A Thematic Approach to Interpreting Revelation

By Dr. Douglas Hamp

Introduction

The book of Revelation is an exhilarating prophesy that comes with a blessing to those who read it. Nevertheless, it is far from being easy to understand. Part of the challenge is due to a tendency to interpret the book chronologically rather than thematically. Though the book of Revelation presents a general sequence of events, it is primarily arranged thematically.

The thematic approach inherently searches for multiple witnesses to establish sound doctrine. In Scripture, matters are established by two or three witnesses (Deut 19:15). In other words, we are on solid ground when our dogma and scriptural understanding are supported multiple places in Scripture. Using a thematic interpretation of Revelation, and in particular, the judgments found in the seals, trumpets, and bowls, reveals multiple witnesses to a handful of events. In court, when there are several eyewitnesses to an event, each describes the scene with a unique perspective and with emphasis on varying details. Here, the biblical witnesses give us a description of end time events from each of their distinct vantage points. When we recognize the similarities in the thematic descriptions of the same events, the information reported in the book of Revelation becomes clear.

And the opposite is true. If we read the judgments of the seals, trumpets, and bowls with a chronological-sequential method, we see an extremely long sequence of events. In fact, taking each event separately would represent nineteen different judgments occurring consecutively during the tribulation. That is, the seal judgments would all play out, then the trumpets would[KS1]  begin and after the last trumpet judgment, the bowls would follow. As unlikely as this scenario appears, it is the majority opinion of scholars. It would look like this:

In contrast, the thematic approach groups information about like events and compiles a story from the fragments. Within the seals, trumpets, and bowls, are recurring, interrelated themes with various levels of detail, perspective, and intensity. This means John laid out the series of visions in the order that they were communicated to him and acted as the special correspondent on-the-scene describing off the cuff, the unfolding events. John did not predict nineteen different, sequential judgments. When John viewed an event, it was as if he was looking at it inside a diamond with many facets yet seeing one event.

Similarly, it was as if John was given a tour of a television control room where before him were dozens of screens. For the sake of illustration, let us imagine that the show has seven distinct scenes. Each scene is complex and requires varying camera angles to appreciate the complexity. Some cameras are placed above the set to get a wide angel, top-down approach, some zoom in on the faces of the characters, while other pan to show the landscape.  In this example, John merely sees the video feed and reports what is on the screens before him.

So too, the seals, trumpets and bowls are related events described from different vantage points, or if you will, camera angles, so the readers get a more detailed understanding. With the thematic understanding, think of it like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich: we take a bite of the whole sandwich with the stacked ingredients as one would normally eat a PB&J. Whereas, with the chronological approach, we would first eat a piece of bread, then the peanut butter, then the jelly, and finally the other slice of bread. When we stack the information from one part of Revelation with matching information from another section, we begin to see one event described in different ways.  In other words, the seals in Revelation 6 relate information that directly correlates with information revealed in the bowls in chapter 16.

Recapitulation

Revelation can be better understood by interpreting the seals, trumpets, and bowls as a series of recapitulations. A specific judgment is described in many reiterations (stacked layers) because John was initially given a grand, bird’s eye view and described what he saw. Then he sees closeups, and in subsequent chapters goes into supporting details of an event that has already been revealed. Using the idea of layers as employed in an animated movie, helps us picture how Revelation is organized.

Layering is illustrated nicely in modern animation techniques, like Monsters Inc. They start with a basic story reel sketch which lays out the events. Why don’t they just stop there? Because the subsequent layers will add depth, color, detail, lighting, and animation to create a composite image which is part of the story.

The narrative of the seals is like the story reel giving us the basic story overview. While lacking depth, color and detail, the seals take us from the beginning of the story to its finish. The trumpets and bowls add the texturing, color, and fine details so we have a rich composite image.

We see repeating themes and recapitulations in many books of the Bible. For example, Genesis chapters one and two are often accused of being different accounts. Yet we see in chapter one an overview of the entire creation week, and chapter two pulls in on the focus to give a close-up of day six and the creation of man. Hence, we can conclude that chapter two is thematically related to chapter one. Sure, chapter one comes first in the book, but the content of both chapters is thematically related and is the same story. If read sequentially, the reader gets confused, but when read thematically, chapter two fits within the framework of chapter one just giving the details of day six. We see the same literary device in Exodus 14 and 15. The events happen in Ch. 14, and then Moses and Miriam recount the events in Ch. 15. Thematically, the events described are the same; they are simply told in different ways.

Hence, the seals, trumpets, bowls, and in fact Revelation chapters 6-19 are a series of visions with many layers which form composite images. This means that there are repeating themes in the seals, trumpets, and bowls. Seals 1-7 are a template of the overall great tribulation. The subsequent trumpets and bowls are looking at those events in either greater detail or from different angles and with increasing intensity of events (from effecting 1/3 and increasing to effect everything). The seventh seal, trumpet and bowl judgments all end with the return of Jesus. The accounts are stacked one upon another (like our PB&J sandwich) or stair steps, where they keep getting more intense, and the timeframe keeps getting shortened, until they all culminate at the same moment with the return of Jesus.

We see the thematic arrangement throughout Revelation. Indeed, in the middle of the book, the angel told John: “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings” (Rev 10:11). We will consider the recapitulations in depth in two themes: the greatest of all earthquakes and the opening of the heavens.

Earthquakes in Revelation Six and Sixteen are the Same

First, we will consider how the earthquakes from chapters six and sixteen are one and the same event. In Ch. 16, there is an earthquake in the seventh and last bowl which is described as:

“a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth” (Rev 16:18).

The language is of paramount significance because it states that this earthquake will be the greatest of all time. John adds, “every island fled away, and the mountains were not found” (Rev 16:20). This language is identical to the many biblical descriptions of the ultimate shaking that will take place on planet Earth.

The mini apocalypse in Isaiah 24 describes how “the earth is violently broken, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken exceedingly” (Isa 24:19). In this event, the Earth will be so utterly moved that it “shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall totter like a hut; its transgression shall be heavy upon it, and it will fall, and not rise again. (Isa 24:20). The phrase, “to fall and not rise again,” is parallel language to the passage in Revelation 16—this describes the unequivocal worst, eradicative earthquake, never to be duplicated.

Habakkuk spoke of Jesus’ return, “He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations” and of an earthquake that destroys mountains, “the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills bowed” (Hab 3:6). The Psalmist expressed how “the mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD” (Ps 97:5). Many other passages describe a shaking of such magnitude that the hills and mountains are flattened. Isaiah 2 explains how:

the day of the LORD of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up– And it shall be brought low– Upon all the high mountains, And upon all the hills that are lifted up (Isa 2:12, 14);

That passage goes on to say in the Day of the Lord when the mountains fall:

They shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty, When He arises to shake the earth mightily. (Isa 2:19).

In chapter thirteen, Isaiah says:

Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the LORD of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger (Isa 13:13).

The description is identical to what we find in Revelation 6 in the sixth seal: “every mountain and island was moved out of its place” (Rev 6:14). Isaiah 2 merely says “they” whereas Revelation says:

“the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hidthemselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains” (Rev 6:15).

Thus, we have multiple witnesses reporting an unprecedented earthquake in which every mountain and island moves and then everyone hides in caves. Just like in Isaiah 2, they hide because it is the Day of the Lord.

and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! (Rev 6:16) “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Rev 6:17).

Utilizing the thematic method, we have seen multiple sketches picturing the psychological and geological effects of the Day of the Lord.  We reviewed many descriptions giving witness to one event. If we read the descriptions in Revelation as being presented on a timeline, we miss the 3-D effect that layers into a realistic depiction of each event. Are we to believe that the kings of the earth are throwing in the towel in Revelation 6 while fully admitting that the day of Jesus’ wrath has come, only to continue reading in chapter 16 that “the kings of the earth” and “the whole world” assemble for “the battle of that great day of God Almighty” (Rev 16:14)? It is illogical to believe there is life-as-usual after the earth-flattening earthquake or that the day of wrath comes and is followed in time by an assembling of people for that battle.   

Interpretating scripture with the thematic method allows us to see parallel language and themes as witnesses of the same event, but merely from different perspectives and with varying details. Revelation 6 and 16, Isaiah 2 and 24, Habakkuk 3, and others speak of the kings of the earth gathered to the battle of the great Day of the Lord. This is the Day of the Lord and the time of the mother of all earthquakes that will utterly shake the entire Earth so that every mountain and island is moved out of its place and the Earth will fall and not rise again. This day is so scary that the kings, commanders, and all involved in the battle run into the caves for protection. Although the event is described in many places with emphasis on different aspects, the Day of the Lord is a singular event.

Consider how the 2011 Fukushima 9.1 earthquake caused phenomenal damage to buildings and great loss of life. Now imagine the kind of destruction planet Earth will experience when every island is falling into the sea and every mountain is crumbling! The word “every” precludes the event from happening twice; that means it happens once and there will be no repeat. Therefore, Revelation 6 is the same event as Revelation 16 and Isaiah 24. Such an event will happen only once, never to be repeated. The Earth will fall and not rise again. The language in all the passages speak of the singular “Day” of the Lord when this will happen.

