Revelation 20

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

A throne. And books. Everything has been working toward this great moment. All of life, indeed all of history, comes down to this.

Continue reading →

Revelation 20

¹ Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. ² And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, ³ and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. ⁴ Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ⁵ The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. ⁷ And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. ⁹ And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, ¹⁰ and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

On September 6, 1934, the following headline appeared on the front page of The New York Times: “HITLER FORECASTS NO REICH OVERTURN IN NEXT 1,000 YEARS; Proclamation to Nazi Congress Says Movement Won’t Yield No Matter What Happens.”

It begins:

NUREMBERG, Sept. 5. — Chancellor Adolf Hitler today proclaimed the arrival of the Nazi millennium, predicting that the next 1,000 years would not witness another revolution in Germany. He was equally positive that the National Socialist movement had now become absolute master of the Reich and that its leadership rested in the hands of its best men.[1]

Hitler and his followers referred to Nazi Germany as the “Third Reich.” (“Reich” is the German word for “realm.”) The Third Reich is a term that is widely known today. The Holy Roman Empire (800-1806) was the First Reich and the German Empire (1871-1918) was the Second Reich. But Hitler was seen as ushering in the Third Reich. It had another name: the “Thousand-Year Reich.” The idea of “a Thousand-Year Reich” (Tausendjähriges Reich) was an idea which “was inspired explicitly by the millennial reign of the saints prophesied in Revelation.”[2]

How fascinating. How tragic. Hitler prophesied a millennial Nazi reign, a thousand years of German utopian rule. But he was wrong. Very wrong. The so-called Third Reich would last just over a decade and it was marked not by a utopian golden age but rather by horror, by violence, by pain, and by a deep wounding that lingers among humanity to our very day.

In Revelation 20, however, we find the exact opposite. We find a prophesied coming millennial reign quite different from Hitler’s prophesy. Revelation foretells a coming thousand-year reign of Christ with His saints on the earth after the battle of Armageddon. It will be ruled by Jesus Christ and the devil will be imprisoned during it. Wickedness will cease and there will indeed be a utopian age of peace.

The idea of the millennium, found only here in Revelation, has proved unbelievably controversial. For the record, I would consider myself a premillennialist, by which I mean that Jesus returns before a millennial reign. The idea of some kind of a millennial reign for the Messiah was actually a Jewish concept. Leon Morris writes:

The idea of a messianic reign was congenial to Jewish thought. In 4 Ezra 7:28 the Messiah is said to be with his people for 400 years and Strack-Billerbeck draw attention to estimates varying from forty years (R. Akiba) to 7,000 years (R. Abbahu), with Rabbi Eliezer, usually dated c. AD 90, speaking of 1,000 years (S Bk, iii, p. 824).[3]

I also agree with John Newport that millennialism was the “early church view.”[4]

To be frank, I am not overly concerned about whether or not the number 1,000 is taken literally or symbolically here. Leon Morris argues for the latter.

We should take this symbolically. One thousand is the cube of ten, the number of completeness. We have seen it used over and over again in this book to denote completeness of some sort and John is surely saying here that Satan is bound for the complete time that God has determined.[5]

He may have a point. The number of ten is frequently used in apparently symbolic ways throughout Revelation. Consider:

• “for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death…” (2:10)

• “The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand…” (9:16)

• “behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns…” (12:3)

• “a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns…with ten diadems on its horns” (13:1)

• “a scarlet beast…and it had seven heads and ten horns” (17:3)

• “and the ten horns that you saw are ten kings…” (17:12)

And yet, on the other hand, Danny Akin points out that “[n]ever in Scripture when the word year is used with a number is its meaning not literal.”[6]

This seems less important to me than the idea of the millennium itself. Let us consider what this means. We will consider it first with a focus on what it means for Satan and then on what it means for the church.

