SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/29/2015
8:10 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Promise of Communion
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
11:19
Message of the
verses: 19 And the temple of God
which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His
temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and
an earthquake and a great hailstorm.”
We have reached a milestone in our SD for today as this
one is the last SD for the first half of the book of Revelation. As you know I have been following the outline
from John MacArthur’s commentary on the book of Revelation and with SD we end
the first commentary from him all 321 pages of it and then we will move into
chapter twelve and the next half of his commentary on Revelation.
MacArthur writes “Bound up in the seventh trumpet is the
promise to believers of unbroken fellowship with God forever. That fellowship is symbolized by the imagery
of verse 19. The opening of ‘the temple
of God which is in heaven’ (the place where His presence dwells; cf. chapts. 4,
5) revealed ‘the ark of the covenant.
The ark symbolizes that the ‘covenant’ God has promised to men is now
available in its fullness. In the midst
of the fury of His judgment on unbelievers, God, as it were, throws open the
Holy of Holies (where the ark was located; (Ex. 26:33-34; 2 Chron. 5:7) and
draws believers into His presence. That
would have been unthinkable in the Old Testament temple, when only the high
priest entered the Holy of Holies once a year (Heb. 9:7).”
When we look at the Ark of the Covenant we see that this
is where the High Priest put the blood on it once a year as seen in the OT and
also in the book of Hebrews. There are
two cherubim on the top of the Ark of the Covenant and they look at each
other. Now here is something that I have
heard a long time ago and still believe that this could very well be true. One of the cherubim may in fact represent the
wrath of God while the other represents the love of God and when the blood is
placed on the ark then God is satisfied that sin has been covered. Perhaps the Lord Jesus Christ did this after
His resurrection to the one in heaven. I
wrote in an August SD the first time that I studied Revelation that I did not
believe that there was a temple in heaven, but then added a note saying that I
have changed my mind and no believe that there is a temple in heaven.
MacArthur concludes by writing “But along with the ark in
the heavenly temple ‘there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of
thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.’ Similar events are associated with God’s
majestic, glorious heavenly throne in 4:5.
In 8:5 and 16:17-18 they are associated with judgment. Heaven is the source of vengeance on
unbelievers, as well as covenant blessings for the redeemed.
“The message of the seventh trumpet is that Jesus Christ
is the sovereign King of kings and Lord of lords. He will one day take the rule of the earth
away from the usurper, Satan, and from earth’s petty human rulers. History is moving inexorably toward its
culmination in Christ’s earthly reign.
When He returns, He will bring covenant blessings to the redeemed, but
eternal judgment to those who reject Him.
“In light of that sobering truth, Peter exclaims, ‘What
sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness’ (2 Peter 3:11)!”
I mentioned that looked at my SD on this verse in August
of 2005 and after I read it I learned that I truly did not have much to say
about this verse as I could not find out from different commentators what this
verse meant. I am thankful for the
teaching and preaching ministry of John MacArthur who has made many things
clear to me in this wonderful book of Revelation including Revelation11:19.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Trust the Lord to
see me through this day of things that I find difficult to do, that God will
continue to give me His wonderful grace and mercy to accomplish what He has for
me to do today.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul,
mind, and strength, and to fear the Lord and to live in His love.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “John the Baptist” (John 1:29).
Today’s Bible
question: “Where did the children of
Israel find twelve wells and seventy palm trees?” (Hint:
The answer is in Exodus.)
Answer in our next SD.
5/29/2015 8:41 AM
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