The Proposal

Our invitation into the family of God does not begin with Revelation. It started with Genesis, and even before. The scriptures detail our love affair with God, and His love for us. But they are not the only correspondence He has with us. When we learn to see clearly, the whole world is a love story. One path to that idyllic point of view, lies through Revelation, but it is not the only way. It is important to keep in mind that Abram didn’t have a Bible to follow. The source of his revelations was God. He only got them, when he went searching for answers.

It was only with God’s help that Abram was able to become the Patriarch of a great nation. For that reason, we should not place our whole trust in a book – any book. It would also be foolish to think that our journey into spiritual adulthood will not have its struggles. Like the old adage says, ‘No pain, no gain.’

We should keep in mind that Abram did not become Abraham without some challenges and some strife. Likewise, we will not become who we are supposed to be, without some tribulations of our own. Soul searching is never painless. Personal growth comes with growing pains. Fortunately, the hurt is fleeting, and the discomfort is momentary. And let’s not forget that there will be moments of surprise and shock. Perhaps you noticed that the two letters that changed Abram’s name are ‘h’ and ‘a.’ For Abram to become Abraham, he needed a ‘ha!’

Similarly, we could say that the new letters in his name were arranged as ‘ah.’ It depends on which ‘a’ we think is the new one. Whichever way we choose to look at it, we should be aware that the revelation road brings ‘ah!s’ and ‘ha!s’ and many ‘aha!s.’

On that note, let’s get started.

The proposal isn’t very interesting. There are only a few things that need pointing out. We’ll take it one line at a time.

Revelation 1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.

Revelation begins with a letter from our intended, and a seeming insult. Servants? Is he looking for a wife, or hiring a maid? Does he mean we are his servants, or that we are all God’s servants? It’s hard to tell by the way it’s worded. Does it matter? We could take offense, but honestly, good relationships are built on servitude. Aren’t they? I mean, in order to be a good spouse, we have to be good to our spouse. Right?

And conversely, we would expect our spouse to be good to us, wouldn’t we? I think so. That feels like the proper attitude. I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it. Perhaps we should move on, before we overthink it.

He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Oh. So he had his friend deliver the letter. That’s weird, isn’t it? What does that say about him? Is he scared? Are we being pursued by a coward, or is he just old fashioned? Let’s assume the latter.

Once upon a time, in polite society, it was customary for maidens to be asked out through an emissary. A suitor would send their friend, instead of appearing in person, so that if she said no, they would both be spared the embarrassment.

In addition to that, she would not be coerced by the presence of her suitor, into agreeing to something she didn’t want to do. Emotions could be left out of it, in that there would be no tears or angry words, and no begging and pleading and making a fool of yourself. There would be no opportunity for bad behavior, brought on in the heat of the moment, by bad feelings. We are, after all, children of God, and kids do dumb things.

There is a meme on the internet that states: Romeo and Juliet is not a love story. It’s a 3-day relationship between a 13 year old girl and a 17 year old boy, that results in six deaths. We’re looking for something more substantial. Let’s see what else our guy has to say.

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

He thinks we’re blessed… but only if we heed his words. He’s a bit full of himself, isn’t he? Or is he promising us something? He’s gonna reward us with gifts if we go out with him? What kind of gifts? And what does he mean by the time is near?

Why does he feel like he has to bribe us? Well, honestly, it’s because our love, no matter what we say, is never unconditional. If it were, we would truly love everyone, and there would be no strife in our world. We love because we see something worth loving, and we hate because we see something worth hating. That’s the simple truth of it.

There’s no time to dwell on that. We are out of time, because the time is not only near, it’s now. What I mean is, every day brings the end of the world for someone, and Revelation predicts the end of our world. It’s too late for us. We’re here, at this moment on our revelation journey, because we died in the spirit, and were born again.

That doesn’t mean our guy is a necrophiliac. He wants a living, breathing bride. One who is willing to lay aside her old life, for him. Remember, he has to set aside his life for us, too. That’s what marriage is. Two people become one person, by giving up parts of themselves. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work.

Jesus wants a commitment from us. He believes we are ready, but we have to make the final decision. Do we take his hand, or turn our backs? The most important question we should ask, before beginning any journey, is whether we really want to go through with it. Without the proper level of commitment, we won’t make it to the end. Our heart has to be in the right place, or our willpower will fail.

