All Saints Mix -Rev. 7, Josh. 3

Nov. 2 All Saints Rev. 7, Josh. 3   

We receive a vision, a  brief picture of the saints in heaven -they have arrived in the Promised land called heaven-  crossed the Jordan between life and death, life here and a fuller life with God, within the very life of god.The dead live. Not only do they live; they live an exalted life in the very throne room of God. They may have been despised on earth, but in the sight of god they are utter royalty.they received promises from both parts of the Bible. the lamb and the shepherd get brought together. The living water is available for people who thirst no longer for a better world. It is an extended play on dwelling with God (tabernacles feast) when Israel dwelt in tents, so did God. When israel dwelt in homes, god presided in the temple. Now the people live in God’s own dwelling place, God’s own heavenly tabernacle. the robes are washed, baptized, in blood, but they are dyed white, not red. they sparkle with life. One could assume that they are martyrs at the hands of the state.Victims of bloodshed are now in the very throne room, the altar, the very residence of the Holy One.  At the same time, we gain access to heaven through the life, the work, the faithfulness, the death and resurrection of that same slain little Lamb of god, Jesus Christ.

We get Jericho as first stop in the Promised land-needed to keep their distance from the ark

Not a military action, it is a liturgical procession. It frames the story of the parting of the red sea in leaving and now the river parts to enter the Promised Land. Can it be an accident that the town is called Adam? The saints of Israel are in liturgical or choral procession. In a way, it is the attack of the saints.the walls fall with ritual worship, not the force of arms. Here is the Bible at its most martial, the conquest of the Promised Land, but the entry is through worship, not force of arms.Their standing in the throne room answers the plea of the preceding chapter, who can stand?

At first, i wanted to draw a bright line between being on top in Joshua and being a victim in Revelation, but it is not that easy. The Joshua story, after all, is a reimagining the entry and conquest, when Israel and Judah were already defeated. They cannot even imagine winning a war, so it is place directly through the hands of god through action of worship, their connection with the divine. In reverse fashion, the victim martyrs are now on top, literally, in heaven, when they were on the bottom on earth. To some degree, our view of heaven projects our fondest hopes on the future. it also may well project a reversal of that which causes us so much pain here on earth. their voices may be stilled on earth, but they resound in heaven.

American slaves called the Ohio river, the Jordan, the route to the promised land of freedom. Some of us call the passage from death into the new life in God in heaven the Jordan.

We get a rationale for heaven in this short piece from i John about the lavish love of god. Can such divine love respect the love lavished on us only before we die?. In Bargainers and Beggars (1919) James Huntington hit the nail on the head: "In [God] alone do we find the full realization of bestowal, of donation. For only his own love prompts him to give existence to his creatures, and to continue to endow them with what they have, or are, or ever can become."