Revelation Lecture

Revelation Lecture  Women’s Bible Study, 2010 - 2011 I am grateful for the opportunity to spend time with you in God’s Anthology. It is the joy of my ministry to open the pages of this amazing text with God’s people and together, discover anew the story of the Triune God in the midst of our story. The Bible is one primary means by which God reaches the heart and mind of the world with the hopeful message of Jesus Christ. When we fill ourselves with the images and stories of the Bible, we give voice to the Holy Spirit in our spiritual formation. These stories and images are the language of the Holy Spirit, and through them, the church finds its purpose: to love God and neighbor! Keep up your studies. Stay in the text above. And remember, don’t read to understand, read to get better acquainted. God will open your mind and heart at the right time. Read with energy: use a pen, a notebook, write in the margins. Grow into the text, and the text will grow into you, too. Glory be to God!
What Revelation Is Not	The Book of Revelation is NOT SCARY. Remember, if you read something in the Bible, and it scares you, you’re misreading it. The Book of Revelation is NOT A ROAD MAP of the future, but a poetic reflection on the struggle of God’s people in a hostile world and God’s ultimate victory over the forces of evil. NOT SECRET INFORMATION about future events; attempts to plot coming events are inappropriate to the purpose of the book. John’s letter was written to the church of his time, not to us, not to Americans, not to the 21st Century. How vain and silly to think that God had only us in mind for this material, as some dispensationalist teachers suggest, and worse, the fiery preachers of fear (now, mostly an artifact of the past, yet present in certain forms of fundamentalism and culturally marginalized churches). Yet, we can read and learn – not some imagined sci-fi future, but rather how to endure, how to remain faithful, hopeful and focused. How to stay in God’s love and live God’s love in a sometimes crazy, and sometimes hostile world, a world of upside down values (chapter 18), driven by relentless self-interest. How to bear witness to real hope and real peace; how to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth! Written at the earliest toward the end of the first century, a time of uncertainty and growing persecution, Revelation is a book for anyone living in hard times.  Who is John? We don’t know. He’s not the disciple found in the gospels. But we share his faith in the love and victory of God!
How to Read Revelation Rev. 12:7 & Daniel 10:13 & 21; 12:1	Listen to Handel’s “Messiah” before reading the Book of Revelation, especially the “Hallelujah” chorus. Rent movie, “Michael” ...  ... Revelation pulses with the power of God engaged in the defeat of the enemy. Read the Book of Daniel. Read Revelation at the end of the Bible. The editors decided to put it there for good reason: It speaks of the end. But the end makes sense only if we know the beginning and everything in between. Read from the perspective of a prison cell, or someone facing imminent death, not living in the lap of luxury.  “I am coming soon!” (3:11) was a great comfort in such a context. “To repay” (22:12) ... for those who have lost everything at the hands of the enemy, the promise of God to right every wrong, and to justify God’s people, would only be heard as good news by those early Christians living in such dangerous times. “Blessed are those who wash their robes” (22:14) ... the message of hope, that the love of God in Christ is stronger than all the forces of evil, and for each believer, strong enough to carry us into the kingdom of everlasting life. It is Jesus who sends the angel for the churches ... and the Spirit and the church invite Jesus to come (Rev. 22:17) ... the link between the church and the Holy Spirit ... “everyone,” i.e. every individual believer ... the second half of the verse is an invitation to all. Revelation likes numbers:  Think: “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” – why three? Too cold, too hot … and just right. It’s a device. The numbers of Revelation are devices, as they were throughout the ancient world with its love of numbers. Two -  two great witnesses (11:3-12), two beasts (13:1-18) ... cf. Matthew 18:15ff, 1 Timothy 5:19 Three - divine number, Trinity. Four - primitive people saw earth as flat disk with four boundaries: North, south, east, west ... four walls of a house; four winds ... Four living creatures: 4:6; Four angels stand at four corners of earth, 7:1; Four Horsemen, 6:1-17 Seven - complete Seven churches (1:4 - 3:22) Seven golden lampstands (1:12) Seven stars (1:20) Seven Seals (6:1 - 8:1) Seven Trumpets (8:2 - 11:19) Seven Bowls (15:1 - 16:21) Seven last plagues (15:1) Twelve 7:5 - 8, twelve thousand from the tribes 12:1, twelve stars on the woman’s crown 21:12 - 14, twelve gates, and names of twelve tribes of Israel, twelve foundations and names of twelve apostles. 