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We’ve had a break from our series in Revelation over Christmas, but it is time to return to this great book,
that as we saw right back in chapter 1, will be a blessing to us as we study it.
Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne,
We have heard the call to the true church, to us today, in the 7 letters of chapter 1-3.
That reminded us to stand firm in Jesus,
to be distinctive in this world for Jesus,
to love deeply the Lord Jesus.
Whatever comes our way,
we have a greater king who will protect us eternally.
In chapters 4-8 we saw the 7 seals of the scroll of God’s sovereign plan of salvation being taken off one by one.
The 4 hoursemen
symbolically released across the church age
from the time of Jesus’s death and resurrection until he returns in the future.
Toil, strife, war, famine, disasters, dictators, empires rise and fall,
all released across the world under the sovereign plans of God
to bring humanity to it’s knees,
to recognise that God Almighty is to be honoured and revered,
To bring the world to repentance.
But sadly most the world rejects him.
But God reminds us that in the chaos of the world,
those who have died for their faith,
rise up to heaven and God reminded us that in the chaos of the world,
He is in-control, he loves his people and will protect them eternally through faith in Jesus.
It all makes sense of this messy world,
far from suffering and pain in this world suggesting there is no God,
as many say today,
it is the very pain and suffering that should show us we need the true God of the Universe.
Come back to me, he lovingly calls through the pain.
This is a small taste of what you are bringing upon yourself, so repent.
God is being ever so patient with the world.
And for His people,
we are encouraged by the messy world we live in,
for we now see that God is in sovereign loving control.
We bow down and worship the lamb, who is the lion,
We enjoy his glorious promises of eternal salvation now.
Then in Chapters 8 to 10 we saw the same kind of idea we saw with the seals,
but this time symbolised by 7 trumpets.
Warning trumpets from Heaven!
Don’t ignore me decalres Jesus.
I am King and one day all will see,
hear the trumpet, get ready.
Stand firm if you know me,
Heed the warning if you don’t.
And we left it somewhat on a cliff hanger.
We are mid way through the interlude that precedes the 7th trumpet.
We know by now that these interludes between the 6th and 7th seal, and now the 6th and 7th trumpet,
are designed to prepare us, the church, for the final act of history.
Full and final judgement on all the world for it’s rebelion against God.
BUt stand firm church,
be blessed and know that however bad it all may look,
Jesus is in control.
And so, we reach todays chapter.
A chapter that continues to depict from another angle,
what is going on in this world,
and get’s us ready for the 7th trumpet, the final one -
where all sin and evil will be brought to an end
before God almighty and His judge, the Lion who is the lamb, Jesus.
I can’t deny it, this is a tricky passage when it comes to the details,
but we will have a go anyway,
but as for the big picture,
it is yet again a magnificent picture of Jesus caring for His church,
- in-fact in this passage appears to be dead! - but in final judgement, will be raised to glorious exulted eternal life with the Lion himself.
1 - Church Insurance
1 - Church Insurance
Have a look at v1 and 2
I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshippers there. But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.
John, who is receiveing this now very extensive vision -
and keep remembering this is a vision - it’s not suppose to be literal specific events,
but part of the genre of apocalyptic literature,
that calls on masses of biblical imagery and symbolism.
John, is told to measure the ‘temple of God’.
Very similarly to Ezekiel’s vision in .
then you may remember he was given a very similar vision and instruction in .
And you may remeber if you were here for our Ezekiel series,
but that they had never in history come to be built.
that we look forward to that vision being fulfilled not necessarily in physical buildings
Which leaves us expecting it to come in the future.
And we spent some time understanding how it will one day be seen in the rebuilding of not nesscicerily the physical temple of Jerusalm,
but in Jesus and the establishment of the eternal church.
And that is what is seen here by John.
The NT regularly refocusses our understanding of the ‘temple’ which represents the presence of God’
to not any longer be in a building, but in His people the church.
Epehesian 2v21-22 explains
In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
1 cor 3 16-17
And now,
John in Revelation is given a vision that ties Ezekiel, and this NT understanding of God’s holy temple, together,
SO look what John measures with his ruler stick that he’s given,
I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshippers there.
It’s not physical lengths that now get described as in Ezekiel,
it’s a mention of the temple room, the alter and, it’s people!
The temple that is normally empty of people becasue of our sin before a holy God,
is now packed full of people and God wants them counted!
How are they there - well they are there becasue the alter has done it’s work.
A blood sacrifice has been made,
to pay the price of our sin before a holy God.
Jesus the lamb has been slain, you’ll remember the bloody slain lamb of chapter 5.
And so now, this side of the cross,
we no longer hope for a glorious temple to be rebuilt,
we are the glorious temple and we are numbered and secure.
