THE DAYS OF VENGEANCE But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that her desolation is at hand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and [et those who are in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city; because these are the Days of Vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fu@lled. Luke 21:20-22 THE DAYS OF VENGEANCE An Exposition of the Book of Revelation David Chilton Dominion Press Ft. Worth, Texas Copyright @ 1987 by Dominion Press First Printing, January, 1987 Second Printing, Decembefi 1987 Third Printing, March, 1990 All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles. Published by Dominion Press P.O. Box 8204, Ft. Worth, Texas 76124 Typesetting by Thoburn Press, Box 2459, Reston, VA 22090 Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 86-050798 ISBN 0-930462-09-2 To my father and mother TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD by Gordon J. Wenham . ix AUTHOR’S PREFACE . xi PUBLISHER’S PREFACE by Gary North . xv INTRODUCTION . 1 Part One: PREAMBLE: THE SON OF MAN (Revelational) . 49 l. King of Kings . 51 Part Two: HISTORICAL PROLOGUE:THE LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES(Revelation2-3). 85 2. The Spirit Speaks to the Church: Overcome! . 93 3. The Dominion Mandate . ...119 Part Three: ETHICAL STIPULATIONS: THE SEVEN SEALS(Revelation 4-7) . ...141 4. The Throne Above the Sea. .. ...145 5. ChristusVictor . ...165 6. In the Path of the White Horse . ...181 7. The True Israel . ...201 Part Four: COVENANT SANCTIONS: THE 8. Liturgy and History . .. ...229 9. All Hell Breaks Loose . .. ...243 10. The Faithful Witness . ...259 11. The End of the Beginning.. ...271 12. The HolyWar . ...295 13. Leviathan and Behemoth.. ...325 14. The Kingdon Mount Zion. ...353 Part Five: COVENANT SUCCESSION AND CONTINUITY THE SEVEN CHALICES(Revelation 15-22) . ...379 15. Seven Last Plagues . ...383 16. Judgment from the Sanctuary.. ...395 vii THE DAYS OF VENGEANCE 17. The False Bride . ...421 18. Babylon Is Fallen! . ...445 19. TheFeasts of the Kingdom . ...467 20. The Millennium and the Judgment . ...493 21. The New Jerusalem . ...535 22. Come, Lord Jesus! . ..565 LESSONS OF REVELATION . ...581 APPENDIX A–The Levitical Symbolism in Revelation by Philip Barrington . ...593 APPENDIX B – Christian Zionism and Messianic Judaism by James B. Jordan . ...612 APPENDIX C– Common Grace, Eschatology, and Biblical Law by GaryNorth . ...622 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY . .. ...667 SCRIPTURE INDEX . .. ...679 AUTHOR INDEX . ...701 SUBJECT INDEX . ..705 VIII. Readers of the Book of Revelation are either mesmerized or mystified by it. The mesmerized come up with such startling in- terpretations that the mystified often conclude that sober- minded Christians should leave the book well alone. David Chilton’s commentary ought to be studied by both types of reader. He shows that Revelation is a book, like every other book of the New Testament, addressed primarily to the first-century church and easily understood by them, because they were thoroughly familiar with Old Testament imagery. He shows that once we grasp these idioms, Revelation is not diffi- cult for us to understand either. Revelation remains, though, a challenging and relevant book for us, not because it gives an outline of world history with special reference to our era, but because it shows us that Christ is in control of world history, and how we should live and pray and worship. In vivid powerful imagery it teaches us what it means to believe in God’s sovereignty and justice. May this valu- able commentary prompt us to pray with John and the universal church in heaven and on earth, ‘Even so come, Lord Jesus !‘ Gordon Wenham The College of St. Paul and St. Mary Cheltenham, England ix AUTHOR’S PREFACE From the very beginning, cranks and crackpots have attempted to use Revelation to advocate some new twist on the Chicken Little Doctrine: The Sky 1S Fallingl But, as I hope to show in this exposition, St. John’s Apocalypse teaches instead that Christians will overcome all opposition through the work of Jesus Christ. My study has convinced me that a true under- standing of this prophecy must be based on the proper applica- tion of five crucial interpretive keys: 1. Revelation is the most “BiblicaY book in the Bible. St. John quotes hundreds of passages from the Old Testament, often with subtle allusions to little-known religious rituals of the Hebrew people. In order to understand Revelation, we need to know our Bibles backward and forward. One reason why this commentary is so large is that I have tried to explain this exten- sive Biblical background, commenting on numerous portions of Scripture that shed light on St. John’s prophecy. I have also re- printed, as Appendix A, Philip Barrington’s excellent survey of the Levitical symbolism in Revelation. 