BIBLICAL Horizons, No. 64
August, 1994
Copyright 1994, Biblical Horizons
The two harvests of Revelation 14:14-20, of grain and of grapes, are most often understood as symbolic of God’s judgment against the wicked, or against Babylon, as amplified in chapters 16 & 17. Some commentators, however, notice that the gospels speak of the grain harvest as a reaping of the saints, and thus take the grain harvest as picturing the death, perhaps martyrdom, of the saints, while the grape harvest pictures the destruction of the wicked. The only expositor I have found who associates the grape harvest even slightly with the martyrdom of the saints is Eugenio Corsini, and he associates it primarily with the actual death of Jesus on the cross (The Apocalypse: The Perennial Revelation of Jesus Christ [Wilmington, DW: Michael Glazier, 1983]). Of course, I don’t have access to everything written on Revelation, so there may be a few who have taken the grape harvest as a martyrdom, but they must be very few, for this view does not even surface as a possibility in most commentaries.
The burden of this essay is to argue that the grape harvest, like the grain harvest, is the harvest of the "Firstfruits Church" in the years immediately preceding the destruction of the Old Creation order in ad 70.
Prima facie it would seem obvious that a positive harvest of the Godly is in view. Grain and fruit (the foundation of wine) have been associated together ever since the third day of creation. Melchizedek brought out bread and wine. Joseph replaced both baker and cupbearer, bringing new bread and wine to the world. The tribute offering under the Law required both grain and a libation of wine. Both bread and wine were found on the Table of Showbread, signifying Israel. Bread and wine signify Jesus Christ at His supper, and by eating them, we become new bread and wine ourselves. Thus, a harvest of both grain and grapes would seem to be two sides of one coin, and clearly a harvest of the saints.
The reason some commentators do not entertain such an interpretive possibility is that they are caught up in the idea that Revelation is completely about the judgment of the wicked (and for such expositors this usually means judgment at the full end of history), with the result that such expositors immediately and unreffectively take every scene of judgment in that light. Others are more considered in their approach, but simply miss the true sequence of thought in this section of Revelation, thereby misinterpreting this scene of harvest, as I shall seek to show below.
Why, though, do we find a number of commentators who take the grain to be the saints and the grapes to be the wicked? There are several factors that coalesce in causing expositors to make this distinction. First, it is the Son of Man who harvests the grain, while a mere angel harvests the grapes. This is taken to hint at a contrast. Second, the harvest of grapes is called for by the angel who has power over fire (14:18), suggesting the same kind of fiery judgment shortly to be visited on Babylon in chapter 16. Third, the grapes are thrown into "the great wine press of the wrath of God," which certainly seems to point to the judgment of the wicked, especially when in 19:13-15 it seems that the bloody robe of Jesus comes from His treading "the wine press of the wine of His fierce wrath," and this seems to be a picture of the destruction of the wicked. And fourth, 14:20 says that the wine press is outside the city, and thus in a place of judgment.
Let us take these in order. First, if we look at Revelation 6, we find that the first of the four horsemen is Jesus Himself, with the other three following Him and clearly filling out the work He initiates. We should assume the same pattern here. The fact that the Son of Man is the first of the four actors in this harvest drama does not mean that His work contrasts with theirs. In fact, in Revelation 14:6-20 we find a series of seven actors: three proclaiming angels, the Son of Man, and three acting angels. Thus, centrally the Son of Man is the Captain of the whole enterprise described here.
Second, the involvement of the angel of fire in this judgment is important, but the fire is only partially a symbol of God’s wrath. More fully, it is a symbol of His presence, which is warming to the righteous and destructive to the wicked. The full explanation of the involvement of the angel of fire will be discussed below.
Third, the phrase "great wine press of the wrath of God" might mean that the wine press represents God’s wrath, or that the press produces the wine of God’s wrath. In the light of 19:15, "the wine press of the wine of His fierce wrath," the latter is the more likely: "the wine press of His fierce wrath-wine." As we shall see, the context makes it clear that it is the wine that has wrath, not the wine press. The grapes do not die under God’s wrath, but their blood, poured out upon Babylon, contains His wrath. The blood of the saints is "wrath-wine."
Fourth, the fact that the wine press is outside the city is not a sign of judgment but of union with Christ. The saints die as their Master did. In fact, Hebrews 13:12-13 makes the association clear: "Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate; hence let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach." Bearing His reproach to the ultimate extent means martyrdom. Moreover, Jesus had predicted that the saints would be put out of the synagogues (John 16:2), and in Acts 8:1 they were driven from the city (compare Revelation 12:14, which speaks of the same event). Thus, dying outside the city is not a symbol of judgment but of blessing, for the city in 14:20 has already been identified as apostate Jerusalem (11:8).
The nature of the grape harvest is made clear by the sequence of events in Revelation 13-17. In chapter 13 the seabeast, landbeast, and beastimage are revealed. Then in 14:1-5 we are shown the 144,000 Jewish believers from chapter 7. They stand with the Lamb, not the beast, and they have the name of the Lamb, not that of the beast, on their foreheads. These are specifically identified as "first fruits to God and to the Lamb" (14:4). They are not, then, the whole Church of all of history but only the beginning of the Church. They are the believers brought out of the Old Creation church, Jews and God-fearers, into the New Covenant during the period after ad 30.
