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Revelation 11 - Two Witnesses

Revelation 11:1-14

11 Then I was given a measuring reed like a rod, with these words: "Go and measure God's sanctuary and the altar, and count those who worship there. 2 But exclude the courtyard outside the sanctuary. Don't measure it, because it is given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months. 3 I will empower my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth." 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies; if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. 6 These men have the power to close the sky so that it does not rain during the days of their prophecy. They also have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with any plague whenever they want.

7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, conquer them, and kill them. 8 Their dead bodies will lie in the public square of the great city, which is called, prophetically, Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 And representatives from the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will view their bodies for three and a half days and not permit their bodies to be put into a tomb. 10 Those who live on the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who live on the earth.

11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. So great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." They went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them. 13 At that moment a violent earthquake took place, a tenth of the city fell, and 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. The survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second woe has passed. Take note: the third woe is coming quickly!

Revelation 11:1-14 gives us more information regarding the first half of the tribulation. First John is told to measure the temple but exclude the outside sanctuary. The outside sanctuary was a place where non-Jews could enter the temple area. John's instructions were to measure the holiest and holiest of holies. Measurements were taken as a consideration before taking possession so it seems that God is preparing to arrive by measuring the temple. God further explains that the holy city (Jerusalem) will be trampled by the nations of world for 42 months, or 3 1/2 years.

God ensures that he will have a presence in his city in if its going to be tramped under for 42 months.To that end, he provides two witnesses dressed in sackcloth. Sackcloth in the old testament is a sign of morning, people wore those when they were repenting before God or mourning over a lost one. Quite a bit of speculation has gone on regarding these two witnesses.  Some postulate that it could be Moses and Elijah since both servants of God did not finish their ministry. Moses did not enter into the holy land, and Elijah had not tasted death but rather was taken up into heaven. An argument can also be made that its Enoch and Elijah since neither person died but was taken up to God. Irregardless of who exactly it is, we can be sure they are witnesses for the Most High and have been granted supernatural power.

Revelation 11:5-6
5 If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies; if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. 6 These men have the power to close the sky so that it does not rain during the days of their prophecy. They also have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with any plague whenever they want.

We also see that God will be protecting them for the first 3 1/2 years so they can pronounce God's judgment and call to repentence. Like Elijah in the old testament they have the power to shut the sky and cause a drought (another argument that it could be Elijah).

Revelation 11:7-10
7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, conquer them, and kill them. 8 Their dead bodies will lie in the public square of the great city, which is called, prophetically, Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 And representatives from the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will view their bodies for three and a half days and not permit their bodies to be put into a tomb. 10 Those who live on the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who live on the earth.

Once their ministry comes to end in 42 months, God lifts the veil of protection and evil seemnigly triumphs as they are killed. God also issues some harsh words against Jerusalem because he likens that city to Sodom and Egypt. Once they are martyred people around the world will view the bodies and celebrate their massacre with gifts and parties. This one verse really shows how low and wicked human heart has sunk into evil. The death of two of God's servants causes the people to give gifts like its Christmas.

Revelation 11:11-14
11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. So great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." They went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them. 13 At that moment a violent earthquake took place, a tenth of the city fell, and 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. The survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second woe has passed. Take note: the third woe is coming quickly!

After 3 1/2 days they rise to their feet and are then carried up into heaven. What a commotion that will create. After celebrating the victory over Gods people (or so they thought) God breathes life back into them and brings up into heaven. As result of their evilness God also shakes a Jerusalem with a massive earthquake killing 7,000 people and destroying a portion of the city.

The 3 woes, which make up the 5th, 6th and 7th trumpets of God's judgment. As a review the fifth trumpet is was the locusts sent out to torment those who rejected God, the second woe is partly made up of the 200 million army crossing the Euphrates to wage war and also the result of the massive earthquake in Jerusalem

The 3rd woe is the final trumpet which is about to come.

The beginning of chapter 11 details that while God is pouring is judgment out on the wicked, he still provides them with an avenue to repent and he provides them with messengers to hear about God's salvation and offers to repent. This is more or less resoundly rejected to the point once they are killed the wicked celebrate the deaths like some perverse holiday by exchanging gifts.

