Revelation 19:14-21 - King of Kings, Lord of Lords

The armies of heaven were following the Lord. These may be angelic beings, but 17:14 refers to his faithful followers being with Him, and the fine linen reference is similar to 19:8. 

A sharp sword was coming out of His mouth, and with this He will rule the nation. Then there is a quote of Psalm 2:9. Again, we should remember the powerful side of the character of Jesus. He is the Lord Almighty. Then to emphasise the point we are told He will tread the winepress of the fury of God's wrath. Let me remind you again that wrath has two essential parts to it: (i) it is a passionate hatred of sin; (ii) it is completely rational and just. The use of the word fury here emphasises the passionate side. To see wrath purely as a cold logical outworking or morality is to miss a vital part of it. We do not realise the true horror of sin and its effects.

Then we get another name "King of Kings, Lord of Lords" (cf 17:14).

Verses 18 and 19 seem rather gruesome to us. The reference to birds of the air eating up the flesh points to the utter and complete defeat of the world, rather than being some scene from a horror movie. Note that this applies to all. We often talk about the gospel being for all, rich and poor, great and small, and so it is. But judgement is also for all. All who do not repent will suffer the wrath of God, rich and poor, great and small. Sometimes we speak as if the poor or the weak are somehow more righteous than the rest of the people, this is not true at all.

Finally the beast gathers his armies to fight against the "rider on the horse". There is no talk of a battle, just of his defeat. The beast and false prophet were then thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 19:11-13 - Jesus the victor

Now we see Jesus win the victory. Heaven was standing open. The answer comes from heaven. In Colossians 3:1-4 Paul tells us to look up to heaven and to Christ, in the Psalms David speaks of the answer coming from heaven. John saw a white horse, the colour white signifies victory. There are various names given to the victor, and the first is faithful and true. We can rely completely on Christ. Difficulties tempt us to think He has forgotten us or will let us down, but we can have complete trust in Him. Jesus judges and makes war, and does so with righteousness. We need to have a complete picture of the Lord. When the world is pretending to be nice about Jesus it is always His forgiveness and love for the unlovely that they will mention, never His power and authority.

He has many crowns, signifying majesty. And He has a name that no one else can know. Now this may seem rather strange given that several names are given in this very section. However, to know someone's name was to have a degree of power over them. No one knew the warrior's name, so no one had any power over Him. 

He was dressed in a robe dipped in blood. This is almost certainly a reference to the cross. It is on the cross that Jesus won the victory. Some think of this blood as being the blood of His conquered enemies, this thought may be in mind as well. 

Then we get another name, the Word of God. John calls Him the word at the start of his gospel. The saviour they trusted in was the one who wins the victory.

Revelation 19:1-10 - Hallelujah, Babylon is fallen

We now hear a great rejoicing. We will rejoice at the fall of the world system and God's righteous judgements. This isn't something we hear much of this side of things in the church, but that is a sign of paucity of our Biblical understanding. In the Psalms David frequently rejoiced at God's judgements.

Hallelujah occurs four times in this chapter, and this is the only place in the NT that it occurs. 

So why is God praised? Because salvation, glory and power belong to our God. When evil is rampant it parades itself as all powerful, it tries to seduce us into thinking that if we give in to it, or at least acquiesce, we will be saved. It pretends that it is glorious and had power, but all this is a lie. Salvation, glory and power belong to our God, and we should always remember this. 

God's judgements are true, and He has condemned the great prostitute, and avenged the blood of His servants. 

Then in verse three we get the second hallelujah. This time because the smoke rises from her for ever and ever. The judgement and condemnation on Babylon, on the godless world system, will be final.

Next the twenty four elders and the four living creatures declare praise to God. And we are called to join in the praise. 

Next we get the final hallelujah. For our Lord reigns, He is the all powerful one, and the wedding has come. The people of God will be united with the Lord in perfect relationship. 

The bride has made herself ready, and fine garments have been given to her. These garments are the righteous acts of the saints. This does not mean that we earn our salvation, but in the midst of the apparent triumph of evil it is really us who will triumph. The Lord has cleansed us by His blood, and through the Holy Spirit He enables us to remain faithful and true in the midst of great opposition. This is part of God's plan, and is part of the reason why pre-tribulation rapture teaching is utterly defeatists and unbiblical. 

Now understand verse 9 in the context in which it is given. The Christians were facing great persecution, there was little obvious advantage in being a Christian, but the truth is that we are blessed beyond measure. 

John is overcome with joy and praise and falls at the feet of the angel, but the angel quickly stops him Jesus is the only one to be worshipped, and all prophecy points to Jesus and glorifies only Him.

Revelation 18 - The fall of Babylon

The edifice of worldly power looks strong, but in the end it is destined for destruction, we now see this happen to Babylon.

A great angel came down from heaven, and he had great authority. His glory made the earth bright. The world's power spreads darkness, God's power brings light. Notice that power comes from heaven. The world lives as if this is all there is, that is not true. Our answers comes from heaven.

Babylon is fallen. She had become a home for demons and everything evil. This is the consequence of our rebellion against God. Demonic influence is not just to do with demon possession, but is much more invasive.

The whole power structure of the world, its whole financial system is tied in with Babylon, the world system.

Another angel then tells God's people to get out of Babylon. Prophets in the OT said the same thing with regard to physical Babylon. We must not live in the same way as the world lives. On sexual morality parts of the church have spent decades going along with the world, with Babylon. This is a grievous mistake.

