MPC 7th March 2004.Revelation 6-7 - "When are we going to get there?"
Phil Campbell MPC 7th March 2004.
On the Morning of September 11, 2001, Reverend John Mason from Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York was putting the finishing touches to a sermon which he'd called, "Disillusioned with God? Why Doesn't He Clean Up the Mess?" when the 'planes hit the towers.
He says, "The second jet had screamed past us, low and just overhead of where we are and the impact sounded like a sonic boom. From our balcony we could see where both the towers had been hit, the gaping wounds ablaze and belching smoke. We were numbed and could only pray that people might be able to escape. When the first tower fell there was an enormous roar and shaking; it felt like an earthquake. A dense cloud of smoke and dust rushed past our balcony (we are on the 14th floor) and suddenly we were enveloped in complete darkness. It was like midnight. We had no idea what was happening and we both wondered whether our building too had been hit, and whether this might be the end."
Why doesn't God just clean up the mess? It's a fair question, isn't it? And a bit like the kids in the car on a long hot trip. You want to say, when are we going to get there? You're heading for the beach for a sensational holiday, but the trip's almost unbearable. When are we going to get there? How long... til things are better?
It's the same question you'll see being asked in the middle of chapter 6. These faithful and Godly Christians, they've been put to death for proclaiming Jesus; and their souls in John's vision are crying out from the altar... when are we going to get there?
John says in verse 9, "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?'"
How long do God's people have to put up with a world where the message of Jesus is unwelcome? When are you going to put a stop to the suffering? When are you going to step in and stop the wars and the riots and the hunger and the sickness that tears our world apart. And when is the day going to come when we're no longer ridiculed and persecuted and put to death for our faith? When Jesus will be honoured... as he should be? Why don't you just step in now... and end all the mess?
Which is the question John Mason was asking in the talk he was preparing... when he looked out the window on september 11. And was very much on the mind of the suffering Christians in the Roman empire... who we've already met in the book of Revelation.
And as we've seen the past few weeks, it's to those suffering first century Christians... that this description of John's vision is addressed.
Now before we go any further with our passage today I want to ask you for a minute what you're expecting to hear. More than that, what you're expecting the book of Revelation is all about.
Because especially from this point on, there's a world of expectations. And a world of theological options. And it all comes back to what you're expecting to find.
Just as an example, we're reading about a vision of seven seals being peeled of a scroll. What are you expecting that's going to turn into as we work out what it means. I mean, maybe you think it's going to turn into a timetable of history. And so many Christians see it that way. I was reading an article yesterday that gave each of the seven seals a date. And the date on Seal Number 6 was spring 2002. They'd dated all the others, they'd calculated a set number of years between the seven seals, and that's where they finished. Which means seal number 7 is just around the corner.
If they're right.
But can I ask you, who told you we're meant to turn the seven seals into some kind of calendar?
There's a more general way of doing it. That uses technical labels. And complicated diagrams.
That somehow get drilled into Christian kids in Sunday Schools in some denominations from kindergarten, so that terms like the tribulation and the rapture are second nature. And again, the expectation is that things like the great tribulation are somewhere up ahead. And are very, very scary. And are actually being predicted by a passage like the one we're looking at today. Especially chapter 7 verse 15. "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.'"
But can I ask you again, in a book full of symbolism meant to comfort suffering first century Christians, who told you that the vision's all about some sort of end times tribulation in the year 2007? Or whenever it's meant to be?
And who says... that you're meant to decode the seven seals and the seven trumpets and the seven bowls into some sort of super complex timeline... like you get in the Scofield reference bible? That first appeared in 1907?
And can I add one more? Because who says the crowd of 144,000 in chapter 7 has got even the slightest bit to do with Jehovah's Witnesses?
Can I ask you today to step back from your presuppositions... if you've got any... and ask where they're coming from. Because chances are if you've been around the traps for a while as a Christian you've got a patchwork of thoughts and ideas that are built on someone else's ideas of what you're meant to dig out of the vision. And like an a priori argument, you get out of it exactly what you put in. You make your conclusions before you come to the text. And then read in whatever you're expecting to find there.
So can I say for today, how about we try coming to Revelation 6 and 7 with a clean slate? And see a vision. Given to John to encourage his first century readers. Because we know from chapter 1 that's what the whole book's meant to be.
A vision. Which in essence I'd suggest works in the mind in much the same way as a dream. Where in your minds eye you can flash from scene to scene in a moment. Where this means that... and then something else. Where colours and images are driven by deep feelings and fears. And maybe, we'll see, an even deeper confidence.
So let me ask the question, if you dreamed the dream that makes up chapter 6 and 7 and you woke up in the middle of the night, would you say, Gee I've had a good dream? Or would you be in cold sweat, and you'd sit up in bed shaking and say, Gee I've had a nightmare.
Maybe, in a sense, it depends what life is like when you're awake! But more than that... it's got to depend, hasn't it, on how the dream ends? And how the fears and terrors in the dream are resolved.
Let's spend a minute though, remembering what life's like when you're awake as a first century Christian. Because ultimately, for the people John's writing to, every waking moment is a nightmare. And it may be there have been times in life when that's exactly how it's been for you as well.
