Why Revelation Still Matters to the Church of God

Who Are You, Anyway?

Casey Fenn - You probably don’t know me.

Great-grandmother was a come-outer around 1905

Several great uncles were Church of God pastors in Louisiana

My aunt pastors an independent Church of God in North Louisiana

So, why discuss Revelation today?

As anyone who’s familiar with the Church of God knows, for us Revelation was foundational to our early identity and understanding of God’s work in the world (in preaching, song, etc).

As that interpretation was challenged, Revelation lost the central place it had had...

Though most Church of God people remained firmly amillennial, Revelation in particular and eschatology in general took a backseat within most CoG congregations

I’ve heard more than one CoG pastor declare themself a panmillennialist, knowing it will all pan out in the end

I’ve known others who refuse to preach on or study Revelation with the congregation because of the different interpretations out there

I believe this is a missed opportunity.

People are as interested in Revelation today as they’ve ever been

And platforms like YouTube have made poor interpretations of Revelation more prevalent than ever before.

But what’s more, Revelation still has the same power today that it had for the early Christians and for the early CoG pioneers.

Before we can understand how, we need to take a step back and reflect on apocalyptic literature as a whole to see what it was intended to do...

Then we’ll look at how it accomplished these things for the early CoG.

Finally, we’ll address how it still has that power for the modern CoG

The Purpose of Apocalyptic

While a precise definition of apocalyptic literature is sometimes hard to pin down, there are a number of features that scholars recognize...

Apocalyptic is written during times of national distress - the exile to Babylon, Seleucid period, fall of Jerusalem

Apocalyptic makes use of cosmic imagery, often involving divine messengers

Apocalyptic situates the hearer in the larger story of God and offers hope of restoration

Apocalyptic calls for perseverance - just wait a little while longer and God will come through

So, what did apocalyptic writing offer its hearers?

Offers a Meaningful Meta-Narrative

Richard Bauckham has said that “it communicates a disclosure of a transcendent perspective on this world.”

The story apocalyptic literature offers is an overarching one that gives meaning to suffering, trials, etc.

Think of Daniel, that original piece of apocalyptic writing...

Through the visions of Daniel, God’s plan and working are revealed to suffering Jews who feel abandoned and lost.

They remind the exiles that they are merely bit players in a generations-long narrative that God is telling.

It situates them in a particular act of God’s story so that they can more effectively play the role they’ve been given (see N.T. Wright’s ‘Scripture and the Authority of God’)

Narratives are powerful tools that help us to interpret the world, etc. We love stories because they provide meaning and give us purpose. We live in a time when people are searching for something to make sense of their experiences. Apocalyptic literature does this powerfully.

Provides a Compelling Identity

One of the powerful things about metanarratives is that they don’t just offer us a story. Stories have protagonists and antagonists - good guys and bad guys. So, these stories offer us a story of which we are a part - they give us an identity - and they also give our enemies an identity.

We see this in Daniel...

Think of the four beasts coming up from the sea...

Lion with eagles wings, bear, winged leopard, terrifying beast… These are obviously the antagonists

But we also have the one like a son of man, the Ancient of Days, and the kingdom he’s setting up

And the implication is that Daniel and those faithful to Yahweh will be part of that kingdom

So, listeners to Daniel would have not only realized they were part of this story, they would have had a stronger sense of identity - they were God’s people.

And again, we live in a time when people are searching for identity…

Motivates People to Action & Perseverance

Finally, apocalyptic motivates people to act.

Marvin Pate writes that “the overall purpose of Second Temple apocalyptic literature was to challenge its readers to be faithful to God despite the intense pressure that the enemies of God brought to bear upon the true believer.”

Again, think of Daniel, if you were living in Babylon during the exile and you believed Daniel’s visions....

That the narrative Daniel told was true.

That you were the protagonist - or at least on the protagonist’s side.

And you see how God rescued Daniel and his friends through the narrative portions.

What greater motivation to act… to persevere… to remain faithful?

You hear the angel’s words (from chapter 10) to Daniel as words to you: “Do not be afraid. Peace be with you; take courage and be courageous!”

The Early Church of God’s Apocalyptic Reading of Revelation

Now, it’s my contention that the early Church of God pioneers read Revelation in such a way that it had the same affect on them that Daniel and intertestimental writing had on Jews...

This is the reason the Church of God experienced such growth in those early years

The Church of God’s Meta-Narrative

Warner, Riggle, and Smith’s reading of Revelation provided the early CoG with a clear, concise, and compelling meta-narrative...

Think of the charts, with dragons, beasts, the whore of Babylon, etc.

They told a story of God’s working over the past 2,000 years and how every major event was written down by John in coded form

Every detail of Revelation revealed some historical truth, even to the point of pinpointing exact dates like 1880

This was powerful, because it revealed how God had been at work - it revealed the good guys and the bad guys

And it invited hearers to join in with this story that was actually written down in the Bible

The Church of God’s Identity

In ‘I Saw the Church’ Merle Strege writes that F.G. Smith’s reading of Revelation “served as the virtually unrivalled foundation of the Church of God movement’s self-understanding from the early 1890s to 1935.”

Revelation clarified who we were...

Fulfillment of God’s Plan in Revelation

We were the fulfillment of God’s plan…

Just listen to F.G. Smith’s proclamation in ‘The Revelation Explained’: “three centuries and a half after A.D. 1530, or A.D. 1880, a number of gifted men of God caught the vision of restored truth, discarded the doctrines, commandments, and sects of men; stepped out boldly on the Bible platform of all the truth for all the world. They proclaimed the real CHURCH OF GOD as portrayed in the New Testament, as the “body of Christ,” as a spiritual institution divinely organized, divinely governed, and divinely administered by the living WORD and SPIRIT of God. As an ecclesiastical event this awakening can no longer be ignored, for this church-restoration impulse is working its way around the world.”