Revelation 10 - A Mighty Angel

Revelation 10

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun, his legs were like fiery pillars, 2 and he had a little scroll opened in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea, his left on the land, 3 and he cried out with a loud voice like a roaring lion. When he cried out, the seven thunders spoke with their voices. 4 And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. Then I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Seal up what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down!"

5 Then the angel that I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 He swore an oath by the One who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it: "There will no longer be an interval of time, 7 but in the days of the sound of the seventh angel, when he will blow his trumpet, then God's hidden plan will be completed, as He announced to His servants the prophets."

8 Now the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, "Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land."

9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take and eat it; it will be bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth."

10 Then I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I ate it, my stomach became bitter. 11 And I was told, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings."

Here in revelation 10 we get another breather, and in fact the interlude continues in Chapter 11. While chapter 10 is relatively short, there's a lot of information packed into the verses. First we see a mighty angel descending from heaven. Many commentaries attribute this angel as Jesus because of the rainbow - sign of God's covenant to us, that he'll never flood the earth and enrobed in a cloud. The problem is that in prior chapters, John saw the risen Lord Jesus and stated just that. So when he says he saw an angel, it should not be confused with deity. I believe verses 1-3 illustrate a powerful angel who utters something that cannot be repeated (at least yet). There is a prophesy that God does not want to reveal at the moment, which is why a voice from heaven called down to John to seal what he had heard.

Verse 5 shows him standing in both the water and land, as a sign of his dominion over all creation and he swore an oath to the God in verse 6 which again is more evidence that this is not God but an angel. God swears by himself, where as the angels swear by the one who lives forever and ever.

Genesis 22:15-16
15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, "By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son,

A strange request from the angel to eat the book, but it seems the consensus of this action from the commentaries is that the act of eating is ingesting the word of God so he will prophesy on it (as mentioned in verse 11). I'm not sure why it's sweet in the mouth but bitter in the stomach. The best explanation that I've heard is that we see that God is revealing his plan to us, which is sweet and we look forward to that, but then we realize that means judgment on the wicked and that is a painful action. The Lord does not want to see any perish, but we have free will and those who do reject his plan of salvation must face God and the consequences of their actions. Could this be the bitterness in John's stomach? I do not know and to be honest, I've really not heard of any explanation that fits all that well to this passage. I will have to wait till God reveals this passage to us in the course of time, or later in eternity.

Chapter 10 is a strange chapter detailing of a mighty angel descending from heaven, uttering a prophesy that at the moment is sealed up and then giving John a little scroll to consume so he can continue to prophesy.

The trumpet judgments part II

Revelation 9

The Fifth Trumpet

9 The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key to the shaft of the abyss was given to him. 2 He opened the shaft of the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great furnace so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came to the earth, and power was given to them like the power that scorpions have on the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant, or any tree, but only people who do not have God's seal on their foreheads. 5 They were not permitted to kill them, but were to torment them for five months; their torment is like the torment caused by a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.

7 The appearance of the locusts was like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were something like gold crowns; their faces were like men's faces; 8 they had hair like women's hair; their teeth were like lions' teeth; 9 they had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses rushing into battle; 10 and they had tails with stingers, like scorpions, so that with their tails they had the power to harm people for five months. 11 They had as their king the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon. 12 The first woe has passed. There are still two more woes to come after this.

The Fifth trumpet is perhaps one of the more strangest portions of this book, we have a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. While its obvious that it isn't an actual star but rather a symbol for something else. Typically symbolism used to describe angels, so its reasonable to assume that this is case. Given the wording of fallen instead of sent also indicates this angel a demon and not a righteous angel. In the preceding chapters and verses angels are sent and in this case the "star" is not sent but rather fallen from heaven. The question then arises, is it satan or another fallen angel. Its not really stated and in subsequent chapters we see satan cast out of heaven so its possible that this is another angel. Other popular explanations of the fallen star is that if a king but it doesn't fit the context of the verse. Kings are not in heaven, those souls who are with the Almighty are not sent on missions (that's an angel's job) but rather give praise to the Most High.