22:2. twelve kinds of fruit. Be at peace with those elements that defy interpretation:  (13:18) "This calls for wisdom: let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six." The “beast” is a Roman Emperor. Think of Christians living in the worst of times – think of underground churches in China during the Cultural Revolution; Christians under Stalin, and faithful Christians in Nazi Germany. The numbers of Revelation defy any final interpretation - not because of some hidden mysticism, but rather because we don’t know the interpretive framework (at best, we can only make an educated guess). Revelation is Apocalyptic Writing: The writings of John the Seer (as he is sometimes called) are filled with end-time visions of the final victory of God. Yet the road to such a victory is violently opposed by the social forces of empire and commerce (chapter 18). The transition from a realm of sin to the kingdom of God is not an easy one. The road to Calvary is a hard road, and the road to final victory is equally painful. When we read of the violence, two things: 1) remember the earlier guideline “to read this from the perspective of a jail cell”, and 2) to note that the violence is of God, and though horrible to contemplate, and even worse to experience, it is the glory of God to wrench His creation from the clutches of the abyss, to rescue a world headed toward certain disaster. This rescue is effected by God, since human resources and power are of no avail;  only by an extraordinary Divine effort can the course of the world be redirected to its original design and purpose. It’s also helpful (sort of) to note that these things occur in heaven – John is witness to a “movie”: “Come up here, John, to see what must take place (4:1) and John sees these things “in the spirit” (small “s”, i.e. a vision within in his own spirit; or capital “S” – in the power of the Holy Spirit. Either way, John “sees” the final plan that leads to glorious victory.
The Theology of Revelation	1:1, God gave this message for God’s servants: regarding events “soon” to happen (when read from the perspective of suffering, “soon” can’t be soon enough). With the initial message of assurance made clear, God now begins to look at seven churches which embody the frailties and faults, and the glories and joys, of most any church anywhere at any time:  The Churches – already well established, well beyond the first blush of conversion and that “first worship service.” Ephesus: You have abandoned the love you had at first (2:14) Smyrna: “You will be tested, but be faithful until death, and I will give you a crown” (2:9-11). Pergamum: false teaching (2:14) Thyatira: false teaching Sardis: “You  have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead” (3:1) Philadelphia: “You have little power, but you have kept my word patiently, and I will keep you from the hour of trial ... I will be there soon, so hold on” (3:8-11). Laodicea: “You are neither hot nor cold” (3:15). Praising God: 4:11 – with a loud voice from myriads and myriads, the book is suffused with the sounds of praise, because Christ is alive, and the destiny of the universe is in His trustworthy hands. So, worship Him, and no one or anything else. 1:17ff, “Do not be afraid: I am the first and the last ... the living one ... once I was dead, but now I am alive forever more ... and I have the keys of Death and of Hades. 22:9, “Don’t worship me [the angel]; worship God! Waiting: 6:10 The link between heaven and earth, chapter 3  - 4. Above and beyond the toils of being faithful is the glory of heaven. God be praised, the church and its failures and successes is not the decisive element. The church does not determine the outcome. That, and that alone, belongs to the Great God Almighty on the Throne and to the Lamb at His right hand. Newness to come: new name (2:17, 3:12). Chapter 18: a critical review of the world powers aligned against faithfulness ... to the oppressed and downtrodden, it’s all good news; to those who possess power and enjoy its fruits, the message is disturbing ... materialism, greed, power ... which is why it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a person of wealth to enter the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24).
Points Worth Noting Full of God's radiance 21:11 Everyone Has to Decide	Battle of Armageddon: 16:16, 19:17-21; the Battle of Armageddon (Harmegedon) is hardly a momentous event: the enemy gathers to make war, but the beast is captured, the enemy is killed, God is victorious. It’s over in a heartbeat.  The Unholy Trinity: the Dragon (12:7-18), the first beast (13:1-10), the second beast (13:11- 17). Satan is the master counterfeiter. What God is, Satan tries to be, but only God can be God and the counterfeit can only be 666 – “close, but no cigar”. Yet, the possibility of being duped by 666 is real. While John assures the reader that God’s victory is on its way, and there’s no question as to the outcome, the power of evil is real, folks can be seduced by it, give their lives to it, live in its poisonous atmosphere, and sadly, those who live in it, are always dangerously close to dying in it, too. The end:  Satan’s doom (20:7-10) New heaven/earth (21) Goodness preserved (21:24). River/tree of life (22) Curse finally removed (22:3) 17:14, evil forces desire to make war, but the Lamb will conquer them, for he is the Lord of lords and King of kings. “In a world like this, where free will and folly and ignorance operate, ten thousand things can happen to us which are not the will of God, but nothing can happen which it is beyond God’s plan and purpose to redeem and use.” Weatherhead, Why Do Men Suffer?, p.85 In the ebb and flow of time, evil plays a role, but God is the maker of boundaries, God restrains the hand of evil ... this far, but