A whole lot of bad theology has been conjured up by some obscure verses in the book of Revelation. Some of these images of hell and the end times have been taken very literally, with pictures and timelines and a lot of fear-mongering. I believe the Bible does clearly describe the presence of a real hell throughout many Scriptures, but I don’t pretend to know what that looks like. I keep pressing on this issue in our Revelation series because I want us all to challenge the images in our mind that may or may not be true. (Side note example: I was shocked to find out that the Bible never describes anyone laughing at or mocking Noah for building a giant boat. It’s not in there.)
Today’s chapter reminds me of God’s engagement with Pharaoh in Exodus 7-12. God has often chosen to demonstrate his might to world leaders who deem themselves to be gods. Their loyalists get taken out right along with them. But those who are spared in the first round of destruction are even worse off when they do not repent after watching their co-conspirators die. It’s a slap in the face to God when we deny his power.
We know that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (see Job 28:28, Psalm 111:10, and Proverbs 1:7). So it’s never a bad idea to check your fear of God and your worship posture. If your view of God is casual and your time is spent scrolling through all the best content social media or cable news can bring you, I would encourage you to pause. Those who fear God demonstrate humility and repentance. If those words don’t describe you, what would you need to remove from your life to return to that place?
You’ll notice there are a lot of groups of seven in the book of Revelation — seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets. It is unclear whether these sevens are all parallels or whether the book is describing sequential events. You’ll also see multiples of 12 (12; 24; 144,000) which is often symbolic in the Bible as well (like Jesus choosing 12 disciples). Again I am going to draw us back to this question: What does this tell us about who God is? It seems clear from Revelation and other parts of the Bible that God has deep meaning for all that he does — symbolic and deliberate.
In the actual events of chapter 8, I am struck by the dramatic half hour of silence in heaven when the seventh seal is broken. The scene is so striking because of the previous description of busy, loud worship that never stops in heaven. It’s a silence that means something. It also reminded me of the events that happened when Jesus died on the cross (Matthew 27:50-52). The curtain blocking the Holy of Holies split in two from top to bottom, there was an earth quake, and bodies started walking out of graves. You can’t miss the significance of a moment like that.
There is constant spiritual activity around you. How aware are you of what is happening? If there was something supernaturally significant happening, how would you know? Christians have been given the Holy Spirit and we are able to see and discern spiritual things through his power. That gives us a certain level of connection to the spiritual realities around us if we are discerning and sensitive to the Spirit. The rest of Revelation 8 describes these trumpet blasts that almost read like a reversal of the creation story in Genesis 1-2. Things become undone. I don’t know if there will be an apocalyptic unfolding like we see in the movies, but no matter what I know that if I am not spiritually discerning and listening to the Spirit I will be easily swayed by earthly ideas of what the “end times” will look like. I’m holding all that loosely so that I can focus on who God is and what is doing around me right now.
Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Revelation 7 before reading the devotional below.
Christians can get caught up in false teachings because we are often eager to find “secret” answers. It’s hard to sit in the gray of, “I don’t know.” So we’re definitely not going to be doing any calculations about 12 tribes and 144,000 people and speculate about who that is. I have not seen a lot of good, spiritual fruit come when people get obsessed with numbers in the Bible.
Given the genre of the book of Revelation, this chapter likely offers mostly symbolism about the church. Let’s focus on what this chapter tells us about who God’s people are. First, verse 9 gives us another picture of the diversity of heaven as God’s people are described as a vast crowd from every tribe and nation. Second, this diverse church is waving palm branches and worshiping God and the Lamb simultaneously. This image reminds me of the story in John 12:12-14 in which Jesus’ followers waved palm branches as he rode triumphantly in on a donkey. God’s people are his worshipers. Finally, we see that Christians who died in “the great tribulation” — either a distinct time period or a summary of all those martyred during this entire post-Jesus time while we await his return — serve in the throne room of God for all eternity.
Those who serve Jesus and give everything for him will receive great honor and reward in heaven. God will give them shelter, satisfy all their needs, and wipe every tear from their eyes. Any earthly comfort or need you think you have is absolutely worth sacrificing to serve God. We have to value suffering for its eternal significance, rather than trying to eliminate it in our lives. What voluntary suffering could you offer to bless your neighbor or advance the Gospel?
Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Revelation 6 before reading the devotional below.
If you’ve seen a lot of apocalypse movies, this chapter will certainly conjure up some solid “end times” images. Too many people try to predict the unpredictable and when religious people looked for the Messiah that way it backfired. So I’m certainly not going to paint any timeline of the end of the end here. But there are some things we can observe.
When the first seal is broken, we see a white horse riding out to victory. Sounds great! By the second seal, we realize we might have just been cheering for the wrong team. The first horse is just crowning a new prince. The breaking of the second seal shows what follows that prince, as peace is taken from the earth. That’s followed by injustice, death, martyrdom, and natural disasters. All of these certainly sound like power Satan has gained as the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). By the end of all this, everyone is hiding in caves from the “wrath of the Lamb.”
Verse 15 emphasizes that no matter your social status, you’ll be hiding in caves with everyone else when the Lamb comes to judge the world. It strikes me that hiding was the very first reaction to sin (Genesis 3:6-10) and it will be the very last. The Lamb is scary to those who have followed the crowned prince who rode out on horse #1. You’ve probably heard the saying, “Be on the right side of history.” That phrase is certainly an important one, especially in this moment in U.S. history. But being on the right side of eternity is even more important. Will your instinct be to hide from the Lamb in the face of destruction, or will he already know you by name?
“But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, ‘Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.’
Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song with these words:
‘You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.’
Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus:
‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered— to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.’
And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:
‘Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.’
And the four living beings said, ‘Amen!’ And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb.”
I have so many songs playing in my head right now I can’t even count them. Worship songs, hymns, and even Handel’s Messiah echo these verses. There is hardly a more triumphant story in the Bible than the coming of this Lamb who is able to break the seals. Remember yesterday’s bitter weeping because no one in all of heaven and earth could open the scroll? Enter the Lamb. Slaughtered and yet still standing.
There are a lot of parts of Revelation that we could speculate about. I’d rather focus on what we clearly know. First, we know that this slaughtered Lamb is worthy to open the scrolls. Notice it says, “worthy” instead of “capable.” It’s not a skill set, it is an honor. We know that the blood of the Lamb paid a ransom for people who have become a kingdom of priests. We know that the Lamb is worshiped and given glory equal to the one on the throne.
If you were every confused when you were singing in church, “Worthy is the Lamb…” now it hopefully makes some sense. This is a clear reference to Jesus, who died on the cross and whose blood was offered as a ransom for many (also referenced in Matthew 20:28). There are not clear lines between the Son of Man (“the one on the throne”) and the Lamb, and these are also conflated in Matthew 20:28 as well. The sevenfold Spirit of God (sorry, nothing’s clear about exactly what that means) is all a part of the horns and eyes of the Lamb. Even to begin to reduce God to our finite thoughts is offensive, yet he has chosen to allow us to attempt it by revealing himself to us. Passages like this one hopefully remind us that God is beautifully and ornately complex. He is worthy of our worship because he is nothing like anything else we have ever seen.