But think back. Our first talk in the series, I mentioned some rules for reading Revelation. And rule number 1 was, remember the original readers. Christians in the seven key churches of Asia Minor.
How's life? Just flip back a few pages to chapter 2 for a reminder in plain English. The seven real life letters that kicked us off.
The church at Smyrna. Chapter 2 verse 8. Jesus says to them,
I know your afflictions and your poverty - yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Or Pergamum. Chapter 2 verse 13.
I know where you live - where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city-where Satan lives.
In poverty. Afflicted by the Jews. Who want to see them dead. Facing slander. And prison. And persecution. You reckon you've been through some bad days? Try waking up to that every morning. Your friend Antipas; all he did was testify to Jesus. And they killed him for it. Try waking up to that every morning. That's the reality.
Let me add another. From historical records outside the bible. Tell me whether the nightmare is John's vision. Or daily life.
Her name's Felicity. It's the year 108 AD. And Felicity is well known in the social circles of Rome. Well off, from a respected family. And a devout Christian, with seven fine Christian sons. When a new law is brought in that says every citizen of Rome, had to swear a test oath before the Magistrate, to sift out the Christians. They started with Felicity's sons. While she watched. Januarius, the oldest, refused to take the oath disowning Jesus. And so was whipped, and then pressed to death with weights. Felix and Philip, the next two sons, refused to take the oath disowning Jesus, and were clubbed to death. Silvanus, the fourth son, refused to take the oath. And was thrown off a cliff. Alexander, Aitalis and Martial, the last three sons, were beheaded. And then finally, after watching it all, Felicity was beheaded with the same sword as her three youngest sons.
Now as we come at last to Revelation 6 and 7, ask yourself again. You might have thought it was scary. But what if real life is the nightmare? And the vision actually has an incredibly encouraging ending?
So let's step back a little and take a look at the picture. And see what it spells out. Forget the diagrams. Forget the timelines. And try to see the broad sweep.
Seven seals peeling off a scroll. Painting a picture, I want to suggest, that doesn't need much explaining for a first century Christian. Because it's a picture of exactly what life is like. For them, and sometimes for us.
A picture that says in a nutshell, you're going to face turmoil in this life. But there's safety up ahead.
A picture that starts in the throne room we saw last week. The crucified lamb, the only one worth to peel the seven seals on the scroll. As they peel off one by one, first you get four coloured horsemen. Who are bringing death and destruction.
A white horse... in verse 2. And his rider rides out with a bow as a conqueror bent on conquest.
The second seal... a fiery red horse with a rider who takes away peace. And makes men slay each other. I mean, it's incredible, isn't it, that we'll kill one another so happily? That we'll take Felicity's sons one by one and we'll crush them and beat them and behead them. Fellow citizens. And it's been the same time after time. As you see the bodies litter the streets of Haiti last week; or the hundreds killed in the Iraqi bombs. The rider of the red horse is alive and well.
Seal 3. A black horse, in verse 5. A rider with scales weighing up rations. And with conquest and with war has come hunger. Because the voice says in verse 6, "A quart of wheat for a days wages." Which means you're working all day for enough wheat to buy a single loaf of bread.
And the fourth seal, the pale rider. Made famous by Clint Eastwood. And his name is death. And hades follows close behind him. And in the vision, it's like a quarter of the earth is being consumed by war and by famine and by plague and being ripped apart by wild animals. There's danger everywhere you turn.
Which again, is a very vivid picture of the fears that were part of the package of life in the Roman Empire. And life in the world today. It's not John's vision that's scary. Turn on the news any day of the week. It's life that's scary. Because if it's not the threat of nature and famine, it's the threat of people. Who want to kill people. Whether it's because of war or because of politics or because of anger or because of envy.
And there's one more reason to add to the list. In seal 5.
Pick up from verse 9. As the Lamb that represents Jesus opens seal number 5.
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?"
People like Antipas from Pergamum. Like Felicity and her seven sons from Rome. How long? How Long, sovereign Lord, til you're going to put everything right? Til you're going to bring justice? Til you're going to avenge our blood?
How long til the powers of conquest and of injustice and of cruelty are overturned?
Seal six comes off in verse 12, with a huge earthquake and the sun turning dark and the moon blood red. And the stars fall like ripe figs off a tree and the sky rolls up, and the mountains are ripped from their places.
And finally, verse 15, there's the picture we've been waiting for. Finally, in the midst of it all... finally, the kings of the earth have met their match. And are put in their place. And what a great picture it's got to be... when the kings of the earth and the princes and generals and the rich and mighty and everyone else who's stood against the Lord Jesus, finally, they get a taste of reality. And verse 16, call on the rocks to fall on them... and hide them... from the one who sits on the thone... and from the great anger of the lamb. Because the day has finally come.
Here are the ones who have conquered. Here are the ones who have killed. Here are the ones who have lived in unjust luxury while you've starved. Here are the ones who have persecuted and killed your Christian friends. And at the end, they're grovelling in the face of the justice of God and the lamb. Good dream? Or bad dream?
