Season 3 Podcast 40 Letters of John to the Seven Churches Pt IV Uses of Parallelism

Letter of John to the Seven Churches Pt IV Uses of ParallelismThe Book of Revelation is unique above all other scriptures, and if scriptures were evaluated by their impact, I suppose the Book of Revelation would be the apex which is coincidentally positioned as the last book of the Holy Bible. Perhaps that is fitting.  Though perhaps the Book of Revelation was not chronologically the last book written, the end is the most emphatic position and what greater book than the Book of Revelation could have that honored spot.Where else in all of Holy Scripture do you get a summary history of the entire world from the beginning to the end? It also includes the premortal existence of our spirits before coming to earth to gain a body, the War in Heaven, and the final judgment. The scope alone sets it apart. If the Book of Revelation is not true, then all of Christianity is false. It is a mere fable of no more consequence than Grimm’s Fairy Tales. It is very important that we understand the Book of Revelation.In this Podcast, however, I want to deal with the poetry of the Book of Revelation for it gives us an added tool in our analysis of that magnificent book.  The Book of Revelation is a single poem written in Hebrew style which means it is distinguished by the use of multiple forms of parallelism, the dominating style of the Old Testament. For the sake of economy, I shall deal only with the first three chapters and the last four chapters of the Book of Revelation. Even then I must be very selective, or the length of this podcast would exceed your patience.  In analyzing the Book of Revelation, let me establish three simple rules of logic which I shall use  throughout. Rule One.  As with all good poetry every image must be accounted for. Poetry is often made up of literal and figurative images. What makes the Book of Revelation difficult (As well as the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Daniel, and much of the other poetry of the Old Testament) are the rich figurative images.Rule Two: We should not read any of the Seven Letters in isolation of the other letters. The number seven means wholeness or complete. The Church of Christ is not represented by just one letter but by all seven combined; therefore, in analyzing the images, we must look at the whole set of letters.  In translation all saints are entitled to all the blessings or promises contained in the seven letters.Rule Three. We must consider in our analysis the structure of the entire Book of Revelation for it is one long epic poem. In fact it isn’t just the seven letters listed in Chapters 2 & 3 that are sent to the Seven Churches. The letters are just the cover letters to the churches for the entire Book of Revelation.  In Chapter 1 We read:“10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.” (Revelation 1:10-11)Of course it is the Savior who is speaking and when he says, “What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches.” In other words, John was instructed to record the entire vision in a book and send it to the seven churches.