In 14:6-7 the first angel proclaims the eternal good news to all the world, saying that an appointed time of judgment has arrived. The good news is the judgment and destruction of apostate Jerusalem, mystically Sodom and Egypt, and Babylon. What follows are the events that set in motion that judgment. Jerusalem, meaning Judaism and the Christian apostates called Judaizers, was the great oppressor and enemy of the fledgling Church, and thus the destruction of apostate Judaism is good news. Allied with Jerusalem was the Beast, the apostate World Empire set up in the days of Daniel, now fallen from the good days of Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, and Darius into the oppressive apostasy of Nero. The judgment of the Beast, simultaneous with that of Jerusalem, is great good news.
Then in v. 8, the second angel announces the destruction of Babylon the great, clearly the great city of 11:8, which is Jerusalem. Jerusalem should have been a light of salvation to the nations, but instead has become a new Babylon, corrupting the nations.
Then in vv. 9-12 the third angel states that anyone who serves the beast and receives his mark will drink the wine of the wrath of God, which is not diluted with any water, and which contains His anger and His fire. This is very important for our study, because what follows is the generation of this wine. Clearly, it is not the wicked who are trodden in the wine press, for the wicked will be made to drink the wine. It is someone else who is trodden in the wine press.
In v. 13 we have a beatitude, proclaiming that those who die in the Lord will be blessed from now on, for they rest from their labors. Since a harvest immediately follows, it seems rather obvious that it is the saints, not the wicked, who are being harvested.
In v. 14 Jesus appears as one like a son of man, a fulfilled human being, a second Adam. He is on a white cloud, as He has already been on a white horse and will be on a white throne. An angel comes from the sanctuary in heaven and calls on Him to reap the grain harvest of the earth (or land). This seems to indicate that the timing of this event is the Father’s, and so an angel communicates to the Son that the time is now.
If we translate ge as "earth," then we would take this as a picture of an event at the end of history. As we have seen, however, this is the harvest of the first fruits. Thus, in keeping with the symbolism of Revelation, which uses "land" for the Jews and "sea" for the gentiles, we should translate it as "land" here. It is most specifically the Jewish church that is harvested here. It is the harvest of true Judaism, after which Judaism comes to an end in ad 70.
Then in verses 17-20 a second angel emerges, serving the Son of Man, with another sharp sickle. The third angel, the one with power over fire, calls on him to harvest the vintage. Again the "land" and the "vine of the land," true Israel, are harvested.
Who is this "fire angel"? He is the angel of Revelation 8:3-5, who may well be Christ Himself, for as altar-angel he seems to be a priest, indeed likely the Great High Priest. He takes fire from the altar before God’s throne and throws it down to the land, after which follow peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake. This is the event recorded in Acts 2, the day of Pentecost, when tongues of fire came from heaven to create the Firstfruits Church. The thunder, lightning, fire, and earthquake recall the first pentecost, at Sinai, when the Law was given; but these same phenomena are found in the book of Acts and signify the shaking of the land that commences when the Spirit is poured out. Thus, the Fire Angel initiates the Firstfruits Church, and so it is fitting that he also calls for its harvest. That which the fire has produced is now harvested.
The blood flows out from Jerusalem to 1600 stadia (200 miles). Whether this is a sea of blood flowing in every direction, or a stream of blood, is not clear. The fact that the number is composed of 4×4 times 100 calls to mind the four corners of the land and the use of 4 as a symbol of a geographical area, in which case it is a sea, not a river of blood that is intended here. What is clear from Biblical theology is that innocent blood shed on the land calls up the avenger of blood. The blood of the baby boys thrown into the Nile when Moses was an infant turned the Nile to blood 80 years later, which called up the Angel of Death, the Divine Avenger. Here it is the blood of the martyrs that calls forth the Divine Avenger and the seven libation bowls of wrath. Jesus does not avenge His own death, but He avenges the murder of the members of His bride.
This is the event, or summation of events, that necessitates the destruction of Jerusalem, which "kills the prophets" and upon whom the blood of all the innocent from Abel forward was to be placed (Mt. 23:34-38; Rev. 6:9-11). The blood, the wrath-wine of God, is to be placed upon Jerusalem; thus, it is collected in bowls and poured upon the city.
The harvest concludes the Trumpets section of Revelation, which began with the Fire Angel creating the Firstfruits Church at Pentecost (Rev. 8), and ends with the harvest of that Church. Thus, the 144,000 who stood with the Lamb on earth at the beginning of chapter 14 are now shown in heaven in chapter 15. This is another indication that it is these saints, not the wicked, who have been harvested. They have come off victorious from the beast and his associates, who killed the saints (13:15), again an indication the harvest in the immediately preceding verses refers to the martyrs, not to the wicked.
At this point the Holy of Holies in heaven is opened and seven angels appear with (libation) bowls of wrath. These are the equivalent of the cup of God’s anger, which contains the "wine of the wrath of God" (14:10), and which is given to those who follow the beast and kill the saints.
Since the bowls contain wrath, it is clear that they contain the wrath-wine of God, the blood of the saints. The association is made even clearer in that the effect of the bowls is to turn liquids to blood, first the sea (16:3) and then all drinking water (16:4-6). The result of the latter is that the wicked actually drink the blood, so that their own inner being calls forth the Divine Avenger.
Moreover, in 17:6 the harlot is said to be drunk with the blood of the saints and of Jesus’ martyrs. This liquid drunk by the faithless bride not only calls for vengeance, but is also to be associated with the Jealousy Inspection of Numbers 5, Exodus 32:20 and 1 Corinthians 11:27 & 30. All of this blood was produced back in 14:17-20, the martyrdom-harvest of the Firstfruits Church.
Now we can understand more fully the sequence of events. Babylon-Jerusalem kills the saints in chapter 11, and the Beast-Rome kills them in chapter 13. This is explained theologically and redemptive-historically in chapter 14: the saints are with the Slain Lamb on earth. They will participate in His sacrifice, in a sense, extending it. As Paul writes, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (which is the Church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ’s aflictions." Thus, our sufferings and martyrdom extend Christ’s work. He died for all of us, fully. But in an historical sense, He died for the first generation, the first generation dies for the second, and so forth. Thus, each generation of Christians participates in the glory of suffering to bring the world to its fullness of fruition. More pointedly, He died for the apostles, who died for the Firstfruits Church, which then died for the Millennial Church (which began in ad 70).
So, in Revelation 14, we see that though it appears to the eye that Babylon and Beast are killing the saints, in reality Christ is harvesting them. They are being trodden down by His gracious feet (Rev. 19:15). Their blood is on His robe, so that He never forgets them, and always is reminded to avenge them (Rev. 19:13).
The blood-spattered white robe of Christ in Revelation 19:13-15 points to the blood-spattered white robe of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. The blood of the saints participates in the blood shed on the Day of Atonement. As Christ died for the world first and foremost, so we also die for the world, for the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. Naturally, we also participate in His position as scapegoat, being driven into the wilderness (Rev. 12:14; 14:20). He, as High Priests, sacrifices us for the sake of the world. This is the glory of all our sufferings.
The blood of the Atonement is sprinkled seven times before the throne of God, to show Him that atonement has been made (Lev. 16:14, 15, 19). But the blood of the Lamb is not sprinkled on the wicked, for His blood is not wrath-wine. He forgave His enemies on the cross.
Jesus does not, however, forgive those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who creates the Church. In other words, He does not forgive those who attack and murder the members of His holy bride, for that is what blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is. The blood of the saints, thus, has a double use. It participates in the atonement, in that we die for the world and our death extends the gospel. But it also is sprinkled seven times upon Babylon, actually poured out from seven libation bowls, thus placing God’s wrath upon Babylon. The blood of the saints, sprinkled seven times on Babylon, calls forth the Divine Avenging Husband, who then destroys the city. The blood of the saints, under the altar, cries for vengeance (Rev. 6:9-11), and now vengeance is visited on Babylon and the Beast (Rev. 19:2).
It remains only to comment on the common misinterpretation of Revelation 19:13-15. Expositors refer to Isaiah 63:1-6, where the Lord is pictured coming from Edom, His garment stained with the blood of His enemies, which He has trampled down. Thus, it is usually maintained that Revelation 19:13-15 must refer to the trampling of the wicked, and this is then applied to Revelation 14:19-20.
If we run straight from Isaiah to Revelation, however, we run into two problems. The first is the material we have been considering in this essay: The blood in Revelation is rather clearly the blood of the saints. Revelation 19:2 says that Jesus "has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on" Babylon.
The second problem, which illuminates our interpretation and serves to confirm it, is that running straight from Isaiah to Revelation overlooks the cross. On the cross Jesus took on Himself the vengeance due His enemies. He was splattered with His own blood. Thus, Isaiah 63:1-6 is applied to Jesus Himself at Golgotha. Following through, the principle therefore is also applied to those in union with Christ, His Church. Jesus put Himself into the wine press of God’s wrath, and He puts us into it as well! In union with Him, the shedding our blood is not for our destruction, but for the furtherance of the world’s salvation. Accordingly, when Isaiah 63:1-6 is cited in Revelation 19, it is applied in union with the cross.
The comfort for us is this: When the world and the false church oppress us, and even kill us, it is not a sign of God’s wrath against us. Behind the scenes, Jesus is in control. It is His wondrous feet that trample us, not to destroy us, but so that we may participate in His wondrous, redemptive work.
Biblical Chronology
Vol. 6, No. 8
August, 1994
Copyright © James B. Jordan 1994
by James B. Jordan
(Conclusion of Chapter 16:)
Month 3, 2513
According to Leviticus 23:15-16, Pentecost was to be observed 50 days after the sabbath after Passover, or 49 days after the Feast of First Fruits. I initially based my reflections on the Jewish tradition that the Law was given on Pentecost. My own investigation has led me to believe that this is correct. If we can figure out which day of the month this was, then we know that the day before it was a sabbath, and we can then count the sabbaths backwards and assign days in the 1st and 2d months as sabbaths, which is what I have done.
On the 1st day of the 3d month, Israel arrived before Sinai and camped in front of Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:1-2).
Exodus 19:3-6 says Moses went up on the mountain. I assume that this was the next day.
Exodus 19:7-8a says that Moses told God’s words to the elders and that they, for the people, accepted it. I assume that this was the 3d day of the month.
Exodus 19:8b-9a says that Moses went back to God and told Him of the people’s acceptance, and received more information from Him. I assume that this was the 4th day.
Exodus 19:9b says that Moses told the people about this. Given the amount of time it takes to go up the mountain and down, and the amount of time it takes to gather the elders and confer with them, I assume that this was the following, or 5th day.
Exodus 19:10-13 indicates that Moses then went up the mountain again and got further instructions from God, and then came down and consecrated the people. This would be the 6th day.
The people were told to prepare for God’s arrival on the 3d day, so that next day was a day of consecration.
