Apocalypse Now
- amandakemery6
- 49 minutes ago
- 9 min read
Rev Amanda Kemery
Inspired: Resistance Stories
Scripture: Revelation 13:1-4, 18:1-5, 8
Based on the book Inspired by Rachel Held Evans
Tackling Tough Texts
These past several weeks we’ve tackled some tough texts together. And we’re doing so not for the sake of being difficult, but because we believe that even the toughest parts of scripture have the ability to speak divine truth and hope into our lives of faith. We’ve explored some of the toughest texts because these are the texts that make us go, "Huh... I just don’t know about that." Texts that are so problematic they have the potential to turn us away from our faith instead of drawing us in.
The book of Revelation certainly falls into this category. It reads like a terrifying fever dream, and it has historically been used as a tool to scare believers into compliance. Follow the rules, be a good Christian, do as you're told, and maybe you can avoid this terrifying end of the world packed with monsters, global destruction, and eternal damnation.
I heard a fellow colleague in ministry this week confess that the book of Revelation used to terrify her. And I get it. If you interpret this book as a literal prediction of the end of times that could happen at any time, it IS terrifying.
Here in the passage from chapter 13 we read about a horrifying beast, with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the blackness, claws like a bear and the jaws of a lion... a beast whose powers are established and upheld by another beast, a monstrous and evil dragon. If we read this passage literally, I imagine we either:
A) Have nightmares and live in fear until the good Lord calls us home.
or
B) We dismiss it as a fantastical vision that has little to no relevance in our lives.
But there is a third option, and it is how the earliest readers of the Bible would have received this text.
The Beasts
You see, as Rachel Held Evans reminds us, biblical beasts like the one described here can represent several things—the awe-inspiring mystery of the natural world, the fearful chaos of the unknown, the sovereignty of God over even the most powerful forces in the universe—but in the case of the mutant creatures of Daniel and Revelation, they represent the evils of oppressive empires.
It can be easy to forget as modern readers that the Bible was written by oppressed, religious minorities, living under the heels of powerful nation-states known for their extravagant wealth and violence. And these biblical beasts are the literary renderings of these empires. And if that’s the case, these beasts need not be literal to be real.
To the early readers of this text, the beasts were as real as the imperial soldiers who marched down their streets, the leaders and soldiers that threatened their homes and livelihoods, and the heavy fear that crept into every fitful dream, every visit to the market, every hushed conversation about what to do if the emperor demanded their worship or their death.
Doesn’t that sound familiar? In Evans’ words, there's no denying that the very things plaguing God’s people in biblical times remain prevalent sins in our culture today: gross income inequality, mistreatment of immigrants and refugees, carelessness toward life, the oppression of the poor and vulnerable, and the worship of money, sex, and violence.
Apocalypse Now
What we have so clearly seen in our country over the past several years, but especially in this last week, is a moral unraveling. And while we can and should place responsibility and blame on our current administration and political leaders, it goes deeper than that. Our leaders could not be doing what they are doing now without the support of their followers. And what we’re witnessing is apocalyptic.
But let me explain—the word apocalypse doesn’t actually imply the cataclysmic fall of our world. The word apocalypse means an “unveiling” or “disclosing”. Evans says that an apocalyptic event or vision therefore reveals things as they really are. It peels back the layers of pomp and pretense, fear and uncertainty, to expose the true forces at work in the world.
The evils we are witnessing now are not new. We have been living within these systems of oppression, racism, corruption and abuse our whole lives. They just happen to be out in the open now. We are experiencing an apocalypse now—an unveiling—we are seeing things how they really are. How they’ve really been.
Resisting Babylon
For our ancient readers, the beast was the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek, Persian and of course, Roman empires. These collective powers became known to the people of God simply as Babylon. Evans says that one of the most important questions facing the people who gave us the Bible was: How do we resist Babylon, both as an exterior force that opposes the way of God and an interior pull that tempts us with intimidation and assimilation?
Chapter 18 of Revelation says, "Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great city!". It has become a habitat for demons, a haunt for every kind of foul spirit. The messenger from God warns the people, "get away from her—fast". Make sure you do not get caught up in her sins. Because of Babylon's arrogance, in a single day, plagues will overwhelm her. Her portion will be death and sorrow and famine, and she will be incinerated with fire, for mighty is the Lord God who exacts judgment on her."
This is an apocalyptic text. But it is not apocalyptic because it depicts the downfall of humanity or predicts the end of times. It's apocalyptic because it unveils both truth and good news.
The truth is that evil persists.
The good news is that God wins.
Prophetic Resistance
Apocalyptic texts don’t predict the future; they are meant to provide comfort in the present. When the empire seems undefeatable, when the forces of evil are in full view, when it feels like we will be crushed by the jaws of the beast, the good news is that God wins.
This is the apocalypse—the unveiling—the assurance that whatever God’s justice looks like, the beast will not win. And we find this apocalyptic message throughout scripture. In Revelation and Daniel, yes, and also in the voices of the prophets. We hear it in the teachings of Jesus. Evans notes:
The prophets and Jesus, they resisted the beast. And most of the time, speaking truth to power put the prophets on the wrong side of the law.
King Ahab banished Elijah for speaking out against injustice.