Our hearts are like a light bulb. They are either filled with light, or they are dark. We think we don’t have control over the state of our heart, but we do. To fill them with light, we have to invite Jesus into them. When he is in residence, we are In the Spirit. When there is no light in our hearts, we are In the Body.

When we examine the ideas that people put forth, it is important to think about which state they are in. It’s easy to determine, if we put ourselves in their shoes and try to figure out what motivates them. Note that it’s not about whether their words are self-serving, or not. As humans, everything we do is self-serving. That’s the way we are built. That’s why the Lord’s Prayer is all about us, and no one else. Most of the time, we are blind to the connection we share with our neighbors.

The thing we need to look for, to determine whether someone is in the spirit, is communication with God. Are they talking to God? Is that where their ideas are coming from? It is that communication that gave Moses an advantage over the sorcerers of Egypt.

We can’t just take our neighbor’s word for it, though. The best way to find out if they are talking to God, is to talk to Him, ourself.

In all honesty, if we’re in the spirit, it doesn’t matter if they are, or not. Their words will ring hollow or true, in our ears, depending on our state.

Most of us know what it feels like to be in the spirit, even if we haven’t put a name to it. It’s a moment where everything feels right. We are at peace with the world, and we can see God’s hand moving in everything. Even the bad things make sense.

Revelation is a journey, just like any courtship. Journeys have a beginning and an end. Before we can set out on ours, we need to know where we are and where we are going. Before we agree to a first date, we should ask, “Where are you taking me?” The answer is, it’s a surprise, sort of, and it seems we’re not the only ones getting this invitation. There are seven letters to seven churches. It looks like our guy is hedging his bets… or is he?

4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. 7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

This part always reminds me of the scene in Game of Thrones, where Robert Baratheon is on his death bed, dictating his last wishes, saying, “Titles, titles, titles; You know the damn words!”

If you have never read the bible, and know nothing about the life of Jesus Christ, then it must seem like a lot of braggadocio. For those of us who know the rest of the story, it’s actually a very modest take on the life of the man, and it gives us our first glimpse at our suitor. It’s a chance for him to introduce himself, and for his delivery boy to do the same.

There are several promises here, which I think need our attention.

One, he is coming with the clouds. The wording of that is more important than it seems. He’s not coming in the clouds, or on them. He is hidden behind a veil, and it needs to be lifted before we can see him clearly. Yes, I know, the woman is supposed to wear the veil. I didn’t say he was wearing it, only that he is hidden behind it. The veil is over our eyes, and yes, it has to be lifted by him.

He is coming with the clouds, because our new, born again life is a mystery that needs to be solved, just like the book of Revelation. Keep in mind, the word revelation comes from the word reveal, and the English word reveal comes from the Latin word revelare, which means to lay bare. Our guy intends to strip us down. You didn’t think you were going to get through this relationship with your clothes on, did you? Oh no. We’re gonna take it all off, but don’t worry, he’s getting naked, too. How else can we see each other for who we truly are? Good marriages don’t have secrets.

Two, every eye will see him. Yes, that’s a promise, and an important one. As I said, every day brings the end of the world for someone. Some of us have had… a moment, where we were picked up from the floor and set back on our feet. That moment, in truth, is indescribable, meaning no words can accurately depict it, because it occurred both within and without of the five senses – sight, taste, smell, touch and hearing. It was not a feeling. It was an experience. In that moment, a great question was answered for us, beyond the shadow of any doubt. God is real. We cannot deny it.

That moment comes for everyone, in good time. If you haven’t had yours yet, you will, though it might not come until your last moment.

Perhaps you’re wondering why you have to wait, and why God doesn’t just reveal himself to everyone, immediately? Well, to put it plainly, because God loves doubt as much as he loves certainty. He loves all of his creations, not just the ones we consider to be the good ones.

Think of it as peekaboo, or hide-and-seek. He’ll get to you in good time.

“Those who pierced him” applies to the soldier that speared him, those who placed the crown of thorns on his head, those who whipped him, and also those who have been given some insight into who he truly was.

The third promise is something we can count on in nearly every relationship. Coming together as one, giving up parts of yourself, is never easy. You can bet that there will be tears, and they are always the fault of the other person. You don’t cry, just to cry. You cry because they made you cry. John is being honest with us, right up front. He warns us that the whole world will mourn because of Jesus. Now is our chance to run away, because the revelation path will not be easy.

Unfortunately, there is no escape, because we were made for him, and he for us. We were betrothed, even before we were begat.

