The Beasts that Rise Up From the Sea

After a particularly disordered night of chaotic dreams, which seemed to push my subconscious to the brink of insanity, I firmly asked the Lord to reveal to me what was the core spiritual blockage. The next time I awoke I had clear sense of “the glassy sea”. This is a picture drawn from Revelation which I will expound in detail later, but I want to start with its opposite, the beasts which rise up from the sea of chaos.

The most detailed scriptures in the New Testament to do with our inheritance in Christ place heavy emphasis on his defeat of evil powers. Christ’s resurrection power imparts a joyful revelation concerning the inheritance of the saints within a context fiercely contested by the powers of evil. Paul prays, “that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” (Eph 1:16, 18, 20-21), and, ^“being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col 1:11-14). At the heart of all spiritual conflict is the issue of rightful inheritance, there is both an obvious human dimension to this struggle and an invisible spiritual one.

In a fallen world everyone wants to rule something.  The affluent, influential and gifted, those who believe they possess a “natural entitlement”, want to rule people and circumstances for their own gain. More subtly, the introverted folk who have learned to practice restraint in social relationships want to rule their own self-expression for the sake of avoiding conflict and punishment. It is the first group who are most evident in the Bible through their public opposition to the kingdom of God.

In the parable of the tenants in the vineyard Jesus prophesied his own death at the hands of the chief priests and Pharisees (Matt 21:45). The punch line comes when he recounts, “Finally he (the owner of the vineyard) sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’” (Matt 21:37 – 38). The rulers of the Jews believed the inheritance of God’s people belonged solely to them, and they deeply resented Jesus’ popularity with the crowds. Pilate, no stranger to power politics, “perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.” (Mark 15:10). This is a pattern that continues into Acts. After the explosive growth of the early Church, “the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.” (Acts 5:17-18).  As the gospel spreads into Gentile lands, “almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.” (Acts 13:45) Wherever insecure human beings fear the loss of their “rights” to privilege, entitlement, attention, finance, approval, recognition etc., conflict will follow. This is a dimension of opposition to the message of Christ that emerges repeatedly throughout the world today.

The more fundamental struggle however is not with “flesh and blood” but with “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). These wicked powers are enraged by the fact that they possess no inheritance. They know that for them there is no marriage supper to look forward to, no eternal city, no final joy, no future hope; nothing but the lake of fire and brimstone. Having rejected the Word, the forces of evil have no inheritance because they have no true F/father. Lacking legitimate authority they nevertheless work to wantonly destroy all that belongs to God and his children. This attack was concentrated on Jesus during his earthly life.

Immediately before entering the wilderness, Christ is directly addressed by the Father as his heir.  “Now … when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”” (Luke 3:21-22). The anointing of Jesus as divine Son echoes the promise of Psalm 2, “The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, and the ends of the earth your possession.” (7-8). The voice from heaven identifies Jesus as the Messiah and rightful inheritor of all things. This is precisely the devil’s point of attack in the desert, with his opening words, ““If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.””” (Matt 4:3), he seeks to manipulate Jesus into treating the world as a rightful possession rather than a gift from his Father. Ever mindful of the priority of the command of God Jesus easily resists the satanic lure, ““It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ” (Matt 4:4). From thereon he proceeds forward into a ministry which publicly vanquishes the powers of darkness at every turn. The principle demonic attack however reaches a climax around Christ’s trial and death.

The silence of Jesus on trial seems puzzling, but his single positive statement before his accusers opens up a vista on all spiritual conflict.  “And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together….61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”” (Mark 14: 53, 61-62). Whilst throughout the Gospels Jesus strenuously avoids publicly accepting the title “Christ”, he regularly refers to himself as “the Son of Man” in various ways that must have generated considerable confusion in the minds of his hearers.  Here before his arch enemies the meaning is crystal clear. To claim to be the Son of Man “at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”, is an assertion that he is the apocalyptic ruler of Daniel 7, ““I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son of Man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. ” (Dan 7:13-14).

This claim to universal and eternal inheritance threw Jesus’ interrogators into a fit of uncontrollable rage; he is condemned to death on the spot; “And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death.” (Mark 14:63-64). The Jewish rulers rightly understand Jesus self-identification with Daniel’s Son of Man to be claiming a special relationship with God that makes him the Judge of his judges and Lord of all things. It is the ruling hierarchy who are on trial! Yet if we take the setting of Daniel 7 with full seriousness something much more ominous is unveiled. Immediately prior to the advent of the Son of Man a frightful vision appears, this is a revelation of four great and terrifying beasts.

““I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 4 The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. 5 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ 6 After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong.” (Dan 7:2-7) These monsters from the sea embody all evil opposition to the kingdom of God. Immediately succeeding this vision Daniel is told that the beastly powers will be destroyed (Dan 7:10-12), so ushering in the rule of the Son of Man.