Queen Jezebel sent hundreds of prophets into hiding for challenging her insatiable greed.
John the Baptist was beheaded not for following Jesus but for criticizing the noble family’s life of excess.
The prophets resisted the beast, especially the corruption of their own community members, by speaking truth to power. And in doing so, they deliver what is perhaps the most subversive element of any resistance movement: hope.
Evans reminds us that our apocalyptic texts and prophetic voices affirm that, "despite all evidence to the contrary, God—the god of slaves and exiles and despised religious minorities—remains present and powerful, enthroned over all creation and above every empire. When the prophets Daniel and John envision the empires as vicious beasts, they are exposing the grotesque monsters that lie beneath the dazzling wealth and power and excess of the empire. And when they depict God as ultimately destroying these monsters, what they’re saying is—God wins. The story isn’t over. Even the greatest empires are no match for God’s goodness, righteousness, and justice."
The Holy Resistance
Resistance is holy.
And resistance is hope.
As some of us cry in anguish over the state of our country, some will just want us to get over it—to laugh it off, to let it go, to give into the power of the beast.
They’ll say, "didn’t you learn your lesson?" In fact, we did.
We learned our lesson from Christ that our devotion is not to the empire, but to the lamb of God who conquered monsters not with violence, but his word, his divine truth.
We resist by being willing to see and speak the truth. Bernice King said, “Being truthful about the state of our nation and world does not equal losing hope. Hope sees truth and still believes in better.”
I believe in better than we’re seeing now. And I bet you do too. And so we are called to be part of God’s resistance story.
The same sins that plagued our ancient ancestors of faith are the same sins embedded in nearly every system of our society, from education to healthcare, to law enforcement, to entertainment and religion. We are all responsible for working towards change.
Resistance is holy. Jesus, the lamb of God that brought down the dragon, showed us that.
And resistance can look like any number of things. Protesting in the streets is great, but it’s not the only way.
If you're looking for inspiration, you can look to the stories of Black history. We should honor their stories everyday, but we especially honor them this month, Black History Month, because we can name the truth that their stories have been suppressed, altered, and silenced throughout history. They are being silenced now by the beasts that want to control a false narrative.
But we resist.
And we remember what holy resistance has looked like over the centuries:
Coded Quilts: In the darkness of plantations, resistance was stitched into the fabric of everyday life. A "Log Cabin" pattern meant a safe house was near. A "Flying Geese" pattern pointed the way north. While the master saw a blanket, the enslaved saw a map. The Beast didn’t know the Resistance was hanging right on the clothesline.
Resistance in Song: When the enslaved sang "Steal Away to Jesus," the overseer heard a pious hymn, but the community heard an invitation—a "disclosing" of a meeting time. "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" wasn't just about a heavenly home; it was about a carriage coming to take them across the Ohio River. They used the language of the Lamb to outsmart the power of the Beast.
Resistance in Art:In 1968 Memphis, black sanitation workers didn't just go on strike. They wore their resistance. They carried identical signs with four simple words: I AM A MAN. The Empire tried to erase their humanity, to treat them like the gears of a machine. But the art of those posters unveiled the truth: they were image-bearers of God.
Practical Solutions: In the face of Jim Crow, Victor Hugo Green created a different kind of resistance literature, the Green Book. A travel guide. It named the spaces where the Beast of segregation could be avoided. It was a creative act of community care, insisting that even in an empire of hate, the people of God could find a way home.
Even now we see creative manifestations of the holy resistance:
Buddhist Monks: In the last several months, Buddhist monks have taken to the streets, walking thousands of miles from TX in silent meditation for peace. They arrive in D.C. this week. They don't carry weapons. They don't shout slogans. They simply... walk. It is an apocalyptic act— their very presence unveils the frantic and violent nature of the world around them by offering a different way to be human.
Gaza Sunbirds: In the midst of the current conflict, a group of para-cyclists known as the Sunbirds are using their bikes to deliver aid where trucks cannot go. Many of them lost limbs to previous violence, yet they are cycling through the rubble. This is creative resistance: using the very bodies the Empire tried to break to bring life to others.
Empty Shoes Project: Across the country, in the last few years, installations of hundreds of pairs of empty shoes have appeared in front of government offices. Each pair represents a life lost to gun violence or state neglect. It is a silent, visual lament. It subverts the idea that these deaths are just "statistics." It forces the Beast to look at the feet of the people it failed to protect.
The Illuminator: Resistors are even using literal light to shine truth into the darkness. in response to attempts to erase history in classrooms, guerrilla artists have used powerful projectors to cast the words of banned Black authors onto the sides of state capitol buildings. The Empire tried to close the book, so the Resistance turned the city into a library.
Artists have also been projecting the names and drawings of children in detention centers and other messages onto the very walls of government buildings. They are using light to disclose what the Empire wants to keep in the dark. They are turning the cold concrete of ICE centers into canvases that cry out for mercy.
Olympians, musicians, ice sculptors, children, teachers, principals, wine moms—the list goes on and on of people using their own unique platforms and talents to resist the beast. We are witnessing an apocalypse now—an unveiling. We have seen the beast, the evil that persists. And we have also seen the hope displayed in the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ himself, and in God’s holy resistance.
