John: the tabernacling word, our Immanuel

There are 4 gospels in our bible today, we call 3 of them synoptic for they are similar material. The book of John was written last and is pretty much all original material, that was apparently his intention. It only make sense that he would begin his gospel on a much different note. The others begin with the nativity or the start of Jesus’ ministry. John takes a different route, going all the way to the beginning. Taking the very first line from the Septuagint(the Greek translation of the old testament) and adding more depth to it. He says “in the beginning was the Word” reinterpreting that “let there be light” and incorporating Jesus into the creation story. He also does something much bigger though. Think of psalm 1 and 119 and Isaiah 55 even Deuteronomy 8, the word of God has always been seen as God’s way of revealing Himself to us that we can know what it means to walk with Him and, in walking with Him, live. We now see that the word is a person and that He is God, but also separate from God. We are then told explicitly that everything came to exist through Him and that life is found in Him. This life is the light of men and it shines in the darkness, but men hate it because their deeds are evil. Adam was told that when he ate the fruit he would die, he was also promised redemption though. Jesus, being the life, is that redemption, nevertheless, men love darkness, so it is said that He came to His own and they did not accept Him. To us who accept Him though, He gives the right to become children of God. He is our Immanuel, He is God with us, He has come to fix the world that was created through Him and broken by us. Being the full representation of God, He is much greater than Moses. Through Moses came the law, but through Jesus come grace and truth. The law kills, but the love God has for sinners, embodied in Jesus Christ, is life and freedom.

John: an introductory thought

Having gone through Revelation, I thought it would be productive to go through another Johannine book, namely the gospel of John. I remember opening the bible to read it for myself the first time as a child and how I was told to read John. It has been a favorite of mine throughout my years. However, it wasn’t until recently that I began to see it through the eyes of the first century Jew. Most Christians these days end up reading John to prove “Jesus is God” which, though true, is better done from the whole of John’s discourse. Throughout this series I will try to redraw the foundation of John and, hopefully, in the process draw a more clear picture of what he was actually saying. I am by no means an old testament scholar, so I am sure I will miss a lot of things. My one goal is to instill a vision of the great paradigms of interpretation and give this beloved book more of the respect it deserves. I pray you all will be built up in the Spirit, through the work of this broken vessel.

Revelation: the new heaven and earth and the marriage of the lamb

In stories, the end is often turned into another kind of beginning, “they lived happily ever after” is an ending but, also an ending. An ending which is quite peculiar to me for, it is not topical within reality. We all like to hope that there will come that “happily ever after” point but, nevertheless, problems and difficulties always come back. The book of Revelation also has a “happily ever after” scene. Throughout the book we have seen the effects of evil and human sin on God’s good creation and His abolition of that evil. Now we look at the new creation and the “happily ever after”. It begins with something that we see in most fairy tales and stories, a wedding. Our “knight in shining armor” being the Lord Jesus and God Himself. At the very beginning of the prophecy it is announced that God’s dwelling is with men. That separation that came because of sin and human evil has been abolished, never to be seen again. The city is then described, given perfect dimensions, once again less of an actual number and more symbolic. The gates are said to never close because the security of the city is absolute because, all that would harm it is gone. It is then made clear that there is no room for evil in this city for “no vile thing will enter”. We then see a beautiful picture of God and man fellowshipping together and a blessing is again given “blessed are those who wash their robe” for they will be able to take part in this wonderful new creation. The whole book is concluded with an invitation to come and a warning to anyone who would change the words in the book.

Revelation: the thousand year reign

We have talked about prophecy and it’s tendency to use different visions to make a more three dimensional picture of the events described. John, being a Jewish man, had memorized a lot of the scriptures. To interpret this vision we must start with his short handed references to Jewish eschatological prophecies. We looked at the call for the “gathering of the feast of God” to the birds, which is a reference to Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38&39. In this passage he names them. We must begin by seeing this as the same war. Therefore, the thousand year reign is the time between the first and second coming. The objection to this view is that devil is obviously still working so how is he bound. Revelation is very specific he is bound so he can “no longer deceive the nations”. To see what that means, it is expedient that we go to the apostle Paul and even Jesus himself. In his sermon on mars hill Paul speaks of the time being fulfilled that God would allow the nations to wallow in darkness, he says that God now calls every man to repent. So again he says again in Titus that the grace of God has appeared to all men teaching them to reject sin. In the psalms it is often said that Israel is God’s inheritance and the nations are left to their own devices, Jesus came to end that. Jesus announces the kingdom of God and He likens it to a strong man tying up and plundering another man, that other man is the devil. The devil is now bound so he cannot deceive the world, this is the power that brings us to repentance. With all that in mind, let us consider the purpose of this vision. The church was under insane persecution, but also growing and changing the world. Martyrdom was basically expected in the early church. The first resurrection is actually a paradoxical view of martyrdom\death for death is not death at all, but rather a resurrection at which one is raised to reign with Christ. This is why a blessing is given to those who take part in it. It also sets us up to understand that the period of time between the first and second comings will be extended. A thousand has always been used as, less of a quantitative limitation, and more to express a lack thereof. That is to say endless. Is the Lord only good to a thousand generations? Does he own cattle only on a thousand hills? The point here is that his reign will be perfect and theirs will be perfect with his.

