Revealed...

I started a serious study on the book of Revelation six months ago. It began with much trepidation, namely because I did not want to get sucked into any of the several views that had been used for years to interpret it. It was a Catch 22 situation - if I do not attempt to study it, I will not even have o-n-e view.

Hence I started by just observing the text, aided by my tutor, an experienced Bible teacher who was willing to meet me one-on-one to impart her knowledge.

Revelation is the last book in the Bible and actually, it should be named The Revelation of Jesus Christ, becoz that is what the entire book is about. Forget about Left Behind junkies and the myriad upon myriad tonnes of material available in bookstores with titles like Armageddon and Unlocking Last Days' Prophecies, etc, etc. Just study the text the way it is presented. Don't complicate life.

Revelation is not as confusing and intimidating as I first thought it to be. All that was needed was an understanding of the type of literature it is, its purpose to the original reader, and the historical context in which it was written.

Of course the various ways of interpreting it still hold sway, depending on which camp you happen to fall under. But in its gist, Revelation was written to Christians undergoing persecution, along with warnings and exhortation. In a nutshell, "we win!"

Revelation is special as it encompasses 4 major kinds of literature of its day - epistles, apocalyptic, prophetic and historical. One common approach to this book is to pin down a 'date' or 'event' in which we use to interpret Last Days. This approach is not only faulty, but dangerous as it reduces the book to a formulaic almanac of sorts. It is not!

Bearing in mind that it is written for the specific purpose to encourage Christians under persecution to have patient endurance and to be overcomers, Revelation has been largely misunderstood due to its nature as prophetic literature and also the fluidity of its pictorial language.

However, rather than hindering it, the visually-heavy language of the book actually paints a glorious landscape of Christ in His second coming. No more do we see Jesus as "meek and mild". Here He is the King and Judge. The author Apostle John, now in his 90s, wrote the book while being a political exile for his faith in the tiny island of Patmos. The last time John saw Jesus, the Lord washed his feet, died on the cross, arose and was caught up in heaven. That was almost 60 years ago. Now John is old and bent and a prisoner. When Jesus appeared to him, John fell face down in fear. This Jesus is totally different from what he remembered. This Jesus had hair that was white, eyes like fire, face like the shinning sun and voice of many waters.

(To appreciate the situation then, Christians were persecuted under the Roman Empire with Nero and then Domitian. The persecution often involved killings of Christians for sport a'la Gladiator where those who refused to renounce their faith were fed alive to hungry lions while the bloodthirsty stadium crowd cheered on.)

Now imagine being a Christian during that time. You are hungry, poor, naked and worse... going to be lion fodder soon. Just because you won't say "I am not a Christian" in the presence of some Imperial bigwig. There only way out for you is a cruel death in a public execution. Your friends and family deserted you. You are totally alone.

And in this instance Jesus appears to you. He says..."I am the Alpha and Omega" (I am the Beginning and the End).

Imagine how much that meant to the original reader.

In the light of God's greatness and glory, our sufferings matter so little. It is us who need His grace, for we suffer but for a short while, compared to the rewards of eternity! For when that Day comes, when the cosmos melts down and the mountains and the sea are no more; when the sky is rolled back like a scroll; when all the inhabitants of the earth run to the caves and plead for the mountains to fall on them (rather than to face the wrath of God), those who have suffered and awaited long for His coming will be able to sing... "It is well with my soul".

Come, Lord Jesus!