The Use of the Old Testament in the Book of Revelation

Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum

Founder and Director of Ariel Ministries

Whatis really new in the Revelation? And how much of it is really old, that is,already found in the Old Testament? The Book of Revelation has no direct quotations from the Old Testament,but it has about 550 references back to the Old Testament. The majority of thethings found in the first twenty chapters of the Book of Revelation are foundelsewhere in the Old Testament. Only the last two chapters deal with thingstotally new.

Ifthis is true, what is the importance and contribution of the Book ofRevelation? The Old Testament prophecies are scattered throughout the Books of Mosesand the various Prophets and Writings. It would have been impossible to putthese prophecies into any chronological sequence of events. The value of theBook of Revelation is not that it provides a lot of new information, but ratherthat it takes the scattered Old Testament prophecies and puts them inchronological order so that the sequence of events may be determined. This bookprovides a framework for the understanding of the order and the sequence ofevents found in the Old Testament prophecies. This is the reason for so manyreferences to the Old Testament.

However,the material found in the last two chapters is totally new material, whichdescribes the Eternal Order. The Old Testament prophets never foresaw anythingbeyond the Messianic Kingdom. Indeed, the Kingdom was the high point of OldTestament prophecy and no

prophet ever saw anything beyond that. But theEternal Order is the high point of New Testament prophecy, and Revelation 21and 22 provide new information, as they describe the Eternal Order.

Anotherimportant area is the matter of symbols. The Book of Revelation uses manysymbols. The existence of these symbols has led to two extremes. One extremestates that the existence of these symbols shows that this book cannot beunderstood and must simply be interpreted in terms of a general conflictbetween good and evil, or God and Satan with the good or God winning out in theend. Beyond this, they say the book is not to be understood in any greatdetail. This is how the book has suffered from its enemies.

Inthe second extreme, the symbols are used for unchecked speculation,sensationalism, and all kinds of guesswork in trying to interpret these symbolsin terms of current events. Such speculation has resulted in farfetchedinterpretations, and changes are made as current events change. It has also ledto date setting. In this area, the Book of Revelation has suffered at the handsof its friends.

Thereis a balance between the two extremes. While the Bible does use many symbols,it is consistent in its usage of symbols. A specific symbol will mean the samething throughout the Old and New Testaments in the vast majority of cases(though not all).

Forthis study, the symbols will be examined in accordance with Dr. David L.Cooper's The Golden Rule of Interpretation. While recognizing the existence of the symbols, there will be noresorting to guesswork. Rather, this study will proceed on the premise that allthe symbols in the Book of Revelation are explained elsewhere: either in adifferent part of the Book of Revelation or in some other part of the Bible.There are symbols, but the Bible itself will explain what these symbols meaneither by direct statement or through a comparison of the usage of the symbolelsewhere in the Scriptures. The meaning of the symbols will not be determinedby speculation.

Becauseso many symbols of the Book of Revelation are based upon how these same symbolsare used in the Old Testament, in this paper it would simply be impossible todeal with all of them since there are so many. For example, Revelation 1:20 defines the seven stars torepresent the seven angels of the seven churches and the usage of the word"star" as a symbol for angels is already found in the Old Testament and the NewTestament simply applies the same symbolic meaning to stars as well.

Anotherclear example is that the description of the beast in Revelation 13:1-10 and17; 7-14 is based upon the prophecies of Daniel 2 and 7. In verses 1-2 John describes the Beastthat comes out of the sea. The sea inRevelation 13 is the same as the one in Daniel 7, which represents the Gentileworld. Daniel 2 surveyed all the four empires. Daniel 7 summarized the fourempires, and then focused its attention on the Fourth Empire in its variousstages. But Revelation 13 is completely focused on the Fourth Empire,emphasizing a particular stage of the Fourth Empire, namely, the AntichristStage. The Beast that John saw isthe same beast that Daniel saw in chapter seven, where it was nondescript. Buthere the Beast is given a description. In verse one, the Beast has ten hornsand seven heads. The ten horns are found in Daniel 7, and they represent theten kingdoms, which is one of the stages of the Fourth Empire. While the TenDivision Stage gives way to the final stage, the ten kingdoms continue to existto the end. The difference between the two stages is that in the previous stagethe world is divided into ten kingdoms ruled co-equally by ten men, while in thefinal stage the world in all ten divisions are ruled by the Antichrist, and theother kings are subject to him. In verse two, the Beast has a leopard-like body,bear-like feet, and a lion-like mouth. This, then, is the interpretation andexplanation of the verse found in Daniel 7:12:

And as for the rest of the beasts, theirdominion was taken away:

yet their lives were prolonged for aseason and a time.

The dominion of the first three empires was over,but their lives were prolonged. Their lives were prolonged in that the previousempires left their influence on the Fourth Empire. From the Daniel 7 passage,it is clear that the leopard-like body represents the Hellenistic influence;the bear-like feet represent the Medo-Persian influence; and the lion-likemouth represents the Babylonian influence. Thus, while their dominion ended,their lives were prolonged.

Theseare the examples of the consistency the usage of symbols in both testaments andthe vast majority of these symbols are used symbolically the same way throughboth testaments. Only in aminority of cases is a specific symbol used in more than one way. For example, whenever the word stone is used symbolically, it is a symbol of theMessiah; whenever the word mountainis used symbolically it symbolizes a king, a kingdom, or throne; whenever theword cloud is usedsymbolically it symbolizes God's glory; whenever the figure of a flood is used symbolically, it symbolizes a militaryinvasion and of course there are other examples that can be given as well.

Itis certainly true that the Church was unknown in the Old Testament and it wasamong the eight divine mysteries that were simply unknown in the OldTestament. However, in the contentof the seven letters, he again often refers to symbols based upon the OldTestament and therefore, his statements concerning the Tree of Life, Balaam,Manna, Jezebel, are only some examples and many others could be given. Even thepromise of being given a new name in Revelation 2:17 is based upon the fact thatoften in Scripture a new name was given to a person after he overcame certainspiritual problems. One example isthat of Jacob who was given the name Israel (Genesis 32:22-32), and Abram whosename was changed to Abraham (Genesis 17:1-8). Many other examples could be given but due to thelimitations of the paper only certain passages will be focused upon.

