Revelation

      A New Covenant Commentary

      Gordon D. Fee

      CASCADE Books - Eugene, Oregon

      REVELATION

      A New Covenant Commentary

      New Covenant Commentary Series 18

      Copyright © 2011 Gordon D. Fee.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, or stored on any information storage and retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publishers. For permissions write to Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Avenue, Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

      Cascade Books

      An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

      199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

      Eugene, OR 97401

      www.wipfandstock.com

      isbn 13: 978-1-60899-431-1

      Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

      Fee, Gordon

      Revelation : a new covenant commentary / Gordon D. Fee.

      xxii + 332 p. ; 23 cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.

      New Covenant Commentary Series 18

      isbn 13: 978-1-60899-431-11

      1. Bible. N.T. Revelation—Commentaries. I. Title. II. Series.

      bs2825.53 f45 2011

      Manufactured in the United States of America

      NCCS | New Covenant Commentary Series

      The New Covenant Commentary Series (NCCS) is designed for ministers and students who require a commentary that interacts with the text and context of each New Testament book and pays specific attention to the impact of the text upon the faith and praxis of contemporary faith communities.

      The NCCS has a number of distinguishing features. First, the contributors come from a diverse array of backgrounds in regards to their Christian denominations and countries of origin. Unlike many commentary series that tout themselves as international the NCCS can truly boast of a genuinely international cast of contributors with authors drawn from every continent of the world (except Antarctica) including countries such as the United States, Puerto Rico, Australia, the United Kingdom, Kenya, India, Singapore, and Korea. We intend the NCCS to engage in the task of biblical interpretation and theological reflection from the perspective of the global church. Second, the volumes in this series are not verse-by-verse commentaries, but they focus on larger units of text in order to explicate and interpret the story in the text as opposed to some often atomistic approaches. Third, a further aim of these volumes is to provide an occasion for authors to reflect on how the New Testament impacts the life, faith, ministry, and witness of the New Covenant Community today. This occurs periodically under the heading of “Fusing the Horizons and Forming the Community.” Here authors provide windows into community formation (how the text shapes the mission and character of the believing community) and ministerial formation (how the text shapes the ministry of Christian leaders).

      It is our hope that these volumes will represent serious engagements with the New Testament writings, done in the context of faith, in service of the church, and for the glorification of God.

      Series Editors:

      Michael F. Bird (Crossway College, Queensland, Australia)

      Craig Keener (Palmer Seminary, Philadelphia, USA)

      Titles in this series:

      Romans Craig Keener

      Ephesians Lynn Cohick

      Colossians and Philemon Michael F. Bird

      Forthcoming titles (in order of projected publication):

      James Pablo Jimenez

      1–3 John Sam Ngewa

      John Jey Kanagaraj

      Pastoral Epistles Aída Besançon-Spencer

      Mark Kim Huat Tan

      Acts Youngmo Cho and Hyung Dae Park

      Luke Jeannine Brown

      2 Peter and Jude Andrew Mbuvi

      Matthew Joel Willits

      1 Peter Eric Greaux

      1–2 Thessalonians David Garland

      Philippians Linda Belleville

      Hebrews Tom Thatcher

      Galatians Brian Vickers

      1 Corinthians Bruce Winter

      2 Corinthians David deSilva

      Outline of Revelation

      The Introduction (Revelation 1)

      The Revelation as Apocalypse and Prophecy (1:1–3)

      The Johannine Prescript (1:4–8)

      The Dramatis Personae: John Introduces Himself and His Recipients (1:9–11)

      The Dramatis Personae: John’s Vision of Christ (1:12–16)

      John’s Response to the Lord’s Command (1:17–20)

      The Letters to the Seven Churches (Revelation 2–3)

      To the Church in Ephesus (2:1–7)

      To the Church in Smyrna (2:8–11)

      To the Church in Pergamum (2:12–17)

      To the Church in Thyatira (2:18–29)

      To the Church in Sardis (3:1–6) / 44

      To the Church in Philadelphia (3:7–13)

      To the Church in Laodicea (3:14–22)

      John’s Vision of Heaven and Earth (Revelation 4–6)

      The Throne in Heaven (4:1–6a) / 67

      The Occupants of Heaven and Their Worship (4:6b–11)

      The Unopened Scroll (5:1–4)

      The Lion Who Is a Lamb (5:5–6)

      The Lamb Takes the Scroll and Heaven Rejoices (5:7–13)

      The Opening of the First Six Seals (6:1–17)

      Seals One through Four: The Four Horsemen (6:1–8)

      The Fifth Seal: The Martyrs (6:9–11)

      The Sixth Seal: The Great Earthquake (6:12–17)

      An Interlude in Two Parts (Revelation 7)

      The Number of Those Sealed (7:1–8)

      The Great Multitude in White Robes (7:9–17)

      The Blowing of the Seven Trumpets (Revelation 8–11)

      The Seventh Seal: Prelude to the Seven Trumpets (8:1–5)

      The First Four Trumpets and the First Eagle (8:6–13)

      The Fifth Trumpet [= the First Woe] (9:1–12)

      The Sixth Trumpet [= the Second Woe] (9:13–21)

      Interlude 1: The Angel and the Little Scroll (10:1–11)

      Interlude 2: The Temple and the Two Witnesses (11:1–14)

      The Seventh Trumpet: Conclusion to the Introductory Visions (11:15–19)

      The Holy War Is Engaged (Revelation 12:1—14:13)

      The Sun-Clothed Woman and the Dragon (12:1–6)

      The