The Beast is authorized to wage war against the “saints” for its overlord, the Dragon – Revelation 13:6-10.
But the beast’s apparent “victory” over the “saints” vindicates
them and seals the fate of the “Dragon” and his vassals, all of whom are
cast into the “lake of fire.” For overcoming disciples, martyrdom is not a defeat.
- (Revelation 13:6-10) - “And he opened his mouth for slander against God, to slander his name and his tabernacle, they who were tabernacling in heaven. And it was given to him TO MAKE WAR WITH THE SAINTS AND TO OVERCOME THEM, and there was given him authority against EVERY TRIBE AND PEOPLE AND TONGUE AND NATION. And all the inhabitants of the earth will do homage to him, everyone whose name is not WRITTEN IN THE SCROLL of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear: let him hear. If anyone is for captivity, into captivity he must go. If anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword he must be slain. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.”
TABERNACLING IN HEAVEN
The “beast slandered” God, His “name” and “tabernacle,”
and those who were “tabernacling in heaven.” The imagery is derived from
the portable Tabernacle carried by Ancient Israel - (Revelation 15:5, “After
these things I saw the sanctuary of the tent of testimony in
heaven”).
Previously, John was commanded to “measure the sanctuary” and
the “outer court” was handed over to the “nations” and “trampled”
for “forty-two months.” Likewise, here, the “beast” is
authorized to “slander the tabernacle and they who tabernacle in heaven”
over the same period - “forty-two months” – (Revelation 11:1-2).
The “priestly” company John saw worshiping in the “sanctuary”
in the eleventh chapter is identical to the group now described as those who
are “tabernacling in heaven.” During the “forty-two months,” the
“beast” is authorized to slander and “trample underfoot” the “saints,”
just as the “sanctuary” was given over to and trampled by the nations
for the same period.
Those who “tabernacle in heaven” are not
supernatural beings but believers in contrast to the “inhabitants of the
earth.” The Greek verb rendered “tabernacling” or skénoō is
from the noun skéné, that is, a “tent.” The same noun is used in
the Greek Septuagint version of the Hebrew Bible for the
“tabernacle” of Israel. Elsewhere, both the noun and verb portray
the people of God, His “tabernacle” - (Exodus 25:9, 26:1-35,
Revelation 3:10, 15:5, 21:3).
This understanding is demonstrated by the clause, “His name and
his tabernacle, those who are tabernacling in heaven.” There is no conjunction, no
“and” preceding the two clauses in the Greek sentence. The clause identifies
the “tabernacle” that is slandered. The New American Standard
Version reflects the correct sense by rendering it - “His name and
His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.”
“Blasphemy” or “slander” refers to accusations made
against God’s people, not to profanity. Among the seven churches
of Asia, this manifested in accusations laid against them by members
of the “synagogue of Satan” - (Revelation 2:9, 3:9, 12:10).
THE WAR
The description of the “beast” having authority over all
nations alludes to the story of King Nebuchadnezzar and his “great golden
image.” The Babylonian ruler commanded all “peoples and nations” to
render homage to his image:
- (Daniel 3:4-7) – “Therefore, at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the cornet… all the peoples, nations, and tongues fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.”
Whether the “Dragon” wages war against Michael, the “Lamb,”
the “saints,” the “seed of the woman,” or “they who have the
testimony of Jesus,” amounts to the same thing. Satan attacks the “Lamb”
by persecuting anyone whose name is written in the “book of life.” The
description of this war uses language from Daniel:
- (Daniel 7:21) – “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them.” (Compare Revelation 11:7, 12:17, 13:7-8).
Thus, the war against the “saints” is the same “war”
as the one waged against the “two witnesses” and the “seed of the
woman.” And rather than against nation-states or conventional armies. The “beast”
wages “war” on the Lamb’s followers. But the “beast” cannot
persecute the “saints” until authorized to do so - (“it was given to
it”).
The passage ends with the exhortation, “Here is the
perseverance and the faith of the saints.” That the “saints” are
followers of Jesus is made clear in the expanded form of this declaration in
the next chapter, “Here is the perseverance of the saints, they who keep the
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
EARTH DWELLERS
The “inhabitants of the earth” are identified negatively: “Everyone
whose name is not written in the book of life of the Lamb.”
What determines identity is whether one renders homage to the “beast” or
follows the “Lamb.”
“Slain from the foundation of the world.” The clause
employs the same Greek verb for “slain” used earlier for the “slain Lamb.”
It is also applied to the souls under the altar that are “slain
for their testimony,” to the deadly wound of the “beast” in
imitation of the Lamb, and to the “blood of prophets, and of saints, and of
all that were slain upon the earth” by “Babylon” - (Revelation
5:6-12, 6:9, 13:3, 18:24).
This does not mean Jesus has died repeatedly since the creation.
The participle is in the perfect tense, signifying an action completed in the
past with results continuing into the present. Revelation traces
the destructive efforts by the “Dragon” to the Garden of Eden,
which is why he is identified also as the “ancient serpent” - (Genesis
3:15, Revelation 12:9, 20:1-3).
PERSEVERANCE
The passage concludes with the exhortation: “If anyone
is FOR CAPTIVITY, INTO
CAPTIVITY he goes. If anyone is to be slain WITH SWORD, WITH SWORD must
he be slain.” Saints do not escape persecution. The verse alludes to
a pronouncement in Jeremiah that applied originally to
the kingdom of Judah:
- (Jeremiah 15:1-2) – “Then said Yahweh to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight and let them depart. And it shall come to pass, when they say to you, Where shall we go forth? Then you will tell them, Thus says Yahweh, Such as are FOR DEATH, TO DEATH; and such as are FOR THE SWORD, TO THE SWORD; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are FOR CAPTIVITY, TO CAPTIVITY.”
“Here is the perseverance and the
faith of the saints.” This call echoes the repeated exhortation in each of the
letters to the seven churches - “If anyone has an ear, hear what the
Spirit is saying to the churches.”
The persecution that “saints” suffer is their “perseverance.”
The verse begins with the adverb hōde or “here,”
which is emphatic in the Greek clause. For the followers of Christ, what
looks like defeat is actually the victory of the “saints” as
counterintuitive as that seems.
Believers must endure trials and persevere in their testimony.
This is how they “overcome,” and it is how God uses them to bear “witness”
to the “inhabitants of the earth” and to the “kings of the earth”
– (Revelation 12:11).
Thus, the victims of the Dragon’s “war” are disciples of
Jesus. As for the rest of men, the unbelieving “inhabitants of the earth,”
they are under the authority of the “beast” because they render homage
to it. The “beast” does not make war against them for they are under his
authority, and Satan uses them to facilitate his assaults against the church of
Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment