Day 18 - Rev 12:1-6

1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven:

a woman, robed with the sun,

standing on the moon,

and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

2 She was pregnant, and in labour,

crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth.

3 Then a second sign appeared in the sky:

there was a huge red dragon

with seven heads and ten horns,

and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet.

4 Its tail swept a third of the stars from the sky

and hurled them to the ground,

and the dragon stopped in front of the woman

as she was at the point of giving birth,

so that it could eat the child

as soon as it was born.

5 The woman was delivered of a boy,

the son who was to rule all the nations with an iron sceptre,

and the child was taken straight up to God and to his throne,

6 while the woman escaped into the desert,

where God had prepared a place for her

to be looked after for twelve hundred and sixty days.

Day 18 - Rev 12:1-6
a Woman & a Dragon

Here's what Northrop Frye calls the original Christmas story

 
Imagine a new sign in heaven:
A woman, robed with the sun
standing on the moon -
on her head, a crown of 12 stars
she's pregnant, in labour...
This is a sign of hope and promise!

Imagine a new sign, in the sky (lower than heaven)
a red dragon -
with seven heads
with ten horns
his tail sweeping 1/3 of the stars from sky to ground
have you ever just laid back and watched the night sky?

The dragon stops in front of the woman -
waiting to devour the child as it is born
but God whisks the child to heaven
and the woman escapes to the desert for safety
where god keeps her safe 1260 days
(remember, 30days X42months = 3.5 years, half of 7)

first get your own vision of the two signs -
then of the narrative movement -
only then can we speculate about what it all means!

Read more...

Day 17 - Rev 11:15-19

15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet,

and voices could be heard

shouting in heaven, calling,

'The kingdom of the world

has become the kingdom

of our Lord and his Christ,

and he will reign for ever and ever.'

16 The twenty-four elders,

enthroned in the presence of God,

prostrated themselves

and touched the ground

with their foreheads

worshipping God

17 with these words,

'We give thanks to you,

Almighty Lord God,

He who is, He who was,

for assuming your great power

and beginning your reign.

18 The nations were in uproar

and now the time has come

for your retribution,

and for the dead to be judged,

and for your servants the prophets,

for the saints

and for those who fear your name,

small and great alike,

to be rewarded.

The time has come

to destroy those who are destroying the earth.'

19 Then the sanctuary of God in heaven opened,

and the ark of the covenant could be seen inside it.

Then came flashes of lightning, peals of thunder

and an earthquake and violent hail.

Day 17 - Rev 11:15-19
7th Angel's Trump

We're back to the scene in the heavenly courts -
Recall how you had 7 angels and trumpets lined up?
The last trumpet sounds -
will it be silence, like the 7th seal?

These are the voices of triumph -
'he shall reign for ever and ever' -
there are the 24 elders, off their own thrones,
praying facedown before God
the reign of God, the reign of Christ, begins

The first sign of that -
the nations, the powers-that-be, are in turmoil
retribution is upon us -
the dead and the living get what's coming to them
good news for some - bad news for others

'the time is come
to destroy those
who are destroying the earth'
'vengeance is mine, I will repay' -
this is not a call to do God's job -
but a promise that God will do it for us

head back up to your vision of the heavenly court -
the inner sanctuary opens -
inside, we get a glimpse of the ark of the covenant -
with flashes and rumbling thunder and earthquake

Read more...

Day 16 - Rev 11:7-14

7 When they have completed their witnessing,

the beast that comes out of the Abyss

is going to make war on them

and overcome them and kill them.

8 Their corpses lie in the main street of the great city

known by the symbolic names Sodom and Egypt,

in which their Lord was crucified.

9 People of every race, tribe, language and nation

stare at their corpses, for three-and-a-half days,

not letting them be buried,

10 and the people of the world are glad about it

and celebrate the event by giving presents to each other,

because these two prophets have been a plague

to the people of the world.'

11 After the three-and-a-half days,

God breathed life into them

and they stood up on their feet,

and everybody who saw it happen was terrified;

12 then I heard a loud voice from heaven say to them,

'Come up here,'

and while their enemies were watching,

they went up to heaven in a cloud.

13 Immediately, there was a violent earthquake,

and a tenth of the city collapsed; seven thousand persons were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors,

overcome with fear, could only praise the God of heaven.

14 That was the second of the disasters;

the third is to come quickly after it.

Day 16 - Rev 11:7-14
The End of the 2 Witnesses

Whatever your vision of the 2 witnesses yesterday -
once their message is delivered -
the beast comes out of the Abysss and kills them -
their powers of fire coming from their mouths aren't enough

Their dead bodies lie in the street of the city -
what city: Jerusalem, Rome, Babylon, Sodom, Egypt?
3.5 days this time - half a week, the perfect 7 -
I'm thinking we've moved from Jerusalem to Rome -
Dreamlike - a sign for a type, making visible the invisible

The people of the earth, the bad guys, celebrate -
they were scared of the witnesses,
and didn't like what they'd heard -
it's like Christmas, with all the presents...

