Images from the Bamberg Apocalypse 

 

  

The Bamberg Apocalypse is an 11th-century illuminated manuscript containing the Book of Revelation. It was created in the scriptorium on Reichenau Island (a World Heritage site since 2000) between 1000 and 1020. The manuscript is illuminated with 57 gilded miniatures and over 100 gilded initials. In 2003 it, along with other Ottonian manuscripts produced at Reichenau, was added to the UNESCO Memory of the World International Register. Of the 301 documentary heritage items listed on the Register by 2013, more than half were from Europe and North America. Below is a  2010  pie chart that reveals how wealth is distributed on earth. The fattest slices designate the West, but the East is increasing its share. The various locations of the symbolic Babylon that the Book of Revelation describes are not proportional to their land area, or the number of people who may inhabit a region.

Revelation 18:2-3- And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

This is a portrait of the man who commissioned the illuminated manuscript known as the Bamberg Apocalypse, Otto III of Germany. He was first crowned a king in 983 at age three. This is a depiction of a second coronation that occurred 13 years later, in 996, and the teenager is now the Holy Roman Emperor. Otto III made Rome the administrative capital of his Empire and revived elaborate Roman customs and Byzantine court ceremonies. He envied the prestige and power of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, and sought to imitate his style. Charlemagne has been called the “Father of Europe” (Pater Europae). The Habsburg, Capetian, and Plantagenet dynasties all incorporate his genes, so he was more than just a symbolic father (at least regarding the common misapprehension that temporal authority can be inherited: genuine authority is exclusive to the root and branch of Jesse).

FIVE EVENTS THAT PRECEDED JOHN’S REVELATION

Above is the first of four images from the Bamberg Apocalypse that describe significant transitions in the life of Jesus. The arrival of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost is the subject of a fifth prefatory illumination. This one depicts His Nativity. The three angels in the foreground are announcing the birth of the Messiah to “…shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8). They are proclaiming the First Advent of our Lord.

The crucifixion and entombment of Christ; a poor man’s death, but a rich man’s sepulcher. The Roman soldier seen at left at the top of this illumination is piercing Jesus’ side, but the dark-skinned man opposite him is the man described in Matthew 27:48- “And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.”

Matthew 28:1- “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher…” The women ponder the absence of Jesus’ corpse. An angel responds to their unspoken queries in Matthew 28:6-7- “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.”

 
This fourth image is a perfect preface to the Book of Revelation. The two angelic emissaries with their right index fingers pointing heavenward are proclaiming the hopeful words that are recorded in Act 1:11- “…Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

The Spirit descends upon both Jews and Gentiles during the celebration of the first feast of Pentecost that followed Jesus’ death and resurrection. Present-day cartoonists could illustrate this event by depicting a glowing lightbulb hovering just above everyone’s head, a symbol of their enlightenment. Acts 2:3-4 describes what occurred that day in Jerusalem (and yet again, according to modern-day Pentecostals, in the early Twentieth Century in the course of Willian J. Seymour’s  Azusa Street Revivals in Los Angeles)- “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

T H E     B O O K     O F     R E V E L A T I O N

“A” is for APOCALIPSIS

John, an apostle of Jesus, receives his revelation during his exile on the island of Patmos. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words he wrote detailing his vision. Revelation 1:1 introduces his transcription- “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John…”

Revelation 1:12-16 is a description of “One like the Son of Man” whom John encounters at the beginning of his vision. The illustrator has neglected to depict hairs that were “white like wool,” or feet that were “like fine brass.” The two-edged sword is not coming out of One like the Son of Man’s mouth, but instead appears to be clutched between Christ’s teeth, as if He were a Hollywood stereotype of a commando on a mission. Revelation 1:17 records John’s reaction to the scene- “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last…”

The seven churches of Asia Minor, and the messages that John is instructed to deliver to them are described in Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation. An illustration(s) regarding the churches at Pergamum and Thyatira may exist, but is not available from the online archive. Four of the two churches are combined into two generic images. The Laodiceans are the subject of a single painting. The image above is assigned to the churches at Ephesus (patient laborers who cannot bear evil people, but not living up to their former standard) and Smyrna (poor in resources, but rich in faith and zealousness). As this illustration includes no details that would distinguish between the churches of Ephesus and Smyrna, it is interchangeable the second illumination representative of the churches at Sardis and Philadelphia (and the elusive Pergamum/Thyatira illustration as well, assuming that it is also generic in nature).

