{"id":10729,"date":"2025-05-12T10:11:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T17:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=10729"},"modified":"2025-05-12T10:11:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T17:11:27","slug":"the-key-to-the-book-of-revelation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=10729","title":{"rendered":"The Key to the Book of Revelation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Select here for a pdf version.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Lutheran pastor tells about attending a special Sunday night event at the Pentecostal Church in his town to hear a visiting preacher. The place was packed. The noted preacher said he had seen the New Jerusalem coming out of the clouds as described in our text for today, Revelation 21. He said it was a cube, 1500 miles on each side. He had seen it coming through a telescope, and it would arrive very soon, just the way it is described here in Revelation 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people think that when we die, we go to heaven which is somewhere else. But it says here in the text that the new heaven and the new earth are coming here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s more striking is the kind of enthusiasm that drew so many people to go out on a Sunday evening to hear this man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The late great Hal Lindsey, author of The Late Great Planet Earth<\/em>, said that a sure sign of the end was the establishment of the state of Israel (1947). He said that the end would come within one generation of that happening, but it didn\u2019t happen, and so the end times had to be recalculated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August 1987 there was a different but similar phenomenon, what was called the Harmonic Convergence, noting the alignment of the sun and the moon and six planets. This alignment, based on the Aztec calendarRevelation 21:1-6<\/p>\n\n\n\n

, was said to trigger a shift in the earth\u2019s energy, causing the world to turn from war to peace. But that didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That reminds us of 1844, the year of The Great Disappointment. The Baptist preacher, William Miller predicted that Jesus would return to earth by 1844. Thousands gathered on hilltops, dressed in white, waiting to be caught up in the clouds. When Jesus did not appear, Miller and his followers were disappointed and concluded that God had changed his mind. But these events and Miller\u2019s teachings led to the formation of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do we say to all this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First of all, we have something to say about the use of Scripture. As we look at this material called apocalyptic material, it eventually comes very boring.  The easy way to understand the Book of Revelation, and other places such as the Book of Daniel, is to go to the Book of Jubilees. That is not in the Apocrypha. You read it and say: \u201cThat sounds like the Book of Revelation.\u201d But, of course, it\u2019s the other way around. The Book of Revelation sounds like the Book of Jubilees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lutherans take Scripture very seriously, warts and all. As you know, in both Mark 13:30 and Matthew 24:34 it says: \u201cAll these things will take place before this generation comes to an end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have to ask ourselves: \u201cThat was at that time. Why at this time is it still not happening?\u201d  Significantly in Mark 13:32 it says: \u201cBut of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.\u201d No one knows the time of the end. That\u2019s in Scripture too. You can\u2019t just ignore it. So how do you put it all together?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s involved as well is the whole desire for proof. Prediction is really a way of saying: \u201cI\u2019ve got some kind of proof for something.\u201d People misunderstand prophecy as prediction and proof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you look at the Old Testament, you see this is not the kind of thinking they had. In Jeremiah when the Hebrews were sent into Exile, he said: \u201cIn 70 years you will return.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you take the date of the return, which is agreed upon as 539, and whether you say the Exile was 597 or 587, it doesn\u2019t add up to 70 years. It adds up to 48 or 58. They were not doing that kind of predicting that is popularly associated with \u201cprophesy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you know, in Isaiah 7:14 it says: \u201cA young woman will conceive and bear a Son and his name will be Immanuel.\u201d  People have said that\u2019s a prediction of Jesus\u2019 birth. But if you ask Jewish scholars, they laugh and say: \u201cDo you know your Hebrew? What it means is just obvious, and you can\u2019t make something else out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we look at what is called prophesy, it\u2019s important for us to realize that in the Hebrew Bible those books we call 1st<\/sup> and 2nd<\/sup> Samuel and 1st<\/sup> and 2nd<\/sup> Kings, are to us historical books, but in the Hebrew Bible they (along with Joshua and Judges) are called \u201cFormer Prophets.\u201d And the others (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve minor prophets) are called \u201cLatter Prophets\u201d because they understand those texts to be prophesy, and prophesy is really preaching, forth-telling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The basic point that they make is that there was something called the Exodus. The big event was that out of nothing, the Lord chose these people and made them a great nation. If the Lord could create them out of nothing, then they looked back to the beginning and said: \u201cHe also created everything out of nothing.\u201d And they looked to the future and said: \u201cAs he as acted before, he will act again.\u201d There was the first Eden; there will be the new Eden. There was the first Jerusalem; there will be the New Jerusalem. There was the temple; there will be the new temple. There was David; there will be another David. There was a covenant; there will be a new covenant. God is consistent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t a matter of trying to do or make what we call predictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is really at stake here is that people are looking for some kind of proof, and that brings us to the whole matter of miracles. People want miracles because then they can say: \u201cThen I know it\u2019s true.\u201d What are they saying?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s fascinating to see what the New Testament says about miracles. In the four Gospels they talk about those around the cross, the soldiers and others who mock Jesus and say: \u201cGive us a sign. If you\u2019re truly the one that you say come down from the cross. Show us.\u201d In Mark 8:11-12 the Jews comes to Jesus and say: \u201cGive us a sign.\u201d Of course, \u201csign\u201d and \u201cmiracle\u201d are the same word in Greek. What they are really saying is: \u201cGive us a miracle.\u201d And Jesus says: \u201cNo miracle will be given to this generation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you look at the parable in Luke 16 about the rich man and Lazarus, and the rich man is in Hades in torment and he says: \u201cCouldn\u2019t you please send somebody back to tell them what this is like and what it\u2019s about?\u201d And the answer comes: \u201cIf they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not listen to someone who comes back from the dead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basically, in the Gospels and in Paul there is a criticism of what we call miracle faith. Not only is there this passage in Mark 8:11-12 where Jesus says: \u201cNo sign, no miracle will be given this generation,\u201d but also in Matthew 16:1-4 and Luke 11:29, it says: \u201cAn evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is in parallel to what happens in the Gospel of John 2:18. The Jews came to Jesus and they said: \u201cGive us a sign, give us a miracle.\u201d And then comes the reply: \u201cDestroy this temple and in three days I\u2019ll build it up again.\u201d That\u2019s just the same as: \u201cNo sign, except the sign of Jonah,\u201d who, after all, was three days in the belly of the whale and then came out again. In other words, there is no sign except the cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miracle faith is not faith in Jesus Christ but faith in my reason, my conviction, my thinking, my feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over against that, the New Testament talks about Christ-centered faith, which is quite different. With that we come back to this kind literature, this kind of thinking we find in the Book of Revelation, which is called apocalyptic, which is the Greek word for revelation. Although apocalyptic literature gets quickly boring when you study it, it has a couple of big points that are important for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big point about all apocalyptic literature is that Jesus is Lord. He created time so he\u2019s Lord of time. That means he is Lord of history, and even though he becomes involved in history, he also brings it to an end. That is judgment. Judgment comes to each one of us individually as well as to the whole cosmos. He is Lord; we are not. He is in charge of the processes of history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that the whole key to the book of Revelation is found in the 8th<\/sup> chapter of Romans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There Paul writes: \u201cIn all these things I am persuaded that neither death nor life, no will be able to separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d He is Lord and so that is the word of comfort and authority, and with that comes the cross. In this same section of Romans 8 it says: \u201cHe who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him?\u201d (Romans 8:32)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is in parallel to the famous section in 2 Corinthians 12. You remember Paul has a thorn in the flesh. In 2 Corinthians 12:12 Paul writes about miracles and says: \u201cHey, all you super apostles, I\u2019ve done more miracles than any of you, but I asked the Lord to take away the thorn in my flesh and the Lord said, \u2018No,\u2019 because he said: \u201cMy power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will rejoice in my weakness. When I am weak, then I am strong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel is this: In that which looks like defeat and weakness in the cross is the message of how God works and of how God then certifies this through the resurrection. This is the message which is the key to his Lordship and to all of history and to our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter<\/p>\n

A Lutheran pastor tells about attending a special Sunday night event at the Pentecostal Church in his town to hear a visiting preacher. The place was packed. The noted preacher said he had seen the New Jerusalem coming out of the clouds as described in our text for today, Revelation 21. He said it was a cube, 1500 miles on each side. He had seen it coming through a telescope, and it would arrive very soon, just the way it is described here in Revelation 21.<\/p>\n

Most people think that when we die, we go to heaven which is somewhere else. But it says here in the text that the new heaven and the new earth are coming here. <\/p>\n

Select here<\/a> to read more or here <\/a>for a pdf document.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10729"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10735,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10729\/revisions\/10735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}