Guest Columnist There are people who say the book of Revelation is a collection of bits and pieces of random material from lots of different sources. Those are people who don’t appreciate patterns.
Some of us believe Revelation is the most carefully crafted piece of literature in the Bible, filled with patterns and connections to the rest of the Bible.
Sometimes John repeats things to make a point i.e. the seals and bowls and trumpets; and other times John circles around to fill in the gaps in the rest of the Bible. Revelation 19 talks about Jesus and his sword which is God’s Word in the final battles of the end times.
Then John circles around to Genesis where God created the earth and the heavens with his word! So, the Bible begins and ends with the Word of God — the sword of the Spirit!
But right now, between the beginning and the end, we’re living in a world of sinners and saints ruled by sinners. However, in the end times, for a thousand years we’ll live in a world of sinners and saints ruled by saints — and it’ll be a thousand years of peace!
“Then I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given the power to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been executed because they had proclaimed the truth that Jesus revealed and the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast nor its image, nor had they received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and ruled as kings with Christ for a thousand years.”
— Revelation 20: 4
King George III ruled England during the Revolutionary War and for the rest of this life hated the word “independence.” After the war, King George and all the monarchs in Europe were certain George Washington would crown himself “emperor of the new world … ” because that’s what they would’ve done.
But George Washington quietly surrendered his military commission and went back to Mt. Vernon. When King George was told the story, he said, “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”
It takes more power to give up power than it takes to keep power. Pilate didn’t know that, but Jesus knew it and so he will give crowns and power to all his followers — all those who “had not worshipped the beast nor its image!”
Charles “Buddy” Whatley is a retired United Methodist pastor serving Dawson Street Methodist Church in Thomasville, Ga. With wife, Mary Ella, they are missionaries to the Navajo Reservation.
