Supplementary post for Rev 20 - What about the rapture?

This post is all about the issue of the rapture (particularly of the 'secret rapture - Left Behind' variety). People have asked where it fits in. The quick answer is that I don't believe there is a reference to any secret rapture either in Revelation or indeed in all of Scripture. (That's why we haven't dealt with it in our series!) Read the full post for more detail.

Also, see Ben Witherington's post on the dangers of Christian Zionism, and how a particular end-times view shapes US foreign policy today.

The Rapture
Unfortunately we didn’t get time during the Revelation series to discuss the issue of a ‘rapture’. In fact, a number of people have asked me where I think that fits in. However, my answer will depend on what you mean by ‘rapture’.
The word simply means ‘caught up’, and derives from a verse not in Revelation but 1 Thessalonians. So if by ‘rapture’ you simply mean being caught up in the air to meet Jesus when he comes, then I believe it happens at the second resurrection, when Jesus returns. It’s spoken of in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, using the image of a bride coming out to greet the approaching bridegroom:

1 Thess 4:16-17 ‘For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together (‘raptured’) with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.’

My answer would be different, however, if you were referring to a secret rapture – where Christians suddenly disappear. You know, like those bumper stickers ‘Warning: the driver of this car may vanish at any time’. The rapture that’s the central premise of the Left Behind series of novels & movies, where Christians get to check out early & the rest of the world is ‘left behind’ to face 7 years of tribulation before the end. I don’t believe that the idea of a secret rapture is found anywhere in the Bible. Let me explain why very briefly. (For more information, see the chapter on ‘Dispensationalism’ in Ben Witherington III, Problems with Evangelical Theology.)

History: No-one believed in a secret rapture throughout the history of the church, until it was first proposed in the 1820s. It came via a revelation at a prayer meeting in a London church, which was a forerunner to the modern Pentecostal movement. It was picked up by the leader of the Brethren church in Plymouth – John Nelson Darby. He made 6 visits to the US, promoting his view at camps & conferences, & financing the production of pamphlets. A guy called Scofield prepared notes to go with an edition of the Bible in the early 1900s, which followed Darby’s system. This became the Scofield Ref Bible, and because this view was printed in bible margins, it gave it the vibe of being the divinely inspired view (much like people at home group reading out the notes in the NIV study bible as though they are the divinely inspired interpretation). Two powerful bible colleges in the US (Moody Bible Institute & Dallas Theological Seminary) have continued to aggressively push this view. Although the history doesn’t disprove the view, the onus is on what is a brand new interpretation to prove itself from the Bible.

Proponents of this view claim that a number of texts contain references to this secret rapture:
Rev 3:10, part of the letter to the church in Phil:
Rev 3:10 ‘Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.’
Firstly, this is a specific letter to a C1 church, not a promise out of context to all Christians. At any rate, the Gk is ambiguous: it could be translated ‘keep you from the hour of trial’, or ‘keep you through the hour of trial’ – i.e. protect you while you still remain in the world.

There’s also Mt 24:40-41, made famous in the 70s Larry Norman song:
‘Two men walking up a hill, one disappears & one’s left standing still / I wish we’d all been ready / There’s no time to change your mind / The Son has come & you’ve been left behind.’
This is a scary image, straight out of Mt 24 – Christians disappear, you’re left behind to face the tribulation. Except that the 4vv before this image are about Noah’s flood – the rebellious people ‘knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came & took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken & the other left.’ The people being taken away in Noah’s time are taken away to destruction. Noah & his family are the ones left untouched by the flood. So in this image, the taking away can’t be a secret rapture into heaven, but rather being taken away to face eternal judgement.

The references in the letters to the Thessalonians, in which we do find the rapture, appear on face value to be a public event:
1 Th 4: ‘For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God.’
That doesn’t sound like a secret, disappearing act of Christians to me.

And then in 2 Thessalonians, it says that the restraining force in the world will be taken out of the way – this is seen as a reference to the disappearance of the HS in the world, i.e. the rapture of the church. The very next verse says this:
2 Th 2:8 ‘And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth & destroy by the splendour of his coming.’
Once again, taken at face value this looks like a public event. You can only see it referring to a secret rapture if you’ve already decided on that view.

This is why I caution against reading the Left Behind books as anything other than an entertaining novel – I don’t find its central premise in Scripture at all.

The problem is that this view is the one that is most aggressively pushed both in Christian fiction and by American Christian publishing generally. Proponents of this view tend to suggest that theirs is the only view that takes the Bible literally, and so many Christians tend to accept it by default because they (rightly) don’t want to be seen as ‘liberals’ in their view of Scripture. I offer this brief argument for an alternative position not out of any great desire to change your mind if you passionately believe in a secret rapture. My aim is rather to ‘rehabilitate’ alternative views as being compatible with a high view of Scripture – particularly since the majority of conservative scholars outside of North America also reject the idea of a secret rapture.

Click here to read full post..

Revelation 20 (Sunday June 15)

This week we dealt with the tricky issue of the millennium in Rev 20. You can listen to the audio from sometime on Monday June 16. At the end of this post there is also a copy of 'Your helpful guide to End-Times Jargon' that was handed out in the service. The other post today deals with the related issue of the rapture - specifically, why I don't find the idea of a secret rapture anywhere in Scripture. Read on for the sermon...

Revelation 20:1-6
Imagine yourself out bushwalking. For some of you, that will be quite easy. But if you’re like me, it might seem inconceivable. You’ll need to stretch your imagination a little to make it believable. Maybe someone has forced you at gunpoint. Or promised you that there’s decent WiFi coverage in the area. Whatever works for you.
Anyway, you’re out bushwalking, OK? You can see two hills up ahead, one behind the other; from where you’re standing they don’t look all that far apart. They’re almost indistinguishable. But when you finally make it to the top of the first one, you look out – and realise that there’s a huge valley in between. Those hills you thought were close together – from your new vantage point you now realise the great distance between them.
When John wrote Revelation, he was near the start of this bushwalk. Behind him – in his recent past – was the destruction of Jerusalem; God’s judgement on his old covenant people because they rejected Jesus. In front of him lay two hills. The first hill was the coming judgement on Rome, because they persecuted God’s church. And the second was Jesus’ return & the end of the world. From John’s perspective, these two hills blurred into one: the fall of Rome, and the end of history.
And so he jumps quite quickly from a vision God’s judgement on Rome in ch 19, to the vision in the final few chapters about the end of the world itself. Just like the OT prophets would jump quite suddenly from speaking of God’s immediate action in history, to God’s actions at the end of history. Approaching from front on, the two hills blur into one.
From our perspective, however, we now know that those two hills weren’t close together at all. From our point in history, we know that a huge valley separates God’s judgement of Rome in John’s immediate future, from God’s final judgement of the world that still lies in our future. A valley lasting many hundreds of years. A valley that separates the first 19 chapters of Revelation from chapters 21 & 22. A valley that you & I inhabit right now.
In the final message in our series – in 2 weeks’ time – we’ll look at that second hill. An awe-inspiring picture of our future: the new heaven & the new earth. A recreated world with God again dwelling among his people!
But tonight, we’re looking at the first part of chapter 20. It’s the most talked-about portion of Revelation. And it’s created quite a fuss for only half a dozen verses that are really pretty incidental to the rest of the book. The problem is, we’re not sure where to locate them in history. Do they belong to the valley, or to the next hill? Do they relate to our present experience – or do they belong to our future?



Let’s look at our Bible reading for tonight; the first 6vv of Revelation ch 20:
Rev 20:1-6 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
These verses are about the millennium. A thousand year period where Satan is bound & Christ exercises his rule. And the million dollar millennium question is this: when does this thousand years occur?
To boil an extremely complicated argument down to the point where there’s only blackened gunge at the bottom of the pot & you’ve realised you’re getting take-away tonight – there are two basic answers: Either we’re in the thousand years now, or it happens when Jesus returns. Either Satan is bound & we are reigning with Christ now, or Satan will be bound & we will reign with Christ at some point in the future. Either the millennium is in the valley, or it’s on the next hill.
To match this up with some labels you might have heard previously:
The view that Jesus will return before the thousand years is called premillennialism. That is, the millennium still lies in our future. It may be a literal 1000 years, or like the other numbers in Revelation it may be symbolic – representing a long period of time. But it comes after Jesus’ return.
The view that Jesus will return after the thousand years is either called postmillennialism or amillennialism. (See end of this post for the distinction between the two, and for a fuller explanation of all the jargon.) For now, let’s make it simple by saying that we as the church are in some way living in the millennium now. And of course, this view requires the 1000 years to be understood as symbolic.
Now you might be thinking – well does it really matter? After all, Jesus is returning – isn’t that the important thing? And you’d be right to think that – to a point. At some level we should all be pan-millennialists – it’ll all pan out in the end.
However, as we’ll see a bit later, our understanding of the millennium does impact the way we view the world; the way we live as Christians. And given the fuss that’s so often been made about it, I think it’s worth at least one sermon every few years.
Now as with the rest of this series, there simply isn’t time in a half-hour sermon to present multiple views adequately. So let me be completely upfront with you: I believe we’re in the thousand years now. But I do have significant respect for the alternative interpretation – that the millennium still lies in the future.
I’ve admitted throughout this series that I have a hard time buying the argument that the first 19 chapters of Revelation are still to occur in our future. But the thousand years of chapter 20 – I think there are good arguments either way.
Certainly it’s less risky being a premillennialist. Think about it: if you’re believe the millennium happens after Jesus returns, and you find out you got it wrong; we’ll all be in heaven, who’s caring? But if you think we’re in the millennium now and you get it wrong, then you have to put up with all the premillennialists banging on for a thousand years about how they were right. That’s gonna wear thin pretty quickly.
More seriously, on balance I think the view that we’re in the millennium now fits best with the rest of Scripture. So let me spend a bit of time explaining why I think that’s the case. And even more importantly, looking at how this shapes the way we think & the way we live.



1. Satan is bound
Revelation makes three main assertions about the millennium: the first is that it will involve the binding of Satan. The premillennial view – that Jesus will return first, and then the thousand years will occur – quite logically argues that Satan is most certainly not bound at the moment! He’s active in the world. As the Apostle Peter says, ‘Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour’ (1 Pet 5:8). So this thousand years must lie in our future!
Indeed, if we were talking about a literal, physical binding of Satan, then this would be the only logical view we could take. But as we’ve seen, much of Revelation is symbolic. The other key reference to Satan’s defeat in Revelation, in ch 12, gives us a clue. It describes Satan as being kicked out of heaven, as a result of Jesus’ death & resurrection. Yet before that, Jesus himself in Lk 10 sees Satan ‘fall like lightning from heaven’, when Jesus’ followers go around casting out demons. And back in the OT, Isaiah has talked about Satan already having been ‘cast down’ from heaven. So either Satan somehow keeps getting back in there – God keeps leaving the back door unlocked – or we’re not talking about a physical reality at all. Satan’s ‘casting down’ is symbolic of his defeat; of his loss of power.
This suggests we should view the binding of Satan in the same way. A symbolic binding or limiting of his power. Particularly when you look at verse 3; it tells us the precise way in which his power has been bound:
Rev 20: 3 He threw him [Satan] into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.
That is, before Christ’s victory on the cross, Satan kept the nations deceived. Stopping them from perceiving the God who made them. But he can do this no more. The gospel is free to go out to all nations. The Spirit is convicting people from around the world as we speak.
Jesus himself used the image of first binding Satan, in order then to rescue people from his clutches. In the context of exorcism he says:
Matt 12:29 ‘how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man?’
Jesus’ victory on the cross bound Satan, so that the gospel can go out to the ends of the earth. Isn’t that an amazing motivation for mission? It gives us confidence in the success of the gospel; Satan is powerless to stop it.
Paul Barnett, commenting on this passage, writes this:
‘While the fact and influence of Satan should not be ignored, Christians must not forget that the Evil One has been defeated by Christ’s death & resurrection, and is bound & limited by the gospel & by courageous Christian witness. There is a tendency for Christians to take a minimal view of the historic victory of Christ, and to emphasise instead various techniques such as exorcism & prayer counselling. Let it be understood that it is not by techniques, but by the redemptive death of Jesus & the ongoing preaching of the cross, that the Devil is defeated & bound.’ [Apocalypse Now and Then, p 148]
Satan is bound, now, from deceiving the nations. And we see that reflected in how the number of unreached ppl grps in the world is steadily decreasing. There are various ways of counting it, but as you can see from this graph, progress is being made. All but around 3,500 of the world’s 13,000 people groups have an indigenous church capable of evangelising their own people group without outside help.
In 100 AD, just after Rev was written, there were 12 unreached ppl grps for every local church. Today there are 600 local churches for every unreached ppl grp!
Satan is bound now from deceiving the nats. We see that in success of those we’ve been raising funds for this past month; of those we’ve sent out from our own ch.
Satan hasn’t given up entirely: the GiA workers among the Yao people in Mozambique have had a lot thrown at them, including some serious illnesses of their children that required medical evacuation to South Africa. But that hasn’t stopped them; and it hasn’t stopped significant numbers of Yao people embracing the good news of the gospel with open arms.
Ado, one of our workers in South East Asia, has experienced his fair share of spiritual attack in a part of the world where spirit-worship is at the centre of everyday life. Yet a couple of weeks ago, we heard that 11 young surfers gave their life to Christ.
Or Milard in Lebanon, dealing with bombs, political instability & civil unrest – but even Hezbollah can’t stop the spread of the gospel. 3 house-churches established & growing, and people coming to faith across Lebanon.
Although there is still much evil in our world today, it isn’t the dark, ignorant, God-forsaken place it was 2000 years ago. The light of the gospel is spreading to the end of the earth.
Isa 66:19 I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians..., to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations.


At this point we sang, 'You Said'...



2. We have been resurrected
The second thing we see about the millennium is that there is a resurrection that precedes it. Let’s read again from the end of v4, talking about those who remain faithful to God; who are prepared, if necessary, to lose their lives rather than compromise with the empire:
Rev 20:4b-6 They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
This is the crux of the matter: what are the two resurrections? Again, if we take both resurrections to be physical resurrections, then the thousand years must still lie in our future. When Christ returns, there will be the first resurrection: some say just of martyrs; most would say of all believers. They reign with Christ for a thousand years on this earth. After that time, there is a second resurrection – all those who died outside of Christ. As v7 onwards tells us, they will be resurrected to face judgement, and then the second death – eternal destruction. That is the basic premillennial view.
However, this is the only part of the Bible that even hints at a two-stage end of the world; a two-stage resurrection. It’s a little precarious to build an entire doctrine on it, particularly when apocalyptic language is so highly symbolic. All the more so when the point of the discussion is not to lay out a roadmap of the end of the world, but to encourage Christians to remain faithful now in a hostile world.
And if we look at these verses again, we see that it’s quite possible to take the first resurrection as a spiritual resurrection. As symbolic of our conversion; of being born again. As Jesus himself says in John 5:
John 5:24 ‘I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.’
Or as Paul says in Col ch 3:
Col 3:3 ‘For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.’
In my view, the first resurrection refers to our spiritual resurrection; our salvation. Although we experience the 1st death, it’s merely a physical death. We have already been raised with Christ & so won’t face the 2nd death; which is a spiritual death.
Or if we put it more visually, you can see the parallels:
1st death – physical (we all die) 1st resurrection – spiritual (believers only)
2nd resurrection – physical (we all are raised bodily) 2nd death – spiritual (unbelievers only)
That is, the first resurrection has already happened, at our conversion. We’re in the millennium now. And this again gives us great confidence. Satan is bound, so we can have confidence in the spread of the gospel. And we are already resurrected – so we can have confidence in our own eternity.
Listen again to v6 & be encouraged:
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. [That’s us!] The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
We’re not sitting around waiting to find out the eternal verdict; we’re not left wondering whether our names are written in the book of life. If we have trusted in Jesus’ death in our place, then his resurrection also counts for us. We have already passed from eternal death into eternal life. Our spirits have already been resurrected, and we are protected, hidden with Christ!



3. We are reigning with Christ
And if we look at the final major point about the millennium, we see that we are in fact already reigning with Christ.
20:4c They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
20: 6b but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
Again, the premillennial view sees this reigning with Christ for a thousand years as happening after Christ’s return; a physical reign here on earth, centred on the earthly city of Jerusalem.
For many with this view, part of the rationale is so that the OT promises about the nation & land of Israel can be fulfilled. And more than that – so that God can be vindicated. The OT ideals he put forward for a just, moral & God-centred human society can be lived out. This millennial rule demonstrates that God’s original plan for humanity can actually work. Like God is saying, ‘see, it can be done just like I planned.’
I’ll argue against this on theological grounds in a minute. But let me first point out a couple of practical problems this view presents:
Firstly, it offers little encouragement to try to transform the world in the here & now. The world is simply a place to be endured while we wait for God to fix things after Jesus returns. And when this is coupled with a futurist view of the whole of Revelation, if the world gets worse then so much the better – it means Jesus’ second coming can’t be far off! It doesn’t encourage us to get involved in making the world a better place: in standing up for justice; in promoting morality; in alleviating suffering.
Secondly, and more dangerously, it often gets us preoccupied with the political fate of the nation of Israel today. To give just one example: many believe that before Christ can return to bring his millennial rule in Jerusalem, the temple must be rebuilt on Mt Zion. One slight problem – there’s a great big mosque on the site. Therefore, if Christians want to hasten Jesus’ return they must do what they can to return ownership of the temple mount to the Jews. Much of America’s political tactics in the Middle East over the past 60 years has been more because of a particular view of the end times than a desire for cheap oil.
The debate over the millennium might seem to be obscure & almost irrelevant. But in reality one particular viewpoint has been shaping both the history of our world, and the way many Christians interact with it. That’s because it’s become the dominant view of popular Christianity in America. And it paints those who disagree as disregarding the Bible because they don’t take it ‘literally’. But does our theology really require a literal, physical 1000 yr reign of Christ in Jerusalem?
For a start, the NT presents the OT prophecies about the nation & land of Israel as being fulfilled in Christ. Jesus is the eternal king on David’s throne. Rev 12 says that even at his birth, he fulfilled the OT promises about Israel’s king: ‘he will rule the nations with an iron sceptre’. Jesus himself said that all of the OT Scriptures pointed to him; that they were fulfilled in his death & resurrection. And those promises now continue to be worked out in his new covenant people. We don’t need some time in the future for the promises about Israel to be fulfilled; they are already fulfilled now, both in Jesus, and in the new Israel, the church!
And we don’t need a physical, thousand year reign from Jerusalem to vindicate God. Rom 15 tells us that Christ’s death has already vindicated God by ‘confirming the promises made to the patriarchs’ in the OT. And God is demonstrating that his original plan for humanity can indeed work through us. God is at work recreating human society in his image in his church.
So again, I believe the thousand years is now. We are reigning with Christ to the extent that God is exercising his rule through the church. He reigns in your life, in mine – as we reflect his values to the world. He reigns in his church, as we show love to one another. He reigns in the world, as we show compassion to those who are hurting; as we stand up for the rights of the oppressed; as we who have been transformed by Christ seek to transform the world. Not through force; not through coercion; for the most part not even through politics. But through leading by example, that God’s character would be seen in what we say & in what we do.
Satan is bound, and the gospel goes out to the ends of the earth. Transforming individual lives by its grace. And as a result, transforming the societies those individuals inhabit. Bringing a concern for justice; compassion for the needy; fairness in law; alleviating suffering through medical care. God’s reign on earth expressed through us, his hands & feet. Not a social gospel, but a gospel that cannot help but have an impact on society.
And we’re called to get involved. By sharing the gospel with our workmates. By giving to fund overseas mission. By caring for the poor families in the next suburb. By sponsoring a child overseas. By standing up for the rights of the oppressed; joining our church’s Catalyst group to lobby politicians. By defending the rights of the unborn. By volunteering for next month’s holiday club. By seeking to promote the gospel and God’s concern for justice wherever it is that God has placed us. God’s reign on earth through us, his hands & feet.



Postscript: Your helpful guide to End-Times Jargon


A recap from week 1 on the three main ways of reading Revelation:
Futurist: Revelation contains specific, literal prophecies of what is yet to happen, in the years leading up to Jesus’ second coming.
Preterist: Revelation contains specific, symbolic representations of society & events in the first century AD.
Idealist: Revelation contains general, symbolic representations about what has happened & will continue to happen until Jesus returns.



And from this week, the various views on the millennium. (Note that millennial views aren’t necessarily linked to the above ways of reading the rest of Revelation.)



Premillennialism: A physical reign of Christ on the earth, centred on Jerusalem and the land of Israel, for 1000 years. Jesus’ return occurs before the millennium, hence the term ‘pre-millennial’.



There are two main variations of this view: dispensational premillennialism usually sees a secret rapture of the church before 7 years of tribulation prior to Jesus’, along with a special role for the nation of Israel; historic premillennialism usually sees a public rapture of the church after 7 years of tribulation, at the time Jesus returns. For a discussion of this idea of a secret rapture, see the today's other post.


Postmillennialism: Christ returns after the 1000 year reign on earth (the 1000 years may be symbolic). Some extreme forms of postmillennialism view the millennium as the establishment of a Christian society, and at various times in history has promoted a kind of ‘Christian imperialism’: Jesus will return when Christians make the world a good enough place.



More moderate forms of postmillennialism (such as that argued for in tonight’s message) identify Christ’s rule on earth with the spread of the gospel both through individual conversions and the subsequent transformation of society that flows from transformed lives. This form of ‘soft’ postmillennialism often describes itself as amillennial in order to avoid the bad press associated with the extreme forms.



Amillennialism: Strictly speaking this refers to a belief that there is no millennium on earth – it is Christ’s reign in heaven with those who have died for the faith. However, the label is often used to refer to a reign of Christ in the spiritual kingdom of his church here on earth, as per moderate postmillennialism.

Click here to read full post..

Revelation 13 - 16 (Sunday June 1)

This week follows on from last week's message about the beast in Rev 13. We looked at the mark of the beast - what it was, and how someone received it - and were challenged to ensure that our outward behaviour displayed our inner allegiance. We then looked at some of the strategies employed by John's vision to encourage his hearers to remain faithful to God & resist the beast - and how those strategies still help us today. (Our Bible reading was Revelation 14, and the audio of the sermon is here. At one point the sermon refers to the morning message on the epistle of James, by Rev. Dr. Ross Clifford, which you can also listen to here.)

