Revelation 16: A Call to the Churches

Today’s reading is Revelation 16.

An Odd Interjection

In the middle of describing the vision of the sixth bowl, Jesus interjects a statement into the vision. The ESV even puts it in parentheses. It doesn’t quite go with the rest of the sixth bowl vision:

Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed! (Revelation 16:15, ESV)

I say Jesus interjects this. However, the statement is not attributed to anyone in Revelation 16. Yet, I think I’m on good ground claiming this is Jesus. After all, He has already said this in Revelation.

Jesus already told the church at Sardis:

Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you (Revelation 3:3, ESV).

Additionally, He told the Laodicean Christians:

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see (Revelation 3:18, ESV).

Why does Jesus repeat these messages in the middle of the sixth bowl vision? Because it is way too easy to read through the bowls of judgment and think because we go to church, these bowls aren’t for us? But they are. Jesus was calling the seven churches right back to the main purpose of this apocalypse. Shockingly, it is not about getting the cities of Asia to repent (though they should and the book could be used that way as well). No, the main point is to convince the churches of Asia to repent.

Repent!!!

The word “repent” is used twelve times in Revelation. We saw the declaration under the sixth trumpet of those who would not repent (Revelation 9:20-21). It was used twice in that passage. Now we see it doubled up under the bowls of wrath. The people wouldn’t repent (Revelation 16:9, 11).

The other eight times “repent” is mentioned, in fact commanded, are all in the oracles to the seven churches. As we’ve stated repeatedly throughout our study of this amazing book, five of the seven churches were called to repent.

Ephesus because it had left its first love (Revelation 2:5). Pergamum because of the Balaamite Nicolaitans in their midst (Revelation 2:16). Thyatira because of Jezebel (Revelation 2:21-22). Sardis because she was dead and her works were incomplete (Revelation 3:3). Laodicea because she was too much like the city around her (Revelation 3:19).

We must not miss this message in these seven bowls. Certainly, those in the cities of Asia will be judged if they do not repent. But it is the churches that have been called in this book to repentance. As they read the visions of these bowls, they are learning what will happen to them if they do not repent.

A Message for Us

We aren’t one of the seven churches of Asia. We aren’t living in their time of testing and tribulation. We aren’t facing their exact enemies. However, let us not miss the importance of Revelation and these bowls.

The five churches called to repent, were seemingly oblivious to their sin. They didn’t recognize they had fallen. Sardis certainly didn’t. They had a great reputation. Laodicea certainly hadn’t. They thought they were rich and prosperous and needed nothing.

We cannot expect to receive an oracle from Jesus describing what He might have against us. However, instead of sticking our heads in the sand and assuming all is simply okay, we should dig into the oracles sent to those churches and in to all the Scripture. We must be painfully, thoroughly honest. We must take stock. Let us not assume we are perfectly fine. Let us challenge ourselves continually with God’s Word and God’s truth.

And if we find we need to repent, let us do so without reservation and without delay.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Revelation 16 prompt or improve your hope in God?

Revelation 16: Judgment on All the Gods

Today’s reading is Revelation 16.

Getting Back to Where We Started

Before I make the point of today’s post, we have to go all the way back to the beginning of Revelation. Recall, Revelation 1:4:

John to the seven churches that are in Asia… (ESV).

John wrote this letter to seven churches in Asia. No doubt, like all the books in our New Testament, it was ultimately to be read, studied, and applied by all churches of all times. But the letter is specifically to those churches.

Further, let’s recall at least two of the specific messages given to two of those congregations:

I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality (Revelation 2:14, ESV–to Pergamum).

But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols (Revelation 2:20, ESV–to Thyatira).

These Asian saints were being tempted to put other gods up on the dais with YHWH. One congregation even had a teacher calling herself a prophetess. She was claiming to speak from God while pointing the congregation to idols.

The Plagues on Egypt

With the messages in the early part of Revelation fresh in our mind, we turn back to Revelation 16. We reread the seven plagues. We remember God’s plagues on Egypt. Then we recall a statement God made smack in the middle of that battle.

For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD (Exodus 12:12, ESV).

In case we missed this one, God said it again in Numbers 33:3-4:

On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them. On their gods also the LORD executed judgments (ESV).

The plagues were not merely a judgment on Pharaoh. They were not merely a judgment on the Egyptians. They were a judgment on the Egyptian gods. The plagues themselves attacked the provinces of Egyptian gods. Those gods could do nothing about the attacks of YHWH.

CoNsider the Frogs

After the Nile, itself connected to Egyptian deities, was turned to blood, Moses called forth a plague of frogs. One goddess connected to frogs was Heqet. She was a goddess of fertility and childbirth. She was considered connected to one of the Nile gods. After all, when the Nile would flood, you’d expect more frogs, wouldn’t you?

Under the sixth bowl (Revelation 16:12-16), though the plague is not specifically one of frogs, John’s vision calls the frog plague to mind. John wrote:

And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world… (ESV).

