What does it mean in Revelation where it talks about God's name, Jesus' name and the name of new Jerusalem being written on the foreheads of the conquerors/144,000?

by slimboyfat 13 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    There is Revelation 14:1

    And I saw, and, look! the Lamb standing upon the Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.

    Did the author have in mind the Tetragrammaton here? Revelation is rich with allusions to the OT and other Jewish texts that obviously used and made reference to the divine name; in particular the Law where the High Priest wore a headband with the Tetragrammaton inscribed must surely be the basis for this image. But then what about having Jesus' name alongside the Tetragrammaton? How was that meant to be conceptualised? Was Jesus' name also written in Hebrew, or in Greek instead, alongside, above or below the Tetragrammaton? Or did he follow the idea of Paul in Php 2:5-11 that Jesus had been given the name above every other name, in other words that Jesus and Jehovah now shared the same name, the sacred Tetragrammaton? So instead of two names being written on the heads of the 144,000 in John's vision, was there just one name: the name both God and his Son now share, the Tetragrammaton?

    But then there is Revelation 3:12

    “‘The one that conquers—I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will by no means go out [from it] anymore, and I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which descends out of heaven from my God, and that new name of mine.

    So here there is an image of three names being written on faithful conquerors: God's name, the name of new Jerusalem, and Jesus' "new name". What is going on here? It seems a bit crowded with three names instead of just the Tetragrammaton as the High Priest had. It doesn't mention the name(s) being on the forehead in particular this time. Is that significant? And how come the name of Jerusalem is on a level with God's name and that of his Son anyway? And why is Jesus said to refer to his "new name" in particular? Is this the name Paul referred to that God gave Jesus after his kenosis? Again wasn't that name the Tetragrammaton? And if so in what sense was it given to Jesus?

    The author of Revelation also uses a form of the divine name in chapter 19 in praise to God

    After these things I heard what was as a loud voice of a great crowd in heaven. They said: “Praise Jah, YOU people! The salvation and the glory and the power belong to our God, because his judgments are true and righteous. For he has executed judgment upon the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged the blood of his slaves at her hand.” And right away for the second time they said: “Praise Jah, YOU people! And the smoke from her goes on ascending forever and ever.”

    And recently scholars have argued there is an even more startling allusion to the Greek form of the divine name IAW in Revelation 1:8. Even in English you can make it out:

    I am the Al´pha and the O·me´ga,” says Jehovah God, “the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty.”

    Iota, alpha and omega to stand for the divine name, pronounced Yaho. (Or possibly even Yahowah?) This allusion might seem too obscure but actually there is a wealth of evidence that the Greek form of the divine name IAW was widely used in the period when Revelation was written, and the reader would not have missed the allusion, especially in a text of this nature that invites the reader to seek hidden meaning.

    So what name(s) did the author of Revelation have in mind as being inscribed on believers in chapters 3 and 14? If it was meant to conjure a clear image of the Tetragrammaton, and 1:8 is also to be taken as a reference to the divine name in its Greek form, then what does this suggest about the continued significance of the divine name for the early Christians?

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    I just realised ego (I) in Greek obviously does not equate with iota. Maybe the iota is taken from eimi (am). I need to go and look up how you arrive at IAW in Rev 1:8 in that case, I can't remember but it seemed plausible when I read about it. And still it looks good in English: I A O.

  • quietlyleaving
    quietlyleaving

    what springs to mind straight away is that Revleation did not want to leave anyone out - Jehovah, Jesus, humans all enfolded within a mystery. Its kinda take the lot or nothing at all (in death I guess).

    edit: IAW does look better - lol my 3rd edit IAO

  • donuthole
    donuthole

    Take a look at Jeremiah 23:6; 33:16 -- the messiah and the city are both given the name "YHWH TSIDKENU" or Jehovah, our Righteousness.

    I do believe that Jesus was given the name of Almighty God.

    Hebrews tells that Jesus has inherited a name more excellent than angels. If you inherit something it must have previously belonged to someone else, in this case his Father.

    Also look at John 17:12, "While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me."

  • Narkissos
    Narkissos

    Also relevant to this rich and fluid symbolism of the "name" in Revelation (which imo exceeds any single and consistent explanation) is 2:17:
    To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.Cf. 19:12: His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed that no one knows but himself.(Although the next verse states his name is "The Word of God," and v. 16 "King of kings and Lord of lords.")

