Prophetic Vision [sorry it's late today!]

 

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….)

 
 

John the Baptist Foretold

 

ISAIAH 40:3-5

3 A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

 
 

A voice crying in the wilderness: “Prepare for the King’s arrival!”

When John the Baptist came on the scene, people remembered these words of Isaiah and saw John as the one going before Jesus to prepare the way.

How can you be like John, today, and point someone toward Christ?

Frankincense Foretold in the Old Testament!

 

I was reading through this passage a few years ago and I was SHOCKED when I got to the last sentence. Keep in mind this was written centuries before Jesus.

ISAIAH 60:1-6

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
2 and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen upon you.
3 And nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.
4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from afar,
and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.
5 Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and exult,
because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
6 A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.

 
 

All the nations will come to honor God’s covenant people.

THOUGHT FOR DAY
Isaiah foretold what would happen! I just can’t get over this passage—I’m not sure I ever before paid attention to verse 6—foreigners who come bringing gold and frankincense. That’s exactly what happened! Tell someone about this cool connection today.

(Why didn’t Isaiah mention myrhh? This is because God is always adding something new and unexpected, like a jazz artist riffing on a familiar theme, but also creating something new. When myrhh was given by the Magi to the Holy Family, it signified the death that Jesus was to die.)

 

Peaceable Kingdom

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Edward Hicks, Peaceable Kingdom, circa 1833

From the Worcester Art Museum’s website:

Trained as a sign, coach, and ornamental painter, Hicks painted over a hundred versions of his now-famous Peaceable Kingdom between 1820 and his death. His artistic endeavors provided modest support for his activities as a Quaker preacher in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The theme of this painting, drawn from chapter 11 of Isaiah, was undoubtedly attractive to Hicks and fellow Quakers not only for its appealing imagery but also for its message of peace: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and fatling together; and a little child shall lead them." Into many versions, including the Worcester painting, Hicks incorporated a vignette of William Penn's treaty with the Indians, an image he adapted from a popular painting by Benjamin West (q.v.). Hicks may have viewed parallels in the two parts of the composition, inasmuch as Penn, who had introduced Quakerism into Pennsylvania, had also brought about a measure of the peaceable kingdom on earth.

 
 

ISAIAH 11:1-9

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

 
 

The king is coming and will usher in a reign of justice for the poor and peace for all of God’s creation.

 
 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
How can you be a peacemaker today?

P.S. “The stump of Jesse” is the idea that the Messiah will come from David’s family. (Jesse was David’s father.) In 586 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and deposed David’s descendants from the throne—in the image that Isaiah uses, it is as if the “family tree” of David is cut down. Nevertheless, the line of David continued for the centuries and ultimately resulted in Jesus.

 

A Land of Deep Darkness

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ISAIAH 9:2, 6-7

2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

 
 

The prophet announces the birth of a king to a people in darkness.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

My favorite part is the last verse:
“The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
What the Lord promises will come to pass.
Don’t be afraid today!

 

A Land of Deep Darkness

in
 

Advent Reading, Day 07: Isaiah 9:2, 6-7

2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;

those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and of peace

there will be no end,

on the throne of David and over his kingdom,

to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness

from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

 
 

The prophet announces the birth of a king to a people in darkness.

 
 

Thought for the Day:

My favorite part is the last verse: “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
What the Lord promises will come to pass.
Don’t be afraid today!