RCL: Revelation 7:9-17; Psalm 34:1-10, 22; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12 Revelation 7:9-17 For all the interpretive challenges Revelation offers, it also provides us some beautiful ways of understanding how God intended creation to be, God’s work to course-correct creation onto the path God intended, and the eschatological fulfillment of God’s intention. Revelation’s placement at…

Revelation 7:9-17 While it can be very easy for modern Christians to dismiss Revelation as an over-imaginative apocalyptic text, the pastoral implications of John’s vision have great meaning for the Church of the 21st century. In its original context, the Revelation to John intended to offer a word of hope to a community experiencing the…

Revelation 7:9-17 First-century Christians understood the Revelation to John is not predicting future events exactly as they are going to unfold. Rather, it revealed some truth to strengthen them during the trials they faced. The fledgling church was composed of little pockets of Christian communities. They were surrounded by harsh opposition from the larger communities…