Revelation: - Knights of Columbus, Supreme Council

apocalypses to see how similar they are in the methods they followed. Stars are
used in 1:9 for angels, and in 9:2 for a fallen angel. Similarly in the Book of
Henoch stars symbolize fallen angels. The Jewish apocalypses describe the
enemies of Judaism in terms of all manner of fierce beasts, precisely as John
speaks of the enemies of the Church, and both have borrowed the figures
chiefly from the seventh chapter of Daniel. The Fourth Book of Esdras pictures
the Roman Empire as an eagle with twelve wings and three heads. John has
used other, but similar, symbolism.
Symbolism is the very essence of apocalyptic. Like John, the Jewish
apocalypses are perpetually reiterat ing this fact. “I drew near a great house,”
says the Book of Henoch, “and the walls of this house were like a mosaic in
crystal…its roof was like the milky way…it was burning as with fire and it was
cold like snow.” And in another passage, quite similar to John: “I saw one who
had a head of days, and his head was like white wool; and with him was another
whose figure was as a man, and his figure was as one of the holy angels.” And
so on.
Symbolic Numbers
The symbolism of numbers is particularly apparent in the Jewish
apocalypses, as in John. The fa vorite number is seven (seven angels, seven
spirits, seven moun tains, etc., figure in Henoch, the Testaments of the Twelve
Patri archs, and Fourth Esdras); seventy, the multiple of seven, is almost as
frequent (the ninth chapter of Daniel gave this number a special apocalyptic
meaning). Anyone who has read the Apocalypse knows how the number seven
figures in it. There are seven letters, seven seals, seven cups, seven trumpets,
obvious to everybody. More attentive read ing shows that there are seven signs
(in ch. 12-21), seven blessings occur throughout the book, and the name of
Christ appears seven times. It will be noticed that the number seven, which is
the Jewish number of plenitude, is in John broken into groups of four plus
three (four seals are first opened, for example, then the other three; the first
four trumpets sound, then the final three; etc.). Multiplying these two
numbers we have twelve, which is another symbol for plenitude. Twelve, in
turn, is a favorite symbol because of the twelve tribes of Israel.
The Jewish apocalypses use twelve for the ages of the world (Fourth
Esdras), the periods of tribulation (Henoch), and the like. John uses it especially
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