12. The Revelation of John

The long water tunnel at Megiddo, visited today by many tourists, was dug by the engineers of King Solomon and completed some time in the reign of King Ahab around 800 BC. For four hundred feet it carried a strong water supply beneath a hill into the bottom of a large well in the heart of the city. This water supply enabled the city to become one of the strongest fortresses of the ancient world.

The first city of Megiddo was built in 3,500 BC and more than twenty cities have been built in this same spot one on top of the other. King Solomon used this city as his headquarters and his grain stores base. This fortified city held a commanding position in north central Israel. Whoever held this garrison held the great Plain of Esdraelon below.

This huge plain in Israel was frequently the battleground of mighty armies. It is the pivotal point between the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. Over the years many great battles were fought: pharaohs led their Egyptians against Babylonians and Assyrians; Hittites against Egyptians and Assyrians; Canaanites against Israelites; Phoenicians against Philistines; Persians against Greeks, and Parthians against Romans; Byzantines against Arabs; Crusaders against Turks; the British against Turks; and Jordanians against Israelis. Conquerors have made this the key to their winning the area, from Pharaoh Thutmose III in 1468 BC right through to General Allenby in World War 1. Allenby became known as ‘Allenby, Viscount of Megiddo’ 3,386 years after the first pharaoh passed by.

But battles of the past are of interest because the last book of the Bible says the last great battle on earth shall be fought at Megiddo, also known as Mt Megiddo, which in Hebrew is Har-Mageddon … or Armageddon.

Why is the battle to be fought? Will the superpowers of this world clash over tension sparked by trouble in the Middle East? The Book of Revelation in its outline of a vision of the end of time claims the world will end in a holocaust commencing here.

The vision of the end

Somewhere between AD 90 and 95, in a cave on the island of Patmos, the apostle John wrote the last book of the Bible, the Revelation of John. He records the vision that he had of the resurrected Jesus at a time when Christians were suffering from persecution in many parts of the world, a persecution that had exiled him as an old man to hard labour on this island.

After writing to the seven churches in Turkey, the rest of the book is a series of visions presented in symbolic language, understood by the Christians of his day but not by their persecutors. The information was passed on by word of mouth. Unfortunately, no one today so completely understands the code involved in the series of visions that he is able to say with certainty what John intended in a few very obscure passages.

The Greek title of the book reveals its nature: apokalypsis means the uncovering of something that is revealed or hidden. He intended to make known to the believers the hidden secrets of the future, and of Jesus Christ who is both the One who makes the revealing and who is the object of the revealing.

John presented God’s great plan for mankind, and how the disrupting effects of Satan and his minions on earth will eventually be unable to disrupt the plan of God. That is why this book is so optimistic. Despite the worst that humankind can do, it tells of the ultimate triumph of God and those who believe in him. It gave great encouragement to those who were suffering from vile persecutions under the Romans, and ever since it has been loved most by those who suffer most.

The purpose of the book is revealed in its opening:

This book is the record of the events that Jesus Christ revealed. God gave this revelation in order to show his servants what must happen very soon. Christ made these things known to his servant John by sending his angel to him, and John has told all that he has seen. This is his report concerning the message from God and the truth revealed by Jesus Christ. Happy is the one who reads this book, and happy are those who listen to the words of this prophetic message and obey what is written in the books! For the time is near when all these things will happen.

Like the themes of a symphony, there is a weaving in and out and a repeating of the various series of visions. A number of symbols are repeated including the letters to the seven churches, the seven seals on the book, the seven trumpets, the seven signs, and the seven last plagues, until it reaches a great climax when Christ conquers all his enemies, including Satan, and brings to his persecuted followers a new heaven and a new earth.

Right at the beginning John establishes the message as coming from Jesus, who is called ‘the faithful witness’. But Jesus is not just the subject of the book; he is the object of it. The book leads into the worship of Christ and is filled with pictures of believers worshipping Christ. The tone of worship is set in these early verses:

He loves us, and by his death he has freed us from our sins and made us a kingdom of priests to serve his God and Father. To Jesus Christ be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

Look, he is coming on the clouds! Everyone will see him, including those who pierced him. All peoples on earth will mourn over him. So shall it be.

