May only truth be spoken, and truth
received. Amen.
There
is a series of books called Left Behind. The collection contains 16
novels, with the first book published 30 years ago. These books are Christian
eschatological narratives inspired by the New Testament's Book of Revelation.
The storyline focuses on a seven-year conflict, the post-rapture Great
Tribulation, between an underground network of Christian converts and an
oppressive new world order led by the Antichrist.
Despite
its apparent fame and an adaption into film throughout the early 2000s, I had
only learned about this series last fall while reading a biblical commentary.
The premise intrigued me, so I tried reading the books. I made it through the
first three novels and that was it for me. The biggest reason has to do with
today’s reading from Revelation. Actually, the verses beforehand.
Left
Behind
tells an apocalyptic story about the ending of Earth, set in the contemporary
era, over a period of seven years. The true believers in Jesus Christ have been
raptured, or taken instantly to heaven, leaving non-believers behind on Earth,
now a shattered and chaotic world. If you back up to the beginning of chapter 7
of Revelation, we find a similar story.
Throughout
chapter 6, all but one of the seals have been opened, bringing forth the 4
horsemen, the souls slaughtered while proclaiming the word of God, and the
great earthquake. Chapter 7 begins with 4 angels standing at the corners of the
earth, holding back winds that are so strong they will destroy the earth. But
first, another angel calls out to the other 4 that the people whom God is
choosing to protect from the impending disaster need to be sealed. Sounds like
the day of Passover, doesn’t it? Where the people marked their doors with blood
so as to be passed over from God’s wrath.
Verses
5-8 lists the people who will be receiving God’s seal of protection:
“From the tribe of
Judah twelve thousand sealed,
from the tribe of
Reuben twelve thousand,
from the tribe of
Gad twelve thousand,
from the tribe of
Asher twelve thousand,
from the tribe of
Naphtali twelve thousand,
from the tribe of
Manasseh twelve thousand,
from the tribe of
Simeon twelve thousand,
from the tribe of
Levi twelve thousand,
from the tribe of
Issachar twelve thousand,
from the tribe of
Zebulun twelve thousand,
from the tribe of
Joseph twelve thousand,
from the tribe of
Benjamin twelve thousand sealed.”
12,000
people from each of the 12 tribes – a total of 144,000 people. It is from these
few lines that the premise of Left Behind is conceived. 144,000 people
out of billions (5 at the time the series started, 8 now). That’s it. The world
will be destroyed, and a fraction of the people will survive. And, of course,
you had better believe in Jesus Christ to make the cut.
Anyway,
this isn’t meant to be a critique of the series. Instead, I want to talk about the
number 144,000, especially because as we turn to today’s chosen verses, the specific
number falls away and simply becomes the multitude from every nation.
Numbers
are very symbolic in the book of Revelation, they are not meant to be taken literally.
3 = a number suggesting
a limited number
4 = universality,
ex) 4 corners of the world
7 = perfection or
completeness, ex)7 days of creation
12 = completeness
or fullness, used especially to brin unity to chaos ex)12 tribes of Israel
1,000 = myriads,
number too large to count
So
now let’s look at verses 5-8: the perfect number of 12 multiplied by the unifying
number of 12 (the tribes of Israel) multiplied by a number too great to count
(1,000). In other words, John isn’t witnessing the sealing of an exact number
of specially selected people equalling 144,000; he is witnessing the sealing of
an unbelievably massive crowd of people, a sea of humanity! The calculations
found at the beginning of chapter 7 are not limiting, they are unlimited! John
even says so in verse 9, “there was a great multitude that no one could count.”
John’s
vision of this is breathtaking: a vast multitude from every nation, gathered
before the throne, clothed in white. These are not the strong, the powerful, or
the victorious as far as the world is concerned. They are those who have come
through a great ordeal; their robes are washed in the blood of the Lamb. God
and the lamb have won victory over death, and it is through the blood of the
lamb that we can wear the victorious colour of white. We are forever and eternally
protected by God. But that doesn’t mean we won’t still suffer during our time
on earth.
This
is the strange promise of our faith. Victory comes through mercy, not might.
The Lamb reigns by sacrifice, not force. Those who follow him are carried
through great ordeals, not spared from them. And, most importantly, the salvation
of God is for all people, not the limited few. A faithful life doesn’t equal
and easy life. But a faithful life means that we trust God to give us the
strength and the courage to handle the suffering that comes into our life, to
sustains us through all the tribulations that the world throws our way.
The
promise we have received is not that we will never weep, but that the Lamb is
our God, who will one day wipe away every tear from our eyes. It is the Lamb,
who died at the hands of human sinfulness and suffering, who will now Shepherd
the faithful through our own journeys of faith in the world. The Shepherd who will
lead us to springs of living water and give us rest in his grace. And until
that day, we hold fast to the one who shelters us, who is always with us.
God,
we are weary. In a time marked by excessive hunger and thirst, by war and
worry, by violence and vitriol, by climate change and corporate corruption, by
acts of hate and hurt done by one child of God to another, we are weary. Keep
us close and remind us that you are making all things new. Amen.
