The Revelation to John

The Revelation to John kept me up till the wee hours this past Sunday morning. My original intention was to read Ecclesiastes first then Revelations but “the Philosopher” started depressing me so I moved to Revelation. I’d never read the book in full — only in parts through verses cited and summaries, so starting and finishing it in one sitting was a must to get the “full” picture of whether it’s the locusts, the plague, the great flood or the great fire that will finish us in the end.

I love the conversation and the intersections the book draws with other books in the Bible. By the time I finished reading it, the words that were ringing in my head were: “What has happened before will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing new in the world.” (Ecc 1:9. By the way, a word of advice, Ecclesiastes will depress you if you’re not careful). Anyway, the correlations on what happened in the past, what is happening now and what will happen in the future are very interesting and I found myself making notes to myself to go read and find out more on things, people, places and phenomena described in the book.

Some of them are:

- I don’t think death and destruction really are all that personal to God. It’s more a means to an end us mere earthlings have no idea about. What’s lovely though is that He constantly reassures that he will restore and sure enough, He always does.
— That earthquake we had from a few weeks ago? I couldn’t help thinking about it while reading the text because there’s a lot of it in there. I also haven’t been able to stop thinking about that earthquake and how to describe that loud sound it made. There’s a part in the book where the sound of an earthquake is described as a “roaring waterfall” and “like loud peals of thunder”
— The relationship between God and the fallen angel (the devil) is also an interesting one. The way He allows him to cause destruction and deception for a time and then takes him away and locks him up for a1000 years and then lets him loose again for a little while. It really made me wonder about the nature of their relationship.
— The significance of the number 7 — the message to the 7 churches, the 7 spirits of God, the 7 bowls of God’s anger, etc.
— The significance and meaning behind certain numbers in the book — 144 000 people of Israel, the 1260 days the woman with a child was kept in the desert under protection, 24 elders surround the throne …

• Since writing this, it’s been brought to my attention how helpful it is to understand numerology as deployed in the Bible. “Seven, for example is a sign of completeness (hence seven days of the week); seven sacraments in some traditions. Twelve represents “everyone”. The tribes of Israel, Jesus’ disciples; 144 00 is 120 x 1200. Notice the 12s there”. (Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya)
  — “The Fall of Babylon” — I can’t help but thinking this one is about capitalism and all the destruction it has caused in the world.
  — “The Famous Prostitute” — this is the only time a woman is mentioned in the book. I’m still uncomfortable with the depiction and treatment of women in the Bible, always at extremes — either a heathen/temptress/immoral or holier than thou and deserving veneration.
  — Armageddon is only mentioned once in the book and within the context of God pouring out His anger on Earth. The imagery is quite scary.
  — The story of “the mark of the beast” is one I’ve been hearing for many years and reference to it is also indeed in the Revelation.

There’s lots more in this book but one thing I know for sure is that the more I read the Bible, the more I realise how important it is to read other scared texts such as the Torah and the Quran as well because they all talk also talk to each in very enlightening ways. Reading and keeping an inquisitive and open mind remain important in coming to grips with all the seemingly strange things happening all around us.

All in all, I’m grateful to find that the Bible is not a static text and it’s important not to become fanatical about it and read it in conjunction with other texts. It speaks to things that have been before, that are now and that will be. It’s an ongoing conversation.