Continue reading →

In the Name of God is a simply fantastic book for which O.S. Hawkins is to be commended. As a student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in the late 1990s I heard first the name of J. Frank Norris. What I heard was largely negative but nonetheless enthralling: that he had shot a man in his office and gotten away with it, that he was theatrical (preaching to a monkey about evolution, announcing he would out the affair of a prominent Ft. Worth business man from the pulpit only to have a number of businessmen call him and confess, etc.), that he was a fiery fundamentalist, that he started his own Bible college, and that he was the arch-nemesis of L.R. Scarborough, president of Southwestern Seminary after B.H. Carroll. That’s it. Oh, and that his church burned down a time or two under unusual circumstances and he was able to build bigger sanctuaries with the insurance money. I knew even less about Truett, though all of it was positive: that he was the legendary pastor of First Baptist Dallas for half a century and that…well, that’s probably about it! Now, all of that has changed!

In the capable hands of O.S. Hawkins the full story is told. The book served to help this reader have a better and somewhat more positive understanding of Norris and a better and somewhat more negative view of Truett…which is simply to say that I see them both now as men of great gifts and great weaknesses, as human beings and not as caricatures. (The same can be said for this book’s effect on my understanding of Scarborough.)

Norris was the pastor of FBC Ft. Worth. Truett was the pastor of FBC Dallas. Hawkins does a very good job of showing how both men were symbols of the respective cities back in the day: Norris being more uncouth, more fiery, more “Wild West,” if you will, and Truett being more polished, more cultured, more “uptown,” if you will. There is some interesting history of the Dallas-Ft. Worth area in this book that I found helpful.

For the men themselves, both were amazing preachers who built huge churches to some extent on the force of their personalities but also in evidence of the hand of God on their lives. Both did amazing and helpful things for their communities…and both were, at times, their own worst enemies. They were also each other’s enemies, tragically, and maneuvered against each other in different ways. I was intrigued and saddened by how Truett would use and manipulate others to attack Norris publicly and by how Norris’ anger and paranoia would cause him to lash out eventually at even his own son. Both were men of ego and both, by all account, truly did love the Lord.

Hawkins’ account of how Southwestern Seminary ended up in Ft. Worth and of how Norris played such a big role in bringing that about was interesting. I had never heard that story. His account of the radio attacks on Norris that were orchestrated behind the scenes by Truett was likewise fascinating. I kept thinking that if Twitter had been around in that time it would have sounded just like Twitter does today, with ministers sniping and attacking each other to our own shame and detriment. Hawkins’ suggestion that Norris’ attack on Scarborough was possibly fueled by Scarborough, not Norris, getting the presidency of Southwestern after the death of Carroll was enlightening.

The absolute saddest parts of the book were (1) Norris’ lamentable behavior toward his son when his son was supposed to take over First Baptist Ft. Worth and (2) the possibility that Truett’s wife forbade Truett’s requested deathbed meeting with Norris for reconciliation from happening. That was heartbreaking to read about, though Truett’s request to meet Norris was laudable. Similarly, the deathbed reconciliation between Norris and Scarborough was touching.

As for Hawkins’ assessment of how the legacies of these men play into and impact the current milieu of the Southern Baptist Convention, the reader will have to make his or her own determination as to the usefulness and accuracy of Hawkin’s evaluation and conclusions. Regardless, it is an interesting question to ponder and Hawkins’ book will help you in making your own evaluations even if they differ from his own.

This is a cautionary tale and should be read by all pastors today and church attenders today. It is a tale about how ego can undercut our ministries and about how competition can undercut our ministerial friendships. It is a tale about unfettered ambition and the ruthlessness it can usher in. Perhaps more than anything it is a tale about how a good God can use deeply flawed people to accomplish great things.

Great, great book! Get it!

Here is audio of my November 16, 2021, presentation at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Fort Worth, Texas.