no further, and in the end, when the final work of Christ is finished, God’s love will overwhelm and destroy the forces of death ... at great cost to God (cross & death), but for our salvation. Image of Heaven: not a pastoral scene, no private cottage on a remote mountain lake, but a teeming city, noisy, too ... a place where intimacy will no longer be difficult or frightening ... human relationships will be fulfilled and complete ... community will be infinitely joyful (hence Jesus: no marriage in heaven – Matthew 22:30). Will we recognize each other? It’s a question of little relevance to the Book of Revelation. In heaven, everyone will be centered upon God. Yet when Jesus is on the mountain with Moses and Elijah, they are “recognized”. As one of my favorite professors said, “I’ll be canoeing in heaven”. And then to explain: The good things God gave to us here will still be good in eternity, but infinitely so. Family, friends, a cup of coffee, a glass of wine, a good book – you name it, and it will be there (21:24). Yes, we will know each other - and we will have all the time in the new world to be with one another. There will be no more brokenness of mind and heart; nothing to separate us from another. Community will be complete with Christ at the center. No longer will we pray, “thy kingdom come” for all shall be made new. Hence, the temple is gone, and so is the sun (21:22-23). What is death? death is the end of the mortal creature. We have no soul (as defined by popular religion and Greek philosopher) that has a life of its own and survives death. We are dust to dust, ashes to ashes and earth to earth. If there is any life at all for us (and there is; God be praised!), it is a gift from God: “I love you so much, I will give to you what can never be yours by right or by might, but only by my grace.” What happens to us after death? We need to offer no more, no less, than God’s Word offers: Jesus said to the thief on the cross, “Today, you will be with me in paradise!” The key word here: With me! Elsewhere in God’s Word, Jesus says, “Apart from me, you can do nothing!” (John 15:5). “In Christ” we have eternal life, because Christ is eternal, and with an unimaginable grace, at the command of His Father, He bestows upon us mortal creatures “immortality” (see 1 Corinthians 15). This is not something we inherently possess (as the Greek philosophers taught), but a mighty gift from God. Without it, only death, the “wages of sin” as Paul writes. But in Christ, the great reversal; at great cost to God. The powers of death are on notice: they no longer have the upper hand, and when Christ returns in glory, with the full rule of God, death will be no more! “Death be not proud. Death, thou shalt die” (John Donne). Streets paved with gold ... what do we use for paving material? The cheapest (most plentiful) of materials, only because sand, gravel, limestone is so plentiful ... so with heaven’s streets paved in gold - only because it is of no value in heaven ... all the beautiful things so highly valued “in Babylon” are used for building materials in heaven - the beauty of heaven will be the all-consuming beauty of the triune God, everlasting light of the purest kind, and a great love. Our vision of God will be unimpeded. The end (20 & 21), the curse is removed – 22:3. We shall be given a new and eternal life (see 1 Corinthians 15). As the Creed puts it: the life everlasting. What about hell? Weatherhead suggests that when we die, we are thrust, full and complete, into the love of God, and for those who have spent a lifetime running away from God, denying God’s love and mercy, to be suddenly thrust into the heart of God’s love will be exceedingly painful, so horrifying, that it will feel like hell. But for those whose hearts are open to God’s love, who have desired to know God, serve God, those who have confessed their sins without excuse, those who have worshipped God and followed Christ, to be thrust into the heart of God’s love will be indescribable joy, relief and pleasure. It is not ours to know or say what happens to those who die outside the grace of Christ (“judge not”), but surely it is ours to know and say what happens to those who die within that grace. I am a universalist; I believe that God’s grace will triumph – that no one and nothing will ultimately be lost. How God will effect this, I don’t know, but I believe the God who made heaven and earth and declared it all good will be able to manage this. Yet evangelism remains central to the life of the Christian community – because it is it a far better thing to die in the grace of Christ than to die outside of it – to enter into the presence of God joyfully, willingly and eagerly – to know where we’re going, so that we live our days here as fully and as faithfully as possible. To waste not a moment in either fretful living or hedonistic self-interest. It is fitting for us to pray for the "lost" ... those who do not know the love of God through God's revelation in Christ ... and surely it is our duty to seek the "lost" and help them back to God. Nor should we be arrogant about "our" faith, because it isn't "ours," but always a gift from the heart of a loving God. “By grace we are saved, not by works, lest anyone should boast.” Nor should we be silent in the company of friends and others who are distanced from Christ. The world doesn’t need “blabber-mouth Christians,” but