The apocalyptic scenes of Daniel must be placed in parallel with the courtroom scene in which Jesus is tried. The high priest (1), the chief priests (2), the elders (3) and the scribes (4) embody the 4 savage beasts that arise from the turbulent primeval sea to make war on the kingdom of God, represented by Jesus, the Son of Man. The trial of Jesus cannot be measured on the scale of ordinary human history, it is a concentrated attempt by the forces of darkness to plunge all things back into the formless ocean that preceded the moving of the Spirit and the speaking of the Word from which a coherent creation was first born (Gen 1:2). The sentence of death passed on Jesus is an attempt to de-create “all things”, to strip bare God’s world of habitability and inheritance, to rob the Father of his plan to bring all things to a final joy[1] by annihilating the Son. The crucifixion of the Word is a demonic attempt to destroy God’s pride and joy and with him the foundation of humanity’s inheritance in the world to come[2].

Not satisfied with a guilty verdict, the powers of evil pursue Jesus right as God’s first born even in the anguish of death, ““If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”” (Matt 27:40). This is an unimaginably savage taunt, for Jesus’ greatest joy was to reveal the mercy and forgiveness of his Father, which to naked sight seemed so conclusively to be denied by his cruel suffering and death. Such an open display of God’s triumphant mercy and destruction of beastly powers must however await the victorious resurrection (see below).  Christ is now ascended above the powers (Eph 1:19-22) but as earthen vessels we remain in a battle zone where our inheritance rights are constantly challenged.

The above reflections on the beasts that rise up from the sea threw into sharp relief some of my more bizarre experiences over the years. Occasions when various groups of people simply lied about my intentions and motives in ministry, or publicly accused me of sins that were dominant in their own lives, some stated that I had an evil spirit, or was a false prophet.  Sudden bursts of accusing anger from civilised and educated people – at the doorsteps of the church building, in prayer meetings, in services and so on cannot be explained simply as emotional immaturity. These experiences of irrational opposition are episodes of beasts rising from the sea of chaos seeking to attack me, my family and the work of God’s kingdom.  Such stirrings can and need to be recognised for what they are, the very opposite of the “waters of rest” besides which Jesus has promised to lead us (Ps 23:2). A wise Church will neither psychologise the demonic nor demonise the psychological. The maturity which God seeks can only come through looking beyond ourselves to the complete victory of Christ.

The Sea of Glass

The main passages from which my sense of the “glassy sea” is drawn are the two throne room visions in Revelation. The first is presented as a sort of entry into heavenly world, “At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne….and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:” (Rev 4:2, 6). This picture lacks the presence of human beings but the sea of glass reflects the unconquerable beauty of divine victory over the forces of chaos. The second picture in Revelation is however far  more specific, “And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways O King of the nations!4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”” (Rev 15:2-3). The reference to the song of Moses indicates that the original context for this image is the defeat of Pharaoh at the Red Sea. “Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.” (Ex 14:30-15:1). In a sovereign display of salvation the waters were subdued by the LORD and pressed into his service to destroy the enemies of the Hebrews; led by Moses, tumultuous praise breaks forth from the people of God in exultant singing.

As the death of Pharaoh is the death of the great beast of the exodus, so the company of heaven celebrates the victory of the followers of the Lamb over the final beast, the antichrist.  The defeat of Egypt at the Red Sea led to spontaneous outpouring of joy that echoed through all of Israel’s scriptures[3] and prefigured the eternal resurrection joy of the followers of the Lamb. It is Jesus himself who has won this victory and it is his pleasure at the subjugation of the powers of evil which we share.

The crucial passage in Daniel 7 which portrays the 4 beasts rising from the sea goes on to recount divine judgement over the evil powers and the victorious dominion of the Son of Man. Jesus embodied this dominion in casting out demons, healing the sick, raising the dead and so on. One incident in particular is especially poignant for those of us who suffer from anxiety over the unpredictable. “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”” (Mark 4:37- 41)

The context of this story within the Gospel narrative is crucial to its interpretation. When Jesus arrives on the other side of the lake he will deliver the Gerasene demoniac, a miraculous display of overcoming evil that leads to the evangelisation of a whole region (Mark 5:1-20). Apparently Satan understood the purposes of God and sought to destroy Christ and his followers in one concerted action, for Jesus’ life was not endangered by a natural storm, but by a demonic power stirring up the waters. The key to recognising this is the description of Christ “rebuking” the wind and waves. In Mark 1:25 Jesus commanded an evil spirit in almost identical words (in Greek) to his command to the storm, “Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent””. More potently, everywhere the term “rebuke” appears on the lips of Jesus in Mark he is speaking to a demonic force (1:25; 3:12; 8:30, 32-33; 9:25). Jesus’ authority over the sea is especially striking to the disciples, because such bodies of water were believed to be the habitation of evil monsters (Job 26:12; Ps 74:14; 89:10; Isa 27:1; 51:9). This display of sovereignty marks Jesus out as a much greater Messiah than his disciples had far reckoned with do far; hence their awe. He is indeed the divine Son of Man of Daniel 7 who has all authority over the beasts of the sea of chaos[4].