The world is full of pride, thinking she can survive anything. But her destruction will come. Those who made money out of her will look on in horror.

Then she will be thrown into the sea. Happiness will be found in her no more. 

Revelation 17:14-18 - The truth about man

Man makes war on the Lamb, but this is futile (see Psalm 2). The Lamb will conquer them, for He is the Lord of lords and King of kings. We who belong to Him are "called, chosen and faithful". 

We then see the prostitute is seated on all peoples, nations and languages. The whole world is in rebellion against God, and the beast exercises its power built upon this rebellion. However, this ungodly Kingdom has within it the seeds of its own destruction. Hatred and division lie within and this will lead to her downfall.

We see the out working of this throughout history. The Nazis were immensely powerful, but it's defeat stemmed from the evil within. The same happened with the Soviet empire. The power loving, the self-contradition within, the corruption, led to its collapse. The Roman Empire collapsed. We see it within all human institutions. Many start off with good intentions, but ultimately become corrupt or moribund. We even see the same within Christian denominations and groupings. Historically every Christian organisation dies, except the church of Christ. 

Conversely, within the Trinity there is perfect unity and self-giving. And of His kingdom there will be no end. Now this does not mean that we shouldn't have any human institutions, or any Christian organisations. But we need to recognise their place in the great scheme of things. They are here for a time, will serve a purpose, but will ultimately pass away. We must not make an idol out of them. One day the perfect will come.

Note finally that all this is part of the will of God. It is all part of His plan.

Revelation 17:7-13 - Seven headed beasties

It is not clear whether John is marvelling at the whore herself or her destruction. Given that the image of the whore appears somewhat grotesque it seems strange that John would marvel at her. However, men are taken in by prostitutes. Then we can look at the sort of things that she is representative of, such as the Nazis. They were tryout grotesque, yet a whole nation marvelled at them. Indeed the whole of the human race is deceived by the world system. Or maybe John is just astounded at her power and that she is drunk on the blood of the martyrs. Remember that at the time the Roman Empire was persecuting Christians. 

The angel then explains to John and tells him not to marvel. We might think that he could have explained a little more clearly! Needless to say there has been much speculation as to who the seven heads and ten horns are. I think at one time the EU was identified with the ten horns! Now there is much wrong, and much ungodly, about the EU but it is not the anti-Christ. Anyway, it has long since had more than 10 members. This is just a reminder of the silliness of trying to identify these things. Two more sensible suggestions have been to identify the seven with various emperors or Rome, or with various empires. I think it is more fruitful to focus on the general meaning.

We are now looking at things that will happen at the end. Now this still has relevance for times prior to the very end for there are many precursors of the end itself. 

The angel tells John that the beast will rise from the pit, but only to go to destruction. All ungodly power will be destroyed. Whenever we see any evil power we can be confident that we are looking at something that is doomed for destruction. However the world will marvel at the beast. Just because the world is fascinated by something does not mean that we should be fascinated by it.

Note that it is those whose name has not been written in the book of life who will marvel at it. They are not removed from the book of life because they do marvel at it.

The beast comes after the seven kings. He is distinct, but belongs to the seven kings. In a sense he is the logical conclusion of the seven kings. The beast is what man's rebellion naturally leads to. Remember that the number of the beast is 666, the number of man. The only reason satan has any influence in the world is because we chose to rebel against God.

So there will come a time when the whole of the world is united in following the beast. 

Revelation 17:1-6 - Babylon the harlot

Now the attention turns to Babylon, the great prostitute. Throughout the Old Testament Israel's faithlessness is likened to adultery. Babylon is likened to a harlot. She never worshipped God, but led many others astray. Babylon represents the world system as a whole, which draws all men away from God. Babylon would suffer judgement for all her sins.

"Sits by many waters" may be a reference to the geographical location of Babylon, but as Babylon is used symbolically rather than referring to the physical city, it is more likely that it means she influences many peoples. 

She intoxicated both rulers and peoples. Have you noticed how all leaders seem to go the same way once they assume power? Regardless of their declared intentions and hopes expressed before assuming power, they all seem to go the same way.

John was then taken away in the spirit and shown a vision of the woman sitting on a scarlet beast, the dragon.  It was covered in blasphemous names, representing all rebellion against God. She held a golden cup, seeming to offer something of value and worth, but in reality it was filled with filth. Moreover, she was drunk on the blood of God's people. The world system hates the Lord and all who are associated with Him. We are starting to see this in the West.

Revelation 16 - The seven bowls of wrath

Not one of the jolliest chapters in the Bible! There are some similarities between these plagues and the plagues of Egypt, but after the first three any similarities disappear. Also, unlike the previous plagues in Revelation these ones are total in their effect. So this represents the final and complete defeat of the rebellion. These are the plagues of God's wrath, God's judgement on the world.

First ugly boils and sores break out on those who worshipped the beast. 

Next the sea turns to blood and everything in it died.

Then springs and rivers became blood. Then came the voice of an angel declaring that God's judgements are just. People complain that a God of love would not do such a thing, but such people are fools. When this happens it will be an act of justice, perfectly justified.

Then the sun became an enemy. Yet the people still refused to repent. Now one might object that if God had used love instead they would have repented, This is nonsense. For God did use love, He sent His only Son and we crucified Him.

Then the throne of the beast was attacked and great darkness came, yet the people still refused to repent.

Then evil spirits came out from the dragon and went into the world to prepare for the battle of Armageddon. 

