Luxury, poverty...

Home	Children	Young Adults	Missions	New Faces	Photos/Video
About Us	Students	Teaching	Blog	PDO

Luxury, Poverty and the Kingdom of God
8. Revealing Truths about justice and judgment - 7.15.7

Revelation: The most confusing book in the NT? A roadmap for the future? A subject for controversy? This week I took the opportunity to read Revelation straight through, which you can do in less than an hour. Here’s what strikes me:

        "Holy, holy, holy
      is the Lord God Almighty,
    who was, and is, and is to come." (4:8) (say it together…)

REV 4:11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
    and by your will they were created
    and have their being."

"You are worthy to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
    and with your blood you purchased men for God
   from every tribe and language and people and nation. (5:9)

"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!" (5:12)

Wild images – supernatural horses, angels blowing trumpets, scrolls being opened and read and eaten, beasts with many heads and horns.

One of the most unusual images is the one we see of our Lord. People debate what he looked like when he walked the earth, and he has been drawn as a typical middle eastern man (which is what he was) but also as a light-haired, blue-eyed European. But no one ever saw him like John did…

REV 1:12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

REV 1:17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Slaughter – not just judgment but slaughter. Revelation teaches us that rebellion against God is no minor issue and that one day, God will be avenged against his enemies.

REV 14:17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe." 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia. In an age when we want purpose-driven, seeker sensitive Bible lessons, we would do well to remember that single phrase “the winepress of God’s wrath”.

Warning after warning…to come out from the wicked world system, the way of thinking that surrounds us that is opposed to God. In our age, when the church is anxious to be relevant, we need to hear Revelation say to us:

"Come out of her, my people,
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;

With all that in mind, it may seem odd to state this: Revelation is…

A love story TO us ABOUT our Lord rescuing us from our enemies. You see, even though this message of judgment and warning is written TO us as God’s people, it isn’t supposed to be ABOUT us. Without softening the message of warning and the call to repentance, the purpose of Revelation is to encourage believers to stand firm in the face of persecution and know that God will NOT let their suffering be in vain. He will judge his enemies and he will rescue his bride. It is the culmination of this love story that we read about in Revelation 21:

REV 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

As we close out this series on Luxury, Poverty and the Kingdom of God, I want us to ask: “What does Revelation say about poverty?” Or more specifically, “What does it say about poverty in the face of luxury? Our luxuries?”

If I came to your house for the first time, what would you show me? The typical thing is for someone to give me the nickel tour. “Here’s the bathroom we remodeled. Here’s the new game room. Here’s the giant TV we just bought. Here’s our exercise equipment, still in the cellophane wrappers for some reason.”

What if, after the tour, I said: “Nice place, nice stuff. I’ll bet you think you’re rich. But you aren’t. You’re poor. You’re pitiful, in fact. Poor, blind, naked. Wretched.”

After I returned to consciousness, I could remind you that those are words we sing in church and they’re words from Revelation 3, from a message Jesus spoke to a well-to-do church in Laodicea that had gotten comfortable, complacent – like us? You may not take it well from me, but if you know that HE said it, and if you come to terms that it applies to you, would you listen? He went on to say:

18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

3:19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

I want to be rich, and I AM rich. I don’t mean in material things, though compared to most of the world, I certainly am, and that would be true even if I renounced all my possessions and moved into a motel. I don’t WANT to be “rich” in the way the people in Laodicea were. There’s another church in Revelation 2 in Smyrna that was rich too. Jesus said to them:

9 I know your afflictions and your poverty--yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

This early part of Revelation says that I Am Rich (and so are you) in one of two ways: I might be rich in possessions while spiritually bankrupt, pitiful, even wretched in my selfishness and consumerism. Or, I might be rich in spirit, full to overflowing with the love and truth of God. If that’s the case, then if I have possessions, I use them for God. If I don’t have them, if in fact I find myself fired or jailed or even tortured for Jesus, I’m still rich because this is a wealth that no one can take away.

This is important to me. I keep this fact on my resume (having few other positive traits!)

But as I read about the devil in Revelation (and elsewhere) there are things I see in him that serve as a warning to me. He is jealous enough to declare war on God. He is vengeful enough to try to hurt other people in revenge for his losses. Ultimately he is committed to himself, his own glory and his own way.

I am not the devil. But if I don’t deal with the things inside me that remind me of him, that warn me about who I may become, then I could share his traits…and his destiny.

I am not from Laodicea. Never been there. (It was an ancient city, located in what we call Turkey. Now it’s nothing but ruins). I’m not a member of the congregation there, the one Jesus addressed in Revelation 3. But I’d be a great fool if I listened to what Jesus says to them about being “lukewarm” and didn’t apply it to myself.

I am not from Laodicea and I could say that when Jesus talked about being neither hot nor cold he wasn’t talking to me, and in a direct sense, he wasn’t talking to me. But everyone knows that if the lesson applies, we’d better learn it.

It’s with this idea of Scriptural interpretation that I approach Revelation 17-18, two chapters about a great merchant-city, or a nation of commerce that is destroyed in a day. In chapter 17, that great city is portrayed as a harlot, a prostitute that commits adultery with every other nation of the world. At the end of 17 and in 18, the harlot’s allies, portrayed here as a giant beast upon which she rides, turn on her, releasing their pent-up hatred of her, and they destroy her.

