As we end our series in Revelation, we encounter a deep reality, summed up brilliantly by Robyn Whitaker: “To live with hope is not to live without despair—they are two sides of the same coin. Indeed, hope is required precisely in moments of despair when we feel utterly powerless to change our fate. We don’t need hope when life is going wonderfully well! Perhaps that is why this text has particular appeal for those who know oppression all too well. It is a text for those who are in the minority, for those who feel powerless and face overwhelming injustice every day. The hope that God will act is not an excuse for inaction in the present: this hope fosters courage to act and to resist systems of evil and oppression in anticipation of God’s new world.”
