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2009

Revelation's Visionary Challenge to Ordinary

Empire
Craig R. Koester
Luther Seminary, [email protected]

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Revelation's Visionary Challenge to
Ordinary Empire
CRAIG R. KOESTER
Professor of New Testament
Luther Seminary

Revelation addresses the ordinary challenges facing Christians under

Roman rule, rather than speaking only to those enduring a time of terror.
Some of the readers were struggling, but others were affluent and compla-
cent. The book's visions seek to alter the way they see the political,
religious, and economic dimensions of imperial life and to call them to
renewed faithfulness to God and the Lamb.

R evelation is known for its pointed critique of imperial Roman power. Through
satirical imagery, it portrays the city that rules the world as a tawdry harlot on a
horrific beast, whose seven heads recall Rome's traditional seven hills (Rev 17:9).
The ruling power conquers the nations and threatens the saints, while seducing the peoples
of the world with dazzling prospects of commercial profits and lives of luxury. In scenes of
cosmic conflict, the harlot is destroyed in a fiery conflagration and the Lamb defeats the
imperial beast with the sword of his mouth. The horizon of the book extends to the new
Jerusalem, but its visionary rhetoric sharply challenges the political, religious, and economic
patterns of the Roman world in which its first readers lived.

The contrast between God and God's opponents is clear in the visionary world of Revelation.
But it almost certainly would not have been so clear in the social world of its early readers. The
book addresses Christian congregations in seven cities of the Roman province of Asia, where
many Christians lived relatively comfortable lives. Some were poor but others were well off;
some found themselves in conflicted situations while others blended more easily into society.
For many, John's critique of the empire would have seemed strange and excessive. It would not
have been obvious to them that the empire posed a threat to the faithful.

Revelation's visions would have functioned in different ways depending on the reader's
perspective. For readers who were impoverished or intimidated by conflict, the visions may
have affirmed what they already believed to be true: the empire was no friend of the faith-
ful. But for those who prospered in the Roman era, the visions would have been a summons
to see things differently, to recognize the political, religious, and economic patterns that ran
counter to the claims of God, and to exhibit the resistance that comes from faith in the
contexts where they lived.

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6 Interpretation JANUARY 2 0 0 9

CHANGING PERSPECTIVES ON REVELATION'S IMPERIAL CONTEXT

Interpreters have often assumed that Revelation was written under the specter of rising
imperial persecution of the church. This is based in part on Irenaeus' comment that Revelation
was written near the end of the reign of the emperor Domitian, who was assassinated in 96 CE.
(Against Heresies 5.30.3). Thefinalyears of Domitian's reign were marked by violent action
against those he suspected of disloyalty. After his death, he was condemned by the senate and
his name was removedfrominscriptions and public monuments. When vilifying Domitian,
Roman writers charged that he had made excessive claims about his own divinity, arrogantly
demanding that people call him "lord and god" and summoning his wife to join him on his
"divine couch" (Suetonius, Domitian 13). In Christian tradition, Domitian was remembered
as one of the persecuting emperors, second only to Nero in his brutality against the church
(Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.17).

This reconstruction of Revelation's context has endured because it seems to make good
sense of the book's terrifying visions. The great seven-headed beast from the sea that John
describes exhibits the kind of blasphemous arrogance traditionally associated with Domitian
(Rev 13:1-10). This great beast has an ally, portrayed as a beast from the land and as a false
prophet, who forces people to take part in the ruler cult and slaughters those who refuse to
comply (13:11-18). Later, a brazen prostitute, who represents the city that rules the world,
rides on the beast and is drunk on the blood of the saints and witnesses to Jesus (17:1-18).
For readers living in a context of terror, Revelation would provide encouragement to resist
to the point of death in the confidence that God will prevail in the end.

There are, however, good reasons to revise this scenario. Historians have found remark-
ably little evidence of imperial persecution of Christians in the latefirstcentury.1 When
there was violence against Christians, it was typically a local affair rather than a systematic
campaign initiated by the Romans. In the mid-60s of thefirstcentury, the emperor Nero
did initiate savage attacks against Christians, but the violence was apparently confined to
Rome and did not extend into the provinces. Later in the first century, there is no evidence
that Domitian was ever called "lord and god" in public documents. The coins and inscrip-
tions produced during his reign use standard titles for the living emperor and refrain from
calling him "god." Instead, such divine titles seemed to have been used unofficially by those
seeking to win the emperor's favor throughflattery.2In the final years of his reign,
Domitian acted harshly against those suspected of disloyalty, yet there is no evidence that
Christians were special victims of persecution.

1
Adela Yarbro Collins, Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1984), 69-73;
Leonard L. Thompson, The Book of Revelation: Apocalypse and Empire (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990),
95-115.
2
Martial, Epigrams 5.8.1; 7.34.8; Dio Chrysostom, Orations 45.1; Dio Cassius, Roman History 67.5../T; 67.13.4.

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REVELATION AS A C R I T I Q U E OF EMPIRE Interpretation 7

Revelation's critical view of Roman dominion cannot be adequately understood as a

response to a heightened threat of imperial violence against the church. Whether John wrote at the
end of Domitian's reign or some years prior to that, circumstances would not have been markedly
different. Rather than speaking against an ominous change in imperial policy, Revelation chal-
lenges the dominant currents of ordinary imperial life.3

THE VARIED SITUATIONS OF JOHN'S READERS

The messages to the churches in Rev 2-3 provide a window into the situation of John's
intended readers, who lived under imperial rule. In these chapters there is again little evidence
that Roman persecution was the dominant threat for Christians in Asia Minor. Instead, we
find readers facing a spectrum of challenges. Some encountered local hostility against the
church. For others, the principal threat was assimilation into the dominant Greco-Roman
culture. For still others, the issue was the complacency that grows out of economic prosperity.
I will consider each of these issues in turn.4

1. Open hostility. This was a problem for Christians in two of the cities addressed by
Revelation: Smyrna and Philadelphia (2:8-11; 3:7-13). The situation at Smyrna, which is
most fully described, fits the usual pattern of persecution. It begins when people at the local
level verbally denounce Christians to the authorities. At Smyrna and Philadelphia this was
done by members of local synagogues, although conflict between Jews and Christians did
not seem to have been a problem in other cities. The verbal denunciation initiated a process
in which the civic or provincial authorities had to determine whether the Christians posed
a threat to the social order.

Christians were viewed with suspicion by some because their distinctive profession of
faith in Jesus as "Lord" and "Son of God" did not fit accepted social and religious patterns.
They did not revere the Greco-Roman deities that were honored by most people in Asian
cities, yet they were increasingly distinct from the local Jewish communities, whose beliefs
could be tolerated since they were part of their ancestral traditions. For some, Christianity
was "a new and mischievous superstition" that needed to be suppressed for the sake of
good order in society (Suetonius, Nero 16.2; cf. Tacitus, Annals 15.44; Pliny the Younger,
Epistles 10.96.8-9). Accordingly, Christians could be put in prison for questioning, and if
they proved to be noncompliant, they could be put to death at the direction of the Roman
proconsul.5

3
Steven J. Friesen, Imperial Cults and the Apocalypse of lohn: Reading Revelation in the Ruins (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2001), 150.
4
Craig R. Koester, Revelation and the End ofAll Things (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001), 54-69.
5
Denunciation is followed by imprisonment in Acts 16:19-24; cf. 17:5-9; Heb 10:32-34; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical
History 4.9.1-3. Denunciation leads to the arrest and death of Christians in some other instances (Pliny the Younger,
Epistles 10.96-97; Martyrdom ofPolycarp 3.2). On persecutions, see Paul Achtemeier, 1 Peter (Hermeneia; Minneapolis:
Fortress, 1996), 28-35.

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8 Interpretation JANUARY 2 0 0 9

Significantly, the overt threats against the church seem to be local. Christians in two
cities faced open hostility, but this is not identified as a problem in the other cities. Revelation
recalls that a Christian named Antipas, who is called a "faithful witness," was put to death at
Pergamum at some point in the past (Rev 2:13). Yet even in this instance the rest of the
Christians at Pergamum seem to have been left alone, and the message to Pergamum does
not suggest that such violence was a persistent problem.

2. Assimilation. Christians lived in cities where most people adhered to traditional reli-
gious beliefs. Some of the most popular events in public life were the festivals honoring
local deities such as Artemis, Athena, or Dionysus. At the heart of a typical festival was a
procession in which animals adorned with ribbons or garlands were led through the crowds
of onlookers to the place of sacrifice. After the animals were properly slaughtered according
to traditional rites, there were often banquets hosted by civic officials and wealthy benefactors
where the meat was served. Such situations presented complex social issues for Christians: How
fully can one participate in forms of public life that conflict with one's own faith convictions?

