is it a 'Revelation'?

Well...I am one of those people who finds a song in everything, and although I love it most of the time, sometimes it annoys other people! Anyway, in 'Apocalypse Now!' lectures, I seemed to be singing a lot, and I realised that heaps of modern Christian songs have bits of Revelation in them. It became a bit of a thing with me and Collette, and now we find it everywhere! Its very interesting...

Firstly, the Nik and Emma Pears song 'Come, Lord Jesus'..

“Your young men will see visions Lord
And old men they will dream Your dreams
Show wonders in the heavens
And signs upon the earth
We sing Maranatha
Come Lord Jesus come

There’s a time coming Lord
A time when you will return
The Spirit and the Bride say Come
And we sing Maranatha
Come Jesus Come”
This is obviously relating to Revelation chapter 22, which says in verses 17 – 20,

“The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. 18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

The way the song is musically phrased, however, seems to give the words a different slant. It suggests that the spirit and the bride are saying ‘Come, Lord Jesus’ whereas in Revelation they are saying to the whosoever, ‘Come’ and drink the water of life. Although the people are saying "Come" to Jesus, its not the Spirit and the Bride, as the song suggests. The difficulty with putting scriptural references in songs is exactly this. Unless the person writing the music understands the theological implications of the words they are using, it can cause misunderstanding, and misuse of the original context. Revelation 22 is talking about the coming of Jesus, but not in the context it seems to be presented in this song.

Another song which seems to have theology from Revelation in it is ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’ written by Reginald Heber in 1826. It seems to have a developed theology of the Trinity but with its origins in Revelation.

“Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.
Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!”

The line which says “Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee” points towards the Chapter in Revelation which speaks of the Lamb and the Scroll and says, “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand.” Which speaks of all the angels and heavenly beings, falling down and worshipping the Lamb.
The final verse of the song also continues in the theme of worshipping together. “All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea” also finds its origins in Revelation 5. It picks up on verse 13 of chapter 5 which says, “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing.” However, the ideas expressed in this hymn regarding the Trinity could be attributed to this passage, but it is unlikely.

Another song which has blatant Revelation references in it, is:

“There's a place where the streets shine
With the glory of the Lamb.

There's a way we can go there,
We can live there beyond time,

Because of You, Because of You,
Because of Your Love,
Because of Your Blood

No more pain, no more sadness,
No more suffering, no more tears.

No more sin, no more sickness,
No injustice, no more death.

Because of You, Because of You,
Because of Your Love,
Because of Your Blood

All our sins are washed away
And we can live forever.
Now we have this hope,
Because of You.
Oh, we'll see You face to face
And we will dance together
In the city of our God,
Because of You.

There is joy ever-lasting
There is gladness, there is peace.

There is wine ever flowing,
There's a wedding, there's a feast.”

‘There's a place where the streets shine, with the glory of the Lamb.’, can also find its source in Revelation 21:23, which states “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.”

Later in the same verse there is a line which says, ‘No more pain no more sadness, No injustice, No more death.’ This seems to be mirroring John’s idea from Revelation 21:4, which says “he will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

The lyrics are clearly inspired by Revelation chapter 21 which speaks of the New Jerusalem. It also relates back to Isaiah 65:17 which says “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” The lyrics mirror the idea from Revelation that a new heavens and a new earth will come to pass because of the sacrifice of the Lamb. The ‘holy city’ or ‘New Jerusalem’ will come down from heaven, and the song seems to suggest the same idea. The idea of eternal life through the ’glory of the lamb’ is portrayed in the song. It also seems to contain reference to Revelation 5, which talks of the glory of the Lamb being at the right hand of the one who is on the throne.

It just seems like loads of the references to Revelation are unrealised by most people in the Church. Tt seems clear that Revelation is a scary concept to much of the church, and therefore I don't think people use it, or even realise how present it is in a load of our worship!

In our society it is hard to grasp the idea of Jewish Mysticism, and the visionary culture which John may have lived in and marry it with our very pragmatic attitude to life. At the time that Revelation emerged it would have probably been among many other pieces of the same genre, which would have made it more accessible to the early Church in that period. The fact that Revelation is used incorrectly does not help with making it more accessible to the Church today. The belief that Revelation is a premonition of the events of the last days, or ‘rapture’ leads people to the belief that Revelation is only then “directly relevant only to those people who find themselves living in the days that lead up to the end of the world.” So therefore we discount anything that it has to say, and miss the real message of hope and assurance that John was aiming to give to the Church for every generation. “Revelation seeks to provide the heavenly perspective on the earthly situation.” Although it is unclear whether John had a heavenly vision in the real sense, or whether it was a literary construct he used in order to make his point, the message remains the same. It is John seeing the earth from a visionary perspective in heaven , then returning to try to enlighten the Church as to the future freedom from the persecution they may have been facing at that time. However, Revelation is to be applied to every generation, not just the Church in the time of John.

Geekfest over...for now! :)