Who Is the Dragon?

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Today we read Revelation chapter 12, in which the dragon is introduced.

 
 

Some Background

You really need to read yesterday’s post on Revelation 11 and the parable of the two witnesses to get the most out of Revelation 12, but here are a few key points:

  • the time descriptors of “1,260 days” or “42 months” or “a time, times, and half a time” are all key apocalyptic numbers which refer to the same time period: the period of the church’s persecution and opposition.

  • Therefore, any time those terms appear you should understand that John is describing some aspect of the church’s persecution.

  • The message of Revelation (as shown in the parable of the two witnesses—Revelation 11:3-13) is that, though it will appear from an earthly perspective that the church is defeated by the enemies of God, in the heavenly/spiritual perspective the church is actually conquering through its faithful witness, even to the point of death.

 
 

The Woman and the Dragon

12:1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. [Revelation 12:1-6]

What was it that led the Wise Men to Bethlehem? Matthew tells us that it was a star, but he doesn’t give us any other info about what it was exactly that the Wise Men saw. Whatever it was, it was a significant enough movement in the constellations that the pagan magi were able to understand it signified a Jewish king was being born.

In John’s vision, this movement in the constellations is brought alive. Not only is the woman supposed to make us think of Mary, the Mother of Christ, but also Eve from Genesis 3:

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
    cursed are you above all livestock
    and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
    and you shall bruise his heel.”

Fortunately, we don’t have to wonder who the dragon is, because in the next passage John tells us that he is “that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world” (Revelation 12:9).

The dragon tries to kill the child, but he is rescued by God—it is a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus.

And the woman becomes the church, protected by God for 1,260 days—the key apocalyptic number.

 
 

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

The point of John’s vision is to baptize your imagination so you can learn to see clearly the events of history and your life from God’s perspective. So, the wild imagery is to wake you up!

John sees the devil defeated in heaven and thrown down to earth. In other words, Jesus has already won the victory, and now is just its working out here below. In the meantime, the devil is persecuting the church but it’s too late and ineffective anyway, because the church is protected by God.

Remember what Jesus promised to Peter?

“I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it!”

Regardless of how things look, friends, be confident: Jesus has already won, and evil will not last.

The Two Witnesses *ARE* the Message of Revelation

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Announcement!

I’m teaching an online Bible study on Revelation TONIGHT (11/3) from 8:00-8:45 CST. Take a break from watching election returns and join me. (www.facebook.com/mungerplace or www.mungerplace.org/watch.)

 
 

Warning!

Revelation is a difficult book in that it requires close attention to detail. What follows is therefore more detailed than is normal for me in these posts. But, we’re here because we want to better understand this amazing book, right?

So, take your time to read through this and follow the argument. Trust me, it’s worth it.

 
 

In Our Last Episode…

Allow me to remind of what I wrote when we read Revelation 10.

In that chapter, John receives the unrolled scroll that is God’s secret plan to bring heaven to earth—”on earth as it is in heaven”. It is the scroll that only the Lamb is able to open. What is the scroll? It is the mystery of God’s plan to redeem history, a plan that even the Old Testament prophets were never able to see. (See the ending of the book of Daniel, e.g.)

In Revelation 11, John begins to explain the message of that scroll. Today we’re looking at Revelation 11:1-14 and 11:15-19 (our reading passages for yesterday and today).

 
 

John’s Symbolic Prophetic Action (11:1-2)

Immediately after John eats the scroll, he is told by the angel:

And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.” [Revelation 10:11]

And this is what happens next:

11 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. [Revelation 11:1-2]

A key principle to interpreting Revelation is that John often tells of the same thing multiple times; each time he revisits that thing he uses different symbolic language and provides different details.

So, 11:1-2 is a brief summary of the scroll; 11:3-14 is a further explanation of the scroll; and as we’ll see, chapters 13-15 again explain the message of the scroll, but each time the central point is made with different imagery and detail.

Here, just as with the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel when he receives his prophetic message (Ezekiel 3-4), John is asked to act out a symbolic prophetic action by figuratively measuring the sanctuary of the Temple and not measuring the outer court. The reason, he’s told, is that the interior of the sanctuary is protected, but the exterior court will be “trampled” by the nations.

This little symbolic action is based on an Old Testament passage (Zechariah2:1-2, 5), which indicates that the “measuring” means that the inner, spiritual reality of God’s temple is protected, even while the outer, visible reality is seemingly defeated by his enemies.

Revelation 11:1-2 means that, though it may seem as if evil is conquering God’s people, in fact they will be kept spiritually safe throughout the period of persecution.

 
 

Excursus: 42 months/1260 days/a time, times, and half a time

Numbers are always symbolic in John’s vision. Repeated phrases are also important, as a way of linking passages together. The same period—described in different ways—will be said to be “42 months” or “1,260 days”, or a “time, times, and half a time”

That last phrase comes from the ending of the book of Daniel, when Daniel—in an apocalyptic vision—is confused about what he’s seeing:

5 Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others stood, one on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. 6 And someone said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?” 7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream; he raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished. 8 I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” 9 He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.”

[Daniel 12:5-9]

Daniel is told that the period in which God’s people are persecuted and opposed (“the shattering of the power of the holy people”) will be “a time, times, and half a time". The rabbis understood this to mean 3.5:

  • one time+two times+one half a time = three and one half

  • to put it another way: 1+2+0.5=3.5

So, 3.5 came to be an important apocalyptic number.

