And about the year 2012…

During our introduction to the Book of Revelation, some of you asked about predictions that the world will end, or at least some terrible things will happen, in the year 2012.  I said there was nothing about that in the Bible and that I think that people are just trying to make some money with doom-and-gloom forecasts.  Today I just came across an article on CNN.com about the Mayan calendar and people misusing it to say 2012 will be a disastrous year predicted long ago.

Click hear to read the story.

 

Book of Revelation: Introduction

Last week, we got started on what I’m sure will be a very fun, unusual, and exciting study of the Book of Revelation!  We might even make our own movie by the end of this…

There are so many different opinions and ideas about Revelation.  It’s been called “a script for a horror movie” and downright “evil.”  It has also been viewed as some kind of nifty code about the future that only the really dedicated can pick apart and interpret.  But what is Revelation really about, and how can it be meaningful for us, today?!?

So we started off by looking at Revelation 1:1-3 and looked at what the author, a guy named John, claims about his book.  First, he says (no duh) that his book is a revelation – a special message that comes only from God.  The Greek word is apocalypsis, from which we get our word “apocalypse” which we associate not with God revealing something but with the “end of the world” and all the bad, nasty stuff that would occur then.  John also calls his book a prophecy, and we remember from our “God and Us” study that prophecy sometimes predicts the future, but that’s not the main point.  The main point of the prophecy is to remind God’s people what He wants them to do so they can be faithful and obedient to Him.  A prophecy says “Straighten up!” more than it says “UNC will not win the national championship this year” (not a prophecy, just my feeling!).  Finally, John says that what he talks about will happen soon and the time is near.

What does John mean by that?  If Revelation is about the end of the world, then was John wrong?  The world keeps on going 2,000 years after Jesus’ birth and it all stays the same.  The problem may not be that John got his prediction wrong, but that we misunderstand what Revelation is about.  So we talked about how Revelation is one book in a whole series of books in the same genre or type.  Just as there are “mystery” novels and “romance” novels, there were a whole bunch of books called “apocalyptic” books around the time of Revelation.  From about 167 BC to 135 AD, faithful Jews wrote vivid, imaginative, strange books full of symbols, just like Revelation.  These symbols were meant to be understood by the people living at the same time and in the same place as the writer.  They weren’t some code about nuclear weapons and helicopters in the future.  All apocalyptic books were written to Jews, or Christians, who were suffering persecution.  Because they believed in the one God, they were mistreated, beaten up, and even killed by other people.  Apocalyptic books used their strange imagery to help suffering believers have hope and imagine the end of their mistreatment.  They did so by pointing out how the world is really a place where there is an ongoing battle between good and evil.  Some people sign up for the side of evil (or Satan) and some people sign up for the side of good (God).  While it may look like evil is winning at the time, apocalyptic books remind believers that God is stronger and that He will make everything right in the end.

And John wrote to Christians who were in need of that hope!  Revelation was probably written around 95 AD, when a guy named Domitian was emperor, leader of the vast Roman Empire that controlled most of the world that the early Christians knew.  Domitian was a little insecure and decided he needed to be worshiped as Dominus and Deus – Lord and God.  Christians in what was then called Asia Minor (now the country of Turkey) were under growing pressure to go to the Roman temples and worship Domitian instead of the real God.  John encouraged them to resist!

Emperor Domitian (well, his statue at least...)

We see that Domitian and Jesus Christ have competing claims to be worthy of our love and honor.  Both were seen as “Lord and God.”  Both were known as “savior” and the source of good news.  Both proclaimed peace and a Kingdom that they ruled.  But you couldn’t have both in charge of your life at the same time.  You had to make a choice!

Domitian and the Roman Empire are one, but Revelation still speaks to us today, because in many ways we still have to make that choice.  Who are we going to serve?  What will we worship?  And will we love God even if it costs us everything??

Some Important Symbols in Revelation

horns = power/authority
7 = perfection
3 = supernatural realm
4 = the created world
10 = total/complete
12 = God’s people
white = victory
red = war
black = hardship
pale = death

little pink bunny = not weird enough to be in the Book of Revelation