In this illumination John receives direction from the angels regarding his message to the churches at Sardis (imperfect people, excepting a few spotless Sardinians) and Philadelphia (most exemplary of the seven, and one that received assurances of continued favor during the “hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth“), The architectural style of the buildings in all of the illuminations in the Bamberg Apocalypse is one that is designated by historians as “Ottonian” (after the family of the man who sponsored the creation of this manuscript).

The church at Laodicea merits some memorable criticism that is considered by many to be also be applicable to today’s Body of Christ (or, alternately, the Woman in the Wilderness described in Revelation). It is contained in Revelation 3:15-16- “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” The source word for “spue” means “vomit,” rather than the bowdlerized “spit” that many English translations of the Bible provide as a an emasculated substitute.

Chapter 4 of Revelation redirects the prophetic spotlight from earth to heaven, and from the present (John’s present) to the future. The illumination above is based on Revelation 2:2-4- “And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.”

“Sardine stones” come from Sardis, a city that was host to one of the seven churches previously cited in Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation. The names for both the stones and the city (as well as the densely packed fish who inhabit rectangular cans) are derived from the Greek root-word sardion, which means “red” (the color of the blood shed for the remission of our sins at Calvary by the Son of God, but it is God the Father who is seated on the throne depicted above).

 

 

The twenty-four elders (shown standing, rather than sitting), seven of whom are imagined by the illustrator as holding the “seven lamps of fire” noted in Revelation 4:5, are joined by four  “living creatures.” Revelation 4:7-8 describes the remarkable appearance of these creatures- “And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.”

Condemned souls described in Revelation 14:11 (KJV), like the four good beasts, also “have no rest day nor night…” God will not permit any vestige of evil to persist into eternity, even should this unsavoriness be relegated to its own remote locale (an eternal hell). Alexander’s conquests introduced many fanciful Greek philosophical concepts into the Near East. One of these enduring constructs proclaims the immortality of the soul of every human being.

Science was only able to advance when it freed itself of mistaken notions that were long cherished as a result of Aristotle’s prestige. Theology, informed by secular philosophy, has been similarly compromised  by the a priori conjectures of Plato and his successors. Even if they are not be consciously aware of doing so, Westerners involuntarily view scripture through an ancient Greek lens . Although parts of the Bible were originally written in demotic Greek, much of the content cannot be subjected to logical analysis. Its hidden depths are inadequately accessed through Western languages that are better adapted for descriptions of the surface of things. We “see [and also hear, and read] through a glass, darkly.” Parts of the Bible, and particularly the Book of Revelation, employs poetic symbolism and metaphor in an attempt to convey concepts that straightforward prose is not capable of communicating.

Revelation 5:1-2 introduces a sealed scroll that the occupant of the throne of heaven is holding- “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?” John was distraught, afraid that no one was worthy to break the seals. An elder informed John that Jesus, symbolized in the image above, was indeed worthy.
Revelation 5:6 details this manifestation of the Loin of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David- “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” The lamb depicted above has seven horns, and the five eyes that are supplementary to the standard pair normally supplied by our Creator are positioned on the top of its head.

Revelation 5:11 records the quantity of elders, living creatures, and angels who assemble to express their love and gratitude to He who is worthy to loose the seven seals from the scroll as being “…ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands…” It is difficult to attempt to paint this many worshipers, so this scene is not included in the Bamberg Apocalypse. Labor-intensive illumination is reserved for moments that are more familiar to most, such as the Last Judgment.

Eschatologically-focused theologian Ranko Stefanovic compares the events that follow the opening of the seven seals as being similar to actions by a newly enthroned Davidic king. Rewards to supporters, and punishments for detractors are quickly disbursed after a change in leadership. Christ (the “Lamb“) has just been enthroned in heaven (symbolically, at least; some interpretors believe that His literal enthronement occurred at the time of the Holy Spirit’s earth-side appearance in the Book of Acts), so God’s delayed chastisement of the disobedient will be swift and traumatic. These traumas are intended to elicit repentance and redemption from the subjects thereof, and are thus probationary in character.

