Introduction to Chapter 16 of Revelation (Rev. 16)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/5/2015 8:50 PM

My Worship Time                                              Focus:  Introduction to Chapter 16 of Revelation

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 16

            Message of the verses:  I have to begin with Baseball, Bible Study, and Babysitting to show why this SD is later than it usually is.  I stayed up late to watch a baseball game, then got up late and went to my Bible Study, and then had to babysit for three of my grandchildren.  Good day all and all though.  Now we get to look at the introduction to this sixteenth chapter of the book of Revelation, and we have been looking forward to this ever since the end of chapter eleven.  Just a little review and that is to remind us that the seventh seal judgment that were found in chapter six began the seven trumpet judgments which began in chapter eight, and the last three trumpet judgments were called “woes” and the last woe begins these last seven judgments which are called bowl judgment which we saw introduced in chapter fifteen.  Now actually what we will see in chapter sixteen are the final judgments that will bring about the finish of the wrath of God, in other words His wrath will be complete with the end of these judgments.  This of course is not the end of the book of Revelation by far as we still have to look at chapters 17-22, but in reality this will end the time on earth as we know it and has been going on since the third chapter of Genesis which tells when sin entered the human race.  When that seventh bowl is poured out the Lord Jesus Christ will soon return to take back control of planet earth, judge sinners that are alive at that time and then set up His promised Millennial Kingdom, yes indeed the answer of “thy kingdom come, thy will be done” will come to pass.

            John MacArthur writes from his introductory comments on chapter sixteen:  “But while the Bible is a book of hope, it is also a book of judgment.  Because God loves righteousness and faith, He must hate sin and unbelief.  He cannot love truth unless He hates lies.  He cannot love goodness unless He hates wickedness.  He cannot reward unless He also punishes.  The Old Testament repeatedly warns of coming judgment, particularly in those passages that describe the final Day of the Lord judgments (e. g. Joel 2:28; Zech. 14:1; Mal. 4:1, 5).”  Now it is interesting that the Spiritual Diary that I am also doing from the OT minor prophets as I journey through these last thirteen books of the OT is from the second chapter of the book of Joel, and in the next SD I will be looking at 2:18-27, so the one after that will cover 2:28.  You figure it out.

            The Old Testament is not the only part of the Bible that speaks of judging sinners for the forerunner of Jesus Christ, John the Baptist has some things to say about this too:  “So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Luke 3:7).  John the Baptist never had a problem saying what was on his mind.  Matthew 3:11-12 he says “11  "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12  "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."”  Then one of my favorite verses that comes from the mouth of John the Baptist is John3:36 “"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."”  Paul writes in Romans 3:5-6 “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.)  6 May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world?”  Paul also writes in Col. 3:6 “For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience.”  Let us look also at 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 “7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed-for our testimony to you was believed.”  We will now look at Hebrews 10:26-31 “26  For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” 

            Now since it is late and since I have one more SD to write I think it best for me to stop here and continue this introduction, hopefully in the morning.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “They planned to kill him on the way” (Acts 25:1-3).

Today’s Bible question:  “How old was Jesus when his parents took him to Jerusalem?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/5/2015 9:20 PM

The Plan of God (Rev. 15:5-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/4/2015 9:09 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                     Focus:  The Plan of God

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference:  Revelation 15:5-8

            Message of the verses:  “5 After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened, 6  and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in linen, clean and bright, and girded around their chests with golden sashes. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.”

            The following is a quote from my Spiritual diary dated September 8, 2005 “At the beginning of the chapter there was a reference to the seven angels who had the last judgments in their hands about to throw them down onto planet earth, and with these judgments God’s wrath will be complete.  Then there was a picture of those in heaven giving praise to God in the middle of this chapter, and now the final preparation for the deliverance of these final judgments.  Earlier in this book the saints who had been killed for their testimony about Christ had ask the question when would God judge those who had done these awful things to them, and now that question is answered.  God has always had a plan and His plan will be completed in His own time table.

            “John now looks up in heaven at God’s temple, which is opened.  This is God’s Holy of Holies where He resides.  Out of this Temple comes the seven angels who will deliver these last seven judgments upon planet earth.  They are dressed is a similar way to which the OT priests used to dress.  They had shinning linen and wore golden sashes round their chests.  Dr. Macarthur gives these meanings for their dress:  “The fabric represents holiness and purity (Rev. 19:14).  These are belts or girdles, running from the shoulder to the waist, that each of the 7 angels wear over his garments.  The bands demonstrate riches, royalty, and untarnished glory.’”

