Context
Today's reading puts us in another gap between the sixth and seventh in a judgment series. The sixth trumpet has blown and judgments have destroyed half of the earth. At the end of chapter 9 the sinners of earth refuse to repent but in chapter 10 and 11 God shows his grace by sending another angel with a little scroll and the two witnesses, believed by many to be Moses and Elijah.
At the end of chapter 11, the seventh trumpet will blow and the final judgments of God will fall, after an interlude in which the work of the antichrist and false prophet are explored.
Devotional - Mysteries
There are some things we just are not meant to know.
In Bible studies I am often asked questions to which I have to give my most common answer. "I don't know and no one does." It doesn't help my sense of macho as a Bible teacher, I suppose, but the fact is that there is much in God's word I don't understand, will never understand, and probably am not meant to understand. We are called to trust a God we cannot fully figure out, one whose actions often boggle our minds.
Revelation is one of the most argued books of the Bible, the subject of debates between various millennial systems. And there are many who comb the pages of Revelation (and Daniel, and Ezekiel) looking for arcane details about this and that. There are some who seem to be able to look at every headline in the newspaper and relate it back to some prophetic detail in the pages of Revelation.
But Revelation 10:1-11 tells a story that reminds us that God has not revealed all his mysteries to us yet. A mighty angel appears with a small scroll and then seven thunders sound. John is about to write down the message delivered by the thunders when he is told by the angel to seal it up and keep it until the end.
God reveals himself to us and tells us all that we can understand of him, but that doesn't mean that we know all there is to know. Some aspects of God's character and his plan for the future are always going to remain a mystery. God means it to be that way.
That's where so many have gone wrong in their study of this book. It is about the glorious victory of Jesus over evil, not about details of the second coming. Yes, we learn a lot of those details in this book but the goal of the book is to teach us to trust the one who is driving the story, who is opening the seals and guiding the end of the world. The study of the end times isn't about details and charts and systems, it's about Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords who orders the details so that he stands supreme in the end.
So, as you read this book and encounter a million confusing and fascinating tidbits of information, remember that the key is to look for the one who ends it all for his glory not the details of the end. There are things that have been sealed that we will never understand until it is revealed.
Remember that this book is about Jesus.
In Bible studies I am often asked questions to which I have to give my most common answer. "I don't know and no one does." It doesn't help my sense of macho as a Bible teacher, I suppose, but the fact is that there is much in God's word I don't understand, will never understand, and probably am not meant to understand. We are called to trust a God we cannot fully figure out, one whose actions often boggle our minds.
Revelation is one of the most argued books of the Bible, the subject of debates between various millennial systems. And there are many who comb the pages of Revelation (and Daniel, and Ezekiel) looking for arcane details about this and that. There are some who seem to be able to look at every headline in the newspaper and relate it back to some prophetic detail in the pages of Revelation.
But Revelation 10:1-11 tells a story that reminds us that God has not revealed all his mysteries to us yet. A mighty angel appears with a small scroll and then seven thunders sound. John is about to write down the message delivered by the thunders when he is told by the angel to seal it up and keep it until the end.
God reveals himself to us and tells us all that we can understand of him, but that doesn't mean that we know all there is to know. Some aspects of God's character and his plan for the future are always going to remain a mystery. God means it to be that way.
That's where so many have gone wrong in their study of this book. It is about the glorious victory of Jesus over evil, not about details of the second coming. Yes, we learn a lot of those details in this book but the goal of the book is to teach us to trust the one who is driving the story, who is opening the seals and guiding the end of the world. The study of the end times isn't about details and charts and systems, it's about Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords who orders the details so that he stands supreme in the end.
So, as you read this book and encounter a million confusing and fascinating tidbits of information, remember that the key is to look for the one who ends it all for his glory not the details of the end. There are things that have been sealed that we will never understand until it is revealed.
Remember that this book is about Jesus.
Father, may we focus on your Son, not just the fascinating details of the end times.
Think and Pray
When you study the end times, do you tend to get bogged down in a morbid fascination with the details,s or do you keep your eyes on Jesus, the Victor?
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