The End of all Nations
Revelation
11.15
One of my teachers in Bible college was fond of saying that,
however you interpret the book of Revelation, you should make it agree with the
rest of the Bible. That is good advice! Too many people try to build new and
fanciful doctrines on the book of Revelation and then twist the rest of
Scripture to fit those ideas. That is the wrong approach to the book of
Revelation. We always build our doctrine on what is clear and then we proceed
to what might remain unclear. And there are many things in Revelation that,
frankly, are not made clear to us.
Having said all that, if there is a
doctrinal section in the book of Revelation, it would have to be in chapters
4-5. There we see God on His throne, ruling and reigning. The sovereignty of
almighty God is one of the most foundational doctrines of the Bible. And then,
in chapter 5, we see a lion who is also a lamb who comes into the heavenly
throne room and is given great power and glory in heaven and even begins to
share the throne of God. Everything that follows in the book of Revelation is
based on this vision. The book of Revelation is the unveiling of Christ’s
heavenly reign.
What immediately follows the vision
of chapter 5 are three cycles of visions, all that use the number 7: 7 seals, 7
trumpets, 7 bowls. Each cycle of visions grows in breadth and intensity. The
second cycle of 7 is the 7 trumpets. A trumpet call was something used as a
signal. In battle, for example, the trumpets would signal attack. A trumpet is
used to get the attention and to make an announcement that something is
happening. These trumpets in Revelation are an announcement of certain heavenly
declarations or decisions, all which impact what happens on the earth because
heaven rules the earth. So, when each of the 7 trumpets are sounded, something
happens on earth because it has been ordained in heaven from the throne room of
God and the Lamb.
When we come to the 7th and final trumpet there is
this loud declaration from heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the
kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
The fact that this is the 7th trumpet signals the end or the
completion of something. This vision is a glimpse of the end of the world.
How is human history going to end?
The world will end with Christ reigning over everything. This is the eternal
purpose of God: to exalt His Son over everything and everyone else in heaven
and on the earth. We know that Christ has already ascended into heaven and has
begun to reign with God on His throne. But this heavenly reign cannot be seen
on the earth. When God brings the history of the world to a grand conclusion,
the reign of Christ must be revealed. It will be made obvious that Christ
reigns and every personality in heaven and on earth will see and acknowledge
this primary fact.
What the book of Revelation is
getting at is the vindication of God’s purpose, Christ’s name, and the faith of
God’s elect. Imagine that for some reason you have an enemy who decided to
spread a vicious and untrue rumor about you. The person who was doing this was
aiming to destroy your reputation and exalt themselves at your expense. You
would be looking for vindication. That is, you would want to make it obvious to
everyone that these rumors were untrue so that your good name could be restored.
In some sense, this is exactly what has happened to God in the world. The world
has refused to acknowledge God and give Him the glory He deserves. When God
sent His Son into the world, He was rejected and killed. The world has also
mistreated the people of God and persecuted them. There is this notion today
that God is too kind and loving to respond to the wickedness of the world.
People misinterpret God’s long-suffering, or patience, as passivity on God’s
part. But the world is storing up wrath. The wrath of God against the world is
like the waters rising behind a dam. Someday the dam will break and the wrath
of God will flood the world. God has extended His grace and mercy to the world.
Salvation is being preached to the whole world and people have opportunity to
repent and to get right with God before that day of wrath comes. But it will
come. The seventh trumpet is announcing the end of all the nations of the
world.
Christians believe that the true
meaning of history is found in the purpose of God. History is not about men and
their purposes, which come to nothing. History is about God and the unveiling
of His purpose. Someone has correctly said that history is HIS-STORY. In all
the old pagan myths, time is pictured as a wheel endlessly and pointlessly
spinning around and around. But the Bible gives a radically different view of
history. The God who began time will also bring the story to a fitting
conclusion. And this is what gives us hope and meaning in the world. God’s hand
has been on nations, but for His own purposes, not for their own.
At the blowing of the seventh trumpet
in Revelation we are seeing the end of the nations and their power on the
earth. The nations exist by the will of God and He has given them power. There
is no earthly power that has not been established by God. The nations had
nothing that they did not receive from the hand of God. They were God’s
stewards and as such are held accountable. The nations have never been free to
do as they please on the earth, but have always been ruled by heaven. But the
nations have not been faithful to God. They have rebelled against His will and
refused to acknowledge God or give Him the glory He deserves. The nations
thought their power came through their own ingenuity and so they became
prideful and exalted themselves. There have been times throughout history where
God has humbled nations and brought them even to the point of annihilation. Of
course, secular histories will not give God the credit for the fall of a
nation. Men will point out the political intrigue, mistakes made in war, or
economic factors that contribute to the rise or fall of nations. But the Bible
makes it clear that God is the great watcher of men and nothing happens without
authorization from the throne in heaven. Finally, at the end of history, the
One seated on the throne will take back all His power from the nations and they
will be no more.
