7 Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns.
I find this verse very encouraging! The Apostle John, who is right there watching these events unfold right before his eyes, who understands the language and culture of his day, had difficulty understanding exactly what is meant by the things he was seeing. These images hold a secret that even an eye witness had difficulty understanding. I am glad he had difficulty, because I am having a hard time understanding what all these beasts, and heads, and horns, and plagues, and angels are doing. And what is more, I struggle to see the meaning behind all these future events. I get the big picture: God is not happy with the inhabitants of the earth. Their time is up. They must now reap what they have sown. There are no more tomorrows in which to change course and do the right thing. It’s payback time! I get that part, but I struggle with the details of who each of these characters is in real life. Were they historical figures, pointed out by John cryptically, in order to protect the Church prior to the persecution of 70AD? Or perhaps future figures described in language of the day to the best of human ability? John could only use the language he understood to describe events he didn’t even understand. That is why the angel stopped to explain in more detail what was being revealed to John. The angel could see the astonishment or bewilderment on John’s face. He must have had that blank look, overwhelmed by what he was seeing, and yet still filled with questions. The explanation that follows helped John to the point that the angel stopped explaining this portion of what John is seeing. Of course I want videotaped footage streaming on Youtube, in High definition of course. I want to hear the optional Director’s (God’s) Commentary turned on while I watch it again and again. I still don’t understand all this! But I don’t feel so bad anymore. John didn’t seem to understand it all either and that is a comfort to me. I guess it is OK to not understand every aspect of God’s revelation of Himself to us. We don’t need full knowledge to trust Jesus, we just need sufficient knowledge. When we get enough, then we can believe. And there is enough revealed about God to make belief not only possible, but also the most logical thing to do. Just as John believed, even though he didn’t understand everything, so too we can believe.
The Arnold Journey 