The Interlude (Revelation 7)

The scroll from Chapter 5 includes God's plan of redemption, mercy and judgment and encompasses all of history, especially from the cross to the new creation. We see:

·      Christ’s sovereign plan for redemptive history

·      the reign of Christ and the saints ‘now and not yet’

·      Christ’s protection of his people who suffer trials

·      God’s temporal and final judgment on the persecuting world.[1]

We focused last week on the first 6 seals out of 7. I want to focus on the Interlude before the 7thseal, which actually means starting with the 5th seal.  

6:9 Now when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed[2]because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given. They cried out with a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?”[3]  Each of them was given a long white robe and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached of both their fellow servants and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been.

The prayer is a cry for God's justice to hold to account those who have persecuted and brought about the saints’ suffering in chapters 6:1-8.[4] 

6th Seal – The ‘day of the Lord’ judgment: “Who can stand?” 

The church in particular cried out from the devastating persecution from the 4 Horsemen (“How long? Do something about our persecutors!”)[5] With the introduction of the 6th seal, there is clearly a judgment going on against the “earth dwellers” – the violent, persecuting followers of the Beast in culture and in church- who cannot escape accountability to God.  Turns outthe horsemen which were unleashed against the true church are also the agents of God’s judgment against the perpetrators.[6] It reminds me of the ironic punishment of the plagues of Egypt, which will show up in the trumpet and bowl judgments. 

Chapter 7, the interlude, is a flashback,[7] showing what happened before the tribulation of the Church Age and the martyr’s anguished cry.  

7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,[8] holding back the four winds of the earth[9]so no wind could blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, who had the seal of the living God.  He shouted out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given permission to damage the earth and the sea: “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have put a seal[10] on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 

 So, this is looking back to before the 4 Horsemen have been unleashed. God’s vision reminds his readers that God had already put into motion a plan to “seal” the people of God in some fashion: they were marked, identified, claimed, kept safe. 

Now I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, 144,000,[11] sealed from all the tribes of the people of Israel:  From the tribe of Judah, Reuben, Gad Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed [from each].[12]

 Weigh the numbers. Virtually every commentary will tell you it’s just a way or portraying the totality of the church. It’s all the true (spiritual) children of Abraham who have been sealed by God.[13] As for the seal, [14] I believe that uppermost in John's mind is the protection of the believers’ faith and salvation through the various suffering and persecutions inflicted upon them.[15]

·      The seal marks genuine membership in the community of the redeemed.

·      The seal guarantees protection from God’s eternal judgment: those believing in the Lamb have been spared because the Lamb endured the punishment of death on their behalf.

·      The seal enables God's people to faithfully endure in the midst of pressures to give in to the seduction of Babylon (chapter 17) or the power of the beastly empire (chapter 20). 

·       The seal turns trials into instruments of refining and maturing both individually and corporately.

·      The seal empowers believers to perform the role of witness intended for the true Israel – it’s how Abraham’s descendants bless the world through and with Jesus.[16]  Somehow, through what they endure, the Great Commission flourishes, and more and more people are brought to salvation as the witness of a church that dies and yet lives points toward the Savior who started it all.  

After these things I looked, and here was an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands.[17]  They were shouting out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood there in a circle around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Praise and glory, and wisdom and thanksgiving, and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

The multitude standing before the throne is the direct answer to the question of “Who can stand?” It’s the resurrected saints who endured until the end. This is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham of innumerable children (turns out it was a spiritual promise!) 

The list of sealed tribes is very similar to the census taken in Numbers 1: 21-23 for the purposes of organizing a military force to conquer the Promised Land.  

 Then one of the elders asked me, “These dressed in long white robes—who are they and where have they come from?”  So I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation.[18] They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb!  For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple,[19] and the one seated on the throne will shelter[20] them.

There is an interesting correspondence here with another passage. In chapter 5:5-6, John first hears about the Lion then sees the Lamb. In chapter 7, John hears of the military census (the lion of the tribe of Judah heads the list) but sees the saints from every tribe and nation with their robes purified and made white through the blood of the Lamb. The church is called to do battle for the Lion - but in the same way in which the kingly Lamb conquered at the cross. By maintaining their faith and witness through suffering and even death, they overcome the dragon, the beast, and all who serve them. 

 They will never go hungry or be thirsty again, and the sun will not beat down on them, nor any burning heat, because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water,[21] and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”[22]

Abraham’s true children (the church) rejoice in: 

·      their New Exodus/redemption (from the conquering and enslaving attempts of beasts and dragons)

·      their spiritual and eternal victory over their persecutors

·      the fact that God has sealed them during their pilgrimage through the wilderness and tribulation of this world (12: 6-14; 7:13-14). [23]

* * * * *

So, let’s talk about “How long must we suffer?” and God’s answer, which is, “When the full number has been reached.”[24]

 Notice that Jesus does not respond to this impending persecution by thwarting these plans to attack his church. He had warned his followers of this. 

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25)

 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test [same word] you, as though something strange were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12) 

Commitment to Christ has always demanded a willingness to die for a Savior who set the pattern by dying for us. This is at the very heart of the Christian life.  That’s why Jesus’ response to his follower’s persecution is not (necessarily) to prevent it.  

The call of a disciple is to conquer the persecution or overcome as Jesus did, which is by faithfully enduring it.  Remember the classic verse addressing what can separate us from the love of God (or what can erase the seal)?

Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”  No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! 

