December 30/31, 2014
We made it! We’ve completed our trek through the Bible in 2014! Are you ready for a “Season of Prayer?” I will be continuing this “Bible Blog” in 2015, writing weekly, rather than daily, on prayer, and what the Scriptures teach us about this great gift and privilege.
Revelation 20-22
These final three chapters tell us, as Paul Harvey used to say, “The rest of the story.” Many preachers have quipped, “I’ve read the last chapters of the Bible, and I know who wins!” But the truth of the matter is this: The Christian life isn’t about winning and losing; it’s about worshipping the Lamb.
Even after a thousand years of Christ’s reign on earth, there will be, apparently, some who refuse to worship Him, who rebel and follow the enemy into self-worship. The devil and, all who refuse to worship the King of Kings, will be dispatched. Only then can the New Jerusalem, the new place of worship, the new palace of God’s presence, descend to earth! Only then, will God’s dwelling place reside with human beings without interference. Only then will pain and suffering and tears and sadness be dismissed. Only then will Jesus reign supreme. Only then will the redeemed realize the vast uncharted expanse of God’s grace and goodness. Only then will paradise (the Garden of Eden) be regained. Only then will we all be able to eat from the Tree of Life and worship without hindrance the One who died, rose and is coming again!
Take these things to heart, O troubled souls of the earth! Jesus says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” (Revelation 22:20)
Are we ready?
See you the first week in January with a Prayer Blog!
Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Gary
Friday, January 2, 2015
December 28/29 Revelation 17-19
December 28/29, 2014
Our penultimate (next to last) reading!
Revelation 17-19
These three chapters take us from the depth of cultural depravity and its final destruction to heights of glory and the wedding supper of the Lamb!
Revelation 17 describes the woman who sits astride the beast. The woman is “Babylon the Great.” Since the days of Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon has been the Bible’s universal symbol for sinful culture. It seems that here, Babylon is code for Rome, the “mother of...abominations.” Rome does not persecute the faithful without riding on the back of ultimate evil, the beast. Ironically, the beast “hates” the prostitute who sits on him, and will turn on her (17:16).
Revelation 18 is, perhaps, the saddest chapter in the Bible. “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!” I remember reading an end-of-the-world, nuclear holocaust novel named, “Alas, Babylon,” which took its title from this chapter. Read chapter 18 with such destruction in mind, and Nevil Shute’s novel seems a distinct possibility. Everything that cries wealth and power in this world will one day be destroyed!
Revelation 19 shouts, “Hallelujah!” not just because sin and idolatry has been punished, but because the wedding of the Lamb has come and His bride (the Church!) has made herself ready! (19:7) But there are two “banquets depicted in Revelation 19; the second is the banquet of carrion enjoyed by the scavenger birds after the last battle.
On December 30, we conclude our year-long trek through Scripture!
Your fellow traveler through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
Our penultimate (next to last) reading!
Revelation 17-19
These three chapters take us from the depth of cultural depravity and its final destruction to heights of glory and the wedding supper of the Lamb!
Revelation 17 describes the woman who sits astride the beast. The woman is “Babylon the Great.” Since the days of Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon has been the Bible’s universal symbol for sinful culture. It seems that here, Babylon is code for Rome, the “mother of...abominations.” Rome does not persecute the faithful without riding on the back of ultimate evil, the beast. Ironically, the beast “hates” the prostitute who sits on him, and will turn on her (17:16).
Revelation 18 is, perhaps, the saddest chapter in the Bible. “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!” I remember reading an end-of-the-world, nuclear holocaust novel named, “Alas, Babylon,” which took its title from this chapter. Read chapter 18 with such destruction in mind, and Nevil Shute’s novel seems a distinct possibility. Everything that cries wealth and power in this world will one day be destroyed!
Revelation 19 shouts, “Hallelujah!” not just because sin and idolatry has been punished, but because the wedding of the Lamb has come and His bride (the Church!) has made herself ready! (19:7) But there are two “banquets depicted in Revelation 19; the second is the banquet of carrion enjoyed by the scavenger birds after the last battle.
