"Embracing Evil" December 27 Readings: Revelation 13-15

 

Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022

This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT. 

Bible Readings:    Revelation 13-15

Background:   

Chapter 13 turns to the rise of two men who will spearhead the work of evil in the last days, men we know of as the Antichrist and the false prophet - here they are identified as the first and second beasts.

Since Adam and Eve ate the fruit in the Garden, the curse of sin has rested on the earth and on the sinners who dwell here. God has repeatedly warned that while he is patient and gracious, his wrath will come. In the ensuing chapters, the wrath of God falls at the end of time - fast and furious, shock and awe! The final seven bowls of God's wrath are poured out on the world and the end comes.

Daily Devotional: Embracing Evil

There are many misconceptions about the spread of evil. We fictionalize the devil and his ways, casting him as a vile monster who attacks people and drags them to hell against their will. But that is, unfortunately, not what the Bible teaches. What we learn in scripture leaves us without excuse.

Mike Bergman, a pastor in Missouri and one of my fellow writers on SBC Voices, said this:

In Genesis, God gave us the world. We chose a tiny piece of fruit instead. In the future, God promises once again to give us the world. Each time we sin, we're saying to him: "No thanks, I'd rather have this tiny bite of fruit instead." Heirs of everything shouldn't sell it for a tiny bite of fruit that doesn't satisfy beyond the moment.

What a powerful statement. Hold onto that thought as we reflect on Revelation 13. In verse 1 we are introduced to a being of infinite evil that we call the Antichrist, or the Beast. He is empowered by Satan himself (verse 2) and is enabled by him to recover from some sort of fatal wound (the exact nature of this is much-debated). But what comes next, in verses 3 and 4, is what I'd like you to take notice of. 

One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

We often labor under the idea that Satan gains power by forcing people to sin against their wills or that the Antichrist will rise to power by a coup and seize power by force. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Adam and Eve were deceived, but they chose the fruit of sin over the Paradise of God, and people have willfully chosen sin ever since. In this passage, the enemy of God rises to power as a hero. People worship him as their savior, their deliverer. He does not force his way to the throne, he is carried on the shoulders of the people - those he will later brutally oppress. 

That is the way of sin. We choose it - willfully, even gleefully. We like it. We want it. It is only after we have eaten the fruit that we realize what it will cost. It is only after we have embraced the evil that we realize what a cruel tyrant it is. Sin always takes us farther than we want to go, costs us more than we want to pay, and keeps us longer than we want to stay. 

Jesus is a loving Lord. He gives joy and peace to those who follow him. Why do we choose the measly fruit of sin when we can have the full blessing of God? Why do we embrace the ways of the enemy of God when the yoke of Jesus is easy and his burden is light? 

Father, I want what you have, not the false promises of the enemy. I thank you that you have freed me eternally from sin. Help me to walk daily in freedom from his lies. 

Consider God's Word:

Remember that sin is something you do, something you choose, not something you are a victim of. Thank God for his sin-defeating power and recommit your life to him.