I noted last week that NOT to address the war with Iran seems like ignoring the elephant in the room, so I am going to talk about it, but not in terms of its merits - or lack thereof, depending on your opinion. Google “Just War Theory Iran” or some combination of words like that and take some time to study and reflect.
I want to address something different. Many people are asking questions like this right now:
“Is what’s happening in the Middle East a fulfillment of prophecy? Are we watching Revelation unfold on the news? Does this war with Iran mean the world is approaching the final battle of Armageddon? Should I be looking out for the Antichrist? How should we be responding?” [1]
If you have grown up in evangelical circles, war in the Middle East - especially if it involves Israel - has always led to speculation about eschatology (end times study). At least 20 countries are now involved; the global economy is stumbling; there are murmurs of WWIII. It feels potentially apocalyptic.
Since most of the “end times” text comes from the book of Revelation[2], I am going to condense my 30+ episode sermon series from 2021 into one sermon.
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Faithful, Bible-believing Christians have interpreted Revelation differently throughout church history.
Preterist: Revelation’s events happened in the 1st century.
Poetic/Theopoetic: The text is poetic language expressing ultimate truths about God, evil, and history.
Theopolitical: The text is a form of political protest and dissent against the Roman empire[3], a prophetic critique of Empire power.
Pastoral/Prophetic: The text gives a timeless call for hope and faithfulness in the face of inevitable, ongoing conflict with all empires and their evils, injustices, and misguided allegiances.
Predictive/Futurist: The text reveals future events that will happen at the end of time (“end times”). This is part of what is called Dispensationalism.[4]
For Christians raised in evangelical culture in the United States, Revelation has typically been taught in the Predictive/Futurist model: a roadmap of future wars, the Antichrist and geopolitical alliances that usher in the return of Jesus. #LeftBehind
It may surprise you to know that this view is not very old. The idea that Revelation provides a precise geopolitical map of the End Times developed through John Nelson Darby (1800-1882). He was heavily influenced by Margaret McDonald, a Scottish woman who claimed to have had visions of a pre-tribulation rapture in 1830. Soon, the Scofield Reference Bible (1909) was the first Bible to have footnotes for this Dispensational approach.
Do with that what you will. My point is that the earliest Christians did not read Revelation through that lens. For them, Revelation was a combination of the first 4 approaches. It was a message about how to avoid compromise, remain faithful, and live with hope in the midst of what was happening in their lifetime. I am going to try to explain that this morning so we can see what John’s audience saw, hear what they heard, and hold to the hope they had.
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In the first century, Rome claimed a divine leader and an empire blessed by the gods. They had symbols everywhere to remind people of their allegiance: flags, statues of the emperor, coins with Caesar’s image, temples where incense burned in his honor, and citizens expected to say three simple words: “Caesar is Lord.”
Christians refused. Instead, they said: “Jesus is Lord.” That confession was deeply theological – and political. It put them at odds with a Rome that demanded allegiance. As you might imagine, the Empire was not happy with this turn of events, and life got really hard for Christians. As they suffered, there was a temptation to give up and join Rome.
Revelation was written to reveal spiritual realities behind the political power and false promises of Rome, and to help Christians remain hopeful and faithful when empires threatened their lives and demanded their allegiance.
John used apocalyptic literature[5] to communicate this. He narrated a vision through creative storytelling that is heavily symbolic, full of exaggerated imagery. Apocalyptic writing is less like a political news report and more like the political cartoons on the editorial page. I’ll try to show you what that looks like with some images I am going to use.
Revelation Was Written to First Century Christians Living in the Roman Empire, specifically to seven real churches in Asia Minor (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea). It was written for us, but not to us. If the book only made sense thousands of years later, then it failed its first readers. It had to make sense first in their context, and second in ours.
John’s audience would not have seen the prophetic nature of Revelation as foretelling about future events 1000s of years down the road. After all, Jesus had kept telling them, in their moment, to look out for what was going to happen in the Last Days (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21). John, himself, writing in 1 John 2:18, made it clear:
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.[6]
John’s audience read Revelation’s prophetic voice as forthtelling, interpreting the world’s current events theologically to give them wisdom and hope.
Revelation Is Primarily a Revelation of Jesus.
