Does God Exist

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 11/25/18

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^NRS Genesis 1:1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, ² the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. ³ Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.

^NRS Psalm 19:1 <To the leader. A Psalm of David.> The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. ² Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. ³ There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; ⁴ yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, ⁵ which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. ⁶ Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat. ⁷ The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple; ⁸ the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eyes; ⁹ the fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. ¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. ¹¹ Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. ¹² But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults. ¹³ Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. ¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

One of the fundamental questions of all time is, Is God real. Religious folk like you and me would easily say that yes, there is and that it is faith that causes us to know that. Why should there be such doubt—such confusion—about the existence of God? For thousands of years, people have debated whether God exists. Most conclude that it cannot be proven—one way or the other. It is surmised that the correct answer lies in the area of abstract philosophy and the metaphysical. Others become agnostics, asserting that they “don’t know” if God exists. Those who do accept God’s existence often do so passively, merely because they were taught it from childhood. Some do not even care. Such people probably cannot be moved from their apathy. Atheists have concluded that God does not exist. These people represent a special category that God describes as, “The fool has said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1). This scripture is repeated in Psalm 53:1.

Personally, I find it tales more faith to believe in the evolutionist creation theory than to say that faith alone proves the existence of God. Why? When I study the evolutionist creation theory, they have no proof, no plausible justification for their theory and the scientific evidence does not exist for making the steps from amoeba, to sea creatures to humans walking on the earth. Now mind you, I believe in evolution. There is scientific evidence to support it and I fully believe the evidence that says that we are evolving creatures, all the time. It is that beginning thing that I have trouble with. One way that science thinks is by trying to disprove to find the answer. So let us say for a moment, there is no God.

Scientists are convinced that our universe began with one enormous explosion of energy and light, which we now call the Big Bang. This Big Bang began creation itself if you will. Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow, a self-described agnostic, states, "The seed of everything that has happened in the Universe was planted in that first instant; every star, every planet and every living creature in the Universe came into being as a result of events that were set in motion in the moment of the cosmic explosion...The Universe flashed into being, and we cannot find out what caused that to happen."[i]

Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in Physics, said at the moment of this explosion, "the universe was about a hundred thousand million degrees Centigrade...and the universe was filled with light."[ii]

So scientist all agree on the “Big Bang” theory of creation. They all agree in that moment there was intense heat and light. Hmmm! Sounds like our scripture, the heavens were formless and dark and God said let there be light.

A number of years ago I attended a men’s seminar on creation. There were Astrophysics people, astronomers, physics and a few religious folks. They all shared their theories of creation and all of them agreed that the Big Bang is the essence of the creation story. All of them agreed, except the religious folk, that no explanation, scientific that is, could explain the creation of the Big Bang. Science has gotten it down to a billionth of a second after the Big Bang but no one can explain how it happened. At least, those who do not believe in God cannot explain it. One of the presentations stated that without a third party influence to create the Big Bang, there is no scientific explanation for how it came to be.

But it goes much deeper than that. Science can show how things have evolved but no one can explain how the complex brain was formed. No one can explain how DNA happened. Natural biological causes are completely lacking an explanation how programmed instruction could have evolved; rather their explanation is that somehow it was intentionally designed into our makeup and the makeup of the universe. Someone or something had to have created it in us.

I remember a story I heard about scientist in the lab taking sand, water and electricity and suddenly they were able to create life. They were so excited. They began to shout and dance. One of the scientist looked upward and said, See, we don’t need you after all for we have figured out how to create life on our own. A booming voice filled the space and said, next time, make your own sand.

Let us look at the makeup of the earth and part of our own makeup. The earth is a fragile sphere in the middle of the universe. Fractions of an inch in any direction in our orbit, in the placing of the atmosphere, in the makeup of the water would mean that meaningful life, you and I, would not be possible. And yet here we are. Water is colorless, odorless and without taste and yet without it we cannot survive. The temperature, as long as we don’t mess it up, is regulated so perfectly that life exists and thrives. Coincidence? It would hard to convince ourselves of that and yet science would have us believe that is exactly the explanation. There is no logical explanation as to why the universe operates with rules and order since the truth about things is chaos, not order. Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize winner for quantum electrodynamics said, “Why nature is mathematical is a mystery…The fact that there are rules at all is a kind of miracle.”[iii]

One study by Dr. Dean Hamer, in 2008, suggest that we have a gene, he calls the VMAT2 gene, that predisposes us to sense the presence of God or know that there is a God. His study was not well received by the scientific community. And yet, there is evidence is there not that we believe in some higher power, something greater than what we can see or perceive.

So where are we? Well we have used science to disprove God and unfortunately, that science has left us with more questions than answers. What we have is a need for a third party to create the Big Bang, we need to understand how it is possible to have a chaotic universe that operates under rules or order, how we can have such an intricate brain, makeup and mathematics without some guiding influence and yet those asking the questions still proclaim there is no God.

