I couldn’t resist this one. When I first saw the title in my RSS feeds, I got a little apprehensive. When I started reading, I thought “Surely, this is going to frustrate me.” Then I crossed the line in the post when I realized it had to be as far from “serious” as possible, and I was able to sit back and enjoy the read, even though it is on a topic that I frankly couldn’t care less about.
From the blog:
Nearly 2000 years ago the Apostle John wrote the apocalyptic writing we know as the book of Revelation. This book has been the center of theological controversy for nearly two millennia. The interpretive difficulty of this writing has spawned a plethora of biblical doctrines to unfold. Perhaps the most controversial section of these writings has been chapter 20.
Well, I'm delighted to say that after all this time it has finally become clear as to what the meaning of part of this chapter really is. Let us observe together by evaluating a few verses, namely 7-10.
In chapter 7 we read, And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison. The thousand years here is clearly metaphorical. What John is saying here is not a literal thousand years, but rather only a few years. To be more specific, he is really only speaking of a period of 4 years, bare with me on this. As far as who Satan represents, well, because John is speaking in metaphors, he is not speaking about the spiritual nemesis of God. Rather he is speaking of the long awaited entity knows as the Los Angeles Lakers. The four years represents the period of time from 2004 to the present, 2008.
I will merely say that I endeavor to take the book of Revelation seriously. Sure, there’s some symbology, but every single sign is explained elsewhere in the Bible. I fail to see how God could make things so clear, then release a book into circulation that we’re not meant to understand in any possible way. I know a lot of Christians who stay away from Revelation. Some are afraid of it. Personally, I’m not afraid of the book, nor am I afraid of the conclusions that one can be drawn to by taking the book seriously. I’m far more afraid of the fights and contention this can cause with Christians who have other views of Revelation than I am the conclusions I have been drawn to by it, in it’s proper context.
In any case, I enjoyed the “conclusions” the blog I linked came to regarding Chapter 20.
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