Inall forms of Replacement Theology, such as Covenant Theology, even the segmentof Covenant Theology closest to Dispensationalism, the Covenant Premillennialview, tries to make the 144,000 Jews in verses 1-8 the same as the innumerablemultitudes of verse 9-17, though if taken literally the text simplydistinguishes the first group to be Jews or Israelites and the second group tobe Gentiles. Often the attack isagainst the teaching that these would be the evangelists of the Tribulation butthat really is a separate issue. Whether these are evangelists or not (and I believe they are) it doesnot change the fact that they are still distinguished from the innumerablemultitudes. Furthermore, a commonattack against taking the passage literally of Israelites or Jews, is to claimthat these could not be the Twelve Tribes of Israel and that in turn is basedupon the fact that the name of the Tribe of Dan is missing. Based upon that, George Eldon Ladd, aCovenant Premillennialist but a Posttribulationist, claims that these could notbe referring to literal Israel, and Ladd attempts to remove the Jewishness ofthe 144,000. [1]

When Ladd asserts, "that these twelvetribes nowhere appear in the Old Testament in any of the listings of the twelvetribes of Israel," he almost gives the impression that this is true of theentire list of names; however, it is only true on one name: Dan. The fact that John went to the trouble of listing the nameswould clearly imply that he is speaking of literal Jews. Ladd's question, "How then can thesetwelve tribes be literal Jews since they are not the literal twelve tribes ofIsrael?" can be answered rather simply: the are the literaltwelve tribes of Israel, and the absence of Dan does not disqualify the othernames from being the literal tribes of Israel. God simply chose not to select 12,000 from the Tribe of Danfor His purpose concerning the 144,000. Using such flimsy grounds, Ladd tries very hard to make these 144,000symbolize "the true Israel, the true people of God," which for Ladd means theChurch. Again, not having anyclear statement that Israel is the Church, Ladd is forced to use this back doorapproach: the 144,000 are theChurch; the 144,000 are in the Tribulation; therefore, the Church is in theTribulation.

Laddpresents his view of the 144,000 in more detail in a later work, but because ofhis Covenant Premillennialism and Posttribulationism, he engages in some sloppyexegesis of Revelation seven.[2] A simple reading of the passage wouldobviously make these 144,000 to be Jews, but Ladd declares that "it isimpossible for these to be literally Jews." This is pure presuppositionalism, at best or pontificationat worst. The text clearly statesthat these 144,000 come from the twelve tribes of Israel, and the tribes listedare the common Jewish names from the Old Testament. The natural reading of the passage would make these Jews;however, Ladd tries to prove that they are not. His statement that "the twelve tribes listed are simply notthe twelve tribes of Israel" is far too sweeping. In fact, every tribe listed in Revelation seven is foundamong the twelve tribes of Israel. True, the Tribe of Dan is missing, but that is hardly sufficient toclaim that all the others listed are "simply not the twelve tribes." It is not true that the Tribe ofEphraim is omitted. The name issimply substituted by his father's name, Joseph. Nor is there any reason to assume that "the Tribe ofManasseh is included twice" as Ladd claims. The Tribe of Joseph stands for theTribe of Ephraim while the Tribe of Manasseh stands for itself. Even if Manasseh is included twice, itdoes not negate them from being literal Jews. Again, this is careless exegesis. Ladd is trying hard to push his posttribulational theologyinto the text. Revelation 7:4clearly states that these 144,000 came from every tribe of the children ofIsrael, yet Ladd states that they"are simply not the twelve tribes of Israel." Who, then, should the reader believe: John, who wrote the book or Ladd? The names that John does list are: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali,Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Are these not the familiar Jewish namesfrom the Old Testament that speak of the tribes of Israel? Ladd declares that "the twelve tribeslisted are simply not the twelve tries of Israel," but with only one exception (Dan), they are those very triesof Israel. The fact that the Tribeof Dan is missing is hardly exegetical evidence to dismiss all those mentionedfrom being Jewish.

Ladduses the missing Dan to get his foregone conclusion that these 144,000 are theChurch. He states: "We may believe that John deliberatelylisted the 144,000 in an irregular listing of tribes to say that here are thosewho are true spiritual Jews without being literal Jews: in other words, the church." It is really difficult to take Laddseriously, for this is very imaginative exegesis. He is working overtime to try to do away with the Jewishnessof the 144,000. Only because ofthe exclusion of Dan, Ladd insists that these are not literal Jews but theChurch. For him "the 144,000 arethe church on the threshold of the Great Tribulation." Ladd, a Posttribulationist, does nothave a single verse that actually puts the Church into the Tribulation, so hemust use a back door approach; this is one such back door. The 144,000 are clearly in theTribulation. By making the 144,000the Church, Ladd is able to put the Church in the Tribulation.

