Revelation 7: The Lord Knows Those Who are His

Today’s reading is Revelation 7.

When the Lord sent plagues on Egypt, to judge Pharaoh, his nation, and his gods, during the fourth plague of flies, God “set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. Thus I will put a division between my people and your people” (Exodus 8:22-23, ESV). Pharaoh would not let Israel go worship the Lord. The Lord sent the flies, but made a distinction. The Lord knew His people.

Now, here’s the question. Did the Lord not know His people until the fourth plague? Of course, the Lord knew His people the entire time. This is an important point in Revelation. When Jesus broke the fifth seal in last week’s chapter, we witnessed disciples dying as horsemen from the previous seals rode forth from the scroll. Did God not know those who were His? Did He accidentally let them die?

No. The Lord knew those who were His during the events of the apocalypse just as He did during the events of the exodus. In fact, in this apocalyptic vision, God wants us to know full well He knows those who are His. However, He doesn’t just say it like Paul did in 2 Timothy 2:19:

But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his”… (ESV)

Rather, in the breaking of the sixth seal, when judgment comes on the earth, on the rich and the powerful, the slave and the free, God sends out angels to place a seal on the forehead of His people. We discover in Revelation 14:1 the seal was the name of the Father and the Lamb. Learning that, of course, reminds us of the word of the Lord to the church in Philadelphia in Revelation 3:12.

Please, don’t get bogged down in the 12,000 from each tribe. The point is certainly not that only 144,000 people are actually disciples of the Lord anymore than the point is Dan didn’t have any faithful disciples. To think every tribe would have exactly 12,000 faithful to the Lord is beyond reasonable. Clearly, the message is not about the numbers, but about the knowledge. God knows the ones who are His. He knows fully and completely. We who are His may experience hardship, persecution, and even execution during times of tribulation, but He knows everyone of us. He knows every servant cut down by the tribulations. And when God’s judgment comes, setting it all right, He knows who we are.

So, war, famine, pestilence, death, persecution may all be happening. These may even be sending the souls of some of our faithful friends to below the altar. But hang on to Jesus, He always wins and He always knows who is on His team.

Praise the Lord!

PODCAST!!!

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PATHS:
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How does Revelation 7 prompt or improve your praise of God?

Revelation 6: Where’s the Conquering?

Today’s reading is Revelation 6.

Jesus, the Messiah, the anointed of God, incarnate deity, the Son of God, has gone forth conquering and to conquer. What do you expect to happen next? I expect instantaneous, immediate victory on all battlefronts. I expect Psalm 2:8-9 to happen immediately. Jesus has gone forth to conquer, I expect the conquering to be evident. I expect kings and rulers to fall in behind Jesus or He’ll condemn and punish them immediately. I expect Psalm 110:5-7 to happen immediately. The nations will surrender to the new cosmic King or judgment will fall on them right away. For all who surrender, I expect peace and harmony; for all who rebel and resist, I expect shattering, defeat, destruction, and judgment.

However, we already know that isn’t what was happening. The Christians in the first century were facing incredible persecution. John started this apocalypse saying he was a fellow participant in tribulation. The letters to the seven churches talked about testing and trial coming on the whole earth and on the churches. Jesus had come, He had conquered death, the grave, sin, and Satan. He rose again. He ascended to the right hand of God. But Rome was still in power. The Jewish nation was opposed to Christianity. Christians were being, targeted, belittled, persecuted, imprisoned, executed. When famines occurred, the Christians weren’t excepted, they went through it as well. If plague hit, the Christians weren’t protected, they died also. The apostles had been or were being systematically executed. John himself was exiled on Patmos because of the gospel. This is what the Christians were experiencing on the ground.

Jesus went forth conquering and to conquer, but where’s all the conquering?

As the Lamb breaks the next three seals on the scroll, we find the apocalyptic vision of these experiences. With each successive seal a new horseman follows in the wake of Jesus. Only one of the horsemen is named by John, but we often give the other two names as well: War, Famine, Death. Death does not ride alone. He brings Hades, the realm of the dead behind him.

This last one is shocking. Jesus came to bring life and to bring it abundantly. However, the horsemen that follow Him out of the scroll bring death, death, and more death. In fact, Death and Hades are given authority over a fourth of the earth. I thought all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20).

