LIFE IN THE FACE OF APOSTASY (3)
[p. 20] LIFE IN THE FACE OF APOSTASY (3)
Revelation 7:2,3; Revelation 7:17; Revelation 11: 11
JT We remarked yesterday that the subject of life is found throughout the book of Revelation. We were occupied first with Christ as being the One who lives to the ages of ages and who lays His right hand upon His servant, that the ministry may be continued in a living way. We also remarked that the overcomers were encouraged, having promises as to life. The overcomer in Ephesus is promised a part in the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. To the overcomer in Smyrna the crown of life is promised. The promise made to the overcomer in Sardis is that his name shall not be blotted out of the book of life. Overcomers are therefore regarded as appreciating the great thought of life.
Then we saw in chapters 4 and 5 that life, in a universal sense, characterises the operations of God. It speaks of four living creatures in the midst of the throne and around the throne, full of eyes before and behind. There is a beautiful bond between the living creatures and the elders who celebrate the Lamb. They sing a new song. That reminds us that our worship is to be in freshness.
In chapter 6 we see the living creatures in connection with the opening of the seals; the testimony of life is seen in every feature of the divine operations. All this reminds us that the Lord has opened for us a door which none can shut, and our activities are to be marked by spiritual life, instead of being only in outwardly correct forms. Our meetings and our movements are to be in life. As was remarked yesterday, Hezekiah said: “The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I this day: ... and we will play upon my stringed instruments all the days of our life, in the house of Jehovah”, Isaiah 38: 19, 20.
Another feature relative to life is presented in chapter [p. 21] 7, where it is a question of the “seal of the living God”.
Ques Who is this angel who ascends from the sunrising?
JT You have there a thought of hope, as it says at the end of the Old Testament that the Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings. You will notice that it speaks of “four angels standing upon the four corners of the earth, holding fast the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow upon the earth, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree”. We are here in the presence of divine sovereignty. Nothing can happen, even adversely, without God. If He calls His elect, He creates corresponding conditions. If an extraordinary situation comes about, at that moment God has an end in view: His elect are to be saved and marked with the seal of the living God.
Ques Why is God called the living God?
Rem This name is set over against corruption, is it not?
JT The living God is often presented in the Scriptures to the Jewish believers, because the people had fallen into a dead ceremonial, which has happened today to christendom. We have to do with a living order of things; our hope is living; and Christ Himself is the living Stone.
Rem Peter entered into this thought when he said to the Lord: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Matthew 16:16 The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Jews were absorbed in an absolutely dead ceremonial; and in the face of that state of things the Lord desired His own to express what they thought of Him: “But ye, who do ye say that I am?” to which Peter answers. “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”.
Rem The Thessalonians had turned from idols to serve the living and true God.
JT It is very easy for us to fall into routine. What we are saying would have in view to produce among us [p. 22] a living state, answering to our public confession of the Lord Jesus. This thought must accompany that of the “seal of the living God”, which refers to the Holy Spirit in us. There are three things which are said of the Holy Spirit in the believer: the believer is anointed, he is sealed and he has received the earnest of the Spirit in his heart; so that we are manifested as belonging to God if we have the seal of God. The anointing is in view of service; it points to dignity. The earnest of the Spirit in our hearts is our portion. We pass through this world to serve God, and belonging to God we cannot belong to any society. When the seal of the living God is spoken of, it is in view of the mark of the beast. They are sealed “upon their foreheads”. “Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, until we shall have sealed the bondmen of our God upon their foreheads”. Those who are bondmen are at God’s disposal for His service. We cannot righteously belong to another master. In possessing the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts we have the means of constant enjoyment.
Rem There is a difference between bondmen and servants.
JT We belong to God absolutely. He has absolute rights over us. We can well accept the position of bondmen of God, because of the enjoyment that accompanies that position. The Lord Jesus Himself took a bondman’s form; if we accept that place we are in accord with Him. Here it is a question of a very exclusive company; there is only a certain number. A hundred and forty-four thousand is a considerable number, but there are only a hundred and forty-four thousand.
Ques How has the number a hundred and forty-four thousand a present application?
JT It is a precious thought that we belong to a numbered company; it is not any company.
