Posts Tagged ‘symbolism’

Revelation – a book for our times?

May 17, 2025

Easter 5 – 2025

Revelation 21:1-6

Marian Free

In the name of God in whose hands is our future and the future of the world. Amen.

Can you believe that nearly one quarter of the 21st. century has already passed? 24 ½ years ago the news was filled with stories of impending disasters, in particular that all the computers would crash and with them all of the infrastructure that they ran. Some people were busy building supplies of water and tinned food in preparation for the expected a destruction of the world. Others were predicting the sort of chaos depicted in The Book of Revelation – especially in relation to the release of Satan after 1,000 years of captivity.  (Indeed the 1000 years has taken on a meaning of its own, despite the fact that judgement did not rain down and the world was not destroyed at the beginning of the 11th century.)

The Book of Revelation is responsible for a great deal of fearmongering, predictions of dire judgement and the end of the world. Most of us can probably remember the anxiety that many people felt when the first credit cards were released – the three nested ‘b’s’ being taken for 666 –  the number of the beast in Revelation. 

Revelation or the Apocalypse of John is the most controversial and confusing book of the Bible. So controversial that it was not definitively included in our scriptures until the year 367 and even now many people choose to avoid it because it is so difficult.  Apart from these few weeks it has no part in our lectionary. The book is filled with fantastic images, lurid descriptions of God’s punishment and impenetrable symbolism. In other words, it seems to be completely incomprehensible and beyond rational belief. 

To some extent that is true, but it is also a book that to some extent is written in code and when one understands that code it becomes much easier to understand. In simple terms the Book describes a cosmic battle between good and evil, in which good is the victor. It is not intended to be a history, but it is based in a time and place and like prophetic literature. It is not intended as a prediction of what will happen in the future but rather a commentary on the current situation. Whereas prophetic literature warned about the consequences of continuing in the current (godless) course of action,  apocalyptic literature is designed to provide hope in situations in which the godly feel victimized and abandoned. 

Typically, apocalyptic theology arises at times when people are feeling the weight of oppression and injustice. It addresses the apparent flourishing of evil and assures the faithful that their persecutors will get their just desserts (while they, the faithful, will be rewarded for their suffering and endurance).

The Book of Revelation was written specifically for the seven churches addressed in the first few chapters. It appears that members of these churches were experiencing some sort of persecution, even martyrdom, but also that their initial enthusiasm for the faith was diminishing. While there was no wide-scale persecution at this time, believers were often isolated – from families, prevented from earning a living, and may have suffered some attacks from their neighbours and fellow citizens. The enduring power of Rome, its decadence and corruption will have been a source of angst and confusion to believers and on top of this there may have been a very real danger of war as armies gathered in the east.

In this climate, the author of Revelation writes to encourage and reassure the faithful and to warn the backsliders. John insists that God is on the side of believers and that good will win in the end. Consistent with other apocalyptic writings, the author also describes in great detail what God will do to backsliders or to those who oppose God and who persecute or oppress the faithful. This does not mean that all who do not believe will be destroyed. Revelation is a call to repentance – the threatened destruction will not affect those who return to God.

While the book appears to be totally chaotic, various commentators have pointed out that the book is extraordinarily well-structured. Michael Fallon[1] for example demonstrates that the Book is divided into seven scenes, the first five of which are bordered by descriptions of heaven.  Schüssler Fiorenza argues that the Book follows a concentric pattern around a central core. Both understand chapter 10 a fulcrum, it looks back to themes mentioned earlier in the book (things which are hidden) and forward to the end (things which are exposed). 

As I have mentioned, Revelation is filled with symbolism and patterns, which make more sense if one understands the code. For example, there are seven letters, each of which follow a similar pattern and include a reference to description of the Son of Man with which the Book begins. In each there is a greeting, a reference to the description of Jesus, a commendation, a rebuke, a call to repentance or a warning, a prophetic saying, a promise of Christ’s speedy coming, an exhortation to hold fast, a call to listen and finally promise to the broader community that those who conquer will be rewarded. The letters are followed by four sets of seven plagues which again follow a pattern – persecution, judgement and victory.

