The Revelation of St. John the Divine

by A. H. Ames

The mediatorial sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ is, indeed, the one theme of the whole book of Revelation. The consummation and undisputed supremacy of the kingdom has not been reached. It is in its militant, not triumphant state. But imperfection within and hostility without no more affect the reality of its being, although they may militate against its well-being, than did treason within and war without contravene the fact of the sovereignty of David and his house over Judah. Into this kingdom not a select number, but all the true followers of Jesus are introduced. They are “a royal priesthood.” They are “joint heirs with Christ.” “We see not yet,” indeed, “all things put under him;” but we see Jesus “crowned with glory and honor;” and “he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.”

Again, it may be accepted as almost an axiom of interpretation that the resurrection referred to in the words, “They lived and reigned with Christ,” means a spiritual change, and not a physical or bodily one. It is synonymous with that epoch in the Christian’s life when he is delivered “from the power of darkness” and translated “into the kingdom of God’s dear Son,” that crisis of spiritual existence which is called conversion or regeneration, when one is “born from above” and raised with Christ into newness of life. The resurrection spoken of is stated to be that of “the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image.” It is also called “the first resurrection,” thus differentiating it from another and subsequent resurrection of “the rest of the dead.” This first resurrection, moreover, exempts those who partake of it from the power of “the second death,” which is defined as the being “cast into the lake of fire.” It separates them from “the rest of the dead”—those who are dead “in trespasses and sins,” as they themselves once were—who live not again until “the thousand years” are finished.

We are now on sure ground. The meaning of this vision is that the mediatorial kingdom of our Lord is to be established on the earth, and that by the proper use of those instrumentalities which have been given into our hands, namely, the word of God and the blood of the Lamb, it shall advance in spite of all opposition and hindrances, until all worldliness and false prophetism shall be eliminated, until Christ “shall have put down all rule and all authority and power,” until “the kingdoms of this world” shall become “the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ,” and “he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father,” and the prayer shall be fulfilled which daily ascends to the throne of grace, “Thy kingdom come.” The millennium is now. We are living in it. Its light shines but dimly, it is true, but it will shine more and more until the perfect day.

The period during which the saints shall live and reign with Christ is stated to be “a thousand years.” Conjecture has been rife as to why this number should be selected. Manifestly, here, at least, the year-day theory, that which makes every day mentioned in the book the symbol of a year, breaks down. Otherwise, the period would be too long; and none have been found to maintain the opinion that the millennium is to last three hundred and sixty-five thousand years. Yet, to interpret the expression literally, as if it meant exactly a thousand of our years, would be to depart entirely from the rule of the Apocalypse, in which numbers are taken as symbols of epochs, not as a measurement of duration. There is no reason given why in this case exception should be made to the constant and unvarying use of days and months and years in this book.

Here, again, reference to the book of Ezekiel will dissolve the obscurity and present us with an explanation simple, consistent, and entirely in accordance with the usage which elsewhere prevails in the Apocalypse.

In the description which Ezekiel gives of the happy results which were to follow the resurrection of the dry bones and the reunion of Israel, one of the particulars which tenderly touched every Jewish heart was, “David my servant shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd.” Whether the prophet was himself conscious of the full meaning of these words or not, it is nevertheless the fact that it was not in any merely earthly descendant of David that this prediction was to be realized, but in the Messiah, “great David’s greater Son.” So, doubtless, the apostle of the Apocalypse accepted it. And, inasmuch as the sovereignty of David’s house was, as has previously been said, just one thousand years, what more natural than that John should see in this number the signature and symbol of the reign of Christ? He does not mean that the duration of that reign shall be limited to a thousand years, but that, be it longer or shorter, this number is its symbol and emblem. Whatever he mentions as taking place during the thousand years is to be understood by us as occurring during the progress of the mediatorial kingdom of Christ from its commencement to its culmination. In the sight of the divine Being the period between the establishment of the kingdom and its complete and final triumph over all its foes, be it longer or shorter, is the day of Christ, and “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

The moments or stages in the growth of the kingdom are now to be specified.

1. Restraints upon the Power of Satan.—There is one item in the revelation made to John, and through him to us, which is peculiar to him. It is, indeed, implied in the book of Ezekiel, but is not explicitly communicated. This is the restraint which is put upon the power of Satan. An angel is seen to “come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit [the same mentioned in chapter ix, 1–11] and a great chain in his hand [see 2 Peter ii, 4; Jude 6]. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.” “When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations;” but this loosing of him, it is said, will be for only “a little season” before his final destruction. As the thousand years are a synonym for the reign of Christ, the meaning is that during the existent mediatorial sovereignty of Christ Satan is debarred his full liberty. His judgment has not, indeed, come, and he still exists, but his activity is circumscribed, and his power to hurt is limited and curbed.

It will be remembered that in the twelfth chapter Satan was described under the emblem of the dragon and his futile hostility toward the woman was depicted. At the close of the chapter we were told that “the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed.” Since that time he has seemed to disappear from mention and is directly alluded to only occasionally. His place in the drama of warfare has been taken by the two wild beasts, his emissaries, in whom all enmity against Christ and his followers has been concentrated. Now that these have been judged and consigned to their doom and have in turn passed from the stage, the apostle reverts to the evil one behind and within them, whose subordinate agents they were.

One of the noteworthy facts of the universe brought to light mainly by this book of Revelation, but fully corroborated by other scriptures when attention is directed to its quest, is the ambition of Satan to copy and travesty the divine Being, both in modes of manifestation and methods of work. His abilities seem to lie, not in the direction of originality, but of imitation. He is not a creator or inventor, but a consummate actor and a master of the art of mimicry. As the Deity is revealed to us in the triune personality of Father, Son, and Spirit, so also there is a trinity of evil—the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet.