The Radiating Revelation of God through People: 8. The Apostles

Finally, the apostles represent the final witnesses of God’s accumulative revelation in Jesus Christ. Jesus was the Word of God in the flesh (Jn. 1:1-18). He is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament means of God’s revelation to man. He called the apostles to be his sent ones, to witness his works and words, and then preach his message. They were constituted by Jesus to receive the revelation of the Word, exegete and understand the revelation of the Word, proclaim the revelation of the Word, and worship the revelation of the Word (Lk. 24:36-53).                       

           
The apostles themselves consciously understood their unique task as end-time preachers. The author of Hebrews plainly writes, In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word (Heb. 1:1-3a NIV).

God spoke in the past “through the prophets” (the Old Testament), but now (“in these last days”) he has spoken through Jesus, whom the Church knows through the testimony of the apostles (the New Testament). As the gospel of Jesus Christ was revealed to be the new law of the new covenant, the apostles were the new prophets who were God’s designated spokesmen to form the new covenant community through applying this new law to the everyday life of the community of God. Through their preaching and teaching (recorded in their epistles) the Church was Spiritually formed. Later, like the Old Testament wisdom literature, the whole of the Scriptures is summed up in a new work of poetry and song in John’s “Revelation.” The apostles, like the prophets, were not to speak on their own authority (Matt. 23:8, 1 Thes. 4:9, 1 Jn. 2:20-27). The apostles, like Jesus and the prophets, also demonstrated their authority to speak revelation directly from the throne of God by providing miraculous signs as proof of authentic authority.

The apostle Paul is especially self-conscious of his commission as God’s uniquely designated spokesman. He is conscious of his authority as an apostle to declare his writings as formative Word of God (1 Cor. 2:6-13; 4:1-3, 6-7; Gal. 1:6-9; Eph. 1:9; 2:19-20; 3:4-5; Col. 1:25-29; 2 Tim. 3:10-17). The apostle Peter declares Paul’s writings as “Scripture” (2 Pet. 3:15-16). He also claims this authority for himself and his own formative teaching (2 Pet. 1:12-21).

Paul Barnett makes a convincing case that the tradition of accepting the New Testament writings of the apostles and their contemporaries as Scripture (the Word of God on equally authoritative footing with the received canon text of the Old Testament) was well established within the lifetimes of the apostles and within fifteen years of Jesus’ death. During the Apostolic age, there was a mix of both oral and written Word of God, which was the live preaching of the apostles and the written record of their sermons.

These texts were from the beginning self-consciously Sacred Scripture. Because they belong to the apostolic age and enjoyed the endorsement of the apostles they were always regarded as “Scripture” and located within the Canon (“yardstick”). Shorter written texts (Luke 1:1) and oral “proclamation” and “pattern of teaching” have now been gathered up for us in the written and canonically recognized texts of the NT. The chief work of the “pastoral ministry” is to read, teach and apply the Scriptures of the OT and NT to the congregation.

Paul also instructed his apprentice, Timothy, to carry on this ministry of formative preaching (2 Tim. 4:1-5). Timothy was instructed to guard the preaching of Paul (2 Tim. 1:14), and to preach Paul’s preaching to reliable people who would faithfully preach it to others (2 Tim. 2:2). He was instructed to “cut straight the Word of truth”[ (2 Tim. 2:15). That is, carefully exegete the texts of the Scriptures. He was to be disciplined in never deviating from the received Word of God like a good soldier, a competitive athlete, and a hard-working farmer (2 Tim. 3-7). Paul considered anything less “godless chatter” (2 Tim. 2:16). As a Christian leader, Timothy was not to expect to personally receive new revelation from God. He was to pay attention to God’s Word recorded in the biblical text (including Paul’s and the other apostles’ writings), and he was to concentrate on his highest goal as a Spiritual leader: to set an example to his congregation by reading, preaching, and teaching the text of Scripture: Command and teach these things...but set an example for the believers...devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching...Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers (1 Tim. 4:11-16 NIV).

The apostles exegeted the living Word, Jesus. They observed him, listened to him, and asked him critical questions. When the Holy Spirit came upon them, he gave them understanding of the Word (Jesus and the Old Testament), so that they understood the Word and proclaimed it clearly and boldly. The Apostolic gospel preaching was the exegesis and exposition of the words and works of Jesus (the text of the Word in the flesh). They also exegeted Old Testament texts, exposing God’s meaning to their contemporary contexts in their language, culture, and history. This is the main way they did the work of Spiritual formation.

One example of the apostle Paul doing exegetically based, expository preaching is in Acts 13:14-43. In this passage, Paul was in the synagogue on the Sabbath day (Saturday), and the specific text of the Word of God (from the Law and the Prophets) for that day (as it was systematically read each week) was read aloud. The synagogue rulers asked Paul and his companions if they have a “message of encouragement (a sermon) for the people” (Act. 13:15 NIV). Paul then stood up and preached. His message was not a random, topical speech. It was an exposition of the text just read. He expounded upon the recorded text of the Word. He knew the text. He exegeted its meaning. He listened to it read out loud with the gathered congregation. He then proclaimed the meaning of the text of God’s Word to the gathered faith community.

           
Paul makes it quite clear that the preaching ministry of a Christian leader is the primary task for the Spiritual formation of the church community. In Ephesians 4, he shows how God initiated in giving the Church the gifts and means of his revelation in a specific order. Paul writes, It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:11-13 NIV).

 

The order is unmistakable; first God initiates, through his “apostles” (Jesus’ sent ones) who spoke God’s Word, then “prophets” (preachers) who exegete and expound that Word to the covenant community, then “evangelists” who proclaim that Word to the lost, then “pastors” who apply that Word in shepherding the flock of God, and “teachers” who explain the basic doctrines of that Word to their flock. The purpose of all of this is that through the hearing of God’s Word (read sung, prayed, and preached) the covenant people of God are “built up,” reaching “unity in the faith,” growth in “knowledge of the Son of God,” and becoming “mature.” This is authentic Spiritual formation.

The Radiating Revelation of God through People: 7. The Christ

Before Jesus is revealed in the Gospels, the figure of John the Baptist appears. John (like Moses and Samuel before him) was a hybrid. He bridged two epochs. He was the last Old Testament-style prophet and the first New Testament-style evangelist. His role was that of a spokesperson, but he also heralded the introduction to the gospel message of the coming Kingdom. It is recorded that the content of John’s preaching was associated with exposition of the texts of Gen. 1:1 “the beginning,” Ex. 23:20 “I will send my messenger ahead of you,” Mal. 3:1 “who will prepare your way,” and Is. 40:3 “a voice of one calling in the desert” (Matt. 3:1-3). Even his diet and clothing was an application of understood texts (2 Kin. 1:8, Zech. 13:4, Lev. 11:22). John demonstrated that he was a true prophet as he exegeted and applied the texts of God’s written Word.

Jesus himself is unknown apart from the testimony of the apostles, but Jesus’ own ministry of preaching will be observed first, and then that of the apostles separately. Jesus is the Word in the flesh (Jn. 1:14). He “is the visible expression of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15 Phillips). He is not the reduction or the summary of the Word. He is the fulfillment (the fully filling reality) of the Word. He is the Prophet, the Priest, the New Adam, the Lawgiver, the King, the Messiah, the Judge, the Redeemer, the New Exodus, and the New Exile. He is the Elect, the Son of Man, and the Son of God. The focus of all revelation comes in him. Jesus Christ is like a prism through which all the centrally radiating light of God’s revelation is refracted and seen.

It is recorded that “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people” (Matt. 4:23 NIV). The pattern for synagogue “teaching” at this time would be for a text of the Scriptures to be read aloud in the assembly on the Sabbath. Then, following the reading, someone (sometimes the reader) would stand up before the congregation and give their interpretation (exposition) of what was read. This would be the sermon for the formative teaching and training of the people.

There is no reason to think that Jesus did not follow this practice in his synagogue proclamation. In fact, it was his custom to go to synagogue on the Sabbath (Lk. 4:16). In this Lukan passage, Jesus is clearly seen following the regular custom of reading, exposition, and application of Scripture. First he read it:

He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me..." (Lk. 4:15-18a).

Then he expounded it: Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."…Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.'" "I tell you the truth," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed – only Naaman the Syrian" (Lk. 4:20-27 NIV).

