Revelation 7

I must warn you, and apologize to you, in advance, that I will be on my blog only sparsely for the near, foreseeable future.  I’m am currently reading God’s Passion for His Glory by John Piper, with the second part being The End For Which God Created The Worldby Jonathan Edwards.  So it will be awhile before I finish that (though I am ready to start with Edwards, which I am overly joyed with!).  I am also working on a much larger work, which will hopefully turn out to be a book.  So with all that said, let us divulge into the Scriptures!

In the first verse of Revelation 7, we see that God has prepared His angels for the destruction of the world.  The first verse says that the angels are “standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth….”  We next see that these winds are the winds of destruction when “another angel ascending from the rising of the sun” said “‘Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees….”  Something important to note about this angel is the sense of hope that arises in his coming.  Note that this angel ascends “from the rising of the sun.”  Dawn, or the rising of the sun, has often been used as a symbol of hope.  One of the most notable examples of this is in Peter Jackson’s film (based on the book by J.R.R. Tolkien) The Two Towers.  At the Battle for Helm’s Deep, the dawn is used as a symbol of hope; Gandalf tells Aragorn “Look for my coming on the fifth day; at dawn, look to the east.”  Look to the east.  Look to the rising sun.  Look to hope.  We can next see that God waits until He has prepared and sealed His people before destroying the earth.  Now, this seal of God symbolizes His protection, as can be seen in Ezekiel 9: 4 and 6:  Verse 4, “The LORD said to him[the man clothed in linen, see verse 3], ‘Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its [Jerusalem] midst.’”  Verse 6: “[The LORD speaking]‘Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark [of the Lord]….”  “Do not touch any man on whom is the mark….”  God’s seal is the seal of divine protection.

In verses 4-8, we see that the people of God are sealed.  An important thing to note is that John hears the number 144,000.  I think that this is not a literal number, but is rather a symbolic number.  It represents a huge number.  Think about it.  12 times 12 times 1000.  Now, there is also something else of importance to see.  Notice how not all of the nation of Israel is going to be saved, strengthening the belief that the Abrahamic Promise was a symbolic promise, not meaning the Jews, but the true believers in Jesus Christ, True Israel.

This idea of the number 144,000 being symbolic is that John next saw a great multitude.  This great multitude consists of “every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues.”  This is the ultimate fulfillment of the Great Commission, a great hope for evangelical Christians.  This proves that our efforts will not be in vain.  I hope that this provides you with hope in your daily struggles.  We can also see that this great multitude cries out for salvation, as David does is Psalm 3:8.  In verses 11-12, we see yet again the re-occurring theme that all things will worship God.

In the next two verses (13-14), we are warned of this “great tribulation” that the saints come out of in Matthew 24:21.  We also see no mention of a rapture.  This is very important, as it shows that the popular Left Behind Series have no real, Biblical standing.  They may be great reads, but they are not the truth behind the “end times.”  In the last three verses of the chapter, we can see three major things.  The first is that God shelters His people, as He will “spread His tabernacle over them.”  The next is that God will provide a place of peace and rest, where there will be no sorrow, for those who believe in the “name of the Son of God.”  This is a beautiful, magnificent promise.  Not only will there be peace, not only will there be rest, not only will there be no sorrow, but above all these things, we will be in the direct presence of God as He will “wipe every tear from their eyes.”  The last, though most certainly not least, is that the Lamb, who is the Christ of God, is the shepherd who leads us to the “springs of the water of life.”  This fulfills Jesus’s claims of Himself being the Good Shepherd, as well as Him being the true, Living Water.  An amazing promise when you think of it.  We will be forever satisfied in the glory of God, a truly beautiful thought, when considered to its extreme extent.

With this final word, I will say, or rather, I will recommend that each and everyone of you read God’s Passion for His Glory by John Piper.  Farewell for now, brethren in Christ.

Revelation 6

This chapter describes the first six seals that are broken off of the scroll of human history, or Time.  The very first thing to point out is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has authority over the destiny of man, as can be seen as Christ opens the seals.

Each of the first four seals releases a different horse and rider.  The first horse is the white horse.  Now the rider of this horse is Christ.  We can see this when we look at Revelation 19:11:  “And I [John] saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.”  This leads to the next point:  that this rider is not afraid to wage war; on the contrary, He carries a bow and sets out “conquering and to conquer.”  He is also given a crown, which represents His royalty and authority, which reinforces the statement that this rider is Christ.

