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Talk about my approach to the prophecy of Daniel. A sane man would con- would have contented himself with attempting just that. But life being what life is and people being what people are, I elected also to talk about the revelation. I did so because, as we have already said, the visions given to God- by God to to John in the book of the Revelation are in many respects similar to some of the visions given to Daniel, as also, of course, visions given to others of the prophets, like Zechariah.
But it seemed to me that if we talked on the way that the book of Daniel is composed and demonstrated how important it is, sooner or later, and better sooner, to treat the book as a whole and try to understand what it is saying as a book and how the parts of it are related to one another and how each contributes what it has to say to the whole without unnecessary repetition and all that. Then the lessons that we would learn from this approach to Daniel could profitably be applied to the book of the Revelation.
The book of the Revelation, as you know, is much disputed as to its meaning and interpretation. And I am not proposing that my way is the key to it that will solve all the problems. Even after twelve o'clock this morning, commentaries will continue to be written on the book of Daniel, and they will come out like the proverbial peas out of the pod, you'll see. But nonetheless, it is not for us to grow cynical, is it, in our approach to these things? And we must make, under God, every serious, uh, approach we can to his word to understand it, believing it is to be the word of God, whether we understand it or not, and proceeding on that presupposition.
Encouraged by our Lord's promise that we are to ask and we shall be given, we are to seek and we shall find, we are to knock and it shall be opened to us. If not at once, but then as we show the, the Lord our sincerity by means of our perseverance in thinking about his word, he surely will eventually fulfill his promise. We mustn't expect, of course, that in any one generation we shall understand the whole of the Bible in all its infinite complexity. God shows generations what they can take, and sometimes leaves to other generations what he pleases to show them in their particular circumstances.
Because in the understanding of the word of God, very often it is the experiences that God puts us through, both in our personal lives and in the larger context of life in our particular day and generation, that prepare our thinking to see certain problems that other people didn't see, and then to look in the word of God to find that, well, if God foresaw the problem, and there he has an answer, but you don't normally see the answer unless you've first seen the problem, you see. So with those kind of things in mind, let's come again to the book of the Revelation, and I, for my part, will, uh, show to you the kind of approach I would make.
You can guess what that's going to be, can't you? You'll say the man will surely, you know, he's like a dog who put his nose in cheese at one stage, and then thereafter, wherever he went, he smelt cheese. And having found a structure in one book, he has to find structures in every book, and that shows how, well, questionable the method is. Oh, very good. You'll find he will even talk about patterns. But, you know, there are three things in the study of scripture. There is thought flow, structure, and pattern, these three. And the greatest of these three is thought flow.
Yes, you've got hold of it. And so if we take the book of the Revelation in hand, I suggest we try and make ourselves a table of contents, but just not any table of contents. We shall follow thought flow to try and determine what are the major divisions of the book, and whether we can come to any reasonable decision about what are the constituent elements of the Book of the Revelation. We must be prepared to remember that different, uh, uh, godly men and women and accurate scholars still come to different opinions on the exact analysis of the table of contents of the book of the Revelation.
But let's proceed nothing daunted, shall we? If we take the book in our hand, we notice it begins with its introduction, its, its title, its, uh, and its introduction. And then with chapter one verse four, John is given this spectacular vision of the, uh, uh, Son of Man, one like unto a Son of Man, standing in the midst of seven golden lampstands. And the scene is described in great detail by John, as it appeared to him in the split second before the light in the face of the Son of Man, shining as the sun in noonday strength, had John prostrate on the ground.
But there he was encouraged. The Lord laid his hand upon him and bade him rise and face what the Lord had to say. And our Lord dictated letters to be written down by John and sent to the seven churches in Asia Minor. So the vision comes in chapter one, The commission to write there comes, but you can't end the story there, can you? Chapter one is obviously not a major climax because chapter two carries on with now John doing what he was told to do, as the Son of Man from the middle of the lampstands dictates seven successive letters to John that are to be sent to seven— the seven of the churches represented by the lampstands.
The writing of those letters fills chapters two and three. and when the last letter is written to the last church, Laodicea, then that vision comes to its end, its logical end. I think all would agree that in chapters one, two, and three you have the first major section of the book of the Revelation complete in that sense in itself. The change is very clearly marked when you come to chapter four. The first vision is over. Indeed, the location at which John is given the second vision is very different and is marked at the beginning of chapter four.
