Week 31 - Jeremiah 44-46, Revelation 2 (July 30 - Aug. 5)
Notes
JEREMIAH 46, a beginning to the oracles against foreign nations
Our reading this week is centered on Egypt. Chapter 44 is a letter written to and about Jews who had responded to the pressure from Babylon (this is written before Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem - a reminder that the sections and oracles of Jeremiah are not compiled in chronological order) by fleeing to Egypt. Chapter 45 is a short rebuke of Jeremiah’s scribe which serves to show God’s justification in pursuing this punishment of His own people. and chapter 46 contains a long oracle against the nation/kingdom of Egypt. Egypt was critical to Judah in the time of Jeremiah because it represented their only hope to be delivered from Babylonian dominance. An oracle against Egypt would have been very upsetting for Judah to hear at this time. But Egypt is not the only nation that will be addressed in this way by Jeremiah. Chapter 46 begins a series of oracles against various nations much like we have already read in Isaiah and Amos. Here is a note on this genre from the IVP Bible Backgrounds Commentary:
There is a distinct literary genre within prophetic literature known as oracles against foreign nations. They are found in Isaiah 14 - 21, 23 and Ezekiel 25-30, Jeremiah 46-51, Amos 1-2, Zephaniah 2 and the books of Obadiah and Nahum. Although they are all condemnations of Israel's enemies, taunting them, their rulers and their gods, each is a distinct unit, free to accomplish its mission without being constrained to follow a set structure or outline. Because these oracles appear in chapter 25 in the Septuagint version of Jeremiah, it is often suggested that they were a distinct unit that circulated as an independent body of literature before being added to the book of Jeremiah. In most cases the oracles were not delivered to the countries they targeted, be cause their intended audience was Israel. There are short examples of the genre as early as the Mari texts. In one prophecy, the god Dagan delivers a message to Zimri-Lim, king of Mari, concerning his enemy Babylon: "O Babylon, what are you trying to do? I will gather you up in a net."
Revelation: a further introduction
While we have not yet gotten to the exciting part of revelation, it should be helpful to take some more looks at how this book functions so that we have a framework from which to read what we will find as we go on.
Revelation connected to speculation leads to excitation, and excitations lead to expectations, and expectations unfulfilled lead to frustrations. Frustrations lead to realizations that have led many to say, "There's something big-time wrong with these speculations." They are right, and many are confused because the only way they know how to read this (to them) bizarro book is speculation, and they want another way of readin Revelation. Speculation eventually leads to stupefaction. Eugene Peterson once observed our very problem and found another way, the way of imagination instead of speculation:
But for people who are fed up with such bland fare, the Revelation is a gift -- a work of intense imagination that pulls its reader into a world of sky battles between angels and beasts, lurid punishments and glorious salvations, kaleidoscopic vision and cosmic song. It is a world in which children are instinctively at home and in which adults, by becoming as little children, recapture an elemental involvement in the basic conflicts and struggles that permeate moral existence, and then go on to discover again the soaring adoration and primal affirmations for which God made us.
Peterson's words offer for the rest of us a different way to read Revelation, and we will show that this way is what John wanted for his seven churches. The book is for all times because it is about all time. The flexibility of the book to give Christians a sense of direction and meaning throughout church history is the big clue to a different approach. The clue is that Revelation is timeless theology not specific prediction, and the moment it turns to specific predictions it loses its timeless message.
- Scott McKnight, Revelation for the Rest of Us, (Zondervan, 2023) P. 11
Revelation 2: The Letters to the Churches
There is a dual critique going on all through the book of Revelation. At once as John is depicting the coming judgment of “Babylon” and the other powers of darkness in the world. The revelation given to John is also offering a critique of the Church. Much in the same way that while Jeremiah can go on proclaiming the coming judgment of nations like Egypt and real Babylon, he is simultaneously condemning the sinful ways of his own people, Judah, and pleading with them to change.
Revelation 2 and 3 offer this critique directly and by name to seven churches in Asia Minor (which can be seen on this map) These are likely Churches that John had ministered to before his imprisonment on Patmos.
Each of these Churches is depicted in the revelation as a star and a lampstand in the presence of the Glorified Jesus. Each of these letters to them are a verbatim message from Jesus himself, so you may notice that they are recorded in red text (if you have a red-letter Bible) the same way that the sermon on the mount is in Matthew.
