[1] We are told to obey the prophecy of Revelation (1:3) – and how do you obey a prophecy? Well, prophecy in the Bible is usually (like, 85% of the time) a revelation of who God is, what God desires, and what God demands of us rather than a discussion of the future. So think of Revelation primarily (though not exclusively) as a handbook for Christian living in challenging times, with an ending to human history in which the supremacy of Christ is made clear.[2] Revelation is meant to strengthen our faith that God is with us now in our trials, and that He will one day end the groaning of a sin-soaked world and usher in a New Heaven and a New Earth.
I think we typically focus on the apocalyptic stuff in Revelation when we think of the book, but that’s not how it starts. It starts with personal letters to churches acknowledging their hardship, commending or correcting them as needed, and pointing them toward the goodness of what God offers them in His Kingdom. Then John gives an artist’s illustration of all the dynamics referenced in the letter.
If you have seen or read A Monster Calls or I Kill Giants,[3] you know how this works. They are stories about grief. Part of the movie is ‘real world’ conflict, but the story quickly bumps into an imaginative fantasy world with giants and monsters in which the same story unfolds in a way that captures our imaginations along with our hearts.
So we are going to move through the letters, but I will try to bring in the artist’s illustrations as we go along.
THE 7 LETTERS
1:19 “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery[4] of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels[5] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”
The letters address 7 congregations in Asia Minor in the order a messenger taking a circuitous route would have traveled. There were surely more churches: weigh the number 7, the number of completion. It’s a message for all churches. There is a pattern in the letters:
the 1st and 7th – the bookends – are struggling with a lukewarmness that comes from a lack of passion for Christ and His Kingdom. For the 7th, God has nothing good to say.
The 2nd and 6th – the poor, the suffering, the powerless - are doing well spiritually.
The middle three are once again in trouble.
If these 7 churches represent the ‘church’ at the time (#weighthenumbers) and stand in for churches that are and will be, then we are more likely to be in a church that is struggling with spiritual compromise rather than flourishing in an unadulterated splendor.
I don’t say this to discourage us. It’s just to point out that we have to be willing to do self-assessment and repent as needed. Odds are good that this needs to be the rhythm or our personal and corporate life, especially if we live in circumstances where we are comfortable.[6] Poverty and persecution do not guarantee holiness, but if this overview of churches is meant to reveal something important to us, it would suggest that cultural hardship has ability to refine the church in ways that cultural comfort does not.
EPHESUS
Inscriptions record that Ephesus was one of the greatest cities of Asia with libraries, gymnasiums, and ornate administrative buildings. The city was a favorite with tourists of the time.[7] Ephesus was a major center for the worship of Roma, the spiritual embodiment of the Empire. It’s famous temple for Artemis was one of the Seven Wonders of the World.[8] This temple worship meant a lot of prostitutes since Artemis was the goddess of fertility. The economy was dependent on trade associated with trade guilds centered around temple worship.[9] So, Ephesus: beautiful, wealthy, exciting, full of alluring pleasures, the height of what Roman culture had to offer.
2 The One: Write down My words, and send them to the messenger (angel) [10] of the church in Ephesus. [11]“These are the words of the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand[12], the One who walks and moves among the golden lampstands [13]:
This is to the church in Ephesus. Any interpretation of the book of Revelation needs to have made sense to the readers in those seven churches. We can and do benefit from what these churches were told because this is a Revelation of what was and what is to come, but the revelation was to them first, and it didn’t do them any good if they didn’t understand it :)
“I know your deeds, your tireless labor, and your patient endurance. I know you do not tolerate those who do evil. Furthermore, you have diligently tested those who claim to be apostles, and you have found that they are not true witnesses. You have correctly found them to be false.[14] I know you are patiently enduring and holding firm on behalf of My name. You have not become faint.
Okay, kudos to the Christians in Ephesus! They are enduring in the face of the hardships that come with being a Christian in Ephesus. That could be anything from resisting temptation, to paying the social and economic price of not worshipping in the cults of the empire, to physical persecution. They are also guarding the truths of the faith, and they are nailing it. These are big deals. Who wouldn’t want this on their resume?
“However, I have this against you: you have abandoned your first love[15] [for Christ and others[16]]. Do you remember what it was like before you fell? It’s time to rethink and change your ways; go back to the deeds you did at first. However, if you do not return, I will come quickly and personally remove your lampstand from its place[17].
