Page 174 - Advanced Biblical Backgrounds Revised

court, and the Holy of Holies where God dwells. In the Garden of Eden, there is the outside world, the
garden itself, and then the center of the garden where God dwelt is seen as a foreshadowing of the
heavenly temple. Then an earthly temple is built that resembles the heavenly temple. In this temple,
God dwells with His people. There is an outer court, an inner court, and a Holy of Holies where God
dwells. In Revelation, this terminology is offered as a continuing theme. The New Jerusalem is a city with
an outside area. The nations can come to God and worship in the city. There is also a Holy of Holies
where God dwells in the city. It is interesting that the Holy of Holies is a cube in Exodus 38:9-20, the new
temple in Ezekiel 41:13 is a cube, and the New Jerusalem is described as a cube in Romans 21:16. This is
a very minimalistic depiction of this proposed echo. Far more has been written about it by erudite
scholars.

Another example may be the use of the plagues as echoes to a theme. De Wall notes that Beale affirms
the possible existence of underlying echoes. An example given is the plagues. They were not designed to
bring the Egyptians to repentance. Rather they were disciplines by God. The trumpet judgments are
similar in that respect. The goal of God is not to bring them to repentance but rather to punish their
willful rejection. 223 It is enough to demonstrate how a conceptual echo can be traced through scripture.

Another potential thematic echo is the exodus motif. While liberation scholars wildly abuse it, there is
no doubt that there is a theme in Scripture of God liberating His oppressed people. Revelation shows
the evil authorities of this world oppressing the Jewish people. God rescues them, and they turn to their
Messiah. Within Israel, this shows up in the prophets when they accuse the leaders of oppressing the
people through many different means, including denying them justice. This may be an “echo” of a
theme in the OT that is foundational for the Revelation prophecies of God’s future deliverance of His
people from evil authorities at the return of Christ.

While these may or may not be correctly categorized as echoes, they certainly could be understood in
this manner. As such, they are a potential OT background every pastor should be familiar with.
These tools of allusions, citations and quotations, and potential echoes are helpful ways of recognizing
and categorizing the cultural backgrounds of the Revelation. It helps us better understand the cultural
eyes of the author and recipient of Revelation.

Other Backgrounds and theories of interpretation of Revelation

The Roman empire had laid waste to Jerusalem in AD 70. The people of God were scattered. We believe
the year was approximately AD 90 but are not certain. John had been banished to Patmos, an island in
the Aegean Sea. There he receives a series of visions, and he is told to prophesy (Revelation 1:3, 10:11,
and 22:10, 18). What might have been the cultural background? Many have proposed different views.
Some have focused on the numbers and tried to show how the numbers correlate to cultural realities.
For instance, Rome is called the city on seven hills. It literally was a city on hills, but some have also
pointed to the seven emperors. Some have said the seven hills is a hidden political reference to the
seven emperors from Jesus' lifetime until John’s writing. This is an interesting coincidence and not
obviously impossible, yet the connection also cannot be proven. As such, it is wiser to note the similarity
but not base one’s interpretation of Revelation on it.

More likely, the backgrounds we can know include the following. Like John, the Jews and the Christians
had been scattered in the aftermath of the Roman invasion. Jerusalem, the city of God, was destroyed.

223 Ibid. p. 75.

173