DAY 358

ON THE EVE OF BATTLE

Habakkuk and Revelation 15

HABAKKUK was probably written about 640-615 bc, just before the fall of Assyria and the rise of Babylon (Chaldea). God used Assyria to punish Israel (we have read this, that year is 722); now he would use Babylon to punish Assyria and Judah. This prophecy would be fulfilled several decades after Habakkuk, in 586. The “theme question” of Habakkuk is, “How can God use a wicked nation such as Babylon for his divine purpose?” God judges all nations, said Habakkuk, and even Babylon would eventually be judged (Babylon fell to Persia in 539). Though God’s ways are sometimes mysterious, “the righteous shall live by his faith” (2:4) while awaiting salvation. There words are quoted three times in the New Testament (Rom. 1:17, Gal. 3:11 and Heb. 10:38).

Now onto REVELATION 15; it is rather short and we have that number seven again which I have noted often suggest the “essence” of something. Before we look into these seven bowls I want to take us back to two points:

1.      First, I have suggested that we read this Revelation as if it is a dramatic play with eight scenes – and we are in Scene 4: The drama of history—seven visions of a cosmic conflict. And we have been looking at five of these cosmic visions thus far.

2.      Second, Scene Five: Punishment for the world is the actual pouring out of the Seven Bowls. So when we read in 15:1 John saying he saw seven angels and seven plagues, have we started Scene 5?

I know I may be being a little persnickety, but I think it pays off to pay attention to some of these things. The idea of Seven, and not Five Visions, is the idea that in total the visions communicate the full essence of the drama of history. I want to suggest the Vision 6 is simply Revelation 15:1 and Vision 7 is Revelation 15:2-4, and that the actual Next Scene starts at 15:5.

Vision 6 is a simple short and powerful vision: seven angels and seven plagues…and it is the end of the wrath of God. In other words John sees the battle coming to an end.

Then in 15:2-4 he sees yet another vision—he sees the victory. I am not quite sure why the Bowls are not presented first: Perhaps the Seven Bowls are so terrifying that God is his mercy let’s John see that in the end there is victory. But my point is that by viewing the Scene through these Seven, we then see the full essence of the situation to include God’s punishment of the unrighteous, and God’s victory. (I will talk about punishment tomorrow.)

I can imagine the curtain falling as the victory song is being sung to the yet unfinished battle. If we think about it for a moment was there ever any doubt that God would be victorious?

This then reminds me of where I am in this REVELATION.

·         So far I have read of the Son of Man writing to “Seven Churches”—or to the essence of the One Church of every generation—we are not a perfect church and we have our foibles and challenges.

·         I have read of the “Seven Seals” the scene which shows the suffering which this every generation struggling (yet indestructible) church must endure knowing that the Seventh Seal—which is yet to opened—is the time when full victory will be won and rest will be achieved.

·         In parallel with the Church, the third scene blasts with “Seven Trumpets” warning the World. Again with the Seven as if these warning are the essence of what the world should worry about.

·         Lastly—at least up to this point—as I have been reading about the earthly struggle of the church and the world—I am given through John a glimpse of the cosmic conflict in the spiritual world as “Seven Visions” are shared of beasts, and angels, and the Lamb.

·         Seven Letters—Seven Seals—Seven Trumpets—Seven Visions: the point I think is that the REVELATION is showing us the essence of the full span of history.

And yet, and yet, the victory has not been won and the Lord’s chosen have not yet been fully restored…these scenes await us as the Victory Song is being sung on this Eve of Battle and so we brace ourselves as the curtain is about to rise on Scene 5. I know you are reading this on Christmas Eve...but in some ways, in many ways, Jesus was born of Mary so that this victory would be won...on this Christmas Eve, he is on the Eve on Battle.

DAY 357

MORE SEEING

Nahum and Revelation 14

“NAHUM: When Jonah preached repentance on the streets of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, the people responded and were spared. A century later, Nahum preached in a time when Nineveh would not repent, sometime between 663-612 b.c. Nineveh, which had destroyed Israel’s northern kingdom in 722, itself, fell to Babylon in 612—just a few years after Nahum’s warning. The Assyrians were notorious for the brutality of their treatment of other nations. Nahum declared, however, that God is sovereign: he punishes whom he will, and they are powerless to stop him. Much of Nahum’s prophecy was directed the people of Judah, who could rejoice at the good news of Nineveh’s impending fall.” (ESV Study Bible Introduction)

As we turn to Revelation 14 we read of three more visions. As a reminder we are in Scene 4 which offers us Seven Visions of cosmic conflict. Yesterday we studied two of them, and today we read of three more.