Inverses 4-8, the identification of those who are sealed is clearly specified as144,000 Jews. To make it even more clear, twelve tribes are listed with thestatement that 12,000 are chosen from each of the twelve tribes. Such carefuldelineation definitely indicates that these 144,000 are Jews and will benothing else, in spite of much speculation to the contrary. The emphasis is onthe Jewishness of the 144,000. Looking at the list of tribal names, some haveconcluded that the Tribe of Ephraim is left out, but this is not the case. Inplace of the name of Ephraim there is the name of his father Joseph (v. 8), butit is the same tribe. Such an interchange between Joseph and Ephraim is not unusual and also appears elsewhere, as in Ezekiel 37:16. Butone tribe is left out, namely, the Tribe of Dan. No reason for this is given. Agreat deal of speculation and guesswork has developed as a result, mainly theidea that the Antichrist will come out of this tribe. Others claim that theFalse Prophet will arise out of the Tribe of Dan and that is why that tribe isleft out. But this, too, is pure speculation. There is nothing in the contextto suggest either of these suppositions. The text itself does not state thereason why the Tribe of Dan is left out but by going back to the Old Testamentwe can see why. The actual reason is simply to maintain the symmetry of twelve.When all tribal names are actually listed, the total comes to thirteen and nottwelve because Joseph produced two tribes: Ephraim and Manasseh. In order tomaintain the symmetry of twelve, one name must always be dropped. This is notthe only place this happens. For example, in Deuteronomy 33, Moses presents histwelve tribal blessings, as Jacob did in Genesis 49. But to maintain thesymmetry of twelve, Moses also had to drop one tribe, and that was the Tribe ofSimeon. In Ezekiel 47-48, in describing the tribal settlement in the MessianicKingdom, to maintain the symmetry of twelve, Ezekiel drops the Tribe of Levi,putting this tribe in a separate place and category. Just as there was nosinister reason for dropping Simeon, there is no sinister reason for droppingDan. In all cases, it was merely to retain the symmetry of twelve. In the Bookof Revelation, three numbers are prominent: four, seven, and twelve. Hence, thedropping of Dan. Comparison with the Old Testament shows that a literalinterpretation is the best option.

Theninth chapter of Revelation describes two major demonic invasions, the first ofwhich is to torment people for five months but not to kill, while the second isto destroy one-third of humanity. The Old Testament background to this passage is Joel 1:15-2:11. Joel begins to portray this demonic invasion by describingthe devastation of the Day of Jehovah, or the Tribulation (1:15-20). Afterannouncing its approach (v. 15), he relates the results on the crops (vv.16-17): little remains either for the Temple (v. 16) or for sustenance (v. 17).This is followed by a description of the devastation of the livestock (vv.18-20). Joel then proceeds to give an account of the invasion itself (2:1-11).The alarm is sounded (v. 1), announcing the approaching army of demons, givingclear evidence that the Day of Jehovah has arrived with a vengeance. He thendescribes the Day of Jehovah (v. 2a) as being composed of gloominess, clouds,and thick darkness. As dawn is sudden and spreads around a mountain, so suddenand widespread is this judgment of the Day of Jehovah. It is then that Joelpoints to the invading army (vv. 2b-9). He describes their approach, whichshows their uniqueness (v. 2b) and their devastation (v. 3). What is relatedhere is similar to the Revelation passage, which again points to somethingother than human. The description of the invading army is presented next (vv.4-9), giving their appearance (v. 4), noise (v. 5), terror (vv. 5-6), speed (v.7), discipline (v. 8) and their attack (v. 9). The similarity with Revelationis striking and again points to these invaders as being demons. The results(v.10) of this demonic invasion include convulsions of nature and a totalblackout, the third one of the end time. The passage concludes with the reasonfor the invasion (v. 11): the judgment of God. The text states that the army isgreat, for there are two hundred million demons, and it is enough for God toexecute His word: the destruction of one-third of humanity. It was pointed outin the introduction that one of the purposes of the Revelation was to give thechronological sequence to many of the Old Testament prophecies. This is justone example.

Justas a passing observation, John's experience of eating the scroll, which issweet as honey in his mouth but makes it bitter in his stomach is quite similarto Ezekiel's experience where he also had to partake of the scroll God showedhim. In both cases the focus is ondigesting the Word of God in preparation of proclaiming it.

Tocounterfeit the seal of God on the foreheads of the saints, the seal of theHoly Spirit, the False Prophet will introduce his own counterfeit mark or seal.The counterfeit seal is the famous mark of the beast. Theplacing of the mark will be on the forehead or on the right hand (v. 16). Itwill be given to all who will subject themselves to the authority of theAntichrist and accept him as god. The mark will serve as a passport forbusiness (v. 17a). They will be able to neither buy nor sell anything unlessthey have the mark. It should be pointed out that this mark has nothing to dowith credit, as is often taught today. In a credit system, everyone must have adifferent number. In this case, everyone has the same number. The purpose of the mark will be to serveas a sign of identification of those who will own the Antichrist as their god.Only those who have this number will be permitted to work, to buy, to sell, orsimply to make a living. The verse does not speak of credit cards, banking systems,a cashless society, a one-world money system, or computers, etc.

Theinterpretation of the mark is given by five clues (vv. 17b-18):

Thename of the Beast;

Thenumber of his name;

Thenumber of the Beast;

Thenumber of a man;

Thenumber is 666.

Following through this logical progression, thenumber of the Beast is also the number of a man because the Antichrist will bea man who will be the last ruler of the final form of the Fourth GentileEmpire. Furthermore, this number is the number of his very own name, and thenumerical value of his name is 666. The point is essentially this: whatever thename of the Antichrist will be in Hebrew letters[3],the numerical value of that name will be 666. Each letter of the Hebrewalphabet has a numerical value. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet andin the order of numerical value they are as follows: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 200, 300, and 400. So everyone's namein Hebrew has a numerical value. The numerical value of the author's name is966. The name of Jesus the Messiah has the numerical value of 749. In thispassage, whatever the personal name of the Antichrist will be, if his name isspelled out in Hebrew characters, the numerical value of his name will be 666.So this is the number that will be put on the worshipers of the Antichrist.Since several of different calculations can equal 666, it is impossible tofigure the name out in advance. But when he does appear, whatever his personalname will be, it will equal 666. Those who are wise (v. 18) at that time willbe able to point him out.

Theevents of Revelation 11:1-2 and 13:11-18 are clearly based upon the OldTestament concepts in the Book of Daniel.