Jesus takes God’s Word, recorded in Isaiah 42, and reads it aloud. Though he is the proto-author of the text, he gives precedence to the text itself and defers to it for the authority and context of his message. He preaches the written Word. He does not begin with himself. He reads the text, demonstrates his exegesis of it, understanding and proclaiming it to his gathered audience in their language, history, and culture. He quotes several supporting passages and applies it to their existential reality. Here Jesus is clearly demonstrating his adherence to the vital work of Spiritual formation through expositional preaching.

         
The congregational leaders hated him for his application of the text to himself. This shows how the Scriptures were held in such high esteem. But the people saw how his message had authority (Lk. 4:32). This authority was derived from his miracles and his person, as well as his faithfulness to the prior revelation of God’s written Word. Jesus exposed the meaning and significance of the Scriptural Word of God throughout his ministry, quoting it, reading it, exegeting it, expositionally preaching it, teaching it, applying it, and proclaiming it.

         
Earl Palmer makes a case for the fact that what Jesus is doing in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) is what every rabbi was expected to do, in giving his expository commentary on the Law. Another time that Jesus is seen appealing to the authority of the written Word of God is during his temptation by Satan in the wilderness. Satan is presented as twisting texts of Scripture to tempt Jesus to disobey his Father. Jesus refutes each text with a superior exegesis of these texts and an application of more texts. Jesus demonstrates that the only message for truth is found in the recorded, written Word of God. Jesus said, “By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me” (Jn. 5:30 NIV). Even Jesus first listened to and then proclaimed the Word of God.

         
Lastly, Jesus is observed walking with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Disguised as a stranger, Jesus teaches them about the presence of “the Christ” throughout the Old Testament, through an exegetical study of the whole Scriptures: He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself (Lk. 24:25-27 NIV).

That expository sermon has not been recorded for the Church. One is left, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to exegete the Scriptures in every contemporary language, history, and culture, seeing that the meaning and message of God’s Word is “explained” to a new generation, afresh, and that what is “said in all the Scriptures concerning (Jesus)” is proclaimed.

The Radiating Revelation of God through People: 6. The Wise Ones

During the full epoch of the time of the prophets, the faith community created the wisdom literature of the Old Testament Scriptures as Holy Spirit-inspired response to God’s revealed Law. Designated wise ones wrote application of God’s revelation and response to God’s action and Word. These songs, poems, proverbs, and stories were accredited as Scripture by God’s Holy Spirit, endorsed by God’s designated authoritative representatives, embraced by the authentic faith community, and lived and prayed as a part of the formative sacramental life of God’s people. Jesus and the apostles also endorsed the wisdom literature of the Old Testament as authentically part of the revealed Word of God by quoting it and teaching from it. These “wise” artists are part of the representative, Scriptural concentric circle around the revealing center of God’s throne.

There was a period of about 400 years between the last prophetic Word of the Old Testament, and the first apostolic Word of the New Testament. During this time, like the 400 years of captivity in Egypt, the people of God experienced a dry season without any new Word from God. One picture of the authentic practice of preaching in the faithful covenant community, just before that inter-testamental period, is recorded in Nehemiah 8: All the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel. So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly…He read it aloud from daybreak till noon…in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law. Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion...All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up…The Levites... instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read…Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them (Neh. 8:1-12 NIV).

Here the authentic practice of the people of God is seen as they gather to listen to the formative Word of God read, sung, prayed, and preached, and then go out and worship God with their lives. This event occurred in the 5th Century B.C. Yet it is a model of Spiritual formation that could be contemporary with Moses through to Saint Paul, or with Saint Clement through to Martin Lloyd-Jones or any emergent leader today. The public proclamation of God’s Holy Scriptures is the historically authentic way that God’s Word continues to form, reform and transform his people.

As in the historic case of the Josian reformation (2 Ki. 22-23), the people of God gather and God’s book is brought out. It is read aloud. They listen. God’s leader (who has been formed himself through listening to the text, meditating on the text, and exegeting the text) explains the meaning of the text and applies it to their existential context. Then the transformed people of God respond in worship. Besides the Josian and Nehemian reformations, the authentic faith community is always reformed and rejuvenated whenever God’s text is faithfully heard, exegeted, preached, and applied.

This picture in Nehemiah 8 also introduces the practice of developing “targumim” as instructive, interpretive commentary on the Scriptures. The habit of the faith community at public gatherings during the Babylonian exile was to read the text of the Scriptures at synagogue in Hebrew, and then to give a paraphrase and an application of the text in Aramaic (the language of their contemporary culture). These renderings were also written down. Here another type of biblical, exegetically based, expository sermon can be seen as a vital part of the life of the faith community.

