27 April
In the study of the Gospel of Luke, when it comes to Luke 4:16-21, we see Jesus declaring his “Manifesto” in the synagogue, quoting and reading Isaiah 61:1-2, and concluding that this ‘Scripture’ was fulfilled in him. In effect, he was declaring himself to be the Messiah and God’s servant depicted in the prophecy of Isaiah.
We will not elaborate on this at this juncture; however, this passage in Luke points to the prophet Isaiah – the famous chapter 53 in Isaiah actually is a declaration of the gospel coming through the ‘Servant’ (the Messiah) through his mission and sufferings for fallen mankind – the concluding chapters 65 and 66 point to the new heavens and a new earth (65:17-25 and 66:22-24 in particular) and the impending severe judgement in the interim (66:3-6;15-17).
We see a parallel in the prophecy of Isaiah above with the book of Revelation – written by John the Apostle from God’s revelation to him.
Revelation is the last book in the Bible; John was the only surviving Apostle exiled to the island of Patmos and here, God revealed to him what is now written as the book of Revelation. In ‘harmony’ with Isaiah, John’s revelation covers the gospel and the church (God’s people), the judgments of God on His people and their purification, judgements also on the unrepented nations and the final triumph over sin, evil and the devil, with the consummation and glory of the new heavens and a new earth in the last chapter (also the last chapter of human history and the dawn of a new and glorious Age with Christ ruling the whole universe.
It is not feasible to cover the whole book of Revelation at this point of time (by God’s grace, I did pen ‘Reflections’ on this book – on the website “livinginthelastdays.com” – other books and reflections are also featured in this website for those interested – no copyright and free downloading in Christian fellowship).
But at this point of time in the developments in this world, where conflicts, famine, wars, calamities of various kinds, and catastrophes that include massive earthquake, floods, climate disasters (all corresponding with the ‘beginning of the birth pangs’ shared by Jesus in Matthew 24); together with the rise of immorality, brutality, abuse, corruption, unholiness and the like – all these pointing to the beginning of the end of the Old Age, and the rise of much pain, persecutions, sufferings for many. We affirm that no one knows when the Lord Jesus would come again (except the Heavenly Father) but certainly, the signs are pointing to the imminent return of the Lord, and the end of this known human history. History is not going around in circles but is proceeding to an end that is ordered by the Triune God and a beginning as well of the New Age and New Era.
The book of Revelation is not purely an epistle or a book of prophecy; it is also an apocalypse with its corresponding characteristics of symbols and signs. It has many allusions to the Old Testament.
As a letter or epistle, it is anchored firmly in the historical situation of the churches in Asia Minor that it addresses. It has reference to the specific situation and challenges of the believers in the Roman Empire and we need to understand how it reshapes the perspectives on and their response to their situation then.
As prophecy, Revelation purports to bring a word from the Lord into a specific situation, for specific people. It would be expected to reveal God’s perspective on the hearers, their behaviour and the challenges around them, alerting them to the course of action they must take to remain in return to favour with God, and so avoid judgement.
As an apocalypse Revelation accomplishes its goal by spreading before the eyes of the Christians in Asia Minor that larger canopy of space and time that puts this mundane reality in its proper perspective. It puts their everyday situations, choices and challenges in perspective by looking at their larger context. The world of those Christians will look different when seen in the light of the endless worship that surrounds God’s throne, the reality and ferocity of God’s judgements on idolaters, the rewards of faithfulness.
Revelation shows the true character of the emperor, the ruler cult and the city that has enslaved the world, the true struggle behind the scenes of the visible world, the true stakes of the choices believers make, the true nature of the character and message of other prophets in the communities John addresses.
John lifts the veil under which everyday realities in our visible world parade as all-important and ultimate, showing them all to be of secondary importance to the call of God. Thus John enables the Christians in Asia Minor to reconsider how they will act in the world. He frees them from responding to the demands of a political and economic system as if these were the ultimate powers to be reckoned with and enables them to respond instead to God, who, although invisible to the world, is nevertheless the only ultimate power. While Revelation appears to lift the veil from future events, its goal is also to lift the veil from contemporary actors, events and options.
