Milo

BABYLON’S FALL
Revelation 18–19

“Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!” (Rev. 18:10)

When Christ intervenes, all the world holds to be important will be and mean nothing at all.

Background
Babylon. Babylon has both historic and symbolic significance throughout Scripture. Babel was the site of man’s first banding together to build a city, and a tower, “that we might make a name for ourselves” (Gen. 11:1–5). Later the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar served as the symbol of ultimate worldly power and wealth, and the temporary conqueror of God’s people. The prophets rail against the pride and arrogance of Babylon; a pride rooted in military success and wealth. It is little wonder that here in Revelation the name “Babylon the Great” is given to human civilization itself. Mankind bands together, not to serve God and neighbor, but to make a profit, and enjoy luxuries which all too often are exacted from the poor and the oppressed.
In Revelation’s picture of the fall of Babylon the Great at history’s end, we read God’s evaluation of worldly society itself. We read His contempt for the greed that motivates us, for the avarice that makes us passionately desire luxuries over justice, and for all our craving for power.
As we read of Babylon the Great, and observe its fall, we remember the verdict expressed in John’s first letter:
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything that is in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:15–17).

Overview
An angel announces the end of human civilization, “Babylon the Great” (18:1–20). The judgment is carried out (vv. 21–24), to heavenly Hallelujah’s (19:1–10). At last the heavens open, and Christ is revealed at the head of heaven’s armies, as King of kings and Lord of lords (vv. 11–16). Earth’s armies gather for a last desperate stand, only to be crushed by Christ Himself (vv. 17–21).

Understanding the Text
“A home for demons” Rev. 18:1–3. Babylon is a place where demons feel comfortable, because the values expressed in the society Babylon represents are at such odds with the values of our God. We must be careful, lest in valuing the wrong things, we find ourselves at home with evil (see DEVOTIONAL).

“Come out of her, My people” Rev. 18:4–8. The power and luxuries enjoyed by the men and women of this world are real enough. But they are devastating to the spiritual life. The greatest danger in having many possessions is that in time they begin to possess you.
God has given us all things richly to enjoy. But nothing must become more important to us than God. And no thing must become more important than a brother in need. Babylon is condemned because her people value material possession so much that they willingly commit crimes against their fellow man.
One of the greatest discoveries of my life came when I realized, after purchasing my first car, that I did not really care whether I had it or not. Since then I have lived alone in a single room, and been the owner of a fine, large house. And learned that there is no real difference to being with and being without.
Enjoy the things God gives you. But in your heart surrender them so perfectly to God that if He should take them all, you would suffer not one moment’s grief.

“They will weep and mourn” Rev. 18:9–17. In 1929, as the stock market crashed, many a New Yorker opened his windows, and jumped. They would understand completely the grief expressed in Revelation 18, for they too cried out, “All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.”
Because they mistook the shadow for reality, the passing scene for stability, and the temporal for the eternal, they were unable to withstand the sense of loss.
How terrible to be a citizen of Babylon. How much better to fix our gaze and hopes on heaven.

“All who earn their living from the sea” Rev. 18:17–20. Again, the sea represents mankind. Those who earn their living from the sea are those whose whole grasp of life’s meaning is bound up in society’s material values. As civilization, with its wealth and splendor, comes crashing down at history’s ends, such men will weep. But the saints, apostles, and prophets of God will rejoice.
Perhaps we should rejoice even now when we experience reverses. To lose what we cannot keep, that your desires may again be fixed on what we cannot lose, is great profit indeed.

“The light of a lamp will never shine in you again” Rev. 18:21–24. The world created by lost humanity is doomed to endless destruction. In biblical times a light was always kept burning in a family’s home at night. Even the poor kept a single lamp lit. For one’s “lamp to go out” symbolized an empty and abandoned home.
And so it is with Babylon. When with great violence God overthrows Babylon, that city of the lost will never be built again. Remember that, as you watch the endless stream of commercials that try to convince you that you must possess more and more. Babylon’s light will soon go out, never to shine again. The spells that led all the names astray will crumble into dust. And those who resisted Babylon’s allure will know an endless joy.

“Hallelujah!” Rev. 19:1–10 The scene again shifts to heaven. There the fall of Babylon is a cause for rejoicing. God now reigns. And all the saints will celebrate at the wedding supper of the Lamb.
The symbolism here is powerful too. In the Old Testament God is pictured as the Husband of Israel. In the New Testament Christ is the Bridegroom, the church His chosen bride. In biblical times the joining of the betrothed occasioned a week-long celebration. Friends and neighbors feasted, danced, and sang as they shared the newly married couple’s joy.
The wedding supper thus joyously marked the inauguration of the rest of life: a life in which two who had been separate would now be one.
Just so with us. Earth’s tragic tale is ended. Babylon lies in ruins. And at last Bridegroom and bride sit down together at the nuptial feast. For all eternity ahead life will be new. And they will at last be one.

