This week we are beginning a series on the book of Revelation. We are beginning in the 12th chapter because this is the theological centre of the book. In the Revelation, John the elder, who has been exiled to the Island of Patmos because of his faithful witness, has a series of visions which he describes in apocalyptic language. The visions are not in chronological order and the one we are focussing on these next few weeks is really an overarching vision that encompasses all that goes on in the book. It explains why the church of the 1st Century was going through such a difficult time.
Written about 90 AD during the reign of Domitian the church has been suffering under the heavy hand of the Roman Empire. The tribulation (the Biblical word for persecution) will continue and even get far worse. John is writing with this in mind wanting to encourage and fortify the church for the coming distress. He writes using an apocalyptic style or genre and most of the difficulty in understanding the book have to do with our unfamiliarity with this particular style of literature. It is as different from the Pauline Epistles as poetry is from narrative. It has its own set of rules. Just as when watch a science fiction movie we know and expect certain devices such as time travel, alien creatures, etc. so when we read apocalyptic literature we should expect certain rules to be followed. The language will be symbolic and the images highly cryptic, after all, the word “apocalypse” originally meant that something that was hidden is now revealed. The numbers used should not be taken at face value, they are decidedly symbolic. Part of the reason for writing in this fashion is to conceal the meaning from those for whom the message is not intended. Picture a prisoner smuggling out a letter to his friends that he does not want his captors to understand, and you are close to the spirit of the genre. Familiarity with the Old Testament, particularly the book of Daniel, and participation in the Christian story are necessary to understand the writing.
In our text this week John uses a pagan myth well known to his gentile readers to describe the victory of Jesus over Satan and explain the reason for their present tribulations. It is a good news/bad news story. Jesus has won the victory but the devil is now on earth endeavouring to ravage Jesus’ followers. His defeat is assured but in his fury over his fate he is seeking revenge by persecuting the church. But God’s plan is not in jeopardy. Satan’s time is limited, the believers will overcome because death is not the end, only the beginning, and in fact, death is part of the victory. Revelation is intended like most of scripture to be read out loud. It is intended to evoke emotion and create new understandings of the purposes of God. John is also a prophet and the Word still speaks to us today.
