Go Hawks- Revelation to the Sound!

 The Apocalypse of Puget

In the hour of trial, the Emerald City lifted its voice, and the Hawk rose upon the wind. The horned beast was cast down, the twelve thundered, and the sea roared around them.
                                          - Revelation to the Sound 12:12

When someone finds this newsletter 2000 years from now, this will sound dramatic but confusing. They would know that it’s intended to be evocative, but without a knowledge of Seattle, football, the Seahawks, the Rams, that Seahawks fans are called ‘the twelfth man’, and that Seattle is by the sea… they would struggle to understand its significance.

That’s the challenge with the real book of Revelation.

John writes to an audience that knew the Old Testament inside and out. They understood its symbols, told the stories of its characters, and already used them as archetypes for their current world. They also lived immersed in the propaganda imagery of the Roman empire. They saw the coins, they passed the statues every day, they walked by the temples and smelled the sacrifices. John wasn’t writing cryptically to them; he was speaking in the symbols they knew and used every day.

Revelation is a truly beautiful and brilliant book, full of wisdom about living faithfully while living in the empire, but it takes some humility, patience, and reflection to plumb its depths.

May God give us those as we do so.

Grace & Peace,
   Kim Herbert