Sermon 06.22.2025: Revelation as Resistance: Unveiling the Empire

The book of Revelation includes scary beasts with horns and special marks with numbers revealing who they are. But rather than foretelling future events, what if they were unveiling current rulers and empires who preyed on their people? Let us slay the beasts of oppression and injustice as we resist the empire and embrace the reign of God!



Scripture

Revelation 13:1-18, 17:1-6

1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads; and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have received a death-blow, but its mortal wound[a] had been healed. In amazement the whole earth followed the beast. 4 They worshipped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?’

5 The beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also, it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.[b] It was given authority over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slaughtered.

9 Let anyone who has an ear listen:

10 If you are to be taken captive,

 into captivity you go;

if you kill with the sword,

 with the sword you must be killed.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

11 Then I saw another beast that rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound[d] had been healed. 13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of all; 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to perform on behalf of the beast, it deceives the inhabitants of earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that had been wounded by the sword[e] and yet lived; 15 and it was allowed to give breath[f] to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom: let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred and sixty-six.

17 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the judgement of the great whore who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk.’ 3 So he carried me away in the spirit[a] into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; 5 and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: ‘Babylon the great, mother of whores and of earth’s abominations.’ 6 And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.

When I saw her, I was greatly amazed.

Sermon

About this time last year, I preached a sermon entitled: "Daniel's Four Beasts of the Apocalypse" using the text from Daniel 7. I’m not quite sure why I keep getting assigned scripture with fantastical beasts in them; I’ll need to take that up with the Holy Spirit, but here we are. 

And I suppose it was good preparation for today’s sermon because many of the commentaries suggested that we consult Daniel 7 as a Hebrew scripture accompaniment to this Revelation passage. In Daniel, we learned that apocalyptic writings were not predicting the future, but rather critiquing the present. They are revealing and uncovering what is unjust in society at the present time, using imagery and allegory. That’s what apocalypse means after all – to unveil or to uncover. And so we get these nightmarish beasts. 

In Daniel there were four of them, and they represented the empires of Babylon, Media, Persia and the Greeks. In Revelation, we find a dragon that helps animate a beast that looks like a combo of a leopard, a bear, and a lion. There’s another beast that has horns like a lamb and speaks like a dragon. And then, I quote, “the great whore” that is seated on a scarlet beast. 

Have I mentioned that I’m so glad to be preaching on all this apocalyptic literature? 

But much like the great monsters of our time that represent some of our greatest fears as a society today, for example: Godzilla as a metaphor for nuclear weapons—these beasts are also representations of real, though not literal, fears. 

Now, it is generally accepted by biblical scholars that these beasts which John of Patmos writes about also represents an empire, like they did in Daniel. And this time, these beasts are the Empire of Rome and its various emperors. 

The dragon that is mentioned, that seems to control and give power to these beasts, is thought to be the very enemy of God, sometimes personified in scripture as Sa-tan. This is not a name, per-se, but a word in Hebrew which means “adversary.” 

So, John of Patmos, in his big revelation, sees, that the Roman Empire, under which they are subjugated, is controlled, not by God, but by the enemy of God. This would have been highly controversial because Roman emperors were thought to be the quote “sons of God” with the divine right to rule. 

So, claiming otherwise would have been a threat to the empire. What John unveils is that the empire, no matter how much it claims to be blessed by God or ordained by God, is actually not an instrument of God at all, but a force of evil in the world. 

Furthermore, many scholars believe that the number of the beast, 666, is a coded reference to one particular Roman Emperor, the Emperor Nero. You see, Hebrew didn’t use numbers, neither Roman numerals or Arabic numerals. Instead, they used the Hebrew alphabet to represent numbers. 

And so, due to the numerological equivalent of Nero's name with the Hebrew alphabet, we get the number of the beast: 666. So, turns out, this big, scary, evil number, that made it into pop culture and horror films, is really just a code name. 

As you can see, Revelation requires some decoding. And when we say we have to read scripture within its historical and cultural context, this is what we mean! We take the Bible very seriously here at Calvary, but that doesn’t mean we take the Bible literally because taking the Bible literally is sometimes the exact opposite of what its original writers may have intended. 

So in Revelation 13 and 17, we are unveiling the empire for what it is: 

The empire claims to be appointed by God, but it actually is not of God. 

People worship the empire, but it is an idol. 

The empire uses violence and force to demand obedience and allegiance. 

It is able to deceive and fool many, because it can accomplish a lot in a short amount of time, but its success is dependent on exploiting its most vulnerable members and bulldozing (or crucifying) any and all those who dissent. 

Paul Dazet, a pastor in the Church of the Nazarene, writes this about Revelation 17 as it refers to Babylon: 

Babylon is a pattern, not a place.

