First off, welcome to all the new subscribers. Be sure to leave questions and comments if you have any. I am working on some perks and extra posts for the paid subscribers (which made my week, thank you!).
And as always, if you’re new, here’s a link to Part 1.
Here we go!
Reading Revelation Backwards
When I was in Seminary, I learned to read the books of the Bible backward. Here’s the idea: Flip to the back of the letter to find the ask. Ask yourself: “What is the author trying to accomplish with this writing?” It’s not always an easy answer to find, but once you’ve locked in the author’s intent, flip back to the beginning, read the letter through a fresh new lens, and watch the letter come alive.
The Book of Revelation was written to offer a word of warning to the seven churches of Asia Minor. Pastor John wants them to inspect their hearts and test their allegiances because the enemy is creeping in, and they are not prepared to stand against it.
But who or what is the enemy of Revelation?
There have been many proposals in recent American evangelicalism. For some modern readers in the last century, the enemy might be a political party, an ideology, or even a president or two (in 2008, I was assured that the enemy of Revelation was Barack Obama, and in 2016, I was told it was Donald Trump).
The fact is that John’s audience already knew who the enemy was before the letter was even received. And if we want to know what was on their mind, we need to flip to the back, chapter 17.
Verse 3 sets the stage, and every detail is important, so we will move through it little by little over the next few posts. Keep it short and simple.
Into the Wild
Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. (Re 17:3)
I think it’s best to unveil it bit by bit, and verse 3 sets the stage.
John is taken to the wilderness, you know, the place of wandering for 40 years, the place of being tempted for 40 days. The place where scorching winds scrape life from vegetation, where the sun kills in mere minutes and the viper bites, the lion prowls, and where no safe shelter is to be found.
The Israelite relationship with the wilderness was unique. At the beginning of their story, Cain, the first murderer, is banished to the wilderness as a wanderer under God’s protection. But instead of relying on God's protection, he defiantly builds a city to provide for himself what was intended to come from God: security, provision, belonging, identity, etc. In this way, cities became a symbol of idolatry to the Israelites, and the wilderness became the place where the temptation to forsake the guiding hand of God for the security of walls, weapons, and wealth.
In Matthew 4, Jesus ventures into the wilderness and receives this same temptation for earthly power, the same lure that Israel had fallen for repeatedly throughout their history. “All this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me,” to receive one, they must turn from the other. But in Christ, Israel found their victory. Jesus didn’t need the power, the military might, or the wealth that the empire had to offer.
Neither does the church.
Into the Wild
So, verse 3 takes us to the wilderness, which is the only appropriate place to meet the beast. The wilderness is a place of fear, and when humans are afraid, the beast is at its most powerful.
The Bible begins in the wilderness, with Abraham rejecting the security of the empire and heading off in faith to follow God through the wilderness (Genesis 12).
The Bible also ends in the wilderness, where we confront the beast, the great saboteur of humanity.
In Revelation 17:3, John takes his readers to the wilderness to face the incarnation of the beast one last time. His readers, the persecuted Christians of the seven churches, are in that wilderness, and they are facing the same ancient temptation once again: do they worship the emperor and drink from the cup of the empire, or do they choose to take up their cross of suffering and remain allegiant to Christ?
And in this way Abraham's choice must be remade by every generation that follows, including our own:
Will you forsake earthly power and follow God through the wilderness toward his new world, or will you take part in the parody of God’s kingdom, baptizing idolatry, violence, and opulence?
In the coming verses, John will lay the beast before them. They will be offered the choice one last time… “The cross or the sword? The Beast or the Lamb?”
Next time:
We will take a look at the woman sitting on a scarlet beast, with seven heads and ten horns.
Stick around. Invite your friends. It’s going to get weird.