Interpreting the book of Revelation requires we first understand the genre of “apocalypse” (from Gk. apocalypsis: “to reveal” – as in a secret, or in pulling back the curtain on a stage). Though it feels quite foreign to us, it was a well-known form of literature in the ancient world, particularly within 2nd Temple Judaism. The...
Tag: where is armageddon
Understanding the Bible 45: Revelation – Jesus’s Delay and the Rise of Roman Persecution
While the early decades of the church’s history were hardly easy, they were nevertheless filled with optimism: Jesus was risen, the Spirit at work in and through the community of faith, and the body of Christ was growing as the gospel spread across the Mediterranean world. Local opposition – even to the point of violence...
Understanding the Bible 44: The Apocalypse – Starring Christopher Walken, Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
No biblical book inspires a broader spectrum of interpretation than the book of Revelation. Filled with symbols that range from multi-headed dragon to streets of gold, from doomsday battles and the mark of the beast to the New Jerusalem, the Apocalypse (literally the “revealing”) is meant to guide the church in the last act of...