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A Witness through John – King of the Darkness

And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 9:11

Light from Darkness

What do you believe about light and darkness, about good and evil, about God and the opponents of the LORD?

John begins his gospel much like Genesis with contrasts between light and darkness and introduces evidence of the presence of Christ and the Spirit of God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…
That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.
John 1:1,5 CSB

John compares Jesus to light, God’s answer to formlessness and darkness. Moses illustrates darkness in the beginning (Genesis) as chaos prior to God’s intervention by creation.

Genesis 1:

2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.

And the Spirit of God moved like the wind over the gathering wave of a deep unending sea.

And God saw that it was good.

Light and darkness, good and evil, God’s plan and chaos: always separated. The Apostle John makes this separation very clear to the church as he writes in his third letter:

3 John 1:11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

Choose Light or descend into darkness?

We like the Apostle John because he points us toward Christ’s love for the world. His gospel emphasizes Jesus’ love with little mention of the devil.

Some christians and others of this twenty-first century doubt the existence of the devil or question the influence, if any, of Satan and demons. We think we know these influencers of evil from other books of the Bible and tend to dismiss demons and devils.

John’s gospel is all about the Light.

John 1:9 The true light that gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

Yet Jesus cautions us, pointing to contrasts between light and darkness, good and evil, and yes, between following Him or the prince of darkness.

Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”
“I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness.
John 8:12 & John 12:46

These warnings against darkness from the Son of God ought to be enough, yet the prince of the world would tempt us to worldliness.

These warnings from John’s gospel do not differ from those of the Prophets.

Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD!
What will the day of the LORD be for you?
It will be darkness and not light.
Amos 5:15 CSB

Revelation – ἀποκάλυψις apokalypsis

When we think of young John, the loving faithful follower of Jesus, we forget that he lived a long life as the only surviving Apostle. Rome finally banished John to Patmos where he received a terrifying apocalypse from the risen Christ.

Orazio Fidani, Saint John the Apostle, c. 1640-56

God judges the world; that is, those of the world who have turned away from the only Savior, our Lord.

Do you fear the uncertainty of darkness?

Consider the uncertainty of death!

Should God punish sin?

Dare you consider the darkness of death, experienced by your soul?

Judgement of the World

“Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”
Revelation 16:1

Last Judgement – Michelangelo

10 The fifth [angel] poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness.

People gnawed their tongues because of their pain

11 and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they did not repent of their works.

Judgement! And punishment, even after death.

No redemption from sin, no help from the beast or false prophet.

Certainly no post-death incarnation into a new or different body, not even that of a lowly animal. (Such selfish idolatry of those lost souls who strictly adhere to such ancient lies or worship false gods.)

John proclaims Jesus’ love for the world! Yet the world rejects Him, because their deeds done in darkness are evil.

And who is behind it all? Who would lead sinners into a place of darkness and evil since the beginning of the world? John tells us.

That Great Dragon of Darkness

12:9 καὶ ἐβλήθη ὁ δράκων ὁ μέγας ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος ὁ καλούμενος Διάβολος καὶ ὁ Σατανᾶς ὁ πλανῶν τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν γῆν καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ μετ’ αὐτοῦ ἐβλήθησαν

He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him. – Revelation 12:9

Revelation 9: The Fifth Trumpet

The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key for the shaft to the abyss was given to him. 2 He opened the shaft to the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great furnace so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft.

The Dragon Thrown Out of Heaven

⁷Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, ⁸but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer.

You with eyes to see, souls seeking the Light of salvation: observe the terrible intensity of the battle between good and evil – Satan’s opposition to the Lord God and Christ Jesus. It is a battle to the death for our souls!

Yet by the mercy of the LORD’s Sacrifice of love on the Cross for you, Christ Jesus purchased victory eternal over the dragon of darkness.

⁹So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.

The many names of the evil one

He hides in the shadows of darkness and speaks lies to false prophets. We know this dark imitator of light by many names, confusing even more our blurred vision of his subtle evil.

The great dragon – δράκων from familiar imagery of Greek mythology to John’s audience. The ancient serpent – ὄφις , a familiar reference to the cunning tempter in Eden , a clear reference to original sin חַטָּאָת.

John clarifies the identity of the enemy with two additional names more familiar to us, first: the devil – διάβολος diabolos in the familiar Greek, which means slanderer or accuser. He is known as the tempter πεῖρα, one who would bring you to a trial or terrible experience. It is a word from a root word πέραν meaning, ‘to pierce,’ which contains significant symbolism in the war between good and evil, between Christ and Satan.

John’s second identification is the most familiar and most feared: Satan. The contemporary name in the Greek, Σατανᾶς Satanas, also known to fellow Jews, believers along with John, as Satan שָׂטָן.

Revelation 16:10 refers to Satan’s princely throne as ‘throne of the beast,’ θηρίον thērion, implying his wild, venomous nature, even brutal, savage and ferocious, sometime illustrated as a bestial man.

Is is any wonder that the evil one wants man, created in the image of God, to dismiss him as myth?

More names of the prince of darkness

While relating the prophesy known as the fifth trumpet, John refers to Satan as: ‘the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.’

Luke’s Gospel describes the actions of demons, evil spirits influencing a human soul, confronting Jesus.

28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said in a loud voice,
“What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torment me!”
29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man…
31 And they begged him not to banish them to the abyss.

Deep in the darkness of the pit of the abyss sits the throne of its angel and prince.

John identifies the destroyer of souls as Abaddōn, from the Hebrew אֲבַדּוֹן ‘abaddown most associated with the sheol and the grave.