Revelation 19

¹¹ 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. ¹² His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. ¹³ He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. ¹⁵ From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. ¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, ¹⁸ to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” ¹⁹ And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. ²⁰ And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. ²¹ And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

There is a word that is used a number of times in the book of Revelation—nine times in fact, and twice in Revelation 19—that is important and that has given rise to a particular artistic depiction of Jesus in iconography and painting. The word is “pantocrator” and it shows up in Revelation 19:15, “God the Almighty.” “Pantocrator” is a Greek word that means “almighty” and when used to describe a certain type of depiction of Jesus it is called “Christ Pantocrator”: Χριστὸς Παντοκράτωρ.

Here is an early example, the oldest existing one in fact, a 6^th century Orthodox icon of “Christ Pantocrator.” It is also one of my favorite images of Jesus.

Here is another example, this one from the late 19^th century.

I think my favorite “Christ Pantocrator,” or “Christ Almighty,” example is found in the dome of the Cathedral of Monreale in Italy.

Here, Christ has the traditional “Pantocrator” pose of two fingers raised on the right hand, a copy of the New Testament in His left hand, and a stern look on His face. “Christ Pantocrator” depicts Jesus as strong, as almighty, and, indeed, as one with whom we dare not trifle. This is the strong Christ, Christ resolved to complete His task, Christ who will judge and overthrow the powers, Christ who is mighty to save His people.

I look at “Christ Pantocrator” images and I wonder, “Is this good? Should Christ be depicted thus? Should He not be depicted here as gentle and lowly?” And I read Revelation 19 and I think, “Yes, it is good! Yes, He should be so depicted!” For in Revelation 19 Christ comes to defeat the powers. In Revelation 19, Christ mounted upon a white horse and comes in victory in strength.

Continue reading →

Revelation 19

¹ 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, ² 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.” ³ Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.” ⁴ And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” ⁵ And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great. ⁶ Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. ⁷ Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; ⁸ it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. ⁹ And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” ¹⁰ Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Writing in The Atlantic, Ashley Fetters talked about the surprising popularity of Leonard Cohen’s 1984 song “Hallelujah.” She was reviewing Alan Light’s book, The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah.“ That is an entire book about how a song with a biblical title—even though the lyrics are, at times, very much not biblical—became a cultural phenomenon. When Leonard Cohen first submitted the song to the label they were not going to publish it. They hated it. They did not understand it. They did not know what to do with it. It was not even a prominent song on the album. It was the first track on the b-side of the album. And, for a good while, the song languished. Fetters writes that “‘Hallelujah’ has metamorphosed over the years from a cheesy, reverb-heavy B-side oddity on an album Cohen’s label rejected to a mystical, soul-stirring pop canticle that’s played today at just as many weddings as funerals.” She goes on to recount how this unlikely hit rose to prominence after Jeff Buckley covered it on an album in 1994. Since then, the song has exploded and has been covered by seemingly everybody and appears frequently on tv shows, in movies, and on tv singing competitions. Perhaps the two events that brought it the most prominence were Justin Timberlake’s version of it on live TV for a Haiti benefit and, oddly enough, the movie Shrek, where likely many people who had never heard the song heard it for the first time, especially children. The article reveals how even Leonard Cohen became a bit irritated with the seemingly obsessive performances of the song.[1] Hallelujah means, in essence, “Praise the Lord!”

By the way, that is not the only time that a biblical concept became a 1980’s pop hit. The year after Cohen released “Hallelujah” Mr. Mister released their song “Kyrie.” The chorus of the song prominently features the Greek words “Kyrie, eleison.” It is a fantastic song! “Kyrie, eleison” means, “Lord, have mercy.”

What is going on here? How do songs with prayer cries become hits? I suppose some might argue that they were just good songs. Maybe so. But I wonder: could it be that one part of the success of songs like this is because, having been created in the image of God and only truly being at rest in God (as Augustine says), our hearts connect deeply with these prayers? Put another way, maybe, oddly enough, even given the song “Hallelujah’s” at times non-biblical angles, our hearts connect to what they most desperately need and what we most definitely need is a Hallelujah!