A new type of writing

When John wrote Revelation, it was against a background of persecution. Two hundred years earlier, Jews under persecution had developed a new type of writing called apocalyptic literature. This is a form of writing that is unique, colourful and full of bright imagery. It is poetry, artistry and music rather then a scientific treatise of how great events would happen. It is a cartoonist’s treatment of the events of the future rather than a bus timetable of when future events would occur.

To read it in the light of literalism is to miss the spirit of it. John’s writings were designed to lift the hearts of the believers and leave them with a feeling of ultimate vindication and triumph over wrong. Similar passages of apocalyptic writing can be found in the Book of Daniel, especially in the chapters relation to the great image in the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar (chapter 2) and the multi-horned beasts (chapters 7 and 8 ) and the presentation of Daniel’s seventy weeks. These passages were written only a couple of hundred years before the Revelation of John, and would have influenced him greatly.

A knowledge of the Old Testament greatly helps the reader in interpreting the message, for over three hundred references to the Old Testament are included in the book. This is one reason non-believers have great difficulty in understanding it.

The Revelation of John has been the happy hunting ground for religious fanatics, for people who want timetables to the future, and who like to chart the course of nations and dictators. It is little wonder that John sternly rebuked such in saying:

I, John, solemnly warn everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to his punishment the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes anything away from the prophetic words of this book, God will take away from him his share of the fruit of the tree of life and of the Holy City, which are described in this book.

For this book is more than a mystery puzzle: it is a book that reaches to the spirit of persecuted people and gives them hope!

The Christians of the first two centuries were persecuted under a series of Roman emperors. The emperors walked through the Forum in the heart of the capital of the empire little considering the sufferings of the Christians on the fringes of the empire. But some suffered under the direct whim of the Emperor. Nero, for example, instigated an incredible persecution following the disastrous fire of Rome in AD 64. During his persecution both Peter and Paul were murdered, and thousands of believers died as spectacles before the crowds. Nero was followed by Vespasian who, after re-establishing some stability throughout the empire, died in AD 79.

Vespasian was succeeded by his son, Titus, who reigned only two years. He was popular and was called ‘the darling of the human race’. In the heart of ancient Rome stood the Forum and dominating it leading to the Colosseum is the Arch of Titus. This arch recounts the triumph of General Titus in conquering the eastern part of the Roman Empire and shows slaves being dragged back to Rome to work on building the Colosseum. Among them is a group of Jews who are carrying the seven-branched candlestick, the menorah, as an indication that they are bringing their faith with them. Many Christians were also captured as slaves under Titus.

His younger brother, Domitian, then became Emperor. He called himself ‘Lord and God’. He was a morose and suspicious man who saw Christians as atheists for they worshipped no visible idols. Because they gathered in secret, he suspected them of having much to hide and because they would not take part in the social events of the temples and in the immoralities of the day, he regarded them as pernicious. It was during his reign of terror that John was taken into exile in Patmos. Domitian was assassinated in AD 96.

He was followed for the next twenty years by the Emperor Trajan, who was suspicious of the young church and ordered the early Christians to be executed if they did not abandon their faith. Later emperors continued the persecution up until the conversion of Constantine in AD 312.

During the persecution of Christians, many hid in catacombs beneath Rome. There are more than forty of these series of long tunnels, covering 800 kilometres in length. They are important to us as a source of the early faith of Christians who painted their pictures on the sides of the tombs and wrote their statements of faith. It was here they found shelter and met in refuge from a hostile world.

The Christians of the persecution, encouraged by John’s vision of a future victory and the teaching of Jesus about immortal life, wrote on the sides of their graves slogans that have encouraged and inspired generations. We read on one, ‘He sleeps and lives in the peace of Christ’; on another, ‘The soul lives not knowing death and right consciously rejoices in the vision of Christ’; and on another, ‘Thou livest in the glory of God and in the peace of Christ our Lord’.

The Christian doctrine of resurrection and victory is mentioned frequently, as in the following: ‘Here rests my flesh; but at the last day, through Christ, I believe it shall be raised from the dead,’ and, ‘I believe, because my Redeemer lives, in the last day he shall raise me from the earth, and in my flesh I shall see the Lord.’

It is a moving experience to read these testimonies of faith and to walk through the catacombs. Those Christians who died in faith looked forward in hope to when they would share eternal life and victory with Jesus.

The universal struggle

The Revelation of John pictures the immense struggle on earth between the people of God who worship him and the people of this world who obey the forces of evil.

John envisioned what it was like to enter heaven and he describes how the Spirit took control of him, taking him into a magnificent throne room where God was surrounded by angels and people worshipping him.

Each one of the four living creatures had six wings and they were covered with eyes, inside and out. Day and night they never stopped singing:

‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God almighty
who was, who is, and who is to come.’

The four living creatures sing songs of glory and honour and thanks to the one who sits upon the throne who lives forever and ever. When they do so, the twenty-four elders fall down before the one who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever. They throw their crowns down in front of the throne and say,

Our Lord and our god! You are worthy to receive glory, honour, and power. For you created all things, and by your will they were given existence and life.

In John’s vision of heaven he saw a seven-sealed scroll, the first of a number of important symbols. Only Christ was worthy to break those seals. As each seal was broken, it revealed what was going to happen to earth. Out of the first four seals came four horsemen, one riding a while horse as a conqueror representing false peace; another, bright red, representing the wars that would occur on earth; another was a black horse representing famine; and the fourth was a pale horse of skin and bones called death. The other three seals mention judgments that will come to the earth: of persecution, violent earthquakes and destruction, and of an awesome silence that was full of foreboding.

John then saw the people of God redeemed, with 144,000 faithful people from Israel, and behind them:

There was an enormous crowd – no one could count all the people! They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood in front of the throne of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They called out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb!’

John wrote about seven trumpets which, when blown, would reveal terrible judgments and destruction coming upon the earth. In the end, after the seventh trumpet, there would again be a cry of praise to God who was victor.

The second half of the Revelation of John tells of both the struggle on earth and of the victory that is assured through Christ. There is a tremendous spiritual battle between the forces of evil in the shape of a dragon and, in a heavenly war, the archangel Michael and his angels fight the dragon and defeat him.

Victory is already assured even though Satan is going to bring more suffering upon the people in later attacks by a terrible beast from the sea and a beast of the earth, each representing past and future empires and persecutors. Gradually the plagues and the suffering will become worse until a great battle occurs.

After seven angels bring plagues upon the earth from seven bowls, we read:

Then the spirits brought the kings together in the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl in the air. A loud voice came from the throne in the temple, saying, “It is done!” There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder, and a terrible earthquake. There has never been such an earthquake since the creation of man, this was the worst earthquake of all! The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of all countries were destroyed…All the islands disappeared, all the mountains vanished. Huge hailstones, each weighing as much as fifty kilograms fell from the sky on people, who cursed God on account of the plague of hail because it was such a terrible plague.

In John’s eyes the plain of Megiddo, which had seen so many famous battles in the past, was to see the last battle of all, known as Armageddon. This would bring about the defeat of Christ’s enemies. A great victory would occur over the worst of all – Rome herself, called by her name of ‘the Harlot of Babylon’. John describes it this way:

I saw another angel coming down out of heaven. He had great authority, and his splendour brightened the whole earth. He cried out with a loud voice ‘She has fallen! Great Babylon has fallen! She is now haunted by demons and unclean spirits; all kinds of filthy and hateful birds live in her. For all the nations have drunk her wine – the strong wine of her immoral lust. The kings of earth practised sexual immorality with her and the businessmen of the world grew rich from her unrestrained lust.

The kings of the earth who took part in her immorality and lust will cry and weep over the city when they see the smoke from the flames that consume her. They stand a long way off, because they are afraid of sharing in her suffering. They say, ‘How terrible! How awful! This great and mighty city Babylon! In just one hour you have been punished!

Be glad, heaven, because of her destruction! Be glad, God’s people and the apostles and the prophets! For God has condemned her for what she did to you!

So the persecutor is persecuted, and the destroyer has been utterly destroyed. The early Christians who remained faithful through the persecution saw at last the destruction of their great enemy – in a vision as yet, but soon in reality.

Each generation has seen the successors of persecuting Rome being the last enemy to be defeated. In 1980 Francis Ford Coppola made the film Apocalypse Now. For him the Vietnam War was the time of the commencement of the end of the world. It wasn’t. Yet anybody who reads of the present conflict through the oil-rich Middle East could see that very shortly even in our generation we could have Apocalypse Now.

