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.
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.
posted by grateful talmid | 7:39 AM
2 Comments:
militant humility...now there's an interesting combination of words.
deep.
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