Forgive the late posting today. The plan is for each Revelation post to go live on my blog at 3:30 AM Central, and to be emailed out at 4:00 AM. Today, we had this post set for 3:30 PM. Hey, it’s a new year!

Just a reminder that we are going to ease our way into Revelation by working through some preparatory readings this first week, passages that are in the background of John’s vision. Build your habits now, so when Revelation begins next Monday, you are prepared to run. Let’s go.

—Andrew

Isaiah 6:1-6

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

John—the author of Revelation—understands himself as the last and culmination of God’s prophets, and a key part of his vision (Revelation 4-5) is when he is taken and shown the heavenly throne room. Isaiah was an Old Testament prophet who lived centuries earlier (around 700 BC), but he also was given a vision of the heavenly throne room. In his vision there are strange spiritual beings constantly praising God, and when Isaiah hears the voice of God, he feels utterly unworthy and afraid.

One of the messages of Revelation is how heaven will come to earth, how the Kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven.

It’s easy to get caught up in today’s headlines and controversies and to forget that we don’t see the whole picture. What would it mean for you to see things from God’s perspective?

That's the perspective that the great prophetic visions give us.
Don’t be discouraged today. The bad things don’t win in the end.

P.S. Mark your calendars: Bible study this Wednesday, 6:30 PM! (Livestream available at www.asburytulsa.org, but being in person is way better….)