Reviews and Views

…in my opinion.

Book of Revelation – Chapter 7

Chapter 7 is God’s parenthesis or pause until the opening of the last seal. He is informing us of what lies ahead for His people (Israelites and Gentiles) in the terrible period of trial that follows the Rapture of the Church. This chapter may be divided into two portions dealing with two groups and portrays God as compassionate, merciful, and loving. These saved and sealed multitudes are probably the fruit of the ministry of the two mysterious witnesses (to be discussed later).

In verses 1 through 8, four angels hold back the four winds. This pause gives time for a great revival on earth after the Church is gone. These servant multitudes are sealed by God in their foreheads. Also, during this stillness, 144,000 Jews are sealed. There are 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. As God lays claim to His own, that does not mean they necessarily escape the everyday disasters of earth. It does mean that God watches over them and takes careful note of their affairs. Notice there are two very different groups of people in chapter 7. “One company is Jewish (144,000); the other is Gentile. One passes unscathed through the fiery furnace of the Tribulation; the other is martyred to the very last man.” (John Phillips commentary, page 110). The sealed 144,000 defy the totality of Satan’s secular dominion. The sealed multitude of Gentiles saved during the Tribulation will close their testimony with their blood.

During the Tribulation hour, the presence of the Holy Spirit exists. In the passage of 1 Thessalonians 2:6-7, the Holy Spirit is the Hinderer. Since the Holy Spirit lives within all believers in Christ and He is everywhere, only His restraining influence over sin is removed during the Tribulation hour when the Church is Raptured home to heaven. His continued presence on earth produces one of the greatest revivals in the history of humanity. While we (believers) remain on earth, we are the salt of the earth and the world’s light, as stated in Matthew 5:13-16.

In verses 9 through 17, John sees a multitude of new believers standing before the throne of GOD. He doesn’t know who they are since they came after the Church went to heaven. This multitude comes out of the Great Tribulation. These glorious martyrs have not died yet; they may not even have been born, but God wants the saints of all ages to know about them. Hence, the reason for revealing them now. 

Each group of believers saved during different dispensations of time has various duties to perform.

(1) The Church is the bride of Christ and enjoys the 1,000-year honeymoon upon the earth (chapter 20, verse 4), reigning with Christ as rulers, kings, and priests (1 Peter 2:9 and Revelation 1:6).

(2) The 144,000 serve as bodyguards of the Lamb (the Lord Jesus Christ) and His bride (the Church) – see chapter 14, verse 4.

(3) The Gentiles saved during the Tribulation will be Temple servants, waiting on Christ and His bride. They serve in the glorious Temple described in Ezekiel chapters 40 through 48.

Man’s wickedness, rebellion, and sin produce these judgments. “They that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same” (Job 4:8). God, in love, creates a lull before the storm to call men to salvation and revival.

Now, Chapter 8 and the subsequent and final seal judgment.

January 25, 2024 Posted by | Bible, Last Days, Life, Religion | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book of Revelation – Chapter 6

Jesus Christ has the right to judge and rule the world. Under the seal judgments, we see man ruin the world. Meanwhile, on earth, evil men are growing worse and worse. With the denial of all authority, wicked things invented, with the destruction of the globe at stake, it is time for God to intervene in human affairs. With seals broken one by one, we see any restraint increasingly removed from the earth. Events recorded under these seals are extensions of things that are very evident in today’s world. The chief difference is that the Church will be gone.

First Seal

Release of the rider on the white horse believed to be the Antichrist. He has a crown, a bow without arrows, and goes to conquer. He is all-victorious and wins his victories relatively peacefully through deception. This rider represents the blasphemous philosophies of the last days, those anti-Christian ideologies that prepare men’s minds for the devil’s gospel and the ultimate reception of the strong delusion, the great lie of 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12. (John Phillips commentary, page 96). By the hand of the Antichrist, misery occurs during the four seal judgments. Those coming afterward are not. The one on the red horse breaks any peace that the Antichrist previously brokered. Keep in mind that coming events always cast their shadows before them. The white horse rider is not yet abroad, for the great Restrainer is still here, the book (scroll) is still sealed, and the Church is still on earth.

