In the readings for this first week in the book of Revelation, the apostle John of epistle and gospel writing fame, is given a vision by Jesus himself – a vision of what must take place after this. And over the next five weeks, we will dig into that vision, and pull out of it, all the hope we can find. Because the book of Revelation was written for that purpose – to give hope to Christians who are persecuted, tired, frustrated, angry, demoralized, or just plain bored...
The soldier has been in the foxhole for what seems like months. Every once in a while, bullets whizz past. Every once in a while artillery shells pound the ground not far enough away. Every once in a while, the sounds of a drone flying overhead cause rapid heart rate and frantic searching the skies. The days blur together and the nights crawl by, and the POINT of sitting in this foxhole becomes more and more vague. Thoughts come to the soldier's mind: “Why am I here? What am I doing? What if I just surrender?” What this soldier needs is a vision of the big picture. He needs the general to tell him, “If you and your mates can defend this position from the enemy, this division can attack over here and those aircraft can strike over there and then....we will WIN this war, and you can move on to a much better, freer way of life.” To have enough hope to stay in his foxhole, this soldier needs to know....that there's a plan for victory.
The apostle John, who referred to himself as “the disciple Jesus loved” in his account of the gospel, was having a rough go. In his old age, in around the year 94 AD, John had been arrested for proclaiming the gospel in Ephesus and other parts of Asia Minor, and he was exiled to the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. The persecution of Christians under Roman emperor Domitian, the “second persecution” after that of emperor Nero, was in full swing, and martyrs were being made regularly. The pressure to renounce the Christian faith was intense.
Add to that, the church as an institution was now about 60 years old. The hopes of Paul and others, that Christ would return in glory during their lifetime, were fading fast. The kingdom was becoming less about the excitement of something new, and more about patient endurance of persecution.
Add to that, the Christians of the day had many different emotions to process: hatred, anger, and even revenge toward the persecuting regime; grief, survivor guilt, and even envy toward the martyrs who had gone before them; resentment, despair, and even disbelief toward God. This is the background out of which the book of Revelation emerged.
How much has changed between then and now? We live under a regime that is much friendlier to Christianity than Domitian or Nero. Until recently, we have been ENCOURAGED by our society to uphold the Christian faith, unless there is a pandemic in progress. And to my knowledge, not a single Canadian has been martyred for Jesus within the span of time that Canada has existed.
But the church as an institution is now almost 2000 years old. People don't even consider the possibility that Jesus will return in their lifetime, unless they interpret things Donald Trump says through the lens of the book of Revelation! The church today is traditional, and predictable, and ignorable. The problem is not to PROCESS the emotions of Christians, it's to GENERATE emotions in Christians, with the background of sliding attendance, decreasing commitment, and loss of impact in society.
To a battle-weary John, for a battle-weary church, particularly the battle-weary congregations in Asia that John ministered to, Jesus gives a revelation – in the Greek, an apokalupsis, in a style we now call apocalyptic. Similar to the books of Daniel and Ezekiel in the Old Testament, Jesus gives a vision full of fantastic and symbolic imagery, a vision where the meaning of things is at times somewhat obscure, so that the regime censors will not understand it. And the main theme of the vision is this: If you persevere in your foxhole, evil will eventually be defeated – the plan for victory is assured.
And in today's readings, the plan begins with a vision of worship at HQ - in the heavenly throne room of God. The throne room and God himself are described physically using the most beautiful things imaginable – jasper and cornelian and emerald and crystal. And the throne is described using the most powerful things imaginable – flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. The magnificence of the scene is breathtaking.
And just as in the book of Ezekiel, Jesus gives John a vision of cherubim – called here the “four living creatures”. Cherubim are a special type of angel that guard God's presence, and to help with that, they are given extraordinary vision with multiple eyes. And in this case, these four living creatures are called upon to worship God 24/7/365. The fascination of the scene is mesmerizing.
Also participating in worship are the twenty-four elders, whom some have suggested are symbolically the 12 patriarchs of Israel and the 12 disciples of Jesus. In any event, they are willing to place their crowns of authority before the throne of God, submitting all their influence and worldly power under God's direction. The unanimity of the scene is reassuring.
And then, the plan itself is revealed, in the form of a scroll, written on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. The plan to final victory over evil is in God's right hand, ready for implementation. All of the suffering, all of the persecution, all of the patient endurance would be worth it for that final victory. But there is a problem that makes John weep bitterly! It seems that no one is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals. Then a hero arrives on the scene - Jesus, the Lamb of God. He IS worthy, because he was slaughtered and by his blood he ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation. Jesus is worthy to receive every accolade – the sevenfold, meaning complete package, of power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing. Jesus is worthy to implement the plan of final victory.
Who among us would leave the foxhole under a white flag of surrender, if we knew victory over the enemy was just around the corner? Who among us would give up the freedom of that better life to come, because of a few instances of persecution? Who among us would desert from our mates, because we were bored? We have the great calling to witness to the heroism of the Lamb, and we have the great hope of seeing the Lamb's plan come to fruition – total victory over evil and the new life of everything good.
Gracious God, keep us faithful at our posts. Help us to endure what we must, worshipping you in good times and bad, receiving your gift of grace and hope, in Jesus' name, amen.