Sunday Devotions The Revelation to John of Jesus Christ

Sources of Commentary:  Woodbridge Bible Study Course, The Expositor’s Study Bible, The Life Application Bible, and The Idiot’s Complete Guide to the Book of Revelation

8-7-2022 - Preview.  Today we begin our study of the Revelation to John of Jesus Christ.

        The Book of Revelation is the supreme book of prophecy in the New Testament. For centuries it has lit the fires of readers’ imaginations, enriched their minds, and given optimism to people of God everywhere.  The author is the beloved disciple John, who wrote five New Testament books:  The Gospel of John; I, II, and III John; and of course, The Revelation. John is the only original apostle that was not killed for his faith. Instead, he was exiled by the Roman authorities to the island of Patmos.  If you have ever read the Gospel of John, you will notice that he never once mentioned his own name.  But in Revelation, in order that its prophetic message might have the needed apostolic authority as well as the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he mentions his name repeatedly.

        The purpose of the Book is to reveal the full identity of Jesus Christ, to give hope to believers, and warning to nonbelievers.  It was written about 95AD from the island of Patmos and directed to the seven Churches of Asia in existence at the time, as well as to all believers everywhere from that time and throughout the future until the return of Jesus. Most scholars believe that the seven Churches were experiencing persecution under the Roman Emperor who ruled from 90-95 AD.  Part of that persecution was to exile John to Patmos.  While he was there, he had a vision of the glorified Christ.  God also revealed to him what is to take place in the future:  the final judgement of mankind and the ultimate triumph of God over the evil that has overtaken the world He created.

        Revelation is written in “apocalyptic” form, which is a type of Jewish literature like what we saw in Daniel 7-12.  This form uses symbolic imagery to communicate hope from God to those in the midst of persecution.  The events are ordered according to literary patterns rather than strictly chronological patterns.  Revelation is a book of Hope as John shows us that our victorious Lord Jesus will certainly return to vindicate the righteous and judge the wicked.  It’s also a book of warning showing us that things are not as they should be – then, now, and in the future.  It shows us that Christ calls believers to commit themselves to live in righteousness.

        Although Jesus gave John this revelation of Himself nearly 2,000 years ago, it still stands as a warning to God’s people today and will continue until it is carried out to the finish.  We today can take heart as we come to understand John’s vision of hope:  Christ will return to rescue His people and settle accounts with all who defy him.

8-14-2022.  Revelation 1:1-3. The Introduction.  There are two interwoven themes in the Book of Revelation:  (1) The testimony of Jesus Christ that provides blessing for those who respond and believe; and (2) recurring emphasis that time is winding down and the end is near.  As we go through the Book this theme will be repeated with an even greater urgency because Jesus is returning soon.

        1:1-2.  John confirms that his writings, given to him by God, are the Revelation of Jesus Christ and not the Revelation of John.  You will see some Bibles call the book the Revelation to John or the Revelation of Jesus Christ.  But it should never be referred to as the Revelation of John.  He goes on to say that the things which he writes will start soon – which they did and will continue to unfold through the Church age of today and beyond. We see in verse 2 that John is merely a witness to what he had seen, and his task is to record fairly and faithfully all that he saw and heard.

        1:3.  This is a key verse.  All who obey these admonitions are promised a blessing.  “The time at hand” means that the revelation begins with the Church age and continues forever.  Everything that is recorded will come true. John is urging readers to be ready at all times for the last judgement and the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth.  We don’t know when it will occur, but we must always be prepared as things will happen quickly with no opportunity to switch sides.

        The drama of the events that unfold in Revelation will be spectacular, but if you are on the winning side, there is nothing to fear.  When we think about the future, we can continue on  with confidence because Jesus – who will be the victor – is always with us.

8-21-2022.  Revelation 1:4-8. The Salutation and Theme.  Whenever you write a letter, there is always a beginning that is called the Salutation.  Some of you may remember the structure of letters learned in elementary school.  This part of Revelation is the Salutation – or greeting – to the seven Asian Churches who were in what we know today as Turkey.  The Holy Spirit chose these Churches to portray the entirety of the Church Age – then and up until the Rapture.  This tells us that the contents of Revelation were intended to people with a basic knowledge and understanding of Christianity. They either believe in God and Jesus His Son and are still faithful in their belief, or at some point did believe but for whatever reason have chosen to walk away from their faith.

        1:4.  The sanctifying grace and peace John speaks of is only possible because of what Jesus did for all of us on the Cross.  The phrase ‘from the seven spirits which are before His throne’ speaks of the aspect of the operations of the Holy Spirit which Isaiah tells us in chapter 11:2.  These are the spirits of wisdom, understanding, council, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord.  All of these attributes rest in the Messiah – Jesus Christ.

The number sever is used throughout Revelation to symbolize God’s completeness and perfection which is why it is sometimes called God’s perfect number.

        1:5.  Notice that Jesus is referred to by John as ‘the faithful Witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.’  Faithful Witness speaks of the earthy life of perfect obedience that Jesus lived in human form.  The First Begotten of the Dead means Jesus is the first to be resurrected from the dead.  We know that there were others that Jesus and the disciples brought back to life, but they all died again.  But  Jesus is the only one to be resurrected never to die again. The ‘Prince of the Kings of the earth’ refers to Jesus ruling the world which is a key theme of Revelation.

        1:6. Because of the Cross, we all are made kings and priests to God our Father.  And as the Redeemer, Jesus deserves the ‘glory and dominion for ever and ever.’  This is the message we are to take to the world.  Yet many hesitate to share what Jesus has done in their lives because they feel it’s not very spectacular.  We qualify as witnesses for Jesus because of what He has done for us, not because of what we have done for Him.  Some of the things He has done for us? Showed His love by setting us free from our sins through His death on the Cross, guaranteeing us a place in His kingdom, and making us priests to administer God’s love to others.  The fact that an eternal, powerful God has offered life to us is nothing short of spectacular!

        1:7. The Second Coming is the major theme of Revelation.  Here we see that Jesus’ return will be visible and glorious. All people on earth at the time will see Him arrive (which is also told in Mark 13:26) and they will know it is Jesus. How they will see Him around the world, we don’t know but God will make it happen somehow. ‘Those who pierced Him’ could refer to the Roman soldiers who crucified Him or to the Jews who were responsible for His death.  Remember that John was a witness to this event, and he never forgot what he saw that day. ‘Wailing’ will take place because the judgement Christ will bring to the world for its sin.

        1:8. Here we see Jesus calling Himself the Alpha and Omega, translated to A to Z, the first and last; and the beginning and the end; all meaning that He is the eternal Lord and Ruler of the past, present, and future.  The word ‘almighty’ guarantees that He will be able to accomplish all that He says He will.  Without Jesus we have nothing that is eternal, nothing that can change our life, nothing that can save us from sin.  Each one of us must make sure that He is our ‘first and last’ and honor the One who is the beginning and the end of all existence.

8-28-2022.  Revelation 1:9-20. John’s Vision

        1:9.  As we read this Book, remember that John was suffering just as all of us do.  He could relate to the intense persecution of the Churches at that time and to all who would eventually read his words in the future.  John had come to terms with his exile in Patmos and was allowing the Holy Spirit to completely control his life. His patient endurance was about to be rewarded. We should all follow John’s example in our relationships with other Christians; showing empathy for their suffering, encourage them to be strong  in their faith and remind them of their future reward with God.

        1:10.  John heard Jesus before he saw Him.  A voice behind John sounded like a trumpet.

        1:11-12.  When he turned around to see what was going on, he saw a magnificent figure standing amid seven golden lampstands – candle sticks – holding seven stars.  Both the lampstands and stars signified the seven Churches which He named and directed John to write all that he was about to see in a book. We know this was Jesus because He identified Himself as the Alpha and Omega.

        1:13-16.  John got more than a glimpse of his Lord.  He recognized Him as the Son of Man in the middle of the seven candlesticks which tells us that Jesus is the Head of the Church and no matter what they face, Jesus stands among them with reassuring love and power.  He was dressed in a robe with a golden sash that signifys His deity and His position of High Priest who goes into God’s presence to plead forgiveness for all who believe in Him; His hair white as snow indicates He is the everlasting God with majesty and authority; and His eyes like blazing fire, show His penetrating scrutiny and fierce judgment; His feet like superheated bronze, indicate His humanity but also that He is superhuman; His voice sounded like many waters, telling us He speaks with divine authority and power; He was holding seven stars in His right hand which represents the pastors of the seven Churches; from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, shows He judges by the Word of God; and He was so brilliant it could only be compared to the sun, which presents Him as He really is His glorified form.

        1:17-18.  John was as close to Jesus as anyone during His earthly ministry and saw Him in His glorified form at the Transfiguration; yet when he saw Jesus this time, he fell at His feet as dead.  In other words, John thought he was going to die. But we see Jesus telling John not to be afraid  because He is the First and the Last; meaning He alone is God, the Absolute Lord of history and the Creator. Jesus also tells him that He is He Who Lives, meaning He will never die again, and He has life in Himself; He is the fountain and Source of life to others; and the one who has immortality.  Jesus also tells John He is alive forevermore meaning He will never die again and because of Him death is totally defeated; and that He has the keys of Hell and of death, meaning He alone determines who will enter death and Hell and who will not.  Remember the power that John witnessed is available to all who believe in Jesus Christ.

        1:19.  Jesus then instructs John to write about the three things, showing us Revelation  is broken into three parts:  (1) The vision of Jesus in the midst of the Candlesticks, (2) the things which are – concerning the Churches (3) and the things which shall be hereafter which are the events after the Rapture of the Church and include the Great Tribulation, the Second Coming, and eternity.

        1:20.  We see Jesus explain the mystery of the Seven Stars in His right hand and the Seven Candlesticks.  The candle sticks are the Churches and represent the entirety of the Church Age; and the stars are the Pastors or leaders who belong to Christ and are accountable to God for the Churches they lead.

9-4-2022.  Revelation 2:1-7  Letter to Ephesus.  Today we start to look at the letters to the seven Churches and we will see that God really does pay attention to all Churches and cares very much about them.  This shows Jesus cares about this little Church as well and as fellow believers, we must all serve God and do our best to change the world by sharing His word. We will see is how Jesus graded the Churches.  There are a variety of Churches around today which provide people the ability to find one that suits their needs.  But we have to be careful because many Churches seem to operate with a mission to keep the customer satisfied rather than preaching the Word of God.  If that’s their approach, they’re in deep trouble.  The early Churches also provided variety, but not all of it was good.  The initial portion of Revelation is a frank and enlightening performance review by Jesus of the Churches.  His comments to each follow the same general outline:  The identity of the Church, Jesus’ description that was relevant to the Church, a review of the Church’s strengths, a review of the aspects of the Church that need improvement, a challenge to hear and respond to His critique, and a promise to those who are faithful.  First up is Ephesus, which had the highest profile of the day.  Ephesus was a major seaport and where Paul spent several years personally ministering to them.  It’s first pastor was Timothy and was put there because of Paul, who has since passed away, yet the Church is still alive with a new generation of leaders.

        2:1-3.  Starts with a reminder that Jesus is the head of the Church. Jesus recognizes their labor, patience, and distain for all things evil, and the strength of their doctrinal belief which allowed them to identify and remove the liars among them.  And, they had a course of action set and stuck to it with patience even when the things weren’t going well.  They continued to work hard and never quit.

        2:4-5.  Despite their hard work and enthusiasm, they left their first love behind.  Jesus is said they didn’t lose it but left it on their own terms.  He is referring to their departure from the Cross, which is so serious it will lead the Church to ruin unless they repent immediately and change their ways.  Jesus tells them they have fallen from grace – meaning they stopped depending on Christ and the Cross.  They are told that they had to repent and do the ‘first works’  –  go back to the Cross – or they will be removed from the light.  Christ is the source of the light, but the Cross is the means.  The Church at Ephesus had to come back to the Cross or be removed from the light.  When we lose sight of the seriousness of sin, we lose the thrill of our forgiveness, knowledge, and enthusiasm for Jesus our Savior which are required to keep our love for God intense and untarnished.  If Jesus to removes the lampstand it means the Church is no longer effective and no longer able to give light to the community it serves.  Jesus warned them that He would extinguish their light if they didn’t repent for their sins.  Repent means to recognize failures, show remorse and ask for forgiveness of sins.

        2:6. We see Jesus giving them credit for sharing His hatred of the Nicolaitans who were a group of preachers that exploited the people with a false doctrine instead of spiritually developing them.  They gave them permission to enjoy some of the sinful, immoral practices of the Ephesian society of the day.  Notice Jesus was commending them for hating sin but not the sinners.  All this applies to us today.  We are to accept and love all people but refuse to tolerate any sinful practices.  We are tolerant when we don’t agree or applaud what they do, but we love and welcome them.

        2:7. The Church must come back to the Cross.  Christians can only overcome sin by placing their faith exclusively in Christ and the Cross, which will give the Holy Spirit the latitude to work in each heart and mind. We also see that God put two unique trees in the Garden of Eden:  the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We know what happened when Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Good and Evil:  they disobeyed God’s command and chose their own path that removed them from the Garden of Eden and prevented them from eating of the Tree of Life.  Eventually evil will be destroyed and all believers will be returned to a restored paradise where everyone will eat from the Tree of Life and live forever.

        We face a culture of widespread sin and immorality.  A lot of Churches refuse to preach the Cross because parishioners don’t want to hear about the blood that was shed to forgive sins.  All this compromises the Church’s message and its standing with God.  Only God’s Word can be used to set the standards for what is right and wrong – not popular opinions of parishioners.

9-11-2022.  Revelation 2:8-11 Letter to Smyrna.  Smyrna was another seaport, found on the Aegean Sea.  Ephesus, 25 miles to the south,  was on the decline due to increasing silt making boat passage too difficult.  Smyrna was growing in popularity as a favorite trade route.  The city was also known for its prominence in science, medicine, and majestic architecture.  The society was politically motivated, eager to establish ties with Rom, and had erected a temple to the emperor Tiberius in 25 AD.  In contrast, the Church members were both poor and persecuted.  The Greek word used to describe their financial condition is translated to “extreme poverty.” There were two hostile forces against them:  A Jewish population strongly opposed to Christianity, and a non-Jewish population loyal to Rome who supported emperor worship.  Compared to the grandeur of the city around them, they must have seemed and felt like losers.  Yet Jesus’ message was one of confidence and tremendous hope.  Notice that He didn’t have a single negative thing to say about them. 

        2:8.  We see that John is making it clear that what he is writing is from Jesus shown by the reference to the First and Last and the one who died on the Cross but rose to live again forever and ever.  This was an extremely significant reminder for a group of people who might have been feeling half-dead themselves.  Just as Jesus had suffered persecution from satan, from those outside the religious community, and even from some of those who called themselves religious leaders, so would the people of the Smyrna Church. But because Jesus is alive and lives forever, He can help them through all trials and affliction.

        2:9.   Even though Smyrna was a poor Church, Jesus called them spiritually rich.  He speaks to them in a very sympathetic tone with great understanding. We learn that God doesn’t consider Jews who reject Jesus as Messiah to be truly Jews.  Instead, they are members of the synagogue of satan.

        2:10.  As all Churches under Roman rule, Smyrna was suffering persecution.  Some were thrown in prison, and some were killed for their faith.  Jesus is telling them they shouldn’t be afraid.  He promised them a crown of life for their faithfulness. Only the love of Jesus can remove fear that all Christians will face in life because of what they have to look forward to when Jesus returns.

        2:11.  Jesus is reminding them that Churches will suffer but they are to remain steadfast in their faith and they will not be thrown into the lake of fire when Jesus pronounces judgment at the second coming.

