Backdrop for Study of Revelation - Rumor notes 1

 

Revelation – the exposing of something that used to be obvious but has been largely obscured.

The very need for this book of Revelations is to bring back into the open what has been obscured by the smoke and mirrors of the enemy of truth who thrives on darkening, distorting and twisting. This is called sin and iniquity. Jesus Christ was sent to counter all that and re-reveal the truth about God by becoming a human for a number of very key reasons.

There are a number of key themes that run like colorful threads through the fabric of this book that we need to pay attention to and learn from as much as possible. These concept constitute the vital issues that have been distorted and perverted and confused by Satan's sophistries, things like glory, salvation and especially the methods and motives of God.

Salvation – the means whereby both God's reputation along with humanity's original design may be restored and reconciliation may be accomplished between the two.

Humans were originally created to mirror God's glory like a mirror array amplifies the intensity of collectively reflected light. We are designed to thrive in joy, bonded community of diversity whereby the mystery of God's heart may be exposed into the visible realm for all the universe to enjoy and savor.

Through the continued choices of free will, humans have the power to shape their own characters until they become settled and solidified into the same likeness as what they have chosen to reflect. So long as they focused their attention and attentions on God's passionate love for them, their lives would be transformed into thinking, feeling and acting only in love and the beauty of God's core could become visible to influence and transform everyone everywhere. This is the essence of worship, one of the main issues in Revelation.

As soon as our first parents allowed lies about their Creator to infect their relationship of implicit, child-like trust in the source of all love, life and provision, sin and selfishness rabidly took over our psyche and plunged us into a condition of terror and desperation. Losing confidence in the Source of everything we needed for life, we instantly began operating with the motives and methods of the enemy to which we had given over our kingship and dominion. We became slaves internally to the counterfeit kingdom of darkness and lost all power to resist feeling and acting out Satan's principles of selfishness, for once we lose our sense of value and secure identity as reflectors of the very center of love, we instinctively begin floundering about grasping at anything that appears to have potential to fill the gaping void we feel inside. This is the condition of sin – living in distrust and fearful of God.

Because we cannot help but reflect what we imagine God to be like, humanity became defined by the first Adam by the reflection of the author of fear and death as the reflection inherited from Adam and passed on genetically to the rest of us caused everyone to distrust God and look for other means of finding satisfaction and fulfillment. With Satan insisting that he was now the god of this world that we reflected, he seized the right to represent us in the assembly of the sons of God in heaven.

This gives a little backdrop of why the book of Revelation is key to unraveling the mess caused both by Satan's rebellion in heaven along with the hijacking of God's created mirrors here on earth intended to restore God's reputation in the first round. Instead of saving God's reputation by demonstrating how humility, kindness, graciousness and love thriving in the atmosphere of vulnerability could defeat all the lies of the enemy that had infected the minds of living intelligences throughout the universe, the fall of humans only exacerbated the problem and amplified the slander and false allegations of Satan against God and His government. Thus in round two, a plan had to be implemented to not only salvage God's reputation but to salvage as many of His heart mirrors as possible along with it.

Salvation belongs to our God is a central and repeated theme in Revelation and Scripture.

Giving glory to God alone and focusing on His goodness and pure loveliness is also a major issue.

Jesus Christ is the hero of Revelation, for it is made clear throughout this amazing piece of literature that the attributes of God as revealed alone through the reflection seen in His Son become human is the only way God's reputation and government can be rescued from the coup d'etat launched by the first rebel who likewise had been created to reveal the truth about God to the universe.

Round 1 involved the betrayal of God by the chief representative created to convey truth and light to the rest of the universe in concert with Michael who was so humble that for a long time no one realized He was also part of the godhead. When Lucifer betrayed the sacred trust given him and launched a rebellion to displace Michael and exalt his own power and prestige to steal the affections and allegiance of created beings already populating heaven, the war was commenced. Michael had to counter the insidious lies of Lucifer who was leveraging his position as chief instructor of all the angels to undermine trust in God's methods and motives. And part of the strategy for defeating Lucifer's rebellion was to create an unbiased jury of sorts who could reveal what was hidden deep inside God that was being misrepresented by Lucifer's charges that carried so much logical weight.

Lucifer insisted at first that he was only wanting to make some small improvements to better secure God's government from any potential rebellion. He felt that the design of complete freedom and vulnerability that marked God's creation was a bit risky and that disaster might be avoided is God would institute a few safety precautions. This same mentality is still very compelling for many Christians today, because they agree with Satan's allegations that love cannot be trusted to be strong enough to prevent or counter what might happen should someone choose to turn away from love and live independently apart from God's authority and ways. Satan insisted that what was needed was a system of artificial rules with associated rewards as enticements for remaining faithful and loyal along with threats of imposed punishments for any who might dare to step out of line. He felt that with this added layer of security, the universe could be secured against any potential chaos that would surely result from someone choosing to live outside the parameters of God's design for social interaction.

When his suggestions to security improvements were denied and his ideas were not valued and embraced by Michael, feelings of resentment were allowed to grow inside Lucifer's heart until eventually they drove him to launch the very rebellion he had predicted might happen should his ideas not be employed. He decided to set up his own system of government based on rewards and punishments and prove that it would be superior to God wimpy ways that could be proven too weak.

By the time we get all the way down to when Revelation was written, a lot of water has gone under the bridge and the universe has witnessed the battle between light and darkness about God unfold in dramatic ways that no one expected. God's response to Lucifer's initial capture of the allegiance of one third of the work force of heaven seemed itself to at first be overwhelmingly successful as He demonstrated how His use of power would never resort to the use of threats or retaliation or punishment of His enemies. In the creation of this earth, power was only used for positive good, to bring beauty, order and glorious life out of chaos, a very chaos possibly resulting from Satan and his angels mucking around here attempting to create life through evolutionary means unsuccessfully.

When Satan's rebellion was not crushed by God forcefully after gaining the appreciation of the rest of the universe, it appeared that God's methods really were proven superior to Satan's. But when Satan then seduced our first parents to remove their trust from God and to trust in themselves and his lies about God, the glorious victory thought to have gone to God's side suddenly reversed and the horror flick began in earnest. Satan set up his throne on our planet and enforces his system of law and order in every culture and people group that populates this earth in an attempt to vindicate his claims. Yet all throughout history his methods of maintaining order through control, intimidation and violence has had mixed results at best. Yet in the midst of all this mess, God continued to work with a small contingent of people willing to cooperate with His methods and motives as far as they could. Yet with Satan as humanity's representative whose chief activity was to accuse us before God day an night relentlessly, it was impossible to salvage humans back to reflecting effectively the true image of God lost in Eden. Something far more dramatic had to take place or else Satan's experiment would continue to undermine God's credibility even threaten to spread in spite of all God's efforts to neutralize it.

The dramatic story revealed here in Revelation exposes that God's strategic move in sending His Son to become a human was the most potent mean to unmask the extremely subtle and convincing insinuations of the enemy that retained such a tenacious grip even among many loyal angels. Ideas that Satan had promoted in heaven seemed so logical and sensible that many who chose to remain loyal to God were still affected by Satan's insistence that unless punishment was imposed through a hierarchal system of control, it would be impossible to contain the spread of chaos and mayhem caused by law breaking. These notions were so tenacious that amazingly loyal angels could see no other possibility to halt Satan's rebellion than to forcefully exterminate him and all those loyal to him using his methods.

Before Christ's first advent, the sin of refusing to conform to God's law had become widespread. Apparently Satan's power was growing; his warfare against heaven was becoming more and more determined. A crisis had been reached. With an intense interest God's movements were watched by the heavenly angels. Would He come forth from His place to punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity? Would He send fire or flood to destroy them? All heaven waited the bidding of their Commander to pour out the vials of wrath upon a rebellious world. One word from Him, one sign, and the world would have been destroyed. The worlds unfallen would have said, "Amen. Thou art righteous, O God, because Thou hast exterminated rebellion."

But "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." God might have sent His Son to condemn, but He sent Him to save. Christ came as a Redeemer. No words can describe the effect of this movement on the heavenly angels. With wonder and admiration they could only exclaim, "Herein is love!" {RC 58}

The first verse in Revelation explains how and why this vision is so needed. God's motives and methods must be made clear, exposed, revealed. And the only one capable of doing this was His only begotten Son. That title distinguishes Him from the other angel who claims to represent the truth about God who has slandered and undermined God's reputation so effectively for so long. (see Hebrews 1-2)

Yet Jesus as God's effective human reflector includes His friend John to participate in bringing this revelation to the world of what is really transpiring and how it will all turn out in the end.

A mirror turned away from the sun cannot reflect its rays. And a human being turned away from God’s Son cannot reflect His love to others.As Christians, our responsibility is to share with others what God has shown to us. (from the introduction to Reflecting Christ)

This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known [signified] by his angel to his servant, John, (Revelation 1:1)

What is the revelation of Jesus Christ? Jesus became a human mirror in order that the original reflection of God's heart that humans are designed to expose could finally happen.

He who has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14:9)

God gave Jesus the original light from His own heart that Jesus perfectly reflects. In growing up human Jesus fulfilled the original design for humans by perfecting a human character/likeness through continually mirroring God's heart and never anything else.

God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion...."

(Genesis 1:26)

The next verse details that only the image of God was created, not the likeness. That's because likeness equals character, and character is impossible to create in another. Character can only come about by personally making choices using a free will that over time develops habits and attitudes that in turn become so settled into the psyche they become forever permanent. Once character is set permanently, a person can always be trusted to act or react in any situation according to the nature of the character they have chosen to develop using their will.

By coming as a human to go through this process personally, and then taking upon Himself full responsibility and accountability for the lives of every human being who ever existed, Jesus was able to dislodge Satan's claim to represent humans in the assembly of the sons of God in heaven. After that everything took a dramatic turn in history. Yet the war was far from over, for salvation is more than simply proving that God is right and Satan is wrong; the universe can only be forever secured from a recurrence of this problem by giving evil sufficient time to perfect itself until its ugliness results in its own self-destruction. Allowing sin to destroy itself instead of God resorting to using Satan's methods is key to ending the war. This is a major main theme throughout the book of Revelation. Without this perspective one cannot grasp the main purpose for this symbolic book to achieve its intended effect.