The fourth promise doesn’t seem like a promise, at all. It sounds like more braggadocio. We can be sure that he is the first, and the last, and that he will always be, because he is, and was, and is to come. He is called the Faithful Witness, which implies that we can trust him.

Why can we trust him? Because he was the Firstborn from the Dead. Nothing we are about to experience is new to him. He did it first, and he’s not just a prince, he’s a King, who was willing to bleedfor us, and come down and live as one of us.

The Seven Spirits are the seven spirits of God that are in the world. They are our vanities, and I could write a whole book just on them. In fact, I will go into them in great depth, later in this book. For now, just know that we can understand what a spirit is by examining how we use the word spirit in our daily lives.

We say we’re in good spirits, or poor spirits, depending on our mood. We say arguments are spirited, when they become riotous, and we call intoxicating beverages ‘spirits’, because they change our behavior. These seven spirits do just that, they change the way we behave.

The fact that they are before his throne, means they work for him. In short, he’s telling us that he can make us feel good. To get to him and his throne, we must also overcome these seven spirits, and make them work for us.

There we have it, all the makings of a great love story.

Next, John tells us where he was, when he was given his task.

9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

John neglects to tell us that he was imprisoned on the island of Patmos, even though he was. He tells us that he is our companion in the suffering, to endear himself to us, because misery loves company, and he sort of promises that there will be a reward in the form of a kingdom, if we endure and are patient.

Now, Patmos is an interesting setting for the writing of Revelation. It is a small, rocky Greek island, surrounded by the Aegean sea. The reason it’s interesting is, that Greece is renowned as the birth place of logic and reason, yet Revelationseems entirely unreasonable at face value.

I will tell you now, that it is a finger trap for wannabe wise men. If you read it in the wrong spirit, it will only confuse you. If you try to unlock it with human wisdom, you will find yourself thoroughly locked out of its secrets. As proof of this, I simply have to point to the myriad of books that get it wrong.

Yes, it’s an apocalyptic tale. No, it doesn’t warn of the end of the world, only of the end of our world, when we become new Christians and gain a new life. It is a love story. It is a journey with our love. It is a walk and a talk, that leads to dinner for two. To understand it, you must have love in your heart. Only then can you see it with a new eye.

If you go into it looking for monsters, you will find plenty of them. If your dream is to watch sinners burn, you will not be disappointed. However, just because you find what you’re looking for, doesn’t mean you solved the puzzle the right way. Your perspective is off, and needs to be adjusted. That is what I will try to accomplish with this book. Now back to John.

10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches:

to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

He tells us that he was in the spirit when he wrote this. Does that mean he was drunk? No. Not exactly. It means that he was filled with the Holy Spirit, which can be quite intoxicating, in itself.

The thing about spirits is, they are either on or off, like light switches or lit candles. If the Holy Spirit is not upon you, then you are in the body. That’s an important distinction, since it comes up once or twice during our walk through Revelation.

You have probably experienced being in the spirit, and just don’t realize it. The Holy Spirit feels like you are lit from within, and that light is shining out on all the world. If you have ever had a peaceful moment where everything was right with the world, then you know what I’m talking about. That was the Holy Spirit, you just didn’t know it’s name.

John says that he was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus. That’s true. He was imprisoned for spreading the word.

People don’t like ideas that are strange to them. I can’t blame them. I’ve been known to walk on the safe side, myself.

Still, the man I admire most was accused, tried, convicted and hung on a cross for telling people things they didn’t want to hear. I am going to warn you now, that you might not like some of the things I’m going to say. I hope that’s not the case, but know that I’m going to say them anyway.

I have an odd, cynical sense of humor, at times. I’ve been known to use language and imagery that you probably wouldn’t want your kids to see. I get that. I will try to rein it in where I can. Some of it, I feel, is necessary to get the full message across. And keep in mind, this is a book for adults, not children, and the Bible, itself, is full of all sorts of sordid tales. That’s why most churches have a children’s Sunday School, where kids can learn G-rated versions of biblical stories.

I grew up in the 70s, when parents made their kids repeat the phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” It’s oddly hypocritical that those same parents made us say heck, instead of Hell. I guess they thought some words would hurt us, even though they were in the Bible, and we heard our preacher say them every Sunday.

That being said, I will do my best not to throw overly offensive stones at you, if you promise not to pick up the ones I do throw and take them to heart. This is a love story, after all, and love requires us to treat each other with respect and understanding.