John [of Patmos] never says “Rome.” He says, “Babylon.”

Because Rome is just the latest empire to demand loyalty, worship, and silence. 

Babylon is the script empires always follow:

Take what you want

Speak untruth

Glorify violence

Silence dissent

Enforce conformity

Reward wealth

Marginalize the vulnerable 

Sound familiar? 

Babylon didn’t disappear.

It just keeps putting on new costumes:

Rome, Nazi Germany, Christian Nationalism. 

Babylon is a pattern, not a place.

A pattern repeating over and over.

The same cycle.

The same empire games.

The same dragon pulling the strings. 

John’s message still speaks:

Don’t be fooled.

You live in Babylon. 

Whew. If you’re anything like me, this reading of Revelation blew my mind. 

That is powerful stuff. And I think most of us find that it rings quite true of our current situation today.

We are indeed living in a modern incarnation of Babylon. We are living in an empire that follows that very same script: to take what you want, to tell lies, to glorify violence and militarism, to silence dissent, and to enforce conformity, to reward billionaires, and to marginalize and disappear the vulnerable. 

As we read through the Book of Revelation, we learn that we are living in an imperialist America. An America that says, “We are the land of opportunity, unless you’re running from violence, poverty, or war, then please, stay out of our country and stop draining our resources.” 

An America that says, “We are strong and mighty, and our military is the greatest in the world, but we have veterans who are homeless and who can now be denied healthcare.” 

An America that insists we are peacemakers and a moral compass for the world, but participates in bombing nations and escalating conflicts. 

The Book of Revelation uncovers for us and unveils for us, that the greatness of a nation or an empire is not found in its wealth or power or military might. It’s not even found in its popularity and how many people come to worship or adore its leaders. 

Rather, as Mahatma Ghandi is attributed to saying: “The greatness of a nation can be measured by how it treats its weakest members.” 

Wess Daniels, a Quaker theologian, writes that the Book of Revelation is about: 

how small minority faith communities resist empire.

It’s a letter that’s written … about how to survive and resist, how to not become like the Empire. It helps us see, what are the kinds of practices that you would have to do to resist assimilating into empire? [1] 

Because as those who follow Jesus, our marching orders are not the same as the empire’s marching orders. 

And perhaps because we are follower of Jesus, we can see that the empire’s promises are empty and its glory a false façade. 

After all, we worship a God who proclaimed: 

Blessed are the poor in spirit …

Blessed are those who mourn …

Blessed are the meek … the merciful … the peacemakers … and

Blessed are [even] those who are persecuted” (Matthew 5:1-12). 

And we have the audacity to believe that Jesus was speaking truth, even in this upside-down, radical message. 

Friends, we resist anyone or anything that tells us that God’s love does not encompass all people; that some are more deserving than others of life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness. 

We will not stand for the scapegoating of LGBTQIA+ persons, or the immigrants and refugees among us. 

This is not politics. This is the Book of Revelation. The gospel or “good news” as it were. 

But we also know that what we resist is great at deception; it is sparkly and well-adorned, attractive to so many. Some will even ask ‘Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?’ and perhaps that is a form of worship and reverence, but perhaps that is also a form of cynicism and tired surrender. 

When we give up; when we feel like there’s no point in resistance, that, too, feeds the beasts. 

So keep your hearts tender. Practice love by loving your neighbor: those neighbors sitting next to you in the pews and those neighbors who are detained in detention centers. 

Valerie Kaur, a Sikh civil rights activist and author of See No Stranger, shared this this week: 

Last night at the Federal Building where they are caging our loved ones, we came with flowers. 

“We come here with flowers.

And we will keep coming here with flowers. 

As long as you hold our people in those cages –

we will come here with flowers. 

With our ancestors at our backs –

we will come here with flowers. 

With love as our guide –

we will come here with flowers. 

With the eyes of a sage and heart of a warrior –

we will come here with flowers. 

As long as we breathe — we will come here with flowers. 

Until we are all free – we will come here with flowers. 

As long as you are HERE, and they are THERE [our loved ones in this building]—we will come here with flowers.” 

Every Wednesday, at 6pm in La Placita, CA, outside the Federal Building, a group will gather and hold vigil, bringing with them, flowers. Flowers offered in love to those who are caged. Flowers in response to riot gear and billy clubs. 

Flowers in contrast to tear gas and weapons. 

Friends, we cannot resist the Empire by using the same tools of the Empire. We will turn swords into plowshares; bombs into flowers; and hate into love. 

The work is hard and countercultural. But we are not alone. 

As I shared in the welcome: Remember: Resistance is not a solitary endeavor. 

It only survives in the arms of the collective. And I would add in the arms of God. May it be so, Amen. 



1 https://kairoscenter.org/wess-daniels-revelation-as-resistance/