Delineating these seals and the riders does not provide much comfort. However, it does explain nothing was going against God’s plan. God was not surprised. These things were written on His scroll. He knew they would happen. He planned for them to happen. John was writing about the experiences of those early Christians. However, we may go through similar times whether individually and personally or congregationally and communally. It is not precisely comforting to hear that between the time Jesus goes forth to conquer and when He actually conquers War, Famine, Death, and Hades will very often hold sway. But it is comforting to know it only happens with God’s foreknowledge and planning. He is prepared for all of it. He is not taken by surprise and He is not overthrown by it. We can trust Him.

More will be said about this with the coming seals. But for now, when we live in a time of these seals, let us simply trust God. He knows what is coming. He knows how to deal with it. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Tomorrow’s reading is Revelation 6.

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Revelation 6: Conquering and to Conquer

Today’s reading is Revelation 6.

As we learned yesterday, the apocalyptic story began in earnest when the Lamb broke the first seal on the scroll. When He did, one of the four living creatures cried out “Come!” A rider on a white horse with a bow and a crown came forth conquering and to conquer.

Different preachers, authors, commentators say different things about this rider on the white horse. Regrettably, the “four horsemen of the apocalypse” have become such an icon that popular renderings of them provide more background for many modern opinions than the Bible actually does. I, obviously, could be very wrong about who this rider on the white horse represents, but I can only point you to what I think the vision is really about.

Here’s the key. Do you recall what the elder to said to John in Revelation 5:5?

Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals (ESV).

Jesus is a conquering King. Because He is the conquering King, He breaks the seals. He breaks them not only as the Lamb breaks the clay seals on the scroll in the vision. But He breaks them as the conquering King bursting forth from the scroll setting the entire story in motion.

Some will push back saying Jesus is the Lamb, He can’t also be the rider on the white horse. However, recall in John 10, Jesus is the door of the sheep through which the Shepherd enters the fold (John 10:7) and He is also the Shepherd going through the door (John 10:11).

To be clear, I believe the rider on the white horse is our King, Jesus. As He burst forth from the grave, He bursts forth from the scroll to conquer. We will see this rider on the white horse again in Revelation 19:11ff. In that chapter, He will defeat the beasts and their armies arrayed against God and His people. In that chapter, everyone recognizes the rider on the white horse as Jesus. Here, at the beginning, He is simply going forth to conquer. After all, hasn’t He been given all authority on heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:19-20)? Wasn’t He promised possession of all the nations and victory over all kings who defied Him (Psalm 2)? Don’t we expect the risen and ascended Messiah to conquer the nations? But Revelation 19 is a long way off, isn’t it? In fact, that will be part of this whole story.

This is our King. For just this moment, watch Him in His glorious pomp and fanfare. Cheer for Him as He goes forth conquering. His triumph is our triumph. There will be a lot of things happen between the King going forth conquering and to conquer and when He finally conquers at the end of the story. But the point is quite simply this: Hang on! Our King really does conquer. Don’t let go no matter what it looks like between Him bursting forth and winning the ultimate victory.

Praise the Lord!

PODCAST!!!

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PATHS:
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How does Revelation 6 admonish you?

Revelation 5: Worthy is the Lamb

Today’s reading is Revelation 5.

We haven’t been able to make it through Revelation 5 this week without already making the point I want to emphasize today. When we saw the Lamb that was slain, we saw He is worthy.

He was worthy to open the seals. That is, He was worthy to initiate the plans and reveal the plans God had for His people. But more than that, He was and is worthy of worship, of blessing, of praise. He is worthy to be honored.

Paul had explained this in his letter to the Philippians:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God and thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11, ESV).

The elder described Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah who had conquered (that will become important in Revelation 6). But did you notice when Jesus was praised as worthy in Revelation 5, it was not as the conquering Lion, but as the slain Lamb? Now, go back to Philippians 2 and notice we are told to have the same mind Jesus did. Sure, we will be more than conquerors (Romans 8:37), but we don’t conquer through conquest; we conquer through sacrifice. We the disciples are not greater than our Master. If they persecuted Him, they will persecute us.

But hang on! Exaltation is coming for us just as it did for Him. If we die with Him, we will also live with Him. If we endure, we will also reign with Him. Praise the Lord!

