Understanding Revelation

The apocalyptic form of Revelation has often made it an off-putting choice for personal Bible reading and study. Yet it would be a mistake to assume that Revelation is only for theologians or the most academic of believers. Though its contents are sometimes obscure and confusing, the basic message of Revelation is the gospel, as Graeme Goldsworthy has argued. The whole book is about Christ being the conqueror: over Satan, death and all the forces of evil. Christ's victory is not something for the future; it is a present reality. John, the author, shows how the cosmic battle between Christ and Satan relates to the struggles of God's people on earth as they face persecution, and gives his readers the hope and assurance of final victory.

The God of Revelation is the God of the whole of Scripture: righteous and true to judge the wicked and deliver His elect people. Revelation is a book of blood: the blood of the saints is shed by the wicked ('They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"' 6:10), the saints are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ ('by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation' 5:9), and the earth is punished through the transformation of water into blood (8:8, 11:6, 16:4). In the final victory of the Lord over all His enemies, the winepress image is used from Isa 63: 'and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.' (14:20) The wicked are not allowed to triumph; they may appear at times on earth to have won, but in the end they are all utterly destroyed. This is what the whole of creation has waited for since the Fall of man in Genesis 3.

As Goldsworthy explains, the first advent of Christ brought all time and history into crisis. The incarnation inaugurated the end time, and Jesus' death and resurrection defeated Satan and his time is now short (12:12). The cross guarantees God's final triumph and proclaims the presence of the future in the present age. Although it may seem paradoxical, Revelation announces the victory that is 'now' and yet also 'not now'. In chapter 1, John sees a vision of Jesus Christ which is unmistakably emphasising His lordship: 'the ruler of the kings of the earth' (1:5); 'the Alpha and the Omega' (1:8). He is the Son of man from Daniel 7, given authority over the nations. He proclaims: 'I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.' (1:17-18) There is no hint of doubt in Christ's ability to save those who come to Him. He has defeated death itself.

However, as the constant presence of martyrs in the book of Revelation reminds us, God's people must still face death whilst they are on earth. In fact, they must face brutal suffering, just as Jesus Himself did. Although we can say with confidence that our redemption is a finished work, there is undeniably a sense in which Revelation shows us a future completion of that redemption, in the new creation (see chapter 21). The vision of heaven in chapter 4-5 is an elaborate drama where John is reduced to weeping because there is no one worthy to open the sealed scroll. But then he is told that there IS one: 'the lion of the tribe of Judah... has conquered' (5:5). When he looks up, he sees 'a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain' (5:6). Here then is what Barnett describes as 'the crowning paradox of the gospel': Jesus is the Lion of Judah precisely because He is the Lamb who was slain. The fact that only He can open the scroll symbolises the fact that He is the key to the truth about the kingdom of God (Goldsworthy). Christ is the meaning of creation, and what God achieved in Christ is the goal of all His purposes as expressed in the Old Testament and the New. Therefore Goldworthy argues:

'The structure and message of Revelation is not based on a few spectacular events immediately preceding the second coming of Christ, but rather upon the historic facts of the gospel, the person and work of Jesus Christ.'

What, then, does Revelation teach us about the future? The answer is mainly that Christ's victory is secure, and therefore so is the future of the saints. In Jesus' messages to the seven churches in chapters 2-3, He makes seven different promises to 'the one who conquers' or 'overcomes'. Because He has already overcome, He will establish His faithful ones in Paradise. But in the present time, Jesus urges them to persevere (note that four of the churches are specifically commended for endurance or not denying the faith). As Goldsworthy argues, Jesus wills to extend His conquest into the lives of men and women through the preaching of the gospel, and this puts the church in the midst of the apocalyptic war. The struggles of the local churches to live out the gospel, to resist the impact of non-Christian values and ideas, and to stay true to the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, are all part of the conquest of the world through the gospel. Christians are not onlookers while a cosmic conflict rages in spiritual realms, but rather they are participants. Christ's 'mopping-up' campaign against Satan is actually being worked out in the front-line trenches of local church evangelism, pastoral care, teaching and preaching.

'Here is a call for the endurance of the saints' (14:12) John writes, and the vivid imagery of Satan as the dragon in chapter 12, and the terrifying beasts from the sea and from the earth in chapter 13, shows how God's people will be beset by the powers of evil in this present age. But the visions of the seven seals and seven trumpets and seven plagues, and finally the ruin of Babylon, show that God's judgement will be final and severe. All rebellion will be eliminated as the beast and Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire (ch19-20), and the new creation will be a return to the state of Eden with access given to the tree of life. 'They will see His face,and His Name will be on their foreheads' (22:4). Jesus declares, 'I am coming soon' (22:7), and though we do not know the day or the hour, we need to be ready for Him.

The concept of Home

My husband and I were talking about this and it made me think through what a Home is in the Bible. Why are we so obsessed with creating a home for ourselves? Is it right to do that?

The overall conclusion I came to is that the reason we are home-makers is that

we seek to recreate Eden, our Paradise that was lost.

In Eden, as described in Genesis 1-2, we lived in a perfect world, in a perfect relationship with God. There was no danger, there was no bloodshed. But man's sin in Genesis 3 broke that perfect safety. Adam and Eve were cast out into a lonely and scary world with predators. Their son Cain became a murderer, and he himself needed God to give him a mark of protection as he feared for his own safety. The world had become brutal.

And so, ever since then, human beings have sought to create a home for themselves, as a haven of safety and domestic security. Our home is where we retreat at the end of the day, where we feel safe from the insults and attacks of others, where we can really be ourselves. It doesn't matter if it's a tent or a red-brick building, its function is the same.

In the little vignettes and stories we have in the Bible, we catch glimpses of people's homes. Isaac is deceived by Jacob in the security of his home, Joseph is welcomed into the home of Potiphar but his master's wife tries to seduce him then falsely accuses him, King David calls for Bathsheba to be brought into his home so that he can sleep with her. In a fallen world, the home has become a place of corruption and sin, just as much as the outside world. And the devil loves to attack the homes of believers, because a home where God is at the centre is a piece of Paradise which magnetically attracts those seeking love and friendship.

But we mustn't forget that home can become a fatal trap of comfort, too. Abraham and Sarah were brave enough to leave their home to follow God's calling on their lives. Ruth left her home in Moab to make her home with her mother-in-law Naomi. Israel had to leave their homes in Egypt in order to escape slavery, and it took 40 years of wandering in the wilderness before they reached the Promised Land.

We, like them, need to hold onto the promises of God. Our homes on earth are temporary; our real home is in heaven and it is eternal (John 14:2, Heb 11:15-16). Let us uphold marriage and the family as the foundation units for a solid society, and our homes as places where we welcome the stranger, the needy, the vulnerable (Lk 14:13-14). Our homes can be for them a taste of the new heavens and the new earth that will one day come, where there is no pain, suffering or danger anymore (Rev 21). Let us not seek to create a nice home as an end in itself, but in a blazing signpost that we were made for greater things.

Seeking Spiritual Experiences

In our Church Bible study last night, we looked at Revelation 1 where John is 'in the Spirit' and sees the Lord Jesus Christ in glory. He receives a message for the church, given by an angel, from Jesus and ultimately from God the Father. Someone pointed out that John was probably doing hard labour each day as part of the penal colony on Patmos. It wasn't perhaps the place where you would expect such a revelation to occur. We thought then about Paul and Silas in prison, and the whole place shaking with the power of God (Acts 16). The point was, that you can experience God anywhere and in any circumstances.

It made me think about the tendency towards pilgrimage in Christianity as well as other religions. Last week we were on holiday and went to St David's in West Wales, where there is a cathedral and many stories of Saint David (apparently when he was baptised there was a great light). People go to these places because they want a spiritual experience.