        If the Church was hoping to hear that things were going to get better, they may have been disappointed.  With all that they had endured, this letter is a forewarning to Churches today to prepare for their situation to get even worse.  They were challenged by Jesus to be faithful even to the point of death.  Simply for believing something different from the people around them, they were going to go through awful times in terms of money, success, and security; but they would be rewarded with a crown of life.  There is historical evidence about this warning sent to the Church.  An early bishop of the Church was an outspoken Christian named Polycarp.  He had been a disciple of John and bishop of the Church at Smyrna.  An angry mob accused him of destroying their gods because he taught Christians not to sacrifice to or worship Roman deities.  Because he was an old man, he was given an opportunity to denounce Christ and be released.  When he refused to do so, he was burned at the stake in 155 or 156 AD.  The warnings to this Church have relevance even today.  Christians will be persecuted for their faith and persecution will get stronger and more violent as the return of Christ gets closer.  But we are not to lose faith or hope in the promises of God.  Steadfast faith will be rewarded and there will come a time when we see our Lord face to face and receive the rewards for keeping our faith strong.

9-18-2022.  Revelation 2:12-17 Letter to Pergamos.  The third of the seven letters is to the Church at Pergamos, which means citadel.  This city was on a hill that was about 1,000 feet above the surrounding country, giving it a sweeping view of the surrounding area and created a natural fortress.  It was a sophisticated center of Greek culture and education; with a 2,000-volume library almost as extensive as the one in Alexandria, and it is where parchment was invented.  The city had been a capital of Asia until the Romans arrived and quickly shifted the loyalties of the citizens, who were the first to construct a temple devoted to the worship of Cesar.  The original temple was dedicated to Cesar in 29 BC.  Pergamos was also the center of four cults – Zeus, Dionysus, Asclepius, and Athena - and rivaled Ephesus in its worship of idols.  The chief god was Asclepius, whose symbol was a serpent and was considered the god of healing.  People from all over the world came to Pergamos to get healing from this god.          2:12.  The opening of the letter shows Jesus with a sharp two-edged sword in His mouth.  Just as the Romans used their swords for authority and judgment, Jesus is shown with a sword in His mouth which represents God’s ultimate authority and judgment using the word of God, as well as His future separation of believers from unbelievers. Unbelievers will give up the eternal rewards of living in God’s eternal kingdom.      

        2:13.  Pergamos was called the city “where satan has his throne” by Jesus yet He commended them for not denying their faith in Him even though they are surrounded by a culture that worships satan and considered the Roman emperor a god. He refers to one of their members, Antipas, who was killed for not giving up his faith and recognizes their faithfulness in spite of the persecution they face.

        2:14-15.  Even so, He is not happy with them calling out their adherence to the doctrine of false prophets, specifically calling out the Nicolaitans, first mentioned in the Letter to the Church at Ephesus, and also Balaam.  Balaam, an early prophet, was commissioned by the Moab King Balak to curse the Israelites on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land.  But God had other plans as Balaam couldn’t get his donkey to take him where he wanted to go because the donkey saw an armed angel standing in the middle of the road.  After several beatings, the donkey spoke to Balaam causing him to bless the Israelites a number of times rather than curse them.  But later, he changed his approach where he suggested that Moabite women seduce Israelite men.  That plan worked until God sent a plague through the camp that killed 24,000 people causing Balaam to eventually be killed for instigating this plan.  This story is contained in the book of Numbers and since it is used in Jesus’ letter to Pergamon, members of the Church were still being influenced by these doctrines.  Their spiritual condition desperately needed the personal attention of Jesus.  The message is to be careful how they live – and it applies to Christians today.  While we may not “worship idols and false gods” in the traditional sense, we may participate in greed, sexual sin, cheating, gossiping, and lying.  We are not to tolerate nor participate in sin by bowing to the pressure to be open-minded about what those around us are doing.

        2:16.  This reiterates the warning that if Christians don’t confess and give up sinful behaviors, we will be judged by the sword out of the mouth of Jesus.  In other words, He won’t be happy with us, and we will be dealt with accordingly.

        2:17.  Hidden manna suggests the spiritual nourishment that faithful believers will receive.  We don’t know what the white stones are or exactly what the name on each one will be.  But when considered in relation to the hidden manna, they may be symbols of the believers’ eternal nourishment or the security of eternal life.  They are significant because they will each have the new name of a person who truly believes in Christ.  They will prove that a person has been accepted by God and declared worthy to receive eternal life.  A person’s name represents his character.  This is something that we pay attention to because it will confirm that we have a new heart with no desire to sin or rebel against God.

9-25-2022.  Revelation 2:18-29 Letter to Thyatira.  Thyatira was a small town in what we know today as western Turkey.  In contrast to the past three Churches, the Church at Thyatira was located in a small insignificant town of working people.  Still, while being significantly smaller, the town was known for its trade guilds, many of which sold cloth colored from a special purple dye manufactured there.  One prominent tradeswoman named Lydia is talked about in Acts 16:14-15 where we learn she was converted by Paul in Philippi.  Paying close attention to what Paul preached resulted in her heart being opened to the Word of God and to Jesus.  She was known to be the first European Christian convert.  Lydia and her family were baptized, and she opened her home to all who loved Christ thereby establishing the first Christian Church on European soil.  The Thyatiran Church was not only one of the seven singled out in Revelation, it also received the longest letter.  Jesus praised it for deeds, love, faith, service, and perseverance, yet these attributes are not the focal point of the letter.  Much more was said about the faults of the Church rather than its strong points.

        2:18. Jesus is described with eyes like fire and feet like fine brass which present Him in the role of judgement because He sees the Church moving into idol worship.

        2:19.  Jesus commended them for their charity, service, faith, patience, and good works but He was disappointed because they were putting more stock in their good works instead of Christ and the Cross.  It’s the faith and belief in Christ and the Cross that make Christians stand apart from the things of the world.

        2:20-21.  Jesus brings up Jezebel comparing this Church’s  behavior to the evil queen.  We first learn about her evil corrupting influence on Israel in the Old Testament book of I Kings. Her ability to influence people made her like Balaam, whom we talked about when looking at the letter to Pergamos.  But unlike Balaam, an outsider paid to oppose Israel, Jezebel was queen married to King Ahab who was supposed to be responsible for the welfare of the nation including accountability his before God.  There was a woman who became prominent in the Thyatiran Church and was corrupting the congregation by promoting idol worship and sexual immorality. Sex outside of marriage always hurts someone.  It hurts God because it shows that we prefer to satisfy our desires on our own instead of according to His Word.  It hurts others because it violates the commitment necessary to a relationship;  and it hurts us because our sin always separates us from God.  It destroys families, Churches, and communities because it undermines integrity and trust, which is so vital to relationships.  Like the Old Testament queen Jezebel,  this woman was unwilling to change her ways and turn away from sin choosing to continue to corrupt the Church. The same corruption is continuing today.

        2:22-23.  The consequence of the continued sin is described in verse 22.  The bed refers to false teachers who taught salvation by works, which in this case was spiritual adultery. The children of these sinners will also suffer spiritual death, and all will be judged by Jesus according to their works. 

        2:24-25.  The message of Jesus to this Church and all Churches everywhere – including present day – is to quit tolerating blatantly false teachings.  Christians must disassociate from anything that leads people from the truth of Jesus Christ.  We must hold tightly to the basics of our Christian faith and view with extreme caution any teaching that turns us away from the teaching of the Bible, the fellowship of the Church, or our basic confession of faith.

        2:26-27.  Christ says Christians are to keep to His works – meaning the work He did on the Cross for all sinners – and not to our own works.  He also promised that those who remain faithful until the end and continue to please God will rule over His enemies and reign with Him as He judges evil.  This amazing promise gives us good reason to remain steadfast in our faith.  If you feel unfairly treated or unjustly viewed because of your strong faith, remember one day the victory will be ours.

        2:28-29.  We see a reference to the Morning Star which Jesus is often called.  A morning star appears just before dawn when the night is coldest and darkest.  At the world’s bleakest point Jesus will burst onto the scene, exposing evil with His light of truth and will bring His promised reward of eternal life to those who believe in Him.  The message is that the coming Kingdom Age will be glorious beyond compare. Jesus ends with a message to all Churches -- past, present, and future -- that to leave Christ and the Cross is to commit spiritual adultery which will result in spiritual death.

10-2-2022.  Revelation 3:1-6.  Letter to the Church at Sardis.  Unless you’ve read Revelation before, you probably never heard of Sardis.  When this letter was written it was a capital city in the area of Lydia and known for its riches.  Aesop told his fables in this area, and it was among the first places where gold and silver coins were minted.  It had a king named Croesus who wasn’t known for his tact or humility.  He thought his city was invincible and took it upon himself to attack the Persian empire at the height of its power.  Needless to say, it didn’t take long for the city to be captured.  It was captured by the Greeks, then the Romans, and then the Turks.  In 17 AD the city was leveled by an earthquake, and it was never able to recover.  Today it’s known only as a small village called Start.  Like Ephesus, it had a large temple devoted to Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt.  Her Roman counterpart was Diana.  Archaeologists have discovered ruins of this temple and right beside it found ruins of a Christian Church.  At the time of the writing of the letter, the Church was in a spiritual slump.  It had a good reputation but stopped growing,  reaching a point where it would either need some serious attention or disappear.  The Church continued in a small form and about 1500 AD became known as the “Reformation Church” which continues today.

        3:1. The sever Spirits of God’ refers to the Holy Spirit in all His fullness and capacity and the seven stars refers to the pastors of the seven Churches.  Jesus tells them He knows of their works but when He writes ‘you have a name that you live.’ He is telling them they have a reputation of being alive, but tells them they are dead.

        3:2-3.  He is telling them to look at their actual condition and fix their problems.  Their problem was they had gotten away from preaching the Cross; their works were based on a dead faith and unless they got back to the Cross and changed their ways, they would die.  This was a wakeup call for the Church to return to the roots of its faith or they would be judged harshly and left behind.

        3:4-5.  Speaks of a few people who still believed and taught the Cross that Jesus judged as worthy to walk with Him.  And anyone who overcomes their backsliding and comes back to Him, can have their names restored to the Book of Life and judged blameless before God. An interesting point to take note of here:  many think that once they accept Christ, they can never lose their salvation or place in Heaven.  However, Jesus himself tells us that names can be removed from the Book of Life. 

        3:6.  This letter is reinforcing the fact that without complete faith in the spotless sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, eternal life will not be available. It must be a true and complete faith.

10-9-2022. Revelation 3:7-13 Letter to the Church at Philadelphia.  The city was originally founded by citizens of Pergamum and built in Asia Minor.  They kept out barbarians and brought in Greek culture and language.  They had a king named Attalus II Philadelphus, known for naming the city after his brother Eumenes whom he truly loved; hence the name Philadelphia that means the “city of brotherly love.”  This city was built on a hill that made it easy to defend, but the hill was right above the fault line of the earthquake that destroyed Sardis in 17 AD, and ruined Philadelphia as well.  In addition, 20 years of aftershocks kept interfering with the rebuilding efforts as the people were afraid so most lived outside the city.  Their vineyards did well, however, so the area became a center of worship for the god Dionysius, the god of the wine, orchards, fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, and theater in ancient Greek religion and myth.  He is also known as Bacchus, who is celebrated on Fat Tuesday at the close of Mardi Gras each year in New Orleans.  Even though the city was on unstable ground, the Church remained solid.  While the Church at Sardis had appeared alive but was dead, the Philadelphians were very much alive in spite of everything they had been through.  They stood firm for what they believed and kept at it even though they had little stamina left from having the wind knocked out of them so often.  And notice there is no criticism from Jesus in this letter.

        3:7-8.  The ‘key of David’ represents Jesus’ authority to open the door into His future kingdom.  After the door is opened, no one can close it and salvation is assured.  Once it’s closed, no one can open it and judgment is certain.

        3:9.  Refers to the coming Kingdom Age when Christ will rule personally over the entire earth with Israel having been restored.  Israel will then bow at the feet of Jesus, whom Gentiles have already accepted.

        3:10.  Scholars are divided about the meaning of this verse.  Some say that ‘I will also keep you from the hour of trial’ means that in a future time of Great Tribulation true believers will be spared.  Other say it means that the Church will go through a time of Great Tribulation and God will keep them strong in the midst of it.  Still others believe this refers to times of great distress in general, and the Church’s suffering through the ages.  We can’t absolutely know from this verse if, when, or for how long Christians will experience ‘the hour of trial.’  What we do know is that today millions of Christians throughout the world are dying at the hands of godless tyrants.  To them, the time of testing has already begun.  That said, whenever Christians suffer, Jesus has promised eternal protection for them as He said previously in Luke 21:17-19.

        3:11.  ‘Behold I come quickly’ is a reference to the Rapture. ‘…hold fast to what you have’ is telling us that each Christian has their own special gifts, abilities, experience, and maturity.  God doesn’t expect us all to be and act the same, but He does expect all of us to hold on to what we have and to persevere and always work to use our resources for Him. The Church at Philadelphia was commended for their efforts to obey and they were encouraged to hold tightly to whatever spiritual strength they had.  The message to us today is to use whatever we have to live for Christ, and we will commend us for our efforts and our work.

        3:12.  Those who ‘overcome’ are those who trust explicitly in Jesus and what He did on the Cross, despite pressure to abandon our faith and beliefs. The new Jerusalem is the place where all God’s people will live in the Kingdom headed by Jesus following the second coming.  Christians can look forward to that time where everything will be new, pure, and secure.

        3:13.  Once again the Spirit is saying all Christians must keep their faith in Jesus and His work done on the Cross strong and remain ready for when we are called to Him either by death or by the Rapture.

10-16-2022.  Revelation 3:14-22.  Letter to the Church at Laodicea.  This Church is known as the Apostate Church.  Apostates are those who leave behind their true faith.  In this letter the Church isn’t seen as the best place for worship or ministry.  While the city itself was in good shape, the Church wasn’t.  The earthquakes that hit some of the other cities also hit Laodicea with equal severity, but the city had the capital to recover without any help from the Romans.  This city was a big provider of wool used for carpets and coats.  It was located on a major Asian trade route and was a noted banking center.  It had a medical school and became famous for producing a medical eye salve.  The citizens didn’t have to depend on anyone else for their livelihood, and it was the wealthiest of the seven Churches.  The city always had a problem with its water supply.  At one time an aqueduct was built to bring water from hot springs, but by the time the water reached the city, it was only lukewarm. The Church had stopped depending on Jesus for their spiritual needs.  While it wasn’t a cold Church, it simply wasn’t hot.  In an interesting statement Jesus expressed that He would have preferred their being cold to their being lukewarm.  As such He couldn’t condone a witness who was only half faithful and half true.

        3:14.  The reference to the Amen, the faithful, and true witness are those who remain faithful to God the creator and to Jesus and what He did on the Cross.

        3:15-16.  Like the water brought from the aqueduct, the Church had become lukewarm in faith which was distasteful and repugnant to Jesus.  These believers didn’t take a stand for anything, instead their apathy and indifference caused the Church to become hard-hearted and self-satisfied.  God won’t use an apathetic or self-sufficient nominal Christian.  We can’t settle for following God halfway.  The result will be the same as what Jesus said of the Laodicean Church:  I will spue you out of my mouth.

        3:17.  The Church equated the increase of material goods with spiritual blessing which is false.  Wealth, luxury, and ease can make people feel confident, satisfied, and complacent but no matter how much you possess or how much money you make, you have nothing if you don’t have a vital relationship with Jesus.  Wealth cannot be allowed to affect spiritual desire.

