The next section in Revelation tells the story of the corrupting and oppressive world systems that have been a snare for God's people. The section is about Babylon the Whore (17:1-19:10). There are Seven Words/Poems/Songs and these are marked by the clear rhythmic poetry of funeral dirges.

As we have seen before, God's people have suffered under the cruel and polluting influence of great world systems in their histories. (Egypt, Babylon and Rome.)

John cannot name Rome as the enemy directly: so he alludes to her by telling us the name on her forehead. The first word, "MYSTERY" is our clue that this is a puzzle to be solved. He's telling us that he is writing in code. Babylon is John's code-word for Rome. A few verses later he makes it clear: "This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits..." (v.9) This is a clear reference to Rome as her designation as the city on seven hills is commonplace among Roman writers (e.g., Virgil, Martial, Cicero).

In this section he describes how Babylon corrupts the world in terms of greed, blasphemy, sensuality, corruption, materialism and gross abuses of power.

He goes on to compose a number of "doom songs" which catalogue what will be the destruction Rome and is in fact applicable to many other corrupt regimes throughout history.

The point of this section? To describe evil systems as seductive and corrupting. We should not gloss over this point too quickly. Just one simple example will suffice: Have you noticed how commonplace blasphemy has become in Hollywood's movies? And we pay money to watch movies where the name of Jesus is used as a cuss-word!! (But we don't "make waves" because Babylon has infected our society and people will think us weird)

The doom songs we see in this section indicate that Babylon has extended her seductive claws into the echelons of trade, commerce and power. When she is destroyed some will cheer but many, who have been beguiled by her materialism will weep. Evil can be very seductive and like a drug, we can become addicted to the systems of the world.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

Please see the following Budget summaries for this forthcoming meeting:

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There are Seven Bowls of Wrath:
1. Painful sores on those who worship the beast.
2. The sea turning into blood.
3. The rivers turning into the blood because of the martyrs.
4. The sun and moon scorch people.
5. Darkness, but people still don't repent!
6. Three frog-like spirits that deceive the wicked
7. The final battle (Armegeddon)

As one reads these descriptions, one cannot help but be reminded of Moses, Pharaoh and the Ten Plagues. There's the sores, the water-into-blood, the darkness and the frogs.

Babylon also makes its appearance here, and, as we will see next week, is John's codeword for Rome. There's an important historical context here:
- The Israelites were in slavery in Egypt in about 1500BC
- They were in exile in Babylon around 586BC
- They were oppressed by Rome in the first century AD.

Egypt's army was destroyed in the sea ("it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died" Rev16:3)

Babylon was defeated overnight when the Persians blocked the Euphrates (which had served as Babylon's moat) by night and marched in on dry land and sacked Babylon.

Rome was ultimately sacked by the Barbarians.

The point of this "Bowls Section" is to point out that evil may flourish, but it also self-destructs. Pharaoh's arrogance led to his destruction. Babylon was defeated overnight. Rome would still fall.

The bowls are poetic language and describe how evil festers, infects and self-destructs. If one imagines the smoke, flames, trauma and drama of the actual fall of oppressive regimes throughout history (be it Egypt, Babylon, Rome, or the Nazis), one could quite easily imagine the poetic images of seas and rivers of blood and scorching suns and moons.

The real heartache is that the wicked don't repent even when they receive clear warnings and must face their final Armegeddons.
The reassurance we have is that evil will not endure - it will face its Armegeddon.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

Here we get to one of the chapters in Revelation that has caused much wild speculation and has caused much confusion. Let's look at this briefly:

We are in the section in Revelation that overviews the drama of history of the church, and these visions are firmly rooted in John's own historical experience.

Yesterday we saw how the dragon (Satan) tried to destroy the Child (Christ) but failed. Now he is trying to destroy the woman (the church.)

The dragon calls forth two beasts: one is a figure of authority. The other is the religious system that serves the first beast. In John's historical context, the first beast was Caesar who declared himself as god, and the second beast was Roman culture and military that enforced emperor worship. Christians could be required by law to burn a pinch of incense before the statue of Caesar and bow down before his statue. Failure to do this resulted in exclusion in the marketplace at the very least and being thrown to the lions in the arena at the worst.

The "mark of the beast" is symbolic. If seven is a symbol of God's holiness and perfection then six is to fall short of that. 666 is a trinity of imperfection. It is a "man's number" and Paul reminds us that as far as humankind goes "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 666 is a human god-wannabe. Wearing the mark of the beast is to worship a god-wannabe.

Many conspiracy theorists have panicked about the barcodes on food, arguing that it is a 666, but the point is that you don't get the mark of the beast by accident, you get it by worshipping the first beast through the system of the second.

A nice example of how this repeats itself through history would be the way Hitler (first beast) set up the Getstapo (second beast) to establish the state church where people sacrificed true faith for obsessive nationalism (the 666).

Throughout history we have seen and will see these beasts and their mark.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

The woman represents Mary, the Israelites and the Church. Her child is Jesus Christ, our Messiah, and the dragon is Satan who misled a third of the angels (stars) and they were flung to the earth.

