It is surprising how many people come to the Lord and His people with serious and distressing troubles. Illness, abuse, difficult family relationships, and low self-esteem plague many. And having grown out of some difficulties, new ones often arise. While we struggle to help people grow and develop, if we’re not careful we can become exhausted ourselves. Peter famously warns, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Is he invincible? Can we rise above his schemes? Are fledgling new Christians doomed? Let’s have a look at John’s encouragement in the Bible’s final book.
Revelation 12–13 presents us with a frightening lineup of great enemies of God’s people. Their appearance is startling, their voices roar with threats and blasphemy, and their tactics are deceptive. Their goal is to make war with God’s people and fool them with abilities that are similar to the godly prophets of old. They speak with authority, work signs, and wear crowns. Many believers would be fooled and still more would give in to their forceful pressures.
Chapter 12 features the tireless schemes of the devil himself, pictured as a powerful dragon capable of sweeping away a third of the stars of heaven with his tail. He promptly sets himself before an innocent woman about to give birth, intending to devour the newborn child. She represents God’s people persecuted by Rome, and many others like it. What hope is there?! Yet twice we’re told how God sweeps her to safety in a wilderness place where she is protected (v 6, 14). We must never forget that God is willing to work hard for His people and provide for them.
While the devil lost in chapter 12, he sends two more enemies in chapter 13. One is pictured as a beast coming up from the sea featuring ten horns and seven heads! Many agree this pictures Rome as a persecuting civil power. (See a similar vision found in Daniel 7). He speaks arrogant words and has great authority as he “makes war with the saints…to overcome them.” (v 7). We must stop and ask, “What hope do we have against such a beast? How can vulnerable new Christians continue to stand?” Let’s put this question on hold, for one more enemy is about to appear: “Another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon.” (13:11).
This final enemy looks harmless, like the lamb of chapter 5, but his tactic is to fool people by exercising great signs, conning people into following him, deceiving them so that they will divert their loyalty away from Jesus and His people. It is believed that this is Rome as a corrupt religious renegade. Rome certainly had lots of that with her idols and shrines – all financed by the wealth of the empire. How many Christians were fooled by the religions of the world that had come to Rome? How could a new follower of Jesus Christ negotiate through the labyrinth of false religion? How many today do the same in our modern world?
It could be said that the devil and his beasts still operate today, still fooling people, still making troubled people all the more troubled. He delights in drawing people away from the Lord’s church into groups that seem more exciting, yet the pure gospel is dropped. Is there no hope for them – and us? Chapter 14 tells us there is!
Here we see THE LAMB – not the false lamb of chapter 13 – standing on Mount Zion where God’s blessings and protection are found (see Psalm 2:6; Hebrews 12:22). And who are with Him? All of God’s people, represented by the 144,000. They are at peace and have been honoured to wear the name of God on their foreheads – marked for God’s care and preservation. And now John hears thunderous sounds, musical in nature, and realizes it is the singing of the 144,000. Its music personalized by the experiences of these Christians who have faced great battles. They are righteous, chaste, faithful, blameless – even heroic. God has purchased them and now protects them.
Here is our hope in our mixed-up world where the devil still prowls, searching for people he can hurt and fool. Sure, he is powerful, but we look to the Lamb for strength and protection. We “Run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…” (Hebrews 12:1–2). Despite life’s troubles, we must determine to be faithful, chaste and righteous.
Vulnerable new Christians can stand, secure and hopeful, knowing the lamb stands with them. The endless troubles that surround us can be faced with strength and hope because our all-powerful God can send us “mercy and [we] may find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). Weary Christians helpers can find strength to carry on because they can see the Master in Scripture doing the same.
We must remember, that even though we have powerful enemies and enormous tasks, the saints still sing!
Barrie, Ontario