Revelations... A Call to Arms (Part 1)

         I'm taking a class right now on Acts and Revelations. It's interesting how we normally think of Revelations as dealing with the end times. Throughout this semester it has become clear to me that John was not concerned with the end times as much as he was the present... It has become my favorite book in the Bible aside from the Gospels, Acts and Ezekiel... Revelations is focused on unveiling the world, showing Christians their situation seems horrible from their perspective but it looks completely different from the throne of the Most High. I would love to take the time to explain a few things (in different posts) I think the church needs to hear from this book... I'm thinking about writing a Bible study about it... I won't be exhaustive here...

          The church was dealing with extreme governmental and societal persecution, the kind we can only read about here in America. The church was afraid. They were losing their passion. Imagine having an entire world around you hating you for following Christ. You could make it in this world and have incredible happiness and acceptance if you weren't so straight forward about your faith. Instead you were suffering for your faith every day. The Romans were blaming the Christians for the fire, for bad luck and for everything that could go wrong. They were killing your friends and family, or turning them into slaves or keeping food from them. The religious leaders hated Christians. The big religion at the time was what is known as the imperial cult- to worship Rome herself. This is where my first interesting point comes from. To worship Rome was to worship the one providing you food. Over 50% of Romans were on the food-handout plan - they were dependent on the government to supply their portions of food. 

         On top of that Nero, Domition  and the other Caesars were claiming to be sons of the gods. They were demanded worship because of their graciousness and generosity to the people. Since Caesar provided your food as a god then he deserved to be worshipped. So what started happening was a spring up of temples to the emperors. Citizens were to have the religion of the Roman Empire. Worship involved paying tribute financially, prostituting yourself, and focusing your mind on Caesar to worship him. Interestingly enough, scholars generally agree that this imperial cult movement started in Asia Minor, the churches John wrote to. 

         Also realize that Rome was looked at as a goddess. She was a beautiful women who had grace, wisdom, wealth and stature. Being a confident woman she demanded respect. 

         Here's where it gets good! John comes right out and says it... This woman everyone around you is praising as a gorgeous, wonderful woman is a whore! " The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, festooned with gold and gems and pearls. She held a gold chalice in her hand, brimming the defiling obscenities, her foul fornications. A riddle-name was branded on her forehead: Great Babylon, Mother of whores and abominations of the earth." Understand that Rome was seen as Babylon in its context, for John could not use the name Rome itself; if he did Rome would've killed him too! From the world's perspective Rome seemed to be powerful. Everything she did was beautiful, upright, just, holy. Throne room perspective shows us something different entirely. Rome was a woman prostituting herself in abominations and fornications. 

         The Old Testament is pregnant with the same type of imagery. Hosea actually marries a prostitute and names his children "Not pitied/loved", "Not my people" and "I am not yours". Hosea and John are speaking the same message - do not become adulteresses between God and the world. There are some things that seem so gorgeous, peaceful, hopeful, life-giving, even holy... But from the throne room of God they are sin-saturated whores that most of us have given into! John says this whore is someone, "who the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk. We give into so many things that are culturally normal; so normal we don't even think to question them! My question I am wrestling with and asking you today is, what are the whores that we are prostituting ourselves to?

         So many people think Revelations is a book that only deals with the end times. It is apparent that John was concerned with the early church more than the second coming. He was demanding holy, obedient lives. The Lord was/is telling His church that He demands holy lives, that we will be judged according to what we have done (See Rev. 20:12-13). He demands the same things for us today. This is no slight guiding hand, this is a wall that is demanding us to make a decision, a choice, a change. We are to analyze our actions. Jesus says in Matthew 7:16-18, "You will know them (false prophets) by their fruit... The same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit." We (definitely myself included) need to take this challenge seriously. Assess yourself. What does your fruit look like? Who are you whoring yourself to?