XXXIII - 10(95) Excerpt
“Watchman,
what of the night?”
"The hour has come, the
hour is striking and striking at you,
the hour and the end!" Eze. 7:6 (Moffatt)
EXEGESIS OF
REVELATION
The Tale of
Two Cities
(Part 6)
So much Adventist tradition
has been built around the "angel" of Revelation 18,
that it is most difficult to analyze just what is written without
reading into the text some aspects of that tradition. The message of this angel
which comes down from heaven "having great authority" is similar to
the message of the second angel of Revelation 14 with certain distinct
differences.
If we understand the
symbolism of this angel the same as the symbolism of the three angels of
Revelation 14, it represents a "movement" under the direction of this
assigned angel of heaven who is given great authority to carry out his mandate.
But when will this take place? Obviously from the text, it is just prior to the
pouring out of the Seven Last Plagues, because these are spoken of as still
future in the context (18:8). Yet the message declares that the forces of evil
have fixed their abode in
The revelation of what
the Harlot says in her heart –
"I sit a queen, and
am no more a widow..." (18:7) - clearly defines the time of the message of
this fourth angel as congruent with the "harlot" riding forth out of
the wilderness on the scarlet colored beast. (17:3-5) While yet future, it is
the immediate future! We can even now see the beginnings of this final
confrontation.
Within the two chapters -
the 17th and the 18th -certain time references are given. The ten horns
"receive power as kings one hour with the beast." (17:12) While the harlot's plagues "come in one day"
(18:8), in "one hour is [her] judgment come" (v. 10). "In one
hour" her "great riches is come to nought" (v. 17). "In one hour
is she made desolate" (v. 19). A close comparison of the wording
would indicate that the same time allocated to the reign of the ten horns, is
the same amount of time that these horns use to turn on the harlot and make her
"desolate." (Compare 17:12, 17 with 18:19) While a prophetic day equals
one year (Eze. 4:6), the hour, if reckoned as a 24th part of the prophetic day,
would be 15 literal days. However, hora, the
Greek word for hour, can mean a short period of time, rather than a literal 24
hours. Whatever reckoning of time is used, there is one thing certain -
"the final movements will be rapid ones."
It is indicated that
those on the side of the Lamb "are called, and chosen, and faithful."
(17:14) Little do we realize what faithfulness in that
hour will mean. To all appearances, Christ has come. Spiritual wonders convince
the eye. The third millenium projects unity, peace
and prosperity. For the human instruments to give the warning
of the fourth angel will require an absolute confidence in the revelation of
the Word contrary to all outward appearances. For those on the side of
the Lamb will have to call the great return to "moral values" the
working of Satan disguised as an angel of light. Those who cannot stand for
truth now, how can they expect to stand then?
The 18th Chapter closes
with an illustration. A mighty angel takes a millstone and casts it into the
sea, saying, "Thus with violence shall the great city be thrown down, and
shall be found no more at all." (18:21) Pen cannot describe, the carnage,
the anarchy - "the violence" - which will ensue when the inhabitants
of earth awaken to the fact that through religious deception they have lost all
in the battle of life and have joined forces with Satan against Christ.
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The 19th Chapter of
Revelation opens with the third interlude (vers. 1-5)
of this second section of the book. The first interlude was placed between the
description of the work of the "false prophet" and the Three Angels'
Messages (14:1-15). The second interlude was interfaced with the announcement
and the carrying out of the Seven Last Plagues. (15:2-5) Now the final
interlude marks the transition from the end of the prophecy concerning the
"Harlot," the wife of the dragon-beast, to the call to "the
marriage supper of the Lamb" (19:9). The basic message of this interlude
is praise to God for His judgment on "the great whore which did corrupt
the earth with her fornication." (v.2)
There is heard "a
voice" which "came out of the throne, saying, 'Praise our God, all ye
His servants, and ye that fear His name, both small and great."' (ver. 5)
The One in the midst of the throne is the Lamb "as it had been slain"
but is "alive for evermore." (5:6; 1:18) He who sent the message on
that resurrection morning through Mary Magdalene, "I ascend unto my
Father, and your Father; and to your God, and my God" (John 20:17) now
calls for universal praise to "our God." He still identifies Himself
with the sons of men who look to the One God and Father of us all. He who
emptied Himself for the redemption of man now eternalizes the Example set in
time that "God may be all in all." (I Cor. 15:28)
In the prophetic imagery
of the call to the marriage supper of the Lamb, because of its brevity
(19:6-9), we should not overlook its momentous significance. This is one of the
seven Beatitudes of the book of Revelation, and is declared to be along with
the promise of "making all things new" (21:5), as "the true
sayings of God." Why are these uniquely marked as
the "true sayings of God"? Making "all things new" marks
the end of the incident of sin. The pain and anguish which this interlude of
sin has brought to the heart of God is past, all things can become new, and new
in a new dimension. The Lamb has accomplished His objective to seek and save
that which was lost. Now His marriage is come.
