The Book of Revelation...and “K-Pop Demon Hunters”

Two things happened last week: I taught the last lesson in a course on The Book of Revelation, and I watched “K-Pop Demon Hunters” with my thirteen-year-old daughter. I did not expect these two activities to have anything to do with each other, but—interestingly enough—they have something extraordinary in common.

In ourRevelation course, we looked at how Revelation describes what force or weapon God’s people have in order to defeat evil: “Those who conquer the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” (Rev15:2-3). Earlier in Revelation, this beast wields the power to kill people and to destroy all forms of life (Rev 13:15-17). And the only weapon strong enough to defeat evil is song—praise to God.

I found this concept beautifully depicted in the animated film “K-Pop Demon Hunters”(Netflix). In this fun film with a great soundtrack, three girls have been born as the guardians of humanity. One of their tasks is to hunt of demons who seek to kill humans and take their souls. They have the ability to identify demons, and they have swords to destroy them.

But their swords are not the only—or even primary—way the girl hunters protect humanity.They sing. By putting out songs and putting on concerts as the K-Pop trio“Huntrix,” this trio weaves a protective field around the human world with their music. The music both uplifts the hears and brings all the listeners together in common delight and goodwill.

As the story continues, the girls actually find that writing violent or hateful songs about the demons actually diminishes the hunters’ effectiveness. They begin to put all their energy toward writing songs of love, understanding, and goodness, which turns out to be the decisive weapon against evil. Near the end of the movie, the definitive evil presence—Gwi-Ma—insists: “stop that song!”

I sat in my living room, astounded as I realized that I had just watched Revelation’s prescription for victory over evil. Two things about this stand out to me as aNew Testament scholar. One, I am reminded again of the New Testament’s vision of true power…and it looks like weakness to the world. I mean, what harm can a song inflict? What harm can a crucified Jesus do to the world’s systems of violence and exploitation? It turns out, evil trembles at goodness, and guns and bombs are no match for a song of praise.

Two, I realized I was watching the film with a theological lens. People often assume they cannot draw helpful theological conclusions outside of religious systems:church, Bible, hymns, etc. This experience of encountering Revelation in a secular movie beloved by middle schoolers the world over reminded me that God’s revelation has gone out to all the world! It is there to be discovered in so many places, people, and situations. Such revelation invites us to participate and enjoy the world and its experiences, believing that God is to be found there. It begins when we ask, “how might we see God here?” Such a question is a song that brings evil to a halt.