NEW TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS NT 102 THE CHURCH & THE FUTURE

1. NEW TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS NT 102 THE CHURCH & THE FUTURE

2. JUDE • Introduction • 1. Are among the most neglected of NT books. • 2. Bear the closest literary relationship with II Peter. • Two primary issues • A. Who wrote Jude? • B. What about Jude’s “citation” of Jewish pseudepigraphical material?

3. Authorship (authenticity), Date, and Canonicity • A. Authorship • 1. Self-designation (in v.1, the author designates himself as “brother of James”) • a. Suggestion from designation

4. b. James-es in the NT • i. James the brother of Jesus (Gal 1:19; 2:9) • ii. James the son of Alphaeus (Mk 3:18; Mt 10:3) • iii. James son of Zebedee (brother of John; Mk 1:19; Mt 4:21) • c. Probability of Intention • 2. Self-differentiation

5. B. Date • C. Canonicity • 1. Early Acceptance • 2. Questioned Material • Jude’s use of pseudepigraphical literature (vv. 9, 14) • a. Michael & Satan disputing over Moses’ body (v.9) • (recounted in The Assumption of Moses) • b. The prophecy of Enoch • c. Other allusions & images

6. 3. Handling “Problem” • a. How does one cope with an inspired author citing non-inspired material, especially when the events might not have happened? • b. Recognize that the use is actually not problematic. • Commonly known material is being used to make or illustrate a point NOT to argue for its historicity or canonicity. • Canonicity may never have entered the writer’s mind.

7. Purpose & Content • A. Purpose • To warn against “certain men” who have infiltrated the community (vv. 8, 10, 12, 16, 19) • B. Content • 1. Introduction (vv.1-2) • 2. Warnings against godless impostors (vv.3-16) • a. Actions of “impostors”

8. b. Characteristics of impostors • i. Are libertines (antinomians; cf. Rom 6:1; “let us sin that grace may abound!”) • ii. Are boastful, abusive, reject authority, and divisive (vv.8b-10, 15f, 19)

9. c. Condemnation of impostors • i. OT archetypes of wickedness • ii. Imagery: blemishes, rainless clouds, autumn trees without fruit and uprooted, wild waves foaming up their shame, wandering stars (vv.12-13)

10. 3. Summons to persevere in these last times (vv.17- 23) • a. Remember the last days • b. “to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints” • c. Be merciful to those who doubt, snatch others from the flames, hate anything to do with the corruption of this present age. •  4. Doxology: justly famous (vv.24f)

11. REVELATION • Introduction • A. Distinctiveness of the book • B. Strangeness of the book • “Apocalypses” means “to reveal” or to uncover knowledge previously hidden. • Task: to uncover theological truth behind apocalyptic literature

12. C. Responses to the book • 1. Avoidance • 2. Utter fixation • D. Key issue in studying the book • What is Revelation’s genre & how should one read Revelation?

13. Author, Date & Destination • A. Author • 1. Internal evidence • a. Writer identifies as John (1:1)

14. Island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea

15. b. Authority over the 7 churches • c. Aramaic speaking Jew • 2. Tradition • 3. Probability

16. B. Date • 1. General acceptance • 2. Possibility • 3. Probability • Revelation was probably penned during the reign of Domitian because of… • a. Situations of the churches fit that period more effectively • b. Myth of a Nero-redivivus makes better sense (13:7; 17:10) •  C. Destination

17. Methods of Interpretation • A. Preterist View (“a contemporary-historical” approach) • 1. Content • a. Everything is past & has been fulfilled • b. Revelation is a prophecy of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD (or Fall of Rome 470 AD)

18. 2. Advantages • a. Sees Revelation relevant to the 1st c. audience • b. Emphasizes use of the OT in the NT • c. Acknowledges that Rev 11 nowhere says Jerusalem has fallen yet

19. 3. Problems • a. Must one symbol be exclusively a referent to a particular historical reality in John’s day? • b. Complete overthrow of Satan has not happened yet and did not happen in 70 AD • c. Use of OT: Daniel predicts universal defeat of kingdoms of evil (Dan 7 cf. Rev 4, 5, 20 etc)

20. B. Historicist View • 1. Content • Interprets Revelation as the forecast of history from the time of John up to the commentator’s own time, usually history of Western Europe (e.g. Middle Ages) • 2. Advantage • Sees God’s sovereign hand in history • 3. Problems • a. Symbols change in every generation: too narrow & too subjective • b. Why only the history of Western Europe?

