The Book of Revelation
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
December 17, 2020 +++ Essay #18
Celebrate your Revelation adventure! Thanks to listening to the
prophecies of John of Patmos, you have glimpsed the new earth and the new
heaven. So, rather than closing your Bible and tucking it away, realize that already you are truly living
within the grace of the Lord Jesus. Accepting that new
awareness, you are strongly empowered to read and reread all parts of your
Bible.
Today Time Travel
To help you on your way, detour first to the rugged landscape of Patmos edged
by a jagged coastline, formed by volcanic activity, that frames sandy beaches.
Although access to the wild beauty of this small island in the Aegean has
continued to be limited over the 2000 years since John experienced his visions, it is possible now to comprehend the settings
that may have inspired his account, thanks to the official Patmos tourist video. The
government of Greece considers Patmos a holy island, and it has been designated
a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Take reflective time to revisit
and learn from the Van Eyck brothers by referencing the Wikipedia entry for the
Ghent Altarpiece. Discover details captured in this glorious
presentation of John’s Bible vision.
Today Overcoming Isolation
In order that we as individuals, as a community, and as the world may survive
the COVID-19 pandemic and the existing environmental and economic destruction,
our personal lives have come to a screeching, paralyzing halt. Yet, to save the
goodness God has given to us, the evil forces surrounding us must be overcome. The angels in John’s visions want us to realize
that evil can be overcome and good can be restored, if we learn to live in
concert with one another to honor God’s creation. Thinking anew
together means You’ll Never Walk Alone,
as demonstrated by 300 people in 15 countries, who formed a virtual choir and orchestra.
Today Continuing Creation
The message of John of Patmos in Revelation is designed to give us courage for
the darkest of times. John
wants his listeners to fully live, believing that we are all humans loved by an
omnipresent God. All we have to do to believe is to believe.
(CBS Sunday Morning) and (Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir: Sing Gently)
Today in Hope
John’s visions empower us to live our prayers, bringing God’s rich promise to
the people and places everywhere. Revelation gives us a perspective for action
found in this intertwined arrangement by Craig Hella Johnson of two recent
popular songs, I Love You and What a Wonderful World. (Conspirare Choir) and (Angel City Chorale)
Today for Future Living
Dick and I thank you for sharing the powerful visions of John of Patmos with
us. Together, we have completed the final Bible book. With John’s guidance,
such as his advice to the seven cities of Revelation, we have summoned up much
of the elements of prophecy in the OT and reveled in the fanciful stories that
inform our faith traditions.
We began our study of Revelation by starting at the very beginning of the Bible
with God in Genesis 1. Now,
thanks to John, at the end of the Bible we know we are to accept a new
beginning, with God’s presence in our lives as our Lord Jesus.
In the beginning, God tells us it is good. Thanks to John, we know with God,
all still is good.
The question we must ask ourselves is, “How do we embrace God’s
goodness in our lives?”
The visions of John of Patmos remind us of the words of the
other NT John, the author of the fourth gospel. Both NT texts, written to
different groups of early Christians near the end of the first century of the
Common Era both carry the same message.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being
through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into
being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. ... He was in the
world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know
him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to
all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become
children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of
the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and
we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and
truth. ... From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law
indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No
one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s
heart, who has made him known. (John 1:1-5,
10-14, 16-18).
Because we have listened to two NT writers named John, we know
that God’s light of goodness shines into the whole world in even the darkest of
days, all thanks to His gift to us of our Lord Jesus Christ. May all our days be Holy Days. Amen.
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
December 10, 2020 +++ Essay #17
To tackle the finale of Revelation will require less than 20 minutes of your time in reading aloud Rev. 19:17 to 22:21. The deathly rumblings, as the forces of evil are encountered a final time before being totally destroyed, give way to a new beginning in “a new heaven and new earth.” (Rev. 21:1)
Time for Apocalypse
John painted horribly intense word pictures in explaining his visions. He does not mince words in his determination to impact the lives of his Christian brethren living in seven mainland cities across a stretch of open water from his exile island home. As his Revelation vision ends, John lists specific charges that poison people, causing their lives to be infected in evil ways.
John reports that the cowardly, faithless, polluted, murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will have a place “in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Rev. 21:8). Those who abuse God’s gift of free-will to humans are warned to use that gift wisely or to face appropriately damning rewards. God judges people choosing to be ...dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (Rev. 22:15).
The eternal and just rewards for the ungodly will be truly terrifying. John’s visions, deliberately stated, make it abundantly clear, that anyone committing wrongs against others will get a horrible punishment. Remember, Revelation gives us John’s list for crimes-against-humanity 2000 years ago. Today, we can heed John’s colorful warnings when using our intellectual free-will to contemplate how John’s list applies to our historic time.
Time for Recreation
Moving on from the seer’s gross and ugly destructive visions, we encounter the duality of apocalyptic literature in the marvelously descriptive panorama of the eternal, heavenly city. Don’t make the mistake of taking the specifications presented too seriously. Be conscious that John is doing his very best to tell us that the heaven-on-earth of the new Jerusalem is, without a doubt, the most wonderful place beyond anything the human mind can imagine. The grandeur of John’s vision is expansive; the materials indicated are magnificent; the embellishing final-touches are uniquely splendid.
John’s description provides an active, fertile environment for abundant living. All that was present in the Genesis creation stories has been updated awaiting the arrival of God’s saints. William Blake, the English poet and painter, captured this scene in The River of Life, an 1805 watercolor that is part of his series inspired by Revelation in London’s Tate Gallery.
The lively water of the earthly city of heaven, recreated in Carly Simon’s song “The New Jerusalem,” written for the 1988 movie Working Girl, continues to offer hope to all who hear it around the world. (Carly Simon on QEII, New Zealand High School, arr. Craig Hella Johnson, Lesley Garret at Royal Albert Hall, London.
Our formal reading of Revelation, ending with the overview of all of John’s vision for his world and for all time, is not complete without pausing to carefully study the Ghent Altarpiece. The triumphant Revelation story is portrayed in the major Adoration of the Lamb panel, completed by Jan and Hubert Van Eyck in 1432. As John’s text draws on the fullness of the Bible, this fine painting spans the completeness of God’s story.
