Monday, July 27, 2020

Andrea L. Robinson on the New Name in Revelation

 

It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city that day shall be, The Lord is there. (Ezek 48:35)

 

And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. (Rev 22:4)

 

Commenting on the “new name” and its Old Testament background, Andrea L. Robinson wrote:

 

The New Name (Rev 22:4; Ezek 48:35)

 

In Revelation 2:17, John specified that the saints will receive a new name, and in Revelation 22:4, the inhabitants of the new Jerusalem receive God’s name upon their foreheads. The mark of God functions as the inverse of the beat’s mark, indicating that those who bear God’s name profess allegiance to him (Mark of God: Rev 3:12; 7:1-5; 9:4; 14:1; mark of the beat: Rev 13:17; 14:11; 16:2; 19:20). Being marked with God’s name also recalls Ezekiel 9:4, in which those who mourn over the idolatry in Jerusalem receive a mark on the forehead and are spared the outpouring of God’s wrath. Similarly, in Revelation, individuals who are marked by the Lord receive his protection (Rev 7:1-3). The naming thus represents the security of the saints and “the idea of the eternal residence of God with his people” Cooper, Ezekiel, 425). Such is the case in Revelation 22:4, and also Ezekiel 48:35, wherein Ezekiel’s city receives the name יְהוָה שָׁמָּה, or “the Lord is there.”

 

Biblically, a new name encapsulates the essence of a person. To know someone’s name is to discern his or her character. “When God chooses to reveal himself he does so by revealing his name (cf. Gen 17,1; Exod 3,14; 6,2). In so doing, he reveals more than simply that by which he is called. He discloses a part of himself, of who he is” (Spatafora, From the “Temple of God," 137-38) For saints to bear God’s name indicates that they understand something of his nature and correspondingly reflect his character.

 

In the OT cultic system, the name of God was written on the foreheads of priests (Exod 28:36-38). The significance of the inscription was that those who bore the mark served as representative of the Lord. The inscription of God’s name in Revelation 22:4 thus reinforces the priestly character of the inhabitants of the new Jerusalem. Bauckham succinctly explained, “They are priests who worship him and kings who reign with him” (Bauckham, Theology of the Book, 142).

 

As in Ezekiel and Revelation, several passages in Isaiah indicate that the people of God will receive a new name (Isa 56:5; 62:2; 65:15). These verses may be in the background of Revelation 22:4. However, the inscription of the name on the forehead, as well as the overarching literary prototyping of Revelation 21:1—22:5 on Ezekiel 40-48, indicates that the Ezekielian referents are primary. Further, the author of the Isaian passages did not indicate that the new name was the name of God, as did John and Ezekiel.

 

Strong conceptual affinities exist between Revelation 22:4 and Ezekiel 48:35. In both passages, those who are marked with God’s name (1) reflect God’s character, (2) receives God’s protection, and (3) enjoy God’s presence. Lexical affinities, however, are vague. Although both Revelation 22:4 and Ezekiel 48:35 utilize ονομα, or “name,” the term is too common to imply dependence. The literary contexts of Ezekiel 48:35 and Revelation22:4 likewise do not align. In Ezekiel 48, the prophet dealt with land allotments, while in Revelation 22:1-5, John described the renewed heaven and earth. In Ezekiel, the name applies to the city, and in Revelation the name applies to the people. Yet in Revelation, the people are the city, so the parallel remains conceptually similar.

 

A structural parallel can be identified as well. The naming of the saints is found at the end of the visions in both Revelation 21:1-22:5 and Ezekiel 40-48. Bearing in mind John’s tendency to conflate and condense, he may have combined the new name of Ezekiel 48:35 with the mark of God in Ezekiel 9:4 as he iterated the name of the city-saints in Revelation 22:4. In sum, the parallel will be regarded as probable due to the presence of strong structural and conceptual affinities. The function of the intertext is most likely thematic. (Andrea L. Robinson, Temple of Presence: The Christological Fulfillment of Ezekiel 40-48 in Revelation 21:1-22:5 [Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf and Stock, 2019], 177-78)