The Unusual Answer (Rev. 10:4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/10/2015 7:56 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  The Unusual Answer

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Revelation 10:4

            Message of the verses:  “When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them."”

            Let us begin by going back and looking at Revelation 1:19 “"Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.”  We see here what John’s job description was, and these orders came from the Lord Jesus Christ so John was only doing his job when he was about to write down what the seven peals of thunder had spoken.  However he then hears a voice from heaven, and we have to wonder who’s voice from heaven he heard.  Well it does not tell us whose voice was speaking, but if I was to guess I would think that it was the Lord Jesus Christ and the reason that I say this is because He is the one who gave John the orders in Rev. 1:19.  Now another thing that is not revealed is that John was not given any reason not to write down what the seven peals of thunder said.  We may as well not speculate on what the seven peals of thunder said for if God would have wanted us to know what it was He would have had John record it.

            Daniel had similar experiences with the visions that God gave to him.  "The vision of the evenings and mornings Which has been told is true; But keep the vision secret, For it pertains to many days in the future’ (Daniel 8:26).”  Again let us look at Daniel’s writings “He said, "Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time (Daniel 12:9).”  Now let us move to Paul’s experience as seen in 2 Corinthians 12:4 “was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.”  Now I want to go to one of my favorite verses in the entire OT “"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law (Deut. 29:29).  Let’s look at this same verse from the “Message”  “GOD, our God, will take care of the hidden things but the revealed things are our business. It’s up to us and our children to attend to all the terms in this Revelation.”  Job 37:5 says “"God thunders with His voice wondrously, Doing great things which we cannot comprehend.”  The words of what the seven peals of thunder fall into the category of what Job 37:5 says.

            The word mystery is a very interesting word and so I want us to look at it from the Greek/English dictionary that is on my Online Bible Program.  First I will give you the verse that it comes from:  “Ro 11:25  For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery-so that you will not be wise in your own estimation-that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” 

“3466 μυστηριον musterion moos-tay’-ree-on

 

from a derivative of muo (to shut the mouth); TDNT-4:802,615; n n

 

AV-mystery 27; 27

 

1) hidden thing, secret, mystery

1a) generally mysteries, religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to ordinary mortals

1b) a hidden or secret thing, not obvious to the understanding

1c) a hidden purpose or counsel

1c1) secret will

1c1a) of men

1c1b) 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

2) in rabbinic writings, it denotes the mystic or hidden sense

2a) of an OT saying

2b) of an image or form seen in a vision

2c) of a dream”

            I believe that the “church” actually falls into the category of being a “mystery” for it was not revealed in the OT but is in the NT.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are many times in my life when I wish that God would reveal to me things that I would like to know about, but then one of the things that I do is to look at Deuteronomy 29:29 and realize that God does not have to tell me everything, but the things He does tell me I must obey.  What this is all about is having faith that God loves me and will do the best for me even if I don’t understand it.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  My desire all of this year and I suppose for all eternity is to love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to better understand the love that Christ has for me and live in it.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Goliath” (1 Samuel 17:4).

Today’s Bible question:  “What is the last book in the Bible?”

Answer in our next SD.

5/10/2015 8:23 AM

 

The Outer Court of the Temple (Ezek. 40:5-27)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/9/2015 7:45 PM

My Worship Time                                                              Focus:  The Outer Court of the Temple