To fully comprehend the importance across time of the remarkable Ghent Altarpiece, take two hours to watch The Monuments Men, a 2014 movie starring and directed by George Clooney.
Time for Living Now
As we have meandered through the Bible, beginning to end, to ground our reading aloud the text of Revelation, we’ve found that the message of this truly bizarre book is really the story of God’s supportive presence in all human life. Dick and I hope we have not weighed you down with trivial facts that, unfortunately all too often, obscure the simple, gentle, grace-filled power of all of the canonical content of the Bible.
What John of Patmos said 2000 years ago really has carried its message across time and place into our world today. Revelation is about apocalyptic endings only because, through this text, we are led to see that we are already living in the new beginning. All we need to do is listen, believe, ask, and live.
John tells us, Do not seal up the words of prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy. (Rev. 22:10-11).
The Lord Jesus Christ answers, See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”(Rev. 22:12-13).
We hope. We believe. We live. The one who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen. (Rev. 22:20-21).
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
November 24, 2020 +++ Essay #16
By now, you realize that Revelation truly is the weirdest text in the Bible. And you probably are wondering how it ever was included in any book considered holy.
Does Revelation have meaning for us today? The Bible was never meant to be a predictor of things to come. When Revelation was written 2000 years ago, it presented a visionary way of perceiving the world of its time. Understanding that frees us to apply that imagery from across history to our time now.
To challenge credulity to the fullest, read Revelation 15:1-19:16 aloud in less than 30 minutes. John’s wild words will explode off the page into blasts of both horror and splendor. Hear the verbal assaults meant to stun the recipients in the seven cities. Hold on tight! Violence is ahead!
Women of the World
From his vantage point, John of Patmos features women in his tales of terror that reflect their roles as seen in the ancient world. In Rev. 12, we encountered the mother goddess in the “woman clothed with the sun.” She suggests birthing Israel with the representative stars for the twelve tribes, the babe to become the Messiah, and the congregations of the nascent Church. How do you see the mothering nature existing in the world’s society today?
In contrast, John gives us the whore bearing the symbolic name “Babylon” for imperial Roman power that operated in an idolatrous way contrary to God’s love. Drunk with power, adulterous in actions, and excessive in acquisitions, this female is painted by John in the most vulgar terms. What would his woman mean symbolically now?
The flip side of evil occurs in the ideal bride, who represents the purity of spirit John projects as worthy to be “the bride of the Lamb.” The contrasting use of female characters is part of the duality, that is used by apocalyptic messages to make a persuasive point. Can we recognize and celebrate this pristine woman, “the new Jerusalem,” in our lives today? John’s beautiful bride is the principal subject of the final Revelation window in the Albuquerque Cathedral. (The “Faithful and True” rider in Rev. 19:11 is in the lower register of this window. The upper register has the heavenly God and the Lamb of God with their trinitarian halos.)
Power of Evil and Power of Good
In the central section of the Revelation text, one feels the impact of the yo-yo jerks of good apocalyptic writing. Reading large sections of the text aloud, as suggested, is the best way to experience the power of John’s writing. His message bounces back and forth from one pole of duality to the other. Gross descriptions of bizarre ugliness are countered by glowing glimpses of God’s heavenly glory. Messenger angels are busy everywhere.
The seven bowls that seven angels carry reminded John’s original recipients of the plagues placed on the Egyptians in the book of Exodus. In reflecting on this section, move beyond the OT and NT references to plagues and think of the multitude of plagues across history—the Black Death, Smallpox, Great Influenza, Polio, AIDS, and COVID-19. And plagues are not limited to just diseases; they may extend to other dis-eases that afflict humans across history. John is warning that many different, unfortunate happenings can infectiously spread evilly throughout the human world. Pause to consider what plagues actually plague us today.
John cites unnecessary lavish lifestyles and abusive economic systems as troubles destroying the people’s quality of life in the seven churches. Obsessive political power and corrupt rulers are parodied. Are these word pictures familiar to us today?
Revelation Repeated
John’s visions have inspired individuals through the years to present his literary pictures in ways speaking to other times and places. For example, the power of water in Revelation is captured by the famous film director John Huston, using Shall We Gather at the River in several of his movies.
John’s reassurance that all believers are considered holy is the basis for When the Saints Go Marching In. This New Orleans funeral dirge is performed by Bruce Springsteen at the first Jazz Festival after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.
George Frideric Handel premiered Messiah’s “Hallelujah Chorus” in 1742. In 2020, the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House echo heaven on the Internet.
And the angel said to me, ‘Write this:
Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’
And he said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.’
Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, ‘You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your comrades who hold the testimony of Jesus.
Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Rev. 19:9-10)
God’s angel messenger dictates the letter of Revelation to John, who is uplifted, as we are, to hear, accept, and worship God through understanding the good news of the story of Jesus.
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
November 16, 2020 +++ Essay #15
If you are weary from the assault you have felt from the overload of possibilities, hearing the ever-growing COVID-19 statistics and the non-stop election results, this week’s Revelation study is timely for you. Stop to catch your breath, let your mind disconnect from all the noise.
Give yourself the gift of less than 15 minutes to read Rev. 12:1-14:20. Escape from today now, travel back in time 2000 years, and free your imagination to encounter John’s vision of heaven.
John’s Intent
Our accustomed praying “on earth as it is in heaven” gets flipped by John to become “in heaven as it is on earth.” Duality, always occurring in apocalyptic visions, aggressively blasts at us here. Hold on tight, as the text provides a wild, bizarre ride. Revelation does not present us with a literal description of what is or what will be. It aims at challenging us to see the fullness of our life now and to envision our world anew.
John of Patmos, aware of the chaos and confusion in the lives of his original recipients of his letter, converted their unpleasant reality into vivid stories using symbols to refocus their perspectives on their concerns. If we allow them, John’s tales can help us to see our own reality more clearly.
This Christian presentation of Revelation is a war in heaven, closely akin to the concept of jihad in Islam. For mainline Muslims, jihad is a spiritual struggle against the inadequacies of oneself or a struggle against Satan. John the Seer wrote to recipients in the seven cities, aiming to awaken them for battle personally and communally, as the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, had already done for humanity.
