Revelation to… Rhythm?
When most of us discover that we’re about to hear a message on the book of Revelation, we get a little spooked… we’ve heard there’s so much imagery and symbolism and crazy sounding stuff that I think we tend to run in the opposite direction all together! Last night, however, the majority of us had no idea what topic Craig would be speaking on, and honestly, after the last few stand-alone topics, I’m sure many of us were surprised to find out we would be spending the next 7-10 weeks over the summer on such an intense book of the Bible.
I think it’s awesome.
We’re going to approach the Revelation to John in an honest and open way while trying to see how God is revealing His mysteries to us today just as He did with John 2,000 years ago on the island of Patmos. After all, Rev. 1:3 says “God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.” (NLT) Why are we so hesitant to dive in?
We made it through the first chapter last night; John gives a fairly typical introduction to what the upcoming letter will touch upon and the inspiration behind his motivation for writing in the first 8 verses. We then get something pretty spectacular: a visual description of Jesus! The only one in the entire Bible, to be exact. This is, of course, after he has ascended into heaven after the crucifixion and resurrection, so we still don’t know what he looked like as a man during his lifetime (let’s get real here – He certainly wasn’t the frail, pale, light-brown-haired, blue-eyed icon we see on so many stained glass windows and Renaissance-era paintings).
In John’s description, we see Jesus wearing a robe (like the priests’) with a gold sash (like a breastplate), white head and hair (purity, elder, earned respect), eyes like flames (no where to hide around here!), bronze feet (power), and voice like rushing water (overpowering and impossible to drown out)… which, I’ll admit, is a bit intense… but the symbolism behind this account is wicked sweet! You’ll have to check out the podcast to hear the rest; we all know Craig can get a little wound up and my brain & writing hand doesn’t quite comprehend as quickly as he’s pouring out the information! =)
One of my favorite illustrations from this first chapter has to do with the gold lampstands; again, you really need to hear this explained in the podcast to get the full gist. Anyway, I have always had a fascination with the way light was used and controlled back in Jesus’ day- oil was the primary source of fuel for lamps and people had to be very aware of how much oil they had and how much they needed (anyone remember the story of the 10 bridesmaids waiting on the bridegroom and 5 of them ran out of oil? Same principle here). So now we have John describing to his readers seven lampstands… which everyone back in John’s day would instantly recognize as valuable and extremely important to everyday life. The interesting thing to remember is that without the actual flame, though, all the oil and lamps in the world are pointless. It is we, God’s people, whom these lampstands represent. We are the carriers of the light, but we are not the light. Jesus alone is the light. Too often we get caught up in the importance of the lampstands (our money, our time… our egos) that we forget that without Jesus, we aren’t worth very much at all (and really don’t have the capability to do anything)! Our purpose isn’t to be the light; it’s to carry the light.
And that about wraps up chapter 1. I’m very excited to see what other truths God will open our eyes to over the next few weeks and how we can respond individually and as a community.
Until next time, “grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come…” (Rev. 1:4)
PJ
P.S. – There were 165 of us out last night! Welcome to all the newcomers and soon-to-be-graduating high school seniors who are now joining us!
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