            Next is a quote from my Spiritual Diary dated September 9, 2005 “The seven angels each received a golden vial, which was a small saucer type shallow bowel that was the same type of bowl used in the OT temple worship of the Jews, and these bowls were filled with the last seven plagues of the wrath of God which will be thrown down upon the earth.  The angels were in the Temple area that is in heaven and it became full of smoke from the glory of God and from the power of God.  John then writes that no man would be allowed into this Temple area until all of the seven plagues were thrown down upon the earth and thus finished.

            “Perhaps one of the reasons that no man was allowed in the Temple area is because of the awfulness of what was going to happen in that area of heaven and God wanted to keep it to those who were fulfilling these judgments.  I somehow want to compare this to the privacy of what went on in the Holy of Holies once a year when the temple was on the earth and only the High Priest was allowed in there once a year, but I am not sure that these two events have much in common.”  Let me say that another thought just came to me about why no one was allowed in the temple which is in heaven and that is that perhaps it is similar to when God took His wrath out on Jesus Christ while on the cross and the earth when black as there was not light at that time because God was taking His furry out on Jesus Christ for the sins of those who would confess Him as Savior and Lord.

            What we see in these verses is the plan of God, and we have talked about certain things that this plan involved which is that God will take back control of planet earth so that He can place His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ on the throne in Jerusalem for one thousand years as this is the promised kingdom to the Jews and the kingdom that Jesus told us to pray for in what we commonly call the “Lord’s Prayer.” 

            According to Matthew 25:41 which reads “"Then He will also say to those on His left, ’Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels,” God has prepared hell for the devil and his angels, but as this verse tells us there will be humans in there too, those whom God will sentence to eternal punishment there.  God’s holy angels will participate in this judgment according to Matthew 13:41-43, and 49-50:  “41 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  “49 “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  (Really not a pleasant thing to think about, but perhaps the reading of these verses will cause some to repent and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.)

            As we look at the beginning of verse five we read “After these things I looked,” and remember when we see these words that John is going to introduce a startling dramatic new vision, as this is the way he prepares his readers to look at something new.  We have been looking at the redeemed saints but now something as drawn Johns attention away from them, as this new vision focuses in on these last seven judgments that as stated earlier will satisfy the wrath of God.  In chapter sixteen, which hopefully we will begin tomorrow we will begin to look at these seven bowl judgments.  Remember this will be the last “woe” that was spoken of way back in the “Re 11:14 The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.”

            I have covered what will happen during this time as I quoted from earlier SD’s which were from September of 2005 and so I want to close this SD with the closing words of John MacArthur that he wrote in his commentary for these verses:  “The scene described in this chapter establishes the background for the final, definitive judgments, poured out in chapter 16.  Once the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus Christ because of what He did for sinners; in the future, wrath will be poured out on sinners because of what they did to Jesus Christ.  It is true that ‘The Lord is…patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance’ (2 Pet. 3:9), and that even in His wrath, He will remember mercy (cf. Hab. 3:2).  Yet mercy refused brings judgment.  By the time God pours out the seven bowls on His final wrath on earth, sinners will have been warned repeatedly to repent.  They will have experienced numerous terrifying judgments, which they will acknowledge came from God (6:16-17).  They will have heard the saving message of the gospel preached by the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, the two witnesses, other redeemed Gentiles and Jews, even an angel flying in midheaven.  Yet, tragically, they will harden their hearts and fall into calamity (Prov. 28:14).  They will pay a fearful price for failing to heed the Scripture’s warning:  ‘Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts’ (Heb. 3:15; 4:7).”  There are several reasons that I write my Spiritual Diaries everyday and then post them on my blogs, and one of them is to get the Word out that time is short, (I am not setting any dates, but every day brings us closer to the return of Jesus Christ at the Rapture of the Church), and it is my desire that people know about this so that they do not have to go through the horrible things that we have been learning about from this last book in God’s Word.  I desire for people to grow (2 Peter 3:18), and for believers to experience revival in their hearts so that they can pass on what they are learning to others, so that others too will receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  Salvation, growth, and revival are three things I pray for everyday for those who look at the Spiritual Diaries I write.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at these words in this section about the final judgment of God I look back at the time when God took out His wrath on the Lord Jesus Christ for me and all others who will confess Him as Savior and Lord, and I am thankful for that, more thankful than I can describe.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to get the message out through my Spiritual Diaries that many will be saved, grow, and experience revival.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Fourteen” (Genesis 29:18-30).

