How do you answer this common challenge to the Gospel: “I do not believe in God because if God were real, there wouldn’t be injustice and suffering in the world.”
This is the objection of many who do not believe in the gospel. It is a question about what we as humans perceive as the quality of God’s attributes. It is a question that cannot place the existence of evil into a world created by an Ultimate being.
When asked this question, the first thing I do is ask the questioner how THEIR WORLD VIEW answers the question of suffering. It is not just the responsibility of Christians to provide an answer to the existence of evil. Every world view must address this question. For too long, atheists have used this argument against God without recognizing that they too have an answer for the existence of evil. Once they come this awareness, it is easy to demonstrate that the Bible provides the only logical and just explanation for the existence of evil.
- If suffering is RANDOM as the atheist believes, then life truly is not FAIR. The disconnect is that we don’t live this way. We expect that there is JUSTICE. When someone does something morally wrong, especially when it is against me, the natural human expectation is that wrong should be punished.
- If suffering is caused by EVIL, as the moralist would argue, then how do we define evil, unless there is good?
The study of Revelation shows us God’s remedy for evil, and the ultimate purpose of human history.
Here in REVELATION, we see the culmination of human history.
We see the SOURCE of Evil
We see that Evil is LIMITED
We see that Evil will be JUDGED
We see the REMEDY for Humanity - JESUS the Lamb
We see GOD’S PURPOSE
“What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—” (Romans 9:22–23, ESV)
I believe that the key to understanding the difficult prophetic sections of Revelation can only be found when we understand the opening scene in Heaven which John describes in Revelation 4 and 5. Here, in this majestic scene, , we see the fulfillment of God’s plan to show his mercy and judge sin. God’s judgment of sin, and the prophetic events that are foretold in the rest of the book, centers on a scroll that contains God’s plan for the final future of human history.
“And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”” (Revelation 5:6–12, ESV)
I. God the Father is Showing John the Future of Human History.
God does this by giving John a series of visions about the future. These are “things that are to take place,” which John was instructed to write about (Rev 1:19). These events are related to us in a series of descriptions provided by John. He uses the phrase “and I saw,” or “I heard,” to relate to his audience the visions that God revealed to him.
“After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”” (Revelation 4:1, ESV)
“Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.” (Revelation 5:1, ESV)
“And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”” (Revelation 5:2, ESV)
“And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” (Revelation 5:6, ESV)
“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,” (Revelation 5:11, ESV)
“Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!”” (Revelation 6:1, ESV)
“And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.” (Revelation 6:2, ESV)
“When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.” (Revelation 6:5, ESV)
“When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”” (Revelation 6:7, ESV)
These visions of the Future of humanity reveal the following truths.
1. The Future of Humanity is centered on GOD, not MAN
First Scene is the THRONE ROOM of HEAVEN. 4:1
John is taken up to heaven in his vision. 4:1
(This is a picture that the CHURCH is not on earth during the tribulation)
In this future scene, GOD ALMIGHTY is on the throne!!!
“Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”” (Revelation 4:4–8, ESV)
God’s HOLINESS and POWER are on display.
The angels never stop saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy”
“And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”” (Isaiah 6:3, ESV)
2. The SCROLL is the key to understanding Revelation. “Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.” (Revelation 5:1, ESV)
In the THRONE ROOM, God Reveals the SCROLL
Everything Else in Revelation is initiated by the OPENING of the SCROLL
There is sorrow because noone can open the scroll. “And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.” (Revelation 5:3–4, ESV)
The Scroll is the FIRST of the “Things that will take place later”
The SCROLL is a RECORD of the Earth’s Coming JUDGMENT
SIN MUST BE JUDGED before God can RESTORE the earth and REMOVE the CURSE,
The first series of things to be revealed in this scroll are Six Seals of JUDGMENT (follow the progression!)
6:1. “Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!”” (Revelation 6:1, ESV)
Chapter 6 contain the six seals.
