I have never read Revelation. I might have started it once when I was a kid to see what all the fuss was about but since then I have not just failed to read it like I might have failed to read Habbakuk but I have intentionally avoided it.
As with most things involving my spiritual life, my main excuse is fear. I am afraid that I will read Revelation and not understand it and that will frustrate me and I will not want to read it. But what I have learned through the first seven chapters is that Revelation might be the most exciting book in the Bible from a strictly entertainment point of view. The imagery is beyond my imagination, the drama is incredibly cinematic, and the writing is poetic.
But it is more than just sensational reading, the key for me as I have read it is that I am not trying to figure any thing out. I am not trying to interpret the symbolism or the prophesies. I am not trying to create charts and graphs to help me understand how Revelation is connected to other apocalyptic pieces of the Bible (I am attending a study that does that). I am reading for spiritual growth and I can’t read the last half of Chapter 7 and not be inspired.
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’[a]
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’[b]
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’[c]”
At this point, I am not worried about who these people are and if I am included in this group or some other group. I am simply taken aback by this God that I love who “will lead them to springs of living water. And…wipe away every tear from their eyes.” I want to serve this God and be close to this God and worship this God. I am challenged to become a more devoted follower of Christ. For me, this is essential.
I wonder what else in the Bible I need to be reading?
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