Ch.5-6: The paradox of the seven seals
The seven seals is the time when the book becomes really confusing and even disturbing. What is it all about? What is in the book of the seven seals, and who are these riders?
Our text
We are now in chapter 5 and 6.
The book and the Lamb
In all the harmony of worship, a book with seven seals appears. This is not the place to explain what is in the book, have some patience with me, but the tremendous effects of this book.
The big question is: Who is worthy to open the book? When no one is found, John begins to cry bitterly. It is a very dramatic moment. But then the announcement is made: The Lion of Judah is worthy.
This calls for a strong hero to destroy the enemies and save the people of God and end all oppression. This is what we all hope for, but this is not what John sees.
He sees a slaughtered lamb, Jesus on the cross. A victory not by power but by sacrifice!
And not only that: The whole of heaven and earth turns their worship of God into worship of the Lamb who is now in the center, and God approves! Jesus is the only one besides God who is worthy of worship — John tried this twice to an angel and was severely rebuked.
Our paradox
The paradox in this story is not God, it is us. How often do we say: Why does God not intervene and stop the dictators and the crimes and the abuses and many other things? So we expect him to act. And then we have a theological problem with all these violent images in the book.
Well, we are wrong on both aspects:
- God intervenes in all evil, but not in our way. We only see the options of punishment or imprisonment. Ways to contain the evil so that it doesn’t spread and to consider it only with a certain level of evilness (murder must be punished, but jealousy is okay). God is more radical: evil is evil even in small things, because it grows with time and circumstances. So he attacks them all.
- His action is not to punish, but to restore people so that they stop doing evil. All the contents of the book look really drastic, but their focus is not on the execution of punishment, but they have a very different intention that we will explore.
The fake lion of Judah
There is one who has not spoken, but he would act like a lion. He wants to fix things with shiny armor and all the power he needs. And he must be exposed. It is the devil. The four horsemen are the exposure of this path: from great promises to persecution and war to famine and total destruction. These are the opening of the first four seals.
But what about movements that are not Christian and do good things? And what about the many things the church does that only create suffering? You might be surprised how many “worldly” organizations are influenced by Christian values and how often the church tries to do it in a “worldly” way. There is one way that looks promising but leads to destruction and another that looks hopeless but brings breakthrough. We will see much more of this.
In the fifth seal we see how the church is to respond to them. Very simple: They are to continue their witness and endure. This is so that the world can clearly see the result of the work of the devils and Jesus. This will be much more elaborated in the trumpets.
The sixth seal is full of drama. Jesus comes and ends it all. The people want to hide from the wrath of the Lamb. Jesus gives the impression that he is really angry and that everyone should be afraid. We need to go into this much more, but in short, because this is a pattern you see throughout the book: The devil seems to deceive the whole world that he is Christ, people think that God is bad, but the testimony of the church is the important element that makes the difference.
So everything depends on the good witness of the Church.
Reflection
- Why do you think that Jesus and his death and resurrection are the answer to the problems of this world?
- What would the world look like if Jesus intervened with power and strength against every evil?
- What would the world look like if the church acted like Jesus, a church that heals and reconciles and encourages but also sets boundaries, a church that does not work with fear and violence, prejudice and condemnation?
- Do you think a world without Jesus is fixable?
- How do you respond when people speak ill of the church?
- Can you think of a promise made by an organization or government that ended up causing more pain? What initiative really made a difference, even when it seemed hopeless? What was the difference?