Craig R. Koester - Revelation and the End of All Things

Praise for this books first edition

Craig Koester communicates current scholarship on Revelation with clarity, passion, and concern that the message of the Bible be understood and appropriated in todays world.

M. Eugene Boring

A book of singular significance for the contemporary Christian community. Koester shows that the horizons of the Christian past, present, and future merge in Johns remarkable revelation. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to all Christians.

Francis J. Moloney, SDB

A lucid, close reading of the text that will be valuable for anyone wanting to understand Johns puzzling visions.

Interpretation

Koesters book is informative and easy to read.... Highly recommended for undergraduate university or seminary students and for pastors and Bible study groups.

Catholic Biblical Quarterly

REVELATION

and the End of All Things

Second Edition

Craig R. Koester

WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 /

www.eerdmans.com

2001, 2018 Craig R. Koester

All rights reserved

First edition 2001

Second edition 2018

24 23 22 21 20 19 181 2 3 4 5 6 7

eISBN 978-1-4674-5052-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Koester, Craig R., 1953

Revelation and the end of all things / Craig R. Koester.

p.cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8028-7578-5 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Bible, N.T. Revelation Commentaries.
I. Title.

BS2825.53 K642001
228.07 dc21

00-069199

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, http://nrsvbibles.org/, copyright 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

For Matthew and Emily

CONTENTS

2.Christ and the Churches
(Revelation 13)

3.The Scroll Unsealed
(Revelation 47)

4.Trumpets of Terror and Hope
(Revelation 811)

5.The Beast and the Lamb
(Revelation 1215)

6.The Harlot and the Bride
(Revelation 1519)

7.The End
(Revelation 1922)

The first edition of this book appeared at the beginning of the new millennium. My intent was to make the best in current scholarship on Revelation accessible to a wide range of readers, while engaging issues that were generated by the use of apocalyptic literature in popular media. The book first became available around the time of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC, on September 11, 2001, events that were sometimes called apocalyptic. In the years that followed, continued shifts in global politics contributed to ongoing speculation about the end-times. Readers of the first edition of Revelation and the End of All Things often commented that they found it to be a compelling alternative to the sensationalistic treatments of Revelation they had encountered.

Publication of the second edition provides an opportunity to update the volume in three ways. First, this edition includes insights from recent scholarship on Revelation and related fields, such as archaeology, ancient literature, rhetoric, and Roman history. Many of my own contributions to the study of Revelation have appeared in more technical form in journal articles and a major commentary on Revelation for the Anchor Yale Bible series. This new edition of Revelation and the End of All Things provides an opportunity to share aspects of that work with a wider audience. Second, I have updated the discussion of the sensationalistic treatments of Revelation that continue to appear. Many of the futuristic assumptions about Revelation persist over time, but particular forms of speculation keep evolving as there are changes in conflict in the Middle East or new threats emerging elsewhere on the globe. Comments on recent end-time scenarios are included in sections on Revelation and popular culture. Third, I have provided discussion questions at the end of the volume in order to enhance the value of the book for classes and study groups.

I am grateful to Michael Thomson, James Ernest, and the staff at Eerdmans for their ongoing interest in the project and their support in bringing the second edition to completion.

Embarking on a study of Revelation is one of the most engaging ventures in biblical studies. Interest in Revelation is perennially high even among those who do not otherwise give much attention to questions of biblical interpretation. Curiosity is fed by the popular use of Revelation in print, film, and other media. This book, Revelation and the End of All Things, grows out of years of teaching courses on Revelation to seminary students, pastors, and congregational groups. Many of the questions that people ask in these settings are sparked by sensationalistic interpretations of Revelation, but these questions also point to major issues concerning our understanding of God and the future, death and life, judgment, hope. Rather than ignoring popular interpretations of Revelation, the first chapter of Revelation and the End of All Things considers how these approaches work and why they are problematic. The rest of the book takes a careful look at each section of Revelation, keeping the situations of first-century and twenty-first-century readers in mind. The goal is to present the message of Revelation in a manner that is accessible, engaging, and meaningful to modern readers, while taking account of the best in recent scholarship.

Many people helped to make this book possible. Photographs of the woodcuts by Albrecht Drer were made from original prints in the Lutheran Brotherhood Collection of Religious Art. I would like to thank Richard Hillstrom for making the prints available. I also want to express my gratitude to Luther Seminary and Lutheran Brotherhood for supporting a sabbatical leave in which to complete the manuscript. Thanks are due to Nancy Koester and Todd Nichol for reading portions of the manuscript and to Alice Loddigs for technical assistance at many points. Finally, I want to acknowledge my appreciation to Allen Myers, Jennifer Hoffman, and the rest of the Eerdmans staff for all they have done to bring this project to completion.

The power of a book can be seen in what it does to people, and few books have affected people more dramatically than Revelation. In positive terms, Revelation has inspired countless sermons and theological treatises, artistic works, and musical compositions ranging from the triumphant Hallelujah Chorus to the gentle strains of Jerusalem My Happy Home. On the negative side, it has fed social upheaval and sectarian religious movements that have often foundered on misguided attempts to discern the date of Christs return. Some are attracted to sensationalistic interpretations that find Revelations prophecies reaching fulfillment in the rise of the modern state of Israel, the threat of nuclear war, volcanic eruptions, terrorism, and oil spills. Others, repelled by these speculations, suggest that Revelation might best be kept on the shelf, sealed and unread. Yet attempts to ignore or dismiss Revelation are generally not successful; its secrets are too alluring.

A sketch of some of the ways in which Christians have interpreted the book over the centuries can provide a valuable preface to reading Revelation. Sometimes intriguing, sometimes disturbing, the story of Revelations checkered history of influence on previous generations provides contemporary readers with an opportunity to think about the kinds of questions that our predecessors have asked, the assumptions that shaped their reading, and the effects of their interpretations on their communities. As we consider the perspectives of others, we are challenged to consider the questions and assumptions that we ourselves bring to the text, as well as the effects that our interpretations might have on our own communities. Looking at the past is a prelude to the task of seeking faithful and compelling ways to read Revelation in the present.