That the book is not meant to be taken literally is evidenced by the seven plagues – each of which threatens to destroy the whole world. The repetition is simply for effect – it is impossible to destroy the world once it has been destroyed. Another clue that the book is not literal is the future reference to the birth of Jesus in chapter 12. Readers of the book would understand that Jesus had already been born.

Which brings me briefly to today’s reading. Revelation ends as it begins with Jesus as the first and the last, the Alpha and Omega. Before that the recipients are assured that not only will God triumph in the end, but that all things will be renewed and that those who hold firm will see an end to sorrow, pain and dying, and that God, who has never abandoned them will wipe their tears from their eyes.

The message of Revelation is that no matter how bad things are, no matter how much suffering we might endure, God will be the victor, and God will restore all things and will bring us to Godself. 

Understood properly, The Book of Revelation is not an archaic, incomprehensible, irrelevant piece of scripture but a message for our own turbulent times.

*************************

NOTES

Some code breakers.

The use of numbers. Seven as you know is the number for perfection (seven days of the week) and by contrast 31/2 (42 months) is the number for imperfection. There were twelve tribes of Israel and 12 Apostles. Twelve is the number for completeness. Four relates to the four. Corners of the world and the four elements, it relates to totality.  There are seven churches, seven letters, seven plagues, the Lamb has 7 horns and 7 eyes and there are seven spirits. The number admitted to heaven – 144000 12x12x1000 – is symbolic not literal. The four sets of seven plagues implies total destruction. The four faced creatures – lion, ox, human and eagle -represent the noblest, the strongest, the wisest and the swiftest. 666, the number which to some holds so much weight, is the number represented by the Hebrew spelling of Nero. (There was a popular belief that Nero would be resurrected and wreak terror on the land.)

Colours are also significant – gold signifies divinity, white – purity, red-war, black- plague and pale green-death.

Structure

A 1:1-8 Prologue and Epistolary Greeting

                  1:1-3 Title

                  1:4-6 Greetings

                  1:7-8 Motto

B 1:9-3:22 Rhetorical Situation in the Cities of Asia Minor

                  1:9-10 Author and Situation

                  1:11-20 Prophetic Inaugural Vision

I                 1:1-3:22 Prophetic message to seven communities

C 4:1-9:21, 11:15-19 Opening the Sealed Scroll

                  4:1-5:14 Heavenly Court and the sealed scroll

II               6:1-8:1 Cosmic Plagues – Seven Seals

III              8:2-9:21; 11:15-19 Cosmic Plagues – Seven Trumpets

D 10:1-15:4 The Bitter-sweet Scroll: “War against the community”

                  10:1-11:14 Prophetic commissioning

                  12:1-14:5 Prophetic interpretation

                  14:6-15:4 Eschatological liberation

C’ 15:5-19:10 Exodus from the Oppression of Babylon/Rome

IV             15:5- 16:21 Cosmic plagues – seven bowls

                  17:1-18 Rome and its Power

                  18:1-19:10 Judgement of Rome

B’ 19:11-22:9 Liberation from Evil and God’s World-City

                  19:11-20:15 Liberation from the powers of evil

                  21:1-8 The liberated world of God

                  21:9-22:9 The different cosmopolis of God

A’ 22:10-21 Epilogue and Epistolary Frame

                  22:1-7 Revelatory Sayings

                  22:8-21 Epistolary Conclusion[2]

a. Introduction                                                                      1:1-3

b. Opening liturgical dialogue                                 1:4-8

c. Prophetic commission                                            1:9-11

                  Heaven

Scene 1 Letters to the 7 churches                      2:1-3:22

                  Heaven                                                                       4:1-5:14

Scene 2 Six seals are broken                                                     6:1-7:9

                  Heaven                                                                       7:9-8:6                  