Heavens open

Another prevalent theme in Revelation and other scriptures is the opening of the heavens. Much like the Day of the Lord, the opening of the heavens is an end of the world event that will only happen once. We first see it described in the sixth seal.

Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place (Rev 6:14).

This event is explained in Revelation 19 and pictures the time when Jesus will make war against the Beast and the world’s armies.

Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True… And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army (Rev 19:11, 19).

This same battle (Armageddon) is described in Revelation 16 and other passages where the Beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies are ready to fight against Jesus:

the beast…the kings of the earth and of the whole world…to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty (Rev 16:13, 14).

In the seventh bowl, at the time of the that battle, we are told:

Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” (Rev 16:17). And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth (Rev 16:18) and great hail from heaven fell upon men… (Rev 16:21).

We see the imagery in Revelation 11, after the sounding of the seventh angel, where voices state that: “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Rev 11:15). The time of the kings of the earth is over. The voices continue: “The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged…” (Rev 11:18). The time of wrath and judgment, including the dead has arrived. The texts describe the wrap-up event of this age.  If read sequentially, Rev. 16 describes the gathering and preparations for the Day that has already occurred in Rev. 6 and 11.  If read thematically, all of the details accumulate to picture one day that comes more into focus as each witness’ account is examined.

Lastly in the period of the seventh trumpet we see the same theme in the phrase: “noises and thunderings and lightnings” and hail falling just like in Revelation 16: Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail (Rev 11:19).

The opening of the heavenly temple happens in chapter fifteen as well: “the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened” (Rev 15:5). After the opening of the temple of God in heaven, the final judgments commence on the Earth because, as we saw in chapter nineteen, that is when Jesus comes back to engage in the great battle of the Day of the Lord.

The opening of the heavens is found in many other places in Scripture, as well. Peter describes the Day of the Lord and the opening of the heavens:

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up (2 Peter 3:10).

Isaiah 34:4 is identical to Revelation 6:13-14 where stars fall like figs and the sky recedes like a scroll:

the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as [fruit] falling from a fig tree (Isa 34:4).

Isaiah speaks of this moment repeatedly, saying “the heavens will vanish away like smoke… (Isa 51:6) and then “Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down!” He gives the important detail “That the mountains might shake at Your presence” (Isa 64:1), which provides us with the same details as we have seen in the other passages. Jesus then reiterates this moment concerning His return.

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken (Matt 24:29). “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matt 24:30).

Jesus simply summarizes Joel’s report about the sun, moon, and stars, and then reiterates Isaiah regarding the falling of the stars. He then tells us how people will mourn and be distressed when they see Him, just like Isaiah said in chapter two. Paul also spoke of this same event by mentioning the uncovering / unveiling / revelation of Jesus where apokalupsi, apo = “away from,” kalupsis = veil to the Thessalonians: “when the Lord Jesus is revealed (apokalupsi)  from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance…” (2 Thess 1:7-8). Paul’s language of “revealing” is parallel to Isaiah: “the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Isa 40:5). Paul then combines this message of the revealing with that of Jesus’ coming with fire in vengeance, just like Isaiah said:

• For behold, the LORD comes out of His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity (Isa 26:21).
• For behold, the LORD will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire (Isa 66:15).

The opening of the heavens is an event that only happens once, at the return of Jesus, on the Day of the Lord, which will cause the elements to melt, mountains to shake and the greatest of all earthquakes the world has ever known. The event will be accompanied with “noises and thunderings and lightnings”, which is first mentioned in the seventh seal.

Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake (Rev 8:5).

Hence, the noises, thunderings, lightnings, and earthquake of the seventh seal are an aspect of the opening of the heavens—a theme we have found repeatedly in Revelation and in a host of other Scriptures.

The seventh seal, seventh trumpet and seventh bowl all include the theme of the opening of the heavens. The thematic approach resolves the burden of trying to explain how each judgment is a different judgment from a chronological perspective. Rather, the thematic interpretation says if one verse quacks and walks like a duck and another passage quacks and walks like a duck, then they are the same event, but from different perspectives. The thematic approach also satisfies the requirement for multiple witnesses to establish doctrine.

The Seven Seals as a Template of the Tribulation

By viewing the text through the lens of the thematic method, we recognize the seven seals as an independent template for the entire tribulation. Moreover, we see that the other judgments are parallel, meaning they fit inside the seals. Our goal in this section is identify the repeating themes. I have outlined the texts and highlighted and underlined keywords so you can see the recurring thematic ideas. I explain the background when necessary and point out the original language to aid in spotting and tracking with the theme. I have indicated a progressive intensification of a theme with these arrows: >>. 

The opening of the seals is the schematic progression that culminates in Jesus’ reclamation of absolute authority and the restoration of the world. As Jesus begins reclaiming dominion of the cosmos, Satan makes counter moves to ensure he retains control. At the heart of Satan’s scheme is the Beast who was, is not, and ascends out of the abyss—who was Ninurta / Nimrod, a hybrid of Satan. Please consult Corrupting the Image 2 for the many interesting details of that relationship. In this outline, we will continue to consider how the seals are a template for the tribulation and how their themes are repeated throughout Revelation and prophecy. Let us examine the details of each seal and consider additional thematic parallels in other prophetic verses:   

1^st Seal: Rider on white horse with bow, crown, goes out conquering (Rev 6:2)

• The rider on the white horse with a bow is an iconic picture of the beast who was, and is known in the ancient world as Ninurta, son of Enlil. He held the power, throne, and authority of Satan, and essentially merged with him. And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer (Rev 6:2).
  • Rev 13:1-4: Beast w/ characteristics of former empires & 7 heads & 10 horns, receives dragon’s power, throne, authority
  • Rev 17:3 Beast with 7 heads & 10 horns carries the woman
  • And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them (Dan 8:10). He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down (Dan 8:11).
  • “And in the latter time of their kingdom, When the transgressors have reached their fullness, A king shall arise, Having fierce features, Who understands sinister schemes (Dan 8:23). His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; He shall destroy fearfully, And shall prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people (Dan 8:24). “Through his cunning He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; And he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; But he shall be broken without human means (Dan 8:25).
  • “Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them? (Ezek 38:17).

2^nd Seal: Rider on red horse takes away relative peace, men kill each other (Rev 6:4)

• Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword (Rev 6:4).
  • According to the New York Times, “Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history.”[1] Hence, the Red Rider takes away a Pax Romana peace where the world is mostly prospering as opposed to the global conflicts of World Wars I and II.
• Jesus spoke of men killing each other:
  • For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom (Matt 24:7).
• Rev 11:5-6: 2 Two (Elijah & Moses?) witnesses begin their ministry and will torment “those who dwell on the earth” (Rev 11:10).
  • “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments (Mal4:4). Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD (Mal 4:5). And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse” (Mal 4:6).
  • “Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness (Deut 17:6).
• Other Scriptures of relative peace transitioning to fear, destruction, and no peace overtaking the inhabitants of the Earth:
  • The city of confusion is broken down; Every house is shut up, so that none may go in (Isa 24:10). There is a cry for wine in the streets, All joy is darkened, The mirth of the land is gone (Isa 24:11) In the city desolation is left, And the gate is stricken with destruction (Isa 24:12). …Fear and the pit and the snare Are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth (Isa 24:17).
  • Through his cunning He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; And he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity” (Dan 8:25).
  • Through his cunning He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; And he shall exalt himself in his heart (Dan 9:27a).

3^rd Seal: The black rider brings starvation on a global scale which affects wheat, barley, plus oil and wine (increasing intensity until Jesus’ return) (Rev 6:5-6)

• Behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand (Rev 6:5). And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm[2] the oil and the wine” (Rev 6:6).
  • A day’s wage for a quart of wheat. One bushel of wheat costs roughly $5 in 2021. There are about 37 quarts in one bushel: one quart of wheat costs about $0.14. A day laborer makes about $100. Therefore, a quart of wheat would cost $100. That is approximately a 57,000% increase—starvation-level-crisis.
• The Two Witnesses strike Earth w/ plague of no rain leads to 1^st trumpet with vegetation burned!
  • If anyone tries to harm them, fire flashes from the mouths of the prophets and consumes their enemies. This is how anyone who tries to harm them must die. (Rev11:5) They have power to shut the skies so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy [1^st trump] (Rev11:6a).
• 1^st trump: 1/3 trees and grass burned up >> 4^th bowl: sun scorches with heat (Rev 16:8-9).
  • The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass (chortos χόρτος) was burned up (Rev 8:7).
    • “Grass is pastureland, hay, or herbs in a general sense. Wheat and barley are variations of “grass” (chortos χορτος). Trees and grass are susceptible to the drought and fires brought on by the two witnesses
• Joel mentions, with almost identical language to the first trumpet, the field is wasted, grain ruined, wine dried up, oil fails, and the food is cut off. Also, trees of the field, (fruit bearing trees: fig, pomegranate, palm, and apple) that mankind cultivates are burned sending food prices skyrocketing.
  • The field is wasted, The land mourns; For the grain is ruined, The new wine is dried up, The oil fails (Joel 1:10). For the wheat and the barley…the harvest of the field has perished (Joel 1:11). The vine has dried up, And the fig tree has withered; The pomegranate tree, The palm tree also, And the apple tree– All the trees of the field are withered… (Joel 1:12) the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as destruction from the Almighty (Joel 1:15). Is not the food cut off before our eyes (Joel 1:16), for fire has devoured the open pastures, and a flame has burned all the trees of the field (Joel 1:19). The beasts of the field also cry out to You, for the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the open pastures (Joel 1:20).
• Isaiah likewise predicted the burning of the earth, the lack of wine and other food with destruction across all socio-economic ranges:
  • “Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste, Distorts its surface And scatters abroad its inhabitants” (Isa 24:1). As with the servant, so with his master…As with the lender, so with the borrower; As with the creditor, so with the debtor (Isa 24:2). “The earth mourns and fades away, The world languishes and fades away; The haughty people of the earth languish” (Isa 24:4). The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant (Isa 24:5). Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, And those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left (Isa 24:6). The new wine fails, the vine languishes, All the merry-hearted sigh (Isa 24:7).
• The Two Witnesses, acting as God’s agents, “have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood [2^nd trump], and to send every kind of plague upon the earth as often as they wish” (Rev11:6) because mankind transgressed the laws (Isa 24:5-6)
  • 2^nd trump: 1/3 of seas become blood, 1/3 die >> 2^nd bowl: All seas blood and every creature dies (Rev 16:3).
    • 2^nd trumpet: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood (Rev 8:8). And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed (Rev 8:9).
      • >> 2^nd bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died (Rev 16:3).

The third seal / Black Rider reveals a starvation-level-crisis brought on by the plagues of the two witnesses who cause it not to rain, which leads to drought and then massive fires destroying farmland and orchards, and also waters turning to blood.

4^th Seal: Death and Sheol gain authority over all humans (around the middle of Daniel’s 70^th week) allowed to kill (Rev 6:8)

• Behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades [Sheol] followed with him. And power [exousia = authority] was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth (Rev 6:8).
• 3^rd trumpet: 1/3 of rivers bitter (wormwood) >> 3^rd bowl: all rivers blood
  • 3^rd Trumpet: a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water (Rev 8:10). The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter (Rev 8:11).
    • [The dragon’s] tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth (Rev 12:4).
    • So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him (Rev 12:9).
      • 5^th trumpet: star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit (Rev 9:1). – he opens the bottomless pit with a key. Satan and his angels are called stars and one falls to earth in the third trumpet.
  • When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them (Rev 11:7).
    • “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition (Rev 17:8).
    • they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit (Hades / Sheol), whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon [destruction / death] (Rev 9:11).
      • You have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol [Hades] we are in agreement” (Isa 28:15).
      • It was granted to him [the beast] to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation (Rev 13:7).
      • He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand [hence authority] (Dan 7:25).
        • 6^th trump: “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates” (Rev 9:14). …were released to kill a third of mankind (Rev 9:15).
          • >> 6^th bowl Rev 16:12: Euphrates runs dry & nations gather (preparation) for the battle / day of the Lord.
  • “Through his cunning He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule [hence authority] (Dan 8:25).
  • Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week” (Dan 9:27).

5^th Seal: Martyred souls under altar given white garment (Rev 6:9-11)

• I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held (Rev 6:9). they cried…“How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Rev 6:10) Then a white robe was given to each of them (Rev 6:11).
  • a great multitude… of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes… (Rev 7:9) “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:14).
  • the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony [μαρτυριαν] of Jesus Christ (Rev 12:17).
    • I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness [μαρτυριαν testimony] to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image… (Rev 20:4)
      • the image of the beast should…cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed (Rev 13:15).
• Other martyr Scriptures:
  • Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction (Isa 48:10).
  • “some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end (Dan 11:35).
  • “when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished (Dan 12:7). “Many shall be purified, made white, and refined… (Dan 12:10)
  • I will bring the one-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The LORD is my God’ ” (Zech 13:9).
  • They will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me” (Hos 5:15).
  • He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver (Mal 3:3).

6^th Seal: Sun, moon, stars darkened, sky recedes, mountains & islands move, battle-day of Lord, world armies hide from Jesus (Rev 6:12-17)

• (6^th seal) sun black as sackcloth, moon like blood. (Rev 6:12)
  • He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood (Rev 6:12).
  • 4^th trumpet: a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night (Rev 8:12).
    • “I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke (Joel 2:30). The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD (Joel 2:31).
  • 5^th trump: the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. (Rev 9:2) (increasing intensity) Pabilsags (Manticores emerge)
    • >> 5^th bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness (Rev 16:10).
  • Other darkening Scriptures:
    • The day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it (Isa 13:9). For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine (Isa 13:10).
    • sun darkened; moon will not give its light (Matt 24:29)
  • (6^th seal) stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree. (Rev 6:13)
    • the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones (Isa 24:21).
    • All their host shall fall down…as fruit falling from a fig tree (Isa 34:4).
    • the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken (Matt 24:29).
  • (6^th seal) the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up (Rev 6:14)
    • Rev 11:19 the temple of God was opened in heaven
    • Rev 19:11 heaven opened…He judges and makes war
    • Other Scriptures: Isa 34:4, 64:1; 2 Pet 3:10
  • (6^th seal) Every mountain & island moved (Rev 6:14)
    • 7^th bowl Rev 16:18 largest ever earthquake – affects all mountains and islands (so they are not found Rev 16:20), hail,
    • Isa 2:13-15; 13:13; 24:19-20; 40:4; Jer 4:24; Hab 3:6; (Ezek 38:19-20 all shake, all mountains thrown down)
  • (6^th seal) Battle w/ Jesus / kings, great men, commanders, hide in caves & in the mountains, “the great day of His wrath has come” (Rev 6:15, 17)
    • Rev 19:11-21 Jesus treads winepress, Battle / Day of the Lord
      • Rev 14:16-20 winepress, earth reaped, blood to horses’ bridles
      • they gathered them together to…Armageddon (Rev 16:16).
      • “I have trodden the winepress alone…And trampled them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments… (Isa 63:3)
        • Rev 19:17-18 Birds called to eat flesh of kings, commanders, etc., Ezek 39:4, 17-20
    • Isa 2:10, 19; 26:21; 63:3; 66:15-16; Joel 2; 2 Thess 1:7-8; Matt 24:30; Ezek 38:18 fury on my face

7^th seal (Rev 8:1-5): (& trump & bowl): Lightning, thunders, noises, earthquake, It is finished, Babylon destroyed

• Lightning, thunders, noises, earthquake
  • the seventh seal…silence in heaven for about half an hour (Rev 8:1). there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake (Rev 8:5).
  • the temple of God was opened in heaven…there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail (Rev 11:19).
  • there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake (Rev 16:18).
  • Ezek 38:22 hail, brimstone
• It is finished!
  • in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel…the mystery of God would be finished (Rev 10:7).
  • 7^th trumpet: “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Rev 11:15) The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints…And should destroy those who destroy the earth” (Rev 11:18).
  • 7^th Bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” (Rev 16:17)
    • Ezek 39:29 God hides his face no longer
• Babylon judged
  • Rev 14:8 “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city
  • the great city was divided…the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered…(Rev 16:19)
  • Rev 18:2 Babylon is fallen
  • Rev 19:2 Jesus judged the harlot
  • Ezek 39:21 God sets glory among nations, Isa 48:1-8

Conclusion

We have seen that the thematic method, with its many recapitulations, is used frequently in Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. Revelation itself, first tells us the story from the beginning to the end, which is the Day of the Lord, and then tells the story again from many perspectives. The seals provide a template for the entirety of the tribulation. The seventh seal is the end of the tribulation. Although the trumpets and bowls come next in the sequence of the book, they are in fact a flashback to supply color, texture and describe the intensification of the judgments.

To interpret the book chronologically yields a problematic result where every mountain and island moves out of its place twice, which the text indicates is impossible. The thematic approach to understanding the book focuses on discerning parallel language and imagery. When we focus on identifying themes, we find an abundance of identical passages in the prophets and the words of Jesus. When these passages are read alongside John’s report of end time events in Revelation, we glean a colorful, multi-dimensional picture of a concise set of events that have often been misinterpreted to be a multitude of sequential events.   

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/06/books/chapters/what-every-person-should-know-about-war.html

[2] One of the four creatures is not instructing the rider to not harm the oil and wine but rather, is just reporting: Wheat and barley go for this much; be careful concerning oil and wine, because what is stored is all you have.

 [KS1]I added a space between the rows of arrows so that the reader is not tempted to read it from top to bottom, like Seal 1, Trumpet 1 Bowl 1.

Ever since John recorded the incredible visions shown to him by God in the book of Revelation, speculation has abounded as to what he meant by the imagery he described. For example, Bible prophecy speaks of “a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns” (Rev 12:3) and “a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns” (Rev 17:3). The scenes described are anything but normal, which has led commentators to relegate the vision to nothing more than allegory.

In order for us to know how to interpret the images, we must find their definitions. But where are we to find such definitions? We can interpret the meaning of the symbols if we learn their definitions.

Our world is full of symbols we understand well: the red, yellow and green lights in a traffic-light are symbols. We all know what they mean, but a person from the deep jungles would have no idea that the meaning of those colors symbolize stop, slow down and go. Yet once they learn the meaning, the symbol is easy to interpret.

So too, John gave us symbols. Our job is to find the definitions for them, just like we had to learn red light means “stop.” Thus, we are asking what are the definitions of the following?

• a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads (Rev 12:3). So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him (Rev 12:9).

• And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name (Rev 13:1).
• The angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns (Rev 17:7).

The keywords are highlighted; These words share common features and are the key players in all three passages from Revelation. Right away, we notice that both the Beast and the dragon share these features:

1. A great dragon
2. A fiery red dragon
3. A beast
4. Seven heads
5. Ten horns

Satan’s Fiery Covering

Before we dig into the Mesopotamian evidence, let’s review what the Bible reveals concerning Satan’s original appearance, which will help us put the former into proper context.

God created the angels with a fiery quality similar to his own. Scripture describes “the LORD your God is a consuming fire” (Deut 4:24, 9:3; Ps 97:3). Ezekiel recounts from his vision of God that “from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber [electricity] with the appearance of fire all around within it (Ezek 1:27). The return of the Lord is likewise said to be with fiery flames (2 Thess 1:8; Isa 66:15).

The angels, including Cherubim / Seraphim, are described as fiery beings, as well. Their fiery nature seems to be necessary for them to be able to live in God’s presence. There are many verses that reference the angels’ glorious appearance. We recall that the angels shone in the night sky at the announcement of the birth of Messiah in Luke 2:9. The root word in that passage is perilampo (περιλάμπω), meaning “to shine around, “a derivative of lampo, “to shine.” In Luke 24:4, two angels stood by the tomb in “shining garments” (astrapto ἀστράπτω, like what a star does). This same word for shining is used to describe lightning as it shines from one part of heaven to the other, according to Luke 17:24.

The prophet Daniel described a vision in which an angel had a shining appearance, by writing: “His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color”(Dan 10:6). In the book of Revelation, angels were “clothed in pure bright [lampron λαμπρον] linen” (Rev 15:6). The Psalmist described how God “makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire” (Ps 104:4).

Ezekiel described the appearance of angels as burning coals of fire and with four faces![1]

The likeness of four living creatures … they had the likeness of a man. Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze. The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings. Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies. And each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning. And the living creatures ran back and forth, in appearance like a flash of lightning (Ezek 1:5–14).

The description of these creatures is also a description of Satan’s appearance before his fall, though he must have been the most splendid looking of them all. Their appearance was described as having:

1. The likeness of a man
2. Straight legs with feet like a calf
3. Four faces
   1. Man
   1. Lion
   1. Bull
   1. Eagle
4. Four wings
5. Burning coals, torches, lightning, electricity

Satan looked like these creatures. Though after his fall, he lost the fiery quality, which we will examine shortly. Nevertheless, a being with four faces of four kinds of creatures is indeed both a complex and revealing entity. The Hebrew word [פנים panim] is plural “faces.” A face is a window into the heart and mind of a person. Faces are constantly changing direction and shape, depending on mood, intentions, dreams and experiences. Face also means “presence.” God promised, “My Presence will go with you” (Exod 33:14). God’s face going with the Israelites was so important to Moses that he said to God: “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here” (Exod 33:15).

We can infer from this passage that to be in the presence of [לפני lifne] a cherub with four faces could give the impression of being in front of a man, a lion, a bull or an eagle. I have been in the close presence of a lion, and it is an awesome experience. Growing up in rural Michigan, I made sure to keep my distance from bulls as I understood they are creatures that can kill. Likewise, the eagle is both majestic and deadly. Incidentally, these four formidable faces are excellent representatives of the four broad categories of creatures on the face of the Earth.

Great Dragon

The Mesopotamian evidence of the great dragon is plentiful and gives greater context to what John was seeing in Revelation. “The most common serpentine epithet from ancient cuneiform sources is Akkadian ušumgallu “great dragon,” itself a loan from Sumerian UŠUMGAL.” [2] (Remember the Š is pronounced “sh”). The great dragon title, Ushumgal, was a typical epithet for Enlil’s many syncretisms: “Ušumgallu also designates a host of Mesopotamian deities, including Marduk … His exalted position over humanity is expressed in the appellation, “great dragon of the heavens and earth.” [3] ANE scholar Tyler Yoder points out, “Marduk’s ownership of a pet mušḫuššu (“snake”) furthers his own serpentine associations.”[4]

In other words, we have discovered that “great dragon” was a quite common term for Satan / Enlil and the like. It was also a term for serpent, just like the Bible told us a serpent tempted Adam and Eve in Genesis 3; (it appears the Bible critics were premature in ridiculing the Bible for such imagery). Ancient iconography attests to the historical authenticity of Heilel / Enlil (or one of his syncretizations: Ninurta, Baal, Zeus, Nergal, among others) being commonly referred to as a snake or dragon.

The icon for the Ushumgallu, seen adjacent in Figure 7, is also sometimes called the Anzu bird. It was a chimera, a creature with the DNA of another animal mixed into itself. The “translation of ušumgallu ‘lion-dragon’ “derives from the conceptual amalgamation of these creatures.”[5] The Ushumgallu in the epic of Gilgamesh was called a “‘ground lion’ … and the mušḫuššu serpent often evinces leonine traits.” [6] The point is that the great dragon is not the classic fire-breathing dragon of legend from the Middle Ages. The Mesopotamian dragon had many overlaps of lion qualities—which was one of Satan’s cherub faces.

The foremost quality of the great dragon, Ancient Near East expert Frans Wiggermann points out, “is being a determined killer, killing probably with its venom, and frightening even the gods.”[7] Man, lions, bulls, and eagles—the four faces of the cherub, certainly classify as determined killers.[8]

The great dragon also had seven heads in Mesopotamia literature and iconography. We always need to keep in mind the many syncretizations inherent in the ancient texts. Heilel (Satan) = Enlil = Marduk = Baal = Bel; and, Ninurta (son of Enlil) often assumed Enlil’s role altogether.

We learn that a syncretization of Marduk (or his son), according to Yoder, was called “the great dragon, who cannot be faced.” Furthermore, Nergal (god of the dead and a syncretization of Ninurta / Enlil) was represented with the same description: “[ú-šum]-gal-lu ṣīru tābik imti elišunu “The majestic, great dragon who pours his venom upon them.” [9] With those epithets in mind, we can appreciate the significance that “Nergal’s divine staff was as ‘awe-inspiring as a serpent’ and Ninurta’s mace consisted of seven snake-like heads.”[10]

That Nergal, also known as Ninurta, Melqart, Marduk and Enlil, had a seven-headed snake is incredibly revealing. The great dragon of Revelation has “seven heads and ten horns,” (Rev 12:3) as does the Beast, who has “seven heads and ten horns” (Rev 13:1). Not only does the iconography reveal a great dragon,[11] but John saw “one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the Beast (Rev 13:3). Looking at Figure 8 above, we see that one of the heads is mortally wounded. God is revealing that the symbols in Revelation relate directly back to the false gods of Babylon. A key to defining the images from Revelation is found in deciphering ancient Babylonian monuments.

Fiery Red Dragon: Mušḫuššu

It is amazing (though not surprising, since the vision was from God) that John described not only a “great dragon”, but “a great, fiery red dragon” (Rev 12:3). How could John have known, humanly speaking, about the Mušḫuššu from hundreds of years before? John could not have known that the word, Mušḫuššu, could mean “fearsome” or “red,” or perhaps both. This is a strong testimony of the divine origin of John’s vision and of the accuracy of the entity John is describing.

German archaeologists dug up the Ishtar Gate and  transported it back to the East Berlin Museum, Germany, where you can now walk through the actual gate. On the walls of the Ishtar Gate, which date from the neo-Babylonian empire (ca. 7^th– 6^th century BC), Marduk’s “pet” mušḫuššu [mushkhushshu] is visible. As seen in Figure 9 below, it was a hybrid, scaly creature with hind legs resembling the talons of an eagle, and with lion-like forelimbs, a long neck and tail, a horned head, a snake-like tongue and a crest.[12] Wiggermann explains that both “fearsome” and “red” are possible interpretations the name, mušḫuššu:

Akkadian mušḥuššu is a loanword from Sumerian mušḥuš (-a), literally “fearsome serpent”. The reading of the second element as ḥuš rather than ruš (both possible) … The Sumerian Loanwords in Old Babylonian Akkadian I, its meaning as “fearsome” rather than “red” (both possible).[13]

John told us of a sign that appeared in heaven, “a great, fiery red dragon” (Rev 12:3). Again, God is revealing that the imagery in Revelation connects back to the ancient gods of Babylon. We continue to define the symbols in Revelation by examining ancient icons from the civilizations in Mesopotamia.