The first corollary event tied in with thebreaking of the covenant is the Abomination of Desolation in connection withthe Jewish Temple in Jerusalem (Daniel 9:27). This verse reveals just how long the Tribulation willlast: a total of seven years. But now it goes on to say that in the middleof the week, that is, in themiddle of the seven-year period, the Antichrist will cause a cessation of thesacrificial system that had been reinstituted. This forced cessation isfollowed by the statement, upon the wing of abomination shall come one thatmakes desolate. Thus, thecessation of the sacrifices in conjunction with the breaking of the covenant isfollowed by an act (or acts) which is labeled as "the abomination ofdesolation." The exact nature of this act (or acts) is not spelled out at thisstage. Exactly what the Abomination of Desolation consists of is not stated,only that it occurs in the middle of the Tribulation. However, the term wingrefers to the pinnacle of theTemple, emphasizing the concept of an "overspreading influence." What beginshere will spread elsewhere. The term abomination often refers to an image or an idol.

Anotherpassage, Daniel 12:11, gives the duration of time that the Abomination ofDesolation will last. As in Daniel9:27, the starting point is the cessation of the sacrificial system. Accordingto this passage, the Abomination of Desolation will last a total of 1,290 days.This is a full thirty days beyond the end of the Tribulation. No reason isgiven as to why it is permitted to last this extra thirty days. Again, thispassage does not reveal exactly what the Abomination of Desolation will be.But, as in Daniel 9:27, the term abomination often refers to an image or an idol.

Thisevent is also mentioned in Matthew 24:15-16. This passage is merely a reminder of the Daniel prophecy,with no explanation as to what the Abomination of Desolation is. The only cluegiven is that it will be something standing (like an image or idol) in the Holy Place. Thispassage helps to verify the futuristic interpretation of the Daniel passage,for it was still considered unfulfilled and future at the time of Messiah. TheAbomination of Desolation will serve as a warning to the Jews of Israel to fleethe Land.

Anothertext dealing with this is in Revelation 11:1-2. This passage also deals withthe takeover of the Temple, as well as the City of Jerusalem (at least the OldCity), and connects it with the Times of the Gentiles. This will be the finalGentile control of Jerusalem, and it will last 42 months, or 3½ years.It will be this Gentile takeover of the city and the Temple that will cause acessation of the sacrifices. Although Gentile domination over the City ofJerusalem will last 3½ years, the Abomination of Desolation willcontinue an extra month. But there is still no clear explanation as to what theAbomination of Desolation is.

What, then, isthe Abomination of Desolation? There are two elements or stages involved, thefirst of which is in II Thessalonians 2:3-4. In this passage, the Antichrist is described as seatinghimself in the Temple of God, declaring to the world that he really is God. Inall probability, he will sit in the very Holy of Holies. Thus, with his initialtakeover of Jerusalem in general and the Temple in particular, he will seathimself in the very Temple of God, will claim to be god, and, by so doing, willset up the second religious system of the Tribulation: the worship of theAntichrist.

Thesecond aspect of the Abomination of Desolation is in Revelation 13:11-15. In the second stage of the Abominationof Desolation, the False Prophet will be given authority to perform many signsand wonders (v. 13), deceiving mankind in order to cause them to worship theAntichrist (v. 12). These same ideas were evident in II Thessalonians 2:8-12,and both help clarify what the Abomination of Desolation involves. The greatdeception is climaxed when the image of the Antichrist becomes alive and menare called upon to worship the image (vv. 14-15). So the deification of theAntichrist continues. The image will be set up in the Holy of Holies to carryon the Abomination of Desolation. Jerusalem will become the religious capitalof the Antichrist, and the Temple will be the center of the worship of theAntichrist, where the living image will be standing. So while the Antichristwill be disposed of after 1,260 days, the image will remain in the Templeanother thirty days beyond that. Then it, too, will be disposed of. Here again, the Old Testament isnot reinterpreted by the New, but it is crucial to understanding the New.

Thispassage is a very popular one with even Covenant Premillennialists who try toemphasize a Posttribulational Rapture. Just as they try to make the 144,000 Jews to representative of theChurch, they try to make the Woman of Revelation 12 to represent the Church aswell and thus as in Revelation 7, also in Revelation 12, they simply have toignore the Old Testament background and they seem to be desperate to findevidence that the Church is somewhere in the Tribulation.

Buswell, a mid-Tribulationist, in contrast to Ladd, took the144,000 literally as speaking of Jews, but he departs from a Jewishidentification when he comes to Revelation 12:

It has been suggested by competentBible students that the child should be understood as representing the truechurch. That being assumed, thechild's being caught up to God and to His throne corresponds with the raptureof the true church. The woman,then, represents the visible or organized church, which though having lost thetruly born-again individuals, still has the Christian forms, the Bible, andmuch of the Christian tradition. This suggestion is further borne out by the reference to "the remnant ofher children, who cherish the commandments of God and have the testimony ofJesus," in verse 17 of the same chapter.[4]

The Woman in this chapter represents the nationof Israel, who produced the man-child, who is Jesus the Messiah. The rest of her seed whohave the testimony of Jesus arethe Jewish believers such as the 144,000. Buswell, however, follows an interpretation more consistent with hisCovenant Theology. The Woman is"the visible or organized church" while the Child is "the true church" as is"the rest of her seed." However,to arrive at this conclusion, Buswell must ignore how the Old Testament usesand interprets the symbols found in the Revelation. Later, under the heading, "The Remnant," Buswell continuesalong the same line of thought.[5]He does not see "the remnant' of the Woman as being uniquely Jewish believers,but only Christians in general, "the elect of God."

