07-13-14 Revelation drama!

Revelation 1:1-3

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            I once applied for a church position and some members of the search committee said “That drama thing isn’t for me.”  My assumption is; the person who says that has never done a serious reading of the book of Revelation.

The book of Revelation(no-s) Revelation as Drama. There are many similarities between Revelation and a Greek tragedy of the day. (greek theater 1 - stage) A Greek theatre was considered sacred ground for all who participated; actors, chorus and patrons were considered ministers of religion. The technical Greek word for producing a play was “to teach” and the director was called “the teacher” while the plays were termed “the teachings”. Actors were called priests and the throne of God stood on the lower stage. In that setting, the readers of the book of Revelation would have found much about Greek drama already part of their religious heritage and a good background for understanding their new one. John wrote Revelation at a time when Greeks were a huge part of the new church.

          The role of the chorus in Greek drama is very close to the role of the twenty-four elders in Revelation. At the beginning of a Greek drama, a chorus of twelve or twenty-four entered the stage and stood around the throne of Dionysius. The earliest tragedies had only choruses and no actors. The chorus could don masks (greek theater 2 - masks) and represent animals, birds, or beasts. At a later time (after 400 BC) the dramas added one actor. The chorus however continued to be the medium for interpreting the drama. In Revelation the twenty-four elders sing and interpret the drama. (greek theater 3 - chorus) They lead John around Heaven and introduce many of the visions. Several major hymns appear in Revelation in a balanced strophe antistrophe pattern characteristic of the Greek dramas. "Strophe" and "antistrophe" are ways of referring to the metrical or rhythmical pattern of a text which was originally sung. Basically, the antistrophe picks up the pattern of the strophe, more or less as the melody and rhythm of the first "verse" of a modern song is picked up in the second "verse", and then in the third "verse", etc. In fact, one could print the words of the antistrophe directly underneath the words of the corresponding part of the strophe. The great composer Handel was so inspired by the hymns of the book of Revelation that he made them a vital part of his work The Messiah. (greek theater 4 - the gods)

          At Ephesus, a great amphitheater stood holding 24,000 seats. It had been built in the third century BC and was the largest of the Greek theaters. The stage building, skene, was most unique in that it contained seven windows (thuromata) for scenery consisted of painted panels. All other Greek stages had three or five such openings. So, for nearly 300 years before the writing of Revelation, the number seven had acquired great significance for the inhabitants of Ephesus. (end pictures) Everyone who has written on Revelation has remarked on its unique use of sevens – seven churches, seven trumpets, seven bowls, seven blessings and so on.  Revelation can easily be divided into seven acts with seven scenes.

          The first blessing in Revelation is “Blessed is he who reads aloud the prophecy.” (1:3) Someone suggested that the best way to begin a study of Revelation is to read it aloud with the recording of Handels’ Messiah in the background. The factor that has made Revelation a lost book is that it has been left on the cold printed page. Revelation was meant to be seen and heard. A vision cannot be put into prose. The speaking of Revelation is an essential element for interpretation. The enacted story possesses the power to transport the hearer into a different world. One enters into another universe and undergoes a new reality. The writer of Revelation had no hopes that his dramatic message would ever be enacted on the stage of Ephesus, but he used the dramatic medium of Greek drama and the stage of Ephesus to ensure the book would be heard and seen. As a congregation heard it, they would envision it against the backdrop of the famous stage at Ephesus where they had witnessed so many Greek dramas.

          Apocalyptic Symbolism. The vision of Revelation came alive through the vivid use of colors, symbols, animals and numbers. One cannot read Revelation as one would read a Gospel or a Pauline Letter. The imagination must be used.

Revelation 1:2

The  Revelation   of Jesus Christ,   which gave     him,   unto God    to show       servants unto his

      Apokálupsis      Ieesoú   Christoú  heén  édooken  autoó  ho   Theós  deíxai  toís  doúlois  autoú  

things which must come to pass; shortly         and  signified  he sent     it   by        angel    his   

há           deí  genésthai     en  táchei  Kaí       eseémanen  aposteílas       diá  toú  angélou  autoú

unto servant his    John:   

      toó  doúloo  autoú  Iooánnee

2 Who  bare record   of   the  word   of   God,   and  of the testimony  of Jesus Christ,   and   

hós  emartúreesen       tón  lógon  toú  Theoú  kaí  teén   marturían  Ieesoú   Christoú       

of all things that he saw.

hósa               eíden

Rev 1:1-3     The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,  who testifies to everything he saw — that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Playbill              Introduction

          a. John’s Title for His Book (1:1-3)

          b. The Letter Form of This Apocalypse (1:4-6 and 22:21)

Prologue (1:7,8)

Act 1  Vision of the Church on Earth – The Son of Man in Its Midst (1:9 to 3:22)

          (The Letter to the Seven Churches)

Act 2  Vision of God in Heaven – God’s Purpose in History (4:1 to 8:1)

          (The Opening of the Seven Seals)

Act 3  Vision of the Seven Angels of the Presence

          - The Church in Tribulation (8:2 to 11:18)

          (The Sounding of the Seven Trumpets)

Act 4  Vision of the Church Triumphant – The Drama of Salvation (11:19 to 14:20 and 15:2-4)

          (The Showing of the Seven Pageants)

Act 5  Vision of the Seven Angels of God’s Wrath

          - The World in Agony (15:1,5 to 16:21)

          ( The Pouring Out of the Seven Bowls)

Act 6  Vision of Babylon’s Overthrow

          - The Drama of Judgment (17:1 to 20:3 and 7-10)

Act 7  Vision of the Church in the Millennium

          - Consummation of God’s Purpose (20:4-6 and 20:11 to 22:5)

          (The Fulfilling of God’s Sevenfold Plan)

Epilogue (22:6-21)

 

What difference does it make to know the form in which Revelation was written?  Already you feel less nervous about the content because you have some understanding of how it was written and the setting it was written in.  Seeing the divisions of Acts and Scenes puts it in bite size pieces to digest.  Knowing it is meant to be read aloud and not just read silently in the mind lends power to grasping its meaning.  The message is essential to Christian faith and we must not fear it but rather embrace it and tell about it even as you would encourage others to go see a great play you witnessed for yourself.

Finally, the reason you need to not only know the form but also the function of the book of revelation is because it tell the history of mankind from John’s Day to the beginning of a new heaven and a new earth when the former thing (the things we know) have passed away and he who sits on the throne says; Behold, I am making all things new!