1. The mark of the beast
a. The mark of the beast in history
If you have ever: made the sign of the cross, owned a bankcard, gained entry to something using a barcode, used Microsoft software or attended church on a Sunday… then someone, somewhere thinks you have the mark of the beast.
Rev 13:16-17 He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.
For much of the past millennium, many Protestants have believed that the beast represented the pope; and so the mark of the beast was the RC sign of the cross.
Seventh Day Adventists see the mark of the beast as worshipping on a Sunday; they are expecting a time in the future when it will be legally enforced.
When bankcards came out , many people noticed that the logo looked like three sixes; maybe credit cards were the mark of the beast. Soon you wouldn’t be able to buy or sell without them. These days it’s any system you need in order to buy & sell: barcodes, computer chip implants.
I find it amusingly ironic that many websites dedicated to unmasking the mark of the beast accept donations via PayPal. As of last month, you can’t buy or sell on eBay without it.
Or it could be Microsoft; most of us just go along with the Windows operating system because everyone else has it. And all around us we see the tragic cost of non-compliance: Mac users unable to share files with other people; Linux users unable to have meaningful relationships with actual people. And did you know that if you add up the ASCII values of the letters in Bill Gates’ name it comes to 666?
Others would see the mark of the beast as something more general: symbolic of human failure. 6 is one short of the perfect number, 7. So the number of the beast is 666; failure upon failure upon failure. The problem with that is that Greek text says the number of the beast is six hundred & sixty-six. Which in the ancient world was not written or even thought of as the numeral 6 three times. Our way of writing numbers in columns wasn’t used in C1 G-R society.

b. The mark of the beast in the first century
In fact, in my view, the way numbers were written in the ancient world is the key. The key to understanding what the mark of the beast does refer to: the worship of the Roman emperors. [Now to explain this well it would take at least 10mins; so my aim tonight is to explain it badly, & then move on before you have time to notice...]
Rev 13:18 ‘If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number [NRSV better: the number of a man]. His number is [NRSV: six hundred sixty-six].’
Our way of writing numbers using numerals in columns didn’t really exist until several centuries after Christ. Instead, ancient cultures used letters to stand in for numbers: like the Roman Numerals you either learnt in high school or from movies with far too many sequels. This encouraged word-games with people’s names, called gemmatria. For example, in the ruined city of Pompeii, there’s an inscription – graffiti, really – that reads ‘I love her whose name is 545’. The letters in his girlfriend’s name would have added up to that number.
The number of the beast is the number of a man. Last week I told you that I believe Rev ch 13 is all about emperor worship. So you won’t be surprised to hear that I think 666 is the number of an emperor’s name; of a man. Emperor Nero, to be precise. And if you add up the letter-values of his name using the standard Gk spelling, you get 666. Interestingly, there’s a small number of NT manuscripts which have a different number of the beast – not 666, but 616. That’s what you get when you add up the letters in Nero’s name, using the Latin spelling.
The number of the beast, then, represented the Roman emperor. Not only Nero, but all those emperors who came after him. And a person got the mark of the beast by worshipping him; by sacrificing to the Emperor.
Now this means it’s highly unlikely we’re talking about a physical mark. All the more so since the mark of the beast stands in contrast with another mark in Revelation – the seal of God on foreheads of the 144,000. We saw that in ch7, and it occurs again in the next verse, in ch14.

c. The mark of the beast today: a sign of your inner allegiance
The mark of the beast, then – both in C1 and for us today – is all about your inner allegiance. When it comes to the crunch, who are you going to choose? Caesar, or Jesus. The expectations of society, or the commandments of God. Do you go with the flow, or stand up for what’s right? Whose side are you on?
As a Christian in C1, your inner allegiance to God meant that you couldn’t just go along with the idolatry of society; with the worship of the beast. You had to resist the mark, by not sacrificing to the emperor – no matter what the cost. And the cost was potentially high: you might lose your job, your family, your freedom – even your life. Choosing to be on God’s side can be costly.
As a Christian today, what does our inner allegiance to God mean? What can’t we just go along with in order to fit in? What ‘marks’ do we need to resist?
As we saw last week, it was more obvious in C1. You had an emperor who claimed to be a god. You either chose to worship him or not. A difficult choice, but at least it was a clear choice. These days the empire is more subtle. We’re faced with little choices every day, which either display an inner allegiance to G, or a preference for fitting in with the world. They might not seem to be all that significant at the time. And in isolation they’re probably not. But they build habits; patterns; lifestyle; character. Ultimately, they characterise a life that’s either on God’s side, or not.
The person who at the age of 40 finds themselves completely absorbed in their work 24/7 & having all but given up the commitment to God they had in their early 20s – they didn’t just decide that overnight. Little by little they made decisions to sacrifice at the altar of career. They chose the world over God almost by stealth.
The person for whom holiness used to be a goal to strive for didn’t just give up trying at one point in time. It’s the outworking of a whole series of decisions; choices to go along with the prevailing culture rather than obeying God.
The person who 5 years ago used to be at church & their home group every week, but now shows up maybe once a month – it happened slowly. As every week a little decision to put the urgencies of life ahead of meeting with the community of believers slowly built a habit. Uni assignments; a concert; getting the washing done before Monday; finishing off the renovations; a bit tired…
The person who quite justifiably took time off from serving God to raise a young family, but never went back – they didn’t just decide one day that their family was more important than the kingdom. It’s simply the result of a whole lot of little choices over time.
The person who once had a passionate desire to share Christ with their family & friends, but now never seems to have the time, or find right moment – they didn’t go off the boil all of a sudden. They just got into the habit of choosing to remain silent; to go along with the rest of the empire, rather than rocking the boat. Over time, they chose to align themselves with the world – and the easier life it promises – rather than with God & his gospel.

d. Wearing the mark: your outward behaviour displays your inner allegiance
Before, I said the mark of the beast is not a physical mark; but in some ways it’s most certainly a visible mark. It’s a sign – which implies that it can be seen. That’s what all these examples have been hinting at: your outward behaviour displays your inner allegiance. What you do testifies to what you believe.
In C1, you displayed your inner allegiance to God by not sacrificing to the emperor. Revelation encouraged its readers to resist the mark at all costs.
Today, nothing has changed. Our outward behaviour displays our inner allegiance. So although we need not worry about accidentally getting the mark of the beast by making the sign of the cross, owning a bankcard or making a PowerPoint presentation – the warning is still real for us today. Have you given your allegiance, wholeheartedly, to God? The answer to that question is a visible mark; the answer to that question is found in our behaviour.
As evangelicals, we emphasise the truth that what you do cannot get you into heaven. Jesus has done it for you. And we need to continue emphasising that truth until our dying breath. But we often forget the other side of that truth – the one that Ross Clifford spoke about this morning from the book of James. ‘Faith without works is dead.’ What we do can’t make us right with God; but what we do is evidence that we are on God’s side. Evidence of a changed life. An outward display of our inner allegiance.
It’s not just Revelation & the book of James that says this. The Apostle Paul reminds us that a true follower of Jesus is putting to death the deeds of the sinful nature, and displaying the fruit of the spirit. Jesus himself warned the Jewish leaders to ‘bear fruit in keeping with repentance’.
We’re not a follower of Jesus if we simply raised our hand at an outreach night, prayed a prayer & then went through the motions of ‘churchianity’. For our conversion to be a true conversion, it must have an impact on our behaviour. For it to be more than just a religious ritual, it must bear fruit in our lives; the fruit of the spirit.
What Revelation tells us is that we can’t continue worshipping the beast on the outside & claiming to be followers of God on the inside. Our outward behaviour displays our inner allegiance. We have one of two marks; one of two destinies.
At this point we took a commercial break, to sing the song 'Nothing Compares' by ThirdDay.

2. Resisting the beast: strategies for overcoming
So we’ve been warned: resist the mark of the beast; resist the pressures of the world around us. Make sure our professed allegiance to God is displayed in our behaviour. But how do we do that? How do we remain strong?
Rev ch 14-16 are all about resisting the mark of the beast. They give us motivation; they give us mental strategies for overcoming the empire. In fact, John’s vision appeals to the 4 moral virtues first identified by the Gk philosopher Aristotle: prudence, justice, courage & temperance.
If you were trying to persuade someone in C1, you’d show how your advice was virtuous in these 4 ways: (a) Prudence – it’s to your advantage, it’s what a wise person would do; (b) Justice – it’s the right thing to do; (c) Courage – it’s what a strong person would do; (d) Temperance – it’s what a mature, self-controlled person would do. And you’d also point out how the opposite of what you were recommending is (a) foolish; (b) unjust; (c) cowardly; and (d) immature.
Now these might have been strategies for a C1 society, but for the most part, they still work for us today. In fact, advertisers use them all the time. So let’s look at how Revelation’s strategies for overcoming the beast can help us today.

a. Prudence: a tale of two eternities
Firstly, there’s prudence. No, not the heroine of a Jane Austen novel. Prudence is about the wise choice, the smart choice – doing what is to your advantage. Appeals to prudence compare the end result of your choices.
For example, the superannuation ads that show the difference between investing in a regular super fund, and an industry super fund. Two people; two choices; and two different sums of money at age 65. The message from that ad is that industry super funds are the smart choice; the prudent choice. They pay off in the end.
Or how about this ad:
[Video: ‘not quitting is harder’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG4kzbX08GI ]
Similarly, Revelation gives us a tale of two eternities, two destinies. Firstly, we hear the destiny of those with the mark of the beast:
Rev 14:9-11 ‘A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.”’
This is contrasted with the destiny of those who have the seal of God:
Rev 14:12-13 ‘This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”’
And these, of course, aren’t the only verses in Rev that contrast the different fates of those who oppose God and those who are faithful. This is an appeal for John’s hearers – and us – to make the prudent choice. The one that pays off in the end.
Don’t worry about the temporary disadvantages of not sacrificing to the emperor; of not going along with the rest of society; of pursuing holiness; of putting the kingdom before the world. Focus instead on the eternal advantage. Keep the reward of heaven in mind; along with the dreadful fate of those who choose the world over God.
‘Defying the emperor is hard; not defying him is harder.’

b. Justice: the right object of worship
Rev appeals not only to prudence, but also to justice. What’s the right thing to do?
A recent ad for pet food lists all the things that dogs do for us. At the end, the simple message is: My Dog – love them back. It’s an appeal to justice. All the things our dogs do for us – it’s only right we give them overpriced slop in a can!
Again, Rev encourages us to reject the mark of the beast, to worship God alone: because of who God is, and after all God has done for us – it’s only right that we worship him alone. Only he is worthy of worship.
Rev 14:7 ‘He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”’
Rev 15:4 ‘Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.’
In rejecting the world, in defiantly remaining obedient to God, we are doing what is fundamentally right. ‘The world’ – in denying God his rightful worship & obedience – the world is the one being unjust. They are the deviants, not us. How dare they spurn the rightful ruler of the world!
Jos 24:15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Or to put it in C21 adspeak: ‘My God – love him back.’

c. Courage & Temperance: are you up to the challenge?
Behaving in a way that’s faithful to God is not only prudent, it’s not only just – it’s also the courageous & temperant. (I’ll deal with these two virtues together since they overlap.)
Advertising often appeals particularly to courage. Although it often has to manufacture it. After all, what’s inherently courageous about buying something? So we end up with those Gillette ads from a few years ago; I think they’d added another blade & a coat of titanium or something. After showing a few extreme close ups of the horrifying spectacle of a guy’s facial hair being obliterated by the four razors of the apocalypse, with death following close behind, the voice-over guy challenged us: ‘Are you ready for a closer shave?’ Of course! I’m ready to take the bold & courageous step of… changing my brand of razor. An appeal to manufactured courage.
Some are a little more realistic: again the quit smoking guys harness its power with the Nicorette ads – you can beat the cigarette. They acknowledge that it’s going to be a fight, a struggle, but with courage & the help of some pleasant tasting gum, you can overcome.
This is the message of Rev: there’s a fight on. A struggle. No-one said resisting the beast was going to be easy. But ‘be strong & courageous’. Join the honourable fight, and you will be victorious. Throughout Rev we see promises of a glorious future ‘to him who overcomes.’ In ch 15 we are told of a victory scene:
Rev 15:2 ‘And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast & his image & over the number of his name.’
The kind of courage needed to win this kind of fight is tied up with temperance; with self-control. Ch 14 tells us:
Rev 14:12 ‘This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.’
Elsewhere in that chapter those who overcome:
Rev 14:4-5 ‘…kept themselves pure…No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.’
In ch 16 Jesus himself says:
Rev 16:15 “Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
This is the language of self-control, of maturity, of temperance. In resisting the beast – in resisting the pressure of the world to deny God – we need to be self-controlled. I think this is probably the most useful of all the strategies we’ve seen tonight. We need to be reminded that being faithful to God is a struggle. We need to have a fight mentality awakened within us, so that we don’t just settle for drift & compromise.
Satan’s greatest strategy has been to convince us that there isn’t a war on. And so we settle down with our lives & forget to join the resistance. Don’t let that happen to you. ‘Are you ready?’