We could also think about Elijah- after the great victory over Baal at Mt Carmel (1 Kings 18), Jezebel sought his life and he fled to Horeb, that great mountain where Moses had experienced God. God appeared and asked 'Why are you here, Elijah?' In His grace, God revealed Himself again (and not in the great wind, but in the still, small voice), but the point remained that Elijah shouldn't have been afraid and run there seeking a spiritual experience. He should have trusted in God.

Jesus appears to John in Revelation to give seven letters, one for each of the seven churches referred to in Chapter 1. And the letters seem to warn the churches not to get caught up in 'being spiritual', but to seek more of Jesus. The church at Ephesus is told not to lose their 'first love' (Rev 2:4). It doesn't matter how many good deeds we do, or how hard we work- if we do not do them out of love for Christ, they are worthless (see also 1 Cor 13, where Paul suggests that even martyrdom itself is worthless if I have not love).

It can be tempting, then, to seek after a spiritual experience of God- perhaps at a certain church, or a certain type of meeting, or on a mountain top, or amongst certain people. But the Bible tells us that God is with us wherever we go, and we just need to seek Him. If Jesus' walk on earth took Him from the affirmation of God at His baptism to the loneliness of the wilderness and temptation, and from the shining beauty of His transfiguration to the rejection of the cross, we cannot expect every day to be a Mount Carmel. But if we learn obedience in the tough places, our joy will abound even more. (Rom 5:1-11)

Who is Jesus? -Hebrews 1

Like John in his gospel, the writer of Hebrews opens his work with the awesome, earth-shattering truth that Jesus is God's revelation of Himself to us: 'In the past God spoke... through the prophets... but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son' (1-2). Sending Jesus to us was not like lazily scrawling on a piece of paper and sticking into a bottle, then casting it out to sea. Jesus came at exactly the right time, to exactly the right place, and He was a divine delegate! The writer describes Him as 'heir of all things' and says God made the universe through Him (2). He is 'the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word' (3). He is God and what He says, goes in the universe. So that God sent Him to us is a very big deal!

But that's not all. Let's think about why God sent Him. The writer mentions Him providing purification for sins (3). He died for us on the cross as a perfect sacrifice, so we could be purified in God's sight through faith in Him. Jesus did what we could never do. He 'loved righteousness and hated wickedness' (9). he never did anything wrong. And in pure grace, He died- taking the punishment that's rightfully ours.

But Jesus didn't stay on the cross. He rose again, ascended into heaven and 'sat down at the right hand' of God (3). Angels worship Him and are His servants (6-7); He is eternal and His 'years will never end' (12). We can love Jesus more as we look forward to seeing Him in all the glory of heaven, and worship Him as our risen Saviour today.

Final Destination (Rev 21)

At the close of the Bible, this chapter is the ultimate climax of creation, the goal we are all working towards- the day when we will finally -and gloriously- be with Jesus forever.

The descending city of Jerusalem is real, but also metaphorical for the people of God. That means that we are the bride of Christ (cf Ephesians 5:25-32)- we will be united in intimacy with Him forever:
'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.' (3-4)

It is a picture of stunning intimacy with the living God- a real relationship of love. And this is possible through God's grace to forgive us, and His efforts to reach us through Christ.

Jesus says 'I am making everything new!' (5) and then 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.' (6) Jesus thus declares His creative power, His sovereign authority, His eternal nature, and His offer of life to those who come to Him. This offer was given in John 4:14, as Jesus told the Samaritan woman that 'whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.' What an amazing offer! Our response should be like the Samaritan woman's- astonishment, humility and worship. And most of all: love. Love is shown in her eagerness to tell others; love is the right response to Jesus' deep knowledge of our sinful hearts.

