Bully's Blog

Revelation can’t be fully appreciated without attention to its literary structure. I’m no expert, but have a gander at this…

The most fundamental structure of the book is the 5-fold Covenant pattern:

Transcendence - Identification of the king: Vision of Christ (Adam – Garden)

…..Hierarchy - History of the Covenant: 7 churches recapitulate
…..Old Covenant history

……….Ethics – Terms and Conditions: true and false warriors under the Law

…..Sanctions - Blessings and Curses: True church commissioned
…..and false church decommissioned

Continuity - Renewal after death: The New Jerusalem (Greater Eve – City) [1]

As I have written elsewhere, I believe the 5-fold Covenant pattern (Word) in history expands into the sevenfold feasts to allow the ascension of the head and the ascension of the body. It is the Word making all things new, a new Creation.

Sabbath/Light – Vision of Christ
…..Passover/Firmament – Church lamps set apart as new rulers
……….Firstfruits/Altar&Table – Ascension of Christ as the “standing” sacrifice
……………Pentecost/Lampstand – 7 seals of the New Covenant opened
……………(Law given at Pentecost)
……….Trumpets/Incense – 7 trumpets of the Apostles warn the Judaisers
…..Atonement/Goats – 7 bowls and two brides, true and false
Tabernacles/Shekinah – Marriage supper of the Lamb. False bride eaten by vultures

James Jordan observes all of this and more in his lectures. He points out that the seven bowls are the final expression of the seven sprinklings of blood on the Day of Atonement. In this case, all the blood of innocent prophets would be avenged upon the Temple and its priesthood.

But, when this occurs, the passage itself does something cool. The angels with their bowls are in the centre of that particular structure. The seven seals, via the martyr trumpets, have become the seven bowls.

Genesis/Ark: and out of the sanctuary 

Exodus/Veil: came the seven angels with the seven plagues, 

Leviticus/Altar: clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests. 

Numbers/Lampstand: And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, 

Deuteronomy/Incense: and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power,

Joshua/Laver (Atonement – Adam): and no one could enter the sanctuary

Judges/Shekinah (Tabernacles): until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

These seven bowls finish off the mediatory priesthood of Aaron/Zadok forever. Once that is done, the “body” can follow the “head” into heaven (the first resurrection) completing the totus Christus in AD70.

But my point is that although this event is at Atonement/Laver in the larger structure, the position of the first mention of the bowls is at Pentecost/Lampstand. The Lampstand lights were seven separate “bowls” of oil with wicks. The Law was given at Pentecost. Day 4 here is the de-Creation of Judah’s governing lights. Her sun, moon and stars fell from heaven. Here, the curses of the Law are poured out in the mother of all Pentecosts. Those who would not be purified by the holy fire as a new Christian priesthood would be incinerated like the unfaithful sons of Aaron. [2]

As David Chilton points out in The Days of Vengeance [PDF], Revelation is a Temple worship service with Judah as the sacrifice. It is unintelligible to most Christians because we don’t know the patterns of the Old Testament. Those who do know them (Jews), don’t read the New Testament. Glad we’ve got Chilton, Jordan and others to join the dots for us.

For more of this sort of analysis, get Totus Christus for starters and Jordan’s lectures for the main meal.

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[1] See Lambs in Limbo. Revelation is NOT about Rome. It is about the compromise with Roman political power of the Covenant people. The book is laced with the Covenant pattern. The harlot is burned with fire as the unfaithful daughter of a priest.
[2] See The Three Shepherds – 1