I have asked a lot of questions of the book of the Revelation.
I have been asked by
others to explain various parts of the Revelation.
I’m sitting here in the
dark this unbelievably cold Monday morning (-19°F wind chill) with my feet by
the space heater and my hands around a mug of coffee, thinking about what
questions I don’t ask of the Revelation – and what questions I’ve never been
asked about this book.
“Blessed is he who
reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things
which are written in it; for the time is near” (1:3). Why don’t we read
this book publicly if the blessing goes to reading and hearing? How can we “heed
the things which are written in it”? What does this book ask of us? I fear our
main motivation in coming to this book is to get information about events that we
perceive to be threatening to us (and our safety, prosperity, and status quo) –
we come to it to find what we need to prepare for that which we fear, rather
than coming to it seeking to be what we are called to be in Christ.
“I, John,
your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom
and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called
Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (1:9). Have
I ever been anywhere even remotely unpleasant because of “the word of God and
the testimony of Jesus”? Why not? If, “in Jesus,” John the Revelator said there
was “tribulation and kingdom and perseverance,” do I live as if that was the
norm for Christianity in this life? Do the books I read teach this? The songs I
listen to and sing? The teachers and preachers I hear? Why not? What’s
different about John’s Christianity and mine?
“I know your deeds and
your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and
you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are
not, and you found them to be false” (2:2). How should we “put to the
test those who call themselves apostles”?
“…you have perseverance
and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary” (2:3). What
if I do grow “weary”? How can I be like the Ephesians, who were commended
because they did not grow tired in the race?
“But I have this against
you, that you have left your first love” (2:4). What “love” takes priority
over what Jesus calls “first” in our lives?
“Do not fear what you
are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into
prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for
ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of
life” (2:10). How can I prepare to be so “tested” and “faithful” in such “tribulation”?
“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”
(2:14; see also 2:20). What would “the teaching of Balaam” look like in a 21st-century
context? What are some manifestations of this today? Are we tolerating what the
church in Pergamum tolerated?
“…I will give to each
one of you according to your deeds” (2:23). How does this fit with a Gospel of
grace through faith apart from works?
“He who overcomes, and
he who keeps My deeds until the end…” (2:26). How do we keep Jesus’ “deeds”?
“I know your deeds,
that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Wake
up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have
not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. So remember what
you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent” (3:1-3). How do
we obey these commands to revive ourselves?
“I know your deeds,
that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So
because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of
My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need
of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor
and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by
fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may
clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be
revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see” (3:15-18). Am
I driven by a clearly-seen and desperate need for Christ in all things? Or do I
broadcast a self-sufficiency with a little Jesus added for appearance’s sake?
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God, the Almighty, Who was and Who is and Who is to come…worthy are You,
our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for
You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were
created…worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You
were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every
tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom
and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth…worthy is
the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and
might and honor and glory and blessing…to Him Who sits on the throne, and
to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion
forever and ever…Amen” (4:8,11; 5:9-10,12-14). Do I sing and pray like they do
in heaven? Am I moved by what so powerfully moves them? Why not?
“When the Lamb broke
the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those
who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of
the testimony which they had maintained” (6:9). Again, I ask: is my life
any more difficult in this world because of “the word of God” or because of “the
testimony”? Why not?
“Another angel came and
stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense
was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints
on the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the
incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s
hand. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the
altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder
and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake” (8:1-5). If heaven
weaponized my prayers, would the earth shake, or would I just get more
comfortable? What earth-shaking prayers have I prayed today, this week, this
year?
“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; and they did not repent of their murders nor of
their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts”
(9:20-21). In what areas of my life do I refuse to repent? What idols do I
treasure?
“And they overcame
him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their
testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death”
(12:11). With what weapons do I fight and resist in this world? How can I fight
and resist like these overcomers?
“So the dragon was
enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children,
who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus”
(12:17). Would the dragon even notice me? Is my chief identity that I “keep the
commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus”? Or is anything like
this description way down on the list of self-identifiers?
“And the whole
earth was amazed and followed after the beast” (13:3). Am I “amazed”
and attracted to the same things as “the whole earth”? Are my affections any
different?
“These are the ones who
have…kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the
Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as
first fruits to God and to the Lamb. And no lie was found in their
mouth; they are blameless” (14:4-5). Have I made this character study as
high a priority as deciphering “666”? Why not?
“Behold, I am
coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his
clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his
shame” (16:15). What does it say about my heart and priorities that I am more
curious about “Armageddon” than the promise and call of this beatitude?
“Let us rejoice and be
glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come
and His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself
in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is
the righteous acts of the saints” (19:7-8). Shouldn’t we be deep in the
Word, desiring to become masters of understanding and living this text? How can
we live this text and obey it? Isn’t this more important than current politics
and events, more valuable to our souls than speculative timelines or a seeking
of signs?
“I saw the
souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus
and because of the word of God” (20:4). Again, how has the “testimony of Jesus”
and “the word of God” caused even a slight dissonance to my life in this world?
Isn’t answering that question more important than convincing you my millennial
position is correct?
There are many other
questions we should be asking of the Revelation. Questions about our souls, our
lives, our churches, our worship, our witness before a world that hates the
Jesus of the Bible. Rather than asking “when,” maybe we should instead respond
to the Revelation with a question of “how.” How are we to live faithfully right
now in our lives in light of the Revelation? No matter what the headlines say, how
does the Revelation say I should follow Jesus? Oh, my soul! Why have I spent so
much time on the other stuff of the Revelation to the exclusion of a brokenness
and hunger to live out the descriptions of normal, daily, true discipleship?
How have I divided brethren and not adequately fed the sheep by ignoring these
things? Lord, help. Help me ask the questions I should ask of your Revelation.
