Queen of Many Waters

In the last post, Desert, Torrent and Sea, we looked at a puzzling portrait of a woman who had taken refuge in the desert from a beastly assailant who pursued her.

In Revelation 17, we meet another woman, a glittering prostitute who ‘sits on many waters’ (v.1). This description echoes Jeremiah’s description of Babylon, the city surrounded by rivers and canals (Jeremiah 51:13) and shows her to be a formidable force. In the symbolism of Revelation, ‘sitting on many waters’ means that she has influence over ‘many peoples, multitudes, nations and languages’ (17:15). This presents her as a parody of the Church which is also comprised of people from many languages and nations.

Desert, Torrent and Sea

Woven throughout the puzzling images of the Book of Revelation are the twin themes of victory and suffering.

Half-way through the book, in Chapter 12, John sees ‘a great and wondrous sign’ that illustrates this double truth.

A pregnant woman is on the verge of giving birth, but a fierce red dragon stands in front of her ready to pounce on her infant the moment she delivers. It’s a bizarre picture to be sure, but it's a symbolic portrait of the cosmic battle under-lying the history of the human race.

The woman is a composite of Eve, the mother of all living (who was stalked by the serpent) and Mary, the mother of Jesus, stalked by Herod after Jesus was born. The new-born boy-child, we’re told, “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” So we know this is about the reign of Jesus and the hostility of the evil one who seeks to destroy him. The child is no sooner born than he is “snatched up to God and to his throne” (v.5). The story leaps from the birth of Jesus to his ascension to heaven.

Waters of Unity

In the first twenty years after the resurrection of Jesus, thousands of people expressed their faith in him through the water-ritual of baptism. Baptism is laced with connotations of cleansing, forgiveness, repentance, resurrection and new life.

One early story of baptism adds another dimension that speaks especially into our fragmented globalized world.  Acts 8 tells about an African government official who had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was now travelling home by chariot, reading the prophecy of Isaiah. By coincidence he met a Christian named Philip who just happened to be on the same road. He offered Philip a ride and asked him about the text he was trying to decipher.

Thundering Hallelujahs

Iguazu Falls, Argentina

Three times in the closing book of the Bible, we hear the cascading roar of rushing water.

The first ‘waterfall’ in the opening scene was the powerful voice of the Living Christ, giving the story-teller John a message of comfort and hope to his suffering church on earth.

The sound and sight of water cascading down rocks or thundering over the lip of a precipice does something to you. It soothes and energizes you at the same time. The water seems almost alive as it rushes forward and down – always down – almost like it was on a mission. Jesus, of course is the ultimate waterfall, plunging headlong into the mission of salvation for the whole of God’s creation.

Water-Walker

The gale broke over them in the middle of the lake without warning and roared all night. For hours they strained at the oars, fighting the winds and the waves. They are seasoned veterans on this lake, but it was getting the best of them. The raging lake was showing its legendary renown as the face of Chaos.

And then, suddenly, they saw the unthinkable - the form of a man walking towards them across the water. ‘Ghost’ was all they could imagine.

But this ‘ghost’ was actually their very down-to-earth friend Jesus coming to them where they least expected him – but when they most needed his help. He called to them above the wind, “It is I. Don’t be afraid!”

It was a night they never forgot. It was a voice that rang in their memory forever.

Storm Master

In March 1992, ten foot waves crashed into downtown Tiberius on the shore of Lake Galilee, causing significant damage.

As lakes go, Galilee isn’t very large – 13 miles long and 8 miles wide, but violent storms can erupt very quickly as cool air rushes down from the adjacent mountains – the Arbel on the west, seen in the photo here, and the Golan Heights 1200 meters above the lake on the east .

The disciples were seasoned fisherman familiar with the lake’s turbulent ways. They knew how to handle her storms. On one occasion, Jesus was asleep in the boat when the winds hit.