I remember reading Revelation when I was younger and being so glad when I got past all that “message to the churches” stuff. Now I could break out all the charts and timelines and try to figure out what it all meant for me. It never occurred to me at the time that John’s vision was given to him to meet the desperate needs of his readers, the ekklesias in Asia Minor, that were facing persecution at every turn. They really needed to know that an almighty God was their protector and, whatever trials and troubles they encountered, he would ultimately prevail.
And so, to set the stage for this, John is ushered into the throne room in heaven. The scene before him is nearly impossible to describe. His attempts to do so remind me of a psychedelic drug trip or an out-of-this-world work of art. John uses the symbolism of his day to splash the scene on the canvas. Or what might be equally true, is that the scene was laid out before him using the numbers, icons, and colors of John’s time to help him digest something he was incapable of perceiving in the physical world using only his five senses.
And so, to set the stage for this, John is ushered into the throne room in heaven. The scene before him is nearly impossible to describe. His attempts to do so remind me of a psychedelic drug trip or an out-of-this-world work of art. John uses the symbolism of his day to splash the scene on the canvas. Or what might be equally true, is that the scene was laid out before him using the numbers, icons, and colors of John’s time to help him digest something he was incapable of perceiving in the physical world using only his five senses.
RSS Feed