On December 30, we conclude our year-long trek through Scripture!
Your fellow traveler through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
Saturday, December 27, 2014
December 26/27 Revelation 13-16
December 26/27, 2014
I hope you had a blessed Christmas. Don’t forget, it’s still just the Second and Third Days of Christmas! The final three readings from Revelation cover two days each. Therefore, this reading is for Friday and Saturday, December 26 and 27.
Revelation 13-16
Revelation 13 begins with the dragon standing on the shore of the sea. It’s almost as though he wills first one beast, and then another, into existence. The first comes out of the sea and has two devilish purposes: 1) to entice the whole world into worshipping the dragon, and 2) to exercise authority over all the earth, doing particular harm to the saints of God. The second beast comes out of the earth and has just one job: to force the world to worship the first beast. This is the chapter that gives us the puzzling “number of the beast:” 666. It’s fruitless to attempt to figure it out. Suffice it to say that as of Revelation 13, we have a trinity of evil: the dragon, the first beast and the second beast, which many see as the devil, the antichrist and the false prophet.
Revelation 14 shows us the Lamb standing on Mt. Zion. We hear a new song sung by the 144,000 redeemed before heaven’s throne. Three angels step forward with proclamations: 1) Worship God! 2) Babylon is fallen! And 3) do not worship the beast!
It is here that the Holy Spirit speaks a word of comfort: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest front her labor, for their deeds will follow them.” (Rev. 14:13).
Revelation 14 ends with the harvesting of the earth. This is no “rapture,” no happy time, but that time when the “grapes of God’s wrath” will be trampled across the earth.
In Revelation 15, we pause for another great “Song of the Lamb;” this one is sung by “those who have been victorious over the beast.” This introduces the seven angels, who emerge from the heavenly temple with seven bowls of wrath!
Revelation 16 narrates those seven bowls of wrath and their hideous affects. As awful as these judgments are, the angel in charge says to God: “You are just in these judgments!” (Rev. 16:5) These bowls of wrath set up the final great battle where God overthrows evil!
Your fellow traveler through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
I hope you had a blessed Christmas. Don’t forget, it’s still just the Second and Third Days of Christmas! The final three readings from Revelation cover two days each. Therefore, this reading is for Friday and Saturday, December 26 and 27.
Revelation 13-16
Revelation 13 begins with the dragon standing on the shore of the sea. It’s almost as though he wills first one beast, and then another, into existence. The first comes out of the sea and has two devilish purposes: 1) to entice the whole world into worshipping the dragon, and 2) to exercise authority over all the earth, doing particular harm to the saints of God. The second beast comes out of the earth and has just one job: to force the world to worship the first beast. This is the chapter that gives us the puzzling “number of the beast:” 666. It’s fruitless to attempt to figure it out. Suffice it to say that as of Revelation 13, we have a trinity of evil: the dragon, the first beast and the second beast, which many see as the devil, the antichrist and the false prophet.
Revelation 14 shows us the Lamb standing on Mt. Zion. We hear a new song sung by the 144,000 redeemed before heaven’s throne. Three angels step forward with proclamations: 1) Worship God! 2) Babylon is fallen! And 3) do not worship the beast!
It is here that the Holy Spirit speaks a word of comfort: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest front her labor, for their deeds will follow them.” (Rev. 14:13).
Revelation 14 ends with the harvesting of the earth. This is no “rapture,” no happy time, but that time when the “grapes of God’s wrath” will be trampled across the earth.
In Revelation 15, we pause for another great “Song of the Lamb;” this one is sung by “those who have been victorious over the beast.” This introduces the seven angels, who emerge from the heavenly temple with seven bowls of wrath!
Revelation 16 narrates those seven bowls of wrath and their hideous affects. As awful as these judgments are, the angel in charge says to God: “You are just in these judgments!” (Rev. 16:5) These bowls of wrath set up the final great battle where God overthrows evil!
