GOD'S NEW WORLD, DAY 33 (the fate of the nations, part III)

 


“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)

     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.[1]

     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”[2] 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).

     “The nations will walk by the light of the city[3], and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it” (21.24).  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:

“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…


[1] 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.

[2] Cf. Rev. 20.11-15.

[3] I.e. the light of God and the Lamb: cf. Rev. 21.23.

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