The appearance of the first of the famed Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (the subject of the illustration above) follows the opening of the first of the seven seals by the Lamb. This apparition is described in Revelation 6:2- “And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” The crown that the rider wears , as utilized by John in Revelation, signifies that the rider is Christ Himself. He is not yet completely victorious over the enemy, but has, as was the custom with Old Testament kings, now personally assumes field command.

Revelation 6:3-4 describes the horseman who appears after the breaking of the second seal- “And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.” If the mission of the first horseman is to promulgate the gospel of Christ, and to act as defender of the faithful, then the second fiery horse and rider are sent to deliver retribution to those who have impeded and persecuted the faithful.

Loosing the third seal unleashes a third horseman, a symbol of famine. This equestrian and his mount are described in Revelation 6:5-6- “And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” The famine that is symbolized by this horse and rider is not necessarily a literal global food shortage. It could refer to a spiritual famine. Aforementioned scholar Ranko Stefanovic quotes Amos 8:11 to support this interpretation- “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.”

Revelation 7:7-8 unveils the fouth, and most fearsome of the four horsemen- “And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.” Whereas the preceding three horsemen may be compared to cowboys riding out to collect maverick and straggling cattle, the mission of this fourth rider can be compared to that of a cowhand who is sent out to eradicate any livestock that may possess some incurable, contagious, and invariably fatal disease that could possibly spread to the rest of the herd. His work is among livestock whom the Trail Boss may consider to be irredeemable.

The fifth seal is opened. The uneasy souls of Christian martyrs, and their fervent pleas that their murders be redressed by God are the subject of the illumination above. The (premature, as was the case with Gideon in Judges 6:13) grievances they express, and  a divine reply to these grievances that urges they remain patient are provided in Revelation 6:9-11- “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” The martyrs are waiting under the altar, a place dedicated to sacrifices.

The earthly cataclysms and havoc that attend the unleashing of the sixth seal are not depicted in any illumination from the Bamberg Apocalypse that is easily accessed. Chapter 8 of Revelation has one image from the Bamberg Apocalypse associated with it, part of a build-up to subsequent descriptions of the many events that attend the breaking of the seventh seal. Some consider the first six seals to be an type of outline of more detailed information that is revealed in Chapters 7-19.

 

Chapter 7 of the Book of Revelation is an interlude between the breaking of the sixth and seventh seals. Respite is ensured by the restraint of the winds, which are never considered to be beneficial in the Old Testament. The artist for the illumination above has personified these winds as slightly malicious demons. Revelation 7:1 serves as caption- “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.”

144,000 saints are sealed (seals being a symbol of ownership) in Chapter 7 of Revelation. Verse 9 reveals that they are joined by an innumerable multitude that is considered by some scholars to possess qualifications that are identical to those of the core 144,000. They are poised on the threshold of the Great Tribulation, so they pause in order to express their confidence in, and to pay tribute to their Commander in Chief. Revelation 7:9-10 will serve as a caption for the illustration above- “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” The illuminator has efficiently chosen to represent the innumerable multitude with only seven representative figures.

Are the 144,000 children of Israel literal Hebrews, or is this another instance of prophetic symbolism in Revelation? Here is a common perception regarding this issue, written by Professor Stefanovic (one that is in alignment with the doctrines of the denomination he is associated with, but by no means exclusive to it)- “In the New Testament, the Christian church is the new and true Israel of God… and the recipient of all the privileges and promises previously given to Old Testament Israel.” There exists legions of interpreters of Revelation who would strongly disagree with this viewpoint, one which they contemptuously designate “replacement theology.” It’s official name is “Supersessionism.”

The opening of the seventh seal, and events that follow this opening are described in Chapters 8-11 of Revelation. The image above depicts what is described in Revelation 8:2-4- “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.” In the next verse the angel casts his censer to the ground after filling it with coals from the altar, which results in earthly signs of God’s judgment. This judgment is revealed to be one invoked by the prayers of saints, as symbolized by the sanctuary censer and its emanations, and an indication that God both hears and answers our prayers (should we happen to manifest saintliness).

