Revelation 10:1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2 He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4 And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.” 5 Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay!”

Uh-oh.  The roar like a lion announces that it’s happening. 
For all those out there who scoff at end times,
there will be a time they will be silenced
as even they will know when it is upon us. 

“There will be no more delay!” 
Yeah, among the scariest words in all of Scripture.

The angel is standing on land and sea.  It’s the whole world.  “There will be no more delay!”  But then the angel continues, “7 But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.” (Revelation 10:7)

Then the cliffhanger hangs for a few chapters while the scroll (remember it had been closed with a weeping John distraught that no one could bring about the restoration and vindication of Israel), now appears opened by the Lamb who was worthy.  Now this little scroll rests open in the hand of this magnificent angel and the scroll’s contents are about to be revealed…bittersweet.

To be continued…

Thoughts for today:

“Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow” is the procrastinator’s pledge.  Based upon today’s passage, why is it better to do it now?  Salvation is not something to put off.

“As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” (John 9:4) How does the angel’s pronouncement, “There will be no more delay!”, reiterate the urgency with which we must share the Gospel?

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

Let’s take a quick moment to point out that Revelation (that we’re studying for Lent) is not a strict chronology.  We can’t follow it like numbered connect-the-dots to form the picture.  We’re passing through an interlude describing the spiritual battle.  The seventh seal is open, and five trumpets have sounded. 

Where are we?  John gives us clues.  Revelation 9:12 “The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.”  This tells us we’re transitioning from the first woe which told of the death of one quarter of humanity (as people killed each other and plagues swept the earth) to something else. Something worse than the four horsemen.  One fourth was bad enough, remember?

Revelation 6:8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

…but now it’s ratcheted up to one third.

Revelation 9: 13 “The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God.  14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’”  15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.

Worth noting is that the locusts came from the Abyss. A key kept them locked there until the right time.  Locusts, agents of Satan.  Now, there are four angels who had been “kept ready” until their time (which is specified as hour, day, month, and year). They’re released to kill a third of mankind.

Revelation 9:16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.

Time out.  This is not John making it up.  A 20 million army is their number.  He heard it. 

Revelation 9:17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur.  18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths.  19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

Time out.  It’s hard to know what John is describing, but whatever it is, clearly it is injuring people. Killing people.  A third of mankind was killed.  And here’s the point outside of the pixelated view:

Revelation 9:20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood– idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Thoughts for today:

This is one of the saddest descriptions in all of Scripture. People witness this destruction with their own eyes but fail to see that they are in the death throes of sin. (Oh, wake up!!! Realize you’re in real trouble and repent!). Nope. They double down, and dig in their heels.

These events are still future.  Compare these to modern culture. 

They did not repent of proud human achievements (denying God and exalting man)

They did not stop worshiping false gods and satanic forces (maybe our devotion to celebrities, entertainment watched on TV, or the Internet)

Nor did they repent of their murders. Before you think, “Hey, that’s not widespread”, there is one death that is widely accepted in westernized countries.  It starts with an “a” and impacts the most innocent.

Magic arts, sometimes translated sorcery, is actually the Greek word φάρμακον (pharmakon) meaning a drug; magic potion, etc.  It’s the Greek root of our word pharmaceutical.  Do we diminish the problems of opioids, prevalence of recreational drugs, drug abuse, or addiction in relation to its spiritual connections? Has there been a recent push for legalization of various recreational drugs?  How should we view that biblically? What does the culture tell us?

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

It’s good–after a week of world tumult that seems out of control, and when the vignettes in our Revelation Lenten study have turned to thoughts of judgment–to remember that the results are not up to us.

God wins. That’s assured.

And His character ensures the judgments will be just in the Last Day. Here is a Sabbath rest to comfort your soul and refresh your spirit in remembering who He is.

“‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”
(Revelation 4:8)

This year’s Lent Devotional Series “Revelation in 40” resumes tomorrow after today’s Sabbath rest to meditate and worship as they are presently doing in heaven.

