"The typical biblical pattern illustrated above is broken only in Revelation 14:7. Any scriptural parallel allusion or reference to Exodus 20:11 that starts with the words “Who made” and reaches the word “sea” and then continues never strays after that from the exact wording of Exodus except in Revelation 14:7c.
Why?
Is something theologically important being communicated? Is God, through the angel, signaling some relevant, theological truth(s) by means of a somewhat fluid allusion that otherwise would be lost if Exodus 20:11 were to be fully, exactly paralleled?
Most importantly, why in this end-time passage might God select the “fountains of waters” for special mention and not some other created item among “all that is in them”?
Wilhelm Michaelis considers several possible explanations for the “fountains of waters” mentioned in Revelation 14:7. In the end, he wonders whether they likely refer to the “fountains of the deep” of Genesis 7:11 and 8:2.
We can add that, if so, this would suggest a reference in Revelation 14 to the Genesis judgment Flood account within the Revelation judgment passage.
Greek word p‘gas, used in Revelation 14:7 for “fountains,” is also used for “fountains of the deep” (Gen. 7:11) in the Greek version of the Old Testament (LXX). Moreover, the concept “fountains of waters” is a universal concept that would include the “fountains of the deep,” which were created by divine wisdom (Prov. 8:27, 28, 30) and were broken open at the Flood (Gen. 7:11). Here the judgment setting of the Revelation 14 phrase “fountains of waters” begins to reveal its importance.
Ng shows that there are three groups of “water” passages in Revelation:
Zhigankov indicates that the phrase “fountains of waters” is employed to recall the Genesis Flood as confirmatory evidence of the reality of the judgment announced by the angel.
Henry Morris, scientist and bible student, also indicates that the angel uses the words “ ‘fountains of waters’. . . because of their association with the earlier judgment of the great deluge, when ‘all the fountains of the great deep [were] broken up’ ” (Gen 7:11). “The angel’s cry,” says Morris, “reminded men that as God had created all these things and then had destroyed them once before because of man’s sin, so He was still able to control all things and that another great divine judgment was imminent.”
A global Flood stands as a necessary complement to the biblical method of Creation.
The divinely initiated aquatic catastrophe can account for the formation of major portions of the geologic column after the entrance of sin and death, thus indicating that the fossiliferous geologic column does not require millions of years for its development.
This means that the very possibility of a six-day Creation is preserved by the basic results of the Flood.
Moreover, the Genesis Flood safeguards other crucial biblical teachings such as the authority of Scripture and, above all, the validity of an atonement based upon the truth that, in earth history, death does not precede sin but is its wage."
John T. Baldwin
Why?
Is something theologically important being communicated? Is God, through the angel, signaling some relevant, theological truth(s) by means of a somewhat fluid allusion that otherwise would be lost if Exodus 20:11 were to be fully, exactly paralleled?
Most importantly, why in this end-time passage might God select the “fountains of waters” for special mention and not some other created item among “all that is in them”?
Wilhelm Michaelis considers several possible explanations for the “fountains of waters” mentioned in Revelation 14:7. In the end, he wonders whether they likely refer to the “fountains of the deep” of Genesis 7:11 and 8:2.
We can add that, if so, this would suggest a reference in Revelation 14 to the Genesis judgment Flood account within the Revelation judgment passage.
Greek word p‘gas, used in Revelation 14:7 for “fountains,” is also used for “fountains of the deep” (Gen. 7:11) in the Greek version of the Old Testament (LXX). Moreover, the concept “fountains of waters” is a universal concept that would include the “fountains of the deep,” which were created by divine wisdom (Prov. 8:27, 28, 30) and were broken open at the Flood (Gen. 7:11). Here the judgment setting of the Revelation 14 phrase “fountains of waters” begins to reveal its importance.
Ng shows that there are three groups of “water” passages in Revelation:
one related to calamities,
one to God’s promise of salvation, and
one to the consummation.
Among other helpful suggestions, ...the use of the phrase ‘fountains of the water’ bring[s] together the idea of a literal creation and a coming judgment . . . . The fact of the unavoidable judgment is confirmed by the reference to another global historical event—the flood.Zhigankov indicates that the phrase “fountains of waters” is employed to recall the Genesis Flood as confirmatory evidence of the reality of the judgment announced by the angel.
Henry Morris, scientist and bible student, also indicates that the angel uses the words “ ‘fountains of waters’. . . because of their association with the earlier judgment of the great deluge, when ‘all the fountains of the great deep [were] broken up’ ” (Gen 7:11). “The angel’s cry,” says Morris, “reminded men that as God had created all these things and then had destroyed them once before because of man’s sin, so He was still able to control all things and that another great divine judgment was imminent.”
A global Flood stands as a necessary complement to the biblical method of Creation.
The divinely initiated aquatic catastrophe can account for the formation of major portions of the geologic column after the entrance of sin and death, thus indicating that the fossiliferous geologic column does not require millions of years for its development.
This means that the very possibility of a six-day Creation is preserved by the basic results of the Flood.
Moreover, the Genesis Flood safeguards other crucial biblical teachings such as the authority of Scripture and, above all, the validity of an atonement based upon the truth that, in earth history, death does not precede sin but is its wage."
John T. Baldwin
