7 Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.
So it is to be. Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God,
who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” Revelation 1:7-8.
John claimed to receive the Book of Revelation as a vision. The prophet believed that God was moving present history — the old age — towards its final phase that would include the collapse of the Roman Empire, and the final and full coming of the new heaven and the new earth.
John was imprisoned on Patmos Island for “the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” Civil authorities likely perceived him as a threat to the pax Romana because he refused to accede to the attitudes and actions of the Roman Empire. John likely refused to participate in worship at an imperial shrine where people swore allegiance to Caesar.
John wrote with two purposes. One is to encourage the faithful to remain faithful, that is, to endure. The other is to urge those who were accommodating the present culture to repent, to come out of the Empire, and to become a part of the movement towards the new Jerusalem. They, too, would then need to endure. Difficult days were ahead as the faithful would live through the violent collapse of the Empire. John anticipates persecution to increase in the near future.
The stakes are high. Those who witness faithfully will dwell in the new heaven and the new earth. Those who continue to compromise with Rome will join Satan and the beast in the lake of fire.
In today’s Advent text from Revelation 1:4-7, God in 1:4 is one “who is and who was and who is to come.” This points not only to God coming again into history but also to the difference between God and the gods of whom the Romans said they were, are, and shall be. The “shall be” indicates that the Roman gods aim to maintain the social order as it is. The notion of “is to come” reveals that God is coming into history to complete reconstruction of the world.
John opens the door to a sermon that describes Jesus as the “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the [rulers] of the earth” Revelation 1:5. According to Revelation 1:7, the return of Jesus at the apocalypse will be a public, history-shaping event. In the Book of Revelation, the word “earth” usually has a negative connotation. The “tribes of the earth” is, hence, a description of those who have aligned themselves with Rome and have resisted the possibilities. They will wail with sorrow as they realize that condemnation is upon them.
In Revelation 1:8, God uses the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and omega, to indicate that God is absolutely sovereign, in control of history from beginning to end.
This text offers the grace of God and points the way to peace. Pray for the grace of God and for peace in our own country and in Ukraine and Israel and Gaza. Pray for our leaders in Washington and for upcoming election next year.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
"And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses" Colossians 2:13.
"Fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell" Matthew 10:28.
"Through Christ then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God"
Hebrews 13:15.
"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us" 1 John 2:19.
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