Sir John's last words

I have tried my best to stay away from public political discourse all my life. This is because of the extremely polarised political nature of my country Ghana. But sometimes things happen that you don't mind calling a bluff, and that is my mood right now.

Sir John was inarguably our leader's favourite person. He won our master's heart because of his unwavering support for him during his 3 years campaign trips. At a point, all the ministers deserted him but Sir John remained close. Up till now, not even death has been able to separate them.

Sir John was a simple man and had no titles; I call him "Sir" because of the high respect I have or had for him. He was known to be transparent until a document he left behind was publicized. The meaning of its content is a hard nut and has been given various interpretations.

Meanwhile, Sir John's intention was not to confuse his readers. As an apostle of Christ, he wrote a message that was fairly understood by his primary recipients — seven first-century churches in the Roman province of Asia (Rev. 2, 3). In fact, this 'controversial' writing, "Revelations" happens to be the fifth of his divinely inspired books.

The word "Revelation" translated from the Greek word "apokalupsis," which means "unveil," "disclosure," or "reveal." (Brand & Mitchell, 2015, p. 1353) The book discloses the unseen spiritual battle in which the church of God is engaged: the cosmic war between God and his Christ on the one hand, and Satan and his evil allies on the other.

In this struggle, Jesus the Lamb has already triumphed through his sacrificial death; however, his church continues to be attacked by the dragon. By unveiling the spiritual actualities behind the church's persecutions and temptations, and by affirming the assurance of Christ's victory, the visions of Revelation strengthen believers to endure suffering (ESV Global Study Bible, 2018, p. 1825).

Since Sir John employed the use of figurative expressions in writing Revelation, one should be cautious not to literalize the figures and symbols lest he misses the real message (Dickson, 2011, p. 1729). The book itself explains some of its cryptic symbols (Rev. 1:20) and the Old Testament offers helpful interpretive references (Rev. 2:7, 14).

With the appropriate exegetical approach, the modern reader of Sir John's Revelation is encouraged to stand firm in trials and stay unspotted from the defiling enchantments of the present world order.

Enjoy the Grace of God!
Amen!