I don’t know why it took me 4 months to figure this one out. The adult Bible study on Thursday morning is going through Acts. We went through Acts devotionally on this site. Wouldn’t it be nice if I had a catagory labled “Acts” that I could just click it and all those posts would come back? It is too much to go back and lable, but I’m going to add catagories for the primary books covered.
We are in the middle of Revelation. The text for today is Rev 12:1-6. Three visions are over: the opening letters the 7 chuches and two cycles of 7 visions (seals and trumpets). There are different interpretations of everything in Revelation. One of the popular ones is what was expressed in the “Left Behind” books. In the view of this parson, that makes for great stories but does not fit the nature of the book itself. Revelation is not a linear time book. The Left Behind series will read Revelation as one long linear progression. That is one of the reasons I’ve used the word cycles for the visions. What Revelation does is record separate visions of the same time frame (from Jesus to the final judgement) from different viewpoints. The seals and the trumpets and the bowls (and the letters and the portents or events of great significance) all tell the same story just focusing on seeing it from different vantage points.
Today’s reading is the start of a group of 7 portents or events of great significance placed between the end of the trumpets and before the bowls. The first great event – a woman greatly blessed with a child – Mary with Jesus. The second great event – a dragon who stood before the woman waiting to kill the child – the devil using various means (Herod, his own temptation and ultimately Pilate) tries to kill Jesus at every turn. But this is not allowed by God. Jesus does not stay in the tomb! The emphasis in the vision is not on the resurrection but on the ascension. The child was caught up to God and to His throne. The emphasis is on Christ at the right hand of the Father where He can protect the church.
And those left behind are not forgotten! The woman, Mary from before, but now the Church – this is one of the places where the Roman Catholic church gets the idea of Mary, mother of the church. God has prepared a place for Mary (with John) and for the Church. They will be nourished for 1260 days. That 1260 days is John’s shorthand for the entire time from the ascension to the last day. Elsewhere it is 3.5 years or a time, times and half a time.
I’m getting long, and this is a lot of explaining. The key thing to keep in mind in revelation is that it tells the story of salvation and human events over and over. The numbers and the mystical creatures are not symbols for things that you don’t know or very specific things. They are representations and apocalyptic shorthand for stuff we know from easier places – like Romans. If you are getting lost – go read Romans. If you are trying to find the USA or the atomic bomb or a specific prophecy – go read Romans. If you are looking for comfort that God is in control, has a plan to save us and has the power to carry it out – continue reading Revelation. Tomorrow this story continues.