The Cast of Characters
Colorful beings and beasts become dramatic, painted pictures in John’s words. For correct understanding of the purpose of Revelation, enjoy the fantasy told and accept the text as an encouragement to living your Christian faith. To get bogged down in descriptions rooted in OT apocalyptic, Greek, and Roman beliefs, as well as ancient origin traditions in the Middle East, will mean that you become diverted from John’s intent.
After you fully internalize the urgency of John’s message—to trust completely in the loving goodness of God—let your mind wander off to search out embellishing details. The unidentified “woman clothed with the sun under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev. 12:1) is pictured in one of the Revelation windows in Albuquerque’s Cathedral of St. John. Scholars and commentary-writers offer thoughts about descriptive minutiae possibilities, but no one 2000 years later knows precisely what John had in mind. Just enjoy, and deepen your connection to God.
Another Cathedral window shows Michael, our Archangel friend from Daniel in the OT, overcoming the great dragon. Rev. 12:9 tells us this is the “ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.” The grotesque monsters in Revelation represent evil in its many forms across the world throughout history, making the cruel aspects of Roman power akin to that of Babylon.
Angels abound everywhere in Revelation. The flurry of God’s messengers make sure to punctuate important points in John’s story. Angels are the chief warriors and battle reporters informing John.
Revelation Reflections
After reading the fury of Revelation’s war in Heaven, undergirded with the knowledge of what is happening in our world today, one may presume to see in our time with sharpened eyes more clearly. Frightening parallels are evident. Amazingly, the number of the beast, six hundred sixty-six (Rev. 13:18), is the number of parent-less children alone at our country’s borders. The beastly cut-off parts grow back like bits of the horribly evil news reports that seem to multiply. And with the surreal pandemic swirling around all humanity, it is easy to feel totally hopeless. Our story is Revelation’s story.
Revelation’s hope is our hope, too. John’s words use imagery that has brought hope to our country in the past and can bring us hope now, through trust in prayer. From the time of the Civil War that almost destroyed our democratic republic, the themes from Revelation have been a patriotic part of our national heritage. We can draw on them as reassurance of a future to come, when “In God We Trust.”Listen to John’s words in the Battle Hymn of the Republic, as performed in 2013 by the U. S. Army Chorus at the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas, at Southern Methodist University. Look for the hopeful continuity of our lives in the peaceful presence of five past Presidents and First Ladies, both Republican and Democratic, at this event. We believe “In God We Trust.”
“Here is a call for the endurance of the saints,
those who keep the commandments of God
and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.” (Rev. 14:12).
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
November 7, 2020 +++ Essay #14
How does time—our time, standard time, election time, historical time, and biblical time, apply to Revelation? To discover this, please realize that what happens in Revelation is not prediction, the starting point for some studying this Bible text, but rather description. And John of Patmos tries to shock us with his fantastical visions of both horror and grandeur.
To confront the true onslaught of John’s tour-de-force first hand, gift yourself with 15 minutes of reading aloud Rev. 8-11. Marvel at the imaginative, creative mind this writer of science fiction had 2000 years ago.
Reading for Symbols
Give drama to your reading. Note that numbers punctuate John’s storytelling. In this text portion, three is the number most often used. “Woe, woe, woe” expands into detailed repulsive triads. Grotesque horrors unfold over and over.
Don’t make the mistake of trying to take literally this book of the Bible. To do that is to misread what John is telling us. Revelation is not a projection for the future; in this text one encounters a persuasive effort to enlighten one’s present situation. John’s unrealistic, shocking descriptions were meant to jar the minds of his original readers. By disgusting hearers now, John’s message impacts and can influence us today.
Reading for Reality
Pause to consider the reality of the twenty-first century world we inhabit now. Most of us have been taught to look at our existence in practical, realistic ways. The expression “it is what it is” may allow us to cope with minor problems. However, surrounding us, and, perhaps, simmering deep within us are complexities we avoid daring to unearth. It is easier to live with deeply imbedded fear than to confront it.
In our historical time, we are impacted by a congealing crunch of chaotic circumstances which unsettle any smoothness we pray we have in life. Although, on the surface it is not apparent, our lives are upset in ways similar to those troubling Christians in the seven cities to which John was writing. Then and now, the ultimate nagging question is how to get a proper balance to live a safe and comfortable life in a focused and forward way.
Reading for Hope
Don’t let the weirdness of Revelation’s dramatic descriptions blind you to the many dual realities in John’s text. The dark, ugliness in apocalyptic content always points the way to a positive and glorious finale. John builds this plan throughout Revelation. The woes give way to God’s peace in these chapters of the text. This pattern will be repeated moving forward.
John’s thematic redundancies are intentional; he wants to make sure that all who hear his words fully digest them, as he did the scroll in Rev. 10:8-11. John tells us that he was instructed to spread his message of hope.
Reading for Inspiration
The power of Revelation over the centuries has inspired others to spread John’s message. Windows in Albuquerque’s Cathedral dazzle the viewer with God’s goodness. Above the horsemen featured last week, look for three angels with their accoutrements: a trumpet, a censer producing smoke and prayers, and rainbow adornment over legs straddling sea and land. Revelation’s story is retold with fine art and craftsmanship. With our eyes, we are reminded of God’s goodness.
This week, gift yourself with 50 minutes of listening to the critical words of Rev. 10:1-2, 5-7 miraculously set to music by Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) premiered on January 15, 1941. Ruins of instruments (only three strings on the cello and right-side piano keys that did not spring back up when depressed) produced music for a small audience of fellow German prisoners. This Quartet for the End of Time brought hope over despair, inspired by John’s Revelation. The live (2020) performance by members of the Danish Symphony Orchestra (HTTPS://youtu.be/wHb7GK_ZCqM) has eight sections: 1.Crystal liturgy; 2.Vocal for the Angel who announces the end of time; 3.Abyss of birds; 4.Interlude; 5.Praise to the eternity of Jesus; 6.Dance of fury, for the seven trumpets; 7.Tangle of rainbows, for the Angel who announces the end of time; and 8.Praise to the immortality of Jesus.
