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Revelation, Part 3: Recapitulation and Repetition · The Bible in 3D

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: We are in a series entitled Revelation, It Is in the Symbols. This is episode three. In the first episode, we laid sort of the groundwork. We talked about the medium of communication, which is symbols. We talked about some of the challenges with how do we interpret symbols and it largely comes from what I've called secondary gain.
• 0:37
  We come with biases and prejudices which influence how we interpret those symbols. And then that of course dictates what we actually get out of Revelation. We're going to look now at the next two sections here, the next two episodes, a little bit more on the narrative itself. And today the section, this is part five, is entitled recapitulation and repetition. This is the fifth challenge that we've looked at as we prepare to read Revelation and the R and R words, recapitulation and repetition.
• 1:19
  To understand this challenge we need to go back to the Old Testament. Semitic writing is different than how we write in the Western world. We have seen that they use different writing narratives like chiasms and acoustics. Another different writing technique is the use of the cycle of threes. Something is said three times or in three circles.
• 1:45
  The same information is given but each time more or less additional information is added or taken away. Anytime you see something said three times in a row, and again it would not necessarily have to be exactly the same, it could use different words. But if essentially it is the same content, this is the cycle of threes. The best thing I can do is to give you some examples. The book of Job is probably one of the oldest stories in recorded history.
• 2:18
  Yes, I know. They will tell you that that they all come from Mesopotamia and that there are other books that are older. The book of Job is another spiritual battle. Now really this is the third one we've talked about today. In the first couple books of the chapter, Job is blessed by God, he is wealthy, he has beautiful sons and daughters, however Satan is allowed to torment Job to see whether Job will turn his back on God or in spite of all these bad things that happened to him, Job still praise and worship God?
• 2:58
  Job, of course, knows none of this. And so all of Job's great wealth is stolen, taken away, his children all die in this terrible storm when they are all in a same house. Job is sitting in the ruins of his own house and his wife gives him no encouragement. She says, why don't you just curse God and die and be done with it? And he is like, go away woman.
• 3:22
  Then three of his friends show up, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. I'm gonna stop here. These names, these four names, Job and then the other three friends are clearly names from at least four thousand years ago, somewhere in Mesopotamia. You know, there is actually a similar story in some of the Sumerian writings, similar to Job, but with some different figures and maybe a a little bit different narrative. Job is not easy to read.
• 3:56
  Maybe it's not as hard as Revelation, but but it gets there. The plot device in Job, other than what happens between God and Satan, really deals with the question of why do bad things happen to good people. Job is sitting in the ash heap of what was his house, and these friends show up and for seven days they sit silently. This is their way to mourn and show grief. Then one by one, each of the men stands up and talks to Job.
• 4:25
  Each of them makes an argument. Friends, these arguments are deep philosophical reasoning. You know, the book of Job, if it was not in the Bible, would be considered, I think, the greatest book of antiquity. It is exquisitely written. Not only do you have these deep philosophical arguments, you have discussion of astronomy, metallurgy, it really is a deep book.
• 4:54
  The first man to get up and to address Job is Elipas. He makes his argument. Now I'm not gonna go through all of the philosophical arguments. If I was going to explain this to my father, and as I said, was a common laborer, very smart man, but, you know, didn't have a lot of education, I would say, okay, dad. Each one of these guys gets up and says to Job that the bad things that happened to him was because he sinned and he didn't confess it.
• 5:23
  Or maybe he just sinned directly against God. And so all these things happening to you are punishment from God. This is punishment. Bildad gets up. He makes a similar argument.
• 5:36
  It is different. It is a different philosophical tact that he's trying to make, but it's the same point ultimately. Zophar gets up and again, similar kind of thing, they all sit down. Job gets up and says, no no, you are wrong. No secret sin.
• 5:53
  No, I did not sin. I have not disrespected God. That's a short abbreviation for what he says. It's a lot longer. Elipaz gets up again and he starts the second cycle.