 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)

Christianity doesn't offer persecution and non-persecution options.  You can’t uncheck the boxes that say, “trials, testing, tribulation.” Enduring suffering for the sake of Christ is not the mark of a unique set of fanatics. It’s for ALL Christians.  The early church didn’t know anything about the kind of prosperity gospel where being a Christian was supposed to keep them healthy, wealthy, and comfortable by the standards of Rome or Babylon. Re-read the letters to the 7 churches. Their wealth was eternal; their prosperity was in Christ. 

Today, one out of every two hundred Christians living today can expect to die for their faith. More than 25% of Christians around the world are part of an “underground church.”  For those of us who don’t face either of those realities, the testing we face is likely more from the seduction of Babylon than the persecution of Rome. Our testing may have more to do with fighting materialism and greed, or the idolatry of luxury, or the tendency to drift toward a sinful pride in our self-sufficiency. It’s all a test. 

So, why is this so deeply embedded in the Christian experience?

First, because the world will never be able to see the ultimate expression of the supremacy of Jesus in the lives of his people if they aren’t willing to lay down their lives for him. We love the stories of people willing to give their life for a cause, a person, an ideal. Everything from self-denial to martyrdom usually strikes a chord with us. We get an idea of what’s more important than life by that which we are willing to give our life. 

·      If you tell me to renounce Buckeye fandom or I die, I will be the biggest U of M fan you’ve ever seen. No problem. We’ll get ‘em every 10 years J I am not here to be an ambassador for Ohio State. 

·      If you put a gun to my head and say, “Transfer your citizenship to Costa Rica or else,” I’m going to protest and try to get around it because I like my United States citizenship, but at the end of the day it’s not worth saying goodbye to my family and giving up more time to be an ambassador for Jesus over that.  I can love and talk about Jesus anywhere. My true citizenship isn’t in the empires of the world anyway; it’s in a Kingdom not of this world. 

·      But if you tell me to denounce Jesus or else, I can’t do that. I have to die for that if I am serious about taking it seriously. When it comes to be asked to align my allegiances, I will not give my life for fandom or a worldly or cultural ideology, but I will for my faith. I cannot deny Christ. And I practice this every day; as Paul said, “I die daily” through orienting my life such that I am living for Christ while dying to self and resisting the siren call of Babylon and Rome.

Second, tribulation and persecution are given to strengthen our faith, not destroy it. Jesus told the church in Smyrna, 

“Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation…”

Jesus tells theses believers that the devil is about to throw some of them into prison, “that you may be tested.”  In other words, the persecution is not random; it’s not outside of God’s sovereign oversight. At minimum, God has allowed it as part of his redemptive purpose for the church.[25]  Remember Joseph: 

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20)

For the saints, tribulation serves to refine and purify their faith and character.[26] Persecution is opportunity. Trials are part of God’s plan. Gold is not purified without fire.  

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  This brings you great joy, although you may have to suffer for a short time in various trials.  Such trials show the proven character of your faith, which is much more valuable than gold—gold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing away—and will bring praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:3-7)

This is why fear and panic can never be the Christian response to trials, hardship and persecution that we face because of our allegiance to Jesus. We aren’t called to seek out trouble – indeed, the Bible gives plenty of examples of trying to avoid it when possible[27] – but if and when it comes, God has a plan for how to use it for our good and His glory.  

Third, it’s how the gospel is spread. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Why haven’t enough died yet? Because there are more people to be reached with the gospel and brought into the Kingdom through the witness of the faithful who suffer to the point of giving their lives. 

The Israelites waited to embark on their campaign to bring God’s judgment against the Amorites because “their sin is not yet full.”[28] God wasn’t going to judge them until the overwhelming nature of their sin (in a sense) forced His hand. “Enough!” After all, God is “not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.”[29]

Jesus was lifted up to draw all people to him (John 8:28), and when time as we know it ends, thee time to respond ends for those who are far from Christ. In our End Times prayers, our prayers of “How long?” should be balanced with our pleading for more time so that more may come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

Part of the plan for the pursuit of the perishing is for followers of Jesus to give their lives. That’s a cross to take up, to be sure, but it makes sense: we go where the Lamb goes (Revelation 14:4) in that way that the Lamb goes.[30]

__________________________________________________________________________
[1] Excerpts from Revelation: A Shorter Commentary. So much – so, so much – of insight from G.K. Beale’s book shows up in today’s message.

[2] “In his third vision, Hermas, an early Christian, was refused permission to sit at the right hand of the angel because this special place was reserved for those who had endured “scourgings, imprisonments, great tribulations, crosses, and wild beasts for the sake of the Name.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary Of The New Testament)

[3] “What lessons can we learn from the deceased saints? In our anger against others, are our thoughts and even prayers motivated by a desire for their punishment or by a desire that God be glorified through the execution of his justice? In our anger, can we take the place of God and execute judgment even in our thoughts on those who have wronged us? Do we come before God and the awful awareness that he might judge our own attitudes and actions? how can we pray for God's justice or his glory but we are not reflecting his merciful character ourselves?” (N.T. Wright, Revelation For Everyone) 

[4] The cry of “How long?” echoes the psalmist in Psalms 6:3, 74:10, and 79:5.

[5] Jesus said the birth pains of the end times would happen in the generation of his audience (Matthew 24:34), and the glorified saints in Revelation 6:9–11 appear to have suffered under all four trials portrayed in the seals.  

[6] God often punishes by “giving them over to themselves” (Romans 1).

[7] A new vision is indicated by the introductory phrase of, “After this I saw.”