The prophet Daniel wrote about Marduk’s dragon that was “like a lion, and had eagle’s wings and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it” (Dan 7:4). In ancient iconography, the Mushkhushshu is seen walking like a beast and standing like a man as depicted above in Figure 10. This dragon stood as a symbol of the strength of Marduk and in opposition to the true God. Accordingly, God promised to judge Marduk, spelled Merodach in the Bible: “Merodach is broken in pieces” (Jer 50:2). We also learned in the previous chapter that the Greek healer god Asclepios was associated with Melqart / Heracles, which is parallel to the Mušḫuššu.

It seems plausible to connect the Sumerian mušḫuš with the Hebrew נָחָשׁ (nāḫāsh) snake. They share many similarities: Mušḫuš may mean “red snake-dragon” and nāḫāsh is related to a copper-bronze color[14] which is fairly close to the coloration of the Mušḫuššu on the Ishtar Gate. The mušḫuš is a symbol for Enlil or is closely associated with him; “In the so-called Labbu-myth Enlil sends the muš[ḫuššu] to wipe out noisy mankind.[15] In Genesis, the nāḫāsh was definitely associated with Satan, the one who desired to destroy mankind (“opinions differ as to whether this was a Satan-inspired snake or a name for Satan himself.”)[16]

Lastly, I am persuaded that there could be a linguistic connection between Mušḫuš and nāḫāsh, the serpent in the Garden. James H. Charlesworth of Princeton notes there is “in Akkadian … the n to m shift.” [17] Thus, MŠḪŠ would shift to NŠḪŠ, the first Š would fall out NŠḪŠ, leaving NḪŠ. Vowels are flexible between languages; thus, it is plausible for U to transition to A. Mušḫuš > נָחָשׁ nāḫāsh.

Just coincidence?

The Anzu Bird

We see additional images of Ninurta or Marduk (or Bel, Dagon and the rest, who are all the same entity.) Amar Annus in his article, “Ninurta and the Son of Man”, notes:

Bêl ‘Lord,’ which is also Ninurta’s common epithet, and points to a connection with West-Semitic Baal. Marduk came to replace Enlil in the Mesopotamian pantheon, so he took over conjointly the position of the father Enlil and the mythology of his son Ninurta.[18]

Recall that over time, with syncretization of belief systems, the names and characteristics of these gods meshed together. Here, Enlil and Ninurta take on one another’s qualities. We learn from Amar Annus how in the mythology from Shinar, “after vanquishing the eagle Anzu, Ninurta becomes one with the bird … paradoxically, Ninurta is equated with his slain enemy, Thunderbird Anzu, who becomes his symbol.”[19]

Ninurta, in the iconography pictured in Figure 11, is being identified with the Anzu bird. The very creature that he killed, the Anzu bird or Manticore, then becomes Ninurta’s symbol. There is a certain fluidity in how Ninurta is presented, according to Jacobsen:

The two forms, bird and lion, tended to compete in the image of the god, who was sometimes the lion-headed bird, sometimes a winged lion with bird’s tail and talons, sometimes all lion. In time the animal forms were rejected in favor of imagining the god in human form only.[20]

We have seen this shift in appearance in the passage from the Book of Daniel:

“The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it” (Dan 7:4).

Just as Daniel saw the fluid nature of the first beast that emerged from the sea, the iconography of Ninurta shows us the changing images of the god. Ninurta sometimes was a chimeric creature standing on four feet as a beast, but sometimes he was standing on two feet as a man; We have images of him both with and without wings.

F. Wiggermann calls to our attention an incredibly significant detail regarding the Anzu lion-dragon, which shares a number of features with the Mušḫuššu. In Mesopotamian Protective Spirits, Wiggermann explains it was Enlil (not his syncretization Ninurta) who was originally associated with Anzû. [21]

This insight reveals that the hybrid creature first represented Enlil and then later, stood for the syncretization of the various names of Mesopotamian gods.

The Anzû then, is not Ninurta / Ningirsu’s symbol, nor that of any of the other gods whose images are conflated with a symbolic animal. “The Anzû represents another, more general power, under whose supervision, all the gods operate. This higher power can only be Enlil, which is exactly what we see in the Lugalbanda Epic and Anzû myth, Thus, the posture of the lion-headed eagle, with wings stretched out above the symbolic animals of other gods, becomes understandable: it is a stance that is neither that of attack, nor that of defense, but that of the master of the animals.”[22]

Uncovering the fact that the Anzu was originally identified with Enlil reveals once again that Satan is the one depicted in the many symbols of the gods of Mesopotamia. We saw in the previous chapter how “master of the animals” was a reference to Melqart / Heracles whom we determined was a syncretization of Enlil. Furthermore, the fact that Enlil, the Anzû lion-dragon, was master of the animals causes us to think of the four faces of the cherubim. Enlil dominated the animal kingdom: the man-beings, the wild lion-type beings, the domestic bull-type beings and the flying eagle-type beings. The face of a man, lion, bull and eagle make up the four faces of the cherub and possibly the head of Satan, himself—formerly a covering cherub. The connection may not be exact;[23] nevertheless, we do have a strong correlation between the snake-dragon of Enlil, Marduk, etc. and also with Satan in Genesis 3. Thus, the nakhash in the Garden was not today’s average snake. It was like the Ushumgallu / mušḫuššu / Anzu, with legs to stand erect. It was the curse that later changed Satan’s form from the snake-dragon / lion-dragon to what he is today.

Bašmu-Bashan

The last word that we will examine for serpent-dragon is Bašmu, which will lead us to Mt. Hermon, to Og, King of Bashan and to the transfiguration of Jesus (later in the book). Bashan in the Bible comes from Akkadian Bašmu. Wiggermann notes: “For the two Sumerian terms u s u m and muš-šà-tùr Akkadian has only one: bašmu … must refer to two different types of mythological snakes as well, and we will call them ušum / bašmu and muš-šà-tùr / bašmu.”[24] He defines the ušum / bašmu, as “Venomous Snake … horned snake with forelegs.” He also notes a snake-dragon that we have already examined: u š u m g a l, rendered in Akkadian by ušumgallu and bašmu, is a derivative of u š u m and literally means: “Prime Venomous Snake” … Ušumgallu … occasionally replaces mušḫuššu when the dragon of Nabû is referred to or the dragon of Ninurta.[25]

He points out (see Figure 13):

The foremost quality of an u š u m g a l … is being a determined killer, killing probably with its venom, … It is this quality that makes u š u m ( g al ) a suitable epithet for certain gods and kings.[26]

We must not miss how the Bašmu was later equated with the icon of Nergal, Ninurta, and Marduk: “Nergal is not originally a dragon slayer, but here, as elsewhere … he replaces Ninurta. After Marduk’s usurpation of the mušḫuššu, the ušum / bašmu became the symbolic animal of gods formerly associated with the mušḫuššu.”[27] A Bašmu was a snake-dragon, sometimes used to describe the other snake-dragons we have studied, and was a determined killer and was a suitable epithet for gods and kings! It was also associated with Marduk which is another name for Enlil or occasionally his “son” Ninurta, whom we will discover is Nimrod in a later chapter.

Bashmu, in astronomy, was the constellation Hydra[28], the seven headed dragon that Heracles killed (See Figure 8). The Dictionary of God, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia notes, “This creature may be the seven-headed hydra killed by the god Ningirsu or Ninurta, also referred to in spells.”[29]

Wiggermann, writing in Transtigridian Snake Gods, provides us with an important link between Bašmu, Ereškigal (Ishtar’s sister), and Og the god of the dead / death.

Ereškigal…queen of the netherworld, rules the dead … is associated with the constellation Hydra (MUL.dMUŠ) in late astrological texts … the Babylonian constellation Hydra looked like … a snake drawn out long, with the forepaws of a lion, no hind legs, with wings, and with a head comparable to that of the mušḫuššu dragon. Its Babylonian name was probably Bašmu. Ereshkigal’s messenger, Mutum “Death” … is described in a late Assyrian text. He has the head of a mušḫuššu dragon.[30]

We cannot ignore the fact that Og was King of Bashan (in Hebrew “the Bashan”). That means he was king of the snake-dragons if we simply plug in the meaning. Furthermore, we just learned that Bashmu was some kind of amalgamation of the Ushumgallu, the Mushhushshu and the Anzu. The implication then is that Enlil (or Ninurta, son of Enlil) seems to have been behind the workings of Og and the land Bashan (snake-dragons). In a later chapter we will explore the relationship to the king of the Amorites (MARTU=Enlil), king of the Rephaim (underworld “healers” or “healed”), who were also known as snake gods.

Ten Horns

The prophet Daniel wrote about the ten horns saying, “It was different from all the beasts that came before it, and it had ten horns” (Dan 7:7).

Crowns with ten horns were a common feature of the gods in ancient Mesopotamia. “Enlil is regularly represented wearing a horned helmet.”[31] In the cylinder seal depicted in Figure 14, we see Enlil wearing a crown with ten horns (five on each side).