Scene 3 The sounding of six trumpets            8:7-11:14

                  Heaven                                                                       11:15-12:12

Scene 4 Forces for good and for evil                 12:13-14:20

                  Heaven                                                                       15:1-8

Scene 5 The seven bowls                                            16:1-18:24

                  Heaven                                                                       19:1-10

Scene 6 The final struggle, victory                      19:11-20:15

                  and judgement                                 

Scene 7 The Church of God on earth                21:1-22:5

                  a. guarantee of prophecy                          22:6-7

                  b. Concluding liturgical dialogue       22:8-17

                  c. Conclusion                                                       22:18-21

[1] Fallon, Michael. The Apocalypse: A Revelation that History is Graced. Sydney: Parish Ministry Publications, 1990.

[2] Schussler-Fiorenza, Elisabeth. Revelation: Vision of a Just World. Minneapolis:Fortress Press, 1991, 35-36.

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Including the outsider

January 2, 2021

Epiphany – 2021

Matthew 2:1-12

Marian Free

May I speak in the name of God, Earth-Maker, Pain-Bearer, Life-Giver. Amen.

Teaching religious education in schools can be a challenge. One can no longer be sure of a w welcome and the children can be resentful because some of their classmates have permission not to be there. Some parents, while sending their children to classes, have nevertheless passed on a negative attitude towards religion. Even in a simpler time, children of a certain age would begin to ask questions – usually about the first two chapters of Genesis. In a class of nine-year olds, one could almost predict that as soon as the class became confident enough one child would ask: “Miss, what about the dinosaurs?” and another would pipe up with: “How can the whole world come from just two people?” In one sense, the answers are easy, but the trick, as I see it, is to answer the questions with integrity and in such a way that the children do not dismiss the whole bible and therefore the Christian faith. 

My solution was this. I would tell the class one of Aesop’s fables, usually the one about the hare and the tortoise[1] or of the lion and the mouse[2]. Then I would ask the children whether or not story was true. More often than not the children – wanting to please me – would say that the story is true. This would lead to more discussion as to whether or not animals can actually speak. Once we’ve sorted that out, I would ask if the story tells us something that is true to which the children respond that yes it does.

This makes it easy to explain that the bible tells us truths even if not all of it is historically factual. It means too that, having learned that one part of the bible is more story than fact, the children don’t reject the whole bible as just a story.

For centuries no one saw any need to argue for the veracity of every part of the bible. In fact, for centuries the bible was plumbed as much for its deeper, symbolic meaning as it was to pin down times and facts. The writers themselves were not concerned with being 100% historically accurate, but freely employed symbolism and used a variety rhetorical techniques to get our attention and to ensure that they got their message across. 

Ancient cultures, including that of the Mediterranean people, have “a very porous boundary line between reality and appearance, fact and impressions”[3]. Events are remembered as much for their meaning as for any other reason. 

No one can say for sure that the visit of the magi was an historic event, but that is not the essential point. The author of Matthew would no doubt have been utterly amazed for example, at the effort that has gone into identifying the star – including associating it with the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn that we witnessed recently. Matthew’s purpose here is to demonstrate Jesus’ place within Judaism and his role as the light to the Gentiles.

Historic fact or not, Matthew draws on a number of Old Testament allusions in his retelling. In Numbers 24 – the oracle of Balaam – we find all the elements in the account of the magi – the star, the journey to and from Egypt, the escape from a violent ruler and the vocation to be a light to the Gentiles. These same elements, as Matthew well knew, also provided an overarching view of Israel’s history – the centre of which was the liberation from Egypt. References to Bethlehem and quotes from the prophets further underline the significance of the child as does the prophetic hope for a ruler who will shepherd God’s people. The gifts from the travellers remind the listener of Psalm 72 in which the kings of Seba and Sheba offer gifts of gold to Israel’s king.  

If we had read on, we would have seen how Matthew further situates Jesus in the story of Israel when Joseph takes refuge in Egypt and brings Jesus out again.