John Newport makes the fascinating observation that “[t]he word hallelujah is used only in verses 1,3, [4], and 6 [of the book of Revelation] in the New Testament” and that in Hebrew it means “praise the Lord.”[2] How interesting! This word that is used so often in church culture is used so seldom in the New Testament. And yet it is one of the most beloved of all biblical words. Why? Why is it so prominent in our culture and why, specifically, does it appear in Revelation 19? It appears because Babylon has fallen and heaven now rejoices! It appears because “Hallelujah!” is the ultimate cry of celebration and of worship.

Continue reading →

Revelation 18

¹ After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. ² And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. ³ For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.” ⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; ⁵ for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. ⁶ Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. ⁷ As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’ ⁸ For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.” ⁹ And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. ¹⁰ They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, “Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.” ¹¹ And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, ¹² cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble,¹³ cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.¹⁴ “The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you, never to be found again!” ¹⁵ The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud, ¹⁶ “Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls! ¹⁷ For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off ¹⁸ and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, “What city was like the great city?” ¹⁹ And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, “Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste. ²⁰ Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!” ²¹ Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more; ²² and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more, ²³ and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery. ²⁴ And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.”

Last month Livia Gershon reported at Smithsonian Magazine on the archaeological findings of excavations at a site in the Jordan Valley that might possibly be ancient Sodom. The archaeologists say that the city, called today Tall el-Hammam, was “a Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley” that they believe was possibly destroyed “by an exploding comet or meteor.” Before this calamity, the city was impressive to say the least.

At the time of the disaster, around 1650 B.C.E., Tall el-Hammam was the largest of three major cities in the valley. It likely acted as the region’s political center, reports Ariella Marsden for the Jerusalem Post. Combined, the three metropolises boasted a population of around 50,000.

Tall el-Hammam’s mudbrick buildings stood up to five stories tall.

But it was the nature of the disaster that destroyed the city that has intrigued archaeologists and scientists. Listen:

Over the years, archaeologists examining the structures’ ruins have found evidence of a sudden high-temperature, destructive event—for instance, pottery pieces that were melted on the outside but untouched inside.

The new paper, published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, examined possible causes of the devastation based on the archaeological record. The researchers concluded that warfare, a fire, a volcanic eruption or an earthquake were unlikely culprits, as these events couldn’t have produced heat intense enough to cause the melting recorded at the scene. That left a space rock as the most likely cause.

Because experts failed to find a crater at the site, they attributed the damage to an airburst created when a meteor or comet traveled through the atmosphere at high speed. It would have exploded about 2.5 miles above the city in a blast 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb used at Hiroshima, writes study co-author Christopher R. Moore, an archaeologist at the University of South Carolina, for the Conversation.

“Air temperatures rapidly rose above 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit,” Moore explains. “Clothing and wood immediately burst into flames. Swords, spears, mudbricks and pottery began to melt. Almost immediately, the entire city was on fire.”

Seconds after the blast, a shockwave ripped through the city at a speed of roughly 740 miles per hour—faster than the worst tornado ever recorded. The cities’ buildings were reduced to foundations and rubble.

“None of the 8,000 people or any animals within the city survived,” Moore adds. “Their bodies were torn apart and their bones blasted into small fragments.”

Corroborating the idea that an airburst caused the destruction, the researchers found melted metals and unusual mineral fragments among the city’s ruins.

“[O]ne of the main discoveries is shocked quartz,” says James P. Kennett, an emeritus earth scientist at the University of California Santa Barbara, in a statement. “These are sand grains containing cracks that form only under very high pressure.”[1]

All of this is most interesting, of course, but, for Christians we read these kinds of archaeological theories and cannot help but smile, knowingly…not, of course, at the destruction of Sodom but rather at the verification of what the scriptures say. After all, here is how Genesis 19 described the destruction of Sodom:

²³ The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. ²⁵ And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ²⁶ But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

We are not amazed to see the biblical accounts verified yet again. By the way, here is one more little paragraph from that Smithsonian Magazine piece:

The archaeologists also discovered high concentrations of salt in the “destruction layer” of the site, possibly from the blast’s impact on the Dead Sea or its shores. The explosion could have distributed the salt across a wide area, possibly creating high-salinity soil that prevented crops from growing and resulted in the abandonment of cities along the lower Jordan Valley for centuries.

And there it is: yet another reminder that promises of divine judgment are not to be trifled with or dismissed. We should keep this in mind when approaching Revelation 19, for it too speaks of judgment. This is a continuation of Revelation 18 and speaks further to the fall of Babylon. As I argued last week, for John and his original audience “Babylon” was almost certainly a coded reference to Rome and the Roman Empire. But I further argued that while Rome was a type of Babylon for them, so there have been numerous types throughout history, and none of these types mean that the real and ultimate final “Babylon” (whatever it ends up being) will not come onto the scene at the end of all things. It will…and its fate will be just as described in Revelation.

Continue reading →

Matthew 14

¹³ Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. ²¹ And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

One of the interesting stories that comes out of my paternal family history is that my great-grandfather, Wade Hampton (Hamp) Richardson, grieved himself to death after the early death of his wife, Bridget. Hamp’s death certificate says he died of Pellagra, a disease that sprung up in the South in the early 20^th century. Even so, family history said he grieved himself to death some three years after his wife died. I heard this story from time to time growing up and my grandfather, who was a boy when his father, Hamp, died, added an interesting detail. He said he recalled all of Hamp’s brothers (there were five or six of them) taking him away, just the brothers, for a number of days out of concern that he would grieve himself to death.

That is, they withdrew to try to help him deal with his grief. And, if family lore is accurate, they did not succeed.

Our text tells us of another who withdrew to try to deal with His grief. I am talking about Jesus after He heard the news of John the Baptist’s beheading. And yet, what happened when Jesus retreated, revealed in startling ways just how big his heart of compassion was.

Continue reading →

Matthew 14

¹ At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, ² and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ³ For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, ⁴ because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. ⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, ⁷ so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” ⁹ And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. ¹⁰ He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, ¹¹ and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹² And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

There is a long, rich history of Christian preachers rebuking political leaders, oftentimes at great peril to themselves. For instance, John Chrysostom, one of the most famous preachers and Christian leaders of all Christian history, clashed with Eudoxia, the wife of the 4^th century Emperor Arcadius.

Although an earnest Christian, she quarreled bitterly with John Chrysostom, patriarch of Constantinople, who attacked her and the frivolity of her court in outspoken terms. In 404 she expelled him from his see and sent him into exile.[1]

Or consider John Knox, the great 16^th century Protestant Reformer. Knox did not get along with Mary, Queen of Scots. They had numerous clashes and Knox more than once denounced her publicly from the pulpit. They once had a major clash because Knox was unhappy about the news of her forthcoming marriage.

The most dramatic interview between Mary and Knox took place on 24 June 1563.  Mary summoned Knox to Holyrood after hearing that he had been preaching against her proposed marriage to Don Carlos, the son of Philip II of Spain. Mary began by scolding Knox, then she burst into tears. “What have ye to do with my marriage?” she asked, and “What are ye within this commonwealth?” “A subject born within the same, Madam,” Knox replied. He noted that though he was not of noble birth, he had the same duty as any subject to warn of dangers to the realm. When Mary started to cry again, he said, “Madam, in God’s presence I speak: I never delighted in the weeping of any of God’s creatures; yea I can scarcely well abide the tears of my own boys whom my own hand corrects, much less can I rejoice in your Majesty’s weeping.” He added that he would rather endure her tears, however, than remain silent and “betray my Commonwealth”. At this, Mary ordered him out of the room.[2]

It can be a dangerous thing to challenge the behavior of rulers, yet it has been done! Most famously, John the Baptist did so. In one sense, he paid, of course, the greatest of prices. But it could also be said that he received one of the greatest honors as well.

