A Lamp for Today

We come to the very center of the Apocalypse in Revelation 12:7-12, where we hear that Christ’s victory is not simply a future hope, but assured by His blood, and the word of the martyrs. We are helped in our understanding the suffering now has deep meaning, by heeding this vision and declaration in the light of Wisdom 2:24, Job 1, and Luke 10:18-22.

This week, we read Revelation 12:1-6, mindful of the its connection with the previous chapter, and with an eye to its inner mystery concerning the Theotokos, our identity, and the victory of Christ. We are helped by attention to Deuteronomy 1:29-33; Psalm 2:7-9, and Daniel 7, along with the various comments of ancient theologians.

This week we look to Rev 11:15-19, clarifying the scene that we find there by means of Psalm 2, 2 Sam 6, Luke 1:42-45. Does the Theotokos make a mysterious appearance here?

We look to John’s intriguing vision of the Temple and the two witnesses in Revelation 11:1-14, aided by the visions of two earlier prophets in Ezekiel 40 and Zechariah 4. John’s images help us to understand that the bitter-sweet scroll pertains to us, and our witness in a God-defying world, as we follow the slaughtered-standing Lamb wherever He goes.

We look to John’s intriguing vision of the Temple and the two witnesses in Revelation 11:1-14, aided by the visions of two earlier prophets in Ezekiel 40 and Zechariah 4. John’s images help us to understand that the bitter-sweet scroll pertains to us, and our witness in a God-defying world, as we follow the slaughtered-standing Lamb wherever He goes.

This week we read Revelation 10, by which we are taught both how God has revealed Himself clearly in Jesus, and also how there remain mysteries that we cannot fathom. We read this chapter in the light of Ezekiel 3:1-3 and Daniel 9-12, learning that the new covenant brings us a new intimacy with God, but also calls for patience as we await God’s completion of His work.

We read the difficult chapter of Revelation 9, looking to Job, Ezekiel 9:3-8, the words of Jesus (Luke 21:18), and the wisdom of some early commentators in order to help us consider the problem of evil, placed alongside our omnipotent and loving God.

We encounter the silence of heaven and the difficult warnings of the first four trumpets in Rev. 8, with the help of passages from Exodus, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Zechariah. In the presence of mystery, we wait for God to fulfill His promises, knowing that His will is for all to turn to Him.

This week we read Revelation 7, which offers a double vision of God’s people, with the help of OT lists of the tribes, and the wisdom of the Venerable Bede. I hope that my friends will not mind that I move, from our analysis of this Scriptural vision of the faithful, to a glimpse at my own imaginative work. Beyond the White Fence is a children’s book (for ages 8-13), scheduled to be published at the end of September by Ancient Faith Ministries. It, too, invites us to a larger vision of reality, by which our daily lives, in their terror or monotony, are put in perspective. Listeners are invited, if close to Pittsburgh, to a book launch on Sat Oct 9 at 3:00 p.m., hosted by St. Nicholas McKees Rocks.

Chapter 6 of Revelation has some uncomfortable moments, but in it we discern the care and deliverance of our Savior, who models for us the Christian way of victory by the cross. We read this difficult sequence of the seals by reference to ancient fathers, Zechariah 6 and 11, and Isaiah.