Today’s Bible question:  “When Paul was bound in Caesarea, why did the Jews want him brought to Jerusalem for trial?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/4/2015 9:49 AM

 

 

The Character of God PT-2 (Rev. 15:3-4)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/3/2015 8:31 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The Character of God PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  Revelation 15:3-4

            Message of the verses:  “3  And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! 4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED."”

            I have mentioned that I use the NASB95 version of the Bible and it is my belief that this is the best translation that is offered today, and that is why I use it.  When you are reading the NT in this version and you see sections that are all capital letters then the translators believe that that portion are quotes from the OT.  I suppose that is a good thing, but I think that it could be done in a better format.  When I began to read and listen to John MacArthur on Revelation he stated that there were no direct quotes from the OT in this book, but it is obvious that the people who translated the NASB95 disagree with that statement.  I am not sure who it is who is correct, but we do know that there are places in the book of Revelation that at least use things from the OT even if they are not direct quotes.  One thing to keep in mind and that is that the OT’s original language is Hebrew, but later on  it was translated into Greek which is called the Septuagint and there are places in the NT, especially in Hebrews that when the author quoted the OT that he used the Septuagint version of the OT. As far as what we see in verse four we know for sure that this is not the complete song of Moses.  We will continue looking at these verses in today’s SD, remember that we are going to compare the Song of Moses with the Song of the Lamb which is found Revelation chapter five.

            John MacArthur writes:  “Like the song of Moses, the song of the Lamb expresses the themes of God’s faithfulness, deliverance of His people, and judgment of His enemies.  Commentator John Phillips compares and contrasts the two songs:   ‘The song of Moses was sung at the Red Sea, the song of the Lamb is sung at the crystal sea; the song of Moses was a song of triumph over Egypt, the song of the Lamb is a song of triumph over Babylon; the song of Moses told how God brought His people out, the song of the Lamb tells how God brings His people in; the song of Moses was the first song in Scripture, the song of the Lamb is the last.  The song of Moses commemorated the execution of the foe, the expectation of the saints, and the exaltation of the Lord; the song of the Lamb deals with the same three themes.’”  This quote comes from a book entitled “Exploring Revelation” from the Moody Press and written in 1987.

            Now I believe that it is important to understand what we are looking at as we look at the words in this fourth verse of Revelation chapter fifteen, for as stated they are not a direct quote from the Song of Moses, and for that matter not a direct quote of the Song of the Lamb.  We also need to know how these songs of redeemed saints extols God’s character who is the omnipotent, immutable, sovereign, perfect, and righteous Creator, and also the Judge.  We will now look at MacArthur’s quote to explain the first part of this:  “The words of the song recorded here do not match exactly either the song of Moses in Exodus 15, or the song of the Lamb in Revelation 5.  But the themes and many of the key terms are similar.  This song adds some new stanzas to the triumph song of God’s redeemed people, yet every one of its lines finds an echo in the Old Testament.  ‘Great and marvelous are Your works’ is reminiscent of Psalm 139:14 ‘Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.’  The title ‘Lord God, the Almighty,’ celebrates God omnipotence, essential to the triumphant power of the last judgments, appears frequently in Revelation (cf. 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 16:7, 14; 19:6, 15; 21:22), and the title ‘God Almighty’ was the name by which God revealed Himself to Abraham (Gen. 17:1); cf. Gen. 35:11; 48:3; Ex. 6:3).  The exclamation ‘righteous and true are Your ways’ reflects the Old Testament truth that ‘all [God’s] works are true and His ways just’ (Dan. 4:37; cf. Deut. 32:4; Hos. 14:9).  God is called the ‘King of the nations’ in Jeremiah 10:7.  The phrase ‘Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?’ is also drawn from Jeremiah 10:7 (cf. Ps. 86:9).  The truth that God alone is holy is an oft-repeated Old Testament thee (cf. 1 Sam. 2:2; Pss. 22:3; 99:5, 9; 111:9; Isa. 6:3; 57:15; Hab. 1:12).  The phrase ‘for all the nations will come and worship before You’ quotes Psalm 86:9 (cf. Jer. 10:7), while the phrase ‘Your righteous acts have been revealed’ echoes such Old Testament passages as Judges 5:11 1 Samuel 12:7; Psalm 103:6; Daniel 9:16; and Micah 6:5).”  It is my belief that this quote gives us a good idea of what is found in verse four.

            How do these songs extol God’s character in the way described in the paragraph before this long quote from John MacArthur?  We God is all that we spoke of in that paragraph and because God is all of that He must judge sinners, and as stated before that sometimes bothers people who think that God should just turn His head from sin, but that would not fulfill all of His attributes, especially His wrath, and justice.  Job 8:3 asks “Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?  The answer comes from Psalm 19:9, “The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.” 

