Visions of Liberation A study of the Revelation 1:9 20 on the Daily Bible refresh with Dr.

Brad Miller.

Hello good people.

Welcome to Daily Bible Refresh.

My name is Dr.

Brad Miller.

So glad you joined me in the quest that I have to get the audible word of God into two millionaires.

That's a million people by 2028.

We do that through a daily reading of the New Testament.

We use to revise common Lectionary.

That's a three year cycle of reading through the entire Bible.

We are in year C of that cycle and we're in the Easter tide season.

We like to make the reading of the Bible understandable.

We use the message version relatable.

We give you some points to ponder and applicable we give you an action step to take.

We do it all in under 10 minutes with a prayer.

It's all brought to you by voiceofgoddaily.com that's website where you find our Bible study resource.

It's called the ABC 1, 2, 3 Bible Study Method.

You can pick it up there@voiceofgoddaily.com let's get into our reading for the day.

From the Revelation 1:9 through 20 I John, with you all the way in the trial in the kingdom and the passion of patience in Jesus was on the island called Patmos because of God's word, the witness of Jesus.

It was Sunday and I was in the spirit praying.

I heard a loud voice behind me, trumpet clear and piercing.

Write down what you see into a book.

Send it to the seven churches to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyas, Terra Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea.

And I turned and I saw the voice.

I saw a gold menorah with seven branches and in the center the Son of Man.

In a robe and gold breastplate hair.

A blizzard of white eyes pouring fire blaze Both feet furnace fired bronze.

His voice Aurora.

Right hand holding the seven stars.

His mouth a sharp biting sword.

His face a blinding sun.

I saw this and fainted.

Debt at his feet.

His right hand pulled me upright.

His voice reassured me, don't fear.

I am first.

I am last.

I'm alive.

I died.

But I came to life and my life is now forever.

See these keys in my hand.

They open and lock a death's door.

They open and lock hell's gates.

Now write down everything you see.

Things that are things about to be.

The seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven branched gold menorah.

Do you want to know what's behind them?

The seven stars are the angels of the Seven churches.

The Menorah's seven branches are the seven churches.

Well, a lot of powerful imagery here in this great vision from John, from John of Patmos.

It was written during a time of this empire and great persecution.

And it really speaks to our contemporary world, even right now, the struggles that we have.

Let's look at some points to ponder.

One of them is that this is resistance literature.

John writes from Patmos, where he was exiled because of God's word.

This reminds us that revelation is resistance literature written by someone experiencing imperial oppression.

When we read these dramatic visions, we're engaging with the imagination of.

Of those who dare to envision alternatives to empire today.

This challenges us to recognize and resist modern forms of imperial power, whether it's corporate exploitation, militarism, environmental destruction or political disruptiveness.

The second point is about transformative vision.

The spectacular imagery that we have.

Eyes of fire, voice like aurora, face like the sun, isn't meant to be taken literally, but it's a poetic artistic license of liberation.

And these symbols would have been deeply meaningful to the communities who are facing Roman persecution.

So today we're invited to cultivate our own prophetic imagination.

What visions of justice and transformation do we need for our time?

How do we imagine liberation in the face of climate crisis, racial injustice, political persecution and economic inequality?

One more point is about collective hope.

The message here is addressed to the seven churches.

These are actual communities facing real struggles.

This reminds us that hope isn't individual, but collective.

The keys that open and lock death's door suggest power to transform systems of death and the pathways of life.

And this challenges us to build movements and communities that can imagine and create alternative futures.

Let's talk about an action step.

Engage in prophetic imagination, that is, gather with other people, maybe in person or virtually, and create some sort of a collective vision of what your community would look like with true justice and liberation.

What would need to change?

What symbols and stories would represent this transformation?

Then identify a concrete step towards making this vision a reality.

Maybe it has something to do with climate crisis or political justice, or supporting marginalized people or organized rights or fair housing or organizing for economic justice.

You know what to do.

You know what to do.

Get about doing it.

We're going to pray in just a minute, but I always want to let you know we've got a resource for you to help you do your own individual Bible study.

We have the Daily Bible Refresh to help you hear the Word of God.

But you need to read the Word of God, you know that.

So use the resource we're providing for you.

Go over to voiceofgoddaily.com there you can find our free resources called the ABC 1, 2, 3 Bible Study Guide.

It will help you with your daily personal Bible study.

Let's pray.

Oh God, you're the divine source of vision.

We live in times that can feel apocalyptic at times and old systems are crumbling and new possibilities struggling to emerge.

But like John of Patmos, help us to find courage to imagine alternatives to empire.

When we feel overwhelmed by injustice, remind us of your presence and resistance movements through history.

Give us creativity to envision new ways of being community.

Grant us wisdom to recognize modern forms of empire, encouraged to stand against them.

Help us to move from fear to prophetic imagination, from isolation to collective action and hope and determination.

We pray.

Amen.

Well, my good friends, so good to be with you here on Daily Bible Refresh.

I look forward to it every day and that's when we come to you, every day.

We usually drop our episodes before 6am Eastern Time.

You can find them in all the podcast directories until we have a vision here of getting the audible word of God into 2 million years, a million people by 2028.

You can help us by joining us tomorrow and bringing a friend.

Until that time, My name is Dr.

Brad Miller, encouraging you with the words that God's loyal love doesn't run out.

His merciful love hasn't dried up, it's created new.

And every morning.