Read and See Revelation 4 – 8:2; Throne and Seals; Inside the Rainbow volume 2

ISBN 9781803290034
56 pages.
Published 1/10/2022

£35.00

Hardback in colour

Having immersed himself over the last seven years in reading every commentary he can find on Revelation, and picking up his teenage hobby of painting, Pieter Kwant here retraces the process whereby John first “saw” Revelation before writing it down, now moving from (biblical) text to image…

In this, Pieter takes his stand on the shoulders of both giant biblical commentators and visual artists over the centuries as he engages Revelation in a personal way that he hopes will make this, often obscure, text approachable even to children! Pieter’s big hope, and the challenge he set himself, is that readers may be emboldened not to shrink from looking deeply into this concluding book of the Bible – reading, seeing and hearing (by doing) it!

Inside the Rainbow 2  focuses particularly on Revelation 4–8:1. 

PIETER KWANT was the Director of Literature for Langham Partnership International until 2022. For over fifty years he worked as theological bookseller, publisher and literary agent. He has been a lifelong enthusiast for the arts and has returned to painting since his retirement.

Children, we used to be told, should be seen and not heard. The Bible for some people is only heard but never “seen”. Revelation demands both. John oscillates again and again between what he saw and what he heard, and invites our attentive imagination to grasp, wonder, and respond to both, for our adoration, encouragement and warning. Pieter Kwant’s rich artistic engagement, the fruit of many years of saturated study of the book, combines fascinating glimpses of ancient and contemporary renderings of Revelation’s vivid imagery alongside his own richly coloured interpretative paintings of what John invites us all to “see and hear”, as Jesus draws back the curtain and reveals the breadth and depth, challenge and hope of his own Lordship. This is one of those books I enjoyed on first reading, and even more on the second, and doubtless more yet to come. 

Chris Wright

Students of the Bible are taught that meaning emerges as they engage both the content and the form of a specific genre. The book of Revelation is a prophetic word which emerges in the form of a vision. There is something to hear and to see. And yet its interpreters, down through the years, have struggled to engage this visionary element. Pieter Kwant puts together what scholars have readily put asunder. Writing in a conversational way, he combines bold, evocative imagery with clear, accessible explanation. The outcome is a book which welcomes the reader into the strange world of Revelation, calming their fears and building their confidence as they journey with it.

Paul Windsor 

Table of Contents

7 A Way of Reading

8 4:1–6 Story 17: The Throne in Heaven

12 4:3,6 Story 18: Precious Stones (Detail)

16 4:6–11 Story 19: Holy, Holy, Holy

18 5:1–5 Story 20: John in Tears

20 5:6–7 Story 21: The Lamb

22 5:8–14 Story 22: A New Song

24 Visual Meditation 1 : Bloody crown,

Blood redeeming, Pentecost

26 Four Horsemen

28 6:1–3 Story 23: First Unsealing

30 6:3–4 Story 24: Second Unsealing

32 6:5–6 Story 25: Third Unsealing

34 6:7–8 Story 26: Fourth Unsealing

36 6:9–11 Story 27: Fift h Unsealing

38 6:12–17 Story 28: Sixth Unsealing

40 7:1–3 Story 29: Sealing Servants

42 7:4–8 Story 30: 144,000

44 7:9–17 Story 31: A Great Multitude

46 8:1 Story 32: Seventh Unsealing

48 The Scroll is Open At Last

50 My Understanding of the Seven Seals

52 Visual Meditation 2: Seal meditation in wax

53 Additional Select Further Reading

54 List of Illustrations and References

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