Tag: Revelation

The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John

  • a 21st c. Tempest

    a 21st c. Tempest

    And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. – Mat. 8:24 KJV

    violent wind stormsIt seems the winds of change come upon us suddenly and violently.

    We resist the inevitable, either turning toward the strong winds of change or looking aimlessly askance at the onslaught of destruction.

    Where is the rudder of your soul in the tossing times of these last days?

    For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. – Jeremiah 4 excerpt KJV

    The LORD created the heavens and the earth! The LORD destroyed and created once more in the time of Noah.

    mosque and temple2The LORD gave a people Israel the Law and Kings, then destroyed country and Temples, even rebuilt Temples in a place yet disputed.

    Will the LORD not act for his own Name’s sake?

    A thousand years before Jesus was given to us for the salvation of not only the Jews, but also for mankind; the Son of Man sat in a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee sleeping: unconcerned for the tempest of the sea or winds of change coming to Jerusalem and the preordained cross of calvary.

    Prophets had foretold the coming of a Messiah. And here Jesus lay in a boat sleeping, with only One rudder for His righteous soul: the Holy Spirit of Almighty God: the LORD Most High and Father of Christ Jesus, creator of mankind and ruler of the land, seas and heavens.

    21 centuries later:

    We are rich… especially here in the U.S., but also ruling leaders and land owners of every continent.

    Take some advice from Job:

    11 I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.

    12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?

    13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty…

    19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.

    20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.

    Do you fear Almighty God?

    Jesus asleep in boat Mat 8The peaceful Savior, asleep in the boat, unafraid of the tempest; Christ Jesus will become your rudder in the storm of these last days, if only you will follow Him.

    “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! – Matthew 8:27b KJV

    The Lord will return when the harvest of the righteous in Him is complete!

    Yet how long, O Lord?

    From the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John:

    Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. 6:11

    12 I watched as the Lamb broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as dark as black cloth, and the moon became as red as blood. 13 Then the stars of the sky fell to the earth like green figs falling from a tree shaken by a strong wind.

    14 The sky was rolled up like a scroll, and all of the mountains and islands were moved from their places.

    Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” – 6:15-17

    Rev 22-20Mark 16:15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

    16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

  • Israel’s First King – 2

    Israel’s First King – 2

    1 Samuel 8:

    When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel… 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

    7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

    Heed the words of the Lord God: “… for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.”

    Is it possible that we are a rebellious people who refuse to be governed, ruled even by the Lord God?

    Many centuries later after the fall of the Kingdom of Israel, the Lord instructs through the Prophet Ezekiel:

    Ezekiel 2 “Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’

    “As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

    Saul will be anointed by the Prophet Samuel as Israel’s first king; however the Lord God makes clear that Israel has rejected the LORD as their King, even before this first appointment of a man over a rebellious people.

    1 Samuel 9:

    There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. 2 And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

    (How the people love to elect a handsome and wealthy man to lead them.)

    15 Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel: 16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.”

    17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.”

    Samuel proceeds to anoint Saul as a ‘nagiyd’ [a leader, ruler, captain or prince] of the people. Note the attitude of the LORD. GOD remains King of Israel; yet the anointed King of Israel is called a prince.

    If the people will not be accountable to God Almighty, why would they bow down to an earthly king?

    Saul, King of Israel, is now responsible to God’s chosen people, Israel. Saul is first and foremost accountable to the Lord God, who speaks through His Prophet Samuel.

    Israel of the Judges1 Samuel 12

    11 And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king.

    13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. 14 If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well.

    15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.

    You are probably familiar with the appearance of King Saul as a crazy man needing to be soothed by the harp of David. Most everyone knows Saul’s jealousy, after David kills Goliath and the people praise David. You probably realize that Saul later pursues David hoping to kill him. You likely know that Saul’s own son Jonathan, biological heir to the throne, befriends and protects David (God’s anointed heir).

    A New Testament context and contemporary caution:

    Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works… 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God… 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown… 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth…

    Revelation 3:19 KJV As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

    20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

    21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

    22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

    Saul will NOT listen to the LORD and the Hebrew people who had desired a King are a rebellious people like you and me.

    Let the church hear what the Lord shows us of our own rebellion in Saul, the first King of Israel.

    First Samuel Thirteen may be one of the best illustrations of poor leadership and a powerless people who failed to listen to God.

    The Hebrew people had been led to victories in the promised land by GOD. Joshua and the Judges had followed the Lord’s leading in defeating Canaan and the other nations who dwelt in the promised land.

    Saul abandoned the Lord and sought to defeat their enemies without hearing GOD.

    Don’t we tend to do the same in times of desperation that demand a decision? Neither do you or I wait to hear from the Lord in certain situations when our enemies seem to be upon us.

    Yet is the Lord not for us, rather than against us? And is the Lord not merciful and just? Have we not known the Almighty King of Kings?

    In our prayerless times when we have not heard from the Lord, we are no better than Saul.

    To be continued…

  • Interrupting Jesus 12 – interrupting sin

    Interrupting Jesus 12 – interrupting sin

    `…  to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy…  build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince… the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. Daniel 9:24-25 KJV excerpt

    I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

    Jesus answering the religious leaders. Luke 5:32 KJV

    The following is the conclusion of a 12-part series on Interrupting Jesus.

    What interruption are you expecting to your day today? What interruption to your mission and ‘to do’ list? Who has stepped into time you thought was your own?

