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155-736: In the Book of Revelation in the New Testament , the city is also called the Heavenly Jerusalem , as well as being called Zion in other books of the Christian Bible . In Jewish mysticism , there are two Gardens of Eden and two Promised Lands: the heavenly invisible one and the earthly visible one that is a copy of the heavenly invisible one. Heaven in Jewish mysticism includes a heavenly Promised land – including Jerusalem,

310-474: A Greco-Roman system with modern capabilities described by John in ways familiar to him; and idealist or symbolic interpretations consider that Revelation does not refer to actual people or events but is an allegory of the spiritual path and the ongoing struggle between good and evil. The book's commonest English name is "[Book of] Revelation". It is also called "[Book of] the Apocalypse" (for example in

465-425: A Low Chronology for the stratigraphy of Iron Age Israel. Finkelstein's model would push stratigraphic dates assigned by the conventional chronology by up to a century later, so Finkelstein concluded that much of the monumental architecture characterizing Israel in the 10th century BCE that biblical United Monarchy has been traditionally associated with instead belongs to the 9th century. Finkelstein wrote that "Accepting

620-496: A Seleucid deity was constructed on the Jewish altar. First Enoch was written in the wake of this calamity between 166 BCE–163 BCE. For the author of 1 Enoch, history is a steep descent into evil from the utopia in Eden . The author's vision of the eschaton centers on the restoration of Jerusalem: "I saw until the owner of the sheep brought a house, new and larger and loftier than the former" (1 Enoch 90:29). In this New Jerusalem passage,

775-595: A Temple in Heaven , not the eschaton. Second, these texts exhibit the final new Temple texts in Judaism. Jewish texts like 3 Baruch began to reject a restored Temple completely. However, these texts were deemed to be apocryphal by the Rabbis who maintained the belief in a Third Temple as central to Rabbinic Judaism . The Jewish apocalypse of 4 Ezra is a text contained in the apocryphal book 2 Esdras . The genre of 4 Ezra

930-548: A broad view of history while preterist interpretations treat Revelation as mostly referring to the events of the Apostolic Age (1st century), or, at the latest, the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Futurists , meanwhile, believe that Revelation describes future events with the seven churches growing into the body of believers throughout the age, and a reemergence or continuous rule of

1085-530: A clay bulla , or inscribed seal, of Jehucal , son of Shelemiah, son of Shevi, an official mentioned at least twice in the Book of Jeremiah . In July 2008, she also found a second bulla, belonging to Gedaliah ben Pashhur, who is mentioned together with Jehucal in Jeremiah 38:1. Amihai Mazar called the find "something of a miracle." He has said that he believes the building may be the Fortress of Zion that David

1240-592: A heavenly kingdom. Fourth Ezra also uses the title "Most High," throughout the apocalypse to emphasise that the Lord will once again reign and reside in Jerusalem. The apocalypse of 2 Baruch is a contemporary narrative of 4 Ezra. The text also follows the same basic structure 4 Ezra: Job-like grief, animosity towards the Lord, and the rectification of Jerusalem that leads to the comfort of the Job-figure. Second Baruch

1395-522: A historical Solomon, it regards his reign as king over the United Monarchy in the tenth century BCE as uncertain and the biblical description of his apparent empire's lavishness as most probably a massive anachronistic exaggeration. According to the biblical account, on the succession of Solomon's son Rehoboam , the United Monarchy split into two separate kingdoms: the Kingdom of Israel in

1550-535: A kind of dual citizenship. In this way, the New Jerusalem represents to Christians the final and everlasting reconciliation of God and his chosen people , "the end of the Christian pilgrimage ." As such, the New Jerusalem is a conception of Heaven, see also Heaven (Christianity) . Christianity interprets the city as a physical and/or spiritual restoration or divine re-creation of the city of Jerusalem . It

1705-445: A literal New Jerusalem that will come down out of Heaven , which will be an entirely new city of incredible dimensions. Other sects, such as various Protestant denominations , modernist branches of Christianity, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and Reform Judaism , view the New Jerusalem as figurative, or believe that such a renewal may have already taken place, or that it will take place at some other location besides

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1860-610: A metaphorical sense to those numerous utterances of the Bible which suggest a definite dwelling-place of the blessed. Theologians, therefore, generally hold that the heaven of the blessed is a special place with definite limits. Naturally, this place is held to exist, not within the earth, but, in accordance with the expressions of Scripture, without and beyond its limits. All further details regarding its locality are quite uncertain. The Church has decided nothing on this subject. Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation or Book of

2015-565: A minority tradition within Jewish literature. In the first Christian apocalypse, the Book of Revelation coincides with this perspective on Jerusalem. The study will now move to early Christian perspectives on the Temple and the apocalyptic response in Revelation. Christians have always placed religious significance on Jerusalem as the site of the crucifixion of Jesus and other events central to

2170-536: A modified historicist method of interpreting prophecy, is identified in the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith . ʻAbdu'l-Bahá , the son and chosen successor of Bahá'u'lláh, has given some interpretations about the 11th and 12th chapters of Revelation in Some Answered Questions . The 1,260 days spoken of in the forms: one thousand two hundred and sixty days, forty-two months, refers to the 1,260 years in

2325-764: A part of the New Testament canon. The Synod of Hippo (in AD 393), followed by the Council of Carthage (397) , the Council of Carthage (419) , the Council of Florence (1442) and the Council of Trent (1546) classified it as a canonical book. The Apostolic Canons , approved by the Eastern Orthodox Council in Trullo in 692, but rejected by Pope Sergius I , omit it. Doubts resurfaced during

2480-458: A political union between them existed, it might have had no practical effect on their relationship. In the biblical account, David embarks on successful military campaigns against the enemies of Judah and Israel and defeats such regional entities as the Philistines to secure his borders. Israel grows from kingdom to empire, its military and political sphere of influence expanding to control

2635-475: A polity extending as far north as Jezreel and as far south as Hebron and reaching a border with Gath, with a capital located in Gibeon rather than Jerusalem. According to Dever, such a polity is a united monarchy in its own right, ironically confirming the biblical tradition. In addition, he rejected the notion that Gibeon was the capital of such polity since there is "no clear archaeological evidence of occupation in

2790-658: A reconstruction, is an important theme in Judaism , Christianity , and the Baháʼí Faith . Renewed Jerusalem bears as its motto the words Ad librum (Latin: "as by the book".) Many traditions based on biblical scripture and other writings in the Jewish and Christian religions, such as Protestantism , and Orthodox Judaism , expect the literal renewal of Jerusalem to some day take place at the Temple Mount in accordance with various prophecies . Dispensationalists believe in

2945-417: A revolt in Jerusalem led by Jason, the former High Priest. An agitated Antiochus imposed harsh restrictions on Jewish religion. Circumcision, feast celebration, and Sabbath observance were all banned. Antiochus ordered the burning of Torah copies. Jews were required to eat pork. The worst oppression came in the desecration of the Temple. A polytheistic cult was formed, and worship of YHWH abolished. A statue to

3100-482: A river of the water of life that flows down the middle of the great street of the city from the Throne of God . The tree of life grows in the middle of the street and to both sides of the river. The tree bears twelve (kinds of) fruit and yields its fruit every month. According to John, "The leaves of the tree were for healing (those of all) nations." This inclusion of the tree of life in the New Jerusalem harkens back to

