Thoughts on Revelation 22: What is "soon"?

At the end of this complex book is the repeated theme that the events described in it are coming "soon".  Well, it's 2000+ years later and most theologians of all stripes would agree that at least chapter 21 hasn't happened yet.

So, what does "soon" mean?  One of the nice things about being an anonymous blogger rather than an established Bible teacher is that I don't need to have answers.  That's good, because I definitely don't have one.  My best guess (and let me emphasize that it is a guess) is that God wanted to create a sense of expectation.  If we continually think that the events described in Revelation are "soon", then it might impact how we live our lives.  How do we live differently if we believe judgement and Christ's return is around the corner?  Do we clean up our actions?  Do we evangelize more?  Do we focus more on God?

Thoughts on Revelation 21: The New Jerusalem

Every time I read the description of the New Jerusalem, I find it very interesting.  I'm not one to dissect the meaning of every gemstone, etc.  Rather, what I find interesting is that it seems to merge traditional Judaism with Christianity.  For example, there is no temple, which fits with Christianity, but the rationale is almost Jewish--because there is no need for a special place for God to dwell.  There are twelve gates for each tribe of Israel, but twelve foundations for each of the apostles.

All of this makes me wonder about the long-term importance of Israel.  Not in an eschatological sense, but more in the sense of whether God ever really abandoned His people after they abandoned Him. 

Thoughts on Revelation 20: Wait, you let him out?

There are many things in the Bible that confuse me.  The events of this chapter are one of them.  In the previous chapters, we have God soundly defeating the dragon, who is identified as Satan.  In the beginning of the chapter he is locked up for a thousand years, and then is let out.

Wait a sec...God let Satan out of prison to wreak havoc again?  I really don't get it.  I don't.

To make it worse, even after God's thousand year reign, Satan is able to deceive the nations of the earth to fight against God.  This indicates to me just how screwed up people are.  They get to experience rule under God and then are quickly deceived into fighting against Him. 

I won't get into the chronology debates that go along with this chapter.  I want to focus on what I learn about God.  First, even with Scripture, I do not understand everything God does or His reasons behind them.  Second, those calling for rule by Christians seem to be deluded about the long-term positive impacts.  Here we have God ruling for an extended period of time and the people still, when given the chance, rebel.  What good will it do to have Christians rule if the hearts of those being ruled are not regenerate?

Thoughts on Revelation 19: Party in heaven

Chapter 19 of Revelation describes the party in heaven after the beast and the dragon are defeated.  You have some of what modern readers might expect: creatures in heaven praising God, a great banquet...  Then there was something my modern Western eyes did not expect.  Twice in this chapter there is reference to birds gorging themselves on the flesh of the slain enemies of God.  That is part of the party.  Getting to enjoy something I personally find gruesome.  I'm not sure what to do with this, but I do think it shows me an aspect of God that I don't normally think about.

Thoughts on Revelation 18: Come out of her, my people

Chapter 18 is sort of a gloat over the destruction of the powerful Babylon (which is probably metaphorical and not actually Babylon).  It describes all those who will be upset at its fall--mostly capitalists who made money off of it.

God calls on the saints to come out of this wicked city.  In the city they are surrounded by sin and will be susceptible to any punishment it receives.

This always makes me think.  What is the balance between being a light in a dark place and coming out of evil surroundings (and therefore letting it to it's own demise).  I definitely prefer living in the country, but for various reasons I have lived in the heart of cities for the past 16 years. 

I think that if all Christians abandoned cities to their ways, they would culturally self-destruct (at least in the U.S.).  Based on the whole of Scripture, this doesn't seem to be what is meant.  The Revelation 18 admonition to "come out of her" seems to be a specific admonition for a specific situation.  In this case, God is about to reign judgement down on her, so the people had best come out of her while they can.

While I think this is the primary point, there is also the consideration of those Christians who can't handle the temptations of the specific set of sins that one finds in the cities.  If you are in a city and you find yourself unable to resist certain temptations, then perhaps moving is appropriate.  Keep in mind, though, that many of those sins are just as available elsewhere, they are just more frowned upon culturally.  It is better to surround yourself with Believers who will keep you accountable.

