SECOND QUARTER 2018
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #3
APRIL 21, 2018
"JESUS AND THE BOOK OF REVELATION"
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #3
APRIL 21, 2018
"JESUS AND THE BOOK OF REVELATION"
We are told that when we read the book of Revelation we will see something highly significant. Notice, "The Lord will bless all who will seek humbly and meekly to understand that which is revealed in the Revelation. This book contains so much that is large with immortality and full of glory that all who read and search it earnestly receive the blessing to those "that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." One thing will certainly be understood from the study of Revelation--that the connection between God and His people is close and decided." {FLB 345.3}
If I were writing a letter to encourage my Christian friends that in the "end-times" God would protect and sustain them, and if I was concerned about strengthening their confidence and faith in God, I would start by projecting an image of distinct power and authority and strength – so they could be sure they'd be safe! What symbol might I use to project that strength – perhaps a lion, or tiger, or eagle, or elephant, or a bear. Jesus chose none of those symbols to represent to His end-time people His faithfulness, and the security they can have in Him.
Twenty-six times in the book of Revelation, John describes the hero on God's side of the great conflict between good and evil - as a lamb! Why would that be? And, at the end of the story, the lamb is victorious over the beast and the dragon, the false prophet, the land beast and the sea beast, and every other image of strength that represents Satan's side of the conflict! Clearly we are meant to understand something relating to the dynamics of winning this conflict that has little if anything to do with physical might and power!
God gives to Jesus who sends to His angel who reveals to John, a saga whereby victory is consistently on the side of the Lamb, although there are major setbacks throughout the story for the Lamb. At its most basic level, the battle pits a nonviolent, self-giving Lamb, against a violent, coercive, oppressive superpower represented as a beast supported by the dragon – and the Lamb wins.
And the decision about who is the winner is repeatedly decided not by a declaration from God by divine fiat or proclamation, but by the vote and testimony of the on-looking observers and participants. The ultimate decision about the victor is made not by God, but by us, by angels – fallen and unfallen, by everyone on earth, above the earth, and under the earth! Ultimately, everyone in the universe agrees that the humility, meekness, self-sacrifice, and beauty of the Lamb, represent the kind of ruler they all want at the head of the universe.
The use of the lamb symbol throughout the book of Revelation – and hence throughout the history of the great controversy – tells us that from the beginning to the end of the controversy, God in His Son has been operating from the basis of self-sacrifice to win this conflict. The lamb is chosen to represent the principle of the cross that has been in the heart of God forever. And God is working to win this conflict by persistently and unchangingly maintaining the sacrifice of Himself for the uplifting of His creatures as His only method of operation.
And, ultimately, as you and I, and all the angels and unfallen universe, and Satan and his angels, and all humanity, sinners and saints alike, discern how God has operated, and who has done what is right in this conflict, we will all agree that God's way, as revealed by His Son the Lamb, is "just and true" (Rev.15:3). God in Christ the Lamb has been just (fair, impartial, even-handed) and true (honest, trustworthy, faithful) in all His ways and dealings with us, with the lost, and with Satan and his angels.
Self-sacrificing love (the Lamb's method) will be seen to be the law of life for the universe, and the path that all of us will want to walk for eternity as that will lead to happiness and joy for all. May we begin to walk on that path resolutely and unswervingly today.
~Bob Hunsaker
| RR |