            As we look at the closing portion of this song “all the nations will come and worship before You,” we see that this causes great anticipation of what will happen during the Millennial Kingdom which Christ will rule over from Jerusalem.  The song actually closes with “FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.”  This speaks of God’s judgment which has been revealed during the last part of the Tribulation when with the seven bowl judgments carried out the wrath of God will be complete.  Isaiah 66:23 says “"And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from Sabbath to Sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me," says the LORD.”  That portion from Isaiah will fulfill the first phase of the fulfillment of what Paul wrote in Philippians 2:10-11 which says “10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  Of course the last phase will happen at the Great White Throne Judgments described later on in Revelation which is the final judgment of the lost sinners who did not chose to accept the forgiveness that is offered through Jesus Christ who said “"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (John 14:6).” 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I just enjoy learning more and more about the character of God and that is what has happened in this two day study of His character found in these two verses.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength, and to better understand the love He has for me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “James”

Today’s Bible question:  “How many years did Jacob serve his future father-in-law for Rachel?” 

Answer in our next SD.

8/3/2015 9:25 AM

The Character of God PT-1 (Rev. 15:3-4)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/2/2015 7:56 PM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The Character of God PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  Revelation 15:3-4

            Message of the verses:  “3  And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! 4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED."”

            I want you to remember what we are looking at in this 15^th chapter of the book of Revelation as far as the outline that we are trying to follow.  John MacArthur wrote the following when it came to following this chapter’s outline:  “As this chapter unfolds, three motives for the final outpouring of God’s wrath will be evident:  the vengeance of God, the character of God, and the plan of God.”  We have already looked at the “vengeance of God, and today will look at the character of God and see how different songs will help us see God’s character as far as a motive for God’s final outpouring of His wrath.  It is possible that we will not get through all of this section today, but if we don’t we will continue in our next SD.

            John MacArthur writes “The ultimate motive of God’s wrath is His holy, righteous character, which demands that He judge sinners.  It is God’s holy nature, soon to be revealed in judgment against their persecutors, that elicits this song from the redeemed.”  Again some people have a big problem with God’s wrath, but that is because they do not understand who God truly is, and to do that you have to understand His character, and to understand His character you have to understand His attributes.  I have mentioned that I have read a number of books that talk about the attributes of God, and that the one that I learned the most from was “The Joy of Knowing God” written by Richard Strauss.  He writes the following in the second paragraph of the first chapter of this book:  “One day it occurred to me that God is the most fascinating person alive and that getting to know Him could well be the most helpful thing that ever happened to me.  The more I probed His nature the more convinced I became that knowing Him is the solution to the most of my problems.  And as I listened to other share their burdens with me as their pastor, I became convinced that knowing God better was the answer to many of their problems as well.  I decided that I want to get to know God intimately, and that I want to help others get to know Him as well, if I possibly can.”  These are important words to understand and to follow, for it is easy to do what a lot of people do and that is “put God in a box,” to make God into what you want Him to be instead of being who He is.  Some people will say that God could not do this or that and when you look at His attributes you find out that that is a part of who He is, and learning about His wrath is one of the things that all believers need to know about.    With all of this said lets us move onto what we will find out in these two important verses from the 15^th chapter of Revelation.

            John speaks about the “Song of Moses” in verse three and then goes on to take some portions of verses from the OT to finish up these two verses.  The children of Israel sang a song of praise when the Lord gave them water in the wilderness which is found in Numbers 21:17-18 “17 Then Israel sang this song: "Spring up, O well! Sing to it! 18 “The well, which the leaders sank, Which the nobles of the people dug, With the scepter and with their staffs." And from the wilderness they continued to Mattanah.”  In Deuteronomy 31:19-22; and 32:1-44 we see that Moses taught the children of Israel a song of remembrance which happened shortly before he died.  Dr. MacArthur writes “That song of Moses is not in view here, because it deals with Israel’s unfaithfulness and God’s punishment of the nation before her restoration.  The context of Revelation 15 is not one of unfaithfulness, but of faithfulness that triumphs.”

            He goes on “The historical setting for the song of Moses comes from the time of the Exodus.  As the bond-servant of God, Moses was called to lead the people of Israel out of captivity in Egypt.  God delivered them from Pharaoh’s pursuing army by parting the Red Sea, stacking the water on either side of a path, thus allowing the Israelites to cross safely on dry land.  After they were safely across, the collapsing waters drowned the Egyptian army.  On the far side of the Red Sea, the Israelites sang a song of praise to God for their deliverance.”  I think that it is best to look at this song.

