REPENT: God Loves You

 

The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot see or hear or walk. ²¹ Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality, or their thefts. Revelation 9:20-21 (NIV)

I.          Introduction    

The book of Revelation is a unique and thought-provoking book. Revelation engages readers’ imagination while also causing much confusion, misunderstanding, and mystery.[1] No New Testament book has caused much confusion and the subject of varied interpretations as Revelation.[2] Mystical and disturbing supernatural characters and bizarre scenes and visions fill the pages of Revelation.[3] One biblical commentary insightfully wrote, “Perhaps no New Testament document simultaneously engages the imagination of its readers and frustrates their understanding as much as Revelation, the last book of the canon.”[4] Some people love the book of Revelation and concentrate all their biblical studies on Revelation while ignoring the rest of Scripture.[5] On the other hand, other people ignore and avoid reading the book of Revelation thinking the book too mysterious to understand.[6]

Much of the confusion of Revelation comes from chapters 6 through 19 with the book’s strange numbers, symbols, judgments, and peculiar visions experienced by John.[7] Revelation chapters 1 through 5 and Revelation chapters 21 and 22 are often the most read chapters of Revelation.[8] However, an understanding of the Holy Scriptures cannot be complete without reading the book of Revelation.[9] John, the human author of Revelation, instructed the early church to read the book of Revelation aloud.[10] In the opening verses of Revelation, John state that “God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and He blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says.”[11] Revelation 1:3 is the first of seven blessings or beatitudes that come to those who read and obey the book of Revelation.[12]

 

A.        Authorship and Date  

The divine Author of Revelation identified in the opening verse is Jesus Christ.[13] The living and resurrected Jesus Christ has received authority from God the Father to describe coming events to His servant John for communicating to His church.[14] From as early as Justin Martyr in the second century A.D., the early church has identified this John as John, the son of Zebedee.[15]  John of Zebedee is the beloved apostle of Jesus Christ, and he authored the Gospel of John (Fourth Gospel) and the three New Testament epistles.[16] However, the Greek style of Revelation differs from the Fourth Gospel and the three epistles; therefore, some biblical scholars argue that “John the elder” or possibly another John from the early church wrote Revelation.[17] Nevertheless, both the thematic links (e.g., Jesus as Lamb and Word of God)[18] and the early church traditions favor John the “beloved disciple” of Jesus. John of Zebedee, along with Peter and James, belonged to Jesus’ inner circle during Jesus’ public ministry on earth.[19]

John wrote the book of Revelation when Christians were entering a time of persecution.[20] The two periods most often identified are the latter part of Nero’s reign (A.D. 54-68) before the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the last part of Domitian’s reign (A.D. 81-96).[21] Most interpreters date the book around A.D. 95.[22] However, a few biblical scholars date the book of Revelation during the reign of Vespasian (A.D. 69-79).[23]

 

B.        Content and Theme

Many biblical scholars classify the book of Revelation as apocalyptic literature, a prophecy, and a letter (epistle).[24] In the very first word of the Greek text, John identifies Revelation as an apocalypse. The word “apocalypse” literally means revelation, unveiling, or disclosure.[25] Apocalyptic literature is unique to Judaism.[26] In apocalyptic literature, the author’s sole subject matter is a description of the coming end of the world, the Kingdom of God, and the glorious future for the faithful.[27] The book of Revelation has some of the common characteristics of apocalyptic literature – use of metaphors, symbolic language, visions, excessive use of numbers, and supernatural characters to accomplish God’s divine purpose.[28]

Revelation is also a prophecy.[29] Prophecy includes not only foretelling the future but also proclaiming any message from the true and living God – whether a command, instruction, warning, history, or prediction.[30] Thus, prophets are primarily preachers.[31] Even more, Revelation is a letter (epistle) written to the church.[32] The overall shape of the book of Revelation is a letter addressed to seven first-century churches in the Roman province of Asia Minor (now western Turkey).[33] These seven churches were representative of all Jesus’ churches.[34] Revelation begins with a normal salutation in Revelation 1:4 and continues through the benediction of Revelation 22:21. Thus, the book of Revelation is all three literary genres: an apocalypse, a prophecy, and a letter.[35] 

The Resurrected Jesus is the central character of the book of Revelation.[36] The first verse of the book, “the revelation of Jesus Christ,” identifies the Resurrected Jesus as the central figure of this book.[37] Revelation is an unveiling or disclosure of the resurrected and living Jesus.[38] From beginning to the end, the Resurrected Jesus dominates the pages of Revelation. Revelation reveals a different portrait of Jesus Christ than from the New Testament Gospels. In Revelation, Jesus Christ (Messiah) is the reigning and ruling King and Lord over all the earth,[39] as well as the sacrificial Lamb who purchased redemption.[40] Even more, Revelation reveals the ruling Sovereign LORD God, a portrait of heaven, and the presence of the Holy Spirit.[41] Through graphic pictures of Revelation, we learn the final judgment of evil and eternal blessings for the faithful believers of Jesus Christ.[42] Jesus Christ promised His abundant blessings for those who obey Him now in this life and for all eternity.[43] Everyone will have to account to Jesus Christ at the final judgment for their evil and good deeds while on earth.[44]

Furthermore, the book of Revelation is full of hope and God’s mercy.[45] Revelation offers future hope to all faithful believers in Jesus Christ by proclaiming Jesus Christ's final victory over evil and the reality of eternal life Him.[46] The book of Revelation gives believers guidance as the book teaches about the importance of morality, obedience, and faithfulness to God and His Son, Jesus Christ.[47] John wrote Revelation to instruct and encourage the church to remain faithful and committed to God despite opposition and persecution.[48] Everyone who endures the testing of evil and remains wholeheartedly faithful to God will be rewarded.[49]

Nonetheless, the book of Revelation also reveals Satan and his evil alliance’s defiance of divine power, which brings God’s judgment.[50] The Sovereign LORD God does not approve of famine, death, and hell, but they must follow if a person rejects Him and His commandments.[51] The book of Revelation shows God’s desire not to inflict vengeance on people, but rather God’s desire to bring all people to obedience and repentance so they can enter God’s Kingdom.[52] God wants everyone to turn from evil deeds, idolatry, and deceit and wholeheartedly turn to Him with worship, goodness, and obedience.[53] Nevertheless, the book of Revelation shows God’s sovereignty and power that ends all suffering and reveals an eternal closeness experienced by the faithful. Revelation reveals that God is fully in control, and He rules and overrules the affairs of human history.[54] Although there will be persecution in the last days, God remains in sovereign control!