3. Living in the present in light of the future: A new (and greater) Exodus
And the way we do that is to remind ourselves that there is more than just this life. In ch 15 John’s vision does that for his hearers, by painting their situation – our situation – like that of Israel as slaves in Egypt. In fact, he describes our future deliverance – our final salvation – using exodus terminology. It will be a new, and greater exodus.
Firstly, there are plagues coming on all those who are opposed to God:
Rev 15:1 I saw in heaven another great and marvellous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues – last, because with them God’s wrath is completed.
In the future, we’ll be standing on the other side of the Red Sea, having crossed over:
Rev 15:2 ‘And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name.’
We’re singing the song of Moses – the song they sang after the original crossing:
Rev 15:3 They held harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages.”
There’s another Sinai-like experience; the giving of the covenant:
Rev 15:5 After this I looked and in heaven the temple, that is, the tabernacle of the Testimony, was opened.
And God’s presence again appears, in a cloud of smoke:
Rev 15:8a And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power.
All this imagery from the first exodus isn’t accidental. It shows C1 Christians – and it shows us – how to view our present experience. The original Exodus was all about coming out of a hostile, evil society which sought to enslave them.
So by describing our future as a new exodus, it reminds us not to get too comfortable with this world. To resist the pressure to ‘fit in’ with it. For in many ways, it’s our enemy. And we’re not going to be in it for all that long. Very soon, we’re going to be delivered from it; we’re headed for the promised land.
In the 1960s, Martin Luther King used this same strategy. Painting the struggle for civil rights in terms of the exodus. He ended one of his most famous speeches in this way:
‘And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!’
He wanted to inspire his people. To hope for the future. To press ahead with confidence that their deliverance was at hand. To refuse to settle down & accept things the way they are.
That’s my prayer for you, too. That you would refuse to settle down & accept the world the way it is. Refuse to compromise. That we would live as a people about to be rescued from a hostile world.
How much of your life is about settling down in Egypt? About making the best out of slavery, rather than struggling for freedom? About making peace with the beast, when we should be fighting against it with every ounce of our energy? About choosing comfort & convenience over what is prudent, what is just, what is courageous?
Revelation reminds us to focus on the future. To look forward to the promised land. Again, to quote MLK:
‘And so I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!’
We closed the service by singing 'See Him Coming' by Mark Peterson.

Click here to read full post..

Revelation 13 & 17 (Sunday May 25)

This week we looked at the images of the beast (Rev 13) and the harlot (Rev 17), a satirical subversion of the two great symbols of the Roman empire: the Emperor himself, and the city of Rome as personified in the goddess Roma Aeterna. (You can read the text here,and listen to it here audio.) Although we might not do anything as obvious as worshipping a guy in a toga who claims to be a god, our society is also susceptible to treating humanity & the human spirit as divine.
Now I need to set the scene: Before we could begin the message, we were interrupted by a choir of priestesses (from the ABC, as it turned out) worshipping Kevin Rudd. Listen to the audio if you want to relive that forgettable moment. Then read on...

1. Background: Emperor worship
Not even the most die-hard Labor supporter would actually do this – worship a human leader as a god. Which is why it seems pretty strange to us when we read about emperor worship in the first century. Where guys like this one (Pic of Rudd changes to pic of Domitian) actually believed they were divine. And expected everyone to worship them.
The emperor at the time Revelation was written – Emperor Domitian – actually used the title our Lord and Saviour for himself. For he has graciously delivered his citizens from war & obtained for them a profound peace. And for that, everyone had to participate in emperor worship. Or else. (And the only dialogue you’d get would be with the lions in the arena.)
Now of course, we’d never do that today. We’d never worship a human being as some kind of god. We’re to sophisticated for that. Or are we?
I’ll come back to that question a little later, after we look at how emperor worship is described in the book of Revelation. Because when you see what lies behind C1 emperor worship, I think you’ll see that our society maybe isn’t as different as we first think.

Why did people worship the emperor?
So why did people worship the emperor? Apart from the fact that they had to, of course. I mean, who came up with the idea in the first place? (It’s hard to imagine even Kevin Rudd waking up one morning & saying: right, breakfast briefing at 8am, cabinet meeting at 9, then call a press conference at 11 to declare myself divine…)
In fact, the first Roman emperors weren’t considered to be gods – at least, not by the Romans. But some of the conquered peoples from eastern civilizations – places like Asia Minor, to whom Revelation was written; many of these people were used to worshipping their own kings as ‘sons of the gods’. So they started to give divine titles to the emperor. Either because they felt they had to, or because it was an effective way of sucking up.
And the Roman emperors thought it wasn’t such a bad idea – after all, it kept these superstitious easterners in line; made them less likely to rebel against Rome. The emperors even allowed them to set up temples where they could be worshipped: both Ephesus & Pergamum had temples built for the imperial cult. The problem was – after a while, successive emperors started to believe it. Started to refer to themselves as a ‘son of the gods’. Nero in the late 60s shows signs of it, thinking of himself as an incarnation of the god Apollo. And by the time we get to Domitian in the 80s, he’s calling himself ‘Lord & Saviour’.
So by the time Revelation was written, emperor worship had become empire-wide. Everyone had to participate. Not because most people really believed the emperor was a god; but because it had become a way of displaying your loyalty to the empire. It had become a central part of community life. By going to the temple & sacrificing to the emperor & participating in the festivals, you were being a good citizen. You were doing your bit for society. You were committing yourself to the welfare of society: of your family, of your city, of the empire. You were declaring: ‘I’m no threat to the stability we have under Caesar. I’m a loyal subject.’ You were doing what society expected, in order to keep the wheels turning.

‘Fitting in’ with society today
What things do we do just to fit in with society? Things that everyone expects us to do; and we do them so we don’t stand out as some kind of freak. It’s usually pretty minor stuff: you might not be all that keen on gambling, but once a year you go in the office sweep for the Melbourne Cup because it’s what everyone expects you to do. You don’t really like the idea of celebrating Halloween because of its evil origins – and by evil origins I’m talking about pagan spirit worship, not America. But you feel like you should let your kids go trick-or-treating because everyone else is. You do what you have to do to fit in; to keep the rest of society happy.
That’s why it was such a temptation for C1 Christians to go through the motions of emperor worship. Just to keep everyone happy. To show they weren’t a threat to the social order.
And that’s why throughout Revelation – especially in ch 13 – John goes to great lengths to show how wrong this is. To be reminded about how evil the empire is, because it is opposed to God. Because it sets up one of its own – a human being – to receive the worship & praise that is due to God alone. Something no Christian should ever participate in. And Revelation does this by a scathing attack on the two great symbols of the empire: the emperor, and the city of Rome. Let’s take a look at ch 13.

2. Attacking the symbols of the empire
a. The first beast: the emperor
13:1b‘And I saw a beast coming out of the sea.’
The first clue we get from John that the emperor isn’t the divine benefactor he claims to be is the fact that he describes him as a beast. Not the image you’d choose if you were trying to portray him in a nice way.
13:1c ‘He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns’
Ch17 explains that the 7 heads represent 7 hills; Rome is a city built on 7 hills. The fact that they have horns & crowns also tells us that they represent Rome’s emperors.
13:2b ‘The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.’
Far from being a benign government, his power is described as coming from the dragon we saw last week in ch12. Rome’s power & authority to rule comes from Satan himself. The emperor’s origin is satanic. He is not bringing the gracious providence of the gods, like the emperor cult claimed. He is simply part of Satan’s plan to wreak havoc on the world while he still can.
13:3 ‘One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast.’
When emperor Nero committed suicide in 68AD, many refused to believe he was actually dead. Rumours of his return continued for many decades. After Nero died, Rome & the emperorship fell into turmoil, with a series of internal wars & assassinations. The beast looked like it was in trouble. But under Vespasian & then Domitian, peace & stability was restored. It was almost like Nero had returned to life! (BTW, as we’ll see next week, the number of the beast in v14 – six hundred & sixty six – is also a reference to Nero.)
13:4a ‘Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast’
Revelation here tells us in the strongest terms that emperor worship is really worship of Satan.
13:4b ‘they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?"’
This is a parody of Psalm-language – e.g. Ps89 ‘Who is like the Lord?’ He’s painted as taking the worship & praise that rightly belong to God alone.
13:5 ‘The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.’
Again we come across this figure of 42 months – the time that Rome, under emperor Nero, besieged Jerusalem in the late 60s AD.
13:6 ‘He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.’
The emperor is not divine; he’s not a god. He’s just a run-of-the-mill blasphemer. He brings God’s name into disrepute by claiming the divine titles for himself.
13:7 ‘He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.’
The emperor was worshipped primarily as a saviour-figure – he saved the people of the empire from their enemies. He was worshipped because he brought peace to the empire. But the peace he brings is based merely on human authority, brought at the point of a sword. The reference to ‘every tribe, people, language & nation’ sounds familiar, doesn’t it? It’s a deliberate contrast with the divine peace & salvation Jesus brings to those of ‘every tribe, people, language & nation’. For Jesus does that not through violence, but through weakness, suffering & self-sacrifice.
In fact, throughout this chapter the beast – the emperor – is portrayed as a kind of Bizarro figure. Do you remember Bizarro – the cartoon villain who was an evil mirror-image of Superman? Well the emperor is being described as a Bizarro-Jesus: mirroring yet distorting the rightful rule of Jesus. An evil parody of the real son of God.
In essence, this picture of the emperor is designed to make him look as bad as he really is. Behind all the splendour of his court, he is just a hideous beast. One who does the work of Satan, setting himself up as a god in place of the one true God.

