So at the time this books was being written, the churches in Asia Minor would have been witnessing a great deal of suffering and oppression, both around them and within their communities. They would have looked around at the world and thought, "What is going on in the world?" We ask that same question today, as we witness the constant violence and oppression and brokenness everywhere.

John's response is to tell a story revealing that there's more going on in the world than meets the eye. And through this story, he's saying that evil powers are at work in the world and that those spiritual powers manifest themselves in the physical. Paul speaks to this in Ephesians, saying, "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood," etc.

Now this next part in chapter 13 is where things get pretty wild (well, more wild than they already were, right?). There's a dragon, and there are two beasts, which are a rather crude imitation of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The dragon promises (like God promises), peace, security, health, happiness, etc. But the way of the dragon is the way of violence. The way of the Lamb is love and grace. This theme is brought up in different ways with different metaphors time and time and time again in this little book.

Follow the ways of the dragon - or, follow the ways of the lamb. This is hard. Sometimes it's black and white. But, sometimes it's gray. And when it's gray, we lean toward grace - we lean toward self-sacrifice - we carry ourselves in a posture of listening and learning.

Speaker: Aaron Vis

Scripture: Revelation 12:1-17; 14:1-5

http://bible.com/events/48927297