Lesson 14
Our handout this week is a summary of what we discussed
near the end of class last week. As you recall, the mighty
angel who opens Chapter 10, stands on sea and land, raises
his right hand, and swears a solemn oath that “there should
be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call
to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God, as
he announced to his servants the prophets, should be
fulfilled.” We discussed the meaning of “mystery” in that
statement, and I proposed a broad understanding of the term
that includes the entire scheme of redemption from A to Z,
where A started before creation and Z ends with the
fulfillment of the prophecies about Rome.
Why choose that particular Z as our ending point?
Because that event (whenever we date it) marks the final
fulfillment of every prophecy that had to be fulfilled
before Jesus could return again. Paul told us as much in 2
Thessalonians 2:2-4 when he wrote, “for that day shall not
come, except there come a falling away first, and that man
of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”
A question left open on the handout is whether that
dividing line occurred with the death of the evil emperor
Domitian in A.D. 96 or with the sacking of Rome and the
later fall of Rome in the fifth century (or perhaps some
other event regarding Rome). If you had asked me that
question when I first taught this class back in 1991, I
would have told you it was fall of Rome in A.D. 476. Today,
I am leaning more toward the fall of Domitian in A.D. 96.
Here is how that latter event was described by the prophet
Daniel in Daniel 7:23-27 ―
Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth
kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all
kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread
it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of
this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another
shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the
first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak
great words against the most High, and shall wear out the
saints of the most High, and think to change times and
laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time
and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall
sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and
to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion,
and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven,
shall be given to the people of the saints of the most
High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all
dominions shall serve and obey him.
We will consider this question much more closely as we
proceed through the remainder of the book.
10:8 Then the voice which I had heard from heaven spoke
to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll which is open in
the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the
land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the
little scroll; and he said to me, “Take it and eat; it will
be bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your
mouth.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of
the angel and ate it; it was sweet as honey in my mouth,
but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And
I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and
nations and tongues and kings.”
John is not given the book, but instead he is told to
take it. This distinction emphasizes his commitment to
undertake the responsibility of recording and presenting
God’s message. This part of the vision reminds us of
Jeremiah 15:16 (“Your words were found, and I ate them”)
and of Ezekiel 2:8 - 3:3 ―
“But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be
rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and
eat what I give you.” Now when I looked, there was a hand
stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in
it. Then He spread it before me; and there was writing on
the inside and on the outside, and written on it were
lamentations and mourning and woe. Moreover He said to me,
“Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go,
speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and He
caused me to eat that scroll. And He said to me, “Son of
man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this
scroll that I give you.” So I ate, and it was in my mouth
like honey in sweetness.
As did Jeremiah and Ezekiel, John eats the book to
signify his acceptance of this responsibility. He makes the
message a part of himself.
The scroll was bitter. Why? Because it contained some
bad news — the church would suffer great persecution. It
was also bitter for John to prophesy of the destruction
that would befall the wicked world.
But, the scroll was also sweet. The church would
ultimately triumph over Rome, and, just as Daniel had
foretold, the eternal kingdom of God would sweep away all
the kingdoms of this world.
Verse 11 tells us that John would prophesy about many
peoples and nations and tongues and kings. Except for
“kings” in place of “tribes,” these are the same categories
from which the saints were purchased in 5:9. How does the
language in verse 11 of peoples and nations fit with the
notion that this book is largely about a single nation,
Rome?
The Roman empire was composed of many peoples and
nations and tongues and kings. Rome at various times in its
history conquered and thus included the Sabines, the
Etruscans, the Sicilians, the Berber tribes of North
Africa, the Illirians, Carthage, Macedonia, Syria, Judea,
Spain, Gaul, Egypt, much of what is now Great Britain, the
Dacians, Lybia, and the Parthians. That list is made up of
many peoples and nations and tongues and kings!
At the end of class last week, a question was asked abut
whether the little book eaten by John could have been the
book of Revelation itself, or rather a symbolic depiction
of the book since John is seeing it in a vision. It is
possible. What little we know about the little book fits
well — both are revelations given by God to John, both were
“eaten” by John in the sense that John was given the
responsibility to convey their contents, both contained
things that were bitter and things that were sweet. Another
possibility is that the little scroll is a summary of the
vision. This view fits well with the description of the
book as “little,” and it fits well with the following
chapter, which many see as a summary of the remainder of
the book.