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Ezekiel 40:5-27

            Message of the verses:  “5 And behold, there was a wall on the outside of the temple all around, and in the man’s hand was a measuring rod of six cubits, each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one rod; and the height, one rod. 6 Then he went to the gate which faced east, went up its steps and measured the threshold of the gate, one rod in width; and the other threshold was one rod in width. 7 The guardroom was one rod long and one rod wide; and there were five cubits between the guardrooms. And the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate facing inward was one rod. 8 Then he measured the porch of the gate facing inward, one rod. 9 He measured the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and its side pillars, two cubits. And the porch of the gate was faced inward. 10 The guardrooms of the gate toward the east numbered three on each side; the three of them had the same measurement. The side pillars also had the same measurement on each side. 11 And he measured the width of the gateway, ten cubits, and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits. 12 There was a barrier wall one cubit wide in front of the guardrooms on each side; and the guardrooms were six cubits square on each side. 13 He measured the gate from the roof of the one guardroom to the roof of the other, a width of twenty-five cubits from one door to the door opposite. 14 He made the side pillars sixty cubits high; the gate extended round about to the side pillar of the courtyard. 15 From the front of the entrance gate to the front of the inner porch of the gate was fifty cubits. 16 There were shuttered windows looking toward the guardrooms, and toward their side pillars within the gate all around, and likewise for the porches. And there were windows all around inside; and on each side pillar were palm tree ornaments. 17 Then he brought me into the outer court, and behold, there were chambers and a pavement made for the court all around; thirty chambers faced the pavement. 18 The pavement (that is, the lower pavement) was by the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates. 19 Then he measured the width from the front of the lower gate to the front of the exterior of the inner court, a hundred cubits on the east and on the north. 20 As for the gate of the outer court which faced the north, he measured its length and its width. 21 It had three guardrooms on each side; and its side pillars and its porches had the same measurement as the first gate. Its length was fifty cubits and the width twenty-five cubits. 22 Its windows and its porches and its palm tree ornaments had the same measurements as the gate which faced toward the east; and it was reached by seven steps, and its porch was in front of them. 23 The inner court had a gate opposite the gate on the north as well as the gate on the east; and he measured a hundred cubits from gate to gate. 24 Then he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate toward the south; and he measured its side pillars and its porches according to those same measurements. 25 The gate and its porches had windows all around like those other windows; the length was fifty cubits and the width twenty-five cubits. 26 There were seven steps going up to it, and its porches were in front of them; and it had palm tree ornaments on its side pillars, one on each side.  27 The inner court had a gate toward the south; and he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits.”

            The first thing I want to do is to quote an end note from Warren Wiersbe’s commentary:  “The long cubit was twenty-one inches long.  If the rod was six cubits long, that equals ten feet six inches.  Some make the long cubit twenty-four inches making the rod twelve feet long.  As I follow Ezekiel and his guide touring the temple precincts, I will not convert each measurement into feet and inches, unless the number is important to the meaning of the text.”

            I have looked at other passages that have a lot of measurements in them and all I can say is that I am glad that there are people who can understand these passages in order to make pictures, prints, and movies about them.  I have found one such short movie on youtube that will explain all that we will read about in chapter forty.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNmERZkT6JM   If you click on this site or copy and paste it you will get a short film that shows much more than I can write about.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes that the entire sacred area was 875 feet, square, including a wall 10 feet high and ten feet thick.  “The temple itself was on the west side of the enclosure, 175 feet from the walls, and the back part reached to the edge of the sacred area.  Behind the temple were two kitchens for preparing the sacrificial meals, plus a third building whose purpose was not explained.  At each corner of the walls, there was a kitchen; in the center of the east, north, and south walls there was a gate; and on either side of these three gates, built right into the walls, were five special rooms for the worshipers, making a total of thirty rooms.”

            He writes later on that “The outer court covers nearly 400,000 square feet, but it will not have a court of the Gentiles with the all-important separating wall (Eph. 2:4), nor will it have a separate court of the women.  In the Millennial temple, or Lord’s desire will be fulfilled that His house be a house of prayer for men and women of all nations (Mark 11:17; Isa. 56:7; Jer. 7:11).”

5/9/2015 8:22 PM

           

An Unusual Act (Rev. 10:2b-3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/9/2015 10:23 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                     Focus:  An Unusual Act

Bible Reading & Meditation                                             Reference:  Revelation 10:2b-3

            Message of the verses:  “He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land; 3 and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices.”

            I think that when people read through the book of Revelation and begin to study it that they look forward to the things that we are studying now and not look so much for the first chapters of the book.  I have to say that I was looking forward to this chapter and the following ones too, but I also enjoyed studying the first five chapters too.  We are still talking about this angel that we began to discuss in our last SD and from these verses he must have been a fairly large angel to do what we read about here.

            Now we must remember that John is seeing this in a vision and we really don’t know where this took place, but it very well could be that this angel standing on the land and on the sea means that God was about to judge all of the earth.  We have learned that the scroll that was in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ was full of judgments that were to take place on the people of the earth and on the demons so that God would take back the earth through these judgments so He has the right to do this for after all He is the Eternal God who made all of this and therefore it is all His:  “FOR THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S, AND ALL IT CONTAINS (1 Cor. 10:26).” 

            We see that this large angel (we think he was large in John’s vision) cried out with a loud roar like a lion and this reflects the power, majesty, and authority of God.  Jeremiah 25:30 says “"Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them, ’The LORD will roar from on high And utter His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His fold. He will shout like those who tread the grapes, Against all the inhabitants of the earth.”

