who is satan – Jesus @ 2 am blogs and podcast

Understanding the Bible 53: Judgment Day!

December 7, 2014December 3, 2014Kirk Winslow2 Comments

Throughout the biblical story the final establishment of the kingdom of God has been described in terms of both blessing and wrath. In the Hebrew scriptures, “the (great and terrible) day of the Lord” is one in which the true allegiances of both Israel and the nations are judged. Those who have proven faithful to the king (YHWH) will be welcomed into his eternal presence, celebrating and endless feast, while those who remain in the category of “sinners” are destined for some sort of destruction. It is no wonder, then, that so many across church history have sought within scripture the key to being counted among the saved and not the damned!

But perhaps the picture of judgment is not quite so clear… In this episode our pal, Rev. Mike Regele, explores Revelation’s depiction of Jesus’s second coming and the final judgment of God.

This is a sermon that was originally presented at Canvas (a Presbyterian church in Irvine, CA), September 28, 2014. To learn more about Canvas, click here!

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Understanding the Bible 52: Whore of Babylon – Evil’s Seductive Power

December 3, 2014December 3, 2014Kirk WinslowOne Comment

Revelation has now granted us a look at the very nature of evil itself, as well as the means by which it exercises power in creation – namely violence and deception. The question that remains is: Why does humanity so willingly (and repeatedly) ally itself with such powers of destruction? Why do the false promises of war and power hold such sway?

Revelation’s answer – in short – is: seduction. We return to false gods because, while they cannot deliver true shalom (peace, rest, sufficiency…), they can – at least on the short term – provide creature comforts (luxury) that serve to anesthetize us from the pain of a broken world. There are times, indeed many of them, when the restoration of creation feels like a pipe dream – a fool’s hope. And when the struggles of existence become too much to bear, we turn towards momentary gratifications.

Here in Revelation 17-19, the seductive power of luxury is portrayed as the great whore of Babylon (always the symbol of the enemy of the faithful). She rides the back of the beast – a clear allusion to the Pax Romana (Roman peace secured by military violence) forming the necessary foundation for Rome’s economic expansion (much of Rome’s wealth was acquired by conquest and taxation). Humanity is willing to accept the beast (army) for what it provides (the harlot). And for a while, it seems the party will never end.

But it is always the nature of evil to turn even upon itself. And thus the, by means of John’s vision, the church is reminded that the only way to true joy is by means of the coming justice of God.

This is a sermon that was originally presented at Canvas (a Presbyterian church in Irvine, CA), September 21, 2014. To learn more about Canvas, click here!

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Understanding the Bible 51: God’s Saving Wrath – Interpreting the Harvest Imagery of Revelation

November 14, 2014November 14, 2014Kirk WinslowLeave a comment

Kirk’s 2nd Rule of Biblical Study: Attend to the context! That is to say, we must always keep in mind the historical, literary, social…elements that underly any passage of scripture (or any ancient literature). And Revelation 14 is one of the chief examples of why. Without understanding the context, Rev. 14 is one of the most distressing passages in the biblical story. Look at v. 19 (NRSV):

So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse’s bridle, for a distance of about two hundred miles.

One could easily read this as proof positive of a vengeful and capricious deity – one willing to offer forgiveness and welcome for a time. But who is equally willing to bring tremendous violence as well upon those who have not performed whatever acts of devotion are required to demonstrate allegiance. (Hard to square this with the ministry of Jesus as we have understood it, or the continuing claim that “love is the name of the game”!)

But where modern readers tend to see threats and judgment, the early church found comfort and hope! (And not by living vicariously through the obliteration of there enemies.)

Harkening to the exodus, this is a passage about God gathering his own to himself and overcoming the powers of evil that stand against them. These “wrath of God” visions are not so much about the sufferings God plans to inflict on his foes (the foes were not reading Revelation!), but an allusion to God’s historic commitment to protect his people and to bring, in this case, all creation through the exodus to the promised land of new creation.

This is a sermon that was originally presented at Canvas (a Presbyterian church in Irvine, CA), September 14, 2014. To learn more about Canvas, click here!

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