Next week’s reading is Revelation 6.

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Revelation 5: The Lamb that was Slain

Today’s reading is Revelation 5.

When John looked up to see the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, he didn’t see a lion. Instead, he saw a “Lamb standing, as though it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6, ESV). How shocking. John had been told he was going to see a conquering lion, instead he saw a sheep that looked like it had been killed by a lion.

Of course, we who are familiar with John’s writings, should already be making connections. Do you recall in John 10, Jesus declared He would lay down His life for the sheep (John 10:11)? Of course, there we don’t see a lamb that was slain, but a Shepherd who sacrifices Himself for the flock.

More subtly, you may recall Jesus was executed during Passover. That automatically brings the picture of a slain lamb to our minds. But more than that, when John recorded Jesus’s death, he explained the Roman soldiers did not break Jesus’s legs and specifically, he said this fulfilled the statement in the Law that “Not one of his bones will be broken” (John 10:36, ESV). However, John did not quote a foretelling of the Messiah’s death. He referred to a law about the Passover Lamb found in Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12. Jesus is our Passover Lamb.

The Passover reminded Israel of their great deliverance from Egyptian bondage. Jesus, as the slain Lamb, provides escape from an even greater bondage. The worshipers in the throne room sing to Him because of His sacrifice:

Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth…Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!

They worship and praise Jesus, the Lamb who is the Lion. He didn’t conquer by killing, He conquered by dying. And now, not just Jews, but all people may be part of God’s kingdom. That includes us.

Praise the Lord for the Lamb that was slain!

Tomorrow’s reading is Revelation 5.

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Revelation 5: The Lion of the Tribe of Judah

Today’s reading is Revelation 5.

When one of the elders told John not to weep because One had been found worthy to open God’s sealed scroll, he claimed:

Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals (Revelation 5:5, ESV)

Here at the end, John is taken back to the beginning. Perhaps not all the way to the beginning, but to Genesis 49:9-12. When Jacob blessed his twelve sons before his death, he declared of Judah:

Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples (ESV).

This lion of the tribe of Judah is the root of David. Isaiah foretold a new “David” in Isaiah 11:1, 4-5:

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit…with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins (ESV).

And again in Isaiah 11:10:

In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples–of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious (ESV).

The elder told John that the Messiah, the King, the Lord, the ultimate David had finally come. God’s plans for His people could finally play out. All that had been sealed and waiting was free to occur because the Lion had conquered. He had won the victory.

That’s our King, the conqueror. He had vanquished the enemies. Therefore, the scroll could be opened. Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Revelation 5.

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Revelation 5: The Scroll

Today’s reading is Revelation 5.

Last week, in Revelation 4, we saw John called up to the peak of the heavenly mountain, if you will, in order to gain a heavenly vantage point and be given a heavenly perspective. He witnessed an incredible scene of worship. As the worship occurred, in Revelation 5:1, he noticed the one on the throne held a scroll in His right hand, but the scroll was sealed. Neither John nor anyone else in heaven or on earth was worthy to open the scroll. John wept.

Why would John weep over a sealed scroll?

As long as the scroll remained sealed, its contents remained a mystery. God had brought John up to heaven to gain the heavenly perspective, but the scroll of heavenly perspective was sealed. What good was it to John or anyone else, if John couldn’t read it? In fact, in Isaiah 29:11-12 we read of just such a situation.

And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read” (ESV).

What a lament. God had a message for His people, but they couldn’t read and even if they could read, the message wouldn’t open to them. What a disappointment it would be for God to have a heavenly revelation, but no one was able to open it and reveal it. He had traveled all that way for nothing. So John wept. Wouldn’t you?

Further, John no doubt wept because he had experience with the kinds of messages on God’s scrolls. We find two fantastic pictures in Jeremiah. Repeatedly, Jeremiah was told to write what had been revealed to him in a book or scroll. Two occurrences in particular explain why John, going through tribulation would weep on not being able to hear, read, or see God’s message.

In Jeremiah 30:2-3, we find:

Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. For behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it (ESV).

And then in Jeremiah 50-51, God gave Jeremiah an incredible prophecy regarding judgment on Babylon. Then we find in Jeremiah 51:60:

Jeremiah wrote in a book all the disaster that should come upon Babylon, all these words that are written concerning Babylon (ESV).