As the frogs in Exodus 8:6 covered the whole land of Egypt, the three frogs of Revelation 16 go abroad through the whole world. Their propaganda covers all the land.

I am intrigued when I go back to the Egyptian plagues. In Exodus 8:6, “Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt” (ESV). But then in Exodus 8:7, “the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt” (ESV). That is, the magicians performed signs which deceived Pharaoh and Egypt. They could copy the miracle themselves. Back in Revelation we are told the three frogs were demonic spirits performing signs deceiving all the kings of the whole world.

However, here’s the thing. Sure, the magicians could produce more frogs. I guess that’s amazing. But what good was it? They couldn’t get rid of the frogs. Heqet was useless to them. They could not call on their god to deliver them. In fact, it was not until Moses asked YHWH to remove the frogs that they went away.

All of the plagues were like this. Each of them demonstrated YHWH’s superiority over those false gods who were not gods at all. At the most, they were demonic spirits given freedom to work for a time. At the least, they were figments of the imagination created in the minds of people.

The Message for the Seven Churches

Pergamum and Thyatira, and the other churches as well, needed to perk up their ears. They seemed to believe no harm would come from compromising with the pagan gods. In fact, they may have believed positive blessing would come from it.

However, these bowls of wrath reminding us of God’s judgment on Israel make the point loud and clear. When the judgment falls, the false gods will be judged. Those who follow them will also be judged.

We can’t serve two masters. If we try, we must know one of them will be judged in the end. We will be judged alongside it.

The Lord, He is God. Let us permit no others on the dais with Him.

Tomorrow’s reading is Revelation 16.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Revelation 16 prompt or improve your trust in God?

Revelation 11: Heroes to Emulate

Today’s reading is Revelation 11.

And the Two Witnesses Are…

Drum roll, please…

…

Nobody.

And everybody.

Most folks today search the history books or the newspapers trying to identify two particular men who are these witnesses. However, I don’t think John is trying to send us on either of those wild goose chases. Rather, these two men do not represent two particular individuals. Instead, they represent the kind of person Jesus is calling all His followers to be. They are are not two individuals to be discovered but two ideals to be emulated. By the way, I love this concept of emulation in Revelation which I’m stealing from David A. deSilva’s book Seeing Things John’s Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation (usual caveats apply).

Faithful Witnesses in REvelation

The message to the angel of the church at Smyrna called those Christians to be “faithful unto death” (Revelation 2:10). While Pergamum had incredible struggles, they had stood up well in the days of “Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells” (Revelation 2:13). Despite the false reputation of the church in Sardis, some had not soiled their garments and would “walk with me in white” (Revelation 3:4). Further, they were promised that those who conquered would “be clothed thus in white garments” (Revelation 3:5). When the fifth seal was opened in Revelation 6:9-11, we discover the ones dressed in white are those who “had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne” (ESV).

In the initial messages to the seven churches and then as Revelation progressed through its apocalyptic narrative, the stage was well set for these two men in Revelation 11. They don’t represent particular individuals. They represent God’s people at their finest. They represent what Christ is calling His people to be and do. Two of the churches needed to hold fast and continue being these men. The other five needed to repent and become these men.

Balaam and Jezebel

When John rebuked Pergamum, he particularly called the church to repent of its Balaamite teaching. In Numbers 22-24, Balaam tried to curse Israel, but was prevented. Instead, according Numbers 31:16, Balaam advised the Midianites how to lead the Israelites astray bringing a plague on Israel at Peor (Numbers 25). Under Moses’s command, Balaam was killed in battle in Numbers 31:8.

When John rebuked Thyatira, he particularly called the false prophetess among them Jezebel. Jezebel was the foreign wife of Ahab who led him further astray into idolatry, killed Naboth, and killed prophets of God (1 Kings 16-21). This all happened in the days of Elijah who had a famous battle against the Baal prophets under Jezebel.

Recognize this connection. When the churches are called to repentance, they are rebuked for being like Balaam and Jezebel. When we see the two faithful witnesses, they are pictured as the prophets directly in battle with these two: Moses and Elijah.

Could the point be more clear? Repent of being Balaam and Jezebel. Instead, be like Moses and Elijah. Be faithful even unto death and God will give you the crown of life.

The Sixth Seal and the Sixth Trumpet

I can’t help but notice how parallel the sixth seal and the sixth trumpet are.

When the sixth seal is opened, judgment comes upon the enemies of God (Revelation 6:12-17). When the sixth trumpet is blown an army is sent in judgment on the world, killing a third of mankind (Revelation 9:13-19).

After the breaking of the sixth seal, the four angels who will be instruments of judgment are told to hold back until God’s faithful are sealed (Revelation 7:1-3). When the sixth trumpet is blown, the four angels are released (Revelation 9:14-16).

In the time of the sixth seal, the servants of God receive the protecting seal on their foreheads (Revelation 7:3-8). In the time of the sixth trumpet, the worshipers of God are measured behind God’s protecting measurement (Revelation 11:1-3).