Moreover, the book of Revelation is filled with songs of praise aloud to God.[55] These great songs of praise to God and Jesus the Lamb from Revelation have often influenced anthems and musical works such as Handel’s Messiah and The Battle Hymn of the Republic..[56] Even more, Revelation unfolds with a sense of ever-increasing drama.[57] Many biblical scholars believe Greek drama influenced John’s writing of Revelation as seen the attention John gives to the staging of events, positioning of character settings, crowd scenes, and costuming of characters.[58] Moreover, John uses repetition or recapitulation to elaborate on God’s purposes and confirm Revelation’s certainty.[59]

            Notably, Jesus sent His revelation to John to encourage His churches to resist Satan and his evil allies. Satan’s evil allies came in the form of intimating violence (the evil beast), deceptive teaching (the false prophets), and charming affluence (the prostitute).[60] Revelation unveils the unseen spiritual war in which God’s people are engaged: the spiritual and cosmic conflict between God and Satan.[61] In this conflict, Jesus the Lamb has defeated and already WON the decisive victory over Satan through His sacrificial death and resurrection for His people through faith in Him. However, Satan and his allies continue to assault the church through persecution, false teaching, and the allure of material affluence and cultural approval.[62] During His earthly ministry, Jesus warned His disciples, “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.”[63] Although Satan and his allies know they are already defeated, Satan and his evil allies continually pursue in rage the faithful who “obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”[64]

By revealing the root cause of suffering, John wrote Revelation to encourage Christians to remain faithful against persecution and not compromise and accommodate with the culture and value system.[65] Some people within the church were advocating a policy of compromise and accommodation with evil.[66] John informs his readers that the final showdown between God and Satan is imminent, and Christians must remain faithful to God and Jesus the Lamb.[67] The outcome is inevitable that God will come in judgment to destroy Satan and his evil allies and to reward His faithful servants.[68]

Interpreters of Revelation normally fall into four groups. The preterists understand the book of Revelation exclusively in terms of its first-century setting, claiming that most of the events in the book of Revelation have already taken place.[69] Historicists take Revelation as describing a chain of events from Patmos to the end of human history.[70] Futurists place the book of Revelation primarily in the end times.[71] Idealists view Revelation as a symbolic picture of such timeless truths as the victory of good over evil.[72] Fortunately, the fundamental truths of Revelation do not depend on adopting a particular point of view.[73] The truths of Revelation are available to anyone who will read the book of Revelation for its overall message and resist the temptation to become overly enamored with the details.[74]

Many biblical scholars see the book of Revelation as a bookend of the book of Genesis.[75] The book of Genesis begins with the Sovereign LORD God and His Son Jesus in fellowship with His people, and the book of Revelation ends with God and His Son Jesus once again in fellowship with His people.[76] The biblical story of redemption begins with Adam and Eve, and later Israel being placed in God’s sanctuary (the Garden of Eden and the Promised Land, respectively).[77] However, Adam, Eve, and Israel failed to be faithful and obedient stewards of God’s sanctuary, and God expelled His unfaithful and disobedient servants from His sanctuary.[78] Jesus the Son of God – also known as the Second Adam, the Son of Abraham and Son of David – was faithful and obedient to His Father, the Sovereign LORD God.[79] In the book of Revelation, Jesus reigns with His Father – the Sovereign LORD God – as the perfect and obedient Son of Man in the new heaven and new earth.[80] Also in the book of Revelation is the tree of life amid the Paradise of God.[81]  Importantly, Satan and His evil darkness that corrupted God’s people from Genesis and throughout human history have been removed and defeated and there is only Light, goodness, and peace.[82]

II.        Revelation Structure and Outline

            Revelation is composed of a prologue (Revelation 1:1-8), the body (Revelation 1:9-22:5), and the epilogue (Revelation 22:6-21). The body of Revelation contains four enumerated series of seven messages or visions: letters to seven churches (chapters 2 and 3), seven seals on a scroll (chapter 6), seven trumpets (chapters 8 and 9), and seven bowls of wrath (chapters 15 and 16).

            An outline of the book of Revelation is as follows:

I.          Prologue (1:1-8)

            A.        Introduction (1:1-3)

            B.        Greetings and Doxology (1:4-8)

II.        John's Vision of Jesus Among the Seven Churches (1:9-20)

III.       Letters and Messages to the Seven Churches (2:1-3:22)

IV.       Glorious Throne Room, the Scroll, and Jesus the Lamb (4:1-5:14)

V.        First Judgment of Seven Seals (6:1-8:5)

VI.       Second Judgments of the Seven Trumpets (8:6-11:19)

VII.     The Dragon's Persecution of the Righteous (12:1-13:18)

VIII.    A Summary of Triumph, Warning, and Judgment (14:1-20)

IX.       Third Judgments of Seven Bowls (15:1-16:21)

X.        Fall and Destruction of Babylon (17:1-18:24)

XI.       Praise and Worship of the Lamb, Return of Jesus, and New Jerusalem (19:1-22:5)

XII.     Conclusion and Benediction (22:6-21)

A.        Words of Comfort and Warning (22:6-19)

B.        Closing Benediction (22:20-21)

 

III.       God’s Mercy and Patience for Repentance

A.        Background

            Revelation chapters 6 through 19 describe the outpouring of God’s wrath of judgment upon sinful humanity with three series of judgments: seven seals (chapter 6), seven trumpets (chapters 8 and 9), and seven bowls (chapter 15-16).[83] Many biblical scholars identify these three sets of judgments as the “Messianic woes,” the “Great Tribulation,” or the “birth pains of the Messianic age.”[84] Both the Old Testament and the New Testament predicted these Messianic judgments on the earth before the Messiah coming.[85] Jewish and Christian sources believe wars, earthquakes, disobedience, famine, anarchy, lawlessness, and social disorder characterize this troubling period.[86] During this troubling period, God’s people – Jews and Christians – will suffer persecution, mistreatment, and even death because of the Word of God and their faithful testimony.[87] However, the Holy Scriptures encourage God’s people to remain faithful and steadfast to God because God will vindicate the world for their unjust suffering and mistreatment.[88]

God’s wrath and judgment revealed in the book of Revelation was not vengeful but God’s final attempt to bring sinful humanity to redemption and repentance.[89] Like the watchman and his trumpet in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, the judgments warn people of impending danger to lead them to God in repentance and redemption (see Ezekiel 33).[90]

The damaging effect of these three sets of judgments increases in intensity from one-fourth of the earth with seal judgments to one-third of the earth with the trumpet judgments.[91] Finally, Revelation chapter 16 describes the last set of judgments as God pours out His final wrath upon rebellious and sinful humanity, culminating in the Messiah’s return!

