A Revelation Invitation

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, … “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:4b,8)

Day and night they never stop saying:
“‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’
who was, and is, and is to come.” (Revelation 4:8b)

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.” (Revelation 11:17)

“You are just in these judgments, O Holy One,
you who are and who were.
for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”
(Revelation 16:5-6)

The Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. Of the myriad of ways that John could have identified the Lord in Revelation, this is the one he repeatedly returns to. (It might remind you of how God identified himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14.) Sometimes the Romans would speak of a god with the formula “the one who is, who was and who will be.” John steals this language to describe the Almighty. But he modifies it with the phrase, “who is to come.” This language is inciting in that John insinuates that God is ever bit as eternal as the Roman gods claim, but that he is also “coming” to establish his rule over the earth. Rome conquered and established its rule over Asia Minor (the region of the seven churches). But God is the one who actually rules Asia Minor and the world. The message was clear to the Christians: God would be acting against Rome. God transcends human history and therefore controls it. Our duty then is to praise the one true Lord of creation.

Reread the verses above. Did you notice the change in that three part formula between the early chapters of Revelation and the later ones? The expression “who is to come” has morphed into “you … have begun to reign” in chapter 11 and into “you have given them blood to drink” in chapter 16. What changed?

Within history, we know that Jesus’ reign began when he was crucified. However, within the narrative of Revelation, John is telling a story of how God, through Jesus Christ, is establishing his rule over the nations and over all creation. So, early in the narrative God is presented as the one who is to come to establish his rule. Then in chapters 11 (the blast of the seventh trumpet) and 16 (the pouring out of the bowls of God’s wrath) he is shown exercising that rule over his enemies. He no longer “is to come.” At this point in the narrative he has come and is exerting his rule over the nations.

We live in uncertain times. Life isn’t usually as we want it. Life isn’t often as it should be. However, God rules. And his rule is marching toward the day when evil will be vanquished forever and peace and justice will reign over the earth unhindered and unchallenged.

(Insights for this post came from Brian K. Blount’s Revelation: A Commentary.)