Looking forward….. Revelation
The Book of Revelation…I wonder what you think of it. For most people it’s weird and wonderful but frankly not my cup of tea. Martin Luther the great reformer and leader of our protestant faith wanted the book removed from scripture claiming it was an ‘epistle of straw’.
It is what is known as Apocalyptic Literature. That’s a big word so let AI explain… Apocalyptic literature is a genre characterized by strange images with hidden realities, often related to the end times or divine revelation. It’s marked by symbolic language, a pessimistic view of the present, and a focus on imminent cataclysmic events.
The book of Revelation fits well. There are strange images and symbolic language ….There are visions of beasts, four horsemen, angels blowing trumpets, wars, dragons, special numbers, Much of it seems to be focused on end times and Armageddon, There are lakes of fire and the present age is doomed.…. I could go on.
What we need to understand is that this is written by someone who is experiencing visions that are often quite bizarre. But hidden in the images are truths to challenge and deepen our faith….
John the writer of the book wants to tell us about Jesus and what he had done. He tells us there are evil forces at work in the world and Jesus has come to challenge those forces. That challenge will inevitably involve conflict and bring persecution and ridicule, but kia kaha be strong, remain faithful for the God we know in Jesus will win. Good will triumph over evil.
Let’s read some passages…
Rev 6:1-8 John has a vision of being transported to heaven where the one sitting on the throne has a scroll with 7 seals. It seems the scroll contains details of what is about to happen. Jesus is the only one who can open the seals.
Rev 19: 11-16 After the evil powers are defeated John has a vision about Jesus which is quite shocking if you have been brought up to believe Jesus is only a mild mannered friend of little children.
Rev 21: 11-7, Rev 22: 12-14, 16,17. After the great judgment John has a remarkable vision about the earth transformed. God now makes his home with the people of earth. And the final passage is an invitation to come and join Jesus on the road to a transformed earth.
Back at the end of the 15th century in Europe Albrecht Durer was using an artform that could be reproduced on the newly discovered printing presses. He made woodcuts and became the first artist to publish a book and create a copyright. His book, The Apocalypse with Pictures, contained 15 woodcuts all depicting scenes from the book of Revelation. Just why he chose to represent these scenes is explained by the world he lived in. European society was falling apart. The Church, corrupt to the core, was about to face a revolution in the form of the Protestant Reformation. The Ottoman empire was a new world power. Many believed the world was facing a great day of judgment that would come as the 16th century came to an end and the year 1500 dawned. Durer saw what was happening as a sign that the book of Revelation was playing out before their eyes. In maybe the most well known woodcut from his book we see the scene portrayed from the opening verses of Chapter six with the four horsemen:
The first horseman (furthest right) is Pestilence and Plague. Dürer denotes Pestilance with his bow and arrow (Rev 6:1–2). The second horseman representing war has a long sword and is ready for battle. Famine is the horseman third from the right. The rider brandishes scales as his weapon which speaks of how wheat and barley would be tightly rationed and highly priced during the Apocalypse. The final horseman is Death. This rider is the most distinctive horseman as he is noticeably older than the other horseman and incredibly malnourished. Unlike the other horsemen, Death is not given a tangible weapon. Instead, Death is charged with killing whoever is left alive when Plague, War, and Famine have completed their rides. Interestingly trampled under death is a bishop symbolic of the church.
Many Christians claim the Book of Revelation offers a picture of how the world will end. There will be a great cataclysmic final period of history before God steps in and the faithful will be rescued to live on for eternity in heaven. The codes and signs tell us what will happen in these end times and all through history there have been people like Durer who have seen it happening in their time.
I recall a few years ago books by Hal Lindsay. Hal said the end times were upon us now. He pointed to the setting up of the state of Israel and four key players – Russia, China, The Middle Eastern nations, and the European Economic Union which was seen to be the ten horned beast of Revelation because there were ten countries in the union at that time. Hal did well with over 25 million copies of his Late Great Planet Earth sold, and is partly responsible for the reality that in the United States something like 4 in 10 people think the end times are upon us – 40%!
I confess I don’t think the book of Revelation offers us a coded road map of the future. I don’t believe there is a set plan that details every event in the future that if we can just crack the code we will know all about. I don’t believe everything that happens in my life is pre-planned. I do believe God has some dreams and purposes for my life, but I have freedom of choice and can head along different paths if I choose. There is an insistence of God that speaks into my life and the life of the world, but I can be very deaf and blind. I often head down other paths to what God might hope. Life is a mysterious mix of God’s will and chaos.
So do we ditch Revelation as Luther hoped. I want to say a resounding NO!
I believe the Book of Revelation with its dramatic images of battles between good and evil actually is a huge wake up call for us. In our comfortable liberal western world we have forgotten the reality that evil exists, and we keep pretending all is well. We are blind to the idea of consequences and judgment, and we think we can sail merrily on and everything will be fine and dandy while the earth literally burns up around us with hate and heat.