Ever since John of Patmos wrote out his visions 2000 years ago, all encountering his apocalyptic message of duality, have been moved to look beyond discouragement in daily lives to find God’s blessing of joyous new hope. The stunning words of Revelation are meant to reassure us that God, through Jesus Christ, has given us all life in eternity on earth as it is in heaven. Truly hearing John’s message is good news. Now we are to live experiencing good news, for we are part of God’s eternity.
After the trumpet of the seventh angel sounds, loud voices in heaven say,
“The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign forever and ever.” (Rev. 11:15).
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
November 1, 2020 +++ Essay #13
In the world 2000 years ago, messages were transmitted on papyrus paper scrolls kept protectively bound with seals. In Revelation we are told of a single scroll safely tied with seven seals in the right hand of God, who is seated on the heavenly throne surrounded by ever expanding circles of representatives of all of creation.
The contents of this scroll are so precious, that only the earthly power of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, can open it. (Rev. 5:1-5). John of Patmos clearly sees a Lamb, not the lion he expected. And this Lamb has been resurrected from slaughter and healingly restored with the true power amassed from absorbing the suffering of others. “In Revelation, Jesus is the messianic Lion, who exercises his power by dying for others, like a sacrificial Lamb.” (Craig R. Koester, The Apocalypse: Controversies and Meaning in Western History).
Apocalypse Horsemen
The scroll’s first four seals release a dynamic presentation of how folk, in John’s time and in our time, tend to tune out real human problems of the world. The text (Rev. 6:1-8) has four horsemen riding thunderously, like oppressive military forces in ancient armies. (Three of these riders are depicted in the Cathedral clerestory windows shown below.) The OT prophet Zechariah inspired these horsemen.
With a crown of power and a bow of warfare, the horseman from the first seal (Rev. 6:2) is a conqueror overwhelming the lives of people. The red horse rider of the second seal (Rev. 6:3-4) wields a slaughtering sword to destroy peaceful life on earth. With the third seal (Rev. 6:5-6), the rider of a black horse (not shown in the windows below) carries a pair of scales for causing worry over economic measurements. The pale horse of the fourth seal (Rev. 6:7-8) signifies death with the carried scythe or sickle.
John of Patmos, and the people in the seven cities he was writing to, knew well the weaknesses each of these horsemen represented in their own everyday lives. The timing of this text was separated by half a century from the life of Jesus Christ, but all of the Revelation visions stand as reminders of the importance of the life teachings in the gospel accounts.
Apocalypse People and Places
The opening of the fifth seal (Rev. 6:9-11) gives voice to the cries of martyrs and all who have been treated unjustly, both living and dead. Voicing a call for righteousness for a world 2000 years ago has an echo for justice in our times today. Revelation is a text transcending human time.
The sixth seal (Rev. 12-17) reveals the darkest and most frightening text descriptions so far. The hearers of John’s message face God’s judgment here. “…For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Is there any hope?
We’ve noted earlier that all apocalyptic writing has duality. Evil is pitted against goodness. Now, John expands duality into developing story content where, over and over, negative presentations ultimately end with positive results. Keep this in mind, as you experience John explaining his visions. John always ends with hope. Rev. 7 gives us a celestial celebration of God’s goodness.
In just a few chapters, we have discovered a writing style John will continue throughout the entire Revelation book. Discerning it now, will help in understanding the more complex horrific and magnificent visions that are ahead. Being alert to this technique makes John’s construction of the entire book a miracle, especially when considering the difficulties John had to overcome in producing his writing by comparison to the advantages we have in doing computer literary composition today.
Apocalypse and Our Time
Our everyday world today is assaulted by COVID-19, election misinformation, environmental destruction, economic chaos, and a general malaise destroying human spirits. All of us and our whole world are being battered. We need to hear John!
In beginning the study of Revelation, you were asked to read the full book aloud to hear the full vision of John of Patmos. Amazing understanding can come in listening for about two hours to John’s words spoken aloud, as his original letter recipients would have done. You may want to reread Revelation; it always will inspire you to embrace hope.
Give yourself a break from the cacophonous noise of impacting television and internet news for two hours of hearing Revelation set to music. Franz Schmidt (1874-1939) composed an oratorio, Book of the Seven Seals, in 1937 on the brink of WWII, as he knew he was dying of cancer. A live (2018) performance by the Danish Symphony Orchestra with Fabio Luisi, music director of the Dallas Symphony, ends with a thrilling Hallelujah chorus. Sung in German, hear solo voices of John and the Lord as you watch or just listen to this masterpiece.
https:www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQfMFH7UU7s
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor
and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” (Rev. 7:12b).
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
October 25, 2020 +++ Essay #12
Revelation is a text full of word pictures, that have inspired non-verbal ways to spread the message of John of Patmos. In the nave of Albuquerque’s St. John’s Cathedral of the Episcopal Church Diocese of the Rio Grande, one can look heavenly to see the Revelation account unfold in brilliant glass clerestory windows.
God gives all of us the gift of imagination, evident in the work of glass artists, to enable us to understand how the Bible can be a part of our own personal lives. Like the letter recipients in the seven church communities, Revelation challenges us today to enter a vision of a parallel world to truly discover God’s eternal presence in our midst. The expectations of John’s vision 2000 years ago is packed with purpose for us today. Bible texts are living documents.
“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might
forever and ever!” (Rev. 5:13b)
“Amen.”
“…For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory. Amen.” Open the first seal!
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
October 16, 2020 +++ Essay #11
You are especially important to Dick and me now. Your traveling-companion presence honors us in experiencing God’s glory in Revelation. Together, we never journey through life alone. We are all joined within the scope of God’s engulfing embrace and eternal love. And together we connect across 2000 years of Christian history by encountering the immense meaning of eternity found in Revelation.
For those in the fledgling Christian congregations hearing Revelation, John chose a format similar to other NT epistles familiar in the model used by Paul. However, expanded scholarship reveals the actual style employed is that used in imperial Roman edicts. These words pack more power than casual correspondence.
In reading the addressee section, look for four formal parts. You will find an opening declaration; information about the congregations addressed; commands to be done; and corrections to be accomplished. (D. E. Aune, NT Studies, 36). John knew and employed the techniques of earthly power to make his point about the supremacy of heavenly power.
