Resisting Trump with Revelation (20)
The Dragon and Two Beasts: The First Two Portents 1 (chs.12-13) Three Portents Within this seventh trumpet blast, with heaven opened and the Ark of the Covenant in full view and attended by a panoply of divine fireworks (11:19), something new and significant is at hand. That something Jesus unfolds in terms of three portents (12:1,3; 15:1). The judgment introduced in 11:18 has the dual purpose of rewarding faithful servants (those who practice “endurance”) and “destroying those who destroy the earth.” The faithful are rewarded with the Kingdom's arrival and establishment. The destruction of the destroyers of the earth is the subject up next in Jesus' sermon. The Dragon, the Woman, and the Child (12:1-6) Surprisingly, the next scene in Jesus' sermon is a Christmas story! The Seal and Trumpet cycles have laid a framework for understanding the destiny of the world and the character of the vocation God has called them to enact. And right at the center we ...