An Absent Church?
After Jesus finished dictating his letters to the “seven churches of Asia,” John saw an “open door in heaven” and heard the voice from his first vision summoning him to “come up here.” He then found himself standing before the “throne set in heaven.” But does this image symbolize the physical removal of the church from the Earth prior to the Book’s remaining visions, the so-called ‘Rapture’?
After Chapter 3, the term “assembly”
or ekklésia does not appear again until the epilogue of the Book. So,
does this omission combined with the image of John rising to heaven picture the
physical removal of the church from the planet at this point in the narrative?
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| [Photo by Sergei Wing on Unsplash] |
Since the Book of Revelation applies the noun “assembly” in the singular number to individual congregations rather than collectively to all believers, it is more relevant to ask the question - ‘Are the churches, plural, absent in the remainder of Revelation?’
For that matter, when the Book refers to
all or groups of believers, it uses several different terms, including “saints”
and “witnesses.”
- (Revelation 4:1-3) - “After these things, I saw a door set open in heaven, and the first voice which I heard as of a trumpet speaking with me, saying: Come up here, and I will show you the things that must come to pass. After these things, immediately, I came to be in Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, and upon the throne was one sitting.”
OMISSION
As for the omission of the term “church,” its
absence in the narrative until chapter 22 does not prove the church has been
removed from the Earth. That suggestion amounts to an argument from silence (argumentum
silento), one that ignores the other terms applied to the people of God
throughout Revelation.
Furthermore, that suggestion overlooks the
literary links between the seven letters to the “assemblies of Asia” and
the other visions.
In its entirety, the Book is addressed to
the “servants of God” identified as the “churches of Asia.” And John
describes himself as a “fellow participant” with them in the “tribulation,
kingdom, and endurance in Jesus.”
Rather than escape from persecution, Revelation exhorts the assemblies to endure whatever may come, including martyrdom, and in this way, they will “overcome” and inherit the promises recorded in the seven letters - (Revelation 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:26-28, 3:5, 3:21).
For example, the “innumerable multitude”
is composed of men from every nation who are redeemed by the “blood of the
Lamb,” just as are the "overcoming" saints from the “churches
of Asia.”
Rather than escape tribulation, John sees
this “multitude” exiting the “Great Tribulation” and “standing
before the Lamb” and Throne in “New Jerusalem” - (Revelation 1:5-6, 5:6-12,
7:9-17, 20:4-6).
ENDURE
In the seven letters, the assemblies are called
to “overcome” through perseverance, a challenge epitomized by the
faithful endurance of the followers of the “Lamb” elsewhere in the Book.
The faithful “endurance” of
believers in the face of persecution is the definition of the “perseverance
of the saints,” those who have the “testimony of Jesus” - (Revelation
1:1, 1:18, 2:8-13, 3:21, 5:5, 12:11, 13:7-10, 14:12-13).
Following the expulsion of Satan from the
heavenly courtroom, a voice declares that the “brethren overcame” him by
the “blood of the Lamb, by their word of testimony, and because they loved
not their life unto death.”
Enraged, the Devil “departed to make war
with the rest of her seed,” that is, against those “who have
the testimony of Jesus.” Surely these faithful saints are members of the “church”
purchased by the blood of Jesus! Yet they remain on the Earth where they endure
persecution by the “Dragon.”
Next, the “Beast from the Sea” is
authorized to “war against the saints and to overcome them.” And here,
“overcome” means kill. These martyrs are identified as those who “keep
the faith of Jesus” - (Revelation 12:9-17, 13:1-10, 14:12).
Later, John sees “Babylon drunk with the
blood of the saints and the witnesses of Jesus.” Previously, “saints”
were identified as those who keep “the faith” and have the “testimony
of Jesus.” Likewise, the victims of the “Beast” are called “saints,”
and here, they are identified as the “Witnesses of Jesus.” And can believers
function as “witnesses” if they are absent from the Earth? - (Revelation
17:1-6).
The Book in its entirety is addressed to these first-century congregations in Asia, and they do not disappear from the scene after Chapter 3. Throughout Revelation, the group identified as “saints” consists of men from every nation who are redeemed by the “blood of the Lamb.”
Rather than escape “tribulation” and
martyrdom, overcoming “saints” persevere, and thus find themselves “coming
out of the great tribulation” to stand victoriously before Jesus. They qualify
to reign with him in the same way that he did – “Just as I also
overcame and sat down with my Father in his throne.”
MISSING THE POINT
Reading the later doctrine of the so-called
‘Rapture’ of the church into the fourth chapter of Revelation deviates
from the Book’s point of view. Nowhere does it state that John himself represents
the entire church, or that his apparent transport to heaven signifies a now
permanent change in his/its location and condition.
Nor is his “ascent” to the “throne”
the only change in John’s location in the Book. In Chapter 17, John is whisked
by an angel to the “Wilderness” where he sees “Babylon” portrayed
as the “Great Harlot.” Since she is full of the “abominations of the
earth,” it is unlikely that he found her in heaven after his ascent to the
throne room at the beginning of Chapter 4.
Likewise, in Chapter 21, the Revelator is
transported by the angel to a “high mountain” from which he observes “New
Jerusalem descending to the Earth.”
This indicates rather strongly that John is on the Earth at this specific moment
– (Revelation 17:1-3, 21:1-9).
The picture in Chapter 4 is straightforward
and needs to be taken at face value without any added embellishments. John is
summoned to “come up here” where he sees a vision of the “Throne,”
the “Sealed Scroll,” and the “slain Lamb,” all things that prove
pivotal as his visions unfold further in the Book’s subsequent chapters.
The suggestion that John’s ascent to the “throne”
symbolizes the ‘Rapture’ or removal of the church from the Earth is contrary to
the Book’s tenor, and it requires importing ideas and images into the passage
found nowhere else in Revelation.
