GOD'S NEW WORLD, DAY 36 (How to liberate the world)
Questions. Many people
turn to the book of Revelation with the following question in mind: How is it
all going to end? As often happens when
we bring our questions to the Bible, we discover that our questions aren’t
exactly the right ones. This is often simply
because our questions reflect our concerns, while God’s concerns are often
quite different. In the beginning of the
book of Acts, the resurrected Jesus is with the apostles outside of Jerusalem,
and the disciples ask him one of those questions:
Like good, faithful Jews, the apostles are
eager to know if Jesus will finally do what they think the Messiah is supposed
to do – liberate Israel from her enemies and make her the dominant nation on
the world stage. Isn’t that what Psalm 2
was all about? The nations may rage, but
Yahweh’s anointed king will rule them with a rod of iron from his throne on Mt.
Zion. So, the apostles ask, has the time
now come to put this program into practice?
Both the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus had taken the disciples
completely by surprise – they could never have imagined that the Messiah would
suffer and die, let alone rise from death as an advance sign of the world to
come. What the disciples would eventually
come to understand was that Jesus’ death on the cross had been precisely his
enthronement as Israel’s anointed king – the King of the Jews – and the launch
of the kingdom of God (cf. Ac. 1.3). Jesus
had tried to explain to his apostles that the kingdom of the Creator functioned
very differently from those of the world (cf. Mk. 10.32-45). Jesus’ reign had begun from the cross, or, in
Revelation’s terms, the Lamb’s rule had begun with him being slaughtered by his
enemies.
A new Creation/how it ends.
And so, when we bring our questions about “the end” to Revelation, we
are surprised to find that Revelation does not come to a close with an “ending”,
but rather with a new beginning.
It’s important to realize that God’s work of new creation has already
begun – it began on Easter morning. The
resurrection of Jesus was the launch of the new creation (cf. 1 Cor. 15; Rom. 8;
Jn. 20, etc.). The themes of “kingdom”
and “creation” always go together. Jesus
was enthroned on Good Friday and God’s new world was launched on Easter morning. As Revelation describes the consummation of
the Creator’s plan, God’s throne is said to be in the new Jerusalem (Rev. 22.3). Remember the apostles’ question? They asked Jesus about the fate of the nation
of Israel, but they didn’t realize that they were standing in a whole new
world – the world of which Jesus is Lord.
The New Testament tells us that as followers of Jesus, we inhabit two
worlds simultaneously – “the Present Age” as well as “the Age to Come” (cf. 1
Cor. 10.11, etc.). The world “as we know
it” is winding down, and the world as God wants it to be is coming into
being. As we look around at our Father’s
world, it’s easy to forget that this world of ours has been redeemed and is
being remade. When we are tempted to
despair, we have to remind ourselves that the people of God are always called
to bear witness to the Creator and his love – that’s why we’re here. So how does Revelation describe the new
creation?
A new Jerusalem. “I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God... And I heard a loud voice from the
throne saying,
“See, the home of God is among
mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them and be their God;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.” (Rev. 21.2-4)
The ancient world was choked full of temples, much like the modern world
is replete with churches, synagogues, mosques, and various places of
worship. The ancient gods were believed
to “inhabit” their temples in some way; the image of the god(dess) in question
symbolized the divinity’s having taken up residence in its “home” (naturally,
the last step in the construction of a temple was the installation of the god’s
statue in a conspicuous place within the shrine). Interestingly, the Ancient Near Eastern
writer who penned the book of Genesis tells the story of the creation of the
cosmos in such a way that would have been immediately recognizable to an
ancient architect – Genesis 1 describes the creation of the world in terms of
the construction of a temple! What is
created on the sixth day? Of course,
human beings who are made in the image of the Creator (cf. Gn.
1.26-31)! This is a fascinating vision
of what humans are – intriguingly, the ancient Israelites were not supposed to
fabricate any images of Yahweh in the form of animals or humans (cf. Ex.
20.1-6). The invisible God of Abraham
was to be “seen” in his image-bearing creatures, and in no other way.
Interestingly, humans are tasked to “rule” over the entire
creation. To reflect the Creator’s image
is to be endowed with authority from God to wisely and lovingly govern the
world. Of course, the gift of authority has
been abused ever since the Fall, when rebellion against God’s authority resulted
in human tyranny vis-à-vis each other and creation. Notice how in the new creation, the human
vocation to rule is restored (cf. Rev. 22.5; Ps. 8).
Not content to remain “in heaven” (cf. Eccl. 5.2), Yahweh – the
invisible God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – desired to dwell among his people,
that his presence – mediated by a pillar of cloud/fire – would be part of the
daily life of the Israelites. To that
end, Yahweh instructed Moses to construct a “tabernacle” (a large tent) that
the Israelites could transport during their 40-year journey through the
wilderness.[1] Whenever the Israelites made camp, the
tabernacle would be erected in the center, and the 12 tribes would encamp on
all four sides of Yahweh’s portable shrine.
Once the Israelites settled in Canaan, the tabernacle was set up at
Shiloh, and once Shiloh had been destroyed by the Philistines (cf. 1 Sam. 1—6),
the ark of the covenant was kept in a private home until David brought it to
Jerusalem (cf. 2 Sam. 6). Upon the
construction of the Jerusalem temple by Solomon, the ark was installed in its
rightful place – behind the veil in the Holy of Holies (cf. 1 Kings 8). The Jerusalem Temple would be the central
(and only authorized) Israelite shrine for the worship of Yahweh, until it was
destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C.[2]
The penultimate chapter of Revelation opens with the moment of new
creation. Then, a new Jerusalem descends
from the new heaven to the new earth. As
the new Jerusalem lands, a loud voice proclaims that “the home (i.e.
tabernacle) of God is among mortals” (Rev. 21.3; cf. Lev. 26.11-13). There is no temple in this city (Rev. 21.22);
indeed, the new Jerusalem is designed in the shape of the Holy of Holies of the
old Jerusalem Temple (cf. Rev. 21.15-17).