Second Seal

The second rider is released. He has the power to take peace from the earth, rides a red horse, and carries a great sword. The rider symbolizes the belligerent policies of the last days. He personifies world war on a scale never before known on earth, a war that will make the conflicts of this century seem like scenes in a stilted (unnaturally formal) play. Until the Lord Jesus Christ comes back in power, war must go on and on until at last war itself is personified, mounted on a blood-red horse, and sent forth with a great sword to summon men to the Apocalypse terrible battles. There is a belief that at this time, RUSSIA will attack Israel before Armageddon in Ezekiel 38 and 39. This war of Ezekiel occurs close to or during the Tribulation hour because the facts presented in Revelation tie in harmoniously with Ezekiel’s prophecy.

Third Seal

With the third seal opened, a black horse appears. The rider carries a pair of balances in his hand, symbolizing the blighted prosperity of the last days. After the war of Revelation chapter 6, verses 3 and 4 will come famine and inflation, which usually follow any conflict. Ezekiel 4:10, 11, 16 refer to this. The oil and the wine are luxuries of the rich. Untouchable, the black horse rider proceeds to the staples of the poor, the wheat and barley. These are to be measured out a pinch at a time. This rider symbolizes the blighted prosperity of the last days. We hear the price for wheat and barley. A single loaf of bread will cost an entire day’s wages. Yet hunger will not be satisfied. People will spend everything they have just for the necessities of life. As the Tribulation continues, precious metals will become worthless. A digital system implemented by the Antichrist will replace gold, silver, paper money, and crypto-currencies. Today, the average American dog has a higher protein diet than most people worldwide. Another shortage is firewood along the fringes of the world’s deserts as people search for something to heat what little food they find. This dreaded rider is not yet abroad, but we see his shadow.

Fourth Seal

Now a pale horse appears. The name of the rider is DEATH, and HELL follows with him. This rider is the deadliest. Death destroys the body then Hell swallows up the souls and spirits of those he kills. He has power over a fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, hunger, death, and pestilence or beasts. As this rider moves forth, war and famine continue to plague humanity. Pestilence rise as war and famine move through an area. Epidemics rage the world’s population. Rats carry as many as thirty-five different diseases. A quarter of the world’s population dies through this fourth rider’s brutality taking nearly 1.98 billion people.

Fifth Seal

With our attention drawn to the brazen (or brass) altar, we see the souls of those slain for the Word of God. In verses 9 and 10, they cried loudly, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” Those crying with a loud voice are Tribulation saints composed of elected Israelites and Gentiles converted by the preaching of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists. These persecuted saints and martyrs are not part of the Church, already in heaven. You will notice that souls are saved during the Tribulation hour the same way souls are saved today – through the precious shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the believers of the Tribulation hour proclaim Christ crucified, they lose their lives. These Tribulation saints cry for vengeance because they are not under grace, which will be appropriate once the age of grace is over and conditions revert to a pre-Christian era. Instead, they want blood. Seeing fulfilled prophecy, this group of saints wonders how much longer their loved ones, still alive, must suffer. The Lord speaks to them about having a little more patience. There will be one more wave of persecution in chapter 20, verse 4. Here is only a preview of the terrible persecutions that will engulf the globe in the coming days of the Tribulation hour. 

Sixth Seal

What follows next is a blind panic and chaos on earth. Why? With the opening of the sixth seal comes a great earthquake. Is this a “great earthquake” Yellowstone or some combination of volcanic eruptions? This earthquake is so vast and destructive that mountains and islands move out of their usual places, a very tectonic movement. So much ash rises, there is a reduction of sunlight, temperatures plunge, and boulders and rocks from the explosion thrown high into the atmosphere now fall back to earth. The earthquake shakes everything stable, including society. With damaged infrastructure, travel stops and utilities quit working. It is so wide-ranging that there is complete panic. Men lose all hope and can find no place to hide from the anarchy that grips the globe. Notice there are four earthquakes in the Book of Revelation:

  1. Here in chapter 6, verse 12
  2. chapter 8, verse 5
  3. chapter 11, verse 3
  4. chapter 16, verses 18 and 19

The first four seals have been under the administration of the Antichrist. The 6th seal begins the judgments from heaven. But we remember that the Church is in heaven during this hour! No wonder half of the world’s population dies through the manifold (many & various) catastrophes that bombard the earth thus far.

The above is a lot to absorb as the scenes of punishment occur. Yet humanity continues to blame God and refuses to repent. If you are willing, join me next in Chapter 7, a parenthesis or pause about the seals.