For the early readers of this gospel, the account of the magi would have been redolent with meaning and would have placed Jesus in the centre of their story – but there is a twist. Israel’s story is not for them alone – it always looks outward and this is the case here. If we read the whole gospel in one sitting, as the author intended, we would at this point be remembering Matthew’s genealogy which takes Jesus all the way back to Abraham – the Gentile who became the father of the Jews and to whom God made a promise that all the nations in the world would find a blessing in him. 

In these first two chapters, not only does Matthew establish Jesus’ credentials as a Jewish saviour he also makes it quite clear that Jesus is also one who was promised as a light to the Gentiles. The magi, astrologers from the east, are the bridge between God’s promises to Israel and God’s initial promise to Abraham. They are the first clue, in this very Jewish gospel that faith in Jesus is not exclusive but is open people from every nation.

The inclusiveness of the gospel has often been lost on us. We the Gentile inheritors of Judaism forget that we began as the outsiders. Throughout the centuries we, the church, have instead taken it upon ourselves to decide who is in and who is out. We have made such decisions on the basis of people’s behaviour without having any regard for the depth or expression of their faith.

Jesus may indeed have received extraordinary visitors in his early years but let us not allow our wonder at the mystery of the story blind us to its deeper meaning that it is those without any connection to the historic faith who are the first to bow their knees to the child Jesus. In our day, the faith of those whom we have chosen to exclude may put our own to shame.

[1] http://read.gov/aesop/025.html

[2] http://read.gov/aesop/007.html

[3] Dennis Hamm, SJ, https://liturgy.slu.edu/EpiphanyB010321/theword_hamm.html (I am indebted to Dennis Hamm for other elements of this text.

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Seeing people for what they are

March 14, 2020

Lent 3 – 2020

John 4:5-42

Marian Free

In name of God who knows us, affirms us and trusts us. Amen.

During the course of my lifetime I have heard more than one exposition of this amazing encounter between Jesus and the woman of Samaria. My first memory is of a church camp that I attended in my teens. On this occasion, the account was used as an illustration of mission. The person leading the study pointed out that it was Jesus accepted the woman as she was and it was he who initiated the conversation. The study leader suggested that if we wanted to bring people to faith that we should take this as our example. Later, in the Eighties, when we began to try to identify the role of women in the early community, scholars picked up on the the unusual nature of the meeting between Jesus and the woman. It was pointed out that the woman must have been an outcast from her own society if she was coming to the well in the middle of the day. When Jesus asked the woman for water, Jesus broke a number of religious boundaries – he was speaking to a woman, who was also a Samaritan, and a sinner AND he was also suggesting that he share a utensil with her – all  of which were not only forbidden by Hebrew law but which would result in Jesus’ being ritually unclean.

At the same time scholars made an effort to rehabilitate the woman from the perception that she was a prostitute or a woman of loose morals. It was speculated that she was a victim of circumstances and this, not her impropriety, was the reason that she had had five husbands and was currently living with someone to whom she was not married. Had she, it was asked, been passed from one brother to another as husband after husband died – like the woman in the Sadducees’ question about  the resurrection (Luke 20:27f for eg)? Or, was she a victim of domestic violence who had been forced to flee for her life only to seek shelter in the arms of yet another abuser? Perhaps, it has been suggested, the five husbands are merely symbolic. In which case the woman could represent Samaria and the five husbands the nations whom the Assyrians brought in to settle the region when they conquered it in 721 B.C.E. (see 2 Kings 17:24).  It is also possible that the woman’s broken marriage was a symbol for the breach of covenant between the northern kingdom (that included Samaria) as God (a breach described as divorce in Hosea).[i]

