Is the Biblical book of Revelation strange to you? Many people suggest it's too hard to understand. But I am of the camp which views Revelation as addressing the Christians of the late 1st century and early 2nd century A.D. Roman empire mostly regarding their immediate cultural context. Believe it or not, we may find comfort today in revisiting the themes of this great book.
There were great pressures on Christians in that context just as there are on American Christians today. In John's vision of the seven churches of Asia, he hears judgment on these churches and told to write either a warning or encouragement not to succumb to these pressures. Consider, for instance, the message to the church at Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-17):
12 "And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this: 13 'I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did notdeny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 'But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. 15 'So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 'Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. 17 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.' "
The pressure was subtle. The reference to Balaam and Balak recalls when Balaam refused to curse Israel directly, but advised Balak, King of Moab, to lead Israel away from God by enticing the Israelites to marry Moabite daughters who practiced idolatry (Numbers 25:1-4, 31:16). The pressure faced at Pergamum wasn't a physical assault but the pressure from within to conform to what was culturally acceptable idolatry. Each time the Lord praises, warns, or chastises one of these churches He says, "To him who overcomes...I will..." and offers a promise of hope for the future.
Much of the rest of Revelation outlines the idolatry, greed, and immorality of Rome as well as the Roman society's hatred and mistreatment of Christians. Consider Revelation 13. The reader is introduced to a second beast whose job it is to make everyone worship the first beast of the preceding chapter (perhaps representing the Roman government and emperor respectively). To do this, verses 15-17 articulates, that no one could buy or sell unless they had the mark of the beast - indicating they had worshiped the first beast. In fact, archaeologist have discovered manuscript fragments indicating priests of Roman temples of the Asian provinces certified worshipers so they could purchase meat in the market place. Christians who didn't succumb to idolatry were unable to purchase this meat. According to Revelation 13, they could be executed for not having the certification.
At the same time that Christians of Roman Asia were under pressure to conform to societal standards, God called the people of Rome to repentance. He used various natural events and calamities to call mankind to repentance, but most refused. Revelation records:
"The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; 21 and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts" (Revelation 9:20-21, NASU).
The enduring hope from Revelation for the Christians of the late 1st century and early 2nd century Christians was twofold. One hope was that God would limit the bounds of persecution and the duration of persecution they would face. But more importantly was the hope that eventually heaven would be realized. Heaven is described as a place where the church is God's people in the presence of God a perfect environment where neither sin exists nor the pain caused by those who would persecute the church (Revelation 21:1-4).
The story of Revelation reminds us that Christians live in a world that is opposed to the true God. The world is deceived by Satan with the temptations of satisfying self rather than submitting to God's will. We will face varying degrees of hostility from the world. The world does not appreciate or agree with the standards of Christian living as we work to call people to follow God.
Yet, most of us love the physical world around us. Its all we know. Most of us love our country. American Christians are proud to be Americans. We love the physical beauty and the rich resources God as blessed our nation with. We anticipate that our country and our government will reinforce the Christian principles our nation was founded upon. So when one of our three branches of government acts contrary to our Christian principles we feel crushed and threatened.
We often forget that government will not or perhaps cannot force people to follow the will of God. God Himself has allowed men and women to make their choices. From the very beginning mankind has chosen to satisfy self rather than to submit to God - this is the eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden (Genesis 3). We continue to cave in to our own desires. Paul reminds us:
"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest" (Ephesians 2:1-3, NASU).
The best men who seek to follow God as leaders often failed. Moses, Saul, David, and Solomon are three great examples of men dedicated to God who failed at some point in leading God's people because they chose to satisfy a personal desire of some sort. Israel was to be God's one possession on earth, a true theocratic state based on godly principles but they failed because they were humans susceptible to self will. The New Testament recalls,
"Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Corinthians 10:11, NASU).
We want so badly for our country to follow Biblical teachings and to honor God in its practices. We also want our country to uphold its fundamental value of freedom. We want our citizenry to avoid egregious sins. But, we don't want interference from big brother.
What if the government sought to enforce religious law, what would that look like? The world watches as ISIS seeks to be a theocratic state in the Middle East (and beyond, no doubt). If you happen to believe in the Islamic doctrine of this sect, this may not be a bad thing. But if not, this is tyranny.
Since the government is worldly we can expect them to follow worldly standards. The story of Revelation reminds us that the world by and large will reject God and even oppose those who seek to follow God. The glimpse of Heaven and Hell in the final two chapters is not simply a comparison of where the good and bad will spend eternity. I believe we discover something else in these chapters.
In the context of the hostility of the world towards Christians in Revelation, Heaven offers the opportunity to be in a Kingdom where everyone wants to be a child of God. Heaven is a wonderful place, in part, because of the absence of sin. No longer is there the presence of those hostile to God or godliness. Relief comes from the universal desire to be a child of God. Notice:
"And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." 5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." 6 Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7 "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son" (Revelation 21:3-7, NASU).
So what do we do when we are disappointed by events in the news? First, let us keep our composure by remaining focused on our work. Our task as Christians is to reveal God's love to a lost world so that all may make a choice whether or not to follow Him. Most will choose not to do so. But some will. Whether or not we have a government which honors God does not change our task. Admittedly, a hostile government or one which does not honor God may make our task harder, but it doesn't change our task.
Second, let us pray that God will bless us with men and women who do seek to honor Him in their decisions. We want legislators, executives, and judiciaries who will act from a point of Godly principles; let us pray that we will have such leaders, or at least that they will make such decisions. Let's act with faith as we pray that we do due diligence in our republican government to select such people to be our leaders.
Finally, let us demonstrate Godly and loving living so that Christianity cannot be reviled. Remember we all have sin in our lives. No sin is greater or worse than another. We must all submit our will to God. So let us approach everyone from a place of humility and compassion as we call people out of a world of sin. Remember we are asking people to make a choice to follow God in all their behavior.
Let us not be defeated. Let us not be surprised. Rather, let us hold our heads high and continue pursuing a life of faith. Perhaps we will bring others with us as we march to that beautiful city on high.
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