In Matthew, Jesus had predicted that "many false prophets will appear and deceive many people" and that "the love of most will grow cold" (Mt 24:11-12). Ephesus passed the first test but not the second. (More on abandoning and returning to our first love next week.)
But you do have this to your credit: you despise[18] the deeds of the Nicolaitans and how they concede to evil. I also hate what they do.
Here’s what we know about the Nicolaitans. They taught that spiritual liberty gave them…well, liberty to pretty much do what they wanted: have multiple wives, do what they wanted sexually, eat meat offered to idols (probably as part of being in a trade guild). They even mixed pagan temple rituals with the Christian ceremonies. In the letter to Pergamum, this type of compromise will be called the teaching of Balaam (vv. 14–15); at Thyatira, it’s followers of Jezebel (v. 20).[19]
* * * * *
In this first letter, we already see hints of two things that will be themes in Revelation.
First, Christians will be tempted to fall away because of hardship. Being true to the faith invited exclusion, expulsion, and even persecution by the Romans.[20] Following Jesus was costing them social standing, access to society, the ability to make a good living, and even personal safety. This letter will end with a reminder that some will be faithful “even unto death.”
Second, Christians will be tempted to give in to the allure of sinful pleasures offered by the Empire.
They are going to be intimidated by power and tempted by pleasure. This has been how empires have challenged the people of God for 2,000 years. That’s the text. Here comes the illustration.
Revelation 13 will introduce Satan as a dragon (a huge serpent, a snake; imagery beginning in Genesis). Satan is behind the forces of evil in the world. Satan motivates attacks on the church.
A scarlet beast[21] comes out of ocean in Revelation 14; people will worship the dragon and then the beast: “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?” Pretty sure that’s Rome for the early church, the indomitable power at the time. More broadly, think of earthly empires in general. They were, are, and will be beastly.
A second beast (“false prophet” in Chapter 16) then emerges that will get people to worship the first beast. By worship, think allegiance. The empire becomes a source of hope; the empire dictates priorities; the empire establishes what the good life is and how it ought to be lived. This second beast “gives breath” to the Empire: it’s the propaganda machine (media, entertainment, education, politicians, industry heads, civic organizations… anything that promotes the agenda of the Empire.) It has horns like a lamb (leaders who look good to followers of Jesus) but speaks like a dragon. There are parts of the beast that remind people of a lamb. That’s the imagery used to describe Jesus just a couple verses earlier in Revelation 13. There’s at least a part of the false prophet/second beast that will look like home to Christians. It will be easy to compromise: “Yeah, but…look at those lamb-like horns!! I know, I know, it says dragony things, but…look at those little horns!”
To make things worse, Babylon rides into the story. The children of Israel were not invited or tempted to become Egyptians when they were enslaved. It was an easy empire to resist. But Babylon offered acceptance, wealth and even power when they were exiled. That was compelling, and thus dangerous. The most effective empire is one that seduces you. The spiritual survival of the early Christians depended on their ability to see Rome as a doomed Babylon (Revelation 19). So the Babylon side of Rome is portrayed as an alluring prostitute, sitting on the beast. She’s drunk with the blood of God’s people – in other words, she has consumed a lot of them. And though the language of prostitution makes us think about sex (and temple worship surely included that), Old Testament imagery of spiritual adultery was always spiritual adultery – that is, idolatry. And John makes clear that Babylon is all about the idol of wealth and power.[22]
How does a beast conquer? Through power and coercion. Even if it looks good at first, it always makes the turn. How does a prostitute conquer? Through seduction. What two dangers face the Christians in Ephesus and everywhere? Compromising their faith from fear of the empire’s power or love of the empire’s pleasure.
So let’s talk about Rome (the First Beast) and Domitian (the Second Beast/False Prophet who serves the empire and furthers its agenda). It’s 1st century specific, but Revelation is about what was andwhat is and what is to come. I think the “what was” included previous emperors, with Nero as the violent supervillain. “What is” is Domitian. Fill in as needed with all empires and leaders as history unfolds.
Domitian put in place economic, military, and cultural programs to restore the Empire’s splendor. And it was splendid in many ways.[23]
He bumped the value of Roman currency to new levels.