God arrived on the 8th day and spoke the 10 Words to the people. Then God gave Moses the Ordinances (Ex. 21-23).
The following day, Day 9, the people accepted the covenant and the elders had a meal with God.
Exodus 24:16 says that God’s glory was on the mountain for 6 days, and then Moses went up into the glory on the 7th.
Now, possibly none of these events had any connection to the festival calendar that God was about to initiate, and possibly none of these events had any connection with Creation Week. I assume, however, they these events were connected with both. First, the reference to God’s creation week in Exodus 20:11 shows that God expected these people already to be operating in terms of that week. Moreover, the cloud of God was on the mountain for six days and then Moses was called up on the seventh. Second, the festival calendar of Leviticus 23 begins with Passover, and so we are justified in assuming, provisionally at least, that the events after Passover are also tied to the calendar.
If we make these assumptions, everything falls nicely into place. This, to me, is strong confirmation that the assumptions are correct. We have already made associations with the Feast of First Fruits and with Pentecost, so let us now consider the parallels with Creation Week:
Day 1: Creation; Israel arrives at Sinai.
Day 2: Firmament established. The Firmanent is the outer house of God, which is pictured in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle. That room is maintained by the priests. On this day, God tells Moses that Israel will be a nation of priests.
Day 3: Land emerges; Israel accepts God’s offer.
Day 4: Astral bodies created and made lights for the Firmament; Moses reports to God, who says that He will appear to the people in a cloud. The astral bodies show God’s light in the sky; here God says He will show Himself in a fiery cloud.
Day 5: Hosts of land and sea; the host of God hears that God is coming.
Day 6: Creation of man and announcement of God’s test to Adam and Eve; God tells Israel to make themselves clean and new: to wash themselves, wait for the 3d day, keep themselves from their wives, and not to touch the mountain. This is parallel to the test given Adam and Eve: to not eat (or even touch, as Eve rightly surmised) the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Day 7: A day of sabbath rest and waiting, which Adam and Eve failed to observe, but which Israel did observe on this occasion.
Day 8: The first day of a new creation, when Yahweh gave the Torah-law to Israel.
Day 9: The second day of a new creation, when the elders of Israel were admitted into the outskirts of the cloud-firmament to eat a meal with God. Later the priests would maintain that meal (the 12 loaves of showbread) in the Holy Place, equivalent to the place half-way up the mountain where the elders ate.
Day 14: At the end of this second week, the week of man, Moses ascended the mountain and remained there (for 40 days, anyway). God ascended to sabbath rest at the end of His week in Genesis 1-2, and since man is God’s image, it is implied that man would ascend to join God in rest (by entering the Throneland of Eden, west of the Garden) at the end of man’s week. We see the same progression here. God creates His world anew during the first week and sets a test before Israel, which they pass initially. Instead of being cast out of God’s presence, therefore, the elders of Israel are invited to eat with Him, but they are still "in the Garden" which is the gateway to the Throneland of Eden. At the end of this second week, the week of man, Moses is invited into the equivalent of the Throneland, to dwell with God as a junior partner in His rule. This sequence of events foreshadows the work of Christ.
With all this in mind, I feel fairly confident that the 14th day of the 3d month was a sabbath, and thus that the Law was given on a Sunday, the first day of a new week. If this is so, then we can calculate back the sabbaths and know when they came in the 1st month. (I have assumed a 29-day 1st month and a 30-day second month. If these are reversed, the sabbaths in the 2d month change, but those in the 1st month do not. This is because the entire span of time with which we are concerned crosses over two monthly boundaries. You can confirm this by drawing and marking calendars for both systems.)
I would be remiss if I did not point out how I think this chronology anticipates the work of Christ. The plagues against Egypt and the liberation of God’s people parallel the 3-year ministry of Jesus in general. Pharaoh’s attack and pursuit of Israel, on Friday (month 1, day 16) parallels the crucifixion, wherein Christ allowed Pharaoh to win (it seemed). Israel’s passage through the death-experience of the Red Sea on the sabbath of month 1, day 17, parallels Christ’s sojourn in the tomb. Israel’s victory celebration on Sunday, month 1, day 18, parallels His resurrection.
This sequence is then applied to God’s people. Israel’s consecration and sabbath wait (month 3, day 7) parallels the waiting of the apostles for the Holy Spirit in Acts 1 (note v. 12). The arrival of God’s fire on Mount Sinai (month 3, day 8) parallels the arrival of tongues of fire on Pentecost; God’s sermon parallels Peter’s. The meal eaten by the elders the following day parallels the continual feast of the saints that began in Acts 2:42.
Month 4, 2513
Moses was on the mountain with God for 40 days and 40 nights. If month 3 lasted 29 days, as I have posited, Moses returned on the 25th day of month 4. If month 3 lasted 30 days, then Moses returned on the 24th day of month 4.
Exodus 32:7 indicates that God ordered Moses to leave the mountain as soon as the evil festival got going. The previous day, the 24th on my reckoning, Aaron had told the people that this would be a festival to Yahweh. On the next day, the 26th, Moses interceded for Israel (Ex. 32:30).
Interestingly, these are days 4, 5 & 6 of the week. Israel was given the Law on the 1st day of the week, and admitted, through her elder, to God’s mountain on the 2d day. If we discount the 40-days, then Israel fell into sin before the "week" was out, and Moses was told to leave the mountain. Israel had lost her privilege.
