Framework: Section 3D -
'last days' underway (eschaton part 2)
Overview
It is suggested in Framework 2C that the heavenly silence of the seventh seal (8:1) delineates John’s era (the seal era) from later events (the censer, trumpets and bowls) – and the eschaton, i.e. ‘last days’, may begin when the trumpets are prepared and the censer is thrown to earth (8:2-6). Trumpet blasts are traditionally associated with warnings and when they sound, torments are hurled to/ impact earth (from 8:7). The first four trumpets herald environmental/ cosmic torments on the physical-spiritual earth and the last three warn of imminent ‘woes’ (8:13). When the fifth and sixth trumpets sound, satan’s two beasts appear on the biblical earth (13:1-18; time-parallels 2 and 3, Figure 3). Durations of each of these events are unknown so exact time-scales for the eschaton are impossible to deduce – but time is short. This section represents the middle of the eschaton. Background information for the study is given in Framework1 and the Towards … chapter.
Figure 3 - the two beasts: time-parallels 2-8a
3D.a) Early warning signs that the eschaton is underway
When armies appear (9:1-21) and the speaking image of the abyss beast is set up (13:14-15, time-parallels 2 and 3, Figure 3) these are like echoes of the Gospel warnings of the desolating sacrilege and armies (Mt. 24:15-22, Mk. 13:14-20, Lk. 21:20-24) that were visible warnings prior to Jerusalem’s destruction in A.D. 70. (see Framework 2C.b). This is an example in Revelation of an event in the eschaton (the beast’s image is installed) mimicking an event in the post-Cross era (following the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ: the set up of the desolating sacrilege). Both installations were/ will be followed by armies gathering. This is not a case of evil mimicking good (see Framework 3C.b), it is an allusion to material events in the past. The installation of abyss beast’s image on the biblical earth may, perhaps, only be recognisable with hindsight as an indication that the eschaton is underway because it may be an immaterial, allegorical installation.
The clearest indication that the eschaton is underway may be the prophesying, death, resurrection and ascension of the ‘two witnesses’ in the Great City (Jerusalem, see Framework 3B.a), and the immediate collapse of ten percent of the city, with seven thousand fatalities (11:3-13). In the proposed macrostructure, when the two witnesses are appointed and killed on the physical-spiritual earth at the time of the sixth trumpet (11:3-10), the great sign of the seven plague angels is seen in heaven (15:1; time-parallel 5, see Figure 3). It is as if the martyrdom of the two witnesses is a trigger for the bowls, but whether that time-parallel reflects an association between the events or cause and effect is unknown. When the two witnesses are resurrected and the seventh trumpet sounds, the victorious martyrs rejoice in heaven (11:11-18, 15:2-4; time-parallel 6, see Figure 3 and Framework 3A.b).
The murder/ resurrection/ ascension of the two witnesses in Jerusalem may perhaps visibly herald the eschaton because most of the previous traumas seem quite generic. Even 200 million troops and devastating plagues (9:14-21, trumpet 6, time-parallel 3) may be confused with wars and natural disasters (like the famines, earthquakes, storms and cosmic disturbances associated with the first four trumpets or bowls because these lead to neither changes in behaviour nor repentance. People refuse to repent when the sixth trumpet sounds (9:20-21) and when the fourth and fifth bowls empty (16:8-11). Even after hedonistic Babylon falls later (18:1-3), there is an opportunity to repent when a voice heaven pleads with the faithful to leave Babylon (18:4, Framework 4). The Grain Harvest may also represent an opportunity to repent (14:14-16, Framework 5).
The trumpets are warnings associated with torments hurled to/ impacting earth but the last three herald three ‘woes’ (8:13) and satan’s beasts (13:1, from time-parallel 2, see Figure 3). The third woe is imminent (11:14) before the seventh trumpet sounds (11:15). The proposed macrostructure indicates that the third woe is the emptying of the bowls carried by the seven plague angels, because these directly follow the sounding of the seventh trumpet (11:15-18) and the opening of the heavenly sanctuary (11:19, 15:5; time-parallels 6 and 7, Figure 3). The bowls are full of the wrath of God (15:7), so they may be more severe and affect different populations compared with the trumpets;[1] perhaps their torments are accentuated by the influence of satan’s beasts. Will people recognise the differences between the trumpet and bowl torments as indications of the unfolding eschaton?
When does the eschaton end? Not yet. In the interpretation in this study, the eschaton began with the censer emptying onto earth (8:5, Framework 2), it becomes the Day of God’s Wrath (time-parallels 8 to 15, see Framework 4B.d) and it does not end until the Great Battle (19:17-21, Framework 5). This interpretation implies that the eschaton (‘last days’ or ‘end times’) is followed by a different era that consists of the Millennium, Final War and Final Judgement. The final era is the New Order (Framework 5).
[1] Different intensities (⅓ affected by trumpets 1-4, 6 versus all for bowls 2-4); different populations or places (the un-sealed for trumpet 5 versus the marked, beasts’ kingdom, Euphrates, Babylon (bowls 1, 5-7).
3D.b) Implications of Revelation's eschatology
One implication of the linear chronology outlined in the proposed macrostructure is that it gives a relative time-line for Revelation’s story, from Creation to the New Order – so everyone is somewhere on this time-line. Exactly whereabouts is unknown because Revelation does not define when or how these events may occur on the material world. Revelation’s story begins with Creation and it is described as two dramas (4:1-11:19 and 12:1-22:20a) that focus on the Cross (Framework 1). The immediate impact of the Cross on earth is the opening of the seven seals and the appearance of four horsemen (6:2-8) i.e. ‘the four horsemen of the apocalypse’ (Framework 2). These are followed by persecution (the martyrs of the fifth seal) and the great earthquake and cosmic disturbance of the sixth seal (perhaps Jerusalem’s fall) and the silence of the seventh seal (6:9-8:1). In Framework 2, it is suggested that the Silence (8:1) represents the separation between the immediate post-Cross era and the Censer (8:3-5), i.e. the Censer is the beginning of the eschaton. This interpretation indicates that the seven seals are immediate post-Cross events and the trumpets and bowls are part of the eschaton.