If you take 30 days as the average number of days in a month, then 3.5 years is 1,260 days or 42 months.

Each time John uses “42 months” or “a time, times, and half a time” or “1,260 days”, that’s a clue that he’s talking about the same thing, but in a different way.

Please don’t try to interpret the numbers literally—they are symbolic, and tied to Old Testament prophecy. In essence this period of 42 months/1,260 days/a time, times, and half a time are all a shorthand way of saying “the period during which God’s people are persecuted and opposed until the Second Coming.”

 
 

The Parable of the Two Witnesses (11:3-13)

The next section of Revelation is a prophetic parable that dramatizes the church’s role in God’s secret plan.

Right away, we learn something important:

3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.

4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.

The two witnesses will prophesy for 1,260 days, which means we’re looking at the same point being made as above in vv. 1-2 and the symbolic prophetic action, but with different imagery.

The two witnesses will be dressed in sackcloth. Sackcloth is the clothing of repentance—in other words, the message of the two witnesses will be about repentance.

Who are the two witnesses? John tells us—they are “lampstands”. In Revelation chapter 1, we learn that lampstands are a symbol for the church. The two witnesses represent the church.

Why two? Two is the required number in the Old Testament for the bearing of true witness.

Just as 7 churches in chapter 1 symbolize the church in its fullness and completeness, here the 2 witnesses symbolize the church in its capacity to give true testimony about Jesus.

 

5 And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.

The two witnesses are modeled on Moses and Elijah, Old Testament prophets who squared off against God’s enemies. (Elijah shut off rain and Moses called down plagues.) The witnesses are protected so that they can complete their mission. (Remember the sealing of the 144,000 in Revelation 7? John was describing the same idea.)

 

They are protected spiritually, but not physically (see above at the symbolic prophetic action John undertakes in 11:1-2), because:

7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

I mentioned above that John continually comes back to the same idea throughout his vision and describes it in different ways or in greater detail. Another way to think of it is as a series of Russian nesting dolls: each detail, when opened, contains other details.

So, the symbolic prophetic action of 11:1-2 is unpacked and explained more in 11:3-13. And, many of the details in vv. 3-13 are unpacked and explained more in chapters 12-15.

So, here we have the first mention of the beast, which John will come back to in greater detail in later chapters, especially chapter 13.

But, here, John tells us that the two witnesses (the church), though spiritually protected for their mission will actually be physically conquered by the beast. They will be martyred, in other words. And then their bodies will lie in the street of the city “symbolically called Sodom and Egypt” (i.e., any city in which the church is persecuted), just as Jesus was martyred in Jerusalem.

 

9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.

“For three and a half days”—the apocalyptic number again!—the people that persecuted the witnesses will perversely rejoice over their deaths! It’s a scene of complete depravity—the people who killed the martyrs will congratulate themselves on their murderous victory.

Why? Because they were tired of being told to repent. The witnesses’ message contradicted the world’s self-satisfied delusions of prideful self-sufficiency.

 

The Vindication of the Witnesses!

But, the witnesses don’t stay dead!

11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.

Just as Jesus was raised to life after 3 days, so the witnesses will be raised to life after “three and a half days” (that number again!). And, it is obvious to everyone who sees it that God made it happen, thereby proving that they were telling the truth all along.

And so look what happens next:

 

The ConversIon of the Nations!

13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

The majority of the city repents and gives glory to God! Previously, John has told us that the judgments do not produce repentance (see 9:20-21 and my sermon from Sunday, November 1, 2020). But here, the martyrdom of the two witnesses produces the amazing result of the repentant nations. Why? What’s changed?

Allow me to quote the New Testament scholar Richard Bauckham at length:

“The point is…that judgments themselves do not convey God’s gracious willingness to forgive those who repent….

[But when the two witnesses come and are] confronted with an addiction to idolatry and evil (9:20-21), they proclaim the one true God and his coming judgment on evil, but they do so as a call to repentance. Therefore, once their witness is seen, not to be refuted by their death, but vindicated as the truth (11:11-13), all who see this repent.”

from The Theology of the Book of Revelation, by Richard Bauckham (page 86).

Why does the testimony of the witnesses produce repentance when judgment alone did not? Because the witnesses tell the world that God is ready and willing to welcome them back!

The witnesses are initially hated, persecuted, and killed. But, they stay faithful to Jesus even to the point of death, and their faithful witness to Jesus is vindicated by God. In this way they participate in the Lamb’s victory and even conquer the beast, though he kills them, in the same way that Jesus defeated death by dying.

The faith of the witnesses is protected by God, and through their faithful witness to the world they demonstrate that the beast does not have ultimate power because he cannot make them deny the truth of Jesus. They are willing to die for the truth, and their faithful suffering brings the nations to faith in the true God.

In other words, their suffering has a purpose, and it is to be used by God to bring unbelievers to faith!

 
 

***In Summary: The Message of the Book of Revelation***

The message of the parable of the two witnesses (Revelation 11:3-13) will be reexplained over and over again through the rest of John’s vision, but allow me to sum up what we have learned so far.

The First Half of Revelation Leads Up to the Message of the Scroll

  • John has seen into the heavenly throne room (Revelation 4-5), and he sees that in heaven Jesus is worshipped.

  • Although in heaven all things are perfect, they are emphatically NOT so on earth. And so we pray “thy kingdom come, on earth as it already is in heaven.”

  • The rest of Revelation will be the explanation of how the kingdom comes to earth.