In another cylinder seal (Figure 12, p. 13), Ninurta can be seen wearing a crown with ten horns and riding the Anzu bird, which also represents him as Enlil. Thus, the Bible reveals the symbols, and we once again, have discovered the means by which we can interpret these symbols.

The imagery of a great dragon and a beast is represented in the iconography of ancient Mesopotamia. Revelation spoke of Satan as the great dragon because that was how he was known from the earliest of recorded history. The Bible not only accurately recorded his ancient epithets but also gives us a spiritual window into the original role, authority and nefarious motives of Satan which allowed him to plunge the world into its current darkness.

[1] He later identifies these as cherubim: “This is the living creature I saw under the God of Israel by the River Chebar, and I knew they were cherubim,” (Ezek 10:20).

[2] Wiggermann posits the base meaning for UŠUM as “Prime Venomous Snake” Tyler R. Yoder, “Ezekiel 29:3 and Its Ancient Near Eastern Context” Vetus Testamentum 63 (2013) 486-96

[3] Tyler R. Yoder, “Ezekiel 29:3 and Its Ancient Near Eastern Context” Vetus Testamentum 63 (2013) Pg. 486-96

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] “It is first attested by a 22nd-century BC cylinder inscription at Gudea.” F. A. M. Wiggermann, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits, Pg. 167.

[8] Icon By editor Austen Henry Layard, drawing by L. Gruner – ‘Monuments of Nineveh, Second Series’ plate 5, London, J. Murray, 1853, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18217886

[9] Tyler R. Yoder, “Ezekiel 29:3 and Its Ancient Near Eastern Context” Vetus Testamentum 63 (2013) Pg. 486-96

[10] Ibid.6

[11] Yoder has shown how God, in Ezekiel, used the term “great dragon” to describe who Pharaoh thought he was. “Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster.” The Greek Septuagint “great monster” as τον δρακοντα τον μεγαν “great dragon” (Ezek 29:3). Yoder explains “The prophet could easily have drawn from an existing cache of unambiguous expressions to portray Pharaoh, but instead chose a term suffused with mythological overtones.” Tyler R. Yoder, “Ezekiel 29:3 and Its Ancient Near Eastern Context” Vetus Testamentum 63 (2013) 486-96.

[12] Wiggermann, F. A. M. (1992). Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts. Brill Publishers. Pg. 156.

[13] Frans Wiggermann, Reallexikon der Assyriologie (RlA) 8 1995 Pg. 455, 456.

[14] “The word nāḥāsh is almost identical to the word for “bronze” or “copper,” Hebrew nĕḥōshet (q.v.). Some scholars think the words are related because of a common color of snakes (cf. our “copperhead”), but others think that they are only coincidentally similar.” TWOT nāḥāsh

[15] Wiggermann, F. A. M. (1992). Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts. Brill Publishers. Pg. 156.

[15] Frans Wiggermann, Reallexikon der Assyriologie (RlA) 8 1995 Pg. 455, 456

[16] J. O. Buswell. Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion, I, Zondervan, 1962, Pg. 264–65.

[17] Revealing The Genius Of Biblical Authors: Symbology, Archaeology, And Theology James H. Charlesworth, Princeton

[18] Amar Annus “Ninurta and the Son of Man” Published in Melammu Symposia 2: R. M. Whiting (ed.), Mythology and Mythologies. Methodological Approaches to Intercultural Influences. Proceedings of the Second Annual Symposium of the Assyrian and Babylonian Intellectual Heritage Project. Held in Paris, France, October 4-7, 1999 (Helsinki: The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project 2001), Pg. 7-17. Publisher: http://www.helsinki.fi/science/saa/

[19] Ibid.

[20] Jacobsen, Th. 1987 The Harps that Once… Sumerian Poetry in Translation. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. PG. 235.

[21] In his study, he notes the “Lion-headed Eagle (M. 14; third millennium A n z u d l Anzû), and Lion-Dragon …Second and first millennium Anzû.” F. A. M. Wiggermann, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits The Ritual Texts – Siyx & Pp Publications Groningen 1992. Pg. 161

[22] F. A. M. Wiggermann, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits The Ritual Texts – Siyx & Pp Publications Groningen 1992. Pg. 161

[23] Wiggermann notes “bašmu, ‘Venomous Snake’. The history of the bašmu is not yet completely clear. Positively bašmu’s are the snake of the Kleinplastik (without horns and forepaws, VII. C. 2b), and the snake-monster with forepaws (and wings) from the palace of Esarhaddon.” Ibid. Pg. 189.

[24] F. A. M. Wiggermann Mesopotamian Protective Spirits The Ritual Texts – Styx & PP Publications Groningen 1992. Pg. 166-167

[25] Ibid.

[26] Ibid.

[27]Ibid.

[28] http://www.assyrianlanguages.org/akkadian/dosearch.php?searchkey=4876&language=id

[29] God, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: Bašmu

[30] Transtigridian Snake Gods Wiggermann Pg. 35.

[31] Edzard, D.O. 1965. “Mesopotamien. Die Mythologie der Sumerer und Akkader.” In H.W. Haussig (ed.), Götter und Mythen im Vorderen Orient. Wörterbuch der Mythologie, erste Abteilung, Bd. I, Pg. 17-140. Stuttgart: Ernst Klett Verlag.

When God told Ezekiel to “take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre,” in Ezekiel 28, He was talking about far more than a mere human king;[i] He was using one of Satan’s many titles: Melqart. Melqart (mlkqrt), literally means “king of the city”, and here, specifically Tyre.

“Melqart was considered by the Phoenicians to represent the monarchy, perhaps the king even represented the god, or vice-versa, so that the two became one and the same.”[ii] King of the ‘City’ could also be interpreted as a euphemism of the underworld, called “the great city, iri.gal, Akkadian Irkallu, in the Mesopotamian tradition.” [iii]

We do not know the given name of Satan, but God revealed enough key places for us to trace his titles back to a singular entity. For instance, George A. Barton writes in his study, On the Pantheon of Tyre, that“Baal of Tyre was called Melqart (king of the city), we learn from the Phoenician portion of a bilingual inscription from Malta. The Greek portion of the same inscription shows that Melqart was identified with the Greek Herakles.”[iv] Melqart was also known as Baal, Ninurta, Enlil, Adon and Eshmun, thus, Satan. Historians such as “Josephus Flavius refer to Melqart and Heracles interchangeably.” [v]

The word Heracles (Hercules) comes from Ήρα (Hera) and Κλέος (fame). [vi] The fame part reminds us of the Nephilim, the mighty men (הַגִּבֹּרִ֛ים hagibborim) who were “the men of renown”(Gen 6:4 ESV), and also the people at Babel said, “Let us make a name for ourselves” (Gen 11:4). Therefore, Hercules (Heracles) was another name for Satan.

Likewise, the King of Tyre that God denounces in Ezekiel 28 is considered by most scholars to be the same god with whom Elijah was battling on Mt. Carmel. [vii] In fact, Elijah mocks the god for sleeping “and must be awakened” which were “elements of and allusions to the practice of the ‘awakening’ of Melqart”[viii] which provides further proof of them being the same.

Every year, the Phoenicians celebrated Heracles’ ‘awakening’ (εγερσις) which was considered “the greatest festival of Melqart: the god, burnt with fire, as the Greek hero, was brought to life by means of a hierogamic rite with his divine partner Astarte, through the participation of a particular celebrant, the mqm ‘lm, ‘awakener of deity’.” [ix] In other words, through a “sacred” sexual act, the god was thought to come back to life. The once dead, but then alive again god sounds very much like the “the beast who was, is not, and will ascend out of the Abyss” (Rev 17:8) from John’s visions.

The famous historian Herodotus of the 5th century BC once visited Melqart’s temple and reported that there was “a tomb inside, supporting the theory that, involved as he was in the founding mythology of the city, perhaps Melqart was based on a historical person.”[x] (See next page, Figure 5). The theme, according to Herodotus was that “the Tyrian people paid homage as if to a hero. i.e. as if to one who had died, one who was originally mortal,” [xi] who was deified and became a cosmic lord who grants prosperity.[xii]

In part two, we will explore the theme of the deified hero Nimrod, founder of cities, who was known as the son of Enlil (Satan). In fact, Satan and Nimrod were so closely linked in the ancient world that they were often used interchangeably. Melqart / Heracles was considered the son of Saturn or Zeus, depending on the legend.

