A final thought....

So what did you think?

Was the E100 a good way to learn or review the "Essential" passages of scripture?

Was this blog helpful, not so helpful?  How so?  Be honest!

What passages were a surprise to you?

What should have been included but wasn't?

What was included but you don't think make the top 100?

You can comment below (please include some sort of name), or if you have trouble, email me at:  eleanor(dot)braun(at)gmail(dot)com.

Thanks for reading along with me.  I know there are at a least a few of you, and I'd love to hear from you.

Eleanor

100 - The New Jerusalem

Revelation 21:1 - 22:21

New Jerusalem

"These concluding images [of a new heaven, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem] depict the heart of Revelation's eschatology and show the hope toward which all the cosmic conflict moves. ...Revelation's ultimate concern is not with the end of the world, but with the end of evil that distorts creation.  The destruction of evil in [the prior reading] marks the end of the first heaven and the first earth, clearing the way for the establishment of God's reign of justice on earth....John's vision of the future is creation affirming, not creation denying; his vision is not of a heavenly city, but of a new city that God sends from heaven to earth.  This vision of a restored and renewed creation is consistent with the eschatological hopes of the Hebrew Scripture."

O'Day and Peterson, Theological Bible Commentary, p 478.

99 - Hallelujah!

Revelation 19:1 - 20:15

The reading starts:

After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,
‘Hallelujah! (emphasis added) 

Well, BEFORE this we have skipped over several chapters in which the sovereignty of God triumphs over all the powers and evils of humankind on earth.  The two chapters immediately preceding recount the defeat of the "Whore of Babylon", representing Rome and all people who have disregarded God's sovereignty.

Whore of Babylon

The seer (John) identifies at least three types of charges:  idolatry and sorcery, violence, and excessive wealth.  The rejoicing in heaven which starts our reading comes from the knowledge that the powers of the earth will succumb to God.

The great climax of the cosmic battle has occurred, and God has triumphed over the evil which distorts the creation God intended for humankind.

Our reading continues with a description of a millennial period during which Christ would reign, leading to the final judgment at which time the dead are "judged according to their works," harking back to an earlier discussion of faith and works.

Do you see this as a literal description of what will happen at the end of the world?  I don't, but I have to admit I don't know.  We cannot know, but I believe those who would try to tie events of history to the visions of this book are using up breath that should be used to teach Jesus' message of justice and compassion.

98 - The Throne of Heaven

Revelation 4:1 - 7:17

What is your image of God?

The God who speaks the universe into existence?

The God who walks in the garden in the evening breeze?

The God who bargains with Abraham over the lives of the people of Sodom?

Or the God of the burning bush?

Or the God who liberates his people from slavery?

Or the God who writes laws on tablets of stone?

Perhaps the God who smacks down the priests of Baal?

Or the God who wants us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with him?

Or God the tender shepherd who leads us by still waters?

Or God as a mother who cannot forget her child?

Or God as Sophia, Holy Wisdom?

Or God in Jesus, the compassionate one?

Or God in the Holy Spirit, the inspiring one?

Writing, and reading, these descriptions underline how impossible it is to put "God" into human language. God is all of that and so much more.  We have no idea how great is our God.

Now in the beginning of our reading today we see a description that just blows our socks off.

The seer, John, is transported to heaven and sees a throne, with one seated on the throne.  What does the One look like?  "Like jasper and carnelian [gemstones] and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald."  Did you ever imagine God to look like gemstones?

Throne of Heaven

Some of the imagery is drawn from Ezekiel, another vision-laden prophetic book.  It leaves no doubt of God's sovereignty over the universe.

Then we encounter the Lamb.  Quoting Raymond Brown:  "The Lamb, which stands as though slain, is identified as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, who has conquered.  (Clearly here paradoxical symbolism outstrips descriptive logic.)"

Lamb on ceiling at Vatican

The vision is of the Creator and the Redeemer.

Notably in this vision the other inhabitants recognize in Whose presence they are, and engage in continuous songs of praise and worship.

The Lamb now takes the Scroll with the seven seals, and begins to open them.

Scroll with seven seals

The first four seals reveal the famous four horsemen of the Apocalypse:

Four Horsemen:  Conquest, Bloody Strife, Famine, Pestilence

The equine vision is loosely derived from two passages in Zechariah (here and here), but may also represent contemporary issues.

The fifth seal reveals the souls of martyrs, possibly those killed in the persecutions by the Emperor Nero during the 60's.

The sixth seal reveals cosmic disturbances such as earthquakes, storms, lunar eclipses and other events seen as God's judgment on the earth.  We now recognize such events as the natural consequences of an earth with tectonic plates, a usually but not always benign atmosphere, and a satellite revolving around it.  So last week's earthquake and hurricane here on the eastern seaboard were not the sign of the end of the world (I hope).

