Being With The Lamb

[The kings] 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. (Revelation 17:14)

The book of Revelation is a series of visions; visions which portray the forces of righteousness and unrighteousness clashing in history. It is not necessarily a blow-by-blow description of that sequence of events, but it does depict in various ways the kinds of struggles that take place in history. I find it helpful to read the book as a symphony which has many subthemes and excursions and detours, but which comes back repeatedly to a very basic theme: The victory of history belongs to Jesus Christ, no matter what forces attempt to confront his power.

The book of Revelation depicts history as a scenario in which superhuman powers are at work. This emphasis is, I think, a necessary corrective to the individualistic thinking we Christians often engage in as we reflect on the historical process.

It is nothing new to say that there are powers at work in history which are more than human powers. We see that already in the Garden as our first parents were encountered by the serpent. We learn throughout the Scriptures that the evil in the world is more than the sum total of human choices, even human evil choices; there are superhuman forces which present themselves to us in mindsets and attitudes. Rebellion is in the air. A perversity that is not so much our own invention as it is a presence which lures and diverts us both as individuals and as nations draws us in the direction of evil.

Paul said, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers." The theme is picked up in the hymn:

Christian dost thou see them
on the holy ground
how the powers of darkness
compass thee around?
Christian dost thou feel them
how they work within
striving, tempting, luring
goading into sin?

This seductive power of evil was present in the creation from the beginning and preys upon human beings in the political, economic, and military arenas. What the book of Revelation highlights is that these powers of darkness can lure, goad, and tempt nations; they can tempt the human bearers of political and military power. A very real possibility is that in our history the kings of the earth will give their honor, power, and authority over to the beast who embodies the spirit of Antichrist.

That rebellion is the context of the Revelation text, for the political and military power described there as belonging to the kings is given over to the beast for satanic purposes. The message is clear: The actual flesh-and-blood governments which we encounter in history can become on occasion the very forces of Satan.

This teaching would not have surprised Christians in biblical times. They were well aware of Jezebel and Ahab, of Herod and Nero. John himself was a political prisoner on the isle of Patmos, condemned to be there by powers and authorities who were bent on silencing the gospel. Nor should it surprise us, in the light of more recent history, for we too know the likes of Hitler and Stalin and Idi Amin. And even in the course of our own nation's recent history, we know that governments can become captivated by the desire for deception, secrecy, and perversion.

Of course, governments are not always so easily categorized. Very often they are themselves pulled in different directions, are subject to a variety of forces, and on occasion are even allured successfully by the forces of righteousness. But, nonetheless, even though it may be difficult to categorize a given government or policy in the absolute terms common in apocalyptic writings, we must learn from these scriptures that a spiritual battle is taking place in history, a battle from which the political, military, and economic authorities of our day are not immune.

We must learn how to discern these tendencies of government when we see them moving in the direction of idolatry and arrogance; when we see them becoming wantonly destructive and hardening hearts against the cries of the poor, the oppressed, and the disenfranchised. We must be wary of governments who boast of being number one; who insist that they are "the greatest nation on the face of the earth"; who boast that they will not back down before any force or power; who take pride in their military might; who are dedicated to the domination of other nations.

Let me be even more specific. I think that we as Christians should be very concerned about the United States' role in the arms race. We now have the nuclear capacity to destroy the entire population of the world 12 times over, and during the past week we once again manufactured the materials for about 20 more nuclear bombs, each hundreds of times more destructive than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

At the very least, on a purely common sense level, in the light of the recent empirical facts of history, we should be suspicious of this concentration of destructive power in the hands of any human beings, at the disposal of any government--especially governments which, as we know, are capable of bungling stupidity. And, as Christians, we must be sensitive to an even more desperate possibility: that the flesh-and-blood governments of this world, including the government of the United States of America, can give its power and authority over to the beast.

The Revelation text also describes the outcome of the struggle that takes place when those kings who give their authority and power over to the beast engage in a war against the Lamb. It does so in marvelously simple and concise terms. It says, "and the Lamb will conquer them." Here, indeed, is a summation of the whole gospel: Jesus is the victor. Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus confronted the powers of evil which are at work in the creation; powers which cause disease, poverty, injustice, insanity, and death. And on the cross he confronted these powers decisively.