He spent lavishly on the reconstruction of Rome.
He spent a TON of money on congiaria (vessels filled with wine, grain or money) #bribes
He revived the practice of public banquets.
That’s how Babylon (with its love/idolatry of money, luxury and comfort) rides in on the back of the Beast. Now, the horns like a lamb.
After nominating himself to the office that supervised Roman morals, Domitian made adultery punishable by exile. When the Vestal Virgins were found to have broken their sacred vows of chastity, they were buried alive.
Domitian punished people who made eunuchs.
Libel and slander became punishable by exile or death.
He prosecuted corruption among public officials and removed jurors if they accepted bribes.
He didn’t favor family members for public office.
Other religions were tolerated if they didn’t interfere with public order or could assimilate with Roman religions. Jews were heavily taxed, but history records no executions of Jewish worshipers based on religious offenses.
A lot of the time, Christians were able to avoid physical persecution.[24] Provincial authorities did so occasionally under Domitian, but it was nothing like what Nero did. Most believers suffered more from the stigma of society rather than government harassment. Revelation actually names only one person from seven churches who had been killed. If they could just be ‘good enough citizens’ they might avoid being hurt, and they might even become comfortable.
When the first century believers looked at Rome under Domitian’s reign, it was easier than it had been in a while to see an alluring goddess - Roma, Babylon - who offered the potential for privilege, health and wealth to its citizens.[25] Did it not have some horns that looked a bit lamb-like? It can’t be that bad, right?
John did not write Revelation to manufacture a crisis for people complacent about empire. Rather, at that moment, complacency about Rome was the crisis. Why push them into the arenas their parents experienced when a temple feast will do?[26]
See, by this time, Christians in Asia Minor were involved in the trade system of Rome. This is clear from historical records. That’s not a bad thing in and of itself, but participating in meals that included worship of the gods or the emperor was typically required to enter a Trade Guild or to build political connections. In order to have a comfortable life economically and socially, followers of Christ had to participate in the guilds and/or pagan ceremonies.[27]
Christians may have figured out how to gain just a part of the world, but it was costing them their soul.[28] This, I believe, is at the heart of what John will later describe as a mark that says “property of the Beast”[29] – a sign of loyalty to the Empire and to Domitian.[30]
* * * * *
This was something that made sense to those churches, but it’s for us also. #whatisandwhatwillbe So how are we like and unlike them? What can we learn from their experience? (I’m going to talk about losing and regaining our first love next week, so that’s not included here).
We will be known by our deeds. What deeds are we known for? Think big picture, patterns of behavior. “I know you, that you are ________. But I have this against you: _________”
Do people think of us when they think of patient endurance in the midst of trials, or do they think of us as fainting/falling apart? When the going gets tough, who demonstrates patient endurance? When a pandemic storm hits, who models stability? When an election get volatile, who is unruffled? In a world where it’s easy to be blown about by the winds of false, slanderous, and disturbing information, who shows a dedication to accuracy and truth? In a time that feels like we are being forced into “us vs. them” camps more than ever, who builds righteous and godly bridges? Is this the reputation of the church right now?
Do we protect the foundational teaching and practice of the faith? Do we unthinkingly buy the latest best-selling devotional or hop on the current Christian celebrity bandwagon, or are we purposeful Bereans, searching the Scriptures so that we recognize wheat and chaff when we see it?
Do we justify mindsets and decisions because we are afraid of our Rome, seduced by our Babylon, or deceived by lamblike horns that front for the voice of the dragon? The United States is not exempt from John’s imagery in Revelation. It’s an empire. It is a Beastly Babylon. So is Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Afghanistan, Haiti, Norway… Are we alert, self-assessing, surrendering our lives to the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit and the Bible to see how we are identifying and rejecting the coercive power and alluring pleasure of the False Prophets that do the bidding of the Beast? It is inevitable that we will struggle. Are we caving in spiritually or morally because it’s just too hard to be a consistent follower of Jesus in this Rome? Because it’s just too costly? Are we crumbling spiritually or morally because the idol of pleasure, comfort, money, sex, power just look so good in this Babylon? What voices are shaping how we think about and live in the world? Practical example: should the US be taking refugees from Afghanistan? How much have you been listening to your favorite news host or politician to get direction? How much have you been diving into your Bible and listening to pastors and theologians and Christian organizations that work with refugees?
