A Revelation

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands…These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Revelations 7:9

I was trucking along at an easy pace through chapter 7 in Revelation:  John sees people holding palms…worshipping…yadda yadda…Isn’t nice all these people are worshipping God.   But then all of a sudden it dawned on me- John had seen this scene before- maybe fifty or so years earlier when Jesus was walking into Jerusalem.  He had seen this huge crowd waving palms and worshipping Jesus- and three days later he had seen the same huge crowd shouting, “Crucify him.”  All of a sudden I began to wonder if for John, seeing crowds wave palms wouldn’t be a warm fuzzy moment, but rather a PTSD, “I hate those backstabbing, fickle, cruel nincompoops and want them to suffer” sort of moment. 

It’s interesting to me that the elder pulls John aside and asks him if he knows who they are.  John answers with an all-telling, YOU know.  You know that they are my enemies.  You know that they are dirty.  You know that they don’t deserve to be here in the throne room.  Yeah, that elder knows.  That elder knows because he immediately reminds John that these people have been cleansed- that Jesus has washed their robes and made them clean.

As I’ve mulled over the text, I’ve come to decide that perhaps the Left Behind series isn’t necessarily the last word on Revelations.  Instead, Revelation seems to be the story of humankind- the cycle of chaos and sin, judgment, and then healing and restoration.  Humans sin, God issues judgment (tribulation) for a time, and then all are brought into a place of repentance and restoration. The word tribulation comes from trībulum- a threshing board.  We all experience the threshing board as God separates the chaff from the wheat in our lives, in our thoughts, in our values, in our loves.   If it looks like things are bad- if we feel like our heads are being whipped against the threshing board- we can rest assured that it is not yet the end of the story. 

It’s funny – not funny humorous but funny because it’s the same place I get stuck- to see John not comprehending the fullness of God’s restoration.  I am full of snitty commentary about those around me- I have my opinions of who should or should not receive mercy.  But that’s not how God works.  Revelation 7 is about the Greatest Re-Do in History.  Those who once betrayed Jesus are welcomed back into His presence.  The elder reminds John- and me- how it works- there’s healing for everyone.  Which is a lucky thing because it turns out I would fall into the category of “person who had betrayed Jesus.”  Which a lucky thing because it means I too am privy to the cleansing, the healing, and the restoration.