The dragon's attempt to devour the Child reminds us of Herod and the command to kill all the baby boys. But the Child is destined to rule with an iron scepter (a rule of power and authority) which points towards Christ's victorious resurrection. The "snatching up" refers to the Ascension.

The woman - now representing the church goes into the desert (a place of spiritual shelter) for 1260 which is three-and-a-half years which is half of seven and simply points out that the church goes through periods of trial and tribulation.

In the verses that follow we read that the Dragon and his followers go to war against the armies of heaven and are finally defeated...

So, here we have the story of the history of human-kind.
As John sees it, it all centres around the birth of the Christ-child and hinges on the Church.

While the Bethlehem-baby-in-a-manger narratives of Matthew and Luke are comforting to us, John's cosmic story reminds us of the high stakes and that the birth of Jesus is really really significant.

Maybe it is appropriate that we consider this passage on Ash Wednesday. It is a powerful reminder that Christmas, Lent and Easter are about a war. A war in which God gave His Son and established the Church. We go into Ash Wednesday cognisant that God went to war for us!

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

Just a reminder... We are in the second act: the suffering church (4:1-8:1) John in the control room of heaven. Creation represented in the creatures and the throne is central. Worship features very strongly. The suffering of the church throughout history is explored and there are Seven Seals that are opened.

Suffering has been placed in perspective as we see that it is no-one less than the Lamb of God who opens the seals that represent suffering. We've already seen the horsemen of conflict, chaos, plague and famine each unleashed by an opened seal and now as the fifth seal is opened, we come face to face with the persecution of the church.

We tend to think that the persecution of the church is something that belongs to history, but the facts tell us that more Christians have been killed for their faith in the last 100 years than in the 1900 that came before. Today in North Africa and some other countries people take huge risks by becoming people of faith.

It's hard to think that God allows His church to be persecuted. In order to take the gospel into the corners of the world, the message must go even where it is not welcomed. In these unwelcoming corners, God's people pay a great price to live out the good news.

They are depicted as being in a privileged position - under the altar because their sacrifices are aligned to what Christ has done for us. In faith they cry out "How long?" and are given a white robe and encouraged to wait and endure.

The white robes represent blessedness, purity and belonging.

Persecution is a tough reality of the life of the church. It is OK for us to cry out "How Long?"
God doesn't always rescue us from persecution, but those who are persecuted are placed under the altar: They are very close to Jesus. They are robed in white because their suffering has brought them to a place of close dependence on God.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

Just a reminder... We are in the second act: the suffering church (4:1-8:1) John in the control room of heaven. Creation represented in the creatures and the throne is central. Worship features very strongly. The suffering of the church throughout history is explored and there are Seven Seals that are opened.

Suffering has been placed in perspective as we see that it is no-one less than the Lamb of God who opens the seals that represent suffering. We've already seen the horsemen of conflict, chaos, plague and famine each unleashed by an opened seal and now as the fifth seal is opened, we come face to face with the persecution of the church.

We tend to think that the persecution of the church is something that belongs to history, but the facts tell us that more Christians have been killed for their faith in the last 100 years than in the 1900 that came before. Today in North Africa and some other countries people take huge risks by becoming people of faith.

It's hard to think that God allows His church to be persecuted. In order to take the gospel into the corners of the world, the message must go even where it is not welcomed. In these unwelcoming corners, God's people pay a great price to live out the good news.

They are depicted as being in a privileged position - under the altar because their sacrifices are aligned to what Christ has done for us. In faith they cry out "How long?" and are given a white robe and encouraged to wait and endure.

The white robes represent blessedness, purity and belonging.

Persecution is a tough reality of the life of the church. It is OK for us to cry out "How Long?"
God doesn't always rescue us from persecution, but those who are persecuted are placed under the altar: They are very close to Jesus. They are robed in white because their suffering has brought them to a place of close dependence on God.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/

Here in the opening of the seals we are offered a breath-taking and beautiful picture:
John is weeping because no-one can open the scroll - suffering is not something we can afford to be glib about. One doesn't want to stick cheap plaster on serious wounds. Whoever opens the seals can't be a lightweight.

Suffering is something we struggle with and whomsoever deigns to open the seals of suffering needs to have the necessary integrity, authority and comprehension of our struggle with the pain, violation and anguish that suffering causes us.

So who is capable enough to open the seals and the scroll??
Who has the credibility and integrity to open these tough seals of suffering in a worthy way??

John gets his answer: "'Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.' Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the centre of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne."

Jesus is worthy to open the painful seals of suffering!
- He is the Lion of Judah who has taken on suffering and overcome
- He is the Lamb who was slain - He has tasted the worst of suffering
- He has sent the Holy Spirit ("seven spirits") into our hearts to comfort us.

Suffering is a theological, philosophical, and emotional heavyweight. We dare not risk cheap answers.
The good and beautiful news of Revelation is that Jesus our Champion takes on the heavyweight of suffering and, at great cost, overcomes and comforts you and me.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/