It’s November 2020. It’s been a wild year! We’ve run head-on into stuff we didn’t see coming! In some ways, the stuff was predictable . . . at least there are some loud voices telling us it was only a matter of time until all this stuff came tumbling down, and yet it was still a complete surprise to most of us, and we’re still in shock over it! . . . let’s leave that hanging there . . .
I want to read Revelation this month, not because I’m looking for 2020 in it, but, because it’s been a couple of years since we read it. If you compare a few different translations on the name of this last book of our Bible, you’ll find an array of titles, which seemingly depend on the translation team’s whim. And the self-named author, whom many believe to be the Apostle John, says this is the revelation of Jesus Christ to him, from an angel, for the rest of God’s servants, of things that must happen soon. (see Revelation 1:1) “Revelation” – good enough.
That term “revelation” is the translation of the Greek word “apocalypse”, which is simply ‘uncovered’ or ‘disclosed’ or ‘revealed’, despite the fact that we’ve come to wrongly associate it with some impending doom or disaster of mega proportions. So this book is about the ‘uncovering’ or ‘disclosing’ or ‘revelation’ by Jesus Christ, rather than a book on impending doom of the world. But since the author did go on to say, “things that must take place soon” speculation around those “things” is where the big “Whoa!” of Revelation comes in, and where the erroneous application of apocalypse/revelation finds its origin.
While many books have been written in an attempt to explain what John meant by all this ‘stuff’, John says it’s an uncovering or revelation of Jesus, and some things that are gonna happen, and I’m suggesting we focus less on what we think the ‘stuff’ might mean, and look more for Jesus, as the cover is lifted. Then simply accept that the rest of the stuff we find under the covering is metaphor that only the one revealed as Alpha and Omega really knows the definition to, and trust Him to reveal it to us in His timing and placement . . .
And then I’m gonna finish the month with Peter’s letters, which are much easier to understand – they’ve been more clearly revealed for us. Thanks for joining me! Again!
Shalom,
Pastor D.P.
Devotional Reading Calendar – November 2020
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 1 Rev. 1 |
2 Rev. 2 |
3 Rev. 3 |
4 Rev. 4 |
5 Rev. 5 |
6 Rev. 6 |
7 Rev. 7 |
| 8 Rev. 8 |
9 Rev. 9 |
10 Rev. 10 |
11 Rev. 11 |
12 Rev. 12 |
13 Rev. 13 |
14 Rev. 14 |
| 15 Rev. 15 |
16 Rev. 16 |
17 Rev. 17 |
18 Rev. 18 |
19 Rev. 19 |
20 Rev. 20 |
21 Rev. 21 |
| 22 Rev. 22 |
23 1 Peter 1 |
24 1 Peter 2 |
25 1 Peter 3 |
26 1 Peter 4 |
27 1 Peter 5 |
28 2 Peter 1 |
| 29 2 Peter 2 |
30 2 Peter 3 |