Before we get to the seventh seal, our seer, John, shares his vision of protection given to 144,000 "servants of God" by being sealed on their foreheads.  And then there was an uncountable multitude standing before the throne and before the Lamb, singing and worshiping God.  

This reading ends with the joy of those who "have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" -- all those in the presence of God:

15 For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat;
17 for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 

97 - Message to the Churches

Revelation 2:1 - 3:22

In chapter 1 we learned that John was directed to send a book to seven churches:

10I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11saying, ‘Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.’

Seven churches addressed in Revelation

In Paul's letters to churches in Ephesus, Corinth, Philippi and Galatia, we often had to tease out the problem Paul was addressing by the advice he gave the churches.

Here however the message is quite clear and direct:  what they are doing right, what they are doing wrong, what they need to do to win the victory.  The formula is followed precisely. You could put in in a chart.

In fact many folks have constructed a chart.  Here's one here.

You see that at least one church, Laodicea, has nothing worth commending, and two churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia, receive no rebukes.

But also notice along the top row of this chart.  The author has included a correlation to historical times, as though each church's situation is a prophecy, a foretelling, of what is to come in the future.  If you read through the Wikipedia description of the religious interpretations of Revelation, you see that one option is the "futurist" model.  This chart's correlations reflect that point of view.  I notice that the author of the chart finds particular evil at the height of the Roman Catholic church (Papal supremacy of Dark Ages), and particular good in the (Protestant) Great Awakening.  This perhaps represents a particular viewpoint!

Nonetheless the chart, and more to the point the descriptions of the various churches in Asia Minor, give us some language to evaluate the condition of the Christian church in 21st century America.

What do you think the strengths and weaknesses are?  What advice would we receive?

96 - A Voice and a Vision

Revelation 1:1-20

We've read through many of they key passages of the Bible, encountering creation, beginnings, ancestors, slavery, liberation, law, promised land, battles, judges, kings and kingdoms, prophets, psalms and wisdom, exile, return, birth of the Messiah, beatitudes, parables, miracles, arrest and trial, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, Holy Spirit, missionaries, new churches, conflict, and guidance.

Now we come to the last book, the Revelation, or the Apocalypse.  This is where it should all come together, but this book is a maze inside a mystery, all in over-the-top symbolic language.  What are we to make of it?

First a suggestion, true of all of scripture, but especially true for Revelation:  you will get much more out of it if you (1) use an annotated or study bible, and (2) have and use a good commentary.

Two study bibles you might look at:

The Harper Collins Study Bible, and

The New Oxford Annotated Bible

These books have good introductions to each book, setting them in context, giving a brief overview of what is known about the authors, the circumstances of the writing, and how they relate to the rest of the bible.  The notes, or annotations, are invaluable in interpreting the particular language used, drawing attention to meaning and sources of references in the text.  For example, Revelation is chock full of Old Testament references which might be missed without the annotations.

Commentaries I find useful include*:

The Oxford Bible Commentary

Theological Bible Commentary, O'Day & Petersen

An Introduction to the New Testament, Raymond Brown

And if you are excited by this study and have not done so, please consider signing up for Education for Ministry, where you can study scripture in a group, using materials developed by the University of the South at Sewanee.

Now back to our regularly scheduled comments.

What are we to make of Revelation?

We get a clue to the difficulty we have in understanding this book by looking at its other name:  "Apocalypse," which means revelation.  Apocalyptic literature is a special genre that is characterized by visions mediated by a heavenly being.  The visions often are interpreted to refer to current events and circumstances, but with a cosmic, decisive judgement at the end.  We are somewhat more accustomed to prophetic literature, in which the prophet (e.g., Amos or Micah or Isaiah) interprets the current situation as being against God's will or leading to some outcome, but such literature lacks the overarching cosmic view.

In Revelation we will see what John was shown (note how often words related to "see" show up in these passages).  The overarching theme is God's sovereignty, God's victory in Christ over the evil in the world, and the coming of a "New Jerusalem".

At the beginning of Revelation we are introduced to John who will relate what he was shown by Jesus Christ, mediated by an angel.

This John probably is not the same as the author of the Gospel of John, according to scholars.  His language and in some cases his emphasis is different, although he may have come from the Johannine community.  Rather the author is often referred to as John of Patmos, based on his location on an island in the Aegean sea, just off present day Turkey.

In the first chapter we are introduced to the first vision John has of Jesus, and to the first subject of the book, the letters to the seven churches.

12 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. 14His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, 15his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force.

Jesus with seven lampstands, seven stars

All I can say is, you ain't seen nothin' yet!

*If you don't have a commentary, you might be interested in these on-line introductions to Revelation:

Understanding the Book of Revelation (PBS)

Wikipedia:  Book of Revelation  You may especially be interested in the section on Interpretation, and the various "Religious Views" discussed.