By way of introduction, imagine two very contrasting reactions to the same situation. Scenario one: You are a rabid sports fan and a die-hard supporter of a particular team, and they are playing a crucial game. You might be watching it on TV, and you are on the edge of your seat throughout. The pressure can be unbearable, especially when it seems that your side is losing. Indeed, you might need to look away at times, since it is looking so very grim and discouraging.
Scenario two: You are now watching the same game – but on replay. You KNOW the outcome: your team has won! Now you can sit back and watch the game, fully relaxed. You are not worried at all. You do not have knots in your stomach. You are not sweating profusely. Because you know your side has been victorious, it is quite an enjoyable experience.
That is about how Christians can look at the world and what is happening all around them. On the one hand, these are very dark and frightful times. We can greatly fear what tomorrow might bring. It seems that evil is winning everywhere, and there are fewer and fewer folks who stand for righteousness and godliness.
But on the other hand, we have been told by our Lord how things will pan out – and we win! Sure, all the fine details can be unclear, and we do not know exactly when Christ will return, but we do know that one day all evil will be defeated, and Christ will fully reign and rule. As we pray, ‘your kingdom come, and your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matthew 6:10).
We can debate many of the details found there, but the book of Revelation is all about God’s victory. “He wins” is the shorthand version of what the book is all about. Let me look at two portions of this book, and offer some comments from others. Many commentators can be utilised here, but I will restrict myself to just two of them.
If Romans 13 tells us about God’s plan for the state, Rev. 13 tells us about Satan’s. There we read about the two beasts. Thomas Schreiner in his recent commentary (BECNT, 2023), says this about the second beast and the ungodly state:
The message of the second beast … is not that one should live and let live, that those who aren’t inclined to worship the first beast will be left alone. The message coming from the second beast is that all must worship the first beast and its image (cf. 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4). Coercion, compulsion, and totalitarianism are the order of the day, and those who refuse to submit and to give their allegiance to the beast will be put to death. The Roman Empire and all totalitarian regimes that follow it are despotic and authoritarian, leaving no space for the conscience and convictions of the individual. The power of the state runs roughshod over the devotion to God and to the Lamb that marks out the redeemed. We are reminded again of Dan. 3, where Nebuchadnezzar made a golden image requiring all people everywhere to fall down and worship the image and those who failed to conform would be killed (3:6). . . . Whatever the historical particulars, the totalizing and repressive nature of the state surfaces.
And J. Scott Duvall (Teach the Text, 2014), says this about the Christian and the state:
Revelation 13 and Romans 13 have often been compared when thinking about the relationship between the Christian and the state. The apostle Paul reminds us that God created human government and “there is no authority except that which God has established” (Rom. 13:1; cf. Dan. 4:17, 25, 32; John 19:11). When operating properly under divine authority, the state upholds law and order and serves as an instrument of justice (Rom. 13:4). But human institutions may be hijacked for evil purposes, and such is the case in Revelation 13. Satan sometimes works through secular power systems and the wicked individuals who rule those systems. When the state turns tyrannical and demands unconditional allegiance, Christians have no choice but to “obey God rather than human beings” (Acts 5:29). John Stott identifies the theological principle at work: “We are to submit right up to the point where obedience to the state would entail disobedience to God. But if the state commands what God forbids, or forbids what God commands, then our plain Christian duty is to resist, not to submit, to disobey the state in order to obey God.”
That and other portions of Revelation give us the bad news. There is an evil world system that so often manifests itself in wicked government, evil systems of trade and commerce, and in the cultural and social patterns of an ungodly culture. Such ungodliness and unrighteousness in ruling political and social structures are often at war with the purposes and plans of God – and God’s people.