So for us believers today, although we are very concerned about future events that would affect the church, God’s people, and the world, we need also to realise that Revelation “lifts the veil” for us to know how we should understand the current events, our proper responses before God as individual Christians and as a church in the light of these contemporary events – all these to ensure that we remain faithful to the Triune God in the face of opposing and different challenges and likely persecution and testing of our faith (by the formidable enemy (Satan) who manipulates the world to rebel against God and godly values; and promotes evil, ungodly desires and behaviour, as well as targets those who seek to be true and holy in trying and difficult circumstances).
God willing, we would proceed to the purpose and message of the book of Revelation in more detail, and this is truly relevant to us Christians living in the last days.
(B)
The Purpose of Revelation
John’s purposes for Revelation are as diverse as the audiences addressed and the particular challenges facing them. The common denominator in his pastoral response to these diverse situations is the desire to reveal for his congregations the true nature of the realities they encounter, the real crisis facing them, and the real significance of the choices they might make. As an “unveiling” the primary purpose is to open the eyes of the Christians to the spiritual dimension of the world around them – hence the use of apocalypse as the dominant genre in Revelation.
John writes so that the distinctive message and witness of the believers will not be muted but will continue to trumpet the call of the one God in the midst of the world. John not only predicts heightened tension between the Christians and society; he reveals that the tension will be heightened and that the conflict will escalate in his near future.
John confronts his readers with the one crucial challenge that must be given attention before all else – the foth-coming visitation of God and God’s Messiah (Rev. 1:4,8) – God is not only described as the ‘one who is and was’ but also as “the one who is coming”.
The greatest threat to the hearers are connected with not being prepared to encounter God at his coming, thus being exposed to the threat of the “second death” (Rev. 2:11) or being written out of the “book of life” (Rev. 3:5).The visions in this book amplify the great dangers of facing the “day of the wrath” of God and the Lamb (Rev. 6:12-17). In Revelation 14:14-20, John weaves together many Old Testament images of judgement as a means of reminding the hearers of God’s commitment to judge the world, treading down all who have acted as God’s enemies. John expands these images in order to impress all the more on the hearts the danger and horror of that judgement, and thus the paramount importance of living now to meet the challenge safely and be found a loyal servant of God. The primary impending crisis – the real crisis facing each audience – is God’s judgement. What is most needed is a strategy to encounter and survive that crisis rather than the less threatening crisis of temporary hardship or deprivation.
Unfortunately, many believers, in John’s time and even today, are more concerned with the temporary hardship, deprivation they will encounter in order to be faithful to God rather than the real coming crisis in meeting God’s judgement.
As Christians refuse to share the honour of God or God’s Anointed with any other at any cost, their own honour in God’s sight and God’s kingdom is assured. Failure to reserve divine honours for God and the Lamb might result in temporary advantages, but ultimately it will lead to greater and more lasting loss and disgrace. The Christians are thus motivated to a lifestyle of continued witness to the testimony of Jesus and Word of God. The role of the martyrs, those who die for the sake of their Christian confession, is accorded the highest value in Revelation.
The way to overcome, and thus to enjoy the promises extended to the “one who overcomes,” means separation from the dominant culture and resistance to its efforts to ‘reform’ the Christians. It involves obedience to the summons to believers to “come out from her” (Rev. 18:4), to enact a radical separation from what is ungodly, what is incompatible with living a faithful and obedient response to the God and to the Lamb.
Whatever temporal benefits might be gained by playing along with a system founded in blood, greed and self-delusion of our own soul are too great a price to pay. This is the message of Revelation – not only to believers in John’s time – but also a pertinent message to us believers living nearer to the second coming of the Lord Jesus and to the coming judgement of God.