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CHAPTER
33
CHAPTER
THIRTY THREE
THE
AMEN
In
the book of Revelation we find many names, titles and
powerful images of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the 14th
verse of the 3rd chapter we hear Him calling Himself
the Amen. Christians are used to this word coming at
the end of prayer; its meaning is an affirmation of
what has been said, a kind of ‘so be it’. According
to The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary it means ‘true’,
‘faithful’, and this is what we see in the following
verse of Scripture:
“These
are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness,
the ruler of God’s creation.”
Of
course, Jesus is exactly these things and so much more.
He is surely ‘the Amen’ at the end of our prayers and
petitions to the Father. We are told to ask in His name,
and we are permitted to come to the Father through the
Son only. He is faithful and true in all things, and
in the Scriptures below His name is given as ‘Faithful
and True’; He is the reason the Father will hear us;
He is the seal we put on our prayers; and ‘Amen’ is
the closing word of the Holy Bible. We cannot leave
Revelation without reading six magnificent verses, which
describe our Lord Jesus Christ, the Faithful and True,
as the bringer of justice to a sinful world. For those
who have never wanted anything to do with Him, who have
pushed Him far from themselves so they could follow
their own evil desires; and for those who have persecuted
His people, this is a terrible sight:
I
saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white
horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With
justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing
fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name
written on him that no-one knows but he himself. He
is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is
the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following
him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen,
white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword
with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule
them with an iron sceptre.” He treads the winepress
of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe
and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS
AND LORD OF LORDS.
(Revelation
chapter 19, verses 11-16).
This
apocalyptic vision of Jesus riding out of heaven with
the armies of heaven following Him, Jesus with His ‘robe
dipped in blood’, speaks of the time when He comes to
put an end to wickedness on the earth, to ‘strike down
the nations’. The world has continued to ignore its
Maker and to practice and pile evil upon evil;the above
verses speak of the fast-approaching day of God’s vengeance.
Interestingly, at the outset of our Lord’s ministry,
He stood up in the synagogue and began to read from
the scroll of the prophet Isaiah:
“The
Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed
me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight
for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim
the year of the Lord’s favour.”
Then
he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant
and sat down.
(Luke
chapter 4, verses 18-20).
Jesus
had read the first portion of a much larger prophecy.
He had read the part that had, at that moment, been
fulfilled in Him; after several hundred years of lying
dormant, so to speak, the first part of Isaiah’s prophecy
had come to pass. After He had sat down, Jesus added:
“Today
this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
(Luke
chapter 4, verse 21).
Jesus
had closed the scroll at that point because He was aware
that the verses which followed spoke of a day which
was then far in the future. We can read the rest of
the prophecy by turning to the book of Isaiah, and there
we find that immediately after the final words which
Christ had read, ‘to proclaim the year of the Lord’s
favour’, comes the words:
“-----and
the day of vengeance of our God------”
He
closed the scroll without reading the above words, because
the day of God’s vengeance was still far off. The verses
and chapters which follow, in the book of Isaiah, speak
of promised blessings for Israel and judgement on the
nations---much yet to come. So what we are reading in
Revelation seems to be Jesus picking up where He had
left off in Isaiah’s prophecy---the remainder of the
prophecy is about to come to fruition. We read in the
former verses from Revelation that He ‘is dressed in
a robe dipped in blood’, that He will ‘strike down the
nations’, that He ‘treads the winepress of the fury
of the wrath of God Almighty’.
Then,
if we look to Isaiah:
“I
have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no-one
was with me. I trampled them in my anger and trod them
down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments,
and I stained all my clothing. For the day of vengeance
was in my heart---”
(Isaiah
chapter 63, verses 3-4).
God
is patient; God is good; God is love; but when we shamelessly,
persistently harden our hearts to Him; when we constantly
hold in derision and ridicule His laws and statutes;
and when we arrogantly, murderously shake our fists
at His Son, then ‘With justice he judges and makes war’.
However, all is not yet lost, the One who is destined
to carry out God’s day of vengeance, the Faithful and
True, the Amen says:
“So
be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door
and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
(Revelation
chapter 3, verse 19-20).
Still
just a ‘good man’, a ‘wise teacher’?
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