Please read the first 12 chapters of Revelation for Tuesday, March 24. class. Concentrating on the first five chapters would work, but it's better if you you read all 12 chapters.Do you find Revelation a difficult book? A beautiful book? Something of both? Cite a verse or two from the first 12 chapters that shows particularly well either the beautiful side or Revelation or the difficult side of the book.
I find Revelation 12:9-10 a bit difficult to understand. It is preceded by the imagery of the dragon trying to destroy the woman who gave birth to the child who would rule the nations. But verse 9 talks about Satan being thrown down to the earth and verse 10 says, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night." But I find it confusing that Satan being thrown down would bring all those things, since it says in verse 9 that he was thrown down to earth, which seems to imply that he can then tempt mankind and cause all sorts of trouble. The verses following it even say, "Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you..." But because of this, all the wonderful things mentioned in verse 10 come.
ReplyDeleteThough Revelation is difficult at first glance, I find it really beautiful. I love the picture language, and once you understand the symbols of certain beasts, creatures, the timeline, and so on, it becomes even more beautiful. Some of my favorite parts are in the second and third chapters, with all the different names Jesus gives himself. Each name, as he goes to address the seven churches, is a name that reinforces and supports everything said about him previously in the gospels and ultimately the Old Testament.
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorites are:
2:8 "The words of the first and last, who died and came to life."
3:7 "The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens."
3:14 "The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation."
I find revelation to be a very difficult passage for myself to understand. I say this because it deals with a lot of imagery and that is not my strongest area. I could see though how someone could find it beautiful because of the imagery needed. A great example of this would be Revelation 9 7-10.7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months.
ReplyDeleteAs you can see this deals with a lot of imagery and that's just something myself am not good at.
Collin DeLeeuw
DeleteI find the vivid imagery used to be very beautiful. I particularly like when people and angels are described such as in 10:1 and 12:1. I also think that this book can be very confusing, generally because of the imagery. The woman described in 12:1 for example I've heard interpreted as a constellation, a metaphor, and Mary (mother of Jesus).
ReplyDeleteRevelation is undoubtedly the hardest book for me to understand. It seems like everything after chapter 3 is imagery that would take an exorbitant amount of studying to grasp. That's not to say there isn't beauty throughout the confusion. I find chapter 4 about the throne room and much of chapter 5 very beautiful, maybe because some of my favorite worship songs are based on these passages. Chapter 4 gives detail both on how God's throne looks and what the worshipping creatures and elders are saying. Chapter 5 is where the lyrics for songs like Revelation Song and Is He Worthy take much inspiration from, and for good reason. The picture of heaven here is powerful because it centers on worship and emphasizes that the world is broken (no one else is worthy) and that the hope is found in Christ alone.
ReplyDeleteRevelations is a book that reveals its beauty in its difficulty. You just cannot separate the two. The glory of God is in his mystryrium, and this is emphasized in the book of revelations. John discusses themes like the justice of God, specifically in chapter 11, verse 15-18. It is revealed to us the seventh scroll and says in verse 18, "the nation's raged but your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and they recompense your servants the profits and the holy ones, and those who fear your name, the small and the great alike, and to destroy those who destroy the Earth." This sentence is lengthy and complex, but beautiful all the same. What encouraging words to those who believe that their suffering on earth shall reap reward in heaven.
ReplyDeleteThe imagery and symbolism are difficult to interpret, but gorgeous all the same. I draw particular interest in the woman and the dragon. The line, "A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars." There is a discussion about what these symbols mean: Israel, Mary, the church, all three? But one thing that is not for debate is how John's writing is truly stunning.
I find Revelation to be a difficult book, and I while I find Martin Luther saying that a revelation should be revealing, I also feel like focusing on only the difficulties and cryptic parts of the book will have you miss the actual point (in my opinion) that the book is trying to make. And that's because through the difficult things to understand, and the difficult things that Christians will have to go through, there is a beauty in Revelation that few other books in the Bible share. A few verses that really illustrate how beautiful this book are is found in chapter 7:15-17.
ReplyDelete“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.'
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’"
Knowing that despite incredibly difficult times, God will always be there at the end to shepherd and wipe the tears from the eyes of any that follow him is not only a great beauty, but a great encouragement for the Christians going through intense persecution in the time the book was written.
The Book of Revelation is both a difficult and a beautiful book, and I find that the two qualities are closely connected. On one hand, it can be difficult because of its dense symbolism and vivid, sometimes unsettling imagery. On the other hand, that same imagery creates scenes of incredible beauty and meaning, especially in its portrayals of worship and God’s ultimate authority.
ReplyDeleteONe line that sticks out to me is the one about the lamb because it talks about sacrifice and a very powerful theme “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
Revelation 4:9-11
ReplyDelete9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 “Worthy are you, 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.”
The imagery in Revelation 4 is absolutely beautiful. I love the idea of kings and earthly leaders will be casting their crowns before the throne of the King who is everlasting. Pictures and images always help us see the reality of who God is. Words can only do so much, so seeing this and picturing it give us a whole knew understanding of God's holiness.
The book of Revelation is extraordinarily fascinating because it sounds like a total trip. I believe it's because we obviously aren't supposed to fully understand everything that is going on. After reading through Revelation and Eusebius, I really liked the correlation between Stephen's name and the crown. Where this stands out is in Revelation 2:10 : Don't be afraid of what you are going to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you. You will be treated badly for ten days. Be faithful, even if it means you must die. Then I will give you a crown. The crown is life itself. The correlation of life being a crown but having to endure potential harm or death for it is at least promising, especially if you have an understanding of Stephen's story. Where this correlates to Eusebius for me is on page 57 saying, "Stephen was the first after the Lord not only in ordination, but also in being put to death, stoned by the Lord's murderers, and so was the first to win the crown, represented in his name, that was gained by the martyrs of Christ deemed worthy of victory" (Maier 57). The footnote for this passage specifies how 'Stephanos' in Greek means "crown." This should be encouragement for the Church in Smyrna.
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