Chapter Eleven
1 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I
was told: “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar
and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court
outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to
the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for
forty-two months. 3 And I will grant my two witnesses power
to prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days,
clothed in sackcloth.” 4 These are the two olive trees and
the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the
earth.
Barclay: “It has been said that [Chapter 11] is at one
and the same time the most difficult and the most important
chapter in Revelation.” (I’m not certain I agree with
either assessment.)
Chapter 11 begins by considering the question of what
was to become of the faithful servants of God during these
great trials and judgments. And we see yet another
description of this group — this time as a measured temple
of worshipers, separated from the world and under God’s
protection.
What is the purpose of the measuring rod? In Ezekiel’s
vision of the restored temple, a measuring rod was used to
make a separation between what is holy and what is common.
Recall Ezekiel 42:19–20 ―
Then he turned to the west side and measured, five
hundred cubits by the measuring reed. He measured it on the
four sides. It had a wall around it, five hundred cubits
long and five hundred cubits broad, to make a separation
between the holy and the common.
We are also reminded of Zechariah 2:1-5 ―
I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a
man with a measuring line in his hand. Then said I, Whither
goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to
see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length
thereof. And, behold, the angel that talked with me went
forth, and another angel went out to meet him, And said
unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem
shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude
of men and cattle therein: For I, saith the LORD, will be
unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory
in the midst of her.
The separation between the holy and the profane also
reminds us of 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 ―
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,
saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will
receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be
my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
What is John told to measure? The temple, the altar, and
those who worship there. The word for temple here indicates
the inner sanctuary where only priests were allowed. It is
not the Greek word denoting the entire temple with all of
its buildings, courts, and porches.
Which temple is John to measure? Is it the Jewish temple
in Jerusalem? Some commentators consider this verse
evidence that the book was written before the fall of
Jerusalem in A.D. 70. But we must remember that John is
seeing a vision, and objects can exist in a vision whether
or not they exist on earth. Because so much of John’s
imagery has come from the Old Testament, it is very
possible that the temple he sees here is the sanctuary of
the Old Testament tabernacle. That sanctuary had only one
court, and, as Hebrews tells us, was a type of the
church.
This temple is the church. Recall Paul’s description of
the church in Ephesians 2:18–22 ―
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto
the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the
household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom
ye also are builded together for an habitation of God
through the Spirit.
All Christians are now priests (Revelation 1:6). We all
have access to the inner sanctuary. As we just read in
Ephesians, God’s place of habitation is now among men.
Recall 1 Peter 2: 5 ― “Ye also, as lively stones, are built
up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.”
The church was sealed in 7:3, the church was numbered in
7:4, and now the church is measured in Chapter 11. Does God
care what happens to the church? Absolutely! These images
show God taking great interest in and care of his church.
He marks them, he numbers them, he measures them. And God’s
measurement is the only one that matters. It does not
matter how the world measures us, and it does not matter
how we measure ourselves. What matters is how God measures
us. If we fall short on his scale, it matters not how we
fall on the scales of men.
What is the court in verse 2? The ancient tabernacle had
one court (Exodus 27:9). Solomon’s temple had an inner
court (1 Kings 6:36), an outer court (1 Kings 7:12), a
court for the priests (2 Chronicles 4:9), and an upper
court (Jeremiah 36:10). Herod’s temple also had multiple
courts, with the great court eventually being called the
court of the Gentiles because it was open to everyone.
The temple in John’s vision has only one court as far as
we are told, and John is told not to measure that court —
that is, not to protect it or separate it from what was
common. The Greek word translated “leave that out” in verse
2 can literally mean to cast out by force.
What is represented by this outer court? One popular
view is that the measured temple denotes the faithful in
the church, and the outer court denotes those who prove
unfaithful and who compromise with the world by following
the doctrines of Balaam, Jezebel, and the Nicolaitans. That
is possible, but it is also possible that the measured
temple denotes that spiritual part of a Christian’s life
that is hidden with God in Christ and that in this book is
viewed as already residing in Heaven, and the outer court
denotes the physical life of the Christian under Roman
persecution, something that would be temporary both from
the standpoint of Rome and from the standpoint of our
limited time here on earth. I favor this second view
because it seems to me that Revelation has already made the
division between the faithful and the faithless in the
church, with the latter already being place firmly in
Rome’s camp as those who dwell upon the earth.
God is telling the church that it will soon undergo a
period of intense persecution but that it will be
sustained. Rome will be allowed to trample the church for
awhile but it will not be allowed to destroy its heart;
that is, its inner sanctuary.
God is telling the church that he will not permit it to
be annihilated, and that must have been a real fear for
Christians at this time. How could the church withstand
mighty Rome? It must have appeared to many as if the church
would soon be completely wiped out.
Do we have similar fears today? It is easy to become
discouraged when we look at the state of the Lord’s church
today in a world that seems to be in free fall, and
sometimes seems to be carrying the church down with it.
“When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the
earth?” (Luke 18:8) Yes — but only if we are faithful and
only if we pass that faith on to others through our
faithful proclamation of the gospel. We should not be
discouraged because we are in the minority because God’s
people have always been a minority on this earth except for
two times — just after creation and just after the flood.
But if we ever stop proclaiming the word of God to a lost
and hostile world, then we have good cause to be
discouraged, and the answer to Jesus’ question in Luke 18:8
may be “no.”
Why was the trampling to last 42 months? This period of
time is the same as 1260 days (42 months of 30 days each)
and is also found in Revelation 12:6 where it is also
called “time, times and half a time” (Revelation 12:14);
that is, three and one half years (12 months times 3 years
plus 6 additional months).
As elsewhere in Revelation, this time period should not
be interpreted literally but instead is used to symbolize a
state of affairs. To determine what state of affairs is
depicted, we should first consider what all that symbol is
used to describe:
• It is the period during which the holy city will be
trampled in 11:2.
• It is the period during which the witnesses will
prophecy in 11:3.
• It is the period during which the woman will be
nourished in the wilderness in 12:6, 14.
• It is the duration of the beast’s authority in
13:5.
• In Daniel 7:25 and 12:7 it is the period of time
during which the little horn will persecute God’s
people.
We haven’t studied all of those texts yet, but in each
of them the symbol 3½ depicts a period of time during which
God’s people will be persecuted yet sustained. That is, the
symbol depicts a temporary persecution.
Why is 42 months used to depict a temporary persecution?
We could ask the same question about 1260 days. The
solution appears when we note that 42 months and 1260 days
are each equal to 3½ years, which is a broken 7.
Why not always use 3½ years? Why are 42 months used
sometimes, and 1260 days used at other times? It may be
that going from years to months and even to days makes the
same time period look even more temporary. Others say that
days are used here to denote the day to day activities of
the two servants as they prophesy about God.
We have seen the number 7 used many times in this book
to denote something that is perfect and total. In fact,
this book is constructed around the number 7 ― the letters
to the 7 churches, the 7 seals, the 7 trumpets, the 7
thunders, the 7 bowls of the God’s wrath. So it is not
surprising to discover that some of the most important
symbols in this book are keyed to the number 7. Later we
will see 666, which is one such symbol. Here we see another
such symbol, 3½.
If God’s judgment of Rome is a 7, then Rome’s
persecution of the church is just a 3½. Isn’t that a
beautiful symbol? Rome can’t pour 7 bowls of wrath on the
church! Rome doesn’t have 7 of anything to use as a weapon
against the church!
By saying that the persecution will last 3½ years, God
is saying that the persecution is temporary. He is not
giving them a specific date 3½ years later when it will
end. (Although we should pause to note that at least once
God used the symbolic 3½ for the duration of a literal
event — the 3½ year drought brought about by the prayer of
Elijah discussed in James 5:17.)