Some biblical commentators see these three major judgments as a recapitulation or repetition of one another with increasing intensity.[92] In other words, these three major judgments are one set of judgments with three versions.[93] Most biblical commentators find that these three major judgments cover the same period of human history that leads Jesus the Messiah’s coming.[94] The major point is that the intensity of these judgments increases with each series.[95] The seal judgments affect “a fourth of the earth,”[96] the trumpet judgments affect “a third of the earth,”[97] and the bowls judgment complete the wrath of God.[98] Interestingly, the trumpet and the bowl judgments involve the same areas – the earth, rivers, heavens, humankind, an army, and angry nations and not human-made as with the seal judgments.[99]

Many biblical scholars also note the similarities in the three sets of judgments to the Old Testament's Egyptian plagues.[100] These three sets of judgments (seals, trumpets, and bowls) echo Egypt’s ten plagues.[101] Like the ten plagues on Egypt, the true and living God sent these three series of judgments so that everyone will acknowledge and worship Him as the Almighty God.[102]

 

B.        The Trumpet Judgments

Revelation chapters 8 and 9 describe the devastating disasters of God’s wrath against sinful humanity when the trumpet blows! Revelation chapter 8 begins with Jesus the Lamb opening the seventh seal judgment.[103] With the opening of the seventh seal, there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour.[104] Many would assume that the end has come after the earth’s punishment with the six prior seal judgments from Revelation chapter 6, but nothing happens. Instead, “there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour,”[105] and then seven angels who stand before God were given seven trumpets.[106] Anticipating the end, John notices that the prayers of the saints ascending to God.[107] Many scholars have suggested that everything in heaven halts so that God may hear the prayers of His people.[108]

With the trumpets, more judgments damage the earth. Seven angels, one after another, blow their trumpets, announcing hailstorms with fire and blood descending, volcanic eruptions, blood in the sea, affliction on the land, the pollution of springs and fountains, eclipses of sun and moon with shooting stars, climaxed by enormous plague of demonic locusts.[109] In the first four trumpets, God affects one-third of the earth with His divine judgments.[110] After the fourth trumpet, a solitary eagle flies through the heavens crying loudly, “Woe, woe, woe to the people of the earth because of the terrible things that will soon happen when the three remaining angels blow their trumpets.”[111]

Then, Revelation 9 describes two frightening armies God released to judge humankind with the fifth and sixth trumpet judgments. The first army came from the bottomless pit of the Abyss (the underworld),[112] and the second army came from the great Euphrates River in the east.[113] Revelation chapter 9 begins with a star falling down to the earth.[114] Many biblical scholars believe this “star” represents Satan or a demonic being.[115] This evil being is given the key to the Abyss or underworld.[116] From the Abyss came creatures beyond human imagination, and God allowed locusts, plagues, and other disasters to torment the people of earth.[117] The war or battle ultimately has origins from Satan, but God allowed the destruction because God is fully in control.[118]

When the fifth angel blows his trumpet, a plague of demonic locusts is released from the Abyss.[119] The leader of these demonic hordes is named “Abaddon” in Hebrew and “Apollyon” in Greek, and he is the Destroyer.[120] These demonic locusts were told not to harm the grass, plants, or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.[121] Just as God’s people had been exempted from the plagues of Egypt, so now God’s people (Jews and Gentiles) who have God’s seal upon their foreheads will be completely unharmed by these awful creatures of divine judgment.[122]

At Revelation 9:13, God sends the sixth angel to release the four angels bound at the great Euphrates River in the east. These four angels were released at precisely the hour, the day, the month, and the year revealing God’s complete control.[123] Then, a massive army is released, numbering 200 million, and their horses bring the plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that destroyed one-third of humanity.[124] Many biblical scholars call the sixth trumpet the battle of Armageddon, and this battle has parallel references from Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39.[125]

 

C.        Deadly Sin of Idolatry

Horrible though the judgments are the overall intention of the judgments is not to inflict vengeance on humankind but to bring people to repentance.[126] Instead of utter destruction, only a third or a fraction of the whole earth is affected by the trumpet judgments.[127] The fraction of the destruction reveals God’s patience and mercy in hopes the world would turn to Him in repentance and not perish.[128] Despite the torment and devastation, many people of the earth refused the opportunity to repent and turn to God.[129] Because of humankind's continued stubbornness, God continued the outpouring of His wrath on earth, leading to the destruction of evil and His creation of a new heaven and earth.[130]

Revelation identifies the sin to which the unrepentant cling: Idolatry![131] Sadly, many people refused to worship God, and they continued their demon-worship and idols made of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood.[132] Moreover, many people refused to repent by changing their minds and attitudes about their murders, sorceries, violence, corruption, and theft.[133] Because of the people’s unrepentance and idolatry, God removed His peace from the land. There is no peace for the wicked but only restlessness and trouble.[134]

Revelation chapter 9 reveals God’s permission to allow demonic forces to torment humans that did not bear the mark of God’s gracious seal on their foreheads.[135] In Revelation chapter 7, John saw an angel coming from the east, carrying the great seal of the living God to place on the foreheads of God’s servants.[136] This seal is the Name of the Lamb and of God.[137] With the sealing, God wanted to mark or stamp His people to preserve and protect them during the Great Tribulation (also known as the Messianic judgments or birth pains of the Messianic age).[138] God’s sealing is antithetical to the mark of the beast,[139] and symbolizes God’s ownership and protection.[140] God’s Holy Spirit also seals God’s servants as His property.[141]

The Holy Scriptures reveal God’s grace, patience, love, mercy, and peace for those who turn to God and His Son Jesus.[142] In His mercy and patience, God gives everyone an opportunity to repent, turn from their evil deeds and wickedness, and have faith in God and His Son Jesus.[143] Jesus required His disciples and apostles to preach repentance to the world after He returned to heaven.[144] After Jesus returned to heaven, the Apostle Peter obeyed Jesus’ teaching and called for repentance (change their lives from sin and selfishness and turn to the Sovereign LORD God) at Pentecost.[145] Moreover, the Apostle Paul also called for everyone – Jews and Gentiles alike that they must turn to the Sovereign LORD God in repentance (turning from evil and producing good fruit) and have faith in God and His Son Jesus.[146] Only through our repentance (living for goodness) and belief in the Sovereign LORD God and His Son Jesus can we escape God’s wrath and receive salvation.[147]