3255-524: A tradition dating from Irenaeus ( c.  130  – c.  202 AD) identifies John the Apostle as the author of all five. The modern consensus is that a Johannine community produced the Gospel of John and the three Johannine epistles , while John of Patmos wrote the Book of Revelation separately. The book is commonly dated to about AD 95, as suggested by clues in the visions pointing to

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3410-634: A very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper ." The street of the city is also made of "pure gold, like transparent glass". The base of the city is laid out in a square and surrounded by a wall made of jasper. It says in Revelation 21:16 that the height, length, and width are of equal dimensions – as it was with the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle and First Temple – and they measure 12,000 furlongs (approximately 1,500 miles). John writes that

3565-543: Is historical fiction , set thirteen years after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. Fourth Ezra is dated approximately in 83 CE, thirteen years after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. The story follows Ezra's period of mourning following Jerusalem's fall. Ezra is Job-like in his criticism of God's allowance of Jerusalem's downfall. In Ezra's deep state of grief, he meets a woman lamenting over Jerusalem. Ezra consoles

3720-491: Is a "complete lack of consensus" among scholars about the structure of Revelation. The following is therefore an outline of the book's contents rather than of its structure. Outline of the book of Revelation: Revelation has a wide variety of interpretations, ranging from the simple historical interpretation, to a prophetic view on what will happen in the future by way of God's will and the Woman's (traditionally believed to be

3875-526: Is a manual of spiritual development and not, as conventionally interpreted, a cryptic history or prophecy." Such diverse theories have failed to command widespread acceptance. However, Christopher Rowland argues: "there are always going to be loose threads which refuse to be woven into the fabric as a whole. The presence of the threads which stubbornly refuse to be incorporated into the neat tapestry of our world-view does not usually totally undermine that view." The radical discipleship interpretation asserts that

4030-419: Is adorned with precious sapphires, jewels, and rubies. The city is described as a place free from terror and full of righteousness. Here, Isaiah provides an example of Jewish apocalypticism , where a hope for a perfected Jerusalem and freedom from oppression is revealed. As the original New Jerusalem composition, Ezekiel functioned as a source for later works such as 4 Ezra , 2 Baruch , Qumran documents, and

4185-475: Is also interpreted by many Christian groups as referring to the Church to be the dwelling place of the saints . John of Patmos describes the New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation in the Christian Bible , and so the New Jerusalem holds an important place in Christian eschatology and Christian mysticism , and has also influenced Christian philosophy and Christian theology . Such a renewal of Jerusalem, if

4340-522: Is consistent with the former existence of a unified state on its terrain." On August 4, 2005, archaeologist Eilat Mazar announced that she had discovered in Jerusalem what may have been the palace of King David . Now referred to as the Large Stone structure , Mazar's discovery consists of a public building she dated from the 10th century BCE, a copper scroll, pottery from the same period, and

4495-664: Is difficult to know whether the author used the Hebrew or the Greek version of the Hebrew scriptures, but he was often influenced by the Greek. Modern understanding has been that the Book of Revelation was written to comfort beleaguered Christians as they underwent persecution at the hands of an emperor. This is, however, not the only interpretation; Domitian may not have been a despot imposing an imperial cult, and there may not have been any systematic empire-wide persecution of Christians in his time. Revelation may instead have been composed in

4650-485: Is entirely on the heavenly Temple that pre-dated the Garden of Eden. This may be a device to express the supremacy of the heavenly Temple as a sanctuary built before Eden (the traditional location of the earthly Temple). Second, Baruch believes that restoration for the people of Israel exists in heaven, not on earth. The apocalypse of 3 Baruch is the anomaly among post-revolt New Jerusalem texts. Unlike 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra,

4805-494: Is especially relevant to believers in the days preceding the second coming of Jesus Christ. "The universal church is composed of all who truly believe in Christ, but in the last days, a time of widespread apostasy, a remnant has been called out to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." As participatory agents in

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4960-479: Is historical fiction, written after the Roman destruction but set before the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. Baruch is distressed when the Lord informs him of Jerusalem's impending doom. Baruch responds with several theological questions for God. For this study, Baruch's inquiry about the future of Israel and the honor of the Lord are most pertinent (2 Baruch 3:4-6). Baruch learns that the Lord will destroy

5115-409: Is no current consensus on the topic. Recent archaeological discoveries by Israeli archaeologists Eilat Mazar and Yosef Garfinkel in Jerusalem and Khirbet Qeiyafa , respectively, seem to support the existence of the United Monarchy, but the dating and identifications are not universally accepted. The historicity of Solomon and his rule is also hotly debated. While the current consensus allows for

5270-451: Is no ultimate consensus between the different factions and scholarly disciplines concerned with the period as to when it is depicted as having begun or when it ended. Most biblical scholars follow either of the older chronologies established by American archaeologists William F. Albright and Edwin R. Thiele or the newer one by Israeli historian Gershon Galil . Thiele's chronology generally corresponds with Galil's chronology below, with

5425-675: Is not extant in the Codex Vaticanus (4th century), it is extant in the other great uncial codices: the Codex Sinaiticus (4th century), the Codex Alexandrinus (5th century), and the Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (5th century). In addition, there are numerous papyri , especially 𝔓 and 𝔓 (both 3rd century); minuscules (8th to 10th century); and fragmentary quotations in

5580-485: Is said to have captured. Other scholars are skeptical that the foundation walls are from David's palace. Garfinkel also claimed to have discovered David's palace in 2013, 25 kilometres away, at Khirbet Qeiyafa . Excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa, an Iron Age site in Judah, found an urbanized settlement radiocarbon dated well before scholars such as Finkelstein suggest that urbanization had begun in Judah, which supports

5735-566: Is specifically tied to conflict. The Babylonian Exile, Antiochene persecutions, and corrupt leadership in Jerusalem incited apocalyptic responses with a vision for a New Jerusalem. In the 1st century CE, an even greater conflict exploded in Iudaea province ; the Roman destruction of Jerusalem , as well as the other Roman-Jewish Wars . Subsequent apocalyptic responses fundamentally altered the New Jerusalem eschatology for Jews and Early Christians . At

5890-606: Is structured after creation, fall, judgment and redemption. Those who hold this view say that the Temple's destruction (AD 70) had a profound effect on the Jewish people, not only in Jerusalem but among the Greek-speaking Jews of the Mediterranean. They believe the Book of Revelation provides insight into the early Eucharist, saying that it is the new Temple worship in the New Heaven and Earth. The idea of

6045-631: Is the only book of the New Testament that is not read during services by the Byzantine Rite Churches, although it is read in the Western Rite Orthodox Parishes , which are under the same bishops as the Byzantine Rite. Similar to the early Protestants, Adventists maintain a historicist interpretation of the Bible's predictions of the apocalypse. Seventh-day Adventists believe the Book of Revelation

6200-528: Is the symbolism meant to be pictured realistically. Pope Benedict XVI taught that Revelation "should be understood against the backdrop of" the early church's persecutions and inner problems, that "the Lamb who is slain yet standing" symbolizes Jesus' paschal mystery and Jesus being the meaning of life , that the vision of the woman and child symbolizes both Mary and the Church, that the New Jerusalem symbolizes

6355-432: Is their God? And behold as I was weeping and saying such things, I saw an angel of the Lord coming and saying to me: Understand, O man, greatly beloved, and trouble not thyself so greatly concerning the salvation of Jerusalem." (3 Baruch 1:3) Third Baruch certainly mourns over the Temple. Yet 3 Baruch is not ultimately concerned with the lack of a Temple. This text goes along with Jeremiah and Sibylline Oracles 4 to express

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6510-582: Is to fail to hold fast to the non-violent teachings and example of Jesus and instead be lured into unquestioning adoption and assimilation of worldly, national or cultural values – imperialism , nationalism , and civil religion being the most dangerous and insidious. Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy) According to the Deuteronomistic history in the Hebrew Bible , a United Monarchy or United Kingdom of Israel existed under

6665-449: Is too weak, and that the methodology used to obtain the evidence is flawed. Scholars remain divided among those who support the historicity of the biblical narrative, those who doubt or dismiss it, and those who support the kingdom's theoretical existence while maintaining that the biblical narrative is exaggerated. Proponents of the kingdom's existence traditionally date it to between c.  1047 BCE and c.  930 BCE . In

6820-475: The Catholic Church ), "Revelation to John", or "Apocalypse of St. John". Abbreviations of these are "Rev." (traditional), "Rv" (shorter), or "Apoc." These names come from the book's opening words , Rev 1:1 : "Revelation" and "Apocalypse" are respectively a translation and an anglicisation of the original Koine Greek word ἀποκάλυψις , which can also mean "unveiling". In the original Greek,

6975-646: The Dead Sea Scrolls near Qumran , Israel , were fragments of a scroll which describes New Jerusalem in minute detail. The New Jerusalem Scroll (as it is called) appears to contain apocalyptic vision, although, being fragmented, it is hard to categorize. Written in Aramaic , the text describes a vast city, rectangular in shape, with twelve gates and encircled by a long wall. Similar descriptions appear in Ezekiel 40–48 and Revelation 21–22 and comparison to

7130-581: The Easter rites, of early Christianity as background and context for understanding the Book of Revelation's structure and significance. This perspective is explained in The Paschal Liturgy and the Apocalypse (new edition, 2004) by Massey H. Shepherd , an Episcopal scholar, and in Scott Hahn 's The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth (1999), in which he states that Revelation in form

7285-544: The Holy Temple in Jerusalem according to the pattern shown to the prophet Ezekiel. During this time Jews believe an era of global peace and prosperity will be initiated, the nations will love Israel and will abandon their gods, turn toward Jerusalem, and come to the Holy Temple to worship the one God of Israel . Zechariah prophesied that any family among the nations who does not appear in the Temple in Jerusalem for

7440-590: The Islamic Calendar (AH 1260 or AD 1844). The " two witnesses " spoken of are Muhammad and Ali . The red Dragon spoken of in Revelation 12:3 – "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads" – are interpreted as symbolic of the seven provinces dominated by the Umayyads : Damascus, Persia, Arabia, Egypt, Africa, Andalusia, and Transoxania. The ten horns represent

7595-462: The New Testament , in Revelation verses 3:12 and 21:2 . A large portion of the final two chapters of Revelation deals with John of Patmos' vision of New Jerusalem. He describes New Jerusalem as "'the bride, the wife of the Lamb'", where the river of the Water of Life flows ( Revelation 22:1 ). After John witnesses the new heaven and a new earth "that no longer has any sea", an angel takes him "in

7750-545: The Second Coming . This prophecy of the renewal of Jerusalem by the messiah echoes those of the Jewish prophets. John of Patmos ' vision of the New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation draws on the Olivet discourse and all the historical precursors mentioned above. Based on the Book of Revelation, premillennialism holds that, following the end times and the second creation of heaven and earth (see The New Earth ),

7905-449: The Temple Mount . It is important to distinguish between "the camp of the saints, and the beloved city" spoken of in Revelation 20:9, and the New Jerusalem of chapter 21. Rev. 20:9 refers to an earthly city, the description and purpose of which is found in book of Ezekiel, starting with chapter 36 and ending with chapter 48. One of the most obvious differences is that the dimensions of the New Jerusalem of Rev. 21 are 1,000 times bigger than

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8060-586: The Temple Scroll (also found near Qumran) shows many similarities despite no direct literary links between the two. From the middle of the 2nd century CE to the middle of the 6th century CE, the ancient Christian sect of Montanism , which spread throughout the Roman Empire, expected the New Jerusalem to descend to earth at the neighboring Phrygian towns of Pepuza and Tymion . In late antiquity , both places attracted crowds of pilgrims from all over

8215-460: The Virgin Mary ) victory over Satan (" symbolic interpretation"), to different end time scenarios ("futurist interpretation"), to the views of critics who deny any spiritual value to Revelation at all, ascribing it to a human-inherited archetype . This interpretation, which has found expression among both Catholic and Protestant theologians, considers the liturgical worship, particularly

8370-553: The 10th century BCE, but they cite the fact that the earliest independent reference to the Kingdom of Israel dates to about 890 BCE and that to the Kingdom of Judah dates to about 750 BCE. Some see the united monarchy as fabricated during the Babylonian Exile transforming David and Solomon from local folk heroes into rulers of international status. Finkelstein has posited a potential United Monarchy under Jeroboam II in

8525-481: The 16th-century Protestant Reformation . Martin Luther called Revelation "neither apostolic nor prophetic" in the 1522 preface to his translation of the New Testament (he revised his position with a much more favorable assessment in 1530), Huldrych Zwingli labelled it "not a book of the Bible", and it was the only New Testament book on which John Calvin did not write a commentary. As of 2015, Revelation remains

8680-462: The 1990s, Israeli archaeologist Israel Finkelstein contended that existing archaeological evidence for the United Monarchy in the 10th century BCE should be dated to the 9th century BCE. This model placed the biblical kingdom in Iron Age I , suggesting that it was not functioning as a country under centralized governance but rather as tribal chiefdom over a small polity in Judah, disconnected from

8835-551: The 8th century BCE, whereas the former one was potentially invented during the reign of Josiah to justify his territorial expansion. Finkelstein's views have been strongly criticized by Amihai Mazar; in response, Mazar proposed the Modified Conventional Chronology, which places the beginning of the Iron IIA period in the early 10th century and its end in the mid-9th century, solving the problems of

8990-499: The Apocalypse is the final book of the New Testament (and therefore the final book of the Christian Bible ). Written in Koine Greek , its title is derived from the first word of the text: apokalypsis , meaning 'unveiling' or 'revelation'. The Book of Revelation is the only apocalyptic book in the New Testament canon . It occupies a central place in Christian eschatology . The author names himself as simply "John" in

9145-433: The Apocalypse of John was accepted as a canonical book and rejected at the same time: The Apocalypse of John is counted as both accepted (Kirsopp. Lake translation: "Recognized") and disputed, which has caused some confusion over what exactly Eusebius meant by doing so. The disputation can perhaps be attributed to Origen. Origen seems to have accepted it in his writings. Cyril of Jerusalem (AD 348) does not name it among

9300-538: The Babylonian Empire conquered Assyria and rose to power from 612 to 609 BCE. Jerusalem surrendered without major bloodshed to Babylon in 597 BCE. An Israelite uprising brought the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar ’s army in 586 BCE. The entire city, including the First Temple , was burned. Israelite aristocrats were taken captive to Babylon. The Book of Ezekiel contains the first record of

9455-711: The Bible. In his book, The Forgotten Kingdom (2016), Israel Finkelstein considered that Saul, originally from the Benjamin territory, had gained power in his natal Gibeon region around the 10th century BCE and that he conquered Jerusalem in the south and Shechem to the north, creating a polity dangerous to Egypt's geopolitical intentions. So, Shoshenq I , from Egypt, invaded the territory and destroyed this new polity, and installed David of Bethlehem in Jerusalem (Judah) and Jeroboam I in Shechem (Israel) as small local rulers who were vassals of Egypt. Finkelstein concludes that

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9610-422: The Book of Revelation is best understood as a handbook for radical discipleship; i.e. how to remain faithful to the spirit and teachings of Jesus and avoid simply assimilating to surrounding society. In this interpretation the primary agenda of the book is to expose as impostors the worldly powers that seek to oppose the ways of God and God's Kingdom. The chief temptation for Christians in the 1st century, and today,

9765-414: The Book of Revelation should not be read as an enigmatic warning, but as an encouraging vision of Christ's definitive victory over evil. In the Coptic Orthodox Church , Armenian Apostolic Church and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church the whole Book of Revelation is read during Apocalypse Night after Good Friday . Biblically Ugo Vanni and other biblical scholars have argued that the Book of Revelation

9920-405: The Book of Revelation. These texts used similar measurement language and expanded on the limited eschatological perspective in Ezekiel. Judaism sees the Messiah as a human male descendant of King David who will be anointed as the king of Israel and sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem . He will gather in the lost tribes of Israel, clarify unresolved issues of halakha , and rebuild

10075-421: The Christian faith. In particular, the destruction of the Second Temple that took place in the year 70, a few decades after Christianity began its split from Judaism , was seminal to the nascent Christian apocalypticism of that time. In the Olivet Discourse of the Gospels , Jesus predicts the destruction of Herod's Temple , and promises that it will precede the return of the Son of Man , commonly called

10230-445: The Church fathers of the 2nd to 5th centuries and the 6th-century Greek commentary on Revelation by Andreas. Divisions in the book seem to be marked by the repetition of key phrases, by the arrangement of subject matter into blocks, and associated with its Christological passages, and much use is made of significant numbers, especially the number seven, which represented perfection according to ancient numerology. Nevertheless, there

10385-407: The Church in its glory on Judgment Day , and that the prayers in Revelation reflect 1st century Jewish-Christian liturgy and Jewish-Christian understanding of the heavenly liturgy. According to Catholic Answers , the author of Revelation identifies the beast as the Roman Empire, the dragon as Satan, and Babylon as Rome. The meaning is that Rome "cannot win. It will be completely overthrown, and

10540-434: The Church is sure to triumph. This prophecy is as it were the hub of the Apocalypse. Around it John gradually unfolds the plan God has for the future of his Church." Eastern Orthodoxy treats the text as simultaneously describing contemporaneous events (events occurring at the same time) and as prophecy of events to come, for which the contemporaneous events were a form of foreshadowing. It rejects attempts to determine, before

10695-451: The East through the 15th century. Dionysius (AD 248), bishop of Alexandria and disciple of Origen , wrote that the Book of Revelation could have been written by Cerinthus although he himself did not adopt the view that Cerinthus was the writer. He regarded the Apocalypse as the work of an inspired man but not of an Apostle (Eusebius, Church History VII.25). Eusebius , in his Church History ( c.  AD 330 ), mentioned that

10850-399: The Eucharist as a foretaste of the heavenly banquet is also explored by British Methodist Geoffrey Wainwright in his book Eucharist and Eschatology (Oxford University Press, 1980). According to Pope Benedict XVI some of the images of Revelation should be understood in the context of the dramatic suffering and persecution of the churches of Asia in the 1st century. Accordingly, they argue,

11005-405: The Forgiveness of Sins, but in no vicarious sacrifice for sin ... they accepted Christ in the full realisation of the word; his life, not his death, was the keynote of their doctrine and their practice." James Morgan Pryse was an esoteric gnostic who saw Revelation as a western version of the Hindu theory of the Chakra . He began his work, "The purpose of this book is to show that the Apocalypse

11160-399: The Garden of Eden. The fruit the tree bears may be the fruit of life. John states that the New Jerusalem will be free of sin . The servants of God will have theosis (i.e. the power or likeness of God, that is "in his image" of holiness) and "His name will be on their foreheads." Night will no longer fall, and the inhabitants of the city will "have need (of) no lamp nor light of the sun, for

11315-467: The High Chronology while still dating the archeological discoveries to the 10th century BCE. Finkelstein's Low Chronology and views about the monarchy have received strong criticism from other scholars, including Amnon Ben-Tor , William G. Dever , Kenneth Kitchen , Doron Ben-Ami , Raz Kletter and Lawrence Stager . Though Amélie Kuhrt acknowledges that "there are no royal inscriptions from

11470-471: The LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended." (Isaiah 60:19) The Temple is discarded in the eschaton because the Lord will provide illumination for the New Jerusalem, and Christ will be the glory for its residents. Henceforth, Christians believed that the New Jerusalem no longer required a Temple. For Christians, their Lord sufficiently replaced the Temple . Discovered among

11625-466: The Lord God gives them light." John ends his account of the New Jerusalem by stressing its eternal nature: "And they shall reign forever and ever." It had a great, high wall with twelve gates and with twelve angels in charge of the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel . There were three gates on each side: three on the east, three on the south, three on

11780-548: The Low Chronology means stripping the United Monarchy of monumental buildings, including ashlar masonry and proto-Ionic capitals" According to Finkelstein and Neil Silberman , the authors of The Bible Unearthed , ideas of a united monarchy is not accurate history but "creative expressions of a powerful religious reform movement" that are possibly "based on certain historical kernels." Finkelstein and Silberman accept that David and Solomon were real kings of Judah around

11935-461: The New City represent the four cardinal directions (North, South, East, and West.) In this way, New Jerusalem is thought of as an inclusive place, with the 12 gates accepting all of the 12 tribes of Israel from all corners of the earth. There is no temple building in the New Jerusalem. God and the Lamb are the city's temple, since they are worshipped everywhere. Revelation 22 goes on to describe

12090-449: The New Jerusalem in the eschatological role found in Revelation. Catholicism also holds that the New Jerusalem already exists as a spiritual community in Heaven , the Church triumphant , with an outpost on earth, the Church militant . Together, the Church triumphant, Church militant, and Church suffering form the Church universal . Augustine of Hippo , a Doctor of the Church and Church Father , draws inspiration from John's account of

12245-413: The New Jerusalem to outline this view in his monumental work The City of God . The Catholic Encyclopedia article on "Heaven" states that Catholic theologians deem more appropriate that there should be a special and glorious abode, in which the blessed have their peculiar home and where they usually abide, even though they be free to go about in this world. For the surroundings in the midst of which

12400-460: The New Jerusalem will be the earthly location where all true believers will spend eternity with God. The New Jerusalem is not limited to eschatology, however. Many Christians view the New Jerusalem as a current reality, that the New Jerusalem is the consummation of the Body of Christ , the Church and that Christians already take part in membership of both the heavenly Jerusalem and the earthly Church in

12555-522: The New Jerusalem. Within Ezekiel 40–48 , there is an extended and detailed description of the measurements of the Temple, its chambers, porticos, and walls. Ezekiel 48:30–35 contains a list of twelve Temple gates named for Israel's tribes. The Book of Zechariah expands upon Ezekiel's New Jerusalem. When the Second Temple was built, after the exile, Jerusalem's population was only a few hundred. There were no defensive city walls until 445 BCE. In

12710-541: The Orthodox Faith (Book IV:7) listed "the Revelation of John the Evangelist " as a canonical book. The Council of Laodicea (AD 363) omits it as a canonical book. The Decretum Gelasianum , which is a work written by an anonymous scholar between 519 and 553, contains a list of books of scripture presented as having been reckoned as canonical by the Council of Rome (AD 382). This list mentions it as

12865-542: The Qumran Essenes. First, we do not have enough scroll fragments to completely analyze their New Jerusalem ideologies. Second, based on the evidence available, the Essenes rebelled against Temple leadership, not the Temple itself. Their vision of the New Jerusalem looked for the reunification of the twelve tribes around an eschatological Temple. As evidenced above, the historical progression of New Jerusalem language

13020-802: The Roman Empire. Pepuza was the headquarters of the Montanist church. The Montanist patriarch resided at Pepuza . Women played an emancipated role in Montanism, serving as priests and also bishops. In the 6th century CE, this church became extinct. Since 2001, Peter Lampe of the University of Heidelberg has directed annual archaeological campaigns in Phrygia, Turkey. During these interdisciplinary campaigns, together with William Tabbernee of Tulsa, Oklahoma, numerous unknown ancient settlements were discovered and archaeologically documented. Two of them are

13175-463: The Roman province of Asia, in what is now western Turkey. The seven cities where churches were located are close together, and the Island of Patmos is near the western coast of Turkey. The term apocalypse means the revealing of divine mysteries; John is to write down what is revealed (what he sees in his vision) and send it to the seven churches. The entire book constitutes the prophecy—the letters to

13330-611: The Spirit" to a vantage point on "a great and high mountain" to see New Jerusalem "descend out of heaven." The enormous city comes out of heaven down to the New Earth . John's elaborate description of New Jerusalem retains many features of the Garden of Eden and the paradise garden, such as rivers, a square shape, a wall, and the Tree of Life . According to John, the New Jerusalem is "pure gold, like clear glass" and its "brilliance [is] like

13485-464: The addressees of Revelation are searching for the Lord to vindicate them and judge the "inhabitants of the earth" for their suffering (6:10). The fall of Jerusalem, coupled with the Neronian persecutions, form the tension within the subtext of Revelation. Throughout Revelation, several references to the Temple are made REV 3:12,7:15,11:19,14:15,16:1 . This Temple appears to be of heavenly origin. When

13640-501: The angel measures the city with a golden rod or reed, and records it as 12,000 stadia by 12,000 stadia at the base, and 12,000 stadia high. A stadion is usually stated as 185 meters, or 607 feet, so the base has dimensions of about 2220 km by 2220 km, or 1380 miles by 1380 miles. In the ancient Greek system of measurement, the base of the New Jerusalem would have been equal to 144 million square stadia, 4.9 million square kilometers or 1.9 million square miles (roughly midway between

13795-408: The author except that he was a Christian prophet. Modern theological scholars characterize the Book of Revelation's author as " John of Patmos ". The bulk of traditional sources date the book to the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian (AD 81–96), which evidence tends to confirm. The book spans three literary genres: the epistolary , the apocalyptic , and the prophetic . It begins with John, on

13950-489: The best candidates so far in the search for the identification of the two holy centers of ancient Montanism, Pepuza and Tymion , the sites of the expected descent of the New Jerusalem. Scholars had searched for these lost sites since the 19th century. The ancient settlement discovered and identified as Pepuza by William Tabbernee and Peter Lampe was settled continuously from Hellenistic times to Byzantine times. In Byzantine times, an important rock-cut monastery belonged to

14105-455: The biblical Eglon ) had uncovered an elite house (which he referred to as "the governor's residency"), whose foundations were dated by carbon-14 analysis in the late 11th–10th century BCE, the time usually ascribed to Saul, David and Solomon. Such dating would strengthen the thesis that a centralized state existed at the time of David. According to mainstream source criticism , several contrasting source texts were spliced together to produce

14260-458: The biblical canon as a whole. Rather, an open and ongoing dialogue between God and the modern-day Prophet and Apostles of the LDS faith constitute an open canon of scripture. Christian Gnostics are unlikely to be attracted to the teaching of Revelation because the doctrine of salvation through the sacrificed Lamb, which is central to Revelation, is repugnant to Gnostics. Christian Gnostics "believed in

14415-430: The blessed have their dwelling must be in accordance with their happy state; and the internal union of charity which joins them in affection must find its outward expression in community of habitation. At the end of the world, the earth together with the celestial bodies will be gloriously transformed into a part of the dwelling-place of the blessed (Revelation 21). Hence there seems to be no sufficient reason for attributing

14570-409: The building programme. However, Israel Finkelstein's Low Chronology would propose to date them to the 9th century BCE. Yigael Yadin later concluded that the stables that had been believed to have served Solomon's vast collection of horses were built by King Ahab in the 9th century BCE. Following Solomon's death in c.  926 BCE , tensions between the northern part of Israel, containing

14725-473: The canonical books (Catechesis IV.33–36). Athanasius (AD 367) in his Letter 39 , Augustine of Hippo ( c.  AD 397 ) in his book On Christian Doctrine (Book II, Chapter 8), Tyrannius Rufinus ( c.  AD 400 ) in his Commentary on the Apostles' Creed , Pope Innocent I (AD 405) in a letter to the bishop of Toulouse and John of Damascus (about AD 730) in his work An Exposition of

14880-749: The cities of Shechem and Samaria , and the southern Kingdom of Judah , which contained Jerusalem. The Kingdom of Israel (or the Northern Kingdom or Samaria) existed as an independent state until 722 BCE when it was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire . The Kingdom of Judah (or the Southern Kingdom) existed as an independent state until 586 BCE when it was conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire . Many alternative chronologies have been suggested, and there

15035-465: The city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is the light, and its lamp is the lamb." For the author of Revelation, there is no need for a Temple because the Lord will be the New Jerusalem's eternal light and Jesus (the lamb) will be its lamp. This re-interpretation uses Isaiah to make its case: "The LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down, or your moon withdraw itself; for

15190-417: The city, not the enemy. Baruch also learns of a pre-immanent heavenly Temple: "[The Temple] was already prepared from the moment I decided to create paradise." And I showed it to Adam before he sinned." (2 Baruch 4:3). This Temple was created before Adam, and shown to him before Adam’s fall. Two important conclusions come from 2 Baruch. First, the author dismisses hopes for an earthly re-built Temple. The focus

15345-526: The context of a conflict within the Christian community of Asia Minor over whether to engage with, or withdraw from, the far larger non-Christian community: Author Mark B. Stephens posed that the Revelation chastised those Christians who wanted to reach an accommodation with the Roman cult of empire. This is not to say that Christians in Roman Asia were not suffering due to withdrawal from and defiance of

15500-436: The core, apocalypses are a form of theodicy . They respond to overwhelming suffering with the hope of divine intercession and a perfected World to Come . The destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE meant an end to Second Temple Judaism . Naturally, apocalyptic responses to the disaster followed. This section will first cover 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch . Fourth Ezra and 2 Baruch are important for two reasons. First, they look for