Rem This is a sufficient number in view of administration: twelve times twelve thousand.
JT The number twelve lends itself to divisibility;
[p. 23] it can be divided by itself, by six, by four, by three, by two.
Ques Can everyone have part in this limited number?
JT Evidently, it is a symbolic number that typifies that there are no more. From the standpoint of divine counsel there will not be one more than God has purposed. But in preaching the gospel we use the word ‘whosoever’, as it says in the last chapter of Revelation: “Let him that is athirst come; he that will, let him take the water of life freely” Revelation 22:17. The last part of this chapter brings out the second aspect of this truth.
It says in verse 9: “After these things I saw, and lo, a great crowd, which no one could number, out of every nation and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palm branches in their hands”. In the second part of the chapter, it is not a question of what God does in putting His seal, but of what the persons do. The number is very great; no one could number them on account of their multitude. And it says that they come out of the great tribulation: “These are they who come out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb”. It is what they have done themselves.
Ques Is the numbering in relation to service?
JT They are bondmen.
HD'AC The gospel that speaks most of the purpose of God is the one that often says: “Whosoever”, or “let him”, or again “if any one”. The Lord likes us to express ourselves in this way. The Greek word means “each one”.
JT When the gospel is presented, if anyone has the desire to be saved, he must take advantage of what is at his disposal, namely the blood of the lamb. It is to be noticed that they cry with a loud voice, saying: “Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb”. They proclaim the praise of God. They are so interesting to heaven that all the angels are there. We are in the presence of myriads of angels. “All the angels stood around the throne, and the elders, and the four living creatures”. The elders know who these persons are. One of them says to John: “These are they who come out of the great tribulation”.
Rem Does this crowd include the hundred and forty-four thousand of Israel?
JT The brethren thoroughly understand that prophetically all this applies to the future; but the principles found here have a present application. What should affect us particularly is, that God will have His number, but on the other hand there will be a multitude which it is not possible to number. In chapter 13 of Luke, someone asked the Lord: “Are such as are to be saved few in number?” Luke 13:23 And the Lord, as if to tell him that that was not the side that he had to consider for himself, answers: “Strive with earnestness to enter in through the narrow door, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in and will not be able”. Luke 13:24 When one preaches the gospel, it is not only a matter of enlightening others, but it is important to be oneself the presentation of what one preaches. “Look on us”, say Peter and John in chapter 3 of the Acts. The Lord had said to the eleven: “Make disciples of all the nations” Matthew 28:19. I cannot help in making disciples if I am not myself a disciple. And the Lord, when asked: “Who art thou?” could Himself answer: “Altogether that which I also say to you” John 8:25.
Rem It is striking to see that Paul could say: “Be my imitators, even as I also am of Christ”. 1 Corinthians 11:1 In spite of the great crowd there is abundant provision: “They shall not hunger any more, neither shall they thirst any more, nor shall the sun at, all fall on them, nor any burning heat; because the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall shepherd them, and shall lead them to fountains of waters of life, and [p. 25] God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes”. One is touched, in reflecting on the immensity of the number, to see that God takes account of each one in particular, and that He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
AV The elder had already been able to say to John: “Weep not”.
JT This book frequently mentions tears. There is a lack of tears among the brethren. I mean sensibilities with regard to what is taking place. He who will shepherd them is “the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne”. He will lead them to fountains of waters of life, where there is abundance and variety; it is fountains of waters of life.
We see another feature in chapter 11: two witnesses, an adequate testimony. We have the general principle in Scripture that God never remains without witness. Here, the two witnesses suffice.
Ques Why, when they have completed their testimony, will they be overcome by the beast?
JT They suffer martyrdom. These witnesses have the honour of being put to death, “where also their Lord was crucified”.
Rem Without martyrdom they would not have had a heavenly portion.
JT We see in chapter 20 that they have their heavenly position. “They went up to the heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them”. That is an honour that attaches to the testimony, namely that we seal our testimony with our blood. But nothing happens before the appointed time, before they have completed their testimony. All is divinely controlled in the book of Revelation. The divine thought with regard to the witnesses is expressed in verse 3: “I will give power to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth”. Nothing can happen to them before that time has expired.
