I don’t want to say too much as far as a preramble because we have yet another long passage. But to set the context, one of the reasons, if not the main reason, John wrote the Revelation was to encourage early Christians to remain faithful to Jesus in the face of persecution that for all shapes and purposes appeared politically motivated. Calling Jesus “Lord and Saviour” and refusing to worship or offer incense at Imperial Cult temples on civic occasions at a time when the Roman Emperor was demanding to be worshipped made early Christians appear treasonous and they suffered for it. There are questions that those suffering for their loyalty to Jesus would ask.
The main driving question showed up in Revelation 6: “Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood upon the inhabitants of the earth.” With respect to the question of how long, the answer was a little while longer until the number of martyrs is complete. To illustrate that answer, John was shown a countless multitude of white-robed worshippers in heaven who had come through this great ordeal. Judging by the uncountable number, that’s going to be a long little while. Apparently, God wants as many people as possible to turn to him in faith which requires the Gospel to go out into the world and unfortunately those who proclaim it will suffer and sometimes even die for their loyalty to Jesus.
The last sermon involved a vision of angels blowing trumpets resulting in a third of everything on earth and in the skies being destroyed. The message was that God could take the tough guy route and destroy a third of everything and still the inhabitants of the earth surprisingly would not turn to him. Thus, God is choosing the route of proclaiming the Gospel throughout the world by means of Jesus' followers and their fellowships of unconditional love and that will yield a better outcome.
This week we’re looking at the question of who or what is the behind-the-scenes reality driving humanity away from God and persecuting/killing those who bring the Truth. The short answer is Satan by means of Empire undergirded by False Religion.
Unfortunately, we don’t really have time to unpack all the symbolism or coded images here so forgive me for being brief. Chapter 12 begins with an obvious reference to the birth of Jesus and as Matthew’s Gospel recounts. King Herod of the Jews wanted him dead and killed all the male children around Bethlehem born around the time that Jesus was born. This political and religious opposition to Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, continued throughout his life in the form of opposition from the religious authorities until finally he was crucified by the Romans at the behest of the Jewish authorities on trumped up charges of blasphemy (claiming to be the Son of God) and treason (claiming to be Lord). Both of these charges stood in the face of what Caesar claimed himself to be – Son of Zeus and Lord of all the world. Finally, God raised Jesus from the dead. Interestingly, there was also an urban myth that circulated about Emperor Nero after he died that he had been raised from the dead. That’s what all that talk about the first beast being raised from dead was about.
As evidenced in the Book of Acts, what happened to Jesus was the pattern of persecution that affected early Christians. Sometimes it looked like bigotry and at other times like systematic ICE raids or Kristallnacht. Throughout the Roman Empire in the early church, the followers of Jesus were often accused by Pagan and Jewish religious authorities for blasphemy and treason for claiming Jesus was the Son of God and Lord of all (Pantokrator). They would lose their trade jobs and businesses, were forced out of town, were stoned, and publicly whipped. Some had to fight wild beasts and gladiators in the coliseums as public entertainment. Some were themselves crucified, skinned alive, or burned to death.
To explain why this is to early Christians suffering for their loyalty to Jesus, John gives a behind-the-scenes explanation that goes beyond saying, “Power corrupts and ultimate power corrupts ultimately”; though that is certainly the case. He says Satan is behind it all, the Red Dragon. In the biblical worldview there is a personal unseen force in God’s very good Creation that is violently opposed to God and seeks to destroy God’s good works, particularly humanity.
Satan’s means for destroying what God is up to in, through, and as Jesus Christ is to persecute those who follow Jesus. The fullness of Satan’s plan is simply to destroy all of human community through the vehicle of Empire. To do this he raises up two beasts, one from the sea who is blatantly an Emperor-type leader who controls everything particularly by pulling economic strings and demands singular loyalty (worship). One cannot buy or sell without having received his brand.
Satan then causes a second beast to come up from the land that forces everyone to worship the first beast. This beast represented the Imperial Cult. Refusing to worship the Emperor at the Temples that the emperors built all over the empire was likely the test for whether or not a Christian would be sentenced to fight beasts and gladiators for public entertainment in coliseums or worse. So, to sum up thus far, Satan’s means of destroying human community made in God’s image and the vehicle through which God is trying to restore his image to human community – Jesus and his followers – is the populist authoritarianism that is endemic to Empire and Emperor undergirded by civil religion - the idolatrous worship of those who are ultimately corrupted by wielding the power of the State.
The warning of chapter 14 is quite clear. When this Emperor/Empire worship stuff comes to a head, those who buy into it are going to drink the wine of the grapes of God’s wrath. Babylon/Rome/any Empire will in God’s time fall. Therefore, it is a time for patient endurance on the part of God’s people. It is time to abide by God’s commandments and loyalty to Jesus at all costs.
All that said, these are interesting times that we are living in. I don’t know about you folks, but I can’t help but think and feel that these three chapters of the Book of Revelation are particularly relevant at this moment in history. Speaking as an American serving as a Presbyterian minister in Canada, I realize that what I’m about to say might be lacking in appropriateness and I apologize. That said, I am astonished at what I see happening in the US. My comments need to be brief as we’re having communion today. Perhaps that’s fortuitous.
True power looks like the Jesus revealed in this meal – the giving of oneself in unconditional love so that others may live. Granted, there is yet to be a government on earth that follows this way without some form of corruption. Still, when tax dollars go to feed, heal, educate, house, clothe, protect, and employ the most vulnerable among us – well, that’s a good start. But when a nation suddenly stops doing such things and, in the end, it is simply part of a larger effort to make the very wealthy wealthier at the expense of everybody else, particularly the most vulnerable, well something else is at play. By their fruits you will know them. Good trees bear good fruit and bad trees, bad. Moreover, the fact that the current President and majority party in government in the US could not have been elected without the strong, unquestioning support of a certain element of the Christian faith is also telling. Something else is at play.
The lesson coming from the Book of Revelation today is pretty straight forward – whenever there is a political leader who comes grasping at and attempting to wield ultimate power, demanding absolute loyalty, and claiming to have the backing of an almighty God and this leader/ship is backed by religious groups that for all shapes and purposes worship it…it is entirely possible and likely that it’s the dragon and his two beasts who are at play. Jesus said, “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead man astray” (Mk 13:5,6). “When the Son of Man comes, will he find loyalty on earth?” (Lk 18:8).
