Monday, December 13, 2004
The Revelation of John
I've been thinking about this lately, and I decided to spend a little time going through the Revelation of John to figure out why this book fascinates so many Christians and how progressive cutting edge Christians can deal with this book, which is full of symbols and prophecies, and has caused a lot of trouble over the years.
Rev 1:1-3
Here is a good opening. It tells what John is writing about and blesses his audience.
Rev 1:4-8
In more detail, this is addressed to the 'seven churches of Asia.' He sends greeting from God, Christ, and 'the seven spirits who are before his throne.' Seven spirits before his throne is already jumping out at me. What seven spirits? The seven archangels? In Rev 4:5 there is a vision of seven torches which are the seven spirits of God. A footnote here links this to Ezekiel 1.13, which is part of the vision of Ezekiel, four great creatures of fantastic description, and among them "something that looked like coals of burning fire, like torches moving to and fro among the living creatures; the fire was bright, and lighting issued from the fire." So the seven spirits may be the seven archangels, or the seven angels mentioned in the Bible (Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael are almost certainly four of them).
Verse five clearly separates God, the seven angels, and Christ 'the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth.' Isiah 55.4 describes God's servant as a 'witness and leader for all people."
'To him who loves us and freed [washed] us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving [to] his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.' Here is a link to Psalm 89.27 ("I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.") But Psalm 89 seems to be talking about King David, not the Christ, for his line will be 'forever' (v. 29) and even if they stray from the law, God will punish them but not take away his steadfast love. Yes, the Psalm talks about the 'annointed', which is also translated as 'messiah' or 'christ' but v.20 states it's all about David ("I have found my servant David; with my holy oil have I annointed him").
I think that the message of Christ was that, even if not physically, spiritually we all belong to this line. God loves us even when he punishes us. This makes sense to me because I remember my mother, time and time again, telling me that she was punishing me because she didn't like my behavior, but she still loved me. Friends have said that this is a mixed message and probably not a wise thing for a parent to say. The same friends have had children, and understand that it is a very wise thing for a parent to say. It's a practical application of 'Hate the sin, Love the sinner.'
The reference to 'preists serving his God and Father' is linked to Exodus 19.6, part of the story of Moses taking his people to Sinai. Moses is instructed to tell the Isrealites that they 'shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.' Revelation 5.10 expands this idea of being priests to all people to members of every race and nation.
Verse 7:
"Look! He his coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who peirced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be, Amen."
Chapter 7 of the book of Daniel describes a vision with fantastic beasts and speaks of final judgement, where one who appears human was brought before 'the Ancient One' in the clouds of heaven. He is given authority by the Ancient One. Again, Christ and God are differentiated beings. The 'mini-Apocalypses' of Matthew (chapter 24), Mark (chapter 13), and Luke (chapter 21) use the same idea, and according to my translation, Jesus is quoting the passage from Daniel.
Finally, verse 8:
"I am the Alpha and the Omega" says the Lord God..."
This makes sense if the Greeks used 'alpha' for 'beginning' and 'omega' for 'ending.' John is simply translating the name of God (I AM WHO I AM, Exodus 3.14) into the vernacular.
So what have we learned? John is writing this prophesy and borrowing from the book of Daniel for some of the imagery. The author probably had access to non-cannonical books, such as the book of Enoch. ¶ 11:56 AM
Rev 1:1-3
Here is a good opening. It tells what John is writing about and blesses his audience.
Rev 1:4-8
In more detail, this is addressed to the 'seven churches of Asia.' He sends greeting from God, Christ, and 'the seven spirits who are before his throne.' Seven spirits before his throne is already jumping out at me. What seven spirits? The seven archangels? In Rev 4:5 there is a vision of seven torches which are the seven spirits of God. A footnote here links this to Ezekiel 1.13, which is part of the vision of Ezekiel, four great creatures of fantastic description, and among them "something that looked like coals of burning fire, like torches moving to and fro among the living creatures; the fire was bright, and lighting issued from the fire." So the seven spirits may be the seven archangels, or the seven angels mentioned in the Bible (Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael are almost certainly four of them).
Verse five clearly separates God, the seven angels, and Christ 'the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth.' Isiah 55.4 describes God's servant as a 'witness and leader for all people."
'To him who loves us and freed [washed] us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving [to] his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.' Here is a link to Psalm 89.27 ("I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.") But Psalm 89 seems to be talking about King David, not the Christ, for his line will be 'forever' (v. 29) and even if they stray from the law, God will punish them but not take away his steadfast love. Yes, the Psalm talks about the 'annointed', which is also translated as 'messiah' or 'christ' but v.20 states it's all about David ("I have found my servant David; with my holy oil have I annointed him").
I think that the message of Christ was that, even if not physically, spiritually we all belong to this line. God loves us even when he punishes us. This makes sense to me because I remember my mother, time and time again, telling me that she was punishing me because she didn't like my behavior, but she still loved me. Friends have said that this is a mixed message and probably not a wise thing for a parent to say. The same friends have had children, and understand that it is a very wise thing for a parent to say. It's a practical application of 'Hate the sin, Love the sinner.'
The reference to 'preists serving his God and Father' is linked to Exodus 19.6, part of the story of Moses taking his people to Sinai. Moses is instructed to tell the Isrealites that they 'shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.' Revelation 5.10 expands this idea of being priests to all people to members of every race and nation.
Verse 7:
"Look! He his coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who peirced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be, Amen."
Chapter 7 of the book of Daniel describes a vision with fantastic beasts and speaks of final judgement, where one who appears human was brought before 'the Ancient One' in the clouds of heaven. He is given authority by the Ancient One. Again, Christ and God are differentiated beings. The 'mini-Apocalypses' of Matthew (chapter 24), Mark (chapter 13), and Luke (chapter 21) use the same idea, and according to my translation, Jesus is quoting the passage from Daniel.
Finally, verse 8:
"I am the Alpha and the Omega" says the Lord God..."
This makes sense if the Greeks used 'alpha' for 'beginning' and 'omega' for 'ending.' John is simply translating the name of God (I AM WHO I AM, Exodus 3.14) into the vernacular.
So what have we learned? John is writing this prophesy and borrowing from the book of Daniel for some of the imagery. The author probably had access to non-cannonical books, such as the book of Enoch. ¶ 11:56 AM