Here is what I do know. No one writes a book about our mistakes, screw-ups and hatefulness to one another unless the stories within that book are true. No one would suggest that a man taken to a cross to die, dies on that cross, is buried and is historically witnessed as having been raised from the dead unless there is truth there. Men and women throughout the last two thousand years have gone to their deaths proclaiming the truth of it. In a day and time when we cannot trust the news or what comes out of politician’s mouths as true, how is it possible that this message has been shared with millions of people throughout the two millenniums? Unless of course, it is because it is true.

My own experience is simple, the more I open my sense to God, the more I see God at work around me. I can feel the love of God, who is constantly pursuing me into relationship when I stop and surrender myself to that love. I see the miracles, little ones and great ones that occur that have no scientific explanation and yet they happen. If there is no God, then there is no purpose, nothing greater than what we see, nothing to anticipate or look forward to. And yet we do!

I cannot see the wind and yet I know it is real because I can feel it and see its effects. I cannot see God and yet I know that God is real for the same reason. I see the world around us and how intricate and balanced it is. I see the workings of good and evil in the world and how good always seems to come out on top, even in the most horrible of situations. I see the balance of nature, the song of the birds, the bubbling sound of a creek and I sense the presence of something greater than anything I can imagine. I may not be able to see God, but I know that God is real.

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[i] Robert Jastrow, “Message from Professor Jastrow”, LeaderU.com, 2002

[ii] Steven Weinburg, “The First Three Minutes: A modern view of the Origin of the Universe”, Basic Books, 1988

[iii] Richard Feynman, The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist, Basic Books, 1998

Revelations - Chapter Ten

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Chapter 10 – A time for rejoicing

Read chapter 19 – chapter 22

We come to the ending of John’s Vision and even more confusion caused by those who claim to understand completely what all the elements of that vision are. We begin with a Hallelujah chorus in chapter 19. As I read this chapter I am reminded of Pep Rally’s that occurred before important games in order to whip up the emotions of the team and the school. All of heaven is involved with this time of great praise to God. Hallelujah literally means “Praise God”. A great multitude and then the 24 Elders and another multitude or the same, the text is not clear. All are rejoicing at the finality of what is about to take place and that God through Jesus is about to claim good over evil once and for all. We must remember at this point that John is witnessing all of this in the spirit; his physical body is still on Patmos. In verse 3-5, we see that Babylon is destroyed forever and we are invited to the heavenly banquet that was foretold in Isaiah 25: 6, “^NRSV On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.”

Preterists believe that everything is now in the past and we are working toward the marriage feast at the end of days. Idealists equate this to the customs of ancient Jewish weddings where the bridegroom makes a betrothal, pays the dowry (Jesus death and resurrection), and then arrives at some future time to be wed. Futurists see this as the entire church being the bride of Christ and the Hallelujah is proclaiming the feast about to begin.

Regardless of your leaning, verse 9 tells us that we are truly blessed to be invited the marriage supper of the Lord. If we remember this was one of the parables of Jesus, the wedding feast where those who had brought oil (faithfulness) were let in and those who did not were left outside. We are then given this glorious view of Jesus coming on a white horse to do battle with the armies of evil. We see that the beast and the false prophet are captured and then thrown into the fiery pit in judgment (See Ezekiel 39: 17-19). Note that Jesus weapon of choice is His voice, depicted by the tongue with a sharp sword (See Heb. 4:21; Psalm 17: 23-27; Isa 11:4) that destroys the enemies of God. It was also the way creation happened , Then God said…

Chapter 20 begins with the capture of the dragon, our old archenemy Satan probably by Michael, the great Angel of God. He is thrown into the pit for a thousand years and John tells us he can deceive the people no longer. Here begins a great debate about when and what this thousand year millennial period truly means. It is appropriate at this point to have a discussion about this millennium and what it means from the perspective of the thoughts that have prevailed over the last two thousand years. There are three basic beliefs that we need to be aware of, Amillennialism, Pre-millennialism, and Post-millennialism. Let us explore this and then move onto the New Jerusalem.

Amillennialism is the belief that the millennial period is not a literal thousand years; rather it represents the fullness of time for God. The reign of Christ is not a physical literal thing here on earth but is in heaven where Jesus reigns as Lord and Savior following the resurrection. They believe that the cross has bound Satan and his power has been diminished by the victory of resurrection where Jesus now holds the key to life and death that Satan held prior to the cross. Amillennialists believe that the tribulation is any time Christians are persecuted in the world or the result of wars and/ or natural disasters and that the graphic stories in John’s Revelation are metaphorical for the things that happen in our lifetime. Christians will suffer until Christ comes again. Amillennialists thought began somewhere around 300 AD and was widely accepted by 400 AD. They believe that the rapture of the church occurs when Jesus is coming to earth for the second coming. Idealists are Amillennialists and some Preterists as well.