    Will you take time, like a loving and merciful God, to love those who get in the way of what you had planned for today?

    Jesus made people the focus of His time. No sinner was too unimportant to receive His love and healing. You are not so important or unimportant for God Incarnate to grant you grace, forgiving your sins.

    The LORD had interrupted men like Abram, Moses, David and the Prophets. The LORD made covenant and promise. He has given the Law to Israel and made judgment on nations. God IS the LORD!

    Why would the eternal GOD interrupt the time of history, even the measured mortality of one man or one woman?

    The LORD is Almighty, yet God loves the world – the sons and daughters of the generations – enough to interrupt the rebelliousness of our sin with the love, mercy and grace of a Perfect Heavenly Father.

    God interrupted the sin of mankind in the Person of Christ Jesus.

    Jesus loved every sinner who interrupted His mission and ministry; from His mother at the wedding where He turned water into wine, to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, to the tax collector Zaccheus in the tree, to you and me.

    Jesus Christ loves the people of the world with a personal love and forgiveness of God the Father.

    Every generation has looked for God or selfishly ignored God.

    The LORD may not have appeared to your grandfather Abraham and your father and mother. The LORD may not have promised a home to your twelve children in a land of milk and honey. The LORD may not have given your leader the Law or appeared to your High Priest. The LORD may not have called you to rebuke kings and nations or given you writing on the walls of history.

    For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. John 1:17

    The LORD God is known. The LORD IS. In the Person of Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit, God is present to those who believe, repent and obey His will; those who believe in Him, as a faithful child follows a loving Father.

    Ungodly men seek to do as they please and lead other men into their own sinful ambitions. Israel and all nations look to strong men to lead us into a promise of land and riches for our own ambitious pleasures. False prophets and evil leaders of men will seek your sacrifice for their gain of land and riches.

    Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple had been destroyed. September 21, 520 B.C., Temple rebuilding resumes and is completed in 515 B.C., only to be destroyed once again. A faithful exiled Hebrew Prophet had predicted this and more from Babylon (modern day Iraq) under Nebuchadnezzar and later under Cyrus II of Persia (modern day Iran) who overthrew Babylon and allowed some of the Hebrew captives to return to Judah.

    Daniel, Prophet of God, lives a godly and high priestly life in a foreign land from about 605-535 B.C. Here the testimony of God through Daniel:

    Daniel 9:

    In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years…

    “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,

    we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.

    We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame…

    11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside,refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity…

    15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly…

    The Israel of Moses and Joshua had not yet received the true promise of the promised land. Jacob and the twelve sons of Israel did not reap the harvest of the leading of God. David and even Solomon would suffer defeats of a mighty kingdom and evil kings to follow did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.

    Prophets of the LORD, like Jeremiah and Daniel had warned the people of their sin, yet like us… like those leaders of defeated Judah who lived comfortable in their ‘religion’… most souls will not have the ears to hear the LORD. Israel did not expect the kind of Messiah the LORD had sent to personally give accountability for our sins. Jesus was not a leader like them.

    Five hundred years after the Prophet Daniel, Herod the Great [37-4 B.C.] envisioned himself as the kind of King Israel should have to restore the kingdom. Many others recognized the true godliness of a Prophet like John the Baptist.

    John 1:

    19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

    20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

    During the time of the Messiah in the Person of Jesus Christ, men of Judah, living under the strong rule of a Roman Empire, expected a Messiah King to restore their land to the glory of David and Solomon. Jesus Christ, a Son of Man, came to us that all might be restored to the glory of God by receiving forgiveness of our sins through His Holy and Perfect Sacrifice.

    The LORD God is just. The Lord God is a loving Father. Christ Jesus IS sacrificed for us. He IS risen to return once more to judge all souls in the Light, forgiving those who repent and turn back to the righteous LORD.

    Three years of earthly ministry of Jesus Christ lead to the gates of Jerusalem more than once, a final time as the Passover Sacrifice for the sins of all mankind on a Cross. An interruption of the centuries and generations by Almighty God gives rise to all nations and all mankind – hope to all the generations for the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life with the LORD God, our Father in Heaven.

    Not only does Jesus interrupt history with a resurrection of His soul, as one might expect; but the greatest interruption of all: Jesus rises from the grave of death in the body and appears to more than five hundred over a time of fifty days!

    The Prophets and the Psalmist had spoken and written of the Messiah, who would be King of the Jews. The Scriptures had spoken of the King to whom all will bow down. It was not to happen on earth, in the brief lifetime of Jesus of Nazareth or in yours or mine. Yet Scripture and the promises of the LORD will be fulfilled.

    Another interruption is yet to come:

    Daniel is not the only true Prophet to see the handwriting on the walls of what the LORD will surely do. Read more of the Prophets about the day of the LORD.

    Jesus Christ, our Lord, also warned of His return on the clouds. The Apocalypse written at the close of the New Testament is well-known to the world as an interruption of history yet to come, though the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John is little understood even by believers.

    Do you live your life in expectation of the return of Christ our Lord on the clouds?

    Revelation 21

    Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

    5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end…

    Do you give the souls who interrupt your day the same love and compassion Christ Jesus has given us by showing a most personal interest in our forgiveness of sins?

    Revelation 22 KJV

    11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

    12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

    13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

    14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

    LORD, interrupt our mortality with your own loving immortality.

    Amen.