Good News? (Revelation 14:6-20)
Notes
Transcript
6 And I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the eternal Good News to proclaim to the people who belong to this world—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 “Fear God,” he shouted. “Give glory to him. For the time has come when he will sit as judge. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all the springs of water.”
8 Then another angel followed him through the sky, shouting, “Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen—because she made all the nations of the world drink the wine of her passionate immorality.”
9 Then a third angel followed them, shouting, “Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand 10 must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.”
12 This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!”
14 Then I saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was someone like the Son of Man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.
15 Then another angel came from the Temple and shouted to the one sitting on the cloud, “Swing the sickle, for the time of harvest has come; the crop on earth is ripe.” 16 So the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the whole earth was harvested.
17 After that, another angel came from the Temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel, who had power to destroy with fire, came from the altar. He shouted to the angel with the sharp sickle, “Swing your sickle now to gather the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are ripe for judgment.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 The grapes were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress in a stream about 180 miles long and as high as a horse’s bridle.
This passage SHOULD be read with Good News in Mind
This passage SHOULD be read with Good News in Mind
We are told that John saw another angel flying that was proclaiming the Eternal Good News
Good News = eunagellion /gospel
It was used to describe the wondrous works of the emperor, and then adopted by the Church to describe the wondrous works of Christ.
But, this chapter is laden with images that are surreal, vengeful, horrific etc… Where is the Good News in all of this?
Well, first we must understand that John, again, is dealing with symbols.
Think back to what we have read about the Dragon and the Beasts. There’s highly symbolic language that is used to describe a greater reality.
John, with these symbols, again wishes to encourage and warn the Church to remain faithful; to be a part of the faithful community that follows the Lamb wherever He leads (v. 1-5 from last week).
To remain committed to Christ no matter what the outcome is on earth because God and Christ will have the final say!
It’s like copy machines, or cell phones, or printers...
It seems like they never work when we want them to… and heaven forbid we needed something done in a hurry!
The struggle is real
If someone said they had tannerite to blow ALL of them up I would find that to be Good News!
HOWEVER, Good News is NOT only about YOU!
HOWEVER, Good News is NOT only about YOU!
Too often we have limited our understanding of the Gospel/Good News.
“God loves ME”
“God has saved ME from my sins”
“God will take ME to be with him in heaven”
These are good statements, but they limit good news to ME.
We are told that this is ETERNAL Good News.
That means it wrings throughout all eternity. And, if I am not mistaken, we are not eternal. Therefore, the Good News is about something much larger than you and I; yet WE ARE INCLUDED.
The individualistic statements are not totally wrong, but they limit the picture.
If the Good News is eternal, then our statements about Good News must also be eternal.
Maybe Paul can help us a little bit.
Paul reminds us in Romans 8...
18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
All creation awaits God’s plans to be revealed. All creation was affected by the fall, therefore ALL CREATION must be affected by the Good News of Jesus Christ!
3 The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, 4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.
In these verse Good News is about Christ’s reign and recognition as the Son of God through the Resurrection.
Maybe Isaiah can help us out a bit too:
7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns! 8 The watchmen shout and sing with joy, for before their very eyes they see the Lord returning to Jerusalem. 9 Let the ruins of Jerusalem break into joyful song, for the Lord has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has demonstrated his holy power before the eyes of all the nations. All the ends of the earth will see the victory of our God.
This was declared while people were in Babylon wondering if God cared, if God existed, if God was worthy to be worshipped, if God ever was going to step in a right the wrongs done to them. They were wondering...
For Isaiah Good News is about 3 things (N.T. Wright Revelation for Everyone 129-30).
God Reigns (v. 7, 9)
This means not only that God sits on a throne somewhere, but that God has won a victory and those who are oppressed are free to go home.
God is Coming back (v.8)
It appeared as though God abandoned the Temple and God’s people. But, now God will return publicly and visibly.
God is going to do a powerful public work of rescue (v. 10)
All the nations would see that Israel’s God had saved his people from their oppression
It seems as though John has this understanding from Isaiah in the background.
It seems as though John has this understanding from Isaiah in the background.
In V. 8 we hear that Babylon is fallen
Babylon is later understood as Rome (Ch. 16, 17, 18)
But, it is not just Babylon or Rome.
