(4) It may not infrequently happen that the writer receives from tradition details which have no meaning at all for him, but which he retains as parts of the picture. The traditional meaning is in such cases the only one for which we need to search ; and often we can only say that it belongs to tradition, since the clue to its meaning is lost.
(5) In such cases, and in various others, the possi- bility is open that the writer uses such material for its poetic value, and not because of a reverence which prevents his altering it.
ii. The Natitre of Apocalyptical WRinNcs. — The Book of Rev. calls itself a prophecy, and ita author classes himself among prophets ; but the book is called by us an apocalypse, and we have applied this title to certain other Jewish books, and some Cliristian adaptations and imitations of them, which we distinguish somewhat sharply from prophecy. Our interpretation and estima- tion of Kev. is deeply affected by this classification. What, then, is the apocalypse in its distinction from prophecy ? We cannot avoid some prelimin.ary discussion of this question (though see, further, Apocrypha i.. Apocalyptic Literatitre, Pro- phecy), as it bears on the nature of our book and the way in which it should be used. There are still some who class Kev. with the prophetic rather than with the apocalyptical writings of Israel (e.g. Zahn), and there are some who class it with apoca- lypses, but regard the apocalyptic as a higher form of inspiration than the prophetic (see Terry, Biblical Apocalyptics, 1898, pp. 11, 12). Since such views strongly att'ect interpretation, it is essential to understand the historical relation of the two forms of writing and the place of Kev. in relation to them.
The transition from prophecy to apocalypse wag effected in the OT itself. It was not a sudden but a gradual transition, nor is the contrast at the end an absolute one. Tlie change is usually traced to Ezekiel for its beginning. Daniel is the oldest book which has complete apocalyptical form ; and it remains the classical example and tyjie of this kind of writing. Yet anticipations of certain marks of tliis literature can be found in earlier prophets, especially in Isaiah (e.g. Vision of God, ch. 6 ; description of Day of J", ch. 2 ; perhaps the inviolability of Jerusalem), and genuinely pro- phetic traits are not wanting in Daniel (ct. 9'""), or even in other apocalypses from Bk. of Enoch to 4 Ezra. The character of the Book of Daniel deserves somewhat close attention because of iti fundamental significance and many special point* of contact with Revelation.
REVELATION, BOOK OF
REVELATION, BOOK OF 245
1. Biok of Dnnkl. — (a) Occasion and message. — The }5k. of Ilanirl .-ipiicurfd during the_reIigioa3 persecution of Am ii>. hus lljiiphanes. ItsaiiiiwaS the encourH;;eniuiil of ijalitiut endurance and fidelity anud j)er.secution. It taught this lesson in part by stories (histories) illustrating the safe- keeping by God of those who resist the tempta- tions and endure the violence of the world-power in its hostility to God ; in part by predictions of the approaching end of the power now threatening and atuicting the people of God.
AntiochuB shall die by a Judffment of Ood {Sa^/Xi.-n n27.«) »ft«r about 3* years (S'-i 9-1 12' "• l^X and the Greek world- empire shall be overthrown (23<. ss «■ « 7"- »). This is to be accomplished not by human effort, but by God directly (2^^- •"• *^ gSB 7»fl". 83.*;), or throujrh Gabriel and Michael, who contend with the pods of heathen nations (lO'3-lll 121). After this a time of trouble shall follow, testing the Jewsh people, includ- ing some of the de.vl, and dividing the pood from the wicked (121-*- 10). Then shall be established the kingdom of God, which 10 the world-kingdom of Israel, and is to endure tor ever.
(6) Underhjing faith. — The general foundation on which this message rests, the underlying doc- trine of tliabook.^iajnonotheism, the faith llial all power is (JoU's f that • tlie iviost High ruletli in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever
he will ' (4"-
' 5-M, and that times and seasons
are in His hand, fixed by His purpose. This faith requires the inference that God's rule must and at last shall be recognized by all kings and nations, and that He must, in the end, take His kingdom to Himself (2"), and rule it tlirough His own people (7i»- "• M- ■-■'). But the very fact that the realization of God's rule is fnt^rp r^vffl]s t])^ rliifll. iatie element which stands over against mono- ttieism in the theology of the book. The contrast between the present and the future, between this age and the age to come, reaches beyond the visible into the invisible world, and is connected with oontrast and conflict there, finds there, indeed, its explanation. The seer who would understand the present perverse and intolerable cour.se of history, with heathen nations at the head and Israel at the tail, must not only have the veil lifted that hides the future developments of God's fixed plan, but must see behind the scenes those actions in the angelic world by which man's history may be influenced, in some sense, and for a time, even against God's plan.
(c) Hource and authority of the message. — Whence did the writer gain his certainty of the near approach of the fall of the existing world-empire, and the realization of the kingship of God, and of the beings and actions in the angel-world which explain present evils and are to effect their end ? The predictive parts of Daniel (clis. 7-12) could well be described, like Rev 1', as 'revelations of God through his angel Gabriel to his servant Daniel.' Gabriel's communications are in part in the form of interpretations of dream-visions (chs. 7. 8, of. 2), but once he interprets an OT prediction after Daniel haa studied it and prayed over it (ch. 9), and once Gabriel appears to Daniel after a three weeks' fast, and declares to him directly (not through figure) mysteries of the spirit-world and of the future (chs. 10-12).