Overcoming Saints
In the book of Revelation, overcoming saints persevere in the “testimony of Jesus” no matter the cost, “even unto death.”
Two themes are repeated frequently in Revelation - “witness”
and “overcoming,” and they are closely related. Beginning with Jesus and
his own “martyrdom” on the Cross, his followers are summoned to persevere in
his “testimony,” and in this way, they also will “overcome” and
emerge victorious in the city of “New Jerusalem.” They must “overcome,
even as he overcame.”
Jesus is presented to the “seven churches of Asia”
as the “faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the
kings of the earth.”
By “faithful witness” the verse means the “testimony”
that he gave in his sacrificial death. By shedding his blood, “he freed us
from our sins and made a kingdom, priests for his God.” And now, he is the
“first and the last” who possesses authority even over “death and Hades.”
As he declared, because “I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore” – (Revelation
1:5, 1:18).
WITNESS
The Greek term rendered “witness” in English,
‘martur,’ is the term from which the noun ‘martyr’ is derived. In
secular Greek, it was used for a “witness,” especially one who gave
testimony in legal proceedings.
While by the first century the term may not have assumed
the full idea of “martyr” in the sense of one who gives his life for a cause,
as applied in Revelation, it certainly approaches that sense. The “saints”
who give “testimony” for Jesus pay the consequences for doing so.
Similarly, John is introduced as one who “bore witness
of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus.” Consequently,
he found himself banished to Patmos “on account of the word of God and the testimony
of Jesus.” And here, the term “word of God” is synonymous with the “testimony
of Jesus.” And it was not just any testimony, but the “testimony”
about Jesus that placed the Apostle in personal jeopardy.
TESTIMONY
“Testimony” translates the related
Greek noun ‘martyria,’ which means “testimony, witness.” It is
related to the term ‘martur’ and refers to the “testimony” given
by a “witness.”
While John may not have paid for his “testimony”
with his life, he certainly paid a heavy price by losing his freedom and legal
rights. But he was by no means the first or the last Christian to do so.
Previously, in the city of Pergamos, the saint
named ‘Antipas’ was “killed among you, where Satan dwells.” In his
letter to the congregation, Jesus calls this martyr “my faithful
witness [martyr],” and uses the same term applied to himself
in the prologue – (Revelation 2:13).
When the fifth seal is opened, John saw the souls of
saints who had been “slain for the word of God, and for the testimony
[martyria] which they held,” just as he had been exiled because of his “witness”
for the “word of God” and the “testimony of Jesus”
– (Revelation
6:9-11).
In chapter 12, having failed to destroy the “woman
clothed with the sun” or her “son,” the enraged “Dragon” sets
out to “wage war with the rest of her seed, those that keep the
commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.”
Once again, saints are killed because of the “testimony
of Jesus.” And Satan is not alone in his vendetta. Later, the “great
harlot, Babylon” is seen “drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the
blood of the witnesses [martyrs] of Jesus.” – (Revelation 12:17, 17:6).
At the commencement of the “thousand years,” judgment
is made on behalf of the saints who have been “beheaded for the
testimony of Jesus and the word of God, and have not worshipped
the beast, neither his image and received not its mark upon their forehead and
upon their hand.” Once more, the “word of God” and the “testimony of Jesus”
are paired. That the “witnesses” are killed is beyond doubt, as is the
reason for it. But now, added to the list is their refusal to render homage to
the “beast” - (Revelation 20:4).
OVERCOME
Not only is Jesus the “faithful witness,”
he is the first to “overcome.” In chapter 5, John weeps
bitterly because no one can be found who is “worthy” to open the “scroll
sealed with seven seals.” That is until he hears one
of the “twenty-four elders” command him to “weep not, for the lion of
the tribe of Judah has overcome to open the scroll.” When he
looks, instead of the “lion” he sees the “Lamb as having been slain.”
That is, Jesus “overcame” and qualified to open the “sealed
scroll” through his sacrificial death – (Revelation 5:5-6).
At the end of each of the seven letters, the
reader finds promises made to the “one who overcomes.” The
overcomer will “eat of the tree of life in the Paradise of God,” not be
harmed by the “second death,” eat of the “hidden manna,” receive
authority over the nations, not have his name “blotted out of the book of
life,” become a “pillar” in the sanctuary in “New Jerusalem,”
and will sit with Jesus on “my Father’s throne.”
The churches of Asia “overcome” by rejecting
the deceptions of the “false apostles,” the “Nicolaitans,” the “teachings
of Balaam,” and “Jezebel, who taught my servants to eat meat offered to
idols.”
“Overcoming” believers persevere through tribulations, bear faithful “witness,” and refuse to compromise with the surrounding pagan society, even when doing so means their impoverishment or death.
Most critically, the saints “overcome” by
refusing to render homage to the “beast from the sea” or its image, and
by not taking its “mark” or “number,” even though the “false
prophet” causes those who refuse to do so to be put to death.
- (Revelation 15:2) – “And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that overcame the beast and its image, and the number of its name, standing by the sea of glass, having harps of God.”
Likewise, at the start of the “thousand years,”
“judgment is given” for the saints because they suffered martyrdom for
their “testimony,” and because they refused the “mark of the beast.”
Finally, after the “Dragon” is expelled from
heaven, a voice declares that the “brethren overcame” him by the “blood
of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and because they loved not their
lives unto death” - (Revelation 12:11).
HOW TO OVERCOME
Thus, giving “faithful testimony” and “overcoming”
Satan are two sides of the same coin. Put another way, bearing faithful “witness”
is how the persevering saint “overcomes” the “Dragon,”
his plans, attacks, and earthly vassals, especially the deceivers in the church
and the “beast from the sea.”
This does not mean that every saint must die a
martyr’s death. While John suffered banishment for the “testimony of Jesus,”
he was not executed, at least, not in the book. Again, by the time Revelation
was written, the Greek term ‘martur’ did not necessarily mean dying for
one’s beliefs, though certainly it often has that sense in the book.
Moreover, in the Roman province of Asia, some
believers suffered “imprisonment,” and others were accused falsely by members
of the “synagogue of Satan.” Not all members of the congregations
experienced martyrdom. Regardless, Jesus exhorted the churches to be “faithful unto death, and I will
give you the crown of life.”
The last clause provides the key for how believers “overcome”
– “faithful unto death.” Likewise, the brethren “overcame”
the “Dragon” because they did not “love their lives unto death.”
It is that level of absolute allegiance to Jesus that separates “overcomers”
from those who “eat meat offered to idols.”
Thus, to “overcome,” the saint must persevere
in his or her “witness” for Jesus whatever the consequences may be.
