Revelation 9:1-10:11

Yeah, I’m a numbers person – and Revelation is full of numbers. Initially we see seven seals, then seven trumpets and three woes within those seven trumpets, then later we’ll get seven bowls. But there are other unnamed numbers, four sets of which we find in today’s reading: three plagues on mankind – fire, smoke, and sulfur; five kinds of materials for making idols – gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood; four unrepentant activities – murders, sorceries, sexual immorality, and thefts; and three creations – heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it.

And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. (v. 10:10) This sounds so much like sin. The temptation is so attractive, so sweet, but the regret, the hurt is bitterness to the soul. Too true.

Revelation 7:1-8:13

It’s a strange listing of the Israeli tribes in 7:5-8. Dan is missing while Levi is included. Joseph is included, as is his son, Manasseh, but his son Ephraim is not included. You may recall in the division of the Promised Land back in Joshua that twelve tribes were given land. Levi was excluded, having been given the priesthood, and the twelve tribes included the two sons of Joseph.

The angels and the elders and the four living creatures worshiping in verse 7:11 say, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Back in Rev. 5:12 the myriads worshiping said, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” In today’s reading “thanksgiving” replaces “wealth” in that earlier listing. Interestingly, Rev. 5:13 has a shorter listing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” Compared to Rev. 5:12, “power and wealth and wisdom” are excluded. What makes this interesting is that Solomon asked for wisdom to guide the people and the Lord granted him his wish, giving him power and wealth also. (See I Kings 3:5-15.)

As I read 7:16-17 today I thought of stories I have read of prisoners of war in Japan in WWII and in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s: They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat … and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. As these POWs were released and brought back into American society their medical and physical needs were met, but I doubt that every tear was wiped away. Although comparisons can be made, the “rest” that comes with those who come out of the “great tribulation” is beyond anything we can imagine.

So today we’ve seen the seventh seal broken and four trumpets sounded. Three trumpets remain. We’ll do five and six tomorrow and number seven the day after.

Revelation 5:1-6:16

The end of today’s reading leaves us hanging – six of the seven seals have been broken; what of the seventh? We’ll have a one-chapter interlude until we get to that seventh seal. But at that point we’re only at the beginning of the end since there will still be seven trumpets (Rev. 8-11) and seven bowls of the wrath of God (Rev. 16), plus all the material in between and after!

When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood… (v. 12) As I read this verse I thought of Jesus’ crucifixion: And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised… (Matthew 27:50-52). See also verse 6:9 in today’s reading, “…the souls of those who had been slain…”.

The first book that I read after my born-again experience in 1975 was The Late, Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey. In this 1970 book Lindsey interprets the book of Revelation and other end-times prophecies to give his understanding of the end times. Although the book describes Lindsey’s end-times theology, fundamentally it is more an evangelistic message to believers and non-believers to get right with God. This book turned my head and brought about an intense prayer on my part to have my life more fully changed. According to a 2017 article, “The Late Great Planet Earth was the best-selling nonfiction book of the 1970s: Ten million copies were in circulation by the end of the decade. It sold more than 28 million copies by 1990, an estimated 35 million by 1999, and was translated into more than 50 languages … an incredibly successful ‘crossover’ book—one of the first texts to bridge the divide between religious and secular audiences.” (https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2017/winter/feature/the-late-great-planet-earth-made-the-apocalypse-popular-concern) You might want to make this book your winter reading after we finish Revelation.

Revelation 3:1-4:11

I know this sounds judgmental, but the church in Sardis (vv. 1-6) reminds me of the church that Carol and I left behind in Richmond: …you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die … Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. When we started coming to St. Andrew’s I remember thinking that the Spirit was just not present in that church in Richmond, except in the lives of a few people. But even saying that, I knew that the others loved the Lord; my sense was that they just did not really know Him. It was more like a nice gathering of nice people.

I wrote yesterday that Jesus had a three-fold message to each of the seven churches – commendation, complaint, and correction – but I do not see this pattern in His words to the church in Philadelphia. I see commendation, but complaint and correction are missing. Twice He says to them, “…you have kept my word…” (vv. 8, 10) I can see why we have a city in the USA named Philadelphia.

