Pre Revelation Part 3

I do apologize for all the "pre-work" that I feel is necessary before we jump right into the actual verses of the book and chapter.  I do feel that some things need to be written so we can go into the book with a better understanding.


This next reading is from "The Revelation of John" by W. Barclay.  He asserts that ," There are any number of Jewish Apocalypse-Enoch, The Sibylline Oracles, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, The Ascension of Isaiah, The Assumption of Moses, The Apocalypse of Baruch, Fourth Ezra.  Our Revelation is a Christian Apocalypse.  It is the only one in the New Testament, although there were many others which did not gain admission.  It is written exactly on the Jewish pattern and follows the basic conception of the two ages."  He goes on to say that there is one difference, it substitutes the day of the Lore for the coming in power of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Revelation itself is full of prophecy as well as apocalyptic literature.

So, what is the difference between apocalyptic and prophecy?

I.
Prophets deal in terms with the present world, a cry out for the people to conform and obey God.  It is said, by W. Barclay, that a prophet is an optimist.  The thought being that even with the condemnation of the way things were today, if men would just accept God and His will, things could be fixed.

For the Apocalyptic view, the world is in terrible dis-repair and cannot be fixed.  Therefore, requiring a new created world.  There fore a pessimistic view point is connected to this view.

II.
A second difference between the two is that a prophet will speak his message, where the apoclyptic message is written down.  Most apoclyptic messages are criptic and need to be studied and read over for greater understanding.  Pondering was needed to fully understand the message.

I hope this will aid us in our travel into the Book.

Until next time,  Blessings to all!

-Calabash