Tag Archives: Revelation

Lacking Direction

15 Monday Aug 2016

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Do you feel like your life lacks direction? Don’t know which way to turn?

There is a conversation in the Bible that might help.  In the book of Joshua chapter 5, Joshua has led the Hebrew people to the edge of the promised land. They have been waiting for this moment for decades. At this point, Joshua encounters Commander of the Army of the Lord, that’s the Bible’s way to talk about God. The reason God is meeting with Joshua is so that he can outline how they are going to get past the city of Jericho. That’s usually where people focus but there’s something important that happens first. Here’s how their conversation begins:

13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”
14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”

Did you catch it?

“Are You for us or for our adversaries?”

What’s the answer?

“No.”

God answer suggests that Joshua was asking the wrong question. I suspect that most of us ask the same wrong questions.God, “Whose side are you on?”

For those of us not in battle mode, what we usually are asking is, “What’s your will for my life?”

God’s response points us in the right direction and it’s Joshua’s response that confirms it.

The real question is, “Whose is Joshua for?”

How often do we tend to tell God what we want and what he should do? How often do we determine in our minds who should be blessed and who should be “corrected?” We just assume that God is for us.

We would have a greater sense of direction and be more in harmony with God if we took Joshua’s attitude and said his words:

“What does my Lord say to His servant?”

 

Prophecy Gap

01 Monday Feb 2016

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Most people are interested in prophecy. Who wouldn’t want to know the future? This is from a series of posts but Dr. Jon Paulien who gives a valuable perspective on this topic. 

Q2. Has every apocalyptic prophecy already been understood or there are open gaps that are not understood yet?

A. In my book What the Bible Says About the End-Time, I studied fulfilled prophecy throughout the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation. The results of that study are also summarized in the second chapter of The Deep Things of God. In short, I learned that the fulfillment of many prophecies was quite surprising to those who had studied them in advance, for a number of reasons. God sometimes fulfills prophecies in a spiritual, rather than a literal way. Sometimes the prophecy is worded in terms of God’s past actions and does not fully disclose God’s plans for the future. Sometimes the prophecy is open-ended and depends to some degree on the human response to the prophecy. Sometimes God simply decides to “do a new thing” (Isa 43:16-19)! Prophecy is best understood at the time of fulfillment, not before (John 13:19; 14:29). 

 This leads me to believe that even when we have fully understood a particular prophecy, events may not turn out exactly as we expect. There will be surprises in the fulfillment of God’s prophecies at the Second Advent, just as there were when the Messiah came the first time. We need to keep on studying, but anticipate that there will be gaps in our understanding of the future right up to the time of fulfillment (1 Cor 13:9-12). Prophecy was not given to satisfy our curiosity about the future, it was given to teach us how to live today.

The Three – Coming to Rest

25 Monday Aug 2014

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We’ve come to the end of this series. Thank for taking this journey with me. After this post we’ll go on to other things.

The Bible letter, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, is God’s last message to a dying planet. In Revelation 14:6-12, three angels shout a warning to “those who dwell on the earth;” people who hate God and hate those who love God. It’s a message given in great love because God is willing to go to the uttermost to reach even his most aggressive enemies.

Revelation 14:11 states that those who have completely aligned themselves with the Beast, becoming beast-like themselves, “have no rest day or night…” Why is that?

There is a contentment and peace that comes from resting in God’s love and grace. It’s about no longer striving to prove yourself to others and to God. Those who dwell on the earth do not have a sense of love and belonging with God.

Instead, they are driven to prove their value; to prove their worth and by extension they must prove their salvation. Exhaustion is a status symbol because it proves they are productive and therefore valuable; being tired is a source of pride. Value is found in grades, awards, promotions and raises; on things like homes and cars, even in their children. Those who dwell on the earth wake up saying, “I didn’t get enough sleep.” They go to bed saying, “I didn’t get enough done.” And all day long they were saying, “I’m not enough.”

You see, those who dwell on the earth are prone to worshipping the beast because the beast plays their song. The beast’s message, the maddening wine of Babylon, tastes good to the inner being because it’s all about self – self-worth, self-salvation, self-worship.

Are you willing to accept Jesus’ invitation when he says to you: “Come to me, my weary and burdened child, and I will give you rest.”? Do you know God’s rest today?

The Three – Tormented 2

31 Thursday Jul 2014

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The Bible letter, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, is God’s last message to a dying planet. In Revelation 14:6-12, three angels shout a warning to “those who dwell on the earth;” people who hate God and hate those who love God. It’s a message given in great love because God is willing to go to the uttermost to reach even his most aggressive enemies.

Please consider the second half of Revelation 14:10: “He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”

In my last post, I wanted note that it doesn’t say that the person with the mark of the beast is being tormented by the lamb. Rather, for this person who was given themselves completely to the Dragon and the Beast, simply being in Jesus presence is torment.

I suspect you have experienced a small taste of this at least once in your life.

When I was a student at Canadian University College there came a point when I was overwhelmed. I had taken on too many tasks. I was Yearbook editor. Hebrew class was killing me. In my English Literature class, I was late completing the last assignment. I even skipped a couple classes before the weekend trying to get caught up. That Sabbath I was happy to be worshiping with my church family and not having to think about school when I came to face with… My English Lit instructor.
Being in her presence was torment.