  • The Old Testament prophets had foretold of a future day when God’s kingdom would come (to cite one of many, many examples, see Micah 4:1-4), but the prophets were never told how God’s kingdom would come.

  • In the heavenly throne room, John sees that only the Lamb (a symbol for Jesus) can open the scroll that contains God’s secret plan to bring in the kingdom.

  • Why is Jesus allowed to open the scroll? Because he is the Faithful Witness and through his death and resurrection, he has conquered Death and Evil.

  • As Jesus unrolls the scroll and breaks its seals, judgment comes on the earth. The judgments are NOT the message of the scroll—they PREPARE for the message of the scroll.

  • And what do we learn from the judgments? That judgments alone do not bring about repentance on earth.

  • This fact shouldn’t surprise us, because judgments never worked in the Old Testament either, and, come to think of it, God could OBVIOUSLY destroy the entire cosmos whenever he wanted, so there must be a reason he forebears to bring destructive judgment on creation. And that reason is that judgment doesn’t produce repentance!

 

The Second Half of Revelation Is About What’s Written on the Scroll

  • John receives the scroll from the angel, eats it, and then begins to prophecy.

  • He first enacts the symbolic prophetic action of the measuring of the Temple, which tells us that although the church will be persecuted and conquered by the nations on the outside, its spiritual reality on the inside will not be touched.

  • Then John tells us the parable of the witnesses.

  • These two witnesses represent the true testimony of the church, and it’s a testimony about Jesus and against the lies of the world that the church faithfully tells even unto death.

  • Although the two witnesses are protected for their ministry, they are ultimately conquered by the beast.

  • But, God raises them again, thereby vindicating their message, and as a result, the nations come to true repentance and begin to worship God!

God’s secret plan is this: God sent his son, Jesus. Jesus, through his life, death, and resurrection, conquered death and created the church, into which he calls people of all nations, races, and peoples (see Revelation 7). The church then brings the kingdom from heaven to earth by its faithful testimony about Jesus, even to the point of death. Once the nations see that the church is not afraid of death, they repent and come to faith in God!

The rest of Revelation is a retelling of this point, with different emphases and imagery and details.

It’s so good!

 
 

P.S. The Seventh Trumpet

Just a quick word on the sounding of the seventh trumpet (Revelation 11:15-19). Remember, Revelation revisits the same events over and over, using different imagery to expand on a previous point. The seventh trumpet is The End—the last judgment. We’ve just read about the church fulfilling its purpose and seen the nations repent; now, heaven is coming to earth.

In later chapters we’ll get more details about the last judgment and what happens to those who refuse to repent, but here we just get the simple declaration:

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” [Revelation 11:15.]

Amen.

"One Day More"

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I need another day—”one day more”—to pull my thoughts together on THE key passage in Revelation, so look for my post on all of Revelation 11 Tuesday AM.

In the meantime, enjoy this fun version of “One Day More” performed by the cast of the Les Miserables movie as they rehearse for a performance at the Oscars.

P.S. I know that it’s also only one day more until Election Day, but that wasn’t what I was thinking when I wrote this post!

 

Live rehearsal of the 85th Academy Awards performance by the cast of "Les Misérables" #LesMiserables, #HughJackman,#RussellCrowe, #AnneHathaway, #AmandaSeyfr...

This Is The Key to Understanding Revelation

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Through the study I have been doing, I have become convinced that the interpretative key to Revelation is what happens in today’s chapter, Revelation chapter 10. (We are exactly halfway through our 6 week reading plan, by the way.)

I need to make this post longer than usual so as to explain the AMAZING importance of chapter 10. I’m not writing this for my health, but for you, so you better read it!

 
 

In the very first sentence of the book, John tells us what we need to know about the vision:

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John…. [Revelation 1:1]

Did you catch that?

It is the apocalypse of Jesus which was given to him by God.

Jesus has made the apocalypse known by sending it via angel to John.

God—>Jesus—>angel—>John—>us.

 
 

Chapters 2-3 are short messages from Jesus to seven churches in the Roman province of Asia. They are the equivalent of a scribbled message on the top of the rest of the vision meant to draw the churches’ attention to particular issues of importance to Jesus.

 
 

John’s vision proper begins in chapter 4:

After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. [Revelation 4:1-3]

John has been taken into the heavenly throne room, and he reports what he sees there: worship.

In the Lord’s prayer we pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” John sees that God’s will is already perfectly realized in heaven; on earth it is not so.

How will God’s will be done on earth? What’s God’s plan to make it happen?

 
 

John notices that the one on the throne (God), has something in his hand:

1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. [Revelation 5:1-4]

The scroll is some secret part of God’s plan for history—the way his kingdom will come on earth as it already is in heaven. When it looks it will remain secret, John begins to sob hysterically.

However, one of the angelic beings tells John not to cry:

5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” [Revelation 5:5]

And then John sees something that ought to catch our attention:

6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. [Revelation 5:6-7]

Did you catch that? God gives the scroll to Jesus to open.

Remember Revelation 1:1? God—>Jesus—>angel—>John—>us.

We’re halfway to seeing that chain of transmission of the apocalypse. Now we just need to see an angel give a message to John….

 
 

Chapters 6-9 give us important information about what happens when the seals around the scroll are broken. We see how the opening of the seals brings warning judgments on earth. The warning judgments, however, do not cause people to repent:

20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. [Revelation 9:20-21]

If warning judgments won’t cause people to repent and turn back to God, then what will?

What is God’s secret plan to bring his kingdom to earth as it already is in heaven?

Revelation 10 begins to give us the answer.

 
 

After telling us that the inhabitants of the earth have refused to repent (9:20-21), this is what happens next.

Allow me to quote Revelation chapter 10 in its entirety:

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” 5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

[Revelation 10:1-11]

John sees a “mighty angel”—described like no other angel in Revelation—who comes to John with a “little scroll” in his hand.

Remember what we learned in the first sentence of the book? John tells us that the document we are about to read is

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John…. [Revelation 1:1]

God—>Jesus—>angel—>John—>us.

In Revelation 10 we finally see John receive THE APOCALYPSE that he told us about.

This means that the previous chapters are NOT the point, strictly speaking, but rather they are important information we need to understand the point.

 
 

After the angel comes to John, he gives him the scroll and tells John to eat it. (The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel began his prophetic ministry in the same way—see Ezekiel 3.)

It’s like he is supposed to internalize the message before sharing it. And when he eats it, John tells us that it was sweet like honey at first, but bitter in his stomach—it’s good, but contains hardship.

And what is the message? It is how

the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets. [Revelation 10:7]

The scroll that John has been given is God’s secret plan for history, now being revealed by Jesus, via the angel, to John.

The scroll is the point of the book of Revelation.

What does the scroll say?

We’ll have to read on to find out….

 
 

P.S. About the 7 Thunders….

John hears 7 thunders called from heaven by the angel, but then is told not to write them down. I think the 7 thunders are yet another series of warning judgments that God chooses not to send. Instead, God’s ultimate plan is about to be revealed.

Demonic Invasion

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Revelation chapter 9 is what most folks think of when they think of the book of Revelation—violent, wild imagery— and it is terrifying.

 
 

9 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.

12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

 
 

The Jews thought of the Abyss as a place of evil, and when the fifth angel blows his trumpet, an army of locusts is allowed to invade the earth from the Abyss. Invasion is the key theme of the fifth and sixth trumpets.

Whether the army is meant to be a human army that is exaggerated with demonic features or an actual demonic army with human features is not relevant—the point is that God has permitted violent invasion as a warning judgment on the earth.

The people of the eastern Roman Empire in John’s day feared invasion from the wild and violent Parthians from beyond the Euphrates, and the sixth trumpet plays on this fear, in the same way that Americans in the 80s feared invasion from the Soviets, a la Red Dawn.

The overwhelming picture is one of terror and violence.

And yet look at how the chapter closes….

 
 

20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

The plagues here are meant to also invoke ideas of the Egyptian plagues, and just as with Pharaoh, the people here do not repent even after seeing God’s judgment firsthand.

Terrifying and so obviously true. Warning judgments don’t cause most people to repent.

What will lead people to repentance, then?

Keep reading….

The Seven Trumpets

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Revelation chapter 8 begins with an arresting verse:

8:1 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

I think the simplest meaning here is probably the most likely: there is silent awe in heaven at God’s judgment.

And at what is going to happen next.

 
 

2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

John sees into what is a heavenly temple—the censer and the altar are the key images. The smoke of the incense in heaven are the prayers of God’s people, billowing from the censer the angel holds in its hand.

Look what happens next!

 
 

5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

The prayers of God’s people—many of them the anguished prayers of the martyrs—result in judgment on earth!

Prayer changes things!

 
 

6 Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.

12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.

13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

There is a series of 3 sets of 7 judgments in Revelation:

  1. 7 seals;

  2. 7 trumpets;

  3. 7 bowls.

Each series brings judgment on the earth. Most commentators (and I agree) believe that John’s vision is moving in a circle at this point, with each set of 7 telling the same account in a different (and increasingly intense) way.

1st seal=1st trumpet=1st bowl

2nd seal=2nd trumpet=2nd bowl

etc.

Here, the 7 trumpets (or at least the first 4 trumpets in the series, which are all that chapter 8 contains) lead to judgments on earth that are modeled on the Egyptian plagues: hail, blood, darkness, etc.

 
 

Just as with the seals, the judgments of the trumpets raise an important question:

If these cataclysmic judgments do not cause humanity to repent, then what will cause humanity to repent?

Read on, dear reader.

The 144,000

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Revelation 7 is an interlude between the breaking of the 6th and the 7th seals in John’s vision. John is allowed to see God’s plan to involve his people in the fight between good and evil.

The judgments seem overwhelming, but God has a role for his people in the midst of the judgments, and John sees that they will not be overcome by the judgments so that they can fulfill their role.

The 144,000? It’s a holy army waging holy war; it is the church’s role in the outworking of history. Let me explain.

 
 

7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.

The four angels mean that God is sovereign over the four corners of the earth.

 
 

2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 

God holds back the judgments until his servants are set apart. But, who are the servants?

 
 

4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,

from the tribe of Gad 12,000,

6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,

from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,

from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,

7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,

from the tribe of Levi 12,000,

from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,

8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,

from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,

from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

John hears the identity of God’s servants: 144,000. (12 squared times 10 cubed—a number that shows the fullness of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.)

In the Old Testament, every time a census is taken it is for military purposes. The 12,000 that are listed come from each of the 12 tribes (though the list is slightly peculiar, a detail I do not have space to discuss at the moment).

The 144,000 are a holy army, ready for holy war.

BUT….

