And That's A Wrap

And so, we come to the end of our year-long journey. First and foremost, I have to give thanks and credit to Dr. Pratt for having the idea for this class and then following up and actually doing it. The world is full of great ideas but is bereft of people that actually turn those great ideas into great accomplishments. Thanks to Dr. Pratt, and as you see him, be sure to pass on your thanks as well.

You might not want to open a Bible in the near future, but when you look back, if you were able to read the Bible daily, it shouldn't have been a large intrusion. Very few days required us to take more than 15 minutes to read the day's selection, and even if we did some additional research to fill the gaps in our knowledge, it shouldn't have taken more than a half-hour. It should have instilled a daily habit that should be maintained, no matter how you wish to do it, and there's no shortage of guides available on how to be in the Word daily, be it a verse a day, the Gospels in a year, whatever. If you've established a habit of daily Bible study, you might as well maintain it.

I won't even begin to try to state the overall themes as I saw them this year, but I will mention a couple, because they can help us when we talk to those who aren't familiar with the Bible:

1. The Bible is consistent throughout--we might not see it, might not understand it, and might not agree with it, but from Genesis to Revelation, it's the story of God's unfailing love for the people he created. It's the story of how a chosen people expands through Christ's death and resurrection to be anyone willing to profess their faith in Christ.

2. The Bible is a book of love

3. The Bible is our instruction book for how we should live. Others might use it as a way to tell OTHERS how to live, but that's their problem.

4. The Old Testament is the history of God's chosen people, the people of Israel, and shows his willingness to forgive them over and over and over. The New Testament is how Christ's death and resurrection changed our means of righteousness from being self-based and predicated on the Law to being Christ-based. Paul explained what this sea change meant to Jews and Gentiles alike.

Words can't express the thanks I had for the privilege of being one of the leaders of this class. One of the first things I told you when in front of you was that I don't  claim to know any more than any of you or have any specific knowledge to set me apart as a leader, but I appreciated the thanks and gratitude given to me on an almost-weekly basis. By my rough count, I've written about 125,000-150,000 words in blog posts this year, or about the approximate length of the New Testament, and I enjoyed writing each and every word. Over the course of the year, there have been over 10,000 page views, so I appreciate your willingness to read what I wrote.

My only wish is that you had as much fun this past year as I did. Beginning on January 8th, we'll begin a much more in-depth discussion on Mark, which will truly be led by Pastor Fay and assisted by Dr. Pratt and myself. Without telling more than I know, it's planned as a 19-week course, and Pastor Fay is down for leading 10 of them, so for those of you that were looking for more pastoral leadership, this will have it. We'll use a similar (and I use that word loosely) format to what we used this past year, but I won't lock myself rigidly into the format we used this past year. We'll figure it out as we go along, and it will be the opposite of what we did this past year, where we skimmed the whole book, but will instead dig deep into one book.

And that's a wrap. Thanks again for an enjoyable year, and I hope you liked it as well.

Scott

The Millennium

Just a warning at the outset, this will be a fairly long post. A smarter person would break it in two, but you should know me by now. Also, I WILL post tomorrow, January 1st as my wrap-up, so if you're so inclined, be sure to check that out.

Of the three topics I'll discuss, the first is the most challenging and confusing to Christians, although there is absolutely no reason why it has to be. Of course, I refer to the Millennial Kingdom as described in Revelation 20:1-6. There are four primary views of when the Millennium will occur, but the most common are split between two competing schools of thought (go to the Wikipedia page if you want to read some more--it is very interesting if you enjoy this subject):

1. Dispensational Millennialism--there are two subsets to this (pre- and post-), but I won't get mired down in that. In essence, this describes a chain of events that has to occur (the Rapture, the Great Tribulation, Christ's Second Coming, the 1,000-year reign, followed by the Last Judgment). This views the Millennium as a literal 1,000-year time period, and that the Last Days will be a 7-year period as described in that excellent reading in Daniel 9:24-27. It also suggests that Christians will be raptured from the Earth prior to the Great Tribulation, and puts its emphasis on being prepared to be raptured and not have to suffer through the agonies of the final seven years of Earth's history.

2. Amillennialism--this view says that all the events described will occur, but not in a literal 1,000-year period. This views suggests that everything since Christ's resurrection has been part of the Last Days, and that when Christ returns, we'll reign with him forever. If you look at timelines of events for dispenstational millennialism and amillennialism, the amillennialism is much cleaner, since we view the Last Days as EVERY DAY since Christ left. This view also makes clear that Christians WILL be around for the Last Days.