Thepassage begins with a historical review and summary in verses 1-5. These versessummarize the whole life of Messiah from just before His birth to Hisascension. It provides the Old Testament background for Satan's hatred of theJews and his war against the Jews in the Revelation. John saw two signs in the heavens. In the first sign (vv.1-2), Israel is pictured as a woman, a motif taken from the Old Testamentconcept of Israel as the Wife of Jehovah. The sun, moon, and twelve stars areall common Old Testament figures relating to Israel. The Old Testamentbackground for this sign is Joseph's dream in Genesis 37:9-11. From thispassage, John's vision can easily be interpreted. The sun represents Jacob, whowas renamed Israel, and boththese names were often used to represent the entire nation (e.g., Is. 40:27;49:5; Jer. 30:10, among others). The moon represents Rachel, who in turnbecomes representative of Jewish women, especially Jewish motherhood (Jer.31:15; Mat. 2:18). The twelve stars represent the twelve sons of Jacob who, inturn, fathered the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Normally, whenever the word staris used symbolically, it alwaysrefers to angels. It has been used this way several times already inRevelation, and it is used this way again in verse four, the verse that teachesthat one-third of the angels God created fell with Satan. Verse 1 may be theonly exception to this rule since, being based on Joseph's dream, the twelve starsobviously represent the twelve sons of Jacob, who fathered the Twelve Tribes ofIsrael. But it may not truly be an exception. What Joseph saw in his dreamactually were stars and these stars represented the sons of Jacob. When a staris used symbolically for an angel, no actual star is seen. Rather, an angel isseen, but called a star, asin Revelation 8:11-12; 9:1, etc. What John saw was an angel, but called him astar since in the Old Testament,that was the symbol of angels. What Joseph saw actually were stars, but theyrepresented his brothers. Clearly, then, the woman arrayed with the sun, moon,and stars is representative of Israel (not the Church). In verse two, thiswoman is seen in the final stages of pregnancy, about to give birth to a child.The vision, then, is of the nation of Israel just before the birth of theMessiah. A good reason why this cannot be the Church is that it would be ananachronism, with the Church giving birth to Messiah whereas the opposite istrue.

ThenJohn described the second sign. The great red dragon is Satan in all his fierceness (v. 3). The OldTestament background is the Leviathan of the Book of Job and the Septuagintuses the same Greek word as Revelation (dragon). Theseven heads and ten horns representthe final form of the Fourth Gentile World Empire now shown to be under Satan'scontrol and authority. The seven diadems point to a concept of conquest. Satan wrestled authority over theearth from man, and the Gentile empires wrestled authority from Israel.

Inverse four, the two signs come together. Satan brought his entire demonic host inand around the Land of Israel in an effort to try to slaughter the child aboutto be born. The demonic host is enumerated as comprising one-third of thestars, meaning one-third of all the angels that God created. Only from thisverse is it possible to learn just how many of the angels fell with Satan inthe original revolt during his second abode. The initial attempt to destroy the child was with theslaughter of the babes of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16-18). But throughout his life and ministrySatan attempts to destroy the Messiah both before His proper time (Passover)and by the wrong means (stoning in place of crucifixion). There is a tremendousamount of demonic activity in the Gospels in contrast to the minimal demonicactivity found in the Old Testament. Following the Gospels, there is a decreaseof demonic activity, as seen in the Book of Acts. Verse five points out thefailure of Satan's attempt to destroy the child. The child, destined to rulethe nations with a rod of iron,survived until His proper time for death came. After His resurrection, He ascendedinto Heaven and is presently seated at the right hand of God the Father.

Afterthis historical survey, John's vision moves forward to events that will occurin the middle of the Tribulation, one of which is in verse six. As in Matthew 24:15-28, the Woman pictured here is in flight. In the Matthew passage,the flight was to the mountains, but here it is described as being in thewilderness, as well as to one particular place in that wilderness that God hadprepared in advance. With Satan'sattempt to destroy the child thwarted, Satan will then turn against the nationthat produced Him. Satan's perpetual hatred of Israel is based on the fact thatit is through Israel that God will fulfill His program of redemption.Furthermore, in this passage, the time of Israel's flight and hiding is givenas 1,260 days or 3½ years. This refers to the second half of the Tribulation.

Thenext section of the chapter, verses 7-12 gives the reasonor cause of Israel's flight. Satan is cast down and confined to the earth forthe next 3½ years. There are two results of this angelic war. First,there is rejoicing in Heaven because the accuser of the brethren is now cast down (vv. 10-12a) and his access toHeaven is removed forever. But second, there is woe for the earth, for Satan isnow full of wrath and anger, knowing his time is short (v. 12b), for he now

knows it is only 3½ years before theSecond Coming. Verses 7-12, then, are somewhat parenthetical, providing thereason for Israel's flight in verse six.

Thenext section, found in verses 13-17, takes up where verse six left off. Verse 13 states that once Satan is castdown to the earth he persecuted the woman, Israel. Verse 13 should be connected with verse six as giving afurther explanation for Israel's flight into the wilderness. It should also be connected with verse 12,which concluded that there was woe for the earth, for Satan is full of wrath.The reason is that he knows his time is short, namely, 3½ years. Whatdoes he do with this short time left to him? He persecutes Israel, in verse 13.A question that needs to be raised is: What is the logical connection betweenSatan's knowing his time is short and his persecuting the woman? Why persecutethe Jews just because his time is short?

Inverse 14, Israel flees into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and timesand half a time, which is thesame as the 3½ years of verse six. The figure of the two wings of thegreat eagle has provided fertileground for speculation among "newspaper exegetes." Amazingly, "the wings of theeagle" has been identified as the American Air Force! After all, the eagle is asymbol of the United States, and so it would appear that the American Air Forcewill help the Jews escape! But other nations use the eagle as a symbol, (Germanyand Poland are two examples) andfor some reason their air forces are ignored. It has been stated in the very beginning of this paper thatevery symbol in the Revelation is explained either elsewhere in the Revelation itselfor somewhere else in the Bible. The figure of flight in connection with thewings of the eagle is to be interpreted by its usage elsewhere. This samefigure is found in Exodus 19:4 and Deuteronomy 32:11 in connection with theExodus from Egypt. Obviously, Moses did not have the help of the American AirForce! The figure, then, is to beexplained by its usage elsewhere. It describes a successful flight or escape afterbeing pursued due to divine intervention. Israel was pursued by the Egyptianarmy but succeeded in escaping into the Wilderness of Sinai due to divineintervention. Here, again, Israel is being pursued, but escapes safely intoanother wilderness due to divine intervention. This is all that "the wings of the eagle" represent. Usingthe Old Testament to interpret the symbols will help to avoid foolishspeculation.

