Belonging to Yahweh

*Isaiah 44-45

Psalm 118

Revelation 22

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            I have a sister, whose name begins with a J (and which ends in an ennifer).  She is a bit younger, much prettier, and much smarter than I am.  Don’t get me wrong, she’s still a human being (with all of the complexities that come with that), but when I was making exceptionally poor decisions in my youth, she was making better choices.  I think a good number of you folks have met or know our parents, Dr Joe and Rebekah Martin.  That’s why we were all a bit surprised when she happily informed us one day, well into being middle aged, that she had gotten a tattoo.

            If you all just took a collective gasp, well, we did too at the time.  I wanted to say, “Hey, I’m the one who gets to make bad decisions around here…”, but then she told us what it was, and it’s actually taken from our bible reading today.  In fact, it’s a small tattoo in Hebrew that says this:”לַֽיהוָ֔ה”, and it’s written on her left wrist, just below her hand.  Once I understood better, I’ve actually taken to writing that there myself on my own hand occasionally, because it means simply “The LORD’s”, or”I belong to The LORD”, but with the actual name of God, YHVH, in Hebrew.  “YHVH’s”, or “I belong to YHVH”.

            This is a fulfillment of prophecy.  Specifically, Isaiah 44:5 says “5 This one will say, ‘I am Yahweh’s’; And this one will call on the name of Jacob; And this one will write on his hand, ‘Belonging to Yahweh,’ And will name Israel’s name with honor.” (LSB).  Here’s why that’s so cool: back in the day (ie, ancient biblical times) writing on the hand was a mark of ownership, like a brand on a servant (see for reference Ex 13:9, Deut 6:8). 

            To “call on the name of Jacob” (or, alternately translated “to call himself by the name of Jacob”) implies an open acknowledgement and embracing of the heritage of the patriarchs of Israel.  This anticipates gentiles being grafted into Israel’s blessing (see for reference Romans 11:17), and harmonizes perfectly with Gal 3:29 “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise“.  It is absolutely important to remember that as Christians, we are asking to be adopted into the nation of Israel, we are all seeking to be proselytes to the Jewish God, by obedience and the grace of God. 

            So here’s an interesting (and sometimes controversial) side question: Do we as Christians need to keep every bit of The Law?  Why ask me? I don’t necessarily think so, but I’m just a man, and all I can tell you is the gospel according to Jeremy Martin. Read your Bible, and see what you think.  I would suggest that if you feel like God is telling you that you must then you absolutely should, and if you feel like God is telling you that you have freedom from the jots and tittles of the Law then you probably do.  The important bit here is: don’t listen to what anyone else tells you.  Study scripture, pray, and listen to God.  It’s not between you and anybody else, it’s between you and God, like a lot of things.  Don’t let it divide you as believers though, that’s between them and God too, not you and them.  Sometimes we get confused about that.

            All my family’s laundry aside, here is where it gets kind of cool, because throughout the history of time mankind has wondered about God and the nature of God, and here is one of the places that He clearly tells us some aspects of His self.  Do you want to know who God is? Well, listen to what God says about Himself (and listen ONLY to what God says about Himself, and nothing else.  Remember that you don’t want to know the gospel according to some smiling guy in a suit, you want to know the gospel according to God, because again: that’s going to be between you and God, no one else.)

“‘Thus says Yahweh…I am the first, and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.” (LSB, Isa 44:6). God is eternal, and singular in authority, he has a name, and it is YHVH (translated at times as Yahweh since the V in ancient Hebrew was said to make a W sound).  He was here before anyone, and He’ll be here after everyone.  There is no God besides Yahweh.  It’s important to note again that Yahweh (YHVH) is the personal name by which God identifies Himself to His creation (See Ex 3:15 for reference). 

“I, Yahweh, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone,” (LSB, Isa 44:24).  So Yahweh (AKA God, or “The Father”) is the maker of all things (See Ps 24:1 for reference), He specifically tells us that He stretched out the heavens “by Myself” and spread out the earth “all alone”.  I would like to respectfully point out that even if you have a traditional and complex understanding of the nature of God, this verse seems to specifically address that the only person involved in creation is Yahweh God, the Father, there are no other persons or natures involved, no one but Yahweh “Myself”, all alone.  It seems pretty bluntly direct, almost as if it was phrased in such a manner as to avoid any confusion or misinterpretation.

“26 Confirming the word of His servant—And the counsel of His messengers He will complete—” (LSB, Isaiah 44:26).  Yahweh (God) has servants, and He will confirm the word of His servant, and complete the counsel of His messengers.  When God sends one of His servants, they speak with the authority of God, because God not only sent them but gave them authority to speak His words.  Sometimes these servants are heavenly beings or “angels” (literally, “messengers”) such as in Luke 1:19 or 1:28 when the angel Gabriel delivered a message on God’s behalf.  Sometimes those messengers could even be an animal, such as in the story of Balaam in Numbers 26:28.  More commonly, God uses men as his servants to interact with other men, pouring out His spirit on them to communicate with their peers or to fulfill a specific purpose such as with Saul (1 Sam 10:10), David (1 Sam 16:13), and Samson (Judges 14:6) to name but a few.  Of course the most significant servant of God to the Christian believer is the man Jesus (the) Christ himself, and it is clear that he also ascribes to this understanding when he quotes Isa 61:1 and ascribes this prophecy to himself.  Jesus’ friend Peter confirms this later in Acts 2:22, when the spirit of God (also known as the spirit of truth) is upon him. 

            We should read all of these things carefully, and with discernment.  These are some of the things that God has told us about Himself, and His servants, in scripture.  These are clear, and pretty direct.  God spoke to us directly in the scriptures. Please, be discerning when you study your scripture and exclude from your doctrines theories or traditions that conflict with God’s word; in the end your understanding will be between you and your God, nobody else.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. Have you ever, to your knowledge, fulfilled a prophecy?  What was it?
  2. Do you think as Christians we are obligated to follow none/some/or all of the Law?  Why?
  3. Can you think of a time when someone told you something about God (or one of His servants) that directly contradicted scripture? 

PRAYER

Father God, Abba, please let me hear only Your words.  Forgive me when I fail.  Teach me, Father.  Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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By a Way They Do Not Know…

*Isaiah 42-43

Psalm 118

Revelation 21

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            If you read your Bible regularly, you’ve probably got a few “favorite” verses or chapters that really stand out to you personally, that really just speak to you on a deep and emotional level.  I’ve got a few: I like Job 33, because it’s basically “my story” and details how God intercedes for the lives of men.  I like the Kings and the Chronicles just because when I was a kid, those were some of the most exciting and action packed.  I like the book of Nehemiah because he’s just so darn scrappy and feisty, but also humble enough to plead with God regularly to “remember me for the good”.  I’m sure we’ve each got our special bits, but the reading in Isaiah 42 today is my absolute favorite chapter in the whole Bible.

