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38th Street Church of Christ 3904 38th Street NW Canton, Ohio 44718 330-492-5523 Fax: 330-493-7119 |
“Revelation: God's Vision |
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I. Introduction.
A. The theological answer to the problem of evil is highlighted
in this section of John’s vision, beginning at 12:1. The
focus is upon Jesus, the king of God’s kingdom, the
“. . . ruler over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 1:5).1. Between Revelation 12:1 and 14:5, there are seven
unnumbered figures:a. the woman with the child.
b. the dragon.
c. the male child.
d. the archangel Michael.
e. the beast from the sea.
f. the beast from the earth.
g. the Lamb on Mt. Zion.
2. The overall message intended by these seven
figures is that Satan, who tried to defeat God’s
purpose at the birth of the Messiah, will continue
his evil purpose, by attacking the church with the
Roman cult of emperor worship. This would cause
many to worship the beast, and receive its number,
or sign, of ownership. In contrast, those who refuse
to compromise their faith in Jesus, the Lamb,
received His and the Father’s name as a sign of
ownership.3. So, the conquered became the conquerors! They
stand with the Lamb on Mt. Zion, and, with the
Lamb, they reign over God’s creation.B. The passage begins with John’s seeing an amazing picture
“. . . in heaven.” There is a woman, clothed with “. . . the
sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a
garland of twelve stars.” (12:1).1. If the “woman” is the “mother” of the Messiah,
then, in a literal sense, she should be identified as
Mary. But, in the figurative language of
“Revelation”, this figure is hardly identifiable with
one single human being.2. The persecution of the woman by the dragon
suggests that she can be more correctly seen as the
church, but the church didn’t “give birth” to the
Messiah. Rather, the Messiah established the
church (Matthew 16:18).3. More properly, the woman represents the
“Messianic community” – the people of God
through whose line of descent the Messiah would
enter the world, to be its Savior.a. It was from the “chosen people” of God,
Israel, that Jesus Christ came, in His human
lineage, and form. These people who are
God’s, symbolically, does include those so-
designated before Christ’s birth, and those
so-designated after His death and
resurrection – that is, His church. (It is
interesting that, in both the Old and New
Testaments, God’s people are referred to as
His “bride”: cf. Isaiah 54:5; Hosea 2:19-20;
Revelation 19:7; 21:9; II Cor. 11:2).C. From this vision in Revelation 12:1-5, we really glean three
important points:1. It is out of God’s chosen people that the Messiah
(Christ) came.2. There are forces of evil, spiritual and human, (the
“dragon” could be equated with King Herod the
Great, who attempted to have the child whom the
Magi called a “king” destroyed), which are set on
the destruction of God’s people (Matt. 2:2; 16).3. But, however strong the opposition against them,
and however terrible their sufferings, the people of
God are under His protection, and, because of this,
can never be ultimately destroyed.D. Satan has ever attempted to impede God’s plan, and thwart
His purposes. He did all he could to prevent Jesus’
ministry from developing (Herod’s treachery and Jesus’
temptation). In Jesus’ death Satan had a hand (the Jewish
religious leaders; Judas; Pilate – all acted as his agents).
But, God triumphed in raising His Son from the dead.
Now, the church is to know that Satan’s opposition has not
ceased – and all his resources, all his energies, all his power
is turned against them. But, as in the resurrection, God’s
power is greater and it will defeat all of Satan’s devices.II. At War With The Enemy.
A. Now we move to the fourth of the seven figures, the
archangel Michael. In Jewish tradition, Michael is the
undefeated prince of God’s heavenly “army.”1. As there are two clearly identifiable sides pictured
here (“Michael and his angels” and “the dragon and
his angels”; 12:7), this represents a choice – whose
side are we going to be on?2. One question raised about this “war . . . in heaven”
is: “When did this occur?” Is this something that
happened before or after Christ’s time on earth? It
almost seems as if the “dragon”, in his hatred,
pursued the Messiah even into heaven – where he
and his servant angels were met by Michael and his
forces and finally cast out from God’s presence.
The other view is that this conflict preceded the
events described in verses 1-5.a. This second view reflects, again, a
traditional belief that a “war” occurred in
heaven when Satan, as an angel of God,
became ambitious to be even greater than
God. His resulting defeat caused him to be
“cast out.” What caused the “rebellion” was
pride, something possibly alluded to in
I Timothy 3:6: “. . . lest being puffed up
with pride he fell into the same
condemnation as the devil.”
b. Another line of thought, however, pictures
Satan as, even after the rebellion, an angel
with access to the presence of God, as in
Job and in Zechariah (3:1-2).B. But, one must be brought back to the overriding
point: in apocalyptic writing when an “event”
occurred is of no concern. It is what the event says
to the hearer or reader that is important.1. The message here is that Satan has already
been defeated. God, and Christ, are
victorious, and Jesus already reigns in the
eternal kingdom (verses 10-11).2. Through Christ’s victory over Satan, the
persecuted and martyred became
conquerors – with Jesus. They have a part in the
victory through the “blood of the Lamb” (Jesus’
death on the cross) and through the “word of their
testimony,” which they were themselves willing to
die for – “. . . and they did not love their lives to the
death.”3. The dragon is still a threat to God’s creation. He
turns nations against God’s people (the woman; the
community of the saved), pursues, and persecutes,
them.III. The Power Of The Beast.