1 Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and said, "I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. 2 “The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him. 3 “The LORD is a warrior; The LORD is His name. 4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; And the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea. 5 “The deeps cover them; They went down into the depths like a stone. 6  "Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. 7 “And in the greatness of Your excellence You overthrow those who rise up against You; You send forth Your burning anger, and it consumes them as chaff. 8 “At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up, The flowing waters stood up like a heap; The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. 9 “The enemy said, ’I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be gratified against them; I will draw out my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ 10 “You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters. 11 “Who is like You among the gods, O LORD? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders? 12 “You stretched out Your right hand, The earth swallowed them. 13 “In Your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed; In Your strength You have guided them to Your holy habitation. 14 “The peoples have heard, they tremble; Anguish has gripped the inhabitants of Philistia. 15 “Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed; The leaders of Moab, trembling grips them; All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. 16  "Terror and dread fall upon them; By the greatness of Your arm they are motionless as stone; Until Your people pass over, O LORD, Until the people pass over whom You have purchased. 17  "You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, The place, O LORD, which You have made for Your dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established. 18 “The LORD shall reign forever and ever."”

            We can see by this song that this was a song of victory and of deliverance for those who are righteous, but at the same time a song of judgment and of wrath on the enemies of God.  Now as we look at the Tribulation saints found in this chapter we see that they are gathered in triumph there in heaven where they are safe and secure, and this will echo the same song of deliverance sung a very long time ago by the children of Israel.

            We will stop here and pick it up in the next SD as we also have to look at the Song of the Lamb which we have already looked at from chapter five and then we will compare the two songs.  One more point I wish to make and that is that I did a word study on the words, sing, song, and sang, and found out that the first mention of any of these words is found in Exodus 15:1 the verse we just looked at and so singing is not mentioned in the Word of God until then.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Singing is a very important part of my life and it always has been, but since I became a believer the songs are different for me, and I am thankful that God has given us the gift of music, for it is a much better world that we live in because of the gift of music, especially the music of God.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord, and to continue to try and love Him in a Biblical way.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Job” (Job 1:8).

Today’s Bible question:  “Which epistle is addressed to the twelve tribes which are of the dispersion?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/2/2015 9:07 PM

  

The Vengeance of God (Rev. 15:2)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/1/2015 9:06 AM

My Worship Time                                                                         Focus:  The Vengeance of God

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  Revelation 15:2

            Message of the verse:  “2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God.”

            Just a reminder that although we are going to look at three motives for the final outpouring of God’s wrath in our next SD’s the first verse in Revelation 15 sets the stage for these three motives:  “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.”  This is one of my favorite verses in the book of Revelation mostly because of the part that I have highlighted, for by looking at that portion I can see that I do not worship a vindictive God, but a God who will not stand for sinfulness and because of that a part of His attributes is wrath, wrath that is just and must be fulfilled, but when it is done it is done.  We are also looking at the time when the seven angels will bring about these last seven plagues which will satisfy the wrath of God.  However the death of Jesus Christ on the cross also satisfied the wrath of God for those who will repent of their sins and trust Jesus Christ as their Savior and their Lord, which is far better than going through these seven last plagues which also satisfy the wrath of God.

            John writes in this verse about a “sea of glass” something that he has written about before:  “Re 4:6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.”  This is speaking of heaven, where God dwells, so we know that this sea has no h20 in it.  When we look forward to Revelation 21:1 it says of the new heaven and earth “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.”  MacArthur writes “What John saw was a transparent crystal platform before God’s throne, shimmering and glistening like a tranquil sunlit sea.”  One more verse to look at from the OT “and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself (Ex. 24:10).”  This speaks of what Moses saw. 

            Now as we look further as this sea we see that it was “mixed with fire.”  This is the fire of God’s judgment that was about to come upon the earth for those who have rejected the wrath that He had already taken out on the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for their sins.  We need to look at two verses from the book of Hebrews:  “Heb 10:27  but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.’”  “Heb 12:29 for our God is a consuming fire.”  Here is a list of verses that speaks of God’s judgment associated with fire:  Num. 11:1; 16:35; Deut. 9:3; Pss. 50:3; 97:2; Isa. 66:15; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; 2 Pet. 3:7.

