Wrath or Mercy? Pick One... Revelation Lesson 7

"Heaven must be really boring if it's full of white-robed people playing harps," someone had remarked very early on in our study. This imagery, while it was meaningful to the original readers of Revelation, has little to endear itself to us today; given its dull, sedated atmosphere where people walk around in nightclothes. In fact, it sounds very much like a scene out of a mental asylum, if you catch my drift.


Is it any wonder why we associate heaven as a place for the aged, weak and those on the "vintaged"- side of the hill, where there is nothing to do except move r-e-a-l-l-y slowly on the clouds while strumming harp-strings to the tempo of a dirge?

Before we make up our minds, let's see what Revelation has to say about this matter.

Observations
Chapter 14


This chapter opens a new series of visions, with the word Then at the beginning of the passage. John sees Jesus standing on Mount Zion, the mountain of deliverance. With him are the 144,000 whose foreheads are sealed with his (Jesus') and the Father's names. Compare this with Ezekiel 9 . A lot of different interpretations surround the 144,000, to the extent that movies and sects have been propagated in its honour. But who are these people?



One interpretation suggests the 144,000 as the community of faith throughout the ages, that is, represented by 12 x 12 x 10 x 10 x 10. These are the 12 tribes of Israel (representing the faithful in the Old Testament), the 12 apostles of Jesus (the faithful in the New Testament), and all the faithful people who will ensue until the end of the age.

This group of people will have the mark of the Lamb on their foreheads.


It is very clear that everyone who lives on this earth will have a mark, either that of the Lamb's, or that of the beast. If you have the mark of the Lamb, you will incur the wrath of the beast, but escape the wrath of God. Conversely, if you have the mark of the beast, you may not be under the wrath of the beast, but you WILL face the wrath of God. There is no middle ground. No exceptions. You will face one wrath, or the other.



This symbolic 144,000 sang a new song to the Lamb in heaven, accompanied by an angel whose sound was like many waters (all-pervasive, imagine the sound of a thundering waterfall) and harpists (sounds of joy) at the same time. Then, we are further told the 144,000 are those redeemed from the earth, and had not defiled themselves with "intercourse with the world's systems". They lived up to what is implied as their betrothal to Christ. They are covenantly faithful and true disciples. They are not sinless but instead blameless, having repentant hearts and an orientation towards God.



John sees another angel flying in midheaven, proclaiming the gospel. The responsibility of those who had heard the gospel was to "fear God and give Him glory..." Just as He has created everything in the beginning of time (Gen 1), God will judge each one at the closing of time.



Another angel then told of the impending downfall of Babylon (pagan kingdoms). Babylon, at the time of the writing of Revelation, had lapsed into a heap of ruins. Isaiah 21:9, Jeremiah 51:7. However the term "Babylon" had become symbolic for Rome and any other culture or city that arrogantly stands above God. Could this be the great New York City, Tokyo or even Kuala Lumpur, which "has been built by man's hands"? All kingdoms that exalt themselves above Christ will fall.



The third angel cries out the the judgement for those who has the mark of the beast - they will incur the wrath of God unmixed, or full strength. What this means is that, up to time of writing, the judgements of God on Israel, ie, captivity and exile, attack by Babylonians and Assyrians, the terrible siege of Jerusalem, etc, had been "dilute". The "full strength" of God's wrath is reserved for those termed here, with the mark of the beast (please refer to previous post for the explanation on the Mark of the Beast).



Jesus gave vivid descriptions of hell, ie, fire is not quenched, worms don't die, gnashing of teeth, etc. And it is ETERNAL.



The text continues to two harvests. Now, a harvest is the climax in the agricultural term of the ancient Jew. Everything builds up to the harvest. The Bible speaks of two kinds of harvests.

Harvest 1


One like the Son of Man is shown to, with one swipe of the sickle, reap the harvest on earth. This is the judgement experienced by the inhabitants of the world.


Harvest 2


In this horrific imagery, another angel swings the sickle to harvest the grapes. This harvest shows the thoroughness of God's wrath. In olden days, grapes are thrown into a winepress where they are trampled until their juices break forth and flow into the holes at the bottom of the winepress, channeled to a vat below. Here, the grapes are the people against God and Christ, thrown into a winepress and trampled till their blood flowed down to the vat, enough to fill an area 200 miles long up to the height of a horse's bridle. References to the final judgement can also be found in Jeremiah 51:23, Rev 19:15, Hosea 6:11, Matthew 13:39, Isaiah 63, Joel 3:13.

