I'm right in the middle of preaching a series on the book of Revelation. Whenever people think about this book, they immediately think about the Antichrist, the number 666, and other mysterious imagery shrouded in our minds in spooky music (this is true of both devout Christians and the totally non-religious, in my experience). This Sunday, we'll talk about the spooky stuff. But it won't be wild speculation; my interest is in what the Bible actually says in Revelation 12-13, and what God wants us to do in response.
The book of Revelation was originally written to a Christians who lived in what is now Turkey. They knew the Christian life wasn’t easy. It was about to get even harder. One reason God gave them this revelation was because He wanted to remind them that there were things going on in the spiritual realm that affected their lives down here on Earth. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:12, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. So yes, we'll encounter the Beast this Sunday (actually there are two beasts in Revelation 13...did you know that?). But John’s vision also gives us a good indication why life for Christ followers is so tough...and how we should live in these war-torn times.
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