Verse 15 strongly implies that we will still be around when this happens. There are also several references in the NT to Jesus coming like a thief in the night . 

Then there were earthquakes and lightning and hail. Human society collapsed completely.

Revelation 15 - The wrath of God

We are now reaching the climax. The various cycles of seven have looked at the overall working of the world leading up to a climax, we now reach the climax of judgement. 

Verse 1 tells us that these are the seven last plagues and represent the completion of God's wrath. Now many have a problem with God's wrath thinking to be an out of data concept. Such thinking is utterly unbiblical and is founded purely in man's "wisdom", the wisdom of the age, and as such is worthless. There are two key aspects of God's wrath. On the one hand it is utterly rational, based on truth and justice. On the other hand it is a passionate hatred of sin, of what sin is, and what sin does. Wrath is not uncontrollable rage. God's wrath is completely controlled. To appreciate God's wrath we need both sides, the reasonableness of it, and the passion involved. To focus on only one side is to misunderstand it.

Notice in verse 2 that those who triumphed over the beast are there, and the wrath of God is part of our victory. See that God's people triumph over the beast. How do they do this? By not bowing down to him but worshipping only God. And judgement coming upon those who oppose Christ is part of salvation.

The saints then sang the song of Moses.  This highlights several points. One is the continuity of the Old and New Testament, all the books of the Bible are part of the same plan, breathed by the same God. There are allusions to the Israelites coming out of Egypt and the Egyptian army being swallowed up by the Red Sea. 

All the world has been, and is, in rebellion against God, but the final outcome will be all the world recognising that the Lord is the One True God. Paul says the same in Philippians 2:5-11. 

Then we see the seven angels with the seven bowls of God's wrath. So we need to see the outpouring of wrath in the context of God's greatness, His holiness and His victory.

Revelation 14:14-20 - The harvest of God's wrath

We now come to one of the bloodiest parts of Revelation, the harvesting of the earth and trampling of the winepress. Harvest does not mean that much to us these days, with supermarkets having all sorts of foods from all over the world all year round. Not so long ago strawberries in winter would have been a ridiculous notion! However, in John's day harvest was vital. The harvest was the culmination of the year's work, the essential purpose of it all. There was an awful lot of build up to the harvest, the planting, the tending etc, but there was an end point. 

So part of the harvest metaphor is that everything is coming to a conclusion. Some see the first part of this as being the harvest of the saints, i.e. the in-gathering of the elect. However, the whole tenor of this section, and the use of the sickle, seem much more consistent with judgement.

Verse 14 speaks of the son of man. Some say this is just an angel, and that Son of Man does not always have its messianic connotations. They argue this saying that it would be odd for the Son of Man to receive instructions from an angel. However, the description of the Son of Man here seems much more in keeping with the messianic reading. As to the angel commanding the Son of Man that might be reading too much in to "called out in a loud voice", this may not necessarily imply the angel commanding the Son of Man. Moreover, in the Psalms David calls on God to do various things.

The second part of this section makes it clear that this is all to do with judgement. We might be offended by all the blood. Well there are two things I would say, the first is tough! The second is that it is absolutely consistent with the whole of the rest of the Bible. In the Pentateuch God says that He was waiting for the wickedness of the nations to reach its full level, then they would be ejected from the land. That is what is now happening to the whole earth. The OT refers to the Lord trampling the winepress of judgement (Is 63:3; Lam 1:15; Joel 3:13).

The 1600 stadia might refer to the approximate length of the Holy Land. Or it might be a product of 16 and 100. 16 is four squared, and four is the number of wickedness, and 100 is the square of 10, a number representing completeness. So we have the completeness of God's judgement on the sin of man having reached its fulfilment. No, I'm not particularly convinced either, but that may well be because I don't think about numbers the way they did in John's day.

Revelation 14:6-13 - The importance of remaining faithful

We now get another insight into the true situation. We have just seen what happens to those who remain faithful to the Lord. Now we see the state of those who follow the world.

The first angel declares the gospel to the world. This is "Fear God and give Him glory", and we will shortly see that judgement is a fundamental part of the gospel, and in the section the central part. We too often forget that judgement is central to the gospel. Jesus taught this, and the apostles all taught this. We were created to worship and give glory to the Creator. The gospel calls us back from our rebellion to worship God.

Then a second angel appears and he declares the defeat of Babylon. This is in the aorist tense, which means it is a completed action. Babylon represents the world system, the world's rebellion against God. Many were induced to follow Babylon. Today we see that most go along with the world. But she is defeated.

Then came a third angel with perhaps the most serious message. Anyone who worships the beast will receive God's wrath. Full judgement is coming, and the only escape route is Christ. The consequences of following the world will not simply be "all well we backed the wrong horse", rather it will be terrible judgement. We need to realise how serious the situation is. 

Verses 12 and 13 give instruction to the saints. We are to have patient endurance, and then we are told that "blessed are the dead who dead who die in the Lord". This is no easy promise of blessing. Also it is completely consistent with God's people being around during the time of great tribulation.

The sorts of situations described in these chapters have existed a various points in history and various places in the world (in Iraq and Syria just now, for instance). There will come a time when it is the situation everywhere.

The message of the Bible is not an easy get out, but a call to patient endurance and continuing faithfulness to Christ.

Revelation 14:1-5 - The Redeemed of the Lord

No chapters in the original! This is another key point where this warning is very relevant. What we read of in this chapter follows on immediately after the stuff about the mark of the beast and the number of the beast.