            Why is that, you ask?  Well, lucky day kids, I’m going to tell you.  It has been very publicly stated on a number of occasions that when I was a young lad I was quite a scrappy ne’er-do-well: a miscreant, hooligan, a rogue.  I was, not to put too fine a point on it, dumber than a box of rocks: completely ignoring God and seeking only how best to fulfill my own lusts and desires.  It was inevitable on the path that I was travelling that I would run into trouble, and I did: much, much bigger trouble than I was expecting, or had the ability to handle on my own.  Luckily for me (and for you too), we’ve got a great big God who’s exponentially bigger and more powerful than …well, anything.  Including Big Trouble, and the potentially fatal fingers that it sometimes attempts to clutch you with.

            I won’t belabor the depths of my stupidity, but I will say that as a result of my Actions (and attitude), there was a time in my youth (when I was about 25) that I was going to get a hard introduction to Consequences, and as a result was going to probably wake up dead in a hole, six feet from the rest of my life.  Things were not looking good for the home team (for clarification, I am the home team in that analogy), so I fled for my life.  I left in my wake Big Trouble, and Big Trouble was angry, murderously angry, and seeking a reunion.  I was going to die.

            So I started digging deeply into scripture, as if my life depended on it (it did), looking for an out, hoping that God would save me.  Obviously, He did (this is now over 30 years later), but at the time it was a very dark season for me: filled with fear and trepidation, and expecting at any moment to die.  I was already a pretty crazy lad, my previous lifestyle hadn’t helped that in any way, and add to that the constant fear and threat of being murdered at any moment and it begins to wear on one’s psyche and sanity. 

            Think for a moment of the most stressful event that’s ever happened to you, a time when you were in actual danger.  Now stretch that moment out, and imagine that you had that tension, that stress, that apprehension every second, every minute, every hour: day after day, then week after week, then month after month.  That constant level of tension will drive you insane.  That’s where I was at.  Do you know what saved me from going absolutely bonkers?

            Isaiah 42, when it is talking about the servant that God has chosen (The Messiah, or Christ), specifically this bit in verse 3: “3 A crushed reed He will not break And a faintly burning wick He will not extinguish;” (LSB).  Every time I read that, I knew that the Christ would not allow me to be snuffed at that time, because I was that reed that was crushed in spirit, I was that candle that was burning low and flickering in my faith, but I was seeking God’s will and this reassured me that His servant the Christ would not break me or extinguish me nor allow it to happen by the hand of another.  So I kept praying, and reading scripture.  Slowly, very slowly, some of the crazy started to leach away, and I began to be restored, to see my folly, and the path that God wanted me to walk.

            For the longest time leading up to that moment, I was blind.  Spiritually blind, street smart but God stupid.  I knew all the right things about all the wrong things.  Isaiah 42:3 helped me get refocused, to know that even if I was a smouldering wick that I would at least get an opportunity to burn brightly, so long as I was trying.  Then I read Isaiah 42:16, and it was like fireworks went off in my head, and I knew that our God was a great and merciful God.  This is, by the way, my singular favorite verse in the entirety of the bible:

“16 I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, In paths they do not know I will guide them.

I will make darkness into light before them And rugged places into plains.

These are the things I will do, And I will not forsake them.” (LSB)

            That’s exactly what He did, for me.  I can’t even begin to describe how beautiful this is for me, because I was that (spiritually) blind guy, and He sure did lead me by a way I did not know, and He guided me in paths I had no idea even existed: to safety, and life.  The darkness that I was living in was  slowly illuminated, and the obstacles that were the rugged places were miraculously removed from my path.  God said that He would do these things, and that He would not forsake me and He kept His promise.  Why?  No clue, I wasn’t worth it at the time, but He did.  Fiercely.

            Then, my dad went blind, and God gave me a gentle slap in the face to remind me of some things, and to remember some of the words my mouth had spoken earlier when He saved me. 

            When I say my dad went blind, I mean literally blind, not spiritually blind, and you know what? That verse means even more to me today, because:  “16 I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, In paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them And rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, And I will not forsake them.” (Isa 42:16 LSB).  I was a complete idiot.  I was a jerk.  I was not a nice guy, but my dad…my dad is amazing.  So is my mom.  They have both been faithful servants to the living God since before my birth, and humble me with their faith.  How much more will our faithful God, who never lies nor abandons His children, lead my blind father by a way that he doesn’t know?  How much more will He turn the darkness into light before my father, and make the rough places smooth where he walks?  How much more will he not forsake my father, the faithful servant?

            I take great comfort and solace in knowing that our God never lies.  Lead us, Father God, even if it is by a way we do not know.  I have died now once already, and I no longer fear death.  I fear God.  If Big Trouble ever does come to speak to me about the sins of my youth, I hope I get the chance to tell it everything God has done for me, and what an awesome God He is before I die.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. What is/are YOUR favorite verse(s), and why does it speak to you?  Take a moment and reflect on the circumstances which endeared it to you, and praise God.
  2. Is there a specific verse in scripture that has carried you through a particularly difficult time? What was it, and how did God act to help you in that moment?
  3. Have you ever considered how amazing it is that even when we are dumb and completely unworthy of redemption, our God is faithful and restores us for His own name’s sake?

PRAYER

Abba, Father, My God, thank you.  You have been faithful even when I was not.  You saw value in me when even I did not.  You paid the ransom for me.  I am unworthy of the favor shown me.  The price was too high, My God.  Please forgive me, and lead me in a way that I have not known, to Your glory, and for Your name’s sake.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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The Millennial Kingdom and It’s Purpose

Isaiah 40-41

Psalm 117

Revelation 20

-Devotion by Tom Siderius (MI)

The Millennial Kingdom is a controversial topic today and we need to see the importance of this period of time to our understanding of God’s purposes and to show us the way to the new heavens and earth where righteousness will be the only standard. Today we also read from Isaiah who is the most quoted prophet in the New Testament. Hear Isaiah’s words today :

Isaiah 40:12-14(NLT) Who else has held the oceans in his hand?
Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers?
Who else knows the weight of the earth
or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?
13 Who is able to advise the Spirit of the LORD?
Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?
14 Has the LORD ever needed anyone’s advice?
Does he need instruction about what is good?
Did someone teach him what is right
or show him the path of justice?

The purpose of the Millennial is shown where the promises made to the nation of Israel about this earth will be fulfilled. It also is a time when the sinfulness of man’s heart will ultimately be revealed and destroyed. The first lie told by Satan is that if Adam and Eve disobey God and eat of the fruit they will become like god, knowing good and evil, and that they will not surely die. All lies proceed from this one as they are based on disobedience to God’s commands, and the desire in mankind’s heart to be their own god.

The lie that is the last to be destroyed is the lie of perfect justice: “Have a man with great power put over the earth and have perfect justice and righteousness on a restored earth then we will hear and obey God.”

