Sealed By God

            Chapter six of Revelation ends with a question asked by those who were attempting to hide themselves from the presence of God and the wrath of the Lamb.: “...and who is able to stand?”  Six seals were opened by the resurrected Lord in chapter six, each progressively building toward the unleashing of God’s wrath on Judah and Jerusalem.  The opening of the seventh seal would be the visualization of that judgment.  Would anyone be able to escape the wrath to come?  Could anyone stand in the face of such judgment?  According to chapter seven, the answer is “yes.”

            Angels are pictured as holding back the vengeance of God until something important could be done -- the sealing or marking of those who were faithfully serving God.  This is reminiscent of another marking done centuries earlier during the time of Ezekiel.  The prophet had been chosen to deliver another message of doom for Jerusalem because of the sins of the people and their desecration of God’s temple.  But before the judgment fell, someone was sent throughout the city to mark those who “...sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst” (Ezekiel 9:1-4).  These faithful ones, like the ones sealed in Revelation, were marked for the special protection of God.

            The message of Revelation seven is that the faithful, regardless of what happens as God pours out His wrath, will one day stand as victorious overcomers before the throne of God.  He will bring them through the great tribulation (cf. Matthew 24:21).  It may be through escape or through martyrdom, but either way they will have access to the blessings associated with the presence of God.

            Paul told Timothy that “...the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His…” (2 Timothy 2:19).  What a comforting thought!  Even though He has a huge family, I am specifically known and loved.  I’m not just another face in the crowd of humanity.  I am marked as someone special to Him.

God loves you!

Mike

Act Like It!

            “Saul said to his servants who stood around him, “Hear now, O Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse also give to all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?  For all of you have conspired against me so that there is no one who discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you who is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in ambush, as it is this day”” (1 Samuel 22:7–8).

            What an embarrassment Saul had become to himself and to the people he was chosen to lead!  At this point in the narrative, the king has stooped to bribery and whining in a weak attempt to shore up his crumbling regime.  Ever since God removed His Spirit from him due to his rebellion (1 Samuel 16:14), things had been getting steadily worse for Saul.  Jealousy, homicidal ravings, and sinister plotting have now given way to cronyism, pathetic sniveling, and paranoia.  So much for kingly deportment!  There are words and actions that are worthy of the title and Saul lost sight of both.  The king was speaking and acting more like a criminal.

            There are also words and actions worthy of us as sons and daughters of the King of Kings.  The New Testament repeatedly calls each of us to live in a manner that is consistent with our calling as disciples of Christ (cf. Ephesians 4:1; Philippians 1:27; Colossians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:12).  Being part of God’s royal family brings with it an expectation that we carry ourselves in such a way that doesn’t bring shame or embarrassment to the name we bear (2 Timothy 2:19).  Brothers and sisters, we are royalty, not beggars.  We are saints, not slaves.  We live in a kingdom, not a gutter.  Let’s act like it!

God loves you!

Mike

A Hole To Hide In

“Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”” (Revelation 6:15–17).

As Jesus progressively opens the seals on the scroll in Revelation 6, we have a visual representation of rise of the Roman empire, which would be God’s tool of judgment on the Jewish nation.  They had earned God’s wrath for their on-going rejection and murder of God’s prophetic messengers of repentance, culminating in the crucifixion of the Son of God Himself (cf. Matthew 23:29-39).  That was the act that sealed their fate.  While Pilate tried to avoid responsibility for putting an innocent man to death, it was the Jewish mob that boldly demanded Jesus’ death: “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” (Matthew 27:25).  Now they would get their wish.

The opening of the sixth seal pictures the beginning stages of the outpouring of God’s judgment on Judea and Jerusalem.  Suddenly, the tune of the rebels changes from “We will gladly take the blame!” to “Give us a hole to crawl into to escape God’s wrath!”  The description in Revelation 6:12-17 is almost identical to the words of Jesus as He speaks of the coming judgment on Jerusalem in the first century (cf. Matthew 24:29-34; Luke 23:26-31).

I pause to think of modern-day critics of God and the Bible.  May God grant them the time to repent of their mockery and rebellion before the time comes when they too will be looking for a way to hide themselves from the holy judgment of God Almighty.  By then it will be too late.

God loves you!

Mike