Listen for the familiarity of three undergirding problems noted by John in his letters to the seven churches. Can you spot them in the world today? Ephesus, Pergamum, and Thyatira are mired in false teaching. We’re caught up in a pounding cacophonous swirl of what is called fake news. Smyrna and Philadelphia are experiencing persecution. Jarring, spinning, out-of-control events cause fear when peaceful, righteous protests turn into terrifying, news-making violence. Sardis and Laodicea are smothered in complacency. Ah, it’s always humanly easy to choose to overlook realities and not get involved. Sound familiar? (Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament).
John points out the flaws in church and community 2000 years ago. Today, how can we hear and understand what he is saying? Listen, think, and get ready for Christian confrontation. Ahead, John has prepared a marvelous fantasy to empower us to reevaluate and revalue the world we live in.
The power of Revelation, and all apocalyptic work, is achieved by transporting you from your everyday reality into transcendent eternity. After you make the transition to release your imagination, you will be free to connect with your otherwise suppressed understanding about the ultimate meaning of life. This truth is just waiting to be uncovered and revealed. John gives us Revelation! We are governed by a loving godly power. Our challenge is to comprehend this clearly and to free ourselves to be engulfed by our God, who loves us and is always there for us.
Like the folk in the seven cities, opening the book of Revelation means opening the door to take us into a place beyond ordinary time. Close your eyes to today. Open your thoughts to the wonderment. Revelation gives us a remarkable opportunity to depart from our everyday lives to discover and dwell in the hope and possibilities of God’s good life on earth. Are you ready to sing?
“Your are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you have created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.” (Rev. 4:11).
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
September 25, 2020 +++ Essay #10
Before leaving the OT apocalyptic sources used by John of Patmos, after having heard God’s call of OT Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel in confronting visions of God in majesty, we need to read Daniel and meet Archangel Michael, who will accompany us through OT visions and beyond them into NT Revelation. While the book of Daniel is placed in the Prophet OT area of Christian Bible translations, this scroll is categorized as one of the Writings in the Jewish tradition. (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, A Translation with Commentary, Vol. 3).
Daniel’s split personality
For many people, Daniel is the most bizarre and most misused book in the OT. If it has been years since you have read this colorful fantasy text you can accomplish this by reading it aloud in about two hours. Don’t pause to focus on minutia; go for the full dramatic overview.
You may choose to break the Daniel scroll into two obvious parts. Both sections (1-6 and 7-12) contain ideas helpful for understanding Revelation and reflecting upon how OT content may truly have relevance, even in our current lives.
In the first part, Daniel’s single persona explains dreams in folk-like tales compiled and written between 400-300 BCE. Revel in rediscovering the favorite Sunday School stories of the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace and Daniel in the lions’ den. The language relating them is complicated and often rhythmical enough chant it. Primitive Christian art delighted in portraying the recounted faith-in-God triumphs of these four devout characters.
In the final chapters, written about 167 BCE, at the time of the Maccabean revolt, we learn more about Daniel, who must have been very, very long lived. Here, his personal dramatic dreams are explained by human-like angelic contacts. Thus, in 10:12-14, we are introduced to Michael. (Amy-Jill Levine’s timeline in The Old Testament).
Daniel’s Bible book history
Daniel was the last book included in the OT, as we have it now. Because it evolved during two different time periods, it probably was thought of, accidentally, as a single scroll. Daniel was originally composed in a mix of ancient Hebrew and formal, imperial Aramaic, the language of ancient international diplomacy in the Middle Eastern lands at the time of early Christianity. Two Greek versions of Daniel are known to have circulated in the earliest phases of Christianity, making this text a well-known one. The audience for John of Patmos probably would have understood Daniel’s imaginative imagery better than we do centuries later.
Daniel’s descriptive duality
Throughout all of Daniel, there is an undercurrent of duality, one of the distinguishing signs of apocalyptic literature. Pitted against each other are the forces of good and bad, power and fragility, and chaos and calm. Elaborate and decorative descriptions make this duality clear to us in every apocalyptic biblical presentation.
The real Bible emphasis always reflects on the godly and the ungodly. In Daniel, the lesson we are to learn is that no matter what trials or tribulations come to human beings, when God’s path is followed, God always prevails. This is the message so often overlooked when reading all Bible prophets, including Daniel and John of Patmos.
Daniel’s promise of hope
Tragically, too many people try to read Daniel as factual, not entertaining literature. Reading in the factual way, false meanings wrongly become studiously assigned to the text. Daniel does not have an apocalyptic basis for directing us to the end-of-time. Don’t use your energy in searching to uncover disastrous meanings. If you do, you will miss enjoying the fantastic imagination that concocted this collection of weird stories. Daniel and all the other apocalyptical biblical accounts do not speak of annihilation, but rather are meant to promise hope. Hope is the reason these bizarre texts became part of our Bible.
What does Daniel have to do with our lives today? Currently, in momentous, unexpected times, with COVID-19 surging around us and leadership in disarray, it may be easy to forget that our personal, precarious lives remain completely precious to a loving God. Daniel and the Collect for Saint Michael and All Angels remind us:
Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, p. 244).
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
August 28, 2020 +++ Essay #9
Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and keep what is written in it; for the time is near. (Rev. 1:3).
Revelation, like many of the books in the OT, can be referred to as prophecy. Even John of Patmos calls it so, and thereby places himself in the long line of biblical persons with observations to report and wisdom to impart. John, like the more ancient OT Prophets, can be considered a “seer,” or one who clearly sees the full impact of real events, and presents them in a way to stir up action.
Purpose of Prophets
The seers in our OT are the Prophets. They tell of the ordinary things they see in descriptive ways that, even for the time of their actual writing, show great imagination.
Because we do not live in the same historical time as the OT prophets, we as readers today have difficulty latching on to what they are trying to explain. Although we may struggle to read and understand them, this effort is essential in being able to connect with the text of John of Patmos, our NT, Christ-centered seer.
It is important to read aloud the complicated OT antecedents for John’s visions. You will encounter challenging and vivid accounts, as human OT Prophets strive to jolt you into the actuality of being in the presence of the magnificent, all-powerful God.