We’re on God’s inventory list!
His protection plan involves the death and blood of Jesus to secure those who are his!
And in light of the tumultuous world we know we live in,
with a humanity bent of destroying our faith in Jesus,
we need to know we are counted as God’s through the indisputable forgiveness found in the blood of Jesus.
Do you remember after the terror of the first 6 seals were relesaed upon the earth,
before we heard of the terrible
We were give the same encouragemnt if we are washed by the blood of JEsus:
rev 7 13-
Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
God’s protection plan in this life, in this world,
amongst the persecution from the world for our faith,
and inamoungst the turmoil and wars and chaos that God allows to rule for this age,
Well God’s protection plan is to make us his own dwelling place through the blood of Jesus.
We have insurance if you like.
We may even die, but we will live!
When you cut yourself and blood flows,
there is no putting it back into yourself.
Once blood is shed it is shed.
And so it is with Jesus.
Once we have accepted his blood as being shed on our behalf,
o that we may be spared the guilt and punishment we deserve,
there is no putting it back into Jesus.
‘It is’ as Jesus said himslef on the cross ‘finished’.
We are his, and he is ours - we are counted secure by God himself.
Pause
Verse 2 is trickier.
But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.
There are 2 main interpretations of this.
So when that happens, it seems wise that we don’t pin any specific application on ourselves that relies heavily on one of many interpretations,
but look to see if there is a principle we can be sure of.
And I think there is.
Either the outer courts refers to non-Christians.
‘Given over to the gentiles’ may imply they are all gentiles - by which John is implying non-Christians.
(that in some way are not protected by God for they are not counted) they are not insured by God.
refers to Christians,
or, probably more likely, it refers to how ‘Christians’ experience this world physically.
IE - our spiritual life is safe with God in the temple, insured, secure,
but our lived physical life here on earth will face suffering and persecutions, at the hands of the gentiles, and the we will be mixed in with the turmoil that comes.
But either way, the point is clear for Christians,
We are eternally and spiritually secure, insured, counted safe in the blood of Jesus.
And that we will, as we have seen right through Revelation,
And that we will, as we have seen right through Revelation,
face persecution and opposition to our faith in Jesus.
And the core reason we face persecution?
Well becasue we don’t keep quiet about it.
And that’s what the next section is about.
2 - The Church’s Mission
2 - The Church’s Mission
We’re introduced now to 2 witnesses
- again symbolic language
- likely based on the biblical idea that you need 2 witnesses to testify to the truth about something in a court.
We’re introduced now to 2 witnesses - again symbolica language - likely based ont he biblical idea that you need 2 witnesses to testify tot he truth about something in a court.
These 2 witnesses represent the ‘church’s mission’ until Jesus Returns.
That’s what the 42 months mentioned here and then the 1260 days in v3 means.
It is the same amount of time that the dragon, Satan will be allowed to roam the earth before judgement in future chapters.
It is the same amount of time that the dragon, Satan will be allowed to roam the earth before judgement in future chapters.
So, have a look at v3-4
And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
The sackcloth shows that the witnesses, the church, are a repentant people before God,
we understand all that he has saved us from.
The olive trees and lampstands are imagery picked up from Zecheriah,
(; ).
In Zecheriah, as here, these 2 witnesses are explicitly presented as prophets,
declaring the message of salvation,
So, as we read of the prophesy here, if we knew the OT well,
We would understand that the church is here shown to be prophesying,
rev 11 5-
witnessing to the truth of Jesus,
the need for repentance for salvation by the blood of Jesus.
This is our mission as a church, as the temple of God!
This is our mission as a church, as the temple of God!
And here comes the antidote for our fear to witness about Jesus:
And so we’re not supporsed here to see that as the world rejects the witness of the church here, that same turmoil is described as being from the church. Hear the message we delclare, or you will face far worse than this.
If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
Last time I checked I couldn’t turn water into blood - so what do I make of this power I, symbolised by the witnesses here, we are supposed to have?
Well we have come across Christians who have been killed for their faith already in Revelation.
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”
Well the point here is to consider God’s perspective in this vision.
rev 6 9
And straight after this God releases a great judgement upon humanity.
The Holy Bible: New International Version—Anglicised. (1984). (electronic edition., ). London: Hodder & Stoughton.a
We have a mission church - to declare that God loves us enough to shed the blood of His beloved son in our place.
As God hears their prayers which we saw come before His throne in
And we may face opposition for our message, but our God will vindicate us with great power in the end.
We are on the winning side, even when it doesn’t fell or look like it.
