Series: Following Jesus in a Hostile World
Why Babylon?
In John’s visions the enemy of God’s people is called Babylon. That name is not used for a couple of chapters yet, but it will soon be revealed that worldly powers and systems opposed to God are Babylon. Some writers think that John used “Babylon” as code for Rome. Perhaps, but there is something more going on here.
For the Jews, Babylon was the hostile empire from their own history. Babylon represented exile, oppression, forced assimilation to a foreign culture. Whenever they saw their nation attacked, they remembered Babylon. The moral pretenses of Rome, the racial superiority of Nazism, the arrogance of communism, and any nation that puts its priorities above others, are all versions of Babylon’s idolatry.
Babylon is always present in history. It is an image Jews used for empires that oppress and persecute God’s people. Babylon names empires that oppress those who walk in the way of the Lamb.
It is easy to preach up to chapter 5. Revelation gets harder now. More confusing. We have seen a vision of King Jesus in chapter one. We have heard the message of the King for the churches in chapters 2-3. And what a beautiful scene of God on the throne and the Lamb that was slain in chapters 4-5.
Now the Lamb has taken the scroll with the seven seals. He is worthy to open it and reveal its contents. That scroll exposes the true nature of the empire, whether it is Rome or something else. The confession “Jesus is Lord” was a dangerous one to make before any empire.
In Revelation 6, the Lamb exposes and judges the empire for how it operates. He hears the cries of his people suffering under the imperial boot, and he shows us their destiny. What this chapter answers is the question: Who really holds the future? The empire or the Lamb?
1. Seals 1-4: The Lamb reveals a violent world (1-8)
The Lamb has taken the scroll and begun to snap the seals. As he does so with the first four seals, one of the living creatures cries out, “Come!” And with each one, a different colored horse appears. These colored horses have their scriptural roots in Zechariah 1:8-11.
First, we see a rider on a white horse. He represents conquest. Some have wondered if this is Jesus because in chapter 19, Jesus is depicted riding a white horse. It doesn’t seem likely because Jesus could not be both opening the seal and riding out. Some have said it is the gospel going forth to conquer. But this is not consistent with the other horses and the terrible outcomes of them. The most likely answer is that this horse and rider represent military conquest.
Then we see a rider on a red horse. He was “permitted to take peace from the earth” and caused people to kill each other in warfare. This horse has been riding through history for centuries. And in the 20th century alone we have witnessed tens of millions of deaths through war, purges and state-sponsored violence.
With the third seal we see a rider on a black horse. War brings economic hardship and thus famine and poverty. Luxury items like oil and wine are untouched, but basic food is hard to find.
The last rider is on a pale green horse. This is Death. And Hades, the realm of the dead, rides with it.
What do you see in these horses? The future? The Great Tribulation? I see history. Open up your newsfeed and this is happening in our world today. Some say the tribulation is coming but ask the Christian in Iran if things could get worse. Ask the Chinese believers whose pastors are being jailed if this isn’t a present trouble. During the Soviet era, the favorite book of the church in Russia was Revelation – because they were living it.
One further detail to note: the Lamb is opening the seals. Does that mean that the Lamb is unleashing these judgments upon the world? Is this God’s will that people suffer? I would not say that. I would say that the Lamb is fully within his authority to judge history and judge evil. A world that has rejected and rebelled against God is experiencing judgment in keeping with its own desires. The empire works this way. Babylon has chosen to operate with violence, and God permits the natural consequences to play out.
In a sinful world, violence is a reality. But in a violent world, who can stand?
2. Seal 5: The Lamb hears the cry for justice (9-11)
Caught in the middle of violent world are the followers of the Lamb. You and I have experienced some troubles in this world, but not the extremes brought by the four horsemen.
Nevertheless, there is conflict between Babylon and the followers of the Lamb. When the fifth seal was opened, John saw “under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’” (9b-10).
A couple of things stand out when you experience pushback from Babylon for your faith. One is that it’s okay to ask God “how long” we have to endure hostility for our faith. It’s a human emotion and that’s okay. It’s cathartic and it’s God-centred. It’s actually worship. Rather than taking out our frustration on that family member who mocks our faith, we pray for God’s justice.
Related to our cry for justice, we are not taking matters into our own hands. Vengeance is self-centered. This cry is centered on the Lamb who hears our cries and knows the pain of rejection. The truth is the people who mock us for our faith and especially those who kill the saints for Jesus’ sake have been deceived by Babylon. They were duped into thinking that the status quo of the world is “just how things are.” Our persecutors are victims too. So we want to refuse to let our persecutors turn us into something that resembles them.