Private social gatherings also could have religious aspects, which compounded the
problem. Greco-Roman temples sometimes had dining facilities where people could share
meals that included meat from sacrifices offered to a god or goddess. Family celebrations
commemorating a birthday or a child's coming of age might be held in a temple's dining area.
Similarly, trade guilds and business associations had gatherings that included rites honoring
a particular goddess or god. What were Christians to do if theirfriendsor business associ-
ates expected them to take part in gatherings involving beliefs they did not accept? Was it
best to maintain one's social and business connections, even when this meant suppressing
one's faith? Or was it better to be clear about one's faith and refrain from participating,
even if this brought the risk of heightened tensions with non-Christians or ostracism from
them?6

Christians did not agree about the extent to which people could compromise their con-
victions before they lost their integrity. Some took a latitudinarian view and taught that it
was no problem for Christians to eat food that had been offered in Greco-Roman religious
rites or to share in meals in the local temples.7 In the messages to the churches, this is the
view associated withfiguresnicknamed Balaam and Jezebel (2:14,20). John sharply dis-
agreed, insisting that this practice was a form of religious infidelity that was incompatible
with Christian faith. This dispute over assimilation presses readers to consider the extent to
which their faith sets them apart from a wider non-Christian culture.

6
Collins, Crisis and Catharsis, 88.
7
Some Christians at Corinth took this approach, which is critiqued by Paul in 1 Cor 8:1-13; 10:19-22. Paul was
less concerned about eating sacrificial meat purchased in the market (10:25).

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R E V E L A T I O N AS A C R I T I Q U E OF EMPIRE Interpretation 9

3. Complacency arising from wealth. This is most evident in the message to Laodicea,
which addresses Christians who are lukewarm in faith. They are depicted as those who say, "I am
rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing" (3:17). For these Christians the problem is not that
social conditions are too threatening. Instead, the issue is that life is so comfortable that it has
diminished the vitality of their faith.

Aspiring to wealth was not unusual, of course. Greek and Latin writers frequently tell of the
wealthy upper classes setting the tone for society as a whole. Wealth was displayed by the clothing
one wore, by the servants that attended the members of one's family, and by the opulence of one's
home. Banquets were occasions at which the upper classes sought to impress their guests. Using
tableware of gold, reclining on scarlet cushions, and serving many courses of fine food and wine
were established marks of success in Rome and the provinces of its empire.8

Equating wealth with status is something Revelation critiques. John likens the situation at
prosperous Laodicea to a banquet, where Christ might relish either a cup offinewine chilled with
snow or a soothing drink of hot wine and water—only to be given something tepid and distaste-
ful. What is tepid loses its appeal by œnforming to the temperature of the air around it, and this is
the way the Christian community is depicted. In their self-satisfaction with wealth they have lost
their vitality and become indistinguishable from the surrounding social climate.9

POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS, AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF EMPIRE

The messages to the churches in Rev 2-3 deal with problems that are primarily local and
immediate, but visions later in the book situate these issues within a broaderframework.The
struggle portrayed in the visions is ultimately between God and evil, yet this conflict engages the
political, religious, and economic features of the world in which the readers live. A sketch of
these dimensions of the context can help to show the nature of John's response.

1. Political Domination. Asia Minor had been firmly a part of the Roman empire for
generations by the time Revelation was composed. The region was not conquered by the
Romans but was bequeathed to them by the last king of Pergamum in 133 B.C.E. After this,
Asia Minor became a Roman province. There was some violent resistance to Roman rule
during in the first century B.C.E., and this was suppressed by the Roman military. During
the reign of Augustus, however, conditions improved significantly and by the end of the
first century CE., when Revelation was written, the Roman military presence in Asia Minor
was minimal. The wars of conquest continued east and north of the province.

8
Naphtali Lewis and Meyer Reinhold, eds., Roman Civilization: Selected Readings (3d ed.; 2 vols.; New York:
Columbia University Press, 1990), 2.155-62.
9
On the imagery of hot and cold, see Craig R. Koester, "The Message to Laodicea and the Problem of Its Local
Context: A Study of the Imagery in Revelation 3.14-22," NTS 49 (2003): 407-24, esp. 411-16.

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10 Interpretation JANUARY 2 0 0 9

Authority over Asia ultimately belonged to the Romans, who sent proconsuls to administer
the province. The Romans had the power to tax the region and they oversaw the judicial system.
Good relations with Roman officials had the potential to yield favorable legal settlements, civic
improvements, and desirable appointments to public service. Rome won the loyalty of many
people by its benefactions, such as tax relief during times of disaster and the construction of
roads, buildings, and water systems. In response, the public was expected to show its gratitude to
the ruling power.

One way that Asia honored its Roman overlords was by adopting a calendar that began each
year with the birthday of Augustus. The decision was made around 9 B.C.E. The decree said that
since divine providence brought Augustus to serve as a benefactor for all humanity, the birthday of
the god Augustus marked the beginning of good news for the world. By identifying his
birthday (September 23) as the beginning of each new year, time itself was restructured to
recognize Roman rule.10 This dominion of Rome was understood to be enduring. Texts
from the period look for "the eternal continuation" of imperial rule and the "permanence"
of the empire. Revelation's insistence that such an empire will end poses a challenge to this
aspect of the ideology.

