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 – …
Category Archives: RTB 2021 – New Testament
December 20 / Revelation 7:1-8:13
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 …
December 19 / Revelation 5:1-6:17
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. …
December 18 / Revelation 3:1-4:11
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 …
December 17 / Revelation 2:1-29
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 …
December 16 / Revelation 1:1-20
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 …
December 15 / III John 1:1-14
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 …
December 14 / II John 1:1-13
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 …
December 13 / I John 5:1-21
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 …
December 12 / I John 4:1-21
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 …