Revelation 10
Revelation! The revelation given to John by Jesus, the Christ, the Risen One, the King of all Kings and Lord of all lords.
Revelation begins with a massive vision of Jesus as he is now. A mighty and frightening being, with 14 eyes like flames of fire. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.
And he is the one who stands amongst us, his church. He holds us – as stars – in his hands! He is with us!
And he says to us: stand firm. Don’t give up.
Because it’s easy to lose heart isn’t it. When we look around we seem so unimpressive. So small. Just in Notodden there are 12000 people who need to hear the gospel. How can we make a difference?
Especially when so many think we’re fools. It’s laughable to believe such fairytales! You may as well believe in Winnie the Pooh!
And not to mention the peer pressure. Maybe from non Christian family members. C’mon, can’t you just leave it? They sigh and roll their eyes when you speak about Jesus. And so the temptation is just to keep quiet.
Or maybe pressure at work. Because you won’t lie. Or you are against abortion. Or you think it’s right to pay tax, or not rip off your customers. And certainly don’t think about talking about Jesus, or praying at work, or having a Bible study.
And then there’s the social anxiety that comes from being a Biblical Christian. Because we’re not exactly socially acceptable, are we? Especially when people paint us as homophobes and women-haters and old-fashioned weirdos. It’s not easy when “everyone” is against us, is it?
And that’s why we need today’s message! Because we need to see things as they truly are – with spiritual eyes, not just physical.
Because the truth is that each of us here are a miracle. If you are a Christian today you are proof of God’s power at work in the world. You are part of his indestructible church.
Two points today
1. The gospel is heard throughout the world
2. The church spreads the gospel in suffering and even martyrdom – and it’s indestructible.
1. The gospel is heard throughout the world
Re 10:10–11 So I took the small scroll from the hand of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach. 11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”
John is given a scroll from the mighty angel. The scroll is a message, a message of prophecy for the world, a message that is both bitter and sweet. It is the apostolic message about Jesus. That we are sinners, but in Christ we can be forgiven. And the message comes from Jesus himself. He is the mighty angel of v1-3.
Re 10:1–3 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. 2 And in his hand was a small scroll that had been opened. He stood with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. 3 And he gave a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered.
The Lion of Judah roars. The rainbow which was before God’s throne in 4:3 is over his head. The cloud surrounds him as it did when God appeared on Mount Sinai, in the desert, and on the mountain at Jesus’ transfiguration.
The Son of Man, the head of the church, is now called an “angel” which means, simply, messenger. He is the mighty messenger standing on the sea and on the land, and his voice echoes through the whole world.
If you think Jesus being called an angel is weird actually it’s nothing new. We meet Jesus in the Old Testament every time God appears in human form, when he is called the “Angel of the Lord”. We know this is God and not just an angel because when he meets Abraham and Sarah, Jacob, Moses, Gideon, Manoah, and Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego – they worship him and talk to him as God – something no angel would have allowed.
So the Angel of the Lord stands astride the world and his message goes out. It goes out through the apostle John. It goes out through countless men and women sharing their faith in word and deed. And we stand together with them, witnesses to the great gospel of Jesus. Witnesses to the great mystery of God now revealed.
Re 10:6–7 He (the angel) said, “There will be no more delay. 7 When the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced it to his servants the prophets.”
It will be fulfilled. God’s people will be brought in. And the mystery is this: that sinners like us can be God’s people. That a holy God can accept sinners.
It is a bittersweet message. Bitter because we need to acknowledge our sin. Bitter because we deserve God’s judgement. Bitter because judgement day is coming.
We’ve already seen that bitterness in chapter 6, the seven seals, and chapter 9’s seven trumpet blasts. The bitter realisation that because of our sin, our rebellion against God, we live in a world at war with God. We are under his judgement. Jesus, the Lamb who was worthy to open the scroll of history has opened those seven seals which unleash judgement. Because we are sinners we are judged to experience the consequences of our sin. But not all the consequences – in fact Jesus allows only a third of what we should experience. Only enough to let us see sin as sin. Enough so that we understand that rebellion against God is foolish, and that we will seek him and repent. And the sweet taste of the gospel message is that all who come to him are accepted. Accepted because of what Jesus has done.
