first of these is the recapitulation theory which Tyconius originated
and Augustine adopted, and which has been revived in later
times by Hofmann, Hengstenberg and others; This theory holds
that no progress is designed in the successive visions of the seven
seals, the seven trumpets and the seven bowls; for that in the
vision of the seals we have already an account of the last judgment
(vi. 12-17) and the blessed consummation (vii. 9-17).
Thus the three groups form parallel accounts and contain the
same or closely related material. But such a view is in conflict
with the fact that the Apocalypse exhibits a steady movement
from a detailed account of the condition of actual individual
churches on an ever-widening sweep to the catastrophes that
will befall every nation and country till at last evil is finally
overthrown and the blessedness of the righteous consummated.
Accordingly later exegetes[1] hold that the seventh in each series is
unfolded in the series of seven that follows. But to this theory
also it has been objected (Holtzmann, Hand-Commentar. p. 294)
that the bowls are in the main a repetition-in parts weaker, in
others stronger-of what has already been put forward in the
trumpets; that before the seventh member of each hebdomad
there is a pause occasioned by the insertion of visions of a
different nature; that the nnal judgment has already been
depicted in vi. 17, and yet further descriptions recur in x. 6, 7,
xi. 15-18, xiv. 7, xix. 11: the temple in heaven is opened in
xi. IQ and yet again in xv. 5: heaven itself has already been
rent in sunder in vi. 12-17, and yet in viii. 7-12 is supposed to
be in its ancient-order: all green grass is burnt up in viii.-7,
yet in ix. 4 the locusts are not permitted to injure the grass,
and other like inconsistencies.
The impossibility of logically carrying out either theory has given rise to doubts as -to the unity of the book. Holtzmann (Hand-Comment. 295) represents its structure as follows:-
| i. 1–8 | Introduction. |
| i. 9–iii. 22 | Group of seven letters. |
| iv.–v. 14 | Heavenly scene of the Vision. |
| vi. 1–17 | Six seals. vii. 1-17 . . The sealed and the blessed. |
| viii. 1–5 | The emergence of the trumpets from the seventh seal. |
| viii. 6.-ix. 21 | Six trumpets. x. 1–xi. 14 . Destiny of Jerusalem. |
| xi. 15–19 | The seventh trumpet. xii. 1–xiv. 5 . The great visions of the three chief enemies and of the Kingdom of the Messiah. |
| xiv. 6–20 | Return to the earlier Connexion. |
| xv. 1–xvi. | Transition to the bowls. |
| xvi. 2–21 | Seven bowls. xvii.xix. 10 The great Babylon. |
| xix. 11–xx. 15 | Final catastrophes. xxi.-xxii. 5 . The New Jerusalem. |
| xxii. 6–21 | Conclusion. |
It is noteworthy that the sections on the right hand correspond in the main to the' elements which have been those to which the latest critics have assigned either an earlier date or a different authorship.
Chaps. i.–iii.—These chapters open with a prologue, i. 1-3, which defines the source, character and contents of the book, followed by a greeting, i. 4-8, in which the writer salutes the Seven Churches of Asia. Having so introduced his work the author describes a vision of the ascended Christ, i. 9-20, who sends His messages to the angels of the Seven Churches, ii.-iii. With the conclusion of these epistles the Apocalypse proper really begins. But the way has been prepared for it. Its contents are “ the things which must quickly happen, ” i. 1. The visions are not for John's personal benefit, but for transmission to the church at large, i. II, and the writer is bidden to write down what he has seen and “the things which are and the things which shall be hereafter,” i. 19.
iv.-vi.—The first three chapters show great artistic skill, and the power of the artist is no less conspicuous in what fellows. First of all John is bidden to come up into heaven and see the things that should be hereafter, the vision of iv. 1. Then he beholds the Almighty on His throne surrounded by the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures. Before Him they all bow in worship and acknowledge that by Him were created all things and of His own free will were all created. In the next chapter (v.) the seer has a Vision of a roll in the hand of Him that sat on the throne which none could open or look upon, till the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the mighty one with seven horns and seven eyes, appeared. Before Him all the elders and the living creatures fell down and acknowledged that He had power to open the seven seals thereof, and their song was re-echoed by every thing alike in heaven and earth. The contrast between these two chapters and those that follow is striking in the extreme. The time of the seer's vision is one of direst need. The life and death struggle between the church and the empire has now entered on its final stage, and fear and trouble and woe are rife in the hearts of the faithful. But when the seer is exalted to heaven he sees no trace of the turmoil on earth. The vision of the Almighty is full of majesty and peace. All things do Him service; for all are the free creation of His will. The next vision serves to connect the Source and Sustainer of all things with the World and its history. The closing of the intermediate stage of the history of created things is committed to the Christ who will also be Lord of the age to come. The future of the saints is assured: what can avail against Him that hath “glory and dominion for ever and ever” the wild attacks of Rome and even of Satan and his hosts? The Lamb that was slain has taken upon Himself the burden of the world's history.
In vi. we have the opening of the six seals, and the horrors of the future begin. The choice of three series of seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls, to form the framework in which the history of the last woes is to be given, shows the same hand that addressed the churches as seven. But between the sixth and seventh seals and the sixth and seventh trumpets the connexion is more or less disturbed by the insertion of certain interludes containing material foreign in certain aspects to the Apocalypse. These are vii. 1–17 and x. 1–xi. 14.
vii. 1–17.—These verses, which interrupt the plan of the book, fall into two independent fragments, 1-8 and 9-17, which are inconsistent in their original meaning with each other. For while 1-8 was most probably a Jewish apocalyptical fragment and strongly particularistic, 9-17 is clearly universalis in character and is probably from the hand of our author. The foreign origin of vii. 1-8 may be concluded with Spitta, Bousset and others from the fact that the four winds, which in vii. 1 are said to be held fast lest they should break in elemental fury on land and sea, are not let loose or referred to in the subsequent narrative, and also from the mention of the 144,000 Israelites of the twelve tribes, to whom no further reference is made; for tb ese can no more be identified with the countless multitudes in vii. 9-17 than with those who are “sealed” in ix. 4 sq. nor with the 144,000 in xiv. 1; for in both these cases the sealed are not Jews but elect Christians. The object of both fragments was to encourage the faithful in the face of the coming strife. In the
- ↑
Swete divides the Apocalypse first of all into forty-two minor
sections. Next he groups these sections into fourteen larger masses
of apocalyptic matter, and by a process of synthesis seeks to arrive
at the plan on which the author constructed his book. In so doing
he points' out that we become conscious of a great cleavage which
practically divides the book into two parts, i. 9-xi. 14 and xii. Ixxii.
5, independently of the prologue and greeting, i. I-8, and
the epilogue and benediction, xxii. 6-21. A further study of the
leading thoughts of the above parts enables him to set forth the
scheme of the book as follows:—
Prologue and Greeting, i. 1–8. Part I. Vision of Christ in the midst of the churches, i. 9-iii; 22. Vision of Christ in Heaven, iv. I-v. 14.
Preparations for the End, vi. 1-xi. 19. Part II. Vision of the Mother of Christ (i.e. the Church) and her
enemies, xii. 1-xiii. 18.Preparations for the End, xiv. I-xx. 15. Vision of the Bride of Christ arrayed for her husband,
xxi. I-xxii. 5.Epilogue and benediction, xxii. 6-21.