This fallen angel is given the keys to the abyss which is probably the same abyss satan will be cast in for a thousand years later on in the book. Out of the abyss smoke arises such to the extent that it blocks the sun and out of the abyss emerges locusts. Unlike the prior trumpet judgments, They are ordered not to harm nature but only man and even then only those people who are not sealed by God, i.e., Christians. Verse 5 details how painful it is, and how people will look to escape this judgment by killing themselves but in verse 6 their attempt at escape will be foiled by God not letting them.

Verse 7 describes in detail what the locusts look like and I'll be honest, this description just blows me away and there's not too much to add. Some people have offered the explanation that their helicopters spewing out chemical or biological warfare or some other modern mechanism, it may be, or it may be literally what it states which is what I believe. Consider these verses as a comparison.

Ezekiel 1:5-11
5 The form of four living creatures came from it. And this was their appearance: They had human form, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, sparkling like the gleam of polished bronze. 8 They had human hands under their wings on their four sides. All four of them had faces and wings. 9 Their wings were touching. The creatures did not turn as they moved; each one went straight ahead. 10 The form of each of their faces was that of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left, and the face of an eagle.

Revelation 4:7-8
7 The first living creature was like a lion; the second living creature was like a calf; the third living creature had a face like a man; and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings; they were covered with eyes around and inside.

So while the description of the locusts seem to fantastic to believe, with God nothing is too fantastic. They are real creatures being held in the abyss for their time to torment those people who have rejected God's plan of salvation.

The Sixth Trumpet

Revelation 9:13-21
13 The sixth angel blew his trumpet. From the four horns of the gold altar that is before God, I heard a voice 14 say to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates." 15 So the four angels who were prepared for the hour, day, month, and year were released to kill a third of the human race. 16 The number of mounted troops was 200 million; I heard their number. 17 This is how I saw the horses in my vision: The horsemen had breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and from their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur. 18 A third of the human race was killed by these three plagues--by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails, like snakes, have heads, and they inflict injury with them.

20 The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands to stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which are not able to see, hear, or walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.

The sixth trumpet is down right sobering, its where a 1/3 of the remaining population is wiped out. Back in Revelation 6 we saw a third of humanity wiped out. They started at 6 billion and we estimated a one billion were raptured into heaven to be with God and a third of that 5 billion were killed leaving 3.75 billion, now a third of that population or 1.23 billion was killed in judgment this leaves a paltry Verse 13 documents that there's four angels that were bound at the river Euphrates and their role has been waiting for this day. They seem to be involved with an army of 200 million and there's only one nation in the world that can easily assemble an army that large - China. So these four angles influence or direct the nation of china to start a war that will result in the death of 1.23 billion people. Consider what a world that will be, 1/3 of the nature, fish and sunlight eliminated, the world population reduced by 60%. Imagine what that will do to civilization and society. I suspect anarchy will be reigning at this point and hopelessness.

This book is THE reason I became a Christian, I was raised as a Catholic but in my teenage years rejected that, so had an understanding of Christian doctrine. When I read the book "The Late Great Planet Earth" by Hal Lindsey, I realized I was bound for judgment and if I lived long enough possibly the tribulation. Given the sign of the times, many of us, Christian and non-Christian believe we are in the last days and if that is the case I do not want to be witnessing this judgments first hand. It was at that point I asked God to forgive my sins, and accepted that Jesus was punished in my place for those sins.

The trumpet judgments

Chapter 8 of Revelation brings back on track the judgments, the seventh seal is opened which reveals the 7 trumpet judgments. Chapter 8 only delves into the first four but those as seen below are incredibly devastating to the earth which in turn affects all of mankind.

Revelation 8:1-7
1 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God; seven trumpets were given to them. 3 Another angel, with a gold incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel's hand. 5 The angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the earth; there were thunders, rumblings, lightnings, and an earthquake. 6 And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

In preparing for the 7 trumpet judgments, God first pauses, perhaps to give the inhabitants an opportunity to repent, perhaps to display the gravity of the judgments or for reasons we don't know, either way there's a dramatic pause between the 7th seal and the first trumpet blast. In fact between the 7th seal and the trumpet blast we see a visual representation of our prayers before God, like an actual offering our prayers rise up to him in a sweet smelling smoke. The incense burner that held those prayers is then used to cast down, a thunder storm and earthquake. A signal no doubt to the angels to begin their duties.

