In 1921, Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach developed a test aimed at projecting the personality and emotional dispositions of quiet, reluctant patients. He created the now famous inkblot test, whereby patients were instructed to express how they perceive and interpret various ambiguous inkblot shapes. I suppose the idea was that, of necessity, any interpretation would somehow reflect the inner state of the patient. As we began the book of Revelation we asked the congregation on our first Sunday, and the life groups going through our accompanying study guide, what our impressions were of this majestic book. The responses from our life groups echoed what Pastor Andrew suggested from his first sermon; though varied, we too often fall into one of two camps: a reluctance to engage the book (for many different reasons), or a tendency to project our own end-time speculations upon scripture. In a way, both reactions reminded me of those dreaded inkblot tests some of us had to endure at the hand of well-meaning school counselors. We either recoil at the task of interpreting challenging words and images, or we use them to advance fanciful speculation.
Sadly, we loose on both accounts. All of God’s Word is, “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16)“ And of the book of Revelation specifically John writes, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and keep what is written in it (Rev. 1:3)”. I have encouraged our life groups to keep this verse in mind as we work through this wonderful, but oft times challenging book, leading us to ask ourselves, “what is the blessing that the Lord has for us in passage before us today?”
This Sunday, we are taking on one of the most challenging chapters to interpret in all of scripture, chapter 11, as Pastor Andrew ministers from chapters 10 and 11. My hope is that you will come with a heart longing to know and receive the blessing the Lord has for us from his Word. One blessing of this text is the answer God provides to one of the great, and most frequent, apologetic and pastoral questions I face: the apparent silence of God in the face of suffering and pain. To many, God is silent in the face of rampant evil, injustice, and cruelty. “Why is the world the way it is, and why doesn’t God do something about it?”
If we are honest, I suspect it is a question all of us have entertained to some degree. If God is indeed both sovereign and holy, as the martyrs say in chapter 6, why does he not put an end to the corruption and misery? Is there no rest for his saints, and consequence for evil-doers? And if there is, when? “How long, O Lord, how long?” In this passage we see the promise that a day will come when heaven’s silence is broken. “But in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets. (Rev. 10:7)” And what a sound to the ears of the weary the words of heaven provide at the blowing of the seventh trumpet:
and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ”The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
and begun to reign.
The nations raged,
but your wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name,
both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
I look forward to seeing you as we gather this Sunday to worship the Lamb.
Much love,
Pastor Gary
