Apocalypse Rises
Are you ready to hear the apocalypse of Jesus?
Do you ever feel a burning pressure inside to sing the visions in the book of Revelation? Strange question.
Every now and then events in history come together in the power of the Spirit and the apocalypse of Jesus explodes in the church with stunning power, and the expectation of Christ’s return is stoked again.
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Apocalyptic expectation is spread unevenly in the Bible. It won’t appear for centuries while God’s people concern themselves mostly with life on this side of the veil. But then, at the end of the Old Testament story apocalypse bursts out for Ezekiel, Daniel and Zechariah. Why is it that eventually God’s people quit talking about who begat who and launch into tales of cosmic battles, wheels within wheels, many-headed beasts, dragons drooling flame, bloody moons and a third of stars crashing to earth?
Some scholars have pointed out recently that the New Testament could be read as part of the outbreak of apocalyptic expectation in Judaism after the exile. And of course, the grand climax of the whole Bible is “the Apocalypse of Jesus.”
Three immovable convictions
Apocalyptic visions happen whenever the Spirit hurls three unstoppable, fiery asteroids of reality into a mountain of three immovable convictions, detonating one blazing apocalyptic message (3+3+/=1=7, let the reader understand).
First, the conviction that God is the one and only Creator becomes a deep, immovable habit of thought (Revelation 4:11; 5:13; 10:5–6; 14:7). In Revelation the Creator is not just the One who made stuff. As Creator, God is like an honourable father, it’s on him to stop the chaos threatening the home. God’s honour as Creator is on the line in publicly establishing a safe home for his family.
Second, the conviction that God is utterly holy and cannot tolerate evil becomes a deep, immovable habit of thought (Revelation 2:16, 22–23; 11:17–18; and especially 18:1–24). People’s stomachs fill with the divine nausea at the trade in human lives that idolatry breeds. The honour of God must be far too exalted, the love of God for his little ones far too fierce for God to let these skulking beasts lie.
Third, the conviction that the death and resurrection of Jesus must have changed everything, becomes a deep, immovable habit of thought (Revelation 1:18; 5:9–10; 7:14–17; 12:11; and many more). If the resurrection of the crucified is anything, the whole situation of the world must have changed fundamentally. Eternal life must have exploded into history when the Son of Man cracked the grave. It must have happened. Glorious promises hang in the air.
These three together make an immoveable mountain of conviction. But alone they are not enough to trigger apocalyptic visions in the saints. But when the Spirit hurls the unstoppable reality of three fiery asteroids against this immoveable mountain of conviction, the collision detonates one blazing apocalyptic message.
Three fiery asteroids
The first fiery asteroid to hit is the reality that the saints find themselves in a world with almost no evidence that those convictions are true. All traces of the Creator God, his justice and redemptive work seem to have disappeared. For example, the exile made sense to Israel at first, since they deserved punishment. But centuries later, after godly worship had long been re-established in Jerusalem, saints were still being martyred by the gentiles and they still lived as exiles in their own land. Absurd!
Likewise, Revelation was written for late first-century Christians wondering if they missed a memo somewhere. The apostles were dying off and still no sign of Christ’s return. Still no destruction of evil. Still no real-world evidence that God had won.
The second fiery asteroid crashes a moment later: the saints now realize that evil is not only bad deeds by individuals, but a towering mysterious power greater than any human. In a pre-apocalyptic world like that seen in Moses’ law, Satan doesn’t come up much and sin is what Israelites do in their everyday lives. It’s not particularly mysterious. But then a new, complex and darker world emerges after the exile. Sin is social and political, infesting realms far beyond the individual (Revelation 12:3; 13:1, 11). The saints of Israel and the church cannot escape living immersed in an economy run by empires, vast political ideologies, and institutions in the grip of formidable angelic beings.
The Roman empire was that kind of evil principality bigger than the humans involved. It’s not clear that this evil could be repented of like a person repenting of stealing his neighbor’s cow. The church is called to repent of her sins, for sure, but that repentance alone will not topple this dark empire. In this reality, the church can no longer blame herself for her suffering.
The impact of the third asteroid arrives a split second later: the saints realize they have zero human power to change their situation. They are little people with no access to political, economic, or military solutions. No organizing, educating, politicking, picketing, or arming will topple this demonic empire. This is why it’s actually dangerous for Christians who still have political power to use Revelation. In the New Testament, apocalyptic spirituality is pacifist, non-resistant theology. The only work possible is prayer, singing, and endurance (Revelation 1:9; 6:11; 8:3; 13:10; 14:12).
When the Holy Spirit hurls these fiery asteroids into this immoveable mountain at a certain moment in history, a stunning apocalyptic message is detonated.
What is that message?
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The white-hot point of detonation in the book of Revelation is the moment the slain Lamb is found worthy to take the scroll from the One seated on the throne and he begins to open the seals on the scroll (Revelation 5:7; 6:1ff). All the visions in Revelation are set off from that moment; first the seven seals, then the seven trumpets, then the seven bowls and on to the destruction of Babylon and the descent of New Jerusalem. Beasts rising from the sea, judgment unleashed on vast dominions of darkness, and infinite joy sung by choirs of saints are all triggered in the unveiling of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah as a slaughtered Lamb.
Thunderous singing erupts across creation. Revelation 5 is the most explosively joyful chapter in the Bible. If this is really who rules history, if this is really how God rules history, then despite all appearances, our Lord is the good Creator, evil is being destroyed, the Devil is already in a death rattle, the resurrection is after all the beginning of life, and the sorry situation of the saints is not what it seems. It now dawns on the saints that their situation is exactly what should be expected if the Lion is a slaughtered Lamb. Joy unspeakable!
Inevitable victory
It’s happened many times already in history and it will happen big-time when Christ returns. At the moment of collision, the saints suddenly see that this victory was already folded into the cross 2,000 years ago.
This victory was already inevitable in the crucifixion of the Lamb. Evil is just the world retching to rid itself of this redemption by love. “None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8). Back on that afternoon of utter human weakness in absolute divine love, salvation was unveiled, justice was achieved and the City of God descending became an inevitable eventuality. The end of the world was embedded prophetically in the event of the cross.
Do you feel the apocalypse approaching? These asteroids of reality will eventually collide with this mountain of conviction, and then, look out! Perhaps we’re still too rich and powerful to hear this message. But that time will end, and the Apocalypse of Jesus will detonate. Let us watch and pray and then sing for joy!