The entire city is replete with the unmediated presence of the
Creator. Not only that, God’s people
will see his face (Rev. 22.4; cf. Ex. 33.9-11, 17-23). The God who designed the cosmos as a temple
in which his human creatures would represent him, the God who “went camping”
with his people for 40 years in the desert – this God now floods the temple of
his new cosmos with his immediate and palpable presence (cf. Hab. 2.14). Heaven and earth are united in the new cosmos
which is unveiled at the close of Revelation – a cosmos suffused with the
presence of the Giver of life, which means that the new world is one without
death, without pain and without sad tears.
“I
saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the
Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the
glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The
nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their
glory into it…Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life,
bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through
the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree
of life…and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”
(Rev. 21.22 – 22.2)
Outsiders. There’s no way
around it; the book of Revelation is full of violence. Whether the violence is perpetuated by evil
empires or by the Creator of all things, it is pervasive and vividly portrayed
throughout the book. One way of
understanding this explosion of destruction is that Revelation is the ultimate
expression of the biblical longing for evil to be judged and for righteousness
to prevail (cf. the imprecatory Psalms).
This violent text has often produced one of two (misguided) reactions – many
readers are thrilled to see that at long last evil (and those who cooperate
with it) will be eradicated and the true believers transported to a better
place while many others are horrified that such gratuitous chaos would ever be
attributed to God, and they therefore dismiss Revelation as some kind of
canonical anomaly.[3]
And yet, judgment is not the last word in Revelation. The final two chapters consist of a stunning
vision of salvation – which is no less baffling than the seemingly never-ending
series of judgments which precede it.
While Revelation is often believed to end with “the great white throne
judgment”[4] scene with
all of humanity being dispatched to their eternal destination – either hell
(the lake of fire) or heaven, the final chapters actually follow this
vivid portrayal of divine justice vis-à-vis “all the dead” (cf. 20.12). What we find as chapter 21 opens is a vision
of nothing less than a new creation: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth…”
(Rev. 21.1; cf. Gn. 1.1). This
disorienting (yet very biblical!) vision of ultimate salvation continues with
the “new Jerusalem” descending from heaven in order to become the dwelling of
those who belong to God and the Lamb (21.2-5; cf. 7.9-17). Wedding imagery suffuses this “unveiling” of
the union of heaven and earth. Not only
is this salvific vision very “earthly”, it is also surprisingly inclusive –
“the gates of the city will never be shut” (21.25). More surprising still, the perennial enemies
of God are now given access to the “heavenly” city (which is now on earth:
21.24; 22.2).
While countless empires have sought to conquer the world, the Creator
seeks to liberate his world from all those who would enslave it. Those who have sought to dominate and bend the
world to their will are now brought into harmony with the Creator’s purpose and
are made to participate in the fullness of the kingdom of God. “The nations will walk by the light of the
city[5], and the
kings of the earth will bring their glory into it” (Rev. 21.24; cf. Is. 2.3;
Micah 4.2). Also, the leaves of the Tree
of Life are for the healing of the nations (22.2). The kings of the earth who have always conspired
against the Creator and the nations who have raged against Yahweh’s anointed
king (cf. Psalm 2.1-3) are – so Revelation tells us – destined, not for
annihilation, but rather for healing.
The kings of the earth will make pilgrimage to the new Jerusalem to
offer their glory to the Source of all true glory. As the prophet Jeremiah had proclaimed about
Yahweh and his people:
“For
thus says the Lord:
Your hurt is incurable;
your wound is grievous…
I have dealt you the blow of an enemy,
the punishment of a merciless foe,
because your guilt is great,
because your sins are so numerous…
I will restore health to you,
and your wounds I will heal,
says
the Lord…
I
am going to restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob
and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city shall be rebuilt upon its mound…
And you shall be my people,
and I will be your God.” (Jer. 30.12-22)
The God who judges (wounds) is also the
God who saves (heals). Perhaps the book
of Revelation is the story of how the Creator “operates” on his world which has
been sickened by sin and wounded by evil, in order to finally heal it and
reconcile it to himself…
One more glance at the risen Jesus and the apostles:
“…“Lord,
is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied,
“It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his
own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1.6-8)
As for the apostles just before the Ascension, so it is for us. God has promised to remake his world. In the meantime, we have a job to do. We have been sent as witnesses to the goodness
of God and the love of Christ. The nations
of the world are destined for healing and we are called to proclaim that and
embody that. In a world bent on power
and violence, we are called to witness to restorative justice and love. Jesus is Lord and we are the people of the
Creator. Let us follow and serve our
Lord with joyful hope. Amen.
[1] Cf. Ex. chapters 25—40 (instructions for the construction of the
tabernacle); Ex. 33.7-11; Lev. 26.11-13; Numbers 1.50-53; 2.17.
[2] The ark of the covenant (cf. Ex. 25; Rev. 11.19) is presumed to
have been confiscated by the Babylonians.
There is no evidence of it after the final deportation of Judahites to
Babylon in the early 6th century B.C. The second Jerusalem temple was built in 515
B.C. and would eventually be destroyed by the Romans in the year AD 70.
[3] There are many precedents throughout Church history for this
attitude – whether it was Marcion’s view of the Hebrew Scriptures (OT) in the 2nd
century or Luther’s view of the Letter of James in the 16th century.
[4] Cf. Rev. 20.11-15.
[5] I.e. the light of God and the Lamb: cf. Rev. 21.23.
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