Today, I am reading and commenting on  Revelation 20-22.

I can never quite figure out how the thousand year reign described here fits with the other prophecies about Jesus’ Second Coming in other New Testament books (that does not mean I think it is in contradiction with them, just that I cannot understand how they fit together).  However, one part makes sense to me: the resurrection of those who were martyred for their faith in Christ.  These were those who had not worshiped the beast or received its mark.  The passage says that they will be blessed above and beyond those who are also faithful but do not suffer death for their faith.  Then John writes about the second resurrection when all of the remaining dead shall rise in order to come before God for judgement.  On that day the books which record the deeds of everyone will be opened and all will be judged based on what they have done, except those whose names appear in the book of life.  Ultimately, those whose names are not written in the book of life will be thrown into the lake of fire, along with devil, and suffer the second death.

Then God will create a new universe, one which will not experience any of the flaws which the current universe has as a result of sin.  The new universe will have no death, nor mourning, nor pain of any sort.  Those who have truly given themselves to God will live in this new universe in the presence of God, walking with God as Adam and Eve walked with Him before they disobeyed.  On the last day of 2022 it is time to remember that the last day of this earth will come soon.  Let us serve God here while we still have the opportunity to do so.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Revelation 17-19.

I struggle with putting together a blog on today’s passage.  The passage speaks of the woman who sits on a scarlet beast.  The woman is described as both a prostitute and as ruling over the kings (governments) of the earth.  The woman abuses those who follow Christ (drinks their blood).  The beast existed in the past, did not (does not?) exist for a time, then exists once again.  The heads and horns of the beast are kings (governments) who give their power to the beast.  Together the kings and the beast make war on Christ and His followers, but Christ will be victorious over them.  Despite sharing an animosity towards the Christians with her, the beast and its kings will hate the woman and seek her destruction.  The beast will succeed in destroying the woman, to the dismay of the kings who gave their support to the beast in her destruction.

I can see this prophecy reflected in the world today, although I am unsure that it is being fulfilled now.  As a side note, I believe that God intends for each generation to perceive aspects of the prophecies contained in the Book of Revelation as coming to fulfillment in the events they witness.  So, how could this prophecy apply today?  The woman would be the United States government.  The beast would be the various international organizations supported by world governments (if you look at these organizations, most of them share common goals and have overlapping governing boards).  These organizations all seem to hate the United States, yet all of the world would suffer badly if the United States was destroyed.  These organizations, and the U.S. government, are hostile to those who faithfully follow Christ.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Revelation 9-12.

John writes that when the fifth trumpet is blown a star will fall from the sky to earth and be given the keys to the Abyss.  When the star opens the Abyss, smoke will rise out of it and darken the sky.  Locusts, which look like horses, will emerge and torture those who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads.  The angel of the Abyss, also known as The Destroyer (Abaddon in Hebrew, and Apollyon in Greek) , was king over these locusts with the sting of a scorpion.  Tradition holds that Abaddon is one of Satan’s fallen angels, but there is reason to connect Abaddon with the angel who killed the first-born of Egypt, and the angel who spread the plague over Israel after King David’s census.  If those other angels were serving God in bringing destruction, perhaps Abaddon is also.  In fact we have four more angels who carried forth destruction at God’s command after the sixth trumpet is blown.

Which brings me to something that I want to pull out for extra attention.  After the sixth trumpet is blown, the four angels are released and kill one third of all mankind by plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur.  Yet, those who survived refused to repent of their sin and idolatry.  They did not turn from their murders, thefts, sexual immorality, or magic arts.  It strikes me as how true this is to human nature.  There have been several times in my lifetime when the actions of people led to suffering for many of those who performed those actions, yet others refused to stop taking the actions which increased the likelihood of suffering the same fate.  Likewise, we should remember this prophecy when trying to bring the Gospel to those around us: many of them will refuse to turn from their sin, even in the face of great suffering.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Revelation 4-8.

Yesterday I wrote that it is important that we pay attention to the symbolism in the Book of Revelation.  Today, my first thought was, “Why are there 24 elders?”  I tried to do an Internet search to see what others had thought and all I found were people discussing WHO those elders were.  While I can understand some people wondering who they were, I don’t think that who they are is important (if it was, John would have given us more information about that).  So, I then looked up what significance the number twenty-four has elsewhere in the Bible.  I found that David had divided those responsible for music in the Temple into twenty-four divisions and that the priesthood had also been divided into twenty-four divisions.  It also occurred to me that twenty-four is twice twelve.  Twelve being the number of tribes of Israel and the number of Apostles whom Jesus called while He was on earth.  Which leads me to conclude that the twenty-four elders appeared in this vision to remind us of the importance of worshiping God (the twenty-four divisions of musicians and twenty-four divisions of priests led the people of Israel in worship).

Then we have the scroll sealed with seven seals.  Now seven is the number of divine perfection.  Which explains why only the Lamb was worthy to open the scroll, because only the Lamb shared in divine perfection. Seven also carries the idea of completion.  The Children of Israel marched around Jericho for six days, then on the seventh day they marched around Jericho seven times with priests blowing on seven trumpets.  So, when the seventh seal was opened, revealing the completion of God’s plans for this world, seven trumpets were blown.  When the seventh trumpet was blown it indicated the completion of God’s perfect plan (although we do not get to that point in today’s passage).

So, let us worship God as His perfect plan moves to its perfect completion.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Revelation 1-3.

It is important when we read the Book of Revelation to pay attention to the symbolism.  So, I want to note that seven churches in Asia Minor were chosen as the recipients for this letter because seven is the number of divine perfection.  Yet, these churches were not perfect.  I want to spend a little time looking at what was written to these seven churches.  John was given nothing negative to write about two of them, and nothing positive to say about two more.  Let’s look at what he wrote about the two churches about which John wrote only good things.  About one of those churches, the church in Smyrna, he writes that they are poor, but rich.  About the other, the church in Philadelphia, he writes that they are weak, but that God has opened a door for them that no one will be able to close.  In both cases, the message is that if we dedicate ourselves to serving God, we will succeed even though by the standards of this world we do not have the strength or resources to accomplish that for which we strive.  Now, let us look at the two churches about which he has nothing positive to write.  At the first of those, the church in Sardis, he writes that they have a reputation for being alive, but aren’t.  And about the church in Laodicea, he writes that they are neither hot nor cold, they are just indifferent.  Further, he says they are the opposite of the church in Smyrna…they think they are rich, when in fact they are poor.  In both cases the church had lost its first love for God and they were merely going through the motions.  John writes that it would be better to make no profession of faith than the half-hearted one they currently had, it would be better to be one of the three churches about which John writes both good and bad.  The churches about which John had nothing good to write had avoided the failings of the three churches about whom John gave mixed reviews. but they also failed to do any of those things for which he praised those churches.  We will be better off being enthusiastic disciples of Christ who fail in some areas, than lackadaisical ones who do nothing particularly wrong, but also nothing particularly right.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.