2. Religion and the Imperial Cult. Elements of Rome's political and military ideology
were woven into the common religious life of Asia Minor over a long period of time.11 The
first temple to the goddess Roma—who personified the city of Rome—was constructed at
Smyrna in 195 B.C.E., almost three centuries before Revelation was written (Tacitus, Annals
4.56). Later, the cult of the emperor was established in Asia Minor at the request of the
province. In 29 B.C.E., provincial representatives asked Augustus for permission to dedicate
sacred precincts to him and their request was granted. Soon a provincial temple to Augustus
was constructed at Pergamum, helping to solidify the region's good relationships with the
ruling power (Dio Cassius, Roman History 51.20.6-9).

Other provincial temples followed. In 23 CE., the province requested permission to

build a second imperial temple, this one dedicated to Tiberius. This request expressed grati-
tude for the emperor's favorable judgments in cases pertaining to Asia's welfare. Cities from
the region competed for the privilege of building the temple, and the honor was granted to
Smyrna, enhancing that city's status in the region (Tacitus, Annals 4.55-56). During the 80s,
the city of Ephesus gained prestige by building a provincial temple to Domitian and other
members of the imperial family. In addition to these provincial centers, many towns built
local shrines to the emperor. Provincial and civic festivals honoring the emperors were pop-

10
On the calendar and permanence of Roman rule, see Friesen, Imperial Cults, 32-36,130.
11
See S. R. F. Price, Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asta Minor (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1984); Friesen, Imperial Cults, 25-131.

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REVELATION AS A CRITIQUE OF EMPIRE Interpretation 11

ular events with contests and banquets that attracted many people. Individuals sought the
honor of serving as priests in the imperial cult, since this office advanced one's social standing.
By the time Revelation was written, the imperial cult had been a familiar part of Asian life for
more than a century.

The cult of Rome and its emperors was based on an ideology that emphasized Rome's
invincible strength, which was evident in its military conquests. Coins bearing images of
imperial temples depict the emperors in military garb, being given a victory crown. Sculp-tures
in the imperial temple at Aphrodisias, southwest of Laodicea, portray emperors standing in
triumph over defeated figures representing nations ranging from Egyptians and Arabs in
the east to the Callaeci of western Spain. The iconography also stressed the peace and pros-
perity that Rome brought to the world. At Aphrodisias, for example, the emperor was
depicted as the source of abundance on the earth and safety on the seas.12 The deification
of imperial power did not replace traditional forms of worship but functioned along with
them. At Ephesus, for example, joint religious rites honored the goddess Demeter and the
emperors. At Pergamum, a festival to the emperor was held in the sacred precincts of the
savior god Asclepius. In iconography, the images of traditional Olympian gods were blended
with those of imperial Rome. This pattern of identifying the political order with the divine
order is challenged by Revelation.

3. Economic Networks. Rome's ability to govern subject peoples depended in part on its
ability to provide economic benefits. In the imperial period, networks of trade and com-
merce flourished. Rome itself was the world's largest single market for goods, and Roman
fleets plied the seas in order to bring a steady supply of goods to the city. The depiction of
seaborne commerce in Rev 18:11-20 is highly stylized, but it provides a point from which
to consider the breadth of international trade.

Gold and silver were brought to Rome from Spain and other places. Gems and pearls
came from India, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf. Silk came from the far east, expensive
citrus wood furniture was imported from Morocco, and ivory came from Africa. Iron often
came from Spain and the alpine regions, while the best bronze came from Corinth. Cinnamon
and amomum, which were used in perfumes, were obtained from Arabia and India, and
frankincense came from Arabia and Somalia. Freighters transported large quantities of wheat
from Egypt, North Africa, and other agricultural regions.

Many people in Asia took advantage of the opportunities that the Roman-era economy
offered. Asian producers marketed various types of textiles, including the expensive purple

12
R. R. R. Smith, "The Imperial Reliefsfromthe Sebasteion at Aphrodisias," 1RS 77 (1987): 88-138; and "Simulacra
Gentium. The Ethnefromthe Sebasteion at Aphrodisias," /RS 78 (1988): 50-77; Friesen, Imperial Cults, 77-95.

