Sermon from February 25, 2007
In John's vision I saw our congregation standing in awe on the far side of what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. We strove to know the meaning of what we saw and what we should do.

After witnessing the worship of heaven that had filled us with joy, it was hard to turn our gaze away from there to witness the dread that came upon the whole earth. The Lamb had opened the seven seals of the mysterious scroll, which He had taken from the right hand of the one who sits on the throne.

I regret my earlier perception of heaven's purpose for this dread that came upon the whole earth. I had thought that heaven's purpose was to cow a rebellious world into submission by sheer force. What changed my mind were the constant interruptions.

For example: The fearsome ride of the Four Horsement had spoken plainly about conquest, war, famine, and death. Without warning the opening of the fifth seal had presented us with witnesses, faithful unto death, and a promise of more to come.

Then the Lamb of God opened the sixth seal, and the peoples of earth cried out for the mountains and the rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. I thought, "At last! The long night of man's rebellion against God is ending. The day is almost here!"

It did not happen. The hair-raising spectacle of nature coming undone and the distraught cry of rebellious humanity for the mountains to fall upon them simply stopped, as when a screen goes blank at the critical, dramatic moment. What followed was another, longer story of martyrs that had nothing to do with cowing a rebellious world into submission by sheer force.

Interruptions continued when the Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, opened the seventh seal. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. We may say that the seventh seal reveals the end of all things, for it does; but it reveals it in seven new installments, seven trumpets to be sounded.

I began to get the impression that heaven was in no hurry to bring about the end of all things. One interruption after the other bore witness to the patience of heaven, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance – 2 Peter 3:9.

After the sixth trumpet had blown, I began to understand heaven's patience. John said: The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood – idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Judgment, even the judgment of God has limits. But if judgment will not bring a rebellious world to repentance and to give glory to the God of heaven, what will? It is time to discern in all this God's secret strategy that achieves the conversion of the nations. Please join me once again in the last book of the Bible, in the seventh chapter of John's vision: Revelation 7:4.

The Meaning of the Interruptions
The martyrs behind the fifth seal, the first interruption, gave the first indication of God's secret strategy. I missed it at first. It is easy to miss. Martyrdom does not seem like the way to overcome the evil of the world. The second, larger story of martyrs that interrupted the opening of the seventh seal revealed more of God's secret strategy. What John first heard in that story was gripping.

Verse four: Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. What follows in verses 5-8 is a military roll call. Each of the twelve tribes of Israel, beginning with Judah, stepped forward with 12,000.

Putting Judah first reminded me of what one of the 24 elders had said to John earlier: "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals" – Revelation 5:5.

Lion of the tribe of Judah and Root of David! Gooseflesh and chill had overtaken me at the sound of those names. A surge of martial ardor had made me ready to renounce everything and follow this majestic figure into the decisive campaign for divine hegemony over all the earth. And now an army of Israel, led by the sons of Judah to follow the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, into battle!

Nothing prepared me then for what I saw, when I turned to look at the Lion of Judah and saw a lamb, looking as if it had been slain. What I saw then should have prepared me for what John saw immediately after the roll call of Israel's soldiers.

Verse 9: After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

Earlier, John had turned to see the Lion of the tribe of Judah; instead he saw a Lamb, loking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne. Now, he had turned to see a military force of 144,000 Jewish soldiers; instead he saw a multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people and language, and they were not waring military uniforms. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm brances in their hands.

Further down, in verse 14, one of the 24 elders told us what we were looking at: "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

This vision is no military roll call for battle. It is a military roll call after the battle, and the warriors to be honored, who did not bear arms, are martyrs. I remembered that Revelation uses the language of warfare, because from age to age war rages between Christ and His Bride on one hand and the beast and Babylon the harlot on the other.

But in this warfare the weapons of Christ are suffering, patient endurance, and faithful witness even to the point of death. Unlikely as it seemed, these were the weapons of the Lamb with which He conquered. Unlikely as it seemed, these were the weapons of the followers of the Lamb with which they conquered.

"They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." I wondered at this strange imagery, and then it became clear. John had earlier called Jesus the faithful witness. The blood of the Lamb was the price He paid for His faithful witness. The multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language had imitated the witness of their Lord and paid the same price. Imitating His faithful witness even to the point of death made their robes white.

