Wednesday 19 November 2008

Background

How can any human being describe God? One of the reasons thatmany people find Revelation a difficult book to understand isbecause the writer is trying to describe the indescribable. Whenany writer attempts to describe something - even something mundane- they will use memories and metaphors. When trying to describe thecreator of everything, no metaphor is adequate and even the bestwriters cast around to find words to do justice to theirsubject.

Many times in the Bible and in Jewish tradition, God is describedas being seated on a throne, surrounded by angels, creatures andhumans offering endless praise. It is not surprising that John's(the writer of Revelation) vision of heaven echoes these images.John does not attempt to describe what the one on the throne lookslike - there is no hint that God is in a form recognisable to humaneyes and experience.

Instead we are offered glimpses of precious stones - as though Godis light, refracted through prisms of extraordinary colour. Eventhe rainbow in heaven is not as it is on earth; the colours we arefamiliar with are replaced with an arc of vibrant emerald green.The covenant promise of God's love for creation that the rainbowrepresents (seeGenesis 9) has transformed because all things will be new inJohn's vision of the time to come.

24 elders are described in today's passage, all offering praise toGod and "casting their crowns before the throne". Scholars differon who the 24 might be, and it may be that John did not considertheir identity important, but was offering a description of hisvision. Perhaps 24 represents the 12 tribes of Israel and an equalnumber of Christian Churches, worshipping in unity at a time whenhuman divisions have been wiped away. This is a vision of a futurereality, yet the songs of praise offered at the throne of God echothe vision of Isaiah in the Temple (Isaiah 6:3), whichtook place long before John's vision.

To Ponder

Meditate for a while on God's nature. If you wereto describe God what words and metaphors would you use?

Is it important for you to understand what isbehind the symbolism of Revelation? If so, why?