            Next we look at who was there with the Lord as John saw “those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name.”  Now we also see this in Rev. 6:9-11 “9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”  In Rev. 7:9-17 “9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen." 13Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?" 14 I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15  "For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. 16  "They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; 17  for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes."”  Rev. 12:11 says of these who were standing before the throne of God:  “"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”  Rev. 14:1-5 says “1 Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. 4 These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.”  Rev. 14:12-13 “12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. 13 And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, ’Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’" "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them."”  These verses speak of all those who had been saved during the Tribulation period and were now standing before the throne because they did not take the mark of the beast and did not worship his image as they were victorious over the beast.  In chapter 20:4-6 we will see that this describes their resurrection and their reward. 

            Remember back in the seal judgments that are mention above in Rev. 6:9-11 where these saints asked the question:  “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"”  Well we said at that time that it was about to begin and it did with the trumpet judgments and it will now end with these seven bowl judgments as the vengeance of God will be fulfilled.

            Next we see these tribulation saints holding harps of God indicating that they are rejoicing and singing praise to God.  MacArthur writes “Harps were also associated with praise earlier in Revelation (5:8; 14:2), as they are frequently in the Old Testaments (cf. 2 Sam. 6:5; 1 Chron. 13:8; 15:16, 28; 1 Chron. 5:12-13; Neh. 12:27; Pss 33:2; 71:22; 144:9; 150:3).”

            He continues to write:  “The appearance of the Tribulation saints makes the point that God sends His wrath as an act of vengeance on those who mistreat His people, Jesus warns: ‘5 “And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

    7 “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! 8  "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 9 “If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell. 10  "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven (Matt. 18:5-10).’  Unbelievers will be condemned to eternal hell for mistreating God’s people, because that mistreatment reveals their evil impenitent hearts:  ‘41  "Then He will also say to those on His left, ’Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42  for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43  I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44  "Then they themselves also will answer, ’Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 “Then He will answer them, ’Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me (Matt. 25:41-45).’”

             As we continue to look at this subject we can look at what the apostle Paul wrote about how, we as believers are to act, when it comes to vengeance:  “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord (Rom. 12:19).”  Next we will look at some various verses from the book of Psalms on this subject:  “1  O LORD, God of vengeance, God of vengeance, shine forth! 2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth, Render recompense to the proud. 3 How long shall the wicked, O LORD, How long shall the wicked exult? 4 They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly; All who do wickedness vaunt themselves. 5 They crush Your people, O LORD, And afflict Your heritage. 6 They slay the widow and the stranger And murder the orphans. 7 They have said, "The LORD does not see, Nor does the God of Jacob pay heed." 8 Pay heed, you senseless among the people; And when will you understand, stupid ones? 9 He who planted the ear, does He not hear? He who formed the eye, does He not see? 10 He who chastens the nations, will He not rebuke, Even He who teaches man knowledge? (Psalm 94:1-10).  Next we will look at verses 21-23 of this Psalm in conclusion:  “21 They band themselves together against the life of the righteous And condemn the innocent to death. 22 But the LORD has been my stronghold, And my God the rock of my refuge. 23 He has brought back their wickedness upon them And will destroy them in their evil; The LORD our God will destroy them.”

            MacArthur concludes “The believers pictured here will have undergone the terrors of the Tribulation and suffered painful, violent deaths as martyrs.  Yet despite having endured the most intense persecution the world will ever know, their faith, which is a gift from God, will endure.  Eventually, they will stand triumphantly before the throne of God, watching as God takes vengeance on their persecutors.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I don’t see anything wrong with praying along with the psalmist from the 94^th Psalm as he prayed to the Lord to take His vengeance upon those who were doing evil, for we have much evil going on in our country which is headed by those who have made laws that go against our constitution.  I pray for the believers in our government to act and live like they are believers and stand up to the evil that is going on in our country, and also for the Spirit of God to confuse the unbelieving members of our government so that they will not be able to continue to do evil in our government.

My Steps of Faith for Today:    Remember what Paul wrote in Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Babylon” (2 Kings 25:27).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who was the perfect and upright man whom God allowed Satan to test?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/1/2015 10:04 AM

              

 

Introduction to Revelation 15 PT-2 (Revelation 15:1-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/31/2015 9:25 AM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  Introduction to Revelation 15 PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 15:1-8

            Message of the verses:  “1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished. 2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. 3  And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! 4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED."

    “5 After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened, 6 and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in linen, clean and bright, and girded around their chests with golden sashes. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.”

