Revelation 20:5-22
Head spinning. Too much information.
Scholars, ministers, politicians and the like find Revelation to be the mad deliriums of a mentally unstable man. From Martin Luther to Thomas Jefferson, this book does not always collect respect.
Maybe that's why I like it. It isn't your normal read. On the other hand, I've spent the past year or so looking at various conceptualizations of this book and if you think John was mad, these believers who've gone way off the deep end would make him as tame as a caterpillar. We've pointed the finger at various culprits for the end of the world drama, perhaps some of those accusations are accurate.
If anything this book confuses me on the complexity of dimension. It's one thing to accept that I'm conscious an another to prove I'm conscious and then to implore that I am a witness of my own case is... not actually in the confines of a perfect test which is why we are capable of other possibilities that maybe this is all a dream, the works of an evil genius, or the wrath of a god. Revelation not only confuses me about my existence but where it will go after I die with layers of hell (actually, this word was never mentioned in Revelation), a lake of fire, death, Hades, the Abyss, purgatory (nor was this word), limbo (nope, not there), judgment, heaven (sky), heaven (God's throne), earth, a new earth... please someone stop me.
It's so thick that my finite brain can't handle it.
Here's the truth: the Revelation John experienced OVERWHELMED him. It's complex. From what I can understand, the gist of it is that at some point Christ returns for his church and they live in infinity. The details are rich -- like a chocolate sundae with peanut butter syrup kind of rich. It is not expected of you to understand all of it; your brain may want to try, but you don't know everything about the world and that's impossible. You only live a fragment of a few years and then you die.
Now here's the thing, why was John selected for this vision? This is one of the most powerful, destructive, and heal-all messages. Not everyone has the capacity to be submerged into it and come out living to tell it. John had a distinct persona that enabled him to be open-minded enough to jump from his finite timeline and be juxtaposed into a whole other universe. If God exists, I do believe he would create each person with a distinct personality and purpose.
John the Apostle, also known as John the Beloved Disciple, (Ancient Greek: Ἰωάννης) (c. 6 - c. 100) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of James also the son of Zebedee, another of the Twelve Apostles. Christian tradition holds he was the last surviving of the Twelve Apostles, the only one to die a natural death and died around the age of 94.
Christian tradition identifies him as the author of several New Testament works: the Gospel of John, the Epistles of John, and the Book of Revelation. Some modern scholars believe that John the Apostle, John the Evangelist, and John of Patmos were three separate individuals.[2] Certain lines of evidence suggest that John of Patmos wrote only Revelation, neither the Gospel of John nor the Epistles of John. For one, the author of Revelation identifies himself as "John" several times, but the author of the Gospel of John never identifies himself directly. Roman Catholic scholars state that "vocabulary, grammar, and style make it doubtful that the book could have been put into its present form by the same person(s) responsible for the fourth gospel." [3]
Roman Catholic tradition states that after the Assumption, John did go to Ephesus and from there wrote the three epistles traditionally attributed to him. John was allegedly banished by the Roman authorities to the Greek island of Patmos, where some believe that he wrote the Book of Revelation. According to Tertullian (in The Prescription of Heretics) John was banished (presumably to Patmos) after being plunged into boiling oil in Rome and suffering nothing from it. It is said that all in the entire Colosseum audience were converted to Christianity upon witnessing this miracle. This event would have occurred during the reign of Domitian, a Roman emperor who was known for his persecution of Christians in the late first century.
John the Apostle was the son of Zebedee, and the brother of St. James the Greater. The Eastern Orthodox tradition gives his mother's name as Salome. They originally were fishermen and fished with their father in the Lake of Genesareth. He was first a disciple of John the Baptist and later one of the twelve apostles of Jesus.
