The perennial question for anyone thinking seriously about the Christian life and our place in the world has two parts to it. First, we need to think about the world we are in, and try to make sense of it. Secondly, we need to ask what kind of ‘church‘ we are to be—what kind of people God has called us to be in this kind of world. Many ask this question at an individual level (‘What has God called me to be and to do in my world, in my context?’) but scripture always appears to address this question in corporate or communal terms: what kind of people is God calling the followers of Jesus to be, and therefore what does that mean for me as an individual?
In times of felt crisis, such as the Covid pandemic, these questions appear to have particular force. But they are questions that we always need to be asking, since from a biblical perspective we are always in a time of ‘crisis’. The term derives from the Greek term krisis, and since Jesus tells us that the promised kingdom of God is ‘at hand’ (Mark 1.15), and Paul tells us that the ‘wrath of God is being revealed’ (Rom 1.18), then we are always in a moment of crisis, even if we avoid thinking about this too much from day to day.
Revelation 7 offers us some powerful resources to think about these questions. It is often thought that Revelation is either stuck in the past, or is located in some inaccessible world of bizarre symbolism that we cannot unlock, or sets out a hideous future apocalyptic timetable when a vengeful God vents his wrath on the world. But it is in fact none of those things. It is, instead, a pastoral, prophetic letter, written in apocalyptic imagery, to strengthen, equip and encourage people who lived in a world much like ours.
Chapter seven begins with four angels holding back the ‘four winds of earth’; but the idea of ‘four winds’, comes from Zechariah 4, where they are also described as four horses of different colours. So this chapter is set in the context of the ‘four horsemen of the apocalypse’ that we previously read about in chapter 6—bringing conquest and war, famine and disease, sickness and death. This is not some special time unknown to us, but (as someone recently said to me) just another typical day in the tragic history of humanity. The Covid pandemic reminded us that death and disease are writ large across human experience—but so do the headlines in the news every day, and we are in strange times if we have forgotten that.
Such crises bring judgement, in that they test our assumptions about life, and reveal whether they justify the weight we put on them. Interestingly, the Book of Revelation is ambivalent about the extent to which these judgements come from God; although he is on the throne, and ultimately exercises all authority, the horsemen are not called by God directly, but are released as the seals are broken on the scroll, that is, as God’s will for the world is gradually revealed, and they are called forth by one of the living creatures around the throne.
But in the face of judgement, the servants of God are sealed for protection, just as in Ezekiel 9 the faithful remnant in Jerusalem are sealed to protect them from the city’s destruction when the people are taken into exile. And the following sections give us a threefold vision of what it means to be God’s people in this kind of world, with each of the three elements having two aspects to them.
1. A disciplined army of priests
In Rev 7.4, John hears the number of those who are sealed being counted out. The number, 144,000, is a square times a cube, 12 x 12 x 10 x 10 x 10. This is highly significant as a symbol, since in the OT the altars of Israel were to be square, in contrast to the round or rectangular altars of the other nations, and the holy of holies was a perfect cube (1 Kings 6.20). So this people represents God’s holy presence in this world under judgement.
John hears them counted out, in other words, there is a census being taken, analogous to the census taken in Numbers 1 (and also in 2 Sam 24). In Numbers, the reason that Moses needs to know the strength of his fighting force is that, although they have been set free from slavery in Egypt, and know where they are heading for in the Promised Land, there is a long journey ahead of them through the wilderness, when their faith in God will be tested and when they will meet enemies from without and within. This is going to be a spiritual battle—and John’s vision suggests that we are on a similar journey.
But it is not merely about our instinct for survival. The listing of the tribes doesn’t match any of the 18 various lists in the Old Testament. It excludes Dan, the tribe with a reputation for compromise and deceit, and includes Levi—in other words, this is a list reflecting Israel before the incident with the Golden Calf in Ex 32, when the vision was for the whole people (and not just one tribe) to be God’s priestly people. This vision is expressed in Exodus 19.6 ‘a kingdom of priests’, and John cites this at the beginning of his apocalyptic-prophetic letter to summarise what Jesus has done for us (Rev 1.6).
We need to be disciplined in our devotion, to be the holy place of God’s dwelling on earth, because we are called to be a priestly people—praying for our world, our friends, neighbours and family before the throne of God, but also representing God to them. This is what our world needs of us!