Continue reading →

Revelation 17

¹ Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, ² with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” ³ And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” ⁶ And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly. ⁷ But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. ⁸ The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. ⁹ This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; ¹⁰ they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. ¹¹ As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. ¹² And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. ¹³ These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” ¹⁵ And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, ¹⁷ for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

Empires never last. World powers always fall. In his book, Revealed, John McCallum writes:

The Roman Empire lasted for centuries, but it didn’t last forever.

Hitler’s Third Reich was supposed to last a thousand years. It lasted about 12.

The Soviet Union was supposed to be a never-ending socialist utopia. It didn’t even make it 80 years.

And the list of empires that we must now speak of in the past tense is much longer than this. James Paul of the Global Policy Forum has put forward this list:

Ancient Period (BC)

Egyptian Empire (3100BC to 30 BC)
Norte Chico Empire (3000-1800 BC)
Indus Valley: Empires: Harappa and Mohenjo-Darro (2550-1550 BC)
Akkadian Empire (2500-2000 BC)
Babylonian Empire (1792-1595 BC)
Ancient Chinese Empires: Shang (1751-1111 BC), Chou (1000-800 BC), etc.
Hittite Empire (1500-1200 BC)
Assyrian Empire (1244-612 BC)
Persian Empires (550 BC to 637 AD) including Achemenid Empire (550-330 BC), Sassanian Empire (224 BC-651 AD)
Carthaginian Empire (ca. 475-146 BC)
Athenian Empire (461-440 BC, 362-355 BC)
Macedonian Empire (359-323 BC)
Roman Empire (264 BC to 476 AD)
Parthian Empire (247 BC- 224 AD)

Pre-Modern Period (to 1500)

African Empires: Ethiopian Empire (ca. 50-1974), Mali Empire (ca. 1210-1490), Songhai Empire (1468-1590), Fulani Empire (ca. 1800-1903)
Mesoamerican Empires esp. Maya Empire (ca. 300-900) Teotihuacan Empire (ca. 500-750), Aztec Empire (1325-ca. 1500)
Byzantine Empire (330-1453)
Andean Empires: Huari Empire (600-800); Inca Empire (1438-1525)
Chinese Pre-Modern Empires: including T’ang Dynasty (618-906), Sung Dynasty (906-1278)
Islamic Empires esp. Umayyid/Abbasid (661-1258), Almohad (1140-1250), Almoravid (1050-1140)
Carolingian Empire (ca. 700-810)
Bulgarian Empire (802-827, 1197-1241)
Southeast Asian Empires: Khmer Empire (877-1431), Burmese Empire (1057-1287)
Novogorod Empire (882-1054)
Medieval German Empire (962-1250)
Danish Empire (1014-1035)
Indian Empires, including Chola Empire (11th cent), Empire of Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1039 AD), Mughal Empire (1526-1805)
Mongol Empire (1206-1405)
Mamluk Empire (1250-1517)
Holy Roman Empire (1254-1835)
Habsburg Empire (1452-1806)
Ottoman Empire (1453-1923)

Modern Period (after 1500)

Portuguese Empire (ca. 1450-1975)
Spanish Empire (1492-1898)
Russian Empire/USSR (1552-1991)
Swedish Empire (1560-1660)
Dutch Empire (1660-1962)
British Empire (1607-ca. 1980)
French Empire (ca. 1611- ca. 1980)
Modern Chinese Empire: esp. Ch’ing Dynasty (1644-1911)
Austrian/Austro-Hungarian Empire (ca. 1700-1918) [see also Habsburg Empire]
Brazilian Empire (1822-1889)
German Empire (1871-1918, 1939-1945)
Japanese Empire (1871-1945)
Italian Empire (1889-1942)[1]

There is one more entry in Paul’s list and it stops us in our tracks. It reads:

US Empire (1776-present)

Hear me and hear me well: on this side of heaven, the powers never last. Earthly powers are doomed to fall. This has been the case. This is the case. And according to Revelation 17 this will be the case.

Continue reading →