• 6:06
  He makes the same argument but not as eloquent. Not as good, not as alarmed. Bill dad gets up and again he restates his arguments, but again, not as good, not as long, and not as eloquent. And so far as well. Now Job gets back up and he once again says, it isn't so boys.
• 6:30
  I did not do any of the stuff you're accusing me of. I am not being punished by God. If only I could stand before God, God knows that I've done nothing wrong. I'm not being punished, at least not by God. Now the third cycle.
• 6:44
  Elipaz gets up, he speaks briefly. Again he's trying to make the same argument but it's very very brief. Bildad gets up and speaks even briefer and so far doesn't even get up at all. Now, that is a literary technique. The cycle of threes is made and each time the argument is less eloquent and shorter, so it's sort of an inverted telescope.
• 7:12
  And this is to show that the arguments are false because they get less persuasive. They don't work. They are not true. The fact that each time the argument gets less persuasive, less intricate shows that it is just disappearing. So that is a use of threes.
• 7:31
  But that is threes where the cycles are decreasing in intensity. Let's go to Peter's vision. It is in the book of Acts. Peter is staying at Simon the Tanner's house in Joppa. He is upstairs, he's taking a nap.
• 7:45
  He gets a vision. The sheet descends from heaven and there are all kinds of animals on the sheet and they are non kosher. In other words, you can't eat them. Right? You know, maybe it's a lobster, I don't know.
• 7:59
  You know, maybe it's a horse. And a voice from heaven says, take eat. And Peter, he grew up as a good Jewish boy, you know, yes he's a Christian now but you know he does the same eating habits. He says you know I eat kosher, don't eat this kind of stuff. And the voice says what God says is holy do not say is unholy.
• 8:24
  Then a second vision, Immediately thereafter, sheet comes down repeat everything's the same. Third time sheet comes down the voice says do not say what God says is clean is unclean. Again this is non kosher food which someone from a Jewish background would not eat. As soon as Peter wakes up, knock on the door. Hey, Hey, there are some guys from Cornelius here, the the Roman centurion.
• 8:55
  There is a soldier and a servant at the door and they have come to fetch Peter. Now a good Jewish boy would not go into the home of a Gentile because he would become ceremonially unclean. Yes, Peter is saved and all, but he still has the eating habits and sanitary habits, you know, that he grew up with. The things that he thinks are right and wrong. A good Jew could not go because the house because of the house of the gentile and then eat food there because of course it wouldn't be kosher.
• 9:23
  He couldn't stay overnight. But Peter because he has just had this vision and because it was given three times, he knows this is a God moment and he has to go. And of course to his great surprise, he gives the four spiritual laws or however makes the gospel presentation and these Gentile guys, they confess Christ and start talking in known languages. And so here's Peter. So gentiles are saved.
• 9:52
  Who knew? So that is an example of threes. The Lord Jesus in the sermon on the plane which is Luke chapter six verses 27 through 36 says three times in three different ways love your enemy... Enemies and do good to those who hate you. Three separate times in three different ways back to back.
• 10:17
  It's the same thing that he is saying in three different ways. He does this to emphasize that it is important. He says it three times. Friends, this is exactly how the book of Revelation, I believe, is written. At least that's my challenge to you.
• 10:34
  So I'll start with this rhetorical question. We have the judgments. Seven seal judgments. We have seven trumpet judgments and seven bowl judgments. Are there 21 separate judgments?
• 10:49
  Most people would say, yeah, there are 21 separate judgments. But maybe not. I suggest that there are seven judgments restated three times. This is the classic semitic use of repetition and recapitulation to make the point. The seven sealed judgments present judgment, God's judgments on the earth.
• 11:12
  We see earthquakes. We all see all manner of terrible things happening. And typically it is said during those first seven, you know, a fourth of mankind is killed, a fourth of the land is burnt up. Then we go to the trumpet judgments and essentially we are seeing the same judgments again in a slightly different perspective. Each time that all the judgments are essentially the same but I mean the same type of judgments but they have a worse effect.
• 11:42
  So for instance, in the trumpet judgments, it's not a quarter of this or a quarter of that like the seal judgments. No. It's a third, a third, a third. This is not one fourth plus one third. It's just similar visions of the same judgment but with more devastation.