15655-468: The current Books of Samuel. The most prominent sections in the early parts of the first book come from a pro-monarchical source and from an anti-monarchical source. By identifying both sources, two separate accounts can be reconstructed. The anti-monarchical source describes Samuel , having thoroughly routed the Philistines , as begrudgingly accepting the people's demand for a ruler and appointing Saul by cleromancy . The pro-monarchical source describes

15810-533: The dimensions of the city in Ezekiel 48 (and, in Rev. 20:9). New Jerusalem of Revelation 21 is 2,225 km in length, width, and height. A city of these gigantic proportions cannot be located on Earth; but, as stated in Rev. 21, the city comes "down out of Heaven from God", presumably onto, the "new earth." The term New Jerusalem ( Greek : καινὴ Ἰερουσαλήμ , romanized :  kainē Ierousalēm ) occurs twice in

15965-513: The discovery of part of the ancient city walls around the City of David, which she believes dates to the tenth century BCE. According to Mazar, "It's the most significant construction we have from First Temple days in Israel," and "It means that at that time, the 10th century, in Jerusalem, there was a regime capable of carrying out such construction." The 10th century is the period the Bible describes as

16120-586: The divinely-appointed birth of Saul (a single word being changed by a later editor so that it referred to Samuel) and his leading of an army to victory over the Ammonites , which resulted in the people clamouring for him to lead them against the Philistines when he is appointed king. Many scholars believe that the Books of Samuel exhibit too many anachronisms to have been a contemporary account. For example,

16275-433: The entire new city. In 4Q554, the gates of Simeon, Joseph, and Reuben are mentioned in this partial fragment. For the author of this fragment, the New Jerusalem's twelve gates signify the reunification of the twelve tribes of Israel. In 5Q15, the author accompanies an angel who measures the blocks, houses, gates, avenues, streets, dining halls, and stairs of the New Jerusalem. There are two important points to consider regarding

16430-530: The eschaton arrives in REV 21:1 , the reader expects the temple to come down from heaven with the New Jerusalem. Revelation 21 even contains typical New Jerusalem terminology that accompanies a restored Temple. Specific measurements are given for the new city (Ezekiel 40–48, 4Q554), and the city is built with gold, sapphires, and emeralds (Isaiah, Tobit). In addition, 21:21 references the "twelve gates." Revelation maintains another typical aspect of New Jerusalem tradition –

16585-676: The establishment of a monarchy by anointing Saul. In the Second Book of Samuel , Saul's disobedience prompts Yahweh to curtail his reign and to hand his kingdom over to another dynasty, leading to Saul's death in battle against the Philistines. His heir Ish-bosheth rules for only two years before being assassinated. Though David was only the King of Judah, he ends the conspiracy and is appointed King of Israel in Ish-bosheth's place. Some textual critics and biblical scholars suggest that David

16740-520: The exact number of allusions or the allusions themselves. Revelation rarely quotes directly from the Old Testament, yet almost every verse alludes to or echoes ideas of older scriptures. Over half of the references stem from Daniel , Ezekiel , Psalms , and Isaiah , with Daniel providing the largest number in proportion to length and Ezekiel standing out as the most influential. Because these references appear as allusions rather than as quotes, it

16895-581: The existence of an urbanized kingdom in the 10th century BCE. The Israel Antiquities Authority stated, "The excavations at Khirbat Qeiyafa reveal an urban society that existed in Judah already in the late eleventh century BCE. It can no longer be argued that the Kingdom of Judah developed only in the late eighth century BCE or at some other later date." The techniques and interpretations to reach some conclusions related to Khirbet Qeiyafa have been criticized by some scholars, such as Finkelstein and Alexander Fantalkin. In 2010, archaeologist Eilat Mazar announced

17050-535: The fact, if the events of Revelation are occurring by mapping them onto present-day events, taking to heart the Scriptural warning against those who proclaim "He is here!" prematurely. Instead, the book is seen as a warning to be spiritually and morally ready for the end times, whenever they may come ("as a thief in the night"), but they will come at the time of God's choosing, not something that can be precipitated nor trivially deduced by mortals. Book of Revelation

17205-450: The festival of Sukkoth will have no rain that year. Isaiah prophesied that the rebuilt Temple will be a house of prayer for all nations. The city of "YHWH Shamma," (cf. Ezek 48:35) the new Jerusalem, will be the gathering point of the world's nations, and will serve as the capital of the renewed Kingdom of Israel . Ezekiel prophesied that this city will have 12 gates, one gate for each of the tribes of Israel. The book of Isaiah closes with

17360-513: The following categories: Additionally, there are significant differences in interpretation of the thousand years (the "millennium") mentioned in Revelation 20:2. According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops the Book of Revelation contains an account of visions in symbolic and allegorical language borrowed extensively from the Old Testament. Symbolic descriptions are not to be taken as literal descriptions, nor

17515-566: The gap in Israelite history after the events described in Deuteronomy . Canaan State of Israel (1948–present) According to the biblical account, the united monarchy was formed when the elders of Israel expressed the desire for a king. God and Samuel seem to have a distaste for the monarchy, with God telling Samuel that "[Israel has] rejected me, that I should not be king over them." However, Samuel still proceeds with

17670-532: The gates mentioned in Enoch , Chapters 33–35, where the prophet Enoch reports that from each of the four "heavenly gates – opening in heaven – three (new gates) were seen distinctly separating (off, as if) the extremities of the whole earth" [were pulling apart each of the four gates into three new ones]. Thus, the four gates were each replaced by three new ones, totaling twelve [i.e. 3 x 4 = 12] gates in all. [33, 3.][ref. Laurence translation, Book of Enoch .] In 21:16,

17825-671: The island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea , addressing letters to the " Seven Churches of Asia ". He then describes a series of prophetic visions , including figures such as the Seven-Headed Dragon, the Serpent , and the Beast , which culminate in the Second Coming of Jesus . The obscure and extravagant imagery has led to a wide variety of Christian interpretations. Historicist interpretations see Revelation as containing

17980-467: The later end of the reign of Emperor Nero Domitius (54 to 68 CE). The work is addressed to the "seven churches that are in Asia" (1:4). Revelation is normally broken into three sections: the prologue (1:1–3:22), the visions (4:1–22:5), and the epilogue (22:6–20). This study is principally concerned with chapter 21. The author of Revelation was both a Jew by birth and a believing Christian . The author and

18135-592: The memory of a united monarchy was inspired by Saul's conquered territory serving first the ideal of a great united monarchy ruled by a northern king in the times of Jeroboam II and next to the idea of a united monarchy ruled from Jerusalem. In an article on the Biblical Archaeology Review , William G. Dever strongly criticized Finkelstein's theory, calling it full of "numerous errors, misrepresentations, over-simplifications and contradictions." Dever noted that Finkelstein proposes that Saul ruled

18290-583: The monarchy of Saul, the capital is in Gibeah . After Saul's death, Ish-bosheth rules over the Kingdom of Israel from Mahanaim , and David establishes the capital of the Kingdom of Judah in Hebron . After the civil war with Saul, David forges a powerful and unified Israelite monarchy and rules from c. 1000 to 961 BCE. Some modern archaeologists, however, believe that the two distinct cultures and geographic entities of Judah and Israel continued uninterrupted, and if

