According to Revelation 4:1, John the Seer looks in the sky and observes an "open door." Then the "first voice" invites John "up" to the heavens to witness what must take place. "In the spirit," John describes what he sees in the sky. Is John really looking at the sky? If he is, then what he sees are the fixtures of heaven: sun, moon, planets, stars, comets, and the like. Is it possible that John, in an effort to reach the people of his day, who were plainly enamored with the sky and its happenings, speaks to his contemporaries about the victory of God's Messiah as attested in the sky? Is John the Seer's language of special numbers, brilliant colors, heavenly thrones, elders, angels, sun, moon, and stars more in keeping with descriptions of the sky than with apocalyptic visions? Bruce Malina thinks so, and he builds an unusually impressive case that will surely stir the interpretive waters surrounding John's Apocalypse. On the Genre and Message of Revelation does what Bruce Malina has done so well for decades: he challenges Western readers to think like ancient Mediterraneans, to slough off biased, scientific presuppositions, and to explore the world of Jesus and his followers with a new map, one that leads to a richer understanding of the New Testament witness of Revelation.
". . . Malina presents a fresh set of Mediterranean cultural scenarios for interpreting Revelation. He cites numerous Mediterranean 'informants' contemporary with John to confirm the insights about how ancient prophets read God's will in the constellations of the heavens. . . . Teachers, preachers, and Bible students will find satisfying solutions to long-standing puzzles."
—John J. Pilch, Ph.D., Georgetown University
