Nick Thompson reviews ‘The Dragon’s Prophecy: Israel, the Dark Resurrection, and the End of Days’, by Jonathan Cahn (2024)

Apocalyptic scripture as Impressionist art

God’s warning to humanity.

“I looked at the earth and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone. I looked at the mountains and they were quaking; all the hills were swaying. I looked, and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away. I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert; all its towns lay in ruins before the LORD, before his fierce anger. This is what the LORD says: ‘The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely. Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow dark, because I have spoken and will not relent, I have decided and will not turn back.’” (Jeremiah 4:23-28)

This is not an easy passage to understand but it has a message of immense significance for us today. It is essential to recognise that in the Hebrew this is poetry and it is not intended to be read as literal prophecy. It is a prophetic vision given to Jeremiah to enable him to perceive the eschatological truth embedded into God’s act of creation and his purposes for humanity.

“O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved”

The poem has to be seen in the context of the warnings given in this chapter of the impending destruction that will befall the whole land of Judah and Jerusalem unless the people heed the trumpet call and repent of their evil ways. Jeremiah expresses this previously in verse 14: “O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved”. In the next verse he spells out the physical danger facing the nation from the advance of the Babylonian army.

An Urgent Message for Jerusalem

Jeremiah describes the northernmost tribe of Dan seeing the advance of the Babylonians and sending an urgent message to Jerusalem from the hills of Ephraim, warning them that a cruel enemy is on the war-path who will overwhelm all the small nations around Judah before eventually attacking Jerusalem itself: “Tell this to the nations, proclaim concerning Jerusalem: ‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land, raising a war cry against the cities of Judah’” (Jer 4:16). Jeremiah is given a specific warning from God: “‘They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me,’ declares the LORD” (Jer 4:17).

At the end of chapter 4, in verses 29 to 31, Jeremiah returns to the theme of warning about a physical attack coming from an army on horseback as well as infantry and archers. He says the attack is coming upon every town, and he sees people taking flight into the countryside, hiding among the rocks, and leaving the towns deserted. But the people of Jerusalem ignore the warning signs and behave like a prostitute would; looking at herself in the mirror, admiring her beauty, putting on her scarlet dress, adorning herself with heavy make-up and jewels, unaware of the danger about to descend upon her. Then it happens! She is brutally raped. She is in great pain. She cries out, gasping for breath, but it is too late – “‘Alas! I am fainting; my life is given over to murderers’” (Jer 4:31).

In the midst of these dire warnings of an actual attack from the Babylonians, Jeremiah is given this apocalyptic poem that should not be read as predictive prophecy, but rather as divine revelation of the ultimate purposes of God the Creator of the Universe.

The Creational Purposes of God

In the biblical account of the creation of human beings, God gave them freedom of will and the ability to exercise dominion, or power, over the whole order of creation, both animal and material. In due time God revealed his teaching (Torah) through Moses to the people of Israel whom he called into a covenant relationship of servanthood and through whom he would reveal his nature and purposes to humankind. The poem we are studying today from Jeremiah 4:23-28, is prefaced by a single statement in verse 22. It is in the first person singular and comes from God himself to his covenant people: “‘My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.’”

There comes a point in the history of the world when the wickedness of humankind becomes so intense that their evil deeds threaten the well-being of the whole of creation.

This is the tragic history of Israel. Apart from a remnant throughout the ages (Rom 11), they have never understood the creation purposes of God. They have never understood the reason why God called them into a covenant relationship with himself in order to carry out his missionary purpose of taking his salvation to all nations.

The Consequences of Rebellion

In this prophetic poem Jeremiah is shown the consequences of the rebellion of human beings and their rejection of the good purposes of God. There comes a point in the history of the world when the wickedness of humankind becomes so intense that their evil deeds threaten the well-being of the whole of creation. The poem envisions a time when the entire universe is affected; the earth returns to its original formless chaos at the beginning of Creation. The light of the sun and moon and stars are dim; the mountains are shaken, the hills sway and the birds of the air disappear. The fruitful land becomes a desert and the towns lie in ruins as God carries out his purposes of judging the nations that have grossly misused the power God gave them at the Creation.

Final Judgment

Jeremiah is the first to receive this prophetic revelation of the ultimate purposes of God. Some 70 years later, at the end of the Exile, the Prophet Haggai was given the revelation that the day would come when God would “shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land” and would “shake all nations” (Hag 2:6-7). Jesus speaks of the time coming when “there will be great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now” (Matt 24:21). At that time Jesus says, he will return to earth and “all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matt 25:32).

The moral and spiritual pollution of humanity is the root cause of the damage done to the physical creation.

There are other passages in the New Testament that speak of the days when God will deal with the lawlessness and wickedness of human beings “who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (2 Thess 2:12). And Peter describes, in apocalyptic terms, ‘The Day of the Lord’: He says that day “will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare” (2 Pet 3:10).

