This is my fourth time teaching this book and each time I've taught it, it almost seems to be a different book. I am enjoying this go-round perhaps more than I did last time. I think my growing familiarity with the outline and tone of the book is allowing me to reflect a little more on the theological themes of the book and on the ways in which Revelation might provide some spiritual insight. I'm also getting a much better sense of the rhythm of the text, which is making the reading even more enjoyable.
The book opens a typical greeting, but it is pretty noticeable that John includes the phrase "who is and who was and who is to come" twice in the first 8 verses. This is not accidental. This is a direct reference to Exodus 3:13-14 - "But Moses said to God, 'If I come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' what shall I say to them?' God said to Moses, " I AM WHO I AM." In Hebrew, the Name God gives is 'ehyeh asher 'ehyeh. 'ehyeh means "I am, I was, I will be", basically. Asher means "who, that, which, what", basically. So, God is basically saying here "I am Who I was Who I will be" - that's a reflection of the infinity of God and the consistency of God's nature and identity. In Revelation, it's also about scope - God is greater than anything on this earth. In Rev. 1:8, God says that God is the "Alpha and the Omega". God is all-encompassing.
In the context of Revelation, this is a statement about political power as well. If God is indeed the Lord and Christians proclaim God as such, this is full frontal assault on the power that Caesar claims for himself. This is a persistent theme in Revelation - to whom or to what do we owe our allegiance? This might raise some, if not controversial, then uncomfortable questions for those of us who are immersed in American culture. Revelation pushes to ask questions about how power is realized and wielded in our own culture and country. If an apocalypse is a pulling back of the curtain to reveal the realities behind the appearances, what systems of power are operating behind the curtain in American culture? I'm not talking about goofy conspiracy theories - I'm more interested in those "rulers", "authorities", and "powers" that Paul talks about in Ephesians 6:12. How does American consumerism and materialism square with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? How does traditional American militarism fit in with the proclamation of Jesus Christ? Is our culture of celebrity worship and "humans as commodities" congruent with Christian discipleship? These are uncomfortable questions and there are literally dozens more questions that we could be asking (and will ask over the course of the book).
A major point of Revelation, taken as a whole, is that God's vision for humanity and for human flourishing is vastly different from the visions of human life offered by the powers of this world. Right from the start, the book makes the claim that it is in fact God Who is in charge of creation. As you move through the book, however, the destructive power of sin and death is plainly evident. This glimpse behind the curtain of life in our world shows the holiness and loving kindness of God and the complete brutality and deadliness of sin, both personal sin and systemic sin.
Again, these are just scattered thoughts about what I'm reading...more to come later...
No comments:
Post a Comment