Revelation 14:1-5 provides us the third vision of the Lamb and his followers. We note that the Lamb is on his mountain, you might say the mountain of the Lord. This phrase the Mountain of the Lord is found in several spots in the Old Testament: Isaiah 2 and Micah 4 to name just two. Let us deal first with the number of people, the 144,000 – who are they and what does the number mean. The text tells us who they are, they are the ones who believe in the Lamb—the church—God’s people. The number 144,000 is not some limit, but rather (again) a figurative number. Maybe it is 12 times 12 times 1000 as if to say a large number of people as it draws on the symbolic significance of the number 12. That is just speculation. What is not speculation is the point that these are the ones who are sealed, God’s servants (see Revelation 4). And don’t get hung up and the virginity thing, this probably has to be more associated with figurative language communicating that the followers of the Lamb have not defiled themselves with evil. It is quite simply a vision of the followers of the Lamb gathered round him; there are many of them and they are fully committed to the Lamb.

Revelation 14:6-13 provides us a vision of angels of grace, doom, and warning. This fourth vision is fairly straightforward. Yes it is dramatic, but remember the “beasts,” these beasts are wielding power and seeking to draw people to themselves…and they have real power and influence. In contrast we have the vision of people gathered round the Lamb, and now a vision of three angels that spell out the consequence of following the beasts. The vision is to encourage the saints (you and me) to persevere.

Revelation 14:14-20 provides us a vision of a final reaping. Yes there is an end, and there is a judgment. Again the key is to not assign too much to the drama, but recognize the drama is trying to communicate how big a deal God’s message really is. I mean, think about it—is it not a big deal that the world will end and God will judge? I think it is and you probably cannot have a drama that overstates it.

DAY 356

WALK HUMBLY

Micah 6 & 7 and Revelation 13

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

As we turn to Revelation 13, I wanted to highlight this verse from Micah. It is one of those verses you want to memorize. I find it curious that we are told to walk humbly with our God on the day we are reading about beasts that exalt themselves.

Let us break down Revelation 13 into three pieces: The First Vision—the Beast from the Sea (vv.1-10); The Second Vision—the Beast from the Earth (vv.11-17); The Number of the Beast (v.18).

Let me begin with the end. The commentator I am leaning heavily on concludes the first beast from the sea is Satan’s perversion of society, the beast from the earth is Satan’s perversion of the Church, and the number does not stand for any person or institution…it stands simply for the beast. You can stop right here if you like, if not here is a bit more.

The first vision: the beast from the sea—the dragon’s seven heads and ten horns showed that power was his very essence. What Satan desires most of all is to have God’s omnipotence and this beast is one of Satan’s attempts to that end. [In my day 355 ½ posting on Numbers I wrote about the number seven.]

We are not used to this type of writing; apocalyptic. People of John’s day would be used to it. They would be well schooled in Old Testament’s apocalyptic book, the Book of Daniel. In Daniel, he explains his vision of his beast as the four great kings. In Revelation we are shown a beast with diadems (a crown worn as a sign of sovereignty) and a throne. The beast is a symbol of worldwide power politics. For John this would be the Roman Empire, but every generation faces their own “Rome.” This Scripture is not anti-government; nor is this Scripture about one government. Rather the Scripture points out how this beast rises from the Spiritual world to infect and pervert the good things of this world, in this case government and it does so in every generation…and the image of this beast is meant to communicate that this infection is no small thing. How long will this last? The text answers 42 months. Curiously this is the same length of time the two witnesses will prophesy (11:3) and the woman survives in the desert (12:4). What does this mean? I will spare the details, but the thought is that this is a figurative way of saying the “time of the nations”—this means we need to ignore the time element and simply understand that there will be a time period when nations, when governments shall rule. During that time the church will survive, albeit challenged and even persecuted, but this time period of governments will come to an end…that I believe is why it is described as a fixed period of time…meaning it has an end.

