Do you remember being told the moral of a story when you were a child? Something that helped you understand life better? They aren’t just found in fables.
Morals are generally a pithy, short sentence which make sure you don’t forget or miss the point of the story. And a good one really sticks with you.
One of the morals that made a big impact on me as a child was from The Boy Who Cried Wolf. It’s a fable about a shepherd boy who used to laugh at lying until the day he needed people to believe him, and they didn’t.
The tragic consequences of the story really stuck with me, but more than that, I’d been the girl who used to cry wolf. After they told me this story, I learned to tell the truth, always.
However, I hadn’t needed anyone to tell me the moral of the story at the end. I instantly knew why they’d told it to me.
Sometimes, when God tells us a story, we don’t always get the lesson at the end until He tells it to us point blank.
God does tell simple stories, but He also tells rather complex ones too. Stories with meat.
Jesus told a lot of those. Thankfully, we have the New Testament, so we are privy to the moments He explained his stories once the crowds had wandered off.
But I was reading in Revelation the other day and stumbled over something which read remarkably like a moral of the story in a pithy, single sentence. Only, unlike the story of the boy who cried wolf, I had no idea what this summary sentence had to do with what I’d just read.
But I know God never puts something in the Bible without a reason.
And that little lesson at the end was there for a reason. So, I read the whole passage again. That’s when I figured out the moral of the story, and it was such an encouragement to me.
So, let’s talk about the passage.
Revelation chapter 13 is talking about the reign of the Beast. He is described as a leopard, bear, and a lion all mixed together. He has great power and authority.
The Beast sustains a mortal wound, but he doesn’t die. Instead, he is healed. And the people of the earth worship the dragon who healed him and the beast who was healed.
After that the beast goes on to blaspheme God, God’s name, God’s tabernacle, and those in Heaven. And the beast was given power to do this for forty and two months.
God then says, “If any man have an ear, let him hear.” (v. 9)
That pithy statement I understood. Jesus often used it to draw attention to a story so that people would remember it or as a way to encourage them to really think about the meaning of the story.
But God wasn’t done at verse 9.
He goes on to say that those who had led others captive would be led captive themselves and the same for those who had killed with the sword.
Now, comes the part I stumbled over. God finished all that with saying,
“Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” Revelation 13:10b
And that’s it. Just that.
My mind went blank. The whole passage had been about the beast and his followers. God hadn’t said anything about the saints.
What did they have to do with the story?
God hadn’t spoken of them being persecuted like in other chapters in Revelation. There was no story about where they had tried to escaped. The passage focused solely about the beast and his followers. What did this have to do with the saints?
So, I read verses 1-10 again, and that’s when I noticed things I hadn’t noticed before.
“…power was given unto” the beast for forty-two months.
No one is in a place of authority, unless God allows them to be there.
I’ll say that again. No one is in authority unless God allows them to be there. (Daniel 2:21 and Romans 13:1)
During the awful time of idol worship, the saints of that age must remember to be patient. To hold onto their faith that God has a purpose for allowing the beast to rule.
But it’s hard.
When the times are dark, when you fear the governing powers, it’s hard to hold onto patience and faith.
Remember: we never need patience unless things are bad.
Faith is about hoping and trusting in something you don’t have yet.
So, when the world is dark and your soul is shaken, remember the patience and faith of the saints. Remember God’s promises.
For the saints in Revelation, they find their promise in the earlier part of verse 10 and verse 5. The beast has power only for a set time. It will end. And those who led them captive would be taken captive. Those who killed them by the sword would one day be killed by the sword themselves. It would come to an end.
The moral at the end of this story is to remember God’s promise and stand on the Rock which doesn’t move.
I can’t say I’d ever thought much about this passage in the Bible before, but I’m rather fond of Revelation chapter 13 now. Because sometimes the world is a little rough. The future isn’t clear or easy, but we are not without hope.