[8] The four angels in the four corners symbolize the whole world (Isaiah 11:12, Ezekiel 7:2, Revelation 20:8, Jeremiah 49:36).

[9] Ancients associated the four winds with the four directions (Jeremiah 49:36). In Jewish apocalyptic works, God controls the winds and delegates them to angels, using them for blessing or judgment. In Zechariah 6:1 – 6, God sent out four chariots; common Greek translation of Zechariah 6:5 describes these four heavenly “spirits” as the four “winds” of heaven, which could announce evil world empires (Daniel 7:2 – 3). Here God prevents the winds from blowing in judgment until he has marked his servants for protection. (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

In the Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture series, all three of the early church fathers quoted saw the Four Angels at the Four Corners of the Earth as political enemies of either the Jewish nation or of the church.

[10] The seal (in light of 2nd Corinthians 1:22, Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30) is said by some to be identified with the Holy Spirit.

[11] The community of the redeemed in 7:3-8 is the same as 14:1-4. It's a figurative picture of the church in its entirety, not in part.

[12] I shortened this by taking out “from the tribe of” and “12,000” from every line.

[13] You can even do some research on the order of the tribes, and some interesting variation in the traditional list of tribes, but I’m not ready to nerd that deep here. Yes, ‘nerd’ is a verb.

[14] The seal is comparable to the mark of blood on the doors of the Israelites so that they would be protected from God's judgment on Egypt (Exodus 12). This mark protects believers during the trumpet and bold plagues, which is we will see our closely modeled on the plagues of Egypt. The picture of the seal is also seen by Ezekiel when the Lord commands the angel to put a mark on the foreheads of those who hate sin before God strikes the city with judgment.(Ezekiel 9:4-6). 

[15] That the protection is spiritual is apparent because believers suffer physical afflictions.

[16] Isaiah 42:6-7, 49:6, 51: 4-8.

[17] The palm branch was used in the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23: 40-43), which celebrated God's protection of the Israelites during their wanderings in the desert.

[18] Alludes to Daniel 12:1; Matt 24:21.

[19] It's worth noting that, to John’s audience, serving in the temple was a privilege.

[20] A good translation is that God spreads his tabernacle over his people, which is language also used in 21:22. 

[21] “I am the living bread who comes down from heaven.” (John 6:51) “Whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35) “Whoever drinks from the water that I shall give him, it will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14) “…shelter from the storm, and shade from the heat.” (Isaiah 25:4) “The sun will not strike you by day nor the moon by night.” (Psalm 121:2) “As the deer longs for springs of water, so my soul longs for you, Oh God.” (Psalms 42:1)

[22] Isaiah 25:8; 21:4

[23] The Great Tribulation is referenced in Matthew 24:21 and Daniel 12:1. In Daniel’s tribulation, the latter-day opponent of God's people persecutes them because of their faithfulness to him (Daniel 11). Some will fall away, even as some are doing in 5 of the churches of Asia. The tribulation consists of pressures from the religious system to compromise one's faith, and pressures from the world (including deprivation and persecution). This tribulation commences with the birth of the church and continues throughout the Church Age. It's worth noting that 21of the 23 uses of the word ‘tribulation’ in Paul's writings refer to a present reality. The Great Tribulation begins with the sufferings of Jesus and is now shared by all believers, who are fellow partakers of the tribulation, the kingdom, and perseverance which are in Jesus 1:9.  (Beale)

[24] I really liked how this topic was handled at North Shore Church. A lot of my following thoughts build on and borrow from them. http://www.nshorechurch.com/2020/06/23/letters-to-the-7-churches-the-church-at-smyrna-6-21-20/.

[25] All four of these horses seem to bring about one or two ends: Punishment or purification. For evildoers, it's punishment for the evil they have done, which may be seen as the ripple effect of evil in the world and the chaos and pain it brings. For those who are not contributing to this evil, it's meant as purification. It's a time to be gold refined in the fire. (N.T. Wright, Revelation For Everyone)

[26] Romans 5:3-5; 1st Peter 1:7; Daniel 11: 35; Revelation 3:18 and 22:14

[27] There was a time in the early church when some Christians thought martyrdom was the coveted death and pursued it. One Roman rule got so frustrated he pointed them toward some local cliffs and basically said, “Go throw yourselves off if you are that eager.” Yeah….that’s not a posture God calls us to either.

[28] Genesis 15:16

[29] 2 Peter 3:9

[30] “The way of Christ is demonstrated by being a faithful Witness, which often leads to our own death. Jesus said his witness on the cross would be powerful enough to draw all people to himself (John 12:32)… The controlling metaphor or governing symbol for the entire vision of Patmos is the slain lamb…  The symbol of the beast can open our eyes to systemic and structural evil in our world. Sometimes injustice or suffering may make it appropriate for us to use the rage passages in prayer. But we must always return and worship to the central motif of the Lamb. The example and teaching of the Lamb must cover the lives of believers. Then the rage we bring to God and leave at the throne of grace will find its proper place.[30]Seven Deadly spirits: The message of Revelations letters for today's Church, T. Scott Daniels

[31] For Christians, suffering is not meaningless, but gives opportunity to pattern our lives after the sacrificial model of Jesus. Seen from the Heavenly perspective, suffering ironically advances the kingdom of God. (N.T. Wright, Revelation For Everyone)

SMYRNA: Alive In Death (Revelation 2:8-11)

When John was recording his revelation, Smyrna had a reputation as the “Glory of Asia.” That was not always the case.

