Kill The Beast
2 Kings 15:1-2 Azariah, son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign at the age of sixteen, and he reigned for fifty-two years.
2 Kings 15:5 The Lord afflicted the king with a skin disease until the day he died.
Revelation 19:13 He is dressed in a robe, dipped in blood, and His name is the ‘o logos (the word) of God.
Revelation 19:15 Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which He might strike the nations.
I am painfully reminded by this king of Judah who had one of the longest running kingly careers that the Lord does not always keep people from discomfort, and He doesn’t always choose to heal. Because we live in a nation that has granted the pursuit of happiness a national right, how likely is it that a state of happiness could or would be accompanied by any sort of suffering.
As a pastor who has served on four different church staffs in four different states, I have had a good cross-section of experience with people in the church. I can tell you that rare is the occasion when I have met someone who found happiness in learning to suffer well. I recently met someone who is bound and headstrong determined that God will heal her physical calamity. I simply responded to her zeal that God did not save Jesus from one of the most painful deaths invented by a beastly mankind. I also suggested that there may be more to her physical suffering than what meets her eye. After all, disciples are known for sharing in the sufferings of Christ. That’s a given.
But what about the sufferings of the evil-doers mentioned in Revelation? Is that a different kind of suffering? I don’t know that there is such a thing as ‘good’ suffering, but I know that I do not want to fall into the clutches of the personalities known as the Beast and the Great Fornicator. Interesting that the New International Version translates that Greek pornos ‘word’ as the Great Prostitute. The Great Prostitute gives ‘taking the mark of the beast’ a whole new meaning. I’m going to make a big jump here. Stay with me.
Did you know that the early beginnings of lipstick are found in the brothels of ancient Greece (this topic would make for a really interesting book report if someone had the mind)? Ancient Greek lipstick was made from a combination of red dye, sheep sweat and crocodile droppings. Eventually, the Greco-Roman empire found the fad rather chic. Two thousand years later, lipstick is still in vogue and in the church. How does the mark of scarlet lipstick from the most ancient of beasts find its way inside of Christian anthropology? Well, the answer is similar to why the golden calves (that were placed in the north and south of Israel during the time of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam), were never taken down, up to the time of Babylonian captivity. So many centuries had gone by that no one remembered what was holy or unholy anymore, what was evil in the eyes of the Lord or not evil in the eyes of the Lord.
Sadly, the antiquity of the Bible causes the same response, failing to be holy and separate from the surrounding neighbors. Maybe God’s word isn’t as sharp as the double-edged sword it’s supposed to be. Is God still God? Is Jesus still Jesus? Personally, I like translating straight from the Greek text because the wooden translations often times offers clues that the English doesn’t allow for. For instance, this Revelation verse says, “And His name is the word of God.” But the Greek New Testament verse says, “And His name has been called ‘o logos of God (the word of God).” And it is true that the name of Jesus has been called ‘o logos by the same writer, John:
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the ‘o logos, and the ‘o logos was with God, and the ‘o logos was God.” This word of God comes with some sharp fangs. “Out of His mouth came a sharp sword with which He might strike the nations.” But how?
No small coincidence that the Greek New Testament tells us that when Jesus climbed a mountain (or a hill) and called His disciples to Himself, it says, “He opened His mouth and began to speak.” Out of His mouth, over the next three chapters, came Matthew’s report of Twenty Commands, twenty Greek imperative verbs (the Greek imperative equals English commands). You may be familiar with some of these commands, ie., turn the other cheek, do not judge, shine your light, just to name a few.
The unfortunate truth is that most people are not familiar with the Twenty Commands, commands which fulfilled the law, the upgrade for the Ten Commandments. That bit of historic culture disappeared into the murky past. Lipstick has been surviving and thriving since 3,500 BC, but the new covenant, the Twenty Commands of Jesus, went the way of the Dodo. Funny what things can stand the test of time.
The eye-make up of Jezebel and the Great Prostitute’s lipstick isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The make-up industry is as prolific as oxygen. Convincing believers of Twenty Commands hasn’t been easy. Valuing enemies isn’t fashionable these days any more than are agonizing narrow gates.
Jesus opened His mouth on another important occasion, when He gave the requirements for coming behind Him as a training disciple, Matthew 16:24:
Renounce the self (abandon vainglory)
Raise a cross (the crucifixion of pride and ego)
And imitate Me
The invitation isn’t popular or even inviting, and it never will be. It’s a narrow road, and only a few will find it.
