Davis convincingly argues that the scene in Revelation 4-5 is a meeting of the divine council, prophet present, to deliberate and pass judgment. What’s the issue before the court? Davis cites this explanation from Adele Yabro Collins:
“In the context of the Apocalypse as a whole, it is clear that the problem facing the divine council is the rebellion of Satan which is paralleled by rebellion on earth. Chapter five presupposes the old story of Satan’s rebellion against God which leads to the fall of creation. This old story is retold in the Apocalypse to express the feeling that the world had gone astray, that all creation was deeply alienated from the source of its being. Human relations had become unjust and the injustice had corrupted the natural world as well. The tears of the prophet express the desire of the faithful to have this situation rectified.”
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