In chapter 4 is revealed God's original design. God on His throne with everyone joyfully worshiping Him because He is good, not from any fear of punishment or hope of reward. This gives us a point of reference for the rest of the book, for until one knows what the original design looked like, it is impossible to measure anything else to see how it relates to the original.

In chapter 5 we are introduced to the hero of the book who figures prominently and is key to perceiving the issues under contention all through history. The war described in Revelation is not a war like we are familiar with, where force is pitted against force. Rather this war is between what methods and motives are effective for overcoming the opposition. This is vital to keep in mind while attempting to unpack the symbols in this book. Without this perspective we are extremely liable to arrive at faulty conclusions because of the extreme subtlety of the enemy's counterfeits.

Understanding and appreciation of the reasons behind how a violently slaughtered Lamb could be the hero cannot be overemphasized. This Lamb is the very embodiment of how God intends to win this war. Yet this Lamb's methods and motives are so foreign to how religion portrays God to be that we must concentrate consciously on the truth about God brought to light in this Lamb at all times if we are to keep proper perspective about everything else transpiring in this story.

From this point on through the bulk of this book, we encounter wave after wave of light assaulting the powers of darkness until on the third round the light becomes so intense and clear that it crashes the enemy's operating system and trips it into self-destruction mode. Yet how all this transpires involves another group who are key to helping all this come to light. These are what I call the Lamb's accomplices who we watch throughout the book learning how to reflect the same reflection of God's heart, motives and methods as does the Lamb. They are introduced in chapter 7 but keep showing up at various times all the way to the end.

Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)

This practice is crucial to grasp and apply as we soak in the light pouring out of this book. In Revelation the Lamb's accomplices learn to increasingly focus their full attention on the ultimate human mirror who alone reflects perfectly the true glory of what constitutes the mystery hidden in God's heart. The Son of God became the Son of Man so He could mirror the glory of God fully.

God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself made purification for our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:1-3)

If we want to be on the winning side in all that is transpiring around us and is described in Revelation, we too must learn how to sing the new song that the Lamb's accomplices learn to sing and to reflect in our own lives the same glory that emanates from the glorious mirror reflection of God seen in the Lamb who became God in the flesh. That Lamb willingly became vulnerable and ever refused to indulge in the slightest hint of desire for revenge, punishment or take offense. This is what Revelation is all about.

Revelation Rumors - Take 1

This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known [signified] by his angel to his servant, John, (Revelation 1:1)

I have spent many months immersing myself in close study of the book of Revelation and as a result it has both been transformed in my thinking and has become very vibrant, exciting and alive to me.

After being invited to present what I am discovering at various venues recently, I feel that it would be beneficial to share more in writing what is coming to light for me. Far too long this book has languished under harsh views of interpreters and prognosticators who rely on its symbols and frightening language to distort the beautiful revelation of God's heart through His Son Jesus Christ. Yet if we took seriously the very first verse of this book and allowed it to be the primary criteria by which we read the rest of the book, this would not have to be the case.

This has been what has made the most difference in my recent study. A few years ago God challenged me to reexamine this book from a new perspective, from the perspective of heaven and of Jesus. The very first line here declares that this book is a revealing of Jesus, so it only makes sense that whatever I conclude in my reading of this book should in no way conflict with what Jesus reveals to us about God. To do so is to violate the premise set out in the very first phrase of the book.

When I went through this book for myself with new eyesight using this paradigm, I was and continue to be amazed at how incredibly beautiful and powerful this book is when shed of the dark views of God that permeates nearly all of religion. Rather than having to twist and force passages to fit together based on conflicting ideas, I now find a beautiful harmony and stunning insights all through this book. This has so energized my thinking and aroused my passion that at times I feel like I might explode if I cannot find someone with which to share what is pouring out of its pages.

I have hundreds of pages of notes I have accumulated over recent years from my studies, yet each time I come to look at any part of it again, it seems so fresh and new and I seldom take time to review what I have written in the past. Yet it is important to not lose sight of what has been discovered earlier, so I will make an attempt to collate things old and new (for me at least) to condense what I have found so far as well as to share the never-ceasing new revelations that keep pouring out nearly every day.

Two Keys

Full disclosure alert here. I am not a unbiased reader of Scripture. That is true for everyone, so maybe it would be more accurate to simply relate what my bias is presently. The last half of my life has been marked by radical changes in my perspective of what God is like and how He feels about sinners in particular. Having been raised in a very fundamentalist home and 'disciplined in the fear of the Lord' as some put it, my view of God was of a powerful deity up in the sky ever looking critically at my every move, thought and feeling with the sole purpose of finding any fault whereby I could be excluded from going to heaven. I know this sounds harsh, and my parents would have recoiled in horror if they had heard this was how I felt. Yet I have to be honest about this, even though at the time I would have been surprised had someone told this to me directly. Nevertheless, this view of a hyper-critical God constantly threatening to punish me for the slightest infraction of His laws, shaped my personality and character and made it impossible to love Him, even though that too was part of His demands.