The First Trumpet

Revelation 8:7
7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled to the earth. So a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

The first judgment is hail and fire, this isn't the first time we see this type of judgment in Exodus:

Exodus 9:23-26
So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail. Lightning struck the earth, and the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24 The hail, with lightning flashing through it, was so severe that nothing like it had occurred in the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. 25 Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck down everything in the field, both man and beast. The hail beat down every plant of the field and shattered every tree in the field. 26 The only place it didn't hail was in the land of Goshen where the Israelites were.

God is raining down judgment and the result of this is that the forests, grass and farmland is burned up. Is unimaginable a 1/3 of the world's forests and grass is now burning.

The Second Trumpet

Revelation 8:8-9
8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea. So a third of the sea became blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

While we take the Bible literally its difficult to discern what exactly is this, perhaps a meteor, perhaps a major volcano such as Krakatoa who's eruption in 1883 was heard 1,930 miles away in Perth Australia. What ever it is, its so large, that it destroys the a third of the sea creatures and a third of the world's navy.

The Third Trumpet

Revelation 8:10-11
10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from heaven. It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood. So, many of the people died from the waters, because they had been made bitter.

Here's another judgment that's less then clear, it could be taken  a meteor, or it could be a nuclear missile striking Europe. This would have the affect of devastating the land and water so much so that water would be radioactive and unable to be consumed. One would need only to look at recent history back in the USSR when Chernobyl melted down, and poisoned the land.

The Fourth Trumpet

Revelation 8:12-13
12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day was without light, and the night as well.

13 I looked, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid-heaven, saying in a loud voice, "Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to sound!"

I think this judgment is directly related to first and maybe the second judgments, with a 1/3 of grasses and trees on fire and possible trumpet number 2 being a volcano, then there's a lot of ash and smoke being thrown up into the atmosphere. Take the affects of Krakatoa back in 1883, a great hazing affect occurred because of the ash that was ejected into the atmosphere which caused less sunlight to enter the planet. This in turn dropped the temperature by 1.3 Celsius. Maybe not a lot, but given that ecological affects of the global warming, the people warn us an increase of 2 degrees will have a devastating affect, given the ability of hindsight, we can verify that the temperature drop indeed produce wild weather for years.

The eighth chapter of revelation reveals little other then God's judgments upon an evil and wicked world. What we can glean from this chapter is that our prayers rise up to God like incense and that there was a definite and dramatic pause. Perhaps for the inhabitants to catch their breath, or ponder their sinful deeds and repent. We really don't know other then God so ordained it. The other information we can glean from this chapter is that planet is now under severe duress, a 1/3 of the grass and trees are burned up, a 1/3 of the fish are dead along with 1/3 of mans naval vessels are destroyed and finally a third less light during the day and night. I suppose this could be the chapter of thirds. The long term consequences to these judgments are frightening. less food, water, light and ability to catch/transport the food.  Living during the tribulation time during the first 6 seals was incredibly difficult, but it just got a lot harder with these judgements.

God does not take joy in judging people, quite the contrary he's using these to show that there's a worse consequence (hell) if people refuse to repent but so far there's only a remnant of humanity that repents during the tribulation.

The Sealed of Israel

Now that Easter is behind us, and I now have time to delve back into Revelation, I see that I finished up at chapter 6. Chapter 7 provides an interlude between the judgements of God on a wicked world. A couple things that are quite telling about Revelation 7

 

Revelation 7:1-8
7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel rise up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were empowered to harm the earth and the sea: 3 "Don't harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the slaves of our God on their foreheads." 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed:

144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Judah,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 sealed from the tribe of Benjamin.

First thing we see is God stopping the wind, being in the Bible I take this to be a literal stoppage, just consider how odd that will be, especially given our technology to monitor the weather, all of a sudden the wind will stop ,no hurricanes, no thunderstorms, no gentle breezes in the summer. I believe this one of those pregnant pauses God interjects to prepare the way. The way for what? The sealing of the 144,000.