Yet with each series of judgments and the call for repentance, many people continued their  wickedness and “worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, … nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”[148] Sadly, many people hardened their rebellious hearts, cursed God, and continued worshipping the destructive, worthless, and deadly forces of demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood.[149] In other words, many people continued to worship the works of their own hands, which could well include the buildings they constructed, the machines they made, and the cities they built.[150] Their idol worship plunged people into murder, witchcraft, sorcery, sexual immorality, dishonesty, corruption, and thief.[151] Because of sinful humanities’ continued rebellion and wickedness, God promises to bring total destruction upon the earth.[152] The rebellious people will be thrown into the eternal pit of eternal suffering along with Satan and his allies.[153]

Significantly, God prohibited many of the sins listed in Revelation 9:20-21 from His Ten Commandments.[154] Sinful humanity broke the first two commandments by making and worshiping demons and idols.[155] In their murders, they violated the sixth commandment, and in their thefts, the eighth commandment was violated.[156] By their sexual immorality, un-repented humanity violated the seventh commandment.[157] In Revelation 22:15, those who practice murder, thief, magic arts, sexual immorality, and falsehood (lying) have no part in God’s Kingdom.[158]

Idolatry is a deadly sin that seeks to worship and trust in anything other than the true and living God.[159] Ultimately, idolatry leads to the worship of Satan and his demons.[160] Satan has always wanted to be worshiped as God.[161]However, the Holy Scriptures teach humanity must faithfully worship, love, and obey the Lord God and His Son Jesus the Lamb.[162] Wisdom, life, joy, and peace come with our love and worship of God and obedience to His moral commandments.[163]  There is only one true God, the Father, who created everything and only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life.[164] God and His Son Jesus work within faithful believers to obey God's commandments and produce the Holy Spirit's good fruit.[165]

Throughout the entire universe and the Holy Scriptures, the true and living God has revealed His gracious and invisible presence to all humanity.[166] Even more, the Old Testament and New Testament writers reveal God’s repeated efforts to draw people to worship Him as the true and living God.[167] Despite God’s loving presence and patience, many people refuse to worship Him and obey His moral commandments. Instead, many people continue to seek and worship the destructive habits of demons and worship idols (gods) of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood.[168] God has given everyone free will to either follow Him as the only true God[169] or follow the path of destruction, death, and wrath.[170]  

God does not want anyone to perish, but He wants everyone to enjoy the abundant and eternal blessings of light and life through repentance and redemption.[171] Moreover, God does indeed love the world, and He wants no one to perish.[172] Even more, God will relent from sending His wrath and punishment when we genuinely and wholeheartedly turn from sin and darkness and turn to Him with worship, faithfulness, and obedience.[173] God is filled with mercy, love, and compassion with a willingness to forgive our sins and turn away His wrath if we confess our sins and turn to Him with our wholehearted faithfulness, goodness, and obedience.[174] The Holy Scriptures teach that God takes no pleasure in the death of anyone but rather that all people turn from their evil and dark deeds, repent of their sins, and find new life by walking goodness, truth, and fairness.[175] When people repeatedly reject God and His commandments, then His judgment must fall.[176] God is not vindictive, but He will honor humanities’ free will that often leads to eternal destruction and death.[177]

Despite God’s outpouring of judgment and wrath, many people refused to repent of “their sorceries.”[178] “Sorceries” include magical arts, potions, witchcraft, and poisons.[179] Interestingly, the word translated “sorcery” is the Greek word pharmakia, which means “the use of drugs.”[180] Many biblical scholars noted their religious activities involve worship of idols and demons (devils) and sorceries or witchcraft, using magic potions and mind-altering drugs.[181] 

Repentance is an active step and a radical redirection of one’s entire life from the ways of the wicked to the fruits of goodness.[182] Jesus, the true author of Revelation, and His faithful disciples and apostles have called upon all people of the earth to REPENT of their wickedness and evil and turn wholeheartedly in faith and obedience to the living God.[183] Moreover, the Holy Scriptures declare to prove by the way we live and behave daily that we truly have repented and turned to the Sovereign LORD God and His Son Jesus.[184] The Sovereign LORD God wants a changed hearts and to live for goodness.[185] Only our turning away from sins and changing our daily life and hearts towards goodness (righteousness) leads to forgiveness of sins from God.[186] If the church and inhabitants of the world do not wake up and turn from sin, Jesus promises He will “come like a thief” and visit them in judgment and wrath.[187]

 

IV.       Lesson Points

A.        Turn to the Light

            In the book of Revelation, John uncovers the Light of God and His Son Jesus as well as the darkness of Satan and his evil alliance. The Light of God and His Son Jesus are seen in the pages of Revelation.[188] The new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem have no need for the sun nor moon for Jesus the Lamb is the Light, and Satan’s darkness has been destroyed.[189] Everyone that has accepted Jesus the Lamb shall be saved and walk in His light.[190]

            Jesus is the Light and Savior of the world.[191] Furthermore, Jesus is both Lord and God because He is One with His Father – the Sovereign LORD God of heaven and earth.[192] God sent His Son Jesus into the world to reveal His love for the world and to turn everyone away from Satan’s darkness and into Jesus’ Light.[193] Jesus is the Ruler and Light of the world, and He is the radiant glory of His Father – the Sovereign LORD God.[194] The Light of Jesus is the source of all life because without Jesus’ Light there is no life but only darkness.[195] Jesus is the Author and Giver of Life and the Light of the world like His Father, who dwells in glorious light.[196] Moreover, Jesus is the Bright and Morningstar that existed with the light of Sovereign LORD God at the very beginning of all creation.[197] The Apostle John eyewitness Jesus’ glorious Light when Jesus’s face shone like the sun and His clothes became as white as the light.[198] Moreover, Zechariah the priest predicted Jesus’ Light coming into the world at the birth of his son John the Baptist.[199]

Jesus gives light to everyone who sits in evil’s darkness, and He leads us to the path of healing, deliverance, and peace.[200] Through faith in Him, Jesus protects believers from Satan’s darkness and evil and into His light.[201] The Light of Jesus gives good and abundant life and peace now and for all eternity to everyone that accepts and obeys Him by faith.[202] God sent His messenger John the Baptist as a witness to testify concerning the good Light of His Son Jesus.[203]