 
 

9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 

John hears about 144,000 from Israel, but he sees an uncountable number from every nation. In Revelation, the contrast between what John hears and sees is important. In 5:5, he hears of the “Lion of Judah”—a Messianic, conquering imagine; in 5:6, however, he sees “a" Lamb standing, as though it had been slain". The same contrast is at work here. What John sees reinterprets what he hears: the Messianic holy army of Israel is actually an uncountable number from every ethnicity.

The white robes and the palm branches are the sign of military victory. (Think of Palm Sunday—the Jewish pilgrims are using a Maccabean sign of victory.)

 
 

10 And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
    will shelter them with his presence.
16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
    never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
    nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
    will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

As with 5:13, the future has come into the present, and time has collapsed—John, in heaven, sees the victory of God’s army as complete. This is a victory celebration.

How did they win the victory? The rest of Revelation will explain in greater detail, but here the angel explains it to John:

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 

They have conquered by their faithful witness to Jesus, in whose sacrificial and triumphant death they participate by their faithfulness.

 
 

In other words, God is creating a holy army—the church—which will win victory not by killing but by martyrdom.

We’ll have to read on to see what role this spiritual army will play.

The Four Horsemen

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Remember, John is in the heavenly throne room and has seen the Lamb take the scroll with the seven seals. The scroll is God’s plan for history. This is what happens next: Revelation chapter 6.

 
 

“6:1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 

The seals on the scroll have to be broken before the scroll’s contents can be read. The breaking of each seal brings judgment on the earth.

Judgment is meant to cause rebellious humanity to repent. Think of the Egyptian plagues—their purpose is to convince Pharaoh to turn back from his destructive path before it is too late. Unfortunately, Pharaoh chooses to ignore the warnings, and the same thing happens here: the cataclysmic effects of the opening of each seal in turn does not bring humanity back to God.

 
 

“2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.”

The first seal is broken, and the judgment that comes is the first of the so-called Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The first horseman brings war.

 
 

“3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.”

The second seal is opened, and the judgment that comes is the bright red horse (the color of blood).

The second horseman brings bloodshed, which makes sense, since bloodshed follows war.

 
 

“5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”

The Lamb opens the third seal, and the black horse and its rider bring the judgment of economic disruption and famine. The scales in the rider’s hand would have been used in the marketplace, but the prices for basic staples—wheat and barley—are many times too expensive for the working class. Luxury goods, however—oil and wine—are still available for the wealthy.

Economic disruption and famine follow after war and bloodshed.

 
 

“7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.”

The breaking of the fourth seal brings a sickly pale horse and its rider Death, closely followed by Hades. Death follows after war and bloodshed and famine.

 
 

9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

As the Lamb opens the fifth seal, John’s perspective changes from earth back into heaven and he sees the martyrs crowded under the heavenly altar, where the blood of the sacrifice would have been in the Old Testament sacrificial system. The martyrs cry out for vengeance, but they are told that the story isn’t yet over.

God has a plan to vindicate the faithful, but its time has not yet come.

 
 

“12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?””

The opening of the sixth seal brings with it the final judgment—the End. We can see this because the world itself is shaken; even the very stars begin to fall.

Still, humanity does not repent and turn toward God but merely wants to be protected from God’s judgment.

 
 

The message of the seals is that rebellious humanity is so hard-hearted that even death and cataclysm will not be enough to have people turn back to God.

Is John describing what has happened or what will happen?

I think the answer is “Yes.”

Since the time of Jesus, there have been war and violence and pestilence on the earth, and yet humanity has not turned back to God. There will be more and greater judgments in the future, and they will have the same result.

If judgment doesn’t bring about repentance, then what will?

This is what the message of the scroll will explain.

The Portal

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In Revelation 1, John explains how he was given his vision.

In Revelation 2-3, John reports what Jesus had to say to the 7 churches.

In Revelation 4 (today’s reading), the vision proper begins. Let’s look at it.

 
 

4:1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

An apocalypse is an unveiling or a revealing, and here we have it happening: a door opens into heaven.

 
 

2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.

In his vision, John is taken into the heavenly throne room. Note that John never really names nor describes “the one seated on the throne.” Why is that? Because God is too holy to be described.

 
 

3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 

John describes how the glory around God shines and shimmers like precious stones, but never describes God himself.

 
 

4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 

Around God’s throne are the thrones of “twenty-four elders”. Who are they? They are some kind of angelic rulers—the divine council—whom God created to rule over parts of Creation. One of the major themes of the Bible is how God delegates authority. Even you and I have authority—we call it free will, and no one but I can use it. These angels are created beings to whom God has given authority. (We don’t really know much more than that.)

 
 

5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

All throughout the Bible, when people have an experience of God—the fancy word is a “theophany”—it’s like there is always thunder and lightning, and it’s not different here.

The number seven means fullness or completeness; the “seven spirits of God” is another way of saying the fullness of God’s Spirit, i.e., the Holy Spirit.

The glass sea reflects God’s glory. Remember that sea is the symbol of chaos and entropy (see my sermon from 10/11 for more on this), and in heaven it’s been turned into something beautiful that enhances the glory of God.

 
 

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
    who was and is and is to come!”

These mysterious four living creatures are found in Old Testament heavenly visions (e.g., Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel 1). They are some kind of heavenly creature that just praises God, and all the eyes around them mean that, from a heavenly perspective, there is nothing hidden.

 
 

9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
    and by your will they existed and were created.”

