SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/7/2015
9:28 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Introduction to Revelation 10
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
10:1
Message of the
verse: “ 1 I saw another strong angel coming down out
of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his
face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.”
I have just finished listening to the message that John MacArthur
preached on Revelation chapter ten and one thing that was strange to me was
that he spoke on message on one chapter, something that he almost never
does. There are some things that we need
to discuss before we jump into and that has to do with a burning question that
people have had since time began. The
question is similar to the one that the martyred saints had underneath the
altar in heaven when they asked “how long will it be before the Lord will bring
vengeance upon those who had killed them?”
The question that most people ask is similar,
but not just like this question and that question is “why God has allowed evil
in the world?” When one looks at the
things that are going on in the world one can certainly want an answer to this
question. Believe it or not the question
will be answered in this chapter of Revelation.
Before we answer that question we need to do a bit of review on what we
have looked at in the previous chapters of Revelation. We have seen Jesus take a scroll which has three
sets of seven judgments in it and when these judgments are complete the earth
will once again be in control of God as He takes back control of it through
these judgments. We know from Scripture
that Satan has control of planet earth, but we must keep in mind that he can do
nothing that God will not allow him to do, but at the end of these judgments
that are written on this scroll Satan will be bound and but in the lake of fire
for one thousand years. Christ will rule
from Jerusalem and God will once again rule over His universe.
As we looked at these judgments we see that they are
seven in number in the seal judgments and seven in number in the trumpet
judgments and that there will be seven in number in the bowl judgments. In each of these sets of seven judgments they
are broken up four and then three as the last three are different than the
first four. Also there is an interlude
between the sixth and seventh seal judgment and now we are in the interlude
between the sixth and seventh trumpet judgment as seen in chapter eleven.
Now let’s go back and talk more about the question we
first started with and look at it from some different Scriptures. John MacArthur writes “The wicked often
appear to prosper. Sin seemingly runs
wild and unchecked. Why, people ask,
does God not stop all the carnage, corruption, and chaos in the world? Why does He allow His children to
suffer? When will divine justice prevail
and the righteous be delivered and the wicked punished?”
Job, in the midst of his trials asked similar
questions: “"The tents of the
destroyers prosper, And those who provoke God are secure…"Why do the
wicked still live, Continue on, also become very powerful?” (Job 12:6a and 21:7)
The psalmist asks the Lord “1 Why do You stand afar off,
O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? 2 In pride the wicked
hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be caught in the plots which they have
devised. 3 For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, And the greedy man
curses and spurns the LORD. 4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his
countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, "There is no
God." 5 His ways prosper at all times; Your judgments are on high, out of
his sight; As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.”
Psalm 74:10-11 “10 How long, O God, will the adversary
revile, And the enemy spurn Your name forever? 11 Why do You withdraw Your
hand, even Your right hand? From within Your bosom, destroy them!”
We’ll look at one more example and this time from
Jeremiah 12:1-3 “1 Righteous are You, O LORD, that I would plead my case with
You; Indeed I would discuss matters of justice with You: Why has the way of the
wicked prospered? Why
are all those who deal in treachery at ease? 2 You have planted them, they have
also taken root; They grow, they have even produced fruit. You are near to
their lips But far from their mind. 3 But You know me, O LORD; You see me; And
You examine my heart’s attitude toward You. Drag them off like sheep for the
slaughter And set them apart for a day of carnage!”
When we look at different OT prophecies about what will
happen during what is known as “The Day of the Lord” we see that they know that
there will come a day when the Lord will judge sin and take over the world as
we have been learning throughout our study in Revelation, the question is when
will all of this happen. We are still in
the waiting time for all of this to happen and there is no one on earth that
knows the date when all of this will happen, but we as believers know that all
of this will happen, that God will complete the things that He has promised in
both the Old Testament Prophets and also the things written in the New
Testament like from Matthew 24-25, Luke 21, Mark 13, and then in other passages
like First and Second Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians 15. We are told what will happen, but not exactly
the date of when it will happen.
MacArthur writes “The sounding of the seventh trumpet,
which heralds the imminent return and reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, will
usher in the long-anticipated day: “Then
the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,
"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His
Christ; and He will reign forever and ever’ (Rev. 11:15). The seventh trumpet will release the seven
rapid-fire bowl judgments that immediately precede Christ’s return to earth
(16:1-21).”
Now the interlude we spoke of earlier is from chapter
10:1 to chapter 11:14 and this gives John and also us who read this time to
pause and think about all the truths we have seen up to this point. We have seen much happen to planet earth and
the people who live on it throughout chapters 6-9 as many, many people have
died, some in judgments that fell upon the earth and others for the cause of
Christ as they were martyred for the cause of Christ and the testimony of His
Word. Things will get much worse when we
look at the bowl judgments and as MacArthur states these will happen much
faster than the other judgments.
MacArthur writes “These interludes encourage God’s people in the midst
of the fury and horror of divine judgment, and remind them that God is still in
sovereign control of all events. During
the interludes God’s comforts His people with the knowledge that He has not
forgotten them, and that they will ultimately be victorious.”
Believers in this time will be in fear of being swept
away with these divine judgments in a similar way that Malachi wrote about in
Mal. 3:16-17: “16 Then those who feared
the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a
book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His
name. 17 “They will be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "on the day
that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own
son who serves him."”
In chapter ten we will see the beginnings of this divine
interlude, and we will look at in this chapter “An Unusual Angel, An Unusual
Act, An Unusual answer, An Unusual announcement, and An Unusual Assignment.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: It would be nice
to know when the things we are studying will take place, but the main things is
to know that they will take place, and that as a believer I am to get this
message out so people who understand it will turn to Christ and be saved.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul,
mind, and strength, and to better understand and live in the love of the Lord.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “The came unto Him” (Matthew
5:1).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who said “"You have a
guard; go, make it as secure as you know how?”
Answer in our next SD.
5/7/2015 10:33 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment