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Revelation - John's Description of Heaven

4: Revelation 4 & 5: John’s description of Heaven Imagine trying to describe something that can’t be described. Heaven must surely be beyond our power of description, and beyond the author, John’s. Comic artists render action with symbols familiar to all our children – star-shapes with “POW” and “BAM” written on them imply somebody being hit. “BANG” is usually a gun. Light-bulbs drawn over heads imply inspiration and ideas. The symbols John used in his writing would have been just as familiar to early readers, and to readers intimately acquainted with the Old Testament. When we read without the same understanding of the symbols, we might expect to struggle to understand – just as an alien might struggle to understand our children’s comic books. John has just written Jesus’ letters to the churches. The rest of the book might be expected to give an explanation of what the warnings and promises were all about. The story starts with images very reminiscent of the temple in Jerusa
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How Many Types of Locusts Are There Anyway?

With five weeks to go in our Bible study series, I'm wondering if we'll make it to the end of those prophets. I think we might, but we'll see. This week we look at Joel (with his armies of locusts) and flip back to Isaiah, but the pages are turning forward in history. We'll see Isaiah through eyes of a re-established Jerusalem, then the rest of Zechariah, then Daniel through the eyes of those who used his book to repel invasion, then onward to John - it's where we've been headed for almost 2 years. It will be cool to see where it leads. Anyway, following on from last week, here, at last, is Joel: (47) Joel’s Army and Isaiah’s Messiah As with many minor prophets, it’s hard to pin down when Joel was speaking. But he prophecies at a time when Jerusalem has a Temple ( Joel 2:17 ). And he doesn’t mention a king when he calls the nation to prayer and fasting. so it’s likely he wrote at a time when there was no king. He emphasizes the role of priests, as did Mal
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Is it Advent or Lent?

Advent started yesterday, and the color for Advent is not the white of rejoicing but rather the purple of penance. Christian tradition used to ask us to "fast," not just during Lent, but during Advent as well. Hunger would make us remember the season and pray. Prayer would remind us how much the world needs the coming of Jesus--not just the first coming, but His continuing presence until the second coming also. And the struggle would remind us to take Christmas seriously--it's hard work, preparing to meet our Savior.  So, after all, it's not so weird if our Bible study series feels like Lent in Advent.  And today, having  "walked" the Via Dolorosa last week.  we enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the final "Stations of the Cross." (108) At the Foot of the Cross Th traditional route of the Via Dolorosa goes west from the Lions’ Gate in the Muslim Quarter, to the Old City, to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian Quarter. The fi
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