Why Was Jesus Born in Bethlehem?

in
 

Advent Reading - Day 11

Micah 5:2-5a

2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
5 And he shall be their peace.

 
 

Summary: The king will be born in Bethlehem.

 
 

Why was Jesus born in Bethlehem?

The above passage from Micah is what the scholars reference when the magi show up in Herod’s palace asking to see the king of the Jews. Herod asks for expert opinion, and the scholars tell him that the Bible says that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, the city of David.

Of course Luke tells us that the reason Jesus was born in Bethlehem is because Caesar made a decree for a census, causing Mary and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem to be counted.

So, why was Jesus born in Bethlehem?

Was it because the Bible foretold that’s where it would take place, or was it because Caesar wanted a census?

Yes.

God is always at work, even when we can’t understand it at the time.

John the Baptist Foretold

in
 

Advent Reading - Day 10

Isaiah 40:1-3

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.”

 
 

Summary: 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!

in
TheGift_Artwork.jpg
 

I was reading through this passage earlier this week and I was SHOCKED when I got to the last sentence. Keep in mind this was written centuries before Jesus.

 
 

Advent Reading - Day 09

Isaiah 11:1-9

1 Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
2 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.

 
 

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

 
 

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!

Forward this email or tell someone about this cool connection today.

Peaceable Kingdom

in
Edward_Hicks_-_Peaceable_Kingdom.jpg
 

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.

 
 

Advent Reading - Day 08

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.

 
 

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

 
 

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. But, the line of David continued for the centuries and ultimately resulted in Jesus.

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.

 
 

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

 
 

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!

The Stars in the Sky

in
 

Advent Reading - Day 06

Genesis 22:15-18

15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

 
 

Summary: The Lord promises to Abraham that by his descendants all the nations of the earth shall obtain blessing.

 
 

Jesus, centuries and centuries later, comes from the line of Abraham.

The Lord is always at work!

Be encouraged today—the headlines don’t tell the whole story.

Family is How We Fight

in
2_FamilyIsHowWeFight.jpg
 

Advent Reading - Day 05

Genesis 12:1-3

12:1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

 
 

Summary: The Lord’s plan to save all of creation begins with one man’s family.

 
 

Despairing about the state of the world?

Worried about the future?

Family is how we fight.

Strong families are needed to raise strong children. The next generation is our hope. Remember, God’s entire plan depended on one man’s family. From Abraham’s family comes Jesus, so many centuries later, but at just the right time.

 
 

What can you do this weekend to build up the next generation?

How can you teach the next generation to build their lives on Christ?

My Favorite Image of Christmas

in
Mary-Eve-Sr-Grace-Remington-OCSO-732x1024-1-1.jpg
 

I love this image.

Do you understand?

 
 

Advent Reading - Day 04

Genesis 3:8-19

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LordGod called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
    cursed are you above all livestock
    and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
    and you shall bruise his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
    in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
    but he shall rule over you.”

17 And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
    and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
    ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
    in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.”

 
 

Summary: The Lord announces in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve’s punishment for their rebellion and that the seed of woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.

 
 

Go back and look at that picture again. Keep it in front of your mind this Advent season—maybe save it as the wallpaper on your phone? It’s worth going back to over and over again.

The Image

in
 

Advent Reading - Day 03

Genesis 1:20-2:3

20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them.

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

The Seventh Day, God Rests

2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

 
 

The crowning achievement of Creation is the creation of the human, made in God’s own image to join with God to steward the earth and bring beauty out of it.

 
 

How can you step into that identity today and use your God-given abilities to bring order out of disorder or to care for the civilization we have inherited?

Creation by Separation

in
 

Advent Reading - Day 02

Genesis 1:3-19

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

 
 

Once you see the pattern, you’ll never forget it:

God creates through separation.

Each division brings order and complexity to Creation.

  • light from dark;

  • day from night;

  • water from water;

  • land from sea;

  • plant from dirt;

  • sun from sky;

  • etc.

Two quick thoughts:

  1. God brings order out of chaos; he does it at Creation, Jesus does it in his healing ministry—order to chaotic minds and bodies—and the Holy Spirit is doing the same thing today.

