"Second Bowl" (Rev. 16:3)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/8/2015 10:18 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                         Focus:  Second Bowl

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Revelation 16:3

            Message of the verse:  “The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died.”  Now those of us who have read this verse many, many times may not think about what this kind of a thing will do to planet earth and those who live on it.  If we live inland from any ocean, and most people do live inland we may not realize how much the oceans do for us, things like food, like how the weather moves over the earth, travel, and things like that.  This is going to be a terrible plague that will come upon the earth, for all who live on the earth at this time.

            I wrote the following on September 13, 2005 “One of the plagues God used in Egypt was turning the Nile river red like blood, and the second Trumpet judgment God turned one-third of the oceans red with blood, and now in this second vial judgment God will turn all of the oceans red and probably thick like the blood of a corpse, and this will cause everything in them to die.  This judgment will have a huge affect upon the earth as the oceans will certainly give of a horrible smell, and all shipping will be stopped which will greatly affect the buying and selling of goods throughout the entire world.  This is a very short verse, but it certainly says a lot.  This seems to be part of a progression in which eventually all water on the earth will be turned into blood as part of God’s judgment upon the evil people of the world.”  I have to also tell a little story about what happened to our family when I was seventeen as we made our first trip to see any ocean, and it happened to be the Pacific ocean as we visited some relatives on the West coast of our country.  We actually lived closer to the East coast, but I had never seen the Atlantic ocean and I was very excited to see any ocean.  When we got to LA we went to the ocean only to see what is called a “Red Tide” as there was a lot of cobalt in the water which caused what was supposed to be the blue Pacific being the red Pacific.  Why do I bring this up?  Well a couple of reasons and one of them is that this kind of red tide causes death to many fish in the water, and another reason is that there are what are called cobalt bombs that when a layer of cobalt goes around a nuclear bomb it strengthens the power of it and if shot into the sea could cause the seas to turn red like blood and kill things that live in them.  I am not saying that this is what is going to happen as we have already mentioned that God turned the Nile River read during the days of Moses and is perfectly capable to do this to all the oceans, after all He made them.

            We have mentioned that the bowl judgments will happen very fast, how fast we do not know, but faster than the other judgments happened and when the unsaved people are still having trouble with the sores they received from the first bowl the second one come rapidly upon them and this makes it even more devastating to them.  I have mentioned that this plague from this second bowl will be very effective and another reason for this is that planet earth is made up of about 70% oceans.  Can you imagine seeing a satellite view of planet earth and the oceans are all blood red?  I surely will be different than the views we get now as our planet is mostly a beautiful blue.

            John MacArthur quotes John Phillips from his commentary on Revelation: “From time to time, off the coast of California and elsewhere, a phenomenon known as ‘the red tide’ occurs.”  (See he knows about it too.)  “These red tides kill millions of fish and poison those who eat contaminated shellfish.  In 1949, one of these red tides hit the coast of Florida.  First the water turned yellow, but by midsummer it was thick and viscous with countless billions of dinoflagellates, tiny one-celled organisms.  Sixty-mile windows of stinking fish fouled the beaches.  Much marine life was wiped out, even bait used by fisherman died upon the hooks.  Eventually the red tide subsided, only to appear again the following year.  Eating fish contaminated by the tide produced sever symptoms caused by a potent nerve poison, a few grams of which distributed aright, could easily kill everyone in the world.  An unchecked population explosion of toxic dinoflagellates would kill all the fish in the sea.”

