People of the Lamb

The Book of Revelation is addressed to seven first-century congregations in the Roman province of Asia. It deals with their real-life struggles. Moreover, it presents messages relevant to the Church throughout the present age, the “Last Days.” This period began with the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. The daily challenges of the Asian congregations provide us with a microcosm of the great cosmic battle that is being waged between Jesus and the Devil.

The Book’s message is vital since the “season is at hand.” This clause alludes to the passage in Daniel when the prophet was told by the angel “to seal the Scroll until the season of the end.” In contrast, John was commanded NOT to seal the Scroll since “the season is at hand.” What for Daniel was in a remote future was a reality for John and the “Seven Assemblies of Asia” – (Daniel 12:4, Revelation 1:3, 22:10).

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This reflects the New Testament perspective that the “Last Days” began with Calvary. Satan, sin, and death were defeated on the Cross, and Jesus was exalted to reign “at the right hand of God.” He therefore poured out the Spirit, empowering us to proclaim his sovereignty and Gospel to the “ends of the Earth.” The Gift of the Spirit is the evidence that we live in the “Last Days” – (Acts 2:17-21, Hebrews 1:1-3).

In the Book of Revelation, the followers of Jesus are called “saints,” the “servants of God,” “churches,” the “seed of the woman,” the “Kingdom of Priests,” “brethren,” and the people who “have the Testimony of Jesus,” “keep the faith of Jesus,” and have “washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.” What determines membership in this company is allegiance to the “Lamb.”

The Book is addressed to the “servants of God.” They are identified as members of the “Seven Assemblies of Asia,” men and women who have been “loosed from their sins” by the blood of Jesus and constituted a “Kingdom of Priests.”

The last quoted phrase is from the Book of Exodus. At Sinai, God summoned the people of Israel to become a “Kingdom of Priests” on the Earth. However, Israel failed in this mission, and it has now fallen to the people of the “Lamb” to complete this task - (Exodus 19:4-6, Revelation 5:8-10, 7:9-17).

The adversary of the “Lamb” and his people is the “Great Red Dragon,” that “Ancient Serpent” who is called the “Devil and Satan.” Having failed to destroy the Messianic “Son” when he was “caught up to the throne of God,” the “Dragon” was expelled from Heaven. Enraged and with his time growing short, he turned to “wage war” against the Son by persecuting his Church, “those who have the Testimony of Jesus.” He then summoned the “Beast from the Sea” to “make war against the saints” - (Revelation 12:8-17, 13:7).

The “saints” were identified as those “who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” It was their identification with the “Lamb” that enraged the “Dragon” - (Revelation 12:17, 13:6-10, 14:12).

Near the end of the Book, the “Beast from the Sea” and the “Kings of the Earth” unite to launch a final attack against the people of the “Lamb.” In describing this battle, John used language from Ezekiel’s vision of “Gog and Magog.”

However, in Revelation, this attacking force consists of the nations from the “four corners of the Earth, Gog and Magog…and they ascended over the breadth of the Earth and encompassed the camp of the saints.” This describes the final worldwide assault against the church, Satan’s last-ditch effort to annihilate the people of Jesus – (Revelation 16:2-16, 17:14, 19:11-21, 20:7-10).

These cosmic battles manifest in the daily struggles of the Church. The evidence for this is found in the letters to the “Seven Assemblies of Asia.”

SUFFERING FOR THE KING

The church at Pergamos existed in the shadow of “Satan’s throne.” The saints in Smyrna were under assault from members of the “synagogue of Satan.” Though local magistrates threw some members “into prison.” Jesus placed the blame for this on Satan (“The devil is about to cast some of you into prison”). Members of the church in Thyatira were being deceived by “Jezebel,” a surrogate and agent of the “Great Harlot, Babylon” who was teaching the “deep things of Satan.”

The Asian congregations were battling “false apostles,” compromise, apathy, the “Nicolaitans,” the adherents of the “teachings of Balaam,” and persecution, attempts by the “Dragon” to deceive and derail the followers of the “Lamb.”

The temptations, sufferings, and persecutions endured by the “Assemblies of Asia” were all too real. This has been the case for the Church throughout the present age. The attacks by the “Dragon” are deadly serious. They have eternal consequences. When we focus primarily on the end of the Book, we lose sight of its relevance for every disciple of Jesus today.

It is the “Lamb” who redeemed us “by his blood,” and the same sacrificial “Lamb” who will vindicate us. Already, we have been “loosed from their sins.” Already, we are a “Kingdom of Priests” and “reign with him on the Earth.” Our final victory over sin, Satan, and death is a foregone conclusion, having been won by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus:

• “Fear not; I am the first and the last, and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever, and I have the keys of death and Hades” - (Revelation 1:17-18).

In the interim, Jesus summons us to “overcome.” We do this through “perseverance,” faithful “testimony,” by recognizing and rejecting the lies of the Devil, understanding the true nature of our struggle, and emulating the self-sacrificial and priestly service of the “slain Lamb.”

As Revelation puts it, the “brethren overcame the Dragon by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and because they loved not their lives unto death.” By recognizing “WHO” and “WHEN” we are – the people of the Last Days and of the Lamb - we learn how we must live in the present - “In these Last Days.”

The present age and its institutions are “passing away” even now. They will not endure forever, and we must live accordingly. Individually and corporately, we are caught between the ages, living in the old fallen age, but at the same time, citizens of the “New Jerusalem” and priests of the “Lamb” sent to reflect his light in this dark world.

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RELATED POSTS:

• Unsealing the Scroll - (Daniel was commanded to seal the Scroll, but the angel sent by Jesus commanded John NOT to do so since the season is now – Revelation 22:10)

• The Recipients of Revelation - (The Book of Revelation is addressed to seven congregations located in the Roman province of Asia in the first century A.D.)

• The Age of Salvation - (The Gospel of the Kingdom announced by Jesus offers salvation and life to all men and women of every nation and people)