Wrong worship isn't a small thing, it's the main thing. It's profanity, the defiling and desecration of creation. And so when John tells us the story again, this time he shows us that it's about restoring the cosmos to the right worship of the true God.

Babylon is John’s name for every empire that stands in opposition to the rule of King Jesus. All the concentrated powers of the world that harm the innocent oppress the weak and distort the image of God in us will be cast down by the good ruler of the world.

This is the war of the dragon against the followers of Christ — to gather up the economic, political, and religious systems of the world and to clothe them in images and symbols that appear to point to Jesus and look like God’s rightful authority. But this false lamb speaks with the voice of the dragon, and his intention is not to make worshippers of God, but instead to turn the hearts of all people away from God and toward himself.

The church of God has a prophetic witness to proclaim, like Moses, like Elijah. And that witness is itself a part of the trumpet blast warning to the world. What we’ve already seen is recast here as the prophetic witness of the faithful church, who stand both in the presence of God and in the rebellious city of the world.

The answer to the tension of chapter 9 is that God does not write off rebellious humanity but instead sends out his people to proclaim the mystery of Christ: to invite the repentance of all and to show forth the nature of God's love by living lives like Jesus’ life.

The consistent Biblical picture of God's judgement is this: God patiently warns and waits. And the warning is to allow humanity to see and experience more and more of what they are asking for. To demonstrate by example and by experience the fruits of destruction that come from worshiping destruction — to show us the emptiness of following empty gods.

Each day, as we read and hear the word of God, each day as we work in the world and encounter his creation — as we experience the suffering of brokenness in the world, see war and famine and injustice and futility — we are called to hear the trumpets of God which proclaim his kingship and his judgement upon this system of this world, and we are called to respond in repentance and in following him in his ways into his good promise to us.

This is our promise: that the broken things of this world are not the last word, and that the tears we shed are not shed apart from hope, because God himself will shelter us, will clothe us, will draw us into his presence, and will, finally, with his own hand wipe every tear from our eyes.

As Christ unseals the scrolls of God's plan, we find evil run rampant. Those with authority use it to oppress. Those with might use it to make war. Those with wealth use it gather up luxury for themselves at the expense of the weakest and poorest. But in the midst of it all, the Lamb stands triumphant and calls us to trust him with justice.

In this chapter of John’s Revelation of Jesus, we see the purpose of the Son — to restore all of creation to the right worship of God and to reconcile all things with God. Ultimately, he has accomplished our daily prayer: a re-creation of the world in which the Father's name is hallowed, his will is done, and his kingdom extends throughout all of heaven and earth.

We called to witness and worship — to witness BY worship— and we are tempted always toward self-reliance, self-deceit, and compromise with the powers of the world that offer us peace, security, acceptance, and comfort if only we will be willing to accommodate the status quo.

The one whose mouth is a sword speaks and cuts away all the coverings and reveals what is at stake: conquer or be conquered. Conform or be transformed. Follow the Lord of all, or follow the pretender who seeks to subjugate God's people to himself. In this book, there's a lot of mystery, but there's no moral ambiguity — there are only two ways: the way that leads to life and the way that leads to death.

What is visible on earth is not the angelic victory choirs, nor the sunshine face and sword mouth of the glorious son of man, nor the burning lights of the angels of the churches. All we see is this lone pastor praying alone on his prison isle. And yet… when the Lord speaks, reality itself is uncovered and we realized that things were not as they appeared.

If the question of apocalyptic literature is to ask "what's really going on? who is really in charge of the world?" then the definitive answer of John's Revelation is clear: the God who led Israel out of Egypt, the God who created the world, the God who sent Jesus Christ to redeem his people, is the absolute king of heaven and earth.

The promise of God to his people is that although our sin makes his life-giving face destruction for us, he shows mercy. He comes to restore us—to remake us—so that by his Spirit we might be made capable of receiving the life that only comes from his face and the glory that shines out from his presence.

The Psalmist calls all people to the joy of flourishing in the presence and knowledge of God. He calls all to come into the pasture of the one good shepherd — calls us to dwell in joy by expressing a rightful thanksgiving — and the joy is found and the thanksgiving flows from this knowing. Knowing that the God who made the world also made us, and he didn’t then turn away, but instead thinks of us as his people, and even walks with us as our protector, and provider.

The God of the Cosmos turns our “awake and save us” back toward us. He says, “I am awake. Now you wake up and be saved.” We cry out for his help, and the grace and goodness of God is that he reaches out in power to give it.