17.2 Revelation – But everyone is doing it

But everyone is doing it

How often do we base our decisions and direction on “conventional wisdom”.  We look at trends of what is hot in fashion.  We pay attention to polls for the direction of the populous.  We pay attention to ratings and reviews of what others think about vacation sites, restaurants and shops.  We have never lost the argument we used as kids that everyone else is doing something.  And, we continue to ignore our mom’s argument that if everyone else jumped off a bridge would you do it as well.

The fact is, we live in a fallen, broken, sinful world.  If the majority is doing something, odds are it is wrong or sinful.  As followers of Christ we are promised trials and difficulties, not majorities and power.  If Jesus was hated and unfairly condemned, why should we expect more.

That does not mean we just throw up our hands and say, “oh well.”  It doesn’t mean we give up and go along with what everyone else is doing.  We are foreigners on this earth and our home and kingdom is in another place, in the heavenly realms.

Our direction should come not from what everyone else is doing, but what the bible commands and what Jesus gave.  We follow the spirit of the Holy Ghost, not popular opinion or polls.  We take definitions of truth from what God commands in His Holy Word, not by what is trending in popularity.

When the beast emerges from the waters everyone follows him, everyone worships him.  There is a remnant that does not and for 42 months they suffer and endure.  Right is right, now and then, but it is seldom what is popular.

 

My Answers:

3.
a.
10 horns, 7 heads, 10 crown on its horns and on each a blasphemous name.  resembled a leopard but had feet like  of a bear and a mouth like a lion.  one of the heads had a fatal wound had been healed.  dragon gave power, throne, authority, people worshiped

b.
that people were so accepting and worshiped the beast – this is weird and strange.  Why would this be worshiped (right now people reject worship of anything but themselves)

4.
Jesus spoke with authority (Mar 1:27), authority he received from God (authority to forgive sins Luk 5:24, drive out demons cure disease Luk 9:1, The Father living in me who is doing his work Jhn 14:10).  But Jesus used his authority to teach and help and cure and support, not as a means of power or control over people.  He was worthy of worship, but chose to submit to persecution

5.
a.
By testing it against scripture, by counsel with other believers, through prayer

b.
I have gotten myself back on track of being detoured by sinful thinking and enticed by things such as greed or self-worth by being confronted by the truth of the scriptures and the words of Godly people.

16.5 Revelation – Enmity

Enmity

Enmity is a word we seldom use and when we do, we use it in watered down fashion.  It doesn’t simply mean dislike or conflict.  It is bigger and deeper.  It is deep-rooted hatred manifest in open and sustained conflict.  It is all consuming antagonism, with a single mindedness against the foe.

There is enmity between satan and mankind.  When we befriend the fallen world, we take on enmity to God (James 4:4).

But, regardless of the enmity that satan has for us and for God, he has no direct power or control over either.  Satan cannot keep us from God.  Satan cannot prevent God from anything.

It reminds me of some of the haunted house things we would do at halloween.  Characters would be dressed up and jump out at unexpected times, using darkness and distraction and surprise.  The characters would take on the dress and image of our fears, but they couldn’t harm us.  They couldn’t prevent us from completing the journey.  They couldn’t really “do” anything to us.  The only things were in how we responded to them.

Satan, despite his overwhelming enmity, is just as powerless.  We can become paralyzed in our fear.  We may in fact, falter and decide to join with the ranks of the characters, but these are our choices and not because we are locked into it by the devil.  And, even in these situations, God is less than a whisper away – honoring our decision to join in the weak forces that hate Him, while willing to take us back into His arms and carry us to protection and full restoration (like the prodigal son).

My Answers:

12.
The woman – then went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring – those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus

13.
a.
enmity between satan and the woman and between your offsping and hers.  Men who follow the Lord and keep God’s commands have always been despised and attacked (enmity between) those who choose evil and follow wicked ways (the serpents children)

b.
sin entered the world through Adam and, as a result, death – All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  But, Jesus’ gift is greater.  By taking on the sin of all, by accepting the penalty of death for a life lived without sin, and then defeating death, Jesus.

