Napier Baptist

As I've been reading through various commentaires and journal articles on Revelation I've come to realise how significant coins are in comprehending some of the images of Revelation. Coins were a big part of the propaganda machine of the Roman Empire and played a big part in promoting the Imperial Cult. If you're interested in reading more about coins and the Imperial Cult go here or here or here.

The coin above is a coin minted during the reign of Domitian following the death of his young son. The following comes from here. On one side it has the bust of Domitia (Domitian's wife) and on the other it has their infant son sitting naked on the globe with his arms outstrectched surrounded by 7 stars. It has the inscription DIVUS CAESAR IMP DOMITIANI F which means "the divine Caesar, son of the emperor Domitian". Ernest Janzen in an article called “The Jesus of the Apocalypse Wears the Emperor’s Clothes” in Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers 1994 writes “The globe represents world dominion and power, while stars typically bespoke the divine nature of those accompanied. … the infant depicted on the globe was the son of (a) god and that the infant was conqueror of the world” How significant is it now that John, in his depiction of the glorified Jesus in Rev 1:12-16, describes his as holding the seven stars in his right hand. From the title of Janzen's article I've entitled Sunday's sermon as - "The Emperor has no Clothes!"