Saturday, June 22, 2024

Reading for June 29th

 THE THREE BLASTS OF WOE

8.13-11.18: As the first four trumpets were introduced by a short dramatic scene (8.35), so also are the last three (8.13). Only two of these woes are later marked (9.12;11.14). The last trumpet is hardly a woe, for it contains nothing unpleasant.

Read Revelation 8.13-9.12. In 9.1-11: The fifth trumpet. The star that has fallen is an apparent reference to the myth of Lucifer (see Isa 14; Luke 10.18). The opening of the pit unleashes demonic forces for the first time in the story (it will be closed again at 20.3). In verse 3: The locusts echoes the plague on Egypt (Ex 10.12-20) and are modeled on Joel 2. In verse 4: The seal of God refers to 7.1-3. In verse 10: Five months is more than a third of of a year, the only other use of five is at 17.10. In verse 11: Abaddon is the Hebrew term for the grave or the pit; Apollyon seems to be a pun for its usual Greek translation ("apoleia," destruction), changed to suggest that the sun god Apollo. Comments or Questions...

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