        3:18.  We see how Jesus is telling them they are to buy their gold – their real spiritual treasure – from Him.  Despite their thriving cloth and dyeing industries, He told them to buy their white clothes – His righteousness -- from Him.  And to buy ointment for their eyes so they could see the truth in Him.  His message to them – and to believers today --  is that true value is not in material possessions but in a right relationship with God.  Their possessions and achievements were valueless compared with the everlasting future of Christ’s kingdom.

        3:19.  Here is the warning to the Church.  God will discipline this lukewarm Church – and similar Churches today – for their indifference toward Him.  The purpose of this discipline is not to punish but to bring the believers back to Him.  God may discipline all of us to snap us out of our spiritual apathy, but it’s His love that moves Him to such actions.  The way to avoid this kind of discipline is to stay close to Him through confession of sins, service, worship, and studying His Word.  Apathy fades when God is allowed to work in the hearts of believers.

        3:20.  Jesus knocks at the door of our hearts because He wants to save us and have fellowship with us.  He patiently and persistently waits to get through to us – not by breaking and entering - but by knocking.  He allows us to decide whether to open our lives to Him and welcome Him in.

        3:21.  To all who overcome the sins of this world, the reward is the right to sit with Jesus on His throne.  But that only comes by making the Cross the object of our faith.  We can be co-equal with Jesus by accepting His gift of salvation through the Cross.

        3:22.  Here we see the same closing message to all the Churches – and to believers everywhere – where Jesus is urging believers to listen and understand what had been written to them. 

        Each Church had a message addressed to them personally, but each letter contained warnings and principles that apply to all Christian Churches throughout all time, and to all believers until the time when Jesus returns to establish His earthly Kingdom.  All Christians everywhere must examine their hearts and their faith to ensure that they are truly reflecting the love of Jesus and the principles that God expects us all to live by.

10-23-2022.  Revelation 4:1-5.  The Throne.  After John has sent the letters from Jesus to the Churches, we see in chapters 4 and 5 what he was shown of Heaven.  Chapters 4 and 5 record glimpses into the glory of Christ.  Here we also see God sitting on the throne and how He orchestrates all the events that John will record next.  The world is not spinning out of control; the God of creation will carry out His plan as Christ initiates the final battle with the forces of evil.  John shows us Heaven before he shows us what is happening on earth so we won’t be afraid of future earthly events.  As he begins his description in verse 1,  scholars suggest that what he is seeing will occur after the Rapture of the Church.  Adding to this understanding is that we will see in the next several chapters how the Church is no longer shown to be on earth, because it will be in the presence of God.

        4:1.  As the door opened into Heaven giving John the ability to see what was happening in Heaven, the voice he hears of that of Jesus Christ sounding like a trumpet as previously described in chapter 1, verses 10 and 11.  Jesus is inviting him to see what was going to happen after the Rapture of the Church.

        4:2.  This is the second of four times John describes himself as “in the spirit.”  It means the Holy Spirit is giving him a vision – showing him situations and events he could not have seen with human eyesight.  He sees God on His Throne.

        4:3.  What John sees is beyond description.  Charles Woodbridge says this about how John sees God:  “The Lord God omnipotent is seated on the throne.  God is light. His transcendent, ineffable overwhelming effulgence is suggested in the descriptive words of Rev 4:3.”  In other words, what John has seen goes beyond the ordinary limits of the human ability to describe.  So, John describes God in terms of his surroundings, leaning heavily on images of precious metals and stones.  He uses the jasper and sardine stones, a rainbow, and an emerald.  We are familiar with jasper as the component of much of the petrified wood found in the southwest.  But, while that form is mostly earth-toned (yellow, brown, red, and green), John describes jasper as “clear as crystal in Rev 21:11.  The sardine stone, also translated as carnelian or ruby is usually red or brownish red, getting its color from iron oxide.  Interesting that the throne is surrounded by a rainbow.  The rainbow was given by God after the flood as His promise that He would never again destroy the world with water.  The rainbow resembling an emerald could mean the colors of the rainbow were mostly green.

        4:4.  The 24 elders seen are likely the 12 tribes of Israel and 12 apostles in the New Testament who represent all the redeemed of God for all time -- before and after the death and resurrection of Jesus.  They could also refer to the 24 groups of Israelite priests who took turns serving in the temple.  The white clothes represent the righteousness of Jesus and their crowns of gold signify their authority.  The Messiah has established His people to be “a kingdom of priests” and the elders symbolize all those – both Jew and Gentile – who are now part of God’s family.  The 24 elders show us that all the redeemed of the Lord are worshiping Him.

        4:5.  In Revelation and throughout the Bible, lightning and thunder are connected with significant events in Heaven.  These images reflect God’s power and majesty.  They remind us of the lightning and thunder at Mount Sinai when God gave the people His laws.  The “seven spirits of God” is another name for the Holy Spirit and speaks of  its totality and universality. The seven lamps burning before the throne are equated with the one spirit with seven being equal to perfection.

10-30-2022.  Revelation 4:6-11 Living Creatures and Heavenly Worship.  Last week we saw a glimpse of the throne of God and learned about the 24 elders sitting around the throne of God.  Today we get to see more about what is around God’s throne.  Keep in mind that Revelation contains a lot of symbolism because John’s human mind wasn’t equipped to fully describe what he was being shown so he put it in terms that humans could better understand.         4:6-7.  We learn there is a sea of glass like crystal which presents that which is perfectly transparent.  Crystal clear glass was virtually impossible to find in New Testament times so the sea of glass highlights both the magnificence and holiness of God.  The four living creatures represent the character qualities of God.  They weren’t real animals but like the cherubim, which is a high-ranking order of angels, they guard God’s throne, lead others in worship, and proclaim God’s holiness.  God’s attributes that are symbolized in the animal-like appearance of these four creatures are: majesty and power (the lion), faithfulness (the ox), intelligence (the human), and sovereignty (the eagle).  We ae told they are constantly around the Throne of God.  The prophet Ezekiel saw four similar creatures in one of his visions found in Ezekiel 1:5-10.

        4:8.  These creatures had wings and were covered in eyes which signify their innermost nature and being.  Because they never rest tells us they were spirits and not flesh and blood.  They constantly call attention to God with their repetition of Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.  These creatures are unique and also everlasting.

        4:9-10.  This is a lesson on worship.  John describes these scenes in great detail because Christians in the first century (and today) came from may backgrounds.  Not all of them understood Jewish history or knew the glory of the temple.  John shows us where, why, and how to praise God.  Worship takes our minds off our problems and focuses them on God.  Worship leads us from individual meditation to being part of a community praising and honoring God, focusing on His love and His character.  This is why it’s important to attend Church.  Worship causes us to consider and appreciate God’s character and it lifts our perspective from the earthly to the Heavenly.

        4:11.  Here we see the hymn of praise that sums up the entire scent.  All creatures in Heaven and earth will praise and honor God because He is the Creator and Sustainer of everything.  No other king or ruler could make such a claim.

11-6-2022.  Revelation 5:1-7 The Sealed Book and the Lion and the Lamb  Revelation 5 continues the glimpse into Heaven with John seeing a vision of God holding a scroll containing all that would happen to the world.  Until around the second century, essentially any reference to a “book” was actually a scroll.  The material used could be leather, parchment, or papyrus that was glued or sewn together to provide sufficient length for the writer.  The finished product was rolled around a rod so the writing, which was in columns, could be read as the manuscript was unrolled.

        5:1.  Shows us that God is in complete control, the only one with authority over all rulers, historical events, and hostile forces.  The scroll contains a full account of what God has in store for the world as will be revealed in the rest of Revelation.  The seven seals indicate the importance of its contents, located throughout the scroll so that as each one is broken, more of the scroll can be unrolled to reveal another phase of God’s plan for the end of the world.

        5:2.  A strong angel was asking God who was worthy to remove the seals and read the scroll.  The strong angel could be Gabriel, whose name means “strong man of God.”

        5:3-4. When no answer was immediately offered as to who could remove the seals, John cried.  Perhaps, with all that he had been permitted to see, he felt sad that no one was stepping forward who could open the scroll.  But his crying didn’t last for long.

        5:5.  One of the elders came over to John to reassure him that the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” -- which is a symbol of highest honor -- would be the one to open the scroll.   Jesus is the Lion, the one worthy to break the seals and open the scroll because He lives a perfect life of obedience to God, dying on the Cross for the sins of the world, and rising from the dead to show His power and authority over evil and death.  Only He has conquered sin and satan so only He can be trusted with the world’s future.  “The Root of David” refers to the human Jesus being from David’s family line, which fulfilled the promise of the Messiah in the Old Testament.

        5:6.  John doesn’t see a Lion but rather a Lamb looking like it had been slain, like the wounds experienced by Jesus on the Cross.  Even though Jesus became our sacrificial lamb, He will never be weak.  He chose to be killed but now He has God’s full strength and power.  The seven horns symbolize total power.  The eyes represent total, perfect, pure, and complete illumination of all things spiritual which make it possible for us to be drawn away from evil and false doctrines. 

        5:7.  Only Jesus has the credentials and authority to take the scroll from God and open it.     Those who trust in God’s power and love don’t need to fear the future.  We will never know enough to predict what will happen or to manipulate God in any way, but we can trust Him with the outcome.  If you follow Jesus,  you can rejoice that God knows you and loves you.  Trust Him to guide you and protect you forever.

11-13-2022.  Revelation 5:8-14 Worship.

        5:8.  John shows us that after Jesus had taken the sealed book, the elders and the four living creatures fell down before the Lamb and worshiped Him.  Each one had a harp, and were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people showing us that all the prayers that have ever come up before God for things to be rectified are about to be answered.

        5:9-10.  We see that they also sang a song to Jesus telling Him that He is worthy to take the book and open its seals.   It is His death on the Cross that makes Him worthy which also reminds us that salvation is made secure by the death of Christ and applies to all people of the earth.  Jesus can now gather all believers into His kingdom to be made priests so they can have direct access to God and participate in his work. In the future, believers will reign with Him.

        5:11.  Angels are spiritual beings created by God to help carry out His work on earth.  They bring messages, protect God’s people, offer encouragement, give guidance, bring punishment, patrol the earth, and fight evil forces.  There are good and bad angels.  The bad are aligned with satan and have less power than the good ones and the bad ones will eventually pay the price for siding with satan. John is showing all of the angels he saw around the Throne. There were so many that they couldn’t be counted. 

        5:12-13.  The angels are also saying that the Lamb is worthy to receive power, riches, and wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessings.  Because of our faith in Him, we will receive all this as well.  What Jesus did on the Cross guarantees the defeat of satan and all his dark angels which will ultimately cleanse Heaven and Earth forever.

        5:14.  John sees the elders and the four beasts falling down to worship Jesus.

        This scene shows that every creature in Heaven, on the earth, and under the earth will began to sing loud praises to Jesus, the Lamb  solidifying that only the Lamb, Jesus Christ is worthy to open the book.  He holds the future, not satan.  Jesus maintains control and only He has the authority to set into motion the events of the last days.  We can be confident knowing we are in His hands.

11-20-2022.  Revelation 6:1-4 The First and Second Seals.  We know the scroll had a total of seven seals.  Here we see the first two of what will be a total of 4 using horses as symbols of what is to come.

        6:1.  We know that the Lamb is Jesus Christ.  The opening of the seals will follow the Rapture of the Church, but we aren’t told exactly how long after the Rapture the Great Tribulation will begin.  One of the four beasts, or living creatures tells John with a voice like thunder to ‘Come and See,’ showing us that what is going to happen is destined and cannot be avoided.

        6:2. Here we see the first of what will be four horses, each of a different color.  As the first four seals are opened, we will see horse.  Some believe because the first horse is white it represents victory, and the rider must be Jesus because He will ride to victory on a white horse.  However, because the other three horses relate to judgment and destruction, this rider on a white horse is most likely not Jesus.  The four horses represent the unfolding of God’s judgment on the people for their sin and rebellion so for Jesus to ride in as the conqueror at this point would be premature.  This first horse most likely represents humanity’s sinful desire for conquest which will result in the next three Horses.  This rider is likely the antichrist presenting himself to the world as a prince of peace.  While it says he will have a bow there is no mention of arrows meaning he could be preaching peace but is actually preparing for war.  The crown represents the fact that he will conquer many countries first by peace but will quickly move to war. 

        6:3.  We see the second seal opened in verse 3 with another of the living creatures again telling John to ‘come and see.’  It’s important to note that all of the events that will happen on earth were decided first of all in Heaven. 

        6:4.  The second horse is red which stands for warfare and bloodshed.  It’s rider was given power to take peace from the earth causing people to kill each other.  It is likely that more people will be killed during the time of the Great Tribulation than at any other similar time frame in history.

        The Great Tribulation has begun, and it is going to be very bad.  But keep remembering that it starts after the Rapture so we, like John, will be witnesses of the events that will be unfolding.

11-27-22.  Revelation 6:5-8.  The Third and Fourth Seals. 

        6:5-6.   John sees the third horseman released riding a black horse which represents famine that always follows war.  Instead of a lethal weapon, he is carrying a pair of scales.   This is a representation of famine and vastly inflated prices for basic foods, which often happens after war.  The reference to the cost of wheat and barley shows that while wheat was preferable to barley, barley is cheaper and could be stretched further with high prices and low incomes.  The reference to not damaging the oil and wine could indicate that divine limits will be imposed on the extent of the famine or that when famine hits in the Middle East, the grain crops tend to fail before the olives and grapes.  It also shows the world has rejected the Cross and now faces judgment.

        6:7-8.  With the opening of the fourth seal, we see something very scary.  The pale horse is named Death and with Hell following him, all who will die will likely go to Hell.  When they are done, one quarter of the world’s population will be dead.  The wars and famines will have taken their toll along with the killing of people by violence in a lawless society and starving wild animals wanting to survive.  When the pale horse is let loose, the world will go from bad to worse.

        We don’t know if Death and Hades are on separate horses, but we do know these are the four horsemen of the apocalypse.  We see that God is still placing limits on His judgment giving unbelievers time to turn to Jesus and away from their sin.  This limited punishment demonstrates not only God’s wrath on sin but also His merciful love in giving people another opportunity to turn to Him before He brings the final judgment.  But be careful not to presume that God’s patience will be long lasting.  It's possible this portion of Revelation might be chronological – given the one after another sequence of the riders.  Interpreting the four horsemen isn’t easy.  Some think the events described will have already happened, while others say it will happen in the future.  If it’s past, we can’t yet point to a specific time when a quarter of the population has died.  Yet if they are future events and we take them at face value, the math involved is terrifying.  We do see the horsemen are the spirits of conquest, war, famine, and death.  That said, we can also look to what Jesus told us in the Olivet discourse:  He said to be careful not to be deceived as many will come in His name claiming ‘I am the Christ.’  We will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but we need not be afraid because these things have to happen in the end.  Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom.  There will be famines and earthquakes in various places and Christians will be persecuted and put to death.  Many will turn away from faith and betray and hate one another; and there will be many false prophets that will deceive many people. When you look around at this world today, there are many indications that the end times have begun and its incumbent on each one of us to make sure our hearts are right with Jesus, and we must do our best to live as He would have us live.

12-4-2022. Revelation 6:9-17  The Fifth and Sixth Seals.       As the fifth and sixth seals are opened by the Lamb, the scene changes dramatically.  Rather than doom and gloom on horseback, John has taken us to the spiritual world where we see the results of some of the gory doings that have already taken place.

        6:9-11.  The altar represents the altar of sacrifice in the temple, but instead of the animals’ blood at the base of the altar, John saw the souls of martyrs who had died for preaching the gospel.  The judgment and vengeance they are calling for has begun.  They were told that still more would lose their lives for their belief in Christ possibly referring to those who do come to Christ during the Tribulation.  We see these martyrs call out to God for vengeance for their persecution.  As we continue through Revelation, we will learn more about the coming judgment that will assuredly happen.  Who are these Christ believers that didn’t make it through the Rapture?  Recall back in 2:11 the Church of Smyrna was told that even though there were those who believed in Christ, He was still upset with them because they also fell prey to the sins of the non-believers.  But through the death and destruction these martyrs kept firm in their beliefs and continued preaching in the face of war, famine, persecution, and death all around them.  Now we see them rewarded with white robes (symbolizing the Righteousness of the Saints).  But they are also told that more would die for their beliefs as they did.  The opening of this seal is a wakeup call to Christians now.  You’re either all in or you are out.  You can’t be a half-hearted Christian.  Being a Christian means leaving the ways of the world behind and never looking back. For us today, as we see our world fall into the evils of violence, war, and oppression, we are worn down by conflict and compromise.  But it’s critical that we remain strong in our faith and live our Christianity every day by resisting compromising our beliefs.

        6:12-17. The sixth seal takes us back to the physical world to a judgment that affects the entire planet.  There are going to be earthquakes powerful enough to move mountains, meteorites falling and destroying the land, and winds causing enormous damage throughout the world.  There will be no hiding as those who think they can take refuge in the mountains and caves but will soon find that they can’t hide from the wrath of Jesus Christ.  The Lamb of God is our Savior today but will be the Judge tomorrow at end of the sever-year Tribulation. Perhaps the concept of manmade climate change is satan at work before the Great Tribulation occurs so that when the destruction begins, he will have planted the seed that it is man who is responsible for this.  All those who rejected God and fought against Him will soon learn how powerful our God actually is.

        It’s clear the world as we know it will no longer exist.  People will be terrified at what is happening, praying for the mountains to fall on them, so they won’t have to be judged by the Lamb.  This suggests that they believe these problems have a divine source.  The bad news is that this isn’t the end.  Things are going to get a lot worse.  This isn’t intended to frighten believers because Jesus is a gentle Savior.  But powerful people who don’t fear God and flaunt their unbelief will find out how wrong they are, and they will face the wrath of God.  No one who rejects Him can survive this Tribulation. But if you belong to Christ, you will be safe, and the events of these final day will not harm you.

12-11-2022.  Revelation 7:1-8 144,000 Jews.  Up to this point we have been shown what will happen with the opening of six of the seven seals by the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.  Chapter 7 takes a break from the opening of the seals and we see John leaving descriptions in the spiritual world and taking us back to the earth which also gives us a short break from the tremendous amount of death due to war, famine, plagues, earthquakes, and other celestial and climatic happenings before the opening of the seventh seal.

        7:1-3.  Angels at the four corners of earth the holding the four winds symbolize judgment is being enacted on the world.  This picture represents God’s total omnipotence or infinite and complete power and shows us He is the Administrator of all that happens from now on. 

        7:4.  The number 144,000 is 12x12x1000 symbolizing God’s completeness. It tells us all of God’s followers will be brought safely to Him with no one being overlooked or forgotten.  They’re sealed either by withdrawing them through the Rapture or by giving them special strength and courage to remain faithful during all of the terrible things happening around them.  This seal won’t guarantee protection from physical harm because many will die.  But it does guarantee that God will protect them from spiritual harm.  No matter what happens, they will be brought to their reward of eternal life because they didn’t turn from God in spite of the persecution they had to endure.

        7:5-8.  Finally, we have a listing from each of the twelve tribes of Israel.  This list is not the typical listing of the twelve tribes shown in the Old Testament. It is a listing of God’s true followers.  Judah is mentioned first because both David and Jesus, descended from Judah.  Levi had no tribal allotment because of the Levites’ work for God in the temple but here the tribe receives a reward for faithfulness.  Dan isn’t mentioned because it was known for rebellion and idolatry, which are traits unacceptable for all God’s followers.  The tribe of Joseph was previously represented by Ephraim and Manasseh after his two sons but are now called Joseph and Manasseh because of Ephraim’s rebellion. While it’s true many Jews today don’t know what tribe the came from, God certainly does.

        This all show us that even in turbulent times, God will always keep His promises.  And He is going to see a significant number of people through the Tribulation to the end.  In spite of the widespread natural disasters and intense personal persecution, there will be survivors.  The seal of God is what will guarantee one’s survival.

12-18-2022.  Revelation 7:9-17 Tribulation Saints. 

        7:9-11.  Here we see a huge amount of people worshiping God and Jesus around the throne. Who makes up this great multitude?  We are told it includes Angels, Elders and the four Beasts.  As for the rest, some scholars say it’s the group under the altar we learned about at the opening of the fifth sea in chapter 6:9. Others say it’s the 144,000 sealed by God that we saw in last week’s reading.  Still others say it’s all who died believing in God and accepting Jesus throughout the entire time of the Great Tribulation.  Regardless, the important point is that this huge crowd in Heaven is composed of those who remained faithful to God throughout the generations.  No true believer ever has to worry about which group he or she will be in because God includes and protects all true believers and guarantees them a place in His presence. The worshipers specifically state that salvation comes only from God and the Lamb,  who is Jesus. 

        7:12-14.  We see an interesting exchange where an elder asks John who  are these wearing white robes? John quickly turns the question back to the elder who tells him “These are they who have come out of Great Tribulation and washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.”   Anyone who has ever done laundry knows that something red can’t make something white.  Yet here we see that the blood of Christ can make robes white because it is the greatest purifier because it completely removes the stain of sin.  White symbolizes sinless perfection or holiness that can be given to people only because of the death of the sinless Lamb of God on our behalf.  This is a picture of how we are saved through faith as recorded in Isaiah 1:19 and Romans 3:21-26. 

        7:15-17. In verses 7:1-8 we learned about believers receiving a seal to protect them through a time of great tribulation and suffering.  Here we see them finally with God in Heaven.  All who have been faithful through the ages are singing before God’s throne. Their Tribulations and sorrows are over – no more tears, for sin, for all sins are forgiven.  No more tears for suffering for all suffering has ended, no more tears for death, for all believers have been resurrected, never to die again.

        The Great Tribulation has been explained in different ways.  Some believe it refers to the suffering of believers through the ages while others believe there’s a specified time of intense Tribulation yet to come.  Because this Church believes in the literal interpretation of the Bible, we take the latter position.  That said, in either case, believers come through their time of suffering by remaining loyal to God.  Because they remain faithful, God gives them eternal life with Him where all physical, emotional, and spiritual needs will be met by God.

1-1-2023.  Revelation 8:1-6 The Seventh Seal.  After a slight break, John now tells us about the opening of the seventh and final seal.  Let’s just recap the first six:  One through four showed us the four horsemen of the apocalypse.  First was the white horse representing humanity’s sinful desire for conquest and presenting the antichrist deceptively claiming peace but actually preparing for war. Second was the red horse representing war and bloodshed with people killing each other. Third is the black horse representing famine and severe inflation which often happens with war.  Fourth shows us the pale horse named death with Hell following him meaning all who follow him are likely going to Hell.  The Fifth seal takes us back to Heaven where we learned not all Christians made it through the Rapture giving all Christians today a wakeup call that belief without living a Christian life won’t get you through.  You must live out your belief for all to see always representing Jesus.  And the Sixth  seal tells of powerful earthquakes and destructive meteorites causing enormous damage all over the world so bad people will pray for mountains to fall on them.  Now on to the seventh Seal.  The opening of the seventh seal begins a new series of judgments known as the seven trumpets.   But the trumpet judgments, like the seal judgments are only partial.  God’s final and complete judgment has not yet come.

        8:1.  After the seventh seal was opened, all of Heaven was silent for half an hour.  The reference to the length of time is hard to judge because we know from 2 Peter 3:8 that Gods timetable is different than ours with a day like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day.  So, this half hour could be as long as 21 years.  On the other hand, a couple of minutes of sudden silence after all the jubilant noise may have seemed much longer to John.  The silence speaks to the intense expectancy of what is about to happen in the world, warning that if it has been bad up to now, the intensity of the judgment is about to increase many times over.

        8:2.  Here we see seven Angels standing before God, each being given a trumpet which will reveal the trumpet judgments.  Like the seventh trumpet will announce judgment, We will see the seven bowl judgments will do the same in chapters 11 and 16.

        8:3-5.  In addition to the seven Angels with trumpets, there is an eighth Angel in this passage who is the first to act as he holds a golden censer which is a saucepan-shaped metal container that holds incense while it is burning.    During worship, coals would be carried in a censer from the outdoor altar where animals were sacrificed to an altar of incense inside the temple or tabernacle.  There incense would be poured on the coals, producing smoke symbolizing the prayers of the people being taken up to God via the smoke.  This Heavenly Angel throws the censer down to the earth symbolizing the judgment of God released on earth in answer to the prayers of the saints for justice for those who had oppressed and killed them.  It shows that judgment, vindication, and revenge are in God’s hands, not ours.  No matter how strong our desire is to exact revenge and retaliate on our enemies, our job is to pray, asking God for His justice to be done.  The resulting thunder, lightning and earthquake also tells us that the coming judgment will be something the world had never seen before.

        8:6.  After this, the seven angels will be getting ready to sound their trumpets.  Scholars believe that the events from the seven trumpet seal will take place two and a half years into the Great Tribulation.  The trumpet blasts have three purposes:  (1) to warn of certain judgment; (2) to call the forces of good and evil to battle, and (3) to announce the return of the Messiah the King.  These warning also urge us to make sure our faith is firmly fixed on Christ.

        In spite of all the devastation about to take place, the trumpet judgments are preceded by a powerful image suggesting that the prayers of God’s people are still being heard.  It may not be too much of a stretch to consider that the trumpet judgments are God’s response to a lengthy accumulation of prayers for justice.

01-08-2022 - Revelation 8:7-13. The First, Second, Third and Fourth Trumpets.  Throughout the Bible Trumpets have been shown to have three purposes:  (1) to warn of certain judgment; (2) to call the forces of good and evil to battle, and (3) to announce the return of the King.  These warnings urge us to make sure our faith is firmly fixed on Christ.  In Judges 7 we see Gideon defeated a huge army with a band of 300 men armed with trumpets, torches, and clay pitchers.  King Saul used a trumpet to assemble his troops as shown in 1 Samuel 13, and Ezekiel the prophet was compared to a watchman whose job it was to sound a trumpet when he saw trouble approaching.  Paul writes of the resurrection of the dead summoned by the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God in 1 Thessalonians 4.  Jesus Himself speaks of His return preceded by angels providing a loud trumpet call.  So, trumpets are used by God throughout the ages. And the Great Tribulation is no different.

        8:7.  The first of the seven trumpets released hail and fire mingled with blood that resulted in the burning of a third of the earth, a third of the trees, and all the green grass on earth. This fulfills the prophecy in Joel 2:30-32 and is similar to the seventh plague upon Egypt that we see in Exodus 9:22.  Even though its only a third of the world, think about the affect this will have on food and livestock as a large portion of the world will no longer be able to produce fruit, vegetables, or meat.  While this judgment will affect the whole earth, some scholars believe the Middle East will bear the brunt of the destruction.

        8:8-9.  The sound of the second trumpet had a similar effect on the seas as we see “a great mountain burning with fire” which is likely another meteor that lands in the sea with a third of the sea turning to blood destroying everything that lived in that part of the water, and a third of the ships on the sea destroyed.  We see another similarity to the plagues that happened in Egypt at the time of the Exodus of Israel.  If the scholars are correct about the Middle East being the central point of these judgments, the meteor may fall into the Mediterranean.  But wherever they fall, we can only imagine the severity of impact of these losses on the world’s food supply and commerce. 

        8:10-11.  The sound of the third trumpet released another star – a meteor – from Heaven, burning bright and again falling on a third of the rivers and the foundations (sources) of the waters.  This could be the waters of the old Roman Empire area as shown in Daniel 7:7-8.  This star was named Wormwood that produces bitter flavored oil which means this meteor will have the same properties of the Wormwood plant causing the polluting the world’s fresh water causing millions of people to die from drinking the water. 

        8:12-13.  At the sound of the fourth trumpet,  a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of all the stars will be dark.  Jesus spoke of this in Luke 21:25-26.  There have been countless psychological studies that tell of the importance of light to our wellbeing, so it’s not inconceivable that millions of people in the world will be negatively affected by this.  Particularly so when the world will already be suffering from results of the first three judgments.  After this judgment, an angel will come to warn the people of earth that the worst is yet to come from the sounding of the final three trumpets.   We aren’t told how this angel will be heard, but you can be assured that the world will know because these judgements aren’t symbolic – they are literal.  They will happen just as John has written.  He is showing us what the world will become when God executes His judgment on the wicked sinners left behind after the Rapture.

1-15-2023.  Revelation 9:1-12 The Fifth Trumpet.

        9:1. A star will fall from Heaven that isn’t a meteorite but is likely the fallen angel satan who is given the key to the bottomless pit.  While there is some question about if this is satan or Jesus, in Luke10:18 Jesus said, “I beheld satan as lightening fall from Heaven.”  Jesus was seeing into the future during the Great Tribulation.  This fallen angel will operate under God’s control and authority.  The bottomless pit is the place of the demons and satan, the king of demons.   It’s also referred to in other Bible passages as the Abyss which comes from the Greek word abyssos, which means bottomless, and will be a of holding cell for evil spirits.

        9:2-12.   The bottomless pit will be opened causing the sun and sky to go dark by smoke and allowing demon locusts to escape with power like that of scorpions.  Regular locusts were feared in biblical times because one large swarm could strip away crops in a matter of minutes, allowing famine to follow.  Females laid large quantities of eggs deep in the soil which would hatch in the spring, eating of whatever had grown back.  But these locusts won’t attack plant life.  They are fallen angels who will join satan in his rebellion by tempting people to sin and join satan’s rebellion.  But God will limit what that actually can do, and they will work tirelessly to prevent, destroy and destroy relationship between God and people.  They will attack humans with a sting that, while not fatal, will cause five months of great pain so bad the victims will wish they were dead.  And they will only attack people that don’t have the seal of God on their forehead. They will look like horses prepared for battle with gold crowns on their heads, hair like women, and teeth like lions wearing breastplates of iron.  The sound of their wings will sound like chariots with horses running to battle.  And their tails will be like scorpions that sting.  The leader of this locust army is the Angel of the Bottomless pit with the name of Apollyon which means Destroyer. 

        After all the destruction first four trumpet judgments, the world is going to be in a bad place that only gets worse.  Remember we read last week there was an angel who shouted Woe, Woe, Woe.  Referring to the 5th, 6th and 7th trumpet judgements.  The locusts will be the first of the last three. 

1-22-2023.  Revelation 9:13-21 The 6th and 7th Trumpets.  Last week we covered what the locust will do, this morning we will look at the second woe released by the sounding of the 6th trumpet and see how horses will execute God’s judgment. 

        9:13-14.  It starts at the Golden Altar in the temple which had four horns as each corner where a voice came from God to let loose the four angels bound in the Euphrates river.  These aren’t good angels but fallen angels or demons who will be tremendously evil and destructive.  But they won’t be able to release themselves to do their evil.  They will be released by God at a specific time doing only what He allows them to do.

        9:15-18.  These horsemen will command an army of 200 million demons.  Sounds like a lot but remember as early as 1965, China bragged they had an army of 200 million soldiers.  Just as the horses of the locust were described as nothing like horses as we know them, these along with their riders will be equally frightening.  Their heads will look like lions and fire, smoke and sulfur will come from their mouths that will kill a third of the population. This is a lot of people.

        9:19.  It’s not only their mouths that will do harm.  Their tails will look like snakes with heads that will hurt people.  Some scholars say that John was giving his best description of machinery such as tanks, missiles, or some other tools of war that he would have no other way of explaining except by making them analogous to animals.  But if they will be literal animals, both the locusts and horses will be some kind of mutants.  Does it matter?  No.  What matters are the results that will come about by the unleashing of God’s judgment on the world.

        9:20-21.  The people of the world will have become so hard hearted that even plagues won’t drive them to God.  They will stop at nothing to continue their sinful life of crimes against God.

        An important takeaway from this passage is that people don’t usually fall into immorality and evil suddenly.  They slip into it a little bit at a time hardly realizing what has happened.  By then they are irrevocably mired in their wicked ways.  Any person who allows sin to take root in their life will end up in this predicament.  Temptation entertained today becomes sin tomorrow, a habit the next day, then comes death and separation from God forever.  When  you think you could never become this evil, you have made the first step toward a hard heart.  The message is always to acknowledge your need to confess your sins before God.

1-30-2023.  Revelation 10:1-11 The Mighty Angel.  This is another break in the trumpet judgments. 

        10:1-4.  This mighty angel had a face like the sun telling us the degree of glory God has given him.  He had a rainbow forming a crown signifying peace and mercy. He was clothed in a cloud, and his legs were like fiery pillars.  He had one foot on the sea and the other on the earth and had power over the earth.  This angel is also holding a little open book.  His voice like the roar of a lion is a reference to God’s power and victory.  When this angel spoke, seven other voices loud like thunder were heard but we aren’t told what was said by them.  John was about to record what they said but the angel forbids him to include their words in Revelation.  For anyone to speculate what may have been said is useless. Recall back in Daniel 12:9 the angel told Daniel that some visions he saw were not to be revealed to everyone.  And Jesus told His disciples in Mark 13:32-33 that the time of the end is known by no one but God.  God has revealed all we need to know to live for Him now.  In our desire to be ready for the end, we must not place more emphasis on speculation about when the last days will come then on living for God while we wait.

        10:5-6. Here we see the angel raise his hand to Heaven swearing by God and stating that there should be time no longer.  God has a definite plan and is going to put it into action.  Whether the news will be good or bad for a particular individual will depend on that person’s relationship with God.  The angel is confirming that the world belongs to God the creator and that time on earth is coming to an end.

        10:7-8.  The angel tells John that the seventh angel trumpet will show that the mystery of God will be finished.  By saying the mystery will be accomplished in the days when the seventh agnel sounds his trumpet the angel was telling John that God will remove all evil and the final exaltation of Christ as Lord will happen on earth.  This will bring fear to God’s enemies but for Christians, it will bring hope and peace.  Believers will see God’s justice carried out and His plan fulfilled.

        10:9-10.  When the angel tells John to take the little book he is holding and eat it, it’s probably not literal that he should.  It’s more likely this is what’s known as an idiomatic expression meaning the words used don’t have their typical meaning.  A familiar example is ‘kick the bucket’  meaning dying.  The angel is telling John to read the book and commit its contents to his heart and mind.  Its contents are both sweet and bitter.  The words of the book are sweet because they bring encouragement but sour the stomach because of the requirement to warn unbelievers of the coming judgement.

        10:11.  The angel is telling John to share this message with the world, which he has done by leaving us his writings in the Book of Revelation.

2-5-2023.  Revelation 11:1-13  The Two Witnesses.  We’re still on a break before the seventh Angel Trumpet.  We saw how John has just been told to absorb the little book that contained good and bad information regarding God’s judgment yet to come.  He is still with the mighty angel who is guiding his thoughts and actions.  Now we will see events that will occur during the second half of the Tribulation.

        11:1-3.  John is told to measure the temple and the altar where there will be worshipers, but  not the outer court because it will be occupied by Gentiles.  This is likely telling us that worshippers inside the temple will not be forgotten by God and the Gentiles have been destroying the city and attacking the Jews for the last 3 ½ years.  This time refers to the period that will end the ‘times of the Gentiles’ recorded in Luke 21:24 where Jesus talks of great distress on God’s people carried out by the Gentiles.  And recall from our study of Daniel that there will come a time when the covenant to live peacefully that the antichrist made with Israel will end.  We’re coming to that time – the second half of the Tribulation.  This is signified by the appearance of two witnesses sent from God to prophesy for 1,260  days – the next three and a half years.  Exactly who these witnesses are we aren’t told but some scholars suggest they might be Moses, Enoch, or Elijah.  Moses oversaw the plagues in Egypt, and neither Enoch nor Elijah actually died;  they were translated.  Moses and Elijah were present with Jesus during the Transfiguration but doesn’t matter who they actually are. 

        11:4-6.  The reference to two olive trees and two candlesticks standing before God speaks of the two witnesses and fulfills the vision given to Zechariah in Chapter 4 of his Old Testament book.   The witnesses will be protected by God and will be given the power to kill anyone who tries to hurt them or stop their preaching.  John speaks of death by fire, so it won’t be pretty.  They will be given the power to stop the rain and turn water into blood, and bring plagues that will include but won’t be limited to sickness, diseases, insects, and frogs when necessary.  They won’t be popular among the masses.  But the job of a prophet is to call the sinful masses to repentance. 

        11:7-13.  At the end of three and a half years (ironically is the length of the ministry of Jesus),  the witnesses work will be done as they will be killed by the Beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit.  This is a satanic angel and may be the antichrist himself.  Instead of burying their bodies, they will be left in the street for all the world to see likely broadcast on television.  But after three and a half days God will bring them back to life and will call them back to Heaven with a loud voice.  Again, the whole world will see them ascend to Heaven in a cloud.  This will cause a great earthquake destroying one tenth of the city of Jerusalem and signify the end of the Great Tribulation so the remnant of those believers will praise God.  But before that happens, there’s still the judgment of the seventh trumpet and three and a half years to get through.

2-12-2023.  Revelation 11:14-19 The Seventh Trumpet.  The break from the judgments is over and now we see the sounding of the Seventh Angel Trumpet. The two witnesses have been killed by the demonic angel, but God brought them back to life and then back to Heaven in a cloud.

        11:14.  This is the third of the three woes spoken by the angel after the Fourth trumpet judgment. 

        11:15.  We see the Heavenly angels declaring the kingdom of this world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.  Those familiar with Handle’s Messiah will recognize this quote from the Hallelujah Chorus and it announces the anticipated arrival of the King at the end of the second three and a half years of the Great Tribulation.  But there are still the final judgments of God to come, and they are no longer partial.  They will be complete in their destruction.  God will unleash His full wrath on the evil world that refused to turn to Him and acknowledge His righteous rule.  When His wrath begins, there will be no escape.

        11:16-17.  We see the 24 elders in Heaven again; this time falling on their faces and worshiping God as they pronounce Him as the Eternal One who has taken His power and has reigned.  This is the anticipation of what will happen at the end of the Tribulation.  We’ve gone from exact chronological events to mixing of current and future events.

        11:18.  By this time the nations are angry at all that has happened but so is God.  His great patience and tolerance of sinful mankind has just about reached its end.  Those who have rejected Him will be punished and those who belong to Him will be blessed.  This could be a reference to the coming of the final battle of Armageddon.  It will certainly be a time where all – saints and sinners -- are judged.

        11:19.  We’re told that Heaven will be opened, and the Ark of His Testament will be seen.  The Ark is very important to the Jewish people as it was the place where God resided.  \How this will happen is unknown, but this event will likely be accompanied by lightning, thunder, hail, and an earthquake just as we learned in the Old Testament that when God was present on the earth these types of phenomena occurred.

2-19-2023.  Revelation 12:1-6 The Sun-Clad Woman and the Great Red Dragon.  We have been through the Seven Angel trumpet judgments and so far have seen a lot of death and destruction. God’s two witnesses have returned to Heaven and now the antichrist is going to ramp up satan’s last stand of evil on the earth.  Our reading takes us to a portion of Revelation that is clearly symbolic.  As I told you last week, we are seeing a mixture of past, present, and future occurrence now.

        12:1-2.  The women about to give birth represents God’s faithful people of Israel who have been waiting for the Messiah to come.  The crown of 12 stars represents Israel’s 12 tribes.  Some scholars say she is a representation of the 144,000 Jews who we saw in Chapter 7 will be saved in the first part of the Great Tribulation.

        12:3.  Then we see the red dragon, with his seven heads, ten horns and seven crowns which represents his power and the kingdoms of the world that he rules.  Red could be a representation of the coming bloodshed.

        12:4.  The stars that satan sends to earth is a representation of the original rebellion of Lucifer against God where a third of the angels chose to join him against God.  Even though angels left to serve satan, God still has twice as many good angels serving Him.  Satan is seen as ready to devour the child to be born showing his hatred for those who will come to Christ in the first half of the Tribulation.

        12:5.  The child is born and will be one who will rule the world with an iron rod which  tells us this child is the Messiah who will come to rule the world at the end of the Tribulation.

        12:6.  Now the women or the nation of Israel has escaped to the wilderness to a place prepared by God.  She will be taken care of for 1,260 days – or the last half of the Tribulation.  It’s clear that the final battle of good versus evil is about to ramp up.

        The wilderness throughout the Bible often represents a place of spiritual refuge and protection from satan.   Since God facilitated the woman’s escape, we can be sure that He will offer safety and care to all true believers.  satan has and always will attack God’s people, but God keeps them spiritually secure.  Some will experience physical harm, but all will be protected from spiritual harm. And God will never allow satan to take His true followers from Him.  Some believe this place will be the ancient city of Petra located in Jordan.  If you know anything about ancient archeology or have seen the Indiana Jones movie, you know that Petra is a beautiful city hidden in the wilderness with no people. 

2-26-2023.  Revelation 12:7-12 Michael.

        12:7-9.  Here we see fulfilment of the prophesy from Daniel 12 with the angel Michael and his army of angels fighting against the dragon – or satan and his army.  This time they will all be thrown out of Heaven forever.    We don’t know a lot about the relationship between God and satan after satan’s original rebellion.  Sometimes there seems to be outright warfare and other times there is a period of peace with satan moving in and out of Heaven and talking with God such as in the Book of Job.  God has given him freedom to operate but always with conditions.  Throughout time, people have been warned to beware of him and never trust him because he never has our best interests in mind.  He prey’s on believers who are weak and vulnerable in their faith because of his pride and jealously of God.  With the death and resurrection of Jesus, he knows he is a defeated entity but his goal before his final destruction is to take as  many with him as is possible.  Here we see the beginning of the end of  his reign of terror and until the absolute end, he will fight hard to exact his revenge.

        12:8-11.  Now that satan’s access to God and Heaven has been completely taken away, he will only ramp up his activity on earth.  His destruction and persecution of believers will be worse than before.  He will work to lead the whole world away from God to join him in Hell.

        12:12.  We see those in Heaven rejoicing in satan’s defeat.  Not only angels but those who have gone to Heaven before the Tribulation.  They have a front row seat to all that is happening and will return to earth again when God sends Jesus to set up His earthly kingdom.

3-5-2023.  Revelation 12:13-17 Persecution.

        12:13-14.  Based on belief in the Rapture, there is some disagreement on who the woman represents.  Is it the remnant of Israel, new believers since the start of the Tribulation, or just the Church.  The doctrine of this Church says the Rapture will happen.  Regardless,  what is perfectly clear is that satan is aiming his fury at her.  He is prevented by God from getting to her indicated by the “two wings of a great eagle flying her to a place in the wilderness where she will be nourished  for three and a half years or the last half of the Great Tribulation away from the face of the serpent or satan.  Now that satan has been tossed out of Heaven, the antichrist, who is satan’s puppet on earth,  breaks the covenant with Israel where he was to have restored the temple and allowed them to resume worship and sacrifices. 

        12:15-16.  As the serpent chased after the woman, we see him try to drown her by creating a flood.  This symbolizes satan’s intent to utterly destroy Israel, but we see in verse 16 that he fails to do so because God stepped in to dry up the flood.

        12:17.  Satan is angry that Israel has escaped him yet again so now he goes to terrorize the rest of the world.  Remember he knows he is going to be defeated and this is his last effort to take as many with him before he meets his own end.

3-12-2023.  Revelation 13:1-10.  The antichrist.  Revelation 13 introduces satan’s dragons – two evil accomplices - the beast out of the sea and the beast out of the earth.  Together with him, these three evil beings form an unholy trinity in direct opposition to the Holy Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy  Spirit.  In order to rule the world, satan tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness by wanting Him to turn stones into bread.  But he failed to rule the world then when Jesus refused to do what satan wanted.  Now, he will use the two beasts described in Revelation 13.

        13:1-2.  The beast of the sea (sea meaning people not a body of water) will use political power to exact satan’s evil.   His 7 heads and ten horns and seven crowns represent the seven empires that persecuted Israel in the past and the horns represent ten nations of the future. He is given the name blasphemy because satan is in control of the empires and the nations.  He is described looking look a leopard with the feat of a bear, and the mouth of a lion who is given his power and authority from satan.  This relates back to Daniel chapter 7.  The description is symbolic because the beast is a popular and powerful figure.  This beast was initially identified with Rome because the Roman Empire in its early days encouraged evil lifestyles, persecuted believers, and opposed God and his followers.  Whoever it may be symbolizes the antichrist and satan’s false messiah.  Not satan himself, but someone under his power and control.

        13:3-7. The healed deadly wound on one of the heads could represent the Grecian Empire under Alexander the Great.  Recall from Daniel, that once Alexander died, the breakup and takeover of the empire happened very quickly.  This beast will hold power three and a half years and convince many to follow him blindly because they will see him as unstoppable.  He will ridicule and denounce anything having to do with God and anyone who believes in Him.  This will lead to massive persecution with imprisonment and killing of all believers in God.  Nevertheless, God is still in control and has placed limits on his time in power.  He may kill believers physically, but he will never harm them spiritually.

        13:8.  All in the world will worship this beast.  That is all, all who’s names aren’t in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  The only way your name can be placed in the Book of Life is by acceptance of Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, and what He did for you at the Cross.  “From the foundation of the world”  refers to the fact that the doctrine of Jesus and Him Crucified is the foundation doctrine of all doctrines.  Every doctrine of the Bible is built on the foundation of the Cross of Christ.  Otherwise, its false.  This applies to the past, to today and until the end of the Great Tribulation.  If you haven’t made that choice, please do it now before it’s too late.  Look around and  you will see that time is running short.

        13:9.  The phrase “If any man have an ear, let him hear” refers to the ability to hear spiritually and to hear properly in this manner.  We know from the Gospels that Jesus used this term any times in throughout His ministry.  It’s simply telling us to remember what Jesus taught and stand true in the midst of persecution and even death. 

        13:10.  Being faithful to Christ in the Tribulation will bring persecution, imprisonment and even execution.  Some will be tortured or killed.  But the beast and his followers will only be able to harm the believers’ earthly bodies because the Lord will resurrect His followers, give them new bodies, and they will enter God’s presence perfected and purified by the blood of Jesus.

        While the word ‘antichrist’ isn’t found in most translations of Revelation it is mentioned in other places. All interpreters essentially agree that this beast seen here is what our culture has come to call the antichrist.  He is unleashed by satan, and his purpose is to fool and manipulate people around the world to denounce God.

3-19-2023.  Revelation 13:11-18 antichrist continued.  Here we learn of the second beast will come from the earth and his role is that of the false prophet.  He will imitate the holy spirit who seems to do good, but he will actually work to deceive the world through his miracles.

