Revelation

At Grange Hall we are currently studying Revelation during our Wednesday Night Bible Study.

As we have found, Revelation is a very complex book, full of rich imagery that can be very confusing.  The first couple of weeks we focused on one chapter at time, which was helpful in chapters 2 and 3, but once we hit chapter 4 (when John describes his vision of heaven and heavenly worship) it became harder and harder to discuss in depth, harder and harder to find words (which I am sure is how John felt as he was recording his vision for us!).

Many of us have been frustrated because so much of the book is so hard to understand.  I think, though, that something like this vision of John's is not necessarily meant to be understood so much as it is meant to be experienced.  With that in mind, the past couple of weeks we've been trying to experience the vision as John saw it, by practicing Lectio Divina (click here for a description of this way of praying the scriptures) and by reading it chapter by chapter, one person reading while we close our eyes and try to experience it, try to see what John saw. This way has been much more helpful in our experience of Revelation.

**Note I said "helpful in our experience of Revelation" not necessarily in our comprehension of Revelation!

The night we practiced Lectio Divina we read chapters 5-7. We wrote down our questions that came up in our personal contemplation.  Following are the questions and my best attempt at an answer, informed by many scholars who have come before. Thank God for commentaries and the folks who write them!

First, a word from my Seminary Professor, Luke Timothy Johnson:

“Beneath the complex sequences of seals, trumpets, bowls, and beasts, four fundamental convictions are expressed:

1.      “in heaven” the victory over evil and death has already been won by God and the Messiah.  The idolatrous powers strutting the earth are illusory; there is but one power controlling history.

2.      the apparent dominance of evil in human affairs is itself part of God’s triumphant plan, and those who come through suffering and persecution faithfully receive the reward of eternal life with God.  God is in control of the world, and evil is not running rampant; rather, everything is taking place according to God’s design.

3.      the history of humans has a goal even on earth: the time of the suffering of the saints will come to an end, the visible and effective rule of God among humans will be established, and the wicked will be judged.

4.      those who share the witness of Christ on earth in the face of death will share as well in heaven his victory over death.” –from his book The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation

The ones who are suffering, they are all God’s people.  Will God not take away his faithful before the suffering?  Has the tribulation not begun before this?

We must remember the context in which this book was written.  Christians were being persecuted.  Confessing Jesus as your Lord was a highly dangerous, risky thing to do. 

Many Christians at the time were martyred. 

That is why John writes to congratulate those in Thyatira who have patient endurance, they are patiently enduring the current suffering and persecution.  (Revelation 2.19: “I know your works—your love, faith, service, and patient endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first.)

We are all Beloved Children of God, just read Psalm 139!  But we each must choose who to follow, to whom we will be loyal.  The 144,000 (who represent all the people of God) have chosen to be loyal to God, they have chosen to follow God.

These chapters can be scary, with torture and destruction and killing and people wanting to die.  This language is similar to other prophets in the Old Testament when they speak of the Day of the Lord, how he will come with vengeance, etc.  However, all those prophets end with a hopeful word.  They say something like, “this is how it will be… but forgiveness is available! God is gracious.

Like in Micah, Chapter 7 Verse 2 says, “The faithful have disappeared from the land, and there is no one left who is upright; they all lie in wait for blood, and they hunt each other with nets.” But then at the end of the Book, just a few verses later (Micah 7:18-19):

      “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of your

       possession? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in showing clemency. He will

       again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into    

       the depths of the sea.”

It is the time of “wrath of the lamb” in Rev. 6:16-17 we see that people are hiding and, “calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

There are some who have already died because of their faith: martyrs. They are under the altar of God (basically VERY close to God) and they have been saved, they were each given a white robe (which is a symbol for eternal life).

     “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them

     white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day  
     and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no  
     more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center
     of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will
     wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Basically, they don’t need to worry about earthly things anymore.  They only need worship God, their savior.

The people of God are protected from disasters (the people of God are represented by the 144,000).

In fact, the angel who ascends from the rising sun says not to damage anything until the servants of God are marked with a seal on their forehead. Which leads into the next questions:

“What ¼ do the horsemen kill?  Which ¼ are they given?” & “What did ancient Christians think of Revelation?”

I think it is easy to get caught up in the details of Revelation, trying to figure out exactly what will happen, where it will happen, what ¼ of the world the horsemen are given, etc.  This question is never explicitly answered.  Many have tried to guess and speculate, but no one is for sure. 

