Recently I was watching MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell on his show, The Last Word, when, in responding to a rival TV host who claimed that the Japanese earthquake and tsunami were evidence of the last days as depicted in the book of Revelation, he retorted, “The book of Revelation is a work of fiction that describes how a truly vicious God would bring about the end of the world. No half-smart religious person actually believes the book of Revelation anymore. Those people are certain that their God would never turn into a malicious torturer and mass murderer beyond Hitler’s wildest dreams.”
He went on to say that no “good and thoughtful Christian literally believes everything in the Bible,” citing such laws requiring the stoning to death of people who blasphemed the name of God, worked on the Sabbath, or disrespected a parent.
While there are many people who would express similar views, especially in a modern society that is becoming more secularized, there are also many “good and thoughtful Christians” on the right and the left who believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God and that Revelation has something relevant to say to us. I count myself among them.
As a “half-smart” person who has traveled the world, lived in several countries, am moderate in my political and religious views, and hold undergrad and graduates degrees from both private conservative and public liberal universities, I am a committed follower of Jesus Christ and a serious student of the Bible. So here are my thoughts on the book of Revelation and some of the issues Lawrence cited:
* Revelation is a book of prophecies that, like many prophecies throughout the Bible, predict events that occur both within a short time of the prediction, as well as in some unspecified time in the distant future. Chapters 1-3 contain prophetic messages of warning and hope to Christians in seven churches in Asia, who were being persecuted by Emperor Domitian around A.D. 90-95 because they refused to worship him as a god. Chapters 4-22 contain prophecies about events that are yet to come, warning Christians about being seduced by the world, and encouraging them to stand firm and strong in their faith as they endure persecution and hardships.
* Revelation was written in an apocalyptic literary style that used a kaleidoscope of dramatic and symbolic imagery to convey a message of hope to persecuted Christians. It was a coded message designed to not only confuse the Roman persecutors who might get hold of this document, but also to be understood by the persecuted Christians for whom it was intended. And it applies to Christians facing persecution in present and future times and places. While I don’t interpret the strange and startling imagery of Revelation literally, I accept as truth the central messages or themes that the book conveys. These themes include:
+ God is sovereign and is the greatest power in the universe. Rulers, empires, and religions will come and go, but despite the prevalence of evil and injustice throughout the history of the world, God is in control and will ultimately wipe away the powers of darkness and evil and unite true believers in his eternal kingdom.
+ Christ will return as the triumphant Ruler. The message is that no one knows the time of his return, but he will return and establish an eternal kingdom of peace, goodness, and security.
+ God’s people must remain faithful and devoted solely to Jesus. Each generation faces the temptation to give its allegiance to false gods, individuals, things, ideologies, wealth, fame, and more, but the call to remain faithful and devoted solely to Jesus rings out more than ever to God’s people, no matter in what era or under what circumstances we might live.
+ There will be a final Day of Judgment when the purveyors of evil and injustice will be punished and faithful believers rewarded with eternal life in God’s kingdom. Jesus confirms this in other books of the Bible, such as Matthew 16:27 and 25: 31-46.
+ Hope–in a resurrection from death to eternal life. Revelation and other books of the Bible reflect this theme, notably I Thessalonians 4: 13-18, where the apostle Paul describes how, on the day of Christ’s return, God will raise to life every person who has ever died—some to eternal reward, others to eternal punishment.
+ Hope—in a new heaven and a new earth. This theme is also in 2 Peter 3: 7-13 which describes how the heavens and the earth will be consumed by fire on that day of judgment and a new heaven and new earth will be revealed.
As for Lawrence’s references to the punishment of stoning people to death for such acts as child sacrifice, adultery, disrespecting parents, and blaspheming (Leviticus 20; Deuteronomy 22 and 27), we have to put them in their historical context to understand why God would command such severe measures.
Briefly stated, they were part of the covenant laws that God gave to the Jews after he led them out of slavery in Egypt and establish them as his holy nation to be the source of truth and salvation to all the world. He gave them moral, civil, and ceremonial laws by which to live as a holy people, set apart from the pagan nations around them, and stressed to them, “You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” (Exodus 1-40; Leviticus1-27)
But the Jews failed to fulfill their calling as a holy nation, for they were constantly attracted to the lifestyles of surrounding pagan peoples, especially by the worship of fertility gods, temple prostitution, and loose morality. Time after time the Jews rebelled against the holy ways of God and followed the religions and lifestyles of their pagan neighbors, even practicing child sacrifice despite the eventual punishments that they would incur.
As Christians, we do not follow those laws that were meant for Jews going through a particular time in their history, because God has provided a new covenant of salvation for people of all nations and races to follow—a covenant of faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul, a devoted Jew and rabbi who persecuted Christians and watched as his people stoned Stephen to death for following Jesus Christ, saw the futility of the law after his own dramatic and powerful conversion to Jesus. Paul later wrote:
No one can be made right in God’s sight by doing what the law commands. For the more we know God’s law, the clearer it becomes that we aren’t obeying it. (Romans 3:20)
Instead, Paul came to understand that God had provided a different way to please God:
We are made right in God’s sight when we trust Jesus to take away our sins. And we can all be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Jesus Christ, who has freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us….Our acquittal is not based on our good deeds. It is based on our faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. (Romans 3:21-25a, 27b-28, New Living Translation)
And it is with faith that Christians must approach the book of Revelation, for it was Jesus Christ who gave John, the writer of Revelation, a prophetic vision of events that would happen to Christians in the seven churches of Asia in the first century and to the Christian believers throughout history. (Revelation 1:1-2)
One might argue that prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled are essentially fiction, and therefore Revelation must be considered fiction.