A. Chapter 13 gives us the fifth and sixth figures – the sea
beast (1-10), and the earth beast (11-18).B. John’s next vision is “. . . a beast rising out of the sea”
(13:1). The general consensus is that this figure
represents the civil power of Rome – the Roman Empire.1. In the last vision, we saw Satan cast out of heaven –
once and for all – and he comes to earth in rage and
fury. (Revelation 12:12).2. Knowing his time is “short” he is determined to do
as much harm and damage as he can. To
accomplish this purpose, he delegates power to two
“beasts”, who become the central characters of this
vision in Revelation 13. These beasts are now the
agents and instruments through which Satan’s
malevolent power is unloosed on earth.3. To John, and his contemporaries, the Roman
Empire was the very incarnation of evil and Satanic
power. His allusion in 13:1-10 harkens back to
Daniel 7:3-7, where “. . . four great beasts came up
from the sea, different from each other.” (Dan. 7:3).
These beasts in Daniel symbolize great empires,
which exercise world-dominating power, one of
which, when Daniel was written, was exercising
its power then. Babylon, Medo-Persia, and
Alexander the Great’s empire follow one another
in quick succession. These empires were savage,
cruel, and inhumane – “beastly” as it were.4. Now in one single beast, John combines all the
features of Daniel’s four (verse 2; READ).5. This beast has “seven heads” and “ten horns.”
These represent the rulers and emperors of Rome
(Seven ruler, plus the three who were in quick
succession after the death of Nero, A.D. 68). On
the heads were “a blasphemous name” – names
that were meant to suggest personal divinity. The
emperors’ claims to divine rule were an affront to
God.6. This “sea beast” is allowed to persecute God’s
people, even to conquer them for a time.
(READ verses 4-10).7. Note, from verse 10, the concept that Christianity
is not to be defended by force. One who takes up
the sword, perishes by the sword. (cf. Matt. 26:52).
The gospel of peace cannot be defended by physical
violence. We cannot uphold what is right by doing
what is wrong. The “weapons” of Christianity are
steadfastness and loyalty. The Christian must
accept what being a Christian requires. Faith,
patience, trust in God are all necessary. Let God’s
power have its way – and victory is assured.C. The “. . . beast coming out of the earth. . .” (verse 11), the
second beast, exercises all the power of the first beast. It is
the organization of emperor worship. It is the whole
provincial structure of magistrates and priesthoods
designed to enforce emperor worship. It’s the organization
that confronted Christians with a choice: acknowledge
“Caesar is Lord,” or die.1. Here is what brought persecution – and death – to
faithful Christians.2. So, we now see the combination of civil power with
religious power. Almost every major city of the
Roman world had one or more temples to the gods
of Rome and the Emperor. This earth beast, that
looks like a “lamb”, but speaks like a “dragon”
epitomizes the power that seduces people to
worship false gods.3. Those who succumb to the seduction receive the
“. . . mark or the name of the beast” (13:17). Those
who do not succumb are killed (13:15). Before
such an extreme penalty was imposed, other
consequences could come to the faithful Christian
(READ, verse 17). A person would certainly lose
his job; if he had a business, it would be boycotted;
economic pressure would be brought to bear – so,
even if he didn’t die, he could hardly live, or
support a family.4. The “mark of the beast” parodies the “phylacteries”
of the Jews, as it appears “on their right hand and
on their foreheads.” (verse 16).D. Verse 18 has caused much speculation (READ). Does it
refer to a specific person? Again, let us recall our emphasis
upon symbolism versus literalism. Much speculation has
resulted from attempting to equate numerical equivalents
to letters – to produce a name. The real key to
understanding this verse and “666” lies in the words
“. . . it is the number of a man” – not a god, but a human
being. The imperfect numeral “six” represents, not
divinity, but humanness. To worship a man (such as an
Emperor) is to dishonor the true and living God, and to
violate His first commandment (Exodus 20:3).[Note: One interesting theory on what, or who “666”
refers to is that, because Chapter 13 talks about a head
mortally wounded and then restored (such as in verse 3),
it is this “head” that, in the end, is going to be worshipped,
and it is this worship which the beast is going to spread,
and enforce. There was a legend that said the cruel
Emperor Nero would be resurrected and would come back
into power and terrorize people, as he’d done before. The
name “Nero” in Latin, with number equivalents adds up to
“616”, which some scholars believe is the actual number of
Revelation 13:18 based on ancient manuscripts. It is
so-noted in the Revised Standard Version. In Hebrew, the
number equivalent of the name “Nero Caesar” is “666.”
So, the conclusion is that the “number of the beast”
represents Nero in a resurrected form – one like him and
with his cruelty. Domitian fit that profile, and he reigned
from A.D. 81-96; what some see as the time of the giving
of “Revelation”].IV. Conclusion: The Lamb On Mt. Zion (14:1-5).
A. The seventh figure is the Lamb “. . . standing on Mt. Zion”
(14:1). With Him there are 144,000 – of whom we already
had reference in Chapter 7 (v. 4). These are also “marked;”
with the Father’s name written on their foreheads.” This
“mark” stands for:1. Ownership. These belong to the Lamb of God.
2. Loyalty. These have proven their fidelity to the
Lamb.3. Security. These are safe in the presence of the
Lamb.4. Dependence. These rely upon the love and grace
of the Lamb.B. It is the Lamb who rules over God’s creation, not the beast
of the earth. The 144,000 symbolizes God’s church,
consecrated and victorious. They have refused to worship
the beast. They are the redeemed of God (14:5).C. God has an answer to evil. It is His Son, our Savior, the
Lamb of God. The ascendancy of evil is only a temporary
matter. This “new song” of redemption – and victory –
belongs to God’s people.D. Now, another interlude occurs, preceding the final
judgments of God. That interlude is a message of God’s
mercy.