January 18, 2024 Posted by | Last Days, Life, Religion | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book of Revelation – Chapter 3

Sardis was the fruitless church that began in 1520 A.D. and will extend into the Tribulation period. Christ first commended it as He did the previous churches. It had a name but was dead, shining solely by the light of a brilliant past. This church forgot the magnitude of its heavenly calling and its holy character. “It is far better to begin small and grow than begin with great plans, all of which dry up and come to nothing” (John Phillips commentary, page 62). Here we see God calls for a fivefold revival package:

  1. Be watchful or alert, knowing that now it is high time to awake out of spiritual sleep (Romans 13:11).
  2. Strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die. Salvage the little good that remained in their bastion of dead orthodoxy.
  3. Remember or recall the former days of their salvation when filled with purity and zeal.
  4. Hold fast or retain the simple truth of the gospel and discard the excess baggage of pomp and ceremony.
  5. Repent or change their minds. It was a call for the entire church, not just a few individuals.

The problem at Sardis is a similar problem with the other churches in compromising with the world system, the flesh, and the devil. But there were and are a few that do not. They possess a genuine salvation experience that will remain eternally in the book of life.

Philadelphia church covers the years from 1750 A.D. until the Rapture. It was a feeble church but was a missionary-minded one, dedicated to spreading the gospel. Though a minority, for they had “a little strength,” they did keep His name. There was no rebuke of the Lord for this church. He assures the church that it will be saved from that hour by the Lord’s coming in the sky. What is coming will be a situation on earth worse than anything before when the Antichrist reigns and the Great Tribulation period begins. We see in verse 12 the promise to those who are faithful:

  1. They become pillars in the temple of GOD;
  2. They have the name of GOD written upon them, thus identifying them and allowing them access into the city of GOD – the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21 & 22);
  3. They have the (Christ’s) new name written upon them. This new name of Christ entitles them to be His servants, where they shall see His face (chapter 22, verses 3 and 4).

The final of the seven churches is Laodicea. This church covers the years from 1900 A.D. to the Tribulation hour. 

Laodicea church, the “fashionable” church, is where materialism was a perennial problem. It drowns its spiritual influence whenever any church has ridden the crest of material affluence. When Christ called out to “the angel of the church of the Laodiceans,” it was to say that the church at Laodicea was none of His. The Lord never dilutes nor distorts the truth. There is no hiding behind little disguises and safe conventions. Laodicea is a deluded church marked by complete compromise with the world. It is the present-day church’s archetype or very typical example. Only God alone knows how serious the present situation is. This era is a highly prosperous one. Her people have erected elaborate church structures worth millions of dollars. Although buildings are necessary for worship and service, we need to see that they should be humble structures rather than the latest multi-million dollar architectural monstrosities that glorify men. God describes the Laodicean church as:

  • Wretched and miserable and poor, because riches usually make one sad (very unhappy) and pathetic (distressful). 
  • Blind because they cannot see the need of the millions who are dying without the Savior and going into eternal loss.
  • Naked, both now and in eternity, don’t have Christ’s robe of righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Then, Christ gave instructions:

  1. Buy gold tried in the fire from Christ, that you may be rich ( 1 Peter 1:7); where the trial of our faith is more than of gold;
  2. Buy white clothing – a reference to the garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness in (Isaiah 61:10);
  3. Anoint your eyes with eyesalve, that you may see – This speaks of illumination which only the saved share. (1 Corinthians 2:14). 

In verse 20: Christ calls out, “Behold, I stand at the door….” 

Here we have the picture of Christ standing outside the latter-day church rather than the heart of an individual. Overcomers are granted to sit with Christ and His Father in heaven. We have now concluded the last warning to the churches for one last time.

Next, we join John in the future, starting with chapter 4.

January 11, 2024 Posted by | Culture, Last Days, Life, Religion | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book of Revelation – Chapter 2

The letters that John wrote to the seven individual churches apply to all churches of all ages, for these seven churches represent seven stages of church history. Let us see what the Lord had to say.

Ephesus church covers the approximate period of 33 A.D. to 100 A.D. Christ commends that local assembly before scolding them for their sins. Notice that it is not wrong to judge someone when that individual’s doctrine is heretical, or wickedness fills a person’s life. We are to “Try the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1). The church at Ephesus was strong when it started but slipped from its original moorings and was on the way down. Though busy and outwardly sound, it shifted away from its love for Christ. Ephesus lost its first love. They may have been too busy serving and not taking time to fellowship with Jesus. When one is so active that they have no time for Bible study and prayer, they are too busy. Been there and done that! Let us not lose our first love. Remember, repent, and do the first works. 