Are our hearts and minds shaped by a focus on a joyful future or on current afflictions? Have you heard the proverb, “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness?” There is a place to curse the darkness – especially if people don’t realize they are in it - but we can become so enamored with cursing the darkness that we forget to light a candle. We can hide the light of Christ under a bushel of anger, and fear, and resentment, and hostility. Surely those of us who have the hope of everlasting joy set before us can let the hope and joy found in Jesus illuminate the darkness around us. We can call the darkness what it is and show the light for what it is at the same time. But the best way to pull people from a spiritual darkness (that they might even love) is to flood it with the compelling glory of the light of Jesus.
Could people ever look at our life and reasonably say the evidence points toward us having been ‘marked’ by a nation or a cultural leader instead of by Christ and the Kingdom of God?Whose image do we obviously bear when people look at us? We are marked by the image we most prominently display. Here, for example, are things that characterized Jesus. The more they characterize us, the more we are marked as belonging to God. #practicerighteousness
1. Loving – loving people well
2. Peacemaker – bringing order to chaos
3. Merciful – giving grace wherever possible
4. Kind – treating others with goodness
5. Faithful – someone others can count on
6. Humble – having a modest/honest estimate of ourselves
7. Generous – giving appropriately to those in need
8. Self-controlled – not ruled by our appetites
9. Godly – constantly mindful of God’s perspective
10.Prayerful – regularly communicating with God
11.Righteous – doing what God would approve
12.Servant – looking to serve rather than be served
13.Nurturing – caring for those who are hurting or broken
Is this us? Is this you? Are we marked as followers of Jesus?
7 “Let the person who is able to hear, listen to and follow [31] what the Spirit proclaims to all the churches. I will allow the one who conquers through faithfulness even unto death to eat from the tree of life found in God’s lush paradise.”[32]
Recommended Soundtrack:
“Zion and Babylon” by Josh Garrels
“Bye Bye Babylon” by White Heart.
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[1] Key resources that have heavily informed this series:
· Apocalypse and Allegiance: Worship, Politics, and Devotion in the Book of Revelation, by J. Nelson Kraybill
· A teaching series by professor Shane J. Woods on Revelation (shanejwood.com)
· The Bible Project’s videos, notes and podcast
· Michael Heiser’s teaching on Revelation (Podcast: The Naked Bible)
· Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship And Witness: Following The Lamb Into The New Creation, by Michael Gorman
· Dragons, John, And Every Grain Of Sand, edited by Shane J. Wood.
· Matt Chandler’s Revelation Series (Village Church)
· Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture: Revelation, from IVP
· Seven Deadly Spirits: The Message of Revelation’s Letters for Today's Church, written by T. Scott Daniels
· Adam Clarke’s commentary
· Parts of Greg Beale’s commentary on Revelation
· The commentaries available at Bible Gateway
· The commentaries available at biblehub.com
· The commentaries available at preceptaustin.com
[2] Apocalypse and Allegiance: worship, politics, and devotion in the Book of Revelation, J. Nelson Kraybill
[3] I recommend you watch or read A Monster Calls. Be ready to cry. It’s terribly beautiful.
[4] Beale suggests the “mystery” being revealed is that the reign of Christ and the suffering of the church can co-exist. Triumph is often intertwined with death. (Romans 11:25; 1 Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 3:3-6)
[5] In Daniel 10 and 12, angels are show to help believers on earth.
[6] Hat tip to Beale for pointing this out.
[7] Thanks to Seven Deadly Spirits: The Message of Revelation’s Letters for Today's Church, written by T. Scott Daniels, for intro material.
[8] Ephesus was known throughout the ancient world as the temple keeper (neōkoros; cf. Acts 19:35) of the goddess Artemis.
