SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/11/2015
9:25 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Search for the Worthy One
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
5:2-4
Message of the verses: “2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with
a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the book and to break its
seals?" 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able
to open the book or to look into it. 4 Then I began to weep greatly because no
one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it;”
We may ask the question “Who is this strong angel that is
spoken of in verse two?” I suppose that
one may guess that this is Gabriel or even Michael, but if the text does not
say who it is then I suppose that it is not important for us to know his name
or perhaps God does not want us to know who he is so we will leave it as a
strong angel. We do know that this angel
had a strong voice and how far it carried could be as John MacArthur speculates
to the end of the universe. His quest
was to find someone who is worthy to open the book that is mentioned in verse
one, and also able to break its seals.
As we looked at different OT prophets we have seen that they were
presented books and then asked to eat them, but there is one book that is
spoken about where the prophet was not asked to eat the book and that book is
found in the 12th chapter of Daniel where we read: “5 Then I, Daniel, looked and behold, two
others were standing, one on this bank of the river and the other on that bank
of the river. 6 And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the
river, "How
long will it be until the end of these wonders?" 7 I heard the man
dressed in linen, who was
above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left
toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time,
times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the
holy people, all these events will be completed. 8 As for me, I heard but could
not understand; so I said, "My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?"
9 He said, "Go your
way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time.
10 “Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act
wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will
understand. 11 “From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the
abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. 12 “How blessed
is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days! 13 “But as for you, go
your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your
allotted portion at the end of the age."”
Now I won’t get into all of this prophecy, but will look at a few things
from it. I think that the One standing
above the river is the preincarnate Christ who is speaking to Daniel. Next we see that the book is sealed up until
the time of the end, so could this possibly be the book that is sealed up in
the verses we are looking at today? The
other times I have read this I thought that the book of Daniel was spoken of,
but now I think it could possibly be the book in Rev. 5. It does make sense to me, but I surely cannot
be sure of it.
As we continue to look at Revelation 5:2-4 we see that
there came no answer from the angel so this was very upsetting to John as he
did not get an answer to the question.
He may have been thinking about people like Abraham, Moses, Ezekiel, David,
John the Baptist, Peter, or Paul, but none of these were able to open this book
and he wondered who was. He began to
weep and John MacArthur writes of this word “weep is from klaio, the same word used to describe Jesus’ weeping over Jerusalem
(Luke 19:41), and Peter’s bitter weeping after betraying the Lord (Luke 22:62). It is thus a word that expresses strong,
unrestrained emotion. This is the only
time in Scripture that tears are seen in heaven (cf. 7:17; 21:4). W. A. Criswell explains why John wept: ‘[John’s tears] represent the tears of all
God’s people through all the centuries.
Those tears of the Apostle John are the tears of Adam and Eve, driven
out of the Garden of Eden, as they bowed over the first grave, as they watered
the dust of the ground with their tears over the silent, still form of their
son, Abel. Those are the tears of the
children of Israel in bondage as they cried unto God in their affliction and
slavery. They are the tears of God’s
elect through the centuries as they cried upon heaven. They are the sobs and tears that have been
wrung from the heart and soul of God’s people as they looked on their silent
dead, as they stand beside their open graves, as they experience in the trials
and sufferings of life, heartaches and disappointments indescribable. Such is the curse that sin has laid upon God’s
beautiful creation; and this is the damnation of the hand of him who holds it,
that usurper, that interloper, that intruder, that alien, that stranger, that
dragon, that serpent, that Satan-devil. ‘And
I wept audibly,’ for the failure to find a Redeemer meant that this earth in
its curse is consigned forever to death. It meant that death, sin, damnation and hell
should reign forever and ever and the sovereignty of God’s earth should remain
forever in the hands of Satan.’”
We know the rest of the story, so we know that John’s
tears were premature for John was with our Lord on earth when He saw people
crying over a dead 12 year old girl and Jesus told them not to cry and then He
raised her from the dead, something He did many times while on planet
earth. How many times have we wept for
reasons that W. A. Criswell spoke of and
it all comes down to sin and the curse that God has put upon this earth because
of sin, every tear that has fallen has to do with sin and the curse, for if
there were no sin there would be no curse, and there would be no tears.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I have to say
that I was moved by the truthfulness of Criswell’s writings as I never thought
about John’s tears having so much meaning, but it now makes sense to me. It makes me have a greater degree of
thankfulness for what Christ did to eventually take away the curse of sin as He
was nailed to a cross to accomplish that for me, and I am ever thankful for
that.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul,
mind, and strength, and to be thankful for the love He has for me.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Timothy.”
Today’s Bible
question: “What did Esau sell to Jacob?”
Answer in our next SD.
3/11/2015 10:20 AM
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