Post-Millennialists believe that Christ will return when the world becomes Christian. Though that may sound somewhat farfetched, the idea is that Christians witness to the Gospel and then Christianity grows because people become illuminated to the truth. Like the Amillennialists, Post-Millennialists believe that the thousand-year reign is in Heaven where Christ reigns as Lord and Savior. Unlike the Amillennialists, they believe that the first resurrection happens when we give our lives to Christ and we are regenerated in Christ. Tribulation happened for the Post Millennials in 70 AD or in the ongoing conflict between good and evil. They believe that the millennial period happens when the entire world comes to Christ. Post Millennialism has its roots around 300 AD but really came to focus through Joachim of Fiore around 1260 AD. They believe that rapture happens when Christ returns. Preterists are the Post Millennial people though many Preterists are Amillennialists.

Finally we come to Pre-Millennialists. Pre-millennial people are the Dispensationalists who believe that Tribulation is yet to come. They tend to be very literal people concerning John’s vision and believe that what John wrote is going to happen exactly as he describes it. Pre-Millennialists believe that the rapture is going to happen just prior to Tribulation or in the middle of Tribulation. They believe that Christ will return at the end of tribulation and will reign for one thousand years, a time when Satan will be bound. At the end of the Millennial Satan will be released and a final war will occur in the Megiddo Valley. This belief is the newest of the millennial views coming into focus around 1744 with Morgan Edwards and then full acceptance in 1830 with John Nelson Darby. As part of their belief, there are two churches, the Christian church that will be raptured (first resurrection) and the second is the nation of Israel when they come to faith in Christ (Second resurrection).

In verse 4 we are introduced to the first resurrection and then in verse 14 the second. I have already discussed the differing views about what this means. Tradition is stronger with the idea that the first resurrection refers to those who are in Christ. There are two schools of thought in the traditional understanding of this. One is that John’s first resurrection and Paul’s first death are one in the same. That is to say, that first resurrection is when we accept Christ and the Holy Spirit comes in us, we become one with Christ. Paul believed that we then see dimly what we will see in the mirror fully at the end of our physical lives at which point we will be resurrected fully ourselves as Christ has been resurrected, in the body. ^NRS  Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. For those whom have received this first resurrection, judgment happened at the cross. The other view is that the first resurrection is for the believers who will be raised up with Christ when He comes to judge the world prior to the New Jerusalem. Second resurrection is for those who did not give their lives to Christ, who will face judgment and the fire. Dispensationalists believe that first resurrection is the rapture when the church (the Gentile church) will be lifted with Christ in the clouds and second resurrection when the Jews who have received salvation are lifted at the end of tribulation.

This brings us to chapter 21 and 22. Jerusalem will be reborn as the New Jerusalem, God with us, when paradise that was lost will be restored. Chapter 21 describes a great city fifteen hundred miles square that comes down out of heaven. Is this a literal new reality as Dispensationalists believe or is this a picture of heaven? Only time will truly tell. What we do know is that here John is instructed to witness to the vision; with the exception of those pieces he was told to keep sealed, so that the world would know what God is up to. John’s Revelation gives us great hope as we are given a glimpse of what will happen and how it will all turn out. We await the return of Jesus Christ. Glory to God! AMEN.

 New Testament Signs of the End of Days

Signs already fulfilled

1.     The temple would be destroyed that no stone would be left upon another. (Matt 24:2) This in fact happened in 70 AD in order to gather the gold overlay on the stones when the temple was destroyed in that year.

2.     A country will be capable of having an army of 200 million. (Rev 9:16) In 1960 China announced that they had 200 million soldiers in their army.

3.     People would be able to see events in real time no matter where they are in the world. (Rev 11: 9-10) With the creation of CNN in 1980 and real time news, cell phones and the internet, we have this ability today.

4.     Jesus said his words would not pass away. (In over two thousand years this prophecy has in fact been fulfilled.

The Seven Future Signs of Jesus (Matthew 24)

1.     There will be false prophets, those calling themselves Messiah, those leading you astray.

2.     You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom.

3.     There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

4.     Christians will be persecuted in Jesus name.

5.     The faithful will decline in number.

6.     The world will be in moral decay.

7.     The Good news will be preached throughout the world and then the end shall come.

Jesus says the generation that sees these things will see the end.

Partial List of Old Testament Signs of the End of Days

Daniel 2 and 9

Return of the Roman Empire and the rise of a 5^th Kingdom

Increase in Knowledge

Persecution of the Hebrew people

Destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem

Rebuilding of the Temple

Jeremiah

23: 3-6 Messiah will return after the Jews return to Israel

46: 28  Enemies of Hebrew people will cease to be nations

Micah

Jerusalem will become the world’s most important religious site.