Who are the two witnesses? Many different answers have
been proposed to that question, including Moses and Elijah
or Enoch and Elijah. Some say they denote the Old and New
Testaments, while others say they denote the prophets and
the apostles. Others say that the two witnesses are the
apostles and the Holy Spirit, and they point to John 15:26
for support ―
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto
you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which
proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye
also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from
the beginning.
In my opinion, the two witnesses once again describe the
church. But you sound like a broken record! Can this symbol
really be yet another symbol for the church? It is starting
to seem like nearly every symbol we come to somehow
describes the church! Exactly! And that is how it seemed to
its first century audience as well. They were left with
precisely the impression that God wanted them to have — the
church is so important to God and so loved by God that he
is constantly looking at it and caring for it and thinking
about it! Jesus is in love with his church! If you ever
doubt that, read Revelation!
But on what basis can say that the two witnesses denote
the church? In verse 4, they are called two olive trees and
two lampstands. In Zechariah 4 two olive trees are used to
denote two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole
earth. They are Zerubbabel of the royal line and Joshua, a
priest. What is it that combines both the priesthood and
royalty? The church is a royal priesthood. (1 Peter 2:9)
The church is a kingdom of priests. (Revelation 1:6) And as
for the lampstands, remember that the seven churches in
Chapters 2 and 3 were depicted as golden lampstands.
But why are there two witnesses? Although there are many
different symbols for the church in this book, each shows
us the church from a different perspective. Here the focus
is on the testimony of the church. These two witnesses
testify, and two is the number of confirmed testimony.
• John 8:17 It is also written in your law, that the
testimony of two men is true.
Deuteronomy 17:6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three
witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to
death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put
to death.
John 5:31–32 If I bear witness to myself, my testimony
is not true; there is another who bears witness to me, and
I know that the testimony which he bears to me is true.
• Matthew 18:16 But if he does not listen, take one or
two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed
by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
• Luke 10:1 After these things the Lord appointed other
seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face
into every city and place, whither he himself would
come.
• 1 Timothy 5:19 Against an elder receive not an
accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
Why do the two witnesses prophecy in sackcloth?
Sackcloth was a coarse fabric woven from goat or camel
hair, and it was worn at times or mourning or penitence. It
was also the characteristic attire of the Old Testament
prophets.
What is very clear in this depiction is that the church
continued to operate even while being persecuted. Rome may
have trampled the church, but Rome was not able to stop the
church. The proclamation of the gospel continued despite
Rome’s best efforts to stamp it out.
Once again, we have a lesson for the church today. God
is depending on his church to proclaim the gospel of Jesus
Christ to the world. He has given us that great commission,
and he expects us to do it. If we do not do it, then it
will not be done. Even in the darkest hours of persecution,
God expected the church to continue its mission — and it
did. What excuse will we have if we are ever found to have
failed in that mission? If they preached Christ in the face
of death, then how will God respond if we fail to preach
Christ in the face of ridicule?
To sum up, so far in Chapter 11, John has been told to
measure the temple of God, and two witnesses have been sent
out to prophecy for 3½ years. The message in a nutshell is
that the church is going to be persecuted but that
persecution will be temporary. Although Rome will trample
the church for a short time, the spiritual strength of the
church will not be harmed.
5 And if any one would harm them, fire pours out from
their mouth and consumes their foes; if any one would harm
them, thus he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have power to
shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of
their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to
turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every
plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have
finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the
bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and
kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street
of the great city which is allegorically called Sodom and
Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.
The two witnesses are at first pictured as unstoppable.
Anyone who harms them is doomed to be killed. They, like
Elijah and Elisha, have the power to shut the sky that no
rain may fall. They, like Moses and Aaron, have the power
to smite the earth with plagues.
But in verses 7 and 8 it seems that this pair was not
unstoppable after all. The beast from the bottomless pit
makes war on the witnesses and conquers and kills them.
Is this defeat a permanent defeat? No. The beast (which
we will later see is Rome) does not have a final victory
over the church. We know this, if for no other reason,
because Daniel told us so 600 years before these events
occurred. Daniel 7:23–27 tells us about the church’s
victory over Rome, and verse 27 concludes:
And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of
the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the
people of the saints of the Most High; their kingdom shall
be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve
and obey them.