While some theologians now and in the past try to say that God is done with Israel that he has given up on them, that we (Christians) are now God's chosen people we see this passage quite the opposite, that God never gave up on Israel. How comforting that is, because if God abandoned Israel, he could do the same to us. Now we see that God's plan includes Israel regardless of their actions and that's inline with God's character. There's no dancing around this passage, we see the 12 tribes of Israel and you cannot say in some weird way that this is actually the Christian church. God has chosen 144,000 Israelites to be evangelists, to spread the Gospel, not to the gentiles but to their fellow Jewish brothers and sisters.

Another interesting item, is the omission of Dan, we have twelve tribes here but the inclusion of of the half-tribe of Manasseh. Perhaps the exclusion of Dan was the result of their constant falling into idolatry and causing the other tribes to fall into that sin as well. Also notice that the order of the tribes have been altered. Age is not the sorting factor which has always been the case during ancient times, that is the oldest goes first but ehre we see Judah first mostly because the Messiah came from that tribe.

The final portion of the interlude before the judgements is an image of heaven

Revelation 7:9-17
9 After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:

Salvation belongs to our God,
who is seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb!

11 All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:

Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and strength,
be to our God forever and ever. Amen.

13 Then one of the elders asked me, "Who are these people robed in white, and where did they come from?"

14 I said to him, "Sir, you know."

Then he told me:

These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.
They washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb.
15 For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary.
The One seated on the throne will shelter them:
16 no longer will they hunger; no longer will they thirst;
no longer will the sun strike them, or any heat.
17 Because the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them;
He will guide them to springs of living waters,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

We see here in Revelation 7:9-17 a snapshot of heaven, and the imagery that strikes me the most is the countless number of people. We've seen huge crowds before, such as Obama's inauguration, where a couple of million people were estimated to be there, but here the number is so large we cannot even estimate, its not countable (by man). While people have given large numbers of how many Christians are alive in the world (only God truly knows) we see these are the people who came out of the tribulation, this unnumerable crowd of people are only a subset of all who are in heaven.  Can you imagine people as far as the eye can see, offering up praises to the one true God!

It's a comforting image, because, lets face it right now Christians on earth are the minority and the world hates us, in so far that we have gone into the light and they prefer the dark.  So in the tribulation after the rapture, there will be even fewer people who claim Jesus as their savior and the people who reject him will be even more hostile to those people.

Revelation 7 gives a tiny respite, setting up more of the supporting information regarding God's plan for the end times and we also see God's faithfulness, because he has stood by his chosen people regardless of what they did.

Good Friday

Today is good Friday, the day some 2000 years ago the creator of everything died on a cross.

 

All I can say is THANK YOU Jesus for loving me so much that you cast aside your divinity and donned the robe of a human being. Your actions of bearing the punishment for my sinful and wicked ways humbles me and drives me to my knees. 

THANK YOU for loving me so much 
THANK YOU for your blood that cleanses me
THANK YOU for the relationship I now have with you because I have been cleansed by your blood.

THANK YOU

The Last Supper

 

Today is Maunday Thursday, the day we celebate the Lord's last supper here on earth. A lot has been written about this event, and there's really nothing new or earth shattering I can put.  I do have some observations regarding this night.

Luke 22:14-23
14 When the hour came, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, "I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." 17 Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He said, "Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."

19 And He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, "This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me."

20 In the same way He also took the cup after supper and said, "This cup is the new covenant established by My blood; it is shed for you. 21 But look, the hand of the one betraying Me is at the table with Me! 22 For the Son of Man will go away as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!"

23 So they began to argue among themselves which of them it could be who was going to do this thing.

What can we glean from this passage? Well that Jesus was human and had emotions, fears and foreknowledge of what was about to take place.  Jesus desires fellowship with his friends, he spent the last three and half years teaching them, spending time with them, both good times  and bad.  In his final hours before facing betrayal, torture, and death, Jesus wanted a brief respite with his buddies.

Secondly is his statement of the bread and wine, and how it will be a new covenant, the old covenant of sacrificing animals to cover over sins was to be done away with and the new covenant of the Messiah's blood actually cleansing one's sins, not covering over is established.  Also another point is that the the bread and wine are symbols of the new covenant and were not transformed into his flesh and blood as some denominations think. 

Finally a minor point, that Jesus was having wine, and was going to have wine again, once he returns.  My point is that some folks believe that after you become a Christian alcohol cannot touch their lips.  Yes, drunkeness is forbidden but a glass of wine is acceptabe. 

While the Last Supper was establishing God's new covenant with man, and Jesus' time on earth was quickly drawing to a close, the still got caught up in the old argument of who was going to be the greatest in God's kingdom.

Luke 22:24-30
24 Then a dispute also arose among them about who should be considered the greatest. 25 But He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles dominate them, and those who have authority over them are called 'Benefactors.' 26 But it must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and whoever leads, like the one serving. 27 For who is greater, the one at the table or the one serving? Isn't it the one at the table? But I am among you as the One who serves. 

Yet again, Jesus had to tell them, that they are not to be like the world, striving for greatness but rather loving one another, serving others.  Jesus points to himself again saying that the Messiah is serving and so they must also serve.  Putting actions behind his words, Jesus provides one more act of humility to show the disicples what he means.

John 13:12-20
12 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on His robe, He reclined again and said to them, "Do you know what I have done for you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord. This is well said, for I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done for you.

16 "I assure you: A slave is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 18 I'm not speaking about all of you; I know those I have chosen. But the Scripture must be fulfilled: The one who eats My bread has raised his heel against Me.

19 "I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He. 20 I assure you: The one who receives whomever I send receives Me, and the one who receives Me receives Him who sent Me."

Washing one's feet is done by a slave yet, God in the flesh strips down, and washes the disciples feet to show them, that pride and the persuit of greatness has no room in God's economy.  We are to love others and put them before our needs or wants.  That's a difficult statement in today's society that is so geared to the me first mentality.

The Last Supper, was Jesus last time where he could instuct his discples, fellowship with them and provide the last few lessons of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.  What's amazing is his patience, he's fully aware what's facing him in a few hours but he spends time with his friends and disciples teaching them one last lesson and letting them know that God is establishing a new covenant.

Holy Week - Favorite Passages

Its Holy week and one of my favorite passages comes to mind as we approach Easter.

 

Luke 23:39-43
39 Then one of the criminals hanging there began to yell insults at Him: "Aren't You the Messiah? Save Yourself and us!"

40 But the other answered, rebuking him: "Don't you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same punishment? 41 We are punished justly, because we're getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man has done nothing wrong." 42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!"

43 And He said to him, "I assure you: Today you will be with Me in paradise."

Here we have two criminals being crucified along with Jesus and they're both hurling insults as noted in Matthew 27

Matthew 27:42-44
"He saved others, but He cannot save Himself! He is the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. 43 He has put His trust in God; let God rescue Him now--if He wants Him! For He said, 'I am God's Son.'" 44 In the same way even the criminals who were crucified with Him kept taunting Him.

But a strange thing happened, at some point one of the criminals realized that he was innocent and had faith to believe he was the messiah. He must have had faith because he asked Jesus to remember him when he enters his kingdom. How amazing that is, he probably doesn't know Jesus at all, though he may have heard a lot of the murmuring going on in the city of Jerusalem. Certainly the city was abuzz about Jesus and people were hoping he was the Messiah, just not the suffering Messiah that Isaiah (and others) written about, but rather the conquering messiah. Perhaps the thief recalled Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53:3-5
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
He was like one people turned away from;
He was despised, and we didn't value Him.

4 Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses,
and He carried our pains;
but we in turn regarded Him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on Him,
and we are healed by His wounds.

Whatever the reason, he believed and what I think is one of the most awesome passages of hope and love is Jesus' response. "I assure you: Today you will be with Me in paradise." This is a testament to the sufficiency of his sacrifice, While there's nothing written about this man, we can assume, that this man being crucified he had committed acts that were sufficient for a heinous death sentence. To that point we can assume then this man probably did not care about the Law or its precepts of Loving God with all your heart and all your soul, nor (being a thief) loved his neighbor with all of his heart or soul. Yet, Jesus promised him that he'll be in heaven based on the thief's faith that Jesus was the Messiah. This is just an awesome passage of hope, while all of the disciples are scattering and thinking that all is lost, as they too thought he was the conquering Messiah, we have a message of hope and promise.

The 5th and 6th seals of Revelation

Revelation 6:1-8 document God's judgment on world in the form of the 4 horsemen, seals 5 and 6 are now to opened.