Smyrna church covered 100 A.D. to 312 A.D. when the most significant persecution in all Christianity took place. This church had works of faith that brought great tribulation and material poverty. Yet, they spread the Word of God to the entire Roman Empire. They experienced martyrdom with an estimate of nearly 5 million killed. Death was commonplace. Regardless, the church flourished and grew during the Smyrna period. However, the church developed ritualism or a deliberate Judaizing of Christianity. False professors of religion brought much heartache. We should beware of those who claim to be Christians but deny the deity of Christ (1 John 4:3). Also true of those who mix law and grace in their teachings. Smyrna was experiencing persecution from within and without. When our hour of trial comes, we are not to fear but to keep our eyes on Jesus and the eternal rewards He promised (James 1:12).

Pergamos was the faltering church, extending from 312 A.D. to 606 A.D. Materialism, self-indulgence, and worldliness described the church in Pergamos. You might say that it was adrift or had backslid; a marriage of the church and the world. Of necessity, the believer in Christ is in the world. They must constantly guard against becoming involved in the world’s ungodliness. There appeared to be two false creeds in the church:
(1) the doctrine of Balaam – “Let’s be more relaxed in our loyalties.”
(2) the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes – “Let’s be more restricted in our leadership.” An example is when the ministry or leader says, “I am the head, and you have no choice in the matter,” allowing laymen no voice in the church’s affairs.

Christ’s call is always to the individual believer in these churches. Let’s keep ourselves from immorality and refuse to partake in the loose living around us. Be an overcomer. The white stone represents the changeless purity of Christ. 

 Thyatira church covers the years of 606 A.D. to 1520 A.D. It started with a commendation from the Lord. She was known for her good works, love, service, faith, patience, and last works, loaded with excellent service and unusual deeds. This church outdid itself. Many scholars believe that this church is still found in the world today until the revived Roman Empire destroys it in Revelation chapters 17 and 18. The church resisted doing what was right and expected. Judgment always comes. The Lord Jesus Christ searches the minds and hearts and will give every one according to their works. Consider that we don’t lose those rewards we have earned (2 John 8). Even here at Thyatira, a remnant remained faithful despite the deterioration of their local church. In verse 28: Christ has promised faithful believers three rewards upon His return to the earth:

  1. Rulership over the nations during the Millennium (chapter 20, verse 4),
  2. Sharing in this glorious time of perfect righteousness resulting from Christ’s enforcement and order (Psalm 2:8,9), and
  3. The abiding presence of the blessed Savior throughout time and eternity as Christ himself, the bright and morning star, reigns (chapter 22, verses 14, 16).

Next, we will continue with the other churches.

January 3, 2024 Posted by | Culture, Last Days, Life, Religion | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Agents of Blessing – Proverbs 11:10-11

“Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted.”
~~~ Proverbs 11:11, NIV

YOU ARE STRATEGICALLY PLACED in this world to make a difference. You probably know this by now, even if, at times, you struggle to see how. Perhaps you spend much of your mental energy focusing on the problems you face or on the people who created those problems and the ways you wish you could fix them. Or maybe you’ve had seasons of seeing your life as your own, wondering how to find fulfillment or manage the tasks at hand. Perhaps there are times when you exist—moment by moment, day by day. Even so, you’re aware of bigger things. You recognize a calling from the Spirit within you. You want to live with a sense of destiny.

On the one hand, we can sometimes be so focused on the big picture that we miss the opportunities in front of us. On the other, we can become so focused on the details of daily life that we miss pursuing the more significant relationships we have already been given. In between those two points of focus, the macro and the micro, we live and work among people who could be influenced in one way or another by a godly attitude. We have many opportunities to pray blessings on those around us—people at the office, in a classroom, standing in line, commenting on social media, passing by on the street—all of whom need, as we do, regular touches from God.

We have platforms from which to improve lives, encourage hearts, and demonstrate Kingdom values and ways. Our calling is to impart grace, and we have open doors to do so—through prayers, words, favors, and acts of kindness and compassion. We are living, breathing, walking agents of blessing.

Listen to the voice that reminds you of all the people placed in your path who need a priestly touch from a son or daughter of God. Be an advocate before God’s throne on their behalf. Ask him to meet their needs. Let your city—or office or neighborhood or school—be exalted through the blessings you bring.

Ask God to show you your potential. How can I bless the lives that cross my path? What words can I speak and pray? What deeds can I do? May every circle of my relationships be lifted up by whatever blessings I bring. All God’s people said, “AMEN”.

~~~ copied from The One Year Salt and Light Devotional by Chris Tiegreen

January 14, 2023 Posted by | advice, Bible, Culture, Hope, Life | , , , | 1 Comment

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