Your fellow traveler through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
December 25 Revelation 10-12
December 25, 2014
The merriest and “blessedest” of Christmases to all! Happy birthday, Jesus! And happy birthday, David Motta, as well!
Revelation 10-12
Before the seventh trumpet sounds, John is given two visions:
The first (Revelation 10) is of an angel holding a little scroll. John is told to eat the scroll, and when he does, it tastes sweet, but turns sour in his stomach. This happened to Ezekiel (chapters 2-3) as well. In both cases, God was inviting his prophets to “digest” His words, and—difficult as they were—proclaim them to God’s people!
The second (Revelation 11:1-13) is the vision of the two witnesses. These two witnesses may symbolize all testifying believers in the last days, but the plainer way to read it is that they are two powerful witnesses in the spirit of Moses and Elijah, who die for their testimony, are raised from the dead and whisked away to heaven right before their enemies’ eyes!
When the seventh trumpet blows (Revelation 11:15), we pause for another brief visit to the great worship room of heaven and a peek at the ark of God’s covenant!
Revelation 12:1—13:1 is a fantastical allegorical vision. There is a woman, clothed with the sun and about to give birth, and a dragon waiting and determined to devour the woman’s offspring, who is clearly identified as Jesus, the Messiah. The story unfolds in three sections:
The woman gives birth, and flees to God’s hiding place, while the child is whisked away before the dragon can get him. (This is as close as Revelation gets to the “Christmas” story!)
There is war in heaven between Michael and his angels, on the one hand, and the dragon and his, on the other. The result? The dragon, now clearly identified as Satan, is banished from heaven to earth, where he wreaks havoc.
On earth, the dragon now turns his attention to “the woman who had given birth to the child.” This woman is not Mary any longer; so much as she is the Church! There is now a vast struggle between the dragon and the church. Revelation 12:11 is our prescription for how to fight against the dragon while he prowls the earth: “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death!”
Your fellow traveler through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
The merriest and “blessedest” of Christmases to all! Happy birthday, Jesus! And happy birthday, David Motta, as well!
Revelation 10-12
Before the seventh trumpet sounds, John is given two visions:
The first (Revelation 10) is of an angel holding a little scroll. John is told to eat the scroll, and when he does, it tastes sweet, but turns sour in his stomach. This happened to Ezekiel (chapters 2-3) as well. In both cases, God was inviting his prophets to “digest” His words, and—difficult as they were—proclaim them to God’s people!
The second (Revelation 11:1-13) is the vision of the two witnesses. These two witnesses may symbolize all testifying believers in the last days, but the plainer way to read it is that they are two powerful witnesses in the spirit of Moses and Elijah, who die for their testimony, are raised from the dead and whisked away to heaven right before their enemies’ eyes!
When the seventh trumpet blows (Revelation 11:15), we pause for another brief visit to the great worship room of heaven and a peek at the ark of God’s covenant!
Revelation 12:1—13:1 is a fantastical allegorical vision. There is a woman, clothed with the sun and about to give birth, and a dragon waiting and determined to devour the woman’s offspring, who is clearly identified as Jesus, the Messiah. The story unfolds in three sections:
The woman gives birth, and flees to God’s hiding place, while the child is whisked away before the dragon can get him. (This is as close as Revelation gets to the “Christmas” story!)
There is war in heaven between Michael and his angels, on the one hand, and the dragon and his, on the other. The result? The dragon, now clearly identified as Satan, is banished from heaven to earth, where he wreaks havoc.
On earth, the dragon now turns his attention to “the woman who had given birth to the child.” This woman is not Mary any longer; so much as she is the Church! There is now a vast struggle between the dragon and the church. Revelation 12:11 is our prescription for how to fight against the dragon while he prowls the earth: “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death!”
Your fellow traveler through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
December 24 Revelation 7-9
December 24, 2014
Revelation 7-9
We’ve have entered into three waves of judgments upon the earth pictured by...