This date is obviously a reference to D.S. Warner and his associates.

And so, when someone got up and preached, they could identify themselves not just as God’s people but as particularly prophesied about 2,000 years earlier.

THAT is a powerful identity to have.

But they also had their enemies’ identity clarified...

Babylon as Paganism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism

For many of the early CoG pioneers, the lines were clearly drawn… and though we might have eschewed traditional creeds and confessions, we were able to know who was in and out based on outward standards as well as our name, particular doctrines, and certain practices - all unwritten

Motivating the Church of God’s

Just as Jewish apocalyptic motivated Jews to be faithful despite pressure, so too did Revelation encourage the early CoG pioneers...

After all, these were men and women who were opposed at every turn - especially by established churches of their day.

How did they persevere? Because they believed the metanarrative and knew their identity.

They also believed that the story was winding down… it wouldn’t be long before Jesus would return to take his spotless bride.

Evangelism to the Lost

This is what motivated their outreach to the lost, revivals, evangelistic services, floating bethel, flying ministry, etc.

Teaching to Other Christians

It’s what motivated not only their gospel preaching but the teaching regarding Babylon and the need to come out.

Writing Songs, Books, etc.

It’s what motivated their prolific writing of songs and books, many steeped in ideas, doctrines, and images pulled right out of Revelation

In short, the early CoG used Revelation as apocalyptic literature rather than as a prophecy that was wholly concerned with the end-times. And it had an immense influence on them.

Unfortunately, as that reading fell out of favor, we lost our taste for it… and we lost the benefits that come from reading Revelation as apocalyptic

Revelation’s Apocalyptic Purpose Today

I believe that Revelation still has the power it had for the early church and for the early CoG pioneers today.

This is where we may get to some disagreements, but I’d like to sketch some initial thoughts I’ve had for how Revelation can still have this power in our movement as a whole and in our individual congregations.

I take an eclectic approach - I believe Revelation offers us an imaginative, visual retelling of the Gospel and its cosmic effects

It’s exactly the kind of book we need today - it’s a sort of Michael Bay version of the gospels...

Luke has Herod trying to murder Jesus by killing all of the babies 2 and under; Revelation reveals the cosmic reality of this, Satan as the Great Dragon trying to gobble up Jesus right as he’s born

The Gospels show Jesus crucified and then reveal his victory at the empty tomb; Revelation shows the cosmic reality of this, with a lamb standing as if slain, surrounded by the 24 elders casting their crowns before him

The Gospels have Jesus preaching ‘Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”; Revelation portrays humanity locked up in Babylon and a voice calling from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins!”

It’s visual, it’s visceral, it’s compelling.

Offers Us a Meta-Narrative

Brian Tabb describes Revelation as a canonical capstone: “It is a book - indeed, the final book - of Christian Scripture meant to decode our reality, capture our imaginations and master our lives with the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”

It helps us see the true story of humanity, our captivity to sin and the evil principalities of this world, and how we can be freed and join in the movement of Jesus - a movement that isn’t limited to a single local congregation or a movement but one that is transcendent in the best sense of the word.

The story Revelation gives us a metanarrative to understand why things are the way they are and where they are headed - to a final union between God and man in the marriage supper of the lamb

What could be a better meta-narrative than that?

I think N.T. Wright’s book ‘Scripture and the Authority of God’ could be a great help as we seek to understand this, preach it, and help our movement realize it.

No, Revelation isn’t about the history of the church. No, 1880 is not a prophesied date. No, the Pope is not the anti-christ and 666 isn’t his number.

But we have a far greater meta-narrative to glean from this book.

Offers Us an Identity

Second, Revelation still offers us a powerful identity.

The early CoG pioneers were right in the sense that we are God’s people - the Church is the lampstand that Jesus stands in the midst of

We are the bride of Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem, those who will dwell with God forever, the ones who have overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony

Revelation offers a theologically-compelling identity for the church - we are the followers of the lamb who was slain and we have gained victory through his death and seeming defeat

But we need to shift out understanding of our enemy...

By identifying our enemies as Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, we have undermined our quest for unity - and in, at times, slandering them as followers of a beast, we have undermined our quest for holiness.

Rather than seeing our enemies as other believers - Roman Catholicism and Protestantism - we should recognize that Babylon is the Kingdom of Darkness

Yes, this wicked city takes many forms - through the governments and religious institutions of the world - but we need to be more precise in identifying the works of the dragon.

And by exclusively looking at these groups, we’ve missed out on other entities that Satan was worked through - especially political powers and other religious and non-religious worldviews.

But Revelation still has the power to offer us an identity for ourselves and those we oppose - the protagonists and antagonists of this story

Offers Us a Motivation

Finally, I believe that Revelation still has a motivating power that is unparalleled.

The last two chapters of Revelation paint a picture of something that every human on earth longs for whether they are religious or not...

And with its refrain of “I am coming soon” and “Come Lord Jesus”, Revelation reminds us that we must redeem the time and persevere - even when Babylon is breathing down our necks

Revelation paints a picture of what we are persevering towards… that makes us want to press on toward it.

Whether you want to address Revelation or not, I guarantee you that there are people in your pews who want you to. And if we refuse to, we are missing out on a huge opportunity to offer people a compelling metanarrative, identity and motivator.

Conclusion

I hope that you will be encouraged to dig in further to these topics… to preach on Revelation… to write on it… to discuss it in your congregations… to help people to see its true power.

I would recommend...

Richard Bauckham’s ‘The Theology of the Book of Revelation’

Brian Tabb’s ‘All Things News’

G. K. Beale’s short commentary on Revelation