Christian tradition holds that John had a prominent position in the Apostolic body. Peter, James and John were the only witnesses of the raising of Jairus' daughter,[Mk. 5:37] of theTransfiguration[Mt. 17:1] and of the Agony in Gethsemane.[Mt 26:37] Only he and Peter were sent into the city to make the preparation for the final Passover meal (the Last Supper).[Lk 22:8] [4] At the meal itself, his place may have been next to Jesus on whose chest he leaned if he is indeed the "disciple whom Jesus loved." However, this can not be concluded with certainty.[Jn 13:23-25]According to the general interpretation, John was also that "other disciple" who with Peter followed Jesus after the arrest into the palace of the high-priest.[Jn. 18:15] John alone remained near Jesus at the foot of the cross on Calvary with Jesus’ mother, Mary, and the pious womenand took Mary into his care as the last legacy of Jesus.[Jn. 19:25-27]
Both the Letters and Revelation presuppose that John belonged to the multitude of personal eyewitnesses of the life and work of Jesus (cf. especially 1 Jn. 1:1-5; 4:14), that he had lived for a long time in Asia Minor, was thoroughly acquainted with the conditions existing in the various messianic communities there, and that he had a position of authority recognized by all messianic communities as leader of this part of the church. Moreover, Revelation says that its author was on the island of Patmos "for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus", when he was honoured with the vision contained in Revelation.[Rev. 1:9] John, like his Old Testament counterpart Daniel, was kept alive to receive the prophetic vision.
Though most scholars agree in placing the Gospel of John somewhere between AD 65 and 85,[6] John A.T. Robinson proposes an initial edition by 50–55 and then a final edition by 65 due to narrative similarities with Paul.[7]:pp.284,307 Other critical scholars are of the opinion that John was composed in stages (probably two or three).[8]:p.43 The text itself states only that the Fourth Gospel was written by an anonymous follower of Jesus referred to as the Beloved Disciple.[citation needed] It is traditionally believed that John survived his contemporary apostles and lived to an extreme old age, dying at Ephesus in about A.D. 100.
God had reasons for him that were different than the rest of the disciples. It is evident that John participated in events in Jesus' life that were not experienced by the whole. He is also often compared with Daniel, another who witnessed extraordinary visions beyond compare. In fact, there are several Biblical characters who are visited in such a way and were considered madmen of their time and yet revered for their mind. The Pharaoh appointed Joseph from the jail to staff for accurately interpreting dreams.
It's because of his open mind and open heart that he was able to see these things. It's because he lived for so long and had so many perceptions on society that he was even able to write of such far off things. What he may describe as a cloud -- who knows! All the layering of dimensions and what it means for the soul or even the existence of a soul -- just as ambiguous!
Here's what I understand that the Bible is teaching: due to sin, man and woman separated their selves from God. This separation is far more complicated than any of us understand,but it created a new order and law for us to abide. In allowing sin into our lives, we were unable to be with God anymore. He is so much greater than us that his mere presence would have crushed us. We can't see, hear, experience God the way we desire and no matter how much we wish he would magically appear the honest truth is that is holiness would in an ironic twist, kill us. We are fragile beings and God understands that so he communicates with us and helps us to see things with the best and proper intentions.
His wrath is magnificent, it's all powerful, and he holds it back so that you can live. With our free-wills, which were given to us so that we could choose to love him or whatever we please rather than forcing us to have feelings for him, we left the "garden." I'm not sure if this garden is figurative or literal, but I do know we left the presence of infinity and went into the shadowland of the finite. We are random existing finite numbers; it is intended to disturb you.
Seriously, being finite doesn't make any sense. How can a series of numbers be pulled from a greater scale? To be finite must mean that there is an infinite, unless infinity is actually an imaginary number. A finite existence has to come from somewhere and whatever existence that comes from has to come from somewhere as well: in conclusion, if we do exist and we are finite it's hard to believe that we are only a random configuration of numbers without infinity. We escaped infinity with sin. We literally cannot live without God. If God doesn't exist: we don't exist. If infinity does not exist: the finite cannot exist either. It would just be a floating number, isolated from the greater scheme of reality.
Now, as to figuring out what is God... that's even more complicated. This is what I'll be exploring as I delve into my Bible a little deeper.