The next horse, the red horse “was granted to take peace from the earth….”  He was given (an important word) a “great sword.”  This horse has only one purpose:  to cause war and tribulation “that men would slay one another….”  The next horse, the black horse, was given a pair of scales.  Now, these aren’t dragon scales or anything they’re a pair of these:

  Now, this horse was given the power of famine, though in a strange way.  One of the living creatures (from chapter four) said “‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; but do no damage the oil and the wine.’”  So, the prices of wheat and barley (the main source of food for the Western World at the time of the Roman Empire) increase to insane amounts.  A denarius was a day’s wages, and only getting a quart of wheat per day isn’t very much.  So then, this would be inflation, and most people wouldn’t get enough to eat.

The last of the four horses, the ashen (or sickly pale) horse, had a rider who ”had the name Death; and Hades was following with him.”  This rider, I believe is Satan.  What’s important from this horse is that of all of this power - “Authority was given to them [Death and Hades, same principle person, like Christ and Messiah] over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.” - is not only given (I told you it was important), but it is limited.  Only a fourth of the earth was given to this rider.  And with that, once something is given, it can easily be taken away.  This just proves that Satan is not all-powerful.

The fifth seal shows us that the saints (the followers of Christ) are sanctified.  But more importantly than that, we can see that even through these seals, time is not yet complete:  “until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”  With the breaking of the last seal, God displays His power through miraculous occurances of nature:  “the sun became black as sackcloth,” and “the stars of the sky fell to the earth,” and “the sky was split apart like a scroll…,” and “every mountain and island were moved out of their places.”  We can also see that men grow frightened of the terrific power of God.  We can see as well, that none are able to stand the wrath of God (see verses 15-17).

Revelation 5 (NASB)

There are several things in this chapter that are well worth discussing.  For the majority, this chapter is an introduction into the next three.  However, nothing in the Bible is without importance.  As a side note, I’ve retired my old Bible, and my new one is another translation.

In the first verse, we are introduced to the “book [or scroll] written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.”  There are two main things to note about this scroll.  The first is that it is written on the inside, which is normal, and on the outside, which is not normal.  I believe that this scroll symbolizes human history, or time.  The next thing to note is that this scroll is sealed with seven seals.  This, I believe, represents the completion of human history, of time.  This is the beginning of the end.  In verses 3-4, we see that nothing is worthy enough to approach the throne of God and take the scroll.  This symbolizes that nothing on heaven or earth is able to assume the power of God to command human destiney.  We also see that thie causes great distress for John, he “began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it.”  In the next verse (verse 5) we see that the “Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”  Christ, who is the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered death and been found worthy to open the scroll.

In verses 6-7, we see that this Lamb (and Lion) stood before the throne as though it had been slain.  This is further evidence that this is Jesus Christ.  We also can see that only Christ, and Christ alone, of all beings is worthy to approach the throne of God and open the scroll.

In verses 8-10, we can see that all of these creatures, from the four living creatures in chapter four to the twenty-four elders who surround the throne, will sing a new song of praise.  This song praises Christ for His sacrifice and gives a further explanation as to why Christ is worthy.  We can also see in this same song that all peoples will praise Christ and that Christ will make His people a “kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”  This kingdom, is not a physical, earthly kingdom, it is that kingdom of God, that smashes borders and annihilates nationality.  These priests are servants of God.  And when it says that “they will reign upon the earth,” it is not speaking of political rule or earthly kings; it is saying that we shall be heirs with Christ, to share in His reward of eternal life in the presence of God.

In verses 11 and 12 we can see that God is attended to by countless numbers of worshippers:  “and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands upon thousands.”  In Daniel 7:10, Daniel uses similar language when describing his vision:  “…thousands upon thousands were attending Him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before Him….”  Something that is very, very important to note is that all of these worshippers are singing with one voice.  This implies two things: 1) Unity of the Church, and 2) Diversity of the Chruch.  These two things are summed up in the phrase: “one body, many members.”  The unity of the Church can be seen through the unity of the voices of the worshippers, they all sing the same song at the same time.  The diversity can be seen through the “many angels,” and “the living creatures [from Rev. 4],” and “the elders.”  We can thus conclude that the many members of the Body of Christ are all in fact one body, as Paul says in Romans 12:3-5:  “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgement, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.  For just as we have many members in one body [human body] and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many;, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.”  In verses 13 and 14. we can see that (again) that all things created, “in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them…,” will praise God.  This idea is reinforced in verse fourteen, when the four living creatures “kept saying “Amen.”  And the elders fell down and worshipped.”  Man and beast will praise the name of God.