            After the roar of this angel we hear something very unusual “the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices.”  When you study the Scriptures you see that numbers mean different things and the number seven means completeness and also perfection.  There are places in the Scripture where thunder speaks of judgment.  Let us look back at Revelation 8:5 “Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.”  Rev. 11:19 “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.”  Rev. 16:18 “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.”  Remember I said earlier that one of the best ways to study the book of Revelation was to use a concordance.  There are also other pictures of this in both the OT and NT.  28 “Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came out of heaven: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." 29 So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, "An angel has spoken to Him." 30 Jesus answered and said, "This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes (John 12:28-30).”  Let us look back at Exodus 9:23 “Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt.”  1 Samuel 7:10 says “Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were routed before Israel.”  Isaiah 29:6 “From the LORD of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.”  John MacArthur writes “These seven loud, shattering, powerful voices cry out for vengeance and judgment upon the sinful earth.  The thunder was separate from the angel’s voice and may have represented the voice of God (cf. 1 Sam. 7:10; Ps. 18:13).  The text does not say what the thunder said, but hearing it certainly would have added to the terror of the scene of judgment (cf. 8:5; 11:19; 16:18).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  God’s plans are perfect even when it comes to His judgment and wrath for without them no one could be saved and go to heaven.  I say this because it was the judgment and wrath of God taken out on Jesus Christ while on the cross that made it possible for those who accept this to be saved for Christ took our punishment on the cross so that we could receive His righteousness.  For this I will be forever grateful and thankful.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to be better at loving the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to be better at living in the love of God.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Galilee” (Matthew 2:22-23).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who was the champion in the Philistines?”

Answer in our next SD.

5/9/2015 10:56 AM

Ezekiel's vision Begins (Ezekie 40:1-4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/8/2015 10:41 PM

My Worship Time                                                                          Focus:  Ezekiel’s vision Begins

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ezekiel 40:1-4

            Message of the verses:  “1 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was taken, on that same day the hand of the LORD was upon me and He brought me there. 2 In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, and on it to the south there was a structure like a city. 3 So He brought me there; and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway. 4  The man said to me, "Son of man, see with your eyes, hear with your ears, and give attention to all that I am going to show you; for you have been brought here in order to show it to you. Declare to the house of Israel all that you see."”

            Dr. Wiersbe says that the day that Ezekiel got this vision was April 28, 573 BC—the first day of Passover.  The vision goes from chapters 40-48 and Ezekiel is told to look and to hear what was going to go on in this vision and then to tell the people of Israel who at that time were back in Babylon what he saw and heard.  Perhaps the people of Israel would be thinking about the first Passover that happened in Egypt when the Lord was about to bring them out of Egypt, but this vision that Ezekiel sees is a bit different than what happened in Egypt those many years before.  The vision that Ezekiel sees is of what the city and the temple would look like during the Millennial Kingdom when the Lord Jesus Christ would rule from the place that Ezekiel is not seeing in this vision so this should have given the children of Israel who were in Babylon great hope.

            Now in verse two we see that this vision took place on a “high mountain.”  Those who think that this vision is only spiritual jump on these words and say that Jerusalem is not on a high mountain, but Dr. Wiersbe has some things to say about this in his commentary, things that those who believe this is only spiritual do not understand nor care to look at.  Before we look at that statement we need to remember the other time that Ezekiel was in a vision in Jerusalem and when there that time the scene was much different than it is in this vision as he mostly saw on sinful people, but not they are all gone.  Now back to the statement from Dr. Wiersbe:  “It’s unlikely that the new temple would be on any other site than Mount Zion, but critics of the literal interpretation of this vision point out that Zion is not really a ‘very high mountain.’  However, they may be overlooking the geographical changes that will occur in the land of Israel when the Lord returns to deliver His people and establish His kingdom (Zech. 14:4, 10).  God promised that the Jews would worship and serve Him on a high mountain (Ezek. 20:40) and that Messiah would rule from a high mountain (17:22-23), and He will keep that promise.  Both Isaiah and Micah speak of the high mountain (Isa. 2:1-2; Micah 4:1).  Zion will not only be elevated physically, but it will become the center of the worship of the Lord for the whole earth.”  I have briefly mentioned that when we continue to look at this vision we know that the earth will be changed when the Lord returns for what we will see in this vision would not fit on the place in Israel that is there now as it is not big enough. 

            Now as we continue on in this vision we see that Ezekiel sees an angelic visitor whom he says was “there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze.”  We can surely believe that this man was an angel that God sent there to appear in Ezekiel’s vision.  The man or angel had something to measure with.  When we get to the eleventh chapter of Revelation in our study of that book we will see that measurement in the Scriptures means ownership.  Let’s take a peek at some verses in Revelation chapter 11.  “  1 Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, "Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. 2 “Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.”  In Ezekiel’s vision we will see that it all belongs to the Lord and even in John’s vision it belonged to the Lord, but the Jews would not have control of all of the temple at that time.