The Radiating Revelation of God through People: 5. Prophets and Kings

Just as Moses was a hybrid of patriarch and prophet, linking two covenantal epochs, Samuel was the last judge and also the first person in the Old Testament named as a prophet after Moses. He also linked the epochs of the theocratic, tribal community of Israel, and the theocratic Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. As a prophet, Samuel was a new kind of mediator between the radiating, central revelation of God’s nature and will, and the people of God. Beginning with Samuel and King Saul, prophets and kings shared the tasks of representing God to the people, and the people to God. Sometimes, the power struggles between royal prerogative and prophetic application of God’s revelation led to rifts between kings and prophets. This was usually because either the king or the prophet, or both, stopped paying attention to God’s central, radiating revelation, and so stopped listening to God, thus ceasing to operate as an authentic representative of God to his people.

          
Isaiah gives us a remarkable insight into the calling of a prophet: The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back (Is. 50:4-5 NIV).

The prophet was one who had been “instructed,” and continued practicing the daily discipline of the “morning by morning” study of the Word. He listened to the Word, as “one being taught,” and he did not “(draw) back” from his primary role. The primary role of the prophet was to prophesy (or preach) God’s revealed Word. (J. B. Phillips properly translates the New Testament word prophaytas as “preach” (for example: 1 Cor. 12:28 Phillips)). This is what preaching has fundamentally always been – professing the properly received, exegeted, and applied Word of God. The prophets were expected to be formed through their understanding of God’s Word through exegeting the Law (which was the only revealed text they had at that point), to hear God’s Word afresh (as prophets, they received God’s special revelation directly and personally – Am. 3:7), and to profess God’s Word so that the community of God would be Spiritually formed.

Prophets were forbidden to pass their opinions off as God’s authoritative Word (Jer. 31:34). These are plainly called “lies” (Is. 9:15), and false prophecy was punishable by death (Deut.1 3:5). They preached God’s revealed Word to their contemporary context. The postmodern church needs preachers who know and understand God’s Word (through excellent exegesis, meditation, and living), and who know and understand their own contemporary context, so that they can proclaim God’s authentic Word to their generation.

          
It is important to point out that God himself attested to the authority of prophets (and apostles) as his spokesmen by doing miracles through them. These miracles were a sign by which God’s covenant people could test whether anyone who claimed to speak for God was indeed called by God to speak for him and to bring revelation from his throne. This is important for today because many men and women claim to speak for God and even claim to be prophets and apostles. One must ask anyone by what authority they claim to speak for God, and ask for proof (a “sign”) of their authority. Even still, the Church is warned to beware of false teachers and prophets who can also produce miraculous signs (Deut. 13:1-5, Mk. 13:22-23). The real test of any teaching will be that it does not compromise, contradict, or even add to what God has revealed through his Word (Gal. 1:6-9).

The Radiating Revelation of God through People: 4. The Judges

After Moses, there was a series of judges to whom God spoke, and through whom God formatively spoke to the covenant community. God continued to initiate the revelation of his nature and will by speaking his Word through these judges. It can be argued that the primary role of these judges was to speak for God by exegeting God’s Law and applying the authentic content of the Law to the specific, existential context of the everyday life of the faith community. It is not enough to simply proclaim God’s Word randomly to the people of God. Authentic Christian leadership requires leading God’s people to specific application of God’s revelation to the real experience of Spiritual formation toward godly living.

The second chapter of Judges reveals God’s plan for the post-Moses/Joshua task of authentic Spiritual leadership. After Joshua died, “another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel” (Jud. 2:10b NIV). They became ignorant of the salvation history of God, recorded in the Law of Moses, so they “did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths” (Jud. 2:11-13 NIV). 

Because no one taught them the Word of God, they could not obey it. They were unaware of the texts of God’s recorded revelation. Thus they were not Spiritually formed. The result of not hearing the Word of God was that “whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the LORD was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them” (Judges 2:15 NIV). He had sworn it to them in the text of the Law, but they were ignorant of God’s warnings and promises because no one was preaching the text to them. So “the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders” (Jud. 2:16 NIV). The primary task of the judges was to lead the people of God to listen to the text of God. This was a preaching task.

Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the LORD’s commands. Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived … But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died (Jud. 2:17-21 NIV).

God intended these men and women to be listened to, and what they were to be listened to about was “the way of obedience to the LORD’s commands” and “the covenant that (God) laid down for their forefathers,” his recorded Word. This is how they were to be Spiritually formed. This is what Deborah the prophetess (preacher) was doing as she held court “under the Palm of Deborah” (Jud. 4:4 NIV). The Law by which she judged was the recorded text of the Law of Moses. Gideon only knew how to “build a proper kind of alter to the LORD” (Jud. 6:26 NIV) because he paid attention to the texts of the Law of Moses. Abimelech demonstrates his knowledge of the texts of the Word of God when he scatters salt over the conquered city of Shechem (Jud. 9:45). When the people of God listened to their leaders, who preached the Word of God, they prospered. When they ignored the Word, they were cursed. Jephthah demonstrates his attention to the Law of Moses in his response to the Ammonite King, quoting the texts of the existent Scriptures (Jud. 11:14-27).

Here, the formation of God’s people through listening to God’s Word by paying attention to God’s text is seen. By the time of the judges, the Law was recorded. Though the stories of the lives and words of the judges came more Scripture. The fundamental work of listening to God, from the time of Moses on, became the careful exegesis and proclamation of God’s text. This text is variously called, among many things, “the Scriptures” (Mar. 12:10); the “law", “decrees", “statutes”, “commands”, “precepts", and “promises” (Ps. 119); “the law and the prophets” (Lk.16:16); “the apostles and prophets” (Eph. 2:20); “my word” (Is. 55:11); “the word of God” (1 Thes. 2:13); “the word of the prophets” (2 Pet. 1:19); and “the word of truth” (Col. 1:5).           

            

From the time of Moses on, there was a holy text to pay attention to and to meditate on. Authentic godly meditation is precisely what the Hebrew word for meditation evokes – a “mumbling over” of God’s revealed (written) Word. When the Lord tells Joshua to “not let this book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night” (Josh. 1:8), God was instructing him to memorize and “mumble over” the text day and night. When the last psalm before the psalms of ascent (Psalm 119) asks, “How can a young man keep his way pure?” the answer is proclaimed, “by living according to your Word...I have hidden your Word is my heart...With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth” (Ps. 119:9, 11 NIV).

            

When one is doing this, it is imperative that it is done with a thorough understanding of the context of the passages being meditated on. It is so easy for people, as fallen, self-centered creatures, to misinterpret the texts and apply them in unholy ways to self-centered contexts. Joshua and the writer of Psalm 119 were steeped in an understanding of the content, context, history, and meaning of the texts they prayed, memorized, and mumbled over. The apostle John wrote Revelation with this same Scripture-soaked imagination, drawing from the imagery of the whole revealed Word, and quoting from almost every book of the Bible.

            

Some have argued that there are two contrasting approaches to the understanding of the Word. One is the rational, exegetical study of the Scriptures with one’s mind, while the other is the direct, inspirational revelation of the Spirit of God to one’s heart. It is said that one represents the ministry of the Word and the other the ministry of the Spirit. John Woodhouse makes a convincing argument for the absurdity of this dichotomy, stressing that the Word and the Spirit are inseparable. He rejects the attempt to bring a “balance” between these two heretical extremes, demonstrating that the illumination of God’s Word is the primary work and message of the Holy Spirit. He then calls for an embracing of the authentically Christian approach to the Word, which is a dynamic synergy between the Spirit of God speaking and working through the Word of God.

The Radiating Revelation of God through People: 3. Priests, Sacraments and Artists

During this time, the ceremonial function of the institutional priesthood was established. One could say that the purpose of the Levitical priesthood was to complement the role of the Law in the transformative life of the community. Artists were also enlisted by God to be a part of his public revelation in and through the faith community. Artists constructed all of the elements of the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Ex. 25:3 – 30:10). Bezalel and Oholiab were specifically called and equipped by God (Ex. 31:1-6) to be his formative instruments of revelation. Artists were sent from Tyre to build a palace for David in Jerusalem (2 Sam. 5:11-12). It can be argued that artists were enlisted as “prophets” through music and song in the assembly (1 Chr. 25). Artists were also employed in the building of God’s temple (2 Chr. 2-4). The Tabernacle and the Temple and all that was seen, heard, touched, smelled, and tasted in them were complementary elements to the revelation of God’s Word. These can be understood as visible expository sermons, sacramentally exposing the person and will of him who is at the center, on the throne. 

            

The ritual practices of the sacramental community can be understood as the visual sermons of the people of God. The Levitical code was a communal response to God’s revelation. God not only initiated the revelation of his person and will and his redemptive relationship between himself and man, he also created a practice of living the reality of that relationship through everyday practice of formative worship, sacrifices, and ceremony. This is the authentic action of the faith community.

Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal ... Whenever the living creatures give glory, honour and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being" (Rev. 4:6, 9-11). 

The authentic act of response to God’s revelation is worship (Ex. 4:29-31). Worship must not be used as a tool to try to obtain revelation, or as a self-centered, esoteric experiential device. It must always and only be a genuine response to what God has revealed. As God’s self-initiated revelation is received, his people respond in prayer, praise, and proclamation. They lay whatever crowns they possess at his throne, declaring the truth that God has revealed to themselves, each other, and the world.

            

The Christian sacraments can also be understood as expository sermons. God’s truth is revealed through the acted-out expositions of baptism and communion. Paul declares, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). And, as Peter points out, “This water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also — not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God (1 Pet. 3:21). These outward signs of inward realities are symbolic proclamations of God’s revelation. Lutheran professor, Gordon Lathrop, commenting on one of the earliest “ordos” of Christian sacramental practice, found in St. Ignatius, literally calls the water of baptism “the speaking water”.

Returning to John’s “Revelation,” one can argue that John is describing this same understanding of Sunday worship as responsive, expository sacrament. Through the visible preaching of baptism (the crystal sea 4:6) and the eucharistic preaching of his sacrificial death (the slaughtered lamb 5:6), the good news of God’s Word is exposed. As well as these sacraments, the public and private Scripture reading and meditating (the text scroll 5:1), the allegiance to Jesus (the Lion of Judah, the triumphal root of David 5:5), the regular, public practice of praise (harp 5:8), prayer (incense 5:8), and preaching (the messengers 5:11), the Holy of Holies before the throne of God is entered. Only God the Word can open the “seal” and reveal himself, the Word. No one else can open the “scroll or even look inside it” (5:3 NIV).

The Radiating Revelation of God through People: 2. The Lawgiver

Next, God called the Lawgiver, Moses, who also had a unique relationship with God. In spite of Moses’ protests, God initiated a special relationship with him, revealing a greater depth of knowledge of God’s nature, name, and will (Ex. 3). Moses can be seen as a transition figure, being a kind of patriarch and a kind of prophet. But Moses is also the only Lawgiver (Jn. 1:13-14, Heb. 3).  After revealing himself through creation, and then in covenant with specific humans, God revealed himself one step further and deeper through the Exodus, the Mosaic Law, the Levitical code, and the new theocratic, covenant community, Israel. Moses, as the mediator between God and the faith community, was primarily called to lead God’s covenant people to listen to God’s Word.

Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites" (Ex. 19:3-6 NIV).

The whole community was gathered before the mountain and waited for God’s Word. God spoke to Moses, and then appointed Moses to speak his Word to Israel for him. Israel’s formation and transformation was God’s initiative. And, though the “the whole earth is (his),” God wants his covenant faith community to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” God does not need human help. However, he forms his people through his personal initiated revelation to them through his Word. Then he reforms them to be his ministers, administrating his Word to the world, leading the rest of humanity to be transformed towards the truly human posture of listening: to hear his Word and respond in proper worship.

So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD. The LORD said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you" (Ex. 19:7-9a NIV).

In the next part of Revelation, the apostle John evokes this historic picture, borrowing the imagery from Exodus 19, to link what “will happen next” (the immediate experience of the worshipping faith community whenever the Church gathers as God’s people to listen to his Word) with what happened when God’s people gathered at Mount Sinai.

On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him (Ex. 19:16-19 NIV).

          

The people of God come together to be formed by listening to the Word of God and then go out to worship God by communicating and demonstrating the transformative revelation of God to the world. This was true of Israel at Mount Sinai, and it was true of the seven churches John wrote his “Revelation” to. It is also true of the authentic, Christian faith community today. The essential task of God’s appointed Spiritual leader has always been to help the faith community to be the authentic people of God; to help them gather to listen to the Word of God, and then to go out and worship God by being part of the “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6).