At the cross, the powers of organized religion, big business, government, and the forces of racial discrimination, male domination, and economic exploitation united in their attempt to destroy the Lamb of God, to erase him from the historical record once and for all. They dismissed Jesus as a misfit, a joke, a misguided zealot. But on the third day, after having made himself completely vulnerable to all the abuse and ammunition that they could throw at him, he came forth from the tomb, breaking the seal of Pilate in that first great act of Christian civil disobedience, an event which Paul describes in Colossians 2 this way: "He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them."

The Lamb has already conquered the kings of the earth, and some day that victory will be publicly manifested. Jesus is the victor; it is as simple as that, and it is our only hope.

That fact requires a response. Those who are with the Lamb are called and chosen and faithful. Christians are called to make a very basic choice to identify consciously, unambiguously, and publicly with the cause of Jesus Christ.

Those of us who are Calvinists have a very nice way of putting this commitment: "My only comfort in life and in death is that I am not my own, but belong to a faithful savior, Jesus Christ." But we haven't often thought very deeply about what it means to spell out that covenantal confession in economic, political, and even military terms. I suggest that we have much thinking to do about the meaning of our confession, whether we are Christian Reformed or Methodist or Catholic or Presbyterian or Mennonite.

A teacher of mine who was a Christian pacifist was once confronted by a few of us from his class as we argued with him about his views. Finally, one of my fellow students cried out in utter frustration, "But if we did what you suggest the Russians would destroy us!" I will never forget his response, which deeply troubled me at the time and continues to stick with me. He said, "That is not the worst thing that could happen to me." One of us asked, "Well, what is?" He replied, "The worst thing that could happen to me would be for the Russians to separate me from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ. But I know that they can't do that."

Even though I don't think I ever quite became the pacifist that he would have wanted me to be, I learned a profound lesson. As we form our political, economic, and military attitudes we have to always ask ourselves as Christians, as biblically informed followers of the Lamb: What is the worst thing that could happen to us? And then we must act in the light of our answer. And of course, the worst thing that could happen to us is that we fail to be with the Lamb, that we fail to be called and chosen and faithful.

This is the question that we must face today. What does it mean to be faithful to the Lamb in the midst of the arms race? How can we be with the Lamb today as the nations are building weapons of mass destruction?

If we are to be with the Lamb, it seems to me that we must be absolutely certain of and secure in our identity as the people of the Lamb.

Belonging to Jesus Christ means that we must bring all other relationships and commitments into subjection to his lordship. We can't submit our sex lives to the lordship of Christ, while allowing Exxon to decide our energy practices. We can't let Jesus decide what we will do with our nickels and dimes, while leaving it up to Wall Street to decide what we will do with our dollars. We can't let Jesus decide our family policy, but the State Department our foreign policy. Abraham Kuyper put it well: There is not one square inch of the whole creation that does not belong to Jesus Christ.

We can pray for peace. We must pray, if for no other reason, simply because we are commanded to do so in God's Word. But there is more to it than that: Prayer is political action. It is, among other things, petitioning the king of the universe, and thereby proclaiming our true citizenship as members of a holy nation, the church, over which Jesus reigns as Lord.

We must witness fearlessly and publicly on behalf of peace. It is time for all Christians, whatever our confessional traditions, to say that under no proper understanding of the use of violence, from the Christian perspective, is it ever justifiable to employ nuclear weapons. We must say that boldly and loudly and publicly and prophetically: "No more bombs! For God's sake stop the madness! No more bombs!"

We are called to be peacemakers. We must explain to the nation in which God has placed us that we don't want to be protected or defended by nuclear weapons, that we refuse to give our loyalty to a nation which defines its worth in terms of its ability to destroy.

And finally, in all of this we must be "realistic." Now that sounds like I am going to take everything back and qualify my strong remarks in a manner that will render them impotent. But to be realistic is to act in accordance with our view of what reality is.

A realistic expression from a Christian point of view is this: "Christ is risen." Another realistic statement is: "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the daughters and sons of God." Another:" 'Tis not with swords loud clashing nor roll of stirring drums, but deeds of love and mercy the heavenly kingdom comes." And another: "They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, and those who are with him are called and chosen and faithful." I pray to God that we will all be "realistic" in the midst of the arms race.

Richard Mouw was on the faculty of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when this article appeared.