“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.”— Revelation 15:4 (ESV)
We know the book of Revelation as apocalyptic literature—revealing the close of this age and the beginning of the eternal reign of Christ. For many, the book immediately calls to mind frightening end-times events. While those scenes are indeed present, Revelation also gives us breathtaking glimpses into the eternal throne room and the unending worship of God. These accounts should move us first and foremost to awe and worship.
For the follower of Christ, worship and awe should take precedence over shock and fear when reading Revelation. Yes, the book paints a clear picture of God’s judgment on the world, but it also presents a beautiful and certain vision of the triumph and eternal reign of Christ our King.
An Exercise in Reading Revelation
Here’s an exercise: as you read Revelation, underline each occurrence of the word “worship.” Then, go back and review those marked passages. You will see a stunning portrait of the worship of God.
But you will also notice something else—worship is not always directed toward God. At times, the word describes humanity’s devotion to the powers of Satan or his intermediaries. This is a sobering warning. In Revelation, worship is never neutral. We either worship God, or we worship Satan and his intermediaries. Every person worships one or the other, whether or not they acknowledge the existence of God or Satan.
Consider Revelation 17–18, where humanity’s devotion to the woman representing Babylon is described. How do people worship her? Not by bowing down or declaring her a god, but by indulging in her sexual immorality and profiting from her corruption. Their participation was their worship.
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
She has become a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit…
For all nations have drunk the wine
of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth have grown rich
from the power of her luxurious living.”— Revelation 18:2–3 (ESV)
The lesson is clear: we will worship God, or we will worship Satan through his schemes and lies. Take heed, O man, lest you be deceived into partaking in corruption under the guise of pleasure or profit.