[p. 26] Rem Each day is counted, one after another, up to a thousand two hundred and sixty days.
JT That is a comfort for us, to know that our time of testimony is determined, and that God allows us to complete it.
Rem It says in verse 11; “The spirit of life from God came into them”.
JT That shows that if there is martyrdom, we are nevertheless in the hands of God. It is a question of the spirit of life which comes from God. Thus, they stood upon their feet. That shows that witness is given to the power of God in resurrection, before their ascension.
Ques Why “two olive trees” and “two lamps”? What is this testimony?
JT It is an allusion to the prophet Zechariah 4: 11 - 14. The “sons of oil” are developed according to the Spirit.
Rem The lamp is in view of giving light.
JT So that the triumph is complete. It is a very encouraging passage for those who bear a testimony. “They stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon those beholding them. And I heard a great voice out of the heaven saying to them, Come up here; and they went up to the heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them”.
PGB There are on the one hand those who go up (the witnesses) and on the other hand that which falls (the city).
JT The church does not fall; she comes down out of the heaven from God. In chapter 9 it speaks of a star which falls out of the heaven to the earth. In chapter 12 there is war in heaven; in verse 9 it says that the dragon was cast out. And in Luke 10:18 the Lord says: “I beheld Satan as lightning falling out of heaven”. Here the witnesses go up; and the holy city comes down; she is in liberty. These verses give us very strikingly the character of the witnesses, first the period of their [p. 27] testimony which they complete, then they are put to death; afterwards we have their triumph in resurrection and in correspondence to the Lord: “they went up to the heaven in the cloud”. The things that happened to them had happened to the Lord Himself. Nothing is more to be desired on the part of a disciple than that he should correspond in every way to his Master. It is said of Christ that He was “put to death in flesh, but made alive in the Spirit” 1 Peter 3:18. The witnesses are justified in spirit, for the spirit of life came into them from God. And the voice out of the heaven is “a great voice”, as if to show that the appreciation of heaven is very different from that of the beast.
Ques. Whose voice is it?
JT It is the voice of heaven, making known what is the thought of heaven, in contrast with the thought of the beast. It was also a voice out of heaven that had announced that Jesus was the beloved Son of God.
Rem In chapter 21 also, it speaks of a loud voice out of the heaven.
JT Revelation often speaks of a great voice. We are not left in uncertainty.
Ques Why does it speak, in verse 13, of seven thousand “names of men”?
JT It is a question of persons who are distinguished in the world; the idea of a name is that of a certain distinction. “The remnant were filled with fear”.
Rem All the great ones are part of these seven thousand names of men.
JT That is how God proceeds: He takes the beast and the false prophet before dealing with the army. The leaders are taken before the army itself is taken. The army will appear before the great white throne, while the beast and the false prophet are cast alive into the lake of fire and brimstone.
Ques Does the number of those that fell count for [p. 28] God?
JT The seven thousand names of men are to remind us that it is dangerous to have ideas of greatness in this world. It says, in chapter 19: “Come, gather yourselves to the great supper of God, that ye may eat flesh of kings, and flesh of chiliarchs, and flesh of strong men, and flesh of horses and of those that sit upon them, and flesh of all, both free and bond, and small and great”.
Rem In contrast with all those names, one loves to think of the names of the two witnesses and of those whose names are not blotted out of the book of life of the Lamb.
JT Their names are written in the heavens; that is enough for us. We do not wish them to be registered in the books of important men of this world. What is striking is the organisation of the great of the earth against God; and if they dethrone kings today, it is because their heart loves glory.
Rem The two witnesses are the most distinguished of all; the “great voice” summons them to heaven, and they go up in the presence of their enemies.
JT Enoch was not found, because God had taken him. All these are, as the Spirit says, “unknown, and well known” 2 Corinthians 6:9. Outwardly, these witnesses were of no account. But what honour for them when the great voice called them to heaven!
Rem The thrones of this world fall, but the throne of God and of the Lamb abides, and the thrones of the elders abide.
JT The lesson which we can draw from all that is that we have to await resurrection, in order to have our reward and our distinction. May we also be encouraged in the thought that all the elect are numbered and that all our days are counted, for all things are in God’s hands.