Having just seen all this demonic stuff, this anti-God evil we see the Lamb standing on Mount Zion. With Him are 144 000 who had not received the mark of the beast, instead they had the Lamb's Name and the Father's Name on their foreheads. It is so important to see how this stands in apposition to the mark of the beast. I really do think that all talk of computer chips (or anything else along those lines) is completely missing the point. The fundamental division is a heart devoted to Christ, or a heart not devoted to Christ. That is the distinguishing mark and the Lord knows those who are His. 

The 144 000 does not need to be taken literally. It represents perfection and signifies that the Lord looks after those who trust Him, even in the darkest times. 

A new song was sung before the Lord. The events of the great tribulation do not herald the triumph of evil, but the defeat of evil and the inauguration of God's kingdom. Only the 144 000 knew this new song. It is vital that we stand firm in the midst of all attacks and pressures to give up. To be someone who is totally devoted to the Lord is the greatest prize anyone can have.

Note that the 144 000 have gone through the tribulation, they have endured. As I have said before, pre-tribulation rapture teaching is just so much nonsense, is unbiblical, is utterly defeatist, and does not prepare God's people for what might lie ahead.

The reference to the 144 000 being virgins is difficult. The Bible does not teach that marital sexual relations defile a person. Indeed Paul explicitly warns against those who teach such rubbish (1 Tim 4:1-4). So what are we to make of this? An answer which seems reasonable is to take it symbolically. The church is the bride of Christ and the 144 000 are those who have not defiled themselves by worshipping the world system. Worshipping other gods is frequently portrayed as adultery in the Old Testament.

Revelation 13:11-18 - The mark of the beast and 666

We now get a second bear, this one coming out of the earth. He is generally seen as a false prophet and his role is to be supportive of the beast in the previous section. He has some semblance to a lamb, but speaks like a dragon. So despite appearances he is demonic. He exercised authority over the whole earth and made people worship the first beast. Religion becoming the servant of the state is a dangerous mix. In Islam there is a very close relationship between religion and political power, and we see the consequences. In history we have seen the times when the church has been closely allied to the state. The church must never become the servant of the state. If the church is to be true to Christ then it will constantly challenge the state.

The second beast was given power to perform all sorts of signs, but it did these on behalf of the first beast. And the inhabitants of the earth were deceived.

This beast set up an image in honour of the first beast, and forced people to worship the image. Remember what happened in Daniel. It also gave life to the image. The penalty for refusing to worship the image was death.

This compulsion applied to all, rich and poor, slave and free. They were all to receive a mark and needed this in order to exist economically. Now some say this mark could be a chip inserted into us. This might be involved, but I don't think it is the main point. Remember earlier in Revelation that it speaks of God's people being marked. There will be a sharp distinction between those who worship the Lord and those who worship the beast. We perhaps see an example of this in some being forced to celebrate homosexuality or lose their job. This is still relatively mild. When the state becomes all powerful it demands absolute allegiance from all, as the Roman Empire did.

Then we get the famous number of the beast, 666. Actually one or two old manuscripts have 616! However, it seems that 666 is the favoured number. It is the number of man. The beast is the natural and logical conclusion of man taking authority for himself instead of living under God's authority.

Revelation 13:1-10 - The Beast out of the Sea, the beast in the West

There have been numerous attempts to identify the beast, these are mostly futile. The book of Daniel has similar imagery to what we find hear. In Daniel we are told explicitly that the visions referred to four specific kingdoms, and then told of the end times. Here we are given no explicit reference to any individual, or particular kingdom. So I would take it that we should not waste our time trying to identify who this beast is referring to. The Roman empire undoubtedly had many characteristics of the beast, it is equally certain that Rome is not the final embodiment of the beast. Likewise many kingdoms and dictators have come and gone, some of them having many beastlike features, such as the Nazis or Stalinist Russia.

The beast represents the embodiment of Satan's power. It is characterised by blasphemy, setting itself up against God. Now what did that mean in John's day and what does it say to us today? The Roman empire demanded ultimate allegiance. Saying "Jesus is Lord" was an act of defiance against "Caesar is Lord". The state demanded ultimate worship. Now look at what is happening in our Western Society. God is being pushed to the margins. Not only is society simply ignoring Christian influence, it is positively rejecting it, even outlawing it. Homosexuality is a sin, the Bible clearly states this, yet society is going to increasingly extreme lengths to demand that we do not just tolerate homosexuality, but that we positively celebrate it. There are many beastlike features in our society today.

The world was filled with wonder at the beast and worshipped it. Just as most people happily go along with what society demands.

The reference to the wound that was healed may be a reference to Nero. There was a belief that Nero was so evil that he couldn't just have died. Evil empires and rulers have a habit of seeming to be beaten only to bounce back. 

So the beast slandered God, just as our society is increasingly blaspheming God. Note then that the beast was given power to make war against the God's people and to conquer them. The beast was given global power. But the people whose name is in the book of life did not worship him.

Verses 9 and 10 then sum up the attitude we must have. We need great patience and endurance, because very difficult times lie ahead. There is no easy victory, but we will remain faithful to the Lord.

