Last night our Bible study group started our trip through the book of Revelation. This should be an interesting experience. This is a fascinating group of people with a wide range of worldviews. When we get together you never know what’s going to happen.

Last night we ran head long into the apocalyptic literature of John’s revelation. Mouths with swords, faces like snow and eyes of fire jumped off the page like so many fleas on a dog. It didn’t take long for a since of bewilderment to set in. How can anybody figure this stuff out? I felt like John fall like he was dead at the feet of Jesus only I was falling dead because my brain froze in the presence of so much stuff that didn’t make sense.

The fact is in all the pictures this book presents; you can’t forget that John is trying to say something. The outlandish pictures he draws are a language unto themselves. If you get lost in the details you lose the truth that Jesus is an overwhelming presence to come into. That’s the message. Eugene Peterson says in apocalyptic literature the medium is the message and he’s right.

Foe those of you interested in some good study helps here are two I’m reading right now. Abraham J. Malherbe’s commentary on I and II Thessalonians is a fantastic work. Joe Crisp and I are using it in our Sunday morning class. Malherbe is a consummate scholar and his writing on the culture of the Thessalonian church is the best I’ve ever seen.

Another work you might be interested in is, In Search of Paul, by John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan L. Reed. These two men, a theologian and an archeologist have some interesting theories on Paul’s motivation and foundations for his writing.

I hope these help.