Book of Revelation

The Book of Revelation. Thomas Jefferson said that the last book of the Bible is "merely the ravings of a maniac." The great reformer Martin Luther said that he almost left the Book of Revelation out of his German translation of the Bible because "Christ is not taught or known in it."

I think Revelation is best understood as a long theological cartoon book. It's written in pictures—at least in mental pictures. The reader has to imagine pictures in her mind as she reads it. Of course it was originally an oral event. It was book read in public to the congregation. The images are weird on purpose—in order to stick in the imagination.

It wasn't actually weird to the first century listeners. They were familiar with the apocalyptic terminology that John (the author) used. John makes 404 allusions to Old Testament passages (without actually quoting any). He simply took the cartoon language already in the Bible and reused it. John took the main narratives of the Old Testament (especially the story of the Exodus) and brought them into a new situation. Revelation simply continues the story. It's not weird or silly if we keep the images connected to the story that has already been told in the other books of the Bible.

Revelation is about the Lamb that defeats the Beast. He defeats it without physical violence. The believers are never told in Revelation to take up arms and fight. Rather, they are told to be patient, to give their testimony, and to hold to the Word. God is the one who fights. The Lamb makes war. His weapon is the sword of the Word.

The violent images and the bloodshed in Revelation are symbolic. To take the symbolic in scripture and imagine it to be literal is to do damage to God's Word. In the Apocalypse evil is defeated by the Word.

Revelation is a book of hope. But not hope based on human violence. It certainly isn't a prediction of the future. It doesn't tell us about the future; it tells us about the present—the ever present reality of God. Revelation is about what is real now. Christ IS Lord. Now.

The real question posed by the Last Book is: will you bow to Christ or to the Empire? It's a call to decision.