First some details: One
of the angels of the seven last plagues shows John, the wife of the Lamb -
"that great city, the holy
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multitude," as well as the
wife "arrayed in fine linen." (19:6, 8)
God's original plan
called for man to be only "a little while inferior to the angels."
(Heb. 2:7, margin) Created in the image of God, "designed to be a
counterpart of God," a high destiny awaited man. He, however, sinned and fell
prey to the dragon's "wrath" and jealousy. Now through the
"redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24), not only can man be
restored, but a group, designated in Revelation as the 144,000, is to be the
"wife" of the Lamb, sharing His throne. Lest we read into the
description - "his wife hath made herself ready" - a
salvation-by-works theology, we need to recall that "those arrayed in
white robes" have "washed" them and "made them white in the
blood of the Lamb." (7:13-14)
What then could the
expression mean - "the fine linen (in which the wife is arrayed) is the
righteousness of saints"? Is this the full realization of "imparted
righteousness"? If so, then if we desire to be among that group, should we
not study to know exactly what it means - "His wife hath made herself
ready"? What is that "readiness" by which the righteousness of
Christ can become ours in a personal possessive sense?
John next sees
"heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth
judge and make war." (19:11) This description and that which follows when
Christ rides forth as King of kings and Lord of lords is not only replete with
Old Testament imagery of the conquering Christ, but also brings together various
symbols used in Revelation itself.
When the Lamb opened the
book sealed with seven seals, the first seal revealed "a white horse"
with a rider who receiving a bow, and a crown, went forth "conquering and
to conquer." (6:2) There were arrayed against him,
the forces of evil - human strife, poverty, pestilences, hunger and death. A
price was paid in this warfare. John sees "souls under the altar" who
cry unto God, "How long, 0 Lord?" (6:10) When the sixth seal is
opened, the signs which would herald the coming response of God are noted.
Interjected into the vision is the first introduction of the 144,000, followed
by the seventh seal - "silence in heaven." Now in the final
confrontation portrayed in the 19th Chapter, all "the armies in
heaven followed Him on white horses." (19:14) There
is silence in heaven, but not so on earth.
"Out of His mouth
goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations. ... And He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of
Almighty God." (19:15) A description of this
winepress closed the vision connected with the six angels of Revelation 14. "The vine of the earth" - those whose roots have been of
the earth earthly - weeds and tares - face the wrath of Him whom they have
rejected that He should not rule over them. He now rules them with a rod
of iron, and the sword of His mouth destroys them. (See II Thess. 2:8) The
"violence" in the overthrow of "
The "names"
noted in this revelation of the Lamb provoke thought. He has a personal name
engraved on His crowns, that He himself alone knows. (v. 12) His vesture dipped
in blood has inscribed upon it the name, "King of kings, and Lord of
lords." (vers. 13, 16) He is also called the
Word of God - the Logos. Once
in the book of Revelation, Jesus Christ speaks as "the Son of God"
(2:18). Now as He comes forth to "judge and make war" He returns to
His original relationship in the Godhead - "the Logos of God" - He
who was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1-2)
The language and thought
describing the "conquering" King of kings and Lord of lords is found
in Isaiah 63:1-6. A thoughtful reading of these verses reveals the "tension"
between what He provided as He trod "the winepress alone" and the
judgment upon those who reject this great provision of salvation.
As the Word of God rides
forth to "judge and make war," He does not come unopposed. "The
beast and kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war
against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army." (19:19) They had been gathered together by "spirits of
devils" to "a place called in the Hebrew, Har-Mo'ed," for "the war (Gr.) of the great day of
God Almighty." (16:13-14, 16) The "beast" and "the false
prophet" are taken and cast "alive" into "the lake of
fire." (Gr. 19:20) Daniel speaks of the "beast" which had
"the little horn" as being "given to the burning flame."
(7:11)
The problem which arises
is that "the lake of fire" in which the dragon and the lost are cast
does not come till the close of the Millennium (20:9-10). Must a symbolic
meaning be given to its use in 19:20, even as the "beast" and "false
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prophet" are symbols of
Systems? The "lake of fire" represents "total
annihilation." Is this telling then that with the close of human history
at the Second Advent, the systems of earth through which the Devil deceived
mankind are ended? After the 1000 years, Satan in person goes "out to
deceive the nations of the earth." (20:8)
After the scenes of war
and strife, and the final destruction of sin and sinners are revealed to John,
he sees "a new heaven and a new earth." He hears from the throne the
promise, "Behold I make all things new." He is told - "Write,
for these words are true and faithful." (21:5)
Concluded