The Redeemed of the Earth
The Book of Revelation applies several terms and symbols to the church that is under assault both from without and within. The men who are redeemed from the Earth by Jesus form a company that transcends all national, social, and cultural boundaries. And “tribulation” is not an aberration to be avoided at all costs. Instead, persevering through trials and faithfully bearing witness in persecution are part and parcel of what it means to follow the “Lamb wherever he goes.”
What sets
this company apart is its composition of men from every “nation,” “people,”
“tribe,” and “tongue” who have been redeemed by Jesus. And by his
blood, they have become the “kingdom of priests” that is now sent to
mediate the light of the Gospel throughout the Earth.
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| [Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash] |
The purpose of the church is presented in the Book’s opening paragraph. Jesus is the “Faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the Dead, and the Ruler of the Kings of the Earth.” His past death is the basis of his present reign.
And by his
death, he freed his people from their sins and made them a “kingdom of
priests.” Thus, the mission assigned long ago to Israel has now fallen to
the people who follow the “Lamb wherever he goes” - (Exodus 19:4-6, Revelation
1:4-6, 5:10).
The recipients
of the Book are identified as the “servants” of God, the “Seven Churches
of Asia.” They are “fellow participants” with John in the “tribulation
and kingdom and perseverance in Jesus.”
John was on
the island 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.”
At one
point, John sees a glorious figure seated on the “Throne” at the center
of the Cosmos who is holding the Scroll sealed with Seven Seals. After a search
of all creation, only the sacrificial “Lamb” is found “worthy” to
open it 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).
Thus, the
same category applied to the “Churches of Asia” is applied to this great
multitude from every nation, the “kingdom of priests.” Though this vast
company is larger than the seven small congregations of Asia, it also includes
them.
THE MULTITUDE
In Chapter
7, John “hears” the “number” of God’s “servants” that are
“sealed,” twelve thousand males from each of the twelve tribes of Israel,
or 144,000 men. However, when he looks, he “sees” a vast multitude that “no
one can number out of every nation, and all tribes, and peoples, and tongues,
standing before the Throne and the Lamb.”
What John “sees”
interprets what he “heard.” The “innumerable multitude” is identical
to the 144,000 males from the “twelve tribes of Israel.” And this is the
same company of men purchased from “every nation” by the “blood of
the Lamb” - (Revelation
5:9-10, 7:1-17).
In this
way, Revelation transforms the image of the “tribes of Israel”
assembled around the Tabernacle into the “innumerable multitude” of men from
every nation and standing in worship “before the Throne of God” in his “sanctuary”
- (Revelation 7:13-17, 21:1-6).
BEAST WAGES WAR
In Chapter
11, the “Two Witnesses” are called the “two lampstands,” and elsewhere
in the Book, “lampstands” represent churches. When their prophetic ministry is finished, the “Beast
that ascends from the Abyss wages war with them and overcomes and slays them.”
This last clause
borrows language from Daniel’s vision of the “Little Horn” that waged
war on the “saints” of Israel, the “King of fierce countenance”
who defiled the Sanctuary in Jerusalem, caused the cessation of the daily burnt
offerings, and corrupted many of the saints - (Daniel 7:20-21, 8:20-27, Revelation
11:7).
But the “Beast”
cannot kill the “Two Witnesses” until he is authorized to do so, and their
violent deaths do not mean defeat for the “Lamb.” Their martyrdom will
be followed by the “Day of the Lord” and the consummation of the Kingdom
of God when the “seventh trumpet” sounds - (Revelation 11:15-19).
In Chapter
12, Satan is expelled from heaven and no longer is able to “accuse our
brethren before God.” Enraged, he gathers his forces to “wage war
against the seed of the woman, those who have the testimony of Jesus.” But
the “brethren” overcome the “Dragon” by the “blood of the Lamb
and the word of their testimony,” and because they are willing to suffer
martyrdom for his name and testimony - (Revelation
12:9-17).
And the “Beast
that ascends from the Sea” will make war on the “saints and overcame
them.” This refers to the same reality as the war against the “Two Witnesses”
by the “Beast from the Abyss,” and the “war” by the “Dragon”
against the “seed of the woman,” those who have the “testimony of
Jesus” - (Revelation 12:17,
13:1-10).
Next, the
“Beast from the Earth” causes all the “Inhabitants of the Earth”
to render homage to the first “Beast,” and to take its “mark.” In
contrast, the sealed company of those who were “redeemed from the Earth”
are seen standing with the “Lamb” on “Mount Zion,” having been “purchased”
from the Earth. Rather than the Beast’s mark, they have his Father’s name
inscribed on their foreheads.
SAVED AND UNSAVED
Thus, in Revelation,
humanity falls into two groups: those redeemed
from every nation who follow the “Lamb,” and the “Inhabitants of the Earth”
that take the “mark of the Beast.” The names of the latter group are NOT
“written in the Lamb’s book of life,” they have NOT been “redeemed
by his blood” - (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 seen “standing on the glassy sea… and they are singing the song of Moses
the servant of God and the song of the Lamb” - (Revelation 15:1-4).
The
English term “overcome” translates the same verb applied in the messages
to the “Seven Churches” to 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 “males” singing the “new song” on “Mount Zion,” the faithful stand on the “sea of glass” and sing the “song of the Lamb.” The two “songs” link both groups - they are one and the same.
The great
whore, “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 rejoice over
her destruction because it means their vindication - (Revelation 17:1-19:10).
With her
demise, the time arrives for the “marriage of the Lamb, for his wife has
made herself ready.” She is “arrayed in fine linen” which represents
the “righteous acts of the saints.”
Likewise,
in Asia, faithful believers who heed the Spirit and overcome the Devil are “arrayed in white garments.”
So, also, members of the “innumerable multitude” that came out of the “Great
Tribulation” are “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 the Book of Revelation is on the church,
the people of God, the men and women redeemed by Jesus through his sacrificial
death. Though different terms and images
are applied, the same redeemed company is in view in each case.
The terms used
mostly derive from the story of Israel, but Revelation reapplies them to
the followers of the “Lamb” from every nation and tribe. Consistently,
what sets them apart is the fact they have been “redeemed by the blood of
the Lamb,” the same Lord they now follow “wherever he goes.”