However, the Bible contains over 2,500 prophecies of which about 2000 have already been fulfilled (http://www.reasons.org/fulfilled-prophecy-evidence-reliability-bible), especially Old Testament prophecies predicting things about Jesus hundreds of years before he was born. The following two websites provide examples of Old Testament prophecies that came true in Jesus–http://www.askapastor.org/proph.html and http://www.biblestudy.org/prophecy/old-testament-prophecies-jesus-fulfilled.html.
With over 80% of biblical prophecies already fulfilled, and 20% yet to be fulfilled in the future, I encourage readers to look past the strange imagery of Revelation and see the essential messages of truths that will be revealed.
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“God blesses the one who reads this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to it and obey what it says. For the end is near when these things will happen” (Revelation. 1:3)
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Oh my, what conceit we human beings display!
It is clear from the foregoing that the writer/writers believe that God exists solely for the benefit of humanity. Whilst accepting the existence of a superior power that has arranged natural laws in such perfection, such a power and such perfection cannot by their very nature, be a person. To assume so is the ultimate delusion. In this context, in what way is the Christian insistence on worshipping Jesus of Nazareth as a god any different from Roman insistence on worshipping their emperor as a god? The fact the the Nazarene was a wonderful and very spiritually gifted individual is immaterial, he was a human being. Had we followed his exhortations to love one another instead of dehumanising him and making him a god, how different our world would be today. So much for “The son of man!!” These observations apply equally to all religions.
The universe, including all human beings, is subject to the same inexorable laws of God (not Jesus or Mahomet’ or Buddha). If we work within these laws and honour all other forms of life, (animal, vegetable and mineral) balance will be achieved and peace will reign in the affairs of humanity. Follow our own myopic and ego-driven agenda and we will create the very chaos that we are seeing on Earth today. Because we egotistically consider ourselves to be ‘superior’ and as such able to treat our Earth and all upon it with disdain, we are totally unprepared for the growing pains of Earth as a sentient creation and look upon earthquakes, tsunamis and such as aimed personally at our species. Such arrogance!
Were we less pre-occupied with seeking power, with our own foolish wars and religious bigotry, we would know what to expect from nature and prepare ourselves instead of using so many resources stupidly in the arrogant and ultimately arid, pursuit of power. Finally, in the mind of any open-minded person, there can be little doubt that religion (all religion) has always been subverted to serve the naked pusuit of temporal power. Let’s not continue to fool ourselves.
I urge us all to practise a little more humility, be less dogmatic about our beliefs, accept that another’s view is just as legitimate as our own, love one another and all that exists with true, unconditional love. As Alexander Pope so eloquently put it –
“All are but parts of one stupendous whole, whose body nature is, and God the soul.”
Thanks for your comments, Lionel. I welcome all comments.
Derrick,
Judgments are prepared for scoffers, and blows for the back of fools (Proverbs 19:29).
Lawrence O’Donnell is a perfect example of why God is long suffering with us humans. We tend to be scoffers and fools and it takes time to change us.
So, Lawrence Od’Donnell, I pray that you have a life changing experience with the King. Then, you will have a different testimony, one about the Son of God who loved you even in the midst of your foolishness.
Well, O’ Donnell’s a journalist so I think he’s probably offering a version of his views that’s been edited for broadcast. You have to provide “hooks”, some tantalizing and controversial phrases to engage viewers for active debate. Of course it is possible for a good and thoughtful person to take the Bible literally. For one thing, it’s easier to do so than it is to take the time required to study it more deeply. They might be a good, thoughtful BUSY person with two or three jobs and a large family to provide for. And if the person is one like me, they might take a long time to learn to see what’s useful in the Bible below the surface.
At first I found the very language of the Bible and prayers to be off-putting, because I don’t want a King or a Lord. I want to serve humanity with grace and humility, but I’m not a slave or a serf. I don’t need a Master. To me God is more as Jesus suggested – a father (Abba=”Daddy”). I’ll always need a loving father.
Mikey, I appreciate your comments and am glad that you see God as a loving Abba.
I had a conversation last night with a good friend about the Bible’s “accuracy” – whether it’s to be read literally or interpreted contextually – and drew heavily on this post to help clarify my perspective. Thanks for voicing this so clearly and unequivocally. Keep writing!
I’m glad it helped, and thanks for your encouragement.
Thanks for the post. It’s good to see that some still believe in the truth contained in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Most would either agree with O’Donnell, view it as having been fulfilled already, or attempt to allegorize/spiritualize its meaning. Thank you for taking His word seriously.
God bless.
Steve, thanks for your words of encouragement.