At this point we should remember an
episode that took place at the very beginning of human history. This event
helps us understand something about all the nations throughout history. At one
point, all the peoples of the earth spoke the same language and they came together
to build a city with a tower reaching to the heavens. There are some who would
applaud such a project from a united humanity. But God was not pleased. This
was not God’s plan for human history. This was mankind trying to assert their own
will above God’s will. So, God judged them, confused their languages, and
scattered them. That was the beginning of the nations and their rebellion
against God. It was called Babel because God confused their language so they
had to stop building their city. Babel was God’s judgement on man’s desire to
rule his own destiny. But the nations have tried, throughout history, to
rebuild Babel. And when we come to the last book of the Bible there is this
entity called BABYLON THE GREAT, which is the ongoing spirit of Babel: the
wicked world, the City of Man in all her vanity and corruption. This wicked,
rebellious system that pervades the world of men must fall under the righteous
judgement and wrath of God.
Many who
have studied the book of Revelation have seen possible references there to
ancient Rome and her eventual judgement and fall. Rome had become the most
powerful empire in history but she had also become corrupt. Eventually, Rome
came out against the Church and began to persecute believers, sending many to
their deaths in horrible forms of torture. Rome is perhaps the primary example
of how a nation can rise to power and then become corrupt and fall into ruin.
Secular historians have long debated the true reason for the fall of Rome,
which was called the eternal city. Edward Gibbon, an 18th century
English historian, wrote about the fall of Rome. Here is what Gibbon called
“The five marks of the Roman decaying culture:
Concern
with displaying affluence instead of building wealth;
Obsession
with sex and perversions of sex;
Art
becomes freakish and sensationalistic instead of creative and original;
Widening
disparity between very rich and very poor;
Increased
demand to live off the state.”
We might say that these characteristics sound familiar. That
is because these seeds of corruption are found in every nation. Every nation
has within it the seeds of its own destruction. But before we become too
self-righteous in our condemnation of Rome or our own nation, we should
remember that these seeds of destruction are found buried in our own hearts as
well. Sinful nations are just very large groups of sinful people.
And Babylon the Great is a
seductress. The world calls to us and woos us every day. And it does not demand
that we become entangled in the obvious immorality of the sins of the flesh.
The spirit of the world is rebellion and its claim of independence from God.
All you really need to do to be worldly is try to rule your own life and have
things your own way. That attitude is the essence of what will eventually bring
every nation and every individual into judgement. As Christians, we must
remember that we are still in the world, though we do not belong to it. But
there is a part of us that is still able to be seduced by Babylon’s siren call.
And so, every day we must put to death our earthly nature and answer a higher
call. We must remember the Scriptural exhortation:
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is
in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of
life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing
away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever”
(1 John 2:15-17).
The Bible shows us that God was
merciful and kind to the very nations that had rebelled against Him. God did
not destroy the nations but determined to bless them through Abraham’s Seed
(Gen. 12.3). The theme of Scripture, and of human history, is God’s gracious
plan of salvation and blessing for the world. God’s grace is best seen against
the dark backdrop of human sin and failure. God has been long-suffering with the
wickedness of the nations in view of His ultimate plan of bringing salvation
through Christ. The pages of the Old Testament are constantly whispering about
the coming of someone who would be the ruler of all the nations. This ruler
would come out of the nation of Israel, but would rule all the Gentile nations
as well. His coming would usher in a new era of salvation, peace,
righteousness, and eventually, the renewal of the entire created order. Even
the idolatrous Gentile nations would come to serve this ruler who would come
from the people of Israel. The Jewish people began to look for this Christ/Messiah,
the one anointed and chosen by God, to come and set up the Kingdom of God on
earth.
There are
several important prophecies about the coming of this Christ who would be given
rule over the nations. Many New Testament writers either directly quote or
allude to these prophecies:
Ask of me, and I
will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's
vessel (Psalm 2:8-9)
The LORD says to
my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” The
LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your
enemies! (Psalm 110:1-2)
I saw in the
night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son
of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to
him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and
languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which
shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed (Daniel
7.13-14)
But you, O
Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from
you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming
forth is from of old, from ancient days (Micah 5:2)
Each year at
Christmas we celebrate the birth of Christ. When Christ’s birth was announced
by angelic messengers, these prophecies about the reign of Christ were recalled:
“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God
will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the
house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke
1:32-33). The fact that the Christ would not be just the King of the Jews, but
would also be recognized and worshiped by Gentiles from other nations, is seen
in the visit of the Magi: “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For
we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2). Jesus
was born to be a king who would rule the world.