The Lydians destroyed Smyrna in 600 BC; for four hundred years there was no “city,” just scattered villages in the area, yet records show people still talked about Smyrna as a place. The city was restored in 290 BC. Some ancient writers compared the city with the mythical phoenix, a symbol of resurrection. Others literally recorded Smyrna as a city that was dead and yet lived.[1]

Smyrna was famous for (among other things) fantastic architecture and town planning. You can still walk on spectacular streets that ran from one end of the city to the other. The most famous was called the Golden Street.[2] Apollonius referred to a “crown of porticoes,” a circle of beautiful public buildings that ringed the summit of Mount Pagos.[3] Smyrna was often depicted on coins as a seated woman, with a crown patterned after the buildings on the mountain[4] and a necklace representing the Golden Street.[5]

Because Rome had helped them so much in coming back to life, Smyrna proved to be incredibly loyal. At one point, the citizens literally stripped down and shipped their clothes to a desperate Roman army. When their request to build a temple to the Roman Emperor Tiberius was granted, Smyrna became a notable “temple-warden” of the imperial cult. 

By the time of Domitian, emperor worship was mandatory. Burning  incense and saying “Caesar is Lord” earned a certificate such as this one: “We, the representatives of the Emperor, Serenos and Hermas, have seen you sacrificing.” Then, you could go worship any god you wanted. This also gave you a “mark” that opened up the economy for you. If you did not do this, you were a disloyal citizen at best and a traitorous outlaw at worst.[6]

The Jewish people had enjoyed a large degree of freedom under the Roman Rule during the 1stcentury. They were exempt from emperor worship in many cases and possessed the rights of citizenship in some cities. This wasn’t necessarily good for Judaism. There was infighting about how to live with integrity in a Roman world,[7] how to “be in Rome but not of Rome.” The Essenes at one point called the rest of their Jewish neighbors “the congregation of Satan.”[8] 

Christians benefitted from having their roots in Judaism. The freedoms the Jews enjoyed were largely enjoyed by Christians in many areas of the empire. But in Smyrna, the Jewish population was nervous. The Judean war against Rome two decades earlier resulted in a special tax Jews everywhere in the empire had to pay. Many Jewish leaders were uncomfortable with Messianic movements like the movement that followed Jesus - messianic movements often ended with the Roman beast breathing down their neck.

In a time of “don’t ask, don’t tell” for private religious practice for the Jewish worshippers (and by default their Christian cousins), the Jewish leaders were telling even when Rome wasn’t asking.[9]The Romans even had a name for them: delatores, denouncers, who would get the prosecutorial ball rolling. And prosecute they did.[10]

So the church in Smyrna was facing a lot of hardship: locked out of the economy because they wouldn’t do emperor worship; hated by the Jews; on Rome’s radar. This brings us to the letter to Smyrna. 

8 Write down My words, and send them to the messenger of the church in Smyrna. “These are the words of the First and the Last[11], the One who was dead and yet lived[12]: 

 9 “I know [your deeds and] the difficult ordeal you are enduring and your poverty,[13] although you are actually rich. I am aware of the blasphemy[14] preached by those who call themselves ‘Jews.’ But these people are not the Jews they pretend to be[15]; they are actually the congregation of Satan[16] (“a gathering of the Adversary”). 

 10 In the face of suffering, do not fear[17]. Watch; the devil will throw some of you into prison shortly so that you might be tested, and you will endure great affliction for 10 days.[18] Be faithful[19] throughout your life, until the day you die, and I will give you the victor’s crown of life.[20] 

11 “Let the person who is able to hear, listen to and follow what the Spirit proclaims to all the churches. The one who conquers through faithfulness even unto death will escape the second death.”

Whereas “overcoming” in Ephesus required the restoration of love, in Smyrna it demanded withstanding persecution and enduring faithfully through suffering. So, let’s talk about suffering.[21]

There were different types of suffering/trials/hardships for the church in Smyrna:

·      Resisting temptation in general for the sake of Christ

·      Enduring dismissal, derision, and contempt, for the sake of Christ

·      Taking a financial or reputational hit for the sake of Christ

·      Suffering emotional, relational, physical pain for the sake of Christ

·      Dying for the sake of Christ

Christians won’t necessarily face all of these, but “in this world you will have trouble.”[22] There are a variety of ways Christians can and have responded when facing hardship and trials.[23]

1. Quit –Rome and Babylon would love to have your allegiance.[24]

2. Lie –You could lie with words (tell people you aren’t a Christian) or with your body (live as if Jesus has no say in your life) while clinging to the notion that all that matters is that you really are a follower of Jesus deep inside. “Whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10:33) 

3. Fight – physically protect religious freedom with the sword. Peter tried this. Jesus was having none of it. “ ‘Put your sword back in its place,’ Jesus said to him, ‘for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.  Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?’ … In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, ‘Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me?’“ (Matthew 26:52-53; 55). 

4. Accommodate – try to do Christian worship and empire worship at the same time: let’s call this serving or honoring two masters. That’s what empire worship was doing in Rome; this was one of the key problems facing the church at the time probably more than the others. The compromise that followed Constantine’s legalization of Christianity in the 300s was another. Since critique of nations and concern for accommodation are prominent in Revelation, let’s look at how this sneaks into our own history, which was profoundly influenced by the Enlightenment admiration of ancient Rome.[25]

The rotunda of the US Capitol building has a mural called The Apotheosis of Washington (1865). It depicts Washington as having ascended into the heavens and becoming exalted or glorified. He wears the colors of Roman emperors, with a rainbow arch at his feet, flanked by the goddesses of Victory and Liberty. There are six scenes around him, 5 of which have Roman gods/goddesses:

·  Science, Minerva, surrounded by inventors.