It  is not by accident that Jesus’ meeting with the woman follows directly after that between Nicodemus and Jesus. The juxtaposition of the two encounters brings out a number of striking contrasts. Nicodemus meets with Jesus secretly, under cover of darkness whereas Jesus’ meeting with the woman of Samaria takes place in the full light of the day. Even though there is no audience (at first) the interaction between Jesus and the woman is out in the open. There is no secrecy here, no fear of being exposed. Furthermore, the two characters could not be more different. Karoline Lewis points out: “Nicodemus is a Pharisee, an insider, a leader of the Jews. He is a man, he has a name, but he comes to Jesus by night. The woman is a Samaritan, a religious and political outsider. She has no name and it is Jesus who comes to her, not at night, but at noon, in full daylight.” Despite his understanding that Jesus comes from God, Nicodemus remains confused and unbelieving after the encounter. He cannot move beyond his traditional way of thinking. The Samaritan, who does not have Nicodemus’ advantages and her different faith background, is equal to Jesus in debate yet she remains open to what Jesus has to say. Because Nicodemus is bound by tradition, he cannot acknowledge that Jesus is God. Contrast this with the woman who hears Jesus say, “I AM” (4:26) the name of God utters to Moses through the burning bush. Nicodemus’ question exposes his disbelief. The woman’s question leads not only her, but the the whole village to faith:  “He cannot be the Christ, can he?”

The contrast between the two encounters suggests that we need not worry about the woman’s background or about the symbolism (though they play a part in the story). What is important, or so it seems to me, is that the woman (despite her apparent disadvantages) is not a victim and nor does she appear to see herself as such. She is a woman of character, confidence and strength. Not only is she prepared to challenge Jesus on matters of religion but she is able to convince the people of her town that they should come someone who has, “told me everything I have ever done”.

Jesus sees beyond gender, colour, race, religion, status, income and education. He affirms, encourages, empowers and commissions the most unlikely of people. He challenges us to see beyond the externals and to follow his lead in identifying a person’s strengths and capacities rather than confine them to socially engineered norms.

[i] Other imagery may be significant including that of Jacob’s well which in Hebrew lore represented the patriarchs but which also alluded to betrothals – especially that of Jacob and Rebekah.

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Breaking the code

April 9, 2016

Easter 2 – 2016

Revelation

Marian Free

 

In the name of God, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, who was and who is and who is to come. Amen.

Images such as “the four horsemen of the apocalypse” and “the mark of the beast” have become part of our cultural heritage. Even the word apocalypse is widely understood to mean the violent end of the world. I wonder if people who use such terminology understand that the images come from the book of Revelation or the Apocalypse. This is such a complex and controversial book of the bible, that it was not formally included in the canon of the New Testament until the fourth century. Even now, it is often regarded as too difficult and unorthodox to be included regularly in our diet of Sunday readings.

Of all the books of the Bible, Revelation is the one most open to misunderstanding and abuse. It is difficult to read and its meaning is so obscure that it is often avoided. This is unfortunate for two reasons: one is that it means that we fail to appreciate it and the second is that it leaves us unprepared to challenge the dangerous results of misinterpretation[1].

As the introduction suggests, Revelation is written (as a letter?) to seven churches in Asia Minor. The context suggests that church members are feeling under threat. As there was no official persecution at that time we can only guess that their conversion to Christianity had led to social exclusion and financial hardship. Being a Christian meant that they could no longer associate with the local Temples. This meant a form of voluntary social ostracism. Temples were places for meeting and eating and what is more they were closely associated with the various trade guilds. Not being able to visit the Temple mean isolation from the community at large and it also made it almost impossible to ply one’s trade.

When a community feels under threat, it is not unusual for those people to envision a future in which everything will be put to right – the righteous rewarded and the wicked punished. It is in this context that we need to read the book of Revelation. The colourful, and in places lurid imagery is intended to give hope and encouragement to those who (at some considerable cost to themselves are refusing to conform to the society around them.

