Read and See Revelation 8:2 – 11; Trumpets, Scroll and Witness; Inside the Rainbow volume 3
ISBN 978-1-80329-011-9
60 pages.
Published 19/02/2024
£35.00
Hardback in full colour
Having immersed himself over many 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. This volume covers chapters 8-11
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 and hearing (by doing) it!
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
6 Father Dunstan Massey
9 Understanding the bigger picture
What am I learning from painting?
10 8:2–6 Story 33: Incense of Prayer
12 8:5 Story 34: Burning Coals from Heaven’s Altar
14 8:7 Story 35: The First Trumpet
16 8:8–9 Story 36: The Second Trumpet
18 8:10–11 Story 37: The Third Trumpet
20 8:12 Story 38: The Fourth Trumpet
22 8:13 Story 39: Woe, Woe, Woe
24 9:1–6 Story 40: The Fifth Trumpet
26 9:7–12 Story 41: Abaddon
28 9:13–15 Story 42: The Sixth Trumpet
30 9:16 Story 43: Two Myriads
32 9:17–19 Story 44: No Repentance
34 9:20–21 Story 45: The Rest of Humanity
36 10:1–7 Story 46: The Other Mighty Angel
38 10:8–11 Story 47: Sweet and Bitter
40 11:1–2 Story 48: Measuring the Temple
42 11:3–6 Story 49: “My Two Witnesses”
44 11:7–10 Story 50: Witnesses conquered by the Beast
46 11:11–14 Story 51: Resurrection and Ascension
48 11:15–18 Story 52: The Seventh Trumpet
50 11:19 Story 53: The Ark of His Covenant
52 My Understanding of Trumpets, Scroll and Witness
54,55 Visual Meditation 3: Light in Colour
56 Additional Select Further Reading
57 List of Illustrations
