Day 255

There are many images of violence in this book. There is violence against Jesus (Rev 1:5, 7; 5:6; 12:11). There is violence against His followers (Rev 2:10, 13; 6:9-10). There is violence acted out by the enemies of the Lamb (13:7; 16:6; 17:16; 18:7, 20, 24). But what bothers some people the most is the divine violence in the book, of which Rev 14:9-11 is the most graphic. How can the Lamb be, on the one hand, the victim of violence and on the other hand the one who torments and destroys?

What people often overlook is that any truly good government must at some point exercise violence in order to restrain evil. Governmental violence is not always graphic and bloody. E.g. how fast would you drive if there were no police? How much tax would you pay if it were voluntary? How eager are most convicts to stay in jail? Good governments provide a necessary restraint so we can all live together in peace.  
Most people are used to this level of governmental violence. When dealing with an Adolph Hitler, Pol Pot or Vladimir Putin, however, just violence becomes necessarily more brutal. Oppression demands justice (Rev 6:9-11; 16:6; 18:7-8), but evil never gives way voluntarily. And the greater the power and brutality of evil, the greater the force needed to undo that evil.

The images of Revelation are not pretty, but they assure us that God will do whatever it takes to end violence and oppression. The fact that divine violence is said to occur in the presence of the Lamb does not mean He enjoys horrific images. To me, it means that one who has suffered much has been placed in charge of the process. While God’s violence is necessary, it is overseen and limited by the Lamb. Why the Lamb? Only the Lamb fully understands the cost of suffering. The Lamb can be trusted to be merciful in the exercise of divine justice. The Lamb that was slain will undo evil without overkill. There will be suffering from divine justice, but not one iota more than necessary.