Carefully notice, if you will, the wordage. After these things I saw, and behold, a door opened. You may not realize why I stress that. I have my own devious intentions in doing so, you'll say, but there was a door opened in heaven. Thus the text says in so many words, something opened in heaven. And the voice which I heard, a voice as of a trumpet speaking with me, one saying, come up hither, and I will show you the things which must come to pass hereafter. And straightway I was in the spirit, and behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting upon the throne.
Detail number 2. Something opened in heaven, namely a door. And when John is admitted through the door, just look at that, this large object of heavenly furniture, if I might put it that way, or a throne set. Now, if we apply our technique of thought flow, having been introduced to the topic of the throne, we shall want to follow it, can't we? How far does it go in the subsequent verses and chapters? Well, it fills chapter four, doesn't it? Because eh, we are given a description in geometrical terms of that throne.
We shall not pause now to try and understand what those geometrical terms are saying. Perhaps, if God will, we shall talk of that tomorrow. We're just noticing the thought flow. Chapter four now goes on to describe this throne and comes to a minor climax when the living creatures give honor and glory, verse nine, thanks to him that sitteth on the throne, and the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sitteth on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and shall cast their crowns before the throne. Now, you haven't dozed off, have you? We're still talking about the throne. You, you got that from John's repetition, didn't you?
You hadn't forgotten that. Yes, good. And, uh, it says, worthy art thou, O Lord our God, to receive the glory because thou hast created, and we gather that this is the throne of the Creator. A minor climax then, but not the end of the topic of the throne. For I saw in the right him, uh, right hand of him that sat on the throne. Why doesn't John vary his language? Hadn't he better learn a bit of stylistics? And instead of keeping on saying him that sat on the throne, say God or something, or the Lord, or Jehovah, or the Almighty, but here he is repeating this phrase, dear me. But there you are. Uh, and I, uh, you see, I saw in the right him that's right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written, you'll see, and the challenge to come and take it and open it.
That challenge was met by the lion of the tribe of Judah, who is also the Lamb. And verse seven tells us he came and he taketh it out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, it gave rise to worship, you'll see. And the worship fills the rest of that chapter. Look at verse thirteen. The worship is couched still in these terms, unto him that sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb be the blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, amen, and the elders fell down and worshiped. And there you have another climax, in a sense.
Is it the final climax of the section? No. Why not? Because we're watching a drama. Put yourself in John's shoes, if you care, and look at the whole scene through his eyes. He was first shown a throne, and it was described, and then he's shown the book in the hand of him that sits on the throne, and the challenge for somebody to come and take the book, and not only take it, but open the seals thereof. That's the challenge, not just to take the book. Who's worthy to take the book and open the seals is the point. And they see the Lamb take the book, and they break forth in their worship, but that's only half the story. To fulfill the challenge, he must now proceed to loose the seals and open the book.
Yeah. Well, that's what happens in chapter six. So we can't break the story that, yeah, yeah, can we? And we must follow the opening of the seals in chapter six. And we come down in verse twelve to the opening of the sixth seal. And there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell onto earth, and such and such and such and such. The result of it was this. Verse fifteen: the kings of the earth and the princes and the chief captains and the rich and the strong and every bondman and free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. And they say to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of God Almighty and from the wrath of the Lamb.
No, they don't. If that's what you thought, you had really fallen asleep there. They say, save us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne. Have you forgotten where you are? You are with John in heaven, viewing the throne, and the Lamb has come and taken the book, and he's now opening the seals, and as he opens the seals, you see what is happening down there on earth. And the result of the opening of the sixth seal is that the folks on earth cry to the heavens to the rocks to cover them from the face of him that sits on the throne. The vision is proceeding, the thought, thought flow is going on.
Ah yes, say some commentators, that might be so, sir, but now you come to chapter seven, and that is a parenthesis. If you haven't come across that notion, my advice is don't. It could be a parenthesis in someone's systematic theology. It cannot be called a parenthesis in John's book, because look what he said. While they cry, who shall s- uh, hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, for the great day of their wrath is come, and who is able to stand, that is, stand before him that sits on the throne. John says he had these visions.
Four angels and the command to seal the servants of God in their foreheads so nothing shall be hurt. And they were sealed, you'll see. Verse one to eight. Then in verse nine, after these things I saw and behold a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and all the tribes and peoples and tongues, standing in heaven in one of the many mansions. No, no. Standing before the throne. Hm. And before the Lamb arrayed in white robes and palms in their hands, and they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation unto our God, who created heaven and earth, who sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb.
And all the angels were standing round about the throne, and about the elders and the four living creatures who had been described as being round the throne in chapter four, of course. And they fell before the throne on their faces and worshiped God, saying, Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever. Amen. And at that point, there's a very big comment made, and it's made by one of the elders, as you'll notice, who comments on the scene and in fact asks John a question. One of the elders answered, saying unto me, these which are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and whence came they?
