The role played by the interlude in each of the three visions of divine wrath is the same: to cause the readers to assess their present crisis in terms of the future realization of God’s past triumph in Christ. In this sense, the crisis confronting unbelieving humanity is a theological one. Their vision is blinded by the “official” propaganda of the surrounding world order; thus, their life is anchored not by faith in a sovereign God but rather by a false confidence in the idols of the anti-Christian world.

The crisis that confronts the believing community is similar in kind. Whenever the church’s witness to the gospel of God is challenged or even compromised, the fundamental issue at stake for John is theological: temptations are tests of faith in God, since every problem of faith stems …