It took many years and great persistence on the part of the Holy Spirit to begin to soften and challenge these rigid views of a terrifying God, keen to put me in flames of hell while I was desperate to be good enough to qualify for heaven. The real truth is that God is not at all like how I imagined Him to be growing up, and over many years through various events He began to make inroads into my thinking, challenging me to give Him permission to define Himself directly to me instead of clinging to what I had imagined growing up. The truth I later came to see in Romans 2 is truly the power that alone is effective to dismantle fear and dark views of God, contrary to what I thought for much of my life.

Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness [kindness] of God leads you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)

Let me disclose something else that may become obvious along the way. What I discovered to my amazement as God began unraveling years of distortions about Him that kept me afraid of Him and unable to believe in His love, was that nearly every religious word has been hijacked by religion and its definition supplanted with counterfeit ones. This shocked me at first, yet the more I saw how this was true the more determined I became to seek out the original definitions and replace the false ones in my head with the right ones. This has resulted in untold positive effects on every part of my life as I slowly have come to see light where before there had only been fear, threatenings and hopelessness.

Over time as I increased my awareness of the true meanings of words I was reading, I discovered that the Bible was coming alive for me and that passages I dreaded reading now conveyed entirely new and fresh insights that were often opposite to how I had heard them used all my life. So if I sound like a broken record (that's a dated term isn't it), constantly rehashing what words actually mean, you can know why. For if we don't understand the real meaning of the words we are using, it will be impossible to know the truth that can set us free from fear, which is one major reason Jesus came to save us.

So I start with a fresh definition of the word repentance. I used to imagine it was something like groveling in guilt or something along that line. Then I learned it simply means to change the way I think. That's it. To repent simply means to perceive reality very differently than how I used to see it. But the kicker here is very opposite to what I long assumed growing up, for the primary motivations used to try to get me to conform to the law, keep the rules, be a good boy, etc., were threats of punishment, fear or inflicted suffering. So imagine my surprise when the true message of this verse finally struck me as odd because it was so opposite of what I had always assumed.

It is God's kindness, not threats of punishment or enticements of rewards, that alone is effective to get anyone to change the way they think, especially about God and His disposition towards them. This is key when coming to a study of the book of Revelation. For if we cling to views that this book is about an angry God running out of patience and unleashing angry outbursts and harsh punishments against recalcitrant sinners, it will be impossible to glimpse the truth that this is in fact a revelation of Jesus Christ. Anything that deviates from this violates the very first line of the book and cannot be trusted.

What I have come to see is that when a person begins to read this book, they must not overlook the two keys waiting at the entrance that empowers one to unlock everything else in the book. If we don't pick up the keys and keep them close, we can't expect to make sense of anything else here. So next time we will look more closely at what constitutes these two keys.

The New Song

They sang a new song, saying, "You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood, out of every tribe, language, people, and nation, and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on earth." (Revelation 5:9-10)

What is new about this song? Let's examine closely the clues found in the references to this song and why it is different from how we thought about God before this radical new perspective.

The Lamb is the central focus of this new song. Trustworthiness is the key theme of this new song, implying there has been a serious breach of trust that has affected us all deeply from the past. The reason the scroll is sealed tight by a perfect system of lies was because it is lies have kept us from being able to see the real truth about God that can set us free from fear and bring us back to trusting Him.

The reason the Lamb is trustworthy has something to do with being killed. Additionally, this killing involves something about redeeming/purchasing us for God. The blood of the Lamb somehow is supposed to restore trust in God because of the death of His Son. Yet this has long been obscured under a mountain of fresh lies since the cross, so we must reexamine the truth about it more closely in order to rediscover its power ourselves in order for saving trust to be awakened in our own heart.

How can we trust a God who too often seems far distant from us and apparently unconcerned about our dilemma, or worse yet always looking for excuses to punish us? Trust is something that must happen spontaneously, for trust must be earned. We cannot generate trust on demand, for that defies the very nature of trust itself. The truth about the testimony of Jesus and/or the faith of Jesus throughout Scripture leads to the discovery that it is His faith that inspires us with hope and salvation, not faith we work up ourselves. As we fixate on the faith demonstrated by Jesus in His Father's constant love for Him and their intimate relationship with each other, along with His faith in us, faith and trust are awakened in our own heart to believe that God can be trusted far more than we imagined previously.

Yet how does the death of Jesus and His blood produce trust in God? And what is the real meaning of the idea of redeem, purchase or ransom in this verse?

Actually this may be another case of poor translation missing key elements originally designed to awaken trust for God. The word translated purchased or redeemed here actually means to go to the town square where everyone else is gathered at market. The notion of purchase or even redeeming is by implication, it is not the primary definition of this word. Thus what may be missing in the way scholars have presumed to translate this word is the fact that the perceived far distant God sent His Son (literally part of the godhead) to become a human being to join us where we live and interact with each other. By coming as a human, God made Himself vulnerable in flesh and blood so that we could hurt Him or even kill Him if we so chose to see how He might react – which is just what happened. Yet the main point is that God did not stay at a safe distance from us or our mess. Rather He chose to come and identify with us as a full-fledged human so we could see that God was willing to become exposed to everything we have to deal with on this planet.

This emphasis is entirely missed when the word shifts our focus to something commercial rather than relational. God did not send His Son into the world to engage in some financial bargain on our behalf as religion leads us to imagine. No, He sent His Son into the most dangerous part of our town to meet us where we are and reveal to us the truth about how God feels about us in order to win our trust.

How does the blood of Jesus figure into all this? There are only two mentions in Scripture of the literal blood of Jesus, and both of them point clearly to the reality that what killed Him was not the crucifixion inflicted on Him by Roman soldiers but rather the internal emotional stress from experiencing the effects of all the sins of the entire human race in His psyche. The blood of Jesus had nothing to do with paying off some power-hungry deity bent on revenge over offenses committed against him. Rather it is compelling evidence designed to win the trust and affections of all who come to see the truth that God is willing to make Himself vulnerable and let us hurt Him without reacting in self-defense or harboring resentment towards us. We must come to see the real truth about the blood before we can be drawn into the intimacy God longs for us to enjoy with Him in His family. This is the only way we are brought into harmony with the disposition of the Lamb and reign with Him as kings and priests.

Made us kings and priests...

What do kings and priests have to do with this? In heaven's structure kings are not viewed as those who lord it over others or live in opulent luxury at other's expense. When everyone is a king, there is no room for anyone to be less, except for dominion over the creation that was part of God's design.

God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." (Genesis 1:26)

Likewise priests to God is not about focusing on sin or placating an offended deity in heaven as we too long have imagined. Priests are those who minister to God by channeling the affections of all creation back to Him to delight His heart. Priests work to coordinate the praise of created beings by synchronizing their music to honor and amplify God's glory. Priests also help convey to others the deep things of God, to make His mysteries more appreciable by all who want to understand better His goodness and His thoughts. Priests are those who are mature and able to interact on God's behalf and who help reveal Him to others more effectively. Priests are those who delight to do God's will and want to assist Him in helping others know Him more intimately for themselves.

Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are toward us. They can't be declared back to you. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. Sacrifice and offering you didn't desire. You have opened my ears. You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.

Then I said, "Behold, I have come. It is written about me in the book in the scroll. I delight to do your will, my God. Yes, your law is within my heart." I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly. Behold, I will not seal my lips, Yahweh, you know. I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart. I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly. (Psalms 40:5-10)

What does this have to do with being a priest? We usually associate a priest with sacrifices and offerings to God. But David here clearly says God doesn't desire those things. If this is true, most of what we imagine a priest as doing is suddenly eliminated. So what is a true priest who serves God to do? How can we learn what this new kind of priest does in connection with God?

Our high priest Jesus is directly linked with this passage in the book of Hebrews. As our high priest He models for us what it looks like to be a priest for all who are being made kings and priests. Jesus did not come to be a king over us or the ultimate child sacrifice to out-perform all other sacrifices to satisfy an overwhelming demand for payment to cover for our sins. No, Jesus came to do away with the entire notion of sacrifice that has prevented us from being able to trust God's heart. He came to show the universe that God is trustworthy and that anything undermining this is false and we should reject it.

Therefore when he comes into the world, he says, "Sacrifice and offering you didn't desire, but you prepared a body for me; You had no pleasure in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O God.'" Previously saying, "Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you didn't desire, neither had pleasure in them" (those which are offered according to the law), then he has said, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He takes away the first, that he may establish the second, by which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:5-10)

Here are more clues of what makes this new song different. This is an entirely new paradigm of how we perceive God's disposition towards us. Previously, under a law perspective, we saw God as demanding sacrifices of appeasement. But when Jesus comes He turns all that on its head to reveal the truth that God never had any desire of sacrifices for sin but rather wants His children to delight and synchronize with Him. Here we discover that sanctification means being brought into harmony with the way God thinks and acts and operates – His will. This only happens as a result of seeing the truth about God through how He reacted in Christ when we abused, mistreated and killed Him on the cross.

For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, "This is the covenant that I will make with them: 'After those days,' says the Lord, 'I will put my laws on their heart, I will also write them on their mind;'" then he says, "I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more."

Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having a great priest over the house of God, let's draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed with pure water, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:14-23)

Notice the exciting sense of this new song. It is not new in that it has never been heard before, but new because for so long the old way of living in fear and misapprehension about God has kept us confused, afraid and distrustful of Him. This is why the Lamb of God came to us, to reveal the clear and express truth that God is love, and the light of that truth has no darkness mingled into it at all.

One more thing. This reality that we have been made kings and priests is not some future actualization but is true now for anyone who allows the Spirit of God to sanctify their thinking and draw them into intimacy with God's heart of love. This is our true identity now, not in some far off distant future. We can learn from Jesus now how to live as kings and priests by light of the glory of our mentor, the ultimate King and High Priest who reveals to us what it looks like to serve God from the heart.

