When It All Comes Down
Notes
Transcript
In November we had gotten half way through the book of Revelation. We stopped that for the season of Advent and I was asked by more than a few of you if we were going to get back to the book. Well, fret not. We’re not going to leave that incomplete, we’re going to finish it.
(Pause to allow for cheers from the audience).
So as we do that, it’s not bad to have a bit of a review. The book opens with John in exhile on the island of Patmos. It is unclear if this is John the author of the Gospel and three pastoral letters or another Messianic Jew who traveled and taught in the early churches. He identifies the type of work that he is working on as an Apocalypse.
Now when we were studying this back in the fall we emphasized that an apocalypse in biblical terms is not what it has come to mean in the common vernacular of our day. Today we think of the apocalypse as the end of the world.
An apocalypse in the biblical sense is a revealing, thus the very first sentence “reveals” what kind of work this is:
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
The book is a revealing of who Jesus is.
As we progressed through the book in our study, what we found was seemingly at every drop of the hat, or in this case, the crown - Jesus was being worshipped.
24 elders who seem to constantly be dropping to the ground in worship.
Four living creatures join them in worship, as do the angels standing around the throne worshiping God.
Our reading this morning showed this. Before we see that again, let me back up just a bit. At the beginning of chapter 7 we read of a census of sorts being reported.
John hears one thing:
And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
As we’ve learned throughout the book, what John hears is expanded upon by what he sees. And our reading emphasizes that. He heard thes ewere going to be 144,000 from the tribes of Israel, but then he sees something greater.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
It’s not just those from Israel, it’s not just 144,000. He looks and he sees a great multitude that no one could number - that’s greater than the census. From every nation - not just Israel. From all tribes, and peoples and languages.
We read in Isaiah 45:23
‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
Which Paul refers to in his letter to the church in Rome, Romans 14:11
for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”
And we read again in Philippians 2:9-11 regarding Jesus Himself:
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
This last week was what we call Epiphany which celebrates the arrival of the Wise Men from the East, and what did they do?
And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
As we look to the rest of the book of Revelation, we’re going to continue to hear and see John’s reveling of Jesus as God.
Let’s look at a video from our friends at the Bible Project. You can access this video on your own at the BibleProject.com
Play video on Screen
When It All Comes Down
When It All Comes Down
After Jesus’ birth these wisemen came from the east and they found him in Bethlehem and worshiped him.
In John’s Revelation Jesus is seen by the great multitude from every nation, tribe and language, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands, and all the angels in heaven standing around the throne, the 24 elders, the four living creatures, and what do they do? They bow down in worship. And they say:
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
In the coming weeks we will see how the book of Revelation not only spoke to the people of John’s time, but how it can continue to speak to us in the chaos of the world we find ourselves in. All while glorifying God.
