01 K. "Must" the Moral Imperative -Part 1

“Must” the Moral Imperative

Revelation 1:1: “Things which must shortly come to pass.”

The Moral Imperative

             Ray Summers speaks of the word “must” in Revelation 1:1 as indicating a moral necessity:

The verb translated ‘it is necessary,’ or ‘must,’ [Greek dei] is an impersonal verb which indicates that a moral necessity is involved; the nature of the case is such that the things revealed here must come to pass shortly.  The aorist tense of the infinitive ‘to come to pass’ adds to the truth that immediate action is necessary.  The prepositional phrase translated ‘shortly’ means just what it says – shortly, quickly, hastily.[1]

             Summers takes the position that the moral necessity was the fall of the Roman Empire.  However, this phrase could hardly be applied to the fall of the Roman Empire for it was neither done quickly, nor immediately in reference to the time of the writing of the book of Revelation in the first century AD.  The Empire fell over a period of more than a hundred years during the fourth and fifth centuries AD.  Even through the period of the second century AD the historians Cary and Scullard could say: “To speak of a ‘decay’ of the Roman Empire at this period would be premature” (Cary and Scullard, 488).  It is my position that the moral necessity applies, rather, to the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70.  Although I disagree with many of Summers’ basic views, the fact remains that his definition and grammatical analysis of “must shortly come to pass” is quite correct.

            To understand what was morally imperative, and why it was so sheds much light upon the interpretation of the book of Revelation since its stated purpose is to show these ‘morally imperative’ events.  These four things, at least, were morally imperative in the context of the times:

 

(1).God must fulfill the blessings and cursings promised in the covenant as recorded in Deuteronomy 28-30.

(2).He must vindicate the words of the Old Testament prophets, specifically, the seventy weeks of years and “Time, Times and Dividing of Times” as given to Daniel.[2]

(3) He must fulfill the predictions made by Christ in order to vindicate Him as: (a) Prophet, (b) Judge and (c) Messiah.

(4) He must fulfill the vengeance promised in behalf of His Covenant People who had become martyrs:  (a) Because of His covenant; (b) As their God and Kinsman-Redeemer; and (c) To cleanse the land from blood defilement.

 

(1) Blessings and Cursings:[3]

            (1) First, a moral God cannot lie.  The promised blessings had been fulfilled many times over,[4] but God had delayed his ultimate wrath because of his longsuffering and mercy.  When the people sinned in the Wilderness, He had threatened to destroy the entire people and make of Moses His nation, but Moses interceded and they were spared.

            The moral dilemma was that the entire fleshly race of Mankind had been infected by Sin and was therefore corrupt,[5] but the Covenant required holiness as a condition of the eternal promises.  It was therefore impossible that a fleshly people could inherit eternal promises.   The eternal aspect of the Covenant required that there be an eternal Heir, which could not be if the sinful fleshly nation were all destroyed because of sin.  This had provided a false sense of security for the descendants of Abraham, for they thought their fleshly nation was indestructible because of God’s promise.  However, they had not reckoned with God’s power to raise the dead. 

            Although the entire nation had gone astray, in the resurrection Christ became the eternal Heir to the promises because of His unending life, and so the promises continue in effect through Him.  From the moment of the resurrection onward, there was no necessity for any other fleshly heir in order to fulfill the promises.  Because His flesh was descended from Abraham, the promises to the fleshly seed became eternally effective in Christ in His resurrected body.

            It was therefore possible for God to bring the promised curses upon the entire remainder of the fleshly lineage of Abraham as necessary to fulfill His word.  The promise of cursing in Deuteronomy 29:18-21 reads:

Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations; lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’  …The Lord would not pardon him, but rather the anger of the Lord and his jealousy would smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book would settle upon him, and the Lord would blot out his name from under heaven.  And the Lord would single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.[6] RSV.

 

            Delayed fulfillment of the cursing was not to be taken as permissiveness, nor slackness, but rather as a token of mercy and grace in order to bring men to repentance.  God rebukes and chastens the sons whom He loves, but when corrective measures are unheeded, the wrath of His judgment is sure, for God cannot lie.  For the Jewish nation in the time of John the Revelator the time was up and they were due for repentance or judgment.

            Romans 2:2-11 sets forth the rationale for God’s righteous judgment against the Jews.  In verses 2-3 we see that it rightly falls upon those who do these evil things, in order to deter sin lest sinners should hope to escape, and lest God’s purposes should be misunderstood, (verse 4).  It is God’s nature as a holy God to bless the righteous and to condemn the wicked, (verses 5-8).  He shows no partiality in judgment, (verses 6 and 11). 

