The Unveiling Part II

The Greek title for Revelation is Apokalupsis, Apocalypse, which literally means "the unveiling." The idea being that the readers of Revelation would have the "veil" pulled off their eyes and be presented with the actual picture of reality.

The letter, with all of its amazing imagery, showed the reader that things were not as they seemed and although it may not look like it, God, not Caesar, was actually the one in control of history. That "Jesus Christ was the ruler of the kings of the earth" (Rev 1.5).

A Christian Dirce by Siemiradzki - a Christian woman martyred under Nero.

At the heart of Revelation is a message aimed at bolstering perseverance in the face of adversity and as I wrote yesterday, the original readers were experiencing adversity.

Here's how the text conveys that message:

Revelation 1.3 reads "Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and keep what is written in it; for the time is near."

When a letter reached a community in the ancient world, the community would gather and listen to the letter read out loud.

So it's Brando and he's not reading, but you get the idea!

This is how the letter of Revelation was received by its original communities - a fact that dramatically affects how the book is to be understood. The first readers, the majority of which were actually "hearers", wouldn't have had the opportunity to sit and investigate every line of the letter.

Instead, the hearer-reader would have listened to the letter from start to finish and allowed the vivid imagery to overwhelm him/her. In this way the hearer-reader could not help but be immersed in the powerful message that God was in control and would one day make all things right (Rev 21.3-5).

And although the images are quite unfamiliar to the modern reader, they weren't to the original audience. Of the 404 verses in the letter of Revelation, 278 of them contain either an allusion to or a quotation from the Hebrew Scriptures.

The original hearer-readers had no problem understanding the powerfully symbolic language, nor any problem knowing what to do with it.

In this way, Revelation functions much like the modern day movie trailer:

The trailer, through its powerful images, intense music, and emotional subject matter, serves only one purpose: to convince the audience to see the movie.

Revelation's powerful images, intense scenarios, and incredible picture of hope for those who trust God, serve only one purpose as well: to infuse life into the most desperate of circumstances.

Keep this in mind the next time you crack open the letter of Revelation. Read it letting the images overwhelm you and use its message of hope and its challenge to live as if God is really in control, to guide you through your life.

For an excellent resource for your journey through the letter, see Eugene Boring's commentary that is the farthest from his namesake.

The Unveiling Part I

The letter of Revelation, written during the reign of the brutal Roman emperor Domitian (ruled AD 81-96), addressed an audience who wondered if being a Christian was worth the cost. General resentment towards Christians had started about 30 years earlier when Nero blamed them for the Great Fire of Rome.

The Great Fire of Rome, AD 64

The Roman historian Tacitus (AD 56-117) tells us:

In accordance, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not as much of the crime of firing the city as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. (Annals, 15.44)

The Torches of Nero by Siemiradski, 1876. Look closely as Christians are the torches.

It was unclear whether the Christians "pleaded guilty" to arson or simply to being Christian. None-the-less they were severely punished and as Tacitus notes, not so much for the crime, but for "hatred against mankind." Christians objected to many elements of Roman culture and this caused them to be viewed in this way. 

In AD 70 the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. This was the second destruction of the Temple, the first being in 586 BC by the Babylonians. This event forever changed the face of Judaism and its relationship to the sacrificial system.

The Arch of Titus - carrying away the spoils from the Temple.

Then in AD 79 Mount Vesuvius erupted, blacking out the sky for hundreds of miles and burying Pompeii. 

Mt Vesuvius as seen from the ruins of Pompeii

Times were turbulent and to make matters worse, Domitian, who thought of himself as divine, began enforcing emperor worship. When he appeared in public he would urge the crowds to shout:

All hail to our Lord (kurios, which is the same word used for Jesus in the NT) and to his Lady!

Domitian

Domitian put police in place to enforce his veneration and those who did not comply were banished or even executed.

This is the context for Revelation. The recipients of the letter were feeling pressure to assimilate with the Roman culture, as being a Christian was beginning to cost them convenience, social status, and even their lives. 

They needed to hear that God was in control and proclaim that Kurios Christos, Christ is Lord, and not Kurios Kaisaros, Caesar is Lord, even in the face of death.

Revelation is one of the most misinterpreted texts in the Bible -  which is a shame because such interpretations miss out on how incredibly practical the letter is. 

Check back tomorrow for more on Revelation.

For The Masses

Johannes Gutenberg revolutionized the world by inventing the printing press in 1440 A.D.  Up until then, books were extremely expensive and were of limited availability, mainly only to the wealthy. 

Gutenberg Printing Press

The ability to inexpensively mass-produce information, ushered the western world from the pre-modern era to the modern era. This allowed the common people access to information once reserved only for the elite ruling class. Literacy rates dramatically increased.

Gutenberg's most famous work is his highly aesthetic printing of the Vulgate, Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible from 405 A.D.:

Gutenberg Bible

The problem with the Vulgate is that it was written in Latin, which limited its access mainly to the religious elite who could read it. But the masses desperately needed access to the Bible, as they were being forced by the church to do a number of things contrary to the spirit of the Bible. 