Let me be clear that I do NOT suggest that Revelation 17-18 is about the United States. I do not say that the U. S. is the prostitute riding the great beast. I have tried to make that connection in my study because if it WERE to be the case, I’d want to know it. But I don’t see it. There are too many details that don’t fit (at least not to me). For example, 17:6 says that this prostitute was “drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus”. Whatever faults we may have, the US is a haven for religious freedom. Things may change in the future, but if we Christians feel persecuted here today, it’s because we don’t know what persecution is. So based on my limited expertise, I have to conclude right now that…

When I read 17-18, I see some chilling things that remind me of America and ought to serve as warnings to us. I think we’d be foolish to ignore them.

REV 17:1 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. 2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries."

Now when I read that, I’m tempted to think about how our entertainment industry exports sex and violence all over the world, that our most visible international export may be Paris Hilton or Grand Theft Auto. 19:2 says that this prostitute corrupted the earth by her adulteries, something of which people of influence in this country are certainly guilty. But if you continue reading, you see that the “adulteries” that are specifically mentioned have to do with our theme in this series: Luxury and poverty. Here’s a description of the woman.

REV 17:3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.

This woman is overthrown and destroyed by those on the earth who hate her. 17:16 The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled. 18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

Now what would happen if the greatest superpower in the world fell in a day? How would people react? That’s what Revelation 18 describes. Some excerpts:

REV 18:1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted:

   "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!
    She has become a home for demons
and a haunt for every evil spirit,
    a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.

REV 18:3 For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries."…

REV 18:7 Give her as much torture and grief
    as the glory and luxury she gave herself.
In her heart she boasts,
    `I sit as queen; I am not a widow,
    and I will never mourn.'

REV 18:8 Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her:
death, mourning and famine.
She will be consumed by fire,
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her…

These word-pictures call to mind a passage we used early in this series, Ezekiel 16:49-50, which gives us some unusual insight into why Sodom of the OT was destroyed: " `Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen”.

Revelation 18 says that all the kings who grew wealthy from their illicit partnerships will stand far off in fear and look with dread on the fate of this city. It says that the merchants, too, will gasp in disbelief and say: “Who is going to buy all of our products, our luxuries, all the goods we make and sell to this foolish prostitute who never knows when to quit buying? V. 13 lists these goods: “…cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.”

Now I’ll say again that I’m not teaching direct fulfillment here; I’m not making a case for identifying the prostitute with the US. I don’t see that. Instead I’m looking for parallels, warnings about how the prostitute’s behavior and fate reminds me of our own.

And on September 11, 2001, when I saw the WTC burning, the first Scripture I thought of was this:

"Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. 18 When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, `Was there ever a city like this great city?' 19 They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:

" `Woe! Woe, O great city,
where all who had ships on the sea
became rich through her wealth!
In one hour she has been brought to ruin! (17b-19)

Whenever I read a parable or a prophecy of judgment, the most valuable question I can ask is: “Where do I stand in this story?” In Revelation 17-18, I stand in two places: First, I stand with the Christians. I’m a follower of Jesus. My name is written in the Lamb’s book of life (an image that comes from Revelation). I stand with my sisters and brothers who are persecuted and martyred around the world (just like the saints in Revelation) and I know that our day of persecution could be coming. Revelation was actually written for such believers, and as such, it is meant to be a letter of encouragement and comfort, with a message that God still sees what his people are going through, and he will come for them.

But the second place I stand (with you at my side) is in the middle of a wealthy and powerful nation, one with many great and noble qualities, but one that is always struggling to choose its way. It’s a nation where we print on our money “In God We Trust”, but sometimes it seems like the money IS the god. It’s a nation founded on acknowledging God, but one where even mentioning God seems less acceptable every year. It’s a nation with a lot of faithful Christian people, but it’s also a place where a great many people who have no regard for God gain power in business, politics, commerce, and entertainment.

And it’s a nation of people like you and me…good people…who want to follow Christ and who nevertheless sell ourselves to Mammon; people like us who want to believe Jesus when he tells us not to serve money, but who still get trapped in the hold of our luxuries; people like us who say that Christ is number 1 in our lives, but who still spend our best years majoring in the accumulation of luxuries and comforts.

And all of this might be harmful only to us, but in fact it’s much worse than that because when we look at ALL of America and all of the world, we HAVE to see that as we get richer, poverty grows and gets much worse, and so we have our fifth meal of the day at the expense of millions who haven’t eaten for many days.

So: I am rich. Is it in material things that will burn, or in God’s love and truth?

I am not the devil…but if I see things in prophecy or any other part of the Bible that speak about the devil and his minions, and it reminds me of things about myself or my country, I’d better pay attention.

Practically everything in the Bible about money is about investing for the long term. It isn’t a call to deny myself and be miserable, but to defer my rewards to the time and place where they’ll last forever. Jesus called it storing up treasures in heaven.

Revelation concludes with a description of the fabulously extravagant city which is to be the capital of our eternal home. This city has walls with 12 foundations and each foundation is encrusted with a different kind of jewel. The walls to this city have twelve gates, and it says: The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.

REV 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

And so, what this whole study comes down to is that when we choose to live for ourselves and against God, when we ignore our sisters and brothers who live in poverty and heap upon ourselves one more luxury, when we decide to follow our wisdom (about riches and poverty, sexuality, or anything else) we are declaring ourselves to be merely citizens of this fading realm rather than this eternal glorious city that will last forever.

Morrison Hill Christian Church
P.O. Box 59 - 1008 E. Race St.
Kingston, TN 37763 (865) 376-5205