The next coming events on this earth will be the great tribulation and all that happens surrounding these coming events. The Anti-Christ as well as the false prophet will be revealed to the world first as a great savior, and then as the leader of the powers of darkness and this world.  Sin will be openly revealed and then judged by Jesus Christ who is worthy to open the scroll in Revelation 5.  He is the one chosen by God to bring judgement and justice to this present world.  This includes judgement and disposal of the Antichrist and the false prophet who are annihilated and removed from the earth at the end of this time.

The resurrection of those that believe and are judged righteous starts the beginning of the reign of Christ on this present earth. We see this rulership truth from prophecies from the Old Testament prophets and then reflected specifically in this prophecy we are given in the book of Revelation. The dispersion and regathering of the nation of Israel is covered in numerous prophecies of the Old Testament prophets and records. The promises of the future kingdom including Israel is a centering truth of our conference today.

Isaiah 55:11 (NKJV) So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Ephesians 1:9-11 (NLT) God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. 11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

Israel is God’s own chosen people and much of the Old Testament prophecy is about what He will do for them in this future kingdom ruled by His Son.  There are sections of scripture that give us specific information about what God will do for Israel, and then also how He chooses those that are true believers from among them.    

Isaiah 59:20(NLT) The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem to buy back those in Israel who have turned from their sins,”says the LORD.

The resurrection of the just is found in Revelation 20 where God decides based on His standards of faith those who will become part of the new kingdom of His Son in the time following.  Many of the promises of the OT prophets give us a preview of how God will deal with the people and the land.

Ezekiel 36:24 (NLT) For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.

Those that are judged just and resurrected are those that God finds the Word in their mouths and hearts like Jesus Christ to come. Descendants of Israel in the world today must turn to Jesus and make him their Messiah for them to receive forgiveness of sin, and life to come. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile at this time.  Being Jewish and going to temple will not give them eternal life in the kingdom to come. There is no righteousness today from the law of Moses for Jew or Gentile.

Revelation 20:4-6(NLT) Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.) 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years.

The resurrection of the just is at the beginning of the Millennial reign of Christ on this present earth. Also, the Devil and all his minions are chained and locked up away from the earth. Satan is removed from having any influence on earthly events and on people’s actions for this thousand-year period. The devil’s influence over events is locked from the earth by his imprisonment and then from the coming mortal human events on this present earth. The excuse that the “devil made me do it” cannot be made by anyone during this time frame. 

Revelation 20:1-3(NLT) Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. 2 He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years. 3 The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while.

We need to think about how many mortal people might still be on the earth after the tribulation and the battle of Christ against the Adversary that ends this period. There are currently 8+ billion people on the present earth today. If a remnant is saved through the tribulation this still might be as many as 1 billion or more people left to live, procreate, and die on this present earth. They are given God’s promises that the justice and administration of the earth will be done with God’s perfect judgment of good and evil. The earth will be watered literally and figuratively to give everyone all that is needed. The needs for food, shelter, fellowship, and  every other need will be met. 

Ezekiel 34:29-31(NLT) And I will make their land famous for its crops, so my people will never again suffer from famines or the insults of foreign nations. 30 In this way, they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them. And they will know that they, the people of Israel, are my people, says the Sovereign LORD. 31 You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my people, and I am your God. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”

The prophecies of the book of Revelation show us what will happen then in this new kingdom of Christ on this present earth. We see a picture of perfect judgement and administration of justice to all.  Many of those people alive at that time will see, hear, and believe and receive the grace that comes from Christ. The blessings and abundance of that time to come is amazing in the foretelling that we read. We know that mortals continue to populate this earth and procreate, work and live their lives during this time of blessing and abundance.  But the same result comes following the same pattern as through all of time. Some believe, and some reject Jesus as the righteous ruler of the earth and the kingdom of God. It is hard to even understand how people would reject Christ during the proof of God’s grace and love for people.  

Remember that there is also no influence of the Adversary and his minions in the affairs of mankind on the earth in this time. This is an especially important part of the purpose of the millennial reign. To have a new heaven and new earth where all is righteous, all disobedience must be demonstrated, judged, and destroyed. Heaven needs to have all disobedience removed  in order to make all ready for the coming new heaven.   

1 Corinthians 4:5(NKJV) Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.

The disobedience that is prophesied in Revelation shows us that the human heart has not changed, and the desire to do evil is still evident even during the Millennial reign. For a new heaven and earth to appear, all evil and rebellion in both heaven and earth needs to be dealt with.  Christ is God’s agent of justice and salvation coming to all the earth. Those that believe and follow Christ are saved to a beautiful future with the rule of God and Christ. Those that desire to do evil and rebel will be annihilated and destroyed forever. This is the second death for all that are judged unrighteous.

The lie of perfect government and rulership is destroyed, and the forces of evil are all annihilated. The Millennial ends with the beginning of the new heavens and earth we will next read about.

Reflection Questions

  1. What are your thoughts and feelings as you read Revelation 20? What verse brings you the most hope and excitement?
  2. What are you looking forward to Jesus bringing to light?
  3. How often do you think of these things: Jesus’ second coming, resurrection, the Millennial reign, the new heavens and earth? How might it change the way you live your life today if you thought of these things more?

PRAYER

Father God, we are so humbled by the wisdom that You demonstrate in the earth, heavens, and peoples that You have created.  We are so thankful that You have invited us to join Your family and to have Your love and protection.  We pray that you will continue to sustain and keep us this day and forever in Your kingdom to come.  Come Lord Jesus come.  Praying to You in the name of Christ this day.

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Hezekiah Sees the First Daylight Savings Time

Isaiah 38-39

Psalm 117

Revelation 19

-Devotion by Tom Siderius (MI)

In Isaiah chapter 38 we read a remarkable story about Hezekiah the king and the events that happen to him.

Isaiah 38:1-8(NKJV) In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ ” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, 3 and said, “Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

How would you feel about it if a known and respected prophet of God came to you and told you to get your affairs and will in order, because you will die soon?

This message would certainly get my undivided attention and reaction.  I can see myself in Hezekiah’s shoes lamenting to God about why this would happen to me!!  I have (in my mind anyway) listened to all Your precepts, followed all Your instructions, and held to Your worship. Why am I sick and what do you mean I’m going to die soon from this disease? This is just not fair to me!

Does it do us good to try to recite to God our goodness and obedience? 

What should we do instead?

Hezekiah cries out to God in his misery and grief asking God to have mercy on him and save him from untimely death. He implores God to hear him and is bitter in his heart about the situation he finds himself in. 2 Kings chapter 20 gives us another version of the events and helps us out with more detail.