The LORD brings death and gives life;
he sends some down to Sheol, and he raises others up.
1 Samuel 2:6

Knowing its familiarity to the learned Greek culture of the Roman empire, John also refers to the prince of darkness as Apollyōn, the Greek adjective for destroyer.

War in Heaven

War in Heaven by Pieter Paul Rubens, 1619

Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer.
Revelation 12:7-8

Though Satan rules the darkness and entices sinners to turn against Christ Jesus and bow down at the throne of darkness, dare you doubt the consequence of the war between good and evil?

Michael and Satan, by Guido Reni, c. 1636

Revelation 19:

Satan and the false prophet are defeated and punished.

The saints then reign with Christ.

The Lord reigns over a new creation and a new Jerusalem.

The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 Night will be no more…
Revelation 22:3b-4a

The Apostle John pleas to his beloved churches, to beloved saints who claim Christ. The commandment of God is love, as Christ has loved us.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him.
1 John 1:5

Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

October 31, 2018
The Beginning of the End – A Burden of the Prophets – 3
I don’t understand what is going on. Who will tell us?

Earthquakes, fires, famines, rulers we never thought would come to power… What is going on?

It’s an age-old question. A king’s messengers may proclaim his threats, but who can the faithful believe? Only a true prophet of the Lord. And many have claimed their own messages falsely. Even now lies live in the deceitful hearts of evil men.
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In case you missed the beginning of our Advent series:

https://talkofjesus.com/beginning-end-prophets-1/ ‎
https://talkofjesus.com/beginning-end-prophets-2/ ‎
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We have only briefly spoken of the Prophets, so far focusing on Jeremiah in the 7th century before Christ; however now we return to the 8th century B.C. during a specific time at the beginning of the end of Israel and later Judah. Many have only heard of Isaiah, whose prophesies confirm Christ as part of our annual Gospel readings of the births of John the Baptist and Jesus, the Messiah.

The prophesies of Amos warn the shaken residents of lands facing destruction around 1750 B.C., including Israel and its neighboring countries.

Amos 1:

The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

You have heard of it from this same proximity:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. – Luke 2:8 KJV

Only Amos, a keeper of sheep in these same hills lived not only prior to the nativity of Christ, but even before the fall of Israel and Judah.

The LORD gave the prophet Amos powerful words which accurately predicted the fates of Israel and her neighbors.

Yet even as in these last days, only a remnant of the faithful would listen and be saved.

A true Prophet is no popular leader, only a messenger of the LORD

Amos 7:

12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, 13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs.

15 But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.

The Destruction of Israel

As messenger of the LORD, Amos continues warnings through his unpopular visions [Chapter 9]:

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said:

“Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake,
and shatter them on the heads of all the people;
and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;
not one of them shall flee away;
not one of them shall escape…

8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.
9 “For behold, I will command,
and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’

In the two years preceding the earthquake (around 750 B.C.) Amos warns kings of Israel and Judah of the consequences of their sin. He speaks against their surrounding kingdoms as well. The coming disasters are the judgment of the Lord. It will surely come.

Did it happen?

Look to the timeline of Prophets and you will see that it did. A century before Amos, Elijah and Elisha had challenged evil kings and queens like Ahab and Jezebel of the northern kingdom. By the close of the 7th century B.C. Israel would exist no more. Only Judah would survive; and that, only for a brief time.

Is there no hope?

“The Lord roars from Zion,” we hear not only from Amos, but also the prophet Joel in Judah. The destruction would seem to be both certain and complete.

And yet, the Lord always speaks hope to those who will listen to His true Prophets.

Amos 9:

11 “In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old…

A booth is a temporary shelter, rather than the golden palatial place of worship built by Solomon. Here the Lord promises repair after punishment. Yet from the house of David generations will pass, hundreds of years until the promised king is born into a manger in a captive Judea.

Amos 9:

14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.

15 I will plant them on their land,
and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the land that I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.

Amos: His name means “Burden,” and he is called the prophet of righteousness. His home was at Tokea, a small town of Judea about twelve miles south of Jerusalem…

Generations, the voices of many prophets, centuries and even a time of silence would all pass before the coming of the Messiah and hope of Israel.

To be continued..

Until He comes
December 17, 2017
Covenant and Truth – 4

And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. – 2 Peter 2:2

1 John 1:6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

[Links open separate windows to different Hebrew & Greek roots or scripture.]

Amos 5:8 They hate him who reproves in the gate,
and they abhor him who speaks the truth.

Malachi 2:6 True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity.

The Prophets speak of truth, the Apostles speak of truth, God speaks of truth time and time again. Truth must be important.

No Gospel mentions truth more than the Gospel of John. (You would do well to consider the Truth of every verse of this Good News.)

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)

The Gospel is a testimony of Truth in the Court of God with witness before all mankind.

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

God values Truth so much that He sent His only Son to the Cross as witness of His love for us.

Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

Let those of us with ears to hear, hear the words of Jesus about our spoken words and our promises (not even addressing the more serious violations of breaking the covenants of our written words).

Matthew 5

English Standard Version (ESV)

Oaths

33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’

34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Do we realize the context of this teaching from Jesus?

It is from the Sermon on the Mount: after the Beatitudes (or blessings), after His call to us to become salt and light to the world, after His warning that He has not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, after His warning against anger and call to reconciliation, after his warning again lust; and after His prohibition of divorce.

Christians and Christian marriages are being watched. We are witness to Christ Jesus and the permanence of His relationship with His faithful Bride the church – a topic which we will pursue after our next focus on hypocrisy.

To be continued…

March 13, 2014