The SEVENTH SEAL opens 7 more TRUMPET JUDGMENTS. “When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” (Revelation 8:1, ESV)
The TRUMPET JUDGMENTS contained in chapters 8-9
The SEVENTH Trumpet is found in 11:15. “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”” (Revelation 11:15)
SEVEN LAST BOWL JUDGMENTS
“Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.” (Revelation 15:1, ESV)
“And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever,” (Revelation 15:7, ESV)
The seventh and final Bowl of Judgment is described in Revelation 16.
“And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.” (Revelation 16:16–21, ESV)
This seventh bowl of Judgment is the final judgment of God and coincides with the Return of Christ which will be fully described in chapter 19.
This Judgment culminates in the final battle between Jesus and the armies of the earth, led by Satan’s agent the Anti-Christ. This battle is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament in passages like Joel 3:13-14
“Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” (Joel 3:13–14,)
Now, to understand the chronology of Revelation, we must see the importance of the Scroll that was introduced in chapter 5. IN BETWEEN the opening of each of the seals of the Scroll, there are SPECIAL EVENTS described. We might call these chapters a parenthesis, or series of footnotes. If we keep our focus on the Seal, Trumpet and Bowl Judgments, the chapters in-between make perfect sense.
Chapter 7 comes between the Seal and Trumpet judgments and describes the 144,000 Jewish witnesses.
Chapters 10-15 come between the Trumpet and Bowl judgments and further describe Tribulation Events
Chapter 17-18 come after the initial description of the final Bowl judgment and further describe this judgment in a series of descriptions of the Fall of Babylon.
The CULMINATION of GOD’s JUDGMENT is the RETURN of JESUS, to RULE and REIGN on EARTH.
“After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”” (Revelation 19:1–2, ESV)
“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.” (Revelation 19:11, ESV)
Finally, here are Three things you need to understand about the God’s plan for the Earth’s Future
1) The final judgment reveals God’s HOLINESS and POWER. God is in control!
2) The final judgment will fall upon all who reject God. The Scroll is a scroll of Judgment
3). JESUS is the FOCAL POINT of the culmination of human history.
No one could open the seal. “And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.” (Revelation 5:3–4, ESV)
The LION of the TRIBE of JUDAH is able!. “And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”” (Revelation 5:5, ESV)
Notice this DESCRIPTION of JESUS. 5:6
He is the LION of the TRIBE of JUDAH. This was prophesied in Jacob’s Blessing of his twelve sons. “Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” (Genesis 49:9–10, ESV)
He is the Root of David. “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” (Isaiah 11:1, ESV)
He is the Lamb that was slain. “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7, ESV)
How will you respond when you see Jesus?
One Angel destroyed all the first-born of Egypt
One angel destroyed the army of Sennacharib.
If ANGELS bow prostrate before him, how much more will we bow before him!
When you see Jesus, your Not going to say:
Jesus is my Hommie
I’m tight with Jesus
You’re not going to “like” him on Facebook
You’re not going to tweet your friends
You are going to collapse in fear and trembling before him
You are going to see your sinfulness
You are going to see his holiness
My pastor friend Basil Watson says it this way, “You are going to find the lowest place on the ground and prostrate yourself before him”
And THEN..... HE is going to lift you up.
Because HE is the lamb that was SLAIN
Rev 6:5 a lamb as if it had been slain
Rev 6:9 because you were slain and with your blood you purchased men for God
Rev 6:12 worthy is the Lamb who was slain.
Because HE PURCHASED you with his blood (6:9- agoradzo - redeemed!)
Because HE MADE them a kingdom of priests. 6:10
Because HE makes them rule and reign with him. 6:10
Modern psychology and man-made religion teaches that everyone gets to heaven. We are all inherently good and that goodness is all that we need.
The Bible teaches that we are inherently evil because of the sin passed down from Adam and Eve in the Garden. Our hope is in the love of God demonstrated in Christ’s sacrifice for us. Only faith in the Lamb that was Slain will save us and secure us a place in heaven.
