Commercial Babylon (Rev. 18:1)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/10/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Commercial Babylon

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelation 18:1

 

            Message of the verse:  “1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendour.”

            The book of Revelation has the mention of angels in it many times and at the beginning of this chapter John writes about another angel who when he came to earth to deliver his message he would be illuminated by his splendour.  John Macarthur said in his commentary on this verse that because of the darkness of the fifth vial judgment this angel would be seen by many people on the earth because of his brightness.  When the women came to the grave of Jesus on resurrection morning they say an angel who was bright in appearance so this is not the first time this has been mentioned in the Scriptures.

            This verse also mentions that this angel has great authority, and I believe that the Scriptures mention that there are certain ranks within the realm of angels, and this one must have a high ranking.

            It is also good to remember that in the scope of all of these prophecies that are in this book that Babylon would have been destroyed already as seen in Revelation 14:8.  Again from John Macarthur’s commentary he states that “The Greek text views the results of this as if it had already taken place.”

            The Bible has a great deal to say about Babylon in both the Old Testament and also much is written about it in this book of the Revelation.  Just as Jerusalem is the city of God so Babylon is the city of the devil, for it was first written about in the 10^th and 11^th chapter of Genesis where it is described as man rebelling against God and the beginning of this false religion that has opposed God and still does.  This 18^th chapter will describe the commercial aspect of Babylon and this speaks of the world system that all true believers are supposed to avoid.  John wrote about this briefly in 1 John 2:15-7.  Both the religious and the commercial systems have been around for a very long time and both of them have opposed God and both are sinful and both of them will reach their zenith in this tribulation period with Satan and his Antichrist along with the false prophet and then God will destroy all of it forever.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I believe that it is much easier for me to get involved with the commercial aspect of this than the religious side of it, for this world system is tempting with all of it’s false riches and at times it is hard for me to understand how many things that I should have, but I think that God will give me direction on this if I ask Him and also if my possessions do not own me and I keep my devotion unto the Lord then things will work out well. 

 

The Word of God has brought conviction to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust that the Lord will grow me to be more like Him as I go through all of the trials that He has me going through at this time.   

God Is Always in Control (Rev. 17:16-18)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/07/2005

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  God is always in control

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 17:16-18

 

            Message of the verse:  “16 ‘And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.  17  ‘For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.  18 The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.’”

            I believe that verse 16 is saying that the Antichrist and those ten rulers under him have ridden this religious beast into power and now that they are in power they no longer need this religious system and so it is time to get rid of it, and this will be the beginning of the worship of the Antichrist, which will take place in the last half of the tribulation period.  In verse 17 I can see something that is woven throughout the entire Word of God and that is that God is over all and in control of all, and His plan for this world and the people in it will take place.  It is God’s plan that this Antichrist will be in control of all the earth for this short time in order to work out His plan.  God’s ways are at many times very hard to understand, but He never makes any mistakes, ever.  Verse 18 identifies this woman or harlot and John says that this woman is the city which reigns over the kings of the earth.  At the time John wrote this it was Rome, but it is possible that John is writing about Babylon, because it was there that all of this false religious stuff began, and although it is still centered in Rome he could well have been writing about Babylon.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at verse 17 it gives comfort to my heart because it shows what I have believed in for a long part of my Christian life, and that is that God is in control of all things, and even though things do not look good at the time it does not mean that God is not in control.  One of the OT prophets was upset that God did not judge Israel because of her sins, and then God told that prophet that He would use Babylon to judge Israel and the prophet then got upset because God was using a more wicked nation to judge Israel, but then God told this prophet that He would then judge Babylon for judging Israel.  The point in all of this is that God has His own script for everything, and He has one for my family too.

 

The Word of God has brought comfort to my heart and has also challenged me as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Trust in the Lord with all of my heart and lean not upon my won understand, in all of my ways acknowledge Him and He will direct my path.   

Sea of Humanity (Rev. 17:15)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/06/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Sea of humanity

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelation 17:15

 

Message of the verse:  “15 And he said to me, "The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.