    In 14:1 the agreement of written (gegrammenon) is singular, which actually leaves the two interpretations possible (a plural agreement would rule out the idea of the two names being one but the opposite is not necessarily true). Also interesting from the perspective of a single referent to the name of God and the Lamb (which also share the same throne) is 22:3f: But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

  • JustWantTruth
    JustWantTruth

    One passage in particular comes to mind...John 17: 9-12 Jesus says, " I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;

    10 andall things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.

    11 "I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.

    12 "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me";

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    That is interesting about the number of the adjective(?) conceptually allowing for name or names in 14:1. I vaguely remember reading about that. Are there any good reasons for deciding between seeing that as deliberate or unintended ambiguity on the part of the author?

    I forgot all about 22:4.

    If the idea is that Jesus and God share the same name, and that name is written on God's servants, then there is perhaps a parallel with God sharing his throne with Jesus, and Jesus then also allowing his followers on the throne in Revelation 3:21

    To the one that conquers I will grant to sit down with me on my throne, even as I conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

    I remember Witnesses and Evangelicals having a debate about what that meant a few years ago, and whether they were all sitting on the same crowded throne or what was going on. Strange image. In the debate it was tied with Revelation 19:5 and how Witnesses believe Jesus was speaking from the throne (or near or round about the throne!?) and said "our God" in that verse, which got some Witness defenders excited.

    Also, a voice issued forth from the throne and said: “Be praising our God, all YOU his slaves, who fear him, the small ones and the great.”

    I think I got mixed up about the supposed allusion to IAW being in Revelation 1:8, although maybe it is there too. It was Sean McDonough's book about Revelation 1:4 I was thinking about.

    John to the seven congregations that are in the [district of] Asia:May YOU have undeserved kindness and peace from “The One who is and who was and who is coming,” and from the seven spirits that are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, “the Faithful Witness,” “The firstborn from the dead,” and “The Ruler of the kings of the earth.”

    I would need to go back and read how he arrives at that interpretation. Have you come across this idea about hidden references to the divine name in the text Narkissos/have a view on it?

    Sean M McDonough YHWH at Patmos: Rev. 1:4 in its Hellenistic and Early Jewish Setting

    Some of the book can be read online:

    http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=c0ZG4P8J1roC&dq=yhwh+patmos&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=i1csNSacBi&sig=ckgqF-hfAPIxOKJ1GWk153wV1nY&hl=en&ei=pi9WSoy5KeHKjAeNwrnHAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2

    Frank Shaw also discusses this in his dissertation The Earliest Non-mystical Jewish Use of Iαω and argues it is a reference specifically to the Greek form IAW.

    I should have got my facts straight before I posted.

  • PSacramento
    PSacramento

    Of course there is also the chance that John was on one heck of an acid trip !

    ;)

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat
    One passage in particular comes to mind...John 17: 9-12 Jesus says, " I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;

    JustWantTruth and donuthole, yes there are references all over the NT to God giving Jesus his name if you just look for it. I read an excellent article on this subject.

    'The Divine Name in Ante-Nicene Christology' by Charles Geischen

    Which I have just noticed can now be read in full online!

    http://www.michaelsheiser.com/TwoPowersInHeaven/Gieschen%20divine%20name%20antenicene.pdf

    Narkissos the last time I mentioned this article it was not available online. For me it was a real eye-opener to see how much the NT as well as other early Christian texts actually refer to the divine name.

    But for me all this begs the question: if the divine name as a concept was so prevalent in the minds of the early Christians then how come it is absent from their sacred texts? Is it really credible to believe they talked and wrote so much about the divine name without ever actually uttering it or writing it themselves? I think there is a better explanation of the available evidence... that the divine name was originally in the early Christian texts.

  • Chalam
    Chalam

    Hi,

    Interesting post!

    The main thing you find in Revelation is that the name of Jesus is paramount

    Revelation 2:3 Revelation 2:13 Revelation 3:8 Revelation 14:1 Revelation 19:13 Revelation 19:16 Revelation 22:4

    Do we endure hardship for that name? Do we remain faithful to that name? Are we witnesses to that name? Do we not deny that name?

    I think it is clear to see that Jehovah's Witnesses do not do what they do because of the name of Jesus, but rather "Jehovah".

    Jesus is the one who puts names in His Lamb's Book Of Life Revelation 3:5 Revelation 13:8 Revelation 17:8 Revelation 20:15 Revelation 21:27

    Good to get to know Jesus then :)

    All the best,

    Stephen

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