How cool is that? These heavenly rulers—over what they are reigning the Bible doesn’t tell us (solar systems? universes? time? light?)—these angelic heavenly rulers are immensely powerful. In fact, later in the book, John will twice make the mistake of trying to worship an angelic messenger. These are powerful, glorious creatures. And yet that’s the point—they are creatures, not the Creator. And they get off their thrones and cast their crowns before the throne to show that any authority and glory they have is merely given to them by God. They are creatures, and so they worship the Creator.

We’ll see as the vision unfolds that one of the marks of the Beast is that it claims worship for itself, but only God is worthy of worship. This is one of the reasons John knows the Beast is evil.

Spit

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“Laodicea lacked its own water supply, having no direct access to the cold water of the mountains or the hot water of the nearby springs in Hierapolis to the north. In contrast to its claims of self-sufficiency (3:17), it had to pipe in its water…. This water had grown lukewarm by the time of its arrival.

“The point of lukewarm water is simply that it is disgusting….

“Jesus thus finds the church in Laodicea to be other than what he desires. In today’s English, he is telling the self-satisfied church in Laodicea: ‘I want water that will refresh me, but you remind me instead of the water you always complain about. You make me want to puke.’”

—Craig Keener, Revelation

 
 

Let us not make the mistake of being prideful or thinking we are self-sufficient today.

 

Today’s Revelation reading (day 08 of 30):

Revelation 3:14-22

Protected *Through* Not Protected *From*

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As we will see as we continue to read through Revelation, the message of Jesus to the churches is NOT that they will be protected from difficulties, but that they will be protected through difficulties.

In light of that truth, how will you react today to the inevitable problems that come across your path?

 
 

Today’s Revelation Reading (day 07 of 30):

Revelation 3:7-13

 
 

Successful but Spiritually Dead

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Unlike some of the other churches Jesus addresses in Revelation, the church in Sardis appears to have been relatively well-off and accepted in that city. Unfortunately, they were also (almost) spiritually dead.

That’s the way it so often is in this world, isn’t it? Wealth and comfort make us think (erroneously) that we are self-sufficient, that we don’t need God. And that way lies spiritual death.

I mean that literally—I think Hell is made up of folks who are too proud to admit that they need God’s mercy.

Problems and poverty and persecution can bring out the best in us, though no one actually wants those things in his or her life. Still, problems can cause us to turn to God and admit that we can’t make it on our own.

Today, when you face a problem, consider it an opportunity to humbly ask for God’s help.

 

Today’s Revelation Reading (day 06 of 30): Revelation 3:1-6.

Balaam and Jezebel?

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My apologies for missing yesterday’s post and in posting this a bit later that normal.

What I want to do today is show you how the Old Testament is the key for understanding Revelation.

 
 

Yesterday’s Reading (day 04 of 30): Revelation 2:12-17.

Today’s Reading (day 05 of 30): Revelation 2:18-29.

(Remember, there are no readings on weekends.)

 
 

At the beginning of Revelation there is a brief message from Jesus to each of the seven churches to whom John is sending his vision.

In both Pergamum and Thyatira, Jesus warns the churches to stop having contact with false teachers, whom he calls “Balaam” in Pergamum and “Jezebel” in Thyatira.

Balaam was an enemy prophet of Israel who tried to lead the Children of Israel astray as they made their way into the Promised Land; Jezebel was a wicked pagan queen of an Israelite king who had God’s prophets murdered. The names are meant to show the Christians in Pergamum and Thyatira that the people they are listening to are false teachers.

The connection with the Old Testament makes the warnings obvious, but if you don’t know those Old Testament stories, you’ll miss the point. The entire rest of Revelation does the same thing constantly—uses Old Testament imagery to “reveal” the truth about history.

A few more points:

“Satan’s throne” in Pergamum refers to the pagan worship that was happening there, either of the imperial cult (worship of the emperor) or of Greek religion (worship of Zeus the Savior).

We don’t know who the Nicolaitans are, other than some kind of false sect.

In the Old Testament, idolatry is often described as sexual immorality—committing adultery on God. So, it’s not clear in Thyatira if “Jezebel” is literally encouraging sexual immorality or just figuratively doing so because she is encoring idolatry. Either way, it’s a problem. The punishment that Jesus is sending on her and her followers is some kind of sickness or pestilence.

These are harsh messages because the truth matters. But, they are also an opportunity for repentance and an invitation of grace—it’s not too late for the wayward Christians in Pergamum and Thyatira to turn back.

The same goes for every one one of us, and every one one we’ll see today—as long as we are breathing, it’s not too late for any of us.

What falsehood do you need to turn from today?

How can you help someone else turn from falsehood today?

Seven Questions and Answers About the Book of Revelation

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I did an online Bible study last night as an overview to the Book of Revelation. (My notes are below.)

(I’ll cover today’s and tomorrow’s readings tomorrow, Friday.)

 
 

[If the above video doesn’t come through, you can find it here.]

 
 

Andrew Forrest

10/14/2020

 

Seven Questions and Answers About Revelation

 

What Does Apocalypse Mean?

 

An apocalypse is an unveiling.

 

 

 

What Is the Book of Revelation?

 

Revelation is the literary account of a vision given to a Jewish Christian prophet named John near the end of the first century.

 

The book takes the form of a circular letter sent among the churches of Asia Minor, meant to answer this question: What is the church’s role in God’s plan?

 

 

How Should We Interpret It?

 

The key to understanding Revelation is not today’s newspaper but the Old Testament.  If you use the newspaper to interpret Revelation, you’ll get it wrong.  If you use Revelation to interpret the newspaper, you’ll do what John wanted you to do: see reality from God’s perspective.