            It has already been established that this harlot is the world’s religious system in which the Antichrist will ride on into power, and in this verse it can be seen that the waters are the people of the world, and this religious system, which is the religious Babylon that is being written about in this chapter, has rule over these peoples and nations and tongues.  During this time there will be a one world religious system that will come out of the Babylonian system that was started in Genesis 10 and 11, and is to this day still alive and well, although with different names given to its so called deity’s.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Satan is tricky and he is also a counterfeit, as he tries to copy all of the things that God has, including what he wants the most and that is worship.  I have been tricked by Satan and also my flesh on far too many occasions and I am ashamed of it.

 

The Word of God has brought conviction to my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith:  Believe 1John 1:9.    

Returning with the Lord Jesus Christ (Rev. 17:14)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/04/2005

 

My Worship Time                                         Focus:  Returning with the Lord Jesus Christ

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Revelation 17:14

 

            Message of the verse:  “14 ‘These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.’”

            The verse is saying that these ten kings or kingdoms will make war against the Lord Jesus Christ when He returns during this battle that will take place in Armageddon.  This is recorded in Revelations 19 and at the end of this verse there is a reference to what I believe is the Saints who have gone to be with the Lord at the Rapture of the Church, which was described in Revelation 4.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think that this verse is a part of the hope that I have as a believer in Jesus Christ, and that is that one day He will take me home to be with Him and I will have a glorified body like His that will never be able to sin or to get sick or to have any of the problems that this body of mine has now.  After this I will be a part of Christ’s army who will return to help defeat the evil that has been present on this world since the moment that sin entered this universe.  This is a great hope of, not only mine, but all believers.

 

The Word of God has brought encouragement to my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord throughout all of the trials that He has sent my way, knowing the truth from His Word that He is surely in control of these trials and He has the script for me to follow, and will reveal it to me when His timing is right.           

 

 

Antichrist's Subordinates (Rev. 17:12-13)

SPIRITUAL DAIRY FOR 10/03/2005

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Antichrist’s subordinates

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 17:12-13

 

            Message of the verse:  “12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour.  13 “These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.”

            It seems that Antichrist will have ten kings who will be under him, and these will rule ten parts of Antichrist’s empire.  There has been some thought that these kings will rule different parts of the old Roman Empire, but others have divided up the entire world into ten parts with each of these kings ruling one part.  Verse 13 speaks of these ten kings being completely under the authority of Antichrist.  As far as the “one hour” from verse 12, it seems that this means the 3 ½ years of the tribulation period, or it could mean for the whole 7 years.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  These verses say to me that God is in control, and even though these times that are written about will be very difficult for mankind, yet God has His purpose in doing all of this.  In the same way as I go through these difficult days filled with trials that do not seem good to me God surely has a plan in mind for all of this and perhaps some day I will understand it all.

 

The Word of God was very challenging to my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord as I go through a very down time in my life, that He will lift me up out of the miry mud and set my feet upon the firm Rock of the Lord.

The Beast (Rev. 17:11)

SPIRITUAL DAIRY FOR 09/30/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The Beast

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelation 17:11

 

            Message of the verse:  “11 ‘The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction.’”

            The first part of this verse is about the death and resurrection of the Antichrist.  Now it should be noted that Satan is the one who being allowed by God to bring back to life the Antichrist after he had been killed, but he is only brought back to life in the same body similar to what the Lord Jesus did when He brought back to life different people when He walked the earth.  The verse goes on to say that this Antichrist is himself also an eight and is one of the seven.  The seven is referring to the seven kingdoms that was described in SD-09-29-05, and the seventh kingdom was actually a revival of the old Roman Empire that will be headed up by the Antichrist, but it could be that after his resurrection he will now be called the eighth.  In other works the Antichrist himself will be an eighth kingdom, and when it comes to the word kingdom it can also be translated as “king.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The more that I study this book the more that I understand that Satan is nothing more than a counterfeiter, who wants to do things like God, but will never be able to accomplish this in the same way that God has.  Knowing this I must be in tune with the Holy Spirit of God in order not to fall into one of Satan’s plots to seduce me.