        13:11-12.  He is described as having two horns like a lamb, which speaks of the intentional deceit, and a voice like a dragon indicating that he is specifically chosen and put into power by satan.  Between the two beasts, the antichrist will claim to be Jesus Christ while the false prophet will fill the role of the holy spirit in the unholy trinity of satan, antichrist, and false prophet.  His power is equal to that of the antichrist (beast #1) which he will use to get the world to worship the antichrist.  Again, we see reference to the healed deadly wound reminding us the false prophet is likely the fallen angel who helped bring the Grecian Empire into power then was locked in the bottomless pit and now is released by satan during the Tribulation. We learned about this in Daniel 7.

        13:13-15.  Throughout the Bible we see miracles performed as proof of God’s power.  But this false prophet will perform what appears to be miracles from Heaven in order to deceive the world into thinking the antichrist is Jesus and that they need to build an image of him who had a life ending wound but was able to survive suggesting that an assignation attempt will be carried out against the antichrist. Once this statue is built, satan’s power will allow this image to speak and then kill all who refuse to worship before it.

        13:16-17.  Loyalty to the antichrist will no longer be voluntary as all people will be required to be marked either on their right hand or their forehead.  This mark will either be the name or number of the antichrist and anyone without it will not be able to participate in the world’s economy.  So, at first the seduction of the antichrist will be of a religious nature then it will become economic.  The mark of the beast copies and mimics the seal that God places on His followers.  The beast will mark his people to save them from the persecution that satan will inflict on God’s followers. All who accept the mark of the beast show their allegiance to satan, their willingness to operate within the economic system he promotes, and their rebellion against God.  To refuse the mark means to commit entirely to God, preferring death to compromising one’s faith in Christ.

        13:18.  We learn a bit about the number 666 which has long been associated with satan.  The meaning of this number has been discussed more than any other part of the book of Revelation.  The three sixes have been said to represent many things including the number of a man or the unholy trinity of satan as god, the antichrist as the messiah, and the false prophet as the holy spirit.  If three sevens represent God’s complete perfection, then 666 falls completely short of perfection.  Whatever specific meaning the number has, it symbolizes the worldwide dominion and complete evil of this unholy trinity designed to undo Christ’s work and overthrow Him.

        Today’s passage is a stark reminder that Christians everywhere always need to maintain a healthy skepticism about society’s pleasures, ideals, values, and rewards.  Educational, economic, and civic structures provide benefits and rewards with participation in their programs and policies.  That said, Christians should always support everything good and healthy about their society, but they must actively stand against anything that tries to prevent them from worshiping Jesus as their ultimate Lord and Savior.  In some cases, such as satan’s system we just looked at, the system or structure becomes so evil that cooperating with it will be impossible for those who truly follow Jesus.  Always look out for false prophets.  They are real and they are operating all around us with the power of satan.  This won’t start with the Great Tribulation.  The Tribulation will only intensify satan’s work against God.

3-226-2023.  Revelation 14:1-5 The Lamb.  At this point in Revelation, we are reaching the time when in spite of all of God’s love, patience, grace, and mercy, He is going to take action on those who refuse to acknowledge Him.  It’s no longer disciplinary action like we are told in Hebrews 12:4-11 that God disciplines people he loves for their own good and spiritual growth.  Those who have chosen to have nothing to do with God are about to discover His wrath for their inability to reel in their inappropriate behaviors and attitudes.  Revelation 13 describes the onslaught of evil that will occur when satan and his helpers control the world.  Revelation 14 gives a glimpse into eternity to show believers what awaits them if they endure.

        14:1. John once again sees the Lamb Jesus standing with 144,000 people who have God’s name – not the mark of the beast -- written on their foreheads.  This is likely the number of Jews we saw earlier who came to Christ in the first half of the  Great Tribulation.

        14:2-3.  These 144,000 appear to be very happy, singing a new song that only they could learn.  It sounds like rushing water and thunder, but also like harps playing their instruments.

        14:4.  Speaks of how the 144,000 refused to corrupt themselves with idolatry.  Faith in anything other than Christ and the Cross is the same as spiritual idolatry.  Millions in moder Churches today are guilty of this sin due to their misunderstanding of it means to be a Christian.  Think back to the letters to the seven Churches and how Jesus admonished them for letting the true reason for their faith lapse.  It’s a reminder that everyone will be accountable.

        14:5.  This is a reference to believers being justified by faith; meaning that all who accept Jesus will be redeemed and worthy because their sins are absolved before God by having accepted Jesus as their Savior.

4-2-2023.  Revelation 14:6-13 The Angels.  Here we see three more angels and what they have to say clearly shows that God’s patience has run out and now it’s time to pay the price for rejecting the Lord.

        14:6-7.  The first of the three had a mission preach to all who were in the world that they are to fear God, give glory to Him and worship Him as creator of Heaven, earth, the sea and its fountains.  The antichrist is claiming to be the creator of all things by this time, so this angel is reminding mankind just who the Creator is.  Many scholars believe that this is no longer a call to salvation but instead a warning that because of what is happening throughout the earth, God’s judgment is about to happen.

        14:8.  The second angel announces the fall of Babylon the Great, which will be made up of all the nations who joined with the antichrist and has devolved into a rampant sinless society with no morals and no conscience.

        14:9-10.  The third angel announces that anyone who worships the beast and his image, accepts his mark, and operates in the world economic system will receive God’s judgment.  The reference to fire and brimstone refers to what life in eternal hell will be like.

        14:11.  This verse gives a description that says there will be a conscious existence for all of eternity to those banished to hell.  No rest day or night means the torment will be constant with no break.  All hope of forgiveness will be lost to them.

        14:12-13.  While most of the inhabitants of the world will follow the antichrist, there will be some who resist and remain faithful to God.  They will need ‘patient endurance,’ but during these end times death for them will be preferable than life with the mark of the beast.  Life for them will become more than difficult.  But there will come a time when they too shall rest from their labor – but only after they are dead.

        Money, fame, and belongings can’t be taken with us to eternity.  But God’s people can produce fruit that survives even death.  God will remember our love, kindness, and faithfulness; and those who accept Christ through our witness will join us in the new earth.  We must ensure that our values are completely in line with God’s values and decide today to produce fruit that will last forever.

4-9-2023.  Revelation 14:14-20 Armageddon.  This passage is our first look at the Battle of Armageddon.

         14:14-16.  Shows us what the start of God’s judgment or the Battle of Armageddon announced by a fourth angel will be like.  Christ is separating the faithful from the unfaithful like a farmer harvesting his crops.  This will be a time of joy for the Christians who have been persecuted and martyred as they will receive their long-awaited reward.  Remember that things in the prophecy are told from a perspective of past, present, and future.  This great battle happens at the end of the Tribulation.  After reading this, we can see the clear meaning of the words of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. 

        14:17-18.  A fifth angel repeated the task of the prior angel who tells us the significance of what will happen and that it will have a catastrophic effect on the earth.  It also shows us that God’s angels will have a significant role in the final battle to defeat evil.

        14:19-20.  The Bible often uses the wine press as a symbol of God’s wrath and judgment against sin.  This river of blood will extend 1600 furlongs/stadia or about 180 miles which is the approximate length of Israel from north to south.  This is going to be a vicious battle.

          Most of us are unaccustomed to vivid descriptions of God’s anger in judgment so these are disturbing images.  People dislike the idea of other people, even evil ones, being trampled like grapes.  The trail of the blood flow is a sickening scene of the immensity of God’s judgement.  Unless we face the necessity of God’s judgment, we will never see our desperate need for His mercy.  A god with only a grandfatherly kindness would not inspire our repentance, obedience, or worship.  God has promised a harsh harvest of those who reject Him.  Those who know God well enough to fear His wrath also know God well enough to want His grace.  Make no mistake, the crushing wrath of God will come.  That said, Christians need not fear the last judgement.  Jesus said in John 5:24:   “whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be judged but has Crossed over from death to life.”  The crushing wrath of God will come one day.  But those who have had their sins forgiven and lead others to God’s mercy will be blessed beyond what our human mind can fully understand.

4-16-2023.  Revelation 15:1-8.  The Seven Vials and The Temple.  God’s wrath that’s about to be poured out on the earth in this passage is Him taking care of unfinished business.  From the perspective of the righteous people both in Revelation 6:9-10 and those in the contemporary Christian Church, God never gets angry without reason.  His full wrath (or anger) will be in direct response to specific actions that have had painful and wicked results.  And after being expressed, according to this passage, God’s wrath will be over and done with.

        15:1.  The seven last plagues are also called the seven bowl judgments and we will see them actually beginning when we get to Chapter 16. Unlike previous plagues which described partial destruction, these will be worldwide and complete.  They will culminate in the abolition of all evil and the end of the world as we know it.

        15:2-4.  Again, John speaks of a “sea of glass” with those standing on it this time appearing to be peaceful and tranquil with harps knowing what is about to happen.  We were previously shown the sea of glass spreading out before God’s throne in Revelation 4:6.  This group of people may or may not be those standing before God’s throne in 7:9-17 but whomever they may be, they are clearly identified as ‘those who had gotten the victory over the beast and his image over the number of his name.”  They are no longer on earth but in heaven which suggests that they died at the hands of the antichrist and his minions, and they are now celebrating their victory with the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.  The song of Moses is the song that celebrated Israel’s deliverance from Egypt (Exodus 15), and the Song of the Lamb celebrates the ultimate deliverance of God’s people from the  power of satan.

        15:5-8.  The imagery  in verses 5-8 brings us back to the time in the wilderness after the Exodus when the Ark of the Covenant (where God resided with the people) was in the Tabernacle.  The angels’ garments are reminiscent of the High priest’s clothing showing that they are free from corruption, immorality, and injustice.  The smoke that fills the temple displays the manifestation of God’s glory and power.  Nothing will escape this judgment.

          John is privileged to see what is going to take place both in heaven and on earth.  He sees the seven angels being prepared prior to going  into action.  The angels come out of the heavenly temple dressed in dazzling white linen and golden sashes.  One of the four living creatures (first seen in Rev 4:6), hands out golden bowls filled with the wrath of God.  The temple then fills with smoke symbolizing the glory, power, and holiness of God.  God’s glory reveals not only His strength but also His perfect moral character.  Nothing immoral can be part of God.  This reassures us that we can trust Him, yet it also places a demand on us.  Our desire to be holy, meaning dedicated to God and morally purse, is the only suitable response.  Our eternal reign with Christ will begin when God destroys all evil according to His timetable.

4-23-2023.  Revelation 16:1-11.  Five of Seven Vial Judgments.  We saw that God has reached the end of His patience and was ready to release His final and complete judgments on the earth:  the 7 Vial Judgments.  The earth has come to its end.  Seven Angels have been tasked to do this.  Now we see the first five.

        16:1.  The angels are called out of the temple to release the vials of the wrath of God on the earth.

        16:2.  The first will be poured on the land targeting all who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.  Their bodies will break out with painful, ugly, festering sores.

        16:3.  The second vial will be poured into the sea and turn it into blood like that of a dead person and causes all the sea life as well as those in ships on the sea to die.

        16:4.  The third vial will e poured into the rivers and springs underground and above ground and also turned to blood.

        16:5-7.  The angel of the waters praises the righteousness of God and His justice in dealing with those who have killed believers.  A lot of people have a hard time believing that if God is loving, He would never cause harm or destruction.  But in a morally good world, God must ultimately oppose and destroy evil.  Those who join the revolt against Him will suffer along with their leaders.  Those who think God won’t exact harsh judgment are guilty of trying to fit God into their ideas of what is fair and kind in His dealings with humanity.  Such a view of justice merely projects the human idea that all belief systems, personal values, and lifestyles are equally valid and acceptable.  Those who believe this was assume that God must play by their rules.  The reality is that God created everything, He owns everything, and He sets the true standard of justice.  He uses His power according to His own moral perfection which means that whatever he chooses, or decrees will always be fair, even if we don’t understand it or like it.  Those who rebel and reject God are not rejecting a lifestyle option, they are rejecting truth and justice itself.  The significance of the alter in verse 7 is that everyone and everything will be praising God, acknowledging His righteousness and perfect justice.

        16:8-9.  The fourth vile will be poured onto the sun which will cause people to be scorched with its fire.  This is the true meaning to global warming.  People will be burned by the increased heat of the sun, causing them to curse God.

        16:10-11.  The fifth vile will be poured on the throne of the beast and his kingdom will be full of darkness.  At this point people were chewing their tongues because of the pain from the sores of the first vial and lack of water.

        At this point, the world is in darkness cursing God.  The cumulative effect of the five vial judgments has left them with painful sores, crisis-level sunburn, and thirst, and proving once and for all they have no intent to repent of their sins.  As bad as it is at this point, it’s not over yet. 

4-30-2023.  Revelation 16:12-16.  The Sixth Vial Judgment.  At this point the earth and its inhabitants are suffering from ugly sores, severe sunburns, and lack of drinkable water due to the previous judgments enacted on God’s commands.  Things are not going so well for the antichrist and his minions. 

        16:12. The angel pours the sixth judgment on to the Euphrates River causing it to completely dry up.  This river was a natural protector from the empires of the east  (Babylon, Assyria, and Persia),  With this river now dried up, there is nothing to hold back invading armies.  The “kings from the east” symbolize unhindered judgment and is a precursor to the Battle of Armageddon.  The Greek manuscript actually says “the kings of the sun-rising” which could also includes the armies of China and Japan plus others which will join the antichrist in the coming battle. 

        16:13-14.  Next John describes froglike figures he calls spirits of demons performing miraculous signs.  These froglike creatures which come from the unholy trinity of satan the dragon, antichrist the beast, and the false prophet.  It is believed their purpose is to call together the parties who will participate in the final battle against God.  Scholars say these creatures have been functioning invisibly at the will of satan since the fall to cause disruption throughout out the world.  Given the condition of the world by this point, satan knows he must now marshal his forces to fight the forces of God.

        16:15. This is a reference back to what Jesus said about returning to earth.  He will return unexpectedly so remaining believers and even us today must be on alert and always ready by standing firm against temptation and committed to God’s truth as we find in His Word. 

        16:16.   This is confirmation of where the final battle of Good v. Evil will take place. At this point most of the world will be united against Christ and His followers.    Armageddon is a Hebrew word that identifies the location as Mount Megiddo is in the northern portion of Israel and is southeast of the modern port of Haifa.  There is a large plain at the foot of the mountain in the Valley of Jezreel where several biblical battles were fought.  Deborah and Gideon each saw victory there.  Kings Saul, Ahaziah and Josiah lost their battles because they didn’t listen to God.  Egyptian pharaohs fought there fifteen centuries before Christ and as recently as 1917 the British won a decisive battle over the Turks. 

        We see the stage being set for the final battle where God will meet evil and destroy it once and for all.  As long as we are committed to Him, we are on the winning side. We all have to look within ourselves to ensure our lives show we are ready and if not, make the necessary change to prepare for the return of Jesus.  There will be no warning to allow for needed changes.  We must be ready now and stay that way until we have a death or are Raptured, or if left behind, stick it out until the final battle is won.

5-7-2023.  Revelation 16:17-21 – The Seventh Vial.

        16:17.  After seven seals, seven trumpets, and six vials of wrath, we get to the final vial and an acknowledgement that “It is done!” reminding us of when Jesus said “It is finished” before He died on the Cross.

        16:18.  This judgment is in the form of an earthquake the likes of which the world hasn’t seen up to this point.  Today earthquakes are measured using the Richter Scale beginning at 1 and rising based on intensity.  Each number represents an increase of 32 times the released energy of the previous number.  This will be the worst the world has ever experienced so there is no telling how high the intensity number will be.

        16:19.  Babylon was the name of both an evil city and an immoral empire, as well as a world center for idol worship.  Since the building of the tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9), Babylon has stood for rebellion and opposition to God’s directions.  Babylon ransacked Jerusalem and took the people of Judah into captivity.  Just as Babylon was the Jews worst enemy, the Roman Empire was the worst enemy of the early Christians.  John, who probably didn’t dare speak against Rome openly, applied the name of Babylon to the enemy of God’s people  -- and  by extension, all of God’s enemies of all time.