And John says, I haven't the first idea, sir. You tell me. And the elder said to me, these are they which come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are... Therefore they are before the throne of God. And they serve him day and night in his temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat, for the Lamb who... who is in the midst of the... throne shall be their shepherd and shall guide them unto fountains of water and life, and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. The comment of one of the elders. And you see, he's got it straight, for he and John are both there. The elder is sitting on one of the seats, on one of the thrones, around the throne. And earlier he cast his crown before the throne.
And he's telling John the significance of this great multitude and how they come to stand before the throne when the kings of the earth are crying that the rocks fall on them to hide them from the face of him that sits on the throne. How can these people possibly stand there in the full blaze of the light of the face of him that sits on the throne when these others are crying to be hid? And the elder explains it. Notice the repetition of the idea of the fact of the throne. And you notice that with this comment, our eyes are taken off to the great future, when all tears shall be wiped away. There'll be echoes of that when you come to the final chapters of the book, won't there?
How that tears shall be wiped away. At the end of chapter seven, the very wordage is taking us on to the great and final state. The object of the throne then, and it was set as soon as John entered this open door in heaven. Something was opened in heaven, and he saw the throne, and the throne has now dominated the whole scene through chapter four, five, six, and 7. That is a logical thought flow. And it ends with a due climax of a view of the eternal state.
What happens next? Is this going on, this same theme? Well, look what happens in chapter eight. And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stand before God, and there were given unto them seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer. And there was given unto him much incense that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar, as distinct from the ordinary altar. The golden altar, which was before the throne, and the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hand.
And now, something opened. That's how this scene begins. You haven't forgotten how the scene started in chapter four, have you? Of course not. Um, something opened. And it's the seventh seal. And where was that? Well, it was on the book, in the right hand, in the hand of the Lamb, who had taken it out of the hand of him that sits on the throne. We are in heaven, of course. And the, uh, seal is opened, and there was silence in heaven. And then John's attention is drawn to another piece or pieces of heavenly furniture, this time not the throne, so much as first the big altar and then the golden altar of incense.
And it is that golden altar of incense and the service therein, uh, uh, performed, there performed, that now becomes the focus of attention and will govern what follows. For time's sake, I'm not going to do the work for you, but point out, uh, what the theme is. There was silence in heaven for half an hour. However you subsequently interpret that, please notice that the opening emphasis is on this question of timing. How long did the silence last?
For now, in this section of the Revelation, you are to begin to get a tremendous emphasis on timing. We are told, for instance, of the plagues that follow, that, uh, some of them last for five months and so forth. And then in chapter ten, when the angel comes down from heaven and puts one foot on land and one on sea, lifted up his right hand to heaven, ten five. he swear by him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are therein, and the earth and the things that are therein, and that the sea and the sea and the things that are therein, that there shall be...
delay no longer. The thinking of time and the waiting period and the silence in heaven. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God according to the good tidings which he declared to his servants. And then, of course, in chapter eleven, time. Eleven, uh, two. The court which is without the temple leave without and measure it not, for it has been given unto the nations, and the holy city they shall tread under foot forty and two months.
Time again. And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days. Time again. And then, at the end of their ministry, they are overcome, you'll see, and their dead bodies lie in the street, and the time that they lie there is told you, verse nine, days and a half. When they are finally, uh, raised, there comes a great earthquake, the second woe is past, says fourteen. The third woe comes quickly, and the seventh angel sounded. This is to be the climax. This is the final sounding of the trumpet.
Great voices in heaven that said, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. And not one elder now, but all four and twenty elders make their comment. Oh, shades of pattern coming up now, if you're not careful. That section that was four, five, uh, uh, six and seven ended with a comment by one of the elders. Now the trumpets come to their end with the blowing of the seventh, and the comment is made by all four twenty four elders.
And they know how to comment because they've been watching the scene very carefully. They know what the issue is at stake. It has been a question of time, how long the silence, how long these, uh, ministry of these prophets, how long before the end. And the angel has said that the delay shall be very short. There will be a bit of a delay, but very short. And now the comment. They say, we give thanks, O Lord God the Almighty, which art and which was, because thou hast taken thy great power and has begun to reign. And the nations are wroth, and thy wroth came, and the time of the dead. Oh, oh, fancy that.
