There is a very false misconception that exists both inside and outside the church: the belief that the Old Testament and the New Testament portray very different Gods. The God of the Old Testament is rather angry and violent God, demanding strict adherence to His moral code, ruthlessly punishing those who get out of line, and causing enough bloodshed to reflect a brazen disregard for human life. Meanwhile, the God of the New Testament is a peaceful God whose love and acceptance knows no bounds: He loves his neighbors, makes friends with “sinners,” prays for his persecutors, and turns the other cheek, inviting you to do the same.
Let’s be honest: In the Old Testament, God did call for the complete destruction of Jericho, among other towns, with the precept to leave no survivors (Josh. 6.17). Also, in the New Testament, much of Jesus’ message did concern love, peace, acceptance, and “turning the other cheek.”
However, nothing could be further from the truth, than to suggest that each Testament portrays different “Gods” with opposite personalities. Instead, that “strict moral code” belonging to the presumed Old Testament God of wrath actually begins with “Love God, Love your neighbor”; such love is a reflection of how God treats us. Additionally, some of God’s major traits revealed in the Old Testament include patience, mercy, and undying loyalty to his people (and strangers too!). Jesus’ words about loving our enemies actually has its roots in the Old Testament.
At the same time, Jesus is not a peace-loving pacifist. He said quite explicitly, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Mat. 10.34). On two separate occasions, Jesus flipped tables (Matthew 21.12-17 and John 2.13-17 seem to record separate incidents). Let us also not forget that from time to time, Jesus engaged in a bit of name-calling: “Brood of vipers” (Mat. 3.7, 12.34, 23.33); he called Peter “Satan” (Mat. 16.23); “Hypocrite”, “Fool” and “blind men” (Mat. 23).
Lest one thinks Jesus is a complete pacifist who reflects a correction to the supposed violent, angry God of the Old Testament, perhaps “exhibit A” suggesting otherwise is found in Revelation 14. No one is responsible for more bloodshed in the New Testament than Jesus, and Revelation does not apologize for that.
Revelation 14 describes the next three “visions” continuing from chapter 12. The first “political-cartoon” vision showed a conflict between the Dragon against God and his people. The introduction of two beasts who join the Dragon, completing an “unholy trinity,” appear in chapter 13. Together, the three are masters of deception, attempting to draw the worship of all creation which belongs to God alone, and the message to first-century believers was simple: Don’t be deceived!
Not only are they deceptive impostors, they are murderous, oppressing and shedding the blood of innocent victims. The nagging questions that reappear throughout the book of Revelation have been, What will happen to those who persecute God’s people? Will this Dragon and his allies receive the justice they deserve? “How long before you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6.10).
Revelation 14 answers those question in rather gruesome terms. The fourth “vision” (Rev. 14.1-5) John sees is the True Lamb, appearing with those who had previously been “sealed” by God. This would have been a problem for the Dragon and impostor anti-Christ: The real Christ shows up with his followers who had all been killed, yet now they appear very much alive and singing a “new song.” “New songs” are only sung when God secures victory, giving them a new reason to sing. That they are singing suggests that somehow they, with the Lamb, are victorious over the Dragon. Those who have not “defiled themselves with women” (i.e., they have not exchanged the true God for the idols they were pressured to serve) have been redeemed and given new life for maintaining their loyalty to God alone, despite immense pressure to do just the opposite.
The fifth “vision” (Rev. 14.6-13) involves three “declarations.” You might imagine this as a court-room scene where a judge has heard a case and is ready to make a verdict. The Dragon, his Beasts, and those who worship him are judged “guilty”. The first angel declares that judgment is about to take place and the right response is to Fear God and give him glory. The “guilty” verdict is announced by the second angel, who declares “Fallen is Babylon the Great.” Finally, the punishment is announced by the third angel, and the punishment fits the crime. The “unholy trinity” and it’s followers have “made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality”. So it is only fitting that those who worship the Beast “will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger.”
The Dragon is nothing more than a false idol. Yet, not only have some been tricked into worshipping him, they are guilty of trying to coerce Christians into worshipping him as well, even to the point of threatening their lives. The message for believers thus far has been, “Don’t be deceived! Don’t buy the lie that you can worship that demon! Those who threaten you and kill you will get the just punishment for their actions.” In the meantime, “Here is the call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus,” even if it means they die. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
God is always good. God is always right. But anyone who thinks God is always nice may need to revisit the sixth “vision” (Rev. 14.14-20). It is as gruesome as it is simple, and depending on the strength of your stomach, may be a bit sickening too. John looks and sees Jesus, “one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head” carrying a sharp sickle. He, along with another angel, “reaped” the earth, gathering clusters of ripe grapes from the vine of the earth, only to throw them into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
It is possible that this metaphor involves “reaping” both good and bad people, as the “harvest” metaphor is used that way in other parts of the New Testament (Luke 10.2). Possible, but not probable. In the sequence of the visions, the true believers who follow the Lamb have already been redeemed and the only thing that remains is for the unjust persecutors of God’s people to receive the just punishment they deserve. Furthermore, it seems that the full number of those “grapes” end up in the same place: the great winepress of the wrath of God. The metaphor suggests that those who are personally responsible for shedding innocent blood without remorse will have their own blood shed in such a way that it pools “as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.”
I don’t know how tall a horse’s bridle is, maybe 5 feet? Couple that with the image that 1,600 stadia is about 184 square miles, and you get a staggering sea of blood! Just for fun, I did the math and if you’re a math geek like me, you might come to a different number, but I calculated about 900 cubic miles of blood!
As with all other numbers in the book of Revelation, these figures are not meant to be taken literally. I actually came across a blog which seriously asked the question, “Based on Revelation 14.20, how many people will die at the battle of Armageddon?” It used the numbers in this verse combined with the average volume of blood in a person to come up with an exact number. Such a question completely misses the point. Instead, “1600” is the multiple of squares of four and ten, which each symbolically portray completeness. Not only that, but the figurative sea of human blood is meant, by hyperbole, to shock and horrify: What if the literal amount of blood was 900 square miles? How shocking would that be! Thus, if you are shocked and horrified at the image of vast bloodshed at the hands of Jesus, the biblical author has done his job. The punishment poured out on God’s enemies is both horrific and complete.
The two Testaments do not show two different Gods, one mean and the other nice. Quite the opposite. Instead, the two Testaments taken together reveal one single unified God whose sense of justice and punishment for wrongdoing is tempered (but not negated!) by his unbelievable patience and mercy extended toward those who genuinely repent. God is love, yes, but his love does not cancel his justice.
On the one hand, this isn’t exactly easy to celebrate. Even God himself says twice to Ezekiel, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked” (Ez. 18.23; 33.11). Yet on the other hand, if we ever get a sick feeling in our stomachs it is when murderers go free on legal technicalities, when drunk drivers get a slap on the wrist after ending an innocent life, when children are obviously abused and neglected by incompetent parents and nothing is ever done about it. And you get the idea. We long to see justice, not because we are bloodthirsty savages, but because securing justice is right. I am sure I am not the only one who has echoed the words of the saints in Revelation 6, “How much longer?”
Jesus is not a bloodthirsty savage, but a just and benevolent Judge who, in the end, is able to right all wrongs. Rampant evil in the world will not go unchecked forever. Though it may seem like Dragons and Beasts have the upper hand, we can rest assured that in the end, God wins.
Comments
Post a Comment