2. Revelation has a system of symboiism. Almost everyone recognizes that St. John wrote his message in symbols. But the meaning of those symbols is not up for grabs. There is a system- atic structure in Biblical symbolism. In order to understand Revelation properly, we must become familiar with the “lan- guage” in which it is written. Among other goals, this commen- tary seeks to bring the Church at least a few steps closer to a tru- ly Biblical Theology of Revelation. 3. Revelation is a prophecy about imminent events – events that were about to break loose on the world of the first century. Revelation is not about nuclear warfare, space travel, or the end xi THE DAYS OF VENGEANCE of the world. Again and again it specifically warns that “the time is near!” St. John wrote his book as a prophecy of the approach- ing destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, showing that Jesus Christ had brought the New Covenant and the New Creation. Revelation cannot be understood unless this fundamental fact is taken seriously. 4. Revehztion is a worship service. St. John did not write a textbook on prophecy. Instead, he recorded a heavenly worship service in progress. One of his major concerns, in fact, is that the worship of God is central to everything in life. It is the most important thing we do. For this reason I have devoted special attention throughout this commentary to the very considerable liturgical aspects of Revelation, and their implications for our worship services today. 5. Revelation is a book zbout dominion. Revelation is not a book about how terrible the Antichrist is, or how powerful the devil is. It is, as the very first verse says, The Revelation of Jesus Christ. It tells us about His lordship over all; it tells us about our salvation and victory in the New Covenant, God’s “wonderful plan for our life”; it tells us that the kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our God, and of His Christ; and it tells us that He and His people shall reign forever and ever. I have many people to thank for making this book possible. First and foremost, I am grateful to Dr. Gary North, without whose patience and considerable financial investment it simply could not have been written. The week I moved to Tyler, Gary took me along on one of his periodic book-buying sprees at a large used bookstore in Dallas. As I helped him haul hundreds of carefully chosen volumes to the checkstand (I bought a few books, too – a couple every hour or so, just to keep my hand in the game), Gary asked me what long-term project I’d like to work on, along with my other duties at the Institute for Christian Economics. “How about a medium-sized, popular-style, intro- ductory-level, easy-to-read book on Revelation?” I suggested. “I think I could knock something like that out in about three months.” That was, almost to the day, 3 years and six months ago – or, as Gary might be tempted to mutter under his breath: A time, times, and half a time. At last, the tribulation has ended. The book, of course, has vastly outgrown its projected size and scope. No small part of that is due to the Rev. James B. xii PUBLISHER’S PREFACE by Gary North With his first book on eschatology, Paradise Restored, 1 David Chilton launched an eschatological revival. “Revolution” would be too strong a word, for his viewpoint is an old one, stretching back to the early church. But overnight, Paradise Re- stored began to influence religious leaders and scholars who had believed that the Biblical case for cultural victory was dead – a relic of the nineteenth century. Now comes The Days of Ven- geance, a verse-by-verse exposition of the toughest book in the Bible, the Book of Revelation. What was generalized in Para- dise Restored is now supported with chapter and verse – indeed, lots and lots of chapters and verses. This book will become the new reference work on the Book of Revelation. Incredibly, Chilton’s style is so lively that few readers will even notice that the author has tossed a scholarly bombshell. The conservative Christian academic world will be speechless; Chilton has offered a remarkable exegetical challenge to those who hold to the tradi- tional rival eschatologies, which I label pessimillennialism. This is not just another boring commentary on the Book of Revelation. Even if it were only that, it would be a major event, for the publication of any conservative, Bible-believing com- mentary on the Book of Revelation is a major event.