• 12:00
  Finally, there's a last set of judgment, the bold judgments. Again, are essentially seeing the same judgments but they are even much bigger And you get more destruction. You see this cycle of threes that telescoping and it keeps getting bigger and bigger as opposed to decreasing which we saw in Job. The point of these seven visions three times is that what is coming is coming and because it's worse each time it says it's it's real. It will come.
• 12:32
  The seal judgments are in chapter six. That's the first set of seven. Except that the seventh seal judgment is in chapter eight verse 12. So there's this interlude which we talked about previously in chapter seven. The seventh seal is just the next set of judgments, the trumpet judgments.
• 12:53
  So when the angel opened the sixth seal in chapter six, John looked and behold there was a great earthquake. And we keep seeing this great earthquake each time and what does it say? The sun became black as sackcloth, the whole moon became like blood. The stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds winter fruit when shaken by a gale. Now here we go.
• 13:22
  The sky vanishes like a scroll that was rolled up. Every mountain, every island is removed from its place. The kings of the earth and the great ones who had hid themselves in the caves, they are called out to the mountains. They they call out of the mountains. They they say fall on us for the great day of God's wrath has come.
• 13:43
  Who can stand? Now let's go to the trumpet judgments. They are in chapter 11. The seventh angel blows his trumpet and there were loud voices in heaven saying the kingdom of the world has come become the kingdom of our Lord and Jesus Christ. He shall reign forever and ever.
• 14:05
  The 24 elders who sat on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped and they said, give thanks to the Lord Almighty who is and was for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations rage but God's wrath has come in the time for the dead to be judged and for the rewarding of his servants, the prophets and saints. For those, this is what he's being told John in this trumpet. So the times come, God's wrath is here, the dead are gonna be judged, there's gonna be rewarding of the servants, the prophets, saints and for all who fear the name, his name both great and small and for destroying the destroyers of the earth. Then God's temple in heaven was opened and the ark of the covenant was seen and temples and flashes of lightning and peals of thunder at heavy hail and an earthquake.
• 15:06
  The seven seals end with a statement that the judgment is done. It's over. The mountains and the islands have been removed. It's over. So we see at the end of the seven judgment the same words as we saw at the end of the seven seal judgments.
• 15:25
  It's presented a little differently except it's not over because now now we go to the last seven, the bowl judgments. The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air in a loud voice, there's that loud voice again from heaven, out of the temple just like the last group comes this voice from the throne saying it is done. There are flashes of lightning, rumbles, peels of thunder thunder and a great earthquake, oh, third time now, such has never been seen since man was on the earth. So great was the earthquake that the great city was split into threes and the cities of the nations fell. And God remembered Babylon, the great wrath to make her drain the cup of wine of the fury of his wrath.
• 16:12
  Yep. Now for the third time, here we go. Every island fled away, no mountains were to be found and great hailstones about 100 pounds each fell from the heavens on to people and they cursed God for the plague of hail because the hail was so severe. So wait a minute, I thought the islands and the mountains had already fled away. So how can this happen again?
• 16:36
  Well, I think this is evidence for us that this is simply the cycle of three. It's essentially the same set of judgments given three different times with increasing devastation. You know, just as the arguments were made in Job, just as Peter got to see the vision three times, just as Jesus said something important three times, I'm gonna suggest to you that John gets the vision at the Isle Of Patmos three times in increasing ferocity but these are the same judgments. There are other examples of repetition and recapitulation in Revelation. In chapter 16 verse 12, the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great Euphrates River.
• 17:26
  The water dried up to prepare for the kings of the East. Then John saw something coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. Three unclean spirits like frogs, Ribbit. They were demonic spirits performing signs who who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for the great battle on the great day of the God almighty. Behold, I'm coming like a thief.
• 17:56
  Blessed is the one who stays awake keeping his garments on that he may not be naked and exposed. And they assembled them in a place in Hebrew which is called Armageddon. Alright. That is in chapter 16. Alright.
