John's Use of the Old Testament in the Book of Revelation: Notes from the Naked Bible Podcast

by Michael S. Heiser

New Testament scholars know the writer of the book of Revelation frequently makes use of the Old Testament. That awareness is not at all common for many of its readers. As with much of its content, though, the issue is not as straightforward as one might presume. For example, scholars regularly note that, despite hundreds of links back into the Old Testament on the part of John, the author of Revelation, none of the links are direct, word-for-word complete citations. Often, the citations are more allusions than quotations, and John frequently combines them so that their meaning in his mind is not intuitive to today’s reader.

Scholars specializing in this field have devised various approaches to understand John’s use of the Old Testament, a crucial requirement to comprehending the book’s meaning and theology. The goal of this book, utilizing the scholarly sources employed in the Naked Bible Podcast series on the topic, is to provide readers with a solid Scripture based grasp of this enigmatic New Testament book.

Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2021

About the author

Mike Heiser is a scholar in the fields of biblical studies and the ancient Near East. He is the Academic Editor of Logos Bible Software. Mike earned the M.A. and Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Semitic Languages at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2004. He has also earned an M.A. in Ancient History from the University of Pennsylvania (major fields: Ancient Israel and Egyptology). His main research interests are Israelite religion (especially Israel’s divine council), biblical theology, ancient Near Eastern religion, biblical & ancient Semitic languages, and ancient Jewish binitarian monotheism.

Mike blogs about biblical studies at The Naked Bible, and fringe beliefs about the ancient world at PaleoBabble. He offers courses to the public in Old Testament, biblical theology, Israelite religion, ancient languages, the Book of Enoch through his online institute, MEMRA.

Mike's other academic interests include the paranormal and the occult. His UFO Religions blog discusses how the pop cultural belief in aliens shape religious worldviews. Mike has been a frequent guest on a number of radio programs such as Coast to Coast AM. He is best known for his critique of the ancient astronaut theories of Zecharia Sitchin and his paranormal thriller, The Facade, which intertwines many of his interests.

Reviews

[Alan Fuller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I haven't read the book and probably won't, I either listened to all the podcasts or read the transcripts that the book is based on. In some cases I both read the transcript and listened to the podcast. Heiser does give a lot of good information, but the best word I can give to describe his view is "incohesive."

"... I agree with the recapitulation here, even though I believe in a literal coming forever kingdom, literally on earth, ruled by a literal messiah. But I’m not an amillennialist and I’m not your standard premillennialist, either, because I don't base my theology on the term, which is what I recommended that we don’t do in the last episode. " - Heiser

[Ben Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good resource for studying Revelation. Kind of wanders around a little here and there, but that’s to be expected from a book based on podcast notes. Wish he’d spent more time focused on various OT allusions. Got off topic once in a while

[Dawn Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heiser brings the book of Revelation into a deeply thought-provoking, yet non theatrical discussion. He roots the understanding of this book into a solid understanding of Old Testament writings. Most of the book of Revelation is clearly based on Old Testament writings and conceptual understandings for the reader of John's time. By understanding these concepts, there is little chance of deducting wild theories concerning the future Antichrist and the return of Jesus christ. I highly recommend this book for a sound and encouraging view of the things to come.

[Tyler Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m always keen to recommend Michael Heiser’s work. One need not agree with him on every detail to appreciate his hermeneutical consistency. He’s always thorough in his research, and in giving fair treatment to interpretive opposition.

This book serves as a solid commentary, narrowing in on Revelation’s many and myriad cross references to the Jewish Old Testament. No other book of the New Testament contains as many references to (and directly quotations from) the Hebrew Scriptures as John’s apocalypse. They’re extremely complex, but Heiser does a wonderful job at making them accessible. Much of his work is (as usual), a matter of synthesis. He provides exposition from the most reputable commentaries, but arranges it all into a cohesive framework.

Heiser sticks to his stated goal, which is to map out, chapter by chapter, Revelation’s use of the Old Testament. He does not frequently run off into the weeds of prophetic prediction. This is commendable. He almost always keeps to the text. My only points of disagreement are respectfully, his amillenialism and his belief in the annihilation of souls. He makes a strong (though hardly bulletproof) case for the first, but his case for the second is obscenely weak. I thoroughly enjoyed the book (even those passages) and feel significantly more competent in its subject matter.

[Gi Yundt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revelation Made More Intelligible

I liked all the OT references and Revelation references spelled out and treated in the same


paragraphs. That way, I could keep my train of thought. I used this during a 6 week Ladies Bible Study in Revelation called "Revelation -- Extravagant Hope", by Margaret Feinberg. Between the 2 books, I found my first solid understanding and appreciation for the book of Revelation. I recommend all three books.

[Shelby Pritchard · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I learned so much, this book left me slightly conflicted. Heiser's strength here isn't as much his own work, though certain sections are entirely his, but his ability to draw on scholarly works and weave a more complete picture.

My concern is that he often quoted the same authors and works so extensively that I felt little of his own contribution at times. Also, he extensively quoted from the same half dozen works, leading me to higher respect for those works, and perhaps a little disappointment that Heiser wasn't reaching out further.

Overall, the information is fantastic and very helpful, even if I'd disagree on some of his exegesis. He opened my eyes to all sorts of OT allusions I hadn't seen before. That was the goal.

But little sets this out among the other books on the subject, particularly because so much of this one is simply quotes from those others.

[Patricia Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic biblical theology by Dr. Michael Heiser, a scholar of the Bible and its ancient context. A compilation of notes on each chapter of revelation, from the naked Bible podcast. Not exactly a commentary, but a deeper exploration of some of the puzzles of revelation. I found it absolutely fascinating. Not only did I learn about this enigmatic book, but I learned about ancient cultures, astronomy, and how theologians tackle the difficulties.

Caution: take vitamin pills for this one! Enter prayerfully and prepare to dive deep and hold your breath for a long time.

Also, don’t bother if you’re just looking for a timeline to know when the world will come to an end or who the antichrist is. It’s not that type of book.

I love the quote on the back cover, “The right context for interpreting Revelation isn’t the newspaper.“

[brenda mcintyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Technical, but worth the time to read

I love everything Michael Heiser puts out. He is an amazing teacher. Parts of this book are very technical, but it has taken alot of the mystery and fear out of studying the book of Revalation.

[Darryl L. Rowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book to come back to

A densely packed book. You'll want to mark it up and make notes as well as scurry down numerous rabbit trails to read quotes and footnotes. I like this book.