I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a number, one hundred forty-four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. I heard a sound from heaven, like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of a great thunder. The sound which I heard was like that of harpists playing on their harps. They sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the one hundred forty-four thousand, those who had been redeemed out of the earth. These are those who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed by Jesus from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. In their mouth was found no lie, for they are blameless. (Revelation 14:1-5)

At this point the new song begins to be closely identified with a group of people labeled in Revelation as the 144,000. Using this paradigm we can trace this group throughout the book by these identifying characteristics even when not specifically mentioned as the 144,000. In this passage a number of key identifying markers are listed about those who intimately and tenaciously follow the Lamb. It is like we are bound to find them nearby wherever we see the Lamb.

These people have His name and the name of His Father. This is all about identity, character, reflection and family likeness. This identity or family likeness is on their foreheads, meaning it is inescapably obvious to notice if you see one of them that they hang around Jesus all the time. This family likeness is what marks all who identify with Jesus, because they reflect the same reflection Jesus reflects.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13)

These people with their new song are said to follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They are also redeemed from among men, something we unpacked above with its implications of God coming to be where we live. This provides even stronger evidence of the true meaning of the word translated redeemed or purchased. Jesus did not purchase or pay for His disciples when He called them to follow Him; He simply showed up where they worked and offered them an invitation to follow Him if they chose to accept. Those who accepted His invitation were launched into an adventure that transformed them forever.

Another key feature of this new song is that it is best accompanied with music played on the harps of God. This shows up elsewhere in Revelation along with other places throughout Scripture which is important to understand. The mention of these harps is to alert us to the likelihood that those playing them may well be a part of the 144,000. Harps also tell us that these people include praise and gratitude to God with their petitions and prayers. Thus their prayers take on power to alter realities on earth because they are effective like two wings of an eagle providing lift that can mount us up to the heavens to soar above everything.

Effective prayer can only have power when petitions are combined with praise. Praise is inevitable in the communications of those who know the Lamb intimately. This is what we discover when we come to the next and possibly most spectacular event described in Revelation where we discover this same group of people implementing what they have learned about powerful praying and praising that literally topples the great evil empire that has caused so much damage to God's universe.

I saw another great and marvelous sign in the sky: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them God's wrath is finished. I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who overcame the beast, his image, and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty! Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations. Who wouldn't fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you only are holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you. For your righteous acts have been revealed." (Revelation 15:1-4)

Who are these seven angels that constitute a great and marvelous sign? The indication is that they represent the same group of 144,000 on earth previously mentioned as standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion. They were first introduced as being sealed in their foreheads with the seal of the living God in chapter seven. In chapter 14 they are seen with the name of God in their forehead and standing with the Lamb singing a new song and playing harps of God. Now we find strikingly similar descriptions of beings singing a two-part song of Moses and the Lamb, standing on the sea of glass that previously was identified as before the throne of God. This compelling evidence implies that these are no less than the 144,000 represented by seven angels prepared to carry out the will of God on earth by reflecting the disposition and actions of the Lamb just as He did while on earth Himself.

After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. I saw another angel ascend from the sunrise, having the seal of the living God. He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea, saying, "Don't harm the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads!" I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel....

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. They cried with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped God, saying, "Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen."

One of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and from where did they come?" I told him, "My lord, you know."

He said to me, "These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb's blood. Therefore they are before the throne of God, they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. They will never be hungry, neither thirsty any more; neither will the sun beat on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:1-4, 9-17)

Notice the striking parallel between these passages. The focus of both of them is on vindicating God's reputation – salvation be to our God. There are no contenders allowed to take their attention away from glorifying God and the Lamb. They have learned the lesson of total focus on God that some are still learning in chapter 19 when they have to be corrected by a voice out of the throne.

In chapter 19 we find praise for God straying off into gloating over the demise of the great harlot. It seems that all the representatives of humanity get caught up in this gossip music until a voice from the throne reminds them that praise needs to focus on God alone, not on the darkness that light overcomes.

A voice came forth from the throne, saying, "Give praise to our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, the small and the great!" (Revelation 19:5)

Really now, isn't it highly inappropriate and even rude for someone to sing about the fall of the great prostitute who was the bride's worst enemy and counterfeit? What we are witnessing here is a time for bridal processional music as the Bridegroom awaits with great anticipation to receive the beautiful bride He has been working so long to prepare for this glorious day of intimate unification. To have the guests suddenly singing about the prostitute instead of giving full attention to the wedding of the Bridegroom is entirely out of place and rude at best. No wonder it elicits a reprimand.

Yet this is actually a key element of the new song to be learned by all who choose to side with the Lamb. When Jesus lived among us here on earth His entire focus was on bringing honor and glory to His Father's reputation and nothing else. He had infinite resources and knowledge at His disposal that He could have shared that would have amazed and engaged human minds for centuries. Yet Jesus kept a laser focus on one thing alone, that was to restore His Father's good reputation and nothing else. Only after that is accomplished will it be safe to look deeper into other issues of interest.

Jesus therefore answered them, "Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise.