14.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God – nothing, never, nowhere

16.4 Revelation – They = Us

They = Us

Revelation 12:11 states, “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”

The question is, who is “they.”

At first blush, it would be easy to interpret the they as the angels.  This verse comes from a loud voice in heaven directly after Michael and his angels defeat the dragon and his angels and cast satan out of heaven to earth.

But, I’m going to offer an alternative for consideration.  The sentence immediately prior to 11 states, “For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”  What if, instead of the angels, the “they” in verse 11 instead refers to the brothers and sisters?

If this is the interpretation, then we, as believers defeated satan even as the angels taking up arms and waging battle against him.  He was defeated not by our power or goodness or strength, but by the blood of the lamb and by the word (God’s word) brought to the world through our testimony (that is changed lives).

Our triumph, through the saving grace of the blood of Christ, over the accuser would be the root of his demise.  If we were simply un-redeemed sinners, then his accusations before God would be the truth and that truth would have a place in heaven.  But, because of the blood of the lamb, we are redeemed and the price of our sins has been paid-in-full.  The dragon then is spewing forth false accusations and false testimony against those who now stand as witnesses, through their testimony, to the power of the sacrifice and resurrection of the Son of God.

As humans, we will die, but as saved souls we do not shrink from death.  We don’t look forward to dying and we mourn for those who have died, but we recognize it is not the end, but simply a portal to cross to an eternal life.  And, unlike the dragon and his angels, our eternal life will be spent in heaven rejoicing with the angels.

My Answers:

9.
He was thrown out of heaven (out of God’s presence) – God has forgiven them and wiped the slate clean – no one is there rehashing old wounds and bringing the up again and again

10.
a. As co-heirs with Christ, they shared in the glory and victory, through obedience and submission  under christ to reject Satan
b. We are reconciled through the blood (saved) – he died while we were unbelievers, now are in unity to all heaven under Christ
c. Eternal life is only through Jesus, Blessedd. God is first – whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever gives his life over to Jesus, lives forever, christ died for us

11.
a.
It has emphasized the disparity between God and Satan.  We sometimes elevate satan to an undue level.  He is just an angel – not God, not a son of God, not the Holy Spirit.

b.
Lo! he comes, with clouds descending, once for our salvation slain; thousand thousand saints attending swell the triumph of his train: Alleluia! alleluia! alleluia!

16.3 Revelation – Opposite Not Equal

Opposite Not Equal

Being the opposite of something does not mean the two things are on the same level.  The opposite of financial wealth is financial poverty, but we don’t lie to ourselves and think that someone who squanders their riches is somehow elevated to the same level as a wise investor simply because they are opposites.  The opposite of physical health is physical sickness, but we don’t think, even for a moment, that these two opposites are equal in battle.

But, Satan’s lies through the ages to mankind has attempted to do just this in regard to the things of Satan.  We think the opposite of Good is Evil and we put them as equals in battle.  We think the opposite of light is darkness.  We think the opposite of Love is Hate.  While these things are opposites, they are not equals.

Satan is not on the level of God, He is on the level of an angel – now a fallen angel stripped even of his place in the heavenly realm.  He battled not God, but Michael and lost at that.

By standing against everything the King of Kings stands for, does not give Him kingship – at least not of anything of value or anything that is lasting.

What lies are you allowing yourself to believe about Satan?  How are these lies being used by the wicked ones to elevate him to a level far higher than his true standing?  How are you giving this one being, who can be in one place at one time only, more power and authority than is true?

When the Israelites were first brought to the promised land, they sent scouts ahead who came back and reported how the people of the land looked like giants and they (the Israelites) looked like grasshoppers in their own eyes.  In contrast, Satan is like a grasshopper who sees himself as a giant.  He believes his own lies and wants nothing more than for us to believe them, too.

My Answers:

6.
Michael and his angels – the dragon and his angels fought back

7.
present in heaven with the angels.  He is restrained by God (under Him) and he can do nothing without God’s acquiescence

8.
God is all powerful, Satan has the power God allows him.  God is omnipresent, Satan is not.  God is All knowing, Satan only knows himself.  God is truth, Satan is lies

16.2 Revelation – Get Away

Get Away

In our scripture today from Revelation 12, the mother and the child are both protected by God by his provision of a place of sanctuary: the child to heaven and the mother to a place prepared for her in the wilderness.

