Baby Apocalyptic

Human development is pretty awesome. We look at a forming embryo, the size of a peanut, and we encounter there an entire human being. The only changes will be developmental. Having parented a couple of embryos through infancy, toddlerhood, right up into adolescence, for all the many changes (like looking up to my son instead of caring him in my arms) there is also a constant core which seems unchanging. The other day my wife and daughter had an exchange which echoed a similar experience they had had together when my daughter was 2 years old. hmmm

As we read the Prophets of the OT we encounter the same thing. This morning as I prayed over the Isaiah text from MP I noticed a couple of words which I have read (actually read over) dozens of times. Ironically, it is from Isaiah 7, the very chapter we looked at a few days ago as regards Messianic promises (the young woman will have a baby). In Isaiah 7:18 God says he will whistle to the flies in Egypt and the bees in Assyria. Bees and Flies. And I got to thinking about the wild description of beasts in the Book of Revelation and saw that the metaphor of the prophet had become full blown charaters in the apocalyptic drama of the latter work. We have seen in postings of the recent past some terminology (darkened sun, moon to blood, coming with clouds) which is metaphorical ways of describing the impact of God's action on the "ruling powers" of "the sky." It is far easier to see in another frequent image of apocalypse: earth quake.

The created world of Genesis, we are told, is a flat plate of land and water, separated from one another. This plate rests on columns, the so-called foundations of the earth, and a dome, similar to an upside down salad bowl, covers the plate to keep the waters of chaos at bay. On occassion, gates open above to let in the water (thereby explaining rain) and in Noah's case they were flung wide open (above and below) and the waters of chaos returned to reclaim the earth and all its non-ark abiding residents.

The image of God "shaking the foundations" and splitting stones and hurling mountains is not fanciful. Many of the locations in the Bible were frequently the victims of earthquakes and other natural disasters. However, these seismic events took on a spiritual-theological import. They conveyed ideas (and more importantly feelings) which took on a life of their own. Here is a handy list of some places: http://www.openbible.info/topics/earthquakes

While earthquakes are long connected to apocalyptic it also plays a role in prophecy. It is a way to describe God's awesome nature and His anger and His actions of judgment in the world. It is both actual earthquakes and metaphorical ones. It is a symbol of "the world turned upside down" or "things out of control" as God acts to change the status quo.

In Matthew's Gospel, he inserts several earthquakes into the passion story. It is more obvious in the Greek, where the word seismos can be readily seen. But as Jesus enters the city it is "shaken" and at His death and resurrection there are additional earthquakes. Whatever else Matthew may be saying, the language of earthquake conveys the apocalyptic idea that God has acted, He has "shaken the foundations" and done a new thing. It means that in Jesus' death and resurrection the "old world" passed away and "a new creation has begun." In more developed apocalyptic writng, the imagery becomes more graphic and 'realistic' leading to assumptions about historical events (rather than the meaning of such events) which may be erroneously over-literal. Just saying, what they are communicating may be more subtle (and artistic) than are sometimes wooden, literalist and shallow readings allow.

My next post will use a popular movie to illustrate some of what I am trying to explain here.