Revelation: the coming King and the final battle

The intentions of God concerning this world have never changed. From the very outset we read that He looked on all His creation and saw that it was good. Even after the fall God made His intentions quite clear “He will crush your head and you will bruise His heal”. From the moment we messed up and broke creation God states His gracious intention to destroy the Devil and restore us and everything else. We see that He will do that through the seed of woman, Jesus Christ. As Christians we see that work beginning at the crucifixion and resurrection. We are often confronted with the evils of this world that seem to contradict that thought. Revelation is God’s answer to that question. We now come to the climactic end of evil in this world. Which, just like throughout the book of revelation, is paradoxical in nature. The Son of Man comes in victory, riding a white horse. We then see an angel calling the birds to prepare for the feast of God. This is when the beast and all his followers come in, with all their evil intentions, to attack and kill the lamb. However, he doesn’t kill them with a sword but, rather, the “sword coming from His mouth” that is His own words. The apostle Paul said He would destroy him with the breath of His mouth. The irony is that they come in all their strength, with all their weapons, only to be destroyed with the words of the Lamb. John is, again, teaching us that the answer is not to fight “force with force” but, rather allow evil to stack up judgment for itself, knowing the just God of the universe will repay in due time.

Revelation: the demise of the great whore

Revelation, as I have shown, often gives multiple layers of the same event. This scene was spoken of before the bowl judgements along with the great war after them. Now, it goes directly from the fall of the great whore to the great war. Once again showing the haste at which the bowl judgements would succeed each other. Just in case one thinks it a good idea to wait until something happens. The angel comes to John and tells him to come see the end of the notorious prostitute. There have been many ways to interpret this prostitute some suggest Jerusalem, others the papacy, and, still, others America, no doubt many many more. I do not think these people are wrong, I think they all have some correctness to their interpretation. However, this is not meant to be a sort of specific prophecy, it is showing us common paradigms that would appear throughout church history with an ultimate fulfillment in the end. The great whore is depicted as riding the back of the beast. The words here connote sex, she is fornicating with the beast. We have shown the beast to be the spirit of empire and its lust for control. The great whore is seen as fornicating with this beast because she has made her bed with him. She has made herself very rich with his conquests. She is the “prosperity” that can come from friendship with the world. The picture of her is meant to remind us that, as the people of God, we do not belong to this age. As citizens of the age to come, we do not desperately hold on to every possession we have, but treat them as “dung, compared to the greatness of knowing Jesus Christ”. Her ultimate demise is from the best with whom she fornicated. The beastly side of empire will always turn it’s back on the people who have gained riches through it. This should speak loads to us here in America. We are living on the riches that come from injustice. We must strive to make justice flow like a river and fight for the cause of the poor and enslaved.

The existence of evil, atheism, and why no one asks for 3 hands

The problem of evil is a question that has plagued philosophers and theologians alike throughout the centuries. The creation stories in every culture have strived to answer that problem in a meaningful way. With the rise of scientific naturalism(nothing exists outside of what we see, that is the natural), it has become increasingly easier to accept the presupposition that there is no god, no purpose, and no objective moral reality. All these things are products human invention. Among the many inconsistencies I see within that view, I must draw attention to one major detail. We all acknowledge a need for purpose, even though we may object to the actual reality, it is still a very real need. Some philosophers have even made examples of themselves, losing every inch of sanity due to that “realization”(Frederich Nietzsche one of the examples). Has there ever been a longing or need to which exists no true fulfillment? You feel a pain in your stomach, so you get food. You feel a dryness in your throat so you drink water. You feel a rush in your loins, so you have sex. You feel lonely, so you go to family or friends and commune with them. However, that desire to be a part of something real, to make the world better, is a complete and total illusion? We all want to see the abolition of pain and suffering, the question I ask is, why? If this world truly is a product of chaos and chaos is all there is or ever has been, why do we want more? Why do we imagine a better world as if it were something more than an insane fantasy? Why do we despair over the way it is? We don’t despair for having 2 hands, in fact we laugh at the idea of having more. I am glad to say the world is not the way it is supposed to be. Chaos is not the only state this world has known or ever will know. God made this world good and wonderful, He made it as a sanctuary for Himself and a home for a people He could be in loving community with. Herein lies the problem of evil, in order to love one must freely chose to love. We are free and we have all used that freedom to do things we know are not right. The story continues though, God sent His Son to renew the world and everything in it. The new creation began with the death and resurrection of the God-man. He defeated death and brought the kingdom of God. We now have power to walk in freedom from sin and corruption and take part in the renewal ourselves.