 

The Word of God has challenged my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To trust the Lord to give me the right (His Words) to say at the Bible Study this afternoon and also that the Lord will keep this group of men together to bring honor and glory to Himself.  

The Angel's Answer Continues (Rev. 17:9-10)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 09/29/2005

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  The angel’s answer continued

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 17:9-10

 

            Message of the verse:  “9  And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10  And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.”

            I have read in different commentaries that the seven mountains are referring to Rome, for Rome is noted for being built on seven hills, and according to the Greek dictionary on my Online Bible program this word for mountain could mean hill. 

            As far as verse 10 I believe that John is referring to seven kingdoms that ruled the known world or in the case of the last one will rule the entire world.  These kingdoms were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greece, and Rome was still in existence when this was written and the one which is to come will be the Antichrist’ empire.  It is interesting that all of these empires were filled with this “religion” that came out of Babel that is described way back in Genesis 10 & 11, and even though the names of the gods were different it was basically the same thing.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I read prophecy in the Bible it has always been amazing to me that all of these things that have been prophesied have come true exactly as they were foretold, and this has always given me confidence in the Lord that all of the rest of the things that He has foretold in His Word will take place just like the ones that have already taken place.

 

The Word of God had been a joy to my heart as I read it and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord with all of the trials that I am going through at this time, the trials of our investments with Andrew Lech, and also the money that Tim owes us and the prospect of getting a new job, along with the physical trials that I am going through at this time.  I have to refrain from allowing the script that I have, relating to the outcome of these trials, be the one that the Lord has for the outcome of them.  The script I have may be similar to the one that the Lord has, and His may be completely different, and if it is I still need to trust Him for His will to be done.

 

    

The Angel's Answer (Revelation 17:7-8)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 09/28/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  The angel’s answer

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelation 17:7-8

 

            Message of the verse:  “7 And the angel said to me, ‘Why do you wonder? I shall tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.  8 ‘The beast that you saw was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.’”

            In verse seven the angel asks John a question and then he answers the question which I would imagine to some who read this is still a mystery.  The word “mystery” when used in the NT means that something was hidden, but is now revealed, and it can also carry the meaning that “the secret will of God: the secret counsels which govern God in dealing with the righteous, which are hidden from ungodly and wicked men but plain to the godly.”  This is why I said that this could still be a mystery to some who read it, because they are reading someone else’s mail, and therefore do not understand it. 

            Verse eight speaks of the beast who was, and then was killed, and then brought back to life again and will then go to his eternal punishment in hell.  “Those who dwell on the earth will wonder.”  Those earth dweller’s will look at the antichrist with wonder thinking that he is the answer to all of their problems, but the elect, who are alive at that time will realize who he really is.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  When I look at the world today and read about it’s history and compare it to what I have been reading in this book and also read some of the commentaries that I have read explaining some of the hard to understand things in this book, I can see that there, for instance, have always been antichrists in this world, as John wrote in 1John, but there will only be one true antichrist that is written about in Revelations.  What I am trying to say is that I need to depend upon the Spirit of God so that I will not get caught up in any of these false religions or anything else that is not true when it comes to what God has said in His Word as being truth.  The liberal movement in our country today is surely a movement that has been seen before in world history as it is a movement that wants to take control of all people in this country to, in affect make them slaves, but by the prayers of the saints and God’s grace this will fail.

 

The Word of God has challenged my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to make His will plain to me as I live my life in this very confusing world, that I will trust in the Lord with all of my heart and lean not upon my own understanding, in all of my ways acknowledge Him and He will direct my path.

 

 

Mystery Babylon (Rev. 17:5-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 09/26/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Mystery Babylon

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelations 17:5-6

 

            Message of the verse:  “5 This title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.  6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.”  (NIV) 

            I can say for sure that there is much more in verse five than I will be able to write about, for there has been at least one book “Two Babylons” written on this subject, as the author in that book talked about the Babylon where all of the false religions came out of, which is what this verse is about, and also the Babylon of government that will someday rule the world for a short time.

