I’ve started a series on the book of Revelation. It probably won’t be what you would expect.
You’ll never see me make specific and fanciful predictions about the end of the world. Instead, this series will review four major themes in Revelation. I’ll be upfront about things we cannot know, and focus on what is knowable.
Our theme verse about the timing of the end of the world is a quote from Jesus. “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” [Matt. 24:36]
Today we’ll look at the upside and downside of God winning.
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The outcome of any war is uncertain. But World War 2 was particularity nerve-wracking. Unless you lived in that period, it would be hard to imagine the horror people felt at the prospect of losing that conflict, whose outcome was never guaranteed.
But what if they could have seen the outcome? What if you could go back in time and tell them to relax, that it will all work out and America will soon enjoy the crazy 1950s, with hula-hoops and Chubby Checker? Wouldn’t they have tempted them to lose their sense of urgency, making them less focused, dedicated and determined, and thus possibly changing the outcome?
That is sort of what happens to us when talking about what the Bible says about the end times and the second coming of Jesus. Since we know that God will win, it would be easy for us to slack off, losing our sense of urgency, making us less focused, dedicated and determined, even though it isn’t going to change the overall outcome. It might, however, change our personal outcome.
The Apostle John has been exiled to the island Patmos, off modern day Turkey. While on Patmos John has this extended abstract vision of how God will help believers of the first century face persecution, along with some vague hints about the end of the world. The book of Revelation is the record of that vision; a vivid dream that John records for us in details both graphic and confusing.
We’ve looked at the Art of Revelation, and heard its Truths. Today we’ll start to look at The Triumph. Some believe that the entire book of Revelation can be summed up in these two words; God Wins.
God wins…when his forces expelled / expel Satan and his angels There are several texts in the Bible that talk about how God drove or is driving or will drive Satan and others from the heavens. This is a part of a cosmic struggle between light and darkness after Satan and beings loyal to him attempt to seize control of Heaven, a conflict that is hands down grandeur than any Hollywood action-packed blockbuster movie ever made. There are two problems with this.
1. How do we talk about spiritual warfare in the heavens between angelic and demonic forces, a war that rages in dimensional realms beyond the perception and comprehension of mere mortals who are the prizes in this epic struggle, without sounding like a lunatic?
2. The sequence of all these events is unknowable. This type of Biblical literature doesn’t always play by the same grammatical rules as much of the rest of Scripture. Usually when you read an explanation of something, you would assume it’s in proper chronological order. Normally that’s true, although the Bible does from time to time use what we could call “flash backs” to explain something that is happening in their present. From time to time you may see a “fast forward” that gives you a hint of something that will happen in their future, coming attractions, which may have been fulfilled since those passages were written and last week, or may not have yet been fulfilled.
Sometimes descriptions of future events are in chronological order and sometimes they are not. Sometimes a future event is mentioned in past tense, only because it happens before other future events, and yet it’s all yet to come. A lot of that happens in Revelation and other prophetic texts. No wonder we’re confused.
These complications are why Revelation has remained such a mystery, and has driven people into polarizing positions. One group thinks their interpretation is obvious, while another group believes the exact opposite. Both groups have good decent believers who more than anything want to be ready for whatever the Lord plans.
We cannot know the exact timeline of when all these events occur or other details. We’re not supposed to know. Wait a minute. Didn’t Jesus say something about that in our theme verse? You know, he’s a pretty reliable source. If we knew details we’d find a way to abuse them by scheming to avoid obedience to God until the last possible moment. Here’s what we can know; God wins. We can’t allow what we can’t know discourage us from accepting and acting on what we can know.
An intriguing text from Revelation 12.
Rev. 12:7-9 And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down–that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
We can have confidence that although we’re not privy to the details, we know that God remains in control. He will insure the victory. I trust him.
Next time we will take a look at how Satan targeted Jesus.
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Dave Soucie lives, serves and writes in Indianapolis.
Copyright © 2023 by Dave Soucie. All rights reserved [but permission is granted for non-commercial use only, with proper citation].
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