            Ezekiel would get a guided tour of the temple area beginning at the eastern gate and returning to the same gate.  As stated Ezekiel would receive some solemn counsel from this angel on what he was suppose to do with the information that he would be seeing, and he was reminded to look and listen very carefully.  I for one am glad that he did listen and look carefully otherwise we would not have the information in these last nine chapters.  

            I want you to know that we will be taking some pretty large portions of Scriptures as we go through these last nine chapters of Ezekiel. 

5/8/2015 11:18 PM

Another Strong Angel (Rev. 10:1-2a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/8/2015 9:10 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  An Unusual Angel

Bible Reading & Meditation                                           Reference:  Revelation 10:1-2a

            Message of the verses:  “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; 2 and he had in his hand a little book which was open.”

            Including this verse I want to quote the verses in the book of Revelation with “strong angel” in them.  “Re 5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?"  Re 10:1 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; Re 18:21 Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer.”  We see this phrase used a total of three times in the book of Revelation and to me it is showing a difference between an angel and a strong angel as it seems the “strong angels” have a more difficult and perhaps a more important job to do.  We also see a distinction between the seven angels who were blowing the trumpets and this strong angel.  Remember we called these seven angels who had the trumpets “presence angels” as they were close to the presence of God.  John MacArthur writes the following about the word another as some have though that this strong angel was in fact the Lord Jesus Christ.  He writes to defend his position that this is not the Lord Jesus Christ:  “First, the use of allos (another of the same kind) identifies this angel as one exactly like the previously mentioned trumpet angels.  If Christ were being referred to here, the word heteros (another of a different kind) would be expected, since Christ is essentially different from angels.  Christ could not be described as an angel exactly like the other angels, since they are created and He is the uncreated, eternal God.”

            He sites other reasons as to why this is not Jesus Christ, but an angel, and one of the reasons is that Christ is never called an angel in the book of Revelations unlike in the Old Testament where He is sometimes called “The Angel of the Lord.”  In Revelation He is called “the son of man, the first and last, the living One, the Son of God, He who is holy, who is true, the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of creation of God, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the Lamb, Faithful and True, the Word of God, and King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

            I think that even though there are other reasons that this is not the Lord Jesus Christ we can assume that indeed it is not Him, but just as John writes “another strong angel.”

            When we look at the description of this angel one might think that this description is only for the Lord, but in our study of the book of Ezekiel we saw another angel with a similar description who is called Lucifer:  “11 Again the word of the LORD came to me saying, 12  "Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ’Thus says the Lord GOD, "You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 “You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared. 14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. 15  "You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you.”  These verses picture Lucifer before he fell as described in Isaiah 14 and then became Satan.  In the book of Daniel, he also saw an angel with a similar description as the one in Revelation chapter ten.

            We will not take a brief moment to look at his description.  First we see that he was “clothed with a cloud.”  Clouds actually at times symbolize judgment and this angel’s job is judgment as we will see later on in this chapter.  The cloud also symbolizes power, majesty, and glory.  MacArthur writes “Clouds are associated with the second coming of Christ in judgment in 1:7; 14:14-16; Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; 14:62; and Luke 21:27.”

            This next description is rather fastening to me and that is he has “a rainbow upon his head.”  MacArthur writes Iris (rainbow) was the Greek goddess who personified the rainbow, and served as the messenger of the gods.  In classical Greek iris was used to describe any bright halo surrounding another object, such as the circle surrounding the eyes on a peacock’s tail, or the iris of an eye.”  We find this same word in Revelation 4:3. 

            We first see the rainbow in the book of Genesis:  “12  God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; 13  I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14  "It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, 15  and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16  "When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”  Here we see the rainbow as a promise from God never to bring about another flood over the whole earth as He had just done.  He is speaking of mercy here and this mercy came in the midst of His judgment something we look at earlier in Malachi 3:16-4:2.  “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." 18 So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.  1 "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze," says the LORD of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch." 2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.”

            Next we see” his face was like the sun.”  “After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory (Rev. 18:1).”  Here is something to think about and that is the face of an angel can illuminate the earth like the sun how much more can the glory of the Lord’s brightness illuminate.  It is no wonder that no one can see the Lord and live.  Here is something else to think about and that is that when the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth that His glory was hidden so that He could become a man in order to take our place on the cross and die in our place so that we who accept this can receive His righteousness.  “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21)”

            Next we see John describing his feet and that his legs are firm immovable a “pillar of fire.”  MacArthur writes “That symbolizes his unbending holiness in stamping out his judgment on the earth, pictured here as fire that consumes the ungodly (Mal. 4:1).”

