I love that I get to keep teaching Revelation over and over. I always find that through the process of teaching to new groups, I find new elements and new ways to give voice to how truly amazing and wonderful this book is, how it conveys the Gospel in such a way it actually makes the Gospels and Jesus' teachings make more sense. Today was no different.

People have told me that when they take this course, it totally reshapes the way they interpret scripture as a whole. Which is awesome and amazing... why? Because, to sum Revelation up, it's the Biblical story told over and over and over again. From Genesis and the fall to the fullness of God's reign. I think it was Barbara Rossing who talks about Revelation being the Exodus story - the story of God's great act of deliverance. Absolutely. It is the Exodus on a grander scale... and more.

I worked on painting several years ago of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In that painting I highlighted within the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge each of the Four Horsemen. Because the Horsemen represent timeless truths, threats that humanity has dealt with from the very beginning. They're what Adam and Eve unleashed on the world when they sank their teeth into that knowledge between good and evil, 

Revelation takes us through this story of how God deals with the problem of a sinful humanity that wages war on itself, through the Exodus, the prophets, the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the final culmination of God's reign on earth. Revelation doesn't just tell us this story once: it cycles through the story from different angles and perspectives over and over. It challenged the churches of the first century, it challenges us today. 

I know over the past 25 years through my intense study of Revelation - a journey that has taken me through the fearful elements of the "Left Behind" rapture theology that jumps through all kinds of scriptural twists and turns to achieve an action/adventure script - to actually opening up the rest of scripture for me, strengthening my faith and understanding of how God has operated throughout history. It truly is "The Revelation of Jesus Christ," because it is a portrayal of how we understand Christ as being at the center of all time and history. It is an unfolding revelation of who and what God is through Jesus Christ. Not in a linear aspect where we put Him on a timeline, but more like as the center of a wheel where everything else revolves around Him. This was a concept we were taught in our Systematic Theology courses in Seminary. What finally clicked for me eventually is that this is how Revelation functions as well. It revolves in a circular fashion around Christ, spiraling its way across time and space, telling us timeless truths that were true in the past, are true in the present, and will be true in the future. 

Revelation is our glimpse into this realm where God lives and resides that exists outside of time and space, and how it breaks into our world and delivers to us the overarching story of God's interaction with his creation, his story of salvation and redemption of the earth through Jesus Christ. We have spent thousands of years living through the cycles of Revelation. Over and over again we see and experience the Babylons, the demands for our allegiance to things other than God, our self-destructive nature against one another and the earth itself, the warnings, the promises. This is why generation after generation has thought surely THEY were living in the End Times. Because, well, they were. One day closer to it, anyway. They experienced the same fear, the same anxiety, the same belief that now is the time. Why? Because now IS the time all of this is actually happening. It was happening then, it is happening now. It will possibly continue to happen into the future.

Now... and not yet.

Revelation challenges us to live the way Jesus told us to live: like his return is imminent. That the Kingdom of God is nearer than we ever imagined. So near, it is already in our midst. "As you are going, preach and say, 'the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.'" (Matthew 10:7), "Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near." (Luke 21:31) “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20)

Last night I wrapped up my first time through this series with a group at the congregation I serve. For a Lutheran Bible Study, having 40-50 people show up on a regular basis was a bit mind-blowing. Clearly the topic is one of interest. 

Many have wondered about my strange "obsession" with teaching Revelation and wanting to find accessible ways for individuals and church leaders to be able to engage this final, yet enigmatic, book of the Bible instead of choosing to just ignore it and throwing out reasons like, "Well, Luther didn't even want it in the Bible." Initially, no he didn't, but later he began to see its value.

That has been my goal as well—to help others see its value, and not in a "let me scare you about all the horrible things that God is going to do to this earth," way. But rather, see that Revelation can be used as a part of the Good News of Jesus Christ that we proclaim to the world every day. That as God's Word, it is relevant and that it is useful in our daily lives—and it can be transformative.