Remember, everyone has a mark, either the mark of the Lamb, or the mark of the beast.

So what now?

Concluding thoughts


1. Do not read texts on judgement with smugness and arrogance. It is with tears of grace and mercy that we give thanks for our salvation.



2. GIVE UP YOUR SMALL AMBITIONS! Know what is really important at the end of the grand scheme of what we call life and time. Your life, career, money, family, friends... what value would they take against the backdrop of the eternal judgement of God?



3. Only as we see the alternatives for what they really are, can we realise what we are saved from - the terrible wrath of God - by the sacrifice of His Son. And only through it, can we see the glories to come in the Lamb.









And yes, the sounds of joy in heaven may not sound that "boring" after all...




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Surviving the Beasts (II), Revelation Lesson 6

"Golly", a friend remarked, "what if, just what if, by some stroke of ignorance, christians end up being deceived and unwittingly receive the mark of the beast?? Will they then go to damnation?"

A noteworthy question. Let's look at what Scriptures say.

After having looked at the antichrists that culminate to the ultimate Antichrist in the previous post, we now turn to the second beast mentioned in Chapter 13. This is the beast from the earth, commonly known as the False Prophet. The Antichrist and False Prophet are cohorts of the dragon (Satan) in his last ditch attempt to inflict the earth before being cast into eternal destruction.

Observations
Chapter 13: 11 - 18




Notice that this beast (False Prophet) has the demeanour like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. Its outward appearance of harmlessness will lead many astray. Jesus spoke of wolves in sheep's clothing (Matt 7:15), and these false prophets are discerned through their fruits - which means not just their deeds but also their doctrines. A person speaking in the name of God is to be tested by the doctrines of Scripture.

This False Prophet exercises all the authority of the Antichrist, and makes others worship the Antichrist. It has the ability to perform great signs and wonders and poses a direct counterfeit to God's power, deceiving a great many people into believing the Antichrist.

Thought


Can you sanction every miracle as from God, just because it is done "in Jesus' name?" Consider Matt 7:22 - 23, when Jesus said: "not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"



The False Prophet will cause a global allegiance and worship of the Antichrist, and of course, not even one person is able to buy and sell without the infamous mark of the beast, termed here as also the number of a person, 666.

Now.


Obviously this would have made sense to the original reader. But for us modernists, this had posed to be an enigma for centuries. Various interpretations of 666 had surfaced since. Some say that 666 is merely the falling short of the perfect number 777. Some say it is Nero, Caesar, Napoleon, Martin Luther, Hitler, etc etc.

The basis for the latter is based on a play of the numerical-based Hebrew alphabet that was used in ancient times, called the gematria. Because every letter of the alphabet was tied with a numeral, names of individuals from Nero to Henry Kissinger had been associated with 666! Safe to say, Michelle MY Chan, depending on whichever variant one likes, ie, MC Chan, MY Chan or just Ms. Michelle C; if the letters are manipulated long enough, may even amount to 666!

So what am I saying?


Nobody knows. Even scholars are baffled over the mark of the beast.

However, we must reject any attempt to turn a symbolic piece of apocalyptic imagery into a literal translation of an event utterly remote from the intent of the writer John and his contemporaries. If in Chapter 14 John refers to the mark of the Lamb as those redeemed by Christ, are we to expect a literal mark on the foreheads of the people in the shape of a lamb? Of course not. That refers to those faithful in Christ. Their redemption is received by faith and sealed by the Holy Spirit. Similarly, the mark of the beast surely refers to unbelief, rejection of Christ and his gospel. (excerpt from The Lamb and The Lion by Grame Goldsworthy).


So, let us not be distracted by workings of financial intricacies, the implementation of a global fiscal system that will entrap Christians, ie, bar code systems, cashless society, etc. Of course we are to be vigilant, but the irrational fear of "accidentally procuring the mark of the beast without realising it" does not gel with New Testament epistles. "It is sad that many Christians are being led to think of their eternal security as depending not on the finished work of Christ for them, but upon the prophetic astuteness in discerning the supposed relationship of the beast to the development of a new global fiscal system. " (Goldsworthy)


Having said that, here are some characteristics of the false prophet:

1. The power of Satan expresses itself in false prophets in concrete historical deception


2. The false prophet serves antichrist who serves satan

3. False prophet is full of deceptive power

4. False prophet commands conformity



May we live in the Spirit, being enabled by Him to endure and persevere during these times where deception intensifies.





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