When the Earth Shakes

The following is a devotional written to the West Virginia Annual Conference Laity Advent Devotional.

Luke 21:25-36

There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea, and the waves.  People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then they will see ‘the Son of Man’ coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.  Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.  Luke 21:25-28

I have to admit, when I read the scripture that Kristi Wilkerson assigned to me to use as the basis of this devotional, I wanted to write to her and ask her to TAKE IT BACK!  Surely, there was something different I could use – something about a baby boy born in a manger or a priest struck mute by the thought of a child to come? 

The passage, an example of apocalyptic scripture, uses symbolic themes and imagery to describe Christ’s second coming.  Knowing that, but also knowing that “about that day or hour no one knows” (Mark 13:32a), I think we make a mistake if we try to read this passage as a way to predict an end-time.

Instead, we need to face our fear, and try to understand what these words means to us, today.  Today is a bridge between the past and the future.  Standing here, on this day, and looking back, who could have predicted what has happened over the last two years?  No one.  Looking forward, do we have any idea what tomorrow will bring?  No idea.

What do we know?  We know that sad times will roar into our lives like the sea.  The earth will shake as catastrophes strike in our families.  There will be dark times when it seems like the sun, the moon, and the stars fail to shine.  This passage reminds us that even in those times, Christ comes.  God is here.  “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” (John 14:27).  This was true when Jesus told it to his disciples.  It is true for us, also.

Prayer: Loving God, even when the earth moves, the dark comes, and our world seems to end, make yourself known to us in your love and light.  Amen.

Fire

Yesterday, I wrote about a Meme I found on Facebook and my response to it.  Among the comments that were added to my post was this one:

I agree with you that the fires were not caused by God over a vote, but I do understand where the  confusion may come from. The Bible does say that God won't destroy the earrh by a flood again, but  that it will be by fire. Even the little rhyme reflects it: "God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water,  fire next time." There just needs to be some education.

That, combined with Monday's posts about apocalyptic writing, encouraged me to find what she was talking about in the Bible itself.  I'm not sure if this is her reference, but I found this in 2 Peter 3:7:  "But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless."

So, does this mean that the world was destroyed by water (in Noah's time) and will some day be destroyed by fire?  The notes in The New Interpreter's Study Bible say this about that thought:

Reference to the destruction of the world through fire (3:7, 10, 12) is rare in the NT and is usually a metaphor for punishment of the unjust (e.g. Matt 13:40-42).  This may also indirectly reflect the influence of the Stoic belief that the universe would endlessly cycle through destruction by fire, followed by the creation of a new universe.

In that I am not a Stoic, I feel free to ignore their belief in fire and re-creation.  The idea that the verse is a metaphor for the the punishment of the unjust fits very well with Monday's post about apocalyptic writing.  I'm more inclined to believe that.

And, I don't see how anyone could confuse wildfires in California with the destruction of the unjust - or the apocalypse, so I don't agree with my comment-er.

Apocalyptic Comfort

In her book Inspired, Rachel Held Evans says:

"The point of apocalyptic texts is not to predict the future," explained biblical scholars Amy-Jill Levine in the meaning of the Bible; "it is to provide comfort in the present.  The Bible is not a book of teasers in which God has buried secrets only to be revealed three millennia later." Rather, she argued, apocalyptic texts "proclaim that a guiding hand controls history and assure that justice will be done."

If you consider that John wrote The Revelation to John to an audience of marginalized Christians in the Greco-Roman culture, then the book makes so much more sense.  At least, I think so.  To me, to consider that John was writing to encourage the Christians around him rather than provide a prediction of the end of the world that we are to read as if it were a puzzle is so much more believable.

The book of Daniel was probably written during the religious persecutions of the Green ruler of Palestine and Syria, Antiochus IV Epiphanes.  

I think we can see the general theme - justice will be done, even though it doesn't seem that it is possible right now. That's a message for the target audiences of the apocalyptic works, but also for us.

*Information about biblical texts from The New Interpreter's Study Bible.