Revelation 12:13-17 - God is always in control

The dragon pursued the woman, the woman representing God's people. But the woman was given wings and enabled to escape to a place of safety for the time of persecution. We need to be careful in interpreting these visions and not read more than is justified into anyone of them. There are numerous parts of Revelation, not to mention the rest of the New Testament, that make it clear that there will be times when the church suffers great persecution. Here, and elsewhere in Revelation, we see that the church is also protected. In the midst of all circumstances God is looking after us, even in the darkest times. He has always made provision for us.

Satan is never in control, even when evil seems to be rampant.

The serpent tried to overwhelm the church with a flood from its mouth, but the earth opened up. This enraged the dragon, so it went off to make war against the saints, against those who hold fast to their belief in Christ.

So we see clearly the persecution the church suffers and God's protection in the midst of it.

Revelation 12:10-12 - The power of the word of our testimony

See again how God's victory and Satan's fury upon the earth are intertwined. 

The salvation of God, the power of God, the kingdom of God have come. And the authority of the Messiah, of Jesus Christ. We live in the time of His power and of His kingdom.

In Job we see Satan accusing Job before God (Job 1,2). In Zechariah we see Satan accusing Joshua the high priest before God (Zec 3). 

Now look at the grammar carefully in v10b. Satan is accusing the brothers and sisters day and night, present tense. Yet he has been thrown down from heaven, it has already happened. Our accuser has been ejected from heaven. 

Why was he hurled down? We triumphed over him. How? By the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. There is God's part and our part. In Rom 10 Paul says we need to believe in our heart and confess with our mouth. Now remember the significance to the people of the time this was written, especially the significance of the importance of the word of their testimony. There were times and places when all sorts of pressure was put on them, sometimes with terrible persecution, not to say that Jesus is Lord. We may face a time in this country when we face persecution. We need to realise how important and how powerful is the word of our testimony. For by it we defeat the enemy. That is why he is so keen to keep us quiet.

John emphasises this with the end of v11, "they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death". This is an encouragement and a command not to give in to persecution.

So the heavens can rejoice, but for a time there is terrible woe upon the earth.

Revelation 12:7-9 - We fight a defeated enemy

Now we see a war in heaven. Why is there so much trouble on the earth? Because Satan has been thrown out of heaven and cast on to the earth.

Michael is the angel who leads the fight against Satan. Michael is mentioned in Daniel (Dan 12:1) and is the one who fights on behalf of Israel. That chapter speaks of the end times and says there will be times of great trouble. You see, Revelation is not an odd book, but entirely consistent with the rest of Scripture. 

Note that it is Michael who leads the fight, who initiates it. Not Satan. Satan is the one who is reacting, and all his efforts are in vain. Satan, and all his demons, were not strong enough to keep their place in heaven. They have lost their battle in the heavenly realms.

Satan is identified as the ancient serpent, the one who deceived Eve. He is the one who leads the whole world astray. In John's time he saw the world being led astray. The Jewish authorities continued to oppose the church. The Roman empire continued to demand worship. Today we see the world continuing to be led astray.

It is this defeated enemy who has been hurled down to the earth. We need to realise that we fight a defeated enemy. This is not to minimise the horrors that he can perpetuate, we must never do that, and if we ever did events would soon bring us to our senses. But he is a defeated enemy.

Revelation 12:1-6 - A child is born, the church is persecuted but protected

Remember what has just been said at the end of chapter 11. The kingdoms of the world have become the kingdom of our Lord. The Lord's victory is being enacted, but it will not be a straightforward affair.

The woman in verse 1 could represent the church, the believing community. The twelve stars almost certainly represent the twelve tribes of Israel. In Christ the believing Gentiles and believing Israel are made one. Isaiah 66:7ff speaks of Israel being in childbirth. 

So the church has been born, God's community on earth. But at the same time there is a second sign, a red dragon. This represents Satan. The horns and crowns represent power and dominion. Satan has a degree of dominion upon the earth. 

Israel gave birth to Jesus, the One who will rule all of creation. Note that Jesus will rule with an iron sceptre. 

The dragon seeks to devour the child. Yet the child was protected. So Satan wars against God and against His church. We need to be aware of this. Yet we also need to know that he will lose. Jesus was taken to Egypt for a time to protect Him. The protection is not always glorious, there is not always a glorious victory. The time given matches the time of persecution of the two witnesses. So the message is that during the time of great persecution the church is being protected.

Revelation 11:15-19 - The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our God

We now get the seventh trumpet blast and, as is the pattern in Revelation, this leads into another series of events. 

This starts with another declaration of the greatness of the Lord. The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Messiah. We need to always remind ourselves that the it is God's kingdom that is eternal, that expands forever.  What is happening in the world? The the kingdom of the world is being handed over to the Lord. In Col 3:1-4 Paul tells us to focus on things above. When you look at the news today know that the kingdom of the world is being handed over to Christ. Now we should also be fully aware of the terrible things that are happening, as Revelation clearly is aware. We cannot fully understand how God's plans work out, but we can be certain that they will work out, but they also include going through dark times. 

The elders then fell down and worshipped God. God has taken His power and has begun to reign on the earth. 

Those who attack God, who persecute His people, will be punished. All men will be judged, and His servants the prophets will be rewarded. 

Then God's temple in heaven was opened and the ark could be seen. Needless to say, there is speculation over precisely what the ark of the covenant here is. Moses had the ark of the covenant, and it represented the presence of God. That ark was probably destroyed during the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Again, I think it is best to take it symbolically. It represents God's covenant with His people. God will fulfil the covenant. All the promises will be fulfilled. 

