Background to the Sunday Readings
The Revelation to John.
For two of the Sundays in November we continue to hear portions of the ‘Letter' to the Hebrews. But we also hear from the Book of Daniel and the Revelation to John.
These are part of the beautiful but strange and mystical Apocalyptic literature. Apocalyptic means ‘uncovering' or ‘showing' and is often expressed in terms of visions or journeys to Heaven. Daniel and Revelation are the only examples in the Bible of this kind of writing.
Both Daniel and Revelation were written for people who were suffering to the point of death (Daniel in a time when the Jewish way of life and worship was being destroyed, and Revelation under the Roman persecution of Christians).
Apocalyptic does not predict things in the future, but tries to give meaning to events that are happening now. Think of films where we start by seeing some tiny detail, then the camera pulls further and further back so that we see the immediate surroundings, then the country, the continent and finally the world. Apocalyptic literature looks down from this great height, so that the wider picture is revealed. It is written for groups of frightened people and so much of it is veiled, or coded. It is a mistake to try to work out the details of this code - the point is simply that, despite appearances, God is in control. Things have got so bad because this world is a battle ground between the forces of good and evil, but God can, and will, act to save faithful people. Readers are urged to remain faithful - to be on the side which will eventually win.
Many of our ideas of resurrection and the last judgment, angels, heaven and hell, come from Daniel and Revelation. You will hear many familiar phrases. God sits on a throne, as King and Judge. The dead are raised to face judgement. Christ is Alpha and Omega. Listen for mentions of a new Heaven and a new Earth, in which God's plans are fulfilled, and God and humanity live in harmony. Death, pain, sorrow and evil do not exist in God's new Kingdom. All Creation will be the way God intended it to be.
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