With that thumbnail sketch, I'll add the most important point--it doesn't matter which course of events will occur. If we take the warnings that Christ gave to his followers over and over to be prepared at any time for his return, it won't matter how it will occur, because we'll be prepared either way. Just for fun, here are some of the places where Christ and others warned all believers to be prepared at any time for his return:

Matthew 24:36-50--the day and hour unknown

Matthew 25:1-13--parable of the ten virgins

1 John 2:28

In what sequence Christ chooses to return to this Earth is his business, and his alone. The time spent on debating the finer points of millennial thinking is effort that could be spent on making sure that we and our loved ones are prepared for when the Lord returns. 

Because, when he does, it's going to be MAGNIFICENT, and completely beyond my abilities (or anyone else's, for that matter) to describe. As we read the last two chapters in the Bible, Revelation 21-22 give such a beautiful description of what heaven will be like that I find it impossible to not want to be there this very instant. Way back on January 1st, 2011, we read how God created a perfect world, and it stayed perfect for all of two chapters in the Bible, since Adam and Eve introduced sin to the world in Genesis 3. How anyone can read Revelation 21:4 and not get choked up is so beyond my comprehension that I won't even try:

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

This is the hope we have as Christians, and why we endeavor to keep our families and friends strong in their faith, because this is what we long for. The perfect world that God introduced in the first two chapters of the Bible is returned in the last two, a symmetry that illustrates that all of our sin that has occurred in the meantime will be nothing compared to the eternity spent in the presence of the Lord.

Marge Kimmel gave me a book some time ago that gives a yearly day-by-day reading from various works of C.S. Lewis. The book is titled "The Business of Heaven: Daily Readings from C.S. Lewis," and this is the entry for December 31st:

"Then Aslan turned to them and said:'...you are--as you used to call it in the Shadowlands--dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning...'

And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only bee the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."

That is heaven, the place we yearn for with every fiber of our being, and it's ours not because of anything we ever did our could do, but because God's Only Begotten Son came down from heaven to be the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. It's ours for the taking simply by acknowledging that Jesus is Lord. Believe me, it'll be worth it.

Scott

Babylon

Every time we read about Babylon in the Bible, it wasn't good:

1. The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) was the initial Babylon

2. After the exile of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) in 722 BC, the Assyrian king Sargon resettled it from various parts of his kingdom, including Babylon (see 2 Kings 17:7-41)

3. Isaiah prophesied the exile of Judah to Babylon over 100 years in advance in 2 Kings 20

4. 2 Kings 25 describes the defeat of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar

So, any mention of Babylon would be pretty obvious in its reference--military power, vanity, lawlessness, sin and every other bad thing rolled into one. Which makes the proclamation of the angel in Revelation 18:2 even more important:

“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!  She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird."

Indeed, all of Revelation 18 is a recitation of the heights from which Babylon will fall, from the highest of the high, the mightiest of the mighty, the greatest of the great, to total desolation--and there will be ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that its inhabitants can do about it. We know that their fate has been sealed since before the beginning of time, but when this point in history comes, it will still come as a complete shock to the proud and mighty. I've commented before on Philippians where it states that every knee will bow and every tongue confess. When this point in history is reached, every knee WILL bow, but the citizens in Babylon won't be kneeling and bowing in awe and wonder, but in total and complete fear and trepidation.

Everything we do as Christians, from making sure that we stay true to the Word, training our children to be good Christians and leading lives that serve as a witness is pointing to this Last Day. David's writing on today was something I was going to cover, but you've heard it enough from me already. Every facet of our lives needs to be focused on being prepared for this day. The fact that we don't know when it will happen won't forestall the fact that it WILL come, and we need to be on the right side.

Scott

New Heaven and New Earth (Dec 31)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
                                  Revelation 21:1 NIV

Today we read of restoration to perfection.  We are promised this by God through faith in Jesus' shed blood, death and resurrection. 

One might ask, why no sea?  God has a plan and this plan includes no more seas.  Remember that John was on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea.  The sea isolated him from the land of Asia Minor, now Turkey, a land he dearly loved.  In addition, seas were places where storms occurred and lead to desolation and death.  One more reason is that seas were felt to be dwelling places for evil spirits.  Recollect the demon possessed man; the demon was driven into the pigs, and subsequently the pigs ran into the Sea of Galilee.