Understanding Revelation requires making sense of the symbolism, breaking the code as it were. For example, numbers and colours take on specific meanings. Seven is the number for perfection, which means that 3½ or 1,260 days is the number for imperfection. We see that the work is written to seven churches, there are four sets of seven – seven seals, seven trumpets, seven visions and seven bowls. There are also seven churches, seven unnumbered visions and seven beatitudes Twelve is another significant number – 12 tribes of Israel and 12 disciples. 666 (of 616, “the mark of the beast”) may have no more significance than that it refers to Nero the letters of whose name add up to that number. The use of colour is also of significance. The four horses are white, red, black and pale (or green). It is believe that these symbolize conquest, war, famine and death.

The author is heavily reliant on the OT and it is easy for example to find images from Isaiah – the angels before the throne saying “holy, holy, holy” and the idea that God will wipe every tear from our eyes. Imagery of the Son of Man coming on the clouds is straight out of the book of Daniel and so on. At the same time, the book is not written in isolation, but is a product of the times. Nero was a particularly erratic and violent Emperor who was condemned to death. Before the execution could take place, Nero disappeared – this lead to a rumour that he would return one day. When Revelation refers to an army gathered in the east, it is possible that it refers to the return of Nero.

Not only is the book filled with symbolism, it is made up of repeated patterns. For example, each of the letters to the churches follows the same pattern and each of the seven plagues follows a pattern of persecution (of the righteousness), punishment (of the nations) and the triumph of God. Another aspect to note is that the writing is concentric or cyclic rather than linear, that is the events repeat themselves, each time becoming a little more dramatic or more destructive. It is impossible for the earth and all who live on it to be destroyed over and over again. Rather the pattern is repeated for emphasis, describing the wrath of God on three levels – the individual, humanity as a whole and the cosmos. The violence and the heavenly portents are not intended to be descriptions of what is to happen, they are pictorial images presented with a degree of exaggeration to make a point. Each builds on the last, but that does not mean that the events as described are meant to occur sequentially. A world without God is destined to self-destruct, but in the final analysis, God will make all things right.

The writer obviously had a sense of drama. Michael Fallon believes that the book can be divided as if into scenes in a play, with moments of high drama[2] – such as the dramatic pause before the opening of the seventh seal. The first five scenes are followed by glimpses of heaven – a vision of what life will be for those who hold on to the end.

The book of Revelation does not describe actual events, nor does it provide as some sort of road map for the present and future. It is an imaginative picture of a time of future judgement when the righteous will be rewarded and the unrighteous punished. It is written to give the recipients a cause for hope and the courage to hold on – even in the most difficult circumstances. When this life has done its worst, “those who conquer will inherit a new heaven and a new earth”[3] and having faith in the face of great opposition will be seen to have been worth it.

For all its difficulties, it is worth breaking the code and trying to understand the book of Revelation. It is a book of hope for the hopeless, a reassurance that all things are in God’s hands and at the end God will be seen to be the victor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Think Jonestown and other millennial movements that have convinced people that the world is so corrupt that the only solution is withdrawal and even suicide.

[2] a. Introduction                                                                         1:1-3

  1. Opening liturgical dialogue                                1:4-8
  2. Prophetic commission                                         1:9-11

Heaven

Scene 1 Letters to the 7 churches                                    2:1-3:22

Heaven                                                               4:1-5:14

Scene 2 Six seals are broken                                            6:1-7:9

Heaven                                                               7:9-8:6

Scene 3 The sounding of six  trumpets                          8:7-11:14

Heaven                                                             11:15-12:12

Scene 4 Forces for good and for evil                            12:13-14:20

Heaven                                                             15:1-8

Scene 5 The seven bowls                                                 16:1-18:24

Heaven                                                              19:1-10

Scene 6 The final struggle, victory                                19:11-20:15

and judgement

Scene 7 The Church of God on earth                            21:1-22:5

  1. Guarantee of prophecy                                         22:6-7
  2. Concluding liturgical dialogue                            22:8-17
  3. Conclusion                                                              22:18-21

 

[3] 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them as their God;

they will be his peoples,

and God himself will be with them;

4                   he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more;

mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

for the first things have passed away.”

5   And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

 

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