With 40 years of teaching experience at Concordia University, Irvine, Dr. Brighton joins Pastor Greg to walk us through the themes and symbols in the book of Revelation.
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Thanks for listening!
With 40 years of teaching experience at Concordia University, Irvine, Dr. Brighton joins Pastor Greg to walk us through the themes and symbols in the book of Revelation.
Stay up to date by following us on your favorite social networks.
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
Have questions or comments? Email us at contact@kingofkings.org.
Thanks for listening!
Hey, King of Kings, welcome back to Beyond Sunday. It is week three and I am so excited for you to be joining us If you did not listen to week one or week two of this podcast as we dive deep into the book of Revelation with Dr Mark Brighton from Concordia University, Irvine. I would invite and encourage you to make sure you go listen to those, because we have had just rich conversations and they're about 15 minutes long. We honestly could go for 150 minutes, but he's specific time. I'm central time.
Speaker 1:I'm usually in bed about a half an hour ago so we are just having a great time going deeper into this magnificent book, which I want to remind you if you've not had the chance or just kind of shied away from reading the book of Revelation. It begins with blessed are those who read this book. And actually let me, let's just start, let's kick off there. I know I had some questions for week three, but since we're saying it says blessed are those who've read this book aloud, yeah, the one who reads aloud and those who hear.
Speaker 1:Okay, so that's not saying you should read it out loud.
Speaker 2:Well, that's sort of how John envisioned it. John envisioned the people and the congregations. You would have someone who would probably read it from first to last, and blessed is the one who reads it and blessed are those who hear it. Yeah, yeah, by the way, there, if you keep track, we were talking about the number sevens a little while ago. Seven is a. There are seven Beatitudes in the book of Revelation. I didn't know if you knew that. Yeah, there are seven blessings. Yeah, john is really artistic in this book. In any case, that's a little bit of trivia.
Speaker 1:You just said one of them.
Speaker 2:You just said one of them. That's one of the Beatitudes.
Speaker 1:Okay, so he shares that seven times. Wow, so you think you're saying that John maybe had the vision or the intention that this would be read aloud either in a church or a public setting, and all the way through?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think, probably. Yeah, yeah, that's what he says, and I think, as you read the Greek, the Greek is very vivid and sometimes abrupt, and I think John did that so that as the reader reads it and it's vivid and abrupt he's kind of wants those who listen to experience what he experienced when he first received these visions. Yeah, yeah, so blessed are all those who occupy themselves with this book. Yeah, wow, that's a promise.
Speaker 1:I think you've given me an idea.
Speaker 2:So or John has, I suppose.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, let's dive into these visions. So there's an inaugural vision in heaven. Chapter 4 kind of begins this vision of the throne room of God, the heavenly court. What do you see in that? And actually there's even this kind of reference back to Paul talks about this, and second Corinthians and I think this is something most people just kind of gloss over because they're like wait, what does this mean? I don't understand this word. Paul talks in second Corinthians 12, right, that there's the third heaven.
Speaker 1:We also know Elijah was taken up into the heaven with the chariots right. Enoch walks with God, so all these visions are connected. Can you just how do we read that and see that, and then how do we apply that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, a door standing open and the voice says come up here and I will show you what must take place. And so perhaps, like Isaiah, he's exalted and so he's in the council chamber of God and there he hears the councils of God which Isaiah is given to speak to people. That's probably what it feels like John has said come up here and now I'm gonna show you. So John now is in the council chambers of God and he is going to see how the exalted sort of man will now use his full authority to bring to completion salvation, culminating in a new creation. I think that's what that means.
Speaker 2:Yeah, these visions chapter 4 and 5, are extraordinarily important because, as you and I see these end times, we see abuse, we see human trafficking, we see suffering, we see diseases, we see death all around us, and when we see that it's the adversary would like for our faith to be weakened. No one's in control here. Evil is out of control here. So chapter 4 and 5 are extraordinarily important. Chapter 4, we see God in throne over all of creation, and some of these things go back to Ezekiel and some of these things go back to Isaiah. For example, the living creatures look like a lion, an ox, a face of a man and an eagle. Those are the exact creatures in Ezekiel, and there they were just representatives of creation, probably not the four gospels, as Victorinas suggested, but in any case. But God is enthroned, evil is not out of control, and that gives way to chapter 5.
Speaker 2:In chapter 5, we see that the one who is in control of these end times, the one who has all authority and who will not allow God's plan of salvation to go off the rails, is the Lamb, who looks as if it had been slain. The one who gave his life for us is in control, is has all authority, and that authority is symbolized by the scroll. When the Lamb opens the scroll, we begin to see the events of the end times, and so that's really important. When a loved one gets cancer and the isolation of trying to deal with that and the chemo, things are not out of control. The Lamb has given his life for that person and the Lamb has given the victory to that person and the Lamb's plan of salvation for that person will not be swarded.
Speaker 2:We see the exaltation of the Lamb here in chapter 5. Extraordinarily important, because after that we're going to see hell breaking loose on earth. We're going to see horsemen, we're going to see demonic torment, we're going to see plagues, we're going to see all kinds of stuff. Yeah, never lose sight that the Lamb will bring to completion his salvation. So 4 and 5 are extraordinarily important for the loved one.
Speaker 1:And so what I hear you saying too, with four and five, is it's a reminder to us that, no matter what's going on in your life, that the Lamb, the victorious, one of the Lord is in control, even when it feels like he's not, even when it looks like all is lost he is.
