Zechariah, Reference and the Structure of Revelation 6-8:1 95 fact since chapter 6 consists of a juxtaposition of a string of what appears to be very loosely connected narrative. Chilton argues that chapter 7 is a part of the sixth seal;10 this seems unlikely due to the abrupt shift in scenery. Also the asyndeton in 7:1, followed by μετὰ τοῦτο would suggest that its relationship with the previous text is complicated. One has to ask why John added chapter 7. Harrington says that God is sealing His people before the final judgment.11 He appears to be assuming that the seventh seal is referring to final judgment although this is not clear in 8:1. Smalley says that chapter 7 is building up suspense for the seventh seal.12 However, the seventh seal appears to be an anticlimax compared to what precedes. Beale argues that chapter 7, “…explains how believers are sealed so that they can persevere through the first four tribulations enumerated in ch. 6”13. Beale’s anaphoric interpretation is preferable than resorting to cataphoric relationship with 8:1, although linking chapter 7 with the four horsemen in this manner is difficult to see. Following an asyndeton (7:9), μετὰ ταῦτα generates sufficient ambiguity to make it particularly difficult to identify the relationship between the 144 000 and the “multitude”. Morris comments that, “…there is little evidence to decide these points…”14 Commentators’ conclusions can be divided into three camps, disjunctive, conjunctive and ascensive. Bousset holds the older disjunctive position; he understands the 144 000 to represent people of Jewish nationality (including Jewish Christians) and he appears to identify the multitude as all Christians, specifically of gentile origin.15 Most people are currently inclined to see a conjunctive relationship between both units, that is, there is a continuation of thought between the 144 000 and the “multitude”. Bauckham is insightful on this point, he compares this section to 5:5-6 where John hears that the Lion of Judah and the root of David had conquered, but saw a slaughtered Lamb. In a similar way, John hears a number sealed and yet sees an innumerable multitude.16 Both images are generally considered to refer to the church 10 Contra Chilton, The Days, 201. 11 W. Harrington, Revelation (Minnesota 1993) 99. 12 S. Smalley, The Revelation to John: A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Apo- calypse (London 2005) 177. 13 Beale, The Book, 404. 14 Morris, The Book, 111. 15 W. Bousset, Die Offenbarung Johannis (Göttingen 1906) 287-8; similarly J. Draper, “The Heavenly Feast”, JSNT 19 (1983) 136-137; C. Rowland, Revelation, (London 1993) 91. 16 R. Bauckham, The climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh 1993) 215-6.