Let me confess something: the book of Revelation confuses
me. There are so many symbols that, at
times, it reads more like an algebra problem than a letter of hope. I have studied it, I have taken classes on
it, and I have been to "Revelation seminars," but I still find it
rather confusing at times.
Last night, I was reading books to my children at bedtime,
and my four-year-old wanted to read a story from his Kids Bible. He turned to the last one titled "Jesus
is Coming," which summarizes Revelation.
Along with lots of colorful images, this is what it said:
Many years later, the disciple John
lived on an island. While he was there,
an angel came to him in a vision. In the
vision, a bright light surrounded Jesus.
He spoke to John, "Do not be afraid. Write a book about what you see and send it
to the churches." In the vision,
John saw God sitting on his throne. A
rainbow sparkled all around him. John
saw that everything bad on the earth had come to an end. Then John saw a new heaven and a new
earth. God said, "There will be no
more death or sadness or crying or pain.
I will live with my people forever." Then Jesus promised, "I am coming back
soon."
Everything wrong will be made right, Jesus will come back,
and we will live with him forever.
Beneath all of the beasts and dragons and confusion, that is the message
John was writing. There are a lot of
wonderful things in the book of Revelation, but sometimes they can get
hidden. All I needed was a kids’ Bible
to let this gem of hope shine through.
Chad Hess
No comments:
Post a Comment