            Way back in Genesis 10 and 11 is where this false religion had its roots, and although the names of the gods have been changed the system is still in place.  One of the things that has always been involved in this false religion is the mother son cult, which came out of Genes 3:15 where God first promised to send a Savior who would be born from the seed of the woman, and that is the only time that phrase is used in the Scriptures, for all other times it is the seed of the man.  Way back in Genesis 3 right after man first sinned, God said He would deal with the sin issue through the One born of a virgin, Jesus Christ.  I believe one of the points that can be taken out of verse five is that all of the false religions have their roots in Babylon and that is why the word “prostitutes” is used here.

            Verse six explains that this false religious system is responsible for the persecution of believers that has been going on for thousands of years, but in particular those of this seven year tribulation period.  John ends verse six by saying he was astonished after he saw her.  (The word means great wonder)

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I would like to write about the wonderful grace of God, and also about His abundant mercy, for without those, and also He great love, I too would be following one of these false religions that had their roots in Babylon.  My salvation in Jesus Christ was from the Divine plan of God and therefore I really had little or in fact nothing to do with it, and for this I am thankful for if I would have had anything to do with it I surely would have messed it up. 

 

The Word of God gave me reason to rejoice at His mercy, love, and grace for me, and sadness for those who follow the system originated in Babylon. 

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to ask the Lord what it is that He is teaching me through this trial or trials I am in, and learn to trust Him with all that I am and have.

 

 

 

 

Memory verses for the week:              Psalm 27:1-5

 

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; in whom shall I be afraid?

 

When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh;

My adversaries and foes, it is they who will stumble and fall.

 

Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;

Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

 

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after;

That I will dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.

 

And He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble;

He will conceal me under the cover of His tent;

He will lift me high upon a rock.

 

The Description of the Harlot (Rev. 17:3-4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 09/23/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                Focus:  The description of the woman

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelation 17:3-4

 

            Message of the verse:  “3  Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.  4  The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.”  (NIV)

            John begins to describe what he sees as the angel carried him away in the Spirit into a desert where he sees a woman.  This woman is described as a harlot and she represents the pagan religious system that began in Babylon with Nimrod that is recorded in Genesis 10 and 11.  The woman is sitting on a beast and the beast had seven heads and ten horns.  The beast is the antichrist and he will make it a practice to blaspheme God as seen in the description of him here.  This woman, or religious system, will ride into power on the back of the beast, but as seen later on the beast will no longer need this religious system and make one of his own.  The dress of this woman and the beast represent someone who is both rich and powerful, and in the woman’s case the dress of a prostitute, for she will take many peoples hearts from the worship of the One true God.  The last part of verse 4 speaks of the abominations she does.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The things in these two verses, because of God’s grace, are not a big problem for me, as God has been kind and gracious to me showing me the truth of worshiping Him through His Son Jesus Christ.  However I have, as most men in the world today who are believers are more tempted by lustful things, which in some cases in pagan worship have their place.  God has been very gracious and forgiving through all of these temptations and also has strengthened me to overcome them on many occasions.

 

The Word of God has challenged my heart as I studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I must continue to trust the Lord through out all of these trials that He is leading me through, trust Him that they will accomplish what He desires to through these trials.  I want to trust the Lord to write the script for my life that will bring honor and glory to Him.

 

Memory verses for the  week:             Psalm 27:1-4

 

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

 

When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh;

My adversaries and foes, it is they who will stumble and fall.

 

Though an army encamp me, my heart shall not fear;

Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

 

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after;

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life;

To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.   

The Harlot (Rev. 17:1-2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 09/22/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  The “Harlot”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 17:1-2

 

            Message of the verse:  “1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, ‘Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.’”

            I want to begin writing about this chapter by saying that as of the end of the sixteenth chapter God’s wrath is complete as far as sending judgments upon the earth. 

            As I read through some of the commentaries on Revelation, especially Dr. Wiersbe’s, I begin to see this book in a somewhat different light, which I should have seen before.  There seems to be different systems which God is judging in this book, for instance in chapter seventeen He is judging the system of false religion which is called a harlot as compared to the chase virgin that describes the bride of Christ, the Church, however there has always been these false “religions” upon the earth especially in the Church age, so that makes this book relevant for the entire Church age.  There have always been governments that have persecuted believers and men in power who act like antichrist, for in John’s first letter he spoke of Antichrist and antichrists who are here now.  The book of Revelation’s judgments are a culmination of these false systems that God will judge in the future once and for all and then usher in a perfect system with Jesus Christ’s reign for 1000 years.

