Standing in a field close to the site of the 13th-century Battle of Llandeilo Fawr, Simon Bowkett opens Revelation 5:9 and asks a question that cuts right to the heart of contemporary debate: where is the line between loving your nation and making an idol of it?

In this Word for the Week, Simon works through one of the most theologically loaded words in the New Testament: the Greek preposition ek, used in Revelation 5:9 to describe the Lamb purchasing people "from" (ek) every tribe, language, people and nation.

For the Greek grammar geeks, it turns out this is the partitive use of ek, referring to a subset drawn from within a larger whole without obliterating that whole ... and when the rubber hits the road it makes very much more sense than it sounds like!

It turns out that single grammatical detail has enormous consequences for how we think about nationhood, welcome, cultural identity, and the Wales Nation of Sanctuary declaration.

Simon traces the biblical trajectory from Genesis 12 and the covenant with Abraham, through Psalm 87 (nations enrolled in Zion's register), Isaiah 49 and 56 (salvation to the ends of the earth, the house of prayer for all nations), and the New Testament handling in Galatians 3:28, Acts 2 (Pentecost and the gift of many tongues), Matthew 28, and Revelation 22 (the nations bringing their glory into the New Jerusalem).

The conclusion is consistent ... check it out in the video!

QUIZ

What was that technical Greek grammatical term for the use of ek in Revelation 5:9?

a) Genitive absolute

b) Partitive use of ek

c) Ablative of source

d) Instrumental dative

Which Old Testament psalm enrolls the nations (Egypt, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, Kush) in Zion's register as born in the city of God?

a) Psalm 22

b) Psalm 72

c) Psalm 87

d) Psalm 110

At Pentecost in Acts 2, how does the Spirit reverse the confusion of languages from Babel?

a) By creating a single new universal language

b) By speaking through every tongue simultaneously

c) By translating all speech into Hebrew

d) By granting the apostles the gift of silence

According to Philippians 3:20, what does it mean for a believer's primary citizenship to be in heaven?

a) That earthly belonging must be abandoned entirely

b) That national identity is sinful

c) That earthly belonging is always relativized and subordinated to God's kingdom

d) That Christians should not vote or engage in politics

What is the point at which legitimate love of nation becomes idolatry, according to this?

a) When you learn a minority language

b) When national preservation becomes a religious duty overriding other obligations

c) When you vote for a nationalist party

d) When you prefer your own culture to others

Answers: 1-b, 2-c, 3-b, 4-c, 5-b

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