His Time is Short

I've been leading a Bible study on the Book of Revelation the past couple months. It has been so much fun. Often ignored are the many images within Revelation pure grace for all creation. One of my favorite examples of that comes in Revelation 7:9-10: "After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out with a loud voice: 'Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'" What a powerful image of salvation.

But of course Revelation is also filled with images of war, destruction and death. One of the most miserable comes in Revelation 9... the description of scorpion-like locusts coming from the Abyss to torture for five months those who are not sealed. "They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months (9:10)." The sixth trumpet, also called the second woe, gives another ghastly imagine of an army of mounted troops numbering 200,000,000 coming from the east and killing 1/3 of all people.

None of that really scared me though. (I must be heartless.) But something has struck a cord with me now that we've reached the dragon of Revelation 12: the chapter in which John the Seer allegorically describes the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ as a battle between good and evil. A dragon (Satan) wants to kill a woman's (Israel's) child , but the child (Christ) is snatched away (ascension) before he can be killed. A war is waged in heaven and the dragon is defeated (the cross). Through the cross Jesus defeats sin and death forever. The Kingdom of God is at hand. However, sin and death still exist. The dragon lives on, here on earth, causing pain and bringing death... but his time is limited: "He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short (12:12b)."

For some reason this image has scared me. I had a dream about it last night. In plain English we know that we have been saved through Jesus' death on the cross and our faith in him. We also know that we still live in a world where sin and death are present. The way John describes it: evil, personified by the devil, symbolized by the dragon is still on the loose. The devil knows his time is short and is looking to cause as much pain as he can before the Kingdom of God is fully realized on earth.

Like Kathy Bates in the movie Misery... just when you think the devil is defeated, dead and gone, her eyes open and she comes screaming into scene with hellfire on her breath, a knife in her hand and hate in her heart. Until Christ returns and puts that final bullet into the chest of sin and death we still live with the specter of evil surrounding us. Therefore, today "the devil" works to pull us away from faith, foil our plans, dash our hopes, and convince us he is the victor. Through his use of allegory John is explaining why the church of the late first century struggled through persecutions. But naturally, like all of Scripture, Revelation also helps us understand why our own time continues to be painful, especially for those who have faith.

What John writes poetically is really no different than what Paul writes in Romans 8: "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us (Romans 8:18)." Paul ends that chapter with a message of hope in the face of "the dragon's" continued persecution. "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, [nor the dragon, nor the devil, nor Satan,] nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39... additions are mine)."

Revelation is going the same direction as Paul goes in Romans. God has given John the Seer a vision of hope and encouragement. Yes John is exiled by the Romans to Patmos. Yes John's brothers and sisters in Christ are being persecuted, arrested and one has even been killed for the faith. But there is hope. This is going to end up being very good! The Kingdom of God is at hand. The time is short for sin and death. Jesus, the Messiah, the Lamb of God has conquered and will welcome "a great multitude" to sing his praises before him in the coming Kingdom.

So sleep well. Persevere. Feel the hand of God upon you this very day!