We live in an Age where many people
in the world are free to elect their rulers. Of course, you don’t vote for a
King! It should be noted here that the prophecies of the Christ in Psalm 2 and
110 make it clear that God is going to install His King over and against the
world’s objections. The world did not vote for Jesus as King, yet God made Him
king anyway. The world order has never accepted Jesus as their King and they
never will. It is not uncommon to see a nation rise against its own ruler and
remove them from power. This is often done with great violence. Sometimes there
are bloody civil wars within a nation just to see who will have the power to
rule. At other times the ruler of one nation will seek to depose or to
subjugate the ruler of another nation. Right now, the world is watching the
virtual destruction of the nation of Syria because of an attempt to overthrow
the leader of that nation.
When the Son of God came into the
world as man the world rose against Him and killed Him. But God raised and
exalted Him into heaven where the world can no longer successfully oppose
Him. The world does not willingly submit
to Christ’s rule and they are still in rebellion against God and His Christ.
This is one of the reasons the world persecuted the Church. They cannot get at
Christ because He is in heaven, and so they persecute those who belong to
Christ. The world hates us like it hates Christ and His Father. Rebellion
against God has always been and will continue to be a defining characteristic
of the world and the nations. Even though our own nation was originally founded
by people who had a fear of God, our own nation eventually came out in direct
opposition to God and His Law. The world works very hard to suppress the
knowledge of God so that they can rule themselves without having to submit to
God and His Christ. The world has its own agenda and it will not submit to
God’s will. And yet the body of Christ has been sent out into a hostile world
to proclaim the provocative and subversive message that Jesus is Lord and that
everyone should confess that fact.
But the current reign of Christ is
from heaven, not on the earth. His reign is not visible to the eyes of flesh.
The book of Revelation is a revelation of Christ’s current reign in heaven.
John saw Jesus reigning and recorded the vision to undergird our faith. Christ
has pierced through that invisible wall between heaven and earth. Heaven is the
control-room for the earth and Jesus is there and has been given all power and
authority. God has handed the reigns of the Kingdom over to Christ.
Christ is ruling the earth and
administering the Kingdom of God from the Throne of God in heaven. And this
vision is meant to give hope to believers who are still on the earth. There is
nothing that the world can do, in its evil and rebellion against God, to remove
Christ from the throne. No matter how bad things might get down here on earth,
Christ is reigning in heaven and nothing can change that reality. So, we anchor
our hearts in heaven. A member of our own race is ruling in heaven. Jesus is
our man in heaven! The book of Hebrews reveals that He has entered heaven not
only to rule but to make intercession for the saints who are coming to God
through Him. To come to God, we must have a reigning Savior in heaven.
Not only is the world against us, but
there is also a kingdom of darkness that is opposing us. Behind this dark
kingdom is another Ruler who is the god of this world! We overcome the powers
of darkness because our Savior has been exalted far above these principalities
and powers. Because Christ has been exalted, there is no Power on earth that
can keep us from coming to God through Him.
A famous theologian named Abraham
Kuyper once wrote: “In the total expanse of human life there is not a single
square inch of which the Christ, who alone is sovereign, does not declare,
'That is mine!'.” There is nothing on earth that does not belong to Christ and
there is no place where we can go where Jesus is not Lord. It is our duty now
to give Him everything, because it really belongs to Him anyway. There is no
part of our lives over which Jesus does not have the right to rule. Anyone who
does not submit to Christ is out of touch with ultimate reality. Being a
Christian means to acknowledge, or confess, that Jesus is Lord. And this is not
an empty creed but a mandate for daily living.
There is really nothing for us to
fear, if Jesus is ruling. No matter what happens down here, Jesus is Lord, and
that means, ultimately, everything is going to be alright. The English mystic,
Julian of Norwich, was right when she wrote: “all shall be well. And all shall
be well. And all manner of things shall be well.”
Just as He went into Heaven, Christ
will come again from heaven. He will again pierce that veil between heaven and
earth, and He will appear. At that time, every eye will see Him as He is and
every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. And at that
time, He will take back the power from the nations that is rightfully His. Later
in the book of Revelation, near the end of the book, John sees this vision:
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse!
The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he
judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are
many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is
clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The
Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure,
were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with
which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He
will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his
robe and on his thigh, he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation
19:11-16)
He will come to judge the nations.
Christ is already reigning. But this fact must be seen and acknowledged by all.
For some, this day will be the greatest horror, a horror that will continue
throughout all eternity as they are cast out of His presence forever. But there
will be a group of people that no one can number, from out of every nation, who
will rejoice to see Him reigning. And nothing will ever take away their joy
because they are receiving a Kingdom, the only kingdom, that cannot be shaken.
“Oh, the joy to see Thee reigning,
Thee, my own beloved Lord!
Every tongue Thy name confessing.
Worship, honour, glory, blessing,
Brought to Thee with glad accord!
Thee, my Master and my Friend,
Vindicated and enthroned!
Unto earth's remotest end
Glorified, adored, and owned!" (Frances Havergal)
This is excellent writing, in the matters of subject, content, and expression.
ReplyDelete