In chapter 15 of Revelation, we catch a glimpse of what appears to be a culmination of God’s judgment on Evil.  Before this, we have read about the judgments of the “seals” and the “trumpets”.  Now we come to the final series of “bowl” judgments.  It may be that these last seven bowls of judgment are an amplification of the earlier trumpet plagues.  But whatever the case, the essence of this chapter is not so much on the plagues themselves, but on the believers who have emerged victoriously from the struggle against the Evil one, the Devil and his antichrist (see Ch. 12: 11).  These believers are revealed to us standing, worshipping God in song, and praising Him for their deliverance. 

 

The passage tells us that they sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.  It is not two songs, but one.  Why are the names of Moses and Jesus conjoined?  Perhaps because the song recalls both the deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptians, which they sang on the shore of the Red Sea (Ex. 15) and now a similar, but greater deliverance which has been wrought from a similar, but greater foe. 

 

The beauty of the song is that is emphasizes very clearly the power, justice and holiness of God, and the universal recognition of that fact.  Praise God, for he has triumphed and delivered us!  Praise God, for he delivers not only the Israelites, but all nations.  Whether we are American, Norwegian, Israelite, French, Indian or Fulbe, we will all be found around God’s throne one day, worshipping Him.  Amen.        

 

Dan Venberg

 

 

Greetings from Dan & Rachel below -

 

Dear friends at Bethesda,

Merry Christmas! May the joy of the Lord be with you all. As I write this, the temperature in Doh Fulbe is 104 degrees Fahrenheit, perhaps a little warmer than that of Eau Claire! But the nights are cooler, when the mercury plunges down into the 70's or maybe even the 60's.

Our family is excited about the Christmas season this year. Just a few days before Christmas, on the 20th, is an Islamic holiday called the Feast of Sacrifice. This commemorates God's provision of a ram in the place of Abraham's son, when the Patriarch was asked of God to sacrifice his son on the alter. Every family will butcher a sheep or goat, and will remember and celebrate God's provision for Abraham and for them. This day, we also will be butchering a sheep, and will be hosting a feast in our yard. We are hoping to read the account of Abraham during the celebration, and we will also share with our neighbors that just as God provided a ram in the place of Abraham's son, so also he provided a sacrifice for each of us, that being Jesus. That evening, we are also planning on showing the Jesus Film, based on the Gospel of Luke, which has been translated into Fulfulde.

We are also excited about Christmas week, when we will be hosting many visitors, including the Holzner family (another LBWM missionary family in Chad), my aunt Cheryl, and two other missionary families serving here in Chad that live close by. As we contemplate the fellowship with these friends of ours, representing Chad, the United States, England, Mexico and Korea, we are excited to get a little foretaste of the fellowship that we will all enjoy one day around the throne of God, when we will stand side by side with people of all nations. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests!

Dan and Rachel Venberg

 

 

REVELATION 14

 

It helps to know that the visions in Revelation aren't always presented in chronological order.  There are interludes in the overall sequence of 7 seals, 7 trumpets and 7 bowls.  These interludes should be read as "Meanwhile . . ." or  "Here's another way to look at it".

 

Chapters 12 --15 form an interlude between the trumpets and the bowls.  This interlude includes a number of different visions: the woman and the dragon in chapter 12, the two beasts in chapter 13, the Lamb and 144,000 in chapter 14:1-5, and the harvest of the earth in chapter 14:6 -20.  Although these visions relate to one another, they aren't sequential.  Some visions are a kind of historical overview (the woman and the dragon).  Some visions describe events that have occurred time and again during the church age and but will also have a more complete fulfillment in the future.  For instance, believers have had to endure forced worship of false gods (beasts) in many times and places, but there will be a time when the events of chapter 13 will be more completely fulfilled.

 

So we come to the visions of chapter 14. These visions are related to one another in two ways: 1) they use harvest imagery and 2) they reveal the outcome of being marked. 

 

We saw in chapter 13 that people all over the world will be required to wear a mark of the beast, or to identify themselves with the beast.  But those who worship God have already been marked by him.  They were set apart, sealed with his name (7:3-8).  In the end times it will be obvious that no person can really be unaffiliated; each of us must worship -- and so be marked by --someone.  We will either worship the beast or we will worship the Lamb.

 

Everything depends on this choice.

 

In chapter 14:1-5 we see that those identified with God (they have the Lamb's name and the Father's name written on their foreheads)* appear before the Lamb and the very throne of God blameless and with great joy (Jude 24).  They become the "special offering" to God, which is literally the "firstfruits".   According to Mosaic Law, a sheaf of grain from the very first harvest each year had to be presented before God in recognition that God is Lord of the harvest (Deut. 26:9-10; Lev. 23:9-14).  Here we have a picture of redeemed people as firstfruits, appearing before the Lord of the harvest.