This book we are studying is an instruction manual on how to live as Christian dissidents in an empire characterized by violence, power, exploitation, and arrogance. To “follow the way of the Lamb” and not get caught up in the flow of selfish living. Revelation is not about escaping this world, it’s about living as faithful disciples in a world that needs the Lamb.
As dissidents, we are people of hope, people who imagine a better, future world. We live as people who act out that new world in the here and now – the way of the Lamb. Our cry for justice is not for revenge, then, it is that the way we chose, the way of the Lamb, was right all along.
Babylon is threatened by that life. Historian and political commentator, George Noble, writes about declining empires and how they can become increasingly violent as they struggle to preserve their power. What looks like strength may actually be desperation. The empire lashes out, hoping to preserve what it fears losing.
As we live and testify to the gospel of Jesus, the forgiveness of sins, and the new world he has planned, Babylon lashes out because people don’t want the solution. Everyone knows the world is broken, but nobody wants to hear it’s because of “my sin.” If we declare the truth of Christ, we will suffer for it. When justice is delayed, can we stand?
3. Seal 6: The Lamb promises the Judgment to come (12-17)
With the first four seals we see the history of our world. With the fifth seal, we acknowledge the reality that Babylon opposes the gospel message and its people. There is a cry for justice from God’s people. And the sixth seal answers that cry.
There is a judgment coming! Let’s read again the words of the sixth seal (read 12-17). We have read about the Lion who appears as a Lamb. Jesus came in humility the first time as the Lamb. Now we read about the Lamb’s wrath. It seems out of character for the Lamb to inflict judgment. We must remember the Lamb who was slain is the world’s rightful judge.
The key to this horrible imagery is to understand “wrath.” Paul wrote about God’s wrath in Romans 1:18. He said, “For the wrath of God is (‘being’) revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” Then Paul goes on to speak of idolatry, lust, and every kind of sin encompassing. Repeated three times in this text is God’s wrathful response, “God gave them over.” He gave them over to what they chose.
My colleague, prof. Terry Hiebert, surprised me recently saying to a student, “We don’t fail students at SBC.” I’m thinking, “Where is this going?” Then he concluded, “Students fail themselves.” That’s kind of what John is saying in Revelation. God gives men and women what they want. If they choose a moment of sinful pleasure over an eternity of joy, that’s what they get. The responsibility and the consequences belong to the unrepentant sinner. They chose wrath.
At the same time, God’s wrath in Revelation 6 is more than people experiencing the consequences of their decisions. The imagery of earthquakes and black suns and blood moons and so on is terrifying. John uses these to say “It’s bad. It’s real bad.” Babylon deceived these people, but they are still responsible for the choices they made.
Before talking about God’s wrath in Romans, Paul had written, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” When the cross of Christ is revealed to the world and how they were duped by Babylon to execute, not only an innocent man, but the Son of God himself, how do you think they will react? This is what John reveals in the sixth seal: the Lamb is revealed as this Jesus whom they crucified (1:7b). And they will want to hide themselves in shame, from the greatest to the least.
The wrath of God is the revelation of the Lamb on the throne (16). The Lamb who offers salvation is not indifferent to evil, and though he is gracious now does not mean he will withhold his justice in that day. When God’s judgment comes, who can stand?
The last words of this chapter are stark: Who can stand?
The Lamb has exposed Babylon as a violent empire, a spirit of conquest, violence, famine, and death. We see governments of our world imposing their agendas for their own political gain. When Christians oppose society’s agenda, they suffer for it and wonder, “How long Lord?” And he replies that judgment is coming.
Who can stand?
Not Babylon. Not the powerful. Not the wealthy. Not the so-called influencers of our time. They cannot hide from the Lamb. Who then?
We glimpse a hint of the answer in Revelation 7:14. An elder asks John, “Who are these in white robes?” John doesn’t know. The elder answers, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” We stand, not because we have overcome Babylon using Babylon’s weapons (fighting fire with fire, as they say), and not because we have been faithful enough to earn our place before God. We stand because we belong to the Lamb who gave his life for us. And because we belong to him, we are learning to walk in his ways rather than the ways of Babylon.
There are seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. I won’t unpack them in this series. Someone I read this week said that the trumpets and bowls are like different camera angles of the same action in increasing intensity. As Revelation unfolds, we encounter these cycles: The seventh seal: Silence (8:1). The seventh trumpet: the announcement that God’s kingdom has come (11:15). The seventh bowl: “It is done” (16:17).
I understand why people avoid Revelation. These images are confusing and hard to interpret. How then shall we live in a hostile world? Not by believing Babylon's deception, not by fearing Babylon's power, not by despairing over injustice, but by remaining faithful to the Lamb who was slain and who speaks the final word.
AMEN
No comments:
Post a Comment