These words should give us insight as to how God looks with horror at the wickedness of our civilisation and the way we have misused and polluted the whole created order, and corrupted the human nature that he gave us.

The United Nations has issued a strong warning that a great many species are threatened with extinction due to human activity¹, but what they fail to notice is the moral and spiritual pollution of humanity that is the root cause of the damage done to the physical creation. Jeremiah’s poem is a revelation from God intended to bring a severe warning to humanity of the consequences of our wickedness – and that the day will undoubtedly come when God will judge the human beings he created in his own image – a message that is desperately needed to be heard today!

The day will undoubtedly come when God will judge the human beings he created in his own image.

References

1 Planet on 'path to catastrophe' as million species threatened, warns UN report. Sky News, 6 May 2019.

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David Forbes gives some historical background to the Book of Revelation, as we start a new series on the messages given to the churches in Asia.

In 81 AD, Domitian became Emperor of Rome and its dominions. During his reign he launched a particularly savage persecution of both Christians and Jews, the main reason for which was Caesar worship. Domitian was the first Roman Emperor, apart from the insane Caligula, to take his 'divinity' seriously, and demand Caesar worship. He insisted on always being addressed as Lord and God and carried out a campaign of bitter persecution against all those who would not worship him - the atheists, as he called them.

This is the historical background to the Book of Revelation. All over the Roman Empire men and women were required to acknowledge that the Emperor was Lord, or die - especially on the Lord's (or Lordy) Day (Rev 1:10), a special day in the year when every citizen was required to cast some incense on the altar fire in a local temple and repeat the words 'Caesar is Lord'.

What were Christians, for whom only Jesus is Lord, to do? They were relatively few in number and they had no influence or power to fight against the might of an Empire which no nation or people had been able to withstand. The choice was simple, Caesar or Christ, and as a result there were many Christian martyrs. Why were they under such tyranny? Why were they being left to suffer and die so cruelly? Where was God? Where was their promised salvation through Jesus the Messiah? How long, Sovereign Lord? they cried.

Emperor Domitian, who insisted upon Caesar worship. See Photo Credits.It was to bring hope and encouragement in these times of great trial and terror that the Book of the Revelation was written to the believers in the churches of the great Roman province of Asia.

Apocalyptic Writing

In order to understand further the message of the letters to the churches we need to appreciate their literary form. The Book of the Revelation is unique in the New Testament, in that it belongs to a type of Jewish literature called the apocalyptic writings. Indeed, the very first word of the letter is the Greek apokalupsis – 'the revelation' in English. Apocalyptic literature was one of the most common types of Jewish writing during the period between the Old and New Testaments.

After the return from exile in Babylon, the Jewish people soon became the subjects of Alexander the Great and his successors, during which time they were put under great pressure from Hellenism. Hellenism was the adopting of all things Greek - language, education, philosophy and culture – by the peoples who came under the rule of Alexander and his generals.

This was especially so when, during the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BC), every attempt was made to force Greek political and cultural institutions upon them and the observance of the Jewish religion became punishable by death. Many Jews at this time chose death rather than be false to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Mass martyrdom became the order of the day.

It was to bring hope and encouragement in times of great trial and terror that the Book of the Revelation was written to the believers.

At that time, and then again during the period of Roman domination when the various revolts by the Jewish Zealots brought about the death of many, people began to question where God was and why he was not bringing about salvation for them. Had not God chosen them as his people? Had the prophets not promised that one day, God himself would come with a mighty intervention to deliver them from all their enemies and raise up his Messiah, who would inaugurate an everlasting kingdom of righteousness and peace? Where was the Day of the Lord?

It was to deal with these questions and to bring a ray of encouragement and hope into a difficult situation of pressure and confusion that apocalyptic writing came into being. It dealt with the sin of the present time, with the evils of tyranny, oppression and persecution, and with the great intervention of God when he would descend on to the stage of history and put everything right. He would bring to an end the world that they knew and bring in his golden age of blessing. The message of apocalyptic literature was that though things maybe bad and will probably get worse, don't weaken and give up - hang on, because everything will be all right in the end. God will vindicate his people and be victorious!

Differences Between Prophetic and Apocalyptic Literature

There are many examples of apocalyptic literature from the period between the two Testaments. Writings such as Enoch, The Assumption of Moses, The Ascension of Isaiah, The Apocalypse of Baruch and Fourth Ezra are just some. The Book of Daniel is considered by Jewish people to be an apocalyptic book, rather than a prophetic one. It is the only such kind of writing to be included in the canon of the Hebrew Bible, where it appears in the section called ketuvim, 'the writings', rather than in the section called nevi'im, 'the prophets'. There was considerable difference between what the Jewish people understood as prophecy, such as the messages given through Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and Zechariah for example, and what they understood as apocalyptic writing.