One such practice was the selling of indulgences, where people gave money to the church to gain forgiveness of sins. 

A priest selling indulgences to the townspeople.

This practice enraged a German monk named, Martin Luther, who in 1517, nailed his 95 Thesis, a list of complaints detailing such abuses, to the door of his local church.  These complaints, written in Latin, were quickly translated into German, mass printed, and spread throughout Germany and greater Europe.

Castle Church, Wittenberg, Germany, where Luther posted his 95 Thesis.

The message of liberation contained in the Thesis spread like wildfire and this event became the major catalyst for the Protestant Reformation, a movement dominated by the idea that a person has access to God without going through the institution of the church.

But the 95 Thesis wasn't enough for the people, they needed the Bible. There were versions of the Bible translated into German at this time, but it wasn't until Luther completed his version, in 1534, that the Bible became available to a widespread audience. Luther's Bible owed its popularity to both his celebrity status and the translation's excellent grasp of the common vernacular.

Die Bibel, Luther's German Translation of the Bible

The common person now had access to the Bible and was able to study on his/her own. The individual, apart from the religious institution, was now able to decide what he/she thought about matters of faith. 

There are incredible advantages to this, as the religious institutions no longer monopolized information and a whole new era of individual rights, education, and liberation was born.

But there are disadvantages as well. The Bible is an ancient document, written by people whose culture, language, and world view are very different from our own. It takes a collaboration of effort to be able to read the original text, written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and even more to understand what it means.

We should be thankful that we have access to the Bible, a document like no other, that contains God's narrative for redeeming, renewing, and reclaiming all of creation. But we must understand that we stand on the shoulders of the people who provide us such access.

Hidden Treasures

It only takes a cursory glance at the New Testament (NT) to notice it is filled with Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) quotations. A very interesting study can be had by looking up the passages to which the NT refers. 

For example, Mark 1.2-3 reads:

As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
                 
                        "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of, 
                               who will prepare your way; 
                             the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
                          'Prepare the ways of the Lord,
                             make his paths straight.'"

When we scour the pages of Isaiah we realize that only half the quotation comes from that book. The text in bold comes from Malachi 3.1 (cf. Ex 23.20), while the bottom half is from Isaiah 40.3.

Mark was the first gospel written and was used extensively by Matthew and Luke as they compiled their versions of the Jesus event. In fact 97.2% of Mark is found in Matthew and 88.4% of Mark is found in Luke!

When Matthew and Luke are parallel to Mark they are shorter; it seems they have edited Mark. Take for example what happens when Matthew and Luke handle the passage from above; both of them remove the text from Malachi and present only the Isaiah quote:

Matthew 3.3:

This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

                            The voice of one crying out in
                               the wilderness:
                            'Prepare the way of the Lord,
                               make his paths straight.'

Luke 3.4:

As it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

                            The voice of one crying out in
                               the wilderness:
                            'Prepare the way of the Lord,
                               make his paths straight.'

  

This is just one of many examples that help us understand how the Bible was composed. Next time you are reading through the New Testament and come across a quote from the Hebrew Scriptures, look it up. You'll be amazed at what you find!           

We Can Work With That

Sometimes we bite off more than we can chew. Sometimes we promise more than we can deliver. Take this story about Jesus' follower Peter from the gospel of John. 

In John chapter 14, Jesus is in Jerusalem teaching his disciples about how they should carry on his work when he is gone.

Peter, often a spokesman for the disciples, asks, "Where are you going?" To which Jesus replies, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but your time will come." 

Peter, connecting the dots on a number of similar statements Jesus had made, figured out Jesus was talking about his death. So he said, "I am with you all the way! Even if it costs me my life!" Jesus, crushing Peter's enthusiasm, says, "Will you really? I tell you straight, before this is over you will deny that you even know me; and not once, but three times!" 

Sure enough at Jesus' trial, Peter is asked by three separate people if he knows Jesus and all three times he denies it (Jn 18.17, 25-7). Peter realizes what he has done and runs out from the trial bitterly weeping - no doubt questioning if the last three years of his life spent with Jesus were a complete waste.

Jesus' trial doesn't go so well and he ends up being convicted of treason and is sentenced to death. He is crucified, buried and then three days later the craziest thing happens: he comes back to life. After appearing to a number of people he finds some time to connect with Peter (Jn 21.15ff).

Jesus asks him, "Peter do you love (Gk. agape) me?" John records Jesus using a very powerful word for love here: agape, which the early Christians thought of as the name for the highest and purest form of love.

Peter responds, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love (Gk. phileo) you." Peter uses a different word for love. Phileo love connoted friendship or brotherhood. 

Jesus asks him a second time, "Do you agape me?" Peter again states, "Yes, Lord; you know that I phileo you." 