it is our joy and our responsibility to speak a reasonable word when God gives us the opportunity. Remember, it’s no fun being “lost and blind” with regard to God. Folks may have all the riches of the world, but the “pearl of great price” is priceless and is ours only in the heart of God. Essential views of the end: All will be saved: universalism Only the elect will be saved; the reprobate damned for all eternity. The elect will be saved, and the reprobate will disappear forever. The mind of the elect will be blessed by God in such a way that there will be complete peace about it. Everyone Has to Decide … in light of their reading of the preceding 65 books what seems best, instructed by reliable teachers and grounded in the central traditions of the Christian faith. Remember: all theology is biography – our life, our values, our sense of right and wrong, how we grew up, life experiences, and a thousand other little things all add up to who we are and how see our world, how we read the Bible and interpret it, what the foundational words will mean to us – words like grace and peace, salvation and eternity, judgment and hell, forgiveness and mercy.  The Bible is a chorus of voices: The Bible is hundreds upon hundreds of voices all calling at once out of the past and clamoring for our attention likes barkers at a fair, like air-raid sirens, like a whole barnyard of cockcrows as the first long shafts of dawn fan out across the sky. Some of the voices are shouting, like Moses’ voice, so all Israel, all the world, can hear, and some are so soft and halting that you can hardly hear them at all, like Job with ashes on his head and his heart broken, like old Simeon whispering, “LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.” The prophets shrill out in their frustration, their rage, their holy hope and madness; and the priests drone on and on about the dimensions and furniture of the Temple; and the lawgivers spell out what to eat and what not to eat; and the historians list the kings, the battles, the tragic lessons of Israel’s history. And somewhere in the midst of them all one particular voice speaks out that is unlike any other voice because it speaks so directly to the deepest privacy and longing and weariness of each of us that there are times when the centuries are blown away like mist, and it is as if we stand with no shelter of time at all between ourselves and the one who speaks our secret name. “Come,” the voice says, “Unto me. All ye.” Every last one [Frederick Buechner, A Room Called Remember, p.37]. Good and faithful theologians who have devoted their lives to the study of God’s Word and doing their best to give expression to it have gone with all three views. There’s something to be bear in mind: why would you make any one of these decisions – what’s going on in your own life to make one of these “ends” more or less appealing to you? Some desire a universal salvation with a curious kind of irresponsibility: after all, if God is going to save everyone, what’s the big deal? I can coast through life, and I’ll be saved, too. The Sugar Daddy in the sky sort of thing. Some desire a hell, and perhaps they do so out of much hurt at the hands of someone or something, or perhaps out of a sense of pride – that I’m going “up”, and you’re going “down” – too bad for you, and goodie, goodie for me! Wherever we come out on these questions, we need to examine ourselves carefully and read and re-read the Bible on these matters. But however we finally decide (and maybe we’ll waffle back and forth over the years), to do so with great humility before the mysteries of God, and to be loving in all our thoughts, for the love of God is always greater than our grasp of it. As in all such things, to speak boldly of the things we know, and reservedly of things hinted at.  Is there is final hell for those who oppose God?  At the very least, from the myriads that populate the eternal city, it’s likely that hell will be, thank God, sparsely populated, and only for a time. And perhaps there will be a time when the fires of hell have burned themselves out. When spite and envy, when greed and malice, like some terrible wild fire, will simply run their course and die exhausted. Perhaps like a smelter, once the dross has been burned off and the gold refined, there’s no need for further heat. I, myself, am inclined to think of a final victory against every expression of darkness – that in the end, every creature, evening expression of life, every atom and molecule will know and rejoice in the glory of God – “every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD” (Romans 14:11 & Philippians 2:11).
The gift of the Book of Revelation is its faith in the final victory of God in the face of odds insurmountable for us. In the end, God! On that day, when all is made new, our suffering and our prayers will be vindicated, and the truth made known to all the world. We needn't fear the day of judgment ... it's best understood as the day of vindication, when all wrongs are righted, sorrow banished, and sin is no more. A time of no tears: because we will see God and everything will make perfect sense – we will be at peace with our life (as Jesus was with His scars). It is a day to which every Christian can look forward to, a day for which our hearts yearn ... as the book itself ends, "Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen."