Dominated by successive cruel empires, the Jewish people were questioning where God was. Apocalyptic writing came into being to answer their questions.

The Hebrew prophets thought mainly in terms of this present world. Their message was often put in terms of the need for social, economic and political justice. They were concerned that men should hear the word of God and turn back to him in repentance. The prophets were concerned that people should learn to obey and serve him in this present world. It was here and now that God's will needed to be done and his purposes of peace and blessing be fulfilled.

The message of the apocalyptist was that the world was beyond saving and that it was dominated by evil. The only remedy was for God to destroy it and set up a new golden age in a new world. It was a written, rather than a spoken message; whereas the prophet spoke forth the word of God clearly and boldly so that all could understand, the apocalyptist always wrote his message down. It was usually in the language of dream and vision, and the actual words used were usually in coded form. The reason for this was doubtless that if the writings ever fell into the hands of the oppressing power, they would not be able to learn the message of the visions and therefore would be unprepared for what was coming.

Whereas everybody knew the identity of Israel's prophets, Jewish apocalyptic writing is pseudonymous - that is to say that it was written not under the author's name, but under the name of someone else. The Jewish writers opted to attribute their writings to the great and well-known men of the past, such as Moses or Isaiah, Enoch, Ezra or Baruch. It may be that they did this because they believed that they were not worthy to be read and thought that by attributing their writings to the great men of the past they were investing them with an authority that they themselves could never give.

Revelation: Provenance and Authorship

The Book of the Revelation is very much an apocalyptic writing. It has most of the hallmarks of apocalyptic literature. It is different, however, in that it is not pseudonymous and that it has a strong Messianic perspective. The Day of the Lord is none other than the great and glorious appearing of Jesus the Messiah, who has already once appeared as the Paschal lamb to take away the sin of the world and is now appearing for the second time to set up his earthly kingdom.

Revelation is very Hebraic, full of Old Testament allusion, pointing to many Jewish traditions and even quoting ideas from other Jewish apocalyptic writings. It includes around 500 allusions to the text of the Old Testament, particularly the books of Exodus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah and Daniel. So without a thorough knowledge of the Old Testament, and these books in particular, the original readers of John's Apocalypse would have struggled to understand the message.

The Hebrew prophets spoke and wrote mainly in terms of the present world - apocalyptic writers looked forward to the world to come.

Similarly, many of God's people today are confused and puzzled by this letter simply because of their lack of understanding of its Hebraic nature in biblical background and culture, as well as language. Although it was written in the common Greek language of the day, it is a kind of translation – Greek, full of Hebraic language idiom.

lndeed, because of the bad grammar and syntax (which probably makes it the worst Greek in the New Testament), many scholars have had difficulty accepting that it was written by the same man who penned a Gospel and three Epistles.

The author, John, tells us that he was given what he calls a prophecy by the Lord Jesus himself, on the island of Patmos, most probably in exile as a result of the Domitian persecution. Here is a further difference between this book and other Jewish apocalyptic literature, in that it is reflecting the fact that God has restored prophecy to his people, as a result of the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus knows what his people are suffering and he wants to tell them what must soon take place.

To the Churches in Asia...

The Revelation is presented overall in the form of a letter to seven churches in the province of Asia, who themselves are each given an individual message in letter form from the Lord. When we speak of Asia we are not, of course, referring to the continent of Asia that we know today, but the Roman province which we now know as Turkey. It comprised the western (Mediterranean) sea-coast of Asia Minor with Phrygia, Mysia, Caria and Lycia. Its administrative capitol and seat of the Roman governor was the great city of Pergamos (also called Pergamon or Pergamum, close to modern-day Bergama, Turkey).

The seven churches that are named; Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, are by no means the only churches that we know of in the Roman province of Asia. The Bible also tells us of churches in Colossae, Hierapolis, Troas and Miletus. From the letters of Bishop Ignatius of Antioch, we learn that there were also churches at Magnesia and Tralles. Why then should only seven be selected and why this particular selection?

Many scholars doubt that Revelation was penned by the same 'John' who penned a Gospel and three Epistles.

One reason may be that the particular churches chosen were situated on a kind of ring-road around the centre of the province. William Barclay says that they could be regarded as the centres of seven postal districts and that letters sent to these cities could easily then be circulated around the whole province. Undoubtedly the purpose of the letter was that it should be read in all the churches so that all believers might know the Lord's message. Even the individual letters to the seven churches were intended to be read by all.

The churches of Asia Minor, and indeed all the churches of the Roman world, were going through great trauma as a result of the Domitian persecution. However, it must have been of comfort to them to know that the Lord himself knew precisely what their problems were as well as the solution to them.

Next week, we will look at the message given to the church in Ephesus.

This article was first published in Prophecy Today, Vol 12 No 6, Nov/Dec 1996. Revised December 2016.

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