They appear to know what they're talking about. Uh, uh, the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to thy servants, the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy them that destroy the earth. And so you come to the end and climax of the seven trumpets with a comment by the twenty four elders, and they are on the theme, as it opens, so it ends, on this matter of time and timing. And when their comment comes to its end, pray, look what verse nineteen says. And there was opened the temple of God, that is in heaven, something opened in heaven.
And there was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant. And there followed lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and great hail. I warn you, the pattern is beginning to repeat. In chapter four, there was a door opened in heaven, and John, being summoned up thither, saw a great article of temple furniture. In chapter eight, the seal was opened, and there followed silence in heaven, and John was shown another great article of taberna- of heavenly furniture, the golden altar of incense. And the question of the silence lasting in half an hour set going the theme.
Now this next big section opens with something opened in heaven, and this time a piece of heavenly furniture, here called the Ark of his covenant. Why the Ark of the Covenant is relevant? I'm going to throw out a suggestion to you. I'm watching the clock, of course. But the Ark of the Covenant is so called because it contained the two tables of stone, the basis of God's covenant with the people of Israel.
And the first of the commandments on the table of stone that formed the basis of the covenant was this: Thou shalt have no other gods but me. Thou shalt not make any image or bow down thereto. Thus said the covenant. This is the part of the revelation that's going to tell us about, look at chapter thirteen— the time coming when Satan shall give to the beast his throne and power, and the masses will go mad in their adulation of the beast, helped forward by the second beast, the false prophet. They shall make an image to the beast and lead the nations to worship the image of the beast and the beast, and in their folly they shall cry, who is like unto the beast?
That's a rhetorical question and means that the beast is absolutely unique, but in using the phrase, they are using the phrase that is in the Old Testament and confined, of course, to God, who is like unto Jehovah? Well, nobody. He's absolutely unique. Thus said the terms of the covenant. It was the first term in the covenant that was in the Ark of the Covenant. You shall have no other gods but me. And here on earth, the final impiety and blasphemy. Deceived by the devil, man is striving to do what the devil put before him in the Garden of Eden, to be God. And the crowds cry, who is like unto the beast?
Yeah. Well, eventually that section comes to its end. Notice how it comes to its end. This is chapter fifteen, verses two to four. And I saw, as it were, a glassy sea mingled with fire, and them that had come victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name, standing by the glassy sea, having harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty, righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of ages. Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name, for thou only art holy.
They've got the victory over the beast. They're protesting against the beast propaganda. They are insisting on the uniqueness of God as the only one to be worshipped. They've triumphed in their hearts over the beast, haven't they, and all his lies. And now they are making their comment by the sea of glass. The comment, you see, is not being made by one elder, nor yet twenty four elders, but... Oh, I wonder what this glassy sea thing is. But that's another, that's a story for another day. But here's the comment, you'll see, and it comes to its end in verse four: For Thou only art holy for all the nations who come and worship before thee, for thy righteous acts have been made manifest.
Ending once more with a comment. And when that comment brings that section to the end, the next one begins. You couldn't guess, could you, how the next one would begin, by any chance? And after these things I saw, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. Well, fancy that. There are a few things, you know, to be taken into account in the study of scripture. There is thought flow, there is structure, and then there is pattern. You'll see how the pattern is repeating itself, don't you? And I must omit the details and come to the end of this section.
Comes in chapter nineteen, of course, with a great outburst of praise to God on the part of many voices of different kinds, giving him thanks for having disjudged and destroyed the harlot Babylon, the false woman. And we come to the end of the comment. Verse seven: let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And he saith unto me, Write, blessed are they which are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell down before his feet to worship him, and he saith unto me, See thou do it not. I am a fellow servant with thee and with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is a spirit of prophecy. And the comment was apropos, wasn't it? Did you notice what it was about? It's about the Lamb's wife. And how is that relevant to what's gone on? Well, it's relevant because in this particular section that here ends, you have had the vision of two women. In chapter seventeen, there's a woman, she's riding a beast. And if you took a look at her, you would say, well, hmm, hmm, certain amount of attractiveness, you know, there's certainly color there on the cheeks and the garments, you know, a certain style about it.
Perhaps the rouge on the face is a bit too brazen, you know, to the colors are too pronounced, aren't they? Yeah, because the woman is a harlot. Rished up like harlots would be. Unfaithful woman, riding the beast, when she could have been a bride of the Lamb. And then in chapter eighteen, there's this woman, they're both called Babylon, but oh, ah, her style is tremendous. Talk about Laura Ashley. Magnificent style. Not too much rouge here, nah, you'll see. But she's full of the beautiful things such as you find in the malls of Canada and America.
