Revelation 13:10

‘the endurance and the faith of the saints’
(Revelation 13:10)

The book of ‘Revelation’(Revelation 1:1) opens our ‘“eyes”’(2 Kings 6:17, cf. Revelation 4:1ff.) to a spiritual reality that we might otherwise miss, but is helpful to know about, and understand – at least in part. This study verse comes from the middle of a chapter warning about dark spiritual forces, depicted as a ‘beast’(Revelation 13:1ff.), which seems to represent sinister worldly ‘power… and… authority’(Revelation 13:2, cf. Daniel 7:3-7&17), and ‘another’(Revelation 13:11ff.) beast that leads people to ‘worship the first beast’(Revelation 13:12), all under the control of a ‘dragon’(Revelation 13:2&4) representing ‘the devil’(Revelation 12:9). Essentially the chapter seems to be ‘reminding’(2 Peter 3:1) us that ‘the whole world lies in the power of the evil one’(1 John 5:19), who has ‘blinded’(2 Corinthians 4:4, cf. 1 Corinthians 2:8&14) people spiritually, mankind having been duped and ‘taken captive… to do his will’(2 Timothy 2:26).

However, there are some ‘whose name has… been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life’(Revelation 13:8, cf. 2 Timothy 1:9, Ephesians 1:4ff., Romans 8:30, etc.), to whom this revelation was written as a call to ‘endurance and… faith… the saints’ as this verse describes them – those ‘called… out of darkness into… light’(1 Peter 2:9, cf. Romans 1:7). They need this encouragement since, in the same way that this verse is surrounded, they also dwell in the midst of these hostile forces maliciously marshalled against them by him who would ‘devour’(1 Peter 5:8) any who ‘keep God’s commandments and hold Jesus’ testimony’(Revelation 12:17, cf. John 15:18-20). However, thanks to such passages, we’re ‘not ignorant of his schemes’(2 Corinthians 2:11) or ‘wiles’(Ephesians 6:11). Moreover, despite these ongoing challenges from the devil and his subordinate powers of various kinds, we can be encouraged that God’s ‘“chosen ones”’(Mark 13:22) will endure ‘“to the end”’(Matthew 10:22&24:13).

Nevertheless, there will be suffering on the journey. Jesus warned that in this world His followers would ‘“have trouble”’(John 16:33), a fact echoed by Paul: ‘it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer’(Philippians 1:29). Consistent with that Luke described Paul, alongside Barnabas on the return leg of a mission trip, warning new converts to expect their path of Christian discipleship to pass ‘through many afflictions’(Acts 14:22, cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:4). Peter also taught that we must not be too ‘astonished’(1 Peter 4:12, cf. 1 Peter 2:21) when feeling the heat on the journey. It’s a battle, in which we’ll experience various forms of assault, ranging from the purely spiritual to physical, including attacks from within and without. Being forewarned like this by God’s word is part of our being forearmed – helpful prophylaxis. It’s a key aspect of our being armed with ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God’(Ephesians 6:17, cf. Matthew 4:1-11), which likewise equips us to defend against these plots more widely, including encouraging us to persevere and ‘have hope’(Romans 15:4).

We should note how the Holy ‘Spirit’ is key in this too, not only in our wielding the sword of the word effectively, but assisting with other elements of our spiritual ‘armour’(Ephesians 6:11ff.) as well, such as the ‘shield’(Ephesians 6:16) of ‘faith’(Galatians 5:22). The Holy Spirit is very much our ‘power’(Romans 15:13) in the battle, integral to all of these various defences that were given to deploy.

Faith is a key element mentioned here, obviously foundational to who we are in Christ: saved ‘by grace… through faith… the gift of God’(Ephesians 2:8), ‘through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit’(Titus 3:5). Then, having ‘believed’(2 Timothy 1:12), we can ‘through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope’(Galatians 5:5) already mentioned, which includes looking to the ‘things that are above’(Colossians 3:2ff.) and the ‘joy… set before’(Hebrews 12:2) us – all key ways to overcome any attack we might face, and persevere. As John put it, whoever ‘is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory… your faith’(1 John 5:4).

And so from this ‘faith’(Hebrews 11:1ff.) and ‘hope’(1 Thessalonians 1:3) flow the ‘perseverance’(Hebrews 12:1ff.) or ‘endurance’, which God helps us with through His Holy Spirit too, via qualities such as ‘patience… and self-control’(Galatians 5:22-23). So we must pray for one another, like Paul, that God might direct our ‘hearts into God’s love… the perseverance of Christ’(2 Thessalonians 3:5) and every other aspect of Their fruit in our lives as we ‘soldier’(2 Timothy 2:3) on, ‘rejoicing in hope, enduring in troubles, continuing steadfastly in prayer’(Romans 12:12), which all then compound to reinforce ‘our… hope’(Romans 5:3-4), until we reach our Home – eternal ‘victory’(1 Corinthians 15:57, cf. Revelation 19:20&20:10), ‘Amen’(Revelation 22:21, cf. Revelation 21:1ff.).

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