Towards
a new spatio-temporal
macrostructure for Revelation - continued
4) Macrostructures and spatio-temporal analysis
4a) Spatio-temporal mapping
Mapping is an inter-disciplinary method which is established in Theology, particularly in areas linked to the social sciences. However, geological-style mapping (which emphasises a chronological dimension) of literary units, such as verses or passages, is rare. This type of spatio-temporal analysis maintains the relationships between location and relative time. In other words, verse order remains unchanged, so verses behave like beads on a piece of string within each space. Spacetime is a modern metaphor or mental image for John’s visionary cosmos. There are a few simple rules for this type of analysis: notations and interpretations can change, but verses and chapters cannot interrupt or inter-weave earlier or later chapters in the same space, because this creates temporal paradoxes. For example, events in chapters 12-14 either occur after chapters 1-11 or they must be in separate spaces/ dimensions.
Some unique events, such as the Cross (Jesus’ death and resurrection) or the fall of Babylon, are traceable across the cosmic spaces in the way that a unique marker like a volcanic ash layer is traceable across a wide region. Cross-boundary events are ‘time-parallels’, which are like text parallels but they have a chronological component. Eighteen time-parallels are recognised in the proposed macrostructure. In both Theology and Geology, what happens before and after a unique event helps build a picture of the sequence of events (a time-line) within each space; disturbances within a linear pattern define the macrostructure. Comparing every literary, linguistic or ideological model is outside the scope of this study, so the present author encourages others to map their preferred macrostructure onto a cosmic setting and compare it with the proposed model.
4b) Steps back in relative time (4:2, 12:1, 12:13, 15:1)
The visionary cosmic spaces within Revelation are heaven (the throne-room and its environs), two earthly dimensions (physical-spiritual and biblical, which are considered in the Framework chapter, 1B.d), and below-the-earth. Spatio-temporal analysis indicates there are steps back in relative time in the story-line at 4:2, 12:1, 12:13, 15:1 and the Macrostructure Model illustrates John’s journey through the cosmos. The interaction between these and the cosmic spaces results in two interlinked, chronologically linear dramas. The initial point of spatio-temporal interest is John’s move from the physical earth into a visionary dimension on Patmos (1:9-10). John is praying when he turns to see one-like-a-son-of-man (the Warrior) standing among seven lamp stands, so it is likely John remains in his present (visionary) time and location as his vision begins. When John is taken from earth to heaven’s throne-room, the slain Lamb has not yet appeared so 4:2 represents the first step back in relative time for John (to before the Cross) and 4:11 may represent the act of Creation itself. The seal openings (6:1-8:1) are an immediate consequence of the Cross, so it is likely the terrors of the four seal horsemen impacted the first post-Cross generations.
The structure of 1:1-11:19 is linear, across the cosmic spaces, and there is one time-line covering earth, heaven’s throne-room and earth again. Events culminate with the sounding of the seventh trumpet and the opening of the heavenly sanctuary (11:15-19) but instead of these events heralding the Parousia, John sees the celestial pregnant woman and then a dragon as signs in heaven (12:1-4). 12:1 is a convenient point to reflect on the role of evil in the story before the anticipation of the Parousia, generated at 11:19 is satisfied at 14:1 and 19:11.
12:1 is the second step back in relative time within the vision because John witnesses the birth of the Messiah (12:5) at the start of the ‘messianic war’ (12:1-14:20; Bauckham, 1993a: 94). The location, timing and birth of the Messiah are debated (in Framework 1B) and this study suggests events surrounding the birth of the celestial child occur in heaven’s environs. 12:1 initiates a second timeline that begins at Creation and climaxes at the Cross (12:1-12). The third shift in relative time (12:12) follows satan after he is defeated in a heavenly battle because of the Cross, and expelled. Satan follows the celestial mother to a mythic or early/ pre-history earth on which the mother found safety in the wilderness (12:6). The snake/ satan attacks her (12:13-16), possibly in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1-24) and she is saved from a flood. Time moves on, and the story climaxes again at the Cross when satan moves to attack the rest of the faithful offspring (followers of Jesus; 12:17); 12:17 cannot occur before the time of Jesus. John’s steps back in relative time enable him to see the consequence of the Cross from three perspectives (5:5-7, 12:9-12, 12:17) and these are illustrated as time-parallel 1 in the Macrostructure Model, Figure 1. The two versions of earth are physical-spiritual earth and biblical earth and their differences are described in the Framework chapter (1B.d).
