Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Greetings, dear ones.

Becki and I didn’t have a lot of time to dialogue this morning before chaos broke loose—where two little boys came bounding into our room with their stuffed monkeys, all hyped up, bouncing on the bed, and carrying on like monkeys. We had to tone things down a bit to preserve the paint on the walls.

In the short time we had together, I made a confession to Becki that flows out of a conclusion I drew this morning: I DON’T REALLY LIKE THIS BOOK OF REVELATION. There—I said it. But an accompanying conclusion is that LIKING it is not required. There is no substantial evidence that even John LIKED what he was beholding. I think that the main thing required of me is that I maintain a HEART AFTER GOD and love the Author.

And that’s how I intend to approach today. I invite you to join in that approach to your day.

Blessings. Love, Ray.

I want to take a moment to offer some comments on how I am choosing to approach these readings in Revelation. I don’t have much confidence in my ability to get all the bits and pieces of John’s visions put together so as to form a perfect picture of clarity and comprehension that would allow me to know exactly how things will play out in real and practical terms. Even John did not grasp all he saw. I have to believe that the cryptic style is intentional by the Author. I’ll leave the technical detail stuff to those who are more technical than I am. So I am reading more devotionally (for inspiration and practical application) than for precision. And I believe this approach is supported and encouraged by the BLESSING PROMISE given at the beginning of the book. “Blessed is the one who reads (understanding is not required) the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near” (Revelation 1:3).

Reading through chapter 9 makes me feel like I’ve just watched another one of those wild spectacular digitally-animated super-power monster movies. The implication is that end-time events will stack up to be stranger than fiction—at least as strange as fiction.

Something equally strange is how the main-stream of human society at that time, who would witness the devastation of the plagues described, “still did not repent”—especially when they know the source and cause. It strikes me as absolute insanity. It’s as crazy as Pharaoh refusing to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt even though he beheld his land being devastated by supernatural plagues. Someone has coined the quip that “Liberalism is a mental disorder.” I’m inclined to agree. But unrepentant sin also produces a mental and spiritual disorder that is simply mind-boggling. What a perversion of human intelligence and our God-given freedom of choice! The tragedy of it all is that it is SO unnecessary! All that men have to do is seek and submit to the One Who is clearly Sovereign—as well as Gracious. Indeed, UNREPENTANT SIN IS JUST STUPID! I believe that this fundamental fact is as important to keep in my worldview folder as anything else.