Note, too, that apocalyptic Prophets don’t just give us descriptive scenes. Each vision is followed by a call to action. Prophets, in both the OT and the NT’s Revelation, strive to motivate us to go beyond the visual, sensual experience they project. The drama is created to direct us to become agents-of-change in the service of the all-powerful God.
Presentations of OT Prophets
Most Bible readers are more comfortable reading narrative accounts. Stories with plots, such as the Gospels, are easier to read and understand than the rant-like OT prophesies or the collected snippets of NT letters. Because human minds like to connect primarily with familiar things, coming across any biblical apocryphal text can be exceptionally challenging.
Start by reading aloud Isaiah’s account in 6:1-8. Then move onto Ezekiel 1:1-2:3. Don’t dwell on details. Accept the intricately crafted scenario. Open your mind to embrace a scene conceived to assault your imagination. Both texts tell of lively, otherworldly settings presided over by an all-powerful, all-commanding God. Let yourself be stunned by both accounts. Only then will you be ready to fully understand your invitation into the presence of the Holy One, who cannot be comprehended by ordinary human awareness.
Both Isaiah and Ezekiel expect that their messages of strangely dramatic heavenly grandeur will be strong enough to provoke the hearer into action. The experiences of both Prophets are so compelling that they commit themselves fully to God’s service for God’s people. Isaiah and Ezekiel, thus, become models of how the hearer of these “calls” is supposed to react.
Presentation of a NT Prophet
Having become familiar with how OT Prophets begin their work for God in the human community, now read aloud the vision of Revelation’s heavenly setting in Chapter 4. Here, John of Patmos opens the door to a splendid, regal throne room in order to draw us, as a proxy for the folk in the seven churches, into the first of his increasingly bizarre visions. In spite of the strangeness of his communicative mission, John wants his hearers to take his tale seriously. That is John’s “call,” and he strives to expand it to be the “call” of all who hear what he has to say to the seven churches.
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. (Rev. 22:18-19).
You’ve been warned. The bizarre, science-fiction-like situations ahead may seem deeply disturbing. John paints them so, having recognized that the people he was addressing were living in troubled times. While our world’s unsettling circumstances 2000 years later are different, we can be reassured from sharing John’s visions.
In beginning with these three views of God’s throne room, we are being welcomed into a vision of how an utterly imperfect human world can become a reality of blessed goodness. As our Revelation adventure unfolds, we will be called into a new spiritual life with God’s presence at the center.
You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created. (Rev. 4:11).20-21)
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
August 21, 2020 +++ Essay #8
Between the covers of your Bible, you will find themes and symbols repeated over and over throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Your life will be enriched, whenever you take time to reflect on these themes. To truly understand the Bible, do not take them for granted.
Think about water
Water is all-important to our existence. As my recent hospital stay reminded me, our human bodies are about 60 per cent water, a statistic OT and NT writers would have had no factual awareness of. Yet ancient people, living mostly in arid lands like ours in the American Southwest, understood both the negative (floods) and positive (cleansing) value of water. Water references are abundant in the Bible.
Water is an important symbolic theme in both the Genesis 1 and 2 beginning accounts and in Revelation 21 and 22. Keeping this theme in mind, reread these four chapters aloud. Focus on the descriptive role water plays in each narrative. Water, for biblical writers and for all human beings, is necessary for life. Water is there in the beginning and in any new beginning.
In the Genesis priestly first account, water is uncontrolled within the earliest picture and requires separation into earthly locations and heavenly rainfall. In the more humanistic second Genesis story, water is ground-bound within rivers and artesian bubbling eruptions from the earth. The Lord God would have “patty caked” the dust of the ground with water to form the first man into which God breathed life.
In both the Hebrew and Christian tradition, originating in the Middle East, water is lively and usefully complex. In the neighboring, later scriptures of the Koran, which share many of our earlier Genesis traditions, water comes only from above. Water’s purpose in Islam is generally limited to purity.
Throughout the NT and in the end of Revelation, water is the Water of Life. Water, for each of us in baptism, is the symbol for beginning our new life as Christians, empowered by the Holy Spirit. (BCP, Holy Baptism, pp. 298-314). Watch for water every time you read the Bible.
Think about trees
Many plants, and especially the Tree of Life, are very important in both of the Genesis creation accounts and in the last two chapters of Revelation. Read aloud again, both the beginning of Genesis and the ending of Revelation. With the detailed descriptions they provide, it should be obvious to those who hear these stories, that what the authors really want us to understand, is that God provides everything to humans that a Good Life requires.
“God has not revealed to human beings details about how the world began or how the world will end, and failing to recognize that, one is likely to misread both the first book and the last book in the Bible. The author of Revelation did not know how or when the world will end, and neither does anyone else”. (Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament).
Think about action
The origin stories in the Genesis chapters answer general etiological (i.e., causation) questions. These stories evolved over many centuries of time. Today, we find them to be imaginative, unrealistic, and somewhat quaint. They have no direct connection to our actual knowledge of how our lives began and evolved.
Revelation, however, set in a specific time and place and designed to meet the needs of the people to whom it was addressed, may seem even more disconnected because of its many bizarre descriptions. Yet the situation John of Patmos gives us, drawn on imagery from an OT background applies to us, as it did to its original recipients. It provides us with a dramatic way to cope in our own time with any chaos that engulfs us.
So, what meaning does Revelation have for us today? It does not tell us that John’s world and our world are soon to be destroyed. Rather, it explains to us, in both horrific and magnificent language, that when times are oppressively rough, we are to live in hope. God has been with all humanity from the beginning, and God gives us all we need to have a good future. Have trust and have hope!
And realize that there is one critical difference in the Bible’s beginning and ending narratives. John, living in NT times, reminds us today, that God expanded hope for us with the entrance of Christ into our human world. Our hope has a Christian basis. With God’s love stamped on us by the life and death of Jesus Christ, we are to go forward into our New Life. Live with hope. Live in God’s love. Ahead, even in the unknown, God embraces us all with the potential of a blessed future.