I have to share the story that one of our participants shared with the group last night. The woman was raised Catholic but now attends a local Evangelical Free church. She had a friend from our congregation invite her to attend, so she did. What a blessing to our study she was as well! Inquisitive and not afraid to challenge or voice her thoughts. 

At the end of the final night, she chose to share with everyone what has been going on in her life.
Amidst tears, she began explaining that she has a brother who has not attended church in over 25 years. She shared the online videos with him and cross country, they began watching and discussing the videos together every week. Today he was going to be having surgery, and over the weekend, for the first time in 25 years, he finally felt he needed to connect with a priest.

What caused the change of heart? His sister says that this study has changed his entire outlook on faith and religion, and for the first time in his life—he heard the Gospel. 

I had several other people come up to me afterwards and say how much they appreciated this perspective and how it finally makes some kind of sense and doesn't seem so daunting and scary to them anymore. 

This is why I made this series. There is a message within Revelation that has the power to transform lives—it's called the Good News of Jesus Christ. It's not a new message. It's not a different message than what you find throughout the rest of the Bible (in fact, Revelation pulls on references to the Old Testament promises all over the place. I call Revelation 21 and 22 the "cliff notes version" of God's promises throughout scripture.)

Why Do I Care if People's Lives Are Transformed?
I don't do what I do because I feel the need for people to believe what I believe. Most of the time, I really don't care what differences in theology they might have from me. I know I do not have all the answers, I know I don't have this whole God thing totally figured out and never will. 

But when people are able to know and feel the love of God's promises in their lives, that's worth something to me. Because I do find people important. I want people to find wholeness and comfort in this life that IS so filled with pain and hurt. I find our creation important. I think how we behave toward one another and what we do to this earth are important matters. How we grieve and handle death is also equally important. There's many an atheist who would say we invent such things just to make ourselves feel better and are living in the midst of a delusion.

Well, ok, but here's the thing. We all end up the same way: dead. Regardless of our beliefs of what comes next, that is our reality. In the minds of many—that's it. It's the end. There is no more. "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." (Which, btw, is a quote from Isaiah 22 and 1 Corinthians 15) Yet, how we approach death many times dictates how we approach life. 

I have found that hope is in short supply in our world today. People are negative. They are bitter. They want to see things changed, sometimes at any cost. Many are despondent and looking for a way to blame all our problems on this group or that group. Many thus turn to their faith, they turn to their scriptures and they look for "guidance" on what they can do to try and control things in order to make life better for themselves so that the world falls into their category of how things "should" be. Or they look to escape this life, figuring that next one is going to be better, so what does this one even matter?

This absolutely can get played out in horrific ways. It can get played out in us thinking that since God has some other "place" for us, who cares what happens? That God wants to destroy all the wicked people, so killing the people we've decided fit that description is justified. God has a plan for a particular group of people so matter what they do, we stand by and condone atrocities. It can cause us to sit back and just gleefully watch chaos unfold because "that's how it's supposed to happen."

This to me is not a transformed life, however. It's simply doing what humans do best when they're at their worst: create death and destruction and finding reasons to validate it. 

A transformed life is able to say because God has this vision and plan for redeeming the world and ushering in his kingdom—why on earth would I not want people to live and experience at least some little piece of that RIGHT NOW? Yes, there are things like sin, death, war, grief, pain, sorrow, etc. that only God can put an end to and only God is capable of destroying once and for all. Yet knowing that this is the promise, knowing that an end to these things is what God DOES want, why for the love of everything would I not want others to know and experience that same sense of hope that would cause them to live their lives that is always looking toward ushering in those promises in their fullness? 

The incarnation of God through Jesus Christ brought us a glimpse of the Kingdom of God. God's Kingdom "came near" in the person of Jesus so that we were able to see what that vision entails: people being brought to wholeness. It is transformative because we know that we can experience in smaller ways that Kingdom when people and communities act like Christ and behave in a manner that reflects Christ in our world. When this happens we truly can make our world a kinder and better place. (Call me an idealist.) 