Then,in verse 15, the persecution is described in terms of the waters of a rivercausing a flood, so that Israel might be drowned or destroyed by the flood.Whenever the figure of a flood is used symbolically, it is always a symbol of amilitary invasion. A good example is Daniel 9:26, where the Roman invasion anddevastation of Jerusalem fulfilled in A.D.70 is prophesied or described interms of a flood. This invasion of Israel sent by Satan was described in Daniel11:41 as: He shall enter also into the glorious land. This is the same invasion spoken of inRevelation 11:1-2 by which the Antichrist will succeed in taking control ofboth Jerusalem and the Temple and will commit the Abomination of Desolation.

Butthis invasion will fail (v. 16) in its attempt to destroy the Jews, for Israelwill succeed in fleeing into the wilderness after being pursued by the invading army. Divineintervention will destroy the pursuing army.

Thepassage closes (v. 17) describing further the wrath of Satan because of hisinitial failure to destroy the Jews. In this closing verse, as in the case ofthe Matthew passage, Satan will then make war specifically against thebelieving Remnant among the Jews, for it states that he now goes to make warwith the rest of the woman's seed, namely, those who keep the commandments of God and hold thetestimony of Jesus. These willinclude all the Jewish believers among the Jews at that time, as well as the144,000 Jews. The concept of theRemnant of Israel is a major motif of the Old Testament.

Revelation12 is a picture of Satan's persecution of the Jews with all its fiercenessduring the Tribulation. It will begin in the middle, after he is cast down toearth. Now he organizes an all-out worldwide anti-Semitic campaign to try todestroy all the Jews once and for all. He will set out on a program to destroy all the Jews still living, andthe reason is to avoid the Second Coming. While the Rapture of the Church has no pre-conditions and can happen atanytime, the Second Coming for Israel does have one condition, Israel's nationalsalvation. But the initial attempt to destroy the Jews in the middle of theTribulation will fail. He willmake one more attempt in the War of Armageddon.

Threeother points of Revelation 12 should be noted concerning its connection withOld Testament truths.

First,concerning Israel and Satan, Zechariah 3:1 points out that Satan has always had a special antagonismagainst the Jews. Revelation 12:1-17 is the central passage describing Satan'srelationship to Israel during the Tribulation. To what extent will Satan succeed in destroying the Jews?Zechariah 13:8-9 provides the answer. In the Holocaust under Hitler, one-thirdof the world's Jewish population died. Under the fierce persecution of theAntichrist, controlled and energized by Satan, two-thirds of the Jewishpopulation will die. This will be the largest and most intense persecution ofthe Jew ever known in Jewish history.

Second,concerning the role of Michael the Archangel, Michael, in addition to being theArchangel, he is also the Chief Prince and protective angel assigned to Israel.It is Michael who will cast Satan down to the earth in Revelation 12:7-12. Butthe key passage pointing out Michael's relationship to Israel in theTribulation is in Daniel 12:1.

Andat that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and thereshall be a time of trouble, such as neverwas since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that timeyour people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

The fact that Israel will survive at all is dueto the ministry of the Archangel and Chief Prince Michael.

Third,Revelation 12:6 specifies that thewoman flees to a specific place prepared in advance, and that there will be aCity of Refuge, this too is based upon Old Testament teachings about a futureCity of Refuge. Is itpossible to locate the exact place where the Jews will

be hiding? Upto now, three clues have been provided. One clue was in Matthew 24:16: Then letthem that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains. According to this text, the place of flight andrefuge is to be the mountains. The second and third clues were given inRevelation 12:6 and 14. Notonly must the place of refuge fulfill the requirement of being in themountains, it must also fulfill this second requirement of being in the desert.Third, the place in the wilderness was prepared by God in advance and thereforeindicates a very adequate and preexisting place of refuge.

Theseare the three clues found in passages examined earlier. Although inconclusive,another passage which may have a bearing on the question of "where?" is foundin Isaiah 33:13-16. Sincethe context is dealing with end time events, this passage also points out adistinction between the apostates and the Faithful Remnant as far as theirprotection and preservation is concerned. The means by which protection for theRemnant will be accomplished is given in

verse 16. Beside reaffirming the promise mentioned in Isaiah 41:17-20and 65:8-16 that food and water would be provided, this passage gives some insightas to the nature of the hiding place itself. First: it is stated that it willbe on high, that is, in themountains, thus reaffirming the Matthew passage. Second: the place of defensewill be the munitions of rocks;that is, the very nature of the place will make it easy to defend.

Thisbrings the total to four clues. The refuge will be:

1.In the mountains;

2.In the wilderness;

3.A place prepared in advance;

4.Very defensible.

Anotherpassage, Micah 2:12, pinpoints the place exactly. The Remnant is gathered together as the sheepof Bozrah. Since the sheep ofBozrah are not any differentthan other sheep, this gathering together as the sheep of Bozrah simply meansthat they are to be gathered

in Bozrah. Israel is the Flock of God, and thisflock is to be gathered in Bozrah. The ancient city of Bozrah was located inthe region of Mount Seir. Mount Seir is a very rocky range of mountains, andits name means the "hairy mountains." This fulfills the requirement of the Matthewpassage. It is located in the wilderness section of ancient Edom and sofulfills the requirement of the Revelation passage. The very nature of thechain of mountains of Mount Seir makes it quite defensible, fulfilling therequirements of the Isaiah passage. Mount

Seir is located in the western side of theancient Edom, extending from southeast of the Dead Sea down to the city ofAkaba. It towers over the Arabah, part of the rift valley from the south shoreof the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Eilat. Today the area is in southern Jordan.

