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Post by socalexile on Jul 23, 2017 20:12:52 GMT -6
Like many parts of the Bible, Revelation is a chiasm, which in the days of the writing of the Bible, where the script was written in uncial (has no spaces, paragraphs, punctuation, and only in capital letters), is a way of structuring thoughts and placing emphasis on main ideas. (You can read more on chiasms here, they are not unique to the bible, except maybe in their complexity. you can go down that rabbit hole here) Here is the chiastic structure of Revelation. Notice that the center (the main idea) is in Revelation 12. This is a possible alternate way to read the timeline of the book.  Other graphs:   Thoughts? |
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Post by socalexile on Jul 23, 2017 20:18:23 GMT -6
On a side note, the whole bible is a chiasm within a chiasm within a chiasm....etc.  |
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Post by socalexile on Jul 23, 2017 20:25:49 GMT -6
Also, the New testament is set up in a dispensational manner. you have the Gospels, detailing the coming of the Messiah to the Jews, you then have Acts, where in chapters 1-12 Peter (the apostle to the Jews) is the focus, then in 13-26 Paul (the apostle to the Gentiles) is the focus, doing everything Peter did earlier (I can post a study on this later). From there you have Paul's letters, ending in Philemon, set up in a chiasm, which I will post below, where Paul acts as a type of Christ, redeeming Onesimus. Then the next book is Hebrews (written to the Jews), then James, written "to the 12 tribes of the dispersion" (aka Jews), then 1 Peter, written to "to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia" (aka Jews). This is a picture of the pre-trib rapture IMO. Chiasm of Philemon:  |
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Post by whatif on Jul 23, 2017 23:31:33 GMT -6
I am entirely blown away by this awesomeness of our Lord's Word! I'd never heard of a chiasm before, socalexile! Thank you so much for showing us this fascinating aspect of Scripture!
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Post by watchmanjim on Jul 24, 2017 0:14:58 GMT -6
There's another one in Genesis in the text, regarding the Flood.
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Post by whatif on Jul 24, 2017 0:19:04 GMT -6
Awesome, watchmanjim! What verses?
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Post by watchmanjim on Jul 24, 2017 0:24:24 GMT -6
I'd have to look. . . .
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Post by watchmanjim on Jul 24, 2017 0:25:34 GMT -6
I think it might be all of chapters 7 and 8.
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Post by whatif on Jul 24, 2017 0:28:59 GMT -6
Awesome! Thank you!
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Post by socalexile on Jul 24, 2017 3:18:34 GMT -6
There's another one in Genesis in the text, regarding the Flood.  |
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Post by watchmanjim on Jul 24, 2017 6:58:31 GMT -6
Yep, that's about how I remember it. It was the mirror-image numbers that got my attention the first time I saw it.
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Post by whatif on Jul 24, 2017 10:59:54 GMT -6
Totally amazing! Thank you for posting it, socalexile!
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Post by Gary on Jul 24, 2017 12:44:33 GMT -6
Really fascinating! Thank you for sharing these, socalexile. I remember discussing the chiastic structure of Revelation not too long ago - it may not have been on this board though.
You get a strong sense that Revelation 12 is very central to the book and in my humble opinion we learn not to read Revelation like chronological cliff notes. It is more complex than that.
The book of Isaiah, for example, is similar in that there is a general flow to it with a beginning and an ending, but it is not purely chronological - hence why you can have resurrection passages like Isaiah 26 and then the famous Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53. In other words, apocalyptic literature is generally chronological, but there are repeated and detailed interpolations.
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Post by socalexile on Jul 24, 2017 19:41:02 GMT -6
Gary, Revelation is essentially a collection of quotes and references from the Old Testament. This is a short list - there are upwards of 500-700 references in the 450 or so verses in Revelation. The four horsemen of Rev 6? That's Zechariah 1 and 6. The Mark of the Beast? That's Ezekiel 9. The Two Witnesses? That's Zechariah 4-5 which is within the context of Ezra 4 - which indicate they will stand against the mixing of false religion as Joshua and Zerubbabel stood against the Samaritan mixing of Judaism and Assyrian paganism. Mystery Babylon? That's Genesis 11, where men tried to reach heaven with their own labor; i.e. works salvation, which is very popular in churches these days. Ultimately, Biblical prophecy is a pattern, and is not a linear concept as westerners think of it. It comes down to the philosophy of the Hebrew language IMO, which this explains. This explains their concept of time, which sees us spiraling towards the Re-creation - that is, moving forward, yet repeating in cycles certain aspects of the ultimate fulfillment. Thus, while Nero and Rome weren't the fulfillment of Revelation, it was a picture - along with the Bar Kochba Rebellion, The Spanish Inquisition, and the Holocaust. Nero was a picture of the Anti-Christ, and so was every tyrant in history, and so on. |
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Post by watchmanjim on Jul 24, 2017 22:52:41 GMT -6
The writings of John are VERY spirally.
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