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The final week of our E100 readings takes us to the book called The Revelation to John.
It is a book full of strange imagery and obscure allusions, typical of a style of writing which is called Apocalyptic.
It is a form of composition very common to the period between the Old and New Testaments – the Book of Daniel, which we encountered briefly some weeks ago is an example.
It is based on the undefeatable Jewish hope, that one day their nation would be supreme, all enemies destroyed.
But in the meantime, their history is a catalogue of disasters from which no human can deliver them.
They came to think of the present age as wholly bad, which would give way to the age to come, inaugurated by the Day of the Lord, a terrible day of judgement.
Apocalyptic literature deals with the in-between time, holding out hope in the midst of trials.
It is written in the form of dreams and visions, and because it usually appeared during periods of persecution or oppression, it is often written in a kind of code which protects the writers from accusations of subversive activity.
The book of Daniel, for example, is apparently set in the time of King Nebuchadnezzar – but it appeared during a different time of persecution more than five hundred years after his death.
Revelation is a Christian apocalypse, which substitutes the Second Coming of Christ for the Day of the Lord.
It was written for Christians suffering persecution at the hands of the Romans during the time of the Emperor Domitian in 95 AD.
It is not intended to be a blueprint for the end of the world, but a source of encouragement to those who were suffering, to hold firm to their faith that God is Lord, however blasphemous and brutal the earthly rulers were.
The Book begins with a challenge to the churches in Asia to examine their witness in the light of the judgement of Christ.
Then the scene shifts to heaven, the glory of God, and the strength of his power in judgement.
There is continual interplay from this point to the last chapters of the book, between the horror of things happening on earth, and the triumphant reign of God in heaven.
Evil is fought and overcome: Michael defeats the dragon; Babylon (Rome) is overcome; the beast numbered 666 (Nero?) is defeated by the rider on the white horse, and the devil is chained up.
The Book ends with a vision of the new heaven and the new earth, a vision of the reign of God over all the world when his judgement has been completed.
The language and imagery used are often strange, and those who have taken the words literally have come to some rather bizarre conclusions about salvation, judgement and the end of the world.
Adding up the years and the number of days mentioned has led to many erroneous forecasts about the date of the end of the world.
But the underlying concepts are very important, for they assert that God is God, that God reigns even if it doesn’t always look like it, and that God will triumph.
If you have any reflections on the E100 Readings, about how easy or difficult it has been, or about any of the readings you have looked at, do share them with us - we’d be delighted to have some feedback.