GOD'S NEW WORLD, DAY 11 (witnesses to truth)
“I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given; they cried out with a loud voice, “Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?” They were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number would be complete …of their fellow servants…who were soon to be killed as they themselves had been killed.” (Rev. 6.9-11)
The book of Revelation was written for Christians
who were both at risk of being actively persecuted for their faith and who had
to follow Christ in the midst of an empire whose ideology was the very antithesis
of the truth of the kingdom of the One true God, the Creator of heaven and
earth, “who is seated on the throne” (cf. Rev. 4.2, 9-10; 5.1, etc.). “John”, the author of the book, himself in
exile “because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” and who shares
with the members of the 7 churches “the persecution and the kingdom and the
patient endurance” (Rev. 1.9; cf. 1.2), writes to these Christians to help them
understand the true significance of what they are experiencing and to encourage
them to stay strong and faithful to Jesus no matter what happens next. Using vivid “apocalyptic” language, John
seeks to shake his readers out of their imperially-induced drowsiness and to
wake them up to what is really going on around them. John wants to alert his audience to the imperial
con-game that seeks to dominate society through false promises and deceptive
exploitation. John is telling his
readers that they are being systematically lied to by the civil authorities and
that they must continue to resist the imperial propaganda and remain faithful
to the truth revealed in Jesus, no matter the cost.
The early Christians found that their
world had been transformed into a courtroom, and that they were “on trial” at
all times, whether formally or simply as they lived out their counter-cultural
faith in the eyes of the loyal and obedient subjects of the empire (cf. Rev.
2.10; 3.10). Indeed, immediately before
his ascension, the risen Jesus had called his apostles his “witnesses” (Greek: martus
= “martyrs”: Ac. 1.8; cf. Mt. 10.16). To
bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus would lead many Christians, beginning
with Stephen the deacon, James the son of Zebedee, as well as countless
anonymous disciples in Jerusalem (Ac. 7.54-60; 8.1-3; 12.1-2), to “witness” to
Christ with their very lives. This theme
is continued in the book of Revelation (2.13; 17.6). Indeed, in the book of Revelation, followers
of Jesus are not referred to as “Christians” or “disciples” or members of “the Way”
as they are in the book of Acts. In
Revelation, those who belong to Jesus are called “witnesses” or “those who obey
the commandments/word of God and the ‘testimony’ (Gr: marturia) of Jesus”
(1.2, 9; 6.9; 12.11, 17; 14.12; 19.10; 20.4).
Jesus himself is called the “faithful and true ‘witness’” (1.5;
3.14). Jesus is the proto-martyr, and
those who follow him are called, in the language of the Gospels, to “take up
their cross” (e.g. Mk. 8.34; 10.21). To “witness”
to Jesus in the midst of a hostile, fearful and accusing world – that was the “normal
Christian life” for a first-century disciple.
To be a Christian in the first century (and in many parts of the world today)
was to be misunderstood, misjudged, perceived as a threat and therefore, to be hated.
Another “label” applied to Christians in
Revelation is that of “servants” (of God); this appellation is closely related
to that of “witnesses” (cf. Rev. 1.1; 2.20; 7.3, etc.)[1]. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the title “servants
of God” was applied to prophets, i.e., those tasked with proclaiming God’s
truth to those in power (Israel’s leaders) and to the people of God, most of
the time calling the people to repentance and renewed faithfulness to Yahweh
(cf. Rev. 10.7; 11.18; 16.6; 18.20, 24). Rev. 19.10 is especially relevant: “I am a
fellow servant with you and your comrades who hold the testimony of
Jesus…For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (cf.
Rev. 22.9). As far as John is concerned,
to be a Christian is to be a prophet – a speaker of, and witness to, truth. As the prophets of old were persecuted for
speaking the truth to the people of God, so the disciples of Jesus are called
to suffer as they witness to the truth of “the marturia of Jesus” (cf. 1
Tim. 6.13; 1 Peter 3.14-16).
[1] Yet another name for Christians in Revelation is “saints”: 5.8;
8.3-4; 11.18; 13.7, 10; 14.12; 15.3; 16.6; 17.6; 18.24; 19.8; 20.9. This is especially noteworthy when one
considers the importance of Daniel chapter 7 for John (where it is the “saints
of the Most High”/Son of Man who receive the kingdom).
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