Sermon Tone Analysis

Happy Easter.

Today, we celebrate the ultimate victory in this great war in which we find ourselves.

And I want to explore one of the implications- the effects- of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

And to do this, we need to keep in mind the question posed at the end of Revelation 6, which is, "who can stand?"

And we are now in one of the interludes between judgments 6 & 7 that occurs in every series of judgments and this question, “who can stand?” is the key message for the church in the judgment section.

And in this section, very clearly, we’re going to see several groups of people who answer that question.

And the answer to this question is really the point of Easter.

Not only that Jesus raised from the dead, but what it means for us, and that is a question that we will seek to answer today.

In order to make sense of this scene, we have to ask the question, “where are we?”

Four- angels, corners, winds.

Do we count numbers in Revelation or do we weigh them?

Where are we?

On earth!

Why? Four angels, four winds.

Land, sea, tree, land sea, tree.

Earth.

Earth.

Earth.

This repetition is John practically shouting at the top of his lungs, “We’re on earth!

Don’t miss this!”

And it is important to establish this because if we don’t, we can get all sorts of weird interpretations of this passage like some people do who say, “only 144,000 people get to go to heaven.”

Okay, so there’s a voice...

Emphasize heavily Levi! Repeat it.

Tell them it would be weird!

Who is this?

There are two options:

This is actual Israel on earth, the physical nation.

There’s a couple of problems with this interpretation:

Problem 1: Dan is missing.

Levi in his place.

This gives me a clue as to what’s happening here, because there is no reason to be rid of the tribe of Dan if we’re talking about ethnic Israel.

Problem 2: Anti-messianic figure would come from Dan.

Not a liked tribe.

Levi is the priestly tribe.

The go-between... until... when?

The end.

Remember as Jacob is dying, he says things about each of his sons about how they will function in Israel’s history?

This is what he says about Dan:

This isn’t a pleasant prediction about your path.

This isn’t what you want to be said about you.

Basically, he says, “Dan will be a thorn in the side of the nation of Israel.”

There’s also books from the Pseudepigrapha (books that aren’t Scripture that are old Jewish books), and there’s a section of one called The Testament of Dan (again, this is not Scripture but this is illuminating for us in how Jews thought about issues 150-200 years before Christ), and it says this about Dan:

4 I know that in the last days you shall depart from the Lord, and you shall provoke Levi to anger, and fight against Judah.

But you shall not prevail against them, because an angel of the Lord shall guide them both, for by them shall Israel stand.

5 And whenever you depart from the Lord, you shall walk in all evil and work the abominations of the Gentiles, chasing after wives of the lawless ones, while with all wickedness the spirits of wickedness work in you.

6 For I have read in the book of Enoch, the righteous, that your prince is Satan, and that all the spirits of wickedness and pride will conspire to attend constantly on the sons of Levi, to cause them to sin before the Lord.

4 I know that in the last days ye shall depart from the Lord,

And ye shall provoke Levi unto anger,

And fight against Judah;

But ye shall not prevail against them,

For an angel of the Lord shall guide them both;

For by them shall Israel stand.

5 And whensoever ye depart from the Lord, ye shall walk in all evil and work the abominations of the Gentiles, going a-whoring after women of the lawless ones, while with all wickedness the spirits of wickedness work in you.

6 [For I have read in the book of Enoch, the righteous, that your prince is Satan, and that all the spirits of wickedness and pride will conspire to attend constantly on the sons of Levi, to cause them to sin before the Lord.

Basically, “in the last days, Dan will be kicked out.”

And what I see John doing here in Revelation 7 is the last days are here and we’re talking about the people who have become a kingdom and priests.

Remember in Revelation 5?

Levi now functions as a normal tribe.

That’s why this isn’t ethnic Israel.

If it is, Jesus and John make no sense in the continuity of this book.

Jesus speaks badly of them in Rev. 2 and 3, calling them a synagogue of Satan, and saying that Jerusalem is Sodom and Egypt later in Revelation 11, and all the sudden in 7, he's going extol the holiness of the nation of Israel?

That makes no sense.

How’s this going to happen if that’s the case?

Are they going to attain favor without belief in Christ?

I am the way… NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME.

NO ONE COMES TO SALVATION EXCEPT THROUGH JESUS’ LIFE, DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION.

Is it about who you're born from or who you're born again to?

Who is Israel?

The people of God.

If you’re in Christ, you are Israel.

See, Christ as the true Israel has ushered in the new Israel, and because of that, it is natural for God to call the church the tribes of Israel.

12 stands for what?

You have 12 x 12 x 1000.

In Scripture, 1,000 is a number that is used to represent “a lot”.

Completion x Completion x a whole lot.

Church on earth is sealed and secure.. from what?

1. Physical destruction.

Does that make sense?

No.

Why not?

What happens in Rev. 2-3 (Smyrna)?

First five seals what happens?

The Church suffers.

Remember Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble.”

2. Spiritual destruction.

1. God is more concerned with our souls than our bodies.

Where's your allegiance?

2. Rev. 6:17- the people of the earth call out for spiritual protection.

They actually want to die.

So we come back to the question of those who were seeking protection: “Who can stand?”

Angels can stand.

The Church on earth can stand as they are sealed by God.

Where are we?

Heaven.

How do I know?

The throne.

Who can stand?

Church on earth, church in heaven, angels.

Those who are faithful to God.

So here’s what we celebrate today: Jesus is alive.