Thoughts on Revelation 17: A call for interpretive humility

I'm not really sure what to make of Revelation 17.  It speaks of a prostitute who apparently represents Rome.  It speaks of a beast who could be any number of things (including Rome).  I've seen too many eschatologies built off of dogmatic interpretations of this chapter (not all of which can be correct).  I've seen the beast referred to as the Holy Roman Empire, as the Roman Catholic Church, as the European Union, as Iraq, as Iran, as Russia, and as NATO.  I'm sure there are a lot more.

It is entirely possible that one of these interpretations is correct.  It's also possible (or probable) that none are.  Hebrew scholars who studied the Old Testament prophets played similar games to what Christians play with Revelation.  The vast majority of them totally missed the true nature of Christ.  I fear modern Christians are making the same mistakes and might even miss real events as they come.  I just pray God gives us the wisdom to truly see what we need to see when we need to.

Thoughts on Revelation 16: Egypt's lessons redeux

As Moses tries to lead Israel out of Egypt, God sends seven plagues on Egypt, but Pharaoh does not relent and allow the people to go.  In a parallel, God sends plagues on the world in Revelation.  As happened with Egypt, the leaders of the world did not repent and the plagues kept coming.  This continues until a final military confrontation.

What does this tell us about the stubbornness of the human spirit?  We see in this Revelation passage that the people recognized the plagues came from God, yet they not only refused to repent, but they rather blasphemed God. 

Thoughts on Revelation 15: Too late to come to our spiritual senses

In the end, everyone will know who God is and worship Him in some way.  This may be hard to see now, but eventually everyone will have to acknowledge the truth and respond accordingly. 

Unfortunately, the circumstances when this comes about may not be pleasant.  In the midst of a discussion of seven final plagues, those who survived the rule of the beasts sing a song about how God will conquer. 

My interpretation of this (which I hope is wrong) is that everyone will recognize who God is after it is too late for them to respond in faith.  I don't think the whole world becomes believers.  Rather, it appears that evil gets conquered and people will then realize that they were evil and have no choice but to acknowledge God. 

This makes me think about the importance of reaching out to our lost loved ones now.  God will eventually make it so everyone recognizes Him.  But that may not be the best time to finally come to our spiritual senses.

Thought on Revelation 14: You have questions; God has answers

What a contrast between chapters 13 and 14.  In chapter 13 we had two beasts running amuck on the earth, terrorizing the saints.  In chapter 14 we have the picture of heaven of the rejoicing of the saints and God preparing for His final victory.  Many of the questions that may arise out of the previous chapter are answered in this one.  God is waiting for the proper moment to make all things right again.

On a side, and completely irrelevant note, we hear a lot about the 144,000 in religious circles.  Based on this passage, I think most of what I have heard is incorrect.  They are described as blameless virgins.  I don't think any major religious or eschatological position has taken this seriously.  Think about that next time you hear someone spouting off about the 144,000.  Ask yourself if they are ignoring one of the few pieces of information we have about this group.

Thoughts on Revelation 13: "Because I said so"

Revelation 13 is somewhat upsetting.  It describes two beasts who God allows to roam the earth and do damage.  God even granted one of the beasts "ruling authority", with which he persecuted the saints.

I cannot give a reason for why God would let this happen.  I really don't know.  I do know that God does allow things like this.  After reading all of Job, I also know that God won't always give us a "good reason" for these things. Often, the only answer God gives us is something like we might have heard from our parents as young children, "Because I said so".  In those circumstances, we just have to take it and trust that God knows what He is doing.

Thoughts on Revelation 12: Satan loses but keeps fighting

In chapter 12, Satan is pictured as a dragon.  He wages a war against God's heavenly host and is defeated under the leadership of the Arch Angel Michael.  He is forced to the earth where, in vengeance, he seeks to destroy the Church.