For it’s true isn’t it that the better our life gets the LESS we think about God. We don’t need him anymore. We don’t thank him. We pat ourselves on the back. Just look at Norway. The easier life has got, the more we get rid of God. We alright on our own, thanks for nothing God. While the rates of child abuse, divorce, mental illness, drug abuse, and so on just climb exponentially. We’re doing a great job!
Is God, in his mercy, allowing us to experience the consequences of our sin?
I was asked last week in England if Breivik’s brutal murder of 77 people changed Norwegians at all. That a true blue Norwegian, born and bred in the world’s best country, could do something so horrific! That should have woken us up. That should have made us take notice.
But I had to answer “No. We just ignored him. We said ‘this isn’t us, we’re not like that’ and spend millions building a huge prison so we could stick him there and ignore him”. No repentance. As 9:20 warns “But the[Norwegians] refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Judgement is coming. The seven thunders are set to rumble. Their words of judgement are as yet sealed up, but there will be a day, judgement day, when we will hear them thunder.
But now! Oh sweet message! We hear the roar of the Lion of Judah, Jesus the Messenger, who roars throughout the world, through his apostles, through us, to say judgement is not yet, the thunders are sealed up, there is still time to repent! And all who repent are accepted because this is God’s mystery now revealed: that Christ died for sinners.
The whole way through the Old Testament there’s been this tension, this question: how can a holy God forgive sinners? And the solution was the Messiah – but how he would solve this, we didn’t know. Until we saw Jesus on the cross, the sinless one swapping places with sinners like us. Through his blood our sins – past, present and future – are wiped away. Through his death we have been given life. Amen!
Remember brothers that we are saved by Christ’s work. So if you’re feeling down because of your sin – oh I failed again, I’m so weak. Yes, yes you are. That’s why Jesus came! Mercy. The bitterness is accepting that we are sinners. The sweet truth is that our sin has been dealt with in Christ. Your sin is already paid for, dealt with. So get up and serve him!
And that is the hope for our land. That’s why we can pray for Norway. Because there is a throne in heaven and it is not empty. God is on the throne, and Jesus is loudly making his appeal through us to all the world. There is grace to be found in him. So let’s share the gospel, his powerful gospel. Because we are God’s plan to reach the world. The unstoppable church!
The gospel is heard throughout the world.
2. The church spreads the gospel in suffering and even martyrdom – and it’s indestructible.
(Martyrdom is dying for your faith.)
11:4–5 These two prophets are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of all the earth. 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire flashes from their mouths and consumes their enemies. This is how anyone who tries to harm them must die.
This chapter pulls together a bunch of Old Testament pictures into one. There’s dates from Daniel and promises from Zechariah and loads of other stuff but all making this point: the church is indestructible. Even when it is killed!
So let’s get into the detail. First, the witnesses are described as an olive tree and a lampstand. The olive tree was the symbol of Israel: God’s chosen people. The lampstand we know from chapter 1 is the church. So the witnesses are both the olive tree and the lampstand – oh, it’s God’s chosen people, the church! Jews and Gentiles together witnessing to the world about Jesus. Amen!
The picture of a witnessing olive tree and lampstand comes from Zecharaiah 4 where the lampstand has SEVEN lights and SEVEN lips on each light – ok, the message is really going to get out there! And the prophecy in Zechariah 4 is about rebuilding the Temple. Israel is smashed, weak, puny, the stragglers returning from exile. How are they going to rebuild the Temple, that meeting place between man and God? Zech 4:6 says “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts”.
And it was. The Temple was raised in 400BC. But that was only a partial fulfilment of the prophecy. It wasn’t until Pentecost when the church was born that this prophecy suddenly made sense. And just as Israel was weak but the Temple was rebuilt, we are weak but Jesus builds his church! We may be weak, but he is strong, and his word is powerful. Just look at verse 6: They have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy. And they have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.
Now this doesn’t feel like us does it? Flame and fire and blood and all this. What’s going on? Well, if you know your Bible you may recognise these miracles. Fire from heaven and shutting the sky is Elijah versus king Ahab, Jezebel, and the prophets of Baal. And rivers of blood and plagues – that’s Moses leading the people out of Egypt. And this is the point: the same power behind Moses and Elijah is with us when we share the gospel, when we preach, when we teach the Bible. Firepower is here!
So why am I so afraid?
He is with us.