·  Marine,Neptune, with warships in the background.

·  Commerce, Mercury, giving a bag of gold to a financier of the Revolutionary War.

·  Mechanics, Vulcan, with cannons and steam engines.

·  Agriculture,Ceres, with a mechanical reaper.

·  War, Columbia, the personification of  America, aka Lady Liberty.

It’s obviously not the same as 1st century Emperor worship, but there is no doubht that national values and admired leaders are viewed with an awe approaching reverence.[26] We still do it culturally (I’m thinking of the Messianic imagery associated with presidents Obama and Trump in recent years[27]). Francis Schaeffer warned us about this decdes ago:[28]

“The whole "Constantine mentality" from the fourth century up to our day was a mistake. Constantine, as the Roman Emperor, in 313 ended the persecution of Christians. Unfortunately, the support he gave to the church led by 381 to the enforcing of Christianity, by Theodosius I, as the official state religion. Making Christianity the official state religion opened the way for confusion up till our own day.

There have been times of very good government when this interrelationship of church and state has been present. But through the centuries it has caused great confusion between loyalty to the state and loyalty to Christ, between patriotism and being a Christian. We must not confuse the Kingdom of God with our country. To say it another way: "We should not wrap our Christianity in our national flag.”-  Francis A. Schaeffer, A Christian Manifesto

Okay, the first 4 options aren’t good ones. The last two are options are viable options for Christians.

5.  Change the law – demand justice within the rights the empire has given us. This is an option Paul used. He maxed out his rights as a Roman citizen to avoid some pretty nasty punishments.[29] He escaped dangerous situations when he could. Being faithful to Jesus doesn’t mean we have to be gluttons for punishment. 

    But it’s worth nothing that even as Paul claimed his rights, he was still beaten and jailed a lot and killed eventually. One hopes the law would be Christian-friendly; at some point, it won’t be. We can and should work within the system to promote justice and mercy for all. However, when the law turns against our faith, we don’t panic, and we don’t take up the sword to get it back. We knew this day would come.

6. Be patiently faithful even unto death. There are different outcomes to suffering: Smyrna would face greater suffering (2:10), the other persecuted church (Philadelphia) would not experience the same (3:10). James was executed but Peter was released (Acts 12:2 - 7).  Some Christians experienced miraculous release from prison while others died (Hebrews 11:35). Some Christians in Afghanistan got out; others didn’t. Some pastors have hidden successfully; some haven’t.

Revelation reveals a sobering truth in stark terms: when we face persecution, we might suffer a lot, and even die. It’s no surprise that John, surrounded by persecution, expects us to have to endure this also. Fortunately, Revelation shows us how to overcome in the face of persecution: the image of the triumphant lion as a slain lamb:

Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne…” (5:5-6) 

We overcome not by matching hostility and violence and angry vitriol but by laying down our lives figuratively and literally. The path to the crown goes through the cross. “This do in remembrance of me.”[30]

For the Christian, there is always hope through the suffering we experience and reward on the other side of faithfulness. In fact, suffering plays such a vital role in our life in Christ that we are told multiple times that we ought to actually rejoice, because it’s a means by which God matures us. 

 “We also celebrate in seasons of suffering because we know that when we suffer we develop endurance,  which shapes our characters. When our characters are refined, we learn what it means to hope and anticipate God’s goodness. And hope will never fail to satisfy our deepest need because the Holy Spirit that was given to us has flooded our hearts with God’s love.” (Romans 5:3-5) 

“But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that at the revelation of His glory you may also rejoice and be overjoyed.” (1 Peter 4:13)

If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.  “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. (I Peter 2:20-23)

We will be granted opportunities to share in Christ’s glory by fellowshipping in his suffering. We will be granted an opportunity to prove our faithfulness through testing. We have been given the gift of being allowed to suffer with Christ so that we can live with Christ. There’s no need to seek out or sprint toward pain, but let’s not waste the opportunity to suffer well when God allows it to become a part of our life. A crown of life awaits.

* * * * *

Let’s #practicerighteousness. I want to offer a practical way for us to patiently and faithfully endure in a way that shows the peace and the hope we have in Christ. We are not being asked to physically die in the United States, but there others ways in which trials test our faith. We can prepare now with what’s in front of us.

I often see anger and fear sometimes verging on panic when THIS LAW or THIS PERSON or THIS MOVEMENT is apparently going to destroy the church. Nothing has had the power to do that for 2,000 years and counting. Dragons and beasts are nothing compared to God’s power and majesty.  God is still sovereign. God will be with His people and supply what they need and hand the faithful a crown of life in the end. It may well make our life hard – but we were warned. “Taking up our cross” is a thing. 

I’m not suggesting we should be apathetic or lazy or even fatalistic. Christians aren’t called to any of those either. I think we can be really engaged in thoughtful and careful ways in all these areas as we name the darkness and light the candle of gospel hope. In fact, part of suffering for the sake of Christ is probably the relentlessly bold (and grace-filled, and loving) promotion of the message and the values of the Kingdom in the face of opposition.

I’m talking about what orients and grounds us and makes us righteously different in the midst of life in a hard and sometimes cruel world. God has granted us the opportunity to patiently endure in the midst of hardship so that we can share in His glory and obtain the crown in the end. We have not yet been called to shed our blood, but we have been called to lay down our lives in different ways honor of the Lamb who conquers by being slain.