2. A multi-national people of suffering
Throughout Revelation, John hears something, then turns and sees something else—but what he hears and sees interpret one another. So, in chapter 1, he hears a voice like a trumpet, which in OT terms symbolises the voice of God, but then he turns and sees ‘one like a Son of Man’, the terminology for Jesus drawn from Daniel 7. He hears mention of the ‘Lion of the tribe of Judah’ in chapter 5, but he turns and sees a lamb looking as though it has been slaughtered—and so on. (In fact, though we think of Revelation as a description of John’s visions, 43% of the text describes things he hears rather than things he sees.)
John hears the Israel of God being counted out as the Twelve Tribes—and turns and sees that this is ‘a great multitude that no-one can count’! This is the fulfilment of God’s covenant promise to Abraham, that his offspring will be uncountable, like the sand on the seashore or the stars in the sky. And, where Israel was called ‘out of every nation’, in the sense of being separated from the other nations, now this new Israel of God is ‘out of every nation’ in the sense of being drawn from those very nations! The grace of God in Jesus cannot be contained by ethnic, national or cultural boundaries, but reaches into all the world.
But when one of the elders poses the rhetorical question to John ‘Who are these?’, to which John has no answer, the elder explains ‘These are the ones who have come through the great tribulation’. This is not a reference to some apocalyptic ‘end times’ calamity in the future—but to the apocalyptic end times reality that is the inheritance of all followers of Jesus in every time and place. Jesus tells us that people will ‘persecute you for righteousness’ sake’ (Matt 5.10), and that along with the blessings of the kingdom we will receive ‘persecutions’ (Mark 10.30). Paul’s dramatically effective gospel preaching is summarised by Luke as this: ‘Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God’ (Acts 14.22). And John himself has begun his letter with declaring his fellowship (koinonia) with those to whom he writes in the ‘tribulation, kingdom, and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus’ (Rev 1.9)
Although the sealing of the servants of God protects them from ultimate judgement, and brings them into relationship with him, there is no sense in which they are exempt from the realities of the world about them—they are not excluded from the suffering that is part of this fallen world. As followers of the lamb who was slain, we not only suffer in the world, we also suffer with the world, walking as fellow human beings with them, and offer a model of grace and hope under pressure.
3. The saints caught up in hopeful praise
Praise is one of the hallmarks of the Book of Revelation, so much so that some scholars have speculated it was written for liturgical performance! And this passage is not exception; the exchange between John and the elder is sandwiched between expressions of praise and celebration.
There are two things striking about the praise here. First, it is almost always set right next to challenging images of suffering and judgement. This is significant, because throughout scripture, praise transforms our vision of the world, and in particular our understanding of our own situation. In the psalms, the writer often begins be describing the terrible situation he is in, how his enemies are triumphing, and God appears to be inactive. And yet, when the psalmist turns to praise, his perception and understanding is changed.
When David faced Goliath, where the rest of the army saw an invincible foe, David saw an arrogant upstart who was nothing next to the God of Israel in whose name he came.
But the second thing about the praise in Revelation is that, whilst it does talk of what God has done, in creation and in the resurrection of Jesus, and of the present power of God in the world, its primary focus is future. We see this especially in Rev 7.15 onwards. Those who have come through tribulation serve God and shelter in his presence, knowing that they will hunger and thirst no more, that God will shepherd them and protect them, and that God will wipe away every tear from their eye.
When my wife puts a casserole in the slow cooker, then as the day wears on, the whole kitchen fills with the great smell of the meal to come. And if the casserole needs tasting (just to check all is well!) then I know what a wonderful meal we have in store. That is what the Christian life is like: we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, in the life of Jesus made real to us by the Spirit. And so we are hopeful in our praise through suffering, since we know the best is yet to be.
(You can buy my commentary on the Book of Revelation in the Tyndale series here.)
During the Covid pandemic in 2020, I was due to preach on this passage at Moorlands College near Bournemouth. Instead of travelling there, I recorded this sermon on the text.
Buy me a Coffee
I suggest an ever better question, to which the ansswer gives the answer to what kind of church we should be. What should the church look like? And the answer is: It should l;ook like Jesus Christ. No single believer can be and do all that Christ was and did, but collectively a group identity emerges, and this goup identity should be – Jesus Christ. If a congregation starts to look like its leader(s) then those leaders have failed to point people toward Christ.
There are subsidiary questions, of course. Should the church be a network or a hierarchy? The New Testament is clear that the church is meant to be a grassroots network. (All are priests, with Jesus Christ as High Priest, for instance.) Hierarchy grew iron once the early church became Established as the manifestation of the only religion recognised by the authorities in the late Roman Empire. Instead of being persecuted and taking this as a privilege, it actively persecuted. Only a network can flourish under persecution – ask Chinese or Iranian Christians today. They manifestly have the Holy Spirit and, if you gave God’s seal of approval and anointing, you don’t need that of any human hierarchy. Paid hierarchies attract careerists, moreover, and cover up abuses lower down which they are meant to expose. (Rome and Canterbury have done plenty of that in our lifetimes.)
