Testing: Tribulation, Rewards
Revelation
We have pointed out that
according to the way the Greek reads the pause at the beginning of verse 10 as
we have it in our English, which reads “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance,” doesn’t fall at the beginning of a
sentence, it comes at the end of the previous sentence. It gives a false
understanding of the verse by putting it with verse 10 because it makes it look
as if the keeping from the hour of testing is related to keeping the “the word
of My perseverance.” But in fact, what the Lord Jesus Christ is saying to the
church at Philadelphia is that He will cause “those of the synagogue of Satan
who say they are Jews but are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down
at your feet, and {make them} know that I have loved you because you have kept
the word of My perseverance.” In addition to that there is another promise
given to the church at
In Revelation
Back to Revelation 3:10 NASB
“Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from
the hour of testing, that {hour} which is about to come upon the whole world [OIKOUMENE/ o)ikoumenh], to
test those who dwell on the earth.” That second word for testing shifts from
the noun to the verb for PEIRAZO [peirazw],
the same word used in terms of the hour of trial. The Greek word for “hour” is HORA [w(ra] from which we get our English word “hour.” It means
a literal hour or a period of time, a season, a definite space or division of
time which occurs at fixed intervals and it is used figuratively for a general
period of time. So we read here, “I also will keep you from that time period of
testing.” This is the noun PEIRASMOS [peirasmoj].
What we learn about testing
when we look at this is that when God is the agent of the testing the testing
is designed to prove the quality of something. God is not testing us to prove
what failures we are, but He is testing us in order to give us that opportunity
to show what we have learned and to apply the doctrine that has come into our
life. Part of testing is to show or give evidence of what has transpired in our
soul, to show and demonstrate our dependence upon God. Immediately, as soon as
we think about this, it ought to take our thinking directly back to the angelic
conflict. The angelic conflict refers to that battle, that rebellion of Satan
that began in eternity past, when Lucifer decided that he wanted to be like
God. He wanted to have the approbation, the power that only the creator has.
Then God created man to demonstrate certain truths before the angels and all
creatures that could not be learned any other way other than through a live
experiment. An experiment is not something you do in a laboratory to see what
will happen, it is something you do to demonstrate
known truth. The truth that God is demonstrating is that the creature cannot in
any way whatsoever live independently from the creator. No matter what the act
is, no matter how simple or innocuous it might be, when that act is operating
independently of the creator it rips the fabric of the universe. This is why
our life is a vital part of this, so that what we do provides evidence for
God’s case in His trial argument against Satan.
God is testing believers in
order to reveal what they have because that evidence that they present in their
life as they live out and apply the Word of God is evidence against Satan and
the fallen angels. This is a dynamic that we see in the book of James.
During the church age
believers are tested in order advance to maturity and demonstrate the truth of
God’s plan. It is critical to understand that testing is to advance the believer
in his spiritual growth and to demonstrate God’s grace and truth throughout the
ages. James 1:2-4 teaches the concept about how to advance to maturity. NASB
“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials [tests: PEIRASMOS/peirasmoj], knowing that the testing [DOKIMION/dokimion] of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance
have {its} perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in
nothing.” PEIRSAMOS and DOKIMION are often found in the same context, and DOKIMION has to
do with the evaluation of something in order to prove what it is made of. The
testing of our faith, i.e. the doctrine in our souls, produces endurance—persevering
in times of testing.
Then we connect this to a
couple of verses in Romans 12:1, 2 NASB “Therefore I urge you,
brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy
sacrifice, acceptable to God, {which is} your spiritual service of worship.
“And do not be conformed
to this world,” don’t be conformed to cosmic thinking here. Here he doesn’t use
the word KOSMOS [kosmoj],
he uses a synonym, AIONOS [a)iwnoj], meaning the spirit of the age, the thinking of the
age in which you live. For us, that would be postmodern
relativism; “but be transformed by the renewing [renovation] of your mind
[thinking], that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and
acceptable and perfect.” The word translated “prove”
is the Greek DOKIMAZO [dokimazw].
Here it is a verb form; in James 1:4 we see the noun form of the word—same word,
meaning to test, analyse, examine for the purpose of demonstrating or proving
whether something is worthy on not. So we are proving or demonstrating
something in our live, and in the church age the believer is demonstrating that
which has eternal value and he is demonstrating the integrity and character of
God. When we transform our thinking and when we change from human viewpoint
thinking to divine viewpoint thinking and then apply that doctrine we are
demonstrating with the evidence of our lives certain things about God’s will
and plan.
1 Corinthians
Romans 12:2: “…that you
might demonstrate what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable
and perfect.” These words describe God’s plan for history. The word “good” is AGATHOS [a)gaqoj],
meaning excellent; “acceptable” is EUARESTOS [e)uarestoj],
meaning well-pleasing or acceptable to God; “perfect” is TELEOS [teleoj], meaning complete or sufficient. That tells us that
God’s will is everything that we need. We don’t need anything else in order to
have joy, happiness and stability in life.
All of this reflects back
to the angelic conflict. L.S. Chafer: “A serious question arises whether the
presence of gross evil in the world is due to Satan’s intention to have it so, or
whether it indicates Satan’s ability to execute all he has designed. The
probability is great that Satan’s ambition has led him to undertake more than
any creature could ever administer.” The evil in the world is not what Satan
wants to promote—all the violence and hatred and warfare an famine—it is rather
a demonstration to be the god of this world and control everything than his
ability. What the angelic conflict is all about is demonstrating that
inability.
