Revelation - Beginnings

As I start a project to read Revelation and potentially teach on it, I read the first chapter. 

First, let me just say that long ago I told myself that I would never teach on the ramblings of a madman.  I mean, John was a great guy as far as I can tell from his writings.  The book of John might be my favorite book of the Bible.  But Revelation … I considered for so long that he was isolated on the island and went a little crazy.  He had simply mixed his intense spiritual knowledge with the hallucinations of extreme physical hardships and he was writing while it happened, right?  Well, as it turns, perhaps not.  Maybe there is a reason it is included in the canon of Scripture.  However, it is important to remember that it was not until 367 AD that Athanasius first provided the 66-book compilation of Scripture we know today.  There were centuries of reading and reflection that led to its formation.  So, it is quite foolish for me or anyone to think that they can pick it up, read it, and gather the relevance of any book in the Bible.  Revelation seems to strike at this truth more than the others.  It certainly requires reflection and study, and even with that I seem to just hope I understand a portion of it.  I fully acknowledge that understanding it in its entirety is an impossibility apart from the mind of God Himself.

Another characteristic of Revelation, that becomes immediately obvious in the first chapter, are the visual descriptions that John provided in the writings.  They so often seem to reflect bizarre and impossible to visualize images. 

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.  The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.  His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.  In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. – Rev 1:12-16

Eyes like blazing fire, feet like glowing bronze, and a sword coming out of the mouth.  Just some descriptions that are hard to capture with the imagination.  In fact, it sounds like a monster, not the Savior of the world.  This type of imagery is common in this book, so it’s important to see it for what it is and to not see it for what it is. 

My grandfather told me that when he was young, he looked up into the night sky and saw a light that didn’t go away.  It was there for several nights.  He said it looked like a burning pine knot in the sky.  So, if I asked him to write down a description of what he saw, he would have written that there was a burning pine knot in the sky that didn’t burn up and returned for several nights.  Sounds weird, doesn’t it?  Do you know what a burning pine knot looks like?  It would have been hard for anyone reading that description to realize that he saw Haley’s comet when he was young. 

Similarly, I believe it is important to tell ourselves when we read these descriptions, that he is relating to what he knows.  Today, we might have said his eyes were lasers, his feet like glowing magma, and his words pierced our heart and cut us to our reality.  Who knows how we would reflect what he saw, but I’m certain it would be written differently because we have experienced and are familiar with different physical things.  It also seems worthwhile to consider that John didn’t know how to describe what he saw.  It was too much to put into words. 

Finally, we must consider how a symbol can describe so much more than words can, but it can also be confusing as to the specificity of what it is describing.  For instance, if I write about conflict and describe it as a swastika, there is a lot that is described by the symbol.  The German aggression, World War II, it’s history and results can all be encompassed by simply using the symbol.  Someone with historical knowledge would have no trouble immediately understanding the implication.  But what about someone reading the symbol, in say, 1,500 years?  The relevancy might be hard for that person to gather.  Also, which detail about the representation of the symbol specifically is being discussed?  It requires the context of the use of the symbol and the relevancy of the symbol at the time of the writing to try to garner an understanding.  However, using the symbol provides the writer the ability to describe the Germans in a complex and long war without having to write it out.

Some people will argue that such an outlook in reading is an attempt to change the Bible.  It says what it says and it should be read as it reads.  I agree.  I just do not believe that a symbol can be simply read and understood.  There is much more than can be obtained in simple reading by recognizing all that a symbol might be relevant towards.  To simply read and believe that Jesus has a sword for tongue seems awfully short-sighted and simple-minded, and quite frankly, lazy.

With these things in mind, this long arduous journey begins.  I’m unfit for the task, unprepared in knowledge and have no time to dedicate.  There is no better time to start.