God heard Moses’ intercession, and after a time called Moses back up the mountain for 40 more days (Ex. 34:1-3, 28). I have pictured this in months 5 & 6.
17. The Year 2514
With Moses again on Mount Sinai for 40 days during months 5 & 6 of 2513, we come to the beginning of year 2514, which of course began with the new moon of month 7. The next dated event we find is in Exodus 40:2, 17, where we are told that on the 1st day of the 1st month of 2514 the Tabernacle was erected. Thus, during the preceding six months the Tabernacle and its furnishings were made.
Exodus 40:12-15 show us that on this same day Aaron and his sons were consecrated to be priests. This event is recorded in greater detail in Leviticus 8. It is unlikely that on this same day, which is already quite full, God also dictated Leviticus 1-7 to Moses. Doubtless these revelations had been given previously, though not while Moses was in the cloud on Mount Sinai; we are told that God spoke these commands to him from the tent of meeting that preceded the building of the Tabernacle (Lev. 1:1; Ex. 33:7).
Aaron’s ordination actually lasted a week (Lev. 8:35), and on the eighth day Aaron offered his first sacrifice, God lit the fire on the altar, and God’s fire slew Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 9-10).
Numbers 7 tells us that on this same first day of the lunar year, the princes of the tribes of Israel began offering gifts to their newly enthroned King.
Numbers 8 describes the consecration of the Levites to assist the priests. The events in Numbers 1-9 are not given in chronological order, so we cannot be sure when this consecration took place. It makes sense that it took place after the consecration of Aaron as priest and before the first Passover conducted in connection with the Tabernacle (Num. 9). Apparently the Levites had already been exchanged for the firstborn of Israel, an event that almost certainly would have precede the consecration of the Levites by sacrifice (Num. 3). The travelling duties of the Levites, delineated in Numbers 4, probably took place in the second month, along with the mustering of the Israelite host for travel.
1st Month (March-April 2514) (assume 29 days)
Day 1: The Tabernacle is erected and God moves into it (Ex. 40:17; Num. 7:1). Moses is driven from the Tabernacle (Ex. 40:35) and is not able to reenter it until the sacrificial system has been set up. Aaron and his sons are anointed and invested, and begin the sacrifices of consecration (Lev. 8). The princes of the tribes begin to offer gifts of fealty to Yahweh, beginning with Judah (Num. 7:1, 12).
Day 2: Issachar’s offerings (Num. 7:18).
Day 3: Zebulun’s offerings (Num. 7:24).
Day 4: Reuben’s offerings (Num. 7:30).
Day 5: Simeon’s offerings (Num. 7:36).
Day 6: Gad’s offerings (Num. 7:42).
Day 7: Ephraim’s offerings (Num. 7:48).
Day 8: Manasseh’s offerings (Num. 7:54). Aaron offers sacrifices that cleanse the way for Moses and him to enter the Tabernacle. God lights the altar with His own fire (Lev. 9). Nadab and Abihu bring their own fire before God’s face and are consumed (Lev. 10).
Day 9: Benjamin’s offerings (Num. 7:60).
Day 10: Dan’s offerings (Num. 7:66). Passover lambs are set aside (Ex. 12:4).
Day 11: Asher’s offerings (Num. 7:72).
Day 12: Naphtali’s offerings (Num. 7:78).
Day 13: Perhaps on this day the Levites were consecrated to assist the priests (Num. 8:5-26).
Day 14: Passover observed, and rules given for a second Passover in the second month (Num. 9:5-6).
Day 21: Last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
2d Month (April-May 2514) (assume 30 days)
Day 1: Numbering and mustering of the Israelite host (Num. 1:1). Probably also the numbering of the Levites and assignation of their travelling duties (Num. 4). With the host formed, the unclean must depart the offcial boundaries of the camp (Num. 5:1-4).
Day 14: Second Passover.
Day 20: God’s cloud moves from the Tabernacle, signalling to break camp (Num. 10:11).
Day 21: Last day of Feast of Unleavened Bread; Israel sets out for the promised land.
Day 23: On the 3d day, the people complain and are punished at Taberah (Num. 10:33; 11:1-3).
Day 24: The people complain about manna. This is probably the following day. Moses complains about bear-ing the burden all alone. God gives him 70 helpers. God gives the people quail for a whole month (Num. 11:4-35).
3d Month (May-June 2514) (assume 29 days)
Day 24: Departure from Kibroth-hattaavah (Num. 11:20).
Day 27: Probably the day they set up camp at Haze-roth (Num. 11:35).
Day 28: Aaron and Miriam grumble; Miriam is struck with "decay" ("leprosy") for a week (Num. 12)
4th Month (June-July 2514) (assume 30 days)
Day 6: Miriam is cleansed; Israel breaks camp (Num. 12:16).
Day 9: Probably the day they set up camp in the Wilderness of Paran (Num. 12:16).
Day 10: The spies depart for 40 days (Num. 13:1-25).
5th Month (July-August 2514) (assume 29 days)
Day 20: The spies return; Israel rejects their message. God tells them that their sojourn in the wilderness will be extended to 40 years.
A series of events and rebellions follow, which seem to happen one after another during the 5th and 6th months:
– The people fight Canaanites and lose (Num. 14:40-45).
– God gives laws for libations of wine, a promise that someday they will enter the land and be able to offer wine (Num. 15).
– The rebellion of Korah (Num. 16).
– The destruction of Korah the following day (Num. 16:16).