The Good Old Earth

Morning musings, Rev. 12.16, "But the earth came to the help of the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the river the dragon had poured from its mouth."

Caught my attention, this reference to earth.
Good old earth, dear old earth.
Coming to the defense of the woman.
Swallowing the hate and malice of the dragon.

The earth is good, said God.
And good it is ... in all of its incredible pieces.
Mountains and rivers; deserts and oceans.
Field and forest; sea to shining sea.

And the winds come, and the rains fall.
The sun shines, and the earth is dry.
And human beings come along.
In the image of God.

And we bend and we twist the good old earth.
To suit our fancy and fit our needs.
Needs sometimes out of bounds.
Needs that seem dragon-like in their writhing.

How good is the good old earth.
How is seeks to cope with evil.
The dragon's evil, of course.
But our evil is another matter.

The good old earth tries to swallow our evil.
Our malice and our greed.
To serve the LORD and save us.
The good old earth tries so hard.

Reading the Book of Revelation

Seeker’s Class

First Congregational Church, Los Angeles

The Rev. Ryan Steitz, Teacher

 June 29, 2014, led by the Rev. Dr. Tom Eggebeen 

Everything depends on what we bring to the Text.

We always bring the whole of our lives to the Text - our family of origin, neighbors and neighborhoods, nation of origin, the section of the nation where we born and/or reared, the religious values to which we were exposed, Sunday School teachers, preachers, extended family members. School, as well: public, private or parochial; various teachers and classmates. Movies and TV, literature and art, summer camp and family vacations … and personal experience: hardship and sorrow, feelings of humiliation, shame and estrangement, illness, family financial status - childhood hobbies, pets, holidays and celebrations - the way we see life even before we see it. We bring all of this, and then some, to the Text.

Religiously, a lot is going on for us: 1) We might perceive god as a distant being, who has little to do with our daily lives, if at all; perhaps, for some, there is no god, yet we seek an ethical framework in which to live. 2) We might perceive god as something, or someone, very close and intimate, and have no fear regarding our ultimate eternal destiny. 3) We might be fearful of a stern and reluctant god - not inclined to forgiveness. 4) We might find a great friendship in god, and without fear about life or eternity, we live as best as we can, looking for the depth-dimension in life that holds everything together for good.

As for the Bible, 1) We might believe that it’s the “inspired word of god” and take it very seriously, though often troubled by sections that strike us as odd, if not inconsistent with what we believe about god. 2) We might enjoy reading it as literature, sacred literature, but we invest it with a weight similar to what we might give to any great piece of literature. 3) We might dismiss the Bible as a gathering of fairy tales, violent stories, harsh laws, often anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-choice.

