Kingdoms Clash

5 min read

12 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. 13 They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”

Revelation 17:12-14

That’s who we are—the “called, chose and faithful followers” of the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. We either are, or we are not.

And if we are, the kingdoms of the world will wage war against our Lord—and against us—through the power and authority of the devil.

Christians in the post-Christian societies do not tend to think of the world in those terms—that is, as if we are at war against the kingdoms of the world. But we really should think in those terms.

And the point is not to be militant against the world—carrying around placards that say “REPENT OR YOU WILL GO TO HELL” (pointing our finger at others)—but to align our values and priorities according to God’s word (pointing our finger at ourselves), and to protect our communities and families (the church) against the values of the world that add up to “666.”

The values and priorities of the world are obvious—performance, productivity, profit, and everything that is required for success on human terms, human glory. And even Christians in developed nations are easily sucked into the values and priorities of the world over-against the values and priorities of the kingdom of God.

And whenever Christians are challenged to shift their values and priorities away from the world and toward God, if can feel like fitting a square peg into a round hole (or a camel through the eye of a needle). It can feel like that even in the church (or maybe, especially in the church).

The phantasmagorical imagery we find in Revelation is difficult to understand and absorb. The word of God is like that sometimes. So we need to take to heart those parts of Scripture that are crystal clear—”with Him will be His called, chosen and faithful followers.” And what else?

6 With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:6-8

Father, What hope do we have apart from Your love, mercy, and grace? The human heart is deceitful above all things. Who can comprehend it? Yet You have given us Your promised Spirit so that we may bear witness to our Lord Jesus Christ—to not trust in ourselves, but to trust in Your word. You have shown us what is good. Help us to live according to Your values and priorities. In Jesus’s name. Amen.