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The last few paragraphs of Revelation serve as an epilogue to the New Testament’s most unusual and imaginative book. As an epilogue, it necessarily contains elements from the book’s introduction as well as capturing themes found throughout its pages. Here, John calls for action as a result of Revelation’s message.
As he began his book, John told us that he was part of the process of this “testimony of Jesus Christ” being delivered to the churches (1:1-2). It came from God who gave it to Jesus Christ, who in turn, sent His angel to deliver the message to John, who also gave it to the churches (1:1-4). The Church by the Holy Spirit continues to bear testimony to Jesus Christ as He has been revealed in Revelation as well as to the great purpose of God for His people throughout the ages and into eternity (22:17) [cf. S. Kistemaker, NTC: Revelation, 584-585].
Additionally, the first of Revelation’s seven beatitudes is found in the introduction while the last two are found in the epilogue. “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near” (1:3). Likewise, the sixth beatitude conveys similar promise of divine blessing, “Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book” (22:7). In other words, the book of Revelation is not meant to entertain us or to merely stir our imaginations. It’s not intended to satisfy all of our curiosity about the last days. Instead, Revelation calls us to action in living out the gospel of Jesus Christ as God moves the universe toward the full revelation of His kingdom. In this regard we learn something of the nature of prophetic literature. It urges us to live like kingdom citizens while living in the midst of a rebellious world. It sees the work of the gospel, as it calls us into relationship with the Sovereign Lord, as the means to transform the world in which we live. Revelation insists that the answer to the human dilemma is not found in the political and economic structures of civilizations. The answer is found in the Lamb of God slain to purchase through His bloody death a people for God “from every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (5:9) [cf. Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation, 159-164]. So, what kind of action is called for in light of Revelation’s message?
The first chapter noted God’s blessings for those who read, those who heard, and those who gave heed to the words of this prophetic book. The reason was simple: “for the time is near” (1:3). It’s the same reminder in 22:10, “For the time is near.” As we saw in that first study, “time” (kairos rather than chronos) doesn’t refer to chronologically measured time; rather it refers to the events that He has detailed. John was speaking to his own generation; and he didn’t misjudge the time. It doesn’t mean that the terminus has finally come, as some figure the use of such terminology but that history rushes toward the grand end, when God will gather His people into the New Jerusalem and will judge unbelievers, casting them into the lake of fire. Instead of giving us dates and timetables, Revelation shows us the progress of God’s ultimate kingdom purposes being fulfilled. In spite of the dragon and the beast’s opposition at every point, the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, “and He will reign forever and ever” (7:15). Those living under the painful oppressiveness of that era had difficulty grasping this; just as some in our own day may share that difficulty. So, Revelation assures us that everything is on schedule—even the persecution and opposition—so we must pay heed to the call for perseverance in the faith.
The angel that showed John the New Jerusalem declared, “These words are faithful and true.” He referred to not only the description of the holy city and eternity (chaps. 21-22) but to the whole of the book’s message. Because these are faithful and true words, then we have all the more reason to pay heed to them. Our generation needs to hear the call to respond to the truth of God. So many think that there’s no such thing as truth; or that what is truth for one person is not necessarily truth for another; or that it makes no difference what a person thinks is true as long as he is personally convinced. If the world just evolved and was not created by God, then I could go along with these views. Yet one of the major points of Revelation is to help us understand that the God that created the world did so purposefully. All of the created order, represented by the four living creatures, (e.g. chap 4-5), ultimately will worship God in His holiness and majesty. The damage to creation brought about by the fall and carried out by the dragon (Satan) and all of his followers will not have the final word. God will restore all things as the redemptive work of the Lamb of God is fully applied to the creation. “Life in the new creation will be a restoration of all things,” writes Cornelius Venema, “involving the removal of every sinful impurity and the retaining of all that is holy and good” [The Promise of the Future, 482, italics his].