We need sometimes to remind ourselves of Jesus' tenderness- offering life and tear-wiping. If we persevere and 'overcome', this is our inheritance! Jesus' judgement when it falls will be terrible: 'the fiery lake of burning sulphur' (8) But He graciously offers us an alternative eternity completely different in character, if we love and trust Him. As we look forward to that eternity, may we love Him more each day that brings us closer to it.

The Jesus Who Knows and Loves Us (Rev 2)

The repeated refrain of all Jesus' words to the 7 churches is this: 'I know'. Jesus sees everything- nothing is hidden from His view. And more specifically, Jesus sees how we treat Him and how we respond to Him. He commends those who persevere believing in Him, who hate wickedness, who endure suffering for His Name, who are faithful to the end (2, 9-10). To those people, He offers life (7, 10). But His firm rebuke is for those who have 'forsaken' their 'first love' (4).

He's not talking about broken relationships and marriages falling apart. He's talking about Him and US. He is meant to be our first love- the highest in our hearts. That kind of intimacy may seem incredible, but it's true- that's the relationship God wants with us. The title of this blog is 'Treasuring Christ'- because the Bible makes it clear that we are to do that- to love Jesus and grow in love for Him over our lives.

The danger many of us face having been Christians for a while, is to lose our love for Jesus. We go through the motions of attending church, of getting our godly appearance right, but somewhere along the line we get too wrapped up in the politics of church life. And the fire in our soul, the flame of love for Christ slowly dwindles and wanes.

How can we fight that? We need to remember that Jesus is real, He is watching over us and He is with us. His words of encouragement to the church in Smyrna are an encouragement to us too- He died and came to life again, therefore He can handle our problems! (8) He knows our circumstances exactly, and He will act for our good in all situations, even through suffering.

Waiting for Jesus' Return (Rev 1)

Loving Jesus will be so easy in heaven. We'll be with Him forever, rejoicing in our salvation, constantly reminded of His amazing love and grace. But on earth it's hard. We struggle along with various problems that come our way- bad health, difficult relationships, personal failures. And we struggle to understand the reality of heaven and eternity. This can have a devastating effect on how important we place Jesus in our lives, and how much we love Him.

Firstly, since we have little concept of what hell is really like (we often overlook or forget Jesus' teachings that it is a place of fire, torture and eternal suffering in separation from God), we lose a right sense of the enormity of what God has saved us FROM. And since we have little concept of heaven (often distracted by THIS world), we lose any sense of the enormity of what God has saved us FOR.

Revelation gives us a fantastic reminder. A difficult book of prophecy and visions, two things are clear:
1. God's judgement is righteous but terrifying
2. God's salvation is amazing

In Chapter 1 John gives us a prologue (1-8) which kicks the book off with a great reminder of why we should love Jesus:
1. He is amazing. He is the first born from the dead (5)- our risen Saviour!
2. He loves us, and He showed us that by shedding His blood to free us from our sins (5), enabling us to be part of God's kingdom and serve Him (6).
3. He's coming again in glory. 'Every eye will see Him' (7). He will be the ultimate, the only authority, and those who have rejected HIm on earth will 'mourn', whilst those who love Him will rejoice.

Then John relates His vision of Jesus, which again inspires our love for Him:
1. He is majestic- wearing a long robe and a golden sash (13)
2. He is pure- head and hair 'white like wool, as white as snow' (14)
3. He is all-seeing, all-knowing- His eyes are like blazing fire, suggesting His judgment, which He is able to make because of His knowledge (14)
4. He is mighty- His voice is like the 'sound of rushing waters' (15)
5. He is holy and awesome- face 'like the shining sun in all its brilliance' (16)
6. He offers peace and salvation. He tells John not to be afraid- He holds the keys of death and Hades (17-18)
7. He is the Lord of life. 'I am the living One: I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!' (18)

As Christians we need to constantly re-inspire ourselves by returning again and again to the awesome presentation of Jesus Christ in the Bible. That's what will keep our minds in the right focus as we go through busy, distracting days.