Opus 2025-578: Uncharted Revelation: Experts Need Not Apply

One of the reasons that I don’t like spending a lot of time in Revelation specifically or prophecy in general is that the experts, the scholars, like to tell me what everything means.  Generally speaking they start with their preconceived poppy cock, and bend the scripture to fit their system.

One of the places that jumps out at me is when I stop to look at the comments at the bottom of my study Bible about the churches in Revelation.  What I saw there I’ve heard before.  When I heard it before it produced one of my gigantic eye rolls and demonstrated the fact that I can control my sarcasm.  It has to do with identifying the churches in Revelations, first three chapters, with periods of history in the Christian Church.

If I hadn’t heard it someplace else, I would’ve thought that the editor of my study Bible had made it up himself one night when he couldn’t sleep very well . But evidently it’s a common thing.  Each church is identified with a period of history. For example,

“The church in Sardis pictures the Reformation church, beginning with the sixteenth century.”.

I have searched in vain to find any indication in the book itself that this is the way to understand this.  Each of these churches existed in the time of John.  Each of these churches has specific personalities issues that are probably present today and we need to have teaching about.  Another reason I don’t go along with this interpretation is that when God wants to be mysterious, he usually finds a way to explain things if it’s important.  Think of the colossal statue in Daniel 2 that was made up of different materials.  God explains that those different materials represent different historical kingdoms.  Or take the parable of the seeds.  Jesus explains to his disciples what He meant by that story.

The purpose of the Bible is not to confuse or to be mysterious.  His purpose is to teach us the things that we need to know for salvation and hiding it behind mysterious secret meanings is the way of Gnosticism not the way of Jesus.  I would venture to guess that you could find a teacher somewhere that will tell you that eternal significance of each type of precious stone mentioned in the foundation and walls of the New Jerusalem.  If that floats your boat and makes you capable of living a more righteous life than go for it.  Embrace it.  Just don’t bother sharing it with me.

homo unius libri