Session #8 – Christology in the Book of Revelation


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A Theology of the Book of Revelation

Session #8 – Christology in the Book of Revelation (Continued) Review

What is God portrayed as doing in the book of Revelation? He is establishing His kingdom on earth through Christ and His church. The story of this triumph is being told by means of three images: A Messianic War led by the Davidic King that leads His people out of oppression in an Eschatological Exodus by being the Faithful and True Witness unto Death. “Fundamental to Revelation’s whole understanding of the way in which Christ establishes God’s kingdom on earth is the conviction that in his death and resurrection Christ has already won his decisive victory over evil.” (73) The language that we consistently see throughout the book of Revelation is language about conquering. The plans for how the Lamb and His people will conquer are seen in the Unsealed Scroll, first mentioned in Revelation 5. The details of the scroll are expounded upon in Revelation 10-11, where we see Christ and His church remaining faithful in the midst of persecution and trial in order to conquer over the evil that threatens them. It is not by escape that Christ and the church conquer, but by faithfully testifying to the truth in the midst of the trial – “by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.” Two weeks ago, we saw that this meant that believer defeat the beast in a parallel way to Jesus’ victory over the beast. John’s vision of Christ’s victory is one of a Lamb that conquered through death, not revolt, military coup, or propaganda. He conquered through laying down His life and taking it up again that we might be confident in following Him wherever He calls us to go. We conquer through uncompromised, relentless obedience to and witness for Christ Jesus, especially in the face of trial and tribulation. So, what is the result of such conquering? In other words, how does the faithful witness of the church relate to the establishment of Christ’s kingdom on the earth? To answer these questions, we are going to look at the Harvest of the Earth in Revelation 14… The Harvest of the Earth

To understand the Harvest of the Earth, we have to give some attention to the three-fold message of the faithful witnesses (that is, the church), which we find in the three messages of the angels in Revelation 14:6-13. Let’s read those verses together… The three messages of the angels can be outlined as follows: 1) The Universal Offer of the Gospel the All Nations (Vss. 6-7) 2) The Warning against Misplaced Hope and Security (Vs. 8) 3) The Warning of Judgment against Followers of the Beast (Vss. 9-11) A timely word of encouragement is then delivered to believers to “endure” as they obey God and trust in Jesus. The threat of death should not deter them from faithfulness to Christ. To die in Christ is to enter God’s rest and receive the reward of their labors. These verses depict the work of the faithful witness (the church) while she remains on earth.

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In Revelation 14:14-20, we see a two-fold work that will occur in the last days at Christ’s return. This is called “harvest of the earth,” and if you notice, the harvest consists of two, distinct harvest. The first harvest is described as a “reaping of grain” carried out by “one like a son of man” who was seated on a white cloud. Given the language of the reaping of the first fruits in Revelation 14:4 and how that language parallels Revelation 5:9 (“redeemed from mankind” = “people from every tribe and language and nation”), we should understand the reaping activity of Revelation 14:14-16 as the work of Christ in gathering His church unto Himself at His return to reign with Him before the judgment of those who rejected Christ. The first fruits of this grain harvest are those who were faithful even to death in obedience to Christ. They are synonymous with those who in Revelation 6:11, who have received a martyr’s robe in heaven and told to “wait a little while longer” until the full number of martyr’s is complete. The very fact that there is an appointed number of martyrs to be fulfilled should tell us something about how important faithful witness during suffering and persecution is for God’s plan. As for judgment, this is found in the remainder of Revelation 14:17-20, where the wicked are pictured like a “grape harvest” thrown into the “great winepress of the wrath of God.” In summarizing Revelation 14:14-20, Richard Bauckham writes, “John depicts the outcome of history in two contrasting images – the positive ‘harvest of the earth’ and the negative ‘vingate of the earth.’” What is left up for us to determine now is “does the church’s faithful witness to the point of death result in the conversion of the nations or not?” In other words, as believers lay dying and dead for their faith in Christ, do the nations repent and believe in the Christ or do they continue to follow the beast? The answer? Enter Revelation 15:2-4. The Conversion of the Nations

Bauckham notes that “In this passage it is the new exodus motif which is used to depict the effect of the church’s witness to the nations.” Remember, the question has been – How does a martyr conquered the beast who incites violence against them for their faithful witness? Doesn’t death, persecution, trial, and tribulation mean that the beast won? No! Not according to John in Revelation 15! The martyrs are gathered together singing a new song that interprets the Mosaic song found in Exodus 15. This new song consists of the following: 1) God’s Mighty Act of Judgment on His Enemies, which was also the deliverance of his people (Exo. 15:1-10, 12) – We see this reflected in John’s references to God’s “deeds, ways, and judgements.” 2) God’s Mighty Act of Judgment demonstrated God’s incomparable superiority to the pagan gods (Exo. 15:11) – We see this reflected in the parallel between what was being claimed about the beast in Revelation 13:4 and what is true about Christ. 3) God’s Mighty Act of Judgment filled the pagan nations with fear (Exo. 15:14-16) – We see this truth as an affirmation of the nations’ obedience to the gospel that was declare in Revelation 14:6-7. All the nations eventually “fear the Lord” because of his demonstration of power and mercy in Christ.



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The point of the re-interpreted Son of Moses in Revelation 15 is to stress the effectiveness of the faithful witnesses. They do not celebrate their vindication, which was certainly true. They celebrate on account of the repentance and salvation of the nations. The answer, then, to the question of whether or not the martyrs were effective is Yes! Yes, the witness of the martyrs was effective. We know this because we are here even now. If trials and tribulation stopped the church, then FBCC would have never made it to this point. The message of Christ would have died in the first century when Christians were dying for their faith. As Tertullian, an early church father stated, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church,” meaning, which Christians testify as faithful witness to the gospel of Christ, even in the midst of persecution, the church grows in unity, holiness, and number – a number that consists of people from every kindred, tongue, tribe, and nation.



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