God has called everyone to come to the Light of Jesus and live out daily the goodness of Jesus and reject all sin, evil deeds, and Satan’s darkness.[204] Our evil and dark deeds separate us from the Light of Jesus and His blessings, but our coming to the Light of Jesus reconciles us to God.[205] Some people reject the Light of Jesus and turn to the darkness of evil Night.[206] Everyone that accepts and believes in the Sovereign LORD God’s Son Jesus repents and turns to the Light of Jesus and away from sin and darkness.[207] God promises that if a wicked person turns away from darkness and evil and humbly turns to the Light and does what is just and right, he shall surely live and not die.[208] The Holy Scriptures are clear: The Sovereign LORD God is good, gracious, and merciful, and His faithful love endures forever and ever.[209] In addition, the Sovereign LORD God is a shield and helper for those who trust in Him.[210]

 

B.        Call for Faithfulness

One of Revelation’s themes is the importance of wholehearted faithfulness and obedience to God and His Son, Jesus.[211] John wrote Revelation to remind God’s people not to compromise and accommodate to the world’s dark and evil value system.[212] This evil value system focuses on materialism, selfishness, and greed while ignoring goodness and the needs of others.[213]

At the time of John’s writing of the book of Revelation, the churches in Asia Minor were suffering at the hands of the Roman government.[214] Most biblical scholars believe that John wrote Revelation during Roman emperor Domitian's harsh reign (A.D. 81 - 96).[215] Domitian enacted an ancient Roman practice of emperor worship, and he demanded all people worship him as “our lord and our god.”[216] However, during Domitian's reign, faithful Christians refused to worship Domitian and only acknowledged God and His Son Jesus as "Lord and God." The earliest Christian’s confession was that “Jesus is Lord.”[217] In fact, early church tradition believes that Domitian exiled John to the island of Patmos, a Roman penal colony off the coast of Asia Minor, because of his obedience and faithful testimony of Jesus as Lord.[218] Revelation does not specifically mention Domitian’s name or the Romans. However, John personified the Roman Empire as the evil beast who demanded universal worship,[219] and insisting that everyone bear his evil “mark” or be put to death.[220]

Significantly, John warned the churches about coming opposition and the significance of worshiping only God and His Son Jesus as “our Lord and God.”[221] John wanted to encourage Christians to remain faithful to God and His Son Jesus as Lord and obedient to God’s commands as instructed throughout the Holy Scriptures and not succumb to Satan and his evil alliances.[222] Life, blessings, and entrance into God’s family come through our faithfulness and obedience to God and His Son Jesus.[223]

John assured the churches that God and His Son Jesus’s promised redemption, blessing, and victory come to those who faithfully and obediently worshipped Him and His Son Jesus as their Lord and God.[224] As Jesus informed His disciples before His death and crucifixion, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart because I have overcome the world.”[225]  

Like the church today, accommodation and compromise were issues facing these early Christians in the book of Revelation. Some within the church were advocating a policy of compromise.[226]  Sadly, every Christian in every generation faces temptations to compromise to the world and their values. Previously, the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter wrote to the churches not to be conformed to this world’s values.[227]

Revelation is John’s call Christians to remain wholeheartedly faithful to God and His Son Jesus and not to accommodate or compromise their good values and worship the beast of this world. At God's appointed time, God would seal His faithful and holy servants from judgment and wrath by placing His Name on their foreheads.[228] Even more, John says that God will create “a new heaven and a new earth.”[229] On this new earth, there will be no more tears and no more pain.[230] God will be with His faithful servants, and they will reign with Him forever and ever.[231] Until this great day comes, God calls His faithful servants to live good, pure, and holy lives as citizens of heaven while on earth and reflect the light of God in the world.[232] God promises to be with His faithful servants and provide our needs as we seek Him first.[233]

One day, the risen and resurrected Jesus will burst onto the world scene and reveal He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.[234] Then everyone will know that Jesus is Lord and Ruler of the universe![235]

 

V.        Conclusion

Revelation promises a happy conclusion to all faithful worshippers of God and His Son Jesus. Out of the bad news predicted in Revelation, Revelation ends with hope and good news – specular Good News. For all the faithful believers, Revelation becomes a book of hope and assurance that God is with us now and forever and ever! 

References

ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008).

Life Application Study Bible (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Pub., 2005).

New Student Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992).

Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Chicago, IL: Moody, 1995).

Zondervan NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008).

Achtemeir, Paul J. Joel B. Green, Marianne Meye Thompson. Introducing the New Testament:

            Its Literature and Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001), p. 555.

Ehrman, Bart D. The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings

(New York: Oxford, 1997), p. 400.

Loyd, Melton, Ph.D., Senior Professor of the New Testament (Due West, SC: Erskine

            Theological Seminary, 2016).

Metzger, Bruce. Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1993).

Mounce, Robert H. The Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998).

Wiersbe, Warren W. Bible Exposition Commentary –New Testament (Victor Books, 1989).

---

[1] Loyd, Melton, Ph.D., Senior Professor of the New Testament (Due West, SC: Erskine Theological Seminary, 2016).

[2] New Student Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992), p. 1379.

[3] Ehrman, Bart D. The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings (New York: Oxford, 1997), p. 400.

[4] Achtemeir, Paul J. Joel B. Green, Marianne Meye Thompson. Introducing the New Testament: Its Literature and Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001), p. 555.

[5] Metzger, Bruce. Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1993), p. 9.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Melton, Fall 2016.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10] See Revelation 1:3

[11] Revelation 1:3, New Living Translation.

[12] See also Revelation 14:13; Revelation 16:15; Revelation 19:9; Revelation 20:6; Revelation 22:7; and Revelation 22:14.

[13] Revelation 1:1.

[14] Revelation 1:1, 4, 9, 18; Revelation 22:8.

[15] See Matthew 4:21; Mark 1:19; Luke 5:10. John the apostle was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and he was the younger brother of James (e.g., see Matthew 4:21; Matthew 10:2; Mark 1:19-20; Luke 5:10). In Hebrew, John is referred to as “Joannes” or “Johanan.” John was a Galilean fisherman along with his father Zebedee and brother James (e.g., see Matthew 4:18-21; Mark 1:16-20). Also, John and his brother James were given the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder” (see Mark 3:17). John was an uneducated and ordinary man, but he and the other faithful apostles and disciples courageously led the early Jerusalem church after Jesus’ death and resurrection (e.g., see Acts 3:1; Acts 8:14; Galatians 2:9). Later, John went to Ephesus, and for an unknown reason, he was exiled to the island of Patmos (see Revelation 1:9).

[16] ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), p. 2453; see also Matthew 10:2.

[17] Melton, Fall 2016.