The Lamb breaking seven seals (Rev. 6-8),
Seven angels blowing seven trumpets (Rev. 8-11), and
Seven angels pouring out seven bowls of God’s wrath (Rev. 16)
By chapter seven, six of the seven seals are broken and, though people of the world cry out in fear, they do not turn back to the Lord. In Revelation 7, John is given a vision of a restored Israel of 144,000 (12,000 from each tribe) and a redeemed innumerable multitude, clothed in white and worshipping the Lamb. These are those “who have come out of the Great Tribulation” and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb!
In chapter 8, the Lamb opens the seventh seal and there is half an hour of silence. We wait for the next shoe to drop! When it does, we hear thunder, we see lightening, and the seven trumpets begin to sound!
By the end of chapter 9, six of the seven trumpets have sounded, with trumpets 5 and 6, described in horrifying detail in Revelation 9, the most intense thus far. Still, after all this, they did not repent of their sin (Revelation 9:21).
Tomorrow is Christmas, and, strangely enough, we will read the most unusual of all the Christmas passages in the Bible!
Your fellow traveler through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
Revelation 7-9
We’ve have entered into three waves of judgments upon the earth pictured by...
The Lamb breaking seven seals (Rev. 6-8),
Seven angels blowing seven trumpets (Rev. 8-11), and
Seven angels pouring out seven bowls of God’s wrath (Rev. 16)
By chapter seven, six of the seven seals are broken and, though people of the world cry out in fear, they do not turn back to the Lord. In Revelation 7, John is given a vision of a restored Israel of 144,000 (12,000 from each tribe) and a redeemed innumerable multitude, clothed in white and worshipping the Lamb. These are those “who have come out of the Great Tribulation” and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb!
In chapter 8, the Lamb opens the seventh seal and there is half an hour of silence. We wait for the next shoe to drop! When it does, we hear thunder, we see lightening, and the seven trumpets begin to sound!
By the end of chapter 9, six of the seven trumpets have sounded, with trumpets 5 and 6, described in horrifying detail in Revelation 9, the most intense thus far. Still, after all this, they did not repent of their sin (Revelation 9:21).
Tomorrow is Christmas, and, strangely enough, we will read the most unusual of all the Christmas passages in the Bible!
Your fellow traveler through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
December 23 Revelation 4-6
December 23, 2014
Revelation 4-6
Three critical things happen as we peer into the “throne room of heaven:’ 1) No one is found worthy to break the seals of the scroll of God’s immutable word, until 2) the Lamb is found worthy, and 3) opens the first seals of God’s judgments.
That’s what happens, strictly speaking, but what grabs my heart is the swell of praise and worship. When John is first escorted up to heaven, the four living creatures (like the Seraphim in Isaiah 6?) cry, “Holy, holy, holy!” This prompts the 24 elders (12 Hebrews tribes plus 12 disciples!) to sing God’s praise. After the Lamb that was slain steps forward to break the seals of the scroll, the four creatures and 24 elders sing a new song of praise to Lamb. Their song is echoed by the entire host of heaven, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain...!” And, finally, every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth joins in praise of God and the Lamb, who reign forever. Can you hear the swell of praise? Four creatures → 24 elders → the four creatures and the 24 elders → all the hosts of heaven → every creature in the universe!
When the seals are opened in Revelation 6, the distress and tribulation they represent might make us forget the worship of Revelation 4 and 5, but it shouldn’t. Imagine that you are among the martyrs under the altar of God (Revelation 6:9-11), who have been waiting for God to show up and for justice to be done. For them, even chapter 6 is music to their hearts.
Your fellow traveler through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
Revelation 4-6
Three critical things happen as we peer into the “throne room of heaven:’ 1) No one is found worthy to break the seals of the scroll of God’s immutable word, until 2) the Lamb is found worthy, and 3) opens the first seals of God’s judgments.