Speaker 2:And Revelation here's another beatitude blessed are the dead who die in the Lord because they can rest from their labors and their good work needs. Follow them. So, even when we die on this hill, the revelation, the message of revelation is clear. If you stand in Christ's victory, you win. By the way, if you read Revelation through, there are no peaceful deaths. If you're with the adversary, you are going to be thrown into hell eventually. If you are a follower of the Lamb, you will be put to death for your faith. No, which one would you rather be? Yeah, we were all like a peaceful death, but Jesus was very clear in Matthew Everyone will hit you because of me. They will take their doing the work of God, they will persecute you, they will hand you over.
Speaker 2:And Paul talks about us fulfilling what is lacking, or remaining, rather, in the sufferings of Christ. That is just as Christ laid down his life to extend salvation. That's what we're called to do now to lay down our lives to extend that invitation to salvation to others. And we see that in Revelation. The good news is that when we do lay down our lives and we do lose our lives, we win. The adversary thinks that he's won when he puts us to death, but it's the complete office. So again, a nickel question and an ejected by answer. There you go.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's so great. So would this be kind of a last second reminder as we're about to jump into, as you said, all hell breaking loose? Would this be a last minute reminder by John to the reader to say that Satan is bound, christ is in control. Christ is victorious. In this time, though, even though it looks like it, Satan is bound.
Speaker 2:He's already, yeah. So Satan's binding is a matter of controversy in chapter 20. Some people think that's some millennium age of heaven on earth. I don't think the apostles ever look forward to that. I think the immediate answer to Satan's binding is, if you read chapter 20, when he's unbound he does what he could not do prior. And what could he not do prior let's lead all the nations in the four corners of the earth for the final battle. So Satan's binding simply means that he cannot bring in the final battle until God says, okay, now's the time. Yeah, it does not mean Age of Heaven on Earth. It does not mean there is no evil on Earth. It does not mean that the people of God do not give their lives in witness. It just rather means that Armageddon can't come until everyone has come into the family. That God knows will come into the family. Matthew 24-14 again yeah, and so yeah, satan is bound. Now he cannot bring Armageddon.
Speaker 1:I recall I had the opportunity to sit in a few times on your father's revelation class in St Louis and I recall him one time vividly saying he said it's like Satan is a chained pit bull and he is chained and he is running up with all his bark and with all his venom and at the last second, as you're walking on that sidewalk, that chain goes tight and he is stuck and he can't get at you. But then he said gentlemen, the moment you step into his yard, you're fair game.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a good way to put it, and so it was yeah it was really.
Speaker 1:It just always. It has always stuck with me about the binding. Let's wrap up here on this session. You mentioned it and I just think there's something really special about this. John has a personal invitation to come up to the throne room, and can you just kind of unpack that a little bit? To us about one, just what that means, and I know that connects.
Speaker 2:You had connected that to Isaiah, right, but like that, personal invitation come up, yeah, come up here, and I want you to be part of my council. We've seen John. John in his farewell discourse, his last supper discourse with the 12, he says I call you friends, I don't call you servants. I call you friends because a servant doesn't know what his master is doing, but I call you friends because you know. I want you to know what I'm doing, I want you to know my plans. I'm going to send you the Holy Spirit to remind you of everything that I've said.
Speaker 2:And so, in that vein, through John, the Son of man is inviting all of us into his council chambers to see how he is going to bring to completion his plan of salvation. We don't have to be in doubt about what's going on through these end times. We don't have to wonder what's going to go on in the Middle East, necessarily, or in Washington, or in Ukraine, or wherever else we see fighting going on. I mean it's important that we pay attention to justice, but we do know that the one who has given his life, the Lamb, sits on the throne and has received all authority, and he's revealed to us that he is going to work through his people to proclaim that victory and to finally bring about a whole new creation, and so we're honored to be able to be a part of that plan not just to know it, but to even be a part of it.
Speaker 1:And correct me if I'm making a leap here, but is there a connection at all in one of my favorite passages Ephesians 2, 5 and 6, right when we were dead in our trespasses, we were made alive. Through Christ, by grace, we've been saved and raised us up with him and the seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Is that a fair connection?
Speaker 2:to that, oh yeah, and from an earthly perspective, it's as we are Christ's body, christ's that works through us, and so we, as a community of believers, represent Christ to people, so that the unity on the earth side looks that way we are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms and while we still fight against evil here he is with us and we are his body. So that unity is definitely there. I would agree.
Speaker 1:Well, this has been just tremendous and, like we said, I know that we have listeners have been saying this should have been longer, and we have the joy of we have one more week for and this is where we're going to get into a lot of imagery. We're going to talk about seals and trumpets and bulls. We're going to talk about animals and even the animal that is forever, the lion, which is why we should be Detroit Lions fans, and the lamb, of course. But images and colors, numbers, all these things.
Speaker 1:And so next week is going to be great. We're also going to find out to what is one of the most, from a revelation expert, a scholar, in this book, what is one of the most misunderstood themes and one is one of the most beautiful themes to help us see this as someone who has just spent much of his career nearly 40 years now, full-time teaching at Concordia University, Irvine.
Speaker 1:So join us next week Again. If you have not listened to week one or two, please do that, and if you haven't shared this with a friend, do that now and go deeper in revelation. It is a book where we are blessed. We'll see you. Thank you so much, Dr Brighton. We will see you next week.
Speaker 2:Okay, thank you, thank you.