The best part about this blog is that if Tupac and Jesus weren’t antithetical enough - I’m also throwing in Revelation 15 as the connecting point between the two. First things first, go read Revelation 15 before we get too much further. I’ve got the first 4 verses below -
1The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. 4People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”
Okay let me guess, you got to the dragon, beast, multiple heads and crowns and quickly realized that I was a madman - but you’re intrigued? Perfect.
I’m going to make some heavy assumptions here which are supported by a few critical commentaries and great minds like Richard Bauckham. (Who has an uncanny resemblance to the professor from Back to the Future, right? see pic below)
And I digress…
Well here are the assumptions in short order
the dragon = Satan
the beast = the Roman Empire
the heads = Roman emperors
So let’s set the stage a little bit - every time I heard someone mention Revelation my mind just kind of went blank. There is so much imagery and seeming confusion, not to mention I’ve heard many great pastors dialogue about the mysterious and “un-graspable” (yep made that one up) nature of Revelation. I’ve heard so many “theories” as it relates to the beast, dragon, animals, heads, crowns, etc. that my head was spinning and led me to categorize the book as “un-graspable” as well.
Then as I started to understand the book of Daniel and saw where he mentioned a lion, a bear, and a leopard and later interprets these animals as kingdoms things started to click. So these are my thoughts as it relates to this passage.
Every major world empire has pretty similar characteristics: lots of power and wealth at the top, lots of poverty and oppression at the bottom, lots of violence to both gain more and consolidate current power and wealth, prideful and braggadocious leaders, entertainment options to distract the masses from corruption, comfortability is king, and I could go on but I think you get the picture. So when Daniel is talking, though he may be specifically targeting Babylon - he ends up also talking about every successive major world power that shares in these traits. Think of it this way - Babel - the first world “kingdom” in Genesis has these horrible traits then you have Assyria which shares the traits of Babel but also grows to be worse, then you have Babylon which shares the traits of these first two but it grows even worse, then you have Greece and Alexander the Great which share all of these traits but it grows even worse, and the list continues to today. So if someone were writing about Babel - that thread of truth is not only about Babel but will also be true of every successive empire thereafter. So what we find in Rome is this culmination of all the traits of these ancient kingdoms as well as the nuance of bringing new “evil” to the table.
Okay let me take a step back and re-envision this in modern terms with another world empire - McDonalds. It starts in 1948 with a couple brothers and the first “franchisee” was Ray Kroc in 1955. (please watch the movie “The Founder” = incredible) Then more and more stores opened and now McDonald’s has over 37,000 stores in over 100 countries with 1 in 8 employees working in the US having at some point worked at McDonalds. They feed over 69 million people per day - that’s 1% of the total world population! Now if someone were to talk about the first McDonald’s whether it be the menu, policy, procedure, etc. I can guarantee that some remnant of all of this is the foundation for every store and the company as a whole now. The menu has grown, the stores have grown, the employees have grown, and yet there are characteristics that tie it back to the very first store from 1948. Such is the case with successive world empires. Though their names change, their locations change, and certain attributes change, overall they have these foundational characteristics that tie them all together.
Okay so back to Revelation 13 - We have this beast (Rome) and 7 heads (Roman emperors) with one of them receiving a mortal wound, but it was healed and the dragon was worshiped “because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, ‘Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?’”
So what’s this all about?
Well, around the time of John, who wrote Revelation, there was this horrible emperor named Nero. When I say horrible, I mean HORRIBLE - he was torturing and barbarically killing Christians with one ancient commenter, Tacitus, saying he used Christians as human torches. In the midst of his reign, he was convicted as a public enemy of Rome. The day after his conviction, Nero committed suicide by stabbing his throat with a sword. Rome saw a power struggle as four emperors came to power in less than a few years, however the empire was consolidated under Vespasian and order was restored. Which makes sense given the verses, "One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.” because it appeared as though Rome was down and out, but even amidst these circumstances it was able to survive and grow.
One common theme that runs throughout Revelation 13 is the parody between the true strength of the Lord and the perceived strength of the beast. In Psalm 89 we find the phrase, Who is like you, LORD God Almighty? which directly parallels the antithetical statement in Revelation 13 mentioned above. The story of Nero also highlights a particular parody that could only be understood in the Greco-Roman culture within which it was written. During the time of John’s writing, a myth that pervaded the Roman empire was termed Nero Redivivus. Many believed that Nero would be resurrected and lead a Parthian army to capture and destroy Rome.
So the world worshipped the beast and thought none was like it, they believed its leader would be resurrected and come back to establish a new kingdom. Sound familiar? The only problem with the worldly hopes were that they never materialized. Nero was never resurrected, he never came back to establish a new kingdom, and eventually it became clear that there were “others” like Rome - only stronger and more capable - and it too fell as a world empire like those before.
This is where we find Tupac. He’s kinda like the hip-hop version of Elvis in terms of life after death theories. Tupac shot to fame in the early to mid 90’s through his music and acting. He was a west coast rap superstar, and many throughout the country found their stories in his words. Then there were white, rural, middle-class kids like me that couldn’t relate to anything he was singing, but loved his music anyway. After a boxing match in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, Tupac was riding in a car and was fatally shot - and every corner of the country was shocked. There were tears, there was anger, there was shock, there was disappointment, and there was a void where there was once a bright light, regardless of what you may think of the lyrics in his songs.
Then came the theories…he wasn’t REALLY dead, he faked his death, he would later make a reappearance, reported “sightings”, and an overwhelming hope that maybe, just maybe, one of these were true and Tupac would surprise us all.
Unfortunately Tupac never showed up. This living hope was placed in something that was dead just like the ancient Romans with their emperor, Nero.
How often do we do this?
“Well I’m just thankful I live in America with our democratic system, our economic prosperity, and a capable military”
“I love my doctor, whenever I get sick I can go and get the best available medicine and treatment for whatever I need.”
“I keep saving 8% per year to my 401(k) so I’ll be able to retire before I’m 60.”
“If I wear this brand/drive this car/live in this neighborhood, people will certainly take notice and perceive me differently.”
“I can live a life mostly satisfied if I just made more money.”
“If my pastor leaves our church, I’d leave too - no one can teach like he/she can.”
“My week lives and dies on the wins and losses of my favorite team.”
“If only he/she would swipe right or respond to my texts.”
“If we bought a dog together it would change our relationship.”
“If I get married, it would be the only thing my life’s really missing.”
“If we have a child together it will make everything better.”
“I would literally die if I didn’t have my iPhone in my life.”
“Why didn’t get this post get 100 likes?”
Should I keep going?
At the surface some of these things don’t seem out of place, but the problem for most of us is that they are actually replacing our hope in a living God with something dead. No matter how powerful our country is, we should not place our hope in it. No matter how great our doctor is, the fullness of our hope should not be in them. No matter how charismatic our pastor is, our hope should not reside in them.
In short, people will fail us, our country will fail us, money will fail us, technology will fail us, we will fail us…it’s all dead. Ask Rome if you don’t believe me. All too often we put our hope in dead things.
But there was a small group of people in the 1st century who put their hope in something different…someone different. Unlike Nero - He actually was resurrected and the dawning of a new creation commenced. Unlike Rome - His kingdom was and will forever be unmatched by a worldly kingdom. In the words of the Psalms, “Who is like you, LORD God Almighty” Unlike dead things - He provides a hope that will find it’s fulfillment in our lives because He is faithful (and the only one able) to keep His promises.
Though we may all have different life songs - we all share the same chorus.
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
It’s just a matter of whose kingdom we choose to live in, and where and in whom we choose to place our hope.
Comments