The one who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the Saints. Amen. (Rev. 22:20-21)
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
August 14, 2020 +++ Essay #7
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
May 29, 2020 +++ Essay #5
We are not alone. Although we are forced now to distance from each other, we can leap across 2000 years to read aloud letters by John of Patmos to those struggling with unpredictable, unsettling times. As John says in ending the focus for each of the seven cities, “Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”
A perspective on avoiding taking Revelation numbers too seriously became obvious for me years ago when our first grandson, at about five, was learning about number value. Kevin concluded that the biggest of all possible numbers was “brickey” five. Nothing could convince him that no such number existed. In his mind, he was absolutely certain no number could be larger. To keep you from bogging down with the details that will cause you to miss John’s important message, try using Kevin’s logic and let basic numbers in Revelation create an expressive dramatic effect. It worked for him and it can work for you with Revelation.
For us today, it takes effort to realize that when John was writing, there was no organized Christian church, no defined Bible content, and no formal ordained clergy. Any scriptures available were limited and varied from place-to-place, as laborious hand copying was required to produce them. A rare person with the ability to read would proclaim the content of the newly acquired precious scripture scroll to the group gathered, possibly in the home of a community member. Every word, of what two hundred years later would be collected and codified to become our NT word of God, was lovingly received, discussed, and held dear. Nothing was taken for granted in this formative period of Christianity.
Let us follow John through the open door to marvel at the scenes beyond. Let us hear the message of hope read aloud. And with faith in the ever-living, ever loving God, let us proclaim as Isaiah did, “Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” Amen.
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
May 22, 2020 +++ Essay #4
The Book of Revelation
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
May 15, 2020 +++ Essay #3
Revelation begins:In order to understand this apocalyptical text, Christians must place it inside the whole of Bible literature, beginning with the Book of Genesis and closing with The Book of Revelation. Our Bible bookends, are the Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet. Don’t be overwhelmed with what may seem a daunting project; you will be guided to discover new Bible riches. Begin with the introductory vision of 1:1-20.
Revelation’s timing:Revelation was probably written about 90-95 CE, but the exact date is unknown. The Lord God speaks (1:8) in the “now” of what was and is to come. In God’s “now” (1:19), the Lord tells us the intent of the message is to give hope.
Remember that biblical prophecy is an intensely vivid portrayal of life in the “now” moment; it is never about looking into an unknown future, a modern misunderstanding of Bible prophesy. In Revelation, the end-time is “now”, the current time for John. Revelation is rooted in John’s time. Revelation does not anticipate or foretell the future. Do not be led astray.
Revelation’s John: How many people do you know named “John”? Over a lifetime, probably many; and the same was true during the 100 years of writing NT texts. John was an oft-used name 2000 years ago, as it is today.
Revelation’s John is not John the Baptist, Apostle John the brother of James and son of Zebedee, John the Evangelist gospel writer, or John the writer of three NT letters. Revelation’s John is God’s servant (1:1) and a fellow Christian (1:9) spreading his tale of hope from the Island of Patmos (1:9).
Revelation’s community:In spite of its extra-long length, Revelation has a letter format with a formal opening (1-4) and closing (21:22). Originating from Patmos, an island in the Aegean Sea, this epistle was directed to congregations in seven cities (1:11) under Roman control, that were located in what is now Turkey.
Sixty or seventy years after the life of Jesus, Christian communities had already expanded far beyond the original Palestinian holy land. Paul, a Jewish, Greek-speaking, Roman citizen had walked this land area thirty or forty years earlier than Revelation was written. Paul brought the good news of God’s love to far-flung clusters of people living in the Jewish diaspora amidst the multi-god, gentile society governed by Rome.
In even the outposts of the early Christian world, the commercial language, or lingua franca, was the common koine Greek. The Greek name “apocalypsis” of this Bible text became, in the later Roman Empire, “revelatio” in the Latin language, the origin of the text title in English.
Revelation’s linguistic background: Bible readers in our time may not be aware that the scriptures used by Jesus and the early Church writers were actually in Greek, not Hebrew or Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. NT writers worked from Jewish scriptures in the Greek Septuagint translation. John shows he mastered his scriptures, as two-thirds of the 404 verses of Revelation have allusions to the OT.
Unlike the refined Greek of John’s gospel, John of Patmos used an odd Greek grammar style for some unknown reason in his writing. Perhaps John did this to set his telling of heavenly visions, strange characters, and imaginative locations into an other-worldly realm, `similar to Richard Wagner’s German libretto for his strange saga of Ring Cycle gods. Thankfully, we now read Revelation in polished English versions, as translators over the years have struggled with a bizarre verbal strangeness expressed by inventive storyteller John. Because our English texts hide this intriguing element of Revelation, revealing it now before our study causes us to realize how totally committed John was to making certain that those who originally heard his story got its full impact.
Revelation’s visions begin:God’s first angel quickly leads us into a world of science fiction. The fantasy unfolds; open your imagination. Do not be afraid. You have already begun. “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.” (1:3) God is with us; off we go.
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
May 8, 2020 +++ Essay #2
And if you managed to find the hour and fifty minutes of time to read Revelation aloud in full in a single sitting, you are entitled to give yourself a reward…seven stars seems appropriate. You’ve survived being assaulted with the rich, albeit bizarre presentation of this complex ancient text.
As you travel through this study, gift yourself with opportunities to reread the whole of Revelation aloud over and over. Repetition enriches meaning.
Fact and fiction in Revelation:After encountering the weird collection of pictures painted throughout Revelation, it is difficult to separate the reality of what is fact and what is fiction. Thinking from our world today, consider Revelation to be an amazing work of ancient science fiction. Allow yourself the pleasure of imagining Revelation as a fantastic fantasy.
This NT text is fiction undergirded by facts from the early Christian world 2000 years ago. Like works of creative fantasy and imaginative science fiction, Revelation’s basis of fact reveals through fantasy a powerful message. Bet you never realized that the truth of the Bible is frequently told through fantasy and science fiction.
Apocalyptic visions make Revelation:Beginning about 250 BCE, a special literary type evolved that is sprinkled through both OT Jewish and NT Christian texts. It is described by the Greek word apokalypsis, meaning “disclosing,” “uncovering,” and “revealing.” Thus, Apocalypse is Revelation. Both words are used to describe this text. The purpose of this genre is to offer and explain secrets and masked meanings. Symbolic language presents heavenly visions, other worldly locations, and strange characters.