Note that the physical ark of the covenant was (probably) destroyed, The physical temple was certainly destroyed (as was the second temple). The sacrifices have gone. As Hebrews teaches us, all the symbols in the Old Testament were a shadow of the real thing. They were pointing to the new covenant sealed by the blood of Jesus.

Revelation 11:11-15 - The church revived

The rejoicing of the world was short-lived. After three and a half days breath of life from God entered the witnesses. Note that in Genesis 2:7 God breathed the breath of life into Adam. One key element of all of John's writings (gospel, letters and this) is the fundamental opposition of the world to God. Notions that the world is somehow nice and if only the church was nice enough to the world everyone would believe is plain nonsense.

The witnesses rose up and the world was terrified. The witnesses were then called up to be with the Lord. So the time of "triumph" of the world lasted only for a short time. Now the three and a half days should not be taken literally, rather it signifies a short time of the triumph of evil. However, if you are going through this time then it will seem like forever because it will be so horrific. The situation that Christians (and others) are going through in Syria and Iraq is thankfully unimaginable to most of us. However, it will not last forever. 

We should be aware that Revelation was not given by God so that we can indulge in idle speculations, but as a source of strength, wisdom and hope for those going through severe times.

No matter what we do go through, the end result is that we will be taken up to be with the Lord. 

As an aside, I guess that the three and a half years mentioned earlier, and verse 12 here are the grounds for mid-tribulation rapture. There is certainly no support for pre-tribulation rapture. After the witnesses had been taken up more terror fell upon the earth. This time the survivors give glory to God. 

My approach to interpreting these things is that we are looking largely at events or themes, rather than being given a strict chronological sequence of events. I could be wrong, but for what it is worth that is the line I am taking.

The second woe has now passed.

Revelation 11:7-10 - Rejoice, the church is dead

We now get the first mention of the beast. The beast is Satan's instrument, signified by his coming up from the Abyss. The beast will overpower and kill the witnesses, but not until the witnesses have finished their testimony. So there are two key lessons here. The task of the church is not easy, there are no promises of an easy life, but God is in control. The beast is not allowed to kill the witnesses until their task is finished.

In middle-eastern culture bodies were buried quickly, so to leave the bodies lying in the street was a sign of the contempt they were held in. The great city has variously been identified as Jerusalem, Rome or Babylon. The comparison with Sodom seems to rule out Jerusalem. Sodom and Egypt stand for wickedness and oppression. Then we are told that it is where the Lord was crucified, and that would count in Jerusalem's favour. Maybe the simplest explanation is that it is not meant to refer to any particular city. 

The people gazed on the bodies for three and a half days. This represents a short time of evil's apparent triumph.

The people of the earth will be glad that the witnesses have been killed, celebrating by sending each other gifts. This would mean that there will come a time when the church is apparently defeated and the world will rejoice.

Revelation 11:3-6 - A ministry of plagues

The identity of the two witnesses has caused much speculation as well. The simple truth is "nobody knows"! Verse 4 would seem to indicate that they are not two individuals. Verse 4 alludes to Zechariah chapter 4. There are three key points from verses 3 and 4. The first is that while evil is rampaging for three and a half years, the Lord continues to have His witnesses upon the earth. The devil cannot shut up the voice that declares that Jesus is Lord.  Secondly the witnesses receive their support and strength from the Lord through the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, they stand before the Lord of all the earth. Satan is not in control, evil is not in control, the Lord is in control, and His witnesses look to Him. We must look to the Lord in all circumstances. Note that the Lord is called Lord of all the earth here, emphasising that Satan is not lord of the earth, Jesus is Lord.

The witnesses are not weak. Fire comes from their mouths against anyone who tries to harm them. This is perhaps an allusion to Elijah (2 Kings 1:10,12). Verse 6 reminds us of the plagues inflicted upon Egypt. Now, I don't think we need to take this fire as literal. Rather it is a reminder that those who persecute God's people are asking for big trouble. 

Verse 6 is interesting. I don't think it means we should indulge in a ministry of plagues. However, it does imply an active role on the part of the witnesses in exercising this power. There must be something for us to learn here, but I am not quite sure what it is.

Revelation 11:1,2 - Measuring the temple

This chapter is one that causes most difficulty in interpretation. There are some who don't even think it was part of the original, but they really don't have much evidence for such a silly view.

John is given a reed and told to measure "the temple of God and the altar, with its worshippers". However, he is to exclude the outer court. 

Some thing this temple is a future physical temple that would be built. This is almost certainly wrong. In Zechariah 2 we are told that the city is a city without walls, and that God is its glory within Zech 2:4,5. When Jesus talked about rebuilding the temple it was His own body He was speak about (John 2:21). And Paul tells us that we are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). Physical temples are out. 

Then there are some who say it is the believing church, this is much more likely. There are also those who say it is believing Israel. I think this latter view is in error. The new covenant destroys the divide between Israel and Gentiles (Eph 2:11-22), all believers are united in Christ. Theologies that see Israel as somehow separate are in error. Dispensationalist type views and pre-trib rapturists fall into this error as well. Now, I am absolutely certain that Israel will be saved, and that this is fundamental to God's plan, but all believers are united in Christ. Anyway, I guess I am bound to have upset someone now!

However, John is not to measure the outer court, for the Gentiles will trample on this for forty two months. There may well be an allusion to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes (168-165 BC) who caused much Jewish suffering. The period of three and a half years should not necessarily be taken literally, it may come to be just symbolic of a time of great persecution or reign of wickedness.