Consequently, what John describes throughout Revelation is what theologians call an inaugurated eschatology. That’s what is conveyed by the language of “the things which must soon take place…the time is near.” Christ has died, risen from the dead, and ascended into heaven; now we wait for His return. Meanwhile, what He has declared will take place continues to unfold before the end arrives. From our perspective, we see the events of Revelation as both historic and future; the dragon pursued the early church just as he continues to destructively pursue the church today; the beast flayed Christians in John’s day and in our own; Babylon the Great personified the world’s economic power antithetical to God’s reign through ancient Rome, but also through medieval Florence, colonial London, modern New York, Moscow, and Beijing [cf. Anthony Hoekema, The Bible and the Future, 17-18; although J.A.T. Robinson’s original use of the term denied that Christ would return to earth, cf. F.F. Bruce and J.J. Scott, Jr., “Eschatology,” in Walter Elwell, ed., Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 388].
So, what is our responsibility in hearing and heeding Revelation’s message?
Three times in this chapter, we hear Christ declaring, “I am coming quickly.” He prefaces this declaration with an imperative in verse 7, “Behold, I am coming quickly.” That calls for us to stop what we’re doing, to come to our senses, to turn from the idolatrous ways of the world, and to gather our focus upon the reality that the King of Glory will return. He repeats this in verses 12 and 20. This doesn’t call for us to develop a time-scheme for His coming but to face the reality of it—to live in light of His coming.
The sixth beatitude in Revelation calls for action. “Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.” To heed—or to keep, to pay attention to, to observe—one must first read and hear. This leads to study, contemplation, and attentiveness in order to obey. Notice that he calls special attention to the genre of this book as prophecy. Most often we think of prophecy as predictive. But it’s rather difficult to heed a mere prediction of some event that is to transpire. Instead, we need to see that the point of the predictive element couches the exhortative and instructive focus of prophecy. Prophecy throughout the Old Testament, while often predicting events and individuals, did so for the purpose of exhorting people to action. So, what kind of action does our Lord have in mind by this promise of blessing or exceptional happiness by heeding the words of this prophetic book?
First, Revelation exhorts the church to persevere. “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (2:10). “Nevertheless, what you have, hold fast until I come” (2:25). “He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments” (3:5). “I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown” (3:11). Perseverance calls for faithfulness, steadfastness, and holding firmly one’s faith in Christ. Some faced the danger of giving up; so John exhorts them to hold fast until Christ comes. The heavenly elder that asked John the identity of the white robed multitude were that he saw around the throne, answered for him, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (7:14). They were overcomers! They did not let the world swallow them up or dupe them into spiritual cowardice. They persevered. Such continuance in the faith often takes place in times of great ordeals and opposition.
The multitude in chapter 7 came out of the great tribulation. A voice in heaven described this multitude further, “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death” (12:11). The strength to persevere is rooted in the gospel of Christ—that’s the point he makes. It is because Christ did conquer sin and did conquer the dragon that believers can overcome.
This leads to a second exhortation, faithfulness even unto death. The Lord called for the church at Smyrna to be faithful until death (2:10). The fifth seal reveals the martyrs under the altar crying out for the Lord to avenge their blood (6:9-10). They were consoled by the white robes given to them, and the instruction “that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed” (6:11). The two witnesses in chapter 11 picture the church as witness and martyr for the gospel. The voice in heaven declared of those in Christ’s presence, “and they did not love their life even when faced with death” (12:11). Christ will avenge the blood of His bond-servants on the Great Harlot (19:2), indicating that many believers will be called upon through the ages to mark their faith in Christ by death; and many have. We do not know if any among us will be called upon to die for Christ. It could happen at some juncture. But the point is that if we are not willing to live for Christ now, then we can be certain that we will not die for Him if called upon to make that stand for the gospel. Revelation calls for us to take seriously the demands of the gospel—to be faithful even if it means dying for the gospel.
The third exhortation that we’re called to heed is that of living distinctly as Christians. This is found throughout Revelation as the followers of the beast retain his mark on their foreheads or hands (13:16-18; 14:9; 16:2; 19:20), that is, they are identified by the beast’s character of opposition against Christ and the gospel. Believers are distinguished by not having the mark of the beast but rather having God’s name written on their foreheads (20:4; 14:1), which is demonstrative of their names having been written in the Lamb’s book of life (e.g. 17:8; 20:15; 21:27). The antithesis between the followers of the dragon and the followers of the Lamb is clearly laid out in order to make the point: it means something to be a follower of Jesus Christ. One cannot follow the world and Jesus Christ at the same time.