“Kings of kings and Lord of lords” Rev. 19:11–21. Christ now and at last leads armies of angels that snuff out mankind’s last resistance to His rule. Satan is bound. The beast and false prophet are summarily condemned to the lake of fire. And as for the rest, “the rest of them were killed with the sword that comes out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorge themselves on their flesh.”

DEVOTIONAL
O Babylon!
(Rev. 18:1–13)
Babylon. The city of man.
John writes, “She has become a home for demons.” If you wonder why, and want a standard against which to compare Babylon, choose Eden. In Eden man lived in harmony with nature. An intimate relationship existed between Adam and Eve, and the first pair and God. The scene is pastoral; the dominant impression is one of harmony and simple joys. In the quiet of Eden there is time to contemplate; time to discover; time to grow and to become.
In contrast the clamor of construction echoes throughout Babylon. The city rumbles with activity. Bustling crowds rush here and there, eager for success, zealous to gain some new luxury. God’s gentle rule is replaced by an authoritarian government that maintains its power by serving the passions of its citizens, and carelessly crushing those who oppose. Shops filled with unnecessary goods stimulate citizens to greater effort to gain more. Everywhere in Babylon there is luxury without satisfaction, achievement without delight, success without fulfillment.
In the mad rush of Babylon mankind is caught up in the pursuit of the meaningless. In the lights of the city mankind’s eyes are blinded to the real issues of life, even as a moth is drawn to the flame that snuffs out its life.
Babylon is a trap, crafted by Satan, populated by the foolish, filled with the detestable, rich in material wealth but utterly poverty-striken in the coin of heaven. Babylon is a home for demons, a snare for humankind.
In the coming year, guard your motives, and keep watch over your desires. Babylon is here around us. Do not let her seduce you.

Personal Application
Learn to see the demonic in what to others seems to give life meaning.

Quotable
“The final chapter of human history is solely God’s decision, and even now He is everywhere active in grace or judgment. Never in all history have men spoken so much of end-time, yet been so shrouded in ignorance of God’s impending doomsday.”—Carl F.H. Henry

WRATH POURED OUT
Revelation 15–17

“Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever” (Rev. 15:7).

God is just in His judgments, however terrible they may appear to you and me.

Background
Mystery Babylon. After describing further judgments that are poured out on earth, John introduces something called Mystery Babylon. In symbolic form this is a woman, drunk on the blood of the saints, who is herself done away with by the Antichrist.
Identification of the Antichrist rests again on language found in Daniel’s later chapters; language which suggests leadership of a consortium of political powers. The woman is often interpreted to represent a single, false, worldwide religion which featured worship of the beast and persecution of those who believe in God. The image of her riding the beast (17:3) suggests that religion is a tool used by the Antichrist in his rise to power—but discarded when power is achieved (see v. 17).
Certainly some of this is speculative. At the same time, within this context, explanations are given that make one thing sure. The beast of Revelation is the evil ruler and enemy of Israel whom Daniel describes in chapters 11 and 12. And the events here fit that prophecy so closely that we must assume Daniel and John share a common vision of things to come.

Overview
John sees seven angels, who are given bowls filled with the wrath of God (15:1–8). These are now poured out on the earth, but mankind’s only response is to curse God (16:1–21). John also witnesses the destruction of a woman generally taken to represent false religion (17:1–6), which is done away with by the Antichrist, who demands the total allegiance of all (vv. 7–18).

Understanding the Text
“Last, because with them God’s wrath is completed” Rev. 15:1. The judgments described in Revelation 15 and 16 are the last in the series of punishments to be experienced by earth’s unrepentant population. These are terrible indeed. Yet we should remember that whatever happens on earth, to believer or unbeliever, is but a prelude to eternity. Some comfort themselves with the notion that a loving God would have no use for hell. The horrors which now take place on earth are evidence that God will deal most harshly with sin here and hereafter.

“Those who had been victorious over the beast and his image” Rev. 15:2–4. What a strange description: “Those who have been victorious.” Victorious? When the context makes it clear that those so praised have died in the beast’s vicious persecution of believers?
Yet they are victorious. Their victory consisted in resisting every pressure to join the powers of evil. The fact that they suffered is irrelevant. The fact that they were killed is of no account. What matters is that they remained true to God, and in that, they triumphed.
What a principle to remember as we enter another year. It is no matter what we may lose on earth, or how weak we may appear. In doing what is right, and remaining true to God despite the cost, we triumph.