        16:20-21.  Because of the destruction caused by the earthquake, every island and mountain will disappear.  Hail with stones weighing as much as 100 pounds will fall, causing further destruction and  many deaths of those who have survived the previous destruction.  We are told how people will curse God for all that has happened to them.  Interesting that they would this the time to do this and not think of asking forgiveness and turn back to Him.  Cursing God when you are facing death may seem like you’re getting the last word over Him  but we will see that God will try again to address the rebellious humanity  and in fact, He will have the last word.

5-14-2023.  Revelation 17:1-7.  The Great Prostitute.  In the last couple of chapters, we have been shown the wrath of God.  As we continue, keep in mind that what we are seeing in the Book of Revelation is the culmination of God’s wrath after thousands of years of love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness.  Now in chapter 17 we are going to get a view of the world the way God sees it using a lot of symbolism.  When Jesus came to earth, He spent time with prostitutes and sinners, hugged lepers, shushed His disciples when He wanted to play with children, and treated everyone with the utmost love and acceptance to show people what God is like.  So, if God appears to be harsh in His dealings with people in the last days, we are about to get His perspective on what is going on to see that maybe He has a reason for His wrath.

        17:1-2.  One of the angels with the seven vials comes to John to show him how the great prostitute is going to be punished.  This prostitute is a symbol of all of the empires and religions devised by mankind throughout history as a substitute for Jesus Christ and His crucifixion for sins.  The “many waters” symbolize the multitudes of people involved in those religions who along with the leaders are labeled “spiritual fornicators” for corrupting the work of Christ on the Cross.

        17:3.  John see a vision in the wilderness, which again is a symbol of anything that goes against Christ and the Cross.  The woman on the scarlet beast represented organized non-Christian religions and the scarlet color indicates blood pertaining to the persecution of Christians.  Her blasphemy represents her opposition the God’s plan for salvation. The seven heads and ten horns of the beast represent the seven empires of Egypt Assyria, Babylon, Medo Persia, Greece and Rome who persecuted Israel.  The ten horns represent the future nations that will come out of the old Roman Empire territory and persecute Israel.  This foundation was laid in Daniel.  

        17:4.  The purple and scarlet clothes worn by the woman pertains to Israel  and later the Church Age with purple representing the dominion of these religion over the nations and the scarlet color representing the persecution of Israel.  The gold and precious stones indicate that these nations and religions have always been very rich, and the golden cup symbolizes that these religions the ability to allure believers in spite of their abomination including child sacrifice and filthiness. 

        17:5. The forehead symbolizes these empires and religions are from man and not God.  Her name ‘Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother of Harlots and Abomination of the Earth’ represents the content of the “golden cup” -- even though it looks wonderful on the outside.  If it’s not Jesus Christ and Him Crucified, then it’s labeled by the God as harlots and abominations.   Think back to the letters to the seven Churches and how they were chastised for forgetting about the Cross.

        17:6.  John is amazed at what he is being shown.  The blood of the Saints symbolizes the empires and their false religions who persecuted Israel up to the time of Christ as well as the millions in the Church Age who gave their lives for the cause of Christ.

        17:7.  The angel knew that John would be amazed at the scene he was being shown and that he would need an explanation.

5-21-2023.  Revelation 17:8-18.  Continuing with the Great Prostitute.

        17:8.  We are still into a lot of symbolism.  We first learned of the dragon [satan] in chapter 12 and the beast [antichrist] in chapters 14-16.  The Book of Life which we saw in chapter 3 is where all the names of believers through all time who stood firm in their faith are registered.  It symbolizes God’s knowledge of who belongs to Him. The phrase ‘was, and is not, and yet is’  tells us tells us the beast was not functioning in John’s time, but it will be released from the abyss, and there will be a point where it will die and come back to life.

        17:9-11. Here is a reference to seven empires and symbolizes all evil in the world including people, religions, groups, governments, or structures that oppose Jesus.  It indicates the climax of satan’s struggle against God as He halts the power of evil and sends the beast to perdition, which is eternal hell.

        17:12-15. These verses speak of the leaders of the ten nation group that will form at the time of the Great Tribulation with the antichrist being in the lead.  They join in power and strength and allegiance to the antichrist and attack Israel and all who believe in God and Jesus at the final of Battle Armageddon.

        17:16.  These nations will turn on the prostitute and total destroy her meaning those who have served the antichrist will eventually be destroyed from within because evil, destructive by nature, discards its own adherents when they no longer serve a purpose to satan and the antichrist.

        17:17-18.  These verses are reminding us that no matter what is going to happen we must always trust that God is still in charge, that He rules all the plans and action of satan and the antichrist, and that His plans will happen just as He says they will.  God sometimes uses people opposed to Him as tools to execute His will.  While He allows evil to permeate this present world, the new earth will never experience sin or evil.

5-28-2023.  Revelation 18:1-8.  Warning to Escape Babylon’s Judgment.  Babylon was the name of both an evil city and an immoral empire, and a world center for idol worship.  It is also a metaphor for all evil societies throughout history.  Since the building of the tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9), Babylon has stood for rebellion and opposition to God’s directions.  Babylon ransacked Jerusalem and took the people of Judah into captivity (2 Kings 24; 2 Chronicles 36).  Just as Babylon was the Jews’ worst enemy, the Roman Empire was the worst enemy of the early Christians.  John, who probably didn’t dare speak against Rome openly applied the name Babylon to this enemy of God’s people – and, by extension, to all God’s enemies of all times – past, present, and future.  The message is clear:  Everything that tries to block God’s purposes will come to a violent end.

        18:1-3.The angel in verse 1 is different from the two angels John saw of chapter 17  in that he is greater than any of the seven vial judgment angels because we are told that he has great power, the earth was lightened with his glory, and he had a mighty and strong voice.  It is possible it could be Gabriel or Michael.  This angel is speaking of the Babylon of old, the Roman Empire and all future kingdoms, empires, cities, and lifestyles warning of the evil and sinful pleasures of society that appeal to the people’s desires for money, sex, and power. 

Evil has been and will continue to take advantage of people’s most vulnerable and powerful temptations to enrich themselves since the fall of man in the garden right up until the time the antichrist is in control. John is warning people to recognize and resist the evil that is all around them and instead live a Christ-like life of service, giving, self-sacrifice, obedience to God’s Word and His truth.

        18:4-8.  Then there is another voice from Heaven that is giving a warning specifically to believers through all time to resist the not participate in the evils offered by the world in order to avoid the coming plagues, torture, grief, death, mourning, famine, and fire.  We learn that God has a long memory and will not forget unrepented sins of the past and will exact His retribution to those who turn away from Him.  Retribution will be exacted twice that of the sins that have been committed against Him.  Satan, through the antichrist, will boast of his great strength so the Lord will show the satan, the antichrist, and the world what strength really is.

        Believers who think they can live in the world and participate in its’ evil ways will be judged the same as nonbelievers.  We can’t have it both ways.  We must either be for God and have eternal life with peace and complete satisfaction, or against Him and live for eternity in hell with the punishments exacted on satan and his followers. 

6-4-2023.  Revelation 18:9-24.  Babylon’s Fall.  The voice from Heaven is showing John the fall of Babylon which is the symbol of  what has been created in the world by satan and the antichrist, along with all of the destruction caused by God. What we see now is from the human point of view. 

        18:9-10.  Those who control or benefit from the various parts of the economic system will mourn when it all falls apart.  The fall of the corrupt world system will affect all who enjoyed and depended on it.   No one will remain unaffected.  Those  who  are tied to the world’s system will lose everything when it collapses.  What they have worked to build up will be destroyed in a moment.  A reminder that those who work only for material rewards will have nothing when they die or when their possessions are destroyed.

        18:11-20.  The voice from Heaven continues to speak against the greedy merchants.  The luxury they longed for is gone.  We see a list of merchandise that shows the extreme materialism of this society with mostly luxuries and few necessities.  There is no  mourning for lost souls, only lost possessions and lifestyles. This tells us how truly depraved society will be at the end.

        18:21-24.  In the end, we are told that a mighty angel throws a large boulder into the sea with such violence that the city will be thrown down causing it to be completely gone.  It is believed this will cause an earthquake that wipes away the city.  In the end, complete and utter destruction will come to all who oppose God.

6-11-2023.  Revelation 19:1-10.  Praise.  Praise is a heartfelt response to God from those who love him.  The more we get to know God, the more we realize what He has done for us resulting in us giving Him more praise.  John is showing us the Heavenly praise for God’s defeat of satan. 

        19:1-3.  John hears the loud voices of people in Heaven praising God and His righteous judgments, the defeat of the corruption in the earth, and the vengeance He exacted for all of His servants who have been persecuted for their faith.

        19:4-6.  The 24 elders represent all the redeemed for all the ages and the four living creatures represent the creation of God and how it can now serve its full purpose as originally intended.  This is the signal of the end of all evil and the beginning of all righteousness.  The “great multitude” consists of every true believer who will praise the Lord and will do so continually.  John is describing the sound as that of many waters and mighty thunder.    

        19:7-8.  This scene is the culmination of human history – the judgment of the wicked and the wedding of the Lamb and His Bride, the Church.  We are shown the rejoicing of the Redeemed (the Bride) who are about to be joined in Holy Matrimony to the Lamb who had saved them, This will likely take place in Heaven immediately before the second Coming.  The New Testament often refers to the Church as the Bride of Christ.  We are seeing the culmination of this in the wedding or the joining of the redeemed with the redeemer – Jesus Christ.  Fine linen is symbolic of the righteousness which was given to them by what Christ did at the Cross.

        19:9-10.  We don’t know exactly who is speaking to John,  but the word Lamb is used to signify that this is possible because of the Cross.  We see John falling down to worship someone who he thinks is Jesus, but who tells John he is a fellow servant and his brother who has the testimony of Jesus.  John sees this individual in a glorified form which could be a hint of what we all will look like in the new kingdom.  Also, the angel is telling us that our worship is only to be for God and Jesus and He did for us on the Cross.

        As we read Revelation it’s important that we look past the details of the amazing visions and focus on the overarching theme in all of them which is the ultimate victory of God and Jesus Christ over all evil.

6-18-2023.  Revelation 19:11-14.  The Second Coming.  Up to this point most of God’s judgment on the earth will be in the form of natural, or supernatural disasters.  Throughout all that is to happen John was told and instructed to record what was going to take place.

        19:11.  John is seeing a vision of Heaven opening and Jesus will appear not as a Lamb but as a warrior  on a white horse symbolizing victory.  He first came as a lamb to be a sacrifice, but will He return as the conquering King to execute Judgment.  The name “Faithful and True” is to contrast with the faithless and deceitful Babylon that we saw described in chapter 18.

        19:12.  He will be seen as someone with eyes blazing like fire which represents Judgment.  He will be wearing many crowns showing Him to be Lord of all the realms.  He will have a name written that is known only to Himself.  We know that Jesus has always had many names:   Faithful and true, Word of God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but in truth no name can do Him justice.  He transcends any description or expression the human mind can ever devise or fully understand.

        19:13.  His robes dipped in blood symbolizes the holiness and perfection can only be given to mankind through the blood the sinless Lamb Jesus shed on the Cross.

        19:14.  When Jesus returns, He will be with the army of Heaven also on white horses wearing fine white linen which symbolizes purity and sinlessness.

06-25-2023. Revelation 19:15-21 – Armageddon.

        19:15.  This is a graphic display of God’s wrath.  It shows His anger and judgment against sin and against those who have constantly rejected Christ as the means of forgiveness and reconciliation.  God’s wrath exists alongside His mercy.  In each generation, there must be balanced preaching and teaching about God’s grace and His anger against sin.  In modern times there has been a lot of teaching about God’s love.  Acceptance has become so predominant that God’s anger seems to be mythical.  But seeing God in this light doesn’t warn people away from sin.  Studying about God’s wrath may be watered down by some, but it is still real and will be terrible for those who have steadfastly refused Him.  We must study to learn of both His mercy and His wrath.

        19:16.  The title of King of Kings and Lord of Lords indicates sovereignty.  At this point in time most of the world will be worshiping the antichrist believing he has all power and authority.  But when they see Jesus suddenly appear out of Heaven along with His army of angels, they will learn how wrong they were and what true power and authority really are.

        19:17-18.  The “great supper of God’ is a stark contrast with the wedding supper of the Lamb with the faithful.  One pictures the ultimate celebration with joy and happiness, the other shows total devastation.  Those who refused God will be devoured with no consideration of their station in life.  Some scholars think this is a symbolic description and not an actual killing of nonbelievers.  But either way, the fate of nonbelievers will be dealt with by the power and wrath of God.  If they die by the birds or die by being cast into Hell after the judgment, all who sided with satan and the antichrist will end up in the same circumstances.

        19:19-21. The battle lines are now set for the greatest confrontation in the history of the world.  Satan, the antichrist, and the false prophet along with the armies of all the nations of the world under the rule of the antichrist are now gathered to defeat Jesus and His angels.  The armies of the antichrist believe they are there out of their own desire to support the antichrist but in actuality they have been summoned by God so He can destroy them.  The fact that the world presumes that they can defeat God shows how their pride and rebellion have destroyed their thinking.  There will be no real fight because Jesus won when He died on the Cross and rose from the dead. The evil leaders will be immediately captured, sent to their punishment in the Lake of Fire, and the evil forces will be annihilated.  This battle will be carried out with the sword that proceeds out of the mouth of Jesus, meaning all He has to do is speak in the Battle of Armageddon for the destruction to unfold thereby ending the conflict between good and evil on the earth.

7-2-23.  Revelation 20:1-10.  The Millennium and satan.  The battle of Armageddon is now over, and Jesus has prevailed.  The antichrist and the evil leaders under his control are all  in the lake of fire and evil has been banished.  But what happens to satan?

        20:1-2.  We see another angel come down from Heaven, showing us angels are very prominent in the Plan of God for this world, and he is holding a heavy chain and the key to the bottomless pit (previously mentioned in Rev 9:1 where locusts came from).  This time, instead of creatures coming out of the pit, the dragon, who is satan, will be chained up and thrown into the pit, or the abyss.

        20:3.   satan will be a prisoner there for 1,000 years, no longer able to work his evil in the world.  But, in a twist we would not have expected, after 1,000 years God will let satan out of the abyss where he will once more work evil in the world for  what is termed “a little season.”  We aren’t told how long this “little season is” but we do know that he will not succeed.  Also, we aren’t told why God releases him again.  Perhaps it’s to finally expose those who still rebel  and confirm those who are truly faithful, resulting in the final destruction of all evil for all of eternity.

        20:4.  Meanwhile for the 1,000 years that satan is gone (referred to as the Millennium), we see the Tribulation saints who were beheaded for speaking about Jesus and refusing to take the mark of the beast or worship him or his image during the Tribulation period.  Those sitting on thrones are judging them.  We aren’t told who these judges are, but some scholars say it is the 24 elders who represent the entire plan of God that pertains to the Redeemed through all the ages.

        20:5-6.  We are told there will be two resurrections and a second death.  There are two views regarding the two resurrections:  (1) Some believe the first resurrection takes place spiritually in our hearts at the time of our salvation and then the Millennium is our spiritual reign with Christ between the first and second comings.  During this time, we are priests of God because Christ reigns in our hearts.  Whereas the second resurrection will be the bodily resurrection of all people – good and bad -- for final judgment.  (2) Others believe the first resurrection occurs after satan has been set aside where the physical bodies of believers will then reign with Christ on the earth for a literal 1,000 years. Then the second resurrection will happen at the end of the Millennium  where God will judge all unbelievers who have died from the beginning of time until the present.  The second death is where all non-believers who have died since the beginning of time until the end of the Tribulation will be thrown  into the lake of fire for all of eternity.  Regardless of what is true here, there will come a time when all of this will be made very clear.

