3 Since there are many other parallels in Revelation to

1 Enoch, it seems probable that John derives the phrase "book of life" from 1 Enoch.

The second type of book is present in Dev 20;12 where "the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done". Books of judgment in which good and bad deeds of men are recorded are frequently mentioned in apocalypses, and there are several references to them in 1 Bnoch,^^ ^ The closest verbal parallel in Revelation,

however, is to the Book of Daniel where "books were opened".

The third type presents itself in the scroll with seven seals in chapter five, and in the little scroll of chapter ten. Books of destiny which tell of future events are commonly found in the

Pseudepigrapha,®'® but the scrolls of Revelation* s chapters five and ten seem to show more dependence on Ezekiel* s scroll by the fact that

Revelation* s first scroll has writing on it back and front,®'® while the second is taken from the hand of an angel, and when eaten "it was sweet as honey in my mouth".

As well as references to the "heavenly books", we frequently come across mention of a non-heavenly book viz. the apocalypse itself. In the Book of Daniel, the apocalyptic book is to be sealed and kept for a future generation to read.®'® This idea is also found in 1 Dnoch.

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John shows that he is familiar with the tradition, though he does not follow it, when he writes, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book,"®®*

Although John adds his own details, in his use of the heavenly books, he adheres to their meaning as found in his Old Testament and apocalyptic sources.

<7) Strggg -.and FergegütiQin_.Symb.Qls

We saw in our first chapter that early Jewish apocalypses and the earlier of the Christian apocalypses were written in times of stress. The stresses at the time of Revelation were discussed in the previous chapter, and amongst these, there was evidence of persecution. It is not surprising, therefore, to find John using symbols and phrases derived from the Book of Daniel which had been written in the persecution of Antiochus Bpiphanes.

Thus the time during which pagans defile God’s sanctuary in Rev

11;2 lasts forty-two months. This period is derived from Dan 7:25 where, however, it is described as "a time and times and half a time", and marks the duration of the desecration of the temple under Antiochus Bpiphanes.

The time appears in three forms in Revelation'.-

(1) In Dev 11:2 and 13:5 as forty-two months.

Chapter Three

(2) In Dev 11:3 and 12:6 as 1260 days. (Akin to Daniel 12:11 where the number is 1290 owing to the insertion of an intercalary month. )

(3) In Dev 12:14 as "a time and times and half a time". This is a literal rendering of Dan 7:25 and 12:7.

It is evident from Luke 4:25, James 5:7, and 4 Ezra 5:4 that three and a half had become a symbol of disaster. This might have been

derived from a literal three and a half years desecration of the temple in Daniel', it has also been suggested that 3% is the splitting in half of the perfect number 7.®®'

The "beast" who is Antichrist and probably "Nero redivivus"®®® who persecutes the two olive-trees "ascends from the bottomless pit", just as Daniel's "four great beasts came up out of the sea” ,®®® and it "shall make war against them, and conquer and slay them" just as the horn of

Daniel's fourth beast "made war with the saints and prevailed over them."®®*

Charles identifies this beast of Dev 11:7 with the beast of Dev 13:1.®®® This beast has anatomical references to a leopard, a bear and a lion, probably derived from the first three beasts of Daniel's vision in chapter seven,®®® and it even has ten horns like Daniel's fourth beast.®®'' It has "a mouth uttering haughty words" as the little horn in Daniel had "a mouth speaking great things",®®® It was given power "to make war with the saints and to conquer them" (cf. Dan

7:21).®®® "All that worship not the image of the beast" are to be

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slain, just as those who would not worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s image : ■? S30

were to be cast into a burning fiery furnace.®

It seems that we could identify the beast of Dev 13 with the red dragon of Dev 12 as it too has "seven heads and ten horns’’,®®' unless with Charles we see this phrase as an interpolation,®®® In any case, there is dependence on Daniel in Dev 12;4 where the red dragon with his tail ’’swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth" (cf Dan 7:10).®®®

Thus it can be seen that John gets much of his beast image from

Daniel, and he sees a resemblance between Antiochus Bpiphanes and the Roman Emperor, in their persecution, their pride, and their demand that people worship their own image.

CQ&g.Iuglon

John displays a thorough acquaintance with the Old Testament, but most of the borrowings are from the major prophets. The apocalyptic tradition also plays a major rôle in providing John with imagery, the largest number of similarities being with 1 Enoch,

Although John often uses the images in the way they are used in his sources, it is also apparent that he frequently adapts the pictorial representations to his own purposes.

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Part 2