Hence, we “like” or “dislike” pieces of the Text.

Even the most “faithful” reader will settle on certain passages more often than not, setting other sections aside. Liberals read it one way; conservatives another. So do the happy and the sad. The peace and the angry. 

Our task: To read all of it, appreciate each piece as someone’s struggle to understand the depth-dimension of life, life’s ultimate concern, to discern the community of faith behind each piece, differing communities who perceived god in differing ways, sometimes contrary to one another. 

Devotionally, to see the Bible as a giant round table discussion - lots of voices: “Have you considered this?” “I think it’s like this.” “I disagree with you.” “I agree with you.” “You’re a damn fool.” You’re spot-on.” All of these voices echo through the pages of the Text and across the centuries.

Whatever interest we might have in some “originalist” meaning (scholars can help us here considerably, but all confess limits), the Book of Revelation (BoR) tends to dance before our eyes like shimmering desert heat. 

Take a painting - 10 feet away, it tells a remarkable story, and we’d like to know more, so we step up to it, get close, and suddenly, the image is lost - it’s just so much paint of varying colors and strokes on a piece of canvass. Up close, no meaning - so, we step back again, and the picture snaps into view.

Specifics for today: How will it end?

Throughout the Bible, images, visions, predictions about the end of things … some of these are what might be called “the peaceable kingdom” of Isaiah 11, “the lion lies down with the lamp, the child plays near the asp” … other images are violent, as with Sodom and Gomorrah.

The Bible is always asking: What does this mean?

After Judah’s exile (586 BCE) and return some 70-100 years later, lots of struggle with “what does all of this mean?”

For a thousand years, Israel/Judah carried on with land, temple, circumcision, diet, kings and priests - there was plenty of war, but Israel/Judah constituted a viable and independent entity … and then after 586, the land and the kings and temple ended. The temple was rebuilt by returning exiles, but it was a shadow of its former Solomonic glory.

In the years before Jesus, Herod the Great, a friend of Rome, poured millions into rebuilding the rebuilding of the temple, and in 70 CE, that, too, was destroyed, this time by Rome who was fed up with the constant rebellion of certain factions of Jews. 

What does it all mean?

Paul the Apostle offers pretty much the sum and substance of Christian interpretation with regard to Jewish life: a lot has ended in Jesus , i.e. been fulfilled - circumcision, land, temple, diet, kings and priests. All of this was temporary and paved the way for Jesus, who is Israel in his person, who does what none could do - lay his life down before the terrible powers of this world as a way of revealing how evil they are, and that God’s victory is found, not in conquest, but in sacrifice; that God’s power is revealed, not in military might, but in everything Jesus outlines in the Beatitudes.

A book like Revelation, believed by some to be mostly Jewish apocalyptic, patterned after Daniel, perhaps written before Jesus in large part, and then Christianized after Jesus, after the destruction of the temple in 70 CE.

Helps to remember that the Bible is an anthology, by many authors from different spectrums of faith. It’s not a singular book, or a collection of essays by the same author - it’s a whole library. And before there was a codex (bound version), all we had were individual scrolls or letters.

Also helpful: BoR was accepted late in the history of the early church - it wasn’t that popular! That is comes at the “end” of the Bible is simply a way of saying, “It’s the last book received by the church.” And since it deals with “the end,” I guess putting it at the end of the codex is a good way to end. 

But, for me, it’s a reminder that the BoR is not the most important book of the 66, as “the last chapter” of a major novel might be. Every theme in the BoR is treated elsewhere, and sometimes with more clarity. With 66 books, it’s wise to know the preceding 65 as well as we can. If we never read the BoR, we’d be just fine. In the hands of some, who always claim to have all the answers, it has been used to instill fear, with many a Christian going to bed in a state of spiritual anxiety. 

For the BoR, the message is endurance because things will end well, for most … Revelation lacks the universal element reflected in Paul or in Isaiah, so a question for us: How big is the love of God? 