Revelation 4

We are now getting into the thick of the book of Revelation; and this is my absolute favorite chapter in the entire book.  I do encourage you all to read along with me, as well as to study on your own.  I’m sure that you’ll see why later. So, without further adieu, let us begin.

The first few verses hold some very important visual symbols for us to analyze.  The first is in verse two:  “At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.”  The picture of the throne shows us a picture of the royalty of God; only kings would sit on a throne during the era of the Roman Empire.  Another thing is the phrase “one seated on the throne.”  There is only one ruler of the heavens and the earth and everything under the earth and He sits on the throne in heaven.  But perhaps my favorite verse in this entire chapter is the first part of verse 3:  “And he who sat on the throne had the appearance of jasper and carnelian….”  Both jasper and carnelian were very precious jewels; jasper was considered one of the most precious jewels around, and carnelian was used throughout the Roman Empire as signet rings.  But the important thing is that that phrase is all John ever says to describe God.  Why?  Because is so glorious, He so amazing, that He defies human understanding, He defies human vocabulary.  After just this simple phrase, John moves on to describe the scene around the throne.

The picture that John gives us is simply amazing.  The throne is both serene (”around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald”) and terrifying (”From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder”).  This same throne is surrounded by four fearsome and magnificent creatures, each representing a characteristic of God.  The first of the four living creatures, who was “like a lion,” represents God’s royalty and God’s majesty; as the lion is often referred to as the king of the beasts.  The second living creature, who was “like an ox,” represents the strength of God.  The third living creature, “with the face of a man,” represents the dignity and wisdom of God; man is the most dignified (at least in theory) and the wisest of all creation.  The fourth living creature, who was “like an eagle in flight,” represents the gracefullness and the beauty of God.

In verse 8, John tells us the purpose of these creatures; which is to praise God night and day, ceaselessly (”and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty. who was and is and is to come!’”).  These creatures were created for one purpose and one purpose only, to glorify God unceasingly.  John also tells us that even kings and princes will bow down to God; this can be found in verse 10.  Something else very important to note is that all things, animate and inanimate, man and beast will praise the name of God.  We have already seen how the four living creatures praise God.  In verse 10-11, we seen that men will praise God; and in the first part of verse 6, we see that even the beauty of a sea of glass pleases God.  This is the purpose of all creation, to praise and glorify God.

Revelation 2 and 3

Well, this has changed from a 31-part series to a 30-part series.  In these two chapters, there isn’t too much to note.  However, there is no unnecessary part of the Bible.

We see repeatedly that John is a messenger and servant of Christ.  Christ tells John to write to that churches.  Notice that Christ does not ask John to write these letters, He commands him, just as He commands us.  Is this to say that John is a slave?  By no means!  John, like us, is a willing servant, willing to do the will of Christ.

Another important thing to notice is that is all these letters, the churches are equal, yet have their own distinctions.  For example, Christ has some compliment to pay to each of the chuches, and also something that He wants each to improve in.  Each of these things is different.  However, all of these letters contain one compliment and one critique.  Something else is that Christ shares the same love with each of these different yet equal churches.  This can be seen in Revelation 3:19, where Christ says that all who He loves, He reproves and disciplines.

After this, Christ calls us to repentance, reinforcing the idea of that “already but not yet” concept.  We’re already cleansed of our sin, but we are not yet perfect; God has washed us clean in the blood of the Lamb, but we are not yet complete in Him.

The next post will be on Revelation 4.

Revelation 1 (ESV)

This is the introductory post in our study of the book of Revelation.  As such, it is somewhat fitting to begin with the first chapter.

An important thing to note is that right from the beginning, John (the author of the book) is establishing the authority of what he is about to write down.  He also tells us that the things which he is about to tell us must soon take place.  In the second verse, John asserts his own credibility by saying “…John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ…”  He is making sure that his audience knows for certain that what he is telling us in this book is credible.