Areally fascinating issue is the exact location of Bozrah in the mountain rangeof Mount Seir. Two places have been suggested. One is the present Arab villageof Buseira, which seems toretain the name of Bozrah. This is the main argument in favor of it. Anothersuggestion is the city now known as Petra. While both cities meet all the aboverequirements, this author prefers the identification with Petra. Petra is locatedin a basin within Mount Seir, and is totally surrounded by mountains andcliffs. The only way in and out of the city is through a narrow passageway thatextends for about a mile and can only be negotiated by foot or by horseback.This makes the city easy to defend, and its surrounding high cliffs give addedmeaning and confirmation to Isaiah 33:16. Only a few abreast can enter throughthis passage at any

one time, giving this city even greaterdefensibility. The name Bozrah means"sheepfold." An ancient sheepfold had a narrow entrance so that the shepherdcould count his sheep. Once inside the fold, the sheep had more room to movearound. Petra is shaped like a giant sheepfold, with its narrow passage openingup to a spacious circle surrounded by cliffs. This is not true of the town ofBuseira. Furthermore, by modern Petra is a site known as Butzeira, which retains the Hebrew Botzrah better than Buseira.

Regardlessof which of the two cities is to be taken as Old Testament Bozrah, the generalarea of Mount Seir remains the same. But is there any other reason that thisarea is chosen besides its natural defensibility? There is an indication ofsuch in the context of Daniel 11:40-45, the key verse, is verse 41. The passage states that while the Antichristwill conquer the whole world, three nations will escape his domination: Edom,Moab, and Ammon. All three of these ancient nations currently comprise thesingle modern kingdom of Jordan. The city of Bozrah in Mount Seir is located inancient Edom or southern Jordan. Since this area will escape the domination ofthe Antichrist, it is logical for the Jews to flee to this place. Thus, Godwill provide a city of refuge outside the Antichrist's domain for the fleeingRemnant. It will be a very defensible city located in Mount Seir (regardless ofwhich of the two sites one might pick). Furthermore, as they flee and whilethey are living there, food and water will be miraculously provided.

Premillennialistshave often been criticized for basing their belief in a Millennium entirely onone passage of Scripture, Revelation 20. Because it is found in a book wellnoted for its high use of symbols, they say it is foolish to take the onethousand years literally.But that is hardly a valid criticism.

Tobegin with, while it is true that the Book of Revelation uses many symbols, ithas already been shown that the meaning of all those symbols is explainedeither within the Book of Revelation itself or elsewhere in the Scriptures.Furthermore, never are years used in a symbolic

way in this book. If they aresymbolic, the symbolism is nowhere explained. The mention of 1,260 days, 42months, and 3½ years are all literal and not symbolic. Hence, there isno need to take the one thousand years as anything but literal years. Thedesire to spiritualize the text

always places the burden of proof onthe interpreter. Without objective proof it will result in a subjectiveinterpretation.

Itis, of course, true that the figure of one thousand years is only found in Revelation 20. Butit is recorded six different times in this one text, and if repetition tries todo anything, it certainly endeavors to make a point. While it is true that the millennium(that is, onethousand years) is found only in Revelation 20, the belief in the MessianicKingdom does not rest on this passage alone. In fact, it hardly rests on it atall. The basis forthe belief in the Messianic Kingdom is twofold. First: there are theunfulfilled promises of the Jewish covenants, promises that can only befulfilled in a Messianic Kingdom. Second: there are the unfulfilled propheciesof the Jewish prophets. There are numerous prophecies of the Old Testament thatspeak of the coming of the Messiah Who will reign on David's Throne, and ruleover a peaceful Kingdom. There is a great amount of material in the OldTestament on the Messianic Kingdom, and the belief in a Messianic Kingdom restson the basis of a literal interpretation of this massive material. The onlyreal contribution that the Book of Revelation makes to the knowledge of theKingdom is to disclose just how long the Messianic Kingdom will last-namely onethousand years-for which the term Millennium is used. This is the one key truthconcerning the

Kingdom that was not revealed in theOld Testament.

Itis in light of this that it is possible to understand why so much of the bookis spent on the Great Tribulation and so little on the Millennium. While muchof the material in Revelation 4-19 is found scattered in the pages of the Old Testament,it is impossible to place these events in chronological sequence using only theOld Testament. The Book of Revelation provides the framework by which this canbe done. A great portion of the Book of Revelation was used to accomplish thisgoal. On the other hand, all of the various features and facets of the MessianicKingdom have already been revealed in the Old Testament. It portrays thegeneral characteristics of life in the Kingdom, which do not raise the problemof an order of sequence. Hence, there was no reason to spend a great deal oftime on the Messianic Kingdom in the Book of Revelation. Most of what wasneeded to be revealed was already known from the Old Testament.

However,there were two things about the Messianic Kingdom which were not revealed inthe Old Testament. The first was the length of the Messianic Kingdom. While theOld Testament prophets foresaw a long period of time of a peaceful messianicreign, they did not

reveal just how long this would last.To answer this question, the Book of Revelation states that it will be exactlyone thousand years. A second thing that was unknown from the Old Testamentprophets was the circumstances by which the Kingdom would come to an end andhow this would lead into the Eternal Order. This is also revealed by the Bookof Revelation. These two items are all that Revelation 20 added to theknowledge of the Messianic Kingdom. The belief in a Messianic Kingdom does notrest on this passage, but is based on the numerous prophecies of the Old Testamentprophets.

Anotherbasis for the belief in a coming Kingdom rests on the four unconditional,unfulfilled covenants God made with Israel. These covenants are unconditionaland so rely solely on God for their fulfillment and not on Israel. They are alsounfulfilled, and since God is One Who keeps His promises, they must befulfilled in the future. They can only be fulfilled within the framework of aMessianic Kingdom or a Millennial Kingdom.

Thefirst of these is the Abrahamic Covenant, which promised an eternal seeddeveloping into a nation that will possess the Promised Land with some definiteborders. While that nation-the Jews-continues to exist, never in Jewish historyhave they possessed all of the Promised Land. For this promise to be fulfilled,there must be a future Kingdom. Besides, the possession of the Land was notmerely promised to Abraham's seed, but to Abraham personally when God said, toyou will I give it, and to your seed forever (Gen. 13:15). For God to fulfill His promise to Abraham(as well as to Isaac and Jacob), there must be a future Kingdom.