• 18:11
  Is chapter 16, is that the final final battle? Perhaps. But in chapter 19, once again, so now a little bit later, John sees heaven open and behold a white horse. John describes the rider whose robe is dipped in blood. He is the word of God.
• 18:29
  That's Jesus of course. And he has got all the armies of heaven with him. Then I saw the angel standing in the sun and he called to the birds to fly directly to come and to eat the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders. And I saw the beasts, so beasts sea, beasts of land, and the kings of the earth with their armies to make war. Yet, the rider on the white horse smites them with a sword of his tongue.
• 19:02
  The battle in chapter 19 surely seems to be retelling the same battle in chapter 16. Again, the technique is that being used over and over in Revelation is recapitulation and repetition. New information is provided but ever so briefly. You know, what is interesting here is the kind reminiscent of Daniel. Daniel, when we get into the greater detail in the third and fourth visions of Daniel, God God is giving Daniel a vision to give people hope because they're going through some bad times when the Maccabees wars will begin several hundred years later.
• 19:45
  And it's terrible persecution. It's very, very hard times. Many are killed. Yet the visions of Daniel give Jews greater details so that they can read and know, yes, we will suffer. Yes, we will be persecuted and yes, many of us will die but we will get through this as a people and as a nation.
• 20:07
  So the purpose of the prophecy is to intentionally give them encouragement. So all these things that we are seeing is like Daniel. Yes, these terrible times are coming but you're gonna get through it and that's the good news. As I said earlier between each of the seven judgments, there is what is called an interlude. So between the first and second, between the second and third, there's an interlude.
• 20:34
  And we've talked about these interludes. Such as chapter seven, the seven seal judgments. You know, there's a 140,000 from every tribe of the sons of Israel who follow Jesus plus a great multitude of every nation that are preserved. You know at the end of chapter six, the high and the mighty are hiding in their hidey holes. They're fallout shelters.
• 21:02
  And they are asking who can stand before the fury of a holy holy holy righteous and living God who will not be mocked? Those are my words. In chapter seven, John is told the answer to their question. A 144,000 righteous Jews and a great multitude of saved people from every nation will be able to stand before Yahweh. At the end of days, will you be hiding in a cave or standing on your feet in the presence of the Almighty?
• 21:36
  Perhaps today is the day God is calling you. If you have not, it's time to accept the invitation. You know, in chapter nine we see the seventh trumpet at the end of the seven trumpets. And then boom, in chapter 10 we get into an interlude of encouragement. And again, there's an angel with a little scroll that's...
• 22:03
  And then starting in chapter 11 we have two witnesses. And for three and a half years, three and a half again, they are witnessing about Christ and nobody can harm them until they're murdered. And then after three dead days of lying dead in the streets of Jerusalem, God raises them from the dead. Revelation has a happy ending in chapter 22 but the road to get there is not easy. If any of us are living through the great tribulation, and I hope the post tribbers are wrong, we will most certainly be martyred.
• 22:40
  But be encouraged. We will be raised from the dead and that's what this symbolizes. And we will stand before our Lord and master and he will give us a crown of gold. Well done, good and faithful servant. You are through the great tribulation.
• 22:59
  That is what we have to look forward to. The good news is you're coming out on the other side. But yes, you will almost certainly be martyred. You will come out on the other side and you will be raised to new life. So we have three sets of seven judgments.
• 23:18
  The first set are called the seal judgments. And if you recall, in the great throne room in chapter five, there's a scroll that has seven seals on it and this is where the seven seal judgments because every time the Lord Jesus Christ opens one of the seals then you know, one of these terrible judgments happens. Where does that scroll come from? Everybody has ideas. I share with you what I think is the most reasonable.
• 23:55
  At the end of the book of Daniel, which is also apocalyptic talks about end times, Daniel is given all this stuff and he's told to write it down and he's like, excuse me sir, I have no idea what any of this means. And the heavenly entity says, no Daniel, that's right, you don't know what it means. Seal it up and you will take your rest. In other words, you'll die. And at the end of days you will be raised to life and you'll receive your reward.
