The Revelation

Just say these two words, and your eyes become hazy, and a confused look takes over the landscape of your face. The Revelation, which means the reveal, is like going to the Detroit Auto show, seeing the form of a car under a lovely velvet cover, only to have another velvet cover thrown over it. 

To say that the Revelation is complicated is a mild compliment. As I began to study the letter to the seven churches a few months ago, I quickly discovered various opinions about most paragraphs. For years I avoided looking deeply into the Revelation for the simple reason that it is so hard to understand. I kept saying that one day I was going to go through the book verse by verse. 

That finally happened in the second half of 2019. By the time we came to chapter 20, Dawn and I moved, and the world shut down because of the COVID 19 scare. You talk about timing! 

As mentioned, in a previous post, during my simple study of the most complicated book, I discovered various opinions about all aspects of the letter—just a quick example. In chapters two and three, Jesus commands John to write to seven churches in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. The seven churches mentioned are in geographical order. They were on the delivery route of the day. Did you know that? If you trace it out on Google maps, you'll see what I mean. 

The varied opinions come when trying to discover the meaning of each of the seven letters. Some see the churches as representative of Church History, with each church representing an epoch. Others see, in these warnings, a caution for specific kinds of churches today. Some of the specifics don't seem to fit this interpretation, but this is a viable solution. 

You get the drift of just how complicated the book is in attempting to understand these short letters. When you add chapters 4-20 to the mix, the fun begins. 

One of the strangest aspects of the Revelation is that it is the only book in the Bible that starts and ends with a blessing to the person who reads it. 

A quote from another place says that "chapter 20 talks about 1000 years of peace, and has caused more infighting than any other text of scripture." Funny. 

So what should we conclude? Should we avoid the book because it is difficult? Should we skim-read it on our yearly visit? Or should we study various theological opinions and come to as much of a conclusion as anyone can? I'm taking that last position. How about you?