Thesecond covenant is the Palestinian Covenant, or Land Covenant, that spoke of aworldwide regathering of the Jews and repossession of the Land following theirdispersion. While the dispersion has already occurred and is in effect today,the regathering and repossession

of the Land still awaits fulfillmentin the future. This, too, requires a future Kingdom.

TheDavidic Covenant is the third covenant, and it promised four eternal things: aneternal house (dynasty), an eternal throne, an eternal kingdom, and an eternalPerson. The Dynasty became eternal because it culminated in a Person Who isHimself eternal: Jesus the

Messiah. For that reason the Throneand Kingdom will be eternal as well. But Jesus has never yet sat on the Throneof David ruling over a Kingdom of Israel. The reestablishment of the DavidicThrone and Messiah's rule over the Kingdom still awaits a future fulfillment.It

requires a future kingdom.

Thelast of these covenants is the New Covenant, which spoke of the nationalregeneration and salvation of Israel, encompassing each individual Jewishmember of that nation. This, too, awaits its final fulfillment and requires afuture kingdom.

Itis the extensive prophetic writings, as well as all of these covenants, thatprovide the basis for the belief in a future Messianic Kingdom, and not merelyone chapter of a highly symbolic book.

Tosummarize, the basis for the belief in a Messianic Kingdom is twofold: theunfulfilled promises of the Jewish covenants, and the unfulfilled prophecies ofthe Jewish prophets.

TheEternal Order was something unforeseen by the prophets of the Old Testament andthus the highpoint of all Old Testament prophecy was the Messianic Kingdomwhile the highpoint of the New Testament prophecy is the Eternal Order. But here again, that while the EternalOrder description is all new, many of the symbols used within this segment arealso based on the way these symbols were used in the Old Testament. That would include the various stonesmentioned based upon Ezekiel 28:13, the Tree of Life, the River of Life, and soon. The Appendix will helpcorrelate some of these verses when Old Testament symbols are borrowed todescribe something that by itself was unrevealed in the Old Testament.

TheBook of Revelation also makes references to the Shechinah Glory, the visible manifestation of God'spresence and how the Shechinahfunctions is also based on certain things in the Old Testament. The only passage that somehow relatesthe Shechinah Glory to the

Great Tribulation is Revelation 15:8:

Andthe temple was filled with smoke from the glory of

God,and from his power; and none was able to enter

intothe temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angles

shouldbe finished.

In this passage, the Shechinah Glory is connected with the Bowl Judgments, whichwill be the final and most severe series of judgments in the Tribulation. Thesejudgments will bring to a completion the wrath of God. In the Book of Numbers,the Shechinah Glory rendered judgmentfor sin, and it will do so again in the Great Tribulation. The Millennium willonly last one thousand years, and then history will enter the period of theEternal Order. But here, too, the Shechinah Glory will be evident. In Revelation 21:1-2describes the New Jerusalem, but then verse three describes the new presence ofGod in Jerusalem: the Tabernacle of God will be with men andHe will dwell with men. The word "dwell" is the Greek word, skeinei, which means "to tabernacle." As it was with theOld Testament, in the Eternal Order the Shechinah Glory will tabernacle with men, although therewill be no Tabernacle or Temple, per se. Jerusalem will have the glory of God, because of this"tabernacling" with men, according to Revelation 21:10-11. Since Jerusalem willhave the glory of God because of God's dwelling with men, there will be certainresults, according to Revelation 21:23-24. Because the ShechinahGlory will be there, there willbe no need of the natural light from the sun or the moon, nor the artificiallight of the lamp. The Shechinah Glorywill provide all the light that will be necessary, and all the inhabitants willbe able to walk in that light. So it will be for all eternity.

Anotherconcept in the Old Testament is the concept of the Remnant of Israel, whichrefers to that part of Israel that actually believed what God had revealedthrough Moses and the Prophets. The existence of the remnant even continues to the present age and willalso continue into the prophetic future. All individual Jews who become believers duringthe seven years of the Tribulation are part of the Remnant of Israel. This includes the 144,000 Jews (Rev. 7)and those Jews of Jerusalem who become believers in the middle of theTribulation (Rev. 11:13). It includes all individual Jews who become believersas a result of the preaching of the 144,000 or the Two Witnesses of Revelation11. It also includes the Remnant of Revelation 12:17 that Satan will attack ina particular way.

Again,I had to be selective in the paper as to what I would emphasize, but these arejust a few examples and many more could be given. The enclosed Appendix will provide a list (not necessarilyexhaustive) of Old Testament backgrounds to the Revelation passages. Here I have listed 226 verses fromRevelation and given you 492 examples of Old Testament backgrounds and again,the list is not exhaustive.

Oneobvious element of this paper is to know that it is a very wrongful conclusionto claim that the Old Testament must be interpreted by the New Testamentbecause subsequent revelation must be determined by previous revelation and notvice versa. Why do we Biblebelievers not interpret the New Testament by the Book of Mormon or by The Key To The Scriptures? Because we find these writings that claim to be subsequent revelationare simply not consistent on what is taught in the previous revelation andtherefore, it is rejected. Thus ifthe New Testament changes what the Old Testament teaches, rewrites the obviousmeanings of the Old Testament statements, and contradicts the Old Testament,then the New Testament is a fraudulent document. But if the Old Testament is quoted by the New Testament, itshows not contradiction but fulfillment, not cancellations of previous promisesbut expansions of previous promises. Whatever new information the New Testament may give, it cannot simplycontradict what was revealed previously, or change it, or rewrite it. So whatever additional things God maychoose to do for the Church and whatever additional plans God may have for theChurch, these plans cannot cancel what He already promised to Israel. A promise can only be fulfilled to theone the promise was made. A prophecycan only be fulfilled to whom the prophecy was made. So again, whatever additional promises God may make for theChurch, whatever additional prophecies there are for the Church, it can nevercancel promises and prophecies made to Israel, which must also be literallyfulfilled. This is the veryessence of Dispensationalism, Premillennialism, and Pretribulationism.