"Quite Revealing" -- Tim Phillips
I will admit I'm somewhat of a James Bond fan. I've seen all the movies, most of them multiple times ("Goldfinger" is probably my favorite). When I was a nerdy teenager, I even played a role playing game that was directly based on the Bond films. It's tough to choose my favorite actor who played the British superspy (of course, I like Sean Connery, but I am also odd in that I also like Timothy Dalton). Roger Moore was a little too campy for me sometimes, but he did have some witty one-liners (his delivery was probably the best). "Live and Let Die" provides a great example of that. It featured two villains (Mr. Big and Kananga), who were both played one of my favorite actors, Yaphet Kotto. In the scene where Mr. Big removes his makeup and shows Bond that he was really just Kananga in disguise all along, Bond (played by Roger Moore) quips, "Quite revealing."
"Quite revealing" might be an appropriate response to the book of Revelation. After all, that's what "revelation" actually means, and that's the way we normally use the term "revelation" (such as when we speak of God's general revelation and special revelation). The title of the book, while being a distinct type of literary genre, also refers, in a basic sense, to something that is revealed, uncovered, or laid bare. The book of Revelation begins with a series of messages being given to seven different churches in Asia Minor. All are going through various struggles, such as dealing with false teaching and sin in their midst, and some are enduring intense persecution. What are they to think, and what are they to do, when they face such struggles? Revelation helps provide an answer. Over and over again, faithful Christians are reassured that God has not forgotten them (e.g., Rev. 2:1, 9-11; 3:8-12; 7:1-3; etc.). They are called to remain faithful and persevere. Compromising the Christian faith, giving up on God, abandoning the church, or failing to call upon the Lord Jesus Christ are simply not options. Do we not need to hear this message proclaimed loud and clear in our churches today?
Our congregation has been studying the book of Revelation on Sunday evenings during 2021. We recently reached the midpoint of the book -- Revelation 12. The first eleven chapters present an overview of history, told from different perspectives, while the second half of the book gives a glimpse of the spiritual battle that is raging while this is happening. This overview of history (the history of the New Testament church) can be summarized in three movements: the opposition of the world to the gospel, the coming judgment of Christ against the wicked nations of the world, and the church's call to persevere as this is happening.1 This is a repeating pattern throughout the last 2000 years. We live in a world that is hostile to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He will return one day in judgment, but in the meantime we are called to remain faithful until He does. Indeed there will be much suffering and tribulation in this world, and this should not surprise us (John 15:19; Acts 14:22 ; 2 Timothy 3:12). But our Lord is not oblivious to our condition -- He even warned us about it. We are not to live our lives in expectation of mystically being whisked away from these things. A servant is indeed not greater than his Master -- our Lord suffered and persevered, and so shall we, as we are dependent on Him for His sustaining grace and mercy.
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
When I was in seminary at Erskine in the early 2000s, one of my professors, Dr. Lloyd Melton, taught a class on the book of Revelation. He used an illustration that has always stuck with me, and one I've shared many times. It goes like this: A father took his young son to a park one Saturday, and there was a puppet show being performed in the middle of the park. During the performance, a scary dragon appeared, frightening the young boy. When he saw the boy was too afraid to continue watching, the father took him around to the other side of the stage and pulled back the curtain. Inside the boy could see the puppeteer who was making everything happen. The meaning was clear: the events of this world can be frightening and overwhelming, but there is a spiritual battle which lies behind it. The book of Revelation is God's way of pulling back the curtain for us, letting us see behind the scenes, and reassuring us that things will be all right. We must not forget that God is entirely in control, and things are progress according to His plan.
Things in this world may currently stink, dear Christian, but press on. Remain faithful and preserve. And always keep your eyes on our Lord Jesus Christ, who will one return to judge the nations in righteousness. And He shall reign forever and ever.
1 At least that would be one example of an amillennial approach. See Richard Phillips, Revelation. Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P &R Publishing, 2017), p. 342.