So during the church age believers
are tested in order to advance to maturity in order to demonstrate the truth of
God’s plan. This proof, like Job in the Old Testament, is part of the evidence
that is being provided against Satan in the angelic conflict. So every time we
are applying the doctrine in our soul we are demonstrating that God’s will is
good and acceptable and perfect; it is just another piece of evidence against the
claim of the creature, that he can live independently of God.
Satan’s plan is to be like
God and in such a claim Satan must demonstrate that he is able to run the
world. So during the previous ages up to the Tribulation the testing is oriented
to these believers in order to reveal that which is positive in evidence
against Satan, but the focus of that evidence, that testing,
shifts.
Church age believers go
through that testing during the church age on a day-by-day basis. That is going
to be evaluated at the judgment seat of Christ.
This is then followed by a
proof testing for unbelievers in the Tribulation, called the hour of testing. What
happens in the Tribulation period as God intensifies the judgment on unbelievers, it is going to reveal their hostility towards
God and the fact that they are bent on acting independently of God no matter
what the cost. We get that from Revelation 3:10 which talks about the fact that
this hour of trial will come upon the whole world—[OIKOUMENE/o)ikoumenh],
from the root OIKOS/o)ikoj,
meaning to dwell (verb; OIKOS is the noun meaning house), and it is used some
nineteen times in the Old Testament translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. That
is important because the framework for the New Testament writers wasn’t
Greco-Roman culture, it was the Old Testament. We have this second phrase here
that defines OIKOUMENE, and that is the phrase in the Greek TOIS KATOIKOUNTAS
[toij katoikountaj]. It is those who dwell upon the earth. So the term “whole
world” is defined in the next phrase as those who dwell on the earth. That is a
very important phrase. KATOIKEO [katoikew]
is an intensified form of the verb OIKEO [o)ikew]—KATA the preposition plus OIKEO indicating those who reside
or dwell or live somewhere. It becomes a technical term in the book of Revelation
for unbelievers who are committed to persisting in unbelief. It is not just a
general description for people who are living on the earth. We know that
because the word props up in the Old Testament. In Isaiah 13:9, a passage
talking about rhe day of the Lord, a term for the judgments that come during
the Tribulation period and conclude with the coming of Christ, we read, NASB
“Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To
make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it.” In
Isaiah 13:11, “Thus I will punish the world [OIKOUMENE] for its evil.” The next
time we see this is in Isaiah 24:21, “So it will happen in that day, That the LORD will punish the host of heaven on high…” Who are
they? These are the demons who followed Satan. See how
the Old Testament is connecting the judgments that occur in the Tribulation
period with the final judgment that God is going to bring against Satan and his
followers. We can’t understand the Tribulation and part of its purposes if we
don’t understand how it relates to the angelic conflict. “…And
the kings of the earth on earth.” So it is not just focusing on
something that happens in
Isaiah 24:22, 23 NASB
“They will be gathered together {Like} prisoners in the dungeon, And will be confined in prison; And after many days they
{will} {be} punished.” These are the fallen angels. “Then the moon will be
abashed and the sun ashamed, For the LORD of hosts will reign on
In Isaiah 24:4 we read, “The
earth mourns {and} withers, the world [OIKOUMENE]fades {and} withers, the haughty of the people of the earth
fade away.” These are the people of the earth. Verse 5, “The earth is also
polluted by its inhabitants [KATIOKEO], for they transgressed laws, violated statutes,
broke the everlasting covenant.” The word “polluted” here is not talking about
air or water pollution. What really pollutes the earth is sin, from God’s
perspective. The real pollution is a moral pollution that had to be dealt with
through the death of Christ on the cross when He paid for our sins. Verse 6, “Therefore,
a curse devours the earth, and those who
live in it are held guilty [are desolate]. Therefore, the inhabitants of
the earth are burned, and few men are left.” The terminology that is being used
in Revelation has its source in Isaiah, and Isaiah is talking about this judgment
upon those who are committed rebels against God who will be brought to judgment
during the Tribulation are committed rebels against God who will be brought to
judgment during the Tribulation period.
Isaiah 26:9 uses this
phrase again: “At night my soul longs for You, Indeed, my spirit within me
seeks You diligently; For when the earth experiences
Your judgments The inhabitants of the world learn
righteousness.” Part of the purpose of this judgment is so that the
inhabitants of the world will learn
righteousness.
After this, in Revelation
Revelation
Revelation
Revelation
Revelation 17:2, talks
about the end time system which involves those who dwell on the earth;
Revelation 17:8, destruction to those who dwell on the earth. So what we again
and again is this phrase “who dwell on the earth” is a technical term for those
who persist in unbelief and rebellion against God throughout the Tribulation.
So when we go back to
Revelation 3:10 and read that the hour of testing comes upon those who dwell on
the earth we recognize it in the context of Revelation that this is talking about
a period of intense suffering and pressure that will come on the world in order
to reveal the hostility of the unbelievers in the Tribulation period. Just as testing
for the church age believers revealed the positive things that believers have, the
believers, because they have been tested are going to be removed from that hour
of testing because in that hour of testing what is being shown in the inability
of unbelievers, the inability of rebellious creatures to make life work apart from
God. It gets worse and worse and worse as they go through the Tribulation period,
and no matter how devastating the judgment is people stand and shake their fist
in God’s face and say they are not going to submit, they are going to make it work
on their own. It shows the commitment of a fallen person to independence from God.