Chronological Order or Thematic Order (Part I)
Biblical stories can be confusing, especially regarding chronology. That's because Biblical authors primarily wrote in thematic patterns. In prep for Revelation, enjoy this primer on Biblical chiasm!
Another benefit of studying thematically is that we are able to gain a better understanding of chronology and design in Biblical narratives. Earlier I mentioned the need to understand chronology in the book of Revelation, i.e., the proper arrangement of events in time. The Bible can be very confusing as one tries to decipher chronology. As a stark example, consider the deaths of Nadab and Abihu. Leviticus 10 describes the death of Aaron’s two oldest sons who offered “strange” fire before Adonai. Leviticus 10:2 states that,
. . . fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
After their deaths, we are informed in Leviticus 10:4-5,
4 Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.”
5 So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said.
Thus, one would think the events surrounding the deaths of Nadab and Abihu are completed, end of story. However, notice how Leviticus 16:1 begins,
Now the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the LORD, and died!
If the Bible is written solely in chronological order, then we have a major problem here. Nadab and Abihu died in Leviticus chapter 10. After their deaths, there are five chapters of narrative (Leviticus 11–15). Then, Leviticus 16:1 begins with the phrase, “Now the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron,” as if we had just read about their deaths and Leviticus 11–15 didn’t exist! What are we to make of this? One thing is for sure, Leviticus 10-16 was not written in chronological order. This is one of many examples of thematic order taking precedence over chronological order. For reasons we will not delve into now, Moses abandoned chronological order and used thematic order for this section of Scripture. When I say thematic order, I mean that the writers of Scripture arranged their text in thematic patterns, not just chronological order alone.
This concept of thematic considerations trumping chronological order can also be seen in the story of the battle of Israel with the Midianites after the incident of Baal Peor. Numbers 25 records the disastrous consequences of Israel’s dalliances with the women of Moab and Midian. In Numbers 25:17-18,
17 Adonai commanded Moses to, “Harass the Midianites, and attack them; 18 for they harassed you with their schemes by which they seduced you in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a leader of Midian, their sister, who was killed in the day of the plague because of Peor.”
If Moses was writing strictly in chronological order, perhaps we would expect to read about this battle in Numbers 26. However, that’s not the case. Surprisingly, we have to read five chapters (Numbers 26–30) consisting of subjects such as a census, inheritance laws, various offerings and laws concerning vows, before we ever get to the fulfillment of Adonai’s command! Numbers 31:1-2 begins as follows,
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”
Hmm, considering the command to attack Midian was given at the end of Numbers 25, why are we just now seeing the fulfillment of that command in Numbers 31? Why did Moses feel the need to “insert” Numbers 26–30 between the command to destroy Midian and its actual fulfillment? Once again, we see that there are other thematic considerations that have taken precedence over chronological order.
With this concept in mind (thematic order versus chronological order), let’s gain a deeper under-standing of how the Holy Spirit inspired John when he wrote the book of Revelation. As one reads Revelation, it becomes apparent that it is not written in chronological order. Actually, to the casual observer, it may seem to be a series of visions haphazardly pieced together with only a modicum of emphasis on chronology. So, what was the guiding principle concerning the arrangement of narratives in the book of Revelation? The answer is that the book of Revelation, like the majority of all Biblical narratives, is written in a thematic pattern. The two most prevalent thematic patterns for Biblical stories are chiasm and parallelism. A chiastic structure is a thematic approach to writing a story. Whenever you see a story in the Bible being told chiastically, the story will have two halves. All the themes in the first half of the story will repeat in the second half of the story in reverse order. The middle section is called the central axis, which often times functions as the most important message of the entire passage. It’s like a divine highlighter saying, “This event/theme is very important.” At other times, the central axis functions as the turning point in the story. Where things may have progressed negatively in the first half, after the central axis the plot will change, and the second half will be very positive. Please review this pattern in the example below and make sure you understand the pattern.
A) Theme 1
B) Theme 2
C) Theme 3
X) Central Axis
C´) Theme 3
B´) Theme 2
A´) Theme 1
As you can see, letters are used to connect the themes on opposite sides of the central axis. This is a small chiastic pattern consisting of three matching themes on either side of the central axis.
A second thematic pattern found often in Scripture is the parallelism. In a parallelism, a story is divided into two halves, and the themes of the first half of the story repeat in the same order in the second half of the story as follows:
A) Theme 1
B) Theme 2
C) Theme 3
D) Theme 4
A’) Theme 1
B’) Theme 2
C’) Theme 3
D’) Theme 4
Amazingly enough, you probably cannot read a page of your Bible without either being in, moving into or moving out of a chiastic structure or a parallelism! These two literary devices are that prevalent! Some are only a couple of verses in length. Others will span a few verses or a few chapters. Remarkably, the first half of a chiastic structure or a parallelism can be in one book of the Bible and the second half can be in a totally different book. These two literary patterns are the key to understanding how the book of Revelation is structured. In Part II, we will look at a parallel structure which not only arrange the text thematically, it will also help us properly interpret one of the passages!