THE COMING OF THE APOCALYPSE
The apocalypse is at hand! Up goes the cry when something chaotic happens. So we have apocalyptic weather, apocalyptic economics and politics – and a whole genre of disaster movies known as apocalyptic. The term indicates a situation where the normal structures of life disappear, overwhelmed by chaos and catastrophe. But where did the term come from, and what does it mean?
It is actually the first word in the last book of the Bible, which begins Apocalypsis Iesou Christou, usually translated ‘The revelation of Jesus Christ’, thus giving its name to the Apocalypse, or Book of Revelation. But the idea was a long time in development, and ‘apocalyptic’ has come to refer to a whole genre of ancient literature.
FRACTURED FROM GOD
The biblical narrative begins with the idea that God is the rightful ruler over all of creation, and God shares that rule with humanity made in his image. But with the advent of human sin, God’s relationship with the world has been fractured, and he no longer rules as he should. God calls Abraham to be in covenant relationship with him, and then forms the nation of Israel, in order to re-establish his rule of justice and peace, so that one day ‘the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea’ (Habakkuk 2:14).
But the story of Israel is the story both of God’s determination to restore creation, and Israel’s failure to collaborate with it. This is illu