I will end with some thoughts from Vaneetha Risner, who speaks with some authority on experiencing suffering:[31]

Watching believers suffer and die well changes a world that lives to avoid suffering. There’s nothing unusual about Christians who are happy in prosperity. That’s natural. Even expected. But joy in suffering is supernatural. The world takes notice. Like Moses and the burning bush, they step aside to see why we are not destroyed (Exodus 3:2–3).[32]

A few of us may end up giving our lives for the gospel. Some of us may proclaim Christ through indescribable and extraordinary suffering. But all of us can show the surpassing worth of Christ to others through our mundane, often daily, trials. People want to see how we respond to our challenging children. Our chronic pain. Our difficult boss. Our financial struggles. Our ailing parents. Our unwanted singleness.  

The situations that we wish were most different are likely the places that others are watching us most closely. They are each, therefore, a precious opportunity to share how Christ meets us in our suffering. 

Don’t waste your suffering. It is far too valuable. God is using it in a thousand ways you will never see or know, but one way is to advance the gospel (Philippians 1:12). Tell people about the hope in you, how God has met you, why your faith has made a difference in your trials. It is the most powerful witness you have.

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[1] The Letters To The Seven Churches, by William Ramsey

[2] Hmmm. I think that image might show up later in Revelation?

[3] Halley’s Bible Handbook Notes

[4] Apollonius said, “Though it is the most beautiful of all cities under the sun…yet it is a greater charm to wear a crown of men than a crown of porticoes and pictures and gold beyond the standard of mankind.” 2nd century orator Aelius Aristides said that since Smyrna has been restored after the disastrous earthquakes in her history, “Spring’s gates…are opened by crowns.”

[5] The Letters To The Seven Churches, by William Ramsey

[6] William Barclay notes this was a political act in the eyes of Rome more than a religious act. That might have been a handy excuse: “Rome doesn’t see this as religious; why should I?” Or it might have been very tempting to find a friendly official to bribe so that you had a certificate without having to burn the incense. 

[7] Both Jews and Christians struggled with this. Should they continue to participate in social activities that have a pagan (non-Jewish, non-Christian) religious character? This would include most activities: watching or participating in athletic and rhetorical contests; buying and eating meat in the precincts of pagan temples; and frequenting trade guilds, clubs, and events in private homes, each with their meetings, drinking parties, and banquets. Should they acknowledge the sovereignty of the emperor when asked to do so at a public event in the precincts of his temple, or at another of the many events in his honor? (From “Reading Revelation Responsibly” in Dragons, John, And Every Grain Of Sand: Essays On The Book Of Revelation. Edited by Shane J. Wood.

[8] NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

[9] To them, Christians distorted the Law; the worship of Jesus as Messiah was blasphemy.

[10]  IVP New Testament Commentary Series

[11] Isaiah 41:4; 44:6; 48:12

[12] Many commentators see a comparison to Smyrna’s history here. 

[13] Likely because they refused to participate in idolatrous trade guilds.

[14] “Blasphemy "switches" right for wrong (wrong for right), i.e. calls what God disapproves, "right." (HELPS Word Studies) 

[15] “Jews by national descent, but not spiritually of "the true circumcision." Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

[16]  John 8:44  “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

[17] Beale notes that in Isaiah 41 and 44, this is also an encouragement to the Jews.

[18] See Daniel 1:12-15, where Daniel and his friends were tested for 10 days. 

“The number is likely a symbol and not a 10 day time period. The number 10 represents a complete period of testing. Even though you are exiles in a different culture, you will be revealed to be the children of God.” (Shane Wood) Ramsey notes that it could be a literal reference to the time awaiting punishment: “In the Roman world, prison was usually… a prelude to trial and execution; hence the words "Be faithful, even to the point of death." The State would not burden itself with the custody of criminals, except as a preliminary stage to their trial, or in the interval between trial and execution. Fine, exile, and death constituted the usual range of penalties.” From Adam Clarke’s Commentary: “Think of the expression as implying frequency and abundance, as it does in other parts of Scripture.” Genesis 31:7; Genesis 31:41; Numbers 14:22; Nehemiah 4:12; Job 19:3. 

[19] “The expression ‘be faithful,’ again, would inevitably remind Smyrnaean readers of the history of their city, which had been the faithful friend and ally of Rome for centuries.

To Cicero it was ‘the most faithful of our allies’. (William Ramsey)

[20] The promise to Ephesus was “the tree of life” (v. 7).  To Smyrna, it is the “crown of life” (v. 10).

[21] A large amount of the suffering in Revelation is born by followers of the Lamb. In his vision of heaven, John sees martyrs who had conquered the Beast through death. Tertullian famously said in his second century letter to Rome, “The more often we are mown down by you, the more number we grow. The blood of Christians is seed.”

[22] John 16:33

[23] This list is from (drum roll….) Shane J. Wood!

[24] Christian journalist Malcolm Muggeridge once wrote, “If God is dead [or if God is not worshipped], somebody is going to have to take his place. It will be megalomania or erotomania, the drive for power or the drive for pleasure, the clenched first or the phallus, Hitler or Hugh Hefner.”  That’s Rome and Babylon.

[25] Read this informative Senior Thesis from a Liberty University student. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1280&context=honors. Francis Schaeffer’s How Should We Then Live opens with a Rome/United States comparison.

[26] Read this senior thesis from a student at Liberty University on this influence.https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1280&context=honors

[27] Biden doesn’t seem to be inspiring those comparisons. The only example I found was a magazine (Jacobin) that used Christian iconography to satirize the American tendency to have religious devotion for our leaders.