I see a couple lessons here:

1. God can and has defeated Satan.  
2. Satan will come after the Church and its members.
3. God will protect his Church.

I think these are things we need to remember when dealing with the spiritual realm.  Many Christians tend to ignore the power and role of Satan.  Or pretend that he doesn't exist. That would be a mistake.

Another mistake would be being so afraid of Satan that you are paralyzed.  We must remember that God will always win.  It doesn't mean things will be easy, but it does mean we can have ultimate confidence.

Thoughts on Revelation 11: Their corpses will lie in the street

I am not going to venture a guess about who the two witnesses are.  Suffice it to say that they are God's specially selected servants who demonstrate great power.  Then they are killed and their corpses will rot in the street.

Please note that these are God's faithful servants.  Note that they were not popular in society.  Note that they are killed and God lets it happen.  Note that God lets their bodies lie exposed in the street. 

When you are God's servant, things won't always be great.  The greater your role, the greater the probability that you will suffer greatly.  Just a thought.

Thoughts on Revelation 10: Sweet and bitter

In chapter 10 we see something interesting.  The Revelator is instructed to eat a scroll.  He describes it as tasting sweet but leaving a bitter feel in his stomach.  I won't pretend to know the exact meaning of this.  My guess is that it is something that we called out for, but may make us nauseous when we get it. (Again, let me emphasize that this is my guess.)

In the early persecuted Church, I would imagine there were many calls for punishment for their enemies.  This would mimic the message in many of the Psalms.  But I often wonder if we truly appreciate how awful (in the true meaning of the word "awful") God's wrath is.  When we actually see what God does to punish those who cause us pain, how will our stomachs respond?  Will our empathy make observing that wrath unbearable? 

I really don't know.  These are just some thoughts.

Thoughts on Revelation 8: God punishes for reasons

While God is decimating the earth in Revalation 7 and 8, it is important to note that it isn't just for fun.  The people of earth were incredibly wicked.  Verses 20-21 spell out this wickedness.  Even after all this judgment, these people continued in worshipping demons, idolatry, murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, or thievery.  God didn't punish the people for being righteous. 

Thoughts on Revelation 8: God is the same in the Old and New Testaments

In chapter 8 of Revelation we get the first four trumpets of judgement.  I think the eagle in verse 13 sums up the message well: "Woe, woe, to those who live on the earth..."  In great swaths God sends destruction on the earth. 

This is not a warm, fuzzy thought.  I'm not sure you can read Revelation and think of God as warm and fuzzy.  This is more like the God of wrath that many mistakenly claim is the realm of the Old Testament.  I think what people fail to remember is that the period of most of the New Testament was about 70 years.  How much of God's wrath did one expect to see in a 70 year period.  One didn't see all that much wrath in any given 70 year period in the Old Testament.  Revelation is a prophesy of what was to come (I'm not going to guess as to when).  It takes a longer view over a longer period than the description of current events in the New Testament.  So, in that regard, Revelation is much more like the Old Testament.  This, I believe, indicates that God did not change from the OT to the NT.  Rather, the NT focuses on a brief time period of particular generosity and grace.  We find those in the OT as well, we just get a more complete picture in the OT.  Revelation also provides this more complete picture.

Thoughts on Revelation 7: God ultimately protects His people

In the midst of the destruction in the previous chapter, we get an interlude.  Rather than destruction, we see protection.  God protects 144,000 from what is still to come.  We also see a multitude being protected from the "great tribulation". 

Note that all these people did have to go through levels of suffering.  But, at a certain point, God spared them of anything further.  God will not put us through more than we can handle.  It's important to remember that as I go through my relatively minor suffering.

Thoughts on Revelation 6: God and Christ brought about the destruction

As I mention often in these posts, I am going to do my best to avoid eschatological interpretations.  When discussing Revelation, that gets very hard, so my habit has been to find a theme rather than trying to understand what each passage means.

In that light, I will not try to explain the seals on the scroll, when they happen, or how literal to take them.  Rather, I want to highlight the picture.  We have a picture of God on a throne and of Christ, in the form of a slaughtered lamb, being declared worthy to break the seals of this scroll.  As most of the seals are broken, some calamity happens on earth.