It was never God’s purpose that his ruling presence would be restricted to Jesus. Daniel 7 goes on to describe how “the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High” (v.27). We see a partial fulfilment of this vision when Jesus commissioned the 72 disciples to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. The response on their return is very revealing; “The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:17-20). The joy of the disciples is a natural and godly response to the presence of the kingdom of God (Rom 14:17), but Jesus directs their attention to something far more substantial than an immediate victory over evil powers, it is their indestructible heavenly inheritance that should be their source of spiritual delight. It is the final state of the new creation where evil is abolished[5] forever that is the absolutely unconquerable source of rejoicing for the saints of God.

This is the complete victory that could only be won by the cross and concluded by the resurrection of Jesus and his exaltation into heaven. Jesus has terminated his direct conflict with the beasts as a mortal and limited human being, “having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Col 2:15). Having purged away guilt and shame by his shed blood he offers a share in his own final and inextinguishable joy; “I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. ²³ In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. ²⁴Until now you have asked nothing in my name.Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:22-24)

In this joy of the indwelling Father there can be neither downsizing nor elevation, we cannot see ourselves either as “smaller” or “greater” than others. Such is the victory of Christ’s presence over all those powers that would inflate or depress our egos. This is the immediate impact of the joy of the kingdom of God whose inheritance belongs to all the children of God in equal proportion and forever (Rom 14:17; Dan 7:27). The outstanding sense that all this conveys to my heart is a sense of immense privilege. An old song springs to mind,

“We are heirs of the Father,
We are joint heirs with the Son.
We are children of the Kingdom,
We are family,
We are one.”

In this simple chorus is summed up all of God’s eternal purposes for his children.

Conclusion

“To be God is to be enjoyable, to know God is to enjoy him.” (Jenson)

I am not well qualified to write on the topic of “joyful inheritance”, but our qualification is Christ and his Word not our natural personality or emotional state of mind. As the faithfulness of the Lord meets the life-long struggles of my own history, I am convinced that the God and Father of Jesus is working to reconfigure the grief/joy axis of the lives of his people. To put it in plain English, the Spirit’s will is to expel the grief of the people of God by releasing the joy of Christ’s kingdom (Rom 14:17). For too long the Australian Church has failed to exhibit a joy that can only be explained by a hoped for resurrection from the dead and the anticipated gift of a limitless God-sized inheritance (Luke 24:41)[6].

In a time when the Christian heritage of Australia has been largely undermined by a moral philosophy which teaches that the greatest good in human life is our pleasure[7], I believe that the Lord is about to do the unexpected. This will involve a movement of the Spirit whereby the body of Christ will begin to live out the counter-cultural message of the gospel in its true dimensions. This is the revelation that the Father’s plan is for the greatest number of people to inherit his greatest possible joy for the greatest stretch of time. This good news is far more expansive than the cut down individualism that has so characterised the teaching and preaching of our churches. That God is essentially joyful is a truth that is especially difficult for Australians to receive, for a number of reasons.

At the top of the list is the historical fact that the aggression of European settlement denied to our Indigenous peoples their God- given inheritance in the land. There is no political or financial solution to this transgression, yet until it is dealt with mainstream society will always struggle to believe that we have an inheritance in God.  At a national level the history of disinheritance has created a field of judgement occupied by evil powers. Blindness to the promised eternal inheritance is a form of divine visitation that keeps the majority of Aussies, believers and non believers, focussed on the immediate enjoyment of temporal things. This forms an enormous spiritual stronghold over our nation which has become so comprehensively a stamping ground for the beasts that rise up from the sea. These strongholds however will never be shattered by a consciousness of sin, but only by a gracious expansion of our spiritual vision to biblical proportions.

Everything is contained in the message of the victory of the cross. When the prophetic theologian P.T. Forsyth said, “What goes deepest to the conscience goes widest to the world.” he was expounding a spiritual principle which is the central message of this article. When the power of the cross liberates us from all our natural entitlements and inferiorities we are necessarily filled with the knowledge that the vast and limitless resources of the kingdom of God are ours in Christ forever. This knowledge is not primarily intellectual, but a communion with the love of the crucified and risen Lord whose first fruit is joy, not any joy, but a “joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Pet 1:8). Such a joy is unbounded, indestructible and always expansive. The Lord is seeking to inflate the way his Church sees herself in his Son, so that such growth might be translated beyond our narrow visions to bring lost men and women into the limitless scope of the vision of God in Christ. The modern missions movement exploded around the motto, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” (W. Carey), this is the sentiment contained in the message of The Joyful Inheritance.