Another Interruption
This vision of a great multitude in their martyrs' white robes postponed the breaking of the seventh seal. Then, the Lamb broke the seventh seal, only to reveal seven trumpets that had to be sounded before the end could come. But the end of chapter nine of John's vision, the sith angel had sounded the sixth trumpet. The end of all things was at hand, as the seventh angel prepared to sound the final trumpet call of God.

It did not happen. Once again, I knew that it was the way of mercy. The postponement also made me realize with a start I had forgotten something. I was so bewildered by all I had seen that I had forgotten about the mysterious scroll itself. All I had seen – the four horsemen, the martyrs, the plagues on the earth – all made sense only in light of the writing on the scroll. The seals that hid its contents had been removed; but what did it say?

Chapters ten and eleven of John's vision reveal what it said. I was relieved when chapter ten opened with the vision of another mighty angel. Verse two: He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. I had no doubt that it was the mysterious scroll, which the Lamb had opened. Now, we would find out what it said.

But for a moment, I thought there was going to be another interruption. Verse three: the mighty angel gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. It seemed that the seventh trumpet might have to wait for seven thunders. God's purpose seemed like nesting dolls, one inside the other.

Verse four: And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down." At the end of verse six, another angel explained: "There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished."

Then, in verse eight, the first angel that had brought John into heaven told him: "Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel." John did so. In verse nine that angel said to him: "Take it and eat it." This is the Bible's way of saying that the message of the scroll, God's secret strategy, was to become John's prophetic message.

The angel said: "It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey." God's purpose blesses humanity but not without pain. Then John was told, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings."

The Witnessing Church
I had no doubt that John would begin to tell us what the scroll said. In chapter eleven of his vision John began to prophesy. I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there. But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.

I knew that measuring was a sign that God would preserve His people through suffering and martyrdom, because verse two says what wasn't measured was trampled. From among the protected arose two witnesses. John was told: "I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth."

The two witnesses seemed indestructible. Verses 5-6: If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men, like Elijah of old, have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they, like Moses of old, have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.

That made the prophecy in John's mouth sweet as honey. What turned his stomach sour came next. Verse seven: Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. Who is this beast? We all wanted to know. No one explained.

But one thing was clear: a story of martyrs had appeared for the third time. The mysterious scroll was all about faithful witness even unto death. Far more space was given to this theme in John's vision than to the judgments. But what purpose did it serve? We all wanted to know. No one explained. Then, the prophecy turned sweet again.

Verses 11-12: But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they, like their Lord, went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.

The Pastoral Center of Gravity
I was pondering what the vision meant when, says verse 13, at that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The collapse stunned me into silence and grief. I thought at first that it was just more misery, until I noticed something odd about John's numbers.

John had compared the two witnesses to Elijah and Moses, each of whom in his day confronted an oppressive, idolatrous enemy of God's people. During Elijah's day, when idolatry overwhelmed Israel from within, Elijah lamented to God, "I alone am left" – 1 Kings 19:10. God had pointed out that besides him a tiny remnant of seven thousand in Israel ... had not bowed down to Baal – 1 Kings 19:18.

Then, it became clear. In John's vision the seven thousand who died when the city collapsed was the tiny remnant. John had deliberately reversed the proportions. The tiny minority had died, but the vast majority, says verse 13, was terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. "In Revelation, 'fear' frequently has the positive significance of the Old Testament's 'fear of the Lord,' meaning the proper attitude of worshipful reverence toward God," and "'to give glory to God' always in Revelation refers positively to giving God the worship which is due to him." (Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy, 278).

The majority had repented. They had begun to imitate on earth the worship of heaven that had given us so much joy. What the terrible judgments of God could not do, the suffering witness of the Church had brought about. That is God's secret strategy.

Our faithful guide, the Son of St. Andrew, made me understand the meaning of the story of the two witnesses. The "two individual prophets represent the prophetic witness to which the whole church is called in the final period of world history" (ibid, 273). The Church's imitation of Christ's faithful witness is God's secret strategy in the conflict that rages between Christ and His Bride on one hand and the beast and Babylon the harlot on the other. That witness, not judgment, achieves the conversion of the nations.

It is not coincidence that the seventh trumpet sounds immediately. Verse 15: The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: 'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."

But there is so much more to tell. Who is this beast that attacks, overpowers, and kills the faithful witnesses? Where does his power come from? What will happen to him?