I think this is important as we live and make choices in a fallen, corrupt world.  There is no doubt that sin surrounds us and seeks to overcome us.  It is roaring in boastfulness in every type of media that we see and hear.  Everyday can be a battlefront.

But, God calls us to his sanctuary.  He calls us to spend time in Him, being refreshed and restored.  Do the evils ones desire and attempt to invade even this part of our day?  Absolutely, but we should turn that battle over to the Lord and simply submit and rest in Him for a time.

But how much do we avoid the perils of the rest of the day?  Do we make decisions that take us away from sin and sinful people or put us in partnership with them?  Do our jobs and our co-workers give us strength or are they ones that we battle?  Do our neighbors and friends bring us closer to God or provide an avenue of temptation.

We can look down on groups, such as the Amish, as being backward by choosing to live separated from society.  But, is there a lesson to be learned in terms of building a community of strength and sanctuary?

2 Timothy 3:1-5 outlines the wickedness of our times and the people in them, but it closes by saying, “Have nothing to do with such people.”

My Answers:

3.
(1) a woman – Israel, Eve, Mary, the Church, mankind (2) red dragon – Satan, sin (3) A son – Jesus

4.
a.
Gen: serpent, crafty, twists word, questions, tempts, lies – cursed to crawl, enmity, crush head (strike heel)
John: murderer, not holding to truth, lies, liar, father of lies (evil ones on earth are his children)
1 Pete: your enemy, prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour

b.
it corrupts men.  The power of the Holy Spirit and the redemption of the blood of the lamb are any person’s only hope.  Also, stay away from these sinful people – Have nothing to do with them

5.
a.
Child was snatched up to God and to his throne.  The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God where she might be taken care of for 1260 days

b.
He has given me the bible so I can understand Him.  He has died for my sins so I am forgiven.  He protects me from evil.  He gives me godly people (a church) to be in communion with.

15.5 Revelation – Freedom

Freedom

We are called to lay our sins, our worries, our pain, our fears at the feet of our Lord and Savior.  When we turn things over to Jesus, we are freed from the burden.  But, that does not make them magically disappear.  Jesus takes these things from us and carries them in our stead.  He takes on each and every sin that is confessed.  He takes on the emotions we turn over to Him.

Those who love Jesus, such as the elders in heaven, see the baggage He carries for those He loves and long for Him to be freed of it forever.  The way this will happen is when creation has been set right again, when it is restored to the state of original creation with sin destroyed, evil destroyed, wickedness destroyed and its remnant purged from all creation.

Like every other restoration project, it begins with demolition.  The old, rotten and decayed is ripped away and destroyed.  This is what we see in the cleansing wrath of the judgements of God played out upon creation by His angels.  When the rot is ripped away, Christ will return to rule over a new heaven and new earth, where there is no pain, no sin, no tears.  Where the hardships and hurt that Jesus has carried for us have been destroyed forever.

 

My Answers:

11.
24 elders seated on thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, Thanks to God, He is powerful, Wrath has come, the time to judge the dead and reward the servants, prophets and all who revere God’s name (both great and small), also time for destroying the earth

12.
All will be judged.  Rewards to servants, prophets, people who revere the name of God (great and small)

13.
Watchful.  I’m reading, hearing and heeding as commanded.

15.4 Revelation – Tribe, Language, People, Nation

Tribe, Language, People, Nation

Revelation 5:9 – And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation

Revelation 7:9 – After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

Revelation 11:9 – For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial.

I found it interesting how thoroughly God has stirred the pot of humanity.  Today when we think about people from a certain part of the world or who speak a certain language, we make assumptions about their religion.  But by the end times, none of this will make a difference.  Jesus, the Lamb of God, has paid the price of sin for all mankind, regardless of race, language, nationality, or family and tribe.

