Redeemed of the Earth
What sets this company apart is
its composition of men and women from all nations that have been redeemed by
the death of Jesus, and to become the “kingdom of priests” summoned to
mediate the light of the gospel in a darkened world.
The redemptive purpose of the church is
presented first in the opening paragraph. Jesus is the “faithful witness,
the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth,” a
description that points to his past death, resurrection, and enthronement, the basis
of his present sovereignty. The mission assigned long ago to Israel has now
fallen to the church - (Exodus 19:4-6, Revelation 1:4-6, 5:10).
In the very first verse, the recipients of Revelation
are identified as the “servants” of God, the “seven churches of Asia.”
They were “fellow participants” with John in the “tribulation and
kingdom and perseverance in Jesus.” John found himself on the isle of Patmos “because of the word of God and the testimony
of Jesus.” Already in the first century, he and his fellow
believers were experiencing “the tribulation” on account of their testimony
for Jesus.
Later, John saw a glorious figure seated on the
Throne at the center of Cosmos, holding a scroll sealed with seven seals. In all creation, only the sacrificial “Lamb” was found “worthy”
to open the scroll, because “he was slain and redeemed for God
by his blood men out of every tribe, tongue, people and nation, and made them a
kingdom and priests to our God” - (Revelation 5:9-10).
The same category applied to the “churches
of Asia” was applied to this great multitude gathered from every nation, the
“kingdom of priests.” This vast company was larger than
the seven small congregations of Asia, yet it also included them.
In chapter 7, John “heard” the “number”
of God’s servants that were “sealed,” twelve thousand males from each of
the twelve tribes of Israel, or 144,000 men. However, when he looked, he “saw”
a vast multitude that “no one could number out of every nation, and all
tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the Throne and the Lamb.”
What John “saw” interpreted what he “heard.” The innumerable
multitude was identical to 144,000 males from Israel. This, likewise, is the company
of men and women from “every nation” redeemed by the “blood of the
Lamb” - (Revelation
5:9-10, 7:1-17).
In this way, Revelation has transformed
the image of the tribes of Israel assembled to march to the land of Canaan into
the vast multitude of men and women redeemed by Jesus from every nation. John
saw this company “coming out of the great tribulation” to stand “before
the throne of God” in his “sanctuary,” where the “Lamb” was
leading them “to life’s fountains of waters,” a picture of life in the “New
Jerusalem” (Revelation 7:13-17, 21:1-6).
In chapter 11, the “two witnesses” are
called the “two lampstands.” This means they represent churches,
at least, if Revelation is consistent in its symbolism. When their ministry
is finished, the “beast that is to ascend from the Abyss will wage war with
them and overcome and slay them.” The clause borrows language is from
Daniel’s vision of the “little horn”:
- (Daniel 7:20-21) – “Also concerning the ten horns, which were in his head, and the other which came up, and there fell from among them that were before it three; and this horn which had eyes and a mouth speaking great things, and his look was prouder than his fellows. I continued looking when this horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them.”
- (Revelation 11:7) – “And as soon as they have completed their witnessing, the beast that is to come up out of the Abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and slay them.”
The “beast from the abyss” could not
kill the “two witnesses” until authorized to do so by a higher
authority. But their violent deaths did not mean defeat for the “Lamb.”
Their martyrdom produced the “day of the Lord” and the consummation of
the Kingdom of God - (Revelation
11:15-19).
In chapter 12, Satan was expelled from heaven
and no longer could “accuse our brethren before God.” Enraged, he gathered
his forces to “wage war against the seed of the woman,
those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.” Again,
language from the same passage in Daniel was applied to the Dragon’s assault
against the “seed of the woman,” which was identified as those who have
the “testimony of Jesus” - (Revelation 12:9-17).
Likewise, the “brethren” overcame the “Dragon”
by the “blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and
because they loved not their life even unto death.” The “brethren” had been
tasked with bearing witness, even if doing so meant a martyr’s death - (Revelation 12:11).
Likewise, the “beast that ascends from the
sea” made war on “the saints and overcame them,” once
again, using the same language from Daniel. This refers to the same reality as
the war against the “two witnesses” by the “beast from the Abyss,”
and to the “war” by the “Dragon” against the “seed of the
Woman” - (Revelation
13:1-10).
When
the “beast from the sea” waged war on the “saints,” believers who
were destined for captivity, went “into captivity.” Likewise, those who
were given over to be slain by sword, were “slain with sword.” This is the
“perseverance and the faith of the saints,” who were identified in the following chapter as
“they who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” - (Revelation
13:7-10, 14:12).
Next, the “beast from the earth” caused
all the “inhabitants of the earth” to render homage to the “beast from
the sea,” and to take its “mark.” In contrast, the sealed company of
them who were “redeemed from the earth” stood with the “Lamb” on
“Zion,” having the name of his Father “written on their foreheads.”
Thus, in Revelation, humanity falls into two groups: men and women redeemed from every nation and sealed by God, who follow the “Lamb wherever he goes,” and the “inhabitants of the earth” that take the “mark of the beast” and render homage to it - (Revelation 13:15-18, 14:1-5).
At
the commencement of the “seven bowls of wrath,” the redeemed are described
with imagery from the Exodus story. Those
who “overcome” the “beast” are “standing on the glassy sea,
having harps of God, and they are singing the song of Moses the servant of God
and the song of the Lamb” - (Revelation 15:1-4).
“Overcome” translates the same
verb used in the messages to the seven churches for faithful saints who “overcome.”
And it is the same verb found when the “brethren overcame
Satan by the blood of the Lamb.” Once again, the same company of the redeemed
is seen, this time standing on the “glassy sea.”
The “saints” overcome the “beast” by
enduring faithfully whatever it may inflict on them, all while maintaining
their “testimony.” This is the “perseverance of the saints.” Like
the 144,000 singing a “new song” on “Mount Zion,” so, here, the
faithful saints stand on the “sea of glass,” all while singing the “song
of the Lamb.” The two “songs” link both groups, for they are one and
the same.
“Babylon” is judged and
destroyed for her egregious sins, among them, her persecution of the saints.
John saw her “drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood
of the witnesses of Jesus.” The saints rejoiced over her
destruction because it meant their vindication. In the interim, the redeemed “people”
of God were exhorted to “come out of her that they may have no fellowship
with her sins and of her plagues they may not receive” - (Revelation
17:1-19:10).
Then came the time for the “marriage of
the Lamb, for his wife has made herself ready.” She was “arrayed
in fine linen,” which represents the “righteous acts of the saints.”
Christians who heeded the Spirit and overcame, likewise, were “arrayed in
white garments.” So, also, believers who came out of the “great tribulation”
were “arrayed in white garments,” having made them white “in the
blood of the Lamb” - (Revelation 3:5, 3:18, 7:9-17).
Thus, from start-to-finish, the focus of Revelation
is on the church, the people of God, which consists of men and women redeemed
by Jesus from every nation. Though
different terms and images are used to portray her, the same company of the
redeemed is in view in each case. The terms mostly derive from the story of Ancient
Israel, but Revelation reapplies them to the followers of the “Lamb”
from every nation, tongue, people, and tribe.
The mission of the church is to persevere
through whatever the Devil throws at it, bearing faithful witness along the way.
She is the royal body that now reigns with Jesus but she does so in her priestly
role. The churches are “lampstands” that shine the light of
the “Lamb” in the earth. Like John on the isle of Patmos, the saints are
summoned to become “fellow participants in the tribulation
and kingdom and perseverance in Jesus.”
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