The statement of no seas does not imply no water.  Perhaps the water will be redistributed, like it was before the great flood in Genesis where Noah survived in the ark.

Pray that God encourages you to stay in the word daily.

Re-read the last few chapters of Revelation.

In Christ,

David P

Keep Your Clothes On (Dec 30)

Behold, I come like a thief!  Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.
                                       Revelation 16:15 NIV

Today's verse brings to mind the parable of the maidens with their lamps.  Half of the maidens paid attention to their lamps and were able to accompany the bridegroom to the banquet.  The other half did not pay attention to their lamps and as a result were unable to accompany the bridegroom to the banquet.  We too, need to pay attention to our lamp.

Jesus is the light of the world.  He is our lamp.  We need to pay attention to Jesus, for He has told us that He will come like a thief in the night.  We will read about that promised, glorious, and powerful event tomorrow.  Today we are encouraged to stay awake and to keep our clothing on.  

To stay awake, we need to live an active Christian life.  A part of that life is to stay in the Word daily.  There is where truth, knowledge and wisdom dwell in abundance.  Ask for the Spirit to guide you in your application of the truth in God's Word to your life.

Our clothing is provided by Jesus' work on the cross.  He is the one who clothes us in righteousness, to make us sinful beings acceptable to God.  Stay focused on Jesus on a moment by moment basis, He is present even in this apocalyptic, and somewhat unclear (to our understanding)book of Revelation.

WWJD? *

What would Jesus do?

In Christ,


David P  

The Mark of the Beast

Revelation 13:18 states:

This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666. 

This is NOT one of my favorite Bible verses. Go ahead and Google "Mark of the Beast" if you want some enjoyable reading filled with rampant speculation, and two things should come to mind:

1. Since John wrote this almost 2,000 years ago, any number of things have been speculated to be the mark. The hot favorite of the day (some type of implantable biochip) wasn't even a viable option until the past 10 years or so and isn't really ready for mass production yet. Countless people have speculated on numerous things (coinage, Social Security numbers, ANYTHING that is an ID number), and they've been wrong so far. With that kind of track record, I wouldn't put much stock into modern-day predictions.

2. I know I've commented on this before, but the most important thing we all need to remember is that as Christians, we won't be "tricked" into taking the mark. We won't do so and then realize, much to our (eternal) chagrin that we made the wrong choice. God won't be testing Christians to see if they "pass the test." When that time comes, everyone who claims to bear the name of Christ will know EXACTLY what is happening, and won't be able to use "Uh, I didn't know" as an excuse. Having said that, the fact we won't be fooled won't make it any easier to pretty much guarantee a life in the underground economy, since no commerce can occur without that mark. 

Enough on that. As many of you might know, Martin Luther wasn't a huge fan of Revelation (read the Wikipedia entry for more insight), but as we read through it, we notice passages that are key parts of our liturgy. We'll encounter parts of Revelation 4:11, 5:9-10 and 5:12-13 when we sing the Feast of Victory Hymn of Praise, and throughout Revelation, there are plenty of paeans of praise interspersed with the horrifying events.

The fact that we don't like thinking about what we're reading doesn't mean that they aren't going to occur. As always, be prepared, and make sure to keep those around you prepared as well--if you love them here on Earth, you might as well prepare them to spend eternity with you in heaven.

Scott

Overcame by Blood (Dec 29)

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
                                       Revelation 12:11 NIV

Recently we read of blessings for those members of the seven churches who 'overcame.'  Today we read of the method to overcome.  It is by the blood of the Lamb, blood shed 2000 years ago for you, for me, and for us. 

That belief, faith, and acceptance of what Jesus did for us leads us to respond in a word of testimony.  Our word is not merely a spoken language, but rather includes action that shows God's love to others.  Our testimony is in part love in action.

Our faith that heaven is our final home gives us great comfort as we face challenges, uncertainties, and even earthly death.  In our lives, we know of many martyrs.  We even have read of martyrs. Stephen's death comes to mind today.  Recall how as Stephen was stoned, he kept focused on Jesus and noticed that Jesus was standing beside God to welcome him, a good and faithful servant home.

One final thought today.  I recall seeing the title of the book of Revelation in a Bible as a youth.  That Bible's title for Revelation conveyed the message that the book was a revelation of Jesus Christ to the apostle John.  That thought might help a reader focus on Jesus in the somewhat "difficult to understand" book of Revelation.

Pray to see Jesus.  Pray to stay focussed on Jesus.

In Christ,

David P