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It’s the apocalypse! But that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. In the Bible, the word apocalypse means “to reveal.” It refers to moments when God uncovers the true nature of reality to someone, usually in a dream or vision.

And because this often happens in dreams, biblical apocalyptic literature is packed with fantastic imagery and strange symbols: dragons and beasts, bowls of blood and fire, cosmic collapse, and more.
Interpreting all these images is what makes biblical apocalyptic so controversial and intriguing. So how do we read it wisely? First, we need to see how apocalyptic visions are all connected to the bigger biblical storyline.
God’s purpose from the beginning is to rule creation with his human images. They are to live by his wisdom in the place where heaven and earth are united, depicted as a mountain-garden of Eden.
Once humans are exiled from the garden, the rest of the biblical story is about the restoration of that original purpose. This is why apocalyptic dreams and visions (like Genesis 28, Exodus 24, Isaiah 6, or Ezekiel 1) are all so similar.
They’re visions into the heavenly Eden-temple, where God’s image rules all creation. And from that divine throne, God reveals wisdom about how he’s guiding history towards a renewed creation.
And as for all that intense imagery in biblical apocalyptic literature, the best thing you can do to understand it is study the rest of the Bible. Apocalyptic symbols are all based on biblical design patterns and themes that begin in Genesis 1-11 and develop throughout
the rest of the biblical story. Whether it’s the four horsemen, the seven trumpets, or the dragon and the lamb, these are all images with deep roots in the Hebrew Bible that come to their climax in the story of Jesus.
Apocalyptic literature is the deep end of the pool when it comes to reading the Bible, but learning how to read it well comes with a great reward.
We can learn to see the world from a divine perspective as we understand that the risen Jesus is the true King of the world who is guiding history toward a renewed creation.

#Apocalypse #BibleProject #HowtoReadtheBible
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BibleProject
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1/10 Have you ever tried reading the letters in the New Testament and found yourself lost or asking, “What on earth is Paul talking about?!” You’re not alone! Even the apostle Peter found Paul’s letters difficult to read. (Check out his comments in 2 Peter 3:15-16).
2/10 But with an understanding of the literary context, you can learn to read these letters with more wisdom and insight.

It’s important to remember that in the first century world most people did not read, so the apostles designed these letters to be read aloud
3/10 (see Colossians 4:16 and 1 Thessalonians 5:27). The letters would have been read aloud by the people who delivered them, like Phoebe in Romans 16:1-2 or Tychichus in Colossians 4:7 and Ephesians 6:21.
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BibleProject
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Have you ever noticed how many streams, rivers, springs, and wells are highlighted in the story of the Bible? It’s a lot! In the beginning of the Bible, God transforms a desolate wilderness into a garden through a stream that waters the ground (Genesis 2:4-6).
The clay created by the water becomes the origin place of humans (Genesis 2:7), trees (Genesis 2:9), and animals (Genesis 2:19), creating the ideal heaven-on-earth place called “the garden of delight” (“eden” means “delight” in Hebrew). God provides these waters from “the deep”
that he contained and ordered under the dry land in Genesis 1. There is a crucially important part of the Eden story in Genesis 2:10-14, which describes a river that comes out from the garden. After flowing out of Eden, it separates and flows into four regions of the land.
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BibleProject
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In the last couple of weeks, the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted our entire world, creating a sense of instability and uncertainty that is new for a lot of people. Something happens inside of human beings in times of crisis. Our instincts for self-preservation kick in,
and we begin to cultivate a scarcity mindset. It becomes very easy to focus on the well-being of ourselves and our family and forget the difficulties of others around us.

Jesus of Nazareth was no stranger to this kind of social instability.
He grew up in land occupied by a foreign military, and oppressive Roman taxes made life difficult for his family and neighbors. And yet, he called his followers to a very different kind of response.
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