Who is ‘the beast’ today?
As I’ve said before in this series, I believe the material in Revelation is firmly grounded in the C1, in the experience of John’s original readers. The beast, as I’ve shown, is a biting, derogatory satire of the deluded, self-important, blasphemous Roman Emperors. We therefore don’t read this as some kind of prophecy that still awaits fulfilment in our future. [] And yet, this passage forces us – does it not – to ask the question: are there similar people or institutions in our society that may look relatively benign, but are in fact beasts? That set themselves up in the place of God, and in so doing lead people astray? That unwittingly are doing the work of Satan in deceiving the world?
Actually, I think Satan’s learned not to make it too obvious. We don’t get some guy in a toga turning up saying, ‘hi, I’m a god, you need to worship me.’ At least not in the kind of bars I hang out in, anyway. We don’t have a single, easily-identifiable figure to focus on, like the Roman emperors of C1.
To some extent, all of society has become the beast. We’ve made ourselves into gods. Humanity has become divine in its own eyes, taking the rightful place of God. We worship ourselves; our own achievements; our own greatness. As the slogan for the Olympic movement says: we ‘celebrate humanity’.
And worse, humanity now sees itself as the solution to its own problems. The beast is no longer a human emperor who is worshipped for bringing peace & prosperity. The beast is humanity itself. We can solve the problems of the world, if we all pull together.
We can bring peace to the middle east, if we try hard enough.
We can stop global warming, if we put on enough free concerts & turn all our lights off for an hour at the same time.
We can feed the world & end poverty, if we wear enough wristbands.
We can have prosperity for all, if we let market forces do their job.
Or we can have equity for all, if we just implement the right social policies.
Now all these things aren’t bad in themselves. It’s just the attitude that lies behind them. An attitude that says: we can save ourselves. We can make a name for ourselves. We don’t need God. It’s the tower of Babel all over again.
Against this, Revelation reminds us that anytime we set up a human being or even humanity itself as our saviour – we’re removing God from his rightful place. We become the beast: proud, arrogant, blasphemous – yet tragically deluded. We need Revelation to remind us – in an age where opposition is far more subtle – that the beast, the empire is still bad. It’s still opposed to God, no matter how it’s dressed up.


b. The second beast: the imperial cult
Continuing in ch13, Revelation then introduces another image; a second beast.
13:11 ‘Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.’
He might look harmless enough, but again he does the work of Satan.
13:12 ‘He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.’
This beast represents not the Roman emperor himself, but the cult of worship that surrounded him. The priests of the imperial cult.
13:14a‘Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.’
People don’t participate in this worship in an informed way, but they are deceived. He paints himself as a bringer of peace; as one who brings the favour of the gods upon the empire. And so the world is deceived.
13:14b-15 ‘He ordered them to set up an image in honour of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.’
The citizens of the empire would talk about emperor worship like it was a voluntary expression of gratitude. Many cities – like Pergamum – were very proud to have temples for the imperial cult! But Revelation paints it as an imposition. It’s not a voluntary expression of gratitude to a benevolent son-of-the-gods; it’s enslavement by a self-aggrandising blasphemous dictator!
13:16-17 ‘He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.’
If you refused to worship the emperor – as many Christians did – then life was very difficult. It was hard to get a job, as being part of a trade guild – a bit like a union – involved sacrificing to the gods & to the emperor.
So to make things easier; to avoid rocking the boat; to stay in good with society – you’d be tempted to go along with the imperial cult; the worship of the emperor.
The imperial cult today
Do we have an imperial cult today? If we did, how would we spot it? Well if we look at the characteristics of emperor worship in C1, we can make the following 3 observations that might help us:
(1) It involves some form of public ritual, where participation is more about pledging commitment to society, than any actual religious worship.
(2) It replaces God with something human; that is, it takes honour due to God & gives it to another.
(3) It celebrates an idealised story of human triumph over adversity; a story of rebirth, or renewal. In the case of the beast, it was recovering from a fatal wound that had healed that caused the world to follow in amazement. It creates a myth of dying & resurrecting.
Is there anything in our culture today that has these same characteristics?
It might surprise you, but the first thing that came to my mind was how we celebrate ANZAC Day. Now don’t get me wrong; I believe it’s important that we remember the sacrifice made by others for the sake of our nation. And in many places, ANZAC Day services are great. They remind us of the horror of war; they give thanks to God for bringing us peace. And they honour the sacrifice made by many, as in some way reflecting, even pointing toward Jesus’ supreme sacrifice – where he died for those who were still his enemies. That’s true to the original intention of memorial services: which were indeed Christian services.
But I’ve noticed in my lifetime that this has ever so slowly become distorted – as God has slowly faded from the picture. Particularly in the big, official, televised services with thousands of people. They have become Christian services in form only, not content.
(1) It’s a public ritual, which has become more about bonding with society than any kind of religious observance. Tourists flock to Gallipoli, where we celebrate being Australian. Why? Because people are looking for a spiritual connection to one another without God – it’s become a civic religion.
(2) It replaces God with something human. Instead of primarily giving thanks to God for bringing us peace, we honour human beings; we glorify the human spirit. The ANZAC spirit that lives on in us all. The spirit of mateship & overcoming the odds.
(3) It celebrates a story of triumph over adversity, creating a myth around it. Each year, at ANZAC services, we recite the passion narrative of Gallipoli. Having rejected God, our society has gone in search of a new Easter story. A story of heroic death. And of ‘resurrection’.
At this year’s service on the western front, they recited a poem about the ANZACS by Dame Mary Gilmore: ‘They are not gone, not even broken. Only their dust has gone back home to earth. But they – the essential they – shall have rebirth whenever a word of them is spoken.’ Ultimately, it’s a displacement of God in the Easter story. Now humans celebrate the sacrifice of fellow humans to bring about salvation for humanity.
Australia has, little by little, created its own imperial cult that celebrates humanity & the Aussie spirit. It denies God his rightful worship as our saviour. It sends the message ‘we can save ourselves’. And so it deceives the inhabitants of the earth.
That’s just one example of many. You only have to think of how most of the world has turned Christmas into worship of the family. Again, creating a civic religion with the absence of God. Robbing God of his rightful place at the centre, putting ourselves there instead. Creating myths of renewal, heroism & triumph over adversity – whether it be the children’s fable of Rudolph; or the myth we adults subconsciously buy into – the Christmas narrative of family harmony & world peace, just by trying harder for one day in the year. Again, humans replace God at the centre.

c. The harlot: the Eternal City
This deifying of human society isn’t something invented by our culture; our generation. A little further on in Revelation, in ch 17, we see John go beyond attacking the worship of the emperor; we see him attack the worship of civilisation itself. The worship of the goddess Roma Aeterna – Rome, the eternal city. The jewel of the world. The centre of power & culture & beauty. [] But Revelation shows it for what it really is: a harlot drunk with power.
17:1-2 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters [a reference to Rome]. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries."
Throughout this chapter she is described as riding the 7-headed beast of ch17; Rome’s glory is dependent on the illegitimate rule of her blasphemous emperor. Her splendour comes from her violent & oppressive rule:
17:4 ‘The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.’
In v6 she is ‘drunk with the blood of the saints’, referring to her persecution of Christians. She bears the title ‘Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes’; like the original Babylon, she attacks God’s people. The final verse identifies her explicitly:
17:18 ‘The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."
The great city of Rome – the glorification of human society – is nothing but a cheap prostitute drunk with its own power.
And is she ‘the eternal city’, who will last forever? No! Throughout Revelation her end – and that of the beast – is predicted:
18:2a ‘With a mighty voice he shouted: "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’
18:8 ‘Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.’
18:18 ‘When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, 'Was there ever a city like this great city?'’
The only thing about her that lasts forever is the smoke of her destruction:
19:3 ‘And again they shouted: "Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever."’
This glorification of human beings & society: it is ultimately futile. Revelation reminds us that God will bring an end to their pride, and will one day reclaim his rightful place at the centre of worship.

How do we respond?
So how do we respond to all this? We’ll get some more ideas next week when we look at how Revelation wants us to respond to ‘the mark of the beast’. But for now, the primary application from what we’ve learned tonight is this: when you look at the world around you, learn to see it through God’s eyes. Learn to be critical. When you see things that look & smell like emperor worship, see them for what they are. A displacement of God from his rightful place at the centre of all worship.
Now as I said before, the imperial cult is far more subtle than in C1. Which calls, I think, for even greater wisdom. Because it’s no longer the overt worship of a human being; but the hidden worship of human society. And it wraps itself in things that are in themselves good.
So each of us needs to decide for ourselves how we respond. Do we just not participate in official ANZAC Day services, or Christ-less celebrations of Christmas, or environmental initiatives, or humanitarian programmes? Personally, I think that would be too simplistic.
But I do think we need to be vocal, proactive & in some cases defiant in seeking to put God back at the centre of our lives. To lead by example.
To be unapologetic in our proclamation of Jesus at Christmas – at our carols, in our school Scripture classes, in our conversations at work.
To celebrate ANZAC Day loudly & publicly the right way – where our remembrance of the sacrifices made for the sake of peace lead us to thank God for the ultimate sacrifice that brought us eternal peace.
To care for the poor & the environment in an attitude of humility – which acknowledges the fact that we can’t fix the world’s problems on our own. That we need Jesus to return & bring with him a recreated world & a recreated society.
In other words, we need to refuse to join the rest of the world in worshipping the beast. Instead, by our words & actions, we need to point the world to the one who is truly worthy of all glory & honour & praise. The one whom the beast seeks to displace. Because the beast is not eternal. Human society is not eternal. God is.

Click here to read full post..

Revelation 10 & 11 (Sunday May 4)

As we began May Mission Month, we looked at a very appropriate section of Revelation (Rev 10 & 11) - all about witness & mission. After all, someone needs to explain the purpose of all that judgement (back in chapter 6) to the world - and for some reason God has decided that we're the ones to do it! (Sermon audio.)

At the end of the post are a couple of good quotes that we didn't have time for.

See April archive (to the left) for previous sermons in this Revelation series.

Introduction: The story so far
Each chapter (since ch4) has had an underlying question which it has answered. Throughout the series I’ve been recapping them each time we get to a new chapter. We had a quick quiz to see if we could remember the story so far...

Tonight we’re supposed to be covering the next four chapters; ch8-11. But we’re not really going to look at ch8&9, the vision of the first 6 trumpets. That’s because they deal with pretty much the same question as ch6: What’s God doing about those who oppose him; those who continue to commit injustice against God & his people? And we get the same answer: he’s giving them a measure of his judgement, so they’ll get the idea of what awaits them if they continue in their rebellion.
In fact, the trumpets up the stakes. Where the judgments of the 7 seals affected a quarter of the land, the scale of the trumpet judgements is greater, impacting a third of everything. But still, the aim of these judgements is to warn humanity to change its ways; to produce repentance. [] Unfortunately, the judgments seem to have little effect.
9:20-21 ‘The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood – idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.’

The question: Is there anything else that can be done?
So at the end of ch9, after the 6th trumpet, another question is raised, following on from the previous series of questions. And the question is this: the judgements don’t seem to be working; humanity isn’t turning back to God; this isn’t getting their attention; is there anything else that can be done?
The earthquakes; the wars; the terminal diseases; the senseless killings; the abuse of children; the misuse of power – it’s not having an effect! The world isn’t listening! They’re still on the highway to hell & they’re ignoring the warning signs! Is that all God’s got, or is there anything else that can be done?
Just like between the 6th & 7th seals, we have a dramatic pause, heightening the suspense. The focus again shifts away from God’s acts of judgement, to the role of God’s people. Firstly in ch10 to John, as their representative; then to the church as a whole in ch11.
In these 2 chapters, we get a kind of parable, or symbolic story about the church. A rich parable that uses images from all sorts of OT stories: the prophet Ezekiel; traditions about Moses & Elijah; vision from Zechariah & Daniel; and even the life of Jesus
And as you’ll see shortly, this parable describes the role of the church at the present point in time: between the 6th & 7th trumpets. Which as far as I can tell in the great sweep of Revelation, is where we are, too. And it gives us the answer to that question we just raised: since God’s judgement isn’t causing humanity to repent, is there anything else that can be done? The answer is ‘yes, there is something else that can be done’. And guess what. God has decided that we – the church – are the ones who are going to do it.