Are there some parts of God’s creation, some of God’s creatures, i.e. those who bear the image of God, who are beyond the pale, beyond redemption, beyond God’s saving reach - so evil, so wrong, so full of hatred for God, that God is powerless before their decisions, powerless before their power and that of hell and the devil? Or is God simply interested in punishing some “forever”? That those, who in their span of years here - 60, 70, 80 or a 100 - should then be condemned to an “eternity” of pain and suffering?

There are a good many scholars who raise interesting questions about the intent of author -  but for our purposes this morning, it’s helpful, as well, to ask: What do we want? How do we want things to end? Is it our desire and hope that the some, if they fail to receive Christ, accept God, repent of their sins, or whatever else we deem important, as we read the Bible, will be forever separated from God, from us, from all their loved ones, to “burn” forever as depicted in some Medieval portrait of hell? What is that we want for them, and why?

Again, what we bring to the Text determines very much how we interpret the Text.

BTW, of the Devil and Evil Angels, their actual role in the scheme of things is minor - they try hard, but they're released and imprisoned at God’s behest  - the so-called “Battle of Armageddon,” a big thing for movies and books, never happens. The so-called “enemies of God” rally the troops for a bit, but then God shows up, and that’s that. It’s done, it’s all over with, IT IS FINISHED!

In the end, God.

In the end, Jesus.

In the end, Peace.

With that, let’s take a close look at the question for the day - do events in today’s State of Israel (a nation among other nations) tie into the Book of Revelation?

1. For me, no!  A conclusion shared by many scholars. Calvin refused to write a commentary on it and said, “No one can understand it” (his counsel should caution us) The Book of Revelation is not a roadmap of some future events that the world has been patiently waiting until “our” time - there is a certain element of arrogance in all of these “end times” ideas - as if God moved the creation of the Scriptures and moves all of history to then “come to pass” in our time, just for us. The Book of Revelation (BoR) is a celebration of confidence, hope, to help folks endure hard times - political hard times when evil forces are in charge (at the heart of the BoR (chapters 17-18).
2. Confusion in those Christian groups who are fascinated by predictions between The State of Israel and Biblical Israel.
3. Some pray for the rebuilding of the temple, the onset of a great war, to hasten the return of Christ in power and glory. Some preachers in this tradition have called for the military intervention of the US in the Middle East - a war there is likely a prelude to the return of Jesus, so war is inevitable, and war is good.
4. The State of Israel founded, 1948 - for several reasons:
1. Zionist dreams of a homeland.
1. Many Jews at the time were not in favor of this.
2. Preferring the ancient model of living within a nation.
2. Western anti-semitism - “Who wants the Jews? We don’t.”

Why predict the future?

It’s power, I suppose, to have the inside track on God’s purpose … and who doesn’t like power? And along with power, power’s greatest servant: Fear. How many Christians “fear” missing out, losing their salvation because they might believe the wrong things or miss their chance or live poorly? Whether it be the Medieval Church with its lurid images of hell and fire or the pulpit-pounding fury of an evangelical/fundamentalist end-times preacher, fear is the tool used to manipulate people into conformity, silence and passivity, driving a damaging self-interest that privately lives to gain heaven.

For our purpose here today, I affirm the following:

1. History moves toward a good conclusion - the arc of history.
2. God is the prime mover, not Satan.
3. Between here and there, a lot of struggle, hurt and pain - history, even for God, is a very messy business.
4. Don’t panic. Endure.
5. Be faithful - don’t worship the angels, but only God.
6. It’s not about going to heaven when we die, but participating in the work of God to redeem the whole of creation.
7. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
8. And when the time is right, the New City comes down to us … and God dwells with us.
9. Even now, by the Spirit, God is with us.
10. And we can live, as best we can the vision of the Beatitudes, in the Spirit of Christ, whose mercy forgives, whose love sustains, whose final victory is creation’s redemption, including all creatures, great and small - that which God created in the beginning is made new and glorious, and there are no more tears.

When we read the text carefully, seeing it as a Text of hope in the face of hard times, each of its several cycles of Seven, being like singing hymns - often saying the same thing, but saying them differently. Yet the story is the same - in the end, God - with healing grace and peace.