The book of the Revelation which closes the Bible defies easy understanding. My reaction to the amazingly terrifying images in its chapters has alternately been fascination and repulsion over the years. John wrote it in symbol and code, packing the paragraphs with allusions to prophetic passages of the Old Testament. What does one make of lines like this - "Then I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns, with ten crowns on its horns. And written on each head were names that blasphemed God. This beast looked like a leopard, but it had the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion!" (Revelation 13:1-2, NLT) Each of those descriptive words does have meaning in John's code - meaning which we search out with careful study and the Spirit's help.
Many a tortured explanation for the book has been offered over time. In my youth, I was offered an interpretation of the book as a guide to a coming era called "The Great Tribulation" when the goodness of God is absent and Satan runs amok in a vain attempt to usurp God's place as King of Creation. Limiting one's understanding of this great vision in that way is tragic. Some read it as history, as John's way to assure the early Believers of God's ultimate victory as they were enduring crushing persecutions at the hands of the Romans. It is not just a book for a past generation, either. Perhaps both - future and past- are valid ways to read this wonderful book, but it is surely a book for every generation of Believers.
It is a book for those who suffer, those who are wearied by the constant battle with evil in this world. The reader will notice periodically throughout the chapters, various messengers step forward with songs that declare the eternal purposes of God, the inevitable triumph of His plans, and the glory that waits for the faithful. Every tired Believer ought to read them every now and again, out loud, with emphasis! Handel, in his great work, Messiah, was inspired by the 19th chapter of this book to write the "Hallelujah Chorus," which to this day brings audiences to their feet. When we are serving the Lord, wrestling with temptation, working to eliminate sin and suffering in the world of which we part; we run the risk of becoming demoralized. Weariness and despair are always at the edge of life, particularly when we endure those seasons that yield no clue about their purposes. When we go through situations that make it appear that the Devil is winning, when evil triumphs and the good die, faith dims.
In those moments we can be sustained by John's fantastic visions - and yes, I believe we should be!
" After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants."
And again they shouted: "Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever." The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne.
And they cried: "Amen, Hallelujah!" Then a voice came from the throne, saying: "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!" Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
"Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready." (Revelation 19:1-7, NIV)
Don't get so lost in the desire to decode each symbol, to unwrap each metaphor, that you lose sight of the grand proclamation, made time after time by the unfolding of John's vision - God wins!
Believer, read the book of the Revelation - and remember the full name - "the Revelation of Jesus Christ." It is His finished portrait. In it the gentle suffering Savior who offered His life on the Cross, becomes the Lord of Glory, riding out to vanquish His foes. How I need to know that He is both - my Savior and my LORD! "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! Amen.
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