            We conclude with another quote from John MacArthur about the “little book” that the angel has:  “Some argue that the use of biblaridion (little book) in verse 2 distinguishes this book from the biblion (‘book’) of 5:1.  But that reasoning overlooks the fact that biblaridion is the diminutive form of biblion, and that biblion is also used to refer to the ‘little book’ in 10:8.  Rather that distinguishing this book from the one in chapter 5, the diminutive form merely adds a further description of it in this vision.  The book needed to be made smaller for the sake of the symbolism of this vision, since John was to eat it.  The use of the perfect participle heneogmenon (‘which was open’) emphasizes the idea of the scroll being open; having been opened, it is to remain open.  That further identifies it with the now fully unrolled scroll of 5:1.  The little book lying open in this unusual angel’s hand unveils all the terrors of divine judgment yet to come.”

            You may wonder why we are using the word “unusual” so many times and it is because in his study of chapter ten MacArthur says the things he was were unusual and as we continue in our study of this chapter we can understand why he thought that.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I think about God’s grace in the midst of judgment I am thankful for that fact.  God’s grace is an amazing part of His attributes and it is because of His love that is also a part of His attributes that we have the privilege of receiving His grace even in times of judgment.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To continue to do a better job of loving the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to better understand and live in the grace and love of God.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Pilate” (Matthew 27:65).

Today’s Bible question:  “What is the name of the region of the Holy Land in which Nazareth is located?”

Answer in our next SD.

5/8/2015 10:09 AM

Introduction to Ezekiel 40-48 Part 2

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/7/2015 9:24 PM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  Introduction to Ezekiel 40-48

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  None for Today

            We are going to begin to go over the four different views of what we will find in chapters 40-48 of the book of Ezekiel as there are differences of opinions in what the building of the temple means along with the animal sacrifices that will take place in that temple during the time it will be used, and that is a part of the problem we will look at.  I mentioned that I will give you the scenario that I believe will happen whenever we get to it.

            The first interpretation given is entitled “Ezekiel described ‘ideal worship for God’s people.’”

            Now I can tell you right off that when I look at this view I do not accept it at all for in this view things are spiritualized and not literal in meaning stating that there is no temple at all and things are, as I said spiritualized.  This view also tries to apply what is found here to the church today.  Now let me make one thing clear and that is that the church did not begin until the second chapter of the book of Acts and although we who are a part of the church age can learn many things from the Old Testament of which Ezekiel is a part of as far as I am concerned God dealt with Israel in the Old Testament beginning with Genesis chapter twelve when He called Abram to be the father of the children of Israel.  Abram had Isaac and Isaac had Jacob and Esau and Esau was not chosen by God but Jacob was whom God later named Israel.  He had twelve sons who eventually became the twelve tribes of Israel.  Because Israel failed to do the things that God wanted them to do He took them out of their land for seventy years and then brought some of them back from captivity where the Promised Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ was born and later on He was rejected by the children of Israel and so He suffered and died at the hands of the Jewish nation.  Jesus Christ then began the Church age by having Peter preach on the Day of Pentecost some 40 days after He died on Passover.  Because the Jews rejected Jesus the church age began and is still whom the Lord is dealing with at this time.  Now when the Rapture of the church happens in the future the Lord will go back to dealing with the nation of Israel for the remaining seven years of the 490 years that are found in the 9^th chapter of Daniel.  This period is called the Tribulation period and it will begin when the “Antichrist” signs a peace treaty with the nation of Israel and will end at the second coming of Jesus Christ to planet earth seven years later.  After that the Lord will stop the war, put Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet into the lake of fire, separate the sheep from the goats and begin the Millennial Kingdom.  Now as far as I am what I believe the things that are found in Ezekiel 40-48 will happen during the Millennial Kingdom headed up by Jesus Christ as He reigns from Jerusalem.

            Now as I begin to read about this first scenario I became upset that people could believe that these things found in these chapters are spiritualized and apply to the church so I decided to just give my opinion of what I have learned from an earlier study on the book of Ezekiel.  I ended the last Spiritual Diary by stating that “when the plain sense of Scripture makes sense, seek no other sense”, and as far as I am concerned what I wrote above makes sense to me.  Dr. Wiersbe ends his commentary on these four views by stating “As we study these difficult chapters, we will discover other reasons why the literal interpretation of this vision yields the best understanding and application of the Word that God gave Ezekiel.”  I totally agree with what he has written here. 

            We will begin our study of Ezekiel chapter 40 in our next SD.

5/7/2015 9:45 PM

 

Introduction to Chapter Eleven

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