That’s what happens, strictly speaking, but what grabs my heart is the swell of praise and worship. When John is first escorted up to heaven, the four living creatures (like the Seraphim in Isaiah 6?) cry, “Holy, holy, holy!” This prompts the 24 elders (12 Hebrews tribes plus 12 disciples!) to sing God’s praise. After the Lamb that was slain steps forward to break the seals of the scroll, the four creatures and 24 elders sing a new song of praise to Lamb. Their song is echoed by the entire host of heaven, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain...!” And, finally, every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth joins in praise of God and the Lamb, who reign forever. Can you hear the swell of praise? Four creatures → 24 elders → the four creatures and the 24 elders → all the hosts of heaven → every creature in the universe!
When the seals are opened in Revelation 6, the distress and tribulation they represent might make us forget the worship of Revelation 4 and 5, but it shouldn’t. Imagine that you are among the martyrs under the altar of God (Revelation 6:9-11), who have been waiting for God to show up and for justice to be done. For them, even chapter 6 is music to their hearts.
Your fellow traveler through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
Monday, December 22, 2014
December 22 Revelation 1-3
December 22, 2014
Revelation 1-3
These last ten days of 2014, as we read the Revelation to John... we might be tempted toward fear. What sort of fear, you ask? The fear of the tough stuff of judgment connected with the Second Coming! The tough stuff John saw in this vision! The tough stuff of tribulation!
Before we begin, think back to 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
The judgments and trials described in Revelation were not designed to cast Christians into a fearful state, but rather to encourage Christians who were already in a fearful state. The message of Revelation is simple: God is sovereign; Jesus is on the throne; the battle is won; persevere through praise!
In chapter one, John is surprised by a powerful and symbolic vision of Jesus. Have fun trying to figure out what everything means before you look it up in a commentary. Jesus speaks and identifies Himself for John; look at the Names with which He does this (vv. 17-18), then introduces John’s first task: “John, take down some dictation!”
In chapters two and three, Jesus dictates seven letters to seven special churches, not the only churches in the world at that time, just seven, which held a particularly high place in John’s heart. They were, perhaps, seven churches he had helped grow and where he had held oversight. Some say that Jesus' description of these seven churches forms an outline of church history, with Ephesus as a picture of the earliest church, and Laodicea as a picture of the church today. This is possible. Regardless, Jesus’ words to these churches are applicable to any church of any age or place.
It’s fun and easy to graph out these letters, for Jesus uses the same general format for each one. By doing this, you can see, for example, which two of the churches do not receive corrective words and which five are called to some sort of repentance! Read each one with your church in mind. Where does the shoe fit? Wear it!
Tomorrow, we visit God’s throne room in heaven!
Your fellow traveler through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
Revelation 1-3
These last ten days of 2014, as we read the Revelation to John... we might be tempted toward fear. What sort of fear, you ask? The fear of the tough stuff of judgment connected with the Second Coming! The tough stuff John saw in this vision! The tough stuff of tribulation!
Before we begin, think back to 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
The judgments and trials described in Revelation were not designed to cast Christians into a fearful state, but rather to encourage Christians who were already in a fearful state. The message of Revelation is simple: God is sovereign; Jesus is on the throne; the battle is won; persevere through praise!
In chapter one, John is surprised by a powerful and symbolic vision of Jesus. Have fun trying to figure out what everything means before you look it up in a commentary. Jesus speaks and identifies Himself for John; look at the Names with which He does this (vv. 17-18), then introduces John’s first task: “John, take down some dictation!”
In chapters two and three, Jesus dictates seven letters to seven special churches, not the only churches in the world at that time, just seven, which held a particularly high place in John’s heart. They were, perhaps, seven churches he had helped grow and where he had held oversight. Some say that Jesus' description of these seven churches forms an outline of church history, with Ephesus as a picture of the earliest church, and Laodicea as a picture of the church today. This is possible. Regardless, Jesus’ words to these churches are applicable to any church of any age or place.
It’s fun and easy to graph out these letters, for Jesus uses the same general format for each one. By doing this, you can see, for example, which two of the churches do not receive corrective words and which five are called to some sort of repentance! Read each one with your church in mind. Where does the shoe fit? Wear it!
Tomorrow, we visit God’s throne room in heaven!
Your fellow traveler through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
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