I have a mark on my forehead that
few people notice today. The scar has
faded over time. I got it when my
brother and I were horsing around, and I hit my head on the corner of the
TV. But when I look at that scar, I
don’t remember any pain. I only remember
my older brother helping me, carrying me across the road, through deep snow to
our neighbor’s house for help. I
remember the kindness of our neighbor who cleaned my wound and put a bandage on
it. When I look at the mark on my
forehead, I only think of love.
The
Bible says that God’s bear a mark on their forehead that identifies them as His
beloved. We first read about it in Ezekiel 9:4, but the theme is picked up
in Revelation 7:2-3[i]:
And I saw
another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal
of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four
angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do
not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the
bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”
People
who haven’t even read the book of Revelation have heard of the Mark of the
Beast, a sign on the forehead that identifies people who worship the Antichrist[ii],
but few people know that the Redeemed have a mark on their foreheads as
well. This invisible, spiritual mark
identifies God’s people as His own. This
seal is Jesus’ stamp of approval for all who put their trust in Him, who
overcome “because of the blood of the
Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, [who] did not love their life
even when faced with death (Rev 12.11).”
The
first generation of Christians who received John’s book of Revelation took
heart when they read about God’s seal upon them. Not only did it remind them of a king’s
signet, but it also spoke of preservation.
Just as a seal keeps contaminants out of food, so the Holy Spirit keeps
believers from the spiritual toxins of the world. This dual-purposed seal gives Christians both
the protection and the authority of Almighty God—something that we need when we
face tribulation.[iii]
Christians
knew a lot about persecution by the time John wrote about his apocalyptic
vision. They were persecuted by Jewish
leaders from the beginning. Emperor Nero, who had blamed them for the burning
of Rome in the summer of 64 A.D..
Likely, Nero himself had started fires in the quarters near his palace
so he could expand his own property, but the flames had gotten out of
control. As a cover-up, Nero made
Christians his political scapegoats.
Fox’s Book of Martyrs describes Nero’s persecution as follows:
Nero even
refined upon cruelty, and contrived all manner of punishments for the
Christians that the most infernal imagination could design. In particular, he
had some sewed up in skins of wild beasts, and then worried by dogs until they
expired; and others dressed in shirts made stiff with wax, fixed to axletrees,
and set on fire in his gardens, in order to illuminate them. This persecution was
general throughout the whole Roman Empire; but it rather increased than
diminished the spirit of Christianity. In the course of it, St. Paul and St.
Peter were martyred.
To their names may be added, Erastus, chamberlain of Corinth; Aristarchus, the Macedonian, and Trophimus, an Ephesians, converted by St. Paul, and fellow-laborer with him, Joseph, commonly called Barsabas, and Ananias, bishop of Damascus; each of the Seventy[iv].
Emperor
Domitian began his persecution of Christians in A.D.. He required that subjects address him as
“Lord and God,” and Christians naturally refused to obey. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs says:
The
emperor Domitian, who was naturally inclined to cruelty, first slew his
brother, and then raised the second persecution against the Christians. In his
rage he put to death some of the Roman senators, some through malice; and
others to confiscate their estates. He then commanded all the lineage of David
be put to death.
Among the numerous martyrs that suffered during this persecution was Simeon, bishop of Jerusalem, who was crucified; and St. John, who was boiled in oil, and afterward banished to Patmos. Flavia, the daughter of a Roman senator, was likewise banished to Pontus; and a law was made, "That no Christian, once brought before the tribunal, should be exempted from punishment without renouncing his religion...
Dionysius, the
Areopagite, was an Athenian by birth, and educated in all the useful and
ornamental literature of Greece. He then travelled to Egypt to study astronomy,
and made very particular observations on the great and supernatural eclipse,
which happened at the time of our Savior's crucifixion. The sanctity of his conversation and
the purity of his manners recommended him so strongly to the Christians in
general, that he was appointed bishop of Athens. Nicodemus, a benevolent Christian of
some distinction, suffered at Rome during the rage of Domitian's persecution. Protasius and Gervasius were martyred
at Milan. Timothy was the
celebrated disciple of St. Paul, and bishop of Ephesus, where he zealously
governed the Church until A.D. 97. At this period, as the pagans were about to
celebrate a feast called Catagogion, Timothy, meeting the procession, severely
reproved them for their ridiculous idolatry, which so exasperated the people
that they fell upon him with their clubs, and beat him in so dreadful a manner
that he expired of the bruises two days later.