It is a symbol for a larger picture. A picture in which the world’s political systems and governmental structure that rule in ways that oppress God’s people are dealt with.
They are dealt with by a God who loves so much that he sent His Son to die and initiate a better Kingdom and a Better Way.
God judges because God is a God of Good News.
And, sometimes, for Good to prevail, justice and judgment must also prevail.
But, it is not God judging as a vengeful dictator. It is The God who judges who is the same God who went to great lengths to save the world, ALL OF CREATION, from following the Dragon and it’s beasts.
For John Good News is about Christ’s triumph and lordship over all powers that oppress by being the slaughtered lamb upon a cross. For Christ to be Lord of all, Good News must not only be proclaimed, it must be actualized.
We must remember, that the God who judges and the God who triumphs does so by the way of the cross.
The oppression that was served to God’s people will be turned upon the oppressors.
The oppression that was served to God’s people will be turned upon the oppressors.
Psalm 96:10–13 “10 Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!” The world stands firm and cannot be shaken. He will judge all peoples fairly. 11 Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice! Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! 12 Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the trees of the forest sing for joy 13 before the Lord, for he is coming! He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with his truth.”
Psalm 98:7–9 “7 Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Let the earth and all living things join in. 8 Let the rivers clap their hands in glee! Let the hills sing out their songs of joy 9 before the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with fairness.”
And you say, “Yes, but that is a picture of events yet to be worked out.”
True, John is not writing this as a news reporter, writing headline news of what has happened. This is The Early Edition where the future’s headlines are proclaimed.
Do you remember the T.V. Show early edition?
Someone would get the newspaper a day ahead with all the tragic and good articles for the next day’s headlines. This person's goal was to work in a way to avoid the tragedies and yet also keep the good.
John is doing the same here. He gives us the future headlines, showing us what is playing out and will continue to play out until Christ returns. But, he does this, not so we can be complacent, but so we can work to see it come to pass.
So that we don’t sit in the seat of judgement
These scenes should be horrifying.
These scenes should be horrifying.
They are not meant to be dogmatic about what exactly the judgment will be like. And they are not meant to say who will be judged.
They are meant for the faithful to be encouraged to remain faithful.
They are meant for those who wish to assimilate with culture, who think that there is not much danger in “giving in” here or there.
To realize that there is a Greater Judgment than the world’s (Roman) court and it is better to be guilty by the world’s standards, but innocent according to God’s standards.
So that we do sit on the side of the faithful.
This is why John writes the encouragement, Which I read as the theme of this passage!
Revelation 14:12 (NIV2011) 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
The whole purpose of this passage, with its horrific symbols and imagery, is to encourage the faithful
To remind them to…
Bear the burden of making Christ known in our world no matter the cost (Speak out against Godless rule/government/leaders etc…)
Stick-to-it-iveness
Keep on Keeping on
Cowboy up
etc...
How can they do this?
Because they know that no matter how they are judged on earth, there is a Greater Judge of a Greater Court. And, he will deal with the injustices our world throws at the faithful.
But, we must also recognize that it will be God who sorts all things out. No person walking the earth now or in the future (other that Christ/God) will be able to fully bring justice.
They can stick with it, even going to death for their faith, because there is joy in the harvest.
14 Then I saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was someone like the Son of Man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came from the Temple and shouted to the one sitting on the cloud, “Swing the sickle, for the time of harvest has come; the crop on earth is ripe.” 16 So the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the whole earth was harvested. 17 After that, another angel came from the Temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel, who had power to destroy with fire, came from the altar. He shouted to the angel with the sharp sickle, “Swing your sickle now to gather the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are ripe for judgment.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 The grapes were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress in a stream about 180 miles long and as high as a horse’s bridle.
V. 14-20 = Harvest images = JOY
They are harvested 2 ways
Christ brings them home
They are placed in the pressure (thlipsis) = persecution
The wine press of God’s wrath
The wine press that will bring God’s wrath
The wine press of which God is angry
It’s check up time:
How is your ability to stick to your faith?
Where have you “gone soft” and need a reminder to remain faithful?
How can you live faithfully this week, in order to be a part of the overcomer’s party in the future?
How can you live your life this week declaring that God alone is Holy?