The interpretario Graeca which existed from the fifth century BC made the connection between Melqart and Baal long before modern scholars. It states:

Heracles was identified with Melqart, whose name means “king of the city”, and who was called the ‘Baal of Tyre’ … a west Semitic god who was the primary deity of the Phoenician city of Tyre, and later of its major colony at Carthage. The Carthaginian triad of deities consisting of –‘Baal Shamen,’ Astarte and Melqart became known through their Hellenistic counterparts of Zeus, Asteria and Heracles  … The Samaritans worshipped Melqart as Zeus Xenios on Mount Gerizim (2 Macc 6:2) (Emphasis Mine). [xiii]

Many of us grew up hearing the legends of Zeus and Hercules, yet we never heard about the fact that the real entity behind the legends demanded child sacrifice. It was “extensively practiced in Carthage and ‘made its way into Israel from Phoenicia during periods of religious syncretism.’” [xiv] There is some debate as to how often such an abomination was practiced, though the famous ANE scholar William Albright notes that “the practice was extensive in the Phoenician colonies.” [xv]

Sadly, King Solomon led Israel to worship those syncretisms of Satan. He set up “high places to this ‘king’” Milcom, god of deified dead kings, and permitted child sacrifice which continued for hundreds of years. King Josiah, king of Judah shortly before the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem, tried to stop the terrible practice:

He defiled Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech (2 Kgs 23:10). Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon (2 Kgs 23:13). (See Appendix 6 Abominations of Babylon).

It is incredible, but all roads lead back to Satan. The dragon, Enlil (Satan), is the same deceptive spirit behind the Greek hero Heracles (Roman Hercules), Baal and Melqart. The same spirit is behind the “the Greek Asklepios, who took over many attributes of Semitic healer gods.”[xvi] We know Asklepios as the snake symbol used in the modern medical practice. While this does not mean that we should not go to doctors, it does reveal the philosophical underpinnings of medicine.

Melqart / Heracles were gods located on the Mediterranean whose origins are in Mesopotamia, the land of Shinar. “Archaeological evidence from Mesopotamia suggests that the figure of Heracles is found as early as the middle of the third millennium.” [xvii] Archaeologists found on Akkadian cylinder seals “a hero probably named Ninurta (the son of Enlil the storm god) … shown conquering lions, bulls, snakes, and even a seven-headed snake.” [xviii]

We do not want to get ahead of ourselves, since we will explore Nimrod in greater detail in part two. Nevertheless, we will just note here that Nimrod and Ninurta were the same person. Ninurta, according to the mythology, was the son of Enlil whom we have learned was Satan. Hence, we see the connection between Nimrod (Ninurta) and Melqart and Satan. Moreover, “in Sumerian representations a hero is fitted out, like the later Greek Heracles, with a club, bow and lion-skin.” [xix] Everywhere we turn, we find Satan or the deified Nimrod as the hero extraordinaire. Indeed, “Heracles’ quest for the apples of Hesperides is similar to the quest for immortality in the popular epic of Gilgamesh.” [xx] Interestingly, Heracles was known as a Master of Animals in the Greek traditions, a trait suggestive of his dragon qualities[xxi] and reminiscent of Satan’s qualities as a cherub.

Satan’s ancient disguises are many and elaborate. As we have seen, looking for “Lucifer” in the ancient world is a fruitless endeavor. However, now that we have the key of Satan = Enlil, we have been able to chip away at some of Satan’s masks and have discovered he was everywhere. He was known as Enlil, Baal, Melqart, Heracles / Hercules and dozens of other titles; and, he was the god who exacted a terrible price from his worshipers. His strategy and quest for world domination are just as real today as when he was openly worshipped by the masses millennia ago. We also peeled back one of the masks which gave us a preview of how Satan deified Nimrod, known in the ancient world as his son. The next disguise we will unmask is Satan, the great dragon.

[i] “It is generally admitted that the figure of Melqart and the forms of his cult are reflected in Ezekiel’s oracle against the king of Tyre (Ezek 28: 1-19). This passage consists of two different sections (vv 1-10 and 11-19) both referring to the same personage.” Melqart The Dictionary Of Deities And Demons In The Bible, Eds. K. Van Der Toorn, Bob Becking nd Pieter W. Van Der Horst (Boston, 1999). Pg. 564-566

[ii] https://www.ancient.eu/Melqart/

[iii] Melqart The Dictionary Of Deities And Demons In The Bible, Eds. K. Van Der Toorn, Bob Becking And Pieter W. Van Der Horst (Boston, 1999). Pg. 564-566

[iv] On the Pantheon of Tyre Author(s): George A. Barton Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society , 1901, Vol. 22 (1901), Pg. 115-117 Published by: American Oriental Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.com/stable/592422 This content downloaded from 184.96.236.153 on Fri, 28 Aug 2020 05:40:31 UTC

[v] https://www2.uned.es/geo-1-historia-antigua-universal/RELIGION-FENICIA/melqart.htm

[vi] Heracles The Dictionary Of Deities And Demons In The Bible, Eds. K. Van Der Toorn, Bob Becking And Pieter W. Van Der Horst (Boston, 1999). 402-404

[vii] Melqart The Dictionary Of Deities And Demons In The Bible, Eds. K. Van Der Toorn, Bob Becking And Pieter W. Van Der Horst (Boston, 1999). Pg. 564-566

[viii] Ibid.

[ix] The Dictionary Of Deities And Demons In The Bible, Eds. K. Van Der Toorn, Bob Becking And Pieter W. Van Der Horst (Boston, 1999). MELQART

[x] https://www.ancient.eu/Melqart/

[xi] Melqart The Dictionary Of Deities And Demons In The Bible, Eds. K. Van Der Toorn, Bob Becking And Pieter W. Van Der Horst (Boston, 1999). Pg. 564-566

[xii] Ibid.

[xiii] Heracles The Dictionary Of Deities And Demons In The Bible, Eds. K. Van Der Toorn, Bob Becking And Pieter W. Van Der Horst (Boston, 1999). 402-404

[xiv] TWOT Tophet.

[xv] Ibid.

[xvi] Amar Annus, The God Ninurta in the Mythology and Royal Ideology of Ancient Mesopotamia, State Archives of Assyria Studies, Volume XIV Helsinki 2002. Pg. 142.

[xvii] Heracles The Dictionary Of Deities And Demons In The Bible, Eds. K. Van Der Toorn, Bob Becking And Pieter W. Van Der Horst (Boston, 1999). 402-404

[xviii] Ibid.

[xix] Heracles The Dictionary Of Deities And Demons In The Bible, Eds. K. Van Der Toorn, Bob Becking And Pieter W. Van Der Horst (Boston, 1999). Pg. 402-404

[xx] Ibid.

[xxi] F. A. M. Wiggermann, Mesopotamian Protective Spirits The Ritual Texts – Styx & PP Publications Groningen 1992. Pg. 161

And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. The great dragon … that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world (Rev 12:3, 9).

Criminals sometimes use disguises to give themselves a different look to conceal their identity. They might use a mask, costume, false passports, websites, buildings and so on to gain their victims’ trust and access their money or personal information. Our journey will reveal how Satan has used those same tools since the earliest of times to deceive the world to trust him and give him access to our riches, authority and even our lives. He has at the same time attempted to open the Gates of Hades and thus, unleash his forces upon the world.

Satan did not begin as a criminal mastermind. We do not believe in dualism that teaches there are two equal but opposite powers, i.e. God versus Satan, good versus evil; Satan is not the equal of YHWH. Scripture is clear: God created Satan and He created him good: “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created” (Ezek 28:15). God did not create Satan with the intention of him being wicked and sinful. Instead, He made him good, along with the other angels, including Cherubim / Seraphim, whom He spoke into existence.

Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light! …. For He commanded and they were created. He also established them forever and ever (Ps 148:2–6).

The picture we get is that God said, “Michael,” and “Gabriel,” and they immediately began to exist. God spoke Satan’s name and he began to exist. Unlike humans, the angels were created with great wisdom (Ezek 28:12–13), and while they would certainly learn history as it unfolded, they would not have needed to learn to speak, to reason and to comprehend abstract thinking. They had no childhood or age of innocence. Michael, Gabriel, Satan and all the angels must have perceived how God had shared his qualities of speech, art, music, passion and emotion, as well as his likeness with them (Dan 10:1–6; Rev 22:8). At the same time, they must have perceived they were in the presence of supreme greatness, of the exalted King to whom there would never be any equal (Rev 10:1, 22:8–9, Jude 1:9), the One who, upon uttering a simple command, had brought them into existence out of nothing. (See Appendix 2 Angel Freewill).

Enlil (Heilel), Not Lucifer

Unlike Michael (“who is like God”) and Gabriel (“God is my Hero”), we do not know Satan’s original name. Christians have long spoken of Satan, the devil and Lucifer, yet when we research these titles, we find nothing in the ancient world. In Isaiah 14, the prophet said: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Heilel [Hêlēl הֵילֵ֣ל], son of the morning!” (Isa 14:12). “Lucifer” is not Satan’s name; The underlying Hebrew in the word is Heilel ֵ[Hêlēl הֵילֵ֣ל].[i] Deciphering this word using the tools of the Ancient Near East is the key we need.

The ancient translators, not having all the texts we have today, came to this word “Heilel,” a hapax legomenon, (a word that appears once in Scripture), and had to make a guess; they translated it into Greek as eosphorus. We now can go back to early texts of Mesopotamia, written in the Sumerian and Akkadian languages, and do some comparative linguistics. Eos meaning “dawn” and phorus means “bearer.”Eosphorus, therefore, means dawn-bearer, (similarly to how Christo-pher means Christ-bearer). In Latin, Eos (light) became lux, and phorus became pheros, hence “Lucifer” which was a good attempt.  