            We have been looking at the wrath of God as we look at Revelation chapter fifteen, as this seems to be the theme of this chapter as we read in the first verse that when these last seven plagues are finished, and I might say that the word translated plague is a very interesting word that we will look at later on, when these are finished then we read that “the wrath of God is finished.”  The word “finished” has also been translated as “accomplished” and that may be a better way of looking at that word as once these plagues are finished in a rapid way then it will accomplish what God has planned to do, and that is that His Son will set on the throne in Jerusalem as we have read prophesied in the second Psalm.  “6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain."”  Verse five says “5  Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying.” 

            We have been looking at some OT verses that speak of the wrath of God, and mentioned that this also speaks of what the Bible calls “The Day of the Lord.”  Today we will look at different aspects of the wrath of God as John MacArthur writes “The historical outpourings of God’s wrath fall into several categories.  First is what might be called ‘sowing and reaping’ wrath.  People sin and suffer the logical consequences of that sin; ‘Those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it’ (Job 4:8; cf. Gal. 6:7-8).  A second kind of wrath is cataclysmic wrath, when God sends massive, destructive judgment.  That judgment may engulf the entire world, as it did with the Flood (Gen. 6-8), or a smaller region, as when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:1-29).  Romans chapter 1 reveals God’s wrath of abandonment when Paul three times used the phrase ‘God gave them over’ to demonstrate God’s judicial abandonment of sinners, removing restraint to the deadly consequences of their sinful choices (vv. 24, 26, 28).  Hosea 4:17 declares, ‘Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.’  As previously noted, God’s terminal judgment is poured out in historical Day of the Lord judgments.  Finally, there is eternal wrath, God’s eschatological wrath that will in the future be poured out on the whole world (1 Thess. 1;5:9).  The ultimate result of eternal wrath will be the sentencing of all unrepentant sinners to hell forever.

            “But throughout the entire historical outpouring of God’s wrath, from Eden to the final explosion of His eschatological wrath, a strange paradox exists:  God is busily working to save sinners from His own wrath.  God’s nature encompasses not only righteousness and holiness, but also grace and mercy.  Even during the devastating judgments of the Tribulation, God will call sinners to salvation.  He will do so using the 144,000 Jewish evangelists (7:2-8; 14:1-5), the two witnesses (11:3-13), a host of redeemed Gentiles and Jews 7:9-17), even an angel flying in the sky (14:6-7).  As the outpouring of divine wrath escalates, God’s evangelistic efforts will escalate as well.  The result will be the greatest harvest of souls in human history (cf. 7:9).  A redeemed Israel and souls from all the nations will be saved, many to survive the Tribulation and enter the millennial kingdom.” 

            We will see as we study chapters 15 and 16 that this will be the final outpouring of God’s wrath before the return of Jesus Christ to planet earth to set up His promised Kingdom.  This final wrath will be expressed in seven “bowl” judgments and they will be rapid-fire judgments, not lasting as long as the other judgments we have already studied earlier.  Remember that God said that the last three trumpet judgments were “woes,” well that last woe brings on these last seven bowl judgments.  Chapter fifteen forms the introduction to these judgments as it is the shortest chapter in the book, only eight verses in all.  Some could conclude that this is here to defend God’s wrath, but God needs no defense in what He does, for after all He is God.  “"The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He (Deu. 32:4).”

            As we begin to look at chapter fifteen we see what John describes as “another sign in heaven,” and this chapter describes how God readies to send these last seven plagues that will come from heaven to planet earth, which is similar to when the other judgments were being readied.

            John MacArthur writes the following on the word translated wrath:  “Thumos (wrath) is a strong word, describing rage, or a passionate outburst of anger.  God’s anger must be expressed against all unforgiven sin (cf. 14:8, 10).  In 16:19 and 19:15 God’s final wrath is called His ‘fierce wrath.’  The prophet Zephaniah wrote of this final outpouring of God’s wrath in Zephaniah 3:8:  “"Therefore wait for Me," declares the LORD, "For the day when I rise up as a witness. Indeed, My decision is to gather nations, To assemble kingdoms, To pour out on them My indignation, All My burning anger; For all the earth will be devoured By the fire of My zeal.”

            He concludes with the preview of what we are going to look at by writing “As this chapter unfolds, three motives for the final outpouring of God’s wrath will become evident:  the vengeance of God, the character of God, and the plan of God.”  

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Wrath is as much a part of God as the other attributes that are mentioned in the Word of God, but many do not want to learn about it as they would rather look at the love of God, His grace and mercy, which too are a part of God’s attributes.  However when we look at the world today and see many Christians being killed for their faith in Christ and we look at the many millions of abortions that have happened in our country since 1972 we have to cry out for God’s wrath to come upon the guilty ones, and as we continue to study the book of Revelation we will see that final wrath when God will sentence those who have not trusted in His salvation through His Son Jesus Christ pay or their sins. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to continue to get the word out as far as what the world is about to witnes so that God can use it to call sinners to repentance and believers to growth and revival.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “The prodigal son” (Luke 15:18).