        20:7-9.  The end of the Millennium is where satan will again walk the earth for “a little season” trying to deceive people.  The reference to Gog and Magog symbolizes all the forces of evil that band together to battle God.  It includes all nations which is described as the four corners of the earth.  Those who are affected will be those who did not accept Christ during the Kingdom Age – or the Millennium.  When they start their work the fight won’t last long because God will destroy this evil force with fire from Heaven, ending their attempt at war and the destruction of God’s people.

        20:10. Finally, it will be satan’s turn to be tossed in the lake of fire and brimstone forever ending his influence in the world where, along with the Beast and False prophet, he will be tormented day and night for all eternity.

        Regarding the Millennium,  There are different interpretations among scholars of exactly what will take place.  The three most prominent ideas are:  (1) Postmillennialism looks for a literal 1,000 year period of peace on earth ushered in by the Church.  At the end of the 1,000 years, satan will be unleashed once more but then Christ will return to defeat him and reign forever.  Christ’s second coming will not occur until after the 1,000 period.  (2) Premillennialism also views the 1,00 years as a literal time period but hold that Christ’s second coming will initiate His 1,000-year reign and that this reign will occur before the final removal of satan.  (3) Amillennialism sees the 1,000  year period as symbolic of the time between Christ’s ascension and His return.  This Millennium is the reign of Christ in the hearts of believer and in in His Church; therefore, it is another way of referring to the Church Age.  This period will end with the second coming of Christ.  These different views about the Millennium need not cause division and controversy in the Church because each view acknowledges what is most crucial to Christianity:  Christ will return, defeat satan, and reign forever.  Whatever and whenever the Millennium is, Jesus Christ will unite all believers; therefore, we should not let this issue divide us.  All we need to be concerned with is that our hearts are right with God, that we trust His plan for us and the fate of the world,  and that we have accepted Jesus as our personal Savior. 

7-9-2023.  Revelation 20:11-15.  Great White Throne of Judgment.

        20:11.  We see in verse 11 that Jesus is sitting  on the throne ready to pass judgment on those who refused Him. 

        20:12-13.  At the final judgment, the books will be opened.  The Book of Life contains the names of those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ to save them.  These books also contain the recorded deeds of everyone, good and evil.  Everyone’s life will be reviewed and evaluated.  No one is saved by good deeds, but deeds are seen as clear evidence of a person’s actual relationship with God.  Jesus will look at how we have handled gifts, opportunities, and responsibilities given to us.  God’s gracious gift of salvation does not free us from the requirement of faithful obedience and service.  Each one of us must serve Christ in the best way we know how  and we must live each day knowing the books will one day be opened for all of us to be judged.

        20:14-15. Death and Hell will be thrown into the lake of fire where God completes His judgment.  The lake of fire is the ultimate destination of everything wicked – satan, the Beast, the False prophet, the demons, death, Hades, and all those whose names are not recorded in the book of life because they did not place their faith in Jesus.  John’s vision does not allow any gray areas in God’s judgment.  If by faith we have not identified with Christ, confessing Him as Lord, we will have no hope, no second chance, no other appeal.

        It is made very clear that waiting until the point of judgment to accept Jesus as Lord will be too late.  Anyone who hasn’t done so in life will not have a second chance and will be lost for all eternity.  After what we have learned in Revelation, there appears to be different states of existence after death:  a  spiritual state at first, followed by a bodily resurrection.  And it appears that not all the resurrections of the dead take place at the same time.  Yes, it is all confusing.  But it doesn’t matter if we don’t understand all the details completely.  What matters is that we prepare ourselves during this life and as soon as possible if you haven’t yet done so, to meet whatever will happen when we pass from this life into the next.  Live a life that shows Jesus is Lord and no matter what happens, you will be fine because your will be written in the Book of Life.

7-16-2023.  Revelation 21:1-8.  The New Heaven and New Earth.

        21:1.  The earth as we know it will not last forever, but after God’s great judgment, He will create a new earth.  He also promised in Isaiah that He would create a new and eternal earth.  He will remove the oceans, which in John’s time were viewed as dangerous and changeable.  We saw in Revelation 13:11 that it was also the source of the beast.  We don’t know exactly how God’s new earth will look but we do know that God and His followers – those whose names are written in the Book of Life will be united and live there forever.

        21:2-4.  We learn God will change His headquarters from Heaven to Earth.  He will come down to be with us just as He became a man in Jesus and lived among us.  Wherever God lives and reigns, there is peace, security, and love. This new Jerusalem will be where God will take away all our tears because there will be no more death, sorrow, or pain.  No matter what problems you may be experiencing now, there will come a time when they will all be gone.  We will experience eternal fulfillment and joy in this new earth.  We may not know or fully understand just how it will happen, but what we do know is that we can believe that eternity with God will be more wonderful than we can imagine now.

        21:5.  God was the Creator at the beginning.  Everything was new then as we learn in the majestic description written Genesis.   Now at the end of the age, we see how He concludes with the creation of the new Heaven and new Earth.  This knowledge gives us hope and tremendous encouragement.  When we will be with God, with our sins forgiven and our future secure, we will be like Christ.  We will be made perfect like Him and we’ll have new bodies, new hearts, and a fresh desire for worship.  We will be with millions of brothers and sisters, some of whom we already know and others we have not yet met.  Because of our faith, we can look forward to living forever with God in this glorious new place He will create for us.

        21:6  Just as God finished the work of creation and Jesus finished the work of redemption, the Trinity will finish the entire plan of salvation by inviting the redeemed into a new creation.

        21:7-8.  The ‘cowardly” are the fearful ones who abandoned Jesus at the threats of the beast – antichrist. They feared persecution so badly that they choose temporary personal safety over eternal life with God.  As a result, they will be dealt with the same as all unbelievers and immoral evil people.  In contrast, everyone who is victorious and “stands firm to the end” will receive the blessings that God promised.  To follow Jesus requires the boldness and bravery to stand for Him when oppression occurs.  We all need to pray for the courage to do just that no matter what pressures we may face.  The second death will be a spiritual death, meaning either eternal torment or destruction.  In either case, it means permanent separation from God as was show to us previously in 19:30 and 20:14.

7-23-2023.  Revelation 21: 9-15 - The New Jerusalem and the Holy City.

        21:9-11.  John is writing how he encountered one of the 7 vial angels who then took him to show him the descent of the new Holy City of Jerusalem from Heaven.  His description says the city will have a brilliant shine like a jasper gem that is clear as crystal.  This description describes the radiance of God’s Glory because God will reside in the new city.

        21:12-13.  The Holy City will also have a high wall surrounding it with twelve gates, each one with twelve angels.  The twelve gates (three on each of the four wall surrounding the city) signify the twelve tribes of Israel reminding us how important and precious the people of Israel are to God.  The twelve angels at each gate speak of the glory of God and His government of the new earth He is creating.

        21:14-15.  Because the way of salvation was originally shown to the Jews, the names of the twelve tribes will be written on each of the gates.  But the foundation of Salvation is built on the Cross so the city will be built on twelve foundations, each named for the twelve apostles; reinforcing for us that salvation’s message is based completely on Jesus and the Cross. Then John tells us his guiding angel had a golden measuring stick.

        Here we are being shown that the new Jerusalem embodies the wonder of God’s future home for His people.  The twelve tribes of Israel likely represent all the faithful from the Old Testament Times and the twelve postles represent the Church – both believing Jews and Gentiles who have been faithful to God.  All believers will live together in the new earth.

7-30-2023.  Revelation 21:16-22 – Measurements.  The City’s measurements show us a place that will be large enough to hold all of God’s people. 

        21:16-17.  The angel with the golden stick measured each side of the city to be 12,000 furlongs which is translated to be 1,400 miles per side.  The city will be four square, meaning 1,400 miles long, 1,400 miles wide, and 1,400 miles high.  When you add it all up, the size is astounding and will be about half the size of the United States.  This will certainly dwarf any manmade skyscraper.  The surrounding wall, which will be only ornamental as there will be no need for any protection, will be 144 cubits or 216 feet thick.  The city’s measurements reveal a place large enough to hold all God’s people.  The measurements are all multiples of twelve, the number for God’s people.  The twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles who started the Church.  The new Jerusalem will be a perfect cube which is the same shape as the Most Holy Place in the temple  as described in 1 Kings 6:20.  These measurements tell us that our new home will be perfect for each one of us. 

        21:18-21.  We are being shown that the city will be built with precious stones and gold  The wall will be jasper, which is a gem of several colors.  The city will be pure gold that will appear to be clear glass.  The foundation of twelve layers will be made of a gems: of jasper (multicolored), sapphire (blue), chalcedony (milky gray), emerald (green), sardonyx (white), sardius (red), chrysolite (yellow), beryl (aquamarine), topaz (yellow green), chrysoprasus (green), jacinth (multi colored), and amethyst (purple).  The flood of color is hard to imagine but the city will be exquisite.  The twelve gates will each be made of pearls.  Each gate will be about 216 feet tall, all covered with thousands of pearls with every third or fourth gate being made of one single gigantic pearl.  And the streets of the city will be pure gold that will appear as transparent as glass.

        The size and description of the new Jerusalem will be a place of purity and durability and it will last forever.  The descriptions offered surely can’t come close to describing the beauty of it all.   

8-6-2023.  Revelation 22:1-5 – The Rulers.  Now that John is being shown what is inside the glistening city, he describes for us what could be the Main Street in the new city.

        22:1.  First he speaks of a river containing the Water of Life.  This reference is found throughout the Bible, and every time, it speaks of eternal life.  The Garden of Eden also had a river running through it as did Ezekiel’s vision found in 47:7-12 of his book, that also included trees growing beside it symbolizing the refreshment of the Holy Spirit and the blessings of salvation. The river will come directly from the throne of God and of the Lamb Jesus.  There are arguments about whether or not this is literal or symbolic.  But the truth is, it can be both.

        22:2.  The Tree of Life described here reminds us of the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden.  After Adam and Eve sinned, they were forbidden to eat from that tree because they couldn’t have eternal life as long as they were under sin’s control.  Now because of the forgiveness of sin through the blood of Jesus on the Cross, this city will be free from evil and sin allowing every resident to eat of it freely now that God has removed the control of sin from the world.  We also see the number twelve again, this time in the form of twelve fruit trees.  Here it signifies the government of God. As for the healing properties of the leaves of the trees, why is this necessary when there will be no sickness or death?  This goes back to Ezekiel’s prophecy where John quotes from Ezekiel 47:12 where the water flowing produces trees with healing leaves.  He is implying that the water that feeds the trees produces health and strength wherever it goes.

        22:3.  There is no more curse because there is no more sin.  Everything in the presence of God must be free from the curse of sin.  This environment in the new city will be possible because of what Jesus did on the Cross.  This is another fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy found in Zechariah 14:11.

        22:4.  All who inhabit the city will see the face of Jesus and will bear His name on their foreheads.  This means that they will have a close personal relationship with Him and proudly bear His name because of the blood He shed on the Cross.

        22:5.  We also learn there will be no more night.  No power failures or electric bills.  Why?  Because the light will be provided by God Himself where He and the Lamb Jesus will reign forever.

8-13-2023.  Revelation 22:6-13 – Alpha and Omega.

        22:6.  This verse merely a confirmation that all of the astounding and extraordinary things that are written in the book are absolutely true and that God sent his messenger to show to him everything that he has been written.  When John speaks of  ‘the things which must shortly be done’  does not mean it will be done in his time.  He is referring to things that will be done immediately after the Rapture of the Church – which will be the Great Tribulation.

        22:7.  These are words of Jesus speaking of His return at the Battle of Armageddon.  The Book of Revelation is the only book in the world that gives a preview of the future.  Here, believers are being warned to study the book as much as they do any other Book of the Bible so we can be aware of what God’s plans are for us and the entire world.

        22:8-10.  At this point we see that John is overwhelmed with what he has been told and bows down to worship at the feet of his messenger.   Recall in Rev 9:10 that John made this same error before.  John is again told not to worship the messenger because he is a servant of God just as John and all believers who eagerly await the fulfillment of the prophecies that are shown here are.  Unlike Dainel was told, John is directed to make his vision known to the world ‘for the time is at hand.’  The end times began when Jesus ascended to Heaven which started the Church Age.  It is important that all who come to know Jesus as Savior be aware of what is going to happen so they can be ready to enter into the Kingdom Age at the Second Coming of Jesus.

        22:11-12.  This is a reference to the fact that all of mankind is building up their destiny by the actions and habits of their lives.  Those who have chosen to reject God and Jesus will continue to do so and those who have chosen to believe will continue to believe and live for eternity in the new earth created by God.  Whatever choices people make in life will be judged and rewarded – for good or for bad – accordingly.

        22:13.  Jesus is telling us that He is the Alpha and Omega  (first and last letters of the Greek alphabet), meaning He is first, last, and everything in between.  It doesn’t mean that Christ as God had a beginning and end because He doesn’t.  Jesus said I and my Father are One so like God, He always was and always will be. He is the beginning of all things, and the end of all things.

8-20-2023.  Revelation 22:14-21 – Blessing and Invitation.

        22:14-15.  There are many scholars that believe this verse should have been translated as “Blessed are they who have washed their robes in the Blood of the Lamb.” Because when you read the Greek manuscript and many others, that were used to create the King James Bible, this is what John actually wrote.  Take note that Jesus is speaking to John in verses 12-16. What does it mean to wash your robes in the Blood of Jesus?  You have accepted Him as your personal Savior because He willingly died on the Cross to pay the dept for your sins.  If you haven’t done that now is a good time to take that step.  We have seen what will happen to those who have and to those who refuse.  Jesus is confirming that those who have not asked forgiveness and chosen not to follow Him will not be allowed to receive the benefits that true Christians will be given.

        22:16.  Again Jesus is confirming that He existed long before David and as a human, He is one of David’s direct descendants.  As our Messiah, He is the ‘Bright Morning Star,” which is the light of salvation to all who accept Him.  His reference to the Churches includes not only the original seven but all Churches for all time.

        22:17-19.  John is telling us that it is the responsibility of both the Holy Spirit and the Bride of Christ – the Churches – to share the Word of God to all people, particularly what he has written in Revelation.  He also gives us a warning that anyone who purposefully tries to distort it in any way will experiences the plagues that are shown in this prophecy and God will take their names out of the Book of Life denying them the ability to experiences the new kingdom.

        22:20-21.  We don’t know the day or hour that Jesus will come but it will be soon – at any moment - and unexpected.  That is why we must always be ready so we will have nothing to worry about.  Those who aren’t ready will get a terrible shock.  Revelation closes human history as Genesis opened it – in a place of paradise.  Eden began as a place where Adam and Eve walked and talked with God daily.  Revelation shows us that those conditions will return and there will be no more sin or sorrow.  Jesus is coming back, and it is our prayer that He may come quickly.

        This study began on 8-7-2022!  What we have studied this past year shows us that God is in charge, and He will fulfill all of the promises He has made for our future.  Nonbelievers will say if He was coming back, it would have happened by now so none of this can be true.  But don’t fall for that.  Remember time is a human constraint and 2,000 years to God is seconds to us.  That’s why it’s important that we be ready at all times.

Recommended additional reading:  Perfect Ending – Why Your Eternal Future Matters Today by Dr. Robert Jeffress, who pastor’s the First Baptist Church of Dallas Texas.