1. The church interprets God’s judgement (ch 10, esp. 10:7-11)
For firstly, God has called the church to interpret his judgement to the world. That’s what’s been missing up until now in Rev. We’ve seen a taste of God’s judgement on his rebellious world, but there’s been no-one to explain to that world. That’s where we come in. Richard Bauckham writes:
‘Judgments alone do not lead to repentance… Judgments themselves do not convey God’s gracious willingness to forgive those who repent.’
And so, in a scene very similar to the commissioning of the OT prophet Ezekiel, John is sent to explain God’s judgement to his world:
10:8-11 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: "Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land." So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey." I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, "You must prophesy again about [to?] many peoples, nations, languages and kings."
Here John functions as a representative of the whole church. Just as Ezekiel was commissioned to explain God’s judgement to a rebellious Israel, so the church is now sent to do likewise to a rebellious world. To bring them the message written on that scroll: to explain why the world is how it is; and to tell them that God has provided a way out. That’s the essence of mission.
And so this month as we focus on mission, we’re reminded by the book of Revelation that this is still our task today. We are to ‘prophesy to many nations’. To explain why this world is like it is, and what God has done about it in Christ. But how?
Clearly, some of us need to go. To go to these many nations – particularly to those nations who do not have an indigenous church of their own to do the job. It wouldn’t be all that presumptuous to say that some of you sitting here tonight have been gifted by God to go, & at some point will be called by God to go. Why? Because that’s what’s already been happening.
Over the last 10 years, people just like you, sitting in church services like this one, have felt the call of God to go & fulfil this call to ‘prophesy to many nations’. People like Ado, Ash & Caz, Luke & Michelle in South East Asia. Milard & Joyce in Lebanon. And countless others on short-term & medium-term trips all over the world. There are also some people here who I know are planning toward it in the future. What about you? Have you considered it? How would you go about finding out whether this is what God would have you do?
The obvious way is a short-term trip. Where you go & experience a taste of mission, and ask God ‘is this what you want me to do with my life?’ Our church runs teams every year or so. But you don’t have to wait for that. Global interAction, our Baptist mission agency, runs many short-term opportunities throughout the year under the name Global Xposure. You can find out about that when you go home tonight
There’s also a programme called Gi6Pro. This offers 1-2 year medium-term opportunities to use your professional skills as, say, a teacher, lawyer, engineer – but often in a country that is otherwise closed to gospel workers. Is God calling you? Go & find out.
Another simple way of testing the waters is to hang around with like-minded people. Join the 13 week Perspectives course that started last Thursday night. You’ll not only gain a greater understanding of what mission is all about, but you’ll also become part of a community considering mission. God often uses other people to challenge us, to prepare us, to guide us. Is he calling you?
We need to bring the message of the little scroll – an explanation of God’s present & future judgement on the world, and the salvation that he offers through Jesus. God is calling people who, like John, will ‘prophesy to many nations’. God is calling his church to mission.

BTW, this also answers another question that arose from ch6 last week. If God is giving his rebellious world a taste of the future judgement that’s in store, why is he letting his church get caught up in it? Why did he leave his people in the middle of it all, risking collateral damage? The answer is: someone needs to be there, to provide interpretation to the world when it happens. It’s God’s strategy for mission.
But even though we endure this taste of God’s judgement, ch7 told us that we are sealed with God’s protection. What does that mean? We get a clue in the next 2 verses.

2. The church receives God’s spiritual protection (11:1-2)
11:1-2 I was given a reed like a measuring rod & was told, ‘Go & measure the temple of God & the altar, and count the worshipers there. But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.’
In this parable-like vision, John is told to measure the temple of God. The Gk word for ‘temple’ in v1 specifically refers to the inner shrine, not the outer court. And this inner shrine is being measured because it’s the part that God is going to protect.
This becomes clear in v2 when John is told to exclude the outer court, as it’s been given to the Gentiles; to the nations. They will ‘trample on it’ for 42 months. (Which, interestingly, was the length of the Roman siege of Jerusalem leading up to its fall in AD70. It seems that John is deliberately evoking images of the Roman attack on Jerusalem in describing the current & future struggles of the church.)
The most likely interpretation of this part of the parable is that the church will have God’s spiritual protection. No matter what happens to us externally; no matter even what may happen to our physical bodies; we are kept spiritually safe in Christ. Our ‘inner shrine’ – where God dwells – is protected. Our eternity with God is secure. Neither the visible powers of this world nor the invisible forces of evil can put that at risk.
The message to John’s readers, then, is this: although Rome may look big & scary & dangerous – what’s the worst they can do? Harm you physically? Kill you? – So what? God’s bigger & scarier than them, and he’s guaranteed your spiritual protection forever! As Jesus himself said:
Lk 12:4 ‘do not be afraid of those who kill the body & after that can do no more.’
Sometimes our mission as God’s church may be dangerous – maybe dangerous to our physical health, safety & well-being; more often simply dangerous to our reputation, our emotional health, or our financial well-being. But that pales into insignificance when compared with the fact that our eternal well-being is assured! As we bring the message of the little scroll to the world – God himself has already measured our ‘inner temple’ for protection.

3. The church wields God’s power (11:3-6)
And God himself will provide the power with which we bring this message. Take a look at verses 3&4:
11:3-4 ‘And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
There are some interesting images behind this multi-layered picture of the church’s witness:
The church is described as 2 lampstands, reminding us that earlier in Revelation Smyrna & Philadelphia – 2 of the 7 churches – were about to undergo persecution. These are also described as olive trees, an allusion to Zech ch4, where 2 olive trees provide fuel for the lights on the lampstands. This suggests that God has given the church an inherent source of fuel to keep their light burning; God’s own power that dwells within his people.
Further, the way this power is displayed is deliberately described as being like that of Elijah & Moses:
11:5-6 ‘If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.’
In the book of Kings, Elijah calls down fire from God to strike his enemies, and it happens. He prays for a drought to come upon the land, and it does. In Exodus, Moses turns the Nile into blood, and announces God’s plagues on the land.
That same power, says God, is available to my church. The same God who backed up the prophetic message of Elijah & Moses with miraculous displays of power will stand behind our message, too. The same God who enabled the churches of Smyrna & Philadelphia to keep burning brightly amidst persecution will make sure we keep our lampstand alight.
And that power is most desperately needed at the frontiers of the gospel. The most common request from our overseas missionaries is not for money or advice or the latest cool evangelism strategy. It’s for prayer; and lots of it. That’s because they realise they need God’s power if they are going to bring even 1 lost person to faith in Jesus. Every time 1 person repents of their sin & turns to God it is a miracle on the same scale as the parting of the Red Sea or the calling down of fire from heaven.
This is why we’re not just sending people off to ‘prophesy to many nations’ & hoping for the best. It’s why we’re not just raising money for mission during this month. It’s why we’re committing ourselves to praying for mission. Because it’s in answer to prayer that God releases this power in his church.
Please don’t ever think of prayer for mission as the consolation prize for those who aren’t called to go. As the library job given to the asthmatic kid who’s excused from school sport. Faithful pray-ers are the olive trees, helping to keep the lamp lit in some of the darkest, most dangerous corners of the world.

4. The church displays God’s worth, by imitating God’s son (11:7-10)
And it can get dangerous, as the parable goes on to illustrate:
11:7 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.
The martyrdom of the church is then cast in terms of Jesus’ own suffering & death – the 3½ years or 42 months of v2 is equated with the 3 days of Jesus’ death:
11:8-9 Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial.
For a C1 Jew, to be refused burial was the ultimate in enduring shame. Here, the stress is not just on being killed for the sake of the gospel, but also on suffering loss & shame for the sake of God.
11:10 The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
This last verse is a reference to an event in the book of Esther. God’s people celebrated by exchanging gifts when their enemies were killed. Here, the reverse happens: their enemies celebrate as God’s people are killed.
Now being killed for the sake of the gospel isn’t part of our experience today. And so we might be tempted to skim over this bit. But I’m sure it seems extremely relevant to many believers in other parts of the world. This week alone I read these 3 stories in the VoM newsletter:

China: The Chinese government recently launched a strategic campaign against house churches in Xinjiang. As a result of this campaign, on Apr 13, 46 Xns were arrested by officials during a bible class & church service in Kashi City. The Xns were ordered to confess their illegal Sunday worship activities & study the government's handbook on religious policy. They were also required to return & recite the policy to officials within a week.

Uzbekistan: On April 3, Pastor Bobur Aslamov was beaten and jailed in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, following a police raid on a house church meeting. Other members of the house church were also beaten during the raid. The pastor remains in detention in an unknown location.

Somalia: On April 13, four Christian teachers, two of them converts from Islam, were murdered by Islamic militants in Beledweyne in south-central Somalia.

That’s just one newsletter; in one week in the life of God’s church. Christians who are prepared to die for the sake of Christ; for the sake of the gospel. Who follow in the footsteps of Jesus, sharing in his suffering. People we call ‘martyrs’.
Do you know what the word martyr means in Gk? It simply means witness; one who testifies. The fact that the word has come to mean someone who dies in the process of testifying shows that death is the ultimate act of witness. That someone is prepared to die rather than renounce Christ; that someone will risk their life to bring others the gospel message – that makes the world sit up & take notice! It displays how worth it God is!
In fact, at the end of the VoM report on the 4 Christian teachers murdered in Somalia, the article asked for prayer to this effect. To pray that through this situation ‘the perpetrators of this attack will come to repentance and salvation’. Christians undergoing persecution know the truth of this statement from a C2 church leader:
‘The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church’ – Tertullian
But although giving up our life for God is the ultimate act of witness, it’s not the only act that displays God’s worth. To bring what is for us a rather abstract discussion closer to home: any time we joyfully give up something for the sake of Jesus & his gospel, we are demonstrating his worth. Whether it be time or money. Or whether it giving up our reputation – enduring shame in the eyes of other people for the sake of the gospel. What have you given up?
I want to invite Wayne up briefly to talk about an army of martyrs who don’t exactly give up their lives for the gospel, but they do give up their Friday nights. Which for a 20 year old is pretty close. Although they’re not being thrown to any literal lions, once a week it happens metaphorically as a group of ravenous youth try to tear them limb from limb. Why do they do it? Let’s find out...

So how are we going to be able to bring these young people from showing an interest in the gospel to being discipled, growing believers? Explain how we need more ‘martyrs’.]
Will you consider being a part of this army of Friday night & Sunday morning & Sunday afternoon martyrs, who give up their time so that others might come to see God’s worth? That you might bring the message of the little scroll – the gospel – to a group of young people; a group who by the sounds of things is already being prepared by God’s Spirit to embrace that message in significant numbers?

5. The church enjoys God’s success (11:11-13)
In fact, the final part of the parable goes on to give a great picture of the gospel success envisioned:
11:11-13 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on. At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Again, the church’s experience is cast in terms of Jesus’ – this time not his suffering & death, but his resurrection & ascension. We share not only in his weakness, but also in his strength, his victory. And the power that accompanies this causes many to respond in fear & repentance.
As elsewhere in Rev, the numbers in this parable are symbolic. A tenth of the city is destroyed – 7,000 people are killed. And the rest are won over to God’s side. This is a deliberate reference to the experience of Elijah, where only a small minority remained faithful to God – 7,000 people who had not bowed down to idols. Here, the situation is reversed: 7,000 who oppose God are killed, but the vast majority come to faith.
Now this is not a prediction that 90% of the world will be converted. This would suddenly mean taking numbers literally where they are symbolic everywhere else in Rev. Like the other symbolic exaggerations in Rev, this simply conveys an optimistic picture of how many in this world will respond to God’s message. Both to his judgements and to the interpretation of these judgements by his faithful witnesses.
Our youth group is just one small corner of the world where God is preparing his gospel to have great success. We hear stories of many churches being planted daily across India. The church in Asia & Africa is expanding so rapidly that they now outnumber the number of Christians in Western countries. God is building his kingdom. The gospel is going to the ends of the earth. Many people are being added to our number daily.
So at the start of tonight, when we saw that the world was not taking any notice of the foretaste of God’s judgement we read about in ch 6, we asked is there anything else that can be done to get their attention? The answer is – yes! God is already doing it – through us! He’s sending out his witnesses to the ends of the earth – in his power, with his protection, to demonstrate his worth by following in the footsteps of his son, and experiencing his success.
And we get to be a part of that. So this month, when we as a church have the opportunity to fund mission above & beyond what we normally do, let’s get on board what God is doing. How often do you get the opportunity to invest in something that has a guaranteed payoff? Guaranteed by God, no less! And a payoff not in the currency of this world, but in the next?

