Biblical Theology: Revelation, Typology, and the Big Story

Introduction to Biblical Theology

The field of Biblical Theology differs from Systematic Theology with regard to its foundational principle: the former is historical rather than logical. It commences with understanding the Scripture's historical dimension — that the Book of Genesis and the Book of Leviticus are different, or, more broadly, that the Old and New Testaments are different. Biblical Theology attempts to understand the message of the Bible according to how it slowly unfolds, as progressively more of God and His purpose with regard to man is revealed (Murray & Rea, 2002; Vos, 2003). Biblical Theology is characterized by recognizing both the diversity in Scriptural texts and their underlying unity as God's revelation to mankind.

Biblical Theology attempts to understand the viewpoint from which the authors of Scripture wrote their texts and interpreted previous holy texts. Further, it seeks a matrix of suppositions and inferences that make the scriptural authors' statements intelligible. It also attempts to arrive at the worldview that gives rise to the claims of those authors. The sole avenue for accessing their theories and views is through their actual writings. Hence, Biblical Theology attempts to comprehend the literary elements utilized by scriptural authors for (1) structuring their messages, (2) relating them to passages from older scriptural texts, (3) locating them within the overall story, and consequently (4) urging the audience forward by highlighting the glory of God in His manifestations of justice that underscore His love for, and mercy on, the people (Hamilton Jr., 2010). Therefore, Biblical Theology represents an endeavor to comprehend Scripture on its own terms.

Structural Features of Scripture

The authors of Scripture have presented us with meticulously constructed manifestations of the truth of God. According to John Sailhamer, "The most influential, yet subtlest, feature of an author's rendering of historical narrative is the overall framework with which he or she arranges it" (Sailhamer, 2010, p. 29). He further states that "To a large degree, the structure of biblical narratives determines their meaning" (Sailhamer, 2010, p. 30). The methods used by scriptural authors for marking defining moments in their texts differ from contemporary writers' printing conventions, such as section headings and chapter titles. The authors of Scripture typically highlighted their defining moments within the structures of their texts by repetitively using certain phrases or words. With the aid of these repeated words, subjects, and phrases, the scriptural authors indicated their meanings and structure in ways noticeable to the careful reader. Such indications provide information pertaining to a particular passage's meaning, the way it fits into the overall text's structure, and its link to previous scriptural books.

The vision of Christ described by John in Revelation 1:9–20 very closely resembles that described by Daniel in Daniel 10. The latter was overawed by wonderful images from heaven that showed him the future's "history" in Daniel 11 and 12. Thus, the future is revealed in Daniel 11 and 12 following the vision depicted in Daniel 10. This structure is consistent with events in Revelation, where John has his first glimpse of Christ (Rev 1:9–18), after which Christ commands John to document the things he sees — the present things and the events to occur in the future. The order in which events are set down in Revelation 1 and Daniel 10 match; in addition, there are major correspondences in both authors' descriptions of divine beings (Hamilton Jr., 2010; Hodgson, 2005).

John's experience outlined in Revelation 10 is similarly analogous to that of Ezekiel. In Revelation 10:8–11, John is instructed to take and consume a scroll brought by an angel, and then prophesy; likewise, Ezekiel was commanded to take and eat a scroll from an outstretched hand, followed by speaking to the Israelites (Ezek 2:8–3:4). At the contentual and structural levels of John's text, he is signaling to readers that he is a genuine prophet who is gathering together all prophetic threads that came before him and interweaving them. Furthermore, the prophecies of previous prophets will be fulfilled in the events he describes.

Intertextual Connections and Typology

Structural elements represent one means by which the author of Revelation establishes intertextual links; however, what is more commonly brought to mind when pondering intertextuality operates at the individual phrasal level. Linguistic similarities between Revelation's bowls and trumpets and the Egyptian plagues described in Exodus are illustrated in the tables below.

Table 1. The Exodus plagues and Revelation's trumpets

Trumpet in Revelation / Plague in Exodus

1. Rev 8:7, fire and hail / 7th plague, Exod 9:23–25, fire and hail

2. Rev 8:8–9, sea turning to blood; a third of its living creatures perish / 1st plague, Exod 7:20–21, the Nile turns to blood; death of the fish

3. Rev 8:10–11, the water of springs and rivers turns bitter / 1st plague, Exod 7:19, canals and rivers

4. Rev 8:12, darkening of a third of the moon, sun, and stars / 9th plague, Exod 10:21–29, three days of darkness

5. Rev 9:1–11, darkness and scorpion-like locusts / 9th and 8th plagues, Exod 10:21–29, darkness; Exod 10:12–20, locusts

6. Rev 9:12–19, release of angels; mounted troops; sulfur, fire, and smoke destroy a third of mankind / 10th plague, Exod 11:1–10; 12:29–32, angel of death

Rev 10:1, a cloud-wrapped angel with legs resembling pillars of fire / The Israelites leave Egypt guided by cloud in the daytime and fire at night

