SURVIVAL OR CONQUEST?
The Greek verb, nikao, appears 17 times in the book of Revelation. I like how the English Standard Version translates it—“conquer”. It’s where the brand name, “Nike”, comes from. Of the 17 occurrences, two refer to what the “Beast” does to the “saints” (Rev. 11:7; 13:7), two clearly describe what Christ does or has done (Rev. 5:5; 17:14), two occurrences are found in the description of the first of the four horsemen (Rev. 6:2), while the remaining twelve portray the followers of Christ conquering (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 12:11; 21:7).

I believe that The Revelation should be read as a call to conquest rather than as a calendar of end-time events. It was written to beleaguered groups of people in Asia Minor. I imagine that they questioned whether or not the movement that Christ started would even survive. Then they get a message from Jesus Himself portraying them as victors rather than victims. And history has shown the vision to be true. In about three centuries, one of the kingdoms of the Dragon (the Roman Empire) has crumbled and the kingdom of the Lamb is thriving.

How did they conquer? Through the blood the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even unto death. The war is still raging. Christ is still riding. The Dragon has other kingdoms. But Christ has called us to be Dragon Slayers. Try reading Revelation again as a training manual for Dragon Slayers.

For those who care, I'm sorry that it has taken so long to publish this post. I'm not sure that I'm ready for the responsibility of maintaining a blog. But I'm not ready to give up yet, so here goes..

ESV Revelation 19:14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

ESV Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

Did Jesus mean for His followers to understand the cavalry charge described in Revelation 19 to be something that happens at the end of time or something that was happening at the time they were hearing or reading the prophecy?

Notice that both the armies of heaven and the bride of Christ are wearing fine linen (bússinon).

The fine linen that the bride is wearing represents “the righteous deeds of the saints.” I believe that it is both natural and correct to assume that the fine linen represents the same thing in both cases; therefore, the armies of heaven are arrayed in the righteous deeds of the saints.

In the case of the Bride, the righteous deeds are adornment. It was granted her to clothe (peribálātai) herself with righteous deeds as preparation for her “wedding day”. In the case of the armies of heaven, the righteous deeds are equipment. They are arrayed (endeduménoi) in righteous deeds. The Greek word in the parenthesis is used several times in the New Testament in reference to putting on armor (Ephesians 6:11, 14; 1 Thessalonians 5:8).

In both cases, the fine linen distinguishes the people of God (whether depicted as a bride or as the armies of heaven) from the rest of humanity. It describes their activity, not their reward. Righteous deeds are only distinctive before Christ returns to restore all things. After His return and the resurrection of the dead, righteous deeds lose their distinctiveness. Everyone on earth is a saint and everything that they do is righteous.

When I understood that what the armies wore symbolized what they did, my mind went back to the passage in 1 Peter 5:5 (discussed in an earlier post titled, "May I Help You?") , where followers of Christ were encouraged to clothe themselves with humility. I believe that the vision of Revelation 19 is picture of what Christ was doing in the 1st century and what He is doing in the 21st century. He has waged and is waging war on political and spiritual powers and principalities through the righteous deeds—the militant humility of His followers.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Revelation 19:11-16, English Standard Version)

Until recently I have understood this passage to be a vision of Christ’s return to earth with his saints. Now, I’m not so sure. I think most would agree that Jesus intended for his followers who read or heard this vision to identify with the armies following the rider on the white horse. Now, here’s the question? Did Jesus mean for his followers to see this as a description of their return to earth with him in their resurrection bodies? Or, did Jesus mean for them to visualize themselves riding with him in the first century wreaking havoc on principalities and powers? Hint: What are the armies wearing?

More about this in the next post.

One of the ways to clean out a dirty glass is to put it under a faucet of clean running water. The clean water will at first become dirty water, but as the clean water keeps flowing into the glass, the dirty water will eventually be displaced by the clean water. Now, if there are streams of dirty water coming into the glass at greater volume than the clean water, then you will never get the glass clean and will probably get it dirtier.

Jesus promised to be a faucet of clean running water to anyone who would come to him and drink. Even better, if a person will put their complete confidence in Jesus as the One who has the world under control and his followers completely taken care of, the faucet of clean running water will be inside of them and constantly running

Question: If we have a faucet of clean running water in us, why are our thoughts, feelings, motivations, and actions so dirty?

From the movie, The Last Samurai

"From the moment they wake, they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue…"

Man! Doesn't that describe Jesus' intention for each of His followers?!!