“The revelation of Jesus Christ…” (Revelation 1:1)
It is a revelation of Jesus first and foremost. That’s where the hope comes from. Revelation has wonderful imagery about Jesus:
The faithful witness (1:5)
The slain Lamb (5:6)
The one who conquers by sacrifice (5:9–10)
The rider whose robe is dipped in his own blood (19:13)
The maker of new things from all that was broken (21:5)
The dominant image is that of a Lamb who was slain. Even when John hears a lion, when he looks, it’s a lamb. (5:7-9) Once the Lion has been revealed to be the Lamb, we never again find Christ referred to as a Lion, though he’s referred to as the Lamb twenty-seven more times.[7] It’s reinforcing a point Jesus made in his lifetime. When the people waved the palm branches of the violent Zealots to welcome him into Jerusalem (Luke 19), Jesus cried for them and their vain pursuit of peace. That’s not the kind of Lord Jesus is, and it’s not how he will usher in his kingdom then or in the future.
Revelation Exposes Empires. Revelation’s central claims would have been shocking to people overwhelmed by Rome’s power and grandeur:
Rome claims to be blessed and ruled by divinity. John says Rome is a beast rising from the sea, empowered by a propaganda-fueled dragon that demands worship. John uses Rome/Babylon as stand-ins for all earthly kingdoms, nations, and empires. Any political authority that demands an unquestioning or ultimate allegiance, any ruler who relies on violent, destructive domination to rule, any earthly system that exalts itself as being a savior - they are all trying to stand in a place that belongs to God, and Jesus has something to say about that.[8]
Rome says it brings peace with the sword (Pax Romana). John says it is bathed in violence.Revelation unmasks false peace that trusts in violence, the kind of path that made Jesus weep when he entered Jerusalem, as it was clear that was the path the people wanted him to take. (Luke 19:41-44) Jesus is establishing a new kind of peace and way of peace (often referred to as Pax Christi, or peace of Christ).
Rome claims to be like a stunningly beautiful woman (the goddess Roma). John says she’s a blood-soaked, cruel seductress (played by Babylon). Babylon is covered with the blood of the saints (Revelation 17), suggesting many had already been devoured by the Empire, either willingly or forcefully.
Rome says Caesar is Lord and Savior. Revelation says only Jesus is Lord and Savior. Empires will say, “I alone can save you,” but it’s hollow arrogance. Jesus alone can save us.
Rome conquers by taking the lives of others so it can live. Revelation says the Lamb conquers through giving his own life so others can live.
Revelation is unmasking “how the sausage is made” in empires for an audience in danger of being overwhelmed by power or seduced by pleasure. The kingdoms of this world often look glorious on the outside, but from God’s perspective they are beastly. How do we follow Jesus when the nation we live in demands unquestioning loyalty - and compromise? First, we must see it for what it is.
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“Is what’s happening in the Middle East a fulfillment of prophecy? Are we watching Revelation unfold on the news? Does this war with Iran mean the world is approaching the final battle of Armageddon? Should I be looking out for the Antichrist? How should we be responding?”
I will offer answers based on my understanding of how Revelation is meant to be read. Others have differing opinions, and we can hold those and still be on Team Jesus. I’m a big fan of listening to what a variety of people have to say and praying for discernment, and I encourage you to do the same.
Are we watching Revelation unfold on the news? Very much so – in the sense that John warned us about empires and how they work. They will either violently bully us to control us, or they will try to seduce us and distract us from Jesus and His Kingdom with worldly pleasure and power.[9]
It’s a tale as old as history, for all of history. Revelation warns all Christians, in all places, at all times, about the beastliness and seductiveness of nations. No one is exempt. With that in mind, hear me carefully.
In today’s headlines, it’s a warning about Iran and the U.S., Israel[10] and Lebanon, Russia and Ukraine – name the country. Human governments have a beastliness and seductiveness that we must resist. The legacies of Rome and Babylon live on in their empire children. The people of God’s Kingdom stand in their midst as counter-cultural salt and light, shining cities on a hill surrounded by darkness.
Is this a fulfillment of prophecy? If by that we mean that John warned us about what to expect in the times we are living, then yes. Are we moving closer to the end of history? Of course. Eventually, the cycle will end. Maybe we are there. Someday we will be, for sure.
I’m just not convinced John was trying to give us signs to help us figure out “the day and hour” that Jesus will return when Jesus himself said nobody will know (Matthew 24:36).[11] Jesus didn’t seem concerned about being too specific, so I want to encourage us not to be too concerned about it either. If Jesus said, “Be ready,” to an audience 2,000 years ago, we might still have quite a while to wait, and we should still be ready.
Should I be looking out for the Antichrist? Yes, as the church has been for 2,000 years. The Antichrist does not get a ‘shout out’ in Revelation, but John does in 1 John 2. After he talks about living in the Last Days, he warns:
“Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.” (1 John 2:22)
He also revealed where to look for them:
“They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.”
We don’t need to look “out there” for an antichrist. Apparently, the call will come from inside the house.
Does this war with Iran mean the world is approaching the Battle of Armageddon? A very popular speaker on End Times thinks so.[12] He claimed that Russia, Turkey, “what’s left of Iran” and other Muslim groups would soon invade Israel and be destroyed by God. Last week he prayed that,
“…God Almighty is brought onto the battlefield and the enemies of Zion and the enemies of the United States can be destroyed before our eyes. Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered.”[13]
The thing is, there is no battle between armies that happens at Armageddon, and God does not destroy the nations that gather. Let me explain.
Let’s say (for the sake of discussion) that at this point Revelation suddenly stops being full of symbolic apocalyptic imagery and is now meant to be read literally, like a (future) news report. That would be really different than how we read the rest of the book, but let’s grant a “future historical” reading.
The word “Armageddon” appears only once (Revelation 16:16), and no battle is described there. Nations gather, but nobody starts fighting. The confrontation happens in Revelation 19:11–21. A rider on a white horse – Jesus - shows up. There is a confrontation, but not what one might expect.
“His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.”
The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (Ephesians 6), which cuts sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4). The weapon is Jesus’ mouth is His Word. It’s truth. It’s the gospel. It’s the message that the love displayed on the cross has conquered all that is evil – sin, death, hell, the grave.
Jesus’ robe is already dipped in blood before the battle begins. Most scholars agree this must be his own blood, the blood of the cross. Jesus conquers the world the same way he conquered death: through sacrificial love. The Lamb wins by being slain so that death does not get the final word.
Meanwhile, all the bad guys are still there. All these nations from all over the earth intent on making war are all still there. Now what?
“Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf.”
The Beast and False Prophet – keep in mind that these are national symbols of violence and lies, not individuals - are bound and given over to judgment, and that’s it. Nobody draws a sword except Jesus, and it’s the sword of the spirit, the word of God. Even when Gog and Magog gather in Revelation 20, there is no battle between people.[14]
Even if I were to give the most literal reading to these passages, there is no battle at Armageddon where people fight people. There is no blood-soaked field of slaughtered pagans killed by righteous people or heavenly armies. When it is time for judgment, God does it, and it’s not a battlefield slaughter (Revelation 20).
Another famous pastor[15] once described Jesus’ return in Revelation this way.
“In Revelation, Jesus is a prize fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship. I cannot worship… a guy I can beat up.”
This is….so wrong. Jesus is not an MMA prize fighter; he fights evil with truth and cruciform love. Revelation does not show a returning Jesus with a commitment to make someone bleed; it reveals a slain Lamb who bled on our behalf. And I do worship a man who people not only beat up but also crucified, whose cruciform love swallowed up evil as a result of his sacrifice. Jesus willingly gave up his life to conquer the power of sin, death, hell and the grave. (1 Corinthians 15:55)
So, how do God’s people live in these times? How do we stay true in the midst of beasts, false prophets and the seducers that try to dirty our hearts and divide our allegiance? Revelation 12:11 tells us.
“They conquered [the accuser] by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, for they did not love their lives even unto death.”
The church participates in fighting against evil with the tools of the Kingdom: faithful witness, sacrificial love, a righteous presence (committed to “right”), perseverance, and a message of hope in Jesus. The church does not overcome the Evil One and his schemes by killing its enemies in the name of Jesus.
