The Coming Apocalypse
The Book of Revelations is quite the paradox. It found its way into the Bible by being shortlisted by a certain Bishop, barely making it into the lineup we have nowadays, but beating out other ‘revelations’ such as the Revelation of Peter. It is said to be written by a man named John (most scholars agree was not the Apostle John) after witnessing the destruction of the Jewish temple and the brutal suppression of the Jewish rebellion. It is written in the apocalyptic apocryphal style well-known in ancient Judaism, marked by esotericism and symbolic imagery.
At first glance it seems to be completely out of place, not because of its predictions of the future, but because of its depictions of a vengeful God who exacts his wrath upon the world. The Lamb of Revelations is worlds apart from the Jesus of the Apostle John, a Love which gives its life for the world. How might we understand this book?
Like archetypes, these images live in us, these primal urges to fear and vengeance. But with these, there is also hope, like an inextinguishable flame. What gives this book such power is that it speaks to us in archetypal imagery. And this hope is what makes it unique from other Jewish apocalyptic writing. This book is as much about hope as it is about vengeance, and how we understand it probably says more about us, than about the book. It is good that we give a voice to these primordial spirits. The only way to enlighten the darkness, is to get it into the light. There is of course, always a danger in confronting it, but we are fated anyways if we do not.
There seems to be a hidden purpose to the frightful imagery, like the divine ones who wear a scary mask in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The goal is not vengeance and fear. The goal is to find someone who can sit and not turn their view, who does not give in to fear but who can see past it; who by sitting in midst of the fire can birth a new hope. It is with hope that the new world comes, and love is the completion of hope, for love is what hope hopes for. And the mystery reveals itself to you: that fire is not there to consume you, not for you to judge the world, but it is a test. If you would, like Christ did, refuse to judge, refuse to fight, and be willing to throw yourself into the fire, to take the place of your unrepentant children, you will save not only your own life but their lives too.
If we cling to fear and vengeance, we will continue this cycle, we will bring about this dreadful apocalypse. But we can choose a different revealing, we can choose a different outcome, and even if not, it will all be well in the end.