[18] See John 1:1, 14, 29; Revelation 5:6; Revelation 19:13.

[19] ESV Study Bible, p. 2453; see also John 21:20, 24.

[20] Zondervan NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), p. 1961-62.

[21] Ibid.

[22] Melton, Fall 2016.

[23] Wiersbe, Warren W. Bible Exposition Commentary –New Testament (Victor Books, 1989).

[24] Melton, Fall 2016.

[25] Metzger, p. 17.

[26] Melton, Fall 2016.

[27] Ibid.

[28] Metzger, p. 17.

[29] See Revelation 1:3; Revelation 22:7, 18.

[30] Mounce, Robert H. The Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), p. 4; see also 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; 1 Corinthians 14:3.

[31] Melton, Fall 2016.

[32] Revelation 1:4, 11.

[33] Revelation 2:1-3:22.

[34] ESV Study Bible, p. 2454.

[35] Melton, Fall 2016.

[36] Ibid.

[37] Ibid.

[38] Revelation 1:1.

[39] Revelation 1:5; Revelation 5:6; Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16; see also John 1:29, 36; 1 Peter 2:21-25.

[40] Revelation 5:9-10; Revelation 14:3-4; see also 1 Peter 1:19-20.

[41] See e.g., Revelation 4:1-5:14.

[42] Revelation 21:2-22:5.

[43] Revelation 2:26-29; Revelation 3:5, 10; see also John 10:10; John 15:4-5.

[44] Revelation 2:23; Revelation 20:11-15; see also Matthew 16:27.

[45] Melton, Fall 2016.

[46] Ibid.

[47] See e.g., Revelation 3:8, 10; Revelation 21:5-8; Revelation 22:14-15.

[48] See e.g., Revelation 2:5; 10-11, 16-17, 26-29; Revelation 3:2

[49] See e.g., Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; Revelation 3:5, 21-22; Revelation 7:14, 17; see also Mark 13:13; James 1:2-7, 12.

[50] Metzger, p. 18.

[51] Metzger, p. 58.

[52] See e.g., Revelation 2:5, 16, 22; Revelation 3:3, 19; see also Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:14-15; Luke 13:3-5; John 8:11.

[53] See e.g., Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Isaiah 55:1-3, 6-7; Amos 5:4-6, 14-15; Zechariah 7:8-10; Zechariah 8:15-17, 19; Matthew 3:2, 8; Matthew 22:37-39; Luke 3:3, 8; Mark 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:9.

[54] Metzger, p. 57.

[55] See e.g., Revelation 5:13-14; Revelation 7:11-12; Revelation 11:15-18; Revelation 12:10-12; Revelation 15:3-4.

[56] New Student Bible, p. 1375.

[57] ESV Study Bible, p. 2461.

[58] Ibid.

[59] Melton, Fall 2016.

[60] ESV Study Bible, p. 2454.

[61] Mounce, p. 229.

[62] ESV Study Bible, p. 2454.

[63] John 15:20, New King James Version.

[64] Revelation 12:12. 17.

[65] Zondervan NIV Study Bible, p. 1962.

[66] Revelation 2:14-15, 20

[67] Melton, Fall 2016.

[68] Mounce, p. 229

[69] Zondervan NIV Study Bible, p. 1962.

[70] Ibid.

[71] Melton, Fall 2016.

[72] Ibid.

[73] Ibid.

[74] Genesis 1-2; Revelation 21-22; Zondervan NIV Study Bible, p. 1962.

[75] ESV Study Bible, p. 2495.

[76] See Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 3:8-10; Revelation 11:15; Revelation 21:1-5.

[77] ESV Study Bible, p. 2495.

[78] See Genesis 3:23-24; 2 Kings 17:6-23; 2 Kings 25:1-21; 2 Chronicles 36:17-21; Ezekiel 33:21. Israel and Judah ignored Jesus’ proclamations to repent and turn to His Father – the living LORD God and have kindness towards one another. In AD 70, Israel and Judah were destroyed by the Roman army. Israel and Judah did not return from exile into their land until 1948. Many of the Old Testament messengers of God like Jeremiah and Ezekiel also announced Israel and Judah’s future glory, spiritual renewal, and restoration by the Sovereign LORD God (see e.g., Isaiah 66:12-14; Jeremiah 29:10-11; Lamentations 3:23, 31-33; Ezekiel 36:24-38; Ezekiel 37:12-14, 21-28; Ezekiel 39:25-29; Micah 2:12-13; Micah 7:18-20; Zechariah 8:13-15). The book of Revelation reveals His people’s full restoration in the New Jerusalem (see Revelation 21:1-2).  

[79] Revelation 5:5; Revelation 22:16; see also Matthew 1:1; Matthew 16:16; Mark 14:61-62; 1 Corinthians 15:45-47; Philippians 2:5-7, 15. 

[80] Revelation 1:13; Revelation 11:15; Revelation 14:14; Revelation 22:1-5; see also Daniel 7:13-14.

[81] See Genesis 2:8-10; Genesis 3:22; Revelation 2:7; Revelation 22:2, 14, 19.

[82] See Genesis 1:3-4; Genesis 3:1-3; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:7-10, 14-15; Revelation 21:8, 22-23, 27; Revelation 22:5, 15.

[83] Melton, Fall 2016.

[84] Ibid.

[85] See e.g., Daniel 11:36-12:13; Matthew 24:1-22; Mark 13:1-20; Luke 21:5-24.

[86] See e.g., Jeremiah 30:7; Daniel 11:36-45; Matthew 24:21; 1 Timothy 4:1-5; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 2 Peter 3:3.

[87] Melton, Fall 2016.

[88] See e.g., Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 16:6; Revelation 18:20; Revelation 19:2.

[89] Metzger, p. 66; see also Mounce, p. 176-177.

[90] Ezekiel 33; see also Mounce, p. 177.

[91] See Revelation 6:8; Revelation 8:7, 9, 10, 12.

[92] Mounce, p. 168-169.

[93] Melton, Fall 2016.

[94] Mounce, p. 169.

[95] Ibid.

[96] Revelation 6:8.

[97] Revelation 8:7, 8, 11, 12.

[98] Revelation 16:17.

[99] Melton, Fall 2016.

[100] See Exodus chapters 7 through 11.

[101] Melton, Fall 2016.

[102] See Exodus 6:1-2; Revelation 1:8; Revelation 9:20-21; Revelation 11:17; Revelation 15:3; Revelation 19:6.

[103] Revelation 8:1.

[104] Revelation 8:1.

[105] Revelation 8:1.

[106] Revelation 8:2.

