Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Read the Bible with Me!

Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! We are about to finish our year-long project, so read along with me. But first, let us pray: 

Come, Lord Jesus! 
Come to me
as I read these divinely inspired writings.
Come and enlighten me so that I receive from them the nourishment I need to be your faithful witness in the world today.
Come to people who are seeking you, and to those whom I may meet on my daily round.
Come to those who see the Word lived by those who do not even know your name.
Come to those who hear the Word proclaimed, but see it contradicted by those who speak it.
And when the last day dawns, come to take us all to be with you!
Maranatha!
Come, Lord Jesus!


Today's chapters are Revelation 9-11.

At the end of Chapter 8, a flying eagle had called out a threefold "Woe!" to the inhabitants of earth. Three angels are about to release three waves of "woes" by means of trumpet blast. These are wave after wave of any people's worst nightmare, but John adds details that ensure we recognize the demonic nature of the "locusts" and "cavalry" in the first two. Remember from our Old Testament readings that not only were locusts one of the plagues of Egypt, but it was a commonplace to compare invading armies to locusts and vice-versa: See Joel 1:6 and especially 2: 2-9; Rev 9:3-10 seems to reflect both of them.

Do you recognize the prophetic act of "eating the scroll"? We read something very similar in Ezekiel 3. The act of measuring the Temple also hearkens back to Ezekiel (Chapter 40) when the prophet, in exile, was shown a vision of God's Temple, but a glorious Temple too big to even fit in Jerusalem! In many ways, John of Patmos is the New Testament Ezekiel: a prophet in exile, writing down both messages and exotic visions for a sorely tried people who long for the Holy City and for God's Temple.

Note that the "second woe" concludes in 11:14, but John advises that the third is yet to come at least for his readers (as Dr. Papandrea points out, their future can still be our past). After the conclusion of the second woe, all heaven breaks forth in a doxology.

Start reading here.
For more background

Years ago I attended a lecture series by Dr James Papandrea on the Book of Revelation and found it very helpful. His book, The Wedding of the Lamb: A Historical Approach to the Book of Revelation, is kind of expensive, but there is a Kindle version in case you are looking for a companion to Revelation by a Catholic theologian. 

Another helpful resource (one that I am currently reading) is by Dr Michael J. Gorman, a Scripture scholar who is a particular expert on St Paul. Gorman is a United Methodist, but he teaches at a Catholic seminary and I have no hesitation about recommending his work. Catholic readers will just find that most of his immediate applications are to mainline Protestant experiences, rather than Catholic parish life. (By the way, I find Gorman's understanding of Paul on "Cruciformity" very much in line with our Founder's thought and with the teachings of St John Eudes.)

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