However, as amazing as that is, it is even more troubling that there will be people from every tribe, language, people and nation who not only reject Jesus, but do so to the degree that they dance in the streets and exchange gifts celebrating the death of God’s own witnesses.  How sad that no group, however big or small, is “all in”.  Every group has members who will be part of these who reject the Lord.

The challenge in this is to think about the prejudices we hold.  Are we more or less likely to witness to one tribe or nationality than another?  Do we make an assumption that we should or should not make talk about Jesus to someone who speaks a certain language?

We will truly all be brothers and sisters in unity with our Lord.

 

My Answers

9.
a.
attack, overpower and kill them.  God preserved them in death for 3 1/2 days and then brought them back to life and raised them up, in the body, to heaven in a cloud

b.
Earthquake and 1/10th of the city collapsed.  7000 people killed in the earthquake

10.
a.
John 11: Jesus is the resurrection. Whoever believes will live even though they die and then never die
John 14: Jesus has prepared a place for His believers in God’s house, He will come back to take us there
1 Cor: Christ is the first fruits over death, it will be destroyed as all else is under Jesus
Phil: We are citizens of heaven, waiting to be transformed into His glorious body
1 Thes: dead raised first, after those still alive will be caught up with them in the clouds
1 John: We don’t know our transformed bodies yet but will when we see Jesus again, like Him

b.
Kids

15.3 Revelation – Real Witness

Real Witness

It is easy to get confused, particularly in the book of Revelation, about what is real and what is symbolic, what is a metaphor and what is simply struggling to find the proper words.  Over and over again John is faced with the challenge of putting in to words things that are not of this world.  Is something being like a horse mean it is a horse but different or that by horse he means an army where the horse is a representation of an army?  By like a locust or like a scorpion, are these actual analogies and descriptions, or symbolic representations of the devastation?

But then we get to Chapter 11 of Revelation and there are no doubts.  John is given a measure and told to measure the temple of God, the altar and the worshipers.  We are not given the dimensions, so you might wonder why it is important that he conduct the measurements but then doesn’t write them down.  I think this is because it is not the physical dimensions that matter but the absolutely assured fact that they have physical dimensions that is the point.  You don’t measure a symbolic representation.  Heaven is not symbolic.  The altar of God is not a metaphor.  This is real and measurable, tangible, with dimensions, shape, size.  The worshipers are actual worshipers.  It is real.

So, knowing that it is real, what are we called to do?  Simple, witness.  Notice that word is not convince.  It is not sell.  It is not market or push or argue or persuade.  It is witness.  When you are called to witness, you are called to do one simple thing: tell the truth exactly as you know it.  You don’t have to interpret it.  You don’t have to be able to see every angle or understand every metaphysical element.  You simply need to tell what you know to be true.

God calls us to witness in what we say, in what we do, in what we elect not to say and in what we elect not to do.  He calls us to witness by living changed lives that profess that what we believe and know to be true is something of such consequence that we don’t simply go on, but that we respond to it.

Knowing that you are a spiritual being, adopted as a brother or sister of Jesus Christ, living in an earthly body is a big deal.  It changes everything.  It changes your citizenship.  It changes your loyalties.  It changes your life.

Does the life you live witness to this fact?

My Answers:

6.
a.
The temple of God and the altar with its worshipers, exclude the outer court, because it has been given to the gentiles. they will trample the holy city for 3 1/2 years

b.
42 months, 3.5 years

7.
They are His witnesses.  The stand before the Lord.  If anyone tries to harm them fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies, they have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain, power to turn the waters into blood and strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.

8.
They are not called to sell or force the gospel.  They simply witness.  The word does the rest.  Witnessing is simply telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  Telling it in words and actions, by what I do and what I resolve not to do.  Things that bring honor and glory to God.

It is convicting because, much of the time, my witness is a witness of my weakness and failings, not of God’s strength and power and perfection.

15.2 Revelation – Mystery

Mystery

Years ago I was going through a religious education class and had lots of questions.  When asked a question he didn’t know or didn’t want to address, the instructor would hold his hands in the air and say, “it’s a mystery.”  Not only was that frustrating, but it is also inaccurate.  It implies that not only is God bigger than what our mind can comprehend, but also that we should just go along on blind faith.