It gets better. Because if you keep reading in chapter 7 verse 2 and 3, God's servants are marked out and protected with a seal on their foreheads. And there's a huge crowd of faithful Israelites; 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes. A perfect number. Safe and secure. According to plan. Listed off in verses 5 to 8. And then the rest of us as well. Verse 9, a great multitude; too many to count. From every nation, every tribe, every people, every language; standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. And they're dressed in white robes and they're waving palm branches and they're singing the praises of the God who saves; and of the lamb. And the angels and the elders and the living creatures join in... worshipping God and saying
Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!
And we're told in verse 15 and 16, they're safe at last. God's spread his tent over them. And verse 16, "Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;" And picking up the 23rd Psalm, "He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Again, can you see... a simple picture. With two very distinct outcomes. That spell a very distinct reversal... of the way life's looking for those suffering Christians. Turmoil in this life. But safety ahead. It's a great dream!
And finally as scroll seven unfolds... in chapter 8 verse 1... there's simply silence. Rest. Like the seventh day of creation.
With that picture in mind, can I point out three key issues in the passage as we wind up? That are highlighted by three key questions. As the scroll unfolds. Maybe you noticed them as the pictures unfolded... that at key points there are three key questions. And you'll see them highlighted in your outline.
Chapter 6 verse 10. How long? How long til there'll be justice?
Chapter 6 verse 17. The mighty ones of the world as they quiver. Saying who can stand in the judgement?
And chapter 7 verse 13. An elder. Asking John what seems like an obvious question to draw something significant to our attention. Who are these? Dressed in white?
How long? How long until Justice will be done? They were asking it back then. And we're asking it now. John Mason was asking it as he looked out the window at the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre. In John's vision, the souls of Christians killed for their faith are calling out in a loud voice, how long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"
And the answer is, wait a little longer. Be patient. Don't panic. Just wait... until it all plays out. Verse 11, "Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed."
Because the point is, there are worse things that can happen than killed for your faith.
And Justice will come. In an unmistakeable way.
Which takes us to the second question. In chapter 6 verse 17. Which is the question
Apparently on Monday night's edition of A Current Affair, there's a report from Bali that promises on the ads to turn your stomach. By the look of the previews, Paul Barry is reporting from the prison holding one of the Bali bombers. Where apparently, Amrozi or whichever one it is, is being treated like royalty by the prison warders.
Don't you hate it when justice isn't done?
Well, it will be done. And just because Jesus is pictured as the sacrificial lamb, doesn't mean there's not going to be justice for the world that rejects him. And persecutes his people. And as their secure world and their power evaporates around them, they're asking question number two. Who can stand? Against the angry lamb?
They're calling to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!" Verse 17, "For the great day of their wrath has come... and who can stand?"
I wonder if you've ever asked that question yourself? And wondered how you'll stand... at the final judgement. It's a good question to ask. Because you'll notice it's not just the kings and the princes and the powerful and the rich under judgement. It's the ordinary people as well.
And in the fact of that, in the face of real justice... who can stand?
Which leads us neatly to the third question in chapter 7 verse 13. Because there's actually a huge crowd that stands. And actually celebrates. And it's very much worth taking note of who they are.
The great multitude from every tribe in verses 9 and 10, wearing white robes, standing before the throne. They can stand!
Verse 13, just to make sure he's noticed, one of the elders asks John, who are they? He says, "These in white robes--who are they, and where did they come from?"
John says, you know who they are. And he says in verse 15, these are the ones that have suffered and stayed faithful. These are the ones who have come through the tough times. These are the ones... who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.
The great tribulation, unless you want to pull out your Scofield Bible diagrams and make it complicated, it's the tribulation the first century Christians are suffering at the hands of Rome. And anything similar since.
But the key point is this. The ones who can stand in the face of God's judgement... are the ones who are washed whiter than white... by the sacrificial death of Jesus. If you've seen Mel Gibson's movie, you'll have an incredibly vivid picture. Of the death of the perfect man on behalf of the imperfect. Of the sacrifice of an innocent life... for the sake of the guilty.
Which means in the end it's not being innocent or perfect or even pretty good that lets us stand before God's judgement with confidence. It's keeping our confidence in the Lord Jesus. Through thick and thin.
Two quick thoughts to finish.
First, Expectations. Expectations of what you're reading in Revelation. Expectations of Life. If you're expecting a complicated timetable, I guess you can invent one from the Seven Seals. But I'm not convinced that's what we're meant to be doing. What we are meant to be doing is re-aligning our expectations of life. So that when hard times come we're not surprised. That when towers fall and bombs explode, we're not saying so much that September 11 2001 is predicted by the second seal... as that life continues to be what life has always been. And that our ultimate hope lies somewhere else.
Which brings us to the final point. Faithfulness. Because in the end, that's what John keeps calling for. No matter how tough. I mean, you can't set out to follow a crucified Messiah with the idea that you're going on a picnic. And so he's urging Christians back then and he's urging Christians today... to keep on testifying about Jesus. And keep on living with the future in mind. Knowing that justice will come. And that you can look forward to it with confidence... as you keep your trust in the blood of the one who died to make your track record spotless and clean.
In the face of a nightmare world... it's a great expectation.