Table 2. The Exodus plagues and Revelation's bowls

Bowl in Revelation / Plague in Exodus

1. Rev 16:2, sores / 6th plague, Exod 9:10, sores/boils

2. Rev 16:3, sea turning to blood; death of all living creatures / 1st plague, Exod 7:17–21, the Nile turns to blood; death of the fish

3. Rev 16:4–7, springs and rivers turn to blood / 1st plague, Exod 7:17–21, springs and rivers turn to blood

4. Rev 16:8–9, people are scorched by the sun

5. Rev 16:10–11, darkness / 9th plague, Exod 10:21–29, darkness

6. Rev 16:12–15, drying up of the Euphrates; demons gathering for battle / 10th plague, Exod 11:1–10; 12:29–32, angel of death; Exod 14, the parting of the Red Sea

7. Rev 16:17–21, hail, earthquake / 7th plague, Exod 9:13–35, hail

Scripture is infused with such intertextuality. The authors of various scriptural works gathered important patterns from previous works, noted pattern repetitions, and applied them to their own books. Some scholars suggest that John's visions were influenced, to a great degree, by the Exodus story of the Egyptian plagues — a story successively reinforced and refined by the various references made to another exodus by the Prophets of the Old Testament (Hamilton Jr., 2010). Therefore, when John's vision revealed the judgments accompanying the bowls and trumpets, he understandably interpreted the vision as the fulfillment of previous prophecies. His description of those judgments brings to mind the Exodus plagues, since prior exodus plagues had formed the basis of his expectation for the future.

The foregoing analysis portrays exactly how scriptural authors have related subsequent narratives and incidents to previous ones by re-utilizing key phrases and words that forge a robust relationship between sequences of events. Such linkages between phrases and words, which emphasize likenesses in the order of events, indicate how major figures have similar roles to play in the outworking of the history of salvation. Such linkages commonly establish points of historical correspondence, with the significance of events increasing as the account progresses. Typology arises where increasing importance and historical correspondence coincide (Sailhamer, 2010). Typology entails major patterns observed in individuals, institutions, and occurrences within the context of the historical drama of deliverance that plays out across both Testaments. Here again, the authors of different scriptural texts forge linkages by reapplying key phrases and words, repeating important sequences of events, and through the progressive significance of incidents in the unfolding of revelation.

According to Hans Frei, the field of Biblical Theology only developed after the discarding of the worldview in which typology was considered rational (Frei, 1974). Instead of understanding the world through biblical categories, traditionalists made use of the classifications employed to undermine the Bible when attempting to defend it. This approach — utilizing worldly categorizations to defend Scripture — sidetracked several orthodox scriptural interpreters from the work of understanding scriptural categories and applying them to understand the world.

Conclusion

The field of Biblical Theology views Scripture as a living drama of how God unfolded revelation across history. Contrary to systematic or doctrinal theology, this theological domain traces the slow unfolding of His actions and words across history. This linear element of revelation combines individual revelatory incidents and statements both prospectively and retrospectively. The organic continuance of historical revelation may be described as a flower that grows from a bud and finally blooms — the bloom is connected, in retrospect, to the bud; the bud is connected, prospectively, to the bloom. One role of biblical interpreters is to draw out these organic retrospective and prospective bonds. Christ and His works form the core of this organic unity. With the Risen Lord relating all Scripture prospectively and retrospectively to Himself (Luke 24:27), reformed Biblical Theology maintains a predominantly Christocentric character.

God acted, was incarnated, and spoke in history. This vertical interaction with history is described as an eschatological penetration of the history of deliverance. Indeed, the Bible has been read from the perspective of eschatological importance — this realm overarches the entire history of deliverance. Individual historical revelations invited creatures to possess the divine or eschatological realm, something achievable only through the work of Jesus Christ. He was revealed eschatologically throughout the entire course of the history of deliverance: as the promised seed of the woman, the seed of Jesse, the seed of Abraham, and so forth. Even as humanity encounters God in Christ, the linear and the eschatological intersect at every point of God's special revelation.

References

Ellis, E. E. (1993). Jesus' use of the Old Testament and the genesis of New Testament theology. Bulletin for Biblical Research, 3, 59–75.

Frei, H. W. (1974). The eclipse of biblical narrative: A study in eighteenth and nineteenth century hermeneutics. Yale University Press.

Hafemann, S., & House, P. (Eds.). (2007). Central themes in biblical theology: Mapping unity in diversity. Baker Academic.

Hamilton Jr., J. M. (2006). God's indwelling presence: The Holy Spirit in the Old & New Testaments (Vol. 1). B&H Publishing Group.

Hamilton Jr., J. M. (2010). Biblical theology and preaching. In Text-driven preaching: God's Word at the heart of every sermon (pp. 193–218).

Hodgson, P. C. (2005). Hegel and Christian theology: A reading of the lectures on the philosophy of religion. Oxford University Press.

Murray, M. J., & Rea, M. (2002). Philosophy and Christian theology. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Sailhamer, J. H. (2010). The meaning of the Pentateuch: Revelation, composition and interpretation. InterVarsity Press.

Vos, G. (2003). Biblical theology: Old and New Testaments. Wipf and Stock Publishers.