By David ReayTuesday 5 Dec 2017LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Revelation 22:8-9
8-9 I, John, saw all these things with my own eyes, heard them with my ears. Immediately when I heard and saw, I fell on my face to worship at the feet of the Angel who laid it all out before me. He objected, “No you don’t! I’m a servant just like you and your companions, the prophets, and all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!” (THE MESSAGE)
It is easy to miss the point. John was overwhelmed with the glory of the angel who spoke to him and prostrated himself at the angel’s feet. The angel reminded him that there was only one who was worthy of such a gesture and that was God himself. Worshipping an angel, no matter how wonderful that being might be, was to miss the point.
Similarly, we can miss the point about the entire book of Revelation. We can get absorbed in the precise meaning of certain descriptive episodes; get out our calculators and calendars to make sense of the numerology employed in the book. Some even try to figure out the precise return of Jesus even when Jesus himself warned his followers about doing that very thing.
Anyone who claims to understand this last book of the Bible is kidding themselves. Jewish apocalyptic literature was not always that clear even to those who were culturally immersed in it. We who read from a great distance have to read with great humility and an awareness of mystery.
So why read it at all? Simply because that, behind all its complex metaphors, it speaks of the ongoing warfare between good and evil which is reflected in earthly events. Simply because it speaks of the ultimate triumph of good over evil personified in the victory of Jesus. I might not understand much of that perplexing book, but if I grasp that I have assurance enough of its value.
Blessings
David Reay