(John 5:19)

I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I don't seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me. (John 5:30)

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

(John 6:38)

Jesus therefore said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM he, and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these things. He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn't left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him." (John 8:28-29)

For I spoke not from myself, but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. (John 12:49)

After the correction given in chapter 19, we see the praise music restarted all over again. This time the focus of the lyrics are entirely about the goodness of God and exciting things about the bride. No longer is any mention made about the enemies or the their activities. This is important for us to learn in order to learn the new song of the Lamb, for the Lamb never dwelt on the power of darkness but only focused on light, truth and the love of the Father. This is the true secret of power, for giving attention to darkness only gives it more fuel which is what needs to be withdrawn so it can wither away and be consumed by itself.

Later in chapter 15 these 7 angel representatives are seen as being dressed exactly like Jesus. This is further compelling evidence that whoever they represent are beings who reflect God just the same as Jesus reflected Him. The 144,000 live with God's character/name embedded indelibly in their minds and they live solely to glorify God just as Jesus did while living on this earth. These are no less than the Lamb's accomplices, finally matured, sealed and able to convey such potent revelations of God's glory in their prayers and praises that the empire of the enemy's defense structures will forever be defeated in this last round of assault on darkness by the light of truth.

How do the two songs mentioned in chapter 15 relate to the new song? We find here that the old familiar song of Moses as a servant was not enough. The new song brought to light is a new perspective of reality rooted in the real truth about God as exposed by the Lamb who is their most intimate friend. They no longer relate to Jesus as merely servants but now as close friends and comrades who know intimately how He thinks, feels and acts because they know Him so personally.

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn't know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. (John 15:15)

The revelation of God through Moses was far too inferior to bring humanity out of the darkness of fear and misapprehension about God resulting from sin. Moses related to God as a servant, even while God called him a good friend. This is why it was vitally necessary for Jesus to come to this earth, so we could see the explicit truth about God's heart and see love in action in our own messy environment.

There are more references to this new song in the Old Testament, and all but one are found in the Psalms. There we find more clues as to the nature of this new song, though they correspond to what we have already found in Revelation.

Rejoice in Yahweh, you righteous! Praise is fitting for the upright. Give thanks to Yahweh with the lyre. Sing praises to him with the harp of ten strings. Sing to him a new song. Play skillfully with a shout of joy! For the word of Yahweh is right. All his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the loving kindness of Yahweh. (Psalms 33:1-5)

I waited patiently for Yahweh. He turned to me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand. He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God.

Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in Yahweh. Blessed is the man who makes Yahweh his trust, and doesn't respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are toward us. They can't be declared back to you. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

Sacrifice and offering you didn't desire. You have opened my ears. You have not required burnt offering and sin offering. Then I said, "Behold, I have come. It is written about me in the book in the scroll. I delight to do your will, my God. Yes, your law is within my heart."

I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly. Behold, I will not seal my lips, Yahweh, you know. I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart. I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly. (Psalms 40:1-10)

Sacrifice and offering you didn't desire. That is a key element of this new song that has for too long gone unsung and little noticed. Remember what we found at the beginning, where the Lamb, the hero of Revelation is the focus of this new song? Many assume that reference to the blood of the Lamb means that God demanded sacrifice and offerings of blood to satisfy His demands for punishment. Yet the reality is that God has never desired sacrifice, either before Jesus came to this earth or afterwards. The whole notion that God demands that someone be punished or forgiveness is withheld is one of the lies the enemy uses to keep people afraid of God, imagining God to be little more than a pagan deity who can be manipulated by costly or even human sacrifices.

The mentality of sins requiring punishment was so embedded in the law mentality of the Old Testament that the world was brought to the brink of extinction before Jesus arrived to reverse the curse.

For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)

Remember how there were two songs mentioned in the last reference from Revelation? The old song sung for many centuries was to the tune of how to pay the piper so to speak. It fostered the idea that God operates along the lines of commerce like we do, so He had to be paid sufficiently to assuage His anger to restore His favor. But this is the matrix of lies that Jesus came to unmask and refute. Grace and the real truth was revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world, the very distrust that keeps us in fear and away from His heart of love.

The next day, he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

The Lamb is the real hero of this new song. That must never be overlooked!

Sing to Yahweh a new song! Sing to Yahweh, all the earth. Sing to Yahweh! Bless his name! Proclaim his salvation from day to day! Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. For great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised! He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but Yahweh made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to Yahweh, you families of nations, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength. Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to his name. Bring an offering, and come into his courts. (Psalms 96:1-8)

Sing to Yahweh a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand, and his holy arm, have worked salvation for him. Yahweh has made known his salvation. He has openly shown his righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Make a joyful noise to Yahweh, all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises! Sing praises to Yahweh with the harp, with the harp and the voice of melody. With trumpets and sound of the ram's horn, make a joyful noise before the King, Yahweh. Let the sea roar with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together. Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity. (Psalms 98:1-9)

Stretch out your hand from above, rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters, out of the hands of foreigners; whose mouths speak deceit, Whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. I will sing a new song to you, God. On a ten-stringed lyre, I will sing praises to you. You are he who gives salvation to kings, who rescues David, his servant, from the deadly sword. Rescue me, and deliver me out of the hands of foreigners, whose mouths speak deceit, whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. (Psalms 144:7-11)

Notice the similarities here to the description of the 144,000 in Revelation 14 who have no deceit in their mouth and who have learned to sing the new song.

