A crooked king, a wicked queen, and a foreign god. You know this is going to be a great story. That’s because in literature (and storytelling), evil is more entertaining than good. We can predict a good person’s actions–they will be honest, kind, generous, and always choose what is right. The villains, however, are full of surprises. And they typically create the conflict that the heroes must overcome and resolve.

There are times when the scoundrels are at their worst, the champions must be all the more outstanding. This is exactly what we find at the beginning of our story. If Ahab was the most wicked king in Israel’s history, Elijah will prove to be Israel’s most illustrious prophet.

This week a nearby church hosted a Vacation Bible School

My fourteen-year-old granddaughter, Adrianna, volunteered to help out
- on Friday, a friend sent me a video that she filmed the day before
• when I watched it, there was Adrianna on a stage in front of a crowd of kids
• she had a Bible in her hand, and from it she read a couple verses from the Psalms
◦ then she gave a brief talk, encouraging everyone to trust God’s love and faithfulness
- Adrianna was superb – as if she were a professional and had done this for years
• I was very impressed

In this final chapter we come to the end of the vision

To me, it feels like waking up from a dream
- just before I woke up yesterday morning, I was enjoying a pleasant dream
• I heard someone call me, and I was immediately awake
◦ the house was completely silent
◦ I then realized it was my dad’s voice in the dream that called my name
• for me, this chapter unfolds in the same sort of fuzzy way
- four times, the voice of Jesus breaks into the flow of the chapter
• however, it does not feel like an interruption
• perhaps we could imagine the chapter flows like a documentary
◦ John is narrating, then the camera shifts and Jesus delivers a live quote

Once again, John begins to describe an event with “I saw”

We are reminded that this entire book is a mystical vision and uses the strange language of images and symbols
- however, we could be tempted to read last two chapters differently,
• as if John were describing events in a literal future
• but when, once again, he says “I saw,” we know this is the same as the rest of the book
- so we turn our imaginations toward what he saw;
• namely, something that had been predicted in prophecy of Isaiah
For behold, I create new heavens
 and a new earth,
the former things shall not be remembered
 or come to mind (Isa. 65:17)
◦ "heavens and earth" refer to all of creation

When Jesus told the parable of the Prodigal Son,

He did not expect anyone to come to him afterward and say,
- “Lord, I’d like to visit that family. Where do where they live?”
• it was just a story – a made-up story meant to make a point
• if all the crowd heard was a heart-warming story, they missed the point
- here in Revelation 19, John describes a vision – Satan is imprisoned
• then, after 1,000 years he is unleashed on world again
◦ if that were meant to be taken literally, it makes no sense to me
• of course, John wasn’t worried about it making sense to me
◦ he knew that behind the vision there was a bigger truth

This is a fascinating chapter

It is complex, and it is put together well
- the chapter divides into two parts:
• in the first half, heaven reverberates with praise
• in the second half, Jesus leads heaven’s army in a final battle

 I’m going to begin with a quote by St. Augustine

In The City of God he traces two cities through world history
Augustine, “Accordingly, two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly [city] by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly [city] by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord.”
- John, the visionary, identifies the heavenly city as Jerusalem and the earthly city Babylon
• Babylon is featured in chapters 17 and 18, then in chapters 21-22 we visit the new Jerusalem
- Growing up, I was taught that in these chapters of Revelation, Babylon was the Roman Catholic Church
• this was reinforced in commentaries and books I read later on
◦ but one morning, reading these chapters, I said to myself, |
“This is not the Roman Catholic Church! If anything, it’s the USA.”
• now I realize that the city revealed exercises a worldwide and inescapable influence

 A few years ago, Barry Liesch, a professor at Biola-Talbot University,
- wrote an article on worship in the book of Revelation
• he suggested that by using its examples of form, content, and splendor,
◦ we might enjoy a more meaningful, intense, and richer worship experience
• worship here on earth is already a participation in heaven’s worship
◦ our prayers are mixed with the incense that burns in heaven (Rev. 8:3)
- it will not always be a feel-good worship (that’s for sure!)
• but it would be authentic and appropriate to the moment
• that’s how I view the song of worship we’ll soon read 

I’ve been feeling that talking about the book of Revelation

Is like trying to practice dream interpretation 
- how do I make sense out of all these foreign signs and symbols?
- of course, the bigger question is: what is God’s Spirit trying to communicate to us?

 I think most anyone reading Revelation sees that it takes a turn in chapter 13

What stays the same: the dragon (Satan) is still here
- at least at the start – and he’s continuing his fight against God
What changes: the dragon, after being defeated three times in the previous chapter
- now scores a significant victory
- also, prior to this, his battle has been in the religion arena
• he tried to sabotage the life and ministry of Jesus
• but now he changes the battlefield and his strategy

Yesterday Barb asked me, “Are you still in Revelation?”

In answered with a weary, “Yes”
She said, “Oh.” then added, “You’ll probably be in Revelation till the end of the world”

One of the challenges of this mystical book is distraction
- the shifting scenes, outrageous creatures, and sudden surprises pull my thoughts in different directions
• if I blink, my mind turns a corner and I’m on the wrong street
- John has left us with more than a book of visions
• Revelation is a rich resource for our spiritual journey
◦ it helps us to identify who we are in Jesus,
◦ to discover where we are, and where we go from here
• but to understand it, we need to read in two dimensions
◦ events going on in heaven are revealed in symbols
◦ these run parallel to events taking place on heart
What unfolds on earth, mirrors what is going on in heaven