Week 30 - Jeremiah 41-43, Revelation 1 (July 23 - July 29)
Notes
JEREMIAH 39, The Assassination of Gedaliah
Gedaliah was the Jewish governor who Nebuchadnezzar appointed ruler of Judah. While Gedaliah was an Israelite, he was not from the line of David, and his ascension to the throne in succession to Zedekiah marks the end of the Davidic kingship. Gedaliah rules from Mizpah, eight miles north of Jerusalem on the border between Israel and Judah, likely because Jerusalem was too much of a ruin to remain the capital. Gedaliah shows promise as a ruler and seems to get some positive momentum going in Judea, but his reign only lasts one or two months. He is assassinated by Ishmael a Davidic heir with the help of the Ammonites.
The assassination of Gedaliah had two major consequences. First, a Babylonian governor was then placed over Judah ending the prospect for self-governance until the return of the exiles is decreed by King Cyrus of Persia. Second, a large portion of Judah, likely fearing Babylonian retribution for the assassination of the leader whom Nebuchadnezzar had appointed, fled to Egypt, against the warning of God through Jeremiah. When they fled to Egypt, they kidnapped Jeremiah and received a curse from God.
The flight of ludean refugees to Tahpanes after the assassination of Gedaliah simply swelled the existing Israelite population in Egypt. Isaiah 11:11, dating to the Assyrian period, mentions remnants of the Israelites in both Upper and Lower Egypt. Jeremiah himself addresses Judean settlements in Lower Egypt at Migdol and Memphis (44:1 and 46:14) and in Pathros in Upper Egypt. Papyri found at some of these sites contain obviously Jewish names. The best known of the Jewish communities in Egypt was that at the island military colony of Elephantine, founded prior to 525, and mentioned in Josephus's "Letter to Aristeas" as the home of mercenary troops in the employ of Pharaoh Psammeticus I. Letters and legal documents from Elephantine speak of a transplanted culture attempting to maintain traditional customs in the face of some hostility by the local Egyptian government and populace. For instance, a small temple was constructed there, but it was subsequently destroyed. Among the letters are communications with the returned lewish community in Jerusalem during the time of Nehemiah.
IVP Bible Backgrounds Commentary, P. 675
Revelation: an Introduction
Date of Authorship: There are two viable options for dating the revelation of John. There is considerable support for dating the book either to shortly after the reign of Nero in 68-69 AD. or late in the reign of Domitian around 95-96. The text of Revelation seems to require that certain conditions be present: the persecution of Christians, a practice of emperor worship, and historical conditions that would make sense of the letters to the seven churches in Chapters 1-3. While all of these conditions could be true for either of the dates above, Carson and Moo believe that they would fit best in the later date range. The persecution of Christians under Domitian was more widespread and systematic, Domitian more assertively referred to himself as a deity, ordering that he be addressed as “lord and god,” and finally a later date would make better sense for the 7 Churches in Asia struggling to maintain their “first love” because they had only first been introduced to the Gospel in the 40’s & 50’s AD. Furthermore, the reign of Domitian is the date connected to this book by the notable Early Church fathers Irenaeus, Eusebius, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen. (much of the above info is taken from An Introduction to the New Testament, D.A. Carson & Douglas Moo, and this resource is primary for much of the information in the rest of these notes)
Author: John, is the author of Revelation; but which John? Revelation certainly does not sound like the language we read in the Gospel of John or the epistle of 1st John where the themes of light, life, and love play such a prominent role, and readers of the original Greek will tell you that the literary style has definitely changed. This plus the fact that the John of Revelation does not claim to be an apostle in the book has led many to believe that this book was written by a previously unknown “John the Elder” who was a minister to the Roman province of Asia. However, the Early Church witness is univocal in attributing this book to John the Apostle (as early as Justin Martyr writing in 150 AD). Many of them would be in a position to know as two of the early church fathers who attribute Revelation to John (Melito and Irenaeus) were from* one of the seven Churches that the book of Revelation is addressed to, and Papais (who also attributes the book to John the Apostle) knew John personally. Carson and Moo conclude with the following
“While the difference in Greek style is a problem… we are inclined to accept the testimony of those who were in a position to know about this matters, (the Early Church fathers), and we attribute both books (the Gospel and Revelation) to John the apostle, “the beloved disciple” (p.705)
Setting: John writes from Patmos, a rocky and rugged island about six miles wide and ten miles long, some forty miles southwest of Ephesus in the Aegean Sea. The island was used by Roman authorities as a place of exile, and John indicates that this was his reason for being there: “because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (1:9). Early tradition (e.g. Origen - writing early in the third century AD) says that the emperor himself condemned John to exile in Patmos, but it is more likely, considering John the Apostle’s extensive ministry in Asia Minor, that it was a local Roman official from this region who sent John to Patmos in order to get him out of the way.
Purpose: John’s revelation depicted the reality and severity of evil, and of the demonic forces that are active in history, to believers in the Roman province of Asia (in 7 particular churches) who were facing persecution and struggling to maintain the fervency of their faith. John’s visions also place in clear relief the reality of God’s judgment, promising a coming day when His wrath will be poured out, when sins will have to be accounted for, and when the fate of every individual will depend on whether or not his or her name is “written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Equally clear, of course, is the reward that God has in store for those who persevere and resolutely stand against the devil and his earthly minions, even at the cost of life itself. John’s visions are a source of comfort and motivation for suffering and persecuted believers of all ages.
In other words, the purpose of the book of Revelation is to persuade its hearers and readers, both ancient and contemporary, to remain faithful to God in spite of past, present, or possible future suffering—whatever form that suffering might take, and whatever source it may have—simply for being faithful. In spite of memory, experience, or fear, Revelation tells us, covenant faithfulness is possible because of Jesus and worthwhile because of the glorious future God has in store for us and for the entire created order. Revelation, we might say, provides us with a vivid, imaginative, and prophetic call to an “anti-assimilationist” and life-giving Christian witness to, against, and within an immoral and idolatrous imperial culture of death. (Michael Gorman, Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness: Following the Lamb into the New Creation)