John himself had been boiled in oil
because of his testimony. Having
miraculously survived, it was assumed that he could not be killed so he was
exiled to Patmos. There, he wrote this
book of Revelation to encourage those who similarly suffered for Christ. Christians were marked with Jesus’ stamp of
approval. Even if they were not
protected physically, they were preserved for eternity by the Holy Spirit’s
seal.
Preterists believe that the book of
Revelation is entirely about the Roman persecution of the early church, and a
call for Christians to endure. Futurists
believe that the book is exclusively about future events that are yet to take
place. However, I believe that the Holy
Spirit included Revelation in the canon of Scripture for all generations of
Christians, and not just for the first or the last generation. Believers in all ages have endured
persecution of one kind or another.
Revelation is a call for faithful believers in the past, present, and
future.
Revelation 6.9-11
describes the souls of Christian martyrs beneath the altar of God in heaven,
crying out for justice. “And there was given to each of
them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while
longer, until the number of their fellow servants and
their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also (v. 11).”
In Revelation 7 and 14 we find 144,000 Jewish believers who likewise
have been sealed by God. Many have made
much of this number, but it is not our purpose to investigate it here. Suffice it to say that God’s people are
marked as His, and that He promises rewards for those who bear His mark of
faithfulness.
Some futurists believe the Rapture
of the church[v]
will happen before this time of Tribulation.
In Luke 17:22-37, Jesus
describes his appearance as happening at any time—suddenly and without
warning. Quoting Revelation 3:10, pretribulational (dispensational)
premillennialists point to Jesus’ words: “Because you have kept the word
of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour
of testing, that hour which
is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell
on the earth.” They also point to 1 Thessalonians 5.9, which says, “For God has not destined us for wrath,
but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Escaping wrath means being raptured, they
maintain.
Other futurists believe that the
Rapture will happen in the middle of the Tribulation or at the end. They ask, “Who says it’s God will that the
church escape hardship in the future, when we’ve endured it all along? “Where would all these saints come from, who
endure the Tribulation,” they ask, “if all the believers are raptured at the
beginning of the time of trial?” So it
seems that your opinion about whether the church will go through the
Tribulation depends greatly on your theology of suffering. Do you believe that God will allow believers
to suffer the Tribulation, or do you think His love will let Christians to
escape it? If you’re a futurist, then
this is a question that must be answered.
Historicists believe that the
timeline of Revelation covers not a seven-year period of Tribulation, but the
full scope of Christian history, from the dawn of the Church to the Day of
Judgment. For them, persecution and
endurance are continual themes for every generation—and it doesn’t matter when
or if there’s a Rapture. The fact is
that sometimes, God’s people are removed from struggle and sometimes they are
preserved through it. The book of
Revelation calls for believers to endure—and to do more than endure. Christians are called to bear bold witness
for our Lord, even in the midst of trial.
In the first century, many
Christians under persecution recanted their faith in order to save their
lives. For first-century believers, Revelation
was a call to continue, even if they had to pay with their last breath. As an encouraging example, Revelation 11:1-14 gives a tale of two
witnesses who stand up to the Beast, even though it ultimately costs them their
lives. Christians are reminded that even
though they are killed, they will share in Christ’s glorious resurrection. So too, Jesus encourages us, “Be faithful until death, and I will
give you the crown of life (Rev
2:10b).” Revelation is a call
for believers of all ages to overcome the evil one, and to endure tribulation
however they find it.
In His letters to the seven
churches, Jesus has some final words to say to those who overcome:
“To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree
of life which is in the Paradise of God… He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death… To him who
overcomes, to him I will give some of
the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name
written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it… He who overcomes, and he who keeps
My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over
the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod
of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also
have received authority from
My Father; and I will give him the morning
star… He who
overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will
not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name
before My Father and before His angels… He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the
temple of My God… He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with
Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His
throne (Rev 2:7, 11b, 17b, 26-27; 3:5, 12, 21).”
I pray whatever trials you endure
and whatever tribulations you go through, that you will overcome by the blood
of the Lamb and by the word of your testimony.
I pray that you will be faithful, and that you will receive your crown.
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