aS
IV. 1. "ΜΕΤΑ ταῦτα "εἶδον, Kal ἰδοὺ θύρα ἠνεωγμένη ἐν τῶα vii. 1,9,
οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἡ φΦωνὴ ἡ “πρώτη ἣν ἤκουσα ὡς σάλπιγγος 4 λαλούσης
b xiv. 14, xix. 11, Zech. ν. 9. ci. 10.
entangle them (or their nucleus). The special traits in the conception of Christ are mainly due to the fact that the writer is dealing here almost exclusively with thejinner relation of Jesus to the churches. They are seldom, if ever, more realistic or closer to the messianic categories of the age than is elsewhere the case throughout the apocalypse; and if the marjoram of Judaism or (as we might more correctly say) of human nature is not wholly transmuted into the honey of Christian charity—which is scarcely sur- prising under the circumstances—yet the moral and mental stature of the writer appears when he is set beside so powerful a counsellor in some respects as the later Ignatius. Here John is at his full height. He combines moral discipline and moral enthusiasm in his injunctions. He sees the central things and urges them upon the churches, with a singular power of tenderness and sarcasm, in- sight and foresight, vehemence and re- proach, undaunted faithfulness in rebuke and a generous r adiness to mark what he thinks are the merits as well as the failings and perils of the communities. The needs of the latter appear to have been twofold. One, of which they were fuliy conscious, was outward. The other, to which they were not entirely alive, was inward, The former is met by an assurance that the stress of per- secution in the present and in the im- mediate future was under God’s control, unavoidable and yet endurable. The latter is met by the answer of discipline and careful correction; the demand for purity and loyalty in view of secret errors and vices is reiterated with a keen sagacity. In every case, the motives of fear, shame, noblesse oblige, and the like, are crowned by an appeal to spiritual am- bition and longing, the closing note of each epistle thus striking the keynote of what follows throughout the whole Apocalypse. In form, as well as in content, the seven letters are the most definitely Christian part of the book. The scene now changes. Christ in authority over his churches, and the churches with their angels, pass away; a fresh and ampler tableau of the vision opens (cf. on i. 1g), ushering in the future (vi.-xxii. 5), which—-as dis- closed by God through Christ 4. 1)—is
is d Loose appos. to σ. instead of φωνή, cf. ix. 13,
ed Xviil. 1, xix. το 12. etc. prefaced by a solemn exhibition of God’s supremacy and Christ’s indispensable position in revelation. In Apoc. Bar. xxiv. 2 the seer is told that on the day of judgment he and his companions are to see ‘‘ the long-suffering of the Most High which has been throughout all genera- tions, who has been long-suffering to- wards all those born that sin and are righteous.” He then seeks an answer to the question, ‘‘ But what will happen to our enemies I know not, and when Thou wilt visit Thy works (2.ε., for judg- ment)” ? This is precisely the course of thought (first inner mercies and then
notion) God reveals, or at least prepares, his purposes before executing them. Chapter iv. and chapter v. are counter- parts; in the former God the Creator, with his praise from heavenly beings, is the central figure: in the latter the interest is focussed upon Christ the redeemer, with his praise from the human and natural creation as well. Chapter ν. further leads over into the first series of events (the seven seals, vi.-vili.) which herald the dénouement. Henceforth Jesus is represented as the Lamb, acting but never speaking, until in the epilogue (xxii. 6-21) the author reverts to the Christological standpoint of i.-iii, Neither this nor any other feature, however, is sufficient to prove that iv.-v. represent a Jewish source edited by a Christian; the whole piece is Christian and homogeneous (Sabatier, Schin, Bousset, Pfleiderer, Wellhausen). Chapter iv. is a preliminary description of the heavenly court: God’s ruddy throne with a green nimbus being sur- rounded by a senate of πρεσβύτεροι and mysterious ἴφα. Seven torches burn before the throne, beside a crystal ocean, while from it issue flashes and peals ac- companied by a ceaseless liturgy of adoration from the πρεσβύτεροι and the ἴφα, who worship with a rhythmic emo- tion of awe.