“Unsealing the future”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Saturday, December 18, 2021
Revelation 6:1-17 (Forward, p. 50) CEV p. 1300
Today’s passage speaks of six seals, and how I wish that it was talking about a bunch of aquatic mammals or about the kind of seal that is found over the lid of a container of freshly opened or prepared food, but alas, it is not. It is talking about the kind of seal that people in ancient times used to close and secure important documents from being opened, much less being tampered with. And here the documents are very important, crucial in fact, for they have to do with future happenings. In today’s passage, there are six, rather momentous things:
Firstly, there are the four so-called horsemen of the apocalypse, conquest (mounted on a white horse), war (riding a fiery red horse), famine (on a black horse), and finally death (on a pale green horse). To the reader, these are meant to indicate some of the woes that will befall the earth and its people in general. According to some, these four things represent the world as it is arrayed against God and His people, somewhat reminiscent of the plagues that beset Pharaoh and the Egyptians as they resisted what God intended to do on behalf of His people.
With the second set of seals, numbers 5 and 6, the focus shifts a bit. Set over against these general features, they now focus on some specifics. Seal #5 deals with God’s people, those who have experienced martyrdom on account of their faith. They are waiting, waiting in anticipation and eagerness for God to finally judge the earth, especially those who were responsible for their deaths. But that time has not yet come and so they must wait a bit longer. In fact, they are told that things must get worse before they get better.
With the final seal of this bunch, the spotlight shifts yet again, this time to the heavens and the massive and disturbing disruptions that will take place there. These will particularly impact and upset the world’s elite, its rulers, its military leaders and its ‘rich and famous’, as well as its everyday citizens, whether slave or free. This signs in the heavens will be upsetting to say the least, and particularly so because these people do not appear to have given the Lord their allegiance. They know that they are guilty, that they have run afoul of God’s ways and so are worthy of His anger. They will do anything and everything they can in order to avoid facing up to the Lord.
And so, we have quite a contrast. The first group (those mentioned by seal #5) are eager and simply ‘can’t wait’ to meet up with the Lord, for He will also bring about justice and recompense for their earthly sufferings. The other group (seal #6) are just the opposite: they dread any encounter with the Lord and simply afraid, terrified, of what might happen to them. As another author says, “It is a fearsome thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.” Yes, indeed.
In our human justice system, there is an adage, ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’, but that is not true in terms of God’s economy, God’s dealings. As far as God is concerned, it is premature to mete out His perfect and totally adequate justice just now. God will judge people not just on the basis of individual actions or deeds, or on the basis of temporary and fleeting circumstances, but on the basis of the person’s entire life. God is patient and long suffering, quite willing to give people time to repent and correct their ways. And so, as hard as it is, it is best to wait, for God wants to give everyone, including ourselves, a second (or third or fourth or whatever) chance. And, to be honest, don’t we all need it? So, let us rest in His all abiding, all-encompassing love, and let Him take care of all of this. Amen.
Forward notes: “They were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number would be complete both of their fellow servants and of their brothers and sisters, who were soon to be killed as they themselves had been killed” (verse 11).
“In the season of Advent, my mind migrates toward birth, not death. No part of me wants to dwell on all those people ‘who were soon to be killed as they themselves had been killed.’ Instead, twinkling lights and crackling fires beckon me take a deep breath and dwell on the mystery of the unknown of birth.
“Just as I’m invited to wait and hope for the tiny infant yet-to-come, I’m also invited to put my feet up (as a heavenly pregnant woman would do) and rest. So, when I look at this passage in Revelation, I can’t help but sink into the first fourteen words of the sentence, when ‘they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer.’
“The hustle and bustle of the holidays means that we humans don’t always choose rest. But rest is part of Advent’s invitation is we so choose.”
Moving Forward: “What does rest look like for you? Jot down five ideas of how you can rest today, and then put one of them into practice.”