So why is John told to measure the part of the temple he is to measure? The message is that although traumatic times lie ahead (or we may be in the middle of them) God has not forgotten His people, He has not forgotten the church nor His temple. 

As an aside, it may be clear from what I say here and elsewhere that I don't have much time for numbers, and over specific interpretation of numbers or symbols. I do think that some people get far too hung up on these things. However, there is a danger that I won't pay sufficient attention to them. So just a warning. All of us have our faults and blind-spots and biases in interpretation and I have mine.

Revelation 10 - A message of global significance

All these vision were mediated by angels from heaven. They are not the product of a human mind, but direct revelation from God. This angle had a dramatic appearance. Planting one foot on the sea and one on the land indicated power over both domains. Then he shouted in an unnaturally loud voice.

Why all this? It is emphasising that this angel's message applied to the whole earth. John is told not to write down what he hears at this time, but to seal it up. Why is he told to do this?

The angel then declares by the name of the Lord that "there will be no more delay". This marks a dramatic change in events. And finally we get mention of the seventh trumpet. There is something special about the seventh trumpet. God's mystery will be accomplished. The prophets is probably referring to Old Testament prophets, who had looked forward to a time of God's plans being fulfilled.

The word, or the scroll, was lying on the hand of the angel and John is instructed to take it.

John is to consume the word. It would turn his stomach sour, but would taste sweet in his mouth. At first it tasted sweet, as it enters the mouth first, but then turned sour in his stomach. The prophecy would not make comfortable reading. John is then told to prophesy again about many peoples, kings, languages and nations. The prophesy and vision we have here is not just for the church, not just for the church of the time, but has global significance.

Revelation 9:13-21 - And still they would not repent

We now get the second woe. As is the pattern in Revelation there is a gap before the third woe (seventh trumpet) and the seven bowls of wrath seem to constitute the third woe.

The second woe is going to unleash even more death upon the world. Four angels who had been bound, held back, are released. They would lead to the deaths of a third of the world, and a massive army would be let loose. The figure of two hundred million may just be indicating the massive size of the army, rather than a precise number.

John then goes on to describe the riders on the horses.

A third of the people were killed, but the rest did not repent. Atheists often object that God does not give people enough chance, or enough evidence. Bertram Russell was asked what he would say to God if God did turn out to exist (Russell was an atheist). His reply was "not enough evidence, not enough evidence". All these objections are nonsense. Jesus came and did good, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, setting captives free, yet they did not believe Him. God had sent countless prophets to Israel, but they did not listen. So now the most severe chastisement comes, but still men will not repent.

Men continued to worship demons. They did not think they were worshipping demons, but were worshipping useless bits of metal, wood or stone, inanimate objects that could do nothing. Murder, magic arts, sexual immorality and theft are highlighted as particular sins.

Revelation 9:1-12 - the first woe

The star in verse 1 is probably an angel, but probably not a fallen angel. The star was given a key to the abyss. The star could only do what God gave it to do. The abyss was inhabited by spirits. The important message is that everything is under God's control. The star can only open the abyss because God has ordained it, and the spirits can only be released because God has released them. 

Locusts and scorpions are released and are given power to torment those who did not have the seal of God. So we see that there is a limit on what they can do, and there are somethings that God's people are spared from. 

The scorpions and locusts were only allowed to torment men, not kill them. Though the torment would be so bad that men would long to die.

We then get a dramatic description of these locusts. We should remember that this is a vision.

The locusts were ruled by an angel of the abyss called Abaddon or Apollyon, this means destruction.

So the first woe was past, but two more were to come.

The Incarnation and its significance for our lives - a sermon

A sermon on the incarnation and its significance for our lives.
There were four key thoughts for the New Year:

• Our faith is built on truth and reality
• We are precious to God
• Let us not be so proud that we will not humble ourselves before the Lord
• God created us to love and to reign

Click the link above or paste this url into your browser:

http://gatechurch.co.uk/media/ian-mackie-sunday-4th-january-2015/

Revelation 8:6-13 - The first four trumpets

We now get a description of the trumpets. There is a 4-3, or 4-2-1 pattern. The first four involve forces of nature, the last three the work of men. There is also an interlude between the sixth and seventh. The church is not directly involved in these ones. These are not final judgements on mankind as a whole, but more of a warning.

So the first angel sounds his trumpet and hail and fire, mixed with blood, fell upon the earth. This wrought massive destruction on nature. The one third indicates that it is massive in scale, but is not total destruction. I don't think we need to take the third as a precise fraction, just an indicative figure.

After the land the sea was affected by the second trumpet. This affected many marine life forms and shipping.

The third trumpet involved the skies and the rivers being affected. This polluted much of the water and many people died.

With the fourth trumpet the sun, moon and stars were affected. 

The people would have thought that things were bad enough, with man's lack of control of nature becoming apparent. But much worse was to come.

We see these visions one after another, but I don't think we necessarily need to interpret them that way, they could be things that happen over a long period of time.

Revelation 8:1-5 - The power of prayer

Now we get the seventh seal opened, and rather than leading to a simple conclusion it leads to a series of seven more revelations. In this case, seven trumpets. The seven trumpets could be looked at as the culmination of the seven seals, or as a replay of the events with some different perspectives added.

