Revelation Day 26 - You Shall Prophesy

DAY 26
You Must Prophesy
Revelation 10
 
Perpetua was a wealthy, North African Christian woman living about 150 years after Jesus. But the new Roman emperor thought Christianity undermined patriotism, so he fought it. He aimed his attacks at Africa where the faith was strong. Perpetua was one of the first to be arrested.

Her father and the local governor both twisted her arm to reject Jesus and sacrifice to the emperor. Neither she nor her fellow believers caved in. They were condemned and thrown into a gladiator arena, attacked by wild animals, and finally killed by sword.

The Church called Christians like these “witnesses,” or in Greek, martyrs. They told the truth about God and couldn’t be persuaded not to. They were not the first or the last. As we continue into Rev 10-11, these witnesses are a powerful example for us to today.

Rev 9 ended with unrepentant sinners. You might expect God to smash the sinners but that’s not what happens. We cut to another scene, another angel appears, speaking directly to Pastor John. John’s got work to do and it turns out, his work is our work, the Church’s work. We shouldn’t be surprised by now but John tells us this by gluing together a collage of word-pictures.

You can break down these two chapters into three scenes. In scene one (Rev. 10), John is called to be a witness, to prophesy. Like the Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel, John’s given a book to eat so he can tell the world the truth about God: “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings” (Rev 10:11).

Scene two (Rev 11:1-14) shows a temple and two witnesses. Both are a picture of us, the Church. We are the temple, God’s people at worship. We are the witnesses, God’s truth-telling prophets. That’s our job as Jesus-followers: to tell the truth about God. The clearest truth is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that we are sinners, saved by the grace of God through the ministry of Jesus Christ. We may never be face death for our faith, but our words and our lives should tell the truth about God just as much as Perpetua’s.

REFLECT
Who do you know who’s words and actions tell the truth about God?

PRAY
Our Father, Your Son, Jesus Christ, is your “Yes,” the faithful and true witness. Give us ears to hear what your Spirit says, so we, too, can be faithful witnesses who patiently endure every trial. Amen.