An eagle appears and indicates the progression is now to the inhabitants…mankind.  “As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!” (Revelation 8:13)

Revelation 9:1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.  2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.  3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.  4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

I don’t know about you, but I’d really want to be one of those
with the seal on my forehead. These locusts are nasty.

Revelation 9:5 “They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes.”

Thought for today:

Surely God would not allow torture!  I know. It’s hard to understand.  What if this is a preview, a movie trailer, or a sample taste of what hell is going to be like? 

How does an anthropomorphic view (making a man) of God Almighty make torture seem unthinkable? 

When we overlay human views/sentiments over God’s, we are likely more than a few degrees off of true center.  God knows everything.  We know only in part.  We’re likely to be wrong in our judgments.  God never is.

A star falls and is given a key to the Abyss.  That’s the home of demons.

Like the torture God allowed of Job (by Satan importantly), there is limit (not allowed to kill) and the result is one wishing he could die and get it over with. Compare Job 6:8-9 “Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, 9 that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut off my life!”  And “During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.” (Revelation 9:6)

Now might also be a good time to address “locusts” like horses with faces –the whole image is weird.  Professional theologians take thoughts of tanks and drones as being fantasy and dismiss this as missing the theological importance of John’s writing as it relates to persecution by Rome. Maybe I’m too simple, but I’m not ready to ignore that a first century John is trying to describe events that haven’t happened for us yet.  Imagine how hard it would be to describe technology you’ve never seen that blows your mind.  Do you think the locusts are actual locusts when they don’t eat plants?  It’s figurative in some sense, but in fighting over images, we lose the big picture: there is a legion of evil and the spiritual battle is real.  Some people will be casualties. War always does.

How is the authority over life and death connected to the authority to judge?  Read John 5:21-27.  ” For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. ” And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. (John 5:26-27)

I confess, I’m among those who wish for the Return of Christ.  Passages like this one disturb me for my loved ones.  What about you?

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

The trumpets do not bring judgment, only herald it.  The angels do not inflict judgment on their own choice.  As created beings, they cannot be the source.  You see, it’s a holy war and only God has the authority to send judgment upon mankind.  Everything else is created by God and therefore has no authority in this holy war.  Creation must solely obey God who commissioned them.

Revelation 8: 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.   6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

And there came. “There came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.”  It repeats.  The first was in 4:5 when we entered the throne room and saw “From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder” (Revelation 4:5).  God is the source.  It’s here in 8:5, again in 11:19, and it is repeated one more time in 16:18-21.

That’s John’s Jewish background, his reluctance to mention God, or permit any man-like resemblance to God the Father.   But “there came” tells us the Almighty is the source.  It tells us that all the judgment is coming from the same divine holiness from 4:5—God’s holiness—which must judge evil. 

There is no other way to remain holy than to wage war against evil.  God can do no other.

The trumpets herald plagues that point the reader
toward the plagues upon Egypt
which became progressively more intense and dire: 
water turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts,
darkness and finally, the killing of firstborn children.

Thunder from heaven.  Plagues like Egypt. 

Worth noting is that so far, the destruction announced by trumpet blasts, shofar of the holy war, harms only creation apart from mankind.  Humanity, the pinnacle of creation, is reserved for last.

The first 4 trumpets result in 1/3 level destruction.

Trumpet #1  Hail and fire mixed with blood, Result: 1/3 of the earth and trees were burned, and all the green grass.

Trumpet #2 Huge mountain ablaze thrown into the sea.  1/3 of sea became blood, 1/3 of sea creatures died, and 1/3 of the ships were destroyed.

Trumpet #3 Great star blazing like torch falling from sky.  Result 1/3 of rivers, springs of waters turned bitter.

Trumpet #4 Celestial events 1/3 of sun, moon, stars turned black.  1/3 day without light and 1/3 of night starless.

Then the 1/3 destruction notation pauses as an eagle appears and called to the earth’s inhabitants. 