– The plague on Israel the next day (Num. 16:41-50).
– The staffs of leaders placed before God, perhaps on the same day, perhaps a day later (Num. 17:1-7).
– Aaron’s staff blossoms the next day (Num. 17:8-11).
– Levites are given additional responsibilities to pro-tect Israel from the threat of God’s presence, and are given the tithe as reward (Lev. 17:12–18:32).
– God gives laws for cleansing after contact with the dead, introducing the 38 years of dying in the wilderness (Num. 19).
My guess is that all this happened by the end of the sixth month. The book of Numbers then skips to the end of the wanderings. Numbers 20 takes place in the 40th lunar year after the Exodus (the solar years 2553-54).
18. The Years 2553 and 2554.
No events are recorded for the first sixth months (months 7-12) of 2553. Numbers 20 says that Israel arrived at Kedesh in the 1st month, and that Miriam died at that time.
Over the next few months, we find Israel rebelling and demanding water (Num. 20:2-13), and we find Israel attempting to pass through Edom and being rebuffed (Num. 20:14-21).
Then Aaron died. Numbers 33:38 says that he died on the 1st day of the 5th month. Numbers 20:29 says that the people mourned him for 30 says, which takes us to the beginning of the 6th month. The death of the high priest released Israel from her "city of refuge" situation in the wilderness, and now the conquest of the land could begin anew (Num. 21).
Numerous battles and other events take place over the next several months (month 6, 2553; months 7-10, 2554). This brings us to the 1st day of the 11th month, which is the day Moses preached his sermons to Israel recorded in Deuteronomy 1-4, 5-26, 27-28, 29-30, 31, 32 (Dt. 1:3). The very same day, God showed Moses the land he would not be allowed to enter (Dt. 32:48). Then, apparently on that same day, Moses died (Dt. 32:50; 34:1-7).
Israel mourned for Moses 30 days (Dt. 34:8), which carries us into the 12th month. It makes sense to me that Joshua sent the two spies into Jericho during this month.
We come now to the 1st lunar month, still in the year 2554. Joshua 4:19 says that Israel crossed the Jordan on the 10th day. They had camped across the Jordan for three days previously (Josh. 3:1-2). Now, in Joshua 1:11 Joshua is seen telling the people that in 3 days they will cross the Jordan. Thus, Joshua 1 takes place at the Jordan (Josh. 3:1).
Accordingly, Joshua 2 must precede both Joshua 1 and Joshua 3. In Joshua 2 we find that the spies hid for 3 days after leaving Rahab, and then reported to Joshua at Shittim. Then Israel moved from Shittim to the Jordan, and remained there for 3 days before crossing the river. All of these days serve to push the actual spying back into the 12th month.
Some have suggested that the seven days of marching around Jericho (Josh 6:3-4) correspond with the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Thus, the destruction of Jericho would be a form of purging the leaven. I find this a bit hard, because the Feast of First Fruits came during the week of Unleavened Bread, and also because Joshua 5:13 seems to imply that they were sojourning near Jericho when the angel of Yahweh appeared to Joshua and gave him orders regarding the conquest of Jericho. My own guess is that the week of conquest followed the week of Unleavened Bread.
1st Month (March-April 2514)
Day 1: New Moon
Day 2: Spies leave Rahab and hide for 3 days.
Day 5: Spies report to Joshua; Israel breaks camp at Shittim.
Day 7: Israel arrives at Jordan; waits 3 days
Day 10: Israel crosses Jordan (Josh. 4:19); Passover lambs set aside.
Day 11: Israel circumcised (Josh. 5:2-9).
Day 14: Passover (Josh. 5:10).
Day 15: Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; Israel eats of the land (Josh. 5:11).
Day 16: Manna ceases (Josh. 5:12).
Day 21: Last day of Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Day 22: First day of march around Jericho (Josh. 5:3).
Day 28: Last day of march around Jericho; fall of Jericho (Josh. 5:4).
Rite Reasons, Studies in Worship, No. 34
Copyright (c) 1994 Biblical Horizons
August, 1994
Hearing, Seeing, and History
God is Word, not picture. He speaks, but He is not visible in Himself. Thus, God initiates history through language. He speaks the world into existence, and speaks to us to bring us out of formlessness and emptiness into the fullness of being His Bride. Similarly, we speak words that direct our lives and our children after us. Thus, language initiates history.
Sight, by way of contrast, comes at the end. We can “look back” over what we have experienced and understand it, while we often don’t understand what God is doing to us as we go through His course of instruction. Reason, therefore, comes at the end, not at the beginning.
To say, “In the beginning was the Reason,” the notion of Gordon Clark, is completely wrong. Rather, “In the beginning was the Language, the Spoken Word.” This is the alpha of history. “At the end will be Reason, Understanding.” That is the omega of history.
Reason is the sight of the mind. Jesus said to the High Priest, “Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64). Caiaphas did not see this with his physical eyes, but he was made to understand it by the events that followed.
We respond to language by faith, for we cannot see at the beginning how things will turn out at the end. Thus, we submit to God’s Word by faith. Because of this, reason is not the right tool to make men Christians. Reason only comes afterwards. As Augustine rightly said, “I believe in order to understand.”