There was silence in heaven for half-an-hour, indicating that something momentous is about to happen. Seven special angels are mentioned. It was believed that the seven angels presented the prayers of the saints to God. A key point to note here is the vital role that the prayers of God's people play. There are things that God will not do without the prayers of the people. We are commanded to pray and pray we should, and pray we must.

The angel filled the censer with fire and hurled it upon the earth. Our prayers can seem weak at times, but in reality they are powerful. Note also the implication that the prayers were "violent". Sometimes we can be far too nice in prayer.

Revelation 7 - Multitudes worshipping the Lord

The previous six seals have been quite dramatic and not a little disturbing. We have seen that God has decreed the war and pestilence and famine that comes upon the earth, then we have seen that there is a number of the saints that have to be martyred. Note that this last point means that martyrdom is not in the hands of the devil, but under the control of the Lord. 

So, before the seventh seal is opened, John (and us) is given some much needed encouragement. 

First he sees the angels putting a seal on the foreheads of the servants of God. We will refer back to this when we come to the mark of the beast passage later on, for it is important in understanding those passages. 

The twelve tribes of Israel are mentioned, along with 12 000 from each tribe. So 144 000 in total. Now there is much debate over whether this refers specifically to the nation of Israel, or to spiritual Israel. I don't think the 12 000 should be taken literally, otherwise it would mean that a rather small number were saved from Israel. Though the 144 000 is not necessarily synonymous with those who are saved. 

In the list the tribe of Dan is not mentioned. This may be because of Dan's association with idolatry.

Then he sees a great multitude. The great multitude, from all nations, were praising God. In John's time the nations were not praising God, just as it is today. But the final outcome is that every knee shall bow.

The multitude were dressed in white. The angel then explains that they are the ones who came out of the great tribulation, The time of tribulation will be terrible, but it will also produce much fruit. Satan will throw everything at the church, but this will just demonstrate his ultimate defeat.

The multitude will be greatly blessed and will serve the Lord day and night.

Revelation 6:9-17 - Martyrs and Wrath

The first four seals focused on what is happening on earth, now we get a glimpse into what is happening in heaven. This too does away with any comfortable notions of God's plans. 

The fifth seal shows the souls of those who had been slain for their faith. A first things look hopeful, for they cry out to God to bring judgement upon the earth and to avenge them. As an aside we should note this attitude here. Too often we are far too nice and think that Jesus is "nice". The evidence of the Bible weighs very much against such a view. Judgement will come. If we are persecuted we need to realise that it is those who persecute who are in real trouble. 

The martyrs are given a white robe, but then told to wait a while until the full number of martyrs is complete. Part of the outworking of God's plan involves Christians dying their for their faith.

Then the sixth seal is opened and what we think of as apocalyptic events start happening. The sun turned black, the moon to red and stars fell from the sky, and mountains and islands were removed from their place. 

Next all mankind, from the least to the greatest, are filled with terror and they desperately want to hide from God. Remember that Adam and Eve wanted to hide from God after they had sinned. For the wrath of God is about to come upon the earth. 

A New Year Reflection

I look back on the year in wonder. Things I feared might happen faded away, but a far more fierce battle was going to ensue. One that went on all year, and isn’t over yet. One that brought new fears and new stresses. At several points I just felt like giving up. Again there were fears that never materialised, but then worse things that did happen, but things that failed to defeat me. And here I am at the end of the year still in one piece. Most important of all, my faith is stronger now than it was at the beginning.

Two key lessons. One is the importance of the relationship we have with the Lord. The fact that we love God matters to Him (Psalm 91:14-16), and we are precious to Him.

The other is that the Spirit of God will blow when He needs to (John 3:8). We want to be in control, we may even try to control God by prayer and fasting (and prayer and fasting are good, by the way). But we cannot control Him, we cannot control the future, and we do not need to. The Spirit will blow in our life at just the right time and in just the right way.

So my prayer for year ahead is “Your kingdom come, your will be done, in my life as it is in heaven”.

Revelation 6:3-8 - War, famine and pestilence

The second seal follows a similar pattern. It is opened by the Lamb and one of the living creatures says "come". This seal saw another horse come out (these are the four horseman of the apocalypse), this time to take peace from the earth and lead men to kill one another. Do note that it is the Lamb and the angels who unleash these. These events are not things that are random events out of the control of God, but are part of the plan.

Note also that these four horseman of the apocalypse are not just associated with the end, we see here insight into what has been happening throughout history. Remember Jesus' words in the Olivet discourse (Mark 13:7,8). Jesus said there would be wars, famine and earthquakes. 

The third seal releases a third horse, this time holding scales and talking about barley, wine and olive oil. This indicated famine, with the price of barley, a staple foodstuff, being vastly inflated. Yet the olive oil and wine would not be affected. One way to look at this last aspect is to remember that olive oil and wine are associated with luxury. Have you noticed that in times of trouble the rich often seem to be able to carry on in their own sweet way. In the recent financial crisis the bankers and financiers still seemed to be grossly overpaid. Indeed, for some unknown reason it is "essential" to pay these wonderfully talented people millions in order to do their job. These people who helped bring the world economy to its knees.

Then the fourth horse is released. Our English texts describe this as a pale horse, The Greek actually indicates a yellow-green colour and is the word from which we get chlorine. This horse released pestilence onto the world, killing many, many people. 

So we have war, pestilence, famine and economic trouble. All these are part of God's decree, there is a purpose in them. Now let me repeat that this does not absolve man from his responsibility, it is not the whole story, but it is a part of the story that we need need to appreciate.

Happy New Year!