In verses 4-5a, John gives us a greeting.  Another important thing to note in these verses is that John is starting the main part of the book (everything after 1:1-3) with God, in turn focusing the entire book on God.  In the next set of verses (5b-8), John starts out by praising God; he says:  “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be the glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen.”  Directly after this, John tells us that Christ is indeed coming again, that He is “coming with the clouds.”  He tells us that when Christ comes, people will wail and mourn on account of Him.  Then John says:  “Even so.  Amen.”  Whether praising God or lamenting because of sin, even so, amen.  So be it.

However, the main passage of this introductory chapter is verses 9-20; John’s vision of Christ.  In verses 9-11, John again reassures us that these words come directly from God.  In the next five verses, John gives us very descriptive accounts of the Son of Man.  He first gives a picture of royalty: “…one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.”  This convinces us that this vision is indeed of Christ, as He is often referred to as the Prince of Peace, King of Kings, so on and so forth.  After this, John gives us a picture of the sheer glory of this Son of Man.  “…His eyes were like a flame of fire…his voice was like the roar of many waters…In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharpt two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.”  All of these descriptions are visions of glory, from the mighty sword to the roaring voice, from the eyes of fire to the shining face, this is all testifying to the glory of the Son of Man.

In verses 17-19, we see John falling at the feet of this Son of Man.  This is a significant event, showing that this was not an angel appearing to John.  In every account of angels visiting humans, and those humans falling down to worship said angels, these angels told the humans something to the effect of “Do not worship me, I am but a fellow servant.”  The Son of Man does not say that.  Instead, He says:  “Fear not…[I am] the living one.  I died, and behold I am alive forevermore…”  This proves to us that this is not an angel visiting John.  Verse 20 tells us something that I believe is fairly significant.  Christ says:  “As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”  The number seven, which is used very, very frequently in Revelation, is a number of completion.  I believe that this symbolism of the number came from the Creation (the seven days of Creation.  However, that is not what is significant.  We see that on the right hand of Christ are angels, worshippers, as we will see later on.  The seven lampstands (again, all of the church, seven being the number of completion, thus, the complete church) are seen earlier, specifically verses 12-13, surrounding Christ.  We can thus conclude a very important piece of information:  That Jesus Christ is surrounded by worshippers.  That the heavenly beings worship Jesus Christ and all of creation will worship Christ (see verse 7).

The next post will be on Revelation 2.  Just for a head’s-up.

Coming Next

Coming next will be a 31-part study of Revelation.  You’ll have to be patient, as I will be going through the entire book and it will probably take awhile.  Have a good week and God bless!

A Sign For The Worst?

This article is a story about Russia’s recent Victory Day celebrations.  The holiday marks the defeat of Nazi Germany, and also commemorates the veterans who served in WW2.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against this.  What I do have a problem with is the way Russia celebrated it.  Here, check it out:  http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/05/09/russia.parade.ap/index.html#cnnSTCVideo (I couldn’t get the stinkin’ thing to show up on the blog, so…)

Now watch this and tell me that it isn’t reminiscent to a communist parade.  Why would they (being Russia) go around and parade their military?  It’s to show their power.  I’m telling you, Russia has gotten more and more communistic in the last five years than almost any other nation.  The current prime minister (who was re-elected), Vladimir Putin, has gone through tremendous pains just to ensure his continued control of the country.  This has me worried.  But not just because this one guy is obsessed with power.  The country (led by Putin) has harassed Georgia, a former Soviet country, which I’m sure Putin would love to have back under his control.  I mean seriously, what’s the point of shooting down a spy plane that belongs to a country that’s less than half the size of your own.  Not to mention the fact that  Russia would eat Georgia for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and some leftovers for dessert.

But beyond this, the control that Vladimir Putin wields really unnerves me.  He literally controls the government.  So with all this said, I’ll get to the point.  I think that, sometime in the future, Russia will again return to communism.

Guys Like Girls, Am I Wrong?

Okay, so I have a lot of time today, and I’m going to talk about something I’ve wanted to talk about for a long time.  If you don’t like the title, well…too bad.

Guys like girls, right?  So what’s wrong with having sex?

