Revelation 15:1-8
There isn't time or space in this short blog to give much of a context for this reading from the book of Revelation and without context it will surely seem incomprehensible. Joe Mangina says in his 2010 commentary (part of the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible), "If contemporary Christians think about Revelation at all, they are likely to think of it as among the more peculiar, not to say bizarre, books in the canon of scripture." As Mangina goes on to say, most of us have only encountered the book through a few phrases in worship and hymns.
Very briefly, Revelation is a book about "end times", "apocalypse", "the overturning of the accepted order of things" and the establishment of a "new Jerusalem", but mostly it is a book about Jesus the Christ who has been revealed to us. Indeed, the word apocalypse means a disclosure or revelation. We can reflect on what it means to us that Jesus has been revealed to us and that God is remaking - redeeming - the whole of creation.
Intrigued? Check out two articles on the Brazos blog by Mangina about what Revelation is and is not. If you're still intrigued, you may want to check out his commentary.
Marilyn Malton
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