To the church in Laodicea, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” The word “vomit” could substitute for “spit”, a much stronger translation! I think of these words as applying to agnostics, but they could also easily apply to anyone who does not have Jesus as Lord of their lives. His being Savior is one thing; His being Lord is a whole other level!

It’s a shame I had to double up these chapters for the next week. The break between chapters 3 and 4 is dramatic, from Jesus’ words to the seven churches to John’s entrance into Jesus’ throne room. I’ll leave it at that with only one comment – my Study Bible noted that scholars often relate the 24 elders to the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles.

Revelation 2:1-29

But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. (v. 4) I’ve read these messages to the churches many times and two stick out for me – this message to Ephesus and the one to the lukewarm church at Laodicea. I always remember this partial verse to Ephesus as “…you have lost (left) your first love…”, an easier quote. As I read this I often think of my “first love” of God, my born-again experience and those early years “in Christ” – how much I was learning daily, weekly, on and on; those early relationships; some early hardships to work through. Yet through it all I feel that my love for God has grown year by year. Still I know that there is so much that I don’t know, that there is a depth of love that I have not yet reached and that I will never know “Him in Whom I have believed” until I see Him in His eternal glory.

My Study Bible noted that for each of the seven churches there is a pattern of commendation, complaint, and correction. It’s good to note that as we read through each of these messages to the churches. It’s also a good word for us today. No doubt, Jesus would commend us for the work we do on His behalf, yet He knows our faults and looks for our repentance daily. He ends each of these seven messages with “To the one who overcomes (conquers)…”. In the end He knows that in Him and through Him we are “overcomers”, that we love Him and that He loves us even more than we can possibly imagine, and that His forgiveness is always present. But not to be taken for granted…!

Revelation 1:1-20

So now, the book of Revelation…

It is difficult to simply read through this book without notes on the meanings of many of the words and images contained in each verse. So I would encourage you to grab your Study Bible, if you have one, or to go buy one if you don’t have one. For my part, I will be making comments, but not trying to explain things. This is a very complex book.

A couple of items… My Study Bible tells me that the word “seven” occurs 52 times in Revelation (also listing the major categories that are counted by that number) and that “angels” occurs more than 70 times. The seven churches mentioned in verse 11 form a clockwise circle outward from Ephesus, each church some 50 miles (more or less) distant from the church previously mentioned. Scholars discuss whether John in writing this book is describing events that have already happened, events that will happen between his “now” and when Jesus returns (the “church age”), or events that will happen when Jesus returns. I have always taken it as the latter, that we are reading about end-time prophecies. Finally, verse 3 tells us that you will be blessed if you read this book. Nice.

Grace to you and peace from Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come… (v. 4b). “…Who is…” – Jesus “is”, He always “is”, from eternity beginning and forever; “…Who was…”, Jesus came to earth – lived, died, rose from the dead and ascended; “…and Who is to come…”, Jesus will come again! John repeats this triad in verse 8. He also continues this last phrase in verse 7: Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. I am particularly touched by John’s inclusion of …even those who pierced Him.

There are more comments that I could make, but I’d rather leave it to the rest of you to weigh in with your thoughts.

III John 1:1-14

So if I come… (v. 10a). Scholars have suggested that John was the leader of the church at Ephesus and very probably in a position not unlike our bishops today, also overseeing other churches in Asia Minor. This character, Diotrephes stands out in today’s reading – harsh, autocratic, dictatorial – yet seemingly the leader of a congregation not too far away from Ephesus in Asia Minor. Reading the whole letter in context, it seems that John’s friend and supporter, Gaius, is a member of Diotrephes’ congregation, and that John is hopeful of making an apostolic visit to that church to straighten things out there.

All this is timely, in that we just had a visit from our ADOTS Bishop and ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach. Although he had come for the installation service on Sunday, he had made it a point to have dinner with the Vestry and our new Rector on Saturday evening the night before. In essence he was making his own apostolic visit, “taking the temperature” of our congregation by seeking out our church leadership, doing exactly what bishops are supposed to do. His words to us on Sunday morning told us that he was pleased with what he saw, that we were moving forward just as he had expected, in God’s good grace. What a blessing it is to have someone like Foley Beach as our apostolic covering. Our congregation is blessed in so many ways; this is just one more!