2 Kings 20:4-6 (NKJV) “And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 5 “Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. 6 And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.” ’ “

We see in this section that God heard Hezekiah’s prayers and God decided to intervene in the course of his disease and deliver him from death for another 15 years.  God says that He will “surely” heal him. Then Isaiah goes to Hezekiah and delivers the message from God.  Hezekiah, like all of us, wants an assurance that what the prophet says will actually happen. What a human reaction to a Godly message (also, what – only 15 years!). God then gives this message to Isaiah about His Word.

Isaiah 38:7-8(NKJV) And this is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing which He has spoken: 8 Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.” So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down.

Think of the miracle that God must do to accomplish this event.  All the universe must have the clock of God turned back approximately 40 minutes for this to happen.  How does this happen?  How can God do this? We read further in 2 Kings to get more details of the miracle.

2 Kings 20:8-11(NKJV) And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What is the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD the third day?”9 Then Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?” 10 And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.” 11 So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the LORD, and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.

Is it harder for God to turn time forward 40 minutes or backwards 40 minutes?  Clearly both take the same miraculous movement of planets, suns, stars, and earth.  But Hezekiah picks the answer that will silence all the critics of miracles.  He may even be trying to convince himself of the truth, and the going back certainly can’t be faked or explained by any earthly means.

How are we like Hezekiah in our shaky belief in miraculous works of God?

What is our assurance today that God’s hand is in our lives?

1 John 5:13-15(NLT) I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. 14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. 15 And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

When we pray and ask God for help when we are doing the will of God He promises that He hears us.  When God promises that He hears us then we should be good to go with whatever the answer to our prayer will be.  We cannot obligate God to do our will by our good works or supposed obedience.  God so loved that He gave, and God will so love again because it is His will to do what He has decided to do.  We should live our lives in humble obedience to the God that loves us and have the confidence that He will do all that will bless us and sustain us.  Cast all our cares upon our God for He cares for us.

Reflection Questions above in Bold Text

Prayer:

Father God be with us this day, and deliver us from the evil one.  Give us the bread of our need this day to sustain and keep us.  Please hear our petitions and prayers for Your help and healing as needed for our lives.  Show us the way to walk like Your Son the Lord Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life for us.  We praise Your Holy Name and lift You up with our prayers and hearts.  Our Lord hear our prayer.  In the name of Jesus Christ we pray.

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Faith in God

Isaiah 36-37

Psalm 116

Revelation 18

-Devotion by Tom Siderius (MI)

Isaiah 37:1-7(NLT)When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes and put on burlap and went into the Temple of the LORD. 2 And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the court secretary, and the leading priests, all dressed in burlap, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what King Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble, insults, and disgrace. It is like when a child is ready to be born, but the mother has no strength to deliver the baby. 4 But perhaps the LORD your God has heard the Assyrian chief of staff, sent by the king to defy the living God, and will punish him for his words. Oh, pray for those of us who are left!”
5 After King Hezekiah’s officials delivered the king’s message to Isaiah, 6 the prophet replied, “Say to your master, ‘This is what the LORD says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian king’s messengers. 7 Listen! I myself will move against him, and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword.’”

Psalms 116:6-8(NLT) The LORD protects those of childlike faith;
I was facing death, and he saved me.
7 Let my soul be at rest again,
for the LORD has been good to me.
8 He has saved me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.

Our subject today is that of our faith.  We use the word “faith” very freely here in the United States, in the churches here, but I do not know that we always realize the full measure of what the word means. We tell each other to have faith or greet each other with the word faithful but often it is very shallow in its meaning.  We need to examine what Hezekiah does in the face of an overwhelming army and disaster from Sennacherib the king of Assyria.

Where does Hezekiah turn?  And what does he petition God for in his message to Isaiah?

The word “faith” in Hebrew in the Old Testament comes from the Hebrew word “emunah” which gives us two other words of “faithfulness” and the word “Amen” which means “full agreement”.  The word faith in the Hebrew gives a meaning of action and movement in our lives.  We do not only have faith in God, but we should live out our faith in God.

Habakkuk 2:4(NKJV) Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.

We cannot separate our intellectual understanding of the Words of God from action about them in our lives.  We may agree with what the Word says in our minds, but this is just a mental assent intellectually that the Word is true.  When we truly believe the Words of God then we will live out our lives in accordance with what they say, we will live by our faith.

 You do not merely think that you have faith,  you should walk it, breathe it, make it your own. This is our relational trust in the truth of what God says to us in all of life.  We show what we believe by what we do in our lives.  Do you put your full trust in our God?  Or do we secretly in our hearts not fully believe His Words?

Look at our father Abraham in Genesis where God tells him to go to a new land where God will bless him and give him land and descendants.  Did he live out his life with full agreement of what God told him to do?  The central theme of Abraham is that we are saved by our faith, and not our meager works of righteousness.

Galatians 3:6-7(NLT)  In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.

Our salvation in Christ comes from putting our full trust of our lives in the truth that God saves us because He wanted to do it.  God is our Savior in the sense that He is the author of salvation for us.  Jesus Christ is the agent of salvation for us because he is how God did the saving of us.

Our faith must stand in this truth, that God so loved us that He sent Jesus to be the payment for you and for me. We have no works of righteousness that we can do to save us.  We should be morally good, and strive for virtue in our lives, but this is a response to the saving grace we have received, not a means of gaining eternal life. What a wonderful truth for us to see. 

Do we rejoice in our hearts over the love and grace that God has given each of us?  Where are our joy and rejoicing? 

We should get so excited by God’s love and relationship with us that we will live out the grace that he has called us to. We also are proud to call Jesus Christ our brother and Savior, ready to tell any man or woman about what God has done for all of us.

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

The evil kingdom of this world lies to us and tells us that we are helpless, hopeless, broken, and worthless.  The kingdom of God within us tells us that we are loved, cared for, restored to life, and valuable children of the God who created the heavens and the earth. All that happens to us in life must be seen through the reality of this conflict between the two kingdoms. Do not be deceived by the Adversary and his lies.

2 Peter 1:2-4(NKJV) Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

We have exceedingly great and precious promises through Christ who brings us to God.  We need to give our hearts fully to God who called us and saved us for His own purposes. 

What has God called you to do?  What are the works of righteousness that God has prepared for you to do?

Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

The good works of our lives that we do for God are the ones that He has prepared for us to do.  This is acting out our lives with the full agreement that Jesus is our guide, showing us the way to go and lighting the path for our lives.  We need to trust that God has us by the hand guiding our thoughts and our lives towards Him because He loves us. 

This trust does not easily grow because we want to be the ones in charge of our own lives and hearts.  We want to be the god of our lives and have control of everything.  But we need to ask how well does that work out? 

Are you a success by your own efforts, or do you need the Father to show the way to walk?

John 20:30-31 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

We have confidence in our God because we have the history of His faithfulness to His own promises to read about and understand.  When we see God being faithful, it gives us the confidence to let Him guide our thoughts and lives, and not to take back our hearts from Him.

Romans 15:4-6(NKJV) For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. 5 Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we see that God is able and willing to do all that He has promised in the past, then we will have confidence, meaning, hope and salvation in this world and the promise of life in His kingdom to come.

Reflection Questions above in bold TExt

Prayer:

Father God, we love You and praise You from our hearts.  We are so thankful for all You have done to save us and bring us to You, Father. We thank you for the bread of our need this day, and the promise of our future life in Your kingdom.  Help us to change our hearts and give us the steadfastness of Your love to keep us firm in our lives.  We pray this in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.  

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He Will Save You

*Isaiah 34-35

*Psalm 116

Revelation 17

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            Isaiah 35: “2 They will see the glory of Yahweh, The majesty of our God.

3Strengthen limp hands, and give courage to the knees of the stumbling.  4Say to those with an anxious heart,“Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.” Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 6Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.”  LSB.

            So yes, your God is coming with vengeance, and the recompense of God will come, but He will save you.  Be strong, and fear not.

            Listen, Isaiah talks a lot about the blind seeing again, and it just gets me every time.  If you know me or have read a few specific devotions I’ve written in the past, you’ll know that my dad is blind.  It’s a terrible affliction, and I hate it.  At the same time, without the act of  my father going blind, I would still probably be lost; just another dumb sheep who had wandered off heading for the edge of the cliff, that stupid prodigal son who never had the sense to realize he was sleeping in pig crap.  So while I hate the fact that my father has the affliction of blindness, I love the fact that our merciful God used that affliction to redirect me, and to save my soul.  Dad has said much the same thing to me.  So, whenever I come across a verse in the Bible that talks about restoring the sight of the blind, it makes me tear up a little. 

            I recently had an interview with Sean Finnegan on his podcast website “Restitutio.org” about a lot of that stuff, and if you are interested in the details you can give it a listen.  If you do, note that I would probably have named it a little differently, and the episode number is #666 which is a little disturbing but I think that the content of the interview was good, and may be beneficial to some folks out there who are, like I was, being foolish.  Look it up, it was released Aug 20, 2026.* 

            Back to Isaiah 35: “8And a roadway will be there, a highway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not pass by on it, But it will be for him who walks in that way, And ignorant fools will not wander on it. 9No lion will be there, Nor will any vicious beast go up on it; These will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, 10And the ransomed of Yahweh will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting gladness upon their heads. They will attain delight and gladness, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.” (LSB)

            So there will be a way called the Highway of Holiness and it will be for him who walks in that way (holiness).  Even though there may be vicious beasts around you, none of them will be allowed on this path.  The unclean, the vicious, the ignorant fools probably won’t even be able to find it, much less walk on it.  The redeemed though, the ransomed of Yahweh will return along it.  That’s me, I’ve been ransomed, and that ransom wasn’t cheap.  It’s a deeply emotional thought for me that when I was unclean and a fool and seeking only my own desires that I may have been standing right beside this path and was never able to see it, because this is the way to God and life.

            Psalms 116 says: “1 I love Yahweh, because He hears My voice and my supplications.  2Because He has inclined His ear to me, So I shall call upon Him in all my days. 3The cords of death encompassed me And the distresses of Sheol found me; I found distress and sorrow. 4Then I called upon the name of Yahweh: “O Yahweh, I beseech You, provide my soul escape! 5Gracious is Yahweh, and righteous; And our God is compassionate. 6Yahweh keeps the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. 7Return to your rest, O my soul, For Yahweh has dealt bountifully with you. 8For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling. 9I shall walk before Yahweh In the land of the living.”  LSB. 

            This is a part of my story too, because I literally died, and came back.  In 2/14/2022, for about 5 and 1/2 minutes, I was dead on the table from a 100% blockage in the widowmaker (left anterior descending artery): happy valentine’s day!  If you ever read Job 33:14-30, that’s a pretty good breakdown of “my story”, I also detailed it a little bit during the interview mentioned above.  God saved me though, and then redeemed me.

            Ps 116 continues: “12What shall I give to Yahweh in return For all His bountiful dealings with me? 13I shall lift up the cup of salvation And call upon the name of Yahweh. 14I shall pay my vows to Yahweh, Oh may it be in the presence of all His people. 15Precious in the sight of Yahweh Is the death of His holy ones. 16 O Yahweh, surely I am Your slave, I am Your slave, the son of Your maidservant, You have loosed my bonds. 17To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, And call upon the name of Yahweh. 18I shall pay my vows to Yahweh, Oh may it be in the presence of all His people, 19In the courts of the house of Yahweh, In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.  Praise Yah!” LSB.

            That question in v12 is probably the best question any of us could ever ask, and leads to salvation.  The answer is probably best answered in v16.  The cost of a soul is high.  When Peter’s life is redeemed in Acts 12, the cost of his salvation was the lives of 16 soldiers.  When I initially escaped the environment that was going to kill me in my youth, it cost the life of at least 1 other man.  I am certain, even this many years later, that the sole reason that I lived and others did not is because even in the depths of my depravity, I feared the name of God.  Whether you are aware of it or not: God paid a very high price for each of us.  We are not bought cheaply, but at a cost higher than we could ever repay: the blood of His only begotten son.

            I have noticed that sometimes folks who haven’t gone through as much terrible stuff as I have don’t appreciate the little things that God has done for us.  Offering up His son in exchange for us was a big thing though, just think about it for a moment.  We can never repay such a high price, but if God is willing, we can spend a lifetime trying to His glory.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. Is there a verse, or group of verses, that speaks to you personally and deeply?
  2. How can we better remember with awe the terrible price that was paid for us?
  3. What are the best ways in which we can honor that price, and He who paid it?

PRAYER

Father God, Thank you.  You saved me, and I wasn’t worth the cost.  You are gracious beyond my understanding, and I am Your servant forever.  Thank you.  In Jesus name, Amen.

*Sean Finnegan Restitutio interview with Jeremy Martin on Aug 20, 2026

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Behold, a King Will Reign…

*Isaiah 32-33

*Psalm 115

Revelation 16

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            Life can be scary.  We forget at times, because we don’t always see it directly with our limited senses, that God protects us.  In the famous Aaronic blessing (found in Num 6:24-27) the opening line is normally translated as “The Lord bless you and keep you…”.   Like many English translations from Hebrew, however, that just doesn’t really capture the full “flavor” of the word.  The actual word translated as “keep” is   וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃ (wə·yiš·mə·re·ḵā) and honestly “keep” is a pretty inadequate translation.  The word itself can be translated as: to hedge about, guard, to protect, attend to.  To shield, in other words.

            In today’s reading of Ps 115, this is reiterated repeatedly: “9 O Israel, trust in Yahweh; He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in Yahweh; He is their help and their shield. 11You who fear Yahweh, trust in Yahweh; He is their help and their shield.” LSB.   The God that made you protects you.  Sometimes miraculously, as with the ancient Israelites.  Our senses may be limited at times, and we may not always see things that aren’t directly in our face if we’re not paying close attention.   Do you wonder why?