“Out of the temple” Rev. 15:6–16:1. The seven angels that John now sees receive seven bowls filled with the dregs of God’s wrath. When the content of these bowls is poured out on the earth, the temporal phase of God’s judgment will be complete. But note that these angels appear from the temple.
In Israel’s religion, the temple was the place God’s people came to meet with Him. They worshiped God there. They brought their sacrifices and their offerings, and sang their praises on the temple steps.
There, hidden beyond the curtain that sheltered the temple’s inmost room, God’s presence rested. The wall and curtains that shielded Him from profane gaze also shielded the worshipers. The essential holiness of God, the blazing glory of His righteousness, was too overwhelming for any man to see and live.
But now we see seven angels, who have been within the temple and who are themselves afire with smoke and glory. They emerge to accept the bowls that bring God’s judgments to a fiery close.
Let’s remember, as we approach God, confident of our welcome, that His temple is a place of worship, but a holy place as well. We must approach Him in holiness and purity, for our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29).

“And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail” Rev. 16:2–21. This chapter summarizes the series of judgments that are poured on the earth from the angel’s golden bowls. It also reemphasizes a theme we’ve seen expressed before.
After the first series of judgments, John says that men tried to hide from God (6:15–17). After the next series he reports that mankind “still did not repent” of their idolatry or immorality (9:20–21). Now, after this series, John says, “They cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.”
These responses must be contrasted with the enthusiastic welcome given the Antichrist when he exhibited supernatural powers. The basic difference is that the judgments from God reveal His power—and man’s sin. The wonders worked by the Antichrist reveal his powers—but appeal to man’s sinful nature.
I’ve been interested in a new school of evangelism which argues that “signs and wonders” are and have been a key to winning people to Jesus. I doubt it. A person who will not respond to God’s Word about Jesus will not be moved by signs and wonders. The issue lies in the heart of a man, and nowhere else.

“The great prostitute” Rev. 17:1–6. All through Scripture false religion has been identified with adultery and prostitution. This is in part because the pagan religions we meet in the Old Testament were nature faiths, and sexual orgies intended to stimulate nature gods to send rain were essential elements. Even more significantly, however, idolatry is associated in the Old Testament with immorality because the worship of false gods is a violation of covenant relationship with the Lord. There is only one God. To abandon Him in favor of another spiritual relationship is nothing less that adultery on a cosmic scale.
Thus interpreters of Revelation agree that in this chapter, Mystery Babylon, the great prostitute, the woman drunk with the blood of God’s saints, is false religion. Even more, it is false religion developed to the nth degree: religion for its own sake, religion that hates the true God, religion that actively persecutes faith.
The reformers loved to identify the woman’s purple and scarlet clothing with dress adopted in the Catholic church, and delighted in the fact that Rome is a city set on seven hills. As corrupt as 16th and 17th-century Catholicism became, that identification is unlikely. What is sure, however, is that “religion” often is the enemy of God, and of His people. Cults today, and the possible future world religion portrayed here, are not friendly to true Christianity, which calls us simply to love Jesus and one another, and to be zealous of doing good.

DEVOTIONAL
Riding the Beast
(Rev. 17)
Whatever else we may draw from Revelation 17, it seems quite clear that it’s dangerous for religion to hitch a ride on politics.
Granted that the imagery is obscure. Even so, if we take the scarlet-clad woman as religion, the beast she rides (v. 7) fits Daniel’s and Revelation’s description of the Antichrist.
It’s such a natural marriage. Religion, eager to gain adherents, unites with the current political power. But religion, which planned to use the marriage to gain her ends, suddenly discovers that she is herself being used! And when there is no more use for religion, she is cast aside.
I don’t want to identify American Christianity with Mystery Babylon, or the beast with any political party. But it is worthwhile to observe that no marriage between faith and politics is secure. What is even worse, a marriage between an authentic Christianity committed to spiritual warfare and any political party, committed to maintaining political power, is disastrous for faith. The weapons of our warfare, Paul once wrote, are not carnal, but are spiritual.
Why then would we ever abandon the source of our power, to ride the beast?

Personal Application
Prayer and witness overcome the world.

Quotable
“Politics is the art of the possible, not the art of the ideal.”—Russell Kirk

THE BEASTS
Revelation 12–14

“Men worshiped . . . the beast, and asked, ’Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?”’ (Rev. 13:4)

Human beings are often deceived by those who appear to be powerful.