-------
From the cutting-room floor

Craig Keener in his NIV Application commentary, on the combined effect of judgement and witness:
'But sometimes it takes more than our preaching to make people’s hearts receptive. Two of us new converts witnessed boldly in high school, but the turning point in many people’s receptivity was after a two-month period when six individuals who had rejected and mostly mocked our message died in various ways. What preaching and witness may not accomplish for our land, God’s judgment may yet accomplish for those who survive it. In this age his judgment is always an act of love; he normally leaves a remnant who can learn from the judgment.'

And Keener again, on the church wielding God's power:
'God’s sovereignty and Western rationalism may both account for some of the rareness of miracles in Western Christianity. Even more than that, however, we have on the whole too much in common with the compromised Christianity of cities like Laodicea, Thyatira, and Sardis, which were too comfortable with the world, or with the lovelessness of Ephesus. 57 Miracles in the Bible appear most frequently on the cutting edge of God’s activity, especially spreading the good news of the kingdom (Acts 6:8; 14:3; 19:11 – 12). I have witnessed them far more when believers have been breaking new ground with the gospel than when we have become self-absorbed with our own comfort this side of paradise. Only when the church becomes prepared to challenge the idols of society with the claims of Christ, as the two witnesses do in our text, will we witness God’s power in biblical fullness.'

Click here to read full post..

NBC sermon blog

I've finally succumbed to the pressure to blog. I think John Piper's 6 reasons a pastor should blog might have been what tipped me over the edge, so to speak.

However, I do have a day job. Two of them, in fact. So what you'll mostly find here each week is simply the text to the previous weekend's sermon (and a link to the audio). I'll also include some of the material that I found interesting in the research phase, but didn't find its way into the sermon - because there wasn't time in the message, because it wasn't directly relevant, or because it was just plain nerdy and would put most people to sleep.

The main reason for doing this is to provide a place for people to interact over the weekly messages, rather than just being passive 'consumers'. And not just to interact with me, but with each other. At least, that will be my excuse if I run out of time to respond to your comments!

As well as this, every so often I'll post some thoughts or articles that I think are worthwhile discussing. And some weeks I might invite you to be involved in the sermon-creating process beforehand, two heads being better than one, and all that...

Happy reading

Click here to read full post..

Revelation 6 & 7 (Sunday April 27)

This week we looked at two chapters (Rev 6 & 7 - read the text here), which ideally would have been done over two weeks. But then the series would go too long... So instead we had a two part message (sermon audio), one looking at God's partial judgement already being carried out on a rebellious world, and the other looking at his protection of his people from the full measure of his wrath. There was a video, which for copyright reasons can't be posted here. But I've posted the full text of the narration within the message itself.

Part 1: God’s judgement on a world in rebellion (Rev 6)
I began our message last week by talking about injustice. That it’s what makes people most frequently question God. Seeing or experiencing something unjust – it makes us ask ‘why’? In particular, why does God continue to allow injustice to be done against himself, and against his people? It makes us ask if God really is in control of his world; and if he is in control, what’s he doing about it?
We then looked at Rev chs 4&5, which went gave at least part of an answer to these questions. Is God in control of this world? Ch 4 gave a resounding ‘yes!’ It presented a picture of God on his throne; every other source of power & authority a mere pale, shadowy copy of the heavenly emperor; the eternal king.
So if God is in control, what’s he doing about it? Ch 5 reminded us that God has already done something in Christ. The slain lamb, who died to take away the sins of the world, now stands before the throne in victory. Although God’s people might be suffering injustice now, ultimately they will be vindicated through the cross of Christ. We’re on God’s side, the winning side. And he’s on our side.
But we’re still left with the question: but what about those who aren’t on God’s side. Those who continue in rebellion against God, and who oppose God’s people? Are they going to get away with it? What’s he doing about them? That’s the question addressed by ch6.
The point of the whole chapter is to show how God is already judging his world as we speak. It presents both the natural world, and the events of human history as being under God’s control. They are not random events. They are not simply a world ticking away by itself, with a distant, disinterested God watching from the sidelines. This is a picture of God already at work in his world. Already bringing his judgement – in part – against those who oppose him & his gospel.
Now it’s not 100% clear as to which set of historical events are being described in ch6. The apocalyptic language with its symbolism & exaggerated images is deliberately fantastic & other-worldly. Deliberately, because it wants to paint natural & historical events in light of the spiritual reality that lies behind them.
As we saw a few weeks ago, there are different ways of interpreting Revelation. Futurists believe these are specific events which still lie in our future. Idealists believe these are general symbols of God working in the world throughout history. And Preterists believe that these are specific events which have already occurred, in C1AD; in the experience of John’s first readers. That’s the view I’ve adopted here, and if you weren’t here for our introductory message on Rev then you might like to get the CD or listen to the podcast from our website, to find out why.
But even among Preterists, there’s debate about the details. Which C1 events are referred to in Rev 6? Which historical judgements do the 7 seals usher in? I think the most likely understanding is that it refers to God’s judgement on Jerusalem – for putting his Son to death, and persecuting his followers. Let’s take a look now at how we might read ch6 in this light.

Text of video narration:
Rev ch6&7 are most likely about a time of ‘tribulation’ before AD70 – the 7 years leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army. We see this in both the OT background to John’s vision, and in historical accounts of the Jewish wars.
OT background: Ezekiel
The judgements recorded in Revelation chapter 6 are contained in a scroll with 7 seals. Every time one of the seals is opened, another judgement takes place.
We’re introduced to this scroll in chapter 5:
Rev 5:1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.
Over 600 years previously, the prophet Ezekiel had a similar visionary experience; a vision of God seated on his throne. And interestingly, he also was shown a scroll with writing on both sides:
Ezek 2:9-10 Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.
Reading further, we find that this scroll contains God’s judgement that he was going to bring upon Israel. Specifically, a foreign army was going to lay siege to Jerusalem.
Why was God punishing Israel? Simply because they had been unfaithful to God; they had broken their covenant with him; and they weren’t willing to listen to God when he called them to repent.
Is it any wonder, then, that the same image is used in Revelation? A scroll written on both sides, that again contains judgments for unfaithful Jerusalem. For God even sent his own son to call them back to himself. But they didn’t even listen to him; instead, they killed him.
Even some of the judgements are identical:
Ezek 14:21 ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my 4 dreadful judgments – sword & famine & wild beasts & plague – to kill its men & their animals.’
Rev 6:7-8 ‘there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.’

OT background: Zechariah
As well as Ezekiel, John’s vision in ch 6 also contains images from the writings of Zechariah. The first four seals in John’s vision unleash the famous ‘four horsemen of the apocalypse’: a rider on a white horse, a red horse, a pale horse & a black horse.
But John wasn’t the first to see this kind of vision. Centuries earlier – after Ezekiel’s prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem was fulfilled – Zechariah saw four differently coloured horses. When he asks for an explanation, this is the answer he receives:
Zech 1:10b-12 "They are the ones the LORD has sent to go throughout the earth." And they reported to the angel of the LORD… "We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace." Then the angel of the LORD said, "LORD Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah…? "
God’s reply promises justice, protection & vindication for Jerusalem, and destruction for the nations who fought against her.
In Revelation ch 6, however, the tables are turned. It’s the church crying out for justice, protection & vindication. Particularly those who have been killed because they were followers of Jesus:
6:9-10 ‘When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"’
In an ironic twist, the blood of the martyrs will be avenged through the destruction of Jerusalem, at the hands of the Roman army.

Historical accounts of the fall of Jerusalem
When we read historical accounts of this conflict, we can see how the judgements in Revelation chapter 6 describe the siege & fall of Jerusalem in apocalyptic language. Here are a few examples.
6:1-2 ‘I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. … I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, & he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.’
In 67AD, the Jews rebelled against Roman rule. The rider on the white horse bent on conquest represents the victorious Roman march toward Jerusalem, to fight the Jewish rebels.
Second seal 6:3b-4 ‘another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.’
The red horse represents the war that followed, with ‘the power to take peace from the earth’. At the time, Rome had enforced peace – known as the pax romana (roman peace) – on its entire empire for many decades.
Epictetus wrote: ‘Caesar has obtained for us a profound peace. There are neither wars nor battles’. The Jewish revolt against Rome, however, was a temporary interruption of this peace.
The phrase ‘to make men slay each other’ probably refers to the civil war that resulted inside Jerusalem itself.
Third seal 6:5-6 ‘there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"’
The black horse is one of famine. We find a graphic description of this in the writings of Josephus, a Jewish historian. He served as a general in the Jewish forces during their war against Rome in 67-70, before surrendering and becoming one of Rome’s key historians. In around 300AD, the church father Eusebius used Josephus’ history of the Jewish war to illustrate the fulfilment of these prophecies in Revelation.
‘As the famine grew worse, the frenzy of the insurgents kept pace with it…For, since nowhere was grain to be seen, men would break into houses, and if they found some they mistreated the occupants for having denied their possession of it; if they found none, they tortured them as if they had concealed it more carefully. Proof whether they had food or not was provided by the physical appearance of the wretches; those still in good condition were deemed to be well provide with food, while those who were already wasting away were passed over, for it seemed pointless to kill persons who would soon die of starvation. Many secretly bartered their possessions for a single measure of wheat if they happened to be rich, barley if they were poor.’
During siege of Jerusalem, the Roman Commander gave explicit orders not to destroy the oil & wine. He wanted to protect the luxury goods that were produced there, so the wealthy people in the empire could still enjoy them.
6:15 ‘Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.’
Josephus: ‘And on this day the Romans slew all the multitude that appeared openly; but on the following days they searched the hiding places, and fell upon those that were underground and in the caverns.’
In Rev ch 7 there’s a brief pause in the action, while the faithful are marked with God’s seal, for protection. In 68AD there was a brief respite in the Roman siege of Jerusalem. Emperor Nero had committed suicide, and the army withdrew as their General, Vespasian, returned to Rome. Many of the Christians in Jerusalem, warned by Jesus’ teaching in Matt 24, fled the city during this time. Hostilities began again the next year, once Vespasian had become Emperor.