            Our senses are limited, but Ps 115 also speaks of blind and deaf idols, and says that those who make them are also blind and deaf.  “4Their idols are silver and gold, The work of man’s hands. 5They have mouths, but they do not speak; They have eyes, but they do not see;  6They have ears, but they do not hear; They have noses, but they do not smell; 7As for their hands, they do not feel; As for their feet, they do not walk; They do not make a sound with their throat. 8Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them.” LSB.  In modern society, we don’t really make statues and worship them anymore, but can we truly say that our idols are not silver and gold?  If so, why wouldn’t we be blind and deaf? It tells us so, in scripture.

            The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th edition) defines worship like this: worship (noun) :1. The reverent love and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object. 2. The ceremonies, prayers, or other religious forms by which this love is expressed. 3. Ardent admiration or love; adoration.

            We live in a greed based society.  Becoming wealthy has become a primary focus, drive, and motivation for a majority of people.  How many times have you heard (or said) “If I could just win the lottery I’d…”?  There is a driving need to get better “stuff”, a bigger house, a better car, nicer clothes.  It seems like, according to the above criteria in the definition, we are still worshipping idols of silver and gold.  Gold itself has become the idol, the goal which most men seek fervently and reverently, a sacred object.  People are under the impression that having more wealth will make them “happy”, and that’s simply not true.

            Take for example this interesting fact:  in a counter-intuitive finding among people admitted to hospitals with mental illness, suicide risk was found to be higher for those with higher incomes compared to those with lower incomes (National Library of Medicine, BMJ 2001 Feb 10; Article titled: “Risk of suicide in relation to income level in people admitted to hospital with mental illness: nested case-control study”).  More money does not mean more happiness.  More importantly, if we are making gold and silver our idols, we will become as blind and deaf and unfeeling as those objects, according to Ps 115.  Of course that will cause us distress.

            Flipping over to our Isaiah reading today gives us a ray of hope, and a cure.  Despite the fact that sometimes the prophecies that describe the times leading up to the kingdom can be frightening, when the kingdom does finally arrive, it will be a time of healing and refreshing.  Isa 32 reads:  “1 Behold, a king will reign righteously And princes will rule justly. 2Each will be like a refuge from the wind And a shelter from the storm, Like streams of water in a dry country, Like the shade of a huge rock in a weary land.” LSB. 

            In another direct tie in with Ps 115, Isa 32 then goes on to say: “3Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded, And the ears of those who hear will pay attention. 4And the heart of the hasty will discern knowledge, And the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak clearly.” LSB.  When our king comes, we will be healed as a people, and our (many times self inflicted) blindness, deafness, and unfeeling will be cured.  This line is poignant to me, because my father is blind.  When our king comes, he will see again.

            Is 32 goes on to say: “15Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, And the wilderness becomes a fruitful orchard, And the fruitful orchard is counted as a forest. 16Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, And righteousness will live in the fruitful orchard. 17And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and security forever.” LSB.  So yes, there may be scary times coming, but after that our king will come, and then God will pour out His spirit upon His creation once again and there will be a time of abundance and security that will last forever.

Who will be granted citizenship in this worthy kingdom though?  Isaiah 33 gives us some ideas: 

14 Sinners in Zion are in dread; Trembling has seized the godless.“Who among us can sojourn with the consuming fire? Who among us can sojourn with continual burning?”

15He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly; He who rejects greedy gain of oppression, And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe; He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil;

16He will dwell on the heights, His refuge will be the strongholds of the cliffs; His bread will be given him, His water will be sure.

17Your eyes will behold the King in His beauty…

            We know from scripture that “…the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. “ Romans 8:18, LSB.  My blind father will see again.  My frail and aging mother will be renewed and strengthened.  The scales will fall from the eyes of those remaining and we will be able to see clearly again, our ears will be unstopped and we will hear once again the voice of our creator.  We will be restored.  All of the little things that afflict us will be fixed, and there will no more tears upon the earth.  While some of the prophecies of the times before the return of our king frighten me, when I consider this beautiful kingdom that God has prepared for us I can only say, in agreement with Rev 22:20 , “Come, Lord Jesus”.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

(or, The Kingdom of God Naturalization Test 101):

  1. Are you walking and speaking righteously and uprightly?
  2. Are you rejecting greedy gain, oppression, and bribes?
  3. Are you stopping your ears from hearing of bloodshed, and turning away from evil?

Please note: If you have answered no to any of these questions, you may need to retest for kingdom citizenship, for as long as the testing booths are open.  Good Luck.

PRAYER

Father God, I give you all of the praise.  Forgive me Father, humble me, and keep my focus on Your kingdom and being a servant that pleases you.  Help me when I stumble, and guide me when I am confused.  Thank you for all of the blessings you have given me.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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Plagues and Worship

Isaiah 29-31

Psalm 115

Revelation 15

-Devotion by Daniel Smead (MN)

Revelation 15 involves the seven angels who will soon pour out seven bowls of God’s wrath onto the earth, completing that wrath. We first meet them here, before they receive the bowls of wrath, but they are spoken of as possessing seven plagues (v. 6). This seems inconsistent, but it may show that the “plagues” do not refer to the effects of God’s “wrath,” and that what they poured onto the earth was a mixture.

This chapter also presents a hymn, sung to worship God, by the crowd of those who overcame the beast. The song is referred to as “song of Moses” but is not the hymn that appears in Exodus 15. There is some similarity, the Exodus hymn includes more narrative sections about how God aided the people, and some verses in the middle that praise God. The Revelation text is shorter, and entirely in the second person (all “You,” “Your” statements). I have seen a list of citations proposed that figured these few verses of the hymn cite at least five Bible books, including four Psalms.

At the start of the chapter John said he saw “another sign in heaven,” and his use of the term “sign” suggests not everything he describes took place as literal events. I think it is a bit unusual for Revelation that John mentioned the sign several verses before the sign enters his account. It would be more usual for him to write about something just when it shows up in the story. One of the most common phrases in Revelation, “I saw,” appears dozens of times. As it turns out, writing the way he did about the seven angels allowed John to bring the total references to “wrath” in Revelation up to seven (six about God, and one for the wrath of the Lamb).

The intense emphasis on “seven” in Revelation might serve to emphasize a contrast with the number of the beast, which ‘falls short’ of being sevens. That is one hypothesis, anyway. Dozens of sevens overlap throughout Revelation. More than twenty sets of items are easy to recognize, like stars, candlesticks, etc. Less obvious are combinations of words, and categories of thought, like the presence of seven blessings, and seven uses of the phrase “will no longer.” Revelation has a very complex structure. Aside from all of that repetition, it is estimated to use over 500 references to Old Testament scripture (while never actually quoting it).

