(Note: Readers may wish to examine my notes on Daniel 7 before reading this lesson, as background on some of the symbols.)
Jesus taught us to deny the flesh, to sacrifice it on His Cross. Paul warned the flesh would hinder spiritual growth. We learn thus the sufferings of this world are of no significance in the Kingdom. Pain, sorrow, loss of property and the loss of life itself are but circumstances in the Kingdom of Heaven, and we are called to bear them with grace. Losing all in that sense means being set free. However, there are times when it serves the Kingdom purpose to prosper us in the flesh, as well. We should hold worldly things lightly, never to be held by them. They are mere tools of service, not holy in themselves, and certainly not our gods. John left us at the end of the last chapter with the question: "Who is able to stand?" The answer is Christ, and those who are His. We are able to stand all the horrendous judgments of God's wrath because it affects only the flesh, which hardly matters to us.
We now see a vision of the spirits of the Four Winds, holding back destruction until the Saints are marked as such. There is a number given, wholly symbolic in meaning. While the number 12 typically means the Kingdom on earth, squaring it intensifies the concept: the thing in its totality. Multiples of ten adds the symbol of its source being the whole of humanity. That the list of Tribes cannot be taken literally is noted in the absence of Dan -- the premier symbol of idolatry and spiritual failure. The name of Ephraim, who led the way in chaining the Northern Tribes to idolatry and rebellion, is replaced with Joseph. Levi is included, who had no inheritance in the Land of Canaan. At any rate, most of the literal Tribes were lost altogether. Rather, this is but a symbol of the New Testament Israel: the followers of Christ. The act of sealing them is to mark them as God's special possession. The point here is John makes it clear in the midst of trials and tribulations, we dare not lose focus on what really matters. He is our God, and we are His people. He knows our number and our names, individually and intimately. Nothing in Heaven and earth can change that.
The next vision is the same image from a different perspective. While the first offers a symbolic number announced from Heaven, the second is not numbered, nor is John able to estimate, nor could anyone else. God knows, but He's not telling, except in the symbolic sense above. We find this multitude celebrating their election, giving all glory and honor to their God. Heaven itself cannot help but join the celebration. When John is asked who they are, he has no answer. He is told these have passed through "the great tribulation." Getting lost in making this some literal event misses the most important point: God's people will tribulate. That is, inherent in serving God is tribulation. Just shedding the weakness of the flesh requires a mountain of grief, for only by passing through the fire of testing can we be refined. This massive multitude gains their purity and identity by having passed through such testing. To the churches on Western Asia of that day, this reaffirms Rome's persecution as the ultimate mark of God's favor. While such attention would be death, the ultimate end of all things for sinners, it is life and hope for Christians.
This is the whole point behind the Apocalypse -- giving hope and strength to believers under the Roman lash. John is telling them not to get wrapped up in this world and its sorrows, but to see their privileged status as those who dwell spiritually in the Courts of God. What they stand to lose here is abundantly replaced with eternal promises. This pulls the churches into a wholly other-worldly viewpoint. Yes, we weep at the loss because it hurts, but we dare not let such loss make us think Our God does not love us. Indeed, He loves us enough to break us from our reliance upon the things of this world for any comfort. We ought instead to be glad we are rid of such concerns. This is what John's Revelation is all about, what it meant to his flock. Any attempt to draw from this book a weight of concern about events on this earth does violence to the text.
How I sorrow that the Church has been enticed away from this truth, to become wrapped up in human concerns. Calling it "meat" and finding excitement in some pseudo-Gnostic secret meaning reflected in the news reports of today is idolatry. Indeed, the mainstream of Evangelical faith is a prostitute to such petty political wrangling because they refuse to see all things of importance are rooted in Heaven; all things on this side of Eternity are mere circumstance. He is risen; He resides in Heaven where our focus should be.
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Ed Hurst
24 August 2007
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