• It Is evident that 171 and 21* are meant to mark the begin- nings of paralti'l set-tiona, and It Is pos^iilile that the likewise parikllel IB'i and 22> are meant to mark their close.
(1) The position and movements of the seer, —
He is on earth in V^- ; in 41 he is summoned up into heaven, where he may be conceived as remaining through ch. 9 (cf. 6' 8'- 2 etc.), though earth is not out of bis sight (6i2(r. 71 etc.). That he is literally in heaven is clearly implied in 5-*f. 713'-. But in lU', without a break (* and 1 saw '), he ajipears to be on earth (so 10*- <*), Eartli appears to bo the scene of the action in lll-'5*, but in ll'B voices in heaven are beard, and in v. '9 the temple in heaven is seen to be open. In 12 the seer seems to be in heaven (?), but in 13 and probably in 14'-"* he is on earth. If we read iirTaO>i> in 12"* (13'). we have a definite reference to the seer's position, comparable to 19. But the judgment scene 14'* '■"^ suggests heaven. Again chs. 16. 16 give a heavenly scene. In 173 an angel carries John away in the spirit into a wilderness to see the woman (Rome), and in 21'0 to a mountain to see Jerusalem descending out of heaven. 18'- -* indicate that the seer is on earth. In 19'-io he seems to be in heaven, but in v.n on earth again (for he sees heaven open, as in 41) ; so also in 20^ 212, and probably in 2110'..
There is so little law in those movements, and so little care to make the connexion clear, that one might infer that our writer leaves such refer- ences as they stood in his dili'erent sources ; but this would mean that the vision was to him a form, not a reality.
(2) The heavenly scenes. —
The scenery in heaven is not clearly described. Ch. 4 pictures a throne of Uod, with 24 elders on thrones around it, seven lamps before it which are the seven spirits of God, before it a glassy sea, and, in the midst of it and around it, four living creatures. Here in the mirUt of the throne stood tlie Lamb (ch. 6), whose seven eyes arc the seven spirits of God, of which the seven lamps were already a 8.\Tiibol. About the throne and the elders and living beings are myriads of angels (6" 7"). Here also are the multitudes who iiave come out of great tribulation (7«-17). Of them, however, it is said not only that they are before the throne of God, but that they serve Him in His temple. 3'2 has prepared us for the conception of a teraple in heaven, and in C» wo have suddenly been m.ode aware of ' the altar,* beneath which are the souls of martyrs. Now the trumpets are Bounded by 'the seven angels which stand before God,' 82 (cf. 1*«). Tiiese did not api'ear in the scene just drawn, unless they are the same as * the seven spirits,' as 14 might indicate. The altar is mentioned again, ana, perhaps in distinction from it, ' the golden altar which is before the throne,' the altar of Incense (S^-^). From the bonis of this 'golden altar which is before God' comes the voice which directs the angel of the sixth trumpet (D'^'-)- The seventh truniiiet reveals the original scene (the throne and elders and living beings, il'fi-ls) ; but then we reafl. ' there was opened the temple of God that is in hea\-en,' and in it the ark of Ills covenant was seen (11'9). After this the 24 elders appear only in 141-6 and 19'-**, two soinewbat similar pjissages, though 152-* may have the saii-e setting (cf. 4"). One of the four living creatures is mentioned in 157 in connexion with the temjile ; but more often the temple scenery stands by itself. Out of the temple comes the angel who summons the reaper (14"^) and the angel who is to gather the grapes (1417), whom another angel f rum the altar directs (14'«). Out of the temple come the seven angels, having the seven last jilagues, and the temple is filled with smoke from the glory of God, so that it could not be entered, although open (Ij-' ^). A great voice from the temple commands them (16') ; 'the altar' affirms the justice of the judgment (10'), and the final, ' It is done,' comes 'out of the temple and from the throne,' uniting the two (16'7).
It is not easy to unite in one picture the concep- tion of God as sitting on a throne surrounded by His court, and of His dwelling, in lieaven as on earth, in the temple's holiest place, from whicli His voice or messengers issue forth. Since tlie scenery of the throne is that of the seals, and the temple scenery that of the bowls, it is natural to think of this unharmonized element as due to sources. The author has mixed the scenes somewhat (15' could be an insertion, as the angels came out of the temple already having seven plagues, vv.'-')j but he does not harmonize them, or [laint a heaven that can be imagined. The new Jerusalem must al.so have been in heaven (3'- 21'-'), though the seer beholds it only as it descends to earth (21'"-). The description ot the new heaven and earth resolvea itself into the description of a city, and in this there is no temjile (21--'), but the throne roiiiains the final seat of God (20-'- " 21» 22'»). If the writer had wislied to paint a clear, consistent picture, ho could easily have done so. The infer- ence that ho took his descriptions as they were, and valued them as poetical not literal accounts, is hurely a natural one.