            In verse one of chapter seventeen John is spoken to by one of the angels who had one of the vial judgments and told to come and see the judgment of this “harlot” who sits on many waters and who the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with and also the earth dwellers have been drunk with the wine of her immorality.

            John is beginning to describe this false religious system which has been among the people, (sits on many waters) since the Church age began.  Jesus gave a parable of the wheat and the tears which spoke about this false religious system.  The Greek word for tare is darnel and this word means that these false wheat plants look just like the real wheat plants and so it is hard to identify the true wheat, just as at times it is hard to identify the false religious systems on the world.  The servant in the parable asked his master if he wanted him to pull up these darnel, but was told that if he did this that he might pull up some of the real plants too, and then his master told him to wait until the maturity of the plants so they would be able to tell for sure which was darnel because there would be no fruit for it and then they could burn it in the fire.  I think that this chapter could be the fulfillment of that parable. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am very thankful that the Lord has opened up my eyes to some of these hidden truths in the book of Revelation.  Hebrews 4:12 comes to mind here:  “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” 

The Word of God was challenging to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to give me the words He would want me to speak this Saturday morning and also this Sunday morning, and to trust Him to give me the strength to do it without the problem with my bowels. 

 

Memory verses for the week:              Psalm 27:1-2

 

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  

 

When evildoers assail me to eat my flesh;

my adversaries and foes, it is they who will stumble and fall

 

Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

 

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after;

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life;

To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His Temple.

PT-2 "It is Done" (Rev. 16:19-21)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 09/21/2005

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  The rest of the last vial judgment

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Revelation 16:19-21

 

            Message of the verse:  “19  The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.  20  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.  21  And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.”

            As stated in the last SD it is sometimes difficult to determine the time table of how all of this fits together, but looking at the end of verse nineteen and then looking forward to chapters seventeen and eighteen this to me, is a preview to what will be written about there when John will give more detail to the destruction of Babylon, both the government side of it and also the religious side.  Back to  verse nineteen where the first part of it is describing the city of Jerusalem and what these earthquakes will do to it.  The city is split into three parts and from earlier studies of Revelation I have learned that this could be the time when all Israel will be saved for this earthquake could be what the Lord uses to separate the believing Jews from the non believing Jews. 

            I am not sure if John is using hyperbole in verse twenty-one when he writes that every island fled and the mountains were not found, because this was the same type of statement that was made in an earlier judgment and the commentary on that verse that I read said John was using hyperbole, at any rate this will surely be a big mess on earth during this last judgment.  In verse twenty one Joh writes of giant hailstones falling on people and even throughout all of this awful judgment people will still blaspheme God and not turn to Him for forgiveness. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  These verses make me think about what Paul wrote to the Galatians when he said, “God is not mocked, for what so ever a man sows that is what he will reap.”  These earth-dwellers were surely not sowing righteous acts, in fact they were sowing unrighteous acts and not were reaping the fruit of them.  God does not always pay His bills at the end of the week, for He is gracious and kind, waiting for men to repent, but God always pay His bills, and I need to remember this for sure as I live out my life in His service here on planet earth.

 

The Word of God has been challenging to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord through the trials and stress that I am going through, for His Word has promised that He is in complete control and will work out things for my good and for His glory even if it is not the script that I would have chosen for Him to follow.  

 

 

 

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 27:1-4

 

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

 

When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who will stumble and fall.

 

Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;

Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

 

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I see after:

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.

 

 

PT-1 "It is Done" (Rev. 16:17-18)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 09/19/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  It is done.

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelations 16:17-18

 

            Message of the verse:  “17   Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, ‘It is done.’ 18  And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.”

