The Last Testament Tuesday

Wow the book of Revelation! What a complicated read! I even have trouble reading other people's take on the book.  Beth Moore does a good job in explaining things in her book, The Beloved Disciple, but I even had a hard time reading that.

I think the reason the book of Revelation is so hard for me to read is because there are so many things that I don't know what to do with.  Strange flying creatures aside, I have a hard time processing things like the rebuke of the "kings of the earth".  Who are these "kings of the earth"?  Are the literal kings or are they people like you and me who make the world our little kingdom at the sacrifice of greater things?

Another thing that makes me pause is Rev 20:10.  I think we often like to think of God as just the picture of the child in his lap or feeding large groups of people, but he is so much more than that and we see that in this verse:

¹⁰and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

You see the judgement of Satan does not match our peace loving kingdom culture.  The Saints aren't going to work to rebuild a better hell or educate the demons when this is all over.  Nope Revelation makes it pretty clear that it ends real badly for the other side and with no relief.  I think the main reason this is so hard for me to read is because I know that I am in relationship with a lot of "kings of the earth" who will see this dark and very real fate if they don't turn to Jesus.  Yep Revelation is a very hard read but one we can't choose to ignore.