• 24:39
  I believe that the scroll that we see in chapter five which no one can open. In which when the Lord Jesus comes and does have the right to open it, this is the scroll of the judgment that God had given to Daniel back in five hundred and something BC. Again, the good news. God wrote a story, he wrote it from start to finish. God is fully in the past, he's fully with us now and he's fully present in the future all at once.
• 25:24
  And that makes the secular folks makes their head spins when I say that. We are coming out the other side. Be of good cheer. Alright, the sixth next section, part six. This is a spiritual battle.
• 25:44
  I wrote about the spiritual battle described in 12. Satan tries to go after Christ but fails and Satan pursues the woman and fails. Finally, Satan goes after the Jews. Satan does so by raising up the beast of the sea and the beast of the land. The beast of the sea appears to have a near death experiencing experience mimicking Christ rising from the dead.
• 26:10
  The beast of the land makes an image of the beast of the sea and causes all people on earth to worship the image of the beast of the sea. He does so by not allowing anyone to buy or sell unless they have the mark of the beast which indicates submission, reverence to the beast of the sea. We are told that the mark of the beast is the number six six six, but it's not explained in the text. It's not explained in the Old Testament. It's not explained anywhere.
• 26:41
  What does that mean? Well, if you watch that very old movie, I think it was done in the maybe early seventies, A Thief in the Night. They wanted to sort of indicate that maybe 666 was a barcode that would get tattooed onto you. The important point for us is whatever this mark of the beast, you only get it voluntarily. Nobody can force it on you.
• 27:13
  And over and over, the three angels say elsewhere in Revelation, do not take the mark of the beast. I'm going to go down a rabbit trail. 666. Oh, some people think it's an anagram for Cesar Nero. That somehow his three names work out if you use numerology and you come up with 666.
• 27:38
  Well, I doubt it. The truth is nobody knows. However, I'm gonna throw something out and you can consider it. Seven is always the mark or symbol of a man. What is six sixty six?
• 27:59
  It's a man who's not quite a man. So is the antichrist who had, you know, that's the number of the beast of the sea is six sixty six so that's why you have to get the mark. So throw out some options here. Maybe six six six, maybe the antichrist is a woman. You know, not quite seven, not quite a man.
• 28:27
  There is another thought that's been rolling around here in the last couple of decades and in Daniel eleven thirty seven we see as part of this prophecy, is the third vision that Daniel gets. This ruler of fierce countenance, this is just another term for the Antichrist, the beast of the sea. It says this is very very hard to translate. The Hebrew, everybody argues over this verse. One translation says, the ruler will have no regard for the desire of women.
• 29:18
  Other people say that the ruler will be the desire of women. I think the best scholars say that it's probably closer to the meaning of the ruler, this antichrist, beast of the sea, will have no regard for the desire of women. Up until a few years ago, I just thought well this was somebody who you know wasn't into dating. How do I say that nicely? But maybe the ruler the beast of the sea will be an LGBTX kind of guy plus.
• 29:58
  I'll throw that out there to you, don't know. Alright. One more time, chapter 14, the three angels warned don't take the mark of the beast. I think that's important. Chapters fifteen and sixteen finish out the seven bowl judgments.
• 30:13
  Again, they're very likely only only seven judgments in Revelation but from three different angles, seals, trumpets and bowls. Now we get to three curious chapters. 16, seventeen and eighteen. I think I am going to break here and so we're at about the half hour point and I will put all this in our our fourth episode. Gracious Lord, I thank you for your words to encourage us that although the world is gonna go through terrible judgment that we, the people of God, will come out the other side.
• 30:55
  Father, help that to encourage our faith. I thank you and praise you in Jesus name. Amen.
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Bible in three d. We're so grateful for listeners like you. Your encouragement helps us create and share more transformative content that strengthens communities worldwide. If this episode inspired you, consider supporting our nonprofit mission with a donation at cogworksmedia.org. Also, be sure to check out our other podcast, Biblical Reflections, for more faith insights.
• 31:32
  God bless.