[28] This requires several myths.

a. a “myth of righteousness” that  sets values of the Empire on par with the values of the Kingdom (in which both are seen as part of the euangelion, the good news of God’s plan for the world).

b.a “myth of greatness” as defined by the standards of Babylon and Rome: financial, political, and/or military strength as the markers of success. 

c.   a “myth of innocence” that sees the power, prosperity, and peace of the (apparently) righteous and great Empire as achieved by and sustained by thoroughly righteous means and people. 

d.   a “myth of worthiness” that demands an appreciation of and allegiance to the state as a profoundly moral responsibility for Christians. 

[29] Acts 22:22-23:11

[30] Luke 22:8-20

[31] https://www.vaneetha.com/about

[32] Vaneetha Risner, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-only-suffering-can-say

Jesus After the Resurrection: The Emmaus Road

The Bible presents a real view of life, and I want to be real about life. Today we are going to look at the Emmaus Road story to take a look at life that I hope will both encourage and challenge us.

Scripture: Luke 24:13-35

That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing (reasoning) together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 

And he said to them, "What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?" And they stood still, looking sad (skuthropos, gloomy, sullen, dark.) Then one of them, named Cle'opas (probably Jesus’ uncle), answered him, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?"  And he said to them, "What things?" 

And they said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,  and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. 

Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. (“Nothing seems to make sense, confuse, amaze, astound.") They were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see. 

And he said to them, "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" (“heavy or weighty.”) And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 

So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent." So he went in to stay with them.  When he was at table with them, he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he vanished out of their sight.

 They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?"  And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them, who said, "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"  Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

What do we learn about Jesus  - and real life - on the road to Emmaus?

1. Life is hard, but Jesus joins us in our journey

Through Jesus, God entered a world He created in which grief and joy cross paths constantly. 

• Jesus’ baptism moves into the temptation in the wilderness

• Jesus does miracles, and people set traps for him

• Lazarus lives/Lazarus dies/Lazarus lives

• Crowds love Jesus/villages hate him

• Triumphal entry/crucifixion/resurrection

This tension continues. Apparently, Jesus’ followers can expect to experience this too because now, on the Emmaus road, despair is followed by great joy. The resurrected Christ did not demonstrate the fullness of His glory by removing all the uncertainty and turmoil from life – He demonstrated the fullness of His glory by redeeming these things. 

You may have noticed that Jesus has not removed all the turmoil and uncertainty from your life. 

• Coronavirus roller coasters…

• Marriages overwhelm us one day with happiness and bury us the next day in anger or frustration…

• Jobs fulfill and crush us, sometimes on the same day…

• Physical health comes and goes…

• Freedom from temptation/overwhelmed by temptation…

• Or, like those on the road to Emmaus, the way in which you sense God near – or far - can change dramatically. 

Jesus walks with us spiritually like he walked with them physically.  That’s the promise of the Holy Spirit, right?  Jesus did not remove his disciples from this tumultuous world, and he does not remove us - yet.  One day He will. He joined them, and he joins us, and he offers redemption and restoration that point the way toward our ultimate reconciliation with Him. In the midst of this ebb and flow of life, look for him. He will show up with his Holy Spirit, his Word, and his people. Read the Bible, pray, and put people on the road next to you. Don’t walk alone. God will open your eyes when the time is right, and you will recognize that Jesus has been walking with you all along.

2. Jesus is content to remain hidden at times even though He is always near.

We do this with kids all the time, especially when they are young.  They have no idea that we are listening or watching, and yet we are. We care; we want them to mature on their own, but we know that can’t mature properly without us. We watch, and wait, and in our imperfect ways we help, and give them distance, and let them figure it out, and intervene, and correct and challenge and encourage…. In our imperfect way, we are trying to figure out how to balance being obvious and being hidden as we let them go and hold them close at the same time.

When Jacob was traveling (Genesis 28:11) he had a dream that he was in the presence of God. God spoke to him there. Jacob said, “Surely God is in this place and I did not know it.” If historians are correct, the Emmaus road revelation happened at the same place that Jacob dreamed he was visited by God.[1]  At the same place, the same thing happens: “Jesus was in this place and we didn’t know it.”

God could have miraculously revealed himself to Jacob at any time.  On the Emmaus road, Jesus could have instantly caught up with those guys and BAM, thrown back his hood and said, “Guys! It’s me!”  But he didn't. 

•  God could have spared me two major breakdowns I’ve had in my life, but he didn’t. 

• God could have healed my father, but he didn’t.

• God could have averted my heart attack and the depression and anxiety that followed, but he didn’t. 

• God could take away my ADD now that I can’t take medication for, but he hasn’t. 

• God could remove the coronavirus with a snap of his fingers, but he hasn’t.

 Does this mean He is absent in these cases? No, and this geographic location in the Bible –with first Jacob’s story and now the Emmaus road walkers –remind us: “Surely, God is in this place, and I didn’t know it.”  

It’s relatively easy to follow Jesus when he is right in front of you casting out demons and raising the dead.  But when you don’t know where He is?  When you can’t sense His presence?   I wondered if God is honored even more when we continue to be His disciple even when we think we are walking alone?

There is no doubt in my mind that in all of these situations, God’s Spirit is present and working. In all these situation, I know that the message of Scripture stabilized and sustained me. (More on both of those in a second). But I’ve been thinking a lot about a third provision of God’s grace: walking with friends.  