It may be worth refreshing our memory of the way Revelation 11 ended (despite how recently you probably read that text). The angel with the seventh trumpet sounded it, and then loud voices in heaven announced that the kingdom of the world had become that “of our Lord and of His Christ.” The twenty-four elders around the throne fell in worship, and part of what they said was to thank God:

because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. 18 And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.

(Revelation 11:17b-19, NASB 1995)

First, notice the list of five points verse 18 gives:

Nations enraged

Arrival of wrath

Dead judged

Rewards for “the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name”

Destroying “those who destroy the earth”

It’s a workable list. You might even say God has an agenda.

Second, at the end of chapter 11 things left off with the temple in heaven just having opened. And soon after John returns to describing the Temple, in chapter 15, the seven angels who will pour out the seven last plagues emerge from the Temple. (Their outfits, shining linen and gold sashes, take us back to the first vision of Christ; 1:13.) Almost immediately after this the Temple fills “with smoke from the glory of God and from His power,” after which no one can enter it until the plagues are finished (15:8).

It seems reasonable that this scene with the heavenly Temple would appear similar to events centuries earlier at the dedication of the Tabernacle of the Testimony in Moses’ time (Exodus 40:34-38; compare Numbers 9:15-16; 10:11-13), and the Temple in Solomon’s time (1 Kings 8:10-11; 2 Chronicles 7:1-3). In both cases the scripture tells us that fire descended (presumably to the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies) and a “cloud” filled the space. Our Revelation text refers to “smoke” rather than “cloud,” but perhaps we could think of the Temple as being filled with a ‘cloud of smoke’ and maintain both thoughts. The key element for us to keep in mind here is the glory of God; consider these verses:

In 18:1 we learn that an angel had sufficient glory to illuminate the earth while arriving.

In 21:11 we see that the New Jerusalem was brilliant, “like a stone of crystal-clear jasper,” illuminated from within by “the glory of God.” (Its wall and first foundation stone were clear jasper, v. 18-19. How does one recognize colorless jasper? I think that some of what a vision relays may just be knowledge that gets directly passed into the viewer’s awareness.)

In context, the other incidents of God’s glory entering the buildings seem like they were evidence of God’s approval of the buildings. In this case perhaps the glory is a sign of approval for the fact that judgment at last takes place. The entire fact of these verses of delay has to do with how momentous this situation is in history – this is the end of thousands of years of patience, this is judgment finally coming, the day of God’s wrath.

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, for your generosity. Reading about your glory, and thinking through the implications of your holiness and how different I am from you, I look at some of the darker portions of Revelation and have to acknowledge “there, were it not for the grace of God, might indeed be me.” You have done more than lift me out of miry clay, Lord, you have reshaped me. Help me to have all the patience it takes to handle the strains of your kneading hands, because I want to become what you intend me to be.

Thank you for being the kind of God I can trust with my heart.

Amen

Reflection Questions

  1. Does thinking about the “glory of God” texts help you consider how different God is from God’s creation?
  2. What traits of God stand out to you as the most unlike humanity, the most unlikely for us to replicate, or most difficult for us to comprehend? Do you see a day coming when your doubts or confusion on these points will be at an end?
  3. What does it mean to you that there are sections of hymns built into so many chapters of Revelation? (I have seen it suggested there are about a dozen hymns, and several doxologies as well.) Looking at them, how many can you recognize lyrics have been taken from for songs you know?

I have some new thoughts about the thing “like a sea of glass,” “like crystal” from Revelation 4:6. It didn’t really fit into the devotion well, so I wanted to set it down here as a note. For a long while I linked the “glass / crystal” thing in my mind with the “sea” in Solomon’s Temple and thought of it as like a storage container for water used in ritual washing. I now want to think of it more in terms of Ezekiel 1:22-26, as perhaps existing like a barrier between the throne and others. When Revelation 21:1 says “there is no longer any sea” I kept thinking of the comment in terms of God having made a new earth, but it may involve God having made a new heaven, with an adjusted layout. I’m unsure why the changes take place of it seeming to have fire in 15:2, maybe some interaction with God’s glory.

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When it’s the Dead Who Will be Blessed

Isaiah 27-28

Psalm 114

Revelation 14

-Devotion by Daniel Smead (MN)

Revelation 14 refreshes our minds about God’s greatness and victory, along with the glory of the Lamb, after what might be seen as chapter 13 emphasizing evil’s “successes.” The chapter opens with the Lamb and the 144,000 together at Mt. Zion – this is the first time the Lamb has been part of John’s vision since 6:1, and the first time the 144,000 have appeared since chapter seven. They make a fine demonstration of the principle that God has a remnant, in this case one which did not yield to the wills of the two beasts. But this is not simply a remnant, it is a first fruits (v. 4) preparing for the greater harvest.

The special status held by the 144,000 came from their being sealed with the seal of God. This sealing put the name of God, and the name of the Lamb, on each of their foreheads. Chapter seven said the group is twelve sets of 12,000 men, coming from twelve tribes of Israel, and that description gave a strong impression of symbolism rather than literal meaning. Some of the term they are described with align with Old Testament standards of purity in preparation for combat (Deuteronomy 23:9ff; 2 Samuel 11:9ff). It has been pointed out that this application of physical terms to spirituality with the 144,000 parallels the way Revelation speaks against idolatry in physical terms elsewhere in the book (for example how it links sexual immorality and idolatry at Pergamum and Thyatira in chapter 2, and with Babylon multiple times).

In 9:4 the 144,000 were referenced without being named, with the locust-like creatures with scorpion tails restricted that they could only hurt “the people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” That statement seems to require that the “144,000” stands for the entirety of those who were seeking to serve God and the Lamb in that time, even if it is 170,000, for example.

The inclusion of the sealed 144,000 in the vision here emphasizes the contrast between what God offers and what the beast(s) have been demanding and threatening. Those who accepted the beast’s mark are subject to God’s wrath, but those who accepted God’s seal are eligible for life (14:9-10; 20:4; 22:4). But the time for such decisions is basically finished. What is about to begin involves the “full strength” wrath of God (v. 10).

The situation is so dire that John is told “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!” (v. 13). This passage doesn’t even mention the idea of remaining alive allowing a person to provide useful service; it seems like in what little remained of the age that would not be relevant.

In 14:6-11 three different angels make announcements which prepare us for what is coming: fear God, for the hour of judgment is come; Babylon is fallen; the end is fast coming for the beast and those things aligned with the beast. Future chapters address all of those points.

The chapter closes with a description of harvest (14:14-20) that ties in with a somewhat vivid illustration involving a winepress for blood (perhaps tied to the idea that God is producing a cup of wrath for the nations to drink). The section seems to draw on Joel 3.

“Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
Come, tread the grapes, for the wine press is full;
The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.”