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12 Interpretation JANUARY 2009

cloth that marked high social status (Acts 16:14). High quality marble and wines, as well as
select varieties of horses, cattle, and sheep were sold to Italian markets. The slave trade was
of particular importance to the Asian economy. Slaves from Cappadocia and Phrygia were
highly prized by Roman buyers. There were slave markets at Sardis, Thyatira, and especially
Ephesus, where Roman slave traders sent a steady supply of human beings for sale in Rome
and elsewhere.13 Revelation's critique of commercial practices is not only directed at distant
Rome, but also at the local networks of trade in the cities where its readers lived.

THE THEOLOGICAL BASIS OF JOHN'S CRITIQUE

Revelation's critique of the empire is theologically driven. John's perspective cannot be

understood apart from the theological convictions that are conveyed through the visions. The
14
question at the heart of the book is, "Who is the true Lord of this world?" John's response to
this question takes us to the heart of Revelation's message.

1. God the Creator is sovereign. Revelation's theological center can be seen in 4:1-11,
where John has a vision of the heavenly throne of God. The throne identifies God as the
rightful ruler of all things and shows that all things must be understood in relationship to
God. The vision resembles those of the biblical prophets, who told of the God enthroned by
heaven's crystal sea and attended by heavenly beings (Ezek 1; Isa 6). The creatures by the
throne have the faces of a lion, an ox, an eagle, and a human being. These reflect various
aspects of the created order, including birds, wild and domestic animals, and human beings.
Significantly, the one with the human face does not sit on the throne but stands beside it,
along with the other representatives of the created order (Rev 4:6-7). No human being
occupies the central seat of power. That place belongs to God.15

God's dominion is based on creative power. All things are called to honor the God who
gives them existence and life. As the heavenly creatures praise God, they are joined by twen­
ty-four elders, who declare, "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor
and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created" (4:11).
Authentic power is life-giving power, and this belongs to God. In antiquity it was common
to offer one's crown or head wreath to human rulers in order to recognize their sovereignty,
but in John's vision the elders cast their crowns before God, identifying the Creator as the
legitimate power that all others are to recognize. The chorus of praise that begins with the
creatures and elders around the throne is taken up by countless angelic hosts in heaven.
Then the waves of praise surge outward, until "every creature in heaven and on earth and

13
See Richard Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh: Τ & Τ Clark,
1993), 338-S3; J. Nelson Kraybill, Imperial Cult and Commerce in John's Apocalypse ( JSNTSup 132; Sheffield: Sheffield
Academic, 1996); Allen D. Callahan, "Apocalypse as Critique of Political Economy: Some Notes on Revelation 18," HBT
21 (1999): 46-65; Peter S. Perry, "Critiquing the Excess of Empire: A Synkrisis of John of Patmos and Dio of Prusa,"
JSNT29 (2007): 473-96; Craig R. Koester, *Roman Slave Trade and the Critique of Babylon in Revelation 18," CBQ 70
(2008), 766-86.
14
Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Revelation: Vision of a Just World (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991), 58.
15
On God and the empire in Rev 4, see Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book ofRevehtion (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1993), 31-35 and David E. Aune, "The Influence of Roman Court Ceremonial on the
Apocalypse of John," BR 2 (1983): 5-26.

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REVELATION AS A CRITIQUE OF EMPIRE Interpretation 13

under the earth, and in the sea" has taken up the song (5:11-13). In Revelation, the reign of
the Creator is manifested in the harmony of the creation.

2. Jesus the Jjimb is the conqueror. God does not act alone but accomplishes God's purposes
through the Messiah, who is portrayed in Rev 5. In God's hand is a scroll that contains the
mystery of the divine will, yet John learns that no one is worthy to make God's will known
except the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, who has conquered (5:1-5). These
messianic titles recall Gen 49:10 and Isa 11:1, which speak of a powerful lion-like ruler from
the line of David. But when John turns to see the Lion, he is confronted with a Lamb, standing
as if it had been slaughtered (Rev 5:6).

God's promise of the Lion is fulfilled in the Lamb, according to Revelation. And this is
the way true "conquering" is done. Divine power is unleashed through the Lamb's faithful
suffering, and God's kingdom is built through Jesus' self-sacrifice. The Messiah's death con-
veys the power of divine love, which claims people for life in God's kingdom (1:5-6). When
the love of God grasps people, it frees them from sin and gives them a priestly vocation to
serve on behalf of others (5:9-10).16 The image of the Lamb is the principal way that Jesus
is portrayed in Revelation, and it defines the conquest to which Jesus' followers are called.
They live out the Lamb's conquest of sin by faithfulness to God in the face of evil, and they
share in the Lamb's victory by speaking the truth rather than capitulating to falsehood
(12:11; 15:2).