Not surprisingly, then, this is exactly what Revelation is telling us! When we follow God's will and act accordingly—we are brought closer to the heavenly vision. When we act selfishly and put worldly endeavors of power and wealth ahead of concerns for our neighbor and those around us, then we partake in the beastly systems that oppose God and take us further away from that vision...and violence and oppression are the result.
Thus experiencing the presence of God in the here and now can change how we live in the here and now. When we show love and compassion for our neighbors, when we care for the world we live in, we may still be imperfect and are not capable of ushering in paradise on our own, but it brings us a little closer to that vision. And that simply makes the world a better place for us to live out our lives while we wait for God to fully usher in heaven on earth.

And yes, when we know that the promise God has given us is to "wipe every tear" so that there is no longer mourning, or sorrow or pain, and that God promises he has destroyed the power of death, it does give us comfort knowing that death is NOT the end. In fact, it is just the beginning. Revelation is usually described as a book about "the end times." And yet, that's not the case. Yes, it describes AN ending—how God will bring an end to war, violence and all the things we do to one another as sinful human beings, but more importantly it describes a beginning of something new—it describes the beginning of God's full and visible reign that is eternal. Not the end, but the beginning of true life in community with God and one another. The full and complete presence of God dwelling on earth with his people, where the nations are healed by the leaves of the Tree of Life. Where death is overcome, and we are resurrected to a new life with God and one another.

This is why sharing that good news with people, wanting transformation of how we live our lives now is what drives me to share the Gospel with others, to want to share the wondrous promises of what Revelation is conveying to others. To want others to know God. It's not to save them from the fires of hell in the after life (though, you know, that's not a bad end-result either), but it's so that they can know and live in hope and peace in the here and now. This isn't "all there is" and when we live knowing that this is not the end, but just the beginning, it changes everything. It changes our lives, and it changes our world.

You might say that this series has been over 30 years in the making. Like many, Revelation captured my attention and fascinated me as a young child. Its bizarre imagery didn't make a lot of sense, but there was something captivating and enthralling about it. At the age of about 12, my mom took me to a small little Presbyterian church in a town near our home to watch a series of videos regarding the "end times." This was the early 1980's so books like Left Behind had not hit mainstream yet, but these films were making the rounds of many churches. It was a three part series (which I have since found out there were more of these movies made, but these three were the only ones I knew about), the first one was called "A Thief in the Night." It was about a woman who had been "left behind" after almost everyone she knew and loved had been raptured. Now she was left to navigate her way through the Great Tribulation, being pursued and persecuted by those who wanted her to take the Mark of the Beast. This movie was followed up with the sequels, "A Distant Thunder" and "Image of the Beast."

At 12, I'll be honest... these movies TERRIFIED me. I was so afraid that I was going to be "left behind." Was my faith not strong enough? Was I not good enough? Was I not believing the right things? At night, I would sometimes sneak downstairs and make sure my parents were still there (because if the rapture happened, I was fairly certain they would go). You can imagine my horror one night when I peeked around the corner into the family room and the lights were on, the television was on, but neither one of my parents were sitting in their recliners like usual. 

I screamed. Because it had finally happened. They'd been raptured. I'd been left. 
(Turned out, they were sitting on the deck because it was a nice evening out.)

For the next probably fifteen years of my life, I lived with this understanding - expecting any day the "rapture" would occur and I would be left to fend for myself. All the "but you believe, you'll be taken" assurances I received from my mother I could not fully believe in my heart. I simply knew I was not a "good enough" person to be worthy of that. I would be left to suffer. Alone. Frightened. Wondering if tortured enough, would I be able to resist taking the mark? Was I going to be damned to hell for all eternity if I did?

Then "Left Behind" came out. A friend of mine and I began reading them and they were pretty much just a re-hashing of the movies I had seen years earlier - just updated a bit. They still scared me. I spent all kinds of time poring over passages like Daniel 7 trying to figure out the whole "weeks" thing. I read other books, like "Prophecies of the End Times" by David Haggith, and "A Woman Rides the Beast" by Dave Hunt... everything I could find on end times prophecies. I was almost obsessed with it. Ok, not almost. I was. It was all interesting reading, and every single one of them upheld this idea of the rapture.

