Category: Revelation

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Revelation 8 before reading the devotional below.

You’ll notice there are a lot of groups of seven in the book of Revelation — seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets. It is unclear whether these sevens are all parallels or whether the book is describing sequential events. You’ll also see multiples of 12 (12; 24; 144,000) which is often symbolic in the Bible as well (like Jesus choosing 12 disciples). Again I am going to draw us back to this question: What does this tell us about who God is? It seems clear from Revelation and other parts of the Bible that God has deep meaning for all that he does — symbolic and deliberate.

In the actual events of chapter 8, I am struck by the dramatic half hour of silence in heaven when the seventh seal is broken. The scene is so striking because of the previous description of busy, loud worship that never stops in heaven. It’s a silence that means something. It also reminded me of the events that happened when Jesus died on the cross (Matthew 27:50-52). The curtain blocking the Holy of Holies split in two from top to bottom, there was an earth quake, and bodies started walking out of graves. You can’t miss the significance of a moment like that.

There is constant spiritual activity around you. How aware are you of what is happening? If there was something supernaturally significant happening, how would you know? Christians have been given the Holy Spirit and we are able to see and discern spiritual things through his power. That gives us a certain level of connection to the spiritual realities around us if we are discerning and sensitive to the Spirit. The rest of Revelation 8 describes these trumpet blasts that almost read like a reversal of the creation story in Genesis 1-2. Things become undone. I don’t know if there will be an apocalyptic unfolding like we see in the movies, but no matter what I know that if I am not spiritually discerning and listening to the Spirit I will be easily swayed by earthly ideas of what the “end times” will look like. I’m holding all that loosely so that I can focus on who God is and what is doing around me right now.

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Revelation 9 before reading the devotional below.

A whole lot of bad theology has been conjured up by some obscure verses in the book of Revelation. Some of these images of hell and the end times have been taken very literally, with pictures and timelines and a lot of fear-mongering. I believe the Bible does clearly describe the presence of a real hell throughout many Scriptures, but I don’t pretend to know what that looks like. I keep pressing on this issue in our Revelation series because I want us all to challenge the images in our mind that may or may not be true. (Side note example: I was shocked to find out that the Bible never describes anyone laughing at or mocking Noah for building a giant boat. It’s not in there.)

Today’s chapter reminds me of God’s engagement with Pharaoh in Exodus 7-12. God has often chosen to demonstrate his might to world leaders who deem themselves to be gods. Their loyalists get taken out right along with them. But those who are spared in the first round of destruction are even worse off when they do not repent after watching their co-conspirators die. It’s a slap in the face to God when we deny his power.

We know that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (see Job 28:28, Psalm 111:10, and Proverbs 1:7). So it’s never a bad idea to check your fear of God and your worship posture. If your view of God is casual and your time is spent scrolling through all the best content social media or cable news can bring you, I would encourage you to pause. Those who fear God demonstrate humility and repentance. If those words don’t describe you, what would you need to remove from your life to return to that place?

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Revelation 10 before reading the devotional below.

I keep finding myself wondering why God showed John the specific things we read about in the book of Revelation. What was the goal? Was it to reveal Jesus’ divine nature more fully? Was it to show us what the afterlife or the final days of earth will be like? Today I am caught by John’s own personal experience of seeing and writing his vision.

In today’s chapter we see a magnificent angel crying out, to which seven “thunders” reply. These thunders must have sounded like words of some kind, but just as John is about to write down these words the angel stops him. Let that serve as a reminder to us that there is much that God has not chosen to reveal to us. Jumping to conclusions based on limited information is often dangerous. In the end, John is handed a small scroll and asked to eat it, after which he will be able to prophesy about many nations.

In my house, we often talk about being an “includer” instead of an “excluder.” No matter what you think about a task or an activity, your plan is always less important than the people around you. God chose to invite John into this vision and guide him very specifically about what to write down. He further included him in the prophetic work of sharing this with nations and he went so far as to ask him to eat a scroll. Supernatural digestion that will inject supernatural nutrients into John. It’s a hands-on demonstration. If God showed you visions and invited you to come to his kingdom and eat a scroll, what might you think about that? Is there a tension for you between the natural and the supernatural?

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Revelation 11 before reading the devotional below.

War is chaotic and loud. Supernatural war is chaotic, loud, and bigger than anything we can imagine. Today’s chapter describes two prophet-figures to whom God gives incredible power. Like control-the-weather-and-send-plagues power. Some believe these are references to Moses (through whom God sent plagues to Egypt) and Elijah (who was able to cause a drought and then make it rain again as God commanded). Whether this chapter literally means that Moses and Elijah will be resurrected or whether we will see that type of prophetic power rise again at the end of time is unclear. And perhaps not important. If God wanted us to know he would have made it more obvious.

The seventh trumpet ushers in what the elders have long been waiting for: salvation. It’s interesting that they say God has “begun to reign,” implying that during these periods of terror he was not reigning. The symbolism here is also captured well in The Chronicles of Narnia series, in which Aslan (representing Jesus) overcomes the terrible reign of the White Witch. During her rule, it is “always winter but never Christmas.” That was the most horrific way C.S. Lewis could explain Satan’s terror to children.

The only ones who fear the return and judgment of Christ are the ones who do not fear him now. Those who worship him now are eagerly awaiting his coming. Why? Because God opposes evil. If you engage in evil as your way of life, then God’s judgment will rob you of everything you hold dear. If you seek refuge in God and have been harmed by evil, your day of deliverance will come. Not only that, but when we as Christians oppose evil now we are advancing the spiritual war to overcome Satan’s terror. We don’t have to wait for Jesus to return to work on his mission.

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Revelation 12 before reading the devotional below.

Today’s chapter is a fascinating retelling of the entire biblical narrative, with the woman (likely a description of the church/God’s chosen people) birthing a “male child” (the Messiah) all while the dragon (Satan) is working to snatch him away. The text directly tells us that the dragon is Satan, so we don’t have to interpret that. We also know that the “rest of the woman’s children” are those who follow Jesus. It’s a dramatic depiction of spiritual battle in a single chapter.

Again we come to the question, “Why would God reveal this? And why would he choose to tell it in this way?” My first thought is that God is declaring himself victorious in the most epic fashion. This Lamb (not exactly the most ferocious creature) was able to defeat a dragon. Of all the dragon stories I have read, not one of them had a Lamb as the hero. There is a distinct gentleness that does not conflict with a fierce and heroic victor. God is revealing himself as the One who rescues in the most unexpected way.

A key takeaway verse for us today is verse 11: “And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.” This is the verse for the church. Satan stands before God accusing us day and night. But when we claim the blood of Jesus our Lamb and testify to his goodness, Satan is defeated. The only way to do this is to not cling to life as defined by earthly treasure. If we are too caught up by what the world has to offer, we will not be able to engage in this supernatural battle. We need to be able to sacrifice anything at any moment to follow Jesus wherever he takes us. What holds you back from following Jesus into deeper spiritual places?