3. Evil rages because it is doomed. Satan wields power in opposition to God and God's
people, but it is crucial for Revelation that Satan is not all powerful. The vision that reveals
evil's true character is given in Rev 12, where Satan is pictured as a seven-headed dragon,
who wears the diadems to show his aspirations to rule. The dragon seeks to devour the
messianic child, who is born of a woman, but its savage attempt is foiled when the Messiah
is taken to God's throne in heaven. Satan then battles the angels, but is defeated and thrown
down from heaven to earth, where he now rages like a wounded animal who knows that
time is running out.

Revelation 12 does not depict a mythical fall of Satan at the dawn of time. Rather, it
speaks of the defeat of evil that occurred through the work of the Messiah. The vision assumes
that Satan long had access to both heaven and earth, and that he could come before God's
throne to accuse the righteous (12:10; cf. Job 1:9-11; Zech 3:1). Following the Messiah's
exaltation, however, Satan is banished from heaven and restricted in action—like an angry
caged beast. This is the perspective that is essential for faith. Evil rages not because it is

16
Brian K. Blount, Can I Get A Witness? Reading Revelation through African American Culture (Louisville:
Westminster John Knox, 2005), 69-89.

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14 Interpretation JANUARY 2 0 0 9

invincible but because it is desperate. Those who think that evil reigns supreme have no
incentive to resist it. In their eyes giving in to evil is the only logical course of action. But
those who recognize that the evil one is vulnerable do have incentive to resist, knowing that God
and the Lamb are supreme.

VISIONARY CRITIQUE OF EMPIRE

The claims of God and the Lamb clash with those of ordinary empire in Revelation's visions.
Some of John's readers may have seen things as John did, but others would not have seen
the problems with the same urgency. So Revelation's visionary imagery must challenge them to see
the world in light of the radical claims of God and the Lamb. The book takes up and transforms
aspects of ordinary empire in order to show that seemingly irresistible political realities actually
call for resistance, that apparently benign religious practices are actually insidious, and that glittery
commercial practices can actually degrade those who take part in them.

1. The Beastly Side of Empire. Revelation recognizes that evil goes beyond any one political
system. If Satan is the "ancient serpent," who has been active since the dawn of time (Rev 12:9),
then it is clear that evil was at work long before the rise of the Roman empire. Yet John rec-
ognizes that evil does work through political systems, and this is what is portrayed in the
vision of the beast from the sea. Recall that Satan is a seven-headed and ten-horned dragon,
who is evictedfromheaven and confined to the earth. Outraged, the monster stands on the
seashore and conjures up a beast in his own image. Like the satanic dragon, the beast has
seven heads and ten horns, and it rises from the sea to do the bidding of the evil one
(12:18-13:1). Politically, this means that the beast can claim no ultimate authority. It is the
puppet of a higher demonic power.

The beast is an image for the Roman Empire—and yet is more than that. John's imagery
lumps Rome together with other great empires that have risen and fallen. The monster that
John sees rising from the deep looks very much like the four great beasts that Daniel saw
coming from the sea. In Dan 7:1-7 there are four separate beasts: a lion, a leopard, a bear,
and a ten-horned monster. And the four beasts represent successive empires: the Babylonians,
the Medes, the Persians, and the Hellenistic kingdoms of Alexander. Yet Revelation blends
the traits of all of the beasts together in its vision of the sea beast. The implication is that
the many empires that rise and fall over time belong to the same phenomenon: that of
empire itself.

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REVELATION AS A C R I T I Q U E OF EMPIRE Interpretation 15

Are there distinctly Roman elements in John's vision? Yes, most provocatively in the
observation that the beast from the sea was slaughtered and yet is alive (Rev 13:3,12,14).
Here John evokes imagery from ancient pop culture, where sensationalistic stories circulat-
ed about the emperor Nero. According to reliable reports, Nero met a sordid end when he
put a dagger to his own throat in 68 C.E. (Suetonius, Nero 49.3-4). Yet there were rumors
that Nero was actually alive and would return again. (The phenomenon was something like
modern tabloid reports about purported sightings of a dead celebrity.) Revelation trans-
forms this popular Nero tradition in order to show that the beast is the demonic counter-
part to the Lamb, who was slaughtered but now lives (5:6; 13:8).17 The idea is not that the
beast actually is Nero. Rather, it is that in the savagery of Nero, the empire shows its true
face. If the slaughtered and living Lamb "conquers" by faithfully enduring suffering, the
Nero-like beast conquers by brutally inflicting suffering on the faithful (5:5-6; 13:7). The
suffering Christians at Smyrna would presumably see this. The question is whether the
comfortable Christians elsewhere could see it too.

