The way of imagination

“These words are trustworthy and true, for the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.” (Rev. 22.6)      The book of Revelation was written for Christians who were being persecuted for their faith in Christ.   The book is addressed to “the seven churches of (the Roman province of) Asia” (i.e., modern Western Turkey).   Of course, in the first-century Mediterranean world, the all-encompassing reality with which everyone was “invited” to come to terms with was… the Roman empire.   At various times during the first century, the imperial establishment perceived the church to be a threat, and decided to (try to) eliminate it.   “John”, the author of Revelation, himself in exile “because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” and shares with the members of the 7 churches “the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance” (Rev. 1.9), writes to these Christians to help them understand the true significa

“Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades. Now write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this.” (Rev. 1.17-19)      A new world.   As we have said, Easter was the launch of God’s new creation.   On the cross, Jesus defeated sin and death and as he vacated the tomb, Jesus walked into a new world – one in which the power of death had been broken.   And yet, as those Christians thrown to the lions might have wondered, “The power of tyrants to kill at will seems to be unaffected by Jesus’ having established the kingdom of God “on earth as in heaven” (cf. Mt. 6.9-10), thus ushering in God’s new world…”   How to reconcile this apparent paradox?   If we are the followers of the living One who reigns over the world from “the right hand of God” (cf. Ac. 2.33; 5.31; 7.55; Rom. 8.34), then how is it that we are being butchered by the same pagan empire th

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today. I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me.” (Paul addressing an angry mob in the courts of the Jerusalem Temple: Ac. 22.3-5)        A new world.   Easter is the launch of God’s new creation.   On the cross, Jesus defeated sin and death and as he vacated the tomb, Jesus walked into a new world – one in which the power of death had been broken.   The God of life never abandoned his project of creating a world ruled by humans who reflected his glory into the cosmos, a cosmos destined to be filled with the divine glory as the waters cover the sea (cf. Gn. 1.1—2.3; Habakkuk 2.14).   Since the entrance of sin into God’s good world, sin had always been associated

       The people who are preparing to go to Egypt approach Jeremiah and ask him to consult Yahweh for them so he can tell them what to do (42.1-3).   Jeremiah agrees and the people promise that they will listen to the message that God gives him and will do whatever Yahweh tells them, through Jeremiah, to do (42.4-6).   Our reading of the book of Jeremiah thus far will perhaps make us slightly hesitant to believe this promise to obey the word of the Lord…   “At the end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah” (42.7).      Jeremiah tells the people that if they remain in the land , then God will “build them up and not pull them down; he will plant them and not pluck them up, because he is sorry for the disaster that he brought upon them” (42.10; cf. 1.10).   God, through Jeremiah, tells the people two additional things: 1-       Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon, because I am with you to rescue you from him (42.11; cf. 1.18-19). 2-       I will grant you mercy, and

       Following the destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation of most of the inhabitants to Babylon, there is still hope left.   Jeremiah and Baruch survive the disaster, and a small group of “poor folk” are left behind under the care of a certain Gedaliah, whom the Babylonians establish as governor of Judah.   As we will see, there were units of guerilla fighters hiding in the countryside as well as many Judahites who had sought shelter among the neighbouring nations.   The destruction had not been total – the people of God still had a foothold in the promised land.   As long as they could remain in the land, they would be a sign that Yahweh was not finished with them yet, that there was a future in which Yahweh’s plans, through his people and in favour of the world, could yet go forward.   Will the survivors have the courage to stay put?      Jeremiah’s imprisonment in the court of the guard comes to a bizarre end (cf. Jer. 37.21—39.14).   We can imagine how Jeremiah must have