Now I remember this quite vividly. I made it as far as "Desecration" (the 9th book in the series I believe) when in the midst of reading it one day, I suddenly had this strange "voice" that kept saying "this isn't right." The question that kept popping up for me was, "Why on earth would God remove all the faithful at a time when they were needed in the world the most?" This question continued to niggle at me until I finally set the book down and did something weird. I actually picked up the Bible instead.

So, I pulled out my Bible and re-read Revelation. And I re-read it again. I found no rapture. I found nowhere in its pages that even hinted or suggested that there was going to be some sort of snatching up of the faithful prior to this seven year tribulation period. 

It was like a thunderbolt - that moment of clarity. That moment of realizing the one thing that had terrified me the most about my relationship with God was suddenly gone. I began scouring the internet (by this time I was about 28, so around 2001) trying to find anything I could on the rapture not actually being in Revelation. There wasn't a lot out there at that time, but I was certain I was not crazy. The only "explanation" I could find about where the rapture occurred in Revelation was Hal Lindsey's interpretation, that when the angel says "Come up here!" to John, he actually is saying that to all the faithful because the word "church" is never mentioned again in Revelation. No, but saints were. I found his explanation flimsy at best, and just downright twisted at worst. 

Then one day I ran across an audio series by this guy named Craig Koester from Luther Seminary. I ordered it immediately and listened to it non-stop until I'd finished the entire lecture series. I discovered to my delight - someone else had come to the same conclusion I had. There was no rapture. At least, not the way in which it was imagined in premillennial dispensationalist theology.

Once that element fell apart, so did a lot of other elements. I mean, lets face it... when you suddenly realize all that stuff that happens is not going to something anyone gets "snatched away from," it will shift your view of it completely. Because now all of those judgments are being poured out on the world - both the faithful and the unfaithful. So what does that mean? People may find it strange that I find comfort in the fact that we won't be "raptured" away to avoid difficult times. But somehow, I feel that facing difficult times is not as hard when you have a community around you that supports and uplifts you. It made me feel less... alone. 


But it started raising other questions. If the rapture was wrong... what else had I been misunderstanding? So I spent several more years, and much of my time at seminary once I finally went there, re-learning how I viewed this book. How I understood its message. 


Initially - I really didn't talk much about my new-found understanding. What did it matter anyway? It was just personal opinion. 


It took me a while to finally start realizing - what I thought about and how I interpreted Revelation actually DID matter. It mattered a lot, because we had presidents saying things like they felt the nation-state of Israel played a role in the "end times" and that was why we had to support them pretty much no matter what they did. 


This set off some warning signals in my brain. No matter what? Really? Is that what we were called to do as Christians? How do the Israelis feel about the fact that the only reason we support them is because many of us believe that they're all going to convert to our religion one day? Now don't get me wrong - I'm a strong supporter of a Jewish state. After what happened in World War 2, who would blame the Jewish people for wanting their own country? In that regard, yes, I'm a Zionist. I think Israel has a right to exist and defend itself, etc. etc. But... just because they call themselves "Israel" doesn't mean they should get a blanket seal approval on all their actions. So I began looking more deeply at the issues that surrounded the Middle East strife and discovered issues and realities that shifted my stance. I won't get into all that right now, but suffice it to say, the situation is far more complicated than I ever imagined. My heart breaks for all involved, but my stance is that when we live in fear instead of hope, when we try to make prophecy happen the way we think it should we wind up doing the exact opposite of what Revelation's message is calling us out of. We become part of oppressive systems and we violate many of our own ideals of helping our neighbor, the poor, and the oppressed. For when the oppressed turn around and become the oppressors, we have not changed anything. We have merely exchanged one evil for another evil. One beast simply devours another beast.