 

In verses 6-20 we have another vision and "another way to look at it".  First there are 3 proclamations brought by 3 angels.  The first angel urges all people to worship God.  The second angel proclaims the destruction of Babylon (this city represents part of the world system set up against the worship of God).  This can be seen as another warning sign for those who continue to worship the beast: what they worship and all things aligned with what they worship are doomed to destruction.  The final angel proclaims outright that those who worship the beast are bound for destruction.

 

After the last warnings are given, the end has come.  The story of the final judgment is condensed and, again, described in harvest imagery (Joel 3:12-13).   Jesus appears in a cloud (Lk. 21:27) as the Son of Man (Dan. 7:13).  Jesus harvests those who belong to him.  Notice that a message was brought to Jesus from the Father telling him the time for harvest had come; Jesus said that even he didn't know the exact time (Mt. 24:36).  The harvesting of those who worshipped the beast is done by angels, as predicted by Jesus in Mt. 13:37.

 

Those who have refused to worship God are destroyed.  In this vision, the destruction is pictured as grapes trampled in a winepress.  In contrast, those who worshipped God stand blameless in his presence; they "shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom" (Mt 13:43).

 

Everything depends on who we worship.

 

 

 

*The 144,000 described in this passage and chapter 7 have variously been interpreted as 1) a special group of Jewish converts, 2) martyrs, and 3) all the redeemed, the universal church.  Since all believers have been sealed (Eph. 1:13-14), have been baptized into his name (Mt.28:19) and stand blameless before him (Jude 24), I chose to explain the passage in terms of the entire church.  However, the message of the chapter remains the same regardless of one's interpretation of the 144,000.

---

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Terror and Triumph

Revelation 12:1-18

Most of the authors I read, suggest that the woman here represents the faithful people of God. And the people of God are under attack. In America, our circumstances as Christ followers is not much like it was for those who lived at the time John wrote this. But throughout the world today, there are many people who face the kind of persecution and violence that was present in the first century.

What we see in this chapter in Revelation is that Satan is attacking God's people. But we are not alone. God, Himself, entered the battle. Jesus, our Messiah, was born as one of us, and Satan was waiting to devour Him as soon as He arrived. Through Herod's command to kill all the little boys in the kingdom and threats against Jesus during His ministry, and ultimately through the cross, Satan was out to stop God's plan of redemption. But Jesus escaped from Satan's clutches. His death on the cross won forgiveness for His people, and His resurrection secured Satan's defeat. Still, Satan continues to fight God by abusing His people.

John suffered for his faith. Quite likely, by the time he wrote Revelation, each of the other Apostles had already been executed. The experience of Christ's followers was (and is often still today) unlike the blissful, victorious experience they might have expected, as they trusted in the King of kings to bring about His kingdom.

But Satan's defeat is accomplished and certain. Like a child resisting punishment, he flails about, trying to escape and inflict as much damage as possible before his destruction. He tried to devour the woman's child, but the Messiah returned to heaven in power. Satan turns against the woman, the people of God, but God provides protection. We are not removed from the battle, for His mission is not yet complete, but we will not be destroyed nor consumed by the enemy. God will lead us out of oppression as He led the Israelites out of Egypt. And every attack that Satan lodges against God's people is met with a counter-attack or a remedy.

By the blood of the Lamb and by our testimony to the power of the Gospel, Satan is defeated in our lives. As we read on, we will learn more about the terrible efforts of Satan against God and His people, and we will see the impact of his deception on the people around us, but we will also be reminded of the great hope to which we hold. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for we who believe in Him. He secured our victory over evil already. As we follow Him, our story and testimony of His power in our lives will deepen and grow. And one day, we will experience the full significance of His victory on our behalf.

The Seventh Trumpet

So much confusion...so much destruction.....now comes judgment.

Have you been wondering how it is possible that the people living in these days will not turn to God in the face of all that will occur? We already read that "the people who did not die in the plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols." One-third of the world's population has been decimated, and yet there is no repentance?

The prophets have spoken, been killed, and resurrected. They ascended to heaven in a cloud, and after an earthquake, it seems some now believe. "Everyone else (who didn't die in the earthquake) was terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven." In the midst of the confusion, some have turned to their idols, and now others to the Living God.

At the sound of the seventh trumpet, loud voices are heard proclaiming the final triumph of God and Christ over the world. This moment seems to mark the blending of the millennial kingdom with the eternal kingdom. "The world has now become the kingdom of our Lord and and his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever." This is the announcement of the reign of the King, but we are left waiting for the final breaking of the enemies' hold on the world which will occur once and for all with the return of Christ.