Background
Symbols in Revelation 12–14. We are naturally curious as to who is represented by the figures that make such an overwhelming impression in these powerful chapters of Revelation. One figure, that of the dragon, is interpreted in the text. The great red dragon is Satan himself, “who leads the whole world astray.”
While the woman of chapter 12 has been variously interpreted as humanity, the church, and Mary, it is best to understand her as representing Israel. This is the people from whom Christ came; the people whose tragic journey over the past 2,000 years indicates Satan’s continuing hostility.
The “sea” in Scripture generally is a symbol of humanity. The “beast out of the sea” is the Antichrist, who is clearly linked by details in the text to the Antichrist of Daniel’s prophecies. The “beast out of the earth” is usually called the “false prophet.” Together the devil, the Antichrist, and false prophet compose an unholy trinity, a distorted reflection of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They achieve great power on earth, and win the allegiance of what remains of humanity. They seem to triumph over God’s saints. But the triumph is only apparent. After a final warning is conveyed to all on earth, a new, intensified level of judgment begins.

Overview
Signs in heaven review events: the hostility of Satan for God’s chosen people (12:1–3), the birth from Israel of the Saviour (vv. 4–5), and an attack on Israel inspired by Satan during the Tribulation period (vv. 6–9). Satan’s influence is now limited to earth (12:10–17), where he energizes the Antichrist (13:1–10) and false prophet (vv. 11–18) to rally mankind against God. The 144,000 witnesses of Revelation 7 remain faithful (14:1–8) as angels assist in warning humanity (vv. 6–13), and heaven itself joins in the destruction of sinful mankind (vv. 14–20).

Understanding the Text
“A male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter” Rev. 12:1–5. The language of the text is messianic (cf. Ps. 2; Isa. 9:6–7). The woman is Israel, from whom the Christ was born. And the dragon is Satan.
How fascinating it is to see Satan crouched, ready to pounce on the Child as He enters this world in weakness. And what a reminder. Satan failed to thwart God when Jesus walked here as a man. Despite Satan’s own considerable powers, how futile all his efforts are! He could not defeat a weakened Jesus. He is helpless against the Lamb, slain but now alive and powerful on God’s own throne!
Don’t worry about Satan. For all his posturing, he is a defeated enemy. Lost mankind may one day be enraptured by his appearance of power. But you and I know that there is more power in Jesus’ appearance of weakness on the cross, than in all the armies Satan will be able to hurl against God.

“To a place prepared for her by God” Rev. 12:6. Some have linked this with Jesus’ warning in Matthew 24:20–21, and concluded that during the Tribulation God will shelter the Jewish remnant in Mount Seir. One group has even gone so far as to store New Testaments, printed in Hebrew, in Seir’s caves.
Perhaps they were too precise in their preparations. But they did not go too far in their faith. One day soon all that John describes will come to pass. History will culminate in scorching judgments. And we are wise if we too prepare for that day.

“He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short” Rev. 12:7–12. The one thing that opposing generals dread is that the enemy may learn their plans, and find some way to counter them. How fascinating that, in prophecy, God not only tells us what lies ahead, but also makes the same information available to Satan!
But how significant this is as well. Satan may know what lies ahead. But there is nothing he can do to change the outcome of his rebellion! His frantic efforts, his raging hostility toward God’s own, express frustration rather than confidence. He knows his time is short.
And we know that Satan has been, and will be, overcome by the blood of the Lamb.

“He pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child” Rev. 12:13–17. There really must be a place in our understanding of prophecy for Israel. God chose the Jewish people, and loved them consistently from the days of Abraham to the birth of Christ. Paul assures us that God has not rejected this people whom He foreknew, but that a day is coming when “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26). God’s people still are precious to Him.
When, at history’s end, the focus returns to Israel, and the prophet’s visions take solid form, Satan’s hatred of God will burn against the people that God so loves.
Whatever else this may say to us, one thing is clear. Satan hates what God loves. Those who have antagonism toward the Jews are most surely on the wrong side.

“Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast” Rev. 13:1–10. Note the number of times that “power” is mentioned or alluded to in these verses. It’s there in verses 2, 4, and 7.
Isn’t it strange that “power to make war” is so attractive to humanity? We’ll follow anyone who has power, and who promises to make us powerful. No wonder the dictators of history were able to win the allegiance of their people so easily. “Power to make war” attracts us, and we want to be on the winning side.
But note the word God has for His saints. As the Antichrist wins victory after victory, believers are told “this calls for patient endurance.” Some of us will go into captivity. Some to the sword. And to all around us we will appear the weakest of all. And yet, the weak win. And the powerful of the earth lose.
May we learn to see the victory implicit in weakness, and the defeat inherent in power to make war, and live accordingly.