John knew the kinds of messages God wrote on these scrolls, messages of hope and restoration for His people and messages of judgment on the enemies of God’s people. John knew he had been called in heaven to learn about hope for Christ’s church and the judgment on the new Babylon. But it seemed his journey into heaven was going to fall short. He was as one that couldn’t read the scroll. It was sealed.

But! Praise the Lord! One was found worthy to open the scroll. One who had been slain and ransomed for God a people to bless and give a kingdom. Of course, Jesus the Christ. Because of His sacrifice, He was worthy to break the seals and unroll the scroll to be read. However, the breaking of the seals was not simply the means by which John could be given the message and pass it on to us. Because Jesus was worthy to break the seals, the events portrayed in that scroll could take place.

Praise God, because Jesus was and is worthy, we get to read this entire message. Think about that, Jesus died and was resurrected to break these seals and give us this message. Sounds like an important message. Let’s keep reading.

Tomorrow’s reading is Revelation 5.

PODCAST!!!

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PATHS:
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How does Revelation 5 prompt or improve your praise of God?

John 20: Risen!

Today’s reading is John 20.

There’s no coming back from a spear shoved up into your heart.

Or is there?

The King is Risen! Long live the King!

Friday’s post was a bit of a downer. I admit it. Unless, of course, you already knew what was coming next. And here it is. On Friday, Jesus died. He was really, truly, and in all other ways dead. He was buried. But on the morning of the third day, Mary Magdalene showed up to the tomb, the stone was rolled back, and it was empty. Jesus’s body was gone.

Mary thought the body had been stolen. Apparently, she was so distraught she actually left before the angels spoke to the other women. She told the apostles the body was missing. Two of them came to check out the tomb. Mary stayed behind and met…

…the resurrected Jesus!

The King is Risen! Long live the King!

Jesus had said in John 2:19, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (ESV). The apostles didn’t understand what Jesus truly meant when He said it. But after Mary witnessed the resurrected Jesus and the apostles did as well, they understood. He was talking about the temple of His body.

The King is Risen! Long live the King!

Yes, we serve a King that was executed as if He was a criminal. We must not miss that and all it means for us. But, on the third day He defeated death. He rose from the grave. If we want to defeat death and the grave, I suggest we follow the only one in all of human history who has.

Are you willing to join us in following Him? If we can help you, let us know in the comments.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

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John 19: It Is Finished!

Today’s reading is John 19.

So, let’s get this out of the way. That really cool point you heard (or preached) in a sermon once about “It is finished” meaning “Paid in full” because it was used on ancient receipts isn’t true. Stop saying it. Stop preaching it. (Click here for explanation.)

That, however, doesn’t mean “It is finished!” is not the greatest statement ever made. Jesus came into the world to accomplish the greatest work ever accomplished. In fact, back in John 17:4, Jesus declared He had glorified the Father while on earth, “having accomplished the work that you gave me to do” (ESV). “Accomplished” here is a verb from the same word family as “finished” in Jesus’s statement on the cross.

In fact, look at the very context of John 19:30. Just two verses earlier, John wrote, “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst'” (John 19:28, ESV). “Finished” in this verse is the same word as “finished” in vs. 30. Additionally, “fulfill” in this verse is the same as “accomplish” back in John 17:4.

Let’s not miss how important this statement is. Every step of the way, Satan tried to get Jesus to abandon the work of God. In the wilderness temptation, he tried to get Jesus to doubt His sonship and to get Him to worship the devil in order to become King instead of doing it God’s way. When the crowds tried to make Him King so He could feed them, Satan was offering Jesus a different path. From Peter’s mouth, he tried to convince Jesus the Messiah shouldn’t suffer and die. Even here on the cross, the old familiar, “Surely, You aren’t the Son of God. God wouldn’t make His Son suffer like this. Come down from the cross and prove it.” Again and again, Satan put the option to quit before Jesus.

But Jesus endured. Jesus stayed the course. He accomplished God’s work. He finished. He finished strong. Because He did, we can find salvation, healing, hope, transformation, renewal, redemption, adoption, justification, sanctification.

I love the fact that years later, Paul said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7, ESV). You guessed it, that word for “finished” is the same word. Every step of the way, Satan tried to get Paul to abandon the race. But Paul endured. Paul stayed the course. Paul accomplished God’s work. He finished. He finished strong. Not because he was strong, but because His King is.

Every step of the way, Satan is trying to get you to abandon the race. I know at times it seems impossible to finish. But, by the grace and power of Jesus, we can finish. Praise the Lord!

Jesus finished well. By His power, you can too. Will you? Can we help? Let us know in the comments.

Tomorrow’s reading is John 19.

PODCAST!!!

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John 18: Not of This World

Today’s reading is John 18.

My kingdom is not of this world.

John 18:36a (ESV)

I’m an amillennialist. That means I believe Jesus will not set up a thousand-year geo-political kingdom on earth. I believe the kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, with a throne in heaven, and its already here (see Colossians 1:13; Revelation 1:5-6, 9). It also means I pretty well only come to John 18:36 to point out Jesus didn’t intend to set up a geo-political kingdom on earth–not then, not now, not ever.

Of course, that’s true, as far as that goes. John 18:36 does demonstrate that. (At least, it sure seems like it does to me. It’s one of the reasons I am an amillennialist.) However, Jesus was making a deeper point than merely the cosmographical location of His throne room. He wasn’t primarily telling us where the kingdom is located, but how the kingdom is run. He wasn’t interested so much in where one lives in the kingdom, but how one lives in the kingdom.

Consider what Jesus goes on to say:

My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.

John 18:36 (ESV)

But His servants did try to fight to make sure He wasn’t delivered over to the Jews. We considered Peter’s faltering, flawed, and forestalled attempt to attack the soldiers arresting Jesus. And now we know Peter’s problem. He was thinking the way the world thinks. Despite Jesus’s rebuke in Matthew 16:21-23, Peter had not learned the nature of Jesus’s kingdom. He was treating Jesus like a world-begotten king and acting as if he was going to be a citizen in a world-produced kingdom. Because Jesus’s kingdom is not of this world, His kingdom citizens think and behave differently (at least, they are supposed to). Worldly kings fight to survive. The heavenly King died to give life.

Jesus explains Peter’s behavior in the garden makes sense from the world’s perspective. Everyone weaned on the world’s perspective would rally around Peter as the hero of the scene. Hey, not all heroes win, but Peter behaved the way he was supposed to. Except, not in Jesus’s kingdom. It’s not so much that His kingdom isn’t located in the world, its that His citizens don’t think like the citizens of the world. They don’t behave like the citizens of the world. In fact, the citizens of the world will often think the citizen’s of Jesus’s kingdom are nearly crazy. Who would love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them? Who would forgive seventy times seven times in a day? Who would rather be defrauded than take a brother to court? Who would stay in an unsatisfying marriage? Who would keep a vow even when it hurts? Who would turn the other cheek? On the list of questions can go. Ultimately, who would go to the cross rather than call twelve legions of angels to save Him?

Here’s the thing. The moment we mollify a passage by saying, “Jesus can’t mean such and such, nobody would do that,” we demonstrate we don’t understand our King or His kingdom. Granted, Jesus often used figures of speech. He really didn’t mean for Christians to cut off their hands or pluck out their eyes, but we have better reasons for thinking that than simply “nobody would do that.”

The struggle of course is we live in the world. Our neighbors are of the world. Our bosses and co-workers are of the world. Our teachers are of the world. Our entertainers are of the world. The voice of the world and spirit of the age pervades. The moment we try to think differently, they fight back. The even bigger struggle is since we all swim in the stream of the world’s perspectives, even many Christians have drunk the waters of the world and even they fight back against Christ’s counter-cultural perspectives. Being not of the world while we still live in this world is going to be hard. Just figuring out how to live not of this world will be hard. But actually doing it, that will take Holy Spirit kind of strength. Don’t you think? Sure am glad Jesus sent a Helper.

Today, let’s embark upon or continue our journey of unrelenting pursuit of Jesus’s kingdom and righteousness first. And let’s not be surprised when that means we stand out from the world like a sore thumb.

Tomorrow’s reading is John 18.

PODCAST!!!

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How does John 18 prompt or improve your hope in God?