The beast
Day 709, Tuesday, July 21
Revelation 13:1-10
Many books could be written about the beast of Revelation—and many have been. The most common conclusion is that where the dragon represents cosmic evil (Satan), the beast represents earthly evil, specifically the Roman Empire. The ten crowns are thought to refer to the emperor. The head that seemed to have a fatal wound that had healed is associated with the much-reviled Nero, who had committed suicide by stabbing himself in the throat, but was rumored to have survived or promised to return from the dead.
But as the woman from yesterday’s reading can represent more than one thing (Eve/Mary and Israel/the church), the beast has over the centuries been seen to represent numerous evil governments that have sought to crush God’s people. We sometimes consider it quaint that different eras have appropriated the symbolism for their own particular time, but that is a mark of effective symbol: it resonates with people beyond its original context.
While we tend to divide our understanding of history, and modern politics, into good guys and bad guys, any government or political ideology can become evil when it demands to be worshiped in the place of God. Verse 8 says, “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”
Now, as then, only faith in Jesus Christ can save us from the deadly sin of idolatry.
Today we also start our final book for the daily meditation: Song of Solomon (Sometimes called “Song of Songs” or just “Songs.”
It is written in romantic (sometimes erotic) language. Some, especially those uncomfortable with its explicitness, interpret it symbolically as a love song between God and his people rather than an exchange between a man and a woman. Others take it as a poem about exactly that human love—a celebration of the intimate, sensual partnership God intends marriage to be.
It takes the form of a conversation between a woman (She), a man (He), and occasionally others (Friends).
Tuesday meditation
Song of Solomon 1:1-8
Solomon’s Song of Songs.
She
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—for your love is more delightful than wine. Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the young women love you! Take me away with you—let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers.
Friends
We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine.
She
How right they are to adore you!
Dark am I, yet lovely, daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon. Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother’s sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I had to neglect. Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep at midday. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends?
Friends
If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the sheep and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds.
Prayer focus
Call us to yourself and seal us with your blood, O Lord, that we may resist the call to worship other gods.