Are apocalyptic writings prophetic? That depends on how you look at the role of the prophet. In the Bible, prophets described their current situations in dramatic ways to accentuate meanings beyond everyday activities. The strong urgency of their language was a cry to interrupt what was going on around them in that moment; it was not a prediction of what would happen in the future.
Misuse of Revelation:In reading biblical apocalyptic literature, we need to remember how easy it is for injustice to be done to this style, if it is presumed to be foreseeing the future. John of Patmos is doing his best to tell us of his own time, so that it is exposed for what it is. He calls attention to his present; he does not anticipate or suggest an outcome. What is to be, will be. John expects, that if his description is strong enough, his readers and hearers will personally do all they can to right the described wrongs.
Historical and present day writers, drawing from the Bible, especially after the Enlightenment scientist Isaac Newton (1643-1727 CE), have sought to uncover details that they could use to suggest future possibilities. Nostradamus (1503-1566 CE) is among those credited with being able to anticipate future events even for our time. Lifted, without logic, from a biblical basis are a whole series of projections by non-mainline Christian leaders with a Pentecostal and Evangelical bent, from John Bunyan, Jonathan Edwards, John Edward Darby, Charles Finney to Pat Robertson and the many television personalities seen in our homes today.
Persons lacking knowledge of the origins of biblical texts have misread and misunderstood books such as Revelation in order to “catch” people up in easy fixes about the future of our world. The popular 1970 works of Hal Lindsey and Tim LeHaye’s 1990’s Left Behind books spun end-time tales with pre-tribulation rapture, based on a distortion of actual knowledge about the Bible’s origin and intent. Beware of these!
Today and Revelation:
The current COVID-19 situation creates fears that lead to an opportunity for the television prayer advertising of Franklin Graham, Billy Graham’s son. Beware of these! As human beings with God-given free will, although we have become sinfully separated from God, we are reassured by the Bible and the meaning of the Book of Revelation that our prayer is already answered. Through the triumphant living, loving resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are Easter Christians.Personally, in spite of the coronavirus, Dick and I know that, in working with hospice, we are truly living in our end-time. That’s reality, just as are John’s visionary examples in Revelation. We know we are truly saved and safe. Like the first readers and hearers of Revelation, we are prayerfully never alone. And we are thankful every day for being surrounded by God’s loving Spirit. The Revelations in Revelation are reassuring. Share Revelation with us!
Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande Study
May 1, 2020 +++ Essay #1
How Revelation is historically important:
The Greek text of Revelation originally spoke directly to Christians living about the year 90 of the Common Era. Twenty years ago, Revelation impacted those who feared the world would end, as 1999 became 2000. Now, the uncertain complexities we all are living through lead us to confront what may be our current end-times, as we seek to understand the meaning of Revelation’s symbols.
How this personal study of Revelation evolved:
My in-depth connection to Revelation came forty years ago in earning my Master of Divinity degree from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. Around the millennium, I first led several groups in church congregations to discover Revelation as a spin-off of the professional Bible use that inspired my religious art business. In the 2016 Easter Season, I wrote six Revelation essays for the WDRG Lectionary Year C Study.
As a blessing through all of my Revelation journeys, my supportive spouse has listened, questioned, and challenged me to search for the real presence of God in the Bible and apply it to all I do in living my life. Now we are experiencing a deeper personal awareness of earthly end-times because for the past year, Dick has been under the care of Hospice of New Mexico care. Our current perspective inspired us to begin creating this Revelation study for you, because in the precious moments of our life together, God’s joy is ever- present to inform us.
We pray that our thoughts may help Revelation enrich your God-given life. And we ask for your prayers that God will embrace and expand our efforts as we live across eternity.
—Elaine & Dick Wilson on The Feast of The Apostles Saint Philip and Saint James
How you can be open to receiving Revelation:
To begin your Revelation adventure, set aside an hour and 50 minutes of free time. Find a comfy chair in a quiet, non-distracting place. Grab your Bible. If possible, without stopping, read the full text of Revelation aloud. This will allow you to immediately overview Revelation and encounter its message with its full and completely focused power, something partial readings can’t present. Don’t be diverted. Don’t pause to ponder meanings. Don’t bog down. Start by going for the big picture!
Having the whole text in mind will be of value week-to-week, as we focus on specific verses episode-by-episode. In your complete beginning survey, you will find yourself transitioning away from thoughts of today. Let your mind time-travel backward 2000 years. At first, you may feel plunked into a strange, uncomfortable setting. While Revelation’s stories may jar our senses, on further examination in the weeks ahead, we will find that, by unearthing the strange symbols centuries after they were written, the message is solidly timeless. God is always in charge, even in times of uncontrollable chaos. Be aware. Be trusting. Be free. Together, we will safely tune in to the voice of John of Patmos, as it is strongly broadcast across the centuries.
How can we best discover the meaning of Bible texts? Read the Bible aloud! Even if you are alone, when reading the Bible aloud, you are encountering the text as it was designed to be heard. While today we take printing and the printed book (or electronic Kindle-type format) for granted, the folk who would have received Revelation, at the end of the first Common Era century when it was written, got the message by hearing it read aloud to them. Few in the ancient world were literate and able to actually be readers.
The group hearing Revelation would have had access to only a single copy for their learning, not like the duplicated pages we are accustomed to. The text you now sit down to read as the Bible’s Revelation stood alone. Now, Revelation is accepted to be one of a collection of many individual texts forming a library of books in a single volume that we call the Bible. When Revelation was written, no one, comprehensive, codified Bible existed. Revelation would have stood alone, as a long letter to be read, heard, and spread to bring hope to a world spiritually struggling. Read and listen to it in this way.
How you can make the WDRG Study of Revelation part of your life:
Because Revelation is a Bible book that begs to be openly discussed, you are challenged and encouraged to do just that. Find a family member, friend, or group of friends to share your Revelation study experience with you. You will bring this lively book to life by actively talking about your thoughts and questions.
In addition, you can reach out to others sharing this study by sending your comments, insights, and questions to wdrgstudy@gmail.com. Your ideas will ensure that future study essays will include content helping you to discover the meaning of any details that may be concerning you.
Let your adventure begin. Get ready for revelations about Revelation. God is with us!