[9] Acts 19:23-41
[10] “Jewish tradition recognized guardian angels of nations (based partly on Da 10:13,20 – 21) and of individuals; here the idea seems to be guardian angels of churches.” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible) Beale argues this is to remind readers that their foundation is in heaven; their primary existence is spiritual. That makes sense to me. However, Adam Clarke has a different perspective worth considering. “Unto the angel of the Church of Ephesus — By αγγελος, angel, we are to understand the messenger or person sent by God to preside over this Church; and to him the epistle is directed, not as pointing out his state, but the state of the Church under his care. Angel of the Church here answers exactly to that officer of the synagogue among the Jews called ציבור שליח sheliach tsibbur, the messenger of the Church, whose business it was to read, pray, and teach in the synagogue. The Church is first addressed, as being the place where John chiefly resided; and the city itself was the metropolis of that part of Asia. The angel or bishop at this time was most probably Timothy, who presided over that Church before St. John took up his residence there, and who is supposed to have continued in that office till A.D. 97, and to have been martyred a short time before St. John's return from Patmos.” I like what Beale says; Clarke’s view makes a practical sense to me. It’s not a hill I’m going to die on J I’ll probably barely even put up a fight if we disagree.
[11] “The church had been founded by Paul about AD 53–56, and according to tradition, both John the Apostle and Mary (whom Christ committed to John's care at His crucifixion) lived in Ephesus.” (Orthodox Study Bible)
[12] Still making sure everyone knew Domitian’s son was not god….
[13] Churches. 7 of them. Weigh the numbers: it’s the weight of all the churches represented in these 7.
[14] “At Miletus Paul prophesied that even some of the Ephesian elders would tragically betray the cause of Christ by distorting the truth and leading away disciples (Acts 20:29–30). Timothy’s primary duty at Ephesus was to command certain persons to cease teaching false doctrine (1 Tim. 1:3). Hymenaeus, Alexander, and Philetus are even named as Ephesians who wandered from the truth (1:19–20; 2 Tim. 2:17–18).” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament)
[15] “agápē – properly, love which centers in moral preference. So too in secular ancient Greek focuses on preference; likewise… antiquity meant "to prefer." (HELPS Word Studies) “Jeremiah 2:2 “This is what the Lord says:‘I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown.”
[16] Love for Jesus (Eph 6:24) and/or one another (Eph 5:2).
[17] “There is here an allusion to the candlestick in the tabernacle and temple, which could not be removed without suspending the whole Levitical service, so the threatening here intimates that, if they did not repent, c., he would unchurch them they should no longer have a pastor, no longer have the word and sacraments, and no longer have the presence of the Lord Jesus.” (Adam Clarke)
[18] Centers in moral choice, elevating one value over another. (HELPS Word Studies)
[19] (NIV Study Bible Notes)
[20] See Revelation 6:9-11
[21] Described as scarlet in Revelation 17
[22] “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins…Your merchants were the world’s important people; by your magic spell all the nations were led astray.” (Revelation 18:4; 23) Chapter 18 shows an international economic power with clients around the world, all engaging in the unbounded and often immoral pursuit of pleasure.
[23] Got a lot of the info in this list from the Wikipedia entry for Domitian.
[24] Eusebius maintain that Jews and Christians were heavily persecuted toward the end of Domitian's reign when he Book of Revelation and First Epistle of Clement were written.
[25] Seven Deadly spirits: The message of Revelations letters for today's Church, written by T. Scott Daniels. John says that this goddess is instead the Great Horror who corrupted the Earth with her fornication in Revelation 19 2. She does not hold the cup of life, but rather a golden cup full of Abominations and the impurities of her fornication. Revelation 17:4.
[26] It’s the crisis the Russian church is facing right now. Putin pushes the traditional family model pretty hard, and he’s been pretty easy on the church. This is appealing to Russian Christians. In talking with my pastor friends in the Ukraine, the Russian church has become fond of Putin, a man who does the work of the Russian beast. This is the timeless relevance of Revelation.
[27] Paul does not reject all Christian participation in society. For example, he advocated a “don't ask” policy when believers have food set before them.[27] But this was very, very different from outright Christian participation in pagan rituals and ceremonies.
[28] Matthew 16:26
[29] As noted by Craig Koester, Revelation challenges three intertwined components of life in the Empire: political domination (“beastly side of empire); religion where the church and state distinctions blur (“deification of human power”); economic networks that demanded compromise (“the seamy side of commerce”)
[30] See Revelation 13
[31] Jesus uses this phrase (Matthew 13), borrowing this from Isaiah (6:9-10), Jeremiah (5:21), and Ezekiel (3:27)
[32] Genesis reference. Adam and Eve fellowshipped with God when they ate from the Tree of Life. That promise of fellowship is extended to the faithful who endure.