            Dr. Wiersbe points out in his book on Revelations that it is possible that this last judgment, because it is poured out into the air is a judgment against Satan, for after all Satan is the prince of the power of the air.  (Eph. 2:2)  It is possible and probably correct to say that this judgment will happen at the end of the tribulation period and even though there are a number of chapters left in this book as it is clear that it is not written in complete chronological order.  Satan’s empire is not only judged in this chapter of the book, but also in the next three chapters too.  In chapter seventeen Satan’s religious system will be judged, and his political system will be judged in chapter eighteen, and his military system will be judged in chapter nineteen.

            I want to look at the first two verses of this last vial judgment today and then do the next two three next time.  As the last angel poured out his vial into the air there comes a voice from the throne saying that “it is done.”  This is the last of the judgments that began way back in chapter six and was actually talked about in chapter five when John was looking for someone to open up all of these judgments and found the only One who could possibility do this and that was The Lord Jesus Christ.  Before these last judgments began it was said that with the completion of these judgments that the wrath of God would be complete and that is probably why the voice from the throne cried out “It is done.”  Verse eighteen speaks of the first part of this judgment and that is an earthquake that is so mighty that none like it has ever been seen upon the earth since man come to be upon the earth.  There have been other earthquakes in these judgments, but none like this one in power and strength.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In looking back at all of these judgments and why they have taken place and also how man fits into all of this I would like to quote a passage from Dr. Wiersbe’s book, “Be Victorious” which answers a question that I have been pondering for a while:  “Men think they are free to do as they please, but in reality, they are accomplishing the plans and purposes of God.”  He goes on to answer another question that many people who have studied this book have asked and that is why this book should be studied if it only has to do with the future and no one can truly understand it anyway:  “Every generation of Christians has been able to identify with the events in Revelation 14-16.  There has always been a ‘beast’ to oppress God’s people and a false prophet to try to lead them astray.  We have always been on the verge of an ‘Armageddon’ as the nations wage war.”   

 

The Word of God has challenged my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Before I got out of bed this morning I began to think of all of the things that I am involved with this week, things like working on the missionary statement, working on the devotion for Saturdays Men’s Prayer Breakfast, and also the new responsibility of getting people together to pray for our churches new missionary project.  The Lord has begun to work in my heart to do these things that; after all, He is leading me to do for the cause of Christ.  I am thankful for His leading and want to continue to trust Him to lead me in every aspect of my life. 

 

Memory verses for the week:    Psalm 27:1-4

 

The Lord is my light and my salvation; who shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

 

When evildoers assail me to eat my flesh;

My adversaries and foes, it is they who will stumble and fall.

 

Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;

Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

 

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after;

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life;

To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. 

The Sixth Vial Judgment (Rev. 16:12-16)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 09/17/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Sixth Vial Judgment

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                             Reference:  Revelations 16: 12-16

 

            Message of the verse:  “12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east.  13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; 14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.  15 ("Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.")  16 And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.

            As I go through this wonderful study of this wonderful book of Revelations the Lord is teaching me more and more about this book, and one of the things that I see is you have to piece things together from one chapter to another in order to see the whole picture that is being painted.  That is what has to be done with these verses, for these verses tell only part of the story of the last battle here on earth, the battle that most people call Armageddon. “The name Armageddon comes from two Hebrew words, har Megiddo.  The word Megiddo means “place of troops” or “place of slaughter.”  It is also called the Plain of Esdraelon and the Valley of Jezreel.”  (From Warren Wiersbe’s book “Be Victorious.)  There have been many battles fought in this area of the world, but the most famous of them is still to come and these verses help to describe what will take place there in what could be not to far off. 

            Verse twelve describes the beginning of this judgment when the sixth angel pours out his vial on the river Euphrates and dries up the river so that the kings of the east can pass through it without any trouble, for you see God is the One who is putting this whole thing into motion, for He is in total control of it.  Verse thirteen and fourteen describes how antichrist gets all of the people to come there and fight as the unholy trinity takes part in this gathering.  They are doing what seems natural and right for them to do, yet God has planned all of this to happen long ago. 

            In verse fifteen the Lord gives a warning to those who will listen, telling His listeners to keep awake and be ready for His soon return. This warning is not just for those who will be alive at this time, but for all generations who have had the privilege of reading this book. 

