Since the summer, I have being doing a verse by verse study of the book of Revelation. I am surprised by what I have already learned and what I have had to unlearn. Growing up, I always thought (and heard preached) that Revelation was a book about the end times. That cracking the code of Revelation would give you a better idea of when Jesus would return. Although Revelation does in fact have details about the end times, that is not what it is primarily about.
First of all Revelation tells you in its first verses that it is the revelation of Jesus Christ, knowing who he is. A beautiful picture is painted of Jesus, walking amongst the lampstands, which are revealed to be his church. The images of who he is are straight from the Old Testament. He holds the stars in his right hand, and yet he puts that same right hand on the shoulder of John (the writer) to comfort him. He is the one who loves us. He is the one who is sovereign over everything.
Second, a lot of people think that from chapter 4 onward, the events described are of the future, but if you look carefully, same or similar events are told in (7)cycles from different angles. If they are separate events, then Jesus returns in judgement many times instead of once, and that's just not true. I don't pretend to have it all figured out and I don't want to be dogmatic about my opinions either. What I do want to share and what surprises me most is how hopeful the book is. I have put off studying it for years because it seemed daunting and scary. I had heard that it was written to encourage the church and I had kind of thought, what does discouragement look like if this is someone's idea of encouragement. But I was wrong. Knowing and understanding that there is a cosmic battle going on is helpful in many ways. It tells us that other people are not the enemy. It tells us who sits on the throne in heaven. It reveals that the one who has the entire plan of world history in his right hand is also the one who chose to save us. As we enter the season of Advent today, I have never felt more profoundly the miracle of light entering the world. Of Jesus choosing to take on humble flesh in order to save us.
So I stare at the twinkling lights on my tree and marvel at the Christmas story once again.