Revelation 6:9-11
9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slaughtered because of God's word and the testimony they had. 10 They cried out with a loud voice: "O Lord, holy and true, how long until You judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?" 11 So a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number of their fellow slaves and their brothers, who were going to be killed just as they had been, would be completed.

The 5th seal is different from seals 1 through 4 and the 6th seal. Instead of pouring out judgment on the world that rejected the creator and his plan of salvation we see martyrs crying out to God for justice. That is they asking God to judge the world for killing them. Kind of a different visual to what we're typically used to for Christian. We remember reading back about the martyrs during the time of Rome who prayed to God to forgive those who are killing them, or others who prayed as they were killed. But now in heaven they want justice and we would be remiss to forget that one character trait that God has is justice.  While his son was here on earth, he portrayed himself as a meek and silent lamb who was going to be slaughtered [for our sins]] but that doesn't mean justice and his hate for sin was going to go unpunished.

Another interesting verse is God's response to their cries for justice. Wait, wait for more Christians to be killed. If anyone cries out to God because something uncomfortable is occurring, such as sickness or loss of job, consider this. God will use these circumstances for his plan and purpose no matter how painful it may be for us to go through. He will also not allow a burden to befall us that we cannot handle, even if that means laying one's life down for the Gospel.

God is telling them wait so other Christians can and will lay their lives down for the Gospel.  This is not to diminish God to some capricious being not caring about his creation, quite the opposite, like back in roman times, the death of some Christians opened the eyes of some who had formerly rejected God's call for repentence and so they came to accept Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for their sin. Plus he's giving more time to those who slay to offer them the opportunity to repent. Finally we may never know the full answer as to why he allows this to happen and that's ok, because God is much smarter then any of us.

Revelation 6:12-17
12 Then I saw Him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair; the entire moon became like blood; 13 the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind; 14 the sky separated like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place.

15 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the military commanders, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 because the great day of Their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?"

The sixth seal brings us back to judgment of God.  Verse 12 states that a extremely powerful earthquake strikes, given that the mountains and islands moved from their place means that it was worldwide event. How could this happen?  The short answer is I don't know, but given that the outer crust of the planet is made up of tectonic plates that float on a layer of magma, its possible that something triggers all of tectonic plates to move suddenly and violently.

The earthquake is extremely violent because look at the subsequent descriptions, it shows how the sun turns black and starts fall from the sky. During an earthquake it could appear that the stars are falling giving the shaking that is going on. Perhaps the sun turning back and the moon became like blood is the result of fires throwing up all sorts of ash and smoke into the atmosphere. We see that when a large volcano erupts. A worldwide earthquake will certainly produce a lot of fires.

Verses 15 through 17 show the response of the people, they realize this is God's judgment but instead of repenting, they try to hide

To summarize, seal number 5 shows that God's plan is not always understandable to our limited minds, He will allow some of his followers to be martyred, perhaps to give the killers time to repent, perhaps through the death of the Christians others are brought into saving grace but perhaps we really don't know. The sixth seal is a massive and violent earth quake, shaking the earth to its very core.

The four horsemen of apocalypse

A lot has been written about the book of revelation, perhaps almost more then any other book of the Bible perhaps because the symbolism or the future prophesies of end time or even because of the confusing nature of the book (rich in imagery and symbolism). I will not go in depth on the finer points as I can do no better then what was already written and the risk of doing worse is rather high. I will add my observations regarding the judgments that God pours down on the world and how it could play out now given our current situation.

 

Revelation 5:1-3, 8-10
5 Then I saw in the right hand of the One seated on the throne a scroll with writing on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 I also saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?"

 

8 When He took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song:
You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals;
because You were slaughtered,
and You redeemed people for God by Your blood
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they will reign on the earth.

 

First before getting into the first four judgments we need to briefly examine the scroll. It was a scroll that was sealed with wax seven times. A lot has been written to exactly how the wax seals were placed. Some say that the seals were placed on the outside of the scroll after it was rolled up. The seals were basically placed one next each other to prevent the scroll from opening up. Another train of thought was that the wax seals were placed in the scroll as it was rolled up, that is you could only unroll the scroll partially then got a seal, thus revealing a portion of the scroll at any given time. You would need to break the seal to expose the next section of the document. I think this seems to work best in the imagery provided in the subsequent verses. Additionally its noted in Revelation 5, that only Jesus the Lamb of God is worthy to open the scroll that is, only God is going to be handing down the judgments.

 

Revelation 6:1-2
6 Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come!" 2 I looked, and there was a white horse. The horseman on it had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he went out as a victor to conquer.

 

For some reason some people think this horsemen is Jesus because the rider sits upon a white horse, yes in the Revelation 17 Jesus comes down in a white horse but here at the beginning we see that Jesus is opening the scroll and not participating in the middle of the judgments. If its not Jesus then who is it? He's on a white horse a symbol.

The first horseman of apocalypse is described as a white horse and a crown. The symbolism is such that it first century people would understand that Roman generals frequently rode white horses into Rome to signify victory, so we see a rider on a white horse with a crown, a bow (but no arrows) to imply that he is a conquering leader but possibly in the political realm and not in the military aspect. this is his bow is an empty threat when he takes control of the world.

 

Revelation 6:3-4
3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" 4 Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, and its horseman was empowered to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him.

The first horseman had a weapon of war (a bow) but make no mistake that this rider's judgement is to remove peace from the world.  Also cross reference the red dragon and the scarlet beast in rev 12:3 and Rev 17:3, to see the symbolism regarding the color red.

Revelation 6:1-2
5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" And I looked, and there was a black horse. The horseman on it had a balance scale in his hand. 6 Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius--but do not harm the olive oil and the wine."

Given its been nearly 2 thousand years since the writing of this books, its difficult to understand ancient roman wages, and money but it s clear to see that this black horse is bringing famine to the world. Frequently after (or during) war time, famine strikes the land, as it was devastated from the war. Here we see the rider holding a pair of scales and announcing that a quart of wheat can be purchased for a denarius. A single denarius was customarily paid to a worker on a daily basis.  Compare the cost of wheat now, only a few dollars but during this great tribulation, it will cost an entire days wage. Additionally a quart of wheat is what a person typically consumed during the day. To further amplify the prophesy, it will cost a worker a full days wages just to eat that day for himself, if he or she needs to provide for their family, the problem is much more direr. 3 quarts of the less nutritious barley can be purchased for a days wage. What is also interesting is that the luxury items of wine and oil are untouched. What does this mean, it could imply that this famine will be striking the poorer nations more then richer ones.

Revelation 6:1-2
7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" 8 And I looked, and there was a pale green horse. The horseman on it was named Death, and Hades was following after him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.

Finally we have the fourth seal and now the pale horse is unveiled. The natural progression of conquering leader, war, famine leads us to the ultimate result, death. Not much is really stated in the fourth seal other then a quarter of the worlds population will be slain but then what more can be said after this! 

Our world population is in excess of 6 billion people. If God chooses to rapture his church before the great tribulation (which I beleive he will), estimates hold that number to be around 1 billion people. That is around the world there are 1 billion people that call Jesus Christ Lord and savior. If that number is accurate and only God knows this, then the rapture would have removed a billion from the population, probably causing economic and political turmoil and the which could have allowed the anti-christ to rise to power. Regardless that puts the estimated world population at 5 billion meaning that 1.250 billion people would have been slain from this prophesy. As we continue through the book of revelation we'll keep tabs on our estimated world population, as it stands now, its 3.750 billion, quite a radical change and no doubt this will have devastating affects on the world, both in business, politics and national security.

I have to say the book of revelation is the my favorite book of the Bible for a number of reasons, first because of Hal Lindsey's (now seemingly a very dated book) "Late Great Planet Earth" it opened my eyes to God's judgment on those that reject him.  Seeing the end results of my sin and rejection if his love, I decided to accept his wonderful gift of salvation.  To that end, I hold a special place in my heart for this book.  Secondly it unfolds God's final judgment on a world that has long rejected the maker.  God hasn't forgotten about how it seems evil people flourish, their judgement is coming.  Finally it's a book that shows God's love to his people and the final chapter, which in a sense was what he wanted in the first book. Fellowship with his creation. At the end of the Revelation we see that he does in fact have fellowship with his creation and that creation in turn wants the same fellowship.