You can argue about whether God caused the calamity, allowed it, or both all you want.  What I would find hard to dispute is that Christ was the only one found worthy to break the seals on the scroll and the calamities happened as the seals were broken.  Christ played an active role in these calamities coming about.  Surely God knew these things would happen. 

Passages like this do make me wonder about calamities and God's will.  God can prevent anything from happening.  He could have prevented Hurricane Katrina or "Super Storm Sandy". But he didn't.  Was this punishment?  Was there some greater plan we just don't understand?

I don't know the answers to these questions, but I do believe they are valid questions.  I think shutting down someone who dares to ask them is theologically naive. 

Thoughts on Revelation 5: Only Christ is worthy

After picturing God in his glory who is worthy of praise, we come to a vision of Christ being the only one who is worthy to open a scroll.  (I'm not going to venture a guess about what the scroll is exactly.)

This is an interesting picture.  It is a slain lamb who is then honored as one who not only sacrificed, but also who is worthy

to receive power and wealth

and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and praise!

I don't know about you, but when I look at a lamb, I don't think of these attributes.  I certainly don't think of a killed lamb as having these attributes.  Yet this paradox is who Christ is.  Both the slaughtered innocent and one worthy of praise due to his attributes.  With these conflicting pictures, it is hard to put Christ into a box.  But that is too often what I do, and I imagine I am not alone.

Thoughts on Revelation 4: Thinking about who God really is

The fourth chapter or Revelation provides us with what appears to be a physical manifestation of God.  I imagine that if you ask most professing Christians who don't have this passage in mind what God is like, you would get a fluffy picture of a loving deity.  While this is not necessarily wrong, it is certainly incomplete.

God is not your grandfather.  God is holy.  That is something we should think about more.  God is holy.  God is set apart.  God is utterly different from us.  God is fully worthy of reverence.  God doesn't need us. God is all-powerful.  God created everything.  Apart from Him, nothing exists.

These are things we should all dwell on more to get a fuller, although still incomplete, picture of God.

Thougths on Revelation 3: Ancient churches and modern problems

Sardis
It's a little harder for me to draw a comparison of the church in Sardis to modern churches because the message to them is somewhat vague.  I don't know if the "deeds" are good works or if they are personal actions.  So, my best parallel is to the modern mega-church.  These churches have a lot of influence and resources.  They are perceived as "alive".  My question is always, what are these churches doing with their resources? What percentage of the congregation is actually living the Christian life?  What is the church doing to improve their community and bring their community to Christ?  I know a lot of mega-church pastors struggle with these issues, but I wish all of them did.

Philadelphia
The church in Philadelphia reminds me (somewhat) of very small churches that struggle to remain faithful when surrounded by things that make it difficult.  It is a big challenge for small churches to remain faithful and not get discouraged.  The promises made to the Philadelphia church are what I find most interesting.  He promises to spare them from the coming turmoil and to make their oppressors acknowledge that God loves them.  I'm not sure what to make of these promises, but I do find them interesting.

Laodicea
First a little bit of a geography lesson to help better understand the message.  Laodicea probably was near a medicinal hot spring.  It was also near a cold river.  The river was refreshing for drinking.  The hot spring was good for health.  When the river ran into the hot spring, it turned lukewarm and good for neither refreshment nor health.

With that out of the way, Laodicea reminds me of too many modern suburban churches in the US.  They have great wealth, but they don't do anything with it.  They follow a script designed not to make anyone too uncomfortable in the services.  They host extra programs for different groups in the church to make the members feel more comfortable.  Overall, the churches are very comfortable.  But, what does that actually mean?  Are they refreshing for people in need of refreshment?  Do they heal spiritual wounds?  No.  That would make some people uncomfortable.  You can't make people uncomfortable.  Therefore, you should just remain in your church bubble and spend time with others who are comfortably like you and not do anything to rock the boat.  And God will vomit you out of His mouth.