18445-428: The north's Israelite tribes. The rival chronology of Israeli archaeologist Amihai Mazar places the relevant period beginning in the early 10th century BCE and ending in the mid-9th century BCE, addressing the problems of the traditional chronology while still aligning pertinent findings with the time of Saul, David, and Solomon. Mazar's chronology and the traditional one have been fairly widely accepted, though there

18600-502: The north, and three on the west ( Revelation 21:12–13 ). The twelve gates were twelve pearls; each gate was made from a single pearl ( Revelation 21:21a ). The gates in the north wall are named for Reuben , Judah , and Levi ; those in the east wall, for Joseph , Benjamin , and Dan ; those in the south wall, for Simeon , Issachar , and Zebulun ; and those in the west wall are named for Gad , Asher , and Naphtali ( Ezekiel 48:31–34 ). The New Jerusalem gates may bear some relation to

18755-516: The north, containing the cities of Shechem and Samaria ; and the Kingdom of Judah in the south, containing Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple . In the 1980s, a few biblical scholars began to assert that the archaeological evidence for an extensive kingdom before the late 8th century BCE is too weak, and that the methodology used to obtain the evidence is flawed. In 1995 and 1996, Israel Finkelstein published two papers where he proposed

18910-644: The only New Testament book not read in the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Church , though Catholic and Protestant liturgies include it. There are fewer manuscripts of Revelation than of any other part of the New Testament. As of 2020, in total, there are 310 manuscripts of Revelation. This number includes 7 papyri, 12 majuscules, and 291 minuscules. But, in fact, not all of them are available for research. Some of them have burned down, vanished, or been categorized wrongly. While it

19065-459: The passage, the author writes about a city wall of fire to protect the enormous population. This text demonstrates the beginning of a progression of New Jerusalem thought. In Ezekiel, the focus is primarily on the human act of Temple construction. In Zechariah, the focus shifts to God's intercession in the founding of New Jerusalem. New Jerusalem is further extrapolated in Isaiah, where New Jerusalem

19220-518: The prophecy, "And it will come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, all flesh will come to worship before Me, says YHWH ". The Animal Apocalypse within 1 Enoch (chapters 85–90), is another example where conflict sparks hopes for the New Jerusalem. First Enoch is an apocalyptic response to the persecutions under Seleucid Emperor Antiochus IV . In 167 BCE, Emperor Antiochus returned from fighting in Egypt to quell

19375-531: The reader stops many times and the people respond; additionally the entire book is read in a liturgical setting that culminates with the Eucharist) shows great support for this biblical hypothesis, albeit with some notable difference. Additionally, the Book of Revelation permeates many liturgical prayers and iconography within the Coptic Church. Most Christian interpretations fall into one or more of

19530-504: The reign of King Solomon . Not all archaeologists agree with Mazar, and archaeologist Aren Maeir is dubious about such claims and Mazar's dating. In the Jewish Study Bible (2014), Oded Lipschits states the concept of United Monarchy should be abandoned, while Aren Maeir believes there is insufficient evidence in support of the United Monarchy. In August 2015, Israeli archaeologists discovered massive fortifications in

19685-402: The reign of the emperor Domitian . The beast with seven heads and the number 666 seem to allude directly to the emperor Nero (reigned AD 54–68), but this does not require that Revelation was written in the 60s, as there was a widespread belief in later decades that Nero would return . Revelation is an apocalyptic prophecy with an epistolary introduction addressed to seven churches in

19840-403: The reigns of Saul , Ish-bosheth , David , and Solomon , encompassing the territories of both the later kingdoms of Judah and Israel . Whether the United Monarchy existed—and, if so, to what extent—is a matter of ongoing academic debate. During the 1980s, some biblical scholars began to argue that the archaeological evidence for an extensive kingdom before the late 8th century BCE

19995-564: The reunification of the twelve tribes of Israel (Ezekiel 48:33–34, 4Q554). Verse 22 marks a sudden and remarkable shift in New Jerusalem apocalyptic rhetoric: "I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb." Following with the tradition of 3 Baruch and 4 Sibylline Oracles, Revelation foresees an eschaton without the Temple. Why has the Revelation suddenly denied an eschatological Temple? Verse 23 sheds light on this disparity. Verse 23 proclaims, "And

20150-763: The role of David in the development of ancient Israel. In his books, Beyond the Texts (2018) and Has Archeology Buried the Bible? (2020), William G. Dever has defended the historicity of the United Monarchy, maintaining that the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon are "reasonably well attested." Similar arguments were advanced by Amihai Mazar in two essays written in 2010 and 2013, which point toward archaeological evidence emerged from excavation sites in Jerusalem by Eilat Mazar and in Khirbet Qeiyafa by Yosef Garfinkel . In 2018, archaeologist Avraham Faust announced that his excavations at Tel 'Eton (believed to be

20305-460: The role of High Priest. The Essenes were not against the institution of the Temple and its cult per se. The Essenes at Qumran predicted the reunified twelve tribes to rise together against Roman occupation and incompetent Temple leadership and re-establish true Temple worship. The surviving New Jerusalem texts in Qumran literature focus specifically on the twelve city gates, and on the dimensions of

20460-468: The ruins of the ancient city of Gath , supposed birthplace of Goliath . The size of the fortifications shows that Gath was a large city in the 10th century BCE, perhaps the largest in Canaan at the time. The professor leading the dig, Aren Maeir , estimated that Gath was as much as four times the size of contemporary Jerusalem, which cast doubt that David's kingdom could have been as powerful as described in

20615-478: The seven individual churches are introductions to the rest of the book, which is addressed to all seven. While the dominant genre is apocalyptic, the author sees himself as a Christian prophet: Revelation uses the word in various forms 21 times, more than any other New Testament book. The predominant view is that Revelation alludes to the Old Testament , although it is difficult among scholars to agree on

20770-624: The sheep are the Jewish people, the builder is God, and the house is the Temple. During the same time period, the Dead Sea scrolls contain a New Jerusalem tradition formed out of strife. As a tiny Jewish sect living in the caves of Qumran, the Essenes opposed Temple leadership and the High Priesthood in Jerusalem. Their condemnation of the Temple focused on criticizing High Priests. They were also frustrated that Judean Kings were also given

20925-592: The sizes of Australia and India ). If rested on the Earth, its ceiling would be inside the upper boundary of the exosphere but outside the lower boundary. By way of comparison, the International Space Station maintains an orbit with an altitude of about 386 km (240 mi) above the earth. The Book of Revelation may have been composed during the end of the 1st century AD near the end of Domitian ’s reign (A.D. 96), although some date it to

21080-469: The symbolism contained in the Book of Revelation. Topics include: the sea of glass, the four beasts and their appearance, the 24 elders, the book with seven seals, certain angels, the sealing of the 144,000, the little book eaten by John, and the two witnesses in Chapter 11. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that the warning contained in Revelation 22:18–19 does not refer to

21235-516: The temple, and the Ark of the Covenant – and a heavenly Garden of Eden – including the tree of life , a storehouse for the manna that angels eat, and multiple rivers that water the garden. When the Bible mentions a New Jerusalem, heavenly sanctuary, bread of life, or God's throne, it is referring to the Jewish mystical understanding of heaven. The Babylonian threat to the Kingdom of Judah began as

