Hi there,
So the book of Revelation, was the first book of the Bible that I ever read (in its entirety) and I have stayed avidly mindful of what I have read there, ever since. But something has dawned on me, over the years (decades now), there really is no accounting, for the mystery of the truth, that it represents. I am not saying "study is futile" or "it fails to elucidate the truth", what I am saying, is that there is a far deeper mystery at the heart of the mystery of the truth, that it imparts. This is what it is to transcend death, through the reading of a holy text. It is not intuitive.
What is it, then, if it is not intuitive? I'm not sure that I should say. Reading it, has brought me to the point, where I am skeptical of all knowledge. To me, it is a "Tower of Babel" moment. My thoughts are scattering and not coming back, I get flashes of this or that principality (horses, trumpets, seals and bowls), my heart yearns for the Church. It seems that chaos around me is dying, and I am not getting swept up in it. This is just a taste of the dynamic that seems to sweep from every page of that book!
In my heart, I know what I want to say, but I find the book of Revelation far more engrossing than that - it is the book of Revelation you should be reading! I have not come to blow my own trumpet, I find that I am utterly rent, that there will never be another book like this! What is God trying to say? That's just it, I think God would prefer that we were just in awe, of all that He can do. In time, God will make the book of Revelation clear, and our obedience to Him will be complete, whatever that obedience might be. As Solomon says "Where do the fool and the wise man end up? Is it not the same place? The grave?" (from memory, Ecclesiastes).
Now I know I hear you say "where is there power, in this? For Christ demands power?" and don't get me wrong, I wish there was a power I could point to, but the truth is all power bows to Christ, all principalities praise His Name. We are nothing, chaff, a dandelion floating on the wind desperately clinging to its one and only seed. We should be in awe of Christ! This is His Revelation! The mystery continues, we do not know its depth or its breadth, only that its tidal waves keep surging, the sea becoming ever more billowing. The world hides, the world and its men cower, but we stand in full appreciation of the might and strength of the Word of God - ready to exalt, ready to extol!
And then I suppose, despite all this, I have the confidence that God's pity will be one great and last master stroke, for me to appreciate. I will stand, for God and He will deal with me as He always has. I will remember to obey the last commandment. I will serve. The living heart of the book of Revelation, giving me constant life; engendering in me a knowledge that all is God's, don't think about it, all is His.
God bless.
Search for mystery in Christ.
God bless.
So the book of Revelation, was the first book of the Bible that I ever read (in its entirety) and I have stayed avidly mindful of what I have read there, ever since. But something has dawned on me, over the years (decades now), there really is no accounting, for the mystery of the truth, that it represents. I am not saying "study is futile" or "it fails to elucidate the truth", what I am saying, is that there is a far deeper mystery at the heart of the mystery of the truth, that it imparts. This is what it is to transcend death, through the reading of a holy text. It is not intuitive.
What is it, then, if it is not intuitive? I'm not sure that I should say. Reading it, has brought me to the point, where I am skeptical of all knowledge. To me, it is a "Tower of Babel" moment. My thoughts are scattering and not coming back, I get flashes of this or that principality (horses, trumpets, seals and bowls), my heart yearns for the Church. It seems that chaos around me is dying, and I am not getting swept up in it. This is just a taste of the dynamic that seems to sweep from every page of that book!
In my heart, I know what I want to say, but I find the book of Revelation far more engrossing than that - it is the book of Revelation you should be reading! I have not come to blow my own trumpet, I find that I am utterly rent, that there will never be another book like this! What is God trying to say? That's just it, I think God would prefer that we were just in awe, of all that He can do. In time, God will make the book of Revelation clear, and our obedience to Him will be complete, whatever that obedience might be. As Solomon says "Where do the fool and the wise man end up? Is it not the same place? The grave?" (from memory, Ecclesiastes).
Now I know I hear you say "where is there power, in this? For Christ demands power?" and don't get me wrong, I wish there was a power I could point to, but the truth is all power bows to Christ, all principalities praise His Name. We are nothing, chaff, a dandelion floating on the wind desperately clinging to its one and only seed. We should be in awe of Christ! This is His Revelation! The mystery continues, we do not know its depth or its breadth, only that its tidal waves keep surging, the sea becoming ever more billowing. The world hides, the world and its men cower, but we stand in full appreciation of the might and strength of the Word of God - ready to exalt, ready to extol!
And then I suppose, despite all this, I have the confidence that God's pity will be one great and last master stroke, for me to appreciate. I will stand, for God and He will deal with me as He always has. I will remember to obey the last commandment. I will serve. The living heart of the book of Revelation, giving me constant life; engendering in me a knowledge that all is God's, don't think about it, all is His.
God bless.
Search for mystery in Christ.
God bless.