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
The sun and moon have become dark,
And the stars have lost their brightness.

(Joel 3:13-15; NASB)

The image of the vats overflowing with grape juice / blood is described with the liquid getting up as high as a horse’s bridle (so, several feet) and spreading for a great distance – close to 200 miles – though whether that spread is to be thought of as a circle or semi-circle or along a straight path is unclear. The image seems to fascinate people, and attempts have been made to calculate how many human bodies it would take to produce that much blood. Those efforts involve assuming the blood is all human, and that the image is meant literally in the first place, neither of which can I be sure of. I will just note that some of the suggested totals are a bit absurd, amounting to more blood than exists in the world at present, so if this is a literal image its interpretation probably calls for some conservative guesses at what is meant (straight path flow, etc.).

Prayer

Lord, please bring my mind into alignment with yours and help me to trust you and your decisions. I have no real desire to experience the hour of your wrath, even at a distance, but help me to trust that you have all things under control. Some decisions are yours, alone, to make. I may not be sure which parts of the vision are concrete events, but I know that you are real and I can focus on that. You are greater than me in wisdom, love, patience, and awareness of my own heart. I wish to have your name on my forehead, to be known as yours – even to be known by my own self to be yours, with no question, no hesitation, no cloud on my mind. With you, the road will not always be easy, but you can lead me to where I need to be.

In the name of your son, who you sent for me,

Amen

Reflection Questions

  1. Revelation contains some of the texts that people outside the church speak about when they accuse God of being “blood-thirsty” – how do you address that charge when you hear it?
  2. Have you ever been so fascinated by the details of a prophetic passage that you lose track of how shocking its meaning is? Have you ever attempted to read a scripture passage as though you were not yet a believer, to think through how it might look to someone from that perspective?
  3. What does it mean to you that John was told those who died from then on would be blessed?
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Facing the Beasts

Isaiah 25-26

Psalm 114

Revelation 13

-Devotion by Daniel Smead (MN)

Revelation 13 discusses the activities of beasts. The two break points in the chapter are when John declared “I saw a beast” and “I saw another beast” (v. 1, 11). To clarify, the Greek word behind “beast” conveys “dangerous,” describing wild animals in terms of posing a risk.

During a good chunk of Revelation John reports on short scenes, often with some shared elements, that don’t flow chronologically. Frequently these descriptions and explanations of them are split between scenes, as when the two witnesses are killed by the “beast” that came from “the abyss” (11:8). Only several chapters later do we get an angel talking about the “beast” from the “abyss” (17:8).

We can’t piece together the scenes John gives us to create one smooth story. But we can link several scenes which appear to overlap, through time references: “1,260 days” (11:3; 12:6), “a time, times and half a time” (Daniel 7:25; Revelation 12:14), or “42 months” (11:2; 13:5). These passages describe that period from several angles; among what we are told is:

it is a time when the nations trample Jerusalem,

while God’s two witnesses prophesy in the city wearing sackcloth,

meanwhile “the woman” has escaped the dragon and is being nourished in the wilderness,

and after her escape from the dragon, he sought a war with her children, conducted through the beast from the sea,

that beast uses the dragon’s authority to overcome the saints [here is the link with Daniel 7:25], and to be worshipped by all whose names are not in the book of life (that authority may also link with the fact that nations trampled Jerusalem – see above).

To some extent the complexity of the book, which helps maintain questions about its meaning, also points to God’s unconcern with whether most people over the centuries clearly understand everything that the book means. For most readers it may have been more important that the book bring encouragement.

Consider today’s text, for example. We read of the beast that comes “out of the sea,” which is often an image of the nations. It seems that this beast is a coalition of several kings/countries led by a blasphemous leader who should have died but survived. He parodies Christ in that way – his appearance of having been “fatally wounded” even uses the Greek phrase applied to the lamb that looked like it was slaughtered (5:6; 13:3). And rather than be repulsed by this foul-mouthed braggart, the world is awestruck by the beast. Perhaps their question “who is able to wage war with him?” is expressed a bit despairingly, picturing him as too powerful to oppose (v. 4). But some things are not opposed because you can overthrow them, but because you cannot give in to them. In any case, not too many chapters from now, his defeat will be total.

We also read of the beast “out of the earth” (perhaps this ought to be translated “out of the land,” that is, Israel, in keeping with an older theory that this other beast, also known in Revelation as the “false prophet,” is descended from Jacob). He has the dragon’s voice, revealing his true loyalties and affiliation, but in appearance tries to mimic the image of Jesus as the lamb. This beast got authority shared with it by the beast from the sea, who in turn had that authority from the dragon / “serpent,” “devil” – who we are told was able to deceive “the whole world” (12:9). (Maybe it makes sense for all this delegating of authority to occur. If evil doesn’t delegate, how do you get some sloth in the mix, to cover all seven of the ‘deadly’ sins? Meanwhile, good is more open to sharing the load and getting the job done – though it is a completely different job. But I digress.)

Much of the description given about the beast from the earth involves the relationship of the second beast with the first, as he builds up the influence and worship of the first beast (13:11-17). The second beast can do signs, and with them “deceives those who live on the earth.” That isn’t saying that the signs are faked, but that the people who accept what he calls them to are deceived because they are being directed toward death, in the lake of fire (13:14). So, perhaps he got his ability to deceive “the whole world” from his master. He won’t use it very long. And looking at the list of events happening during those 42 months, it doesn’t sound like he convinces the “whole world,” either. God always has a remnant. Always.

Prayer

Lord, sometimes it can be daunting to contemplate the extent of what you are willing to call your people to do, and to be. But then the recognition comes through that none of the people you call is ever alone. They all have you. They all have your son. And you set them together in the body of your son, through the Spirit, to accept your strength and to support each other. You do not wish to put us in situations beyond what we can handle, so one of the first things we need to do is reject despair as among the chief lies of the chief of lies. You are prepared to provide the strength necessary for any task you desire us to do. Please help us to properly prepare ourselves for serving you in whatever way comes next, with prayer, with confession, with fasting, with worship, with study and with generosity. Provide us the wisdom, the insight, to take whichever of those steps, or more besides, that we need to take. Because you are worthy of praise. And you are worthy of our best service, unencumbered by anything that would hold us back.

Thank you, Lord

Amen

Reflection Questions

  1. Jesus once spent forty days in the wilderness with the beasts, fasting, and exposing himself to temptation by the devil (Mark 1:13). Do you think he was afraid there? Do you think he was more sure of himself when he was finished there?
  2. When you seem to be in danger of giving in to fear, what keeps you from falling into it (or allows you to get out again)? What can be done collectively, in worship or otherwise, to guard against fear?
  3. Have you ever gone out of your way to help someone else address their own fear or doubts? Did it bring you joy to do so? Was it difficult for you not to get caught up in their fears?

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