  2. God loves even the darkness! I love that detail.

 
 

Where do you need God to bring order out of chaos this advent season?

The Beginning [Advent reading day 01]

in
 

Today is the first day of our Advent reading plan. You can read more about the plan here; my goal is to trace the whole story of salvation, starting from the beginning, because the entire Bible tells a unified story that leads to Jesus. We’ll have a very short scripture reading each weekday leading up to Christmas, and I’ll write a brief thought to go with it. Christmas is great, and preparing for it makes it even better. Let’s do this.

 
 

The Beginning - Advent reading day 01

Genesis 1:1-2

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

 
 

The Lord, like a master artist, brings beauty and purpose out of nothingness.

 
 

A great prayer to pray during Advent 2020:

“Lord, can you make something beautiful out of this?”

The Second Coming

in
 

Today in our reading of Revelation (Revelation 19:1-21) we finally get to the point toward which the entire book has been proceeding, where what John has seen in heaven (chapters 4-5) comes to earth: the Second Coming of Jesus.

 
 

19:1-8 is the continuation of chapter 18, where voices in heaven praise God for the fall of Babylon. (See Friday’s post, “The Whore”.)

 
 

The Ending of One City and The Arrival of the Other

9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

These verses move us from the fall of Babylon to the arrival of the New Jerusalem.

I find it so interesting that John tries to worship his angelic guide, much to the angel’s horror! Why shouldn’t angels be worshipped in their majesty and glory? Because angels—no matter how majestic and glorious—are created things, and it’s wrong to worship anything except the Creator.

 
 

The Second Coming

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse!

This is the moment to which the book has been working: heaven is fully revealed on earth. The kingdom has now come.

 

The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Jesus is a conqueror, but he conquers as a martyr, hence the bloody robe.

He comes as truth, which is why he is called The Word.

He strikes down his enemies with the Truth, which is why his mouth is a sharp sword.

His true identity is now revealed (an apocalypse!) to everyone: King and Lord.

 

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, 18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

The Second Coming results in a complete rout of the enemy.

In John’s vision, judgement on the earth is described in multiple different ways, starting in chapter 6. To put it another way, John describes the same thing—the earth under God’s judgment—to us in different ways. In each series of judgments, right before the Second Coming would occur, there is a digression as John describes the church’s mission.

And then each time he circles back to a theme he’s previously discussed, he tells us something new.

Allow me to recap the book’s plot so far and show you what I mean:

  • SET UP: Chapters 4-5, John sees the heavenly throne room.

  • JUDGEMENT 1ST DESCRIPTION: Chapter 6, the judgments of the seals (#’s 1-6);

  • CHURCH DIGRESSION: Chapter 7, a description of the messianic army;

  • JUDGEMENT 2ND DESCRIPTION: Chapters 8-9, the 7th seal, then the judgments of the trumpets (#s 1-6);

  • CHURCH DIGRESSION: Chapters 10-15;

  • JUDGEMENT 3RD AND FINAL DESCRIPTION: Chapters 16-19.

The reason for the digressions is so that John can explain to the church that it has a role in God’s plan: to testify to the truth about Jesus so that the unbelieving nations will hear and repent.

BUT

Those who ultimately refuse to repent will face judgement when Jesus finally comes and time runs out.

This is what is described in graphic terms in John’s vision (19:17-21, above).

It is not God’s desire that anyone should face judgment. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son; Revelation tells us that the church’s role is to preach repentance in the name of Jesus to all nations, so that all nations might be saved. But God will not force people to repent, and those who stubbornly refuse will finally be destroyed.