“He deceived the inhabitants of the earth” Rev. 13:11–18. I can’t help being amused at those who take Uri Geller seriously. Bend nails by mind power? I’m sure! It’s a lot like the “Christian” couple who amazed Christian congregations by the messages the Spirit gave about details of people’s lives-until someone recorded the radio messages being transmitted to the speaker by his wife through a “hearing aid.”
If we’re so gullible when tricksters are involved, think how easily deceived folks will be when real supernatural powers are openly exercised!
The picture given of the future here contains a vital reminder. No matter what one claims to be able to do, don’t desert the Word of God. No matter what economic sanctions exist, locking believers out of opportunities to work, or even to buy food, don’t abandon the Word of God. Fix your confidence in Christ and His written Word, and do not be deceived.

“They follow the Lamb wherever He goes” Rev. 14:1–5. We met the 144,000 in Revelation 7. They were identified there as Jews, sealed and sent out by God to witness about Him during the terrible times associated with history’s end. Here we see them, redeemed, standing before God’s throne and praising Him with a song that is uniquely their own. And here we hear God’s commendation. “They follow the Lamb wherever He goes.”
You and I are not numbered with the 144,000. But we can be among those of every age, of whom it can be said, “They follow the Lamb wherever He goes.”

“He had the eternal Gospel to proclaim” Rev. 14:6–13. Throughout the Christian era, sharing the Gospel has been the responsibility of human beings. But now, with humanity deceived by Satan, God demonstrates His grace in a unique way. Powerful angels call on mankind to worship God, and make the nature of the impending judgment absolutely clear.
This last expression of grace is rejected, and the saints are encouraged to endure. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on,” a voice from heaven says. “They will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
No matter how hard life here may be, or how unrewarding it seems to remain faithful to the Lord, remember. We are promised rest. And our deeds will not be forgotten, but will follow us to glory.

DEVOTIONAL
Battle Hymn
(Rev. 14:6–20)
Our American Civil War was undoubtedly the bloodiest of that era. Some 600,000 young men perished, 300,000 of them from disease and exposure associated with their military service.
As the terrible cost in lives became more and more clear, the imagery of Revelation 14 captured the imagination of Julia Ward Howe. How like a farmer harvesting a crop, gathering great armloads of grapes, and trampling on them till blood-red juices flow. How like John’s terrible vision, in which the blood pours from the winepress of God’s wrath, gushing down ravines surrounding the Holy City and spreading out for 180 miles!
And so the great “Battle Hymn of the Republic” was born. God, Howe said, is “trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. He has loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword.” Somehow, in that terrible, costly struggle, Julia Ward Howe sensed the triumph of God’s truth.
And she was right. Decades before, when the Constitution was being hammered out, the founding fathers shied away from the issue of slavery. The South was too wedded to the institution, and all the colonies must unite in declaring independence. And so the evil was ignored. It festered deep in the body politic year after year, until finally it could no longer be ignored. By then it was so deeply entrenched that it could only be excised at the cost of blood. The grapes of wrath were trampled out, and 600,000 young men died.
Every evil is like slavery. Undealt with, it festers in the soul. Christ purges those who turn to Him. But those who will not must be trampled, as God’s truth goes marching on.

Personal Application
The vision of judgment teaches us the momentous nature of our sins.

Quotable

He has sounded forth the trumpet
  that shall never call retreat,
He is sifting out the hearts of men
  before His judgment seat;
O be swift my soul to answer Him!
  be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies
  Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom
  that transfigures you and me;
As He died to make men holy,
  let us live to make men free,
While God is marching on.

Glory! glory, hallelujah!
Glory! glory, hallelujah!
Glory! glory, halleluhah!
His truth is marching on.

-Julia Ward Howe

NO MORE DELAY
Revelation 10–11

“In the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as He announced to His servants the prophets” (Rev. 10:7).

The fast-approaching new year may hold the events described in the rest of Revelation!

