Awake, Ready, & Unafraid

Awake, Ready, & Unafraid

Introduction

Revelation 13:7-10

And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience of the saints.

Human history has two trajectories:

Perdition history: There are those who Paul says are walking he according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2). There is a very real spirit world that has influence over the world. The "world" has a destiny and as it heads towards its end sin burrows itself into human institutions so deeply that sometimes Christians do not even recognize it. Perdition history will find its end in the eschatological figure of the antichrist.

Salvation history: There are also those who do not walk in the flesh, but follow the Spirit. They march t the beat of a different drummer. They are born of water and the Spirit. Their trajectory is the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13). All the kingdoms of this world already belong to the Lord. It was inaugurated when Jesus died, was buried, and was resurrected and it will be consummated when appears in glory! Every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

We experience the tension between the already and the not yet. We know that Jesus is Lord and His reign is already happening in us, but the world around us has not submitted to Him.

Human society and culture with all of its trappings is a mixed bag:

There are aspects of human culture that align with God's will and purpose for humanity.

There are aspects of human culture that are contrary to God's will and purpose for humanity.

There are aspects of human culture that are neutral. They are neither good nor bad. They just are.

The two most prominent writers of apocalyptic literature in Scripture, Daniel the prophet and John the beloved disciple, were no strangers to this tension. Daniel lived in Babylon in captivity when he wrote his prophecy. John lived under Roman rule and wrote the Revelation while banished to the volcanic island of Patmos.

Not every aspect of the Babylonian world that Daniel lived in was bad. Not every aspect of the Roman world that John lived in was bad. A portion of the book of Daniel is written in the language of Babylon. John wrote the Revelation in Greek.

Daniel did not however embrace every aspect of Babylonian culture. Neither did John embrace every aspect of the Greco-Roman culture.

We are often given to extremes. Sometimes we throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. Other times we hole so close to our own culture and elevate our ways of doing things that we put our culture on par with Scripture. It is hard work to sift through it all and so most people don't do it. It is dangerous work, so for everyone, it probably is not safe.

We can easily find ourselves aligned with human governments and institutions to the place where we no longer see their flaws and lose our prophetic voice. We can easily see all the flaws in human institutions and governments to the place where all we do is rage against the machine.

The first-century Christians used the metaphor of the Babylonian captivity to describe their lives as they lived out their Christian life in the Roman empire.

There is continuity in the writings of Daniel and the writings of John. Some have mused that Daniel is looking across the river in his vision at John and John is looking across the river in his vision at Daniel.

Revelation 13 makes heavy use of Daniel 7. There are many parallels.

In Daniel's dream, he is standing by the Mediterranean Sea and sees a spiritual struggle above it. There are four beasts that arise out of the Mediterranean Sea(7:1-3):

The first beast is like a lion with eagle's wings (7:4). The lion and the eagle were symbols of ancient Babylon (Jeremiah 4; 27; Ezekiel 17). Its wings were plucked off and it was made to stand on the feet as a man and a man's heart was given to it. When Nebuchadnezzar became boastful about his kingdom, the LORD humbled him until he acknowledged the one who truly rules in the kingdoms of men.