 

The first trumpet sounds. Revelation 8:7 tersely notes the result- “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.” The auditor at the right of the illustration is John, who is wearing a halo. The use of halos in religious artwork, at least in the West, passed out of fashion by the time of the late Renaissance. A newfound emphasis on realism precluded the employment of traditional symbols.

The plagues that God visited upon Egypt are frequently connected by expositors of the Book of Revelation (and there exists tens of thousands of these expositors) to the plagues that are unleashed by the seven trumpets. A indisputable internal structure is evident in the division of the trouble that is summoned by divine trumpetry. The first four trumpets affect mankind indirectly (unless you are aboard one of the ships that get obliterated as a consequence of trumpet blast two, or a imbiber of the poisonous waters associated with blast number three). The final triad of “woes” that result from the sounding of trumpets five, six, and seven are direct attacks upon the flesh of those who are not protected from harm by God, and display His seal of ownership.

The second trumpet sounds. Revelation 8:8-9 describes the scene- “And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.” Fish, and a few rudimentary waves provided in the foreground of the illumination above ties the content of the referenced Bible verses to the subjects depicted in the image. This relatively advanced level of fidelity to Scripture is not evident in every illumination in the Bamberg Apocrypha. The preceding illustration for the sounding of the first trumpet is innocent of nuance, as are the bland and interchangeable three images associated with the seven churches of Asia Minor described in Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation.

The third trumpet sound. Revelation 8:10-11 reveals the toxic aftermath of this blast- “And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.” The malevolent and torch-like star named Wormwood is visible at the top of the illustration above, although its malevolence is diminished due to its relatively miniscule size.

The fourth trumpet sounds (as portrayed at the top of this page from the Bamberg Apocalypse), and the result is recorded in Revelation 8:12- “And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.” The sun in this illumination is delineated as if it were a disc. Medieval Western Europe was backward in is knowledge of astronomy at the time the Bamberg Apocalypse was produced, but it was nevertheless imperative that the correct date for Easter be somehow determined by consulting the night skies. Venerable Bede, an indispensable advisor to the clergy, served as a knowledgeable consultant regarding the lost art of stargazing.

Revelation 8:13, symbolized by the screaming eagle seen at right in the bottom half of the image above,  marks the transition into an increased level of tribulation- “And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!” The King James translation of the Bible utilizes exclamation marks sparingly, so when does one appear you may be assured that the point that it is attempting to emphasize is an urgent one. Latin is the language of the Bamberg Apocalypse. In this verse the capital “V’s” are writ large by the scribe to highlight the words “Vae Vae Vae” (“Woe Woe Woe”).

 

Upon the sounding of the fifth trumpet, an unprecedented variety of demon arises, in quantity, from the “bottomless pit.” The appearance of these tormenters is detailed in Revelation 9:8-10- “And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.” The creator of the illustration above chose to enhance the ghastliness of these abominations by placing a serpent’s head where a more literal-minded artist would have painted a scorpion’s stinger.

The creatures described in this section of Revelation are not assassins, but are rather torturers. For five months they are authorized to beleaguer anyone who has not been previously sealed on their forehead by God. The discomfort of the victims of these tormenters is described in Revelation 9:6- “And in those days shall men seek, death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.”

Revelation 9:12 announces that the litany of tribulations has not yet come to an end- “One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.”

 

The sounding of the sixth trumpet serves to “…Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates” (Revelation 9:14). A third of humanity will perish due to the three “woes.” The mission of the four angels shown at the top of this illumination is to protect God’s sealed elect from the two-hundred-million horsemen who fight for Satan in the last battle in the history of earth. The illustrator has attempted to replicate the colors of the armor of the enemy forces that are described in Revelation 9:17- “And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.”

The horses in the image are furnished with standard horse heads, and not those of lions. The “jacinth” that is noted to be one of three breastplate colors is based on the word “uakinthinous,” which describes a deep blue, rather than the emerald hue of the breastplate that the middle horseman presently displays. Blue pigments are notoriously unstable, however, so the original coloring applied by the painter has probably degenerated in the course of its thousand-year existence.

The satanic emissaries unleashed by the fifth trumpet are torturers, but the horde that attends the sixth trump are murderers. Were trumpet number six to sound today (2017) over 2 1/2 billion people would perish.