The Second Coming of Jesus

The great climax is to come, with the return of Jesus Christ to establish his reign and to judge the wicked. The centre of the coming of the Son of God is to be Jerusalem. John records it this way:

Then I saw heaven open, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called ‘Faithful and True’. It is with justice that he judges and fights his battles. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and he wore many crowns on his head. He had a name written on him, but no one except himself knows what it is. The robe he wore was covered with blood. His name is ‘the Word of God’. The armies of heaven followed him … and on his thigh was written the name: ‘King of kings and Lord of lords.’

Just as Jesus ascended into heaven, so he will come in triumph bringing his redeemed with him who have been caught up with him in the air. Christians believe the Messiah will come victorious, when finally Satan is defeated and the world is judged.

After the return of Jesus in triumph and the establishment of his kingdom of peace and happiness, those who have opposed his word and will and who have persecuted the believers will be punished. After a final rebellious struggle, the enemies will be destroyed and Satan and his beast and false prophet will be doomed to eternal punishment. Then God will open the book of Life and the books that record the deeds of each unrepentant sinner. Then rewards and punishments are delivered as the world is destroyed in a fiery holocaust!

Then John closes his Revelation with a great vision of the future renewal:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth disappeared, and the sea vanished. And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband. I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: ‘Now God’s home is with mankind! He will live with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared.’ Then the one who sits on the throne said, ‘And now I make all things new!’

That is the final triumphant scene as the new Jerusalem is established with a new heaven and a new earth with the believers gathered for eternity in great joy, worshipping God and Jesus the king.

The whole book breathes a spirit of triumph and optimism as those who are being persecuted are encouraged to look to God who is still in control behind the events of the most wicked of men.

Date and time?

When is all this to happen? Every generation can see some elements of persecution and some of hope in this book for themselves, but no one has the right to claim a timetable of their own.

The Christian has to live in obedience and expectancy for the coming of Christ. His return will be sudden, and at a point when no one is expecting him. There are some 318 allusions to the second coming of Jesus in the 260 chapters of the New Testament. Seven out of every ten chapters have some reference to the return of the Lord. He came to earth at Bethlehem in silence submission and subjection; but the vision of his return is that he will come in power, might and glory.

So the Bible ends on a note of triumph. God’s plan for humankind, expressed in creation but thwarted by man’s sinfulness, was expressed through the chosen people and then through his Son, our redeemer. That same plan was told to the world by those who followed Jesus and proclaimed him as Christ. Those who have remained faithful to him will join with him when God’s plan is fulfilled with a new creation of heaven and earth, the recreation of all who look for his appearing. A new people in new bodies, in a new society, in a new universe – what a plan!

To that the Christians of the earth say: ‘ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.’

Endnotes:

1. Revelation 1:1-3
2. Revelation 1:5
3. Revelation 1:12-18; 4:6-11; 5:6-14; 19:1-7
4. Revelation 1:6-7
5. Revelation 22:18-19
6. Revelation 4:8-11
7. Revelation 7:9-10
8. Revelation 16:16-21
9. Revelation 18:1-3; 9-10; 20
10. Revelation 19:11-16
11. Revelation 21:1-5
12. Matthew 24:44; 25:1-13; Luke 21:34-36

For personal reading

Theme: The end of time

Monday: The comfort of the second coming (1 Thessalonians 4:14-3-18)
Tuesday: The Sermon on the Mount I (Matthew 5:1-26)
Wednesday: The Sermon on the Mount II (Matthew 5:27-48)
Thursday: The Sermon on the Mount III (Matthew 6:1-34)
Friday: Paul’s prophecy (1 Corinthians 15:1-58)
Saturday: The new earth (Revelation 21:1-27)
Sunday: The truth of God’s word (Revelation 22:6-21)

For group study

Topic: More than conquerors

1. To what extent does the Sermon on the Mount apply to the present? To what extent does it apply to the future?

2. The Revelation of John was written in a special literary form. How is it to be interpreted?

3, What was the message of Revelation to the young church?

4. What message does the book have for us today?

5. Think back over the series and share with another person the things you have found most meaningful?

Wednesday, 25th February, 2009, 12:33 pm | Bible Studies