Today’s Bible question:  “Of what country was Evil-Merodach king?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/31/2015 10:20 AM

Introduction to Revelation 15 (Rev. 15)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/30/2015 7:55 AM

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  Introduction to Revelation 15

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 15

            Message of the verses:  1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished. 2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. 3  And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! 4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED."

    “5 After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened, 6 and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in linen, clean and bright, and girded around their chests with golden sashes. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.”

            John MacArthur entitles this chapter in his commentary on the book of Revelation “The Temple of Doom,” and it covers these eight verses which make up the fifteenth chapter of the book of Revelation.  We spent 24 days looking at the fourteenth chapter of Revelation and I suppose that this 15^th chapter will not take us that long as it is shorter than the 14^th.

            I may have mentioned that I am very slowly reading a book written by Dr. David Jeremiah which he entitled “I Never Thought I Would See the Day,” and in this book he writes about things that are happening in our country that he never thought that he would ever see including what people think about the Word of God.  The Word of God is the most important book that man has and there are probably more Bibles that are in the world than any other book ever printed, however that does not mean that people read it as faithfully as they should.  The Bible tells us all we need to know about where we came from and where we are going, it tells us how we can have a relationship with God through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, and as we are learning from the last book in the Bible it tells us what the future holds, for it tells us Who it is that holds the future.  People worry about the future, and with good reason, and people who do not know the Lord have even greater reason to worry about the future for as we will see in this chapter there is coming a time when as the first verse in this chapter tells us that with the seven plagues that the seven angels are about to throw down upon planet earth, which will be described in the next chapter that with them the wrath of God will be complete, but as we will see there is still a lot of wrath from God to come.

            We will look at some other verses which speak about this terrible time that is just over the horizon of human history, verses that were written many hundreds and even thousands of years ago that speak of this awful time that will come upon the whole world.

            As we study the books of the Old Testament we have seen that God has poured out His wrath upon man because of their sinfulness.  Paul writes the following about how Adam and Eve brought the entire human race under God’s judgment “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned. (Rom. 5:12).”  Next we see the wrath of God at the flood which covered the entire world and has caused the world to be a different place to live when it was over.  We see this in the book of Genesis 6:5-8 where it reads “5  Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  6 The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 The LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”  God’s wrath through the flood was about to happen as we see in these verses.  God’s wrath seems to be pointed to a time in which the Bible calls “The Day of the Lord,” and that is the theme of the OT book of Joel, a book that I am just beginning to study at this time.  The day of the Lord is seen in different books of the Word of God including OT books along with NT books and we have seen it in the letter to the Thessalonians which we looked at last year and are seeing it in the book of Revelation as it will climax in this book.  Let us take a look at some passages from the book of Isaiah a book we also studied a few years ago.  “6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man’s heart will melt. 8  They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame. 9 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it (Isa. 13:6-9).”

Next Ezekiel 30:3 “"For the day is near, Even the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of clouds, A time of doom for the nations.”  Joel 1:15 “Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.” Amos 4:12 “"Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; Because I will do this to you, Prepare to meet your God, O Israel."”  Next we will look at Zephaniah as he gives the following frightening account of the Day of the Lord:  “14 Near is the great day of the LORD, Near and coming very quickly; Listen, the day of the LORD! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. 15  A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness, 16  A day of trumpet and battle cry Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers. 17 I will bring distress on men So that they will walk like the blind, Because they have sinned against the LORD; And their blood will be poured out like dust And their flesh like dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold Will be able to deliver them On the day of the LORD’S wrath; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete end, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth.”  We will look at one more in this SD and then finish up this introduction in our next SD.  “"For the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity; They will be led forth at the day of fury (Job. 21:30).”  Job may be one of the oldest books that we find in the Word of God as many believe that he lived near the time of Abraham.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I continue to study about what the Lord has planned and told from His Word what will happen it has been my desire since I first became a believer to get the message out so that people will not have to go through this time of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, and as far as personal meaning to me I continue to go back to what Peter wrote in his second letter after explaining some things about what will happen in the future of this world.  “10  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.  11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness (2 Peter 3:10-11).”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  “always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence (1 Peter 3:15b).”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “He went to the Synagogue” (Luke 4:16).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘I will arise and go to my father’?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/30/2015 8:43 AM