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

I have trouble understanding the first part of today’s passage, where Satan will be bound in the Abyss for a thousand years while Christ rules over the earth.  At the end of the thousand years, Satan will be released and gather the people of the earth for battle against God’s people.  That’s the part I have trouble understanding, how does Satan fool people into following him after a thousand years of Christ’s reign?  I suppose it speaks a bit to the foolishness of mankind.  Of course, if those who have experienced a thousand years of Christ’s reign over the earth might rise up in rebellion against God, then we should not be surprised by those today who refuse to accept Christ despite having His existence, death, and resurrection clearly shown to them.

Having said that, the short description of God’s judgement given here is a quite eloquent presentation of God’s grace.  On that final day, the books which record all of everyone’s actions will be opened and people will be judged on the basis of those actions.  But alongside of those books another book will be opened, the Book of Life.  The Book of Life does not record anyone’s actions.  It only records the names of those who accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on their behalf.  And everyone whose name does not appear in that Book will be judged, according to their actions, as deserving of the second death.  Those whose names DO appear in the Book of Life will inhabit the new earth which God will cause to come forth to replace the currently existing earth.  They will be comforted and their will be no more death, pain, or suffering for those who reside there with God.

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

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

The description of the beast mentioned in this passage resembles the description of the beast which rose out of the sea in chapter 13, but I do not think it is intended to be viewed as the same beast.  Perhaps more accurately I would say that the events related to the beast in chapter 13 are not intended to be connected to the events described in the vision in today’s passage.  Many years ago I had come across the idea that the seven heads of this beast represented the seven hills upon which the city of Rome is built.  Since then I have always thought that the writer of this book was thinking of Rome when he wrote this.  Since I do believe that this is a description of a vision which John had, I did not believe that John’s understanding of it as applying to Rome necessarily means that it does indeed mean that it refers to Rome.  Today when I read it I noticed that it refers to “the beast” as “once was, now is not, and yet will come.”  In addition, I remembered that Jerusalem was sometimes referred to as “Babylon” in prophetic writings in the Bible.  Finally I read that the woman was drunk with the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.  Which leads me to think that John was thinking of the Jews who rejected Jesus when he wrote about this vision.

I wrote the above thinking it was going somewhere.  In any case, this account of the beast and the woman reflects how those who make war against the Lamb will go down into defeat,.  While His called, chosen, and faithful followers will be invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb and thus be blessed.

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

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

In John’s vision, after the fifth angel blows his trumpet a great suffering is inflicted on those who do have not received God’s seal, on those who refuse to listen His commands and obey them.  Then after the sixth angel blows his trumpet yet more suffering is inflicted on mankind such that a third of the people are killed.  Even after these two events the remaining people did not repent of their idolatry and evil.  While John’s vision is about the end times, I think this message is one for all time.  Most of the time people do not see the connection between their sin and their suffering.  Instead of turning from the wicked behaviors which have led to their suffering, they often double down and engage in even more wicked behavior.  They become convinced that if they just dedicate themselves more fully to the things to which they have turned for meaning and fulfillment, things which failed to provide that in the first place, those things will give them what they desire and relieve them of their suffering.  Whether the end of the world is coming or just the end of our lives, the time we have to communicate to those we love that they need to turn to God is running out.

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

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

I usually prefer to write about how the passage gives us lessons on how we should live our lives, but today’s passage is full of symbolism which I want to write about.  The first is “the seven spirits of God”, which the translators’ notes suggest could be translated as “the sevenfold Spirit of God.”  Personally, I think the latter is a more accurate translation of the writer’s meaning.  I mentioned that in passing yesterday.  Today I am going to go a little more in-depth. So, why would the Holy Spirit be referred to as “the sevenfold Spirit”?  The number seven in the Bible refers to completion, perfection, and/or fulfillment.  In the case of the Holy Spirit, all three meanings apply.  The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, brings perfection, completion, and fulfillment.  He is also all three of those things.  Next I want to note that the Sevenfold Spirit was in front of the throne upon which God the Father sat.  However, the Lamb which was slain, which was also the Lion of Judah, had seven horns and seven eyes which were also the Sevenfold Spirit of God.  In this passage about John’s vision the Holy Spirit was with both the Father and with  the Son.  My point here is that, despite what some say, the Bible does indeed present the idea of the Trinity, God in Three Persons.

When I started I thought I would write about some other things, but I am going to stop here.

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

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

This morning I want to go over what John wrote in his introduction to his letter.  As I read it this morning it evoked a sense of awe in me.  First, I want to point out that I think the translation of verse four in the NIV is incorrect.  The NIV translates verse 4 and five as, “Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits^[a] before his throne,  and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.”  That little {a} references a translators’ note which says, “That is, the sevenfold Spirit.”  So, verses four and five here are an outright reference to the Trinity.  First it references the Father, “Him who is, and who was, and who is to come.”  Then it references the Holy Spirit, “the sevenfold Spirit before His throne.” (The “His” whose throne is referenced is the Father).  Finally, it references Jesus, and in doing so indicates that He is also God.

But it was verse seven which really spoke to me today.
“Look He is coming with the clouds.”
We usually read that as being about Jesus’ second coming, and I think that is generally the correct reading.  However, today I thought that perhaps that is too narrow of a reading.  I think we should also call that out to people today, people who need to see and understand the glory of God in Jesus.  Every eye will indeed see Him, but those of us who see Him now, before that glorious day when He comes in judgement of the earth, are blessed.  When you see clouds in the sky, think about the fact that Jesus came with the clouds, and that He holds the keys of death and of the place of the dead.  Jesus died and rose from the dead, and now He holds the keys to free all of us from death.  I want to go back once more to the statement that “Every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him.”  Again, that is not just about at His second coming.  Many will see Him before that, even from among those who chose to reject Him.  There are those, such as Paul while he was still Saul, who reject Jesus only to see Him “coming with the clouds” and turn to follow Him.  Just as rainbows are a sign to us that God will never again destroy the entire world with a flood, so are clouds a sign to us that Jesus died and rose again and is now here for us for eternity.  The clouds are a sign that we should preach His gospel to those who reject Him, because His Spirit will strike down some of those as Saul was struck down outside of Damascus.

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

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

After writing abut the Judgement, John writes that he saw a new heaven and a new earth because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.  He writes that He who sat upon the throne said to him, “It is done.”  Not, “It will be done.”  The One who spoke to John spoke in the present tense, not the future tense.  For the most part, I think the present tense there was being spoken as part of the vision of what would happen in the future, but part of me wonders if perhaps we are to understand that the new heaven and the new earth have already been created.  There is a thread which runs through the New Testament that teaches that God’s Kingdom has already come and we need to live in it according to its “laws”.  So, perhaps we are to live as if we are in the new heaven and the new earth, even though the first heaven and earth have not yet passed away.  John writes that nothing impure will enter into the new heaven and earth, nor will anyone who does what is deceitful or shameful, only those whose names have been written in the book of life.

Regardless of whether the One on the throne was speaking in the present tense of the first century or the present tense of the time in the future when John’s vision would take place, in the epilogue of this book, Jesus says to John, “Look, I am coming soon.”  And John is told not to seal up the words of the scroll he is writing to describe his vision because the time of that vision is near.  Time is running out for us to do what is holy and right.  Time is running out for those who have not yet accepted God’s gift of salvation.  The Spirit cries “Come”, and we also are to cry “Come”, inviting all to drink of the free gift of the water of life.  He is coming soon, let us prepare ourselves so that we are ready for that day.

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

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

I was not sure where to start writing today.  Then I was struck by part of the description the angel gave of the scarlet beast.  He said, “it once was, now is not, and yet will come.”  I think we should note the similarity and difference with the formula used in Revelation 4:8:  “who was, and is, and is to come.”   This latter formula is used several times to refer to God in the Book of Revelation, and sometimes to refer to Jesus (thus making part of the case for the Trinity) and to indicate His eternal, unchanging existence.  The formula used here to describe the scarlet beast, I believe, is intended to indicate both its desire to be held up as divine and its inferiority to the Real thing.  Which brings me to the woman saw sitting on the beast.  The woman is symbolic of those who strive to control the beast, to control that which holds itself up as being worthy of being worshiped in place of God, in order to accomplish their own selfish desires.  I want to note that the woman here appears to represent a specific organization at a specific time (whether that organization is a government or some other type of organization is not entirely clear), but it may represent worldly society.  The woman will fail to control the beast and will instead be consumed by it.  And all who have tied their well-being to that of the woman will suffer on that day.  We who follow Christ and through Him serve God are called to separate ourselves from the world, from those who seek to replace God with something other than God.  I want to be perfectly clear.  This passage appears to be a prophecy about specific events, presenting them with symbols and metaphors, but there are lessons which apply to our interaction with this world even if we are not at the time being referred to here.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 13-16.

I want to start by writing about the power of the beasts.  The dragon, which we were told in yesterday’s passage is Satan, gave his power and authority to the first beast.  People worshiped the dragon because it had given power to the first beast, and they worshiped the first beast because it had the power which the dragon gave it.  A little later the second beast arose and exercised the power of the first beast on behalf of the first beast.  This second beast performed signs and wonders using the power of the first beast.  As a result, it was also worshiped.  Finally, the second beast created a statue of the first beast and gave it powers so that all who refused to worship this image of the first beast were killed.  All of this reminds me of some corporate shell games we see played today, where one company owns another company, which owns a third company, and so on.  The first several companies exist mostly to hide the actual owners from accountability.   So, what I am seeing is that the beasts and the statue will exist to allow people to pretend that they are not worship Satan, are not worshiping evil itself.

Then the second beast requires people to receive its mark.  I realized this morning that the beast’s mark is an imitation of the seal which God had placed on the foreheads of His servants.  While nowhere in Revelation does John spell out this imitation, he does make it clear that one cannot bear the mark of the beast and the seal of God at the same time.  Which suggests to me that while I think the mark of the beast has a physical manifestation its essence is something spiritual which is separate from its physical manifestation.  However, the important thing is that we understand that having the mark of the beast is incompatible with having the seal of God.  We cannot have both at the same time.  There may come a time, indeed there may be multiple times throughout history, when we need to choose between being able to take part in the economy of this world and serving God.  We need to be willing to suffer severe economic hardship in order to serve God.

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

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

The writer writes of a time when those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads (this appears to be a reference to the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel mentioned in chapter 7) will be tortured for five months such that they wish to die, but will be unable to do so.  Then he references three plagues which will kill a third of mankind.  I was struck by the fact that even after these events, John tells us that the people who survived did not repent of their idolatry, their sexual immorality, their thefts, or their murders.  The writer does not say that they were guilty of one or more of thee.  He says that they were guilty of all of them…and that they refused to repent of them, even after experiencing the consequences of those sins.  Have we repented of our sins?  Will we repent of our sins, either before or after we see the consequences of those sins?  A little later the writer tells us that the devil is filled with fury because he knows the time is short.  Do we know that the time is short?  Do we exhibit as much urgency to bring people to the Lord as the devil has to lead them to their doom?

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