I thought there would be some sense of relief at this point in the reading. But there is something ominous about the final judgment, which is about take place:

The nations were filled with wrath, but now the time of your wrath has come. It is time to judge the dead and reward your servants the prophets, as well as your holy people, and all who fear your name, from the least to the greatest. It is time to destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth.

Our God is just and he is holy. While the sufferings of those living in these days will be unspeakable, so will it be for all who die outside of Christ. Our Righteous Judge will either reward or condemn everyone.

That fact should cause us to shiver....and kneel at the manger of the Christ Child. May our look ahead to the end times cause us to take a fresh look at Christmas as we celebrate Immanuel, God with us. He is The One who provided the way of escape - our Deliverer.

Mysteries

It isn’t likely that any of us who are reading these verses will want to make the following profession – “Well, I understand every word and every thought in this section!”  This is heavy reading isn’t it?  The symbolism is beyond many of us.  Well, don’t fret too much!  The emphasis we want to particularly absorb from this lesson is this – Ultimately God’s will prevails over all evil.  Even though there are many mysteries in the Book of Revelation that we feel we do not really understand very well, we must read verse 7 and then we will be encouraged.  V. 7 – God’s mysterious plans will ultimately be fulfilled.  Our God is in charge!  V. 13 – Keep in mind that biblically, the word ‘prophesy’ means two things: 1. It is used to refer to the prediction of future events/happenings.  2. However, most often in the Bible, (especially in the New Testament) it refers to the preaching of the Word of the Lord.

 

Donald E. Pardun

 

Deutero-Exodus

Revelation 8:1-13

This chapter is a sobering picture of calamities to come. It's my hope that these occur after the rapture of the church. But even after that God's work and war on earth are not yet done. Undoubtedly, many who have 'sat on the fence' spiritually will turn in faith to Christ after the rapture. The years of tribulation will be starkly polarizing. There may be millions who penitently turn to Christ, but exponentially more who become all the more entrenched in unbelief and in hatred of Christ (look ahead to Rev. 9:21).

Our chapter pictures the great cataclysmic judgment that will come to the earth during these unimaginably awful days. The hail and fire of verse 7, the sea turned to blood in v. 8, and the sources of light struck in v. 12; each draw to mind the plagues of Egypt. As the book of Deuteronomy chronicles the 2nd reiteration of the law (after the book of Exodus), here in this portion of Revelation we have a veritable Deutero-Exodus. We see the preparation of God's people for their final exodus from the trials of this world.

We cannot want any of our family or neighbors to go through last days without Christ. "Holy Spirit, call through your Word, work to convict the consciences of unbelievers, and fill each of us that our witness will be free -- so to rescue people from living through days described here!"

The destruction described in this chapter is mind-numbing: the fraction 'one-third' is repeatedly applied. Three times worse than 'decimation'! A third of the earth to be burned. A third of trees, grass, the sea and its creatures annihilated. A third of rivers and springs ruined. A third of the sun, moon, and stars will be obliterated. A third of the day lightless, and (blackest hole) also the night. And, also the ghastly death of a third of humanity (see 9:18).

A history-knowing friend told me recently that some estimate loss of life in WWII at 70-some million people. If the destruction of Revelation 8 & 9 occurred today, a third of our present 6.6 billion world population would mean nearly 100 times the WWII loss of life would occur. God save us!

And yet, the fact that the destruction is still a fraction is indicative that judgment and devastation is even then incomplete. Worse will come. All will be judged. All the earth and fallen creation will be consumed. None survive outside Christ. We should hear this warning to stir our mission. There is yet time. Judgment is not yet fully poured out. People may still be saved. The 'incense burner' (or censer) used in verse 5 to pour out the hot coals of judgment from the righteous fury of the altar, is also the same censer that at the altar mingles the prayers of faith that rise pleasingly to God (vv. 4 & 5). Mercy and judgment meet at this altar!

PPaul

RESTRAINT

Rev. 7:1-17

The calm before the storm is here. The sea and lakes are smooth as glass the
air is still and even the smallest leaf is quiet. The restraint is complete
we do not need to worry about the prince of the air trying to blow us off
course. He is restrained!!

He is restrained so that "a great multitude" may be selected and brought
before the throne. Imagine people from all over the earth gathering to
praise the Lamb of God for salvation. Leading the worship team are angles.
Worship in church is awesome. Imagine worshipping in the presence of such a
vast array of saints-every tribe & nation.

Lord give me this perspective as I daily gather myself to worship you.

Steve Louden