What Revelation tells is that our existence as of now is only in the shadowland. Things are not perfect from your mind, your body, your grass, the sky, everything is imperfect. We don't have perfectly made genders, organs, eyesight, hearing: lets face it, unstable emotions, thoughts, impulses... due to being finite we have a lot of problems. God is allowing us to exist in this state and he has a rescue plan, literally the Christ which is and always was to radically bring us out of this existence and into our proper order. This has taken time and energy and came at a significant price, his first born son.
What the Bible teaches is that you must be born again, that there is a second death, that there is... more to it. If you die here, it's meaningless: this is the finite realm. It's when you encounter the second death, where you face infinity that you are bound to potential non-existence or torture, who knows really because at that point I don't know what happens when you separate yourself from God again. Maybe it's continual self-torture, I mean at that point the absence of love in your life should strike you fairly hard. You were born into this world, but there's another world that you can be born into to save yourself, the real world that you were meant to find true existence.
In fact, there is also a first resurrection. Not surprising, considering this should all correspond in some sort of mathematical sense.
Revelation 20: 5 "(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection."
What does that mean? I have no idea. Time is the variable that is hardest to pinpoint in the Bible when jumping from a chronological finite perspective to a much more than linear time perspective on infinity. Basically here, for a time, Jesus is with a few chosen priests to rule an encampment on the old earth, before earth is truly resurrected. Satan is in the abyss and is freed after a thousand years, once out he becomes a military leader and with Gog and Magog attempts to overtake the holy camp. The devil is thrown in a "lake of fire." Torment is non-existence, right? To not experience life at all? Why would God offer something even a sliver of life after they abandon him completely? What is God's love? Does he stop granting it or do we abandon it into non-existence? How do you live without God and without a finite realm? Perhaps it is the Abyss and with this bottomless existence, you exist less and less with each passing moment.
Anyway, after this incident, and Earth's final death... the dead (of round 1) are judged.
Revelation 20: 13-15
"The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death (lowercased) and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
Huge paradox. If death does not exist then what is the lake of fire for if death dies of death.... intriguing. I'm going to move on and think of this more.
As well, judged according to what he had done? We are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ; so then what is it saying with "according to what he had done." I think you can deny the grace of God. In some cases, maybe you didn't have the opportunity to meet Christ? Therein lies why I'm not in charge of this task. Through him is obvious victory... without him, it's a mystery. A mystery I wouldn't put hope into if one can avoid it.
And now we have the new heaven and new earth:
Revelation 21: 1
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea."
Even the heaven we have... is finite. What is heaven, exactly? Is it the sky or is it something more? I think saying the kingdom of God makes sense but is heaven synonymous? No really, I'm truly asking this because this one confuses me.
Revelation 21: 3-4
"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
Fascinating, right? To us it is the old order of ways, but I think in actuality this garbage we're living in is the new way, right? We are returning to the correct order of existence.
I thought I'd throw this verse in because everyone seems to think Heaven is just a pearly gate: it's described with several radiant colors.
Revelation 21: 19-20
"The first foundation was
jasper,
the second sapphire,
the third chalcedony,
the fourth emerald,
the fifth sardonyx,
the sixth carnelian,
the seventh chrysolite,
the eighth beryl,
the ninth topaz,
the tenth chrysoprase,
the eleventh jacinth,
and the twelfth amethyst."
Revelation 21: 23
"The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp."
If we have light itself, then why have artificial representations of light?
Chapter 22, describes in detail the tree of life. I love endings that go back to the beginning (Genesis) and tie everything together. The fruit of paradise continues on. The fruit that grows on trees connects with spirituality in that the seed that we plant for our minds will be the end result of the fruit we make. You can tell the condition of a tree by the fruit it makes -- simple enough?
Revelation 22: 3
"No longer will there be any curse." Like I said, until restored to infinity, we live as cursed beings and sometimes judging what we should do under this blanket of curses is more than difficult.
Revelation 22: 8-11
"I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, 'Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!' Then he told me, 'Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time near.'
I think if we look to John as an example through this Revelation it will make it easier to have eyes to understand the overall meaning of this prophecy.
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