Background
Interpretation. From this point the Book of Revelation becomes even more difficult to interpret, and here commentators are most clearly divided.
The earliest interpretive school, current in the first two centuries, viewed Revelation as predictive prophecy, a literal though often obscure description of what is to happen in the future. In the third century Christians began to emphasize supposed allegorical meanings. Much later other Christians began to treat Revelation as a review of church history. For instance, depending on the commentator’s view, they saw the “beasts” of the book as Pope and bishops, or the leaders of the Protestant Reformation.
A more sophisticated modern view suggests that each section of Revelation is a symbolic treatment of history, with each segment looking at God’s working throughout the ages from a slightly different perspective.
And so any reader of Revelation has certain choices to make. Is the book predictive prophecy? Allegory? Or symbolic treatment of issues of John’s day, of church history, or of history’s end? Does the use of many terms found in Old Testament prophecy mean Revelation may be harmonized with Old Testament visions of history’s end that feature Israel? Or does the use of Old Testament elements mean that Old Testament prophecy too must be treated symbolically rather than literally? Is there a future for Israel as a chosen people of God? Or does Israel, which still exists as a people, have no such future, and the ancient promises given to the Jews are in fact spiritual promises fulfilled in the church?
Even when reading the bulk of Revelation devotionally, and particularly chapters 10–14, some framework must be adopted for our reading.
While recognizing that difficulties exist for any interpretive school, it seems to me that to be most consistent with the nature of Scripture and the character of God we should take Revelation as a narrative of future history, with its images rooted in Old Testament prophecy, and its constant references to Israel evidence that God intends to keep the prophets’ promises to His ancient people. Even given this framework, much in Revelation must remain a mystery. But much is also far more clear—and applicable to our lives.

Overview
John is told that history’s predicted end will now unfold (10:1–7). He is given a scroll to eat and told to prophesy (vv. 8–11). Two terrible prophets testify against mankind for a time period predicted in Daniel (11:1–6). They are killed, but raised again and taken to heaven (vv. 7–14). There all rejoice, for God has begun to reign (vv. 15–19).

Understanding the Text
“Seal up what the seven thunders have said” Rev. 10:1–4. John is not able, even in the powerful symbolism of Revelation, to report all that he saw in his vision. It may be the seven thunders are yet another nested series of judgments. Or perhaps not. In either case, it’s well for us to remember that it is God’s grace which keeps many aspects of the future hidden from us.
Think how terrible it would be if you or I knew years ahead the tragedies we would experience. Then present joys would always be dimmed by our foreknowledge of darkness ahead. Or suppose we knew ahead of time that great prosperity and success were assured? Where would the struggle be? Where the satisfaction, as each effort received its reward?
God leaves us uncertain, to guard us from premature sorrow, to surprise us by joy, and most of all, so that each and every day we will sense our need to walk with our hand in His.

“There will be no more delay!” Rev. 10:5–7 One of the most powerful reasons to take Revelation as predictive prophecy is found in this verse. John tells us that the “mystery of God will be accomplished, just as He announced to His servants the prophets.” What John now sees is what Old Testament prophets foretold.
In Scripture a “mystery” is something which has been for all time an element in God’s eternal plan, but has been revealed to humankind only recently. The church itself is such a mystery: no one living before Christ imagined that God intended to bond Jew and Gentile together into one body through faith in the crucified Son of God.
Perhaps we can think of “mystery” as God, joyfully crying out, “Surprise!” as He unveils yet another stunning aspect of His complex plan for His creation.
Judgment too will come as a surprise, even though dark warnings abound in Scripture. Elements of what John tells us are new, though they fit into an Old Testament framework. Even now the certainty of punishment for sin, and of an end to evil, rings throughout the Word of God.
Let’s never become so lost in trying to interpret the details of Revelation that we lose sight of the crushing impression it is intended to make. Judgment is coming. Doom awaits. One day soon all the terrors predicted by the prophets of every age will be realized here on earth. How important that we be ready, and not be surprised!

“Take it and eat it” Rev. 10:9–11. There is an obvious analogy here to Ezekiel, who was also told to take a scroll and eat it, and speak to the people of Israel (Ezek. 3). While that scroll too tasted like honey, it plunged the prophet into a ministry of condemnation, speaking against rebellious Israel until after the destruction of Jerusalem, and only then becoming a message of hope.
Revelation follows a similar pattern. John first describes terrible judgments that will strike the earth (11–18). But he concludes with the triumph of God, and the welcome of the saints to a new and purified heaven and earth.
In a way, even the Gospel is sweet and bitter. When we eat it, welcoming Christ into our hearts, we rejoice in its sweetness. But then, suddenly, we realize that the promise of salvation implies that all men are lost. We face that bitter truth, and realize that like Ezekiel and John, we are to witness to many who may not hear, and in refusing to listen, doom themselves to judgment.

