Wednesday, March 10, 2010

What a Revelation!


Wouldn't it be nice if heaven was full of orchids and every other flower we love? If you look closely at an orchid, you'll see that each individual flower has a little 'face'. This orchid plant is one of many in bloom on our patio. We all want to have a mental picture of what heaven may be like. The book we most often look to for clues is the Book of Revelation.

The apostle John is thought to have written this book. The name 'John' is mentioned in the book four times. The language and style of writing isn't the same as contained in other books he's written, the gospel of John or John I, II and III which makes some Biblical historians 'wonder'. The Bible is the most scrutinized piece of literature that has ever been written. The very first verse, part of the prologue, gives us the purpose of this book...

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw - that is, the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ". Rev. 1:1 - 2.

Christians were entering a period of persecution during the time this book was written on the Greek Island of Patmos. The time period was around 95 A.D., and there was a struggle between the Christians and Romans. The Romans became hostile over the issue of Caesar worship. The Christians claimed Christ was Lord, not Caesar, and they refused to worship Caesar. Believers are shown that they are protected against spiritual harm and will be vindicated when Christ returns.

Revelation's literary form is apocalyptic and highly symbolic. It contains a lot of bizarre visions. The first time I read through the whole book was in 1973 while on a family vacation at Bass Lake, near Yosemite National Park. I was reading in the Living Bible. I thought I'd be able to understand it better. I would fall asleep and have nightmares! I noticed the number '7' is mentioned often...in fact, 52 times! I found that the number '7' is special in Scripture and symbolically stands for completeness. Now this was pretty great news as we were a family of 7 that the Lord had made 'complete'.

The Book of Revelation is an account, yes difficult to untangle, which portrays a timeless truth.....victory of good over evil. As you study, you will find that -

Jesus Christ .......

* existed from eternity

* is the source of life

* is sovereign over life

We'll look at some interesting verses in this very fascinating book next time. Right now I have pork chops cooking on the stove. I'm simmering them in beef broth, onion, sliced fresh apple and will add a can of sauerkraut......yum! Excuse me, I'm doing a Bible blog, not cooking....lost my way!
Thank you Lord that you have a plan and are able to keep us focused.