[107] Revelation 8:3-4.

[108] Metzger, p. 62.

[109] Metzger, p. 63.

[110] Revelation 8:6-12.

[111] Revelation 8:13, The Living Bible Translation.

[112] Revelation 9:1-12.

[113] Revelation 9:13-21.

[114] Revelation 9:1.

[115] Melton, Fall 2016.

[116] Revelation 9:1.

[117] Melton, Fall 2016.

[118] Ibid.

[119] Revelation 9:3.

[120] Revelation 9:11.

[121] Revelation 9:4-6; see also Revelation 7:2-3.

[122] Metzger, p. 65.

[123] Melton, Fall 2016.

[124] Revelation 9:15.

[125] Melton, Fall 2016.

[126] Metzger, p. 66.

[127] Revelation 9:18.

[128] See e.g., Romans 2:4; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9.

[129] Revelation 9:20-21.

[130] See Revelation 15:1-16:21; Revelation 21:1- 22:5.

[131] Metzger, p. 66-67.

[132] Revelation 9:20

[133] Revelation 9:21.

[134] E.g., see Isaiah 48:22; Isaiah 57:20-21.

[135] Revelation 9:4-6; see also Revelation 7:2-3.  

[136] Revelation 7:2-3.

[137] See Revelation 14:1; Revelation 22:4.

[138] See also Revelation 3:12; Revelation 9:4; Revelation 14:1; Revelation 22:4.

[139] See Revelation 13:16-18; Revelation 16:2; Revelation 19:20.

[140] 2 Timothy 2:19; see also Melton, Fall 2016.

[141] See Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 4:30.

[142] See e.g., Exodus 34:6-7; 2 Chronicles 30:9; Psalm 116:5-6; John 1:12-14, 16-18; John 14:27; John 16:33.

[143] Revelation 2:21-22; Revelation 9:20-21; Revelation 16:9, 11; see also Amos 4:6-13; Acts 20:21; Romans 2:4-5.

[144] See e.g., Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; Acts 17:30.

[145] Acts 2:36-41; see also Acts 3:19-20; 1 Peter 2:12, 15; 1 Peter 3:8-13.

[146] See e.g., Acts 14:15; Acts 20:21; Acts 22:14-16; Acts 26:18-20; Romans 6:1-2; 2 Corinthians 7:9-11; Titus 3:1, 8.

[147] See e.g., Mark 16:16; John 3:16-18, 36; Acts 16:29-34.

[148] Revelation 9:20-21, English Standard Version.

[149] Revelation 13:3-4, 16-18; Revelation 16:9,11, 21; see also Psalm 115:4-7; Psalm 135:15-17; Isaiah 17:8.

[150] See e.g., Isaiah 44:6-20; Daniel 5:23; see also Bible Exposition Commentary (BE Series) - New Testament.

[151] Revelation 9:21; Revelation 21:8; Revelation 22:15; see also Galatians 5:19-21.

[152] See Revelation 16:1-21.

[153] Revelation 14:9-11; Revelation 20:10; see also e.g., Matthew 13:36-43, 47-50.

[154] Exodus 20:3–17; see also Luke 18:20; Romans 13:9.

[155] See Exodus 20:3-4.

[156] See Exodus 20:13, 15.

[157] See Exodus 20:14.

[158] Revelation 21:7-8; see also e.g., Psalm 15:1-5; Psalm 24:3-5; Isaiah 57:15; Isaiah 66:2; Acts 10:34-35; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21.

[159] Mounce, p. 67.

[160] See 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; 1 Corinthians 10:19-20.

[161] See e.g., Isaiah 14:12-15; Matthew 4:8-10.

[162] Revelation chapters 4:11; Revelation 5:12-14; Revelation 14:6-7; see also, Deuteronomy 6:13-17; Deuteronomy 10:12-13, 17, 21; 1 Samuel 7:3; Matthew 4:10; Luke 4:8.

[163] See e.g., Deuteronomy 10:12; Deuteronomy 11:13-15; Deuteronomy 28:1-14; Joshua 24:14-15; Psalm 119:1-2, 24, 35; John 14:15, 21, 23-24; John 15:9-10, 16-17; John 17:8, 14; 1 John 2:3-5.

[164] See e.g., Psalm 86:10; John 1:1-5; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:5-6; 1 Timothy 2:5.

[165] See Galatians 5:22-23; Philippians 2:12-18.

[166] See e.g., Genesis 1:1-2; Deuteronomy 6:4-6; Psalm 19:1-6; Acts 14:17; Acts 17:24-27.

[167] Life Application Study Bible (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Pub., 2005).

[168] See Romans 1:18-25.

[169] See e.g., Deuteronomy 4:35, 39; 1 Corinthians 8:4.

[170] See e.g., Ephesians 5:3-7; Colossians 3:5-6.

[171] Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:14-15; John 3:15-21; John 17:3; see also 2 Peter 3:9.

[172] See John 3:16; Luke 15.

[173] See e.g., 1 Kings 21:27-29; 2 Chronicles 7:13-14; Jeremiah 18:8; Ezekiel 18:21; Jonah 3:9-10.

[174] See e.g., Psalm 86:5; Psalm 111:4; Psalm 119:64; Ezekiel 18:30-32; Joel 2:12-13; Jonah 4:2; 1 John 1:9.

[175] See e.g., Isaiah 55:6-7; Jeremiah 4:1-2; Lamentations 3:31-33; Ezekiel 14:6; Ezekiel 18:23, 32; Ezekiel 33:11; Hosea 14:1; Amos 4:6-13; Micah 6:6-8; Matthew 3:2, 8-9; Romans 2:4; 1 Timothy 2:1-4; 2 Peter 3:9.

[176] See e.g., Romans 2:4-11.

[177] See e.g., Romans 1:18-32.

[178] Revelation 9:21, King James Version.

[179] Revelation 18:23; Revelation 21:8; Revelation 22:15; see also Galatians 5:20.

[180] Bible Exposition Commentary (BE Series) - New Testament.

[181] Wiersbe, Warren W. Bible Exposition Commentary –New Testament (Victor Books, 1989).

[182] See e.g., Matthew 3:1-2, 8-10; Galatians 5:19-23.

[183] Revelation 2:5, 16, 21-22; Revelation 3:3, 19; Revelation 16:11; see also Matthew 3:2, 8; Matthew 4:17; Luke 3:3, 7-8; Acts 2:38; Jude 1:4.

[184] Matthew 3:8; Luke 3:8; Acts 26:20; Ephesians 2:8-10.