When the disciples asked Jesus to call down fire on a Samaritan town, he said “no” (Luke 9), then sent them there as missionaries (Luke 10). The church resists evil by being like Jesus. The point is to “Follow the Lamb wherever he goes.” (Revelation 14:4).
The story ends not with the destruction of the nations, but with the healing of the nations. The kings of the earth – the ones apparently gathered at Armageddon? - are shown coming to the celestial city, bringing “the glory and honor of the nations” (21:26). Water flows from the city for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1-2)
Do you remember when we talked about the connection between theology and relationships? There is also a connection between eschatology and relationships.
If we think Armageddon needs to be bloody and violent – and if we think God expects us to bring it about – we might excitedly choose a bloody and violent path shouting the Crusades’ slogan of Deus Vult, “God wills it,”[16] and using the cross as a sign to militarily conquer. #constantine This is what happens when we think God conquers like Empires conquer.
But if we think the judgment that Jesus brings will also offer opportunity for repentance, healing, and restoration, then we will likely promote and pray for an approach that brings that about in the face of even national evil. This is what happens when we believe God conquers evil like Jesus conquered evil (because God is just like Jesus, because, well, God IS Jesus.)
How we think Jesus will return directs how we think we should prepare for it.
So, how are we to respond in this time?
John’s readers may find it hard to see in their neighbors on the street anything but cold, hostile stares and the threat of informing the authorities. They may be so aware of the present rule of the dragon, the monster and the false prophet that all they want is to escape, to be rescued, not to hold out to their neighbors God’s repeated and generous invitation.
But see they must, because the mercy of God is vast and his invitation wide as the world. Because he is who he is, the creator whose purposes are gloriously fulfilled in the slaughtered lamb, he will go on inviting and welcoming and pouring out the water of life for all the thirsty. (N.T. Wright, Revelation For Everyone)
Empires will rise and fall. Wars will come and go. Nations will boast about their power. But above them all stands the Lamb who was slain and who has risen. Revelation reveals the self-giving, radically forgiving, co-suffering love of Jesus. The power of cruciform love gets the final word.
“Behold, I make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5)
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[1] The fancy term for this in Christian circles is eschatology.
[2] Daniel is commonly cited also, as well as 2 Thessalonians 2.
[3] The Topical Lexicon at Biblehub.com describes empire this way: “In the biblical context, the term ‘empire’ refers to a large political unit or state, usually under a single sovereign authority, that extends its dominion over diverse peoples and territories.”
[4] Dispensationalists believe God works through distinct historical periods (dispensations), with a key distinction between His plan for Israel (earthly people) and the Church (heavenly people), viewing the Church as a temporary "parenthesis" in God's focus on Israel, culminating in a future earthly millennial kingdom where Israel's promises are fulfilled literally, and often embracing a pre-tribulation rapture.
[5] A style of writing the really began to flourish during their exile.
[6] I think this likely applies to the “man of lawlessness” in 2 Thessalonians 2.
[7] “The Key To Understanding Revelation.” https://reknew.org/2016/05/key-understanding-revelation/
[8] In Reading Revelation Responsibly, Michael Gorman gives this definition for an empire: “Empire is a system of domination that both seduces the powerful, partly with the promise of more power, and intoxicates common people with its alluring wine, perhaps the false promise of security that supposedly comes from increasing prosperity and power.”
[9] It’s Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World.
[10] If you find yourself resistant to the idea that Israel could be beastly, read the Old Testament, and why they went into exile.
[11] “It is not for you to know the times or seasons the Father has fixed.” Acts 1:7
[12] You can ask me who this is if you would like to know.
[13] Quoted here from a sermon streamed live on Facebook. https://theconversation.com/as-iran-war-expands-some-conservative-christians-interpret-the-conflict-through-biblical-prophecies-277488
[14] Gog and Magog appear to represent all nations deceived by Satan; numbered as "the sand of the sea" (20:8).
[15] You can ask me who this is if you would like to know.
[16] This Latin phrase was used as a battle cry and rallying cry during the First Crusade (1095–1099). It was shouted by soldiers and clergy alike in response to Pope Urban II’s speech calling for the Crusade in 1095. Theology even dictates geopolitical relationships between nations.