So that’s how I believe Rev ch6 presents God at work in his world – judging unfaithful Jerusalem through the might of the Roman army. And I showed you that, so you could get a feel for how these apocalyptic descriptions relate to their historical reality in C1. You might disagree with the details; fair enough. But fortunately that doesn’t stop us from understanding the bigger & by far more important picture.

a. God is already at work, judging his world
The message of ch6 – both to us & to John’s original readers – is this: God is already at work, bringing some measure of judgement against a world that continues to reject him. A world that continues to commit injustices against God & against his people. And he exercises his judgment through the natural world and in the events of human history.
This, of course, is nothing new. The OT is full of stories of God exercising his judgement through nature & through people. The 10 plagues. The foreign armies who attacked & then exiled his people. And the Persian king – described as God’s anointed – who restored them again. So it should come as no surprise that God can exercise his judgment through the Roman army in AD70.
Nor should it come as a surprise that God continues to exercise his judgement through nature & through people today. Sometimes it may be a specific judgement – like that of Jerusalem in C1. Other times – possibly more often – it’s simply his general judgement upon a sinful world. As Paul says in Rom 8, it’s God subjecting all of creation to frustration; to struggle; to suffering; to decay.

b. This is only a foretaste of the judgement to come
Now it’s important to realise that this is only a measure of God’s judgement that Jerusalem experienced in C1 at the hands of Rome; only a measure of judgement that Rome itself underwent centuries later; only a measure that we experience now. We see this in how the scope of God’s judgement intensifies throughout Revelation: in ch6 death is given power over a quarter of the land. In ch8 the judgments affect a third of everything. By ch16 it’s all of creation. God is bringing a measure of his judgement; a foretaste of what’s in store for those who persist in their rebellion; a hint of what’s to come.
Why is he doing this? What’s the point of it all? This is how John Piper explains it:

‘A new age is to be born & the heaving of the natural order in this world is a testimony to the disorder of the moral world, namely my sin, Adam’s sin, your sin. Here’s the reason for it: who in this world gives a hoot about sin? Who in the world sheds tears because of the repugnance, and the horror, and the dishonour done to God because of their sin? Nobody. How is God to speak when we are so morally dead, so spiritually blind that the ultimately moral ugliness of the world phases us not one bit? He does it with the world. This they can feel. Pain they can feel. So I will subject the whole creation to futility until get the message, ‘sin is horrible.’ The reason this terrorised world exists is so that God might shout in our physical pain about the horror of sin. Diseases and deformities are God’s portraits of what sin is like in the spiritual realm. Calamities are God’s previews of what sin deserves and will one day receive in judgment a thousand times worse than New Orleans or 9/11.’

As Paul says in Romans 8, God subjects his world to all of this in hope – in hope that this will get our attention. That this will wake us up to the reality of our fallen state. That this will get us thinking about the end result of continuing in rebellion against God. That’s why he does it.
Henry Cloud, a Christian psychologist, talks about a strategy he uses to help people make changes in their lives. He calls it ‘playing the movie forward’. He gets them to write out the movie script of their life, key-scene by key-scene, if they continue on the path they are on. Do they like how it ends? [] If they don’t like it, then something earlier in the movie has to change in order for the closing scene to be different. In sending a measure of judgement on the world, God is inviting us to play the movie forward.
The Boxing Day Tsunami of 2005. The current violence in Tibet. Our nation’s holiday road toll. Your relative battling cancer. The petty injustices done to you every day. All of this is the judgment of God on a sinful world, through the natural order & through other human beings. He gave us over to the consequences of our rebellion. He let us have a small sample of what life is really like without God. It’s God playing the movie forward.
In hope. In hope that we would see how bad it is. That we would understand that our decision to reject God & do things our way was utterly foolish. And that we & everyone else in our world would see that if we continue down that path, a far worse reality awaits us: eternity without God. We have a measure of judgement now – a taste of hell on earth – in the hope that we’ll choose not to experience it for eternity. In the hope that we’ll do something to change the script now.
The message of Rev 6, then, is that those who oppose God are running out of time. God won’t tolerate their rebellion, he won’t tolerate injustice forever. As the martyrs cried out from under the altar:
6:10 ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’
God will judge this rebellious world; a process which has already begun.

Part 2: God’s protection of his people (Rev 7)
All this talk of judgement is pretty scary, isn’t it? We started out asking about injustice in the world. If God was indeed in control, what’s he doing about it? And we got back the answer: he’s already in the process of judging the world. Of giving humanity a taste of what a Godless eternity would be like, in the desperate hope that they would choose another way.
But what about us, right now? We’ve already chosen – most, if not all of us here – to align ourselves with God. We’re not perfect… yet… but we’ve defected in our allegiance from a sinful world & have enlisted with God. The blood of the Lamb has purchased us for God. We are now his people. His children. What about us? Has God heard of the concept of collateral damage? Of friendly fire? Are we going to get caught up in this judgement?
Yes. While we still live in this sinful world, we’re still going to experience the measure of God’s judgement that is being poured out on this world we live in. (Not to mention the persecution from that world because we’ve aligned ourselves with God!) So the book of Revelation was written with this primary aim: to give God’s people hope & comfort while they endure this world & all its imperfection for a little longer. And again, he does this by playing the movie forward.
This makes sense, doesn’t it? If God is sending this measure of judgement upon the world to give them a taste of what eternity without him will be like… it stands to reason that he’d do the opposite for his people. That he’d want to give us a taste of eternity with him. If he wants his rebellious world to see the terrible consequences if they continue down their rebellious path – doesn’t he also want his faithful followers to see the glorious consequences of remaining loyal to him? A picture of the closing scene in the movie, if we stick to our script. Rev ch7 gives us that picture. Let’s take a look at it now.
a. Sealed for protection
Ch7 starts with a dramatic pause in the action, between the 6th & 7th seals. Another wave of God’s judgement is all set to be unleashed; and yet we stop for a moment, as the focus shifts to God’s people in the middle of all this fury.

7:1-3 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. (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."

Just as ch6 continued the OT pattern of how God executes his judgement in the world, ch7 continues the pattern of how he protects his own in the midst of it all.
This becomes quite clear when we realise that John is making allusions to some of the Jewish writings of his day. Now these writings weren’t in the Bible – but they were kind of equivalent to today’s Christian paperbacks. The Max Lucados, the Philip Yanceys, the John Pipers of the last few centuries BC. And John here is borrowing their terminology, their images. For example:

In the book of 1 Enoch, the story of Noah & the flood is re-told. In this version, there are angels preparing to bring punishment to the earth, in the form of a flood. But God tells the angels to hold the waters in check, to give Noah time to build the ark to save himself & his family.

In the book of 2 Baruch, a Jewish apocalypse, Baruch has a vision in which the spirit lifts him above Jerusalem. (Similar to how the spirit lifted John up into heaven.) There Baruch sees four angels at each corner of Jerusalem, holding a flaming torch ready to set it on fire. At that point there’s also a dramatic pause, as another angel orders them to wait: first, the vessels in the temple – the holy objects, dedicated to God – must be safely hidden away.

And in the OT itself, we see this pattern: In Exodus, God sends his angel of death as judgement upon Egypt. But before the angel comes, God’s people are instructed to put his mark, his seal on their doorframe, so that the angel will pass over them.

In Ezekiel, God tells one of his angels:
9:4 ‘Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.’
He then tells the other angels:
9:5-6 ‘Follow him through the city & kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter old men, young men & maidens, women & children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark.’

Do you see what’s going on in Revelation, then? Exactly the same thing. God is marking those who are faithful with his seal, for protection. Because we live in this rebellious world, we’re in the firing line of God’s judgment. Just like the faithful in OT times. But God has marked us out with his seal as one of his own. The seal of his protection.
Now let’s be clear: this isn’t about protecting us from every bit of collateral damage. Those who were faithful to G in Ezek’s day still had to endure the impact of the Babylonian army destroying their city & carrying them off into exile. Things won’t be pleasant as a measure God’s judgement is carried out around us. We’re not immune from all of that. But unlike the rest of the world, unlike those who are opposed to God – we are kept eternally safe from the full measure of his wrath.
As we read in another Jewish writing from a few decades earlier:

Ps Sol 15:6-9 ‘For God’s mark is on the righteous for their salvation…’ [But] ‘those who act lawlessly shall not escape the Lord’s judgement… for on their forehead is the mark of destruction.’

Although we endure God’s present judgement – along with the rest of the world – we’ll escape the full measure of God’s judgement in the age to come. Like Noah, we’ll be kept safe from destruction. Like the holy objects in the temple, we’ve been dedicated to God & our lives are hidden safely away in Christ. Like the Israelites in Egypt, the blood of the Lamb is on our doorframe. Like the faithful in Ezekiel’s day, we’re sealed with God’s eternal protection. A seal that guarantees a far different eternity from the rest of the world.

Interlude: the 144,000
Much ink has been spilled over why v4 says there are 144,000 who are sealed – 12,000 from each of the tribes of Israel. The 144,000 also appear in ch14. Like all numbers in Rev it’s symbolic, although symbolic of what we’re not sure. I reckon in the last week or so I’ve read more than 144,000 different opinions on the subject. For what it’s worth, here’s mine.
I think the number 144,000 is not so much about who they are, but what their future will be. This chapter, after all, functions as a dramatic pause in God’s judgement; time for a brief glimpse at the future of those who remain faithful to God. Much of what is said in ch7 uses the language of chs 21 & 22, the vision of the new heaven & the new earth. In particular, in ch 21 an angel measures the new Jerusalem and finds it to be 12,000 stadia wide (a stadium was around 200m). And the walls of this city are 144 cubits thick.
So whether or not these 144,000 are martyrs who have been killed for the sake of Jesus; whether they are Jewish Christians; or whether they represent all believers – the fact that there are 144,000 of them I believe symbolises that they’re going to heaven. More than that – as a collective people they have the dimensions of heaven stamped into their very being. In God’s gathered people, we already have echoes of heaven. In some small way God has made heaven a place on earth.
We are sealed with God’s protection, and have the dimensions of heaven imprinted upon us. We are heaven-bound. That’s the first way ch7 brings comfort to those who remain loyal to God.

b. A glimpse of glory
The second way is found in the second half of the chapter, in the form of a ‘flash-forward’. We now see beyond the present reality of God’s people being sealed for the future, and instead get a glimpse of this future itself:

7:9-10 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 in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. (10) And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

Here, we’ve flashed-forward. Suddenly, the faithful are in heaven, not just on their way there. They are in the very presence of God. They are no longer from the tribes of Israel, but now come from every nation on earth – showing how the gospel has indeed by this point spread to ‘the ends of the earth’. They wear white robes, which was promised in the letter to Sardis to all those who overcome, who remain faithful to God; white is the colour of victory. And they wave palm branches, reminiscent of Jesus’ victorious ride into Jerusalem on palm Sunday, singing ‘salvation’ or ‘victory belongs to our God’.

7:13-17 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 spread his tent over them. (16) Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. (17) For the Lamb at the centre 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."

Again, we have an anticipation of the language of chs 21 & 22 – the language of heaven. God will be with them. He will provide for them. He will wipe away their tears.
This is the message God wants to give to his faithful followers crying out for justice. To us. Yes, I am in control. Yes, I am doing something about the world – I’m judging it as we speak. Yes, you will experience some of the effects of that judgement. But yes, I will spare you from its full measure. This picture of heaven is your glorious future, if you remain faithful just a little longer. Hold on to this picture; remember it when things get tough.
Some commentators have described this chapter as being like the ‘transfiguration’ of Jesus in the gospels. Where he & his closest disciples gets a glimpse of his future glory; a glimpse that seems to harden Jesus’ resolve as he sets out at that point to Jerusalem, to the cross. Except this transfiguration is designed to harden the church’s resolve, to take up its cross & follow Jesus.
It’s like an athlete in training, who holds an image in their mind of the future medal presentation ceremony. Reminding themselves that it will all be worth it. It’s like a woman in labour trying desperately to focus not on the pain now, but on the end result.

Last week, when things were tough, I encouraged you to imagine a throne-scene which portrays God as being in control of that situation. This week, I’d urge you to use your imagination again, and play the movie forward. Think more of heaven. To contemplate it. To read about it. To wonder what it will be like. To keep the image at the forefront of your mind.
That is what will help you cope with all the injustices you see in the world. With all of the suffering, both big & small, that you endure. With the pressure to compromise with the world around you. With the temptation to sin.
You are sealed with God’s protection, and are heaven-bound. If only we would remember that more often, we would be far less comfortable with this world. We would be far more faithful to the Lamb, and to the one who sits on the throne. Let’s pray that we would remember to play the movie forward this week.

Click here to read full post..