Now she wasn’t mean to me; she didn’t scream at me or hit me. So what was going on?

The Three – Torment

28 Monday Jul 2014

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The Bible letter, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, is God’s last message to a dying planet. In Revelation 14:6-12, three angels shout a warning to “those who dwell on the earth;” people who hate God and hate those who love God. It’s a message given in great love because God is willing to go to the uttermost to reach even his most aggressive enemies.

Please consider the second half of Revelation 14:10: “He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”

If you’ve ever read this passage before, even if you are reading it for the first time, did you get a picture that sounded like: he will be tormented BY the lamb? If you did, you wouldn’t be the first. It’s a picture that has been painted by those who don’t like God, pop culture, and even Christians.

However, if we remember that the “he” in this verse is anyone who has chosen to be “those who dwell on the earth.” These are those who have so completely aligned with the Beast (a symbol of a Christian looking politcal-religious institutional power on earth that is the Dragon’s main agent in the world now) they have become beast-like. As worshippers of the Beast, they manifest it’s character or in other words, receive it’s mark.

Does it make sense that, for such a person, being in the presence of the lamb would be torment?

The Three – Given Up

03 Tuesday Jun 2014

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The Bible letter, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, is God’s last message to a dying planet. In Revelation 14:6-12, three angels shout a warning to “those who dwell on the earth;” people who hate God and hate those who love God. It’s a message given in great love because God is willing to go to the uttermost to reach even his most aggressive enemies.

Revelation 14:10 tells us that there will come a time when “those who dwell on the earth” will completely align themselves with the Beast (a symbol of a Christian looking politcal-religious institutional power on earth) and thus become beast-like; they manifest it’s character or in other words, receive it’s mark.

What can God do with with someone who stands violently, satanically, opposed to the kingdom of light, love, and life?  I mean the Bible makes it clear that for the sake of all creation, this sin war must come to an end. There has to be an end to starving children, rape, greed that poisons everything it touches, and the parasitic-like consumption that fuels humanity.  Eden will be restored and the heartbeat of the universe will be tuned once again to other-centered love. If they were still alive, “those that dwell on the earth” will hate it and continue to war against it. This cannot be. What’s God to do?

He pours out his wrath on them.  What does that mean?

I’ve already mentioned that all of us read those words through a lens of who we think God to be. Consider how in the beginning when God said to Adam and Eve, if you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall die. Did he mean: If you break my rules I will have to punish you with execution? Many think so however, many also see him saying something else: Eating from that tree will break our relationship so horribly that death and destruction will rule the world.  In the first scenario, God offers salvation, in a sense, to save us from his just punishment.  In the second, God desires to save us, not from himself but from the horror of sin and death.  The scenario that you lean towards will be a filter through which you understand God’s poured out wrath.

To me, an interesting picture is revealed when we look closely at Romans 1 and see that the wrath of God is placed within the context of God giving people up because they want to be given up on. Despite everything he has done to win them back to light, love, and life, they have chosen to opt out. God gives them up – to their heart’s desire; to the full, unfiltered consequences of sin.

In the end, could it be that God’s wrath is the most loving thing he can offer those who are determined to die?

The Three – Wrath Poured Out

29 Thursday May 2014

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In the last letter of the Bible, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, God sends a last message of warning to a dying planet – Revelation 14:6-12. This message is given by three angels to “those who dwell on the earth;” people who hate God and hate those who love God. It’s a serious message – the consequences are life and death – but it’s a message given in great love because God is willing to go to the uttermost to reach even his most aggressive enemies.

Revelation 14:10 states, “they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath.”

Have you ever asked who are “they” and when does this happen? These are the people John calls “those who dwell on the earth.” These are the people who hate God and hate those that love. They are the ones who worship (put their whole life into) the beast and receive his mark (become like the beast).

When is this happening? While “those who dwell on the earth” have existed throughout time, here we see that in response to the Beast’s final assertion of power, there are those who completely commit to their position against God such that their character has been transformed to match The Beast. By their own free choice, the image of God within them has been replaced by the enemy of life’s character: think rabid dogs or the popular depiction of zombies. What’s key is that as we follow the narrative, this is event is taking place at the time just before the last day of this earth as we know it and the re-establishment of God’s kingdom; this act is part of God’s plan of redemption.

What this means is, as we attempt to understand God’s wrath, we need to be clear that is experienced only by those who have set their course so completely in opposition to God and to those who love God that there is absolutely nothing more God can do for them.

If you had to deal with a dangerous, deadly, animal bent on destroying anything in it’s path, what would you do?

The Three – Wrath of God

20 Tuesday May 2014

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In the last letter of the Bible, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, God sends a last message of warning to a dying planet – Revelation 14:6-12. This message is given by three angels to “those who dwell on the earth;” people who hate God and hate those who love God. It’s a serious message – the consequences are life and death – but it’s a message given in great love because God is willing to go to the uttermost to reach even his most aggressive enemies.