We also know from verse 2 that this apparent victory
will not last. Rome was to trample the holy city for only
3½ years.
Rome may have believed it would be victorious. Rome may
have appeared to all the world to be victorious. The church
may have even thought that Rome was going to be victorious.
And so, for now, Rome is pictured as being victorious. But,
as we will soon see, that victory is only an illusion. As
terrible as the beast was, it could not stop the church. It
could kill the witnesses and seek to destroy their work,
but there would be only one permanent defeat, and it would
be the defeat of Rome.
Why show their defeat at all if it’s not a real defeat?
One word ― drama! This is the part of the show where it
looks like the hero is dead for sure! How will he ever get
out of this one? Those who think we need to add drama to
the worship assembly with dramatic music or dramatic
performances need to take a look at Revelation! The Bible
is dramatic without any help from us!
What is the great city in verse 8? It is “allegorically
called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.”
Thus, allegorically, it is called three cities or nations —
Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem (the city where the Lord was
crucified).
What is the allegory for each of these locales? Rome,
like Sodom, was a center of iniquity. Rome, like Egypt,
oppressed and persecuted God’s people. Rome, like
Jerusalem, promoted a false religion.
I say the allegory extends to three locales, but it most
likely actually extends to a fourth — Babylon. The city
here is called great, and Babylon is called “great” 10
times in Revelation. For example, in 14:8, we read,
“Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she
made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication.” Rome, like Babylon, persecuted God’s people
and promoted a false religion.
But shouldn’t we take verse 8 as a literal
identification of the great city? How can we? The most
immediate problem is that three and possible four locales
are given. Which one is the great city? A second problem is
that one of the locales, Egypt, is not a city. And if we
take this symbol literally, why stop there? Why not then
take all of the others symbols in this chapter literally?
The descriptions of the great city are symbolic, just like
the other descriptions in this book.
Lenski wrote:
Here Jerusalem is to be taken ideally, as the
headquarters of all anti-Christianity. The actual city
became such a symbol when it crucified Christ and never
repented and was then razed to the ground.
Hailey wrote:
John sees this great city as a spiritual Sodom in its
moral depravity, as an Egypt holding all people in bondage
to lust and sin, and as a Jerusalem that rejected truth and
put to death the author of truth.
The message to the church in all of this was that the
church was going to suffer just as Christ himself suffered.
Rome was, in effect, trying to cast Jesus outside of the
city gates just as Jerusalem had done.
Are we surprised by that message? We shouldn’t be. Our
own country is doing the same thing. We are throwing Jesus
out of our schools, out of our government, and out of our
public and social discourse. The courts have turned freedom
of religion into freedom from religion. Those who lead
public prayers are often told not to mention the name of
Jesus in their prayer. He is no more welcome in our society
than he was in Jerusalem or in Rome — and his followers
should expect no better. “In this world ye have
tribulation.” (John 16:33) If we do not have tribulation by
the world, it may be because we are of the world rather
than merely in the world.
There are many who identify the great city with
Jerusalem, but in my opinion that identification just
doesn’t fit with the context of this book. If the villain
in this book is Rome (which seems indisputable to me), then
why would God include a discourse about the judgment of
Jerusalem at the hands of that great villain? And why would
those seven churches in Asia be all that concerned about
the judgment of Jerusalem at the hands of Rome, the very
power who was persecuting them? How would Rome’s
destruction of Jerusalem provide any comfort to Christians
being persecuted by Rome? It might even have the opposite
effect — “You’re worried about Rome? You should be. Look at
what it did to Jerusalem! You’re worried that you’ve been
forgotten by God? You should be. He may be punishing you at
the hands of Rome just like he’s punishing Jerusalem at the
hands of Rome.”
Yes, when you focus on a verse here and a verse there,
some of them could fit the destruction of Jerusalem. (Luke
21:24, for example, looks a lot like Revelation 11:2.) But
when you step back and look at those verses in their
context, I think you will discover that from that
perspective they fit Rome much better.
Every description of the villain in this book fits Rome
perfectly, and this description is no exception. The great
city pictured here is Rome.
9 For three days and a half men from the peoples and
tribes and tongues and nations gaze at their dead bodies
and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those
who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make
merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had
been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.
Verses 9 and 10 paint a vivid portrait of the wicked
world celebrating the death of the two witnesses. Evil men
had once celebrated the death of Jesus, no doubt thinking
they had at last overcome him and had the last word — and
yet look at what happened just a few days later. The evil
celebrants in these verses are about to relive that
history. Things are not what they seem!
How long do they gloat? Verse 9 tells us — 3½ days. We
know what that means! It means the world’s celebration is
premature and temporary. It means their celebration will
not last long. Why? Because this apparent defeat is not
really a defeat at all, just as Jesus’ apparent defeat on
that cross was no defeat of Jesus at all, but rather was
the defeat of the world and of Satan, the prince of this
world.
Those who hate the church celebrate and rejoice at its
apparent demise. Verse 10 tells us that the church had been
“a torment” to those who dwell on the earth. Why? Because
those who dwell on the earth were evil, and they did not
like to be reminded of that fact.
Are we a torment to those living in sin? Do we set
before them an example of righteous living that would
create such torment in them? Why would we want to do that?
Because while some of those in torment are likely to strike
back at us, others may be led to repentance. The church is
not only the light of the world, it is the salt of the
world — and salt sometimes causes torment. Jesus often
caused people to gnash their teeth! When was the last time
we did that? (And I’m not including when we do that to each
other!)
How can we avoid ever causing someone torment? By living
the same way they do. In fact, if we proclaim righteousness
but live unrighteously, our hypocrisy will cause them great
happiness rather than great torment. Those who compromise
with the world will never cause the world to experience any
torment — at least not in this life. If you want to avoid
experiencing what these two witnesses experienced, then
just blend in with the world.
Those who dwell upon the earth thought the church had
been defeated, and they were very glad to be rid of it. As
you recall from our introductory classes, the Roman
historian Tacitus referred to Christianity as a disease,
which is how many people see it today.
What about us? Are we friends with the world, or would
the world like to be rid of us? We know what the Bible has
to say about friendship with this evil world ― “know ye not
that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?
whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the
enemy of God.” (James 4:4)
This country’s view of Christ is changing, or perhaps I
should say has changed. The Hollywood that produced Ben Hur
in 1959 and honored it with 11 Academy Awards is the same
Hollywood that in the late 80’s produced The Last
Temptation of Christ, which portrays Jesus as a lustful
sinner, Paul as a lying fraud, and Judas as a selfless
hero. Why the change? Why the attack? Could it be because
they are in torment and are striking out at the source of
that torment?
And please note that this is not an attack against
religion — it is a very focused attack against
Christianity. The media establishment that released The
Last Temptation is the same media establishment that passed
on a movie version of The Satanic Verses and balked at
publishing cartoons showing Mohammed with a bomb in his
keffiyeh. As one critic noted, “When it came to the
prospect of enraging the Islamic faithful, the instinct for
self-preservation took precedence over the commitment to
controversial religious explorations.”
But self-preservation cannot be the sole reason that
Christianity is the focus of their attack. Why? Because
they have backed away from other controversies when
self-preservation was never an issue. In 1990 when Disney
was about to release the movie White Fang, the Humane
Society complained that the movie was making “an anti-wolf
statement.” Disney caved immediately, agreeing to remove a
dramatic scene in which which a wolf attacks a man and to
adding a pro-wolf disclaimer to the end of the film. When
the Hopi Indians complained to Robert Redford about what
they called the sacrilegious treatment of their ancient
rites in his film Dark Wind, he caved immediately and made
the changes they requested. It seems that the prospect of
being labeled anti-wolf produced greater worry in Hollywood
than the prospect of being labeled anti-Christ!
The next time you are tempted to befriend this world
just remember what this world thinks about and says about
your Savior! “Know ye not that the friendship of the world
is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of
the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4) And this world
is filled with enemies of God. “For many walk, of whom I
have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that
they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is
destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is
in their shame, who mind earthly things.” (Philippians
3:18-19) You tell me if a better description of Hollywood
was ever penned!
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