Jesus asks Peter a third time, but this time it's different: "Peter, do you phileo me?" Peter is broken. He knows exactly why Jesus has asked him three times. He responds, "You know everything about me and so you know that I phileo you." 

Jesus met Peter right where he was. Jesus pushed him, asking him if he loved him on a level that was deeper than that of friends or brothers, and Peter wasn't ready. So he asks again, but Peter just wasn't there yet. 

John exposes something about Jesus here that is extremely profound: instead of saying to Peter, "Ok, well, I guess our relationship is over because you don't love me in the way I love you" Jesus changes his language and uses the same word Peter had been using. As if to say, "Alright Peter, that's ok, we can work with that."

I think when we over promise to God and don't deliver, our tendency is self doubt. We wonder if God could love us in our broken state. We wonder if we can still be used. This is exactly where God comes down, meets us face to face and says, "That's alright, we can work with that."

What Are You Drinking?

The authors of the Bible use poetry to communicate the most powerful of ideas. This is most likely why two-thirds of the Bible is poetry.

No other genre (style of writing) is as open to such a broad spectrum of interpretation and application. Poetry is a perfect medium for a message that has been passed on for thousands of years, to hundreds of cultures.

Furthermore, no other genre communicates as potently in as small a space. Take for example, this poem from the book of Jeremiah, that highlights the lament of a God who has been rejected by his people:

                                For my people have committed two evils; 

                                    they have forsaken me, 

                                the fountain of living water, 

                                    and dug out cisterns for themselves, 

                                  cracked cisterns 

                                    that can hold no water. 2.13

There were three water sources in the Ancient Near East at this time. In order of "freshness":

Natural Spring

Well

Cistern

Cisterns were the least desirable water source in the ancient world. The water was frequently contaminated with feces and/or dead animals and because of this, was a haven for disease.

It was bad enough that the people rejected Yahweh, the fountain of living water. But they didn't stop there, they went on to dig cisterns to hold their own water. The cisterns represent the idols the Israelites fashioned with their hands and looked to for life.

But this is not the complete image Jeremiah paints for us. The poem continues:

                                    and dug out cisterns for themselves,

                                      cracked cisterns 

                                        that can hold no water. 2.13

Note how each line builds on the other: "they dug cisterns, No! Not just cisterns, but cracked cisterns! Cisterns that don't hold water!"

Israel traded Yahweh, the source of life overflowing, for dank, broken cisterns, that did not even function!

The application for us is important. Where do we trade the substance of God for things we create and  attempt to control? Where are we not submitting to God and instead trying to store our own life source in ways that simply don't work?

In the end the question may be, "What are you drinking?"

Mighty Warrior...sort of

The book of Judges records the constant cycle of: Israel's rejection of Yahweh, their subsequent bondage to foreign powers, Yahweh's deliverance using a "Judge", a human he empowers, peace for a while, and then the whole cycle starts over again! 

Samson, a muscle-bound man, who desperately avoided hair cuts, was one such judge; as was Deborah, a prophetess with an aptitude for leadership. Her victory Song in Judges chapter 5, is thought to be the oldest part of the Bible because of its grammar and vocabulary.

Samson and Deborah epitomized the typical larger-than-life qualities of a judge. But there is another judge who is worthy of our attention, one that was the farthest thing from a Samson or a Deborah, and that was Gideon.

Gideon's story starts in Judges chapter 6, where the Israelites are back in trouble, this time with the Midianites and Amalekites, who are terrorizing them and eating all their food (6.3). The Israelites cry out to their god for help and Yahweh responds, telling them:

Look, I have rescued you from being enslaved to the most powerful nation in the known world, given you a place to call your own and all I have asked is that you pay attention to me and not the gods of the surrounding people! But you don't listen!

After this, Yahweh, like any good parent, begins to orchestrate deliverance. But he doesn't choose a guy with big muscles, or an amazing leader, he chooses our man Gideon, who happens to be threshing wheat in a wine press at the time God calls on him!

The irony here is simply brilliant: threshing wheat requires an open space, where the wheat would be thrown into the air and a light breeze would separate it from the chaff:

But Gideon, fearful that his enemies will come take his food, is attempting this process in a dug out wine press:

A wine press found in the Shephelah (lowlands) of western Israel.

This is the image we get when Yahweh comes to Gideon saying, "Yahweh is with you, mighty warrior" (6.12). I can just picture Gideon looking around, "Are you talking to me?" And not in the De Niro Taxi Driver inflection, but in the incredibly timid, "I think you have the wrong guy."

But Yahweh didn't have the wrong guy and although Gideon was quick to point out that his "family was the weakest in the entire area, and he the least in his family" (6.15), he would go on to  powerfully deliver God's people. 

The story of Gideon is a great example of God meeting us where we are - hiding knee deep  in our inadequacies, with all of our doubts, and using us to accomplish his ends all the same.

Go Mighty Warrior, Go!