The pattern of the septets (seals/ trumpets/ bowls) in the proposed macrostructure is linear, rather than a recapitulation or telescopic structure (see Towards … 3b and the Macrostructure Model). This does not imply an un-ending succession of torments because the seven seals opened at least 2000 years (depending upon when the eschaton begins) before the warning trumpets sound and the bowls full of the wrath of God are emptied. The bowls (the third woe) may be even more traumatic for some than the first two woes (trumpet 5-6), but events will move swiftly. The bowls will be short-lived (people are still experiencing the pains and sores of the first four bowls when the fifth one is emptying, 16:10-11). Even the abyss beast’s authority from the dragon is time-limited (13:5) and its role as eighth king is short lived (17:10-14).
In this section of Revelation, the eschaton is well underway. After the last three warning trumpets are announced (with the accompanying three woes, 8:13), the world as the kingdom of ‘our Lord and of his Messiah’ is proclaimed (11:15, time-parallel 6) and the heavenly sanctuary opens (11:19, 15:5, time-parallel 7). The third woe follows, and the seven plague angels begin emptying their bowls full of the wrath of God (time-parallel 8a, Figure 3). This is the beginning of the Day of God’s Wrath (time-parallels 8 to 15, see Framework 4B.d). The appearance of the Lamb on Mt Zion is imminent (14:1).
There will be warnings that the eschaton is underway but the trumpet and bowl trauma may be mistaken, at the time, for natural or man-made disasters. How recognisable the installation of the speaking image of the abyss beast (13:14-15) will be as a warning to leave Babylon (18:4, Framework 4) is uncertain. It may be an echo of the setting up of the desolating sacrilege (in the Jerusalem Temple is implied) prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. (Mt. 24:15-22, Mk. 13:14-20, see Framework 2C.b) but, in the interpretation in this study, it will be on the biblical earth so its significance may only be recognisable with hindsight. The clearest indication may be the prophesying, death, resurrection and ascension of the two witnesses and the collapse of ten percent of the Great City (Jerusalem) and its seven thousand fatalities (11:3-14). This will happen during the second woe, which is after or while the sixth trumpet sounds.
Revelation is an apocalyptic (revalatory)-prophecy with a letter-form throughout (see Towards …1a) so it reveals hidden mysteries, but who or what most of Revelation’s characters may represent is uncertain. No attempt is made in this study to put real-world names to the characters or events because we do not know Revelation’s absolute time-scale.
3D.c) Applications of Revelation's eschatology
This study presents a macrostructure of Revelation with a chronologically linear time-line for events on earth from Creation to the New Order (see Macrostructure Model). Every generation lives somewhere on this continuum – exactly whereabouts is not only unknown, but unknowable after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ (the Cross). The proposed macrostructure is a guide for interpreting Revelation and its events relative to one another, but it is more like a map than a satellite navigation system. Mapping is not used here to represent limitless layers of meaning or literary maps of transformations (Thompson, 1990: 187; see Towards … 1.b) or monsters, and ‘therefore a monster itself’ (Pippin, 2020; 185). This study sees Revelation as an overview of God’s territory that puts characters and events into a cosmic and temporal perspective. This study suggests that the key to Revelation’s structure is the impact of the Cross (time-parallel 1) and how the outcome of that universal event does not lead to repentance. Instead, Babylon the city/ harlot illustrates how society is dominated by the corrupt lifestyles of those who do not reject their evil ways (14:8, 16:17-21, 17:1-18:24).
Underlying this study is the belief that it is unhelpful to allocate names of people or institutions to the beasts because we do not know our relative position on the Creation- New Order continuum – although some in every generation attempt that approach. The world-wide popularity of the Hal Lindsay’s books in the 1970’s,[1] the ‘Left Behind’ series in the 1990’s-2000’s [2] and the more recent wastelands in apocalypse noir films and books may be some sort of harbingers of the unfolding of the eschaton; or they may just scare people with no positive outcome … and still the generations come and go. Engagement with ‘millennial hope’ (based on 20:1-6) is now identified as a vital aspect of the human condition, as illustrated in Joshua Searle and Kenneth Newport’s book on the future of millennial studies (2012). The advice for people of any era from this study is to be aware, repent, endure any torments patiently and, above all, remain faithful. An ongoing motif within Revelation is the need to be aware of what is happening in society; this is a complementary message to that of the Gospels (see Framework 2C.b). Application of the messages of Revelation and the Gospels today is no different from an interpretation in any other era – be aware, repent and endure patiently[31 and, above all, remain faithful to God and the Lord Jesus, his Messiah.
[1] For example: Hal Lindsey with C.C Carlson (1970) The Late Great Planet Earth. London: Lakeland. Hal Lindsey (1973) There’s a New World Coming: A Prophetic Odyssey Santa Ana: Vision House Publishers.
[2] The ‘Left Behind’ series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins from 1995. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers.
[3] Repent: in five messages to the churches (2:1-3:22), refusal to repent (sixth trumpet, 9:20-21; fourth and fifth bowl, 16:9-11); last opportunity (seventh bowl, 18:4). Endure patiently: 1:9, 2:2-3, 2:19, 3:10, 13:10, 14:12.
Page updated 30 October 2024