Rich Realities from Revelation
Studies in the Apocalypse that Give us Hope
A lesson from the letters to the Churches in Chapter 3
John, in Revelation, portrays the great Roman Empire as a prostitute (17:1). She is a prostitute because she commits spiritual immorality, turning her heart from God. The nations around the Roman Empire also committed immorality with her, making commerce with the great harlot (18:3). Babylon and all her paramours were living it up, ignoring the God of heaven but also imposing (or trying) her will on Christians who refused to compromise. In place of compromise, Babylon offered death (18:24).
So, God is going to bring death to the great prostitute. “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!” (18:2). Before that time comes, God is going to put pressure on the nation of Rome with the intent that men would repent (see 16:9-11). God is long-suffering, not willing that any would perish but that all would come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
God planned to bring victory over Rome (6:2), eventually through war (6:3). In its wake, there would be famine (6:5-6) and death (6:7-8). Under the mighty hand of God, the terror would be so great that men would try to hide themselves from the “wrath of the Lamb” (6:12-17). But there would be no escape.
In a way it is somewhat unfortunate that when a nation gets punished, the faithful within that nation also suffer. Joshua and Caleb believed God could give them the land of Canaan but when the majority disbelieved, Joshua and Caleb had to suffer through 40 years in the wilderness with everyone else. The same is true with the Assyrian exile and the Babylonian exile. The same is true today and the same was true in the first few centuries. When God punished the nation of Rome, Christians would also suffer. That is the “tribulation” to which John refers in the book of Revelation (1:9; 2:9, 10, 22; 7:14).
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The martyrs were crying from under the altar, in the presence of God, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (6:10). Throughout the Revelation, Jesus is encouraging: “Yes, I am coming quickly” (6:17; 16:15; 22:7, 12, 20). In a short time (“one hour”), the judgment of Babylon was coming (14:15; 16:15; 18:8, 10). But when Babylon suffers, Christians would suffer with her. Some of their suffering would be caused by Babylon; some of it would be felt in the suffering God brings on Babylon (such as famine). But at the same time, God was calling Christians to stay faithful and not compromise in the face of all this tribulation.
Thus, God warns the Christians in the first century to “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues” (18:4). If they did not come out from the sin of their society, Jesus would come to them in judgment. That is the message we receive from the letters to the churches in chapter three (and also chapter two).
To the church in Ephesus, Jesus warns: “repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent” (2:5). To the Christians in Pergamum, “repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth” (2:16). To the dead saints in Sardis, “Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you” (3:3).
To the church in Philadelphia, Jesus admonishes: “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown” (3:10-11). Finally, to the Christians in Laodicea: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me” (3:20).
All these passages show us that Jesus can come in judgment in this day and age if He so chooses. The latter passage (3:20) deals with coming in fellowship to Christians. These references to His “coming” are not to His final coming on the last, great day. They are references to Him coming in judgment against Rome and against His own church if they do not remain faithful. We might not know if/when Jesus judges our nation or our own congregation. But He is certainly capable of doing so because He holds in His hand the keys of death and of hades (1:18). Let’s remain faithful.
–Paul Holland