21. C C. Futurist View (eschatological view) • 1. Content • a. Often dispensationalist - futurist perspective: The Church & Israel are separate, so prophecies to Israel have yet to be revealed. • b. Rapture of the Church (pre-, mid-, post-), 7 year tribulation • c. Christ’s millennial reign • d. End of millennium, final rebellion by Satan followed by Christ’s reign in the new cosmos.

22. 2. Advantages • a. Recognizes 4:1: “I will show you what must come to pass after these things.” • b. Introduces rapture doctrine (cf. 3:10) • c. Chronological progression • d. Treats the book as “naturally” as possible

23. 3. Problems • a. Rev has no relevance/significance to 1st c. audience • b. reduces NT eschatology to the very end of history

24. D. Idealist View • Revelation as a (timeless) depiction of the forces between good & evil, between God & Satan. • 1. Content • a. Symbolic expression of basic principles of how God acts throughout history • b. Principles of grace & judgment • c. The ageless struggle between good & evil • d. Philosophy of history

25. 2. Advantages • Appreciates the book’s theological symbolism & universal applicability •  3. Problems • Denies any specific universal fulfillment or consummation in time

26. E. Eclectic approach, combining Preterist, Futurist, and Idealist outlooks • F. Feminist Interpretation

27. Genre • A. 3 kinds of Rev genre (1:1, 3, 4-5): Apocalyptic, Prophecy, Letter • 1. Revelation as apocalyptic(1:1) • a. Origins of the genre • (1) Grew out of OT prophetic literature • (2) Born in persecution by world empires • (3) Gave rise to a coded response to Israel’s suffering • (4) Intended to encourage the faithful • (5) Examples of OT apocalyptic literature (e.g. Joel, Ezekiel)

28. b. Characteristics of the genre • (1) Planned literary works • (2) Vision & heavenly journey • (3) Never intended to be literal • (4) Written usually pseudonymously • (5) Usually “sealed up” for a future time, but intended for the present

29. “Apocalyptic entails the revelatory communication of heavenly secrets by an otherworldly being to a seer who presents the visions in a narrative framework; the visions guide readers into a transcendent reality that takes precedence over the current situation and encourages readers to persevere in the midst of their trials. The visions reverse normal experience by making the heavenly mysteries the real world and depicting the present crisis as a temporary, illusory situation. This is achieved via God’s transforming the world for the faithful” (Osborne)

30. (6) Characteristics of Apocalyptic literature: • i. Pessimism toward the present age • ii. The promise of salvation or restoration • iii. The view of the transcendent reality • iv. A sense of determinism • v. A view of 2 ages • c. Revelation as example & alteration of the genre

31. 2. Revelation as prophecy(1:3; 22:18-19) • a. Characteristics of OT Prophecy • (1) Largely concerned with God’s immediate dealings with his people • (2) Developed from the time when God’s Spirit was among his people Israel

32. b. Implications of Prophetic in Revelation • (1) Not to be relegated to the distant future • (a) God’s kingly intervention had already begun in Jesus • (b) Complete fulfillment has not yet come • (2) Not the time of the quenched Spirit—this is the new Israel—the Spirit of God has been outpoured upon his people (1:10-11; 19:10) • c. Difference between prophetic (God’s redemptive work in history) & apocalyptic elements (God’s acts outside of history) in Rev

33. Rev. as apocalyptic differs from prophecy in situation & solution • (1) Cosmic in scale • (2) Suffering is intense & seen as embodiment of supreme evil • (3) God’s salvation & judgment: universal & cosmic • (4) Dualistic approach • (5) Hope, not temporal or spatial, but eschatological