Similarly, at the end we shall see Him. We do not see Him in the beginning; rather, we hear Him. There was nothing to see at Mount Sinai but dark clouds. Ezekiel and Daniel saw something like the form of a man. The disciples actually saw God in the flesh, but then Jesus went to heaven, out of their sight as Acts 1:9 explicitly says. The new Kingdom set up by Jesus is a new creation, a new start, a new initiation. The completed Bible is the Language, the Word, that starts the world anew. Once again there is nothing to see. Sight will come only at the end.
It is true that since the Bible has been completed, there is a place for reason to look back over it. The Bible begins with law and ends with the Pauline epistles, which contain much reasoned argument from history. Similarly, the more we progress in history, the more we shall understand, and the greater role reason will play. But we must never lose the foundation of law and command. We shall not understand it all in this world, and so must always be grounded in faith in God’s Word.
Thus, sight does not move us forward in history and maturation and sanctification and development. Rather, it is the Law-Word of God that always provokes historical development. We are told to resist the tendency to end history by living and worshipping in terms of sight. And indeed, wherever sight has taken over, as in Eastern Orthodoxy most obviously, history is regarded as ended. For the Orthodox, the so-called Seven Ecumenical Councils, of which the demand for iconolatrous worship was the last, are regarded as ending all that needs to be accomplished by the Church.
The Second Word
With these prefatory remarks out of the way, let us now consider precisely what is stated in the Second Word. This commandment is often misinterpreted as stating that no picture of God can be made. This is not what it says. What is says is that no image of anything can be set up as an avenue of worship to God and the court of heaven.
You shall not make for yourself a carving, and any similitude of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters under the earth: You shall not prostrate to them and you shall not serve them;
For I, Yahweh your God, am a Jealous God,
Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth of those who hate Me,
But showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and guard My orders.
It is impossible to separate the command “You shall not prostrate to them” from what precedes. If it were an additional, coordinate thought, it would begin with “and.” Thus, it is wrong to isolate the first command and say that God forbad the Israelites to make any images of any created thing, period. After all, the Tabernacle and Temple were full of images. The focus of the command is on prostrating to and serving images.
The simplest read of the Hebrew is as I have given it above, and as it is found in English Bibles. Based on the meaning of the commandment and a possible parallel to the Fourth Word, I should like to suggest an alternate read of the first part:
You shall not make for yourself a carving.
Indeed, any similitude of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters under the earth: You shall not prostrate to them and you shall not serve them.
The Fourth Word begins with a short command, which is then expanded into a longer command, and followed by an explanation. I suggest that the same structure is intended for the Second Word.
I also suggest this because of the meaning of the word “carving” in the first phrase. “Making a carving” is explained by prostrating and serving any manmade similitude of a created thing. This emerges from the fact that there is another “carving” or pesel in the book of Exodus: the Ten Words, which God carved with His own finger. The verb “hew out” in Exodus 34:1 & 4 and Deuteronomy 10:1 & 3 is the verbal form of same word.
Thus, the idea is not that of a “graven” image as opposed to a “molten” image or a “painted” image. The idea is that of a manmade graven object versus the God-made graven Word. The opposition is between God’s content-filled graven Words and man’s silent graven images. The opposition of God’s verbal covenant and man’s graven images is set out in greater detail in Deuteronomy 4:15-31, which we shall take up below.
These passages are virtually the only places where this Hebrew word is used in the Pentateuch, and almost the only places it is used in the whole Hebrew Bible. In only a few places are “graven” images set next to “molten” images. In the passages we are considering, the opposition is man’s engraving versus God’s.
For this reason, it seems to me that the essential command is: You shall not make for yourself a pesel. The second section of the commandment serves to amplify and explain this basic command.
God’s pesel, His covenant Word, is how He relates to us and we relate to Him. That relationship is verbal because it is personal. It is God-initiated.
When men set up a pesel it is always man-initiated. Thus, all three iconolatrous churches (Rome, Orthodoxy, Anglo-Catholicism) are essentially Pelagian. They start with man. Man makes the move toward God. Original Sin is downplayed. Man’s works “merit the merit of Christ.” Man engages in ascetic exercises to lift himself up to God. This is the essence of paganism. Augustinians within these traditions seek to explain these Pelagian trends and to put a good face on them, but the Pelagian tendency always wins out and is never fully rejected.
The worship of man’s pesel is not a conversation with God, but prostration before a manmade object, such as the communion elements or the cross.
Form
The word I have translated “form,” often rendered “likeness,” is the Hebrew word tmunah. It is not the normal word for likeness, as can be seen from Deuteronomy 4:16, which uses both words. Tmunah only occurs nine times in the Hebrew Bible. An examination of these passages will help locate the general nuance and meaning of this term and why it is used in the Second Word.
In Numbers 12:8, Moses is said to see the form of God. This refers to Exodus 33:23, where God said that Moses cannot see His “face” but only His “back.” When, however, God passed by Moses, God proclaimed His name (Exodus 34:6-7). It seems that this long descriptive name is the “back” of God’s name, for which the “face” is the overwhelming “I Am That I Am.” However the case may be, we cannot fail to notice that the emphasis shifts from seeing to hearing. God had already made just this point in Exodus 33:18-20, for when Moses initially asked to see God’s glory, He responded by saying that He would make His goodness pass before Moses and would proclaim His name.
Back to Numbers 12:6-8, we find that the entire passage concerns verbal revelation:
If there is a prophet [who speaks for] Yahweh among you,
I shall make Myself known to him in a vision.
I shall speak with him in a dream.
Not so with My servant Moses:
He is faithful in all My household.
