Two things are said to be crystal in Revelation: the sea that is before the throne (4:6) and the river that flows through the Jerusalem that comes down from heaven (22:1). The two are clearly linked. The river that flows through the city is flowing from the heavenly sea. Like the bronze sea and the water chariots of the temple, the water flows from God’s house and throne room into the world. As James Jordan has suggested, the crystalline sea... Read more
Before the throne in heaven are seven lamps of fire burning, which are the seven spirits (4:5). We know from 1:20 that the lampstands are the seven churches. 4:5 tells us that the archetype of those seven lampstands are the seven burning spirits before the throne. Or, we might say that the light that burns on the lampstands of the church is the light of the Spirit. Either way, the light that the church sheds comes from teh Spirit. The... Read more
When John ascends in the Spirit through the door in the sky, he sees a throne and on the throne “sitting” (Gr. kathemenos ). The Greek doesn’t have the article; in 4:2, it is not “the One who sits” (though it is in 4:3), but simply the participle. Enthronement is not accidental, but of the essence. What John sees is Enthronement itself enthroned. The Enthronement looks like a jasper and sardius, surrounded by a rainbow like emerald (v. 3). This... Read more
The Septuagint uses the word-group euaggel – primarily in military and political contexts to describe the proclamation of victory. This is not invariable (cf. Jeremiah 20:15 The Philistines cut off Saul’s head and strip his gear so that they can carry the “good news” to idols and people (1 Samuel 31:9). In his lament over Saul and Jonathan, David warns Israel not to evangelize Philistia with the news of the fall of Israel’s heroes (2 Samuel 1:20). When David later... Read more
“I see a voice,” says Bottom the Weaver. And we all laugh. John on Patmos hears a trumpet voice, and turns “to see the voice” (Revelation 1:12). We know Bottom is a seer from his later garbled use of Pauline visionary language. Bottom is Paul the seer, and John the seer, seeing things normally hidden from view. He sees quite to the bottom of things when he sees that man is an ass fondled by fairies. Read more
“I see a voice,” says Bottom the Weaver. And we all laugh. John on Patmos hears a trumpet voice, and turns “to see the voice” (Revelation 1:12). We know Bottom is a seer from his later garbled use of Pauline visionary language. Bottom is Paul the seer, and John the seer, seeing things normally hidden from view. He sees quite to the bottom of things when he sees that man is an ass fondled by fairies. Read more
In the second book of Thomas Elyot’s mirror of magistrates, his 1531 The boke named the gouvernour , Elyot treats the vice of ingratitude, which he describes as “the most damnable vice and most against justice.” Elyot places gratitude and ingratitude in the context of friendship, which is in turn concerned with the governor’s selection of friends and favorites and the governor’s need to be cautious about flatterers and false friends. Identifying ingratitude with “unkindness,” Elyot provides a series of... Read more
Tarkovsky on long shots: “If the regular length of a shot is increased, one becomes bored, but if you keep on making it longer, it piques your interest, and if you make it even longer a new quality emerges, a special intensity of attention.” Read more
When John first turns to see Jesus, he first sees lampstands, then the garments of Jesus, and finally the face and body of Jesus. He moves from the lampstands of the holy place, to the veiling garments that cover the Son of Man, beyond the veil to the Son of Man Himself. Read more
My colleague Toby Sumpter points out that the series of judgments in Isaiah 9:8-21 is following a sacrificial sequence. First, Yahweh threatens to break down the brick altars and sycamore shrines of Israel. They rebuild them, so He cuts them in pieces, like a sacrificial animal. They keep sinning, and so He lights a sacrificial fire that will burn them. The sacrifice ends with a macabre sacrificial meal, “each of them eats the flesh of his own arm” (v. 20). Read more
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