12:1-18 introduces the child (Messiah) at the very beginning of earth’s history and satan stands by the sea-shore until his two beasts appear and society is under their control (12:18-13:18) until the Lamb appears on Mt Zion and the harvests begin (14:1-20). The fourth, and final, shift back in relative time is associated with the seven bowls (14:20/15:1) because the seventh trumpet sounding (11:15) and the open sanctuary (11:19, 15:5) almost certainly precede the Lamb’s appearance on Mt Zion (14:1).
The two time-lines both cover events from Creation to the New Order but a more complex, superficial structure begins with the bowls (15:1) and covers the cosmos-wide fall of Babylon and its aftermath (see Repetitions 3 and/ or Framework 4). From 16:12 (when the sixth bowl empties and evil forces gather for war), John describes events in multiple cosmic spaces in a few consecutive verses. This sequence of events may follow his gaze as he watches contiguous events unfold in the different spaces and this creates a textual spiral pattern that overlies the deeper linear (Creation – New Order) pattern. Verb tenses are not the guiding factor in this study because they are unreliable indicators for relative event timings in Revelation. They may reflect the tension between the narrative literary form and content, and/ or how John saw future events unfold; this is especially true for the fall of Babylon in 18:1-24 (Collins, 1979: 126). The spiral ends when John describes the New Jerusalem and the vision ceases (see the Macrostructure Model, Figure 5).
4c) John's journey
Considering Revelation as the story of a single visionary journey and comparing it with the logic of a spatio-temporal analysis highlights discrepancies between linear and other literary patterns. John’s cosmology followed a Jewish model but there were different regional views and J Edward Wright concludes there was such diversity in early cosmic schema that there was no unified understanding and early scholars (including Jewish and Christian writers) could only reflect their own particular knowledge and belief. In particular, there were probably differences between biblical and Israelite portrayals (Wright, 2000: 56, 88). John’s narrative was predominantly concerned with what happened in heaven and on earth. ‘Heaven and earth’ was a common phrase indicating the whole universe in John’s era (Wright, 2000: 53). Friesen described John’s cosmology as ‘weak’ (Friesen, 2001: 179) but the ‘weakness’ may indicate that John’s interpretation of the universe was tailored to his message. For example, the cosmos is not like a container with an ‘outside’ and it is not like the inside of a bowl, there are no limits to heaven’s influence; heaven is a limitless space with the throne-room at its centre and all actions radiate out from the throne. This is illustrated by the directions and influence which emanate from the throne (4:1-3, 16:17, 19:5, 20:11, 21:3-22:5) and the presence of the slain Lamb (Christ’s manifestation in the throne-room), appearing on Mt Zion which is an earthly location (14:1-5). The throne-room is surrounded by a seemingly limitless heavenly space that probably hosts the birth of the celestial child (12:5) and the battle between forces led by satan and Michael (12:7-9) (see Repetitions 2 and/ or Framework 1B).
Events associated with below-the-earth are boundary events with earth, because below-the-earth is only described as the source of the beasts and demons and the final destination for satan and his followers is the fiery lake. Caves and craters of active volcanoes (fiery, sulphurous lakes) were considered to be entrances to below-the-earth in John’s era and John does not enter or see further into below-the-earth. John implies that below-the-earth is created when satan and his angels are expelled from heaven to earth (12:9) because an angel rises from the smoke and leads evil armies onto earth when the abyss opens (9:11). There is no below-the-earth viewpoint when John describes the story of the dragon (satan) and how satan’s relationship with humanity corrupted humanity’s relationship with God (12:1-13:18). Satan’s role in our rejection of God is an important thread in Revelation and the plea to repent of doing evil deeds is stressed in five of the seven messages to the churches (2:1-3:22) and there is refusal to repent when the sixth trumpet sounds (9:20-21) and the fourth and fifth bowls empty (16:9-11); the last opportunity to repent is when Babylon falls (seventh bowl, 18:4).
There is recognisable linear plot progression in Revelation (Resseguie, 2009: 59) and John describes events in his relative past or future (1:19), in heaven and on earth, but a linear chronological component to the story is not widely accepted today. This study suggests that the text indicates time passing in Revelation is analogous to time passing on earth, but events in heaven may have a more abstract linear chronology than on earth, for example 4:2-5:4 and 12:1-12 may cover time from Creation to the Cross (see the Macrostructure Model). The passage of time within below-the-earth is unknown because demons appearing out of the mouths of the dragon and his two beasts (16:13-14), demons infesting Babylon (18:2) and the fiery lake (from 19:20) are earth/ below-the-earth boundary events.