            Since salvation was to the Jew first, then to the Gentiles, (Rom. 1:16), it is also just that God’s righteous wrath be revealed first against the Jews, but also against the unrepentant Gentiles in their time.  This order: “the Jew first,” does not reflect any respect of persons in judgment, nor a superior position in grace.  It simply shows God’s sovereign choice of method in revealing Himself and His salvation to the world.  He chose to use the Jews as an example, a pattern, and as a type and shadow.   Having had the privilege of receiving God’s revelation in the Law, the Covenant and the Prophets, they were held accountable for recognizing Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of all that was previously foretold and promised.  By the same token, after Gentiles receive the Gospel, they too are equally responsible.

            The life, works, death and resurrection of Christ had been fully revealed to the entire Jewish world in the period prior to 70 A.D, (Col. 1:5-6).[7] It was therefore morally imperative that they be brought to account.  Romans 1:18-32 declares that God’s wrath is being revealed against those “who hold the truth in unrighteousness“; at that time, this applied specifically to the Jewish nation.  It was they who were without excuse, (v.20), because they had been fully exposed to the knowledge of God, (v. 21), had had the truth of God, (v. 25), and knew about the promised judgments of God, (v. 32).

            To those Jews Paul declared that “…the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you.” (Rom. 2:24).  It was morally imperative that God defend His Name against blasphemy.

            Indeed, the name “Jew” itself was being misused by these unbelievers, for Paul shows that true Jewish identity depends upon faith, not upon circumcision of the flesh, but that of the heart, “…in the spirit, and not in the letter“, (Rom. 2:28-29.  See also Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 32:29.)  In fact this passage in Romans 2 from verse 17, “Behold, thou art called a Jew“, through verse 29 furnishes a definition of the kinds of people “who call themselves Jews and are not, but do lie,” as mentioned in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9.

            In Romans 3:5-6, Paul chides those “Jews” for suggesting that God might be unjust to take vengeance upon them for their sins.  Then he says: “God forbid, for then how shall God judge the world?”  This clearly indicates that judgment and vengeance against these “Jews” was a prerequisite, and was morally imperative if God was to judge the entire Gentile world later for these same sins.[8]

            Therefore, this word ‘must’, (Revelation 1:1), indicating a moral imperative, foreshadows what is about to be revealed to John.  It was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem.  God’s righteous wrath upon the unbelieving wicked is described symbolically as the destruction of “Mystery Babylon“, (Rev. 17 and 18).


[1] Ray Summers, Worthy is the Lamb, (Nashville, Broadman Press, 1951), 99.

[2] Specifically Dan. 9:24-27 and chapter 12. The “decree to rebuild Jerusalem” marked the beginning of the 62 weeks.  See my Introductory Articles: “Calculating the Seventy Weeks” pp. 25-29.

[3] Christian love requires that we understand both the goodness and the severity of God.  The only hope of salvation for any and every soul is the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.  It must be clearly understood that the way of salvation in Christ is open today to all, even those who follow the doctrines of the ancient Pharisees and therefore call themselves “Jews.”  However, unless they repent and turn from their evil doctrine, they too will suffer the wrath of God, just as did the “Jews” in the time of John the Revelator.  The issue of Christian love, therefore, is to try at all costs to give them the Gospel message and pray for their souls.

   It must be clearly understood, also, that Christian sympathy and pity cannot deter God from His purposes.  God’s will must prevail in the earth as it does in heaven and His Word is clear that there must be judgment against sin.  If men, of any race or creed, refuse to accept the atonement in Christ, they will be destroyed without remedy.  Either they will be slain “by the sword which goeth forth from the mouth” of the Son of God, the Gospel, or they will be slain by God’s wrath.

[4] Contrary to popular teaching, the promise of the land had been fulfilled according to Joshua 21:43-45 and 23:14.

[5] It is evident that there were none left, even of the Jews, who could claim that they had satisfied God’s requirement that they keep the covenant: Romans 3:21-23; 11:32; Isaiah 53:6.  It is equally evident that Christ came for the express purpose of making atonement for sinners: Isaiah 53:6-12.

[6] See also Joshua 23:15-16.

[7] There were approximately forty years, after the rejection of the Messiah, (about AD 30) to the destruction of the nation, (about AD 70).  This period was comparable in some respects to that of Num. 14:34.  This analogy is confirmed by Heb. 3:7-4:11 and 1 Cor. 10:1-11.  This was the period of time in which the gospel was preached throughout the Roman Empire to all the Jews, Colossians 1:5-6, 23.  (The twelve tribes are sometimes called ‘nations’ Gen. 35:11; Exod. 19:6; Acts 2:5.  The Roman Empire is called “all the world” in Luke 2:1.)

[8] See my Commentary at 6:10 “Judgment“.

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