            MacArthur writes “The stench from the dead, decaying bodies of every living thing in the sea (only partial death occurred at the second trumpet) will be unimaginable.  Henry Morris writes ‘In this toxic ocean nothing can survive, and soon all the billions of fishes and marine mammals and marine reptiles and the innumerable varieties of marine invertebrates will perish, thus still further poisoning the oceans and contaminating the sea shores of the world.  The oceans will have effectively completed their age-long function in earth’s physical economy, and will die.  As God had created every living soul in the waters (Gen. 1:21), so now every living soul died in the sea.’  The transforming of the world’s seas into putrid pools of stinking death will be graphic testimony to the wickedness of man, and the reverse of the day when God originally gave life to all sea creatures (Gen. 1:21).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Is it no wonder that the little scroll that John had to eat turned bitter in his stomach?  John’s responsibility was similar to Daniel and Ezekiel who had to write and talk about the awful future that faced unregenerate man.  Joel can also be added into this conversation as I am looking at the book of Joel in my other Spiritual Diaries I try to complete each day, as the theme of Joel is “The Day of The Lord” and we are seeing this firsthand in Revelation 16.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to write my Spiritual Diaries and post them on my blog in the hopes that God’s Spirit will use them to show people the way that they can avoid what will happen as they turn their hearts to the Savior and be saved, and then tell others about what will happen so that salvation will continue on from the things that the Spirit of God is prompting me to write and to study, as this will all bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Tarshish” (Jonah 1:3).

Today’s Bible question:  Who did Pharaoh’s daughter decide to let nurse Moses?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/8/2015 10:54 AM

 

The First Bowl (Rev. 16:2)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/7/2015 11:57 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                       Focus:  The First Bowl

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Revelation 16:2

            Message of the verses:  “2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.”

            I want to begin this SD with what I wrote on this verse on September 12, 2005 “The first judgment is very painful sores, but it is only those who have the mark of the beast and have worshiped the image of the beast that will be affected by it.  This judgment is similar to the later judgments that God gave to Egypt in that not all of them affected the children of Israel, only the Egyptians.  The word used for these sores is the same word that is used for Job’s sores, and also affected those Egyptians in Ex. 9:9-11.  The word is also used for the sores that Lazarus had, (See Luke 16:21).  Of course this word in the OT is from the Greek translation of the OT called the LXX.  One more thing of interest is that when the fifth vial judgment is poured out upon the earth it seems that these unbelievers are still suffering with this first one.  (See Rev. 16:10-11)”

            We have mentioned that the bowls are actually shallow saucers and when the angel would dump them on the earth the contents would come out very fast.  John MacArthur writes the following about the words “loathsome” and “malignant” these words are “translated two general Greek words for evil (kakos  and poneros).  Used together translates they stress that the sores will be festering, painful, and incurable.  ‘Sore translates helkos, the Greek eequivalent of the Latin word from which the English word ulcer derives.  It describes inflamed, oozing, ulcerous sores, such as those that affected the Egyptians, and the ones that covered Lazarus the beggar.  They will bring unrelieved physical torment to those who have rejected Christ.”

            We read the following fate of these unbelievers from an angel that is recorded in Revelation 14:9-11 “9  Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10  he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11  "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."”  MacArthur adds “That passage describes eternal judgment; the present one describes temporal judgment.  Antichrist’s followers are suffering the consequences of having rejected the preaching of the gospel and the warning of the angel given in 14:7: ‘Fear God, and give glory, because the hour of His judgment has come.’”  Part of that judgment is now being poured out on those who have rejected Christ and have taken the mark of the beast as they are aligned with Antichrist and will continue to suffer for that decision. 

            I now want to share a verse from the prophet Zechariah that probably has to do with this section, if not this one then surely one that happens during the Tribulation period.  “12 Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.”  A bit graphic to say the least, but I have read or was told that similar things happen to people who have suffered the effects of a nuclear explosion.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at what is going to happen to those who follow the Antichrist I can say that I truly am thankful for the grace that God has given me for salvation and continues to bestow upon me everyday. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord and to tell others the truth of the Gospel and to tell others what will happen in the end.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “A centurion” (Matthew 8:8).

Today’s Bible question:  “Where did Jonah try to go instead of Nineveh?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/7/2015 12:21 PM

 

 

 

PT-2 Intro. To Rev. 16 (Rev. 16:1)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/6/2015 8:19 AM

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  PT-2 Intro. To Rev. 16

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Revelation 16:1

            Message of the verses:  It is my desire to finish up on this introduction to the 16^th chapter of Revelation as this is the chapter that goes rapidly through the last seven judgments of God on the people who live on planet earth during the last days of the period which the Bible calls the Tribulation or in this case the Great Tribulation.  God’s wrath will be complete at the end of this period as the first verse in chapter 15 indicates.