The beast and the false prophet use subtlety and deception to dupe their followers (13:14). So does the great harlot that is attractively adorned while offering a golden cup full of abominations to all that will drink, while she is drunk with the blood of the saints (17:1-6). Revelation warns against falling into the many traps laid by them. Just as the Apostle John warned at the end of his first epistle, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols,” he does as well throughout Revelation (1 John 5:21). Twice in the book he uses himself as a demonstration how easily swayed we are toward idolatry. He shows us that idolatry is part of human nature, and that we must be on guard against it. First, in 19:10, he fell at the feet of the angel that had shown him the Lamb and His bride. The angel promptly rebuked him. Then, in our text, we see him doing it once again. “I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things.” Though an apostle, John found himself swept off of his feet by something so extraordinary and wonderful. The angel was certainly not wicked! He must have been a magnificent being, wholly inclined to doing the will of God, wonderful to listen to, and wise in his ways. But did he deserve worship? Hear his response: “But he said to me, “Do not do that.” More literally, he said, “See not!” See that you do not do this! Then he explains, “I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book.” And just as he spoke earlier in 19:10, he says again, “Worship God.” What do we learn about the subtlety of idolatry even among believers?
To begin with, no creature should ever worship another creature. The angel called himself, “a fellow servant of yours.” With humility, though a powerful creature that had come from God’s presence to instruct John, he gladly accepted being a servant together with John and other believers. He had no inclination to be worshiped—which certainly distinguishes him from most humans! Yet what we see is that idolatry’s subtlety can snare us even by the good. There was nothing wrong with the angel; the problem was in John’s spontaneity of worship toward something much better than himself—something which he found to be exciting and admirable. The Apostle momentarily found himself snared with an idolatrous mind. That shows us the depravity that still lurks in our hearts until God wipes all tears from our eyes.
How does idolatry slip into modern churches? The personality cults among churches displays this same spirit of idolatry as professing Christians fawn over notable personalities, following them instead of Christ. The drive for success and notoriety can lead to idolatry when devotees worship their achievements above Christ—aiming more for some illusive measure of success than walking in simple obedience to Christ. Some make their denomination or their church an idol of deepest affection. Others cling to some kind of teaching that leads to legalism, arrogance, and an unteachable spirit which amounts to turning a teaching into an idol that replaces genuine affection for Christ.
One of Revelation’s aims is to deliver the churches from idolatry. It was a problem at Pergamum with embracing false teaching—which leads to worshiping that which is not God or offering worship to God in ways that He has not prescribed or offering worship to a false view of God. These are idolatrous substitutes for worship. The church at Thyatira got caught up in idolatry that led to immorality. Typically, idolatry presents a wrong view of God’s law. Some go to one extreme in making the law an idol through legalism; others go to the point of thinking they are above God’s law, and thus become entangled in all manner of immoral behavior. Laodicea made an idol of their success, yet they made Christ sick. There’s the danger in every generation of churches being captured and enamored by wonderful, exciting, and success oriented things that can amount to idolatry. Our vision of Christ must be clear. That’s why the angel declared his partnership with “those who heed the words of this book.” “Worship God,” he said. That command excludes the worship of any creature. It narrows our worship to God alone as He has revealed Himself to us through Holy Scripture. It is an all-consuming statement since worship involves more than just an hour or two on Sunday; it’s the whole of one’s life bent on glorifying, honoring, and magnifying the Lord God culminating in the corporate worship by the body of Christ. It’s the grand occupation of the redeemed in the New Jerusalem. Hearing and heeding Revelation’s message will ultimately lead us to worship God alone.
Have you been heeding the words of this prophetic book as we’ve journeyed through it? It calls us to perseverance in the faith; faithfulness until death; and living distinctly as Christians. We’re to guard our own hearts from the subtleties of idolatry. As we keep a clear vision of Christ before us—which is one of the major features of Revelation—contemplating and living out the gospel, then we will be on the way to heeding this prophecy. And in doing so, our Lord promises His blessing.
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