The second beast looks like a lamb and speaks like a dragon! It is the beast that corrupts the faith, the beast of false religion. It even works great signs! However in the end it demands allegiance, even marking or setting oneself apart for this false religion. How can you tell if it false? Ask a few simple questions: Does it lead to Jesus? Does it follow what we read in Micah? Is it in complete agreement with the Scriptures, or does it twist them into its own meaning? I can make it even simpler, this beast is any religion, philosophy, or ideology that sets its hope in salvation upon human endeavor and not the grace found in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Finally we come to the number. I will write a separate post on it, and if you want you can read it. Consistent with my posts on Revelation I do not see it as some secret code, nor do I see it standing for a specific person, rather I see it as a sign of the beast, the beast that in any shape or form, sets itself up against Almighty God. Which brings me back to Micah…I imagine the beasts are the exact opposite of that verse.

DAY 355 ½

NUMBERS

NUMBERS: Revelation has a lot of them. And it is not that it has a million different numbers, instead it seems to use the same numbers over and over. Take the number seven for example. There are seven lamps, stars, spirits, seals, and trumpets, and the red dragon has seven crowns…and that is just one example. In a book such as Revelation the numbers probably have symbolic meaning and are not for statistics.

Before I dive in a word of caution is appropriate. Some have taken this too far as if the Bible contains some sort of secret code…I do not intend to go so far. With that caveat let’s look at three of the numbers of Revelation.

24: Practically the only place we find this number is in Revelation. There are 24 elders and we certainly think of the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles – some see it as the linking of the Old and New.

4: There are many in Revelation, for example the four living creatures, the four compass points, the four winds. They are thought to represent the created world.

7: In contrast to the number 24, the number 7 appears frequently in the Bible. Though they appear frequently, the also appear in clusters, especially when describing rituals, and altars, and sacrificial animals, and more. It also is found in social relationships, and indeed the opening of the Bible is 7 days…and if you look closely at the end of the Bible some has suggested that there is a 7 “beat” rhythm to Revelation. I could go on, but the point is that in our world we find our religion, our social norms, and Creation is the cycle of seven…and scientists and more puzzle over why humanity seems to have this response to seven-cycle vibrations!

Some have suggested the 7 represents the entirety of something, but might it represent the essence of it. Might the 7 churches in Revelation not represent the entirety of the church, but the essence of the real church? If the seven letters show the church as it really is, might the seven seals show the world as it really is?

DAY 355

VISION: SEEING CLEARLY

Micah 4 & 5 and Revelation 11:19 - 12

I can see clearly now the rain is gone.
I can see all obstacles in my way.
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind.
gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshinin' day.
It's gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshinin' day.

I doubt after this blog you will be singing this jingle, but I pray that my comments might help you see more clearly what you are reading today in Revelation. We have entered SCENE 4: THE DRAMA OF HISTORY—SEVEN VISIONS OF COSMIC CONFLICT.

Typing the number seven again reminds me that I still owe you a post on numbers, but let’s just pause and look at the title of Scene 4. It is a drama, a drama of history, and this drama consists of seven visions of conflict that take place at the spiritual level. This Scene will cover from 11:19 all the way to 15:14.

Today is we read the opening of the Scene, we meet the characters, and we are introduced to the plot. Let’s begin:

The opening: ¹⁹ Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. Heaven here does not seem to be a place of perfection; there is an earthquake, and hail. This heaven is like the heaven we read about in Scene 2…in other words we are seeing the spiritual or cosmic realm. And the Temple is not so much a place as it represents the place where God dwells…and God dwells in this spiritual realm. 

The characters: A woman bearing a child, a red dragon with seven crowns and ten horns, and a child! Two of them are portents: a sign or warning that something, esp. something momentous or calamitous, is likely to happen. The woman and the red dragon are the portents. Several bible commentators can take you through the reasoning, but here is the end…the woman represents Israel (and then the church) and the dragon (with crowns to indicate earthly rule and horns to indicate power) is Satan and the child represents Christ…he comes not only from Mary, but indeed from Israel.

The plot: The text reveals the Archangel Michael and his troops fight the Evil Archangel and his. We read of Michael in Daniel, he is the heavenly champion of Israel. Said simply there is a heavenly battle between God’s army and Satan’s. We read that Satan is overthrown, and has not gotten the child. What is left for him to do? Torment the woman…the church. Yet the text clearly says that while he may be able to torment, that because of the Lamb, the people of the church can claim victory…and so we proclaim…death where is thy sting…death where is thy victory…consider before Revelation was written, St. Paul penned these words:

⁵⁰ I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
⁵⁵ “O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

DAY 354

THE SEVENTH TRUMPET

Micah 1, 2 & 3 and Revelation 11:1 – 18

As promised, today I want to speak about Revelation 10 and 11…but only up to 11:18. I mentioned awhile ago that the Chapter and Verse arrangement is not overly helpful for Revelation. I have been using the idea of a dramatic play, we are in Scene 3 which is a Warning for the World, and that scene ends at 11:18.

Beginning at 10:1 we have been “hearing” these warning as trumpets are sounded.  In chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 we had been reading about seals, and how at the seventh seal there was silence. I had earlier commented that as we read the sequence of what St. John saw and wrote, we should not assume it is the chronological order. It seems as if the Seals and the Trumpets are parallel. The seals describe the suffering of church in the midst of all this earthly tragedy, while it is the trumpets that announce these tragedies to the world. Since the 2^nd verse of chapter 8 we have been in the middle of these Warnings for the World announced by trumpets:

·         The first trumpet—the earth is stricken, The second trumpet—the sea is stricken, The third trumpet—the river is stricken, The fourth trumpet—the sky is stricken, The fifth trumpet—announces torment, & The sixth trumpet—announces destruction

In chapter 10:1-7 we see the beginning of the sounding of this seventh trumpet. It begins with seven thunders, and as John was going to write about the thunder he is told not to…for there will be “no more delay.” It is interesting to look at the Greek  of the word in verse 7 which is translated, “announced”—it could easily be translated “preached the gospel.” With trumpet seven that Gospel age will be completed.

From 10:8 to 11:14 we read in very figurative terms of an unrepentant world. This is nothing new from all we have read in the Scriptures. What do you make of the sweet-then-bitter scroll? It is first as sweet as honey, but then turns bitter in the stomach. Consider Good News when a prophet first hears it. It is delicious, wonderful to the ears and sweet to the mouth. Then, as the prophet declares this Good News to an unrepentant world, there is bitterness as the world rejects it.

Much speculation has been made regarding the two witnesses, but some (many?) believe it is Moses and Elijah based on verses 11:5/6. But we must not allow ourselves to go down and interesting path that might cause us to lose focus…for the Seventh Trumpet is about to sound.

The world has been warned (we might say “is” being warned) and when we get to the point in time that there is to be “no more delay” then there will be no more time…for the Seventh Trumpet has sounded. Here is the tough reality that we often want to dilute…when the trumpet sounds, it is over. The fond hope that God will offer one more chance is contrary to Scripture and reason. The truth we find in Revelation is that time will come to an end. 

DAY 353

WHEN YOU GO 180°OPPOSITE GOD

Jonah and Revelation 10

OK, so hold that thought we regards to Revelation 10. I will write about Revelation 10 and 11 tomorrow. Today I want to talk about Jonah. It is a story that I can relate to.

Jonah is told to go to Nineveh. Jonah hates Nineveh and all its inhabitants. Why? Because this is the capital of Assyria, these are the people who captured and dragged off the Israelites. These, you might say, are the sworn enemies of Jonah. He would be happy if God smote them!

God has other plans; he always does. God’s plan is that everyone comes home, even our enemies. It requires that stubborn and proud hearts repent, and the Ninevites did.

Jonah resists his God-given mission. He gets on a ship and heads in the exact opposite direction – literally. So what happens, not just to Jonah, but to those on the ship? They get caught up in the storm of sin. This happens today. When you are around people who sin, you get caught up in it—you literally end up in storms that you had nothing to do with save the people you find yourself in the company of. This is real. We need to pay attention to who we are hanging out with. Yes Jesus hung out with sinners, but Jesus knew he was and he was ready for it. We too should hang out with people who need God, and yes we should be prepared for it. Back to Jonah.

So after a date and a detour with a fish, Jonah goes and proclaims God’s message…and it works! Jonah is not happy, and here is a wonderful interaction between God and Jonah compliments of a small shade tree. How many times are we not happy with God?

Take a moment and see if you can locate events and episodes in your life that correlate to this story…and remember God loved Jonah and he loves you…the point is to obey Him, it always goes better that way.