Revelation: the bowls

We now come to the final climax of the age. With the seventh seal broken and the seventh trumpet sounded, the time has come for God to renew everything and give it to His bride. This very large task will begin with the abolition of evil through the pouring out of His wrath. Early in the book the saints cried out for vengeance beneath the altar, they were told to wait until their number would be complete. The grapes of God’s holy wrath have been harvested in the blood of His holy people, the time for Him to act has come. The scene begins with those who had been victorious, those who had been slain for Christ’s sake, singing the sing of Moses. The final Exodus has begun and, by the end of it, all creation will be renewed. The bowls are then given to seven angels and smoke fills the temple so that no one can enter it until the seven bowls are poured out. With the first bowl, sores break out on all who worshipped the beast and his image. With the second, all the sea turns to blood. With the third, all the streams and rivers are turned to blood. The fourth is poured on the sun and it burns up everybody on earth, yet they do not repent. The fifth is poured on the thrown of the beast and it gets so dark that people are said to “gnaw their tongues”. The sixth is poured out and three demons are released that gather the world for “the great war”. With the seventh, a shout is made that it is done, then there is a large earthquake and hail and it says the great whore is remembered before God. There is no intermission within these bowls for they are the finale of God’s wrath. One thing revelation really wants to portray to us is a slowness then haste. It may take a while but, once the ball starts rolling, that’s it. Now is the time to be faithful.

Revelation: the 144 thousand and the final reaping

Every good story has a climax toward the end. That final surge of emotion before the resolving action. The story of this age isn’t any different. So far we’ve seen the world in its state of chaos. The great evils of mankind corporate and individually have broken the order in God’s good world. The 144,000 seen in this passage is the same as in the seal vision. They are those who “follow the Lamb wherever He goes”. The point in this passage is to encourage faithfulness. It says they have not defiled themselves with women, not because they are literal virgins, but because they have not bowed down to idols. They are the army of the lamb and they are now victorious. They achieved victory through patience and, even, death. We now see a procession, the eternal gospel being announced to the world, the fall of Babylon, and the curse upon all who receive the mark. Jesus said that the good news of the kingdom would reach the ends of the earth and then the end would come. The fall of Babylon is talked about in a later chapter, both being the same event with  a slightly different perspective. The mark of the beast was talked about in the post before, but in this context it is primarily talking about the final battle and pointing to the passage directly after the fall of Babylon. So revelation is sort of laying a place marker. Now we come to the reaping of the harvest of the earth, shown with two images the harvest of wheat and the harvest of grapes. The grapes are martyred saints, there will be a severe persecution as has never been seen before, right before the second coming. The ones still left on earth are shown as wheat, they will be taken without seeing death. I hate to use the word “rapture” because of its connotations, but this is the rapture of the church. It happens right before the bowls of wrath because God will not pour His wrath on His people. This passage gives us assurance, whether we survive until His coming or die, we are okay. It also shows us that the martyr’s death is not in vain, for as we will see soon, they are the grapes of God’s holy wrath and He will vindicate His people.

Revelation: the beasts of the land and of the sea

Politics and the sword go hand in hand. Jewish history is marked with the blood from that sword. First, as slaves in Egypt with the Pharaoh’s infanticide. Then, the judge period with the Philistines. Again with the split between Judah and Israel. Then Israel going into captivity, Judah following them a few generations later. Babylon being captured by the Medo-Persians. All these events having their own blood baths. Some people of Judah were allowed to go back only to be held in captivity to the Greek and Roman empires. Oppression seems to be never ending. Daniel was told to write about these things before hand but, in a very apocalyptic(yet self-explanatory) way. He sees a vision of 4 succeeding beasts, then the ancient of days takes his place as king, then the beast is allowed to go a little longer until a court day, that is when the kingdom will be granted to the holy ones. John is, in this vision, explaining how all this will happen. He first sees a creature coming from the sea that represents a composite of all the beasts in Daniel. This is the spirit behind them, the spirit of empire. He has seven heads but one appears to be wounded. The fatal wound was healed and he made all worship him. This is deeply historical, no doubt pointing to Rome. Yet, also pointing to a much bigger reality than Rome. That is to say, Rome was a big part of the imagery. It had been wounded when Nero killed himself and other times before that. Yet it always seems to come back. This is the meaning, empire will seem to die and come back. In the process, killing saints and destroying the earth. He is said to be given authority to speak blasphemies for 42 months, this points back to the outer court being trampled 42 months. The idea is simple persecution without, peace within. All are made to worship him and any who don’t are murdered. It then tells us this requires the patience of the saints, meaning we will need to be ready to die. This ultimately is pointing to the outward persecution some churches would face. The next beast comes from the earth, that is from within. He looks like a lamb, but speaks like a dragon. This is the false religions, especially the Nicolaitans and Jezebel spoken of in the letters. Even though it looks like the true way, it’s not. It makes all receive the mark of the beast, which can be taken as spiritual or physical. During those days if you pledged your allegiance to Caesar you would get a small stone that would allow you to go to the market and such. The number is 666, no doubt referring to Nero, but John says let him who is wise discern what it means. Nero was the pawn behind the spiritual reality that still repeats today and will one day have a full-scale fulfillment. The ideal behind these two beasts though, is that the enemy will attack from within and without. He will do anything he can to steal kill and destroy the work of God. Thanks be to God he has already lost. In fact, his attacking us is a large part of his defeat.