It WAS sea lions, wasn't it? Something like that... otters, maybe?
Sunday, February 21, 2010
And the Seven Sea Lions of the Apocalypse
It WAS sea lions, wasn't it? Something like that... otters, maybe?
Maybe More Like This...
...but cooler. And, you know, more interesting. Seven lamps, seven churches, seven seals, seven bowls, seven angels...
Seven
This number is used a lot in Revelation, as anyone who has given it a glance or two probably knows. Seven, in Scripture, is a number of fulfillment or completeness.
"In The Spirit"
This is a phrase used in Ezekiel to indicate a prophetic trance. Probably John is using the phrase in a similar way.
"The Lord's Day"
When John wrote the book. However, the meaning isn’t clear.
It is used to refer to God’s judgment in the Hebrew Scriptures, but since the phrase is used as a temporal indicator in Revelation, that meaning doesn’t do it.
It might be the Sabbath (Friday night to Saturday), but we have no indication that Christians or Jews used this phrase for the Sabbath at that time.
This could be Sunday, although the phrase wasn’t used for Sunday until long after Revelation, although the Epistle of Barnabas indicates that Sunday (“the eighth day”) was a day for Christian celebration.
It just isn’t clear. So there.
It is used to refer to God’s judgment in the Hebrew Scriptures, but since the phrase is used as a temporal indicator in Revelation, that meaning doesn’t do it.
It might be the Sabbath (Friday night to Saturday), but we have no indication that Christians or Jews used this phrase for the Sabbath at that time.
This could be Sunday, although the phrase wasn’t used for Sunday until long after Revelation, although the Epistle of Barnabas indicates that Sunday (“the eighth day”) was a day for Christian celebration.
It just isn’t clear. So there.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Patmos
An island off the coast of Turkey, where John wrote the book of Revelation.
Tradition states that John was in exile there. There are a couple marks against that idea—first of all, the text doesn’t say it. All it says is that he was there due to his testimony of Jesus, but this may be because he was called to proclaim the gospel there.
Secondly, Patmos wasn’t a place of exile. It is possible that other, smaller islands near Patmos were places of exile, but Patmos was a part of the Roman Empire. This is not to deny the tradition, but the tradition could be a misreading of the text.
Tradition states that John was in exile there. There are a couple marks against that idea—first of all, the text doesn’t say it. All it says is that he was there due to his testimony of Jesus, but this may be because he was called to proclaim the gospel there.
Secondly, Patmos wasn’t a place of exile. It is possible that other, smaller islands near Patmos were places of exile, but Patmos was a part of the Roman Empire. This is not to deny the tradition, but the tradition could be a misreading of the text.
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