            We have mentioned that the wrath of God in His final eschatological judgment of sinners is a recurring theme in the Scriptures and gave many different Scripture references to this fact in our last SD.  John MacArthur writes of these last judgments that “They are the last expression of divine wrath against the sin, unrighteousness, and blasphemy that is rampant on the earth.”

            After these judgments are complete the Lord Jesus Christ will return to planet earth, not as a suffering servant like He came on His first visit to planet earth where He came to die on the cross for sinners, but this time He comes triumphantly riding on a white horse with the armies of heaven coming with him also ridding on white horses in order for Him to end the last battle on planet, judge the sinners, and then have Satan, the Antichrist, the False prophet, and sinners left on planet earth at that time placed into the lake of fire.  His return is described in chapter 19.  John MacArthur writes “Chapters 17-18 go back in time to describe the destruction of Antichrist’s worldwide political and religious empire of Babylon.  (A similar recapitulation interrupted the chronological flow of Revelation in chapters 12-14.)”  It is important for us to understand how chapters 17-18 fit into what the book of Revelation is teaching us.

            The bowl judgments will be more severe than the other judgments as they will be over the whole earth and will come like in machine gun fire on planet earth.  MacArthur writes “The severity is strong proof of how God feels about those who persistently, willfully, reject Him.  This particular epoch in human history will be a fitting time for God’s wrath to reach its apex, for mankind’s rebellion against God will also then be at its apex.”  Now one would think that after seeing the first two sets of judgments that come on the earth that people would be ready to look to God for salvation, but even after knowing that God is the author of these judgments, and that He is the One who executes these judgments that people will still turn a blind eye to His promise of salvation as also have been made clear to the peoples of planet earth by the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, and also the two witnesses, along with an angel crying out from heaven the eternal Gospel, and then there are those who have been saved telling others the way of salvation, but man’s hearts are hardened still.

            MacArthur explains more on these last plagues:  “These ‘seven plagues, which are the last’ (15:1), had precursors in two other sets of plagues in Scripture:  the plagues God brought upon Egypt (Ex. 7-12) and the seven trumpet judgments (chaps. 8-11). There are similarities and differences between the three sets of plagues.  The first plagues were very localized, affection only Egypt.  The second set of plagues destroyed one third of the world (8:7-12; 9:15, 18). The final plagues will affect the entire world.  All three sets of plagues include hail, darkness, water turned to blood, and an invasion from the east, whether by insects, demons, or men. The seven bowl judgments will gather together all the horrors and terrors from all the previous judgments of God.  The will completely inundate the world, bring it to the brink of utter ruin.”

            Revelation 16:1 says “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God."”  Once again we John hears a “loud voice” as we have seen this term used a number of times in the book of Revelation so far as it is used some 20 times.  God is the only One left in the temple at this time (Rev. 15:8) and so it is His voice that cries out.  Let us look at Isaiah 66:6 “"A voice of uproar from the city, a voice from the temple, The voice of the LORD who is rendering recompense to His enemies.”  I have read and heard that Isaiah is a mini Bible as it has 66 chapters in it and the theme seems to change after chapter 39 and there are 39 books in the OT and 27 in the NT, so if you look at it that way chapter 66 would be toward the end of the age.  MacArthur writes “Megale (loud) appears half a dozen times in this chapter (usually translated ‘great’), again emphasizing the magnitude of the judgments recorded here.  His loud voice is heard again after the seventh bowl is poured out (v.17).”

            I believe that our study of Revelation will pretty much speed up as we go forth from this point on as after these judgments are seen then it seems to me that it will take less time to go through the remaining chapters than the ones we have already looked at.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I remember when John was told to eat the scroll which was sweet in his mouth and sour in his stomach, and as we look through these last seven judgment they represent the sourness of his experience and as I think about writing about these it is with a sense of urgency to get the Word out so that the Holy Spirit can use it in the lives of people so that they will not have to go through this terrible time and then tell others so that they will not have to go through this terrible time which will come upon the earth.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to pray for those who read my Spiritual Diaries that the Spirit of God will impact their lives in a way that will bring glory to the Lord.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Twelve” (Luke 2:42).

Today’s Bible question: “Who said ‘Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof:  but speak the word only, and my servant will be healed’?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/6/2015 9:03 AM

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