things.

Craig Koester Lecture Series: Amil-Preterist Interpretation of the Book of Revelation

Craig Koester's Amil-Preterist Commentary of Revelation (Part 4)

The Second Cycle of Seven: Opening The Seven Scrolls: Revelation 4-7

Revelation 4: The Sovereign God

As the divine voice beckons John into heaven where we will experience the next cycle of visions, Koester is careful to remind us that "the visions in this second cycle do not raise new issues but deal with the issues of faithfulness that emerged in the messages to the churches.

The visions in Revelation 4-5 center readers on God and Christ Those who ponder these two chapters discover the heart of the book, for here its essential revelation is to be found. Through the images of the throne and the Lamb, readers learn how God's will is done through the crucified and risen Christ (Koester Pg. 72, My italics).

In verses 1-11, we are treated to a vision of the Sovereign God in His majestic glory in heaven. The center of the vision is God Himself. Worship is taking place around the throne. "The actions that occur in the heavenly throne room show that in the proper order of things, all creation is oriented towards its Creator" (73). The four creatures around the throne have the faces of different animals; only one has a human face (cf. Ezekiel 1:10). Koester points out that these creatures represent the whole created order, with man only being a small part of the creation which is continually declaring the glory of God.

Next we see the 24 elders who worship in words and in actions by throwing down their crowns at his feet (4:10). "Their thrones and their crowns are theirs not by right, but as gifts of God." Koester beautifully exegetes the worship which occurs in heaven. Reading his commentary on this section causes me to greatly worship the Lord. Unfortunately, for the purposes of the blog, I will move along.

Koester notes three different responses which first century readers would have had to this vision of the heavenly courts and worship in verses 1-11:

• Those facing persecution would have found reassurance in God's reign despite constant threats and danger.
• Those tempted to syncretism would have been uneasy, because God's rule over creation means that compromise warrants the censure of God Himself.
• The "complacent and self-satisfied" would been disturbed by the vision because God's grandeur, radiance, and glory expose their riches and pretentions to majesty for the self-worship that they represent.

Revelation 5: The Lamb Who Was Slain

In the right hand of God is a scroll bearing seven seals; as soon as it is mentioned, heaven is filled with expectancy. While the document is presumably a divine decree, the seals on it reflect that their contents are valid (he presents historical background on seals in the first century to substantiate this claim). Chapter five presents the heavenly search for the one who is meant to open the seals on the scroll, only to find that there are none on earth who are worthy to unseal its contents so that God's plan might be fulfilled. Christ - the Lamb who was slain - is the only one who is worthy to bring forth the divine decree in God's right hand. As the Lamb takes the scroll and prepares to open the first seal, we prepare for the coming of the four horsemen and disaster.

I was initially going to cover the opening of the seals, but in discussing that section Koester makes very interesting arguments in disfavor of reading Revelation 6 as predictions of future events by which we might discern the end of time. I believe that this deserves careful attention. In addition to that, I don't want to rush past the opening of the first six seals. As such, in our next part, we will directly be dealing with the opening of the first six seals. I promise.

Craig Koester's Amil-Preterist Commentary of Revelation (Part 3)

The First Cycle of Seven: Messages to the Seven Churches

Revelation opens with an exhortation for the readers of this prophecy to "keep it" (1:3). "If John primarily intended to dispense information about the future, we might have expected 1:3 to speak of the blessing that comes on those that 'understand' this book...To 'keep' the message of Revelation's prophecy means to 'worship God' (22:9)" (Pg. 47).

Next, we note in 1:4 that this letter has recipients, and those intended recipients - the audience - to whom John wrote this series of exhortations and visions was "the seven churches that are in Asia" (1:4). The churches:

• Ephesus
• Smyrna
• Pergamum
• Thyatira
• Sardis
• Philadelphia
• Laodicea

Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation contain specific messages for these specific churches and issues. Koester notes, however, that "Revelation is an open prophetic letter that is sent to seven particular congregations, yet it contains a message that applies to the church as a whole." The fact that these seven churches and not the churches in Colossae, Hieropolis, or Troas were recipients and that seven churches were chosen implies that the message of this letter is for the church as a whole.

Koester is careful to point out the analogous way in which John communicates what he saw in the book. Observe how he writes about the hard to describe figure he sees in 1:14-16:

"His head and hair were white as wool...his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze...his voice was like the sound of many waters...and his face was like the sun."

"The repeated us of 'as' and 'like' indicates that John was describing something that did not fit within the confines of ordinary speech."

If there is one area where most commentators seem to be able to come together, it is in reading the actual words of the letters to the seven churches. Most are willing to read their exhortations plainly and "without horns." As such, I will not dwell on the seven letters or emphasize Koester's exegesis of the letters to the churches, except to point out that they follow the same basic pattern:

• Address from Christ
• Words of rebuke and encouragement
• Summons to listen and promise to the conqueror

Many commentators want to go from chapter 3 to chapter 4 and assume John foresaw a jump in the subject matter of two thousand years. As we prepare to look at the opening of the seven seals in our next installment, let us keep in mind that the intended audience (the seven churches) has not at any point changed.

Craig Koester's Amil-Preterist Commentary of Revelation (Part 2)

The Book of Revelation and Roman Imperialism

Revelation emphasizes that God, not Caesar, is Lord of the world. The splendor of God's heavenly throne room shows that the pageantry of the Roman court is but a mockery of the true sovereignty of God (4:1-11). When the Lamb opens the seals on God's scroll, a mounted bowman appears, resembling the Parthian warriors that threatened the borders of the Roman Empire, and another horseman takes away the "peace" that Rome claimed to provide (6:1-4). The beast that persecutes the saints seems to be another Nero, while the beast's chief ally promotes idolatrous worship like that of the imperial cult (13:1-18). The harlot that rides upon the beast is the city set on seven hills - clearly Rome - and it is called "Babylon," since Babylon destroyed the first temple and the Romans destroyed the second temple (17:1-18). Yet Revelation warns that the Roman "Babylon" will fall, and Christians are called to separate themselves from it in the confidence that God's purposes will triumph (18:4). (Pg. 31)

Koester points out that this is the sort of context in which first century readers would have lived, and it is this context which was part of how this letter to the seven churches would have been read in the first century. He hammers home again and again that this was a book written to a specific people, and the meaning which we must seek from the text must be a meaning which the first century audience would have drawn.

We will take Revelation contextually, as a book written by 'John, to the seven churches that are in Asia' (1:4). Accordingly, instead of first asking how Revelation relates to the headlines in today's newspapers, we will ask how it relates to the situation of the Christians of John's own time...Revelation is not a coded collection of secrets that will finally become intelligible at the end of time, for from the beginning it has been an open book that was designed to communicate with Christians living on earth.

Koester's interpretation of Revelation distinguishes itself from the traditional historicist approach in two ways:

1. An increased emphasis on the fact that this book "addresses a number of different issues, not just one issue, and that there are valuable analogies between first-century life and modern life."
2. It "considers how Revelation's imagery evokes associations that fit multiple periods of time, not only one period of time.

"The idea is not that Revelation's images are 'timeless,' but that they disclose things that apply to many generations."

Revelation as a Non-Linear Whole

1. Revelation must be taken as a whole. He contrasts this with the premillennial approaches which "assume that verses of the Bible are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle." This means no jumping around from Daniel 9 to 1 Thessalonians 4 to Reveation 6, for example.
2. Revelation moves in a non-linear way. Koester, taking his cues from Victorinus, points out that Revelation moves in a series of loops. Each loop consists of seven distinct visions:

• Loop 1: Seven messages to the churches (Rev. 1-3)
• Loop 2: Seven seals (4-7)
• Loop 3: Seven trumpets (8-11)
• Loop 4: Unnumbered visions (12-15)
• Loop 5: Seven plagues (15-19)

Visions celebrating the triumph of God also occur at the end of each cycle (4:1-11; 7:1-17; 11:15-19; 15:1-4; 19:1-10; 21:1-22:5).

Other characteristics of each loop of Revelation.

1. In the middle of each loop, there are images of horsemen "that represent conquest, violence, hardship, and death."
2. This feature of each loop always gives way to the top of the loop, where we find visions of heaven, of the presence of "God, the Lamb, and the heavenly chorus."

"Threatening visions and assuring visions function differently, but they serve the same end, which is that listeners might continue to trust in God and remain faithful to God" (Pg. 39).

Now that we've seen Craig R. Koester's basic approach and outline of Revelation, we're ready to move on to the major themes in the text itself. Therefore, in our next installment, we'll look at the specifics of the first cycle of Revelation, Chapters 1-3. Presumably, this means that there will be five more installments to this review, since I want to at least give a cursory glance at how Koester understands each cycle. I do foresee a greater emphasis once we get to Revelation 20.

Craig Koester's Amil-Preterist Commentary of Revelation (Part 1)

A Review of Revelation and the End of All Things by Craig R. Koester

Revelation Commentaries by Amillennialists aren't exactly a dime a dozen. Commentaries by orthodox Preterists are even rarer. So when I found Revelation and the End of All Things by Craig Koester, I was very excited, because in this book Koester, a professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, has done us a tremendous service by writing an Amil-Preterist commentary on the book of Revelation. Over the course of this 200 page book, Koester lays out his case that Revelation was a book written by John for a specific audience, and that they would have understood the entirety of Revelation as timeless truths for the purposes of encouraging and building up the church so that they could see and understand the victory that Christ has over the world.

He begins by asking the question of whether the book of Revelation should be viewed primarily as predictions of future events or as 'timeless truth'. Obviously, how one answers this question is tremendously decisive to how you read Revelation or understand a good deal of Jesus' prophecies (particularly those in Matthew 24). He identifies those early in church history who held the futurist understanding of Revelation. These included Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, as well as the heretic Montanus (in an extreme form).

On the other side of things, he points to Origen, Jerome, and Dionysius of Alexandria as those who held that Revelation's meaning was deeper than mere 'literal predictions'. One significant figure during this time was Tyconius, who died around the time of Augustine. Tyconius "argued that the millenial kingdom of Rev. 20:1-6 was not a future hope, but a present reality" (Pg. 7). To shore up his argument, Tyconius pointed out that at the start of the millenium, Satan was "bound" (Rev. 20:2). The next thing which he points out is that this was achieved by Christ in his first coming. He makes this point by appealing to Matthew 12:29, where Jesus discusses how

"But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house" (Matthew 12:28-29).

Here, Jesus is saying that Satan is the strong man who is bound, and now that the Kingdom of God has come, Jesus is tying up Satan and plundering his house. "By putting these texts together Tyconius concluded that the thousand-year kingdom began with the first coming of Christ. Tyconius, however, recognized that Satan's being "bound" (Rev. 20:1-3) was not the same thing as his being completely destroyed (vv. 7-10). Therefore, until Christ's return, the church should still expect persecution as believers and unbelievers "exist side by side."

This view was also adopted by Augustine, where it finds a very ardent defender. Even though he opposed Tyconius as a Donatist, he "found that Tyconius' interpretation provided a way to read Revelation that could be applied to the interior life of Christians in all times and places."

Several helpful contributions from Augustine in this respect:

• People entered the millenial kingdom through the "first resurrection" (Rev. 20:4-6) by "dying and rising again" through faith in baptism.
• The second resurrection (Rev. 20:11-13) would be bodily at the end of time when Christ returned.
• When Revelation speaks of Satan's being cast into "the abyss" he "explained that this referred to the abyss of human hearts, where wickedness would reside until God destroyed it" (Pg. 8).
• Augustine also argued that the millenium "was not an exact period of time but a way of speaking about time as totality." He does this in The City of God 18.53.

By Koester's estimation, this reading of Revelation was the most widespread for centuries to come.

[I'll continue with this review of Koester's arguments in a later installment]