Praise Yahweh! Sing to Yahweh a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in him who made them. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise his name in the dance! Let them sing praises to him with tambourine and harp! For Yahweh takes pleasure in his people. He crowns the humble with salvation. Let the saints rejoice in honor. Let them sing for joy on their beds. May the high praises of God be in their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute on them the written judgment. All his saints have this honor. Praise Yah! (Psalms 149:1-9)

It is becoming clear that certain key words and phrases are closely connected to this new song.

Marvelous works and things. This is in contrast to the whole world marveling after the beast.

Harps of God accompany this new song, giving it the distinct resonance of praise and positive nature in worship. This is all because the focus is tuned to the goodness of God.

Salvation of God. This is central to understanding the core problem that is being addressed by this song.

Glory to God alone is the emphasis of this new song.

"Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights-- I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout, nor raise his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street. He won't break a bruised reed. He won't quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice. He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands will wait for his law."

Thus says God Yahweh, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it. "I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations; to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison. I am Yahweh. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to engraved images.

"Behold, the former things have happened, and I declare new things. I tell you about them before they come up."

Sing to Yahweh a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the islands and their inhabitants. Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voices, with the villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing. Let them shout from the top of the mountains! Let them give glory to Yahweh, and declare his praise in the islands.

Yahweh will go out like a mighty man. He will stir up zeal like a man of war. He will raise a war cry. Yes, he will shout aloud. He will triumph over his enemies.

"I have been silent a long time. I have been quiet and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a travailing woman. I will both gasp and pant. I will destroy mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs. I will make the rivers islands, and will dry up the pools. I will bring the blind by a way that they don't know. I will lead them in paths that they don't know. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. I will do these things, and I will not forsake them. (Isaiah 42:1-16)

Notice something interesting in this chapter. At the beginning it stresses that God's representative will not shout or raise his voice. Yet when you near the end it becomes plain that Yahweh will shout aloud in triumph over his enemies. But this triumph must be viewed in the context of the song of the Lamb, how what was referred to at the beginning is relied on for winning over enemies. This shout of triumph is a celebration of reconciliation with those who previously fought against the love revealed by the Lamb. When enemies are won over by relentless love, the shouts of joy and triumph over the real enemy which is sin, deceit and fear are loud and intense.

I am reminded of a vivid example of the power of praising God with a new song of praise focused on God's goodness and how incredibly effective it is to defeat the raw power of fear and force used by enemies of God's people. It is one of my favorite Bible stories that has encouraged me for many years, especially when things appear hopeless. It is the story of the dilemma Jehoshaphat found himself in when an overwhelming coalition of forces arrayed themselves against Judah with intent to crush them.

After gathering all the people together, and with everyone united in humbling themselves in prayer and petition to God, they chose to trust in God's goodness and kindness alone instead of attempting to figure out a solution for themselves. It was then that an answer from God came through an obscure musician in the middle of the crowd, promising to deliver them. Here is the account of this most inspiring story of how music and praise provided a brand new perspective that has too often been ignored throughout history. This is a vivid example of the power of the new song that we need to learn because it is effective against all powers of darkness, fear and even death itself.

Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek to Yahweh; and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. Judah gathered themselves together, to seek help of Yahweh: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek Yahweh.

[Note the nature of this prayer offered up and how it parallels similar prayers with dramatic answers throughout Scripture. The focus at the beginning is always on God, His goodness and how He has revealed His power in the past, not a rehearsal of the current dilemma.]

Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Yahweh, before the new court; and he said, Yahweh, the God of our fathers, aren't you God in heaven? and aren't you ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in your hand is power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.

Did not you, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it to the seed of Abraham your friend forever? They lived therein, and have built you a sanctuary therein for your name, saying, If evil come on us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house, and before you, (for your name is in this house), and cry to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.

Now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and didn't destroy them; behold, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. Our God, will you not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are on you. All Judah stood before Yahweh, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. [No hierarchy but all as one.]

Then on Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of Yahweh in the midst of the assembly; and he said, Listen you, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you king Jehoshaphat: Thus says Yahweh to you, Don't be afraid you, neither be dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go you down against them: behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz; and you shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel. You shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand you still, and see the salvation of Yahweh with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; don't be afraid, nor be dismayed: tomorrow go out against them: for Yahweh is with you.

Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Yahweh, worshipping Yahweh. The Levites, of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel, with an exceeding loud voice.

They rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: believe in Yahweh your God, so shall you be established; believe his prophets, so shall you prosper. When he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who should sing to Yahweh, and give praise in holy array, as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks to Yahweh; for his loving kindness endures forever.

When they began to sing and to praise, Yahweh set ambushers against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were struck. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, utterly to kill and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, everyone helped to destroy another. (2 Chronicles 20:3-23)

A voice came forth from the throne, saying, "Give praise to our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, the small and the great!" (Revelation 19:5)

Let's determine to do whatever it takes to learn to sing and live in the experience of this new song consistently and insistently.