 

Chapter 10 of Revelation is an intermission. Information that has been conveyed symbolically in the first half of the book will be augmented in the second half. A mighty angel appears before John. Revelation 10:2 captions the illustration above- “And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth…” The book the angel holds (“biblaridion,” meaning “a little papyrus roll”) is a portion (“little”) of the scroll introduced in Chapter 5. The angel informs the Revelator that events are fast approaching their climactic finish. Revelation 10:7 records part of the angel’s message regarding the imminent blast of the Last Trump– “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.”

John’s divine commission is metaphorically reaffirmed . He is instructed to eat the little book. Revelation 10:10 records his reaction- “And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey [in the manner described by Ezekiel when he ingested a scroll in Verse 3:3 of his book] : and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.” The Word of God is sweet indeed, but the tribulation will not be a pleasant experience for God’s elect. Revelation is an urgent and universal message. The last verse of Chapter10 (Verse 11) contains the mighty angel’s parting words to John- “And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” The message will not be welcome by everyone, including many who purport to be Christians. Matthew 24:10 record’s Christ’s warning to the faithful- “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.”

Two witnesses, garbed in sackcloth, appear at the beginning of the 11th chapter of Revelation. They are protected from harm by God for 3 1/2 years as they prophesize and discomfit the unrepentant. Revelation 11: 7 record the arrival of a destroyer, depicted in the lower of the illumination above, yet their deaths at the hand of this destroyer lasts little longer than that of Christ after His own death on the cross- “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” They are resurrected by God, and ascend to heaven in a cloud in the sight of their enemies.

 

The description of events resulting from the sounding of the seventh trumpet is delayed until Chapter 16, Verses 1-21. Revelation 16:1 quotes John’s witness of this section- “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.” Chapter 11:15-16 describes a power shift away from Satan, and toward Christ (but the devil remains, as yet, unvanquished)- “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God.” One-third of the four and twenty worshipping elders are depicted in the illumination above, not yet fallen on their faces. John is positioned in the lower left of the composition. The temple of God is opened in heaven, and the final words of Verse 19 relate the signs that accompanied this opening- “…and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.”

 

The conflict described in Revelation 12:7-9 seem to precede the events recorded in the first six verses of Chapter 12, but the symbolic nature of the characters and incidents contained in John’s vision are not always placed  in sequence- “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” The pair of demons depicted in the above illumination will accompany Satan on his descent to the earth.

A description of the appearances of the woman, the child, and Satan as symbolized by a dragon are contained in Revelation 12:1-3, and is depicted in the illumination above. “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.”

The woman is a symbol of the covenant people of Israel, either of original stock, or “grafted in,” as Paul describes the inclusion of (and, conceivably, supersession by) Gentiles in Romans 11:24. The child is the Messiah. The similarities in the appearance of the dragon described in Revelation 12:3 (“…a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads”) and the beast that arises out of the sea described in Revelation 13:1 (…having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy) would tend to mislead an illiterate viewer of the Bamberg Apocalypse into thinking that they were identical, but the “dragon” has seven crowns upon his horns, and the “beast” from the sea has ten crowns upon his horns, crowns conferred upon it by the dragon (whose own seven crowns are self-awarded). These distinctions may be subjected to rigorous analysis with regard to the historical powers that they symbolize.

After the child is born, the woman is providentially equipped with a means of escaping the dragon’s attempt to destroy her. Revelation 12:14 records the scene depicted in the illumination above- “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” The wilderness is her sanctuary for 3 1/2 years (1,260 days).

Further attempts to destroy the woman’s child are frustrated, so Satan redirects his wrath to a more convenient target. Revelation 12:17 describes the dragon’s substitute quarry- “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

Chapter 13 is closely related to information contained in the 7th chapter of the Book of Daniel. The first of two beasts that that are introduced is a composite of the four beasts Daniel envisioned back in Babylonia. The nature and mission of this beast is further described in Revelation 17:8-14.  Its ten horns represent ten powers that arose after the dissolution of the Roman Empire, and its seven heads represent kingdoms Satan has influenced throughout history. The crowns upon the horns are spurious, since they are conferred on the beast by Satan (in the manner of the devil’s offer to deliver unto Christ “…the kingdoms of the earth and all of their glory” during Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness).