Nothing.  I don’t have anything against having sex.  I do have something against having sex outside of marriage though.  Why?  Because, we are to keep our bodies pure for God.  Because in the beginning, when God created the world, there was one man and one woman, not one man and all his women.  Because we are supposed to be perfect in the sight of God.  Because sex is a gift, not to misused (as is the case with the vast, vast majority of Americans (and people in general) today).  These are just a few reasons.

Okay, so I can still look, right?  I mean, the rule is “look but don’t touch,” right?

That might be 21st century America’s rule, but not God’s.  Jesus said that whoever looks at a woman with lust in his heart has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  So, that pretty much blows that “rule” to pieces.

Well, the only reason I do it is because my parents said I can’t.

Oh boy, now we’re getting into it, aren’t we?  Let’s put the blame on our parents.  If they said we couldn’t do it, we wouldn’t do it, right?  Wrong.  It doesn’t matter whether your parents said “Yeah, I don’t care, have sex,” or “No, I care about you, I don’t want you to do anything stupid, so you can’t have sex,” or whether or not they’ve ever said anything to you; you’re still gonna want to have sex, trust me, I know.  Even beyond that, we’re supposed to honor our parents, not disobey them.  So not only are you committing one sin (sex outside of marriage), you are committing another one on top of that (dishonoring your parents by disobeying them).  So now, by attempting to put the blame on your parents, you’ve just made yourself double guilty.

I’m just doing it to be counter-cultural.

Making more excuses?  Great, let’s tear those apart too.  You really want to counter-cultural?  Then why are you doing what the culture does?  Want to be rebellious?  Then why are you blending in?  Everyone is doing it (literally).  Why do you think that instead of teaching abstinence in those sex-ed classes (yes, I’ve had to sit through them…ugh…), they’re now teaching you how to use a condom and showing you pictures of infected parts?

If everyone is doing it, then I can too, right?

Um…no.  If everyone started killing each other, would that make it right?  Besides, I thought you wanted to be counter-cultural?  If everyone is doing it, and you want to be counter-cultural, then you should start doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing.

You really want to know why everyone is having sex outside of marriage?  It’s because you are a slave.  You’re a slave to sin.  You do whatever your body (and your sinful heart) wants you to do.  Want a way out?  Want some way to get over this sin, to escape bondage?  Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, lived a perfect life and died a perfect death to be a sacrifice for your sin.  Why?  Because that’s the only way to pay for sin.  The wages of sin is death.  Meaning, if you sin, you deserve to die, no exceptions.  So how does Jesus’ death help you?  Well, it wouldn’t do much good by itself.  But guess what?  Christ was raised from the dead!  Christ killed death, literally.  Christ will save all those who believe in Him.  Want to hear more?  Just ask, I’ll be happy to share.

On War and God

Wow, how long has it been since I posted?  Man…anyways…I”m going to be joining the Army.  If that’s relevant or not, I’ll let you decide.  I’ve often heard the question raised “If God is against killing, then isn’t war unBiblical?” (Or something to that effect).  So, let’s begin, shall we?

First of all, we have to know that God isn’t against killing, per se.  God is against murder, big difference.  Murder is the killing of an innocent person.  God is against that.  In fact, God uses war (and thus killing) on several occasions (take, for instance, God leading the Israelites to conquer the Palastines).  Not even to mention the fact that (I never really have understood that phrase, by the way) God actually wages war constantly.

Next, we must understand what war is.  War is not the slaughter of innocent lives.  To help understand war more effectively, let me provide an example.  The War on Terrorism.  The United States is not waging war against innocent Muslims.  The United States is waging war against terrorists, who are threats to democracy, freedom, and life.  This is not murder, this is war.

So is war unBiblical?  Absolutely not.  Paul tells us to put on the full armor of God, how can we be pacifistic?  To put on the armor (and to wield the Sword) implies that we are preparing for war, war against Satan, war against evil.  God is often depicted (especially in the Psalms and in Isaiah) as a mighty warrior, with a powerful sword, or a strong bow.  Why would God want to be depicted like this if He is pacifistic?  So, the short answer to the question is “No, war is not unBiblical, murder is.”

This is just a little something I’m throwing in, it has absolutely no relevance to this post.  If you have any requests for something you want me to write about, just tell me.  I’m always open to suggestion. 

Thanks,

The Administrator.  (I like the sound of that)