“As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!” (Revelation 8:13)

To be continued…

Thought for today:

In the days of Moses in Egypt, the plagues only hardened Pharaoh’s heart.  What is served by having 1/3 of creation apart from man afflicted?

See Exodus 8:15,32; 9:12, 34; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:8

Why would God reserve the most severe of judgments, delaying until the last? 
In the flood, He reserved a remnant.  Why would destruction of man, wiping man off the face of the earth, be so grievous to God?

If you read the accounts in Exodus above you will see that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, but the Lord also hardened his heart.  How is that possible?

Think about that pattern of hardened hearts.  How does that inform that 1/3 destruction? 

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

The shofar, or trumpet as it’s often translated, was sounded repeatedly in Scripture.  It was used for many reasons such as sounding an alarm, announcing a battle, engaging in spiritual warfare, honoring holy days like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, worshiping God, heralding the Return of Christ, and proclaiming Judgment to come.  Often it was associated with God’s victory, whether past, present, or anticipated.   What else would you expect from God, the Alpha and Omega, “who is and who was and who is to come” (Revelation 1:8)?

In Revelation, there are seven shofars or trumpets announcing 7 plagues.  They don’t get sounded until the seventh seal is broken.  I try to picture it like nested boxes or those matryoshka dolls where smaller ones are nested inside the bigger one.  Only the closer to the core of this nesting, the power is more destructive.  

Seals 1-6 have been opened and then heaven stands silent in holy awe upon the judgments about to be commissioned from the throne. 

Revelation 8:1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.  2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them…5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.   6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

I can’t say it any better than Richard Bauckham in his book “The Theology of the Book of Revelation”.  He writes,

“There are three series of judgments, the seven seal-openings…the seven trumpets…and the seven bowls.  As seven is the number of completeness, in some sense each series completes God’s judgment on the unrighteous world…
…The three series are so connected that the seventh seal-opening includes the seven trumpets and the seventh trumpet includes the seven bowls. Thus each series reaches the same end, but from starting points progressively closer to the end. This is why the three series of judgments are of progressive severity: the judgments…a quarter…a third… and those of the bowls are unlimited.” 

And evil, in the end, is utterly destroyed as a final act of divine judgment.

Thought for today:

The seventh seal has not been opened in our human timeline.  The seven trumpets have yet to sound. Are you ready for Judgment Day?

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

Heaven is filled with praise of God. Scripture says, “Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” (Revelation 4:8). 

Praise never stops and no one minds the sound of praise because God is deserving of every bit and more.  Like a Dolby Atmos surround sound of heaven or the beat of our hearts, it’s with us, around us, and its rhythm and melody fill heaven’s sounds all the time. 

It’s always praise in the air. Constant. Joyous!  Except once.

There is one occasion when Heaven Stood Silent.

The Lamb of God (Jesus) who alone is worthy to open the seals has already opened 6 of them releasing the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, comforting the souls under the altar, and cosmic signs portending the End Time to beat all end times is upon them. 

Now, there is a final, seventh seal.  It was a solemn moment in which the prayers of God’s people are offered as a sacrifice to God and the final Judgment comes.  Grave, serious, ominous.  There will be no do-overs.  It’s the moment of dread that the unrepentant—in their unbelief—thought would never come.  Some had done genuine evil to those of faith.  Others just fools to be pitied, arrogantly believing they’d outsmarted God by diminishing His existence in their own minds.  It was a moment of such solemnity that heaven stood silent.

Revelation 8:1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.  3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. (Revelation 8:1-4)

Thought for today:

Where will you be when heaven stands silent?

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

Revelation 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.  2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:  3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 

4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel …

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes–
who are they, and where did they come from?”

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’ nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'” (Revelation 7:1-4, 13-17)

What is the Great Persecution…and how do the faithful ones survive it?

 It’s an unprecedented time, never to be repeated.

Matthew 24: 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 

It will be filled with liars and deceivers and false messiahs.

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.  5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.

It will be filled with war, pestilence, natural disasters, and famine.

 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

It will be marked by widescale killing of Christians, enough so that some will fall away and turn on those who hold the faith.

 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,  11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,

While liars lie, deceivers deceive, and haters gonna hate, there is hope for the one who perseveres by faith as Daniel did in Babylonian captivity. Jesus agrees.

 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.  14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. 15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel– let the reader understand– 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Daniel’s life tells us not to look back.  Hold onto your faith! Persevere.  Pray.

 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house.  18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now– and never to be equaled again.

It’s going to get very bad, but those who persevere in faith will overcome, keeping their eyes fixed on Christ Jesus who told us this would happen.

 22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

You’ll know it when you’re in it.  You’ll recognize His coming. He told us so.

 26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Thoughts from Revelation for today:

God’s angels are holding back the four winds until the time of destruction.  The 144,000 are sealed to preserve them from harm.  The Gospel will be preached and then, “He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24:1-31) Be planning now to persevere if it happens in our lifetimes.  Not with food storage or ammo, but sealed with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God hidden in your heart so you can pray.

Revelation 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

Who are the 144,000?  Well, a sure sign of a cult is to claim, not only that you know exactly who they are, but that you’re among them.  Is it figurative?  I don’t know, but that’s the kind of detail that bogs down in a pixelated reading of Revelation.  The big picture is that salvation belongs to our God.

What do I know?  First, God knows if it is figurative language of completion or if there will be 144,000 Messianic Jews who are sealed and it’s before everything hits the fan.  Second, He knows who the 144,000 individuals are, even their Jewish lineage though it may have disappeared from human record-keeping.  Third, the point is they are sealed as servants of God and the harm will not befall them.  And fourth, John was Jewish, and it was his worldview through which he viewed everything.  Therefore, he may have had the same thing in mind as the Apostle Paul who was also Jewish. 

“If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.” (Romans 11:16) 

A portion, a remnant, representation has always been God’s way.  Adam sinned.  He represented all men into sin.  Jesus came to save sinners.  He represented all humanity into forgiveness by faith in His salvation.  Only a subset of world inhabitants survived the flood: Noah and his family.  Only a subset of residents of Egypt survived the Passover: the Jewish ones who obeyed God.  Only a subset of the Hebrew people entered the Promised Land: those who took God at His word.  Only a subset of humanity will ever be saved…not because that’s what God wants, but because that’s how people are. 

What does Scripture say?  “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

This 144,000 is divided out among the tribes of Israel into groups of 12,000, a number of completion and the elder specifically outlines 12 tribes of Israel.  I’m inclined to think he meant 12 tribes and specifically among Jews who are sealed.  God knows.  But after John sees that, what does he notice?  Not 144,000, but “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”  (Revelation 7:9-10)

Thoughts for today:

Is salvation limited to Gentiles?  Let me answer that.  NO.  Jewish people will be grafted back in. That’s what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 11 (specifically verses 5 and 25).  Salvation belongs to our God.

In what way does this 144,000 represent firstfruits of a multitude?

If the 144,000 are specifically Jews who were sealed before the Great Tribulation and the zoom forward in time shows more than 144,000 wearing white robes, how might that fulfill Isaiah 51 which speaks of a light to the nations or the light to the Gentiles as fruit of the ministry of the Servant and a restored remnant of Israel?

Or the prophecy of Simeon “My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” (Luke 2:30-32)

What do all the white robes tell you about the number of people who will be persecuted in the end times?

Knowing what you know about doing laundry, is it possible by human effort alone to wash something white by washing it in blood?  What does that tell you about the picture of holiness and forgiveness by washing clean in the blood of the Lamb?

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

“Each of the four living creatures had six wings
and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings.
Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’
who was, and is, and is to come.”

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne
and who lives for ever and ever, 
the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne
and worship Him who lives for ever and ever.

They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for You created all things,
and by Your will they were created and have their being.” 

Revelation 4:8-11

This year’s Lent Devotional Series “Revelation in 40” resumes tomorrow after today’s Sabbath rest to meditate and worship as they are presently doing in heaven.