Apocalypse When?

 

I. Apocalyptic: Images of the End

The rise of apocalyptic literature

Old Testament Images:	New Testament Images:
Sun, moon, and stars tell the times (Joel 2)	The heavens darken (Luke 23:44-45)
The king delivers Israel from Babylon (Zech. 9)	The Son of Man comes to judge the world (Matt. 24:29-31, 25:31-46, Rev. 8-11? Rev. 15-18, Rev. 19, Rev. 20:11-15)
The fourth beast rises and falls (Dan. 7); a ram and a goat (Dan. 8, esp. 8:19)	The dragon, beast, false prophet rise and fall (Rev. 12-13)
Seventy weeks left (Dan. 9)	The day and the hour (Mark 13:32-36)
Israel is persecuted: the Abomination of Desolation (Dan. 10-11)	Tribulation (Matt. 24:1-28, Rev. 6, cf. Rev. 7:14); the rise of the "man of lawlessness" (2 Thess. 2:1-12)
Resurrection and rescue (Dan. 12)	"Rapture" (1 Thess. 4:13-5:11, cf. Ascension)
Messiah restores Israel (Zech. 13-14)	Jesus reigns in the Millennium (Rev. 20:1-6), then in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:1-22:5)
Summary: God will deliver Israel through its present trials	Summary: Jesus will deliver the Church through its present trials

 

II. Flying Horses, or Helicopters? (Mis)reading Apocalyptic Literature

apocalypsis: revelation / unveiling (not catastrophe)

Not reporting, secret messages, or mere prediction ("The Omega Code") ...

... Instead, a literary genre, using specific literary devices

... Intertextual, borrowing images from earlier apocalyptic

... Offering words of comfort to persecuted believers

... Addressed to present audiences, not just future ones ("Pale Rider")

 

III. Adding It Up: Visions of God's Endgame

Christians disagree on whether and how to harmonize and interpret texts

Interpretation can be literal, figurative, or allegorical

Premillennialism: Jesus' coming (parousia) brings the Millennium

Ancient and modern premillennialisms

Dispensational timelines (J.N. Darby, illustrated by Clarence Larkin): Rapture/Tribulation, Return, Millennium, Apostasy, Judgment, New Jerusalem

Postmillennialism: The Millennium precedes the parousia

The world improves as the Church spreads

Smooth transition to the Millennium, Jesus makes a "soft landing"

Ancient and modern postmillennialisms (Joachim of Fiore, R.J. Rushdoony)

Amillennialism: No literal Millennium

Augustine: Millennium and Tribulation are the whole Church age

Reformers: The medieval papacy is the final apostasy (Rev. 20:7)

Problems:

Allegory de-Judaizes apocalyptic literature

Harmony ignores Jesus' transformation of apocalyptic

Apocalyptic intertextuality resists synchronization

 

IV. What Do The Texts Do?

The Bible doesn't just "mean things"; it works

Apocalyptic changes its readers

Apocalyptic brings God's future judgment into the present (Dan. 5:26-28)

Apocalyptic unites God's judgments eschatologically

Apocalyptic offers an ethic: "Watch" (Mark 13:32-37)