APOCALYPSE HEAVY

Apocalypse Heavy
What can one say about The Book of Revelation that hasn’t already been said?
Let me begin by repeating what I said about the “Little Apocalypse:” the Book of Revelation is “not a prediction of catastrophes, a list to be played out according to a timetable; but rather an understanding that the change coming will be so profound that it will literally be the end of the world as we know it! Or, to put it even more simply, the destruction of our cherished beliefs is harder to bear than the destruction of our lives. We will be ready to deny everything, follow any leader, turn on even our family—if only we can hang onto the world as we know it!”
After spending one afternoon browsing a few of the many websites devoted to the “Mark of the Beast,” from Rev.14:16, I can assure you that for the over-whelming majority of the readers of the Book of Revelation the above has not been said.
So let me say it again: John’s revelation is much more profound and earth-shattering than some testosterone-induced, Hollywood-style scenario of the end of the world!
The Book of Revelation is a book for quitters!
And now I will immediately say it is not a book for whiners. It offers no solace for those who have had to leave behind all their cherished beliefs; it does not blame the present state of the quitters on the evils committed by someone else, i.e., it does not feed the persecution/victim complex; nor, finally, does it offer a simple solution to personal and/or social problems.
It is a book for people who have given up. Nothing more, nothing less.. Simply given up. And that is why it is a book that continues to resonate with readers down through the centuries. For we have all at some point in our lives asked ourselves what good is it to even believe, or to hope.
So the question is: What do believing, hoping quitters do? And the answer is: they watch and wait! They are ready for the new world and the new city.
With that understanding, I would like in a few of the following posts tell you what I am watching and waiting for.