The main purpose of the book is to show the cosmic battle between Good and Evil, between God and the spiritual forces of wickedness, and the fact that God always wins. God always wins! 
     “We are struck by the dramatic conflict between good and evil, or more specifically, between God and
     those opposed to the will and purpose of God.  We must never forget we are in such a battle.  We know
     it for its smaller, daily enactment in our own souls; but if we thought our daily experiences were relatively
     inconsequential, Revelation lets us see that what we are experiencing is the conflict of the ages in
     miniature.  And Revelation wants us to know how the battle will at last come out.  If we are with Christ,
     we are on the winning side.” –J. Ellsworth Kalas.

This would have been so comforting to the folks who would first read and hear Revelation.  They were suffering and dying for Christ, so it was good to hear that in the end, they would stand with the victor.

The one who was worthy to open the scroll. Am I right to assume this is Jesus Christ?

Yes.

“What are seals?” & “The mark of God’s people on their forehead, what kind of mark or is it just something said to identify God’s people?”

“Seals were dabs of clay placed upon strings around a scroll.  The clay would be impressed with an individual’s stamp, which informed the recipient who was sending the letter and which guaranteed that no one else had opened it.”  -The Bible for Dummies

So when the 144,000 are “sealed” in Rev 7:3 (“Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.”) it is God claiming the people as God’s own people, leaving God’s mark on them.  So, yes, this is a metaphor, for identity as one of God’s people.  Seal was also a term for Christian Baptism:

     2 Corinthians 1:21-22: “But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by
     putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.”

     Ephesians 1:13: “In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and
     had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;”

     Ephesians 4:30: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for
     the day of redemption.”

The forehead is a body part mentioned often in the Bible.  Who knew, right? Especially in the Law, or the first five books of the Bible.  God is always telling the people to keep the commandments of God as a mark on their forehead, (Deuteronomy 11.18: You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead.) 

People can’t help but see something on your forehead.  Think about Ash Wednesday, when we walk around with those ashes smudged on our foreheads.  People notice!

What are the time frames of the opening of the seals?

It is unclear.  John received this vision on Sunday afternoon while he was “in the spirit.” It could be like one of our dreams, when it feels like forever, but maybe you’ve only been asleep for 10 minutes.  Time is not super important in Revelation, except eternity.  That is really the only mention of time, how God is and was and is to come, that sort of thing.

Although, it would make sense if they were to come one after another, because when the seventh seal is opened in chapter 8 John writes that there was silence in heaven for about ½ an hour, which makes me think that if there was silence or space between the other seals, John would have told us.

Why is this Book included in the Bible?  How does it help us be better Christians?

     “The author explains at the outset that this is ‘the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show
     the servants what must soon take place’ (Rev 1:1). It is thus seen as a special gift from God to the
     devout, communicated to us through Jesus Christ.  It is intended to inspire faithfulness in those who
     read… the lead person is Christ. .. the aim, in every event, is to give glory to Christ and to provide the
     reader with feelings of both awe and love” –J. Ellsworth Kalas

It gives us example after example of worship; the songs they sing show both the Old Covenant, from the story of the Exodus, and the New Covenant, made by Jesus which we celebrate in Holy Communion.  Which could be why the number 24 comes up again and again: 12 tribes of Israel (representing the Old Covenant) and the 12 disciples of Jesus (representing the New Covenant).

What in the world does: “Do not disturb the olive oil and the wine?”

“A quart of wheat for a day’s pay represents an exorbitant  price for wheat, fifteen times higher than normal; shortages were often caused by hoarding for the purpose of profiteering.  Do not damage the olive oil and then wine, i.e. do not fraudulently withhold oil and whine to extort exorbitant prices.” –Harper Collins Study Bible.

In Chapter 5 and 7 John interacts with people/things in the vision.  Is this the only time he interacts with the vision? Was there a reason he interacted in these specific chapters?

John interacts with the vision in other parts, like we will read tonight.  “Vision” I think is an inadequate word for Revelation.  It is more than a vision, it is an experience too.  Later he eats a scroll that was given to him and he is told to measure the temple.  So, this isn't something he sees only, but it is also an experience.  He talks to people and interacts with them and eats a scroll and he holds the measuring rod they give him.