End Note

Two years, five months and thirteen days later, I've finished reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and everything in between,  no skipping around.  It's only taken me from May 16, 2011 to October 29, 2013.  I have no idea how people read the Bible in one year or ninety days or whatever else they claim to do.

Perhaps some are looking for a more general overview or maybe they have more of a foundation to begin with.  In any case, there's no way I could have completed the reading in one year, and, even with my extended-stay style of reading,  I'm not sure that I don't have much more than simply a general overview now that I've finished.  Alas!  Two and a half years of reading!  However, it's the Bible, an account of more than  2,000 years of  God's interaction with his creation.  There's no reason to expect that it should be an easy read. 

What can now follow is a different type of reading.  I would not opt for going through and re-reading the Bible again as one might do with a long-ago-read favorite novel although over the past two years I have had to do that, particularly with the book of Genesis.   I had thought of re-reading the particular books as they correspond to the daily lectionary readings.  It would be a perfect time to begin that because Year C is ending and Year A is just about to begin.  But that approach may be a bit of hop-scotching that could lead to confusion.  Garrison suggests re-reading according to themes of sin, salvation, fear, grace.  He suggests using biographies, an idea I like.  It seems neat and manageable.  Historical time periods is another possibility.  There are other guides as well.  I attempted to use this one briefly.

Revelation

Book Written:   Both HC and Baker link the time of writing to periods of religious persecution.  One such period is during Nero's reign  (54-68 A.D.) 68 A.D. and a later possibility is during Domitian's reign  (81-96 A.D.) in 96 A.D.

Time Period/Setting:   The author writes to seven Christian communities in Asia Minor:   Pergamum, Thyatira, Smyrna, Sardis, Philadelphia, Ephesus and Laodicea.  Yet, these communities would not likely have been being actively persecuted at the time Revelation was written.  HC notes that the persecution under Nero affected mostly Christians in Rome.  HC says the evidence is scant that Domitian promoted any kind of official persecution of Christians in Asia Minor. Both HC and Baker remind that the book may be a warning of things to come.

HC refers to the author of Revelation as a member of the Johannine community, but certainly not the apostle John.  Here, Baker agrees that authorship is uncertain, perhaps attributable to a disciple of John, if not the apostle himself.  The author does identify himself as having been on Patmos, Ch. 1, 9.

Title:  From the Greek apokalypsis meaning 'revelation,' 'the revealing or disclosure of something hidden' as in Ch 1, 1 "the revelation of Jesus Christ." 

I've written a bit here about apocalyptic literature but here are a few helpful reminders concerning such literature since we're on this page.  Apocalyptic literature: depicts a conflict between Satan and God or between a present evil time vs. a better time to come; is told in the first person; is abundant in symbolism; may present an "interpreting angel."   Regarding symbolism, Baker reminds us that "almost every material thing mentioned stands for something else."  Definitely.  Babylon is Rome.  The 'great whore' is Rome.   The beast is the Roman empire.  The 'little scroll' is revelation. A lampstand is this, a dragon is that.  The number 7 is mentioned 57 times.   Baker also admonishes that we not presume the book of Revelation refers to or predicts present-day struggles.  The message of the book is specific to its historical time period.