[185] See Luke 3:3, 9.

[186] See Mark 1:4; Acts 10:34-35; Romans 6:12-18.

[187] Revelation 16:15; see also Matthew 24:42-44; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10.

[188] See e.g., Revelation 1:16; Revelation 22:5.

[189] Revelation 21:1-3, 10-11, 23, 25-27; see also Isaiah 60:1-2, 19-20.

[190] Revelation 21:24; see also Isaiah 60:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-5.

[191] See e.g., Matthew 1:21; Luke 2:10-11; John 1:4-5, 9, 14, 29, 36; John 4:42; 1 John 4:14.

[192] See e.g., John 1:1, 14, 18; John 10:30, 38; John 14:9-11; John 20:28; Acts 2:36; Romans 9:5; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Philippians 2:6; Colossians 1:18-19; Colossians 2:6, 9-10; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:3, 8.

[193] See e.g., Matthew 4:15-17; John 3:16; Acts 9:3-5; Acts 26:18; Ephesians 5:5, 8-9, 11, 13-14; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; 1 John 1:5, 7. The Holy Scriptures declare God’s unfailing love for the world, and His love endures forever (see e.g., Psalm 117:2; Psalm 118:1-2, 29).

[194] Revelation 1:5; Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16; see also Psalm 104:2; Isaiah 60:1-2; Malachi 4:2; Luke 2:32; John 1:14; Hebrews 1:3.

[195] See e.g., John 1:4-5, 9, 14; John 8:12; John 14:6.

[196] See e.g., Psalm 36:9; Psalm 56:13; Psalm 118:27; Habakkuk 2:14; Habakkuk 3:3-4; John 11:25-26; John 12:35-36, 44-47; Acts 3:15; 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 1:1-2.

[197] See Genesis 1:3; Numbers 24:17; Matthew 2:2; John 1:1-5; 2 Corinthians 4:6; 1 John 1:5, 7; Revelation 22:16.

[198] Revelation 1:15-16; Revelation 10:1; see also Matthew 17:1-2.

[199] Luke 1:78; see also Isaiah 42:6-7; Isaiah 60:2-3; Luke 2:32; John 1:4-5, 9.

[200] Revelation 22:16; see also Luke 1:78-79; Luke 2:14; see also Genesis 1:3-5; Psalm 18:28; Isaiah 9:1-2, 6; Malachi 4:2; Matthew 4:16; John 1:4-5, 9; John 8:12; John 9:5; John 12:46; John 14:27; John 16:33; Romans 5:1; 2 Corinthians 4:6; 1 John 2:8. Jesus is not the sun nor a stary hosts. The Sovereign LORD God created the sun, the moon, and stary hosts on the fourth day of the creation story (see Genesis 1:14-19). Importantly, the Sovereign LORD God forbids the worship of the sun, moon, and the stary hosts of heaven (e.g., see Deuteronomy 4:19; 2 Kings 17:16; Ezekiel 8:16-18).  The Holy Scriptures command we are to worship, praise, and serve the Sovereign LORD God and His Son Jesus (e.g., see Deuteronomy 6:4-6; Matthew 22:37; Romans 1:25; Romans 9:5; 2 Corinthians 11:31).

[201] See e.g., Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 1:12-14.

[202] See e.g., John 3:15-17, 36; John 6:47-48; John 10:10-11; Romans 5:1; 1 John 5:11-12.

[203] See John 1:6-8.

[204] See e.g., Matthew 5:14-16; Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians 5:8-9; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-5, 7-8, 22.

[205] See e.g., 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Colossians 1:12-13, 21.

[206] See e.g., John 3:19-21.

[207] See e.g., Acts 26:15-18; Ephesians 5:8, 14; 1 John 1:5-10.

[208] See e.g., Ezekiel 18:21-23, 27-28.

[209] See e.g., Psalm 111:3-4; Psalm 115:1; Psalm 116:4-6; Jeremiah 16:19; Jeremiah 17:7, 11-14; Jeremiah 33:11; Nahum 1:7; Zephaniah 1:18; Zephaniah 3:16.

[210] See e.g., Psalm 115:9-11, 13.

[211] See e.g., Revelation 13:10; Revelation 14:12.

[212] Romans 12:1-2, 21; see also Melton, Fall 2016.

[213] Revelation 18:3-5; see also Philippians 2:3-4; Philippians 3:17-18; James 4:1-4; 1 John 2:15-17.

[214] Melton, Fall 2016.

[215] Ibid.

[216] Ibid.

[217] Ibid.

[218] Ibid, see also Revelation 1:2, 9.

[219] See e.g., Revelation 13:4; Revelation 14:9; Revelation 16:2; Revelation 19:20.

[220] See e.g., Revelation 20:4.

[221] Revelation 1:6; Revelation 2:10; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 19:10; Revelation 22:3, 10; see also Deuteronomy 6:4-6, 13; Matthew 22:37.

[222] Revelation 1:18; Revelation 2:10; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 20:4; see also Genesis 17:1; Genesis 22:17-18; Genesis 28:13-14; Psalm 111:7-8; Jeremiah 18:7-10; John 14:15-17; John 15:10; 1 John 2:3-5. Notably, Psalm 119 of the Old Testament discusses the joy, peace, wisdom, happiness, and life victory one has from obeying God’s commandments.

[223] See e.g., Leviticus 18:5; Deuteronomy 4:9-10, 40; Deuteronomy 6:2; Ezekiel 18:5-9; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Matthew 15:4-6; Matthew 19:17-18; Luke 8:8, 15, 20-21; John 1:12-13; John 12:49-50; Acts 7:38.

[224] Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26-29; Revelation 5:9-14; Revelation 14:3-5; see also Isaiah 59:20-21.

[225] John 16:33, New Living Translation; see also Revelation 3:5, 12, 21; Revelation 21:7.

[226] See e.g., Revelation 2:14-15, 20.

[227] See Romans 12:1-2; 1 Peter 1:14-15.

[228] See e.g., Revelation 7:3; Revelation 14:1; Revelation 22:4.

[229] Revelation 21:1; see also Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13-14.

[230] See Revelation 21:4.

[231] See Revelation 22:2-5.

[232] See e.g., 2 Peter 1:3-11; 2 Peter 3:14.

[233] See e.g., Psalm 23:1; Matthew 6:25-34; Matthew 28:20; Philippians 4:19; Hebrews 13:5-6.

[234] See Revelation 17:14.

[235] Revelation 1:5-7; see also Zechariah 14:5, 9, 16; Philippians 2:6-11.