My friend, Dr. Bill Gallagher, wrote a paper: On the Identity of Hêlēl Ben Sahar from Isaiah 14. He notes how the biblical Hebrew root HLL could be directly related to the ancient god Enlil: “One could reasonably expect hll to be the West Semitic form of Illil. As the Ebla tablets suggest, Illil came into West Semitic directly from Sumerian.”[ii] In other words, Heilel is equivalent phonetically to the Sumerian Enlil … and Akkadian Illil (or Ellil). Dr. Gallagher laid out the parallels between Heilel and Enlil, recreated on the next page:

Table 2 Enlil in Isaiah and Ancient Near Eastern literature

Comparing Isaiah 14 with the descriptions in Mesopotamian texts, we find that there is a direct correlation. “The name Enlil can thus be rendered ‘Lord Wind”[iii] which is incredibly similar to how Paul refers to Satan as “Prince of the Power of the Air” (Eph 2:2). In Revelation 12:3, John saw a dragon with ten horns. Enlil was regularly represented wearing a crown or helmet with ten horns as depicted in Figure 4, (next page). Revelation has accurately pulled back the curtain on Satan’s secret identity: Satan = Enlil.

We find Satan’s various biblical epithets (his titles) are also matched in the ancient world. Satan boasted in Isaiah that he would “sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north” (Isa 14:13), which is the same description of God’s holy mountain: “Mount Zion [on] the sides of the north, The city of the great King” (Ps 48:2). Alfred Jeremias points out that Enlil was “assimilated to the North Pole of the Ecliptic.”[iv]

Moreover, Samuel Kramer states how the creator god: “An carried off heaven while Enlil carried off the earth and assumed most of An’s powers. “Satan, the ruler of this world” (John 12:31), is shown in the Bible to have temporary dominion over the Earth. Enlil is also glorified as ‘the father of the gods, the king of heaven and earth,’ ‘the king of all the lands.’”[v] We note the comparison with Satan’s boast: “I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; … I will be like the Most High” (Isa 14:13–14).

Though we do not know his original name, we do know that the biblical appellations for him as “Prince of the Power of the Air” and “Heilel” are precisely what Satan was called in the ancient world. The figure in Isaiah 14 was the same exact entity known as Enlil in Sumerian, and Illil in Akkadian. In fact, the epithet Enlil “Lord Wind” was so commonly used that it eventually became the very word for “idols” in scripture. God said to Israel: “Do not turn to the idols [הָ֣אֱלִילִ֔ים ha’elilim] … I am the LORD your God (Lev 19:4). A. T. Clay in 1907 pointed out “the origin of elilim [אלילים], the word translated “idols” in the Old Testament … is probably to be found in the … deity Ellil.”[vi]

Christopher B. Hays also suggests that “idols” may just be a form of Illil (Enlil) which could also mean “god of gods.”

His name was known far and wide throughout the ancient Near East, and in syllabic cuneiform, it was written as Illil (e. g. d.-li-lu); this is taken to be a contracted form based on a doubling of the word ilu, “god”, i. e. il-ilû, “god of gods”… In fact, it is now commonly argued that the Sumerian writing of his name, ^den.líl (“Lord Wind”) was derived from the Semitic name. [vii]

We have already unlocked a great deal! “Lucifer” is actually Heilel which was Enlil in the ancient world and was almost certainly the same word as “idols” in the Hebrew Bible. Obscuring his specific name has made it easier for Satan to hide his identity through the ages. Nevertheless, because we know that Heilel (Enlil) was syncretized (had fused his identity) with a multitude of gods, we can trace him. Hays notes:

Because lordship itself was Illil’s defining characteristic … Akkadian terms such as illilu, “god of the highest rank” and illilūtu, “divine supremacy” (literally “Enlil-ship”) … illilūtu was ascribed to various other deities over the centuries, including Šamaš, Marduk, Sîn and Nabû, each of whom was called illilu at various times. This background is significant to the biblical use of אליל , since it too arguably began with a specific reference to Illil, but was also applied to other divinities.[viii]

The implications are huge—“Enlil” or “Satan” was quite likely a general term for “idols” which God said not to worship in the Ten Commandments. Also, Satan was known by a host of other titles, though for simplicity, we will generally refer to him as Satan or Enlil throughout this book. Keep in mind that the names and titles, many which we find in the Bible with variant spellings, refer to Satan: Enlil (Isa 14:12), Ninurta (2 Kgs 19:37), Marduk / Merodach (Jer 50:2), Baal / Bel (Isa 46:1), Dumuzid / Tammuz (Ezek 8:14), and more. One of Satan’s disguises the Bible audaciously unmasks is that of Melqart, King of Tyre.

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[i] His name in the Hebrew is Heilel which should not be confused with Halal meaning praise.

[ii] W.R. Gallagher, On the Identity of Hêlēl Ben Sahar of Is 14:12-15 UF 26 (1994) pp 131-146.

[iii] Jacobsen 1989, The líl of dEn-líl. DUMU-É-DUB-BA-A: Studies in Honor of Åke W. Sjöberg (Behrens, H., D. M. Loding and M. T. Roth). Pg. 270.

[iv] Jeremias, Alfred 1913. Handbuch der altorientalischen Geisteskultur. Leipzig. Pg. 74.

[v] Kramer, Samuel Noah The Sumerians The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1963. Pg. 37-42.

[vi] Albert T. Clay, “Ellil, the God of Nippur” AJSL 23 (1907) 277.

[vii] Christopher B. Hays, Enlil, Isaiah, and the Origins of the ʾĕlilim: A Reassessment, ZAW 2020; 132(2): 224–235, https://doi.org/10.1515/zaw-2020-2002

[viii] Ibid.

Genesis 4:26: Calling on or Profaning the name of YHWH?

Genesis 4:26 is often interpreted as the first revival in the Bible. However, just the opposite is true.

And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD. (Gen 4:26)

In the fact the first profaning of the name YHWH would come in the days of Seth, when Adam was one hundred thirty years and would lead to the days of Noah and eventually the flood.

“And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth [only 7x in Bible], and as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD, [az hukhal likro b’shem YHWH אז הוחל לקרא בשם יהוה] (Gen 4:25-26).”

The word “men” is crossed out because it does not appear in the Hebrew text. If you look in your Bible, you may see that it is italicized; The translators are supplying the word “men” order for it to make sense.

The text in question says: “az hukhal likro b’shem YHWH.” The word hukhal (הוחל) is passive (hophal) from the root (חלל): “to profane, defile, pollute, desecrate, begin” according to BDB. “To begin” is a valid definition; however, so are “profane,”[i] “defile,” pollute,” “desecrate,” – with the latter usages being the most common. For us to know which meaning best fits our phrase, we first need to consider the subject of the phrase. The verb “hukhal” is in the passive voice. Consider some English sentences to understand the implications:

1. “The man read the book.” – Standard English sentence (subject, verb, object).
2. ‘The book was read.” A passive sentence: (Subject receives the action of the verb):
3. “The reading of the book was interrupted.”

In sentence #3 the passive verb is “was interrupted.” What then is the subject? The book is not the subject; rather “the reading of the book” is the subject and “was interrupted” is the predicate.

The Hebrew phrase in question is analogous to sentence #3. The subject is “likro b’shem YHWH” “calling on the name YHWH.” Should hukhal (הוחּלַ) be translated as “was begun” or was “profaned?” Did men begin calling on the name of YHWH or was calling on the name of YHWH profaned?

Targum Onkelos Gen 4:26, one of the Targumim (ancient Aramaic translations of the Hebrew Bible) translates the word:

“…Then in his days the sons of men desisted [חלָוּ] (or forbore) from praying in the name of the Lord.”

According to that ancient witness, by the days of Seth, mankind was not having a revival and coming back to the true God. Rather, things had gone from perfection, to bad, to worse: God and man are in perfect harmony; then down a notch: Adam blew it. Then down another: Cain commits the first murder. Then down again and calling on the name of YHWH profaned. Then things would get even worse! Then the fallen angels would have relations with the daughters of Adam – something so bad that God would destroy the world.

[i] Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Hebrew English Lexicon provides the following definition. “1. to profane, defile, pollute, desecrate, begin”. BDB then gives the various forms of how the root is used in each of the binyanim (verbal paradigms). (Niphal) it means to: 1. to profane oneself, defile oneself, pollute oneself; b. ritually; c. sexually; 1. to be polluted, be defiled; d. (Piel): 1. to profane, make common, defile, pollute; 2. to violate the honour of, dishonour; 3. to violate (a covenant); 4. to treat as common; e. (Pual) to profane (name of God); f. (Hiphil): 1. to let be profaned; 2. to begin; g. (Hophal) to be begun.”
The TWOT: “The Hiphil theme of the verb is only used twice; of the Name (“I will not let my holy Name be profaned any more,” Ezk 39:7) and of the need of man not to “break” his word (KJV “violate”) when it was a vow or pledge involving the Lord’s name (Num 30:3). For this reason, the frequent use of the Hiphil (106 times) as “to begin” is probably not to be derived from the same root (see ṭĕḥillâ below)…”