And so we’re not supporsed here to see that as the world rejects the witness of the church here, that same turmoil is described as being from the church. Hear the message we delclare, or you will face far worse than this
And don’t be surprised when your friend or neighbour doesn’t respond to the good news of the blood of Jesus?
Are you surprised when your friend or neighbur doesn’t respond to the good news of the blood of Jesus?
Are you suprised when they see that the world has little to offer if this is all there is.
Saddened yes, but not surprised:
We shouldn’t be suprosed - saddened yes, but not suprosed:
For it will be very serious for those that reject the witness of the church.
The bible tells us we will be rejected for our message.
If you don’t believe in the forgivenss on offer from Jesus, and you’re hearing all this, please don’t dismiss it, or be offended by it.
This is the mission of the true chruch, the temple of God, to witness ot the truth about salavtion in Jesus, or judgement at the hands of a holy God.
He loves you enough to shed the blood of His son Jesus.
Hear the trumpets wanring, and join his protetcion plan for etenity,
And church - this is our purpose right here.
In the middle of all the chaos and turmoil of the earth, in the middle of this extrordinary book of revelation, here is the mission of the church.
But not so that we look good, for we will not!
In fact we the church before Jesus returns, will look utterly and completely defeated.
Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.
Why?
So, that Jesus is glorified.
To contrast the 42 months which in old calenders is 3,1/2 years,
the church will appear dead for 3, 1/2 days.
For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on earth.
But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
rev 11 9-
What we have here is a picture of the return of Jesus.
the 3 1/2 days again symbolic to draw the contrast of how quick the return of Jesus and the resurection of his church will be relative to the symbolic 3 1/2 years of persecution in this age.
It’s almost like judgement day has been slowed down in this vision to explain the glory of all that will happen in an instant when Jesus returns.
And as the church is risen from what appeared to be defeat,
rev 11 13
At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.
In the OT a 10th was often the remant spared by God, true believers who were spared God’s judgement in (; ).
The
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Location 1919). Kindle Edition. . The 7000 were the prop
seven thousand is supposed to remind us of Elijah who was surprised to find seven thousand in Israel had not worshiped Baal in ().
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Locations 1875-1876). Kindle Edition.
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Locations 1875-1876). Kindle Edition.
But here it’s reversed. This time they are the ones to die, while the rest worship.
But I think it is clear that these aren’t willing worshipers,
like those counted in the temple.
These are those who refuse to bow the knee in this life,
but when Jesus returns, and raises his church to eternal life,
the rest of the world will bow to Jesus in judgement.
The world will recognise Jesus, but it will be too late for salvation.
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
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.
phili 2 9-11
Jesus will return - and the church of true believers has an insurance plan.
Whatever comes our way in this world,
we are numbered as the temple of God by the unreturnable blood of Jesus.
The church has a mission, to proclaim this great truth,
We may well appear to fail in our task,
perhaps that’s encourgaement to us in and of itsef as we strive to make Jesus known.
But, more importantly, it is so that Jesus can have all the glory when he raises his church to eleternal life
and forcibly bows the knee of the world.
If you’re not a Christian, don’t you want join the only insurance plan worth having in this life - the blood of Jesus?
And if you are - what a reassurance this passage is.
And then finally,
the 7th trumpet sounds,
and we see the
Church Eternal
Church Eternal
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
15
Jesus will reigned forvever - what a joy to be with him.
Repent and believe - for etenral will be our joy
Witness to all - about Jesus,
For eternal will be his reign.
Everyone, even in heaven ,will proclaim praises
And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying:
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
The nations were angry;
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your saints and those who reverence your name,
both small and great—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
rev 11 16-
And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped God,
Church stand strong - we have an insurance plan from God that will always pay out,
rev 11
We have a mission to get on with despite the opposition of the world
We have an eternity with King Jesus on the throne,
And God, in all His glory will be fully and finally and fearfully revealed for us to dwell with him forever.
Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
Even the
PRAY
“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,
and he will reign for ever and ever.” rev 11v15
The Holy Bible: New International Version—Anglicised. (1984). (electronic edition., ). London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Locations 1919-1920). Kindle Edition.
Despite spite its spiritual security as a measured sanctuary, the church is vulnerable to the violent aggression of those who hate its testimony about Jesus and seek to silence its call to repentance. Yet the last word concerning the church's paradox-filled experience in this time between the Lamb's comings is the voice of the seventh trumpet, announcing at history's end: "The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever" ().
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Locations 1946-1948). Kindle Edition.
John must measure not only architectural structures (temple, altar) but also people ("those who worship in it"). The New Testament redefinition tion of the sanctuary of God as the people of God, expounded by Paul (; ) and Peter (; ), has already been glimpsed in Revelation.
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Locations 1826-1828). Kindle Edition.
