Week 51: The Righteous Judgment of God
Week 51: The Righteous Judgment of God
The book of Revelation or “Christian Apocalypse” is above all a celebration of the victory of God. It depicts the continuing conflict between God and Satan, the Lamb and the dragon, the church and the world, the holy city Jerusalem and the great city Babylon, the bride and the harlot, and those marked on their forehead with the name of Christ and those marked with the name of the beast.
The book of Revelation depicts more than conflict, however; it celebrates conquest. The book’s perspective is that already Christ has conquered (Rev. 5:5) and that God intends his people to share in his victory. For Christ says, “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne” (3:21). Thus H. B. Swete wrote at the beginning of the twentieth century that “the whole book is a sursum corda,” a summons to John’s readers to lift up their hearts and to see their tribulations in relation to the victorious, reigning, and returning Christ.
This is the essential background to our studies this week. We are about to be introduced to the great red dragon (Satan) and his three allies, namely two monsters and Babylon the prostitute (representing Rome as persecutor, idolater, and seducer). Their doom is certain.
Sunday: The Seven Trumpets
Monday: The Dragon and His Allies
Tuesday: The Lamb and the 144,000
Wednesday: The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath
Thursday: Babylon Identified and Destroyed
Friday: The Rider on the White Horse
Saturday: The Doom of Satan