John's portrayal of the crowd that fawns over the beast would have helped to startle the
complacent and assimilated among John's readers into this different way of seeing. The crowds
declare, "Who is like the beast, and who canfightagainst it?" (13:4). For John's early readers, such
words would have echoed the familiar choruses of praise that celebrated Rome's seeming invinci-
bility. And to all appearances, what the people say is true; the force of the empire cannot be resist-
ed. "Who is like the beast?" The expected answer is "No one; the beast is incomparable." So "Who
canfightagainst it?" Again, the anticipated answer is "No one; the beast reigns supreme." Yet
Revelation seeks to alter these common perceptions and to evoke different responses. The beast
from the sea serves a fallen and wounded dragon, whose ferocity stems from frustrated rage not
calm control. Then who canfightthe beast? From the perspective of John's vision, God and the
Lamb can do so—and they are the powers who rightly claim the readers' loyalty.

2. Unmasking false worship. Revelation works with the assumption that people will
worship something. The only question is whether they will worship the Creator and the
Lamb or something else. In the early chapters of the book, the churches were warned about
the usual forms of idolatry that were part of Greco-Roman religious life. But the latter part
of the book concentrates on the ruler cult, which deified human beings and human power,
and wove these beliefs and practices into ordinary life in the cities of Asia. Some Christians
in the seven churches seemed to think that accommodating Greco-Roman worship prac-
tices posed no threat to the faith. But John asks, "Is this really the case?" Then he singles out
this particular form of idolatry for special consideration.

17
Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 384—452; Hans-Josef Klauck, "Do They Never Come Back? Nero Redivivus and
the Apocalypse of John," CBQ 63 (2001): 683-98.

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16 Interpretation JANUARY 2 0 0 9

From John's point of view, the deification of human power is demonic. When depicting
the hideous beast, he observes that its many heads sport blasphemous names (13:1). This
detail plays on the practice of giving the heads of the empire names like "god," "son of god,"
"master," and "savior," which were properly used for God and Jesus (2:18; 4:11; 6:10; 7:10).
The beast dominates "every tribe and people and language and nation, and all the inhabi-
tants of the earth will worship it" (13:7-8). Recall how the imperial temple at Aphrodisias
celebrated this aspect of the ruler cult by its rows of sculptures, which showed the emperors
standing in triumph over beatenfiguresrepresenting tribes, peoples, and nations.

John brings the question closer to home by describing a second beast or false prophet,
who promotes the ruler cult through deception and coercion (13:11-18; 16:13; 19:20).
Under the auspices of this second beast, which comes from the land, the people fashion a
statue of the deified ruler (13:14). The scene serves as a mirror, in which the readers are to
see the leadership of the province of Asia readily spending their time and resources on statues
and temples to the deified emperors. Interpreters have wondered whether the false prophet
might be identified with a specific person or group, such as the council of Asia, the priests
in the imperial cult, or perhaps its wealthy patrons.18 But it is difficult to specify the false
prophet's identity, since the imagery is evocative enough to encompass all who promote the
imperial cult.

Political and economic pressures are employed in the service of the cult. The false prophet
kills those who refuse to worship the ruler, and he compels people to bear the mark of the
sea beast on their foreheads or right hands if they wish to engage in commerce (13:16-18).
The reference to the mark of the beast is evocative, and interpreters have found it difficult
to equate it with any single economic practice known to the early readers. Some have sug-
gested that receiving the beast's mark on the hand means using coins inscribed with the
emperor's name and image. Others wonder whether it warns against joining trade associa-
tions, whose gatherings included rites venerating the emperor.19 Yet it is difficult to equate
the beast's mark with one specific practice. It serves more broadly as a summons that
Christians are to distance themselves from religious and commercial practices that are
inconsistent with the faith.

3. Harlotry and the seamy side of commerce. The beast and false prophet are joined by a
thirdfigure,Babylon the great, pictured as a garish prostitute (17:1-6). The vision invites
satirical comparison with Rome's staid images of itself. On Roman coinage, the goddess
Roma was sometimes pictured as a sober female warrior, reclining on the seven hills where

18
On the various proposals, see Steven J. Friesen, "The Beast from the Land: Revelation 13:11-18 and Social
Setting," in Reading the Book of Revelation (ed. David L. Barr; SBLRBS 44; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature,
2003), 49-64.
19
On these suggestions, see Collins, Crisis and Catharsis, 126-27; Kraybill, Imperial Cult, 138-40.

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R E V E L A T I O N AS A C R I T I Q U E OF EMPIRE Interpretation 17

Rome was built. In official imagery the woman is noble and sits calmly with her sword in
her hand. In scathing contrast, the woman John sees is no longer a sober warrior but a
drunken whore. The seven hills are transformed into the seven heads of the monster on
which she rides (17:9). Instead of a sword, she holds a golden cup in her hand—but one
filled with the sewage she so seems to enjoy.20 The image is repulsive, but it serves a vital
purpose in John's critique.

The harlot personifies a city and society that debases relationships by turning them
into commodities. Revelation understands true relationships to be characterized by fidelity,
as in a marriage. But prostitution transforms the most intimate of relationships into a busi-
ness transaction—and this is the way John sees relationships with Rome. A liaison with a
prostitute may have a seamy side, yet clients overlook this when they are bewitched by her
opulent clothing, jewelry, and the promise of gratification. In the same way, people are daz-
zled by the opulence of Rome and the prospect of material gratification through trade with
her. So John points to the seamy side of the ruling power's commercial networks.21

Rome could be arrogant and brazen, like the harlot in John's vision (18:7). Yet many
were willing to overlook this since the city provided such a vibrant market for their goods.
Rome could also be violent and cruel—as in the pogroms under Nero, when the city spilled
"the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus," as well as in its conquests
of nations, when Rome imposed imperial rule by shedding the blood of many throughout
the earth (17:6; 18:24). Yet some found such violence intoxicating and were willing to look
beyond it as long as the harlot city kept up its spending spree and lined the pockets of those
positioned to do business with her (18:3,11,15,19).

The Christians at Laodicea said, "I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing" (3:17).
But the vision of Babylon the whore counters with the question, "Where does your wealth
come from?" and shows readers a picture of its principal trading partner in the debauched
form of a Roman harlot. To those who might respond that their relationships with the rul-
ing power are merely business arrangements, John replies, "Precisely." That is what the pros-
titute does: she debases relationships into commercial transactions. Those who do business
with her may be eager to sell her whatever she desires, whether gold, ivory, horses, or human
bodies and souls (18:13). But in the process the prostitute's clients actually "sell out," since the
profit motive and self-interest trump all other principles in this game.

So a voice from heaven says, "Come out of her, my people, so that you do not take part
in her sins, and so that you do not share in her plagues" (18:4). This is an exhortation to

20
David E. Aune, Revelation 17-22 (WBC 52c; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998), 920-22.
21
On the portrayal of the harlot, see Barbara R. Rossing, The Choice Between Two Cities: Whore, Bride, and
Empire in the Apocalypse (HTS 48; Harrisburg, Penn.: Trinity Press International, 1999).

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18 Interpretation JANUARY 2 0 0 9

disengage from commercial practices that are incompatible with the faith. John's visions
assume that readers are entangled in the economic life of the imperial world, yet they urge
people not to let Roman "Babylon" dictate the terms by which they live. Revelation does not
outline a program by which human beings will produce the perfect society, but it does call
people to resist aspects of ordinary imperial social and economic life that run counter to
the claims of God and the Lamb.

FAITH AND RESISTANCE

Revelation's visions work by shaping the basic convictions of the readers. The visionary
rhetoric challenges people to see the world in light of the Creator and the Lamb, and to work
out the implications in the contexts where they live. John understands that human beings live
in a world of contending powers, where no one has the luxury of a neutral space. Therefore,
the question is which forms of authority will most influence people and communities. Will
it be the claims of the Creator, who brings all things into being, or will it be the authority of
the imperial state with its deified rulers? Will conquest be defined by the Lamb's faithfulness
and suffering, which redeem people, or will it be defined by the imperial pattern of defeat-
ing many nations? Does faith in the Lamb who "purchases" people by his blood (5:9) give
people the capacity to resist commercial practices that are degrading, or is the obsession
with making purchases in the vast imperial market what drives daily life?

John recognizes that no political change will usher in the kingdom of God. This is clear
in the vision of the new Jerusalem, which must descend from heaven (21:1-2). John also
understands that evil cannot simply be equated with the Roman empire. Evil was at work
long before Rome rose to power, and it will continue to be active even after the great city
has fallen and the imperial beast has been defeated (17:16; 19:20; cf. 20:1-3,7-10). But
John's visionary depictions of the beast and harlot assume that evil is active within the
political, religious, and economic currents of his society. Revelation speaks to people like
those at Smyrna, who face open hostility because of their faith, and calls them to steadfast
faith in the God who raises the dead. And it also seeks to startle complacent Christians into
seeing the contradictions between the claims of the empire and the claims of God. The
visionary world portrays the clash of powers in extraordinary form in order to evoke the
kind of faith and resistance needed to follow the Lamb in ordinary life.

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