In Revelation 14:10, we can read that there are those who shall “drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation.” In my last post, I noted that all of us understand what “wrath of God” means through our worldview and our worldview is tainted by an enemy that wants us to distrust, even hate, God. What’s the solution?

In that post, shared something one of my favourite authors had to say on the subject and here’s the rest of her observation:

“Jesus came to teach men of the Father, to correctly represent him before the fallen children of earth. Angels could not fully portray the character of God, but Christ, who was a living impersonation of God, could not fail to accomplish the work. The only way in which he could set and keep men right was to make himself visible and familiar to their eyes.” (White, God Made Manifest in Christ)

We are invited to swap out our lenses for a different pair of worldview glasses: To see everything through the revelation of God in Jesus Christ.

What does that mean on a practical level? It means coming to rest or trust that everything God does, including whatever his wrath is, comes from the bottomless well of his love, grace, and compassion. At the end of the day, we have to come to the point where we can say, “I don’t always understand who you are but God but I will trust you because I know that you always do the most loving thing that can be done.”

Can you do that?

The Three – Wrath

13 Tuesday May 2014

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In the last letter of the Bible, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, God sends a last message of warning to a dying planet – Revelation 14:6-12. This message is given by three angels to “those who dwell on the earth;” people who hate God and hate those who love God. It’s a serious message – the consequences are life and death – but it’s a message given in great love because God is willing to go to the uttermost to reach even his most aggressive enemies.

Consider Revelation 14:10 where the Bible says:
“…he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”

As soon as you read the word “wrath” a number of pictures probably came to your mind. You may have already determined what wrath means and looks like and we haven’t even dug into it.

It’s important to note that when we read the Bible, ideally we would be utterly surrendered to the Word and Will of God; we would hear only his voice, we would set aside who we are and where we’ve been and just read the word and let it speak to us. That rarely happens because we are product of our upbringing, culture, and experiences. To that, add in the this perspective shared by one of my favourite authors:

“Satan sought to intercept every ray of light from the throne of God. He sought to cast his shadow across the earth, that men might lose the true views of God’s character, and that the knowledge of God might become extinct in the earth. He had caused truth of vital importance to be so mingled with error that it had lost its significance. The law of Jehovah was burdened with needless exactions and traditions, and God was represented as severe, exacting, revengeful, and arbitrary. He was pictured as one who could take pleasure in the sufferings of his creatures. The very attributes that belonged to the character of Satan, the evil one represented as belonging to the character of God.” (White, God Made Manifest in Christ)

Everything we are and everything the enemy of life has done to break our trust in God all impact what we think when we read, “wrath of God.” We will need to tread carefully as we consider this next part of the message of the three.

The Three – Marked by Sacredness

06 Tuesday May 2014

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In the last letter of the Bible, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, God sends a last message of warning to a dying planet – Revelation 14:6-12. This message is given by three angels to “those who dwell on the earth;” people who hate God and hate those who love God. It’s a serious message – the consequences are life and death – but it’s a message given in great love because God is willing to go to the uttermost to reach even his most aggressive enemies.

What happens when we worship something? We become who we worship. If we choose to worship the beast, we will become like the beast, we will manifest his character; we will receive his mark.

Some are very adamant that the mark of the beast has to do with what day you worship on. Specifically some say that worshipping on Sunday, instead of on God’s Sabbath, will lead to being marked by the beast. Is that true?

Remember how we receive the mark – it’s about who we worship. Worshipping God leads to sealing. Worshipping the beast leads to marking; a false sealing. Words that end in “ship” are talking about a way of life. Worship is an everyday event. If you only worship one day a week for a hour or so – be it Sabbath or Sunday – your spiritual life is  will be empty and lack the power of God.

On the other hand, “Sunday sacredness” is distinctly different than “worship on Sunday” and it’s a problem. Sabbath was established on the seventh day by God. God made it special time and it is overflowing with meaning. It points back to creation and God as creator. It points back to freedom from slavery and God as the bondage breaker. It points back to the cross and God as our righteous redeemer. It points forward to our complete restoration and reunion with God once the war is over.

Sunday sacredness is the replacement of Sabbath and it’s meaning.
It was not established by God but by men.
Sunday sacredness is not found anywhere in scripture.
It’s not a memorial for anything; there is nothing that it points back to.
Sunday sacredness was never set apart as special time.
It’s not commanded as a rest day by God; it’s commanded to be a work day like the other five days of the week.

Sunday sacredness ignores God as creator, undermines his word and his commandments, and ultimately is grounded in man’s desire to save himself rather than let God be his savior. For all these reasons, Sunday sacredness separates a person from God and makes it easier for the the beast to manifest his character – his mark – in the heart.

Sabbath worship won’t protect you from the mark of the beast, his name, or ensure you are sealed with God’s name. There are those who worship on Sabbath who are very beast-like. However, honouring Sabbath sacredness will protect against the mark of the beast because true Sabbath experience brings one closer to God, helps us discover the riches of his grace. Embracing Sabbath drives home our need for God; it teaches us that we cannot save ourselves; that everything we are, is found in Christ.

Would you be willing to try experiencing Sabbath sacredness?