Then God breathes life into them -
and calls them up into the cloud to heaven -
their enemies are terrified, rightly -
a tenth of the city, and 7,000 people, are destroyed

this time, for once, the survivors praise God....
that's a 2nd of 3 woes - it ain't over yet!

we're coming to the middle core of this onion -
soon we start burrowing out to the other side -
don't give up now - or you'll only have the bad dreams,
and not the good ones yet...

Read more...

Day 15 - Rev 11:1-6

1 Then I was given a long cane like a measuring rod,

and I was told,

'Get up and measure God's sanctuary,

and the altar,

and the people who worship there;

2 but exclude the outer court and do not measure it,

because it has been handed over to gentiles –

they will trample on the holy city for forty-two months.

3 But I shall send my two witnesses

to prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days,

wearing sackcloth.

4 These are the two olive trees

and the two lamps

in attendance on the Lord of the world.

5 Fire comes from their mouths

and consumes their enemies

if anyone tries to harm them;

and anyone who tries to harm them

will certainly be killed in this way.

6 They have the power to lock up the sky

so that it does not rain as long as they are prophesying;

they have the power to turn water into blood

and strike the whole world with any plague

as often as they like.

Day 15 - Rev 11:1-6
Measuring & 2 Witnesses

Cut to another scene in your imagination:
John gets a measuring rod -
he's to measure the temple and the people worshiping there
but not the outer courts, given over to the gentiles for now

42 months is the length of this interim period -
that's 3.5 years (3X12 months, plus 6 months)
if 7 is symbolic of a perfect fullness - what's this?
1260 days is the same length of the same interim -
that's 42 months (30days X 42 months)

How can you visualize the 2 witnesses?
are they angels, humans, olive trees, lamps?
they can breath fire defensively against their enemies
(this is like some D&D gaming calculus!)
wearing sackcloth, they bring drought,
and could replicate Moses' signs to Pharaoh in Egypt:
water turned to blood, plagues...
they could - but they don't.

Read more...

Day 14 - Rev 10

1 Then I saw another powerful angel

coming down from heaven, wrapped in cloud,

with a rainbow over his head;

his face was like the sun,

and his legs were pillars of fire.

2 In his hand he had a small scroll, unrolled;

he put his right foot in the sea

and his left foot on the land

3 and he shouted so loud,

it was like a lion roaring.

At this, the seven claps of thunder made themselves heard

4 and when the seven thunderclaps had sounded,

I was preparing to write,

when I heard a voice from heaven say to me,

'Keep the words of the seven thunderclaps secret

and do not write them down.'

5 Then the angel that I had seen,

standing on the sea and the land,

raised his right hand to heaven,

6 and swore by him who lives for ever and ever,

and made heaven and all that it contains,

and earth and all it contains,

and the sea and all it contains,

'The time of waiting is over;

7 at the time when the seventh angel is heard

sounding his trumpet,

the mystery of God will be fulfilled,

just as he announced in the gospel

to his servants the prophets.'

8 Then I heard the voice I had heard from heaven

speaking to me again.

'Go', it said, 'and take that open scroll

from the hand of the angel standing on sea and land.'

9 I went to the angel

and asked him to give me the small scroll,

and he said,

'Take it and eat it;

it will turn your stomach sour,

but it will taste as sweet as honey.'

10 So I took it out of the angel's hand,

and I ate it and it tasted sweet as honey,

but when I had eaten it

my stomach turned sour.

11 Then I was told,

'You are to prophesy again,

this time against many different nations

and countries and languages and kings.'

Day 14 - Rev 10
An Angel with a little Scroll

Just like the long break between 6th and 7th seal -
here's an interlude between 6th and 7th trumpet -
this resets the scene for Days 14, 15, 16
(we'll get back to the 7th trump on Day 17)

imagine a new powerful big angel -
coming down out of the sky,
wrapped in clouds and ribboned with rainbows
shining face, legs like pillars of fire -
does this remind you of the first vision,
of the figure with 7 lamps and 7 stars? me too.

the angel puts one foot on land, the other in sea -
and roars like a lion,
holding a new small scroll, unrolled -
7 flashes of lightning, and 7 rolls of thunder

now, zoom in on John,boy reporter,
ready to take notes of what he just heard -
but a voice says 'don't write it yet' -
then says - 'go take the scroll from the angel'

only the lamb can break the seals of the scroll in heaven -
but John's job is to take this smaller scroll -
which will taste sweet, but sit bitter...
and now his job is to dare to speak
to the powers-that-be:
nations and countries
and languages and kings...

whoa -
and we thought John's first job,
being the messenger to 7 churches in Turkey,
was hard!

Read more...