Journal: Trinity Journal
Volume: TRINJ 12:2 (Fall 1991)
Article: The “Image Of The Beast” And The Christians In Asia Minor: Escalation Of Sectarian Tension In Revelation 13
Author: David A. deSilva

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TrinJ 12:2 (Fall 1991) p. 185

The “Image Of The Beast” And The Christians In Asia Minor:
Escalation Of Sectarian Tension In Revelation 13

David A. deSilva

Decatur, Georgia

The investigation of apocalyptic literature seems to be governed by rival “schools” more than most areas of NT interpretation. Revelation, in particular, has been besieged in a long hermeneutical war by armies whose battle lines are clearly drawn. Often one may not even approach the siege site unless one claims allegiance to one of these armies. Readers may be familiar with the “futurist” point of view, which holds that the contents of Revelation speak for the most part to a time still in our future. “Historicists,” perhaps the most popular through the efforts of Hal Lindsey, Ellen White, and Uriah Smith, read in Revelation the history of the church from apostolic times through the “last days.” The commentator most often places himself or herself at the threshold of this latter period.

Both positions are useful for the maintenance of the expectation of Christ’s imminent return, which is so essential a part of our Christian hope. As methods of exegesis, however, they contain suppositions concerning the text of Revelation which one rarely imposes on any other scriptural text. Primarily this arises from an understanding of apocalyptic literature as prophecy along the lines of Nostradamus’s works. What Revelation “unveils,” according to this view, is the chain of events leading to the glorious return of Christ. This study will take a different approach to Revelation, based on a different understanding of how apocalyptic literature “works.”

Apocalyptic texts such as Daniel, 2 Esdras, and Revelation may not be concerned with laying out a timetable for a long history that would make the hope of God’s kingdom or Christ’s return a very distant and dim hope for its first readers—contrary to the obviously imminent expectations present in the Synoptic Gospels and Paul. Rather, apocalyptic “unveils” something other than future history. It works to lift the veil from the worldly appearances of power and legitimacy—whether those of Antiochus Epiphanes or Imperial Rome—which call for the allegiance and conformity of Jew, Christian, and Pagan alike. Apocalyptic paints

TrinJ 12:2 (Fall 1991) p. 186

a new portrait of these powers—one which shows them to be at odds with the ultimate reality for the believer, namely the rule of God. It thus provides a basis for resistance to these worldly powers.

This study will therefore approach Revelation with the presupposition with which one would approach Galatians or John; that the book contains a message and a challenge which speaks to the first recipients in t...

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