21390-555: The ten names of the leaders of the Umayyad dynasty: Abu Sufyan, Muawiya, Yazid, Marwan, Abd al-Malik, Walid, Sulayman, Umar, Hisham, and Ibrahim. Some names were re-used, as in the case of Yazid II and Yazid III and the like, which were not counted for this interpretation. The Book of Mormon states that John the Apostle is the author of Revelation and that he was foreordained by God to write it. Doctrine and Covenants , section 77, postulates answers to specific questions regarding

21545-413: The ten northern tribes, and the southern section, dominated by Jerusalem and the southern tribes, reached a boiling point. When Solomon's son and successor Rehoboam dealt tactlessly with economic complaints of the northern tribes, in about 930 BCE (there are differences of opinion as to the actual year), the Kingdom of Israel and Judah splits into two kingdoms: the northern Kingdom of Israel , which included

21700-540: The tenth century, much less monumental architecture." Dever went as far as to dismiss Finkelstein's theory as "a product of his fantasy, stemmed by his obsession to prove that Saul, David and Solomon were not real kings and that the United Monarchy is an invention of a Judahite-biased biblical writer." Dever concluded by stating that "Finkelstein has not discovered a forgotten kingdom. He had invented it. The careful reader will nevertheless gain some insights into Israel—Israel Finkelstein, that is." Another more moderate review

21855-413: The text exemplifies an alternative tradition that lacks a restored Temple. Like other apocalypses, 3 Baruch still mourns over the Temple, and re-focuses Jews to the heavens. Yet 3 Baruch finds that the Temple is ultimately unnecessary. This move could be polemical against works which afforded the Temple with excessive veneration. In the passage, an angel comes to Baruch and consoles him over Jerusalem: "Where

22010-502: The text mentions later armour (1 Samuel 17:4–7, 38–39; 25:13), the use of camels (1 Samuel 30:17), cavalry (as distinct from chariotry ) (1 Samuel 13:5, 2 Samuel 1:6), and iron picks and axes (as if they were prevalent) (2 Samuel 12:31). Most scholars believe that the text of the Books of Samuel was compiled in the 8th century BCE - rather than in the 10th century when most of the events described took place - based on historical and legendary sources. The narrative served primarily to fill

22165-580: The text, but his precise identity remains a point of academic debate. Second-century Christian writers such as Papias of Hierapolis , Justin Martyr , Irenaeus , Melito of Sardis , Clement of Alexandria , and the author of the Muratorian fragment identify John the Apostle as the John of Revelation. Modern scholarship generally takes a different view, with many considering that nothing can be known about

22320-451: The time of the united monarchy (indeed very little written material altogether) and not a single contemporary reference to either David or Solomon," she concludes, "Against this must be set the evidence for substantial development and growth at several sites, which is plausibly related to the tenth century." Kenneth Kitchen ( University of Liverpool ) reaches a similar conclusion, arguing that "the physical archaeology of tenth-century Canaan

22475-581: The town. The town is in the Phrygian Karahallı area, near the village of Karayakuplu ( Uşak Province , Aegean Region , Turkey ). The ancient site of Tymion identified by Peter Lampe is located not far away at the Turkish village of Şükranje. For the Montanists, the high plane between Pepuza and Tymion was an ideal landing place for the heavenly New Jerusalem. The Catholic Church places

22630-413: The wall is 144 cubits , which is assumed to be the thickness since the length is mentioned previously. 144 cubits is about 65 meters, or 72 yards. It is important to note that 12 is the square root of 144. The number 12 was very important to early Jews and Christians, and represented the 12 tribes of Israel and 12 Apostles of Jesus Christ. The number symbolizes completeness in Revelation. The four sides of

22785-761: The weaker client states of Philistia , Moab , Edom and Ammon , with Aramaean city-states Aram-Zobah and Aram-Damascus becoming vassal states. David is succeeded by his son Solomon, who obtains the throne in a somewhat-disreputable manner from the rival claimant Adonijah , his elder brother. Like David's Palace , Solomon's temple is designed and built with the assistance of Tyrian architects, skilled labourers, money, jewels, cedar and other goods obtained in exchange for land ceded to Tyre . Solomon goes on to rebuild numerous significant cities, including Megiddo , Hazor and Gezer . Some scholars have attributed aspects of archaeological remains excavated from these sites, including six-chambered gates and ashlar palaces, to

22940-399: The wider Roman society, which imposed very real penalties; Revelation offered a victory over this reality by offering an apocalyptic hope. In the words of professor Adela Collins , "What ought to be was experienced as a present reality." There is also theological interpretation that the book mainly prophesies the end of Old Covenant order, the Jewish temple and religious economy. Revelation

23095-547: The woman, and tells her to, "shake off your great sadness, and lay aside your many sorrows… the Most High may give you rest." (4 Ezra 10:24). Suddenly, the woman is transfigured in an array of bright lights. She transforms into the New Jerusalem being rebuilt. As a bereaved widow she convinced Ezra to apply solace to himself through the image of a New Jerusalem. Fourth Ezra has two clear messages. First, do not grieve excessively over Jerusalem. Second, Jerusalem will be restored as

23250-575: The word is singular, so the name "Revelations" sometimes found in English is often considered erroneous. The author states in Rev 1:9 that he is on Patmos , and so he is conventionally called John of Patmos . He was a Jewish Christian prophet, probably belonging to a group of such prophets, and was accepted by the congregations to whom he addresses his letter. The New Testament canon has four other " Johannine works " ascribed to authors named John, and

23405-483: The work of salvation for all humankind, "This remnant announces the arrival of the judgment hour, proclaims salvation through Christ, and heralds the approach of His second advent." The three angels of Revelation 14 represent the people who accept the light of God's messages and go forth as his agents to sound the warning throughout the length and breadth of the earth. By reasoning analogous with Millerite historicism, Bahá'u'lláh 's doctrine of progressive revelation ,

23560-477: Was among the last books accepted into the Christian biblical canon , and to the present day some churches that derive from the Church of the East reject it. Eastern Christians became skeptical of the book as doubts concerning its authorship and unusual style were reinforced by aversion to its acceptance by Montanists and other groups considered to be heretical. This distrust of the Book of Revelation persisted in

23715-536: Was responsible for the assassination and that his innocence was a later invention to legitimize his actions. Israel rebels against David and crowns David's son Absalom . David is forced into exile east of the Jordan River but eventually launches a successful counterattack, which results in the death of Absalom. Having retaken Judah and asserted control over Israel, David returns west of the Jordan. Throughout

23870-534: Was written in the same magazine by Aaron Burke: Burke described Finkelstein's book as "ambitious" and praised its literary style but did not accept his conclusions: according to Burke, Finkelstein's thesis is mainly based on his proposed Low Chronology, ignoring the criticism that it has received from scholars like Amihai Mazar , Christopher Bronk Ramsey and others, and engages in several speculations that archeology, biblical and extrabiblical sources cannot prove. He also criticized him for persistently trying to downgrade

24025-515: Was written with the intention to be read entirely in one liturgical setting with dialogue-elements between the reader (singular) and the hearers (plural) based on Rev 1:3 and Rev 1:10. Beniamin Zakhary has recently shown that the structure of the reading the Book of Revelation within the Coptic rite of Apocalypse Night (this is the only biblical reading in the Coptic church with a dialogue in it, where

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