The Whore

in
 

Richard Bauckham has a helpful summary of what John is telling us in Revelation chapters 17-18:

“The book of Revelation uses two major, complementary images of the evil power of Rome. One is the sea-monster (‘the beast’), introduced in chapter 13. It represents imperial power, the Roman Emperors as a political institution, and in particular their military might, on which the Roman empire was founded. The other image is of the great city Babylon, first named in 14:8, and then portrayed as a woman, ‘the great harlot,’ in chapter 17. Babylon is the city of Rome (built on the seven hills: 17:9) and in particular the city of Rome as a corrupting influence on the peoples of the empire. Chapter 17 brings the two images together: the harlot is enthroned on the seven heads of the beast (17:3, 9-10). In other words, Roman civilization, as a corrupting influence, rides on the back of Roman military power. The city of Rome grew great through military conquest, which brought wealth and power to the city, and its economic and cultural influence spread through the world in the wake of the imperial armies. John never forgets that Rome’s power is founded on war and conquest, but he also recognizes that it cannot be reduced to this. As well as the irresistible military might of the beast, there are the deceptive wiles of the great harlot.”

—Richard Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy

 
 

In Revelation 17-18, John uses a startling image to describe Rome—as a prostitute. In John’s vision, Roman economic power and wealth have the seductive allure of a prostitute, but he wants his people to know that Roman prosperity comes on the back of Roman conquest and war. This language is striking:

1b “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. [Revelation 17:1-7.]

The woman rides on the beast, because Roman wealth comes from Roman conquest.

An important insight that John sees is that wealth and materialism can make you drunk—she holds a cup that looks good on the outside, but on the inside is the vilest filth.

Our American economic system can be like that, can’t it? Think of the ways that some of our economic practices enrich the people at the top but exploit the ones at the bottom.

 
 

In Revelation 18, John sees the fall of that system:

  • 18:1-3, An angel pronounces judgment on Babylon;

  • 18:4-20, A voice from heaven predicts the fall of Babylon;

  • 18:21-24, An angel pronounces judgment on Babylon;

  • 19:1-8, Voices in heaven praise God for the fall of Babylon.

 
 

In the plot of Revelation, we are now within the final judgments, when all evil is being brought to account. At this point in the vision, it’s too late to repent and turn.

The good news is that it’s not too late for us and our world.

From what do you need to repent today?

The Plagues

in
 

There are 3 sets of 7 judgments in Revelation, and each one is a further explanation of the one before, though they are each also about the same thing: the judgments from God that precede the Second Coming.

Today, we read Revelation 16 and the final series of 7 judgments: the 7 bowls.

Each of these bowls pours out a plague on the earth, just like the plagues of Egypt so many centuries before.

In the previous two series of 7 judgments (the seals and the trumpets) there has been a pause between #6 and #7 in which John tells us about the church.

Here, there is no pause, but just a message from Jesus: “Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”

The reason there is no pause is because it’s now time for the end to come. The church has been testifying to the truth, and at this point it’s too late to repent. Look at what happens at the 7th bowl:

“they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.”

If these plagues—coupled with the church’s message—won’t cause people to repent, then nothing will.

What is the Point of a Multi-Ethnic Church?

in
 

ANNOUNCEMENT: I am teaching an online Bible study TONIGHT (11/10) on the Beast of Revelation, 8:00-8:45 PM CST. Join me! www.facebook.com/mungerplace or www.mungerplace.org/watch.

 
 

What is God’s plan for history?

God gave John his vision so that the church would know the answer to that question.

The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus defeated evil and launched the church. The Holy Spirit came to make the church open to people of all nations, and not just the Jews.

As we read through the New Testament, we see the church made up of believers from—in the language of Revelation—every nation, tribe, people, and language.

That alone is of utmost importance.

But Revelation tells us something electrifying:

Namely that the multi-ethnic church is not the goal—it is the means to the end.

 
 

In Revelation 15, John compares the victory of God at the end of history to the victory of God over the Egyptians in the days of the Exodus; in other words, John sees a new and greater Exodus.

2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

“Great and amazing are your deeds,
    O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
    O King of the nations!
4 Who will not fear, O Lord,
    and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
    All nations will come
    and worship you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

The new song the people sing is not just the song of Moses (as in Exodus) but also the song of the Lamb, because it is the death of the Lamb (i.e. the death of Jesus) that has won the victory.

And what has that victory achieved?

“That all nations will come and worship” the Lord.