It is much easier to keep going when you have a walking buddy. Many times we don’t sense God is near; one way to we find strength is by walking with others.  This is why we stress relationship at our church.  Nobody needs to walk their Emmaus road alone.  

I don’t have a verse for this – this is Anthony, not the Bible – but I suspect that when we want to see God, more often than not God meets that desire by sending us His people, his ambassadors/representatives/ icons. His image-bearers.

3) Jesus will reveal Himself in His time 

    The two disciples did not recognize Jesus on the road. Revelation is required. 

 He reveals His Glory Through His Word. Jesus could have just made them feel it without opening the book – I mean, the book is about Him after all. He could have just skipped that step and popped out.  But they had the Scriptures, so He walked them through the Scriptures as the way of revealing Himself even though He was right there. The early church continued this tradition: pointing to Jesus by pointing toward the Bible.

• Old Testament quotations and allusions found in the Gospel of Matthew (which was written especially for Jewish readers)

• The apostles' sermon material found in the Book of Acts (Genesis 22:18; 26:4; Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Psalm 2:1-2, 7; 16:8-11; 110:1; 118:22; Isaiah 53:7-8; 55:3; and Amos 9:11-12)

 If you are walking the Christian road, and you need to see Jesus….read the Bible.  This is the FOUNDATIONAL revelation. 

He reveals his glory through His suffering. Jesus tells them: “Wasn’t it necessary that the Messiah suffer to reveal His glory?” Then Jesus showed them through the breaking of the bread: At the Last Supper he had said,  “Take, eat, this is my body which was broken for you.” The Messiah must suffer to enter in to his glory.  Jesus was SHOWN through the Bible.  Jesus was KNOWN by them through the breaking of the bread, just as His glory was revealed to the world through His suffering.

Jesus wants us to share in His glory. How will this happen?  Through our suffering.

Romans 8:17-18 (NIV) “Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

 There are all kinds of suffering.  We will never pray in the Garden of Gethsemene while sweating drops of blood, but we will experience our own gardens, where we see death or what feels like a kind of death coming, and we will pray for our cup to pass…and for God’s will to be done.  In our suffering, the glory of Christ revealed in us is heavy. 

Have you ever been around people who have suffered, and in their suffering God brought out a weightiness to them, a maturity, a profound sense of wisdom and godly transformation? That's the glory that is revealed in us, I think. The glory of a faithfully transforming God who corrals all things into the service of transforming us into the image of Jesus.

But that is actually is not the focus of the kind of suffering mentioned in Romans.   This is suffering specifically for the cause of Christ. If mere suffering ushers in God’s glory, imagine what happens when we suffer for the sake of our commitment to Christ. 

• Jesus commands us to be pure, and we suffer in our struggle to remain pure in our thoughts and actions. Saying no to sexual temptation and opportunity can be epic.   But if I want to share in the glory of Christ’s purity, I must be willing to suffer the hardship of sexual restraint.

• Jesus commands us to love people, and we suffer as we taken on the burdens of relationships with others.  But if want to share in the glory of true Christ-like love, I might have to be deeply wounded and still come back for more.  I’m not suggesting there are never times we should walk away. Abuse is a thing. Even the  disciples “shook the dust off their feet” at times and moved on. But in the normal course of life in a fallen world, love demands sacrifice. We will be broken and spilled out for those we love. 

• Jesus wants us live lives of self-sacrifice, and generosity, and patience…and we can suffer as everything within us wants to be selfish, and greedy, and impatient.  But if we want to share in the glory of Christ, we have to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow. 

• You might suffer as you stand for the truth of Scripture, and because you love Christ so much you will not compromise.  But you are sharing in the glory of Christ.

 Can we all agree the world needs to see the glory of Christ?  It was seen in the suffering of Jesus on the cross; today, I suspect it will often be seen when we pay a spiritual price for the cause of Christ. 

2 Cor 4:7-11 (NIV). “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.”

He was known to them in the breaking of the bread.  “Do this in remembrance of me.“ I think the world will see His glory, as we are broken too. Amy Carmichael, a missionary who worked in India for 55 years, once wrote (and I paraphrase):

‘Have you no scar? No hidden scar on foot, or side or hand? I hear you described as mighty in the land: I hear them hail you as a rising star: Have you no scar? Have you no wound?  As the master is so shall the servant be.  Pierced are the feet that follow me; but yours are whole. Can you have followed far if you have no wound? No scar?’”

We share in God’s glory when His glory fills us – and we display God’s glory when it leaks through the cracks as our lives are broken on his behalf, and for His glory.  But we do not lose heart, because we realize:

1 Peter 5:10 (NIV) “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

Life is hard, but Jesus walks with us. Sometimes He hides, but He always reveals Himself and His glory through His word and His life. If you are willing to be broken for the cause of Christ, God will reveal His glory through you, and will one day restore you. 

And actually, that’s going to be our focus next week: the restoration of Peter, in the final chapter of the record of Jesus’ life on earth. 

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[1] “When Jacob was travelling the sun set (early Jewish legends explained the pointed reference in Genesis 28:11 by saying God had caused it to set prematurely to force Jacob to stop there) and he had a dream that he was in the presence of God. God spoke to him there. And the name of the place was originally known as Luz — in the Septuagint it is Oulammaus. In the Codex Bezae this is the name used for Emmaus in Luke 24. In an early reading of Luke (perhaps the earliest) the Emmaus road revelation happened at the same place that Jacob dreamed he was visited by God.” http://vridar.org/2007/11/17/the-logic-and-meaning-of-the-emmaus-road-narrative-in-luke/