Today we conclude our look at Revelation’s description of the future that awaits us – a recreated world in which there’s no more evil, in which sin’s curse has been undone, and in which we can see God face-to-face. If you’re just joining us, start with yesterday’s post.

Revelation 22:1-2 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 

The river of the water of life reminds us of Eden, in  Genesis 2:

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Yesterday, we looked at the fate of those who remain opposed to God. Over the next two days, we end on a much brighter note – the future that awaits those who are faithful to God, and worship him only.

Revelation 21:1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 

The chapter begins with a new heaven and a new earth, replacing or renewing the former ones. Although surfers may be disappointed that there’s no longer any sea, don’t panic: it’s symbolic. The sea symbolises the evil forces of chaos – just like in the creation story, where God subdued the chaos of the waters and caused dry land to appear.

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Yesterday in our Revelation series, we saw the fate of those who remained true to Jesus, being invited to the great wedding supper of the Lamb. It was contrasted with the fate of those who remained opposed to him and who mistreated his people: the beast and the false prophet were thrown into the fiery lake, and the rest were destroyed. Today, we look at some final tidying up of things, before we get a glimpse, tomorrow, of our future in the age to come. 

The millennium – mentioned only in this small section of Scripture – has strangely divided Christians for a long time into different camps: are you pre-millennial, post-millennial, or a-millennial. (Why? Let’s just say that one particular view tried  to hijack the issue and link their way of understanding it to whether you took Scripture “literally” – so if you disagreed with them, it was a sign you were a liberal heretic. Thankfully, those days seem to be on the way out. See my overview on reading Revelation for a longer explanation.)

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Yesterday in our Revelation series, we saw the prophesied end of the great prostitute (Rome) because of its exploitation of the empire and its persecution of God’s people. Today, we move into the next phase of God setting things right – into our future – when Christ returns.

We ended yesterday on a note of triumph – the vindication of God’s people, as the whore of Babylon (Rome) is destroyed. Today, we see a stark contrast with the Bride of Christ (the Church):

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Over the last two weeks in Revelation, we’ve seen how the beast (the Roman Emperor) set itself up as a rival god to the one, true God – and forced the people of the empire to worship it. Chapter 13 was all about presenting the emperor as he really was, rather than how Rome’s PR department would have you see him. Chapters 14-15 then gave motivation for resisting the mark of the beast (worshipping the emperor), contrasting the future that awaits Team Beast with that which awaits Team Jesus. Today, we briefly look at the fate of Rome and her emperor (chapters 17-19), as Revelation moves from its readers’ present into its readers’ near future.

Chapter 17 starts off with a by-now-routine announcement from an explanatory angel:

Revelation 17:1 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters.”

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Last week, we looked at the mark of the beast – going along with the rest of the empire in worshipping the emperor as a god, in place of the one true God. And we saw how we, too, often go along with our world and its idolatry. This week, we’re looking at how Revelation encourages its readers not to go along with the world, by appealing to the four cardinal virtues of advantage, justice, courage, and self-control – how Revelation helps us to resist the mark of the beast.

The victors

We arrive today at chapter 15, which jumps again to a vision of those who overcome and resist the mark of the beast. (Those who didn’t were a big, bloody mess at the end of chapter 14, if you recall.) Here, John’s vision paints their situation like that of Israel as slaves in Egypt. In fact, he describes their future deliverance – their final salvation – using exodus terminology. It will be a new, and greater exodus!

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Last week, we looked at the mark of the beast – going along with the rest of the empire in worshipping the emperor as a god, in place of the one true God. And we saw how we, too, often go along with our world and its idolatry. This week, we’re looking at how Revelation encourages its readers not to go along with the world, by appealing to the four cardinal virtues of advantage, justice, courage, and self-control. Starting with chapter 14, we’ll first discuss what each paragraph means, and then step back to ask the question: how does this help us resist the mark of the beast?

The 144,000 reappear

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