Where are the churches that look like Jesus Christ? I’d like to join one.
So would I!
I wouldn’t. I’d feel terribly out of place.
It is the congregation as a collective that looks like Jesus Christ. I am not suggesting that only Christ-like Christians should come to church – then the churches be fairly empty, as you are obviously aware. Notice that the gifts of the Holy Spirit specified by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 are distributed among differing individuals, so they must work together to manifest them all. Only Jesus had them all.
The insight that the church should look like Jesus Christ came from one of Greg Boyd’s books, and it struck me as a wise and deep insight. One of my favourite Bible teachers spoke in one recorded talk about seeing his own strengths and weaknesses emerge in the congregations he pastored, and finding it terrifying. (Check out some congregations you know who have long had the same pastor, and see if there is an obvious resemblance.) I never forgot the comment, and Boyd’s insight showed me what had been going wrong.
Ah yes. “Seeing his own strengths and weaknesses emerge in the congregations he pastored” – only too likely. And humanly speaking, very forgivable. But as you say, let’s aim higher.
More fundamentally, many of us have done our fair share, or more, of looking for a “suitable church to join” – like choosing which supermarket to shop in. And in practice I don’t see how it can be avoided. But still our hearts need to rebel against the concept – God has made us part of His church, on His own initiative, and to label one section of it as “more suitable” or “less suitable” is itself a kind of failure.
Try reading “Finding Organic Church” by Frank Viola. There is a preferred structure in the New Testament – mainly housechurches with clear but light-touch leadership – but merely putting that in place is no guarantee of getting a godly church running. Viola had been through several fires before getting what he wanted.
What a great casserole metaphor! Thank you for the concepts of hopeful praise, disciplined priests and multi-national sufferers… I know it’s cheeky to disagree with the expert on Revelation, but surely Rev 7:4-8 is the equivalent of a Biblical typo? There may be one example of the tribe of Dan being idolatrous, but the whole tenor (to me!) of the OT is that the judgment of God is on all Israel and then all Judah, and of course all humanity; no implication that Dan is specially bad. (Look at the behaviour of Benjamin in Judges!) The list also includes both Joseph and Manasseh, which suggests to me that someone was listing tribes from memory, and was relieved to get to 12.
In answer to the question “What kind of ‘church’ does God want us to be?”
My first thoughts were, to be childlike not childish.
Psalms 131:1-2
LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child
William Law remarked:-
“Let every day, therefore, be a day of humility, condescend to all weaknesses and infirmities of your fellow creatures, cover their frailties, love their excellencies, encourage their virtues, relive their wants, rejoice in their prosperities, compassionate their distress, receive their friendship, overlook their unkindness, forgive their malice, be a servant of servants, and condescend to do the lowest offices to the lowest of mankind.
William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (1729; rev. ed.,
Shalom.
Just checking, about your reference to Zechariah 4, did you mean chapter 6?
What kind of Church?
Primarily a place where Jesus is the resurrection and the Life.
Where Jesus is not just Lord in name or creed only but is
Lord of all life and in lives that reflect this aspect of His Glory.
“Often however our churches do not have this distinctive view of the world.
Atheistic philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote of the church:
“ They would have to sing better songs for me to learn to have faith in their Redeemer: and his disciples would have to look more redeemed!”
Nietzsche observed that significant aspects of the lives of God’s people remain untouched, unredeemed, by Christ’s Lordship — and this repelled him. Doubtless he was right.
Canadian scholar Mike Goheen has provided a helpful summary of what a redeemed community can look like: a redeemed people will be a community of justice in a world of economic and ecological injustice; a community of generosity and simplicity (of “enough”) in a consumer world; a community of selfless giving in a world of selfishness; a community of truth (humility and boldness) in a world of relativism; a community of hope in a world of disillusionment and consumer satiation; a community of joy in a world frantically pursuing pleasure; a community of thanksgiving in a world of entitlement; and a community who experiences God’s presence in a secular world.
Every Square Inch Christ’s Lordship; Mark Glanville @ christianstudylibrary.org
For a gentle intro.in to knowing and understanding the Lordship of Christ see
.crossway.org/articles/10-things-you-should-know-about-the-lordship-of-christ/?srsltid=AfmBOor8zqC-2uS9RFo_VVS8MnEiBA2uBD0TsvEg09D2hU14VZhhLALF
Someone once said,
“We are all of us under the influence of something or someone all of the time”.
