The Rapture Exposed by Barbara R. Rossing

Author:Barbara R. Rossing [Rossing, Barbara R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2007-03-30T04:00:00+00:00

Rayford’s view of Scripture coming to life in the destruction of San Francisco may appeal to thrill-seeking readers, but reflects an appalling view of God. Christians need to refute the notion that death and violence—“the Red Horse of the Apocalypse”—are where we see God most present and active in the world.

The Bible and the book of Revelation come to life most of all in life-giving experiences of hope, healing, and transformation. I have seen God in my life, and I believe that you have, too—not in the Red Horse of the Apocalypse, but in “Aha” moments of unexpected joy, in being embraced by what Jesus calls “abundant life.” Revelation comes to life not in a predetermined script of violent disasters but rather in experiences of God’s river flowing through your life, flooding you with a vision for God’s healing of the whole world. God is not a script, God is love. It is in love—in the day-today miracles of our lives—that we meet God and that we see the Bible coming to life in our world.

South African pastor Allan Boesak experienced the book of Revelation coming to life in echoes of the Lamb’s new song that he heard in the songs of black people struggling for freedom during the 1980s, when his country was in the grip of apartheid. The song to the Lamb in Revelation 5 anticipated the liberation that was coming to South African people:The song of the twenty-four elders is the same age-old song of Israel, and it vibrates with the same power and certainty . . . This is the kind of song oppressed people sing with zest and an almost unspeakable joy . . . “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!”

On a Sunday afternoon young black Christians pick up this ancient song and make of it a new song as they dance around a police vehicle just after a student has been arrested at our church service . . . The police, somewhat confused, somewhat bewildered, somewhat scared, release our friend. Others join us as we march, singing and dancing, back into the church. This is a new song, a freedom song, and the power of it, the sheer joy of it, the amazing truth in it captivate and inspire thousands upon thousands throughout South Africa.

For although the seals of the scroll must still be opened, the scroll is not in the hands of Caesar but in the hands of the Lamb. And we will sing this new song until “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein,” will say (5:13): “To the one who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might for ever and ever!” (Allan Boesak, Comfort and Protest: The Apocalypse From a South African Perspective [Philadelphia, Penn.: Westminster, 1987], 60–62)

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