The Assembly in Revelation

The Book of Revelation applies several terms to the saints who are under assault from without and within. The men who were redeemed by the “Lamb” form a single company that transcends all national, social, and cultural boundaries, and for them, persecution and “tribulation” are neither aberrations nor things to be feared. Persevering through trials while bearing witness is what it means to follow the “Lamb wherever he goes.”

What sets this company apart is its composition of men from every “nation,” “people,” “tribe,” and “tongue” who were purchased for God by the shed blood of Jesus. They form his “Kingdom of Priests” assigned to mediate the light of the Gospel to all men.

[Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash]

The Book presents a very graphic image of the Church as a company of men and women who have been saved through the death of Jesus, and thereby they have become distinct from the rest of humanity. The mission of the saints is to bear witness to unredeemed men and women of what Jesus has done for them, a task for which they experience hostility and often suffer persecution.

The purpose of his Assembly is presented in the Book’s opening paragraph. Jesus is the “Faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the Dead, and the Ruler of the Kings of the Earth.” His past Death is the basis of his present reign, and through it, he freed his people from bondage to sin and made them a priestly kingdom - (Exodus 19:4-6, Revelation 1:4-6, 5:10, 14:1-4).

The recipients of the Book are identified as the “servants” of God, namely, the “Seven Assemblies of Asia.” They are “fellow participants” with John in the “Tribulation and Kingdom and Perseverance in Jesus” on behalf of the “Word of God” and the “Testimony of Jesus” - (Revelation 1:8-9).

In Chapter 5, John saw a glorious figure seated on the “Throne” who held the Sealed Scroll. Only the sacrificial “Lamb” was found “worthy” to open it because “he was slain and redeemed for God by his blood men out of every tribe, tongue, people and nation, and made them a KINGDOM and PRIESTS to our God” - (Revelation 5:9-10).

The same category applied to the “Seven Assemblies of Asia” is applied in Chapter 5 to the multitude redeemed from every nation - the “Kingdom of Priests.” Everyone purchased by his blood becomes a member of this company.

In Chapter 7, John “heard” the “number” of God’s “servants” who were “sealed,” twelve thousand males from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, or 144,000 men. However, when he looked, he “saw” the vast multitude that “no one could number out of every nation, and all tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the Throne and the Lamb.”

What John “saw” interpreted what he first “heard.” The “Innumerable Multitude” was identical to the 144,000 males from the “Twelve Tribes of Israel,” the same company of men purchased from “every nation” by the “Lamb” - (Revelation 5:9-10, 7:1-17).

In this way, Revelation transforms the image of the “Tribes of Israel” assembled around the Tabernacle into the “Innumerable Multitude” of men from every nation who stand in worship “before the Lamb and the Throne” - (Revelation 7:13-17, 21:1-6).

MARTRYDOM AND VICTORY

In Chapter 11, the “Two Witnesses” are called the “Two Lampstands,” and elsewhere, “lampstands” represent churches. When their prophetic ministry was finished, the “Beast that ascended from the Abyss waged war with them and overcame and killed them.” An apparent victory for the “Beast” and its overlord, the “Dragon.”

However, the “Beast” could not kill the “Two Witnesses” until it was authorized to do so, and their violent deaths did not mean defeat for the “Lamb” or his people. Their martyrdom was followed by the “Day of the Lord,” which brought the consummation of the Kingdom and the vindication of the martyrs. All this occurred when the “Seventh Trumpet” sounded - (Revelation 11:15-19).

In Chapter 12, Satan is expelled from Heaven and no longer able to “accuse our brethren before God.” Enraged, he gathered his forces to “wage war against the seed of the woman, those who have the testimony of Jesus,” but the “brethren” overcame the “Dragon” through the “word of their Testimony” for which they were willing to suffer martyrdom - (“They loved not their lives unto death” - Revelation 12:9-17).

In Chapter 13, the “Beast from the Sea” waged war on the “saints and overcame them.” This portrays the same reality as the war against the “Two Witnesses” by the “Beast from the Abyss,” and the “war” of the “Dragon” against the men who had the “Testimony of Jesus” - (Revelation 12:17, 13:1-10).

Also in Chapter 13, the “False Prophet” used impressive “signs” and economic control to cause all the “Inhabitants of the Earth” to take the mark of the “Beast from the Sea.” In contrast, those who were “redeemed from the Earth” by the “Lamb” were standing with him on “Mount Zion.” Rather than the Beast’s mark, they had God’s name inscribed on their foreheads – (Revelation 13:11-18, 14:1-5).

In Revelation, humanity is divided into two groups:  First, the men who follow the “Lamb” and have his “Testimony,” and second, the “Inhabitants of the Earth” that take the “Mark of the Beast” and give their allegiance to him. The names of men from the second group are NOT “written in the Lamb’s book of life,” they have NOT been “redeemed by his blood” - (Revelation 13:15-18, 14:1-5).

In contrast, faithful saints who were redeemed through the death of Jesus “overcame” the “Dragon” by persevering through whatever he inflicted on them, all while maintaining the “Testimony of Jesus.” This is, in fact, the “Endurance of the Saints” – (Revelation 14:12).

[Photo by Travis Leery on Unsplash]

From start to finish, the focus is on the people of God who have been redeemed and freed from sin through the death of Jesus.  Though different terms and images are applied to this group, in each case, the same company is in view. Membership in this group has nothing to do with ethnicity or nationality.

Though the terms applied to the Church are derived from the story of Israel, the Book of Revelation reapplies them to the followers of the “Lamb” from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue. What sets them apart is their “redemption by the blood of the Lamb,” and their faithful “Testimony” given on the Earth in good times and bad.

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RELATED POSTS:

• Priestly Company - (The 144,000 males on Mount Zion comprise the first fruit of the final harvest, the priestly company that follows the Lamb)

• Faithfulness in Testimony - (The Assembly in Smyrna has persevered faithfully in its testimony and faith even if doing so means impoverishment and death - Revelation 2:8-11)

• Stand Fast - (Believers prepare for the Apostasy and the coming Man of Lawlessness by standing firm in the apostolic tradition)