I don’t believe that is what the word mystery in the case of the Mysteries of God, is supposed to mean.  If God was simply going to be a mystery, why would we have the bible?  Why would God reveal so much of Himself to us through His word, through His creation and through the Holy Spirit?  Why would Jesus have spent so much time teaching in the temple if this was all just supposed to be some incomprehensible puzzle or equation to which we cannot find an answer.

Instead, I think the Mystery of God is like a present.  Parts of our ultimate relationship with the Lord, part of the ultimate spiritual connection that we will someday enjoy, has been wrapped up like a present.  We don’t have it now, but it is a gift that God wants us to have, has purchased for us and is prepared to give to us.  The revelation of the Mystery is a time when we unwrap the gift and enter a time of living in even more perfect joy with our Lord and Creator.

When John is told to not write down the words of the 7 Thunders, it isn’t so that we can’t know them, like God wants to keep something from us.  It is so that, at the appropriate time, we can hear them for ourselves, in all their splendor and majesty and triumph and revel in the joy those harmonic voices will bring.

 

My Answers:

3.
a.
a mighty angel coming down from heaven, robed in a cloud, rainbow above his head, his face was like the sun, legs like fiery pillars, holding a little scroll lay open in his hand, planted right foot on the sea and left foot on the land and gave a loud shout like the roar of a line.  When he shouted, the voices of the 7 thunders spoke – John was going to write down what they said, but told to seal it up and do not write it down.

b.
by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and sea and all that is in them

4.
a.
Rule/domination of both land and sea.  Also, reference back to Daniel 10 and angel he saw at river

b.
The voice of God, the 7 spirits of God

c.
The word of the Lord is sweet, but as the word is digested we feel the calling of the work to do in spreading the message to others and the hardship and pain that brings about in this very broken world – John was to continue to prophecy

5.
God’s desire for a personal relationship with each part of His creation.  His unwavering love.  How the hardening of hearts can be a blessing to those people and to others

14.5 Revelation – God Doesn’t Want This

God Doesn’t Want This

The other day my wife and I needed to discipline one of our children.  It was horrible.  It was the last thing we wanted to be doing and we felt only sadness and hurt in it.  There was no joy or peace with it.  But, there was love.  The only reason we put ourselves and our family through the pain and hardship that seeing the punishment and discipline through involved was because of a love and desire and commitment to help this child change and turn back to what was right.

In the same way, I don’t believe God wants any of this that we are reading in Revelation for His people and His creation.  He would much rather be taking us into His loving arms and telling us how proud He is of our love for each other and our unity to Him and all the saints and believers.

But, we are on the wrong path.  We are on the path that, in spite of the futility of it, we turn to idols instead of God.  It reminded me of going over to the wall and repeatedly turning the light switch back off and on, when the power goes out.  It isn’t going to make a difference.  The idols made of wood and stone can’t help when 1/3rd of the sun turns black.  It is a ridiculous response.  But it is exactly the type of response we make.

But, God loves us enough to be just.  He loves us enough to take on the pain of disciplining us.  He is willing to destroy a third of creation (or more), to get a soul back on the path to Him.  He is willing to allow pain and death, because He is willing to honor our choices.

Like the prodigal son, if we want to take what doesn’t belong to us and waste it, putting ourselves into a position of filth and defilement and starvation, God will allow it.  But, what He really wants is to wrap His arms and a new robe around us when we return home to Him.

My Answers

12.
a.
1 hail=7,  2 sea to blood=1, 3 wormwood=moses log water sweet ex 15:22, 4 darkness=9, 5 locusts=8, 6 death=10

b.
except for 5, the people of God were not excluded.  Also, these are universal.  With the locusts, not crops, but people.  With death, not only firstborn but 1/3 and no mention of passover protection

c.
Denial – turn to idolatry, sorcerer, anger at God.

13.
a.
This is not what God wants – that is the only reason it is delayed – it is what man is ordering to spite God

b.
pride, wasted time