Once more, John’s vision tells us that the testimony of the saints, the gospel that they proclaim, is the story of the Exodus written on a spiritual plane. John is simply telling his Gospel narrative with graphic visions instead of the more philosophical arguments of Paul or the story-telling parables of Jesus.
God’s judgment is not on his creation but on those forces that keep his creation imprisoned. Overall, that which gets harvested and destroyed is what stands in the way of the new creation.
The subordination of our religion to the State or the exchange of worshiping God for worshipping the State or something more sinister is always easier to see in others than in ourselves. The challenge is to have and to cultivate the self-awareness as to whom we are following.
We are not sinners in the hand of an angry deity, rather we are sinners who stand accused, but our Accuser has been cast out of the court. That is Good News.
What we see in tonight’s study are the promises of God written in flashing neon letters. The spiritual struggle is real, not only between the forces of Good and evil within the world but between the forces of Good and evil within ourselves.
God knows that the church will be tempted to shrink back from its commissioning in face of its persecution. This is why the message is given, not by any ordinary angel, but one with the form and likeness of God himself, and why the commission but be fully consumed and internalized so that it cannot be forsaken.
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star (Heb. Lucifer), son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! . . . But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit.”
The seven trumpets are part of the seventh seal. These trumpets announce God’s coming judgment and war against the forces of evil.
It is the blood of the Lamb that cleanses the temple and the people to receive the presence of God (Ex. 24, Lev. 4). Therefore, it is only through the blood of the Lamb that salvation is received.
Rather, judgment, harm, and destruction are simply the natural consequential result of turning away from God and the Lamb. When we reject the Lamb and the source of its power, we experience disorder, death, and destruction.
