The Greek kapnos (“smoke”) appears twelve times in Revelation. Hold that number, because it might be significant. The twelve uses are grouped into six scenes, alternating between smoke having to do with the worship and glory of God and smoke from hell or hell’s allies: A. Smoke of incense, 8:4 B. Smoke from the abyss (4x), 9:2-3 A’. Smoke from the mouths of the myriad (implicitly angelic) army, 9:17-18 B’. Smoke of torment for those who worship the beast, 14:11... Read more
Derrida revived the ancient myth of Thoth, told in the Phaedrus, according to which the invention of writing was like a fall of man. Writing things down destroyed the personalism and in-placedness of speech, and eventually would destroy memory. Being a book, the Bible is understandably pro-book, and the very first reference to writing in Scripture gives us a clue to the significance of written records. After the war with Amalek, Yahweh tells Moses, “Write this as a memorial in... Read more
The Greek word “plague” (plege) is used 16 times in the book of Revelation, but twice we get a count of plagues. The hyacinth army of Revelation 9 breathes out the “three plagues” of fire, smoke, brimstone (9:18). Those plagues show up later (14:10-11 [all three]; 19:20; 20:10; 21:8 [fire and brimstone without smoke]), but they first appear as the weapons of the myriad-of-myriads army. After the grapes have been harvested (14:17-20), angels appears with “seven plagues, the last” (15:2).... Read more
I’ve noted before that the word “voice” appears seven times in Psalm 29. That suggests a link with creation, and we can see a general creation sequence in the Psalm: Days 1-2: In Genesis, the Spirit hovers over the waters, and then the Lord divides the waters above and below by His voice and puts a firmament between. In the Psalm, the voice of Yahweh is on the waters (vv. 2-3). Day 3: In Genesis 1, Yahweh divides the waters to... Read more
In an essay on “Rules of Walking in Fellowship,” John Owen claimed that “Union is the main aim and most proper fruit of love ; neither is there any thing or duty of the saints in the gospel pressed with more earnestness and vehemency of exhortation than this.” For Owen, unity has a triple character: first, Purely spiritual, by the participation of the same Spirit of grace ; communication in the same Christ, one head to all. This we have... Read more
“Parochial Christianity,” writes Mark Greengrass (Christendom Destroyed), “was more than a religious experience. It was a set of rights to benefices which were the key to monopoly revenues (the tithe, collected in various forms) in which patrons, collators and clergymen all had interests. And behind every parish church lay wardens who cared for the fabric of the church, managed the parish chest and organized the patronal feast. In the urban world, the role of the parish in local life was... Read more
Princes didn’t start the Reformation, but Mark Greengrass (Christendom Destroyed) says that they benefited most from it: “The empire’s evolution allowed them to present themselves as its primary law-makers and keepers of the peace” (314). It was beginning already before the Reformation: “Princes and imperial cities attempted to strengthen their control over monasteries and dioceses within their spheres of influence. In Switzerland too, the cantonal city of Zurich chose the clergy, promoted reform in the monasteries, controlled what the laity... Read more
Suppose denominations are declining in importance. Suppose other patterns and groupings are taking their place. What form will those other patterns and groupings have? The short answer is: We don’t know. No patriarch could have imagined the Mosaic system, and no priest serving the tabernacle could have anticipated all the details of the temple. No one in the early church quite anticipated Constantine, Thomas couldn’t conceive the form that the church would take after the Reformation, and Luther didn’t foresee... Read more
In a 2001 article in Evangelical Quarterly, Ralph Bowles argues that Revelation 14:10-11 does not teach that the wicked are eternally punished in hell, as many have thought. The text says that beast-worshipers will be tormented in fire and brimstone and “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever” and they “have no rest day and night.” Bowles offers several arguments for thinking that this is not a prooftext for eternal torment. I address only one of those... Read more
John sees one like a son of man on a cloud, holding a sickle (Revelation 14:14). We assume that He’s traveling down to reap the harvest, but is that correct? The original for this son-cloud combination if Daniel 7:13, where it is clear that the Son of Man comes up to the ancient of days to receive the dominion and authority of the beasts. Jesus quotes this passage (Matthew 24:30; 26:64; Mark 13:26; 14:62; Luke 21:27), and many assume that... Read more
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