A caption for the illumination above may be discovered in Revelation 13:1-2- “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”

 

The first beast, a type of counterfeit Christ who seduces and seals the deluded, is joined by a second beast, a travesty of the Holy Spirit. The illumination above appears to depict a watery origin for beast number two, but it is symbolic of the terrestrial-based “ministry” of the third member of the unholy trinity. Its mission is evangelical in nature, but one must remain deaf to its siren call, even when threatened with death, or you will be shipwrecked alongside the other doomed victims of its blandishments. Unwary proselytes will be sealed with the renown Mark of the Beast.

The appearance of beast two is concisely stated in Revelation 13:11- “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.” The fact that it spake, rather than looked like a dragon has been ignored by the illustrator in order to clearly represent its evil nature. One rather fanciful interpreter of Revelation has compared the pacific appearance of this beast to ostensibly pacific statements proclaiming a desire for world peace by the United States of America. An immense, and very dragon-like nuclear arsenal belies these declarations.

 

The majority of the inhabitants of the earth will succumb to the authority of Satan and his two malevolent henchmen as described in Revelation 13. Chapter 14 identifies the characteristics of the minority of uncorrupted and spotless loyalists of God who have resisted Satan. The redeemed of the earth will endure and are soon to triumph, through Christ, over their remaining tribulations. Some interpreters regard this section as a preview of the pending deliverance of God’s faithful followers after the cataclysmic events that are described in Revelation 14:14- 20:10, but they are now fully delivered from an eternal death (even should they be subjected  to an eleventh-hour martyrdom), and are therefore grateful to He who made their assured deliverance possible.

The first verse of Chapter 14 of Revelation is represented in the illumination above. John writes- “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.”

 

In Revelation 14:6-12 three angels (as depicted above) sequentially appear to offer a synopsis of the remainder of the book. Revelation 14:7 records the first angel’s important announcement- “…Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” The second and third angels proclaim the fatal consequences of submission to the beast. Revelation 14:12 notes two attributes of the redeemed- “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” It is a restatement of the content of Verse 12:17, and a concise description of correct Christian thought and deed.

 

The imagery of Revelation 14:14-19 can be prefaced by a metaphor that Jesus uses in His parable of the wheat and tares. They grow beside each other in the field, but are not equally worthy of preservation. Matthew 13:30 contains the conclusion of this parable- “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” Harvest time has arrived, and the appearance of Lord of the Harvest is described in Revelation 14:14- “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.”  One of the angels depicted in the illumination above is recorded in Revelation 14:15 as urging Jesus to “…Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”

 

Chapters 15 and 16 of the Book of Revelation document the final outpourings of God’s wrath upon those who steadfastly maintain their allegiance to Satan, the beast, and the lesser beast. Some further adoration of God and His Son by the  redeemed is described in Revelation 15:2-4.
The first verse of Chapter 15 could serve as a caption for the illumination shown above, but Revelation 15:6-7 provides a more comprehensive description- “And the seven angels came out of the temple [of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven], having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.” Golden bowls originally intended for the offering of incense (prayers) to God in His tabernacle are repurposed for acts of destruction which shall descend from, rather than arise to heaven.

 

Revelation 16:2-4 relates the effects of the outpouring of the first three bowls of God’s wrath- festering sores and water pollution on a global scale. The Bamberg Apocalypse consolidates the seven bowls of wrath into three illuminations, but only the ostensible effects of the second bowl’s outpouring (floating fish) is easily identified in the first of these three illustrations, as seen above.
Revelation 16:2- “And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.”

Revelation 16:3- “And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.”

Revelation 16:4- “And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.”

Revelation 16:5-7 asserts the righteousness of these judgements. The judgments of God upon earth are not capricious or arbitrary. Omniscience ensures that the great judge is aware of every fact that may bear upon every case that is being examined. The wages of sin is death. Theologian Ranko Stefanofic writes (in a characteristically Adventist manner) “Probation has closed and intercession on behalf of sinners no longer exists.”

 

Five verses in the 16th chapter of Revelation describe the effects of the bowls upended by the fouth, fifth, and sixth avenging angels. The sun is depicted in the illumination above as being so close to the figures in the lower left that they are suffering very badly from its heat, yet they persist in their unrepentance.