 

Revelation is the culmination of Old Testament prophecy.  Every image in it is somehow connected to the Old Testament.

 

 

What’s the Point of Revelation?

 

The Purpose of the Letter is To Tell The Churches of Asia Their Role in God’s Plan

 

Revelation discloses that the Church will conquer by being a faithful witness to Jesus, even unto death.  (See Revelation 11.)

 

The key passage of the entire book in Revelation 11, the account of the two witnesses.

 

 

 

 

Does the Vision Proceed Linearly?

 

No.  The vision proceeds cyclically and not linearly, in that the judgment section is telling the same thing in 3 different ways.

 

The book’s plot doesn’t play out linearly, but circularly: the 7 seals, 7 judgments, and 7 trumpets are making the same point, namely that the nations are not responding to judgment by repenting

 

The judgments are like Russian nesting dolls, with each 7th one opening up the next ones.

 

Each judgment gets worse

o   The seals destroy a quarter of the earth (6:8);

o   The trumpets a third (8:7-12, 9:18);

o   The bowls the entire thing. 

 

 

Who or What do the Monsters Symbolize?

 

The Beast (or earth-monster) is Roman imperial power, based on violent conquest.  Chapter 13 is thus about political power.  The Beast seems inevitable (13:3).

 

Babylon or the great whore/harlot of Babylon is Roman economic wealth, commercial success, and materialism, derived from exploitation and conquest.  Chapters 17-18 are thus about economic power.

 

The harlot rides the Beast (17:3) because Roman wealth comes from Roman military conquest; economic power comes from war.

 

The harlot offers beautiful things (17:4), but they are actually morally disgusting and filthy.

 

The dragon/serpent is Evil itself, the chaotic destructive power opposed to God.

 

The wounded head is Nero (13:14)  after his death there was civil war and the year of 4 Emperors, but then Flavius consolidated power and the beast went on. 

 

The beast thinks of itself as god, but we  are willing slaves (13:3-4).

 

The second beast or earth-monster probably represents the imperial priesthood in Asia.

 

The beast is totalitarian (13:16-17) and demands complete allegiance.

 

If Christians oppose it, they will be martyred.

 

 

 

Why Does John’s Vision Begin in the Heavenly Throne Room?

 

·       On earth as it already is in heaven—that’s what the throne scene tells us.

·       Either you worship God (and are set free) or you worship the Beast (and are enslaved).

·       It’s about true and false worship.

"Synagogue of Satan"?!

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The whole of Revelation was meant to be a circular letter among the seven churches of Asia Minor; as the letter begins, there is a short message from Jesus to each of the churches in turn. Today we look at the second message, to the church in Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11).

 
 

Today’s Reading: Revelation 2:8-11 (day 03 of 30)

 
 

8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.

Jesus introduces and identifies himself in a different way in each of the short messages to the seven churches. Here’s the key to understanding the point of each respective message: use the description of Jesus to underscore the point he is making.

So here, Jesus stresses his Resurrection. As we’ll see, the message to the church in Smyrna is: be faithful, even if it costs you your life.

 
 

9 “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

The early Christians were all Jews; in fact, the early Christians thought of themselves as Jews who followed Jesus as Messiah. There were synagogues in many of the cities around the Mediterranean, and in Smyrna it seems that the non-Christian Jews had collaborated with the Roman authorities to persecute the followers of Jesus. That’s why John calls them “Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” John saw these Jews as doing the work of Satan.

At this time, the Christians in Smyrna were a tiny, poor minority without social standing or power. Over the centuries, of course, Christians would become the dominant force in Europe, and we all are aware of the ugly and shameful history of European Christian anti-semitism. Here, however, those words don’t apply.

 
 

10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

The church in Smyrna is poor and persecuted, but Jesus is pleased with them and encourages them not to give up. In fact, the way they will “conquer” is precisely by not giving in, even if it costs them their lives.

In the same way, that’s how we will conquer: by remaining faithful even to the point of death. What looks like losing—martyrdom and weakness—is actually strong because of the Resurrection.

Don’t be afraid today—every courageous, faithful step you take is a step toward victory, no matter what it looks like today.

Zombie Church

in
 

The entire text of Revelation is a circular letter shared among seven churches located in separate cities in the Roman province of Asia Minor (which is modern-day western Turkey).

But at the beginning of the letter there is a specific message from Jesus to each of the seven churches in turn.

Today we begin with the message to Ephesus. And that message is:

Beware lest you become a zombie church.

 
 

Today’s Reading (day 02 of 30): Revelation 2:1-7

 
 

2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

Ephesus was the greatest city in the Roman province of Asia, and one of the places Paul lived during his apostolic ministry.

The one with the seven stars and seven lampstands is Jesus (see chapter 1). He is walking among the churches (we learn in chapter 1 that the lampstands represent churches), which means he knows them intimately, both their good and their bad.

 

2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.

One of the major themes of Revelation is truth, and Jesus commends the Ephesians for their hard work and their commitment to truth. Apparently, there were people who claimed to be apostles but were charlatan, and the Ephesians correctly identified them as such.. The way one discerns between true and false teachers in the church hasn’t changed: true teachers teach in accordance with the faith that’s been delivered to us from the true apostles; false teachers invent new teachings and doctrines. Always test everything you hear in church by comparing it with the vast, ancient body of Christian teaching.

 

3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 

Though the Ephesians are courageously bearing witness for Christ in a hostile culture, nevertheless they have ceased to love each other in the way they did at first.