34. 3. Revelation as letter(vv.4-5) • a. Addresses specific needs • b. It is written with purpose • B. Genre types in Revelation • 1. Apocalyptic • 2. Prophetic •   3. Letter • A prophetic apocalypse in epistolary format

35. Interpreting Revelation • A. Following some guidelines (esp. the use of symbols) • 1. What is the significance of each symbol, whether Graeco-Roman or Jewish? • 2. See visions as integrated wholes • 3. The influence of OT is thorough-going

36. 4. Consider variability & sources • a. Some are constant stock-in-trade images (Babylon = Rome; horse = power, authority) • b. Some are polyvalent, and will vary from scene to scene • c. Some are composite • d. Some are Roman cultural symbols • e. Many are OT references (e.g. “Harlot”; “Babylon”; “Armageddon”)

37. Armageddon & Mount Megiddo

38. Armageddon, in Hebrew, means “mount of Megiddo” (har-megiddon). • Armageddon is a typological symbol of God’s victory over the forces of evil and the end-time destruction of all enemies of God

39. f. Some are traditionally symbolic numbers & colors • g. Some are simply unclear

40. h. Numerology • Numbers 3, 4, 7, 10, 12, 70 predominate. • “4”: cosmic completeness (e.g. earth’s 4 corners & 4 winds, see 7:1; 20:8) • Numbers can be mystifying, e.g. “666” (for survey of views, see Mounce)

41. Name of Christ appears 7 times, “Jesus” 14 times, “Lamb” is used of Christ 28 times (7 x 4). • 7 x 4: universal scope of the Lamb’s complete victory. • “7” denotes completeness in God’s judgment on the entire world. • “12”: number of God’s people squared to indicated completeness & multiplied by 1 000 to connote vastness (i.e. 144 000).

42. 5. Start with images that John explains • a. One like a Son of Man (1:17f; Dan 7 = Israel), here = Jesus (as in the gospels) • b. Golden lamp stands (1:20) = 7 churches, and the 7 stars = their messengers • c. Great dragon (12:9) = Satan • d. 7 heads are 7 hills (17:9) = Rome (cf. 17:18; the great harlot)

43. 6. Key to interpreting symbols: • a. Note author’s intended use • b. Use of symbols in the past • c. Theological & pastoral message

44. B. Considering Historical Setting • 1. Majority hold that written during the time of Domitian. • 2. Reality of present & future suffering • a. References to suffering within the text • (1) 1:9; 2:3, 8-9, 13; 3:10 • (2) “to the one who overcomes” (2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21)

45. (3) martyrs (6:9-11), the great tribulation (7:14) • (4) linked with the testimony of Jesus (12:11, 17) • (5) the work of the beast in chs. 13-20 (13:7, 9-10; 14:12-13; 16:5-6; 18:20, 24; 19:2; 20:4)

46. b. Examples of those who have/are suffering • (1) John’s position in exile (1:9) • (2) Death of one of their numbers in Pergamum (2:13) • c. Admonition in the midst of suffering

47. 3. Relationship of Rome & the church in the context of suffering • 4. John’s two aims in the face of increased suffering: • a. To encourage: God is in control • b. To exhort: do not compromise • “Babylon” refers to Rome

48. The “beast” (Rev. 13 & 14) represents the political power of Rome and “harlot” represents Rome’s prosperity gained through economic exploitation. • John warns against prostituting oneself with other gods for economic gains. • An alternative perspective to Rome’s religious ideology: God is the King • c. To warn: the fate of Rome & those who join her

49. Structure & Structural Principles • A. Poetic • B. Drama • C. Sevens • D. Chiastic • E. Liturgy • F. Recapitulation or Progressive Parallelism • G. Futuristic chronological sequence view

50. Content (one approach, note chiasm A – B – C/D/E/F/G – H – I) • A. Introduction (ch.1) • 1. Prologue (vv.1-8) • Prophetic message meant to be read aloud and heard, probably at the liturgies in the churches addressed. • Opening divine triad (1:4-5): God, Jesus, 7 spirits