Here is Revelation 16:8-9- “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.”
Revelation 16:10-11- “And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.”
Revelation 16:12- “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.”

Revelation16:13-14 are included in the above illumination. The three frogs in the middle of the image are the antitypes of the three angels of Chapter 14. They symbolize unclean spirits who function as propagandists and recruiters for the army that is about to fight for the losing side in the pending Battle of Armageddon.

 

The script above commences with “Et venit unus de septem Angelis, qui habebant septem phialas, et locutus et mecum, dicens…” (And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me…). The angel referred to in these verses, beginning in Revelation 17:1 is not specifically identified as the seventh angel with the seventh vail, so the illumination provided for this page of the Bamberg Apocalypse may be slightly out of sequence.

The seventh angel’s penultimate end-time actions are described in Revelation 16:17- “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.” The voice indicated by this verse is that of God Himself. Thunder and lightning shatters the skies, and the greatest, yet last earthquake of earth’s history occurs. It splits Babylon into three pieces. Hailstones large enough to kill those whom they strike descend from the heavens, yet men persist (perversely and irrationally) with their blasphemies. The consequences of the pouring out of the seventh bowl are described as being “exceedingly” great, a qualifier that uniquely applied to this episode from the Book of Revelation. Like the plagues God placed upon Egypt in the Book of Exodus, an increasingly traumatic series of chastisements are ineffectively administered to the unrepentant.

 

The destruction of Babylon was announced is Revelation 18:19. The last sentence of this verse reminds the reader of God’s perfect memory, and of His righteous intentions- “…great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.” Chapter 17 is a description of Babylon, as symbolized by the “great harlot” depicted in the illumination above. The beast she is astride is identical to the one described in Chapter 13 of Revelation, newly resurrected from death due to its apparently mortal wound. John, puzzled and amazed by this apparition, is enlightened by his angel/guide. The illumination above can be captioned by the angel’s introduction to his exposition on the harlot- “And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.”

The “seven mountains” upon which the harlot sits misleads many interpreters of Revelation to attempt to identify symbolic Babylon with historical Rome, and the “seven kings” of Revelation 17:10 with past Roman emperors. But while Rome is undoubtedly one of the seven kingdoms, or empires that are being described, a statement in Revelation 17:10 reveals that one of these powers “…has not yet come.” The Book of Revelation is primarily a prophecy, but 5 of the 7 kingdoms alluded to have now passed at the moment that is described by Chapter 17.

 

Babylon, having sown the wind, must now reap the whirlwind. The above illustration of its fall from the Bamberg Apocalypse depicts the great city as being inverted. Jerome relates that Peter was crucified upside-down, by request, due to his unworthiness to pattern his martyrdom upon that of Christ. The artist of the image above adopts the device of inversion to emphasize the unworthiness of Babylon’s pretensions to parody the New Jerusalem. Peter possessed many redeeming characteristics, but Babylon is utterly without merit. The caption for this illumination is the proclamation shouted by the angel in the upper portion of the painting, one contained in Revelation 18:2- “And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” This is the fulfillment of an advance warning of the imminent destruction of Babylon contained in Revelation 14:8.

Revelation 18:4 orders God’s people to “come out” of Babylon. This directive is interpreted by some to refer to a physical separation, but, even were one to seek refuge in the hinterlands, a spiritual separation from Babylon is mandatory. This divine evacuation order may be literal, or it may be symbolic, or it may be both.

 

The confederates of Satan are crestfallen subsequent to the destruction of Babylon, but there is jubilation in heaven in the wake of its fall. Revelation 18:20 furnishes a brief caption for the illumination above- “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.”

The first ten verses of Chapter 10 of the Book of Revelation also describe continuing praise for God by the twenty-four elders, the four beasts, and a great multitude, as well as expressions of relief and gratitude for the destruction of Babylon. This assembly is symbolized as the affianced “bride of Christ,” or the church, and is arrayed in fine linen in anticipation of their soon-to-occur symbolic wedding. This marriage will be celebrated with a feast, but must be preceded by another feast- one provided by God for bird, and not saints.