Today is our last day reading through the epistles. Tomorrow we begin the book of Revelation where we will spend the final two weeks of 2021. That may be a new experience for some of you. Revelation is very different from all the other books in the New Testament. But we move on!

See also: December 30 / III John 1:1-8; December 31 / III John 1:9-14

II John 1:1-13

Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete. (v. 12) Very likely John wrote these words simply to reflect his warmth toward this lady (or this church body), especially the final phrase, …so that our joy may be complete. Face-to-face was much better for John than “paper and ink”. But I also thought of our time as a church body in COVID isolation last year when we were not able to gather together for weeks/months at a time, and finally how it was so wonderful to get back together again. I think back to that time with John’s words, …so that our joy may be complete. And our joy was complete, except for those who had chosen not to return just yet. Being together as a body is so much better than seeing a church service live-streamed or having a Vestry meeting with a Zoom connection. There is much to be said for being together, …so that our joy may be complete.

See also: December 28 / II John 1:1-6; December 29 / II John 1:7-13

I John 5:1-21

Echo! Echo! Yesterday Archbishop Beach quoted two verses from yesterday’s reading. The first had to do with his first point, Jesus’ love for us shown in His incarnation: In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. (v. 4:9) The second had to do with his second point, Jesus’ love for us shown in His sacrifice: In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (v. 4:10) Sweet!

Three streams, one river… I commented on this “three streams, one river” approach to Christian history and practice in the second link below, that Michael Matlock had covered this topic in a 12/20/2020 sermon. He then instituted a Lenten series with a “three streams” teaching series in 2021, with himself covering the Evangelical/Scriptural stream, Mark Royster giving a talk on the Catholic/Sacramental stream, and Archbishop Beach giving the talk on the Spirit stream. I would encourage you to listen to those talks if you have never heard them. Then our Men’s Group started our own study of these “three streams” earlier this year. And as a side note, the first mention that I can see of “three streams, one river” was a sermon by the priest who officiated our wedding back in Northern Virginia in 1983 or 1984. Archbishop Beach is wholly on board with this approach for all ACNA congregations. We all could gain from each of these historical traditions as we incorporate them into our life and worship.

See also: December 25 / I John 5:1-5; December 26 / I John 5:6-12; December 27 / I John 5:13-21

I John 4:1-21

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (v. 1) This verse caught my eye today – “…test the spirits to see whether they are from God”. I was trying to think of instances in my life when I have “tested the spirits”. A most obvious testing would be with respect to Mormon and Jehovah’s Witness beliefs, but I have never “tested” those spirits – I’ve simply taken the word of others whose positions I respect. For me the most “testing” that I have done has been with respect to liberal theology – in particular the upheaval in the Episcopal Church in 2003/2004 over the consecration of a gay bishop. There were many liberal issues that preceded this one particular item, but this consecration seemed to be the “straw that broke the camel’s back”. Tens-of-thousands of people in Episcopal churches left that denomination having “tested” those more liberal spirits, preferring instead our Bible-based, traditional, historical beliefs. St. Andrew’s people were part of that mass exodus.

Back in our church in Richmond we had a rector who said that he did not believe in Hell, that he could not believe that God would subject someone to eternal damnation. Although that rector moved on to another parish, the discomfort remained for Carol and me. Our difficulties had more to do with the national Episcopal Church than with that local body, but we did not see others in that body testing the spirits of that higher leadership and we ended up leaving that church and joining St. Andrew’s. Individually I/we found ourselves testing that more liberal theology in more personal ways, with our own disagreements with friends and relatives. We even lost dear friends (a married couple) over a stance that we took in direct opposition to where they were headed. But we’ve also seen strengthened relationship when our common bonds brought us closer together.

…test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

See also: December 23 / I John 4:1-11; December 24 / I John 4:12-21