For too many Social Media influencers lead many, a media that even secular
Commentators are lamenting its toxic, cancerous nature .
For the Christian Christ is more than an influencer He is Lord and Master, we are a purchased possession hence we are not our own. We are willing bondslaves to Christ.
Alas, as Jesus Himself lamented “You call me Lord but don’t do the things that I command you”.
As the early Gospel preachers proclaimed
“God has made this same Jesus both Saviour and Lord [Master]”.
What is especially terrifying in connection with this question is the answer given by white supremacist/ nationalist groups inspired by the far right. Charlie Kirk typified that in the USA of course but it has followers in the UK as well. Their vision treads down block people, women, those with various disabilities, those who are different etc etc. Their vision is diametrically opposite to that which the Gospel offers us.
I do appreciate your ‘of course’.
BLM = the gospel?
I don’t think one can align the Gospel with any cause on its own Anthony but one can say that certain approaches are a denial of the Gospel. And if one reads some of the stuff from that Charlie Kirk wing of white supremacy that questions, for example, whether black people are intelligent enough to fly a plane, or whether women should be allowed to vote, it’s clear that it is very much not the kind of Church God wants us to be.
Charlie Kirk never said that, or anything equivalent. He was expressing concern that black people of lesser qualification might get to fly planes because airlines wish to have quotas.
I’ve said the same about dentists and I am willing to say it again – when my dentist is mucking around in my mouth with very sharp power tools, I want to be sure that he or she got the job in my local dental surgery on merit alone, with skin tone playing no part. You go to whatever dentist you like.
Hmmmmm…!
I’m a bit of a fan of Studio Ghibli anime films. Ghibli’s “Spirited Away” won an Oscar. Essentially for a foreign (and non-white foreign at that) animated film to win an Oscar it has to be not just equal to Disney but massively better to overcome American prejudice.
Due to prejudice the likelihood is that if you see a black pilot in an American plane, he’s actually likely to be better than the white guys, but without the ‘quota’ you’d get an inferior white pilot….
(slightly tongue in cheek – but also too true for comfort….)
Anthony let me commend a recent book by Jim Wallis to you – The false white Gospel. Very much worth your time to read it in connection with the question this blog post of Ian raises.
I’m not sure I need to read it. I share the view that there is no such thing as the ‘white gospel’ but only the gospel of Jesus Christ, free to all who believe from any race. As for part of its subtitle, ‘Rejecting Christian nationalism’, I affirm that the gospel is not political. It is about repenting before God for the things you have done wrong (made explicit in the parts of the Pentateuch governing interpersonal morality), believing in Jesus Christ crucified died and risen, and being changed for the better in ways you cannot do for yourself. That is not a political process, nor can it be induced by political or social pressure.
I suspect it might help an understanding of the point that Stephen Langton is making, very helpfully, just above. The endemic prejudice thst exists within the Conservative Evangelical culture in the USA and also in the UK isn’t just about airline pilots and dentists.
I’ve read – and appreciated – US pastor Greg Boyd’s book “The myth of a Christian nation” along similar lines.
Thanks so much for the recommendation Anthony. It looks a very interesting book and he looks a very interesting man.
The Question posed is “What kind of Church[[ecclesia] does God wants us to be”?
There are countless examples that one may point to that have distorted vision[s]
and some claiming a purer vision[s] of the Church that God want.
I carry no torch for Charlie Kirk’s views or for that matter the Marxist leanings of Jim Wallis’s social justice brand,
the opposite face of the coin.
They are debating what a church should look like with political overtones.
At the moment from what I see of American news it seems that it is Non- Republicans that are shooting republicans.
Perhaps in the UK these issues are not quit as overt as USA perhaps more under hand subversive.
Perhaps what we need is for the preaching of
a more compelling Gospel that once persuaded
pagans, philosophers and orthodox religionists
to receive Christ as Saviour AND Lord in droves.
I think that we need a restoration of understanding and
preaching of the Gospel in all its Glory and Fullness,
not just the Jesus of History but of the Glorified Historical Jesus.
what is a ‘more compelling Gospel’? I thought it was the Holy Spirit who convinces anyone about Jesus?
Agreed, Peter. But a major way this works is that God uses his people to convey the message and as his people it is our responsibility to preach God’s compelling gospel and not weaker stuff that we have made up to suit ourselves….
“At the moment from what I see of American news it seems that it is Non- Republicans that are shooting republicans.”
Just a quick aside: worth remembering that it was only in June that the Democratic Speaker of the House in Minnesota was assassinated (along with her husband).