 

Revelation 18:21 captions this illumination- “And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.” There exists several scriptural instances of metaphorically consigning an offensive object to oblivion by attaching a weight to it and then pitching it into the. The demise of Babylon is definitively emphasized through the use of this literary symbol. It is the upper wheel of a set of millstones that is best employed as a sinker, for lower millstones are usually set into the ground.

 

In Revelation 19:11-21 Christ and His legions arrive on the scene. Revelation 19:11-13 is the source of the upper half of this illumination- “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.” The leader is visible at the upper right, but is depicted as a conventional Ottonian warrior. His feet are resting in stirrups, an Eastern innovation introduced to the West (as is Christianity itself) a few centuries prior to the production of the Bamberg Apocalypse. Stirrups would furnish as useful a symbol for the Word of God as does the sword (described in Verse 19:15) that the leader clutches in His teeth, but they were unknown at the time that John was transcribing his revelation.

The lower half of the above image can be captioned by Revelation 19:17-18- “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.”

 

Chapter 19, Verse 20 describes the capture of the beast and his false prophet- “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” Two members of the unholy triumvirate perish, along with their astonished minions. Satan himself will fall in the course of the events recorded in the next chapter.

The 20th chapter of Revelation reports the successful conclusion of the temporary war between good and evil that has troubled the heavens and the earth since the fall of Adam. It features the binding of Satan (20:1-3), a restatement of the preceding return of Jesus and its attendant “first resurrection” of the righteous, the Millennial reign of Christ, the release of Satan at the end of the Millennium, his destruction, and a “second resurrection” wherein the unrighteous dead are awakened from their sleep long enough to be condemned.

Revelation 19:20 records the capture of the beast and the false prophet (beast number two). Revelation  20:1-2 record the capture of Satan- “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.” Revelation 20:7-8 records his release- “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”

In the above illumination it difficult to distinguish between the capture and release of Satan. Either the beast or the false prophet appears to accompany Satan during his captivity, but Revelation 19:20 notes that both first beast from the sea and the second beast from the earth were “…cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.” Satan is reunited with his two associates just prior to the Great White Throne Judgment, according to Revelation 20:10- “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

 

Scenes of the last judgement of the righteous and the wicked often combine both redeemed and condemned  sinners into a single tableau. It is also a beloved subject for triptychs, the center panel featuring the process of judgment, and the left (Christ’s right) and right (Christ’s left) panels respectively depicting saved and lost souls. The “great white throne judgment” described in Revelation 20:11-15 is exclusively directed toward the condemned, however.  Christ is revealed as sharing the throne of heaven in Revelation 3:21 and 22:1, but depictions of last judgments traditionally portray Jesus as sole judge. First Corinthians 15:28 reveals that the Son ultimately relinquishes His authority to God the Father- “And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.”

The illumination above from the Bamberg Apocalypse appears to be a faithful representation of the judgment that commences in Revelation 20:11- “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.”

 

Babylon is fallen, and an infinitely superior replacement for Babylon descends from heaven. It is introduced to a relieved and grateful remnant in Revelation 21:1-3- “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”

The twelve turreted gates depicted in the illumination above faithfully replicate fortifications that were contemporary to the creation of the Bamberg Apocalypse, but fall very short of the degree of beauty and magnificence of the genuine New Jerusalem. The artist, as do we all, sees through a glad darkly, and inhabited what is popularly termed “the Dark Ages.” This age was not so dark, however, as to totally exclude the light of scripture.

 

The Revelator is privileged to preview the New Jerusalem. This illumination includes both a description of a prominent feature of this city, and an incident that occurs very close to the conclusion of John’s vision.

The description is contained in Revelation 22:1-2, and is visible in the upper half of the illumination- “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

The incident is described in Revelation 22:8-9, and is portrayed in the lower half of the image. It proclaims the only being that is worthy of our worship, either in this present world, or in the world to come. “And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.”

It is not only fellow prophets that are described in Revelation 22:9 as being brethren of John and his angelic tour guide for the imminent end of this evil world. It includes anyone who may chose to “keep the sayings of this book..” This book is the Holy Bible.

The caption for this image from the UNESCO website- “The Son of God leans down from the fold of a cloud and passes the Book of Revelation, the apocalypse into the veiled hands of John, who is falling to his knees below. The front cover of the book is adorned with seven round discs representing the seals.”