Revelation reveals that the reason the Lord created a multi-ethnic church was so that the multi-ethnic church would evangelize the multi-ethnic world.

 
 

A church from all nations for all nations.

 
 

Richard Bauckham, as usual, puts it perfectly:

“In 15:2-4 the martyrs celebrate the victory God has won through their death and vindication, not by praising him for their own deliverance, but by celebrating its effect on the nations, in bringing them to worship God. This gives a fresh significance to the earlier use of new exodus imagery with reference to the Lamb’s victory, in which by his death he ransomed a people from all the nations to be a kingdom and priests for God (5:9-10). We now see that this redemption of a special people from all the peoples is not an end in itself, but has a further purpose: to bring all the peoples to acknowledge and worship God. The immediate effect of the Lamb’s own victory was that his bloody sacrifice redeemed a people for God. But the intended ultimate effect is that this people’s participation in his sacrifice, through martyrdom, wins all the peoples for God. This is how God’s universal kingdom comes and the concluding verse of the song of Moses [in Exodus] is fulfilled: ‘The Lord will reign forever and ever’ (Exodus 15:18).”
— Richard Bauckham, the Climax of Prophecy
 
 

Other Quick Points on Revelation 15

  • John portrays the conversion of the nations in several different ways: in 11:3-13 it’s the result of the testimony of the two witnesses; in chapter 14 it is through the image of the harvest; here, it’s the image of a new exodus.

  • The sea of glass is mixed with fire as a sign of heavenly judgment.

  • The seven bowls are the final judgment and there is no more delay from this point on because the church has been created and God’s purposes have been realized.

  • In v. 5, heaven is opened so that God’s glory can be seen in the midst of the final judgment.

  • In v. 8, we see that God’s glory in heaven is manifested as wrath on earth, and vice versa.

Harvest or Hell?

in
 

To recap:

  • Judgments alone do not produce repentance (see Revelation 9:20-21).

  • Jesus creates the church to tell the truth—to bear witness—to the unbelieving nations, and the church’s testimony and truth-telling even unto death actually leads people to repent and give glory to God (see the Parable of the Two Witnesses in Revelation 11:3-13)!

  • The church faces great opposition and persecution from evil (see Revelation chapters 12 and 13)—the battle between the church and evil is THE struggle in history.

 
 

Today, we read Revelation 14:6-20 which is about the effect the church’s/martyrs’ testimony will have on the nations. There are two possible outcomes to the church’s/martyrs’ testimony:

  1. The nations will repent and be gathered into the kingdom in a great harvest (14:14-16).

  2. The nations will refuse to repent, and will be judged along with the beast in the winepress of the wrath of God (14:17-20).

Which will it be? John doesn't tell us—he just describes the two possibilities.

666

in
 

Today’s reading (Revelation 13:11-14:5) is more on the beast (including the famous number 666) and the war God’s people fight against him.

[This is later than normal—my apologies. I was just too tired last night to finish!]

 
 

Why the Monsters are Important

The church—the people of God—has an important role to play in God’s plan to bring the kingdom from heaven to earth, but the church will be fighting evil every step of the way.

In his vision, John has spiritual insight into the nature of the evil that the church will be fighting. By knowing these details, we know the nature of the fight and what it means to “conquer".

Some key insights:

  • Anything other than God that demands worship or complete allegiance is evil and must be resisted, even to the point of death.

  • Evil is cunning and often appears at first just slightly different from Christ, hence the term (found not in Revelation itself, but in the letters of John in the Bible) antichrist. The beast, for example, seems to come back from the dead, seems invincible, seems the source of peace. All these things are lies and twistings of the truth.

  • Deceit and death are the two weapons of the beasts in Revelation: they lie and they kill. Christians defeat the beast by living by the truth even to the point of death, thereby showing the beast is not actually all-powerful.

 
 

Monster Glossary

  • The dragon/serpent is the source of evil itself, i.e. Satan;

  • The beast (from the sea) is the Roman Empire;

  • The second beast (on the land) is the Roman imperial cult, i.e., the system of worshipping the Roman emperor through temples and ceremonies in cities across the empire;

  • 666 is a numerical code for Nero Caesar.