John saw the visions in the Book of Revelation at a time when the persecution of Christians had begun under the reign of the Roman emperor Nero around 60 AD but intensified under the reign of Domitian in the AD 90’s. The events depicted in the visions revolve around the persecutions and evil events that were unfolding right before John the author’s eyes. The Christians were still a tiny tiny minority of the population. In Christchurch (if it existed) maybe there would have been 50 Christians. But they were a significant fringe group who proclaimed that not all was well. When others literally worshiped the emperor and the great Roman dream of Pax Romana, the peace of the mighty Roman empire, the Christians said ‘we follow another way and another Lord’. ‘We see another future’. That got them into trouble!
Imagine yourself part of such a group. With a mad dictator in Rome you are now being singled out. All mad leaders know the value of having scapegoats. (Jews, Palestinians, Mexican refugees, Muslims…) Christians are being targeted, and some are being brutally killed. You meet in secret, and you talk in ways that that are not openly understood. The rotten Roman empire becomes a ‘beast’ and we all know what we are talking about.
John in his visions sees the real power of evil in the world, but kia kaha, remain strong. God is still at work. And this is a key message of Revelation. God will not be defeated. The cross and suffering are real but this is not the final word. The empty tomb is. In picturesque language the book of Revelation talks of great battles. Instead of saying the Emperor is a fraud and his violent regime is rotten and evil. John tells a strange story about a monster who comes out of the sea, a place of evil, and is defeated. Instead of saying the established religions of Rome are corrupt it tells a story about a whore. Instead of saying the Empire is doomed, it talks of an empire which reached glorious heights but which collapses inwards into a cess pit of violence, greed, and inhumanity – Babylon. The language is rich in symbolism. It talks of a beast with seven heads. The great city of Rome was located on seven mountains or hills.. and the writer is saying this city, the toast of the empire, is a godless city built on the subjugation of many. Most of the population lived as slaves in grinding poverty. The rich and wealthy elite lived in luxury with little thought of welfare of others. ..ring any bells? The message of Revelation is it wont survive…. The four horsemen are coming.
Later after we read of the vision of Jesus coming on a great white horse and you may think it doesn’t fit with the Jesus I know in the gospels. This Jesus of Revelation seems to be a warrior of brute strength and violence. But read these visions carefully. Even before the battle begins Jesus’s robe is blood stained with his own self giving love, and the sword he carries is in his mouth not in his hand. The vision of the Messiah is of someone who has shed his own blood, and who fights not with guns and bombs, but with words of love and with judgements about what is right and wrong. This Messiah fights with the power and sword of truth to bring healing, reconciliation, and sustainable life into our world.
The sword of truth…. Our ways of living are wrecking this planet. Witness the reality of climate change. Witness the imbalance between rich and poor which sees huge divisions – we are no longer interconnected as a society but living in glorious isolation which opens the door for uncaring random violence. Anxiety has reached epic proportions particularly amongst younger generations. And we consume, consume, consume and amass stuff, lots of stuff. The seductive powers of evil are alive and well, calling us to death, destruction, and darkness. The four horsemen are still roaming.
Come Lord Jesus and open our eyes, unblock our ears with your truth.
We may read passages in Revelation and think God is going to destroy the earth. Some Christians, and many Christians in the United States, say we don’t need to worry about climate change, or polluting the earth, living sustainably, or being concerned about the plight of so many who have so little. God is going to destroy it all anyway, and because we go to church we will be saved. But that negates the message of Revelation and of Jesus. I have not come to condemn. I love the earth. I have come to transform lives, I have come to save and rescue, to bring life to all the earth.
At the end of the Book of Revelation we have a beautiful visionary scene which pictures a New Jerusalem, or holy city, descending from heaven to engage in a new relationship with the earth. “See the home of God is now fully amongst us, and the earth is renewed. God’s home is now the very earth itself. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and violence and destruction will be no more. No more will people cry out with the pain of injustice. For the earth has been transformed and made new.”
The poetic picture is striking. This transformed earth doesn’t need a temple because God’s presence is found everywhere. It doesn’t need a sun or moon because the light of Christ burns bright in every corner. Its gates are never shut and it welcomes people from all round the world to receive and bring blessings and treasures to one another. From the centre of the city, from God’s own throne, a river flows. But it’s not any old river, it is a river of life or aliveness. Along its banks grows trees of Life with fruit available every month of the year. True peace reigns as people of all races live in harmony with one another and with all creation as children of God. The picture of the end of the world is not destruction but renewal. Everything made whole. Life in all its fullness has come. I read this and I have hope. This is where Jesus is leading us. This is the earth God dreams of, and it is the earth that one day will come into being! It’s where our Christian faith should be leading us.
And the final word of the Book of Revelation is compelling. That word is the word, “COME”. Come and join those walking the road of Jesus that leads us to a union of earth and heaven. Come join those who are battling the powers of evil, working for good. Expect terrible conflicts and expect hopelessness. The road will be hard and costly, the powers of evil are terrifying. Witness what is happening in Gaza. I could weep. Often evil is more subtle – we know that in our own lives! But the final word of John is Come join the team that is fighting for life, fighting for Jesus. Come, keep walking, keep loving, keep wielding the sword of truth for the victory will be ours.