“But exclude the outer court” Rev. 11:1–6. The focus of the vision now shifts to Jerusalem. The city lies under the control of Gentiles, and numbers found in Daniel’s predictions concerning history’s end make the link between Old Testament prophecy and Revelation unmistakably clear. There is no doubt that Jewish commentators, and early Christians as well, understood the visions of Daniel to predict or at least foreshadow the last years of world history and the career of the Antichrist.
But here more mystery is unveiled, and two unexpected figures appear. These are two witnesses, who are given supernatural powers reminiscent of Moses and Elijah. Interestingly, Jewish tradition foretold a return of Moses and Elijah at the time of the end.
Perhaps the most significant aspect of the vision of the two witnesses for us, however, is a reminder. Even in the most desperate of times, God’s people are to take a stand against sin. And if such a stand provokes hostility, so be it.

“The beast that comes up from the Abyss” Rev. 11:7–14. John sees the two witnesses killed by an individual commonly identified as the Antichrist. But after three and a half days their exposed bodies return to life, and are visibly taken up into heaven, to the consternation of their enemies.
One phrase here says that people from “every people, tribe, language and nation” will gaze on the dead bodies of the two witnesses. It’s likely that this phrase is a symbolic expression meaning little more than “all mankind.” Still, it is fascinating to speculate. Ours is the only generation in history where events in any part of the world can be witnessed everywhere, as they take place. TV cameras, linked to satellites, simultaneously transmit pictures worldwide. How easy it would be today for people from every nation to see the dramatic events John portrays. Or to see them tomorrow!

DEVOTIONAL
Begun to Reign
(Rev. 11:15–19)
A woman began the grand tradition. It was the first time she had heard Handel’s Messiah. It happened when the great piece reached its triumphant culmination, and the choir sang out, “And He shall reign, for ever and ever!” Victoria, the Queen of England, deeply moved, stood in honor of her great King, Jesus, Ruler of the universe itself.
And ever since, as the “Hallelujah Chorus” is played, audiences have stood in awed respect.
Here in Revelation 11, we see the source of that great piece of music. As the seventh trumpet sounds, and judgments continue to dash themselves against an unrepentant earth, the choir of heaven shouts:

  The kingdom of this world
    has become the kingdom
    of our Lord and of His Christ,
    and He will reign forever and ever.

When the choir shouts out its joy, Christ does not yet stand on a subdued earth. Evil is not yet purged. The Antichrist continues to exalt himself, and Satan struggles mightily. Mankind spits out its hostility against God, and displays that hatred by killing God’s servants. Yet in heaven, the hymns of praise reach a loud crescendo. All heaven knows that “You have taken up Your great power and have begun to reign.”
We live in a day when God has set aside the open exercise of His mighty power. He works now through providence, so subtly that the lost laugh at the notion of divine sovereignty, and pass all things off as chance or happenstance. One day God will openly take up His mighty power, and then His rule will be unmistakable. And that day is coming, soon.
Until then, we must remember that when things look darkest on the earth, the songs of heaven are the most triumphant. You and I, limited to our physical eyes, may not see what is so clear in heaven. But we can still rise up, and shout it out with the angels.
God reigns!

Personal Application
Show reverence for God’s name by trusting in His sovereignty.

Quotable
“Brethren, be great believers. Little faith will bring your souls to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your souls.”—Charles Spurgeon

TRUMPET CALL
Revelation 8–9

“Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded” (Rev. 8:13).

The certainty of judgment brings home the full meaning of Christmas.

Overview
The opening of the seventh seal reveals seven trumpets, representing even more severe judgments that are released on the earth (8:1–9:19). But even these crushing blows fail to bring mankind’s survivors to repentance (vv. 20–21).

Understanding the Text
“He opened the seventh seal” Rev. 8:1–2. My wife has a set of nesting canisters. Each one, a bit smaller than the other, fits neatly inside its larger companion. The judgments of Revelation are something like this. The seventh seal is opened, to reveal seven trumpets. When the seventh trumpet finally sounds, watching eyes will discover within seven bowls filled with God’s wrath. As we read Revelation, it seems that the judgments never stop, but roll on and on in an unending series of terrifying events.
As we look at each one, it seems these chapters are hardly suited for Christmas reading. Where is the Babe of Bethlehem in these awful descriptions of blazing mountains, a smoking abyss, and demonic tormentors of mankind? But He is here.
He is here, for in the description of the judgments that mark history’s anguished end, we sense the reason for the Incarnation. Jesus was born, lived, died, and rose again, that you and I might escape the punishments described here.
He was born that all who believe might pass from the darkness into the light, from death to life, from anguish into joy.