 
 

Revelation 13:11-18

11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people,14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

 
 

The Mark of the Beast

In Deuteronomy 6, the Lord tells his people the importance of remember his law and their identity:

6:1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fearthe Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

“Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.” In other words, God wants his people to be so committed to remembering

The mark of the beast is the opposite of this—it’s the sign that you are committed to the beast. Without the mark, you can’t even engage in commerce. In the Roman Empire, unless you were wiling to worship through the imperial cult (the second beast), you were often shut out of a city’s commerce. One of the ways the beast exercises control is to make it harder for God’s people to make money unless they publicly renounce their identity as the people of God.

 
 

The Number 666

The Jews practiced something called gematria, whereby a person’s name had a numerical value, based on the numerical value assigned to each letter. 666 is the number you get when you spell out NERO CAESAR in Hebrew letters.

After Nero killed himself in AD 68, there were rumors that he wasn’t really dead but would come back stronger than before. John is playing with these legends to get us to understand the evil that is often at work behind earthly forms of power.

 
 

The Lamb and the 144,000 [Revelation 14:1-5]

14:1 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

God’s people—the church—are portrayed in John’s vision like a Messianic army. Note the detail about how they refrain from sex—just like David’s army in the Old Testament; they are a holy army. They have spiritual power and are facing off against the beast and his lies.

Here, they are gathered on Mount Zion—the traditional center of God’s power and presence in the Old Testament—as they make their stand against the beast.

 
 

Who or What is the Beast Today?

The power of John’s images is that they help us see reality from a spiritual perspective. We no longer have to fight against the Roman Empire or Nero Caesar, but the beast is still on the prowl. Any rivals that claim complete control and power are the beast. The Soviet Union was the beast; the Chinese Communist Party is the beast.

The mark of the beast? To take a contemporary example, think of the social-credit system that is being developed in China.

How do we defeat the beast in our time? In the same way as in John’s vision: by our commitment to the truth about the world and about Jesus, even to the point of death.

Will a final greater beast come before the end? Seems likely. But, we should not be afraid—we know he will be defeated!

The Beast of Revelation

in
 

Today we read Revelation 13:1-10 and look at “the beast” in detail.

As with everything else in this sophisticated book, some of what I’ll point out below only really makes sense when you read the whole thing through more than once.

 
 

Who Is The Beast?

13:1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

The beast comes from the sea, the source of chaos and evil in the Jewish imagination. [See my sermon on this theme from Sunday, October 11.]

Allow me to point out the obvious, but by seeing the beast’s origin from the sea, John knows that it is evil, despite its lies.

The strange description of the beast alludes to and is a combination of the four beasts described by the Old Testament prophet Daniel in his vision (Daniel 7).

 
 

The Mortal Wound of the Beast=The Year of 4 Emperors

We’ll see later in this chapter (the famous 666) that the beast represents the Roman Empire, specifically the Emperor Nero. This historical detail is behind the mention of the mortal wound in v. 3

One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.

This is a reference to what happened in AD 69, the so-called Year of the Four Emperors. After Nero committed suicide in AD 68, there was civil war in the empire and revolt on its borders. For many people, it seemed that the power of Rome was at its end. But, Vespasian (the 4th of the emperors in AD 69) became emperor, consolidated power, and started a new dynasty. Rome seemed stronger than ever.

It looked as if the empire had a “mortal wound” when Nero killed himself, but it actually kept going.

People always worship power, and here is no exception—Rome seemed invincible.

 
 

The Beast’s Persecution of the Church

5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

10 If anyone is to be taken captive,
    to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
    with the sword must he be slain.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

Catch the breadcrumb John left for us?

Remember that whenever you see the time marker “42 months” or “1,260 days” or “a time, times, and half a time”, those are little bread crumbs that John has left for us to tell us he is talking about the same period each time, i.e., the period of the church’s opposition and persecution.

So, John sees how the beast is persecuting the church and demanding allegiance, and he tells the church—be courageous, and don’t give in.