We began this study by setting the background for the path by which we approach the Revelation. We realize that, first and foremost, the Revelation employs apocalyptic language (behind-the-veil language) to present God’s perspective on the events of the day. We also have to understand that the language employed, obscure as it may be, would have been readily understandable by the audience to whom it is directed---especially those who have ears to hear (the repetitive refrain from chapters two and three of the book), and to have any hope of understanding revelation, we must do our best to situate ourselves within the Rome-shaped world of the late first century, and hear the message accordingly. Failing this, we will miss the message, there will be no controls around our interpretation, and we will find ourselves engaged in all manner of fanciful interpretation that would be completely incomprehensible to the author.
We have highlighted the presence of the Caesar cult, have talked about the effective employment of imperial propaganda that speaks in exalted language of both Rome and its divine Caesar, and have even made mention of the fact that early Christians, with Paul being an example, co-opted such propaganda (“from faith to faith” as but one minor example), putting it to use on behalf of the One they saw as the world’s true Lord and the world’s truly glorious kingdom. Thus, we should be unsurprised to find the apocalyptic author doing the same type of thing in the course of his presentation to the churches of Asia Minor. Furthermore, we have looked at some details concerning the Roman “triumph,” and with those details, constructed a historical-fictional account of a “triumph,” viewed from the perspective of one in attendance, presuming a knowledge on the part of the attendee of the history and symbolism at play. We have done all of these things in the course of a study that has been given the title of “Triumph Of Jesus,” commencing this study with a single verse from the nineteenth chapter of Revelation, which was “He has a name written on His clothing and on His thigh: ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’” (19:16).
The tale of the “triumph,” offered from an attendee’s perspective, simply followed a pattern to be found in the same chapter from which that verse was drawn. Revelation nineteen, quite obviously, presents us with a “triumph of Jesus,” providing us with God’s point of view on His world, as Rome continues to celebrate itself as the greatest of empires, not realizing that it has already become subject to one that is greater by far. As the “tale of the triumph” was being told in the course of this study, those that have ears to hear (or eyes to see), will have recognized the almost exact parallel with the Scriptural text.
Looking to those words now (and it may be worthwhile for the reader to quickly review the “eyewitness account” before doing so), we read “Then the angel said to me, ‘Write the following: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet at the wedding celebration of the lamb!’ He also said to me, ‘These are the true words of the God.’ So I threw myself down at his feet to worship him, but he said, ‘Do not do this! I am only a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony about Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’ Then I saw heaven opened and here came a white horse! The one riding it was called ‘Faithful’ and ‘True,’ and with justice He judges and goes to war. His eyes are like a fiery flame and there are many diadem crowns on His head. He has a name written that no one knows except Himself. He is dressed in clothing dipped in blood, and He is called the Word of God. The armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth extends a sharp sword, so that with it He can strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and He stomps the winepress of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful. He has a name written on His clothing and on His thigh: ‘King of kings and Lord of lords.’ Then I saw one angel standing in the sun, and he shouted with a loud voice to all the birds flying high in the sky: ‘Come, gather around for the great banquet of God, to eat your fill of the flesh of kings, the flesh of generals, the flesh of powerful people, the flesh of horses and those who ride them, and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, and small and great!’ Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the One who rode the horse and with His army. Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed signs on his behalf---signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. The others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the One who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh” (19:9-21).
With all of this, what must be discerned is that the Revelation is not here looking to a future event. Rather, in the midst of a world dominated by Rome, its Caesar, its armies, and its self-exaltation, which is the same world in which Jesus has undergone Rome’s greatest punishment and been resurrected from the dead, and in which the kingdom of God is on the march through the Gospel proclamation of Jesus as the true King of kings and Lord of lords (rivaling Caesar’s claim), what we see is a confirmation that God, through His Christ, has already conquered the conqueror. Not only has Rome and its supposedly divine ruler been judged and defeated, but the power that stands behind Rome, that of death, has been judged and defeated as well. Therefore, the church of Christ, to whom Revelation is addressed, need not fear. Those who claim allegiance to the world’s true King, need not be downcast, though they find themselves in the midst of oppression and persecution, with a continuous flow of evidence that seems to run contrary to their claim.
Most definitely then, with Rome squarely placed within God’s purview as the entity that has fallen under God’s judgment, evidenced by co-opting the familiar language of the Roman “triumph,” followers of Jesus must not celebrate the idea or ideals of Rome, or allow the church of Christ and the kingdom of God to become identified and co-terminus with Rome and its ways. This would mark a failure on the part of the church. One of the larger points that is being made throughout Revelation, as we put aside futurist concerns and grapple with the message of Revelation as it is addressed to real people in real churches in real places in a real time in history, is well-demonstrated by the triumphal scene of the nineteenth chapter. Indeed, as the Roman “triumph” is merely a parody of the “triumph of Jesus,” so too is any earthly empire, together with its ideals or ideologies, nothing more than a poor parody of the empire of God that has been established and which also is to come. Here, we see that we can read of the “triumph of Jesus,” doing so as understanding hearers of the first century church, and then make the appropriate response in applying the words to our own day, so as to shape our response to the world in which we live, with its rulers, its empires, and its gods. All of Revelation asks to be read in this way, so that abiding concerns about some time in the distant future while reading the work, quite simply, are out of play.
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