Don’t skip the importance of how Revelation starts. First, we are shown the true nature and glory, and majesty of the resurrected Jesus, then we get to see what he is doing in chapters 2 and 3. You might even go so far as to call this the ‘occupation’ of the resurrected Jesus. He serves as the head of this Church and - we learn through these letters - that, to that end, he is intimately familiar with and attentive to the goings on of each of these congregations. He knows their triumphs and struggles. He is measuring their faithfulness and he is offering this repetitive message of encouragement and invitation to be victorious (or “overcome” depending on your translation). We’re given no reason to doubt that Jesus is not continuing this very task in our day now. Indeed, this passage reveals to us that our Savior has his eye on Madison Church. He knows our triumphs and struggles. He sees through our facade to our hearts. He is taking measure of our faithfulness and is urging us on to greater faithfulness and righteousness as we do the work of His kingdom. The letters to each of these churches are an invitation to imagine what letter Jesus would write to us about the challenges that we face and the ways that we’re failing to or succeding in loving Him.
Revelation 2: 4 Churches & Their Cities
Notes from the IVP Bible Background Commentary - Craig Keener
(note how emperor worship (the imperial cult) is featured in each of the descriptions of these cities - this historical/cultural feature plays a HUGE part in correctly discerning the meaning of the rest of the book of Revelation)
Ephesus
Ephesus had been one of the first Asian centers of the imperial cult, and it was also the most prominent; Domitian had allowed Ephesus the title of guardian of his temple. On the city’s notoriety in *magic and the worship of Artemis, see comment on Acts 19. Inscriptions attest that Ephesus also had a sizable Jewish population, of which Christians had originally been a comfortable part (Acts 18:19-20, 26; 19:8-9). In practice, Ephesus was the leading center of Asia Minor in this period. It was also the first of the seven cities that a messenger voyaging from Patmos (forty to fifty miles to the southwest) would reach.
Smyrna
Only Smyrna and Philadelphia (the two most persecuted churches) are fully praised; Ramsay notes that of the seven these two cities held out longest before the Turkish conquest. Ephesus and prosperous Smyrna were the two oldest centers of the imperial cult in Asia. One of the oldest and most prominent cities in Asia, Smyrna sought but failed to achieve honor equal to that of Ephesus in this period. It was also known for its beauty. On the situation in Smyrna and Philadelphia, which apparently includes expulsion from the *synagogues, see the introduction to John. John’s Gospel probably addresses this or a related sort of situation.
Pergamum
There is some evidence for a Jewish community at Pergamum, but it was a strongly pagan city (see comment on 2:13). It was also a famous and prosperous city, and its rulers had been the first to invite the Romans into the affairs of Asia Minor. It was the center of the imperial cult for its province.
Pergamum was traditionally known for its worship of Asclepius (whose symbol on Pergamum’s coins was the serpent; cf. 12:9) and worshiped other traditional Greek deities, such as Demeter, Athena and Dionysus. Its famous giant altar of Zeus (120 by 112 feet) overlooked the city on its citadel, and some have suggested that this is the background for “Satan’s throne” in this verse. Perhaps a more likely allusion for “Satan’s throne” is the local worship of the emperor, celebrated on Pergamum’s coinage in this period. Local rulers had been worshiped before the Roman period, and Pergamum was one of the first cities of Asia to build a temple to a Roman emperor (a temple to Augustus, also conspicuous on the citadel). A further imperial temple was dedicated there within a decade or two after John wrote Revelation.
All citizens were expected to participate in civic religion; most citizens wanted to participate in imperial festivals and eat the meat of sacrificed animals doled out at many pagan festivals. Once one Christian was legally martyred, the legal precedent was set for the execution of Christians in other provinces.Thyatira
Thyatira’s economy seems to have emphasized trades and crafts. The trade guilds each had common meals (normally about once a month) dedicated to their patron deities. Although Thyatira had a Jewish community, it does not appear to have been influential; Christians who refused to participate in the life of the guilds might thus find themselves isolated socially and economically (cf. 13:17). Thyatira was only beginning to achieve prosperity in this period, hence its citizens probably valued wealth highly.
Thyatira hosted a major cult of Apollo, son of Zeus and the deity associated with *prophecy and the sun. Some scholars note that the emperor was linked with Apollo and suggest that he may have been worshiped in Thyatira as his earthly manifestation. Although bronze-working was not unique to Thyatira, some scholars have also pointed to the bronze-workers’ guild in that city.
Keener, Craig S.. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (p. 734). InterVarsity Press.