But there’s more. Because it’s not just the power of the witness of the church, but the content of the message. Elijah is the great prophets, Moses the great lawgiver. “The law and the prophets” is shorthand for the Bible, God’s word. That’s why we preach, teach, study, love, his word. That’s why we must know this book, because it isn’t just a book but the Living Word of the Living God. You want to see miracles – real, long-term, life-changing miracles? Share the gospel. Teach the Bible. It’s awesome!
However, sometimes people don’t want to hear this message. Ever noticed that?
11:7 When they complete their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the bottomless pit will declare war against them, and he will conquer them and kill them.
10 All the people who belong to this world will gloat over them and give presents to each other to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them.
People are celebrate and rejoice when the church dies because it is a nuisance! Because we always remind people that there is one on the throne - and it’s not them!
People celebrate because people are evil. We humans are evil. You and I are evil. And I mean evil not as bad or naughty but as a Biblical term. It means "rebels against God." We are not God-centred, but at our core self-centred.
Most people we know, especially here in Norway, do not appear to be evil. They are polite and kind and well behaved. But the truth is that it's just a facade, and behind that there is a heart that wants God to be gone.
And when the church dies either by becoming a social institution just repeating what society says - like here in Norway - or by killing people and wiping out the church - like in many other countries - when the church dies, people cheer. Finally. Finally, we can pretend to be God.
But the celebrations are short-lived. Just “three and a half days”. A symbolic number, half of 7, the "perfect" number, and only days. A short and very limited time.
11:11–12 But after three and a half days, God breathed life into them, and they stood up! Terror struck all who were staring at them. 12 Then a loud voice from heaven called to the two prophets, “Come up here!” And they rose to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched.
According to v2 and 3 the church’s witness will go out for 42 months times 30 days, which is 1260 days, or three and a half years). In other words for a long, but not unlimited time. There will come a day – judgement day – when the church stops its witness, when the ground will shake, and the judge will return. We live now in those 3.5 years. The End Times.
For those of you who are interested, these numbers match the prophet Daniel, chapter 12: 6, which states that the power of the holy people will be broken after a time, times and half a time (3.5) - and then the end will come comes.
These end times are characterized by judgment and grace, by gospel progress and resistance, the struggle between the world and the church. The church is killed and the world rejoices. But the celebration is short-lived! For the church comes back to life. Again, and again we have seen this through history, even until today.
In Iran, they eradicated the church. It was forbidden to be Christian. The church was dead in Iran. But what do we see today? Millions of Christians in Iran!
In North Korea you will be killed if you are a Christian. But the church lives there.
In China, Christianity was banned. But the church is growing so rapidly in China that they are sending missionaries to Europe!
Time after time, the world has tried to kill Jesus' church but to no avail. It will stand because God's Spirit is in us! We are weak, yes, but he is strong!
My brothers, this is what we need to take away from today: we do not lose heart, no matter the cost. We are not be fooled by the "weakness" of the gospel and the church. We see with spiritual eyes. Satan shakes in fear when we gather together like this. The spiritual powers tremble when we read the Bible and pray. We change the world when we live out what we believe - when we really love each other like family. What a witness that is. And I want to thank you because I hear and see you doing that. I experience it myself. People know this church because of the way we love each other with the love of Christ. We care about each other. Let's keep on doing it!
And when we share the gospel. Wow! It's a power punch.
So with that in mind I want to leave us with a challenge as I read the last verses in Chapter 11: Think about who you know who needs to hear the message of Jesus, this amazing message of hope. Who can you ask "do you want to come to church" - or even better - because that is often a big and difficult step: ask them if you can read the Bible with them. And if we now think "Woah, I can’t do that, I'm too weak" - yes! We are. But with Jesus in us we can do it.
Time is running out. Two woes have sounded. The third approaches. We live in the end times. How close to the end are we? Perhaps today we will hear the seventh trumpet.
Re 11:14–19 The second terror is past, but look, the third terror is coming quickly. 15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: “The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.” 16 The twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones before God fell with their faces to the ground and worshiped him. 17 And they said, “We give thanks to you, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who always was, for now you have assumed your great power and have begun to reign. 18 The nations were filled with wrath, but now the time of your wrath has come. It is time to judge the dead and reward your servants the prophets, as well as your holy people, and all who fear your name, from the least to the greatest. It is time to destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth.” 19 Then, in heaven, the Temple of God was opened and the Ark of his covenant could be seen inside the Temple. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed and roared, and there was an earthquake and a terrible hailstorm.
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