Delightful things, you see. What's wrong with her then? Well, there's something wrong. We shall have to consider that another day. But in both cases of the women, their clothing is mentioned, isn't it? Understandably, of course, women are interested in these things, but the clothing becomes significant. Question of beauty, but it's beauty gone wrong, and God judges the both of them. And in their place, there is the bride of the lamb, and what about her? Well, it's her clothes too that are emphasized, and they are exceedingly beautiful. This section then, the fifth in the book of the Revelation, has its dominant theme running through.
And like all others, it comes to a conclusion with a comment, this time by the sundry voices here mentioned. And when it's over, now you couldn't begin to guess how the next section is going to begin, could you possibly? Or could you? Because the last and final section opens, begins this way, and I saw the heaven opened. But now he sees not some piece of heavenly furniture, he sees a rider on a white horse coming out to effect the judgments of God. And that section will carry on throughout the rest of the book.
It will come to its end with the delightful comments, some by John, but more importantly, by the comment of our blessed Lord himself. That, I suggest to you, is a possible reading of the structure of the book. We've traced it out by following thought flow and then noticing emergent patterns at the beginning of those sections and at their end. I'm going now to hand out to you, if someone will help me, my little, uh, working analysis, it's no more than that, of the book of Revelation, and, uh, you may care to take it home, and if you get a few moments between one o'clock and two o'clock this morning and you can't sleep, uh, like King Darius upon his bed, well, then you could call for the sheet to be brought to you, couldn't you?
And, uh, uh, read therein and see whether you think there's any validity in this particular analysis. It is suggesting that the first vision in the first column, chapter one to three twenty two, is the vision of the Son of Man and the churches. That is one whole, one logical thought flow coming to its end with the final letter to the final church. Section two begins with the door opened in heaven. The piece of furniture of the throne.
The throne will then dominate, so I do have one. Uh, the throne will then dominate the whole of the succeeding sex- the succeeding section to the end of chapter seven. The third begins with the seventh seal opened and silence in heaven. Mm. And a piece of heavenly furniture, in particular the golden altar of incense. And the theme there raised with the silence of half an hour, the question of timing, dominates what follows. We come to the end of that particular section by the final triumph from the comment on it by the elders.
When their comment is finished, the next scene opens with something opened in heaven and a piece of heavenly furniture, namely the Ark of God's covenant. That likewise ends by a comment at that section of the book with the song by the victors over the beast. And their comment is relevant because they have overcome the beast, which now dominates the central parts of that section of the book. When that comment is over, the next section begins with something opened in heaven, namely the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven.
There come out angels, and their clothing is noticed. Beautiful clothing. They come to execute the judgments of God. Upon Babylon in particular, Babylon's clothing is mentioned, and so is the clothing of the woman in chapter eighteen of the Revelation, also called Babylon. And comes to its climax, does that section, with a marriage supper of the Lamb, the clothing of the bride is mentioned. And once more a comment, a response by the great multitude. The final section of the book opens once more with, but this time, heaven itself open and the rider coming forth.
And the book closes with the threefold testifying of Jesus and the grace. That is my working hypothesis, ladies and gentlemen, as to the possible structure of the book of the Revelation. We shall want to know why is it structured that way? Is it just a convenient way of, of handling the thing? Or has the structure meaning? What are these six sections, and what are they saying, and how are they related one to the other? We'll see some interpretations of the book of the Revelation that concentrate on the three series of judgments.
The judgments when the seals are unloosed, the judgments when the trumpets are blown, the judgments when the bowls are upturned and poured out. They come to, uh, the chapters eleven uh, nineteen to fifteen four and they say, well, pooh, there aren't any series of judgments here, so here comes the handy word. It's always useful. This is the great parenthesis. Really? Is it really? How can it be a great parenthesis? Is it is one of the major sections of the book that follows the same pattern of all the sections except the first.
There's something opened in heaven, and then a piece of tabernacle furniture, heavenly tabernacle furniture, and then that dominating the the theme all the way through the section and ending by an appropriate comment. Well, it may be a parenthesis in a, a, a, a systematic scheme of prophecy that they, they who work there may find it appropriate to call that a parenthesis. But from a literary point of view, of course, it is not a parenthesis. It is an integral section of the book, and tomorrow, if the Lord spares us, I shall hope to make some suggestions to you as to what these big sections are, are about in their dominant themes, and how thematically, on the point of view of a book and its literary structure and its patterning, but supremely by its thought flow.
John is being given a message which, in all its six major parts, coheres, each providing an angle on the multifaceted truth that the Spirit of God is communicating to us in this book. So there we dismiss. Thank you for your patience, and uh, I look forward, God willing, to tomorrow.