Under the sixth seal, John sees those who had been killed for the witness they bore (cf. Revelation 6:9-11) clothed in white and worshiping before the throne and before the Lamb (Revelation 7:9-17). Under the sixth trumpet, John sees witnesses slain for their testimony, but then resurrected and called up to the throne room of God (Revelation 11:7-12).

As we see the parallels, we recognize these two witnesses do not represent anyone in particular anymore than the souls under the altar represented anyone in particular. Both the souls under the altar and the two witnesses represent the same thing: what Jesus is calling all His disciples to be and do.

These are the ideal heroes to be emulated. May we do so.

But We Don’t Consume People with Fire

Of course, let’s address the pink elephant in the room with what I’ve presented. Other than Elijah and Moses, we haven’t seen anyone of God’s people actually do the things described in Revelation 11:5-6. In fact, when the brother apostles James and John (yes, the John who is recording this apocalypse) asked to be able to do so, Jesus rebuked them saying that isn’t what His kingdom is like (Luke 9:54-55).

Not only do I not think these two witnesses represent two literal people either in our history or our future, I don’t think their actions represent what disciples literally do. In Jeremiah 5:14, God speaks of Jeremiah’s prophesying this way, “Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts: ‘Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them. Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the LORD” (ESV). Fire went forth from Jeremiah’s mouth to consume the people, but not literally. His warnings were fire and the people were consumed because they didn’t listen. The consuming happened when God sent His judgment upon them. In like manner, these two witnesses prophesy and warn. They call fire down, but not literally. Their words are fire and the enemies are consumed when God brings His judgment against them as seen in Revelation 11:13.

Again, the two witnesses are not individuals to be discovered but ideal heroes to be emulated. Let us imitate them.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Revelation 11 prompt or improve your trust in God?

Revelation 2: Meet the Bride at Thyatira

Today’s reading is Revelation 2.

The picture of the Bride gets more sullied. If the manifestation of the Bride in Pergamum was flirting, in Thyatira she had started sleeping around. The Groom had already caught her in the adultery and given time to repent, but she persisted. It’s possible the congregation had a particular woman named Jezebel. However, I think it more likely Jesus wanted to identify the woman not by her given name, but to demonstrate who she really was. Whatever her given name, she was Jezebel. She was the same as the pagan wife who had been the greatest stumbling block for ancient Ahab, king of Israel. The point was not merely to identify who she was, but what would happen to her. Recall, the ancient Jezebel was thrown out of a window at the command of Jehu and then her body was eaten by dogs (see 2 Kings 9:30-37). Further, I don’t know how many of Ahab’s 70 sons in 2 Kings 10 were sons of Jezebel, but they also were killed.

This Jezebel, who fashioned herself as a prophetess, seducing the Lord’s servants to participate in idolatry, prefigured the Great Prostitute of Revelation 17. Jezebel may like to claim she was part of the Bride, but she wasn’t. She was part of the Prostitute. She may have liked to claim she was a stone in the wall of the heavenly Jerusalem, but she was not. She was a brick of Babylon. Hiding out among the Christians would not save her from the coming judgment.

Notice, the Groom claimed when He brought this judgment, all the churches would know He is the one who searches the mind and heart (Revelation 2:23). That is, hiding out among the Bride does not hide the idolatrous mind and heart from Jesus. He knows His Bride. He knows His enemy. His flaming eyes can pierce into our very hearts and souls.

But, and I admit this part puzzles and surprises me. Though Thyatira was in danger of being trampled by the Groom’s feet of burnished bronze and consumed by His fiery eyes, Jesus knew the ones in the congregation who had not gone along with Jezebel. He knew those who did not follow Jezebel in her teaching and her adultery. They had not followed her into “the deep things of Satan.” No doubt, Jesus spoke of these pure saints in His opening statement: “I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.” In other words, though in Pergamum the Prostitute had mingled with the Faithful Bride, Jesus could tell the difference. The faithful individual in the congregation would not be destroyed along with the unfaithful. But, on the other hand, the unfaithful will not be saved by meeting on Sundays with the faithful.

Perhaps in this letter we learn the greatest lesson. In Thyatira, the Bride was not faithful; she was not Smyrna. She was not faithful in either a contractual or covenantal sense; she wasn’t Ephesus. She was not faithful in a technical sense; she was not even Pergamum. Yet, the Groom offered her repentance. How amazing is that? Sadly, Jezebel would not repent. But she was given that opportunity. Perhaps you have been Jezebel in your congregation. The Lord knows. He hasn’t missed it. He searches the minds and hearts. But you can still be invited to the wedding feast. You can still be victorious. Repent. Give up the sins which have led you astray. He will save you. Praise the Lord!

We are the Bride. Let us repent and find fellowship with our King.

Next week’s reading is Revelation 3.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

What do you want to share with others from Revelation 2?