Truth is important, but true doctrines are nothing if they are not joined with loving hearts. To love is to will the good of the other.

 

5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 

What does it mean for the Lord to remove the lampstand of the Ephesian church if they don’t repent? I think it means that they would become a zombie church. In other words, they might not literally cease to exist as an organization, but because of their unfaithfulness, the life-giving Spirit would leave.

How many churches do you know that fit that description?

 

6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

I’ll say more about the Nicolaitans on Thursday. As to what it means to “conquer", this is actually the central message of Revelation to the churches—what it will look like for them to “win”. We’re getting ahead of ourselves, but let me say that to conquer in Revelation means bearing true witness to the truth of Jesus.

 
 

Anyway, I think the idea of the Spirit being removed from an unfaithful church is a convicting idea. Such a church would have “the form of religion, but none of the power.” A zombie church, in other words: one that looks alive, but is actually dead.

Lord, save us from such a fate.

Apocalypse Now

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Today, we begin to read and study the last book of the bible, Revelation.

We’ll read through it over the next 6 weeks, with readings assigned Monday-Friday; we’ll finish on the Friday before Thanksgiving.

Feel free to share with anyone who might be interested. As always, the daily article will go live at 3:30 AM and will be emailed to anyone on my email list at 4:00 AM.

(If you haven’t yet picked up your Revelation book and bookmark, there are available for free at Munger; if you don’t live in Dallas, you can also order one for yourself here.)

 
 

Apocalypse is a Greek word that means “uncovering” or “disclosure” or “revealing” (from which we get our English word revelation). John is on the Mediterranean island of Patmos on a Sunday when he receives an apocalyptic vision which he later writes down and circulates among the churches of the wealthy Roman province of Asia Minor (the western part of modern-day Turkey).

The book of Revelation is that letter.

 
 

The difficulty of Revelation comes from the fact that John is writing as a Jewish-Christian prophet and sees his vision as the culmination of the entire tradition of biblical prophecy; this means his vision is replete with allusions to and images from the Old Testament, allusions and images with which we are not familiar.

The good news is that once you see that the key to John’s letter lies in understanding how he connects his vision to the Old Testament, it begins to actually make sense!

 
 

Today’s reading (day 01 of 30): Revelation 1.

 

John hears a voice, turns, and this is what he sees as his vision begins:

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

The lampstands are the clue. Lampstands were meant to be used in the Temple; the lampstands here tell us that John’s vision has taken him to a version of the Temple, where heaven and earth meet. He sees Jesus in a robe—like a priest—but he is majestic and transfigured, so majestic and transfigured that John falls down upon seeing him as though dead!

Jesus graciously puts his hand on John’s shoulder and tells him not to be afraid and that his task is to write down the content of the vision and share it with the seven churches in Asia. Since seven is the number of completeness, the letter is actually for every church, and not just for the seven historical churches mentioned.

 
 

What All This Means

The churches are symbolized by the seven lampstands that Jesus is holding in his hand.

  1. The lampstand is imagery from the Old Testament Temple (which had been completely destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 by the time John has his vision). The Temple was supposed to be where heaven and earth came together; the Temple was supposed to be a new Eden. This means that, just as with the physical Temple before it was destroyed, the church is now the place where heaven and earth come together. Every church is meant to be Eden! What can you do to help make your church more like a Paradise for anyone who comes in contact with it?

  2. The lampstands are in the hand of the Lord! This means that, despite historical persecution or other challenges, the church can be confident that we are exactly where Jesus wants us to be today.

 
 

P.S. Bonus Content

The more familiar we are with the Old Testament, the more John’s vision will make sense. Here’s one quick example.

The prophet Zechariah was active in Jerusalem at the time that the first wave of exiles (led by Zerubabbel) returned in 538 BC from Babylonian captivity. Zechariah had his own apocalyptic vision, and this is part of it:

4 And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”

Zechariah 4:1-7

Sound familiar? It’s the background for the initial part of John’s vision, above.

As we will see, this part of Zechariah’s vision is very important to John because of what the angel tells Zechariah: it is not human power but the Spirit of God that will win the victory. More to come on this fourth chapter of Zechariah later, especially when we get to Revelation 11.

Nehemiah's End + Housekeeping Notes

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Today is the last day of our Nehemiah reading; the book ends not with a bang but with a whimper.

Instead of ending with the victorious and thrilling celebration that Nehemiah leads after the completion of the walls (our reading for yesterday about which I didn’t write because I didn’t have anything interesting to say!), the book ends instead with proof that Nehemiah’s great leadership has not actually changed the people.

What does that mean?

Short answer: we cannot save ourselves, because the problem is within every human heart.

Long answer: you’ll need to watch my sermon for this Sunday. I recorded it last night and I think it would be better for you to watch it than for me to try to summarize it here. Sermon will be available at mungerplace.org and via podcast starting at 6 AM Sunday.

 
 

Revelation Comes Next!

We are going to start reading Revelation together on Monday, October 12. More details to follow.

At Munger, we are handing out Revelation booklets. If you don’t live in Dallas but want to follow along, you can buy one for yourself here.

The Past Was Real!

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Nehemiah 11:1-12:26 is a list of names of the people who moved into Jerusalem after the walls were finished, including a list of the people who worked in the Temple. Not the most exciting reading.

But to me this list is important because it’s a glimpse into another world, the world of the past. The past really happened—these people really lived, same as you and me!