Learning Apocalyptish

Or Gonzalez' "Reignese"

Dear Trinity, Jesus’ grace. Since September 7th, instead of “The Word of the Lord—Thanks be to God” after the scripture reading, we have been responding:

Reader: Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy

Congregation: and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it for the time is near. (from Revelation 1.3).

This Sunday we will reach the last chapter, Revelation 22, and could bookend that beginning blessing with an ending exhortation, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near” (Rev 22.10). The seals have been opened, now don’t seal them back up just because you reached the end of the book, or the end of this series.

How do we keep these words unsealed among us?

Some have kept the words of Revelation unsealed by talking a lot about the book. Holding the Bible in one hand and breaking news in the other, this view often interpreted Revelation through the lens of contemporary events and figures. Midcourse corrections ensued when the interpretations didn’t materialize. No less than Jesus himself said clearly, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” Matthew 24.36

I think there is a healthier way to keep the words of Revelation unsealed: hear them, practice them, say them. Learn Apocalyptish–the language of God’s Country–the Kingdom. Justo Gonzalez calls it “reignese.” We keep the words of this book unsealed when we practice these ways of communicating with one another. There are many Apocalyptish lessons to learn, but here are three important ones:

Apocalyptish Lesson One–Exhortation

“Hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” “Do not fear what you are about to suffer.” “Repent, or I will come to you with the sword of my mouth.””Don’t tolerate what is intolerable.” “Take the scroll and eat it.” “Beware of despair.” “Beware of assimilating to the world around you.” “Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.” “This calls for wisdom.””Do not be seduced by a world system or political movement that has an expiration date like everyone before it.”

In Justo Gonzalez’ terrific book Mañana, he writes, “Mañana is much more than “tomorrow,” it is a radical questioning of today” (164). And, “So long as we proclaim the Reign, but make little effort to speak even a few words of “Reignese,” our witness will hardly be credible” (163). Gonzalez illustrates the point with this example. Lets say someone believes the future belongs to Japan, and is planning to move there, make their home there, and supposedly longs for that place. The credibility of their commitment would be resting on whether or not they are actively practicing and learning Japanese.

Apocalyptish Lesson Two–Encouragement

“I will grant to eat of the tree of life.” “You will not be hurt by the second death.” “I will never blot your name out of the book of life.” “The prayers of the saints, rose before God.” “God hears your prayers.” “This is a tough season, but it isn’t the last season.” “The accuser is going to not only lose his voice eventually, but be locked away forever.” “Evil will consume and destroy itself.” God says, “Behold, I am making all things new.” “Surely I am coming soon.”

Apocalyptish Lesson Three–Doxology

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” “Worthy are you!” “Amen!” “Hallelujah!” “Amen. Come Lord Jesus!”

We keep the Revelation book unsealed by keeping our eyes and ears and lips unsealed, by staying faith-attentive, by believing that there is more than meets the eye.

Watching and waiting with you, Nathan