Revelation: (A Paragraph-by-Paragraph Exegetical Evangelical Bible Commentary - BECNT) (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament)by Thomas R. Schreiner (Author), Yarbrough, Robert W. (Series Editor), Jipp, Joshua (Series Editor)
But the good news is that all this eventually comes to an end. It will not go on forever. Babylon (the demonised state) will face God’s just judgment, and godly rule will extend over all the earth. So chapters like Rev. 18 give us some of this terrific news. It is what we can rejoice in. Schreiner is again worth quoting from:
The wanton shedding of blood by Babylon raises the question of justice, whether Babylon will face consequences for her actions. God will avenge the lives of his servants that have been extinguished because of Babylon’s rage. In context, the fall of Babylon calls for rejoicing, and John draws on biblical tradition as well. Moses declares in Deut. 32:43, “Rejoice, you nations, concerning his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries”. The peoples of the world are summoned to be glad at the display of God’s justice. The Lord declares to Jehu, who is the agent of vengeance on Baal worship in Israel, “You will avenge the blood of my servants, the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord” (2 Kings 9:7). The psalmist expresses the same notion: “Let your vengeance for the blood of your servants which has been shed be known among the nations who are before our eyes” (Ps. 79:10). Those who know God rejoice when injustices are addressed, when those who have abused others are repaid for the evil wrought. We have an answer here to the prayer of the martyrs in Rev. 6:10 who ask the Lord to avenge their blood.
And Scott says this about exulting in the downfall of evil:
There have been times when God has dramatically defeated the enemies of his covenant people, resulting in praise and rejoicing. After the Lord rescues Israel from the pursuing Egyptians, Moses and the Israelites sing a song of praise to God (Exod. 15:1–21; cf. Deut. 32:43). Speaking of God’s coming judgment against ancient Babylon, the prophet Jeremiah speaks words echoed years later in Revelation 18–19: “For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her. Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, … Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon” (Jer. 51:47–49). In other words, there are times when the most appropriate response to God’s judgment of evil is rejoicing.
He goes on to offer a few words to keep things in biblical balance:
While this passage conveys important truths about sin and judgment, a caution is first in order.
We should not confuse rejoicing over God’s judgment of evil powers with the suffering of sinners. The celebration comes because God’s justice has finally been administered, not because we seek revenge or delight in seeing deceived people suffer. We praise God because he is faithful to bring down evil rulers and kingdoms that have deceived the nations and ruthlessly oppressed his people. God has shown himself faithful and vindicated his people. For this, he deserves enthusiastic praise!
We must resist the temptation to join in the sins of Babylon: arrogance, deception, and murder. We have to be careful not to allow the luxury and power of any present-day Babylon to draw us into idolatry and immorality. Babylon deceives by promising life and happiness and prosperity, while delivering bondage and death. Her prideful rejection of God, her selfish misleading of humanity, and her uncompromising intolerance of those who confess Jesus as Lord should be enough warning, but God’s people still need to be commanded, “Come out of her, my people” (18:4). This passage presents a clear opportunity to help people come to grips with what they are really pursuing in life. Where do our loyalties and priorities lie? Joining in Babylon’s sins leads to certain judgment, a judgment that also includes the loss of good and wholesome things such as music, work, food, light, and marriage.
The righteous must continue to trust that God will bring justice on the earth. Most commentators see this passage linked in some way to God’s answer to the prayers of the martyred saints in 6:9-11. How long, 0 Lord? Answer: a little longer. But one day God will bring justice. One day God will answer. It’s reminiscent of Jesus’s conclusion to the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8: “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” In the meantime, believers who are persecuted and oppressed continue to trust and pray and endure, knowing that God will one day vindicate his suffering people because he is true and just in character. We can rest assured that wicked tyrants will be brought to justice.
That we must do: keep praying and keep enduring. And keep working and keep seeking to serve Christ in an ever-darkening world. The evil tyrants of this world – even just the ungodly and corrupt leaders in Western democratic nations – will not always be with us.
We can seek to work against their bad policies and immoral agendas now, hoping to find some good outcomes in this fallen world. But we await the Parousia in which all wrongs will be judged and all goods rewarded. So in the meantime, we soldier on.
