An Image of the Kingdom: Multi-Ethnic Churches?

When was the last time a language other than English was spoken in your church service? When was another language spoken in spaces other than music?

I have had the blessing of being part of a largely migrant church for the past two years, with a very ethnically diverse congregation including Malaysian Chinese, Korean, Singaporean, and Tongan (that’s me) members. One Sunday one of our energetic music leaders led us in a worship song in Malay. A few weeks later we had a song in Mandarin, and after that in te reo Mãori. It was a beautiful experience, as our congregation sang in a range of languages—some of which I did not understand—but languages that were close to the hearts of many members. It was a space where the multilingual nature of our congregation actually made its way into our service. As I attempted to sing the words on the screen (and was failing miserably), I was reminded of a verse in the final book of our Bible:

“After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.” Revelation 7:9 (emphasis added).

The Book of Revelation, or the Apocalypse of John, is possibly the most peculiar book in our New Testament Canon. It is littered with imagery and sounds, appealing to the senses. However, it is also a book with a wide spread of interpretations. How to approach Revelation is a crucial but complicated conversation, as John knits together the genres of letter, prophecy and apocalypse – a form of prophetic and political writing that was relatively common in the ancient world. As the name that we call the book tells, the book is about “revealing” or “unveiling.” John is writing to churches in Asia Minor in the first century, and showing them what God is really up to behind the scenes. Written to churches that are experiencing some form of social exclusion and persecution, John seeks to show them though Rome seems to be powerful and enticing, Rome is not all it claims to be. Behind the scenes, God is at work, ruling the world through the Lamb. It is within this message to these churches that this verse is found, a depiction of the people of God before the throne of God: worshipping. 

Every Nation, all Tribes, Peoples, and Languages

This phrase “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” is known as a fourfold formula. It echoes all the way back to Genesis 10, a passage known as the Table of the Nations, where seventy nations are listed and shown as descendants of Noah. There it shows both the origins of the nations in the biblical narrative, but also their connection to God. John draws on this phrasing and then utilizes it seven times throughout Revelation. Within apocalyptic literature numbers often have symbolic meaning. So, the use of the fourfold formula – four being a number which often represents the earth (think: four corners of the world)—seven times—a number representing completeness – is a clear image of the expansive description of all the nations of the earth.

Though the use of the fourfold formula in Revelation varies, this specific passage describes the people of God, before the throne of God and the Lamb, where they are joining with the angels, elders, and four living creatures in the worship of God and the Lamb. John looks and sees that they are people from every nation, and hears they are people of all languages.

Multi-ethnic, Multicultural, Multilingual Community

Curiously, while many commentaries focus on the presence of the fourfold formula, they often have limited engagement with how the four nouns within the fourfold formula describe this community. They are also often focused on tracking the intertextual connections that the fourfold formula alludes to and so they miss out on the rich imagery the passage provides. New Testament scholar J. Daniel Hays makes a simple but fascinating point about this depiction in Revelation 7:9, stating that it depicts a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual community. The significance of this observation—along with its ramifications—is worth extended thought. 

When scholars do engage with Rev 7:9 and how it describes the Church, they often focus on the multi-ethnic nature of the Church. For example, Hays states the text shows “The ultimate people of God, as portrayed in Revelation, are multi-ethnic, in fulfilment of God’s original intention.” This focus on the multi-ethnic aspect of the passage is justifiable due to the grammatical nature of this fourfold formula, as it is singular for nation, and then followed by three plurals. This could likely be, as Grant R. Osborne notes, because “the singular ‘every nation’ is the primary emphasis, and the other three supplement it.” Consequently, the noun ‘languages’ (γλωσσων) is present to elaborate on how people from every nation are present, that each people group differentiated by language is present in this multitude.

However, that does not mean the multilingual depiction is any less important. It is also an equally crucial depiction. John still uses the word language to differentiate the people groups, and shows that they use their differing languages before the throne of God. It is not disconnected from the multi-ethnic and multicultural nature of the images, as they are interwoven. Yet, when the multilingual depiction is taken seriously, it will have some much larger implications. The multitude is described as being a people of every language, yet their song is the same song. “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev 7:10). Here there is the weaving of unity and difference, as they cry out the same refrain, but in a multitude of languages, as people from every nation worship God. Melba Maggay, a Filipino social anthropologist, states “The praise offering that welled up inside them were products of their cultures, sung in their own tongues. While there was only one theme, we could imagine that the variations are infinite: the voices raised are of every conceivable rhythm and language.” The presence of language in the fourfold formula therefore also indicates culture, as one’s language is the lens into one’s culture, but also language reinforces group identity. Revelation 7:9 depicts cultural group identities as maintained through the presence of every tongue, and consequently, cultural identity is depicted as brought before the throne of God.

What is God up to in the World?

This image, the people of God gathered before God as a multilingual community, has profound implications for the Church today, especially in our globalised society. Maggay continues, “In a time when the forces of globalization tend to flatten out cultures and we get persuaded that the world is homogenizing, this vision tells us that ethnicity is not an accident of history. Our identity as tribes and peoples will not cease.” As Revelation “reveals” what is going on behind the scenes, it reveals that the people of God are a multi-ethnic people, but more than that, it is a multicultural and multilingual people. We see this further realised at the end of Revelation where the glory and honour of the nations is brought into God’s city, the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:24-26). There we also see the Tree of Life is there specifically for the healing of the nations (22:2). The final book of our Scriptures continuously depicts the people of God as from all nations, drawing on their language and culture and worshipping God through the way God created them.

As I reflect back on being with my congregation, singing in Malay, I am encouraged. Even if I did not fully know what was being sung, I was supporting my sisters and brothers in Christ as they sang worship to our God, as they worshipped in the language that God has given them, as they worshipped with how God has made them. It also provided me a glimpse into the beauty of the true multilingual nature of the Church.

However, it also provides a challenge. This multilingual nature was also limited to our music, only a part of our church service. Consequently, discussions around language and understanding must be had, alongside discussions about tokenism. What does this mean for churches that are primarily European? How does it look in a land governed by te Tiriti o Waitangi?

One thing’s for sure—God’s people are a people who draw together, bringing their linguistic and cultural diversity before God, worshipping God in their own tongue. And that excites me.

~

Timote Naulivou is currently an editor at Metanoia.