With him I speak mouth to mouth,
Even openly, and not in dark sayings,
And he beholds the form of Yahweh.
The contrast is that Moses hears God “mouth to mouth,” while the later prophets will hear God in visions and dreams and dark sayings. Then God says that Moses beholds Yahweh’s form. It seems pretty clear that beholding Yahweh’s form means having a clear revelation from God. In a sense, the completion of the Bible means that the form of God has been revealed to us, for as long as the Bible was incomplete it was somewhat of a “dark saying.”
We have seen from Exodus 33-34 that Moses did not see God’s face, and surely if seeing God’s form meant something visual, it would mean looking directly at God. Thus, when Numbers 12 says that Moses does see God’s form, and explicates this in terms of verbal revelation, we should understand it verbally. That is, Moses did not see God’s form visually, but he beheld it with the eyes of faith in God’s spoken Word.
The word tmunah occurs five times in Deuteronomy 4 (vv. 12, 15, 16, 23, 25). In verses 12-13, the contrast the visual and the verbal is very strongly expressed:
Then Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire;
You heard the sound of words,
But you saw no form, only a voice.
So He declared to you His covenant,
Which He commanded you to perform,
The Ten Words,
And He wrote them on two tablets of stone.
Verses 15-16 begin to expose the motivation for the production of icons: “So watch yourselves carefully, since you did not see any form on the day Yahweh spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire; lest you act corruptly and make a pesel for yourselves in the likeness of any figure, the likeness of male or female, etc.” Somehow the motivation for setting up a graven image is related to the invisibility of God. We don’t want an invisible God. And once again, the contrast is between the God who spoke at Horeb and the creation of silent images.
Notice what this verse does not say. It does not say, “Do not make an image of God, since you saw no form of God at Horeb.” This command is not directly a prohibition on depictions of God Himself. Rather, what is prohibited is the creation of a contact-point with God in the likeness of other creatures.
This is important. Nowhere in the Hebrew Bible do we find people falling into a sin of making images of God Himself. Rather, they make images of creatures and set these up as mediators to God. If the Second Word forbad worshipping images of God, it would be prohibiting something the Israelites were evidently not tempted to do. When they rejected God, of course, they worshipped other gods, and set up images to them; but when they paid lip service to God, they did not set up any images of Him. The images are designed as mediating agents to the invisible God.
The contrasts are clear. God initiates the mediation between Himself and us, and He controls it. The idolater seeks to initiate mediation between himself and God, which he can control. God’s mediation is verbal and usually invisible, the Word of God, ultimately the Incarnate Word. Manmade mediators are visual and silent. God’s mediation is His pesel, the Word. Manmade mediators are images.
Seeing God’s Form in the Resurrection
Will we ever see God? In some sense, yes. The last use of tmunah in the Bible speaks of it. Psalm 17:15 reads, “As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied with Your form when I awake.” That is, in the resurrection we shall behold God’s form with our new eyes.
This introduces a new consideration that is most important for understanding the Second Word. It is that seeing God is a good thing, but it is not for now. God tells us not to try and do it until He is ready to let us. We find exactly the same thing in Genesis 1-3, where God said that every tree would be for Adam and Eve to eat, and every tree in the garden is said to be good for food. Thus, the prohibition on the Tree of Knowledge was temporary. Adam and Eve were to develop patience by responding to God’s “NO.” By eating the fruit, they rejected God’s plan for growth and development, and became corrupt. Similarly, sex is good, but we are not to indulge in it until we are married.
Now, seeing God face to face is a good thing, and if we are faithful, we shall enjoy the "beatific vision” in the resurrection. But God has clearly and unmistakably said that we are not to attempt to see Him in this world. Jesus said, “It is good for you that I go away.” We cannot see God now, and the attempt to do so is a replication of Original Sin.
God strictly forbids any attempt to make a “form” that connects us to Him visually. God will let us see Him when He is ready, and when we are. To set up an icon and say that this gives us a visual revelation of God or of some dimension of God’s heavenly existence, is to jump the gun. It is the same as seizing the forbidden fruit. It is the same as having sex before marriage. It is fornication and adultery.
We are to be satisfied with the Word, because the Word is ultimate. God is Word, but He is not visible. What we shall see is God’s voluntary self-presentation, not God Himself. But God’s Word is not just His voluntary self-presentation; it is God Himself. Thus, the visual is always secondary. To insist on the visual is to despise God’s Word, and thus to despise God. Accordingly, those who set up images are said to “hate” God.
We develop patience as we respond to the “no”s of life, and patience is of the essence of faith (Hebrews 6:12-15). Adam and Eve, by seizing what they were not yet given, rejected personal maturity and destroyed the possibility of historical maturation for their posterity. Similarly, those who break the Second Word by indulging in visual worship have proven impatient. They have rejected personal maturity, and have destroyed their posterity. By the third and fourth generation, their seed will have become so corrupt that some kind of new Flood will be necessary. Thus, there can be no personal or cultural maturity apart from the strict keeping of the Second Word.
There was never any excuse for Israel to set up other mediators, because God was near at hand. They were without excuse, but the fact is that they did not want God as Mediator because God was not under their control. Unfortunately, some parts of the Church similarly violate the Second Word and rejoice in doing so. They are not satisfied with Christ as Mediator, and insist on having heavenly saints as mediators as well. Icons are set up to mediate to the saints. All of these practices reveal a dissatisfaction with God, for if we have God, why do we want all these other things?
(to be continued)