            Verse sixteen is one of the most read and quoted verses in the Bible as it talks about the men being gathered in a place called Armageddon.  This name Armageddon has come to mean the end of the world to many who have read this and not really understood it, for it may be the last battle, but it is surely not the end of the world, and it is not the last battle either for after the 1000 year reign of Christ upon planet earth Satan will be let out of his captivity to once again entice men to fight again, but this will be a short battle and end quickly. 

            There are parallel passages to this battle of Armageddon in other parts of the Scriptures, for instance Zechariah twelve and fourteen describe this battle from Israel’s point of view.  “Joel 3:9-21 parallels the Zechariah references, and verse 19 there makes clear that God will punish the Gentiles for the way they have treated the Jews.  (See also Zeph. 3:8ff; Isa. 24.)”  “Warren Wiersbe’s book.)

            The outcome of this battle is seen in Revelations 19, which is about the return of Jesus Christ to earth, and at that time He will end this battle even though thoes who are fighting each other will begin to fight against the Lord, but to no avail. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As said above concerning this passage God is in control of all of this even though these plans to carry out seem to be coming from the unholy trinity.  What I can see in these verses can possibility relate to things that are going on in my life today, and that is that I believe that God is surely orchestrated all of this seemingly bad things that are going on in my life at this time and according to Romans 8:28 will work them out for my good and for His glory, and because of this I do trust Him with the outcome of all of these events.  With that been said I am hear to say that I do not act like I am trusting Him with the outcome of this all of the time, yet in my heart of hearts I do trust Him with the outcome.  It has been three plus years since all of this began, and God has taught me many lessons, and continues to teach me lessons throughout this event and I do not know how it will be that God will work this out, but I still must trust Him to work it out in the way He sees fit to do it, even though I hope and pray that someday real soon I will get those funds paid back to me that people owe me.

 

The Word of God has been challenging to my heart and also it has been refreshing to my heart as I read it and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord for His solution to the trials that I am going through.

 

Memory verses for the week:                Psalm 27:1-3

 

The Lord is my light and my salvation; who shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; in whom shall I be afraid?

 

When evildoers assail me to eat my flesh;

My adversaries and foes, it is they who will stumble and fall.

 

Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;

Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.

The Fifth Vial Judgment (Rev. 16:10-11)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 09/16/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Fifth Vial Judgment

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                            Reference:  Revelations 16: 10-11

 

            Message of the verse:  “10  Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, 11  and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.”

            The fifth vial judgment is poured out upon the throne of the antichrist and then the verse goes on to say it will be dark over his kingdom.  This judgment seems to be only for antichrist and his followers and not for those who follow the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is possible that this will happen throughout most of the world, with the possible exception of Israel, or it could just be upon the site where antichrist has set up his headquarters, which will probably be in Babylon.  At any rate this darkness will be the kind of darkness that you can actually feel, for you will not be able to see you hand in front of your face and on top of that all of antichrist’s followers will still be suffering from the first plague of having those Job like sores on their bodies.  One would think that this would cause some of them to begin to think about following the “God of heaven,” but all they will do is blaspheme Him.  The phrase “God of heaven” is used mostly in the OT and one of the times it is used there is in Daniel 2:44:  "In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It does seem a bit strange that the ones who have this judgment directly upon them realize exactly where it originated from, and that is from the God of heaven.  These are the “earth-dwellers” who realize that the God of heaven is judging the earth because of its sinfulness and they will not repent.

            As I think about this phrase “God of heaven” it has made me think of some different aspects of what it means to me.  God has His home in heaven, but He owns the entire earth for He created it.  There are so called “gods” or idols on this earth, but God is in heaven and He is the One and only true God.  There are times when I worship idols on this earth, idols of money, power, lust, and things like that, which is sinful on my part for I should always worship the God of heaven through His Son Jesus Christ.

 

The Word of God has again brought challenge to my heart as I read and studied His Word this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today: To worship the One and only true God and not worship idols.

 

Memory verses for the week:                Psalm 27:1-3

 

The Lord is my light and my salvation; who shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; in whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me to eat my flesh;

My adversaries and foes, it is they who will stumble and fall.

 

Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;

Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.