“With the prayers of all the saints” Rev. 8:3–5. This is a stunning image. Suddenly the censor that contains the prayers of the saints is taken from a golden altar, filled with burning coals, and hurled out on the earth below. That which held the praise, the thanksgiving, the joys of Jesus’ own, becomes a tool of judgment, convulsing earth itself.
How can this be? Perhaps because God’s judgment is the vindication of His saints. His punishments are meted out on those who have persecuted and murdered godly men and women. But there seems to be even more than this. The prayers of those who have come to know the Lamb express a holiness to which all men are called, but many refuse. In the very contrast between the righteous and the evil, the worshiper and the rebel, the doom of the lost is sealed.
Why don’t all see the real meaning of Christmas? Why don’t all look beyond the wrapped packages, the laden tables, the holiday songs and the repeated portrayals of the Grinch who almost stole Christmas, or the Miracle on 34th Street? Why don’t all see Christ, born to die, an Infant destined to be offered up for us all?
Why do not men realize that, if they will not have the Christ Child now, they will most certainly receive judgment from His mighty hand?

“Hail and fire mixed with blood” Rev. 8:6–12. The limitations of language make it impossible for us to know just what John describes. The images of the blazing mountain and the fiery star hurtling on earth are terrifying enough. The darkening of familiar heavenly bodies is even worse. Whatever these images used by John may really be, their effect is clear enough. A third of earth’s vegetation, seas, and waters are destroyed, and millions die.
What a contrast, this, with brightly lit houses with sparkling trees set prominently in front of living room windows. What a reminder that the choice God sets before is one of joy, or endless loss.

“The key to the shaft of the Abyss” Rev. 8:13–9:12. The former judgments might be classified as natural catastrophes. Despite their impact on the earth, materials from the physical universe were used to achieve them.
Now, however, hordes of hostile spiritual beings are unleashed. Demons, in the form of something like locusts, torment the remaining inhabitants of earth.
Even today there are those who choose to worship Satan, expecting some protection or gain. How foolish such people now are seen to be. Satan and his hordes have always hated humankind. Given the opportunity, the released demons cause such agony that men crave death. And death is denied.
Today there is a choice all men may make. And each Christmastime everyone, everywhere, is reminded of a Child who became a Man—and waits to welcome them home to heaven.

“The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million” Rev. 9:12–21. Yet another supernatural horde is unleashed against mankind. And this swarm kills. There is no skepticism now. The supernatural is known by all to be real.
Many today scoff or shrug at the supernatural, and believe, with the ancients, that the material universe is all that exists. Many demand proof or they will not believe. But if they had the proof, would they believe then?
Verses 20 and 21 tell us. Despite the evident nature of the judgment, the rest of mankind “did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold. . . . Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
It is not proof mankind needs.
It is to heed the Word of God, and let God work a change within their hearts.

DEVOTIONAL
“Give Me Love”
(Rev. 9:12–21)
Every now and then Sarah crawls up in her mother’s lap and says, “Give me love.” They hug and pat each other, coo and smile, and feel especially close. Mom and daughter.
Christmas is just such a time for us. “Give me love,” is Jesus’ way. We gather around Him, eager to hug and be hugged. Eager to be reminded of His love, and eager to affirm ours as well.
There’s something about love that draws us. And there’s something about punishment that repels.
We see that in our home too. Even when punishment is well deserved, and Sarah knows it, the lower lip sullenly protrudes. She looks accusingly out of angry eyes, and sometimes even shouts out her feelings that it’s all unfair.
This is a contrast we need to see this Christmastime, as we read of God’s terrible judgments on a sinful human race—and feel shocked that Revelation reports, they “still did not repent.” They did not change their minds or change their ways.
That’s why Christmas is such an appropriate expression of our faith. It’s God reminding us that He has heard our cry of “give me love.” And He has given love in the Christ Child whose birth we celebrate.
As long as the world has Christmas, God reaches out to give us love, and the door of salvation is open wide. Oh, let us speak to others of this love, before the judgment comes, and hardened hearts are frozen in a rebellion that will lock them away from love for all eternity.

Personal Application
Share the love of God with others this Christmastime.

Quotable
“The innkeeper who gave Mary and Joseph a Christmas Eve cave should be a holiday model for Christians as they celebrate the birth of the Messiah. That’s because that Middle Eastern Howard Johnson had the simple consideration to think beyond the ’no’ that could have easily been his complete conversation with the visiting strangers who came to his door.
“In contrast, many Christians who honor the child born that night say no all the time to strangers during the very time of year when they should be opening their doors to the lonely, forgotten, and alienated.”—James Greig