Wisdom; Revelation 15-18

May the mumbling commence!

As I read Revelation, I cannot help but wonder and even speculate about the many images and plagues that are written about by John the Seer.  In Revelation Chapter seventeen, there is a sentence that needs to be repeatedly meditated upon – “This calls for wisdom.” (Verse 9a)

Indeed, being able to decipher the code of Revelation is difficult and calls for wisdom above any of human flesh.  Let’s think about the layers of code.  One: we need to remember that this letter was written to a people who were being persecuted.  It takes some persecution to begin to understand Revelation, and persecution for the sake of Jesus is something that US Christians know little or nothing about.

Two: because this letter was written to a persecuted people, the letter had to be written in code that only the writer and the intended audience could understand.  In those days, there was no secure postal service that made sure only the intended recipients received the letter.  AND the letter would take months to deliver with great risk involved.  The letter had to be written in code so that if it fell into the wrong hands little of it would be understandable.  Even if we find ourselves persecuted for the sake of Jesus’ name, we still need to exercise care in our interpretation.  There is no certain way we can crack the code that was established between the author and the audience.

Three: the words of these revelations have their source in God.  Even John the Seer himself would not have fully understood the revelation from God.  Granted, some of the revelation is decoded in the Scripture, but it is decoded into the code that existed between the author and the audience…

So, yes, we can speculate about who the images in Revelation represented in John’s day.  We can speculate what the various plagues represented in John’s day.  But we can never know with certainty one way or the other.  Speculation can make entertaining books of fiction, but speculation is all that we will have.

And we can further speculate when we perceive persecution for the name of Christ in our own lives.  We can wonder about current events and current leaders.  How might they fit into the images of Revelation?  To speculate in this way would gain us nothing.  Such speculation would only distract us from the message we need to hear.

That message is this: God is in control.  We need to have patient endurance in our faith in Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God.  Jesus did not quake with fear at the foot of the cross.  He knew that his heavenly Father was in control.  So, Jesus gave the greatest act of worship to God – obedient submission to the will of God. 

Let us say along with Jesus, “Here I am, O God.  Do with me as you will, because I know that your will is pleasing and perfect for me.”  This submission is my perfect worship of the one and only God, who created all things.

I seek the Lord for wisdom in my day and age so that I may glorify God and His Christ with the way I live my life…

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out