Reading for May 9th

Read Revelation 16.1-21 In 16.1-21:The pouring out. The effects of the seven bowls mirror those of the seven trumpets-earth, sea, rivers, sun, abyss, throne of the beast, Euphartes River-only now destruction seems to be complete (compare 15.3 with 8.9). In verse 6: It is what they deserved indicates a kind of intrinsic divine justice, evil suffers the inevitable consequences of it actions. In verse 12: The Euphrates marked the eastern border of the Roman Empire, beyond which lay Rome's powerful enemy, the Parthians. In verses 15-16: Harmagedon (Hebrew for Mount Magedon) by contrast is not a place on any map; efforts to identify it with Megiddo in Palestine fail because Megiddo is a plain, not a mountain. This is a spiritual war, as the reference to coming like a thief indicates. In verse 17: It is done; the forces of evil are defeatd but no battle is ever shown. The saying is reminiscent of Jesus' cry from the cross in John's Gospel: It is finished (Jn 19.30). Both rest on the conviction that the death of Jesus is the victory over evil. Traditional signs of divine presence follow (see 4.5). In verse 19: The great city is primarily Rome (17.18) but can also be Jerusalem (11.8). In verse 21: The hundred-pound hailstones are meant to seem impossiblly large, even as the other disasters here are of unimaginable proportions. Comments or Questions..