Zechariah

12: 2-3 Revival of the nation of Israel

14:12   Flesh will rot as people stand

Zephaniah 3:9 Return of the Hebrew language

Ezekiel

4:3-6 & 34:13 Israel would become a nation again

22: 14-15         Jews would be scattered to other countries

I'm a fool

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 11/11/18

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^NRS 1 Corinthians 4:7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift? ⁸ Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we might be kings with you! ⁹ For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals. ¹⁰ We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.

Today we honor our veterans. Those that returned and those that did not. War is foolishness. One country greedy for what another country has and before we know, nation after nation is sucked into the fight. We could say our cause is noble but that is not always true. What is noble is the individuals who give their all for the cause because they believe in their country and what their country stands for. So today at least, we hold in honor, not the war that they fought in, but their individual service in that war. Some may think me wrong for making this distinction, but I believe in the people who serve, who have served and who gave their all. So today we celebrate them, each and every one who has given of their time. We also celebrate today the first responders who stay out there every day putting their lives on the line to protect us, save us and assist us in an emergency. So let us take a moment and thank those among us. Today, tomorrow or the next day take a moment to thank those in uniform. Buy them lunch or at least shake their hand and say thanks.

What does it mean to be foolish for Christ? I remember staying awake many years ago and watching late night TV. On late night TV there are more infomercials than any other time of the day. For 9.95 down, 9.95 a month for 9.95 years you can own just about anything the foolish heart could be talked into. I have watched people over the years get sucked into one good scam after another. Estimates ranging in the billions of dollars are what experts believe people are scammed into every year. I know of a woman in this community who got scammed out of her entire fortune and lived her last years in near poverty because of it. There is foolishness all around us every day of every year. But what does it mean to be foolish for Christ?

Well we can start with Saul who we know as Paul. Paul was a great zealot for the court of the Jewish faith around the first century. That is until he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. After that he gave up all that wealth and prestige and all that went with it to live the life of an Apostle in a world that hated him for what he was teaching. His foolishness kept him almost constantly under the watchful eye of the Roman soldiers and he was imprisoned. Five times he was beaten with a breath of his life and once he was stoned and left for dead. I am sure his peers among the Sanhedrin were saying, what a waste, what a fool he has become.

I remember watching a movie about a coast guard swimmer. A new person had joined the team and he was all about breaking all the records. At this point, he has come up against the person who owns all the records and the young man keeps asking, what is the number. The number he is looking for is how many saves; undoubtedly wanting to know what the mark is that he is to shoot after to become the greatest. The older man keeps putting him off as he trains him for the grueling job they have, to save those who are in trouble no matter the weather, the conditions or the danger. Finally, near the end the old man tells him the number is 22. The young man was surprised thinking the number was so much higher. At that moment the older man said, it is the number of people that he lost and could not save, that that number is the only one that counts. What does it mean to be foolish for the life that you live? What does it mean that the only number that counts is not those you saved, but those you lost? I believe that what we are about is difficult and challenging. Jesus does not care that we shepherd the masses if we ignore the lost.

Some of you may not believe this but I truly grieve over those that I have not been able to keep happy, keep in the churches I serve or help into relationship with God. There have been a few along the way. When I accepted that my call was to this ministry I learned very early that the ones who are struggling, the ones who have disregarded the truth of the Gospel and especially the ones that I had a hand in causing them to leave are the most important to Jesus. So that makes them the most important to me. That is the foolishness of the Gospel, the foolishness of the cross. That we would spend out lives for the few rather than the masses. Yet, that is the place the battle is fought, is it not. Satan steps up when one of the few begins to explore God. So, yes, I am a fool for Christ and I will grieve the loss of one person.   

Jesus turned our world upside down when He preached the beatitudes on the side of the mountain. He teaches that those who are picked last can in fact be the winners. That those who are understand that what we need to seek in the Kingdom of God is very different than what people seek in the world around us. Woody Allen said, "I've been poor and I've been rich, and, believe me, rich is better." That is how we think in life today especially in the Western world. But it is not how God wants us to think.

What is it that God wants us to know? It is that we are blessed when we take the gifts that God has given us and use them for the glory of God in the world. That may very well mean that we find success by earthly standards, but that is not what we are about. Foolishness is proclaimed by those who do not understand the power of the Empty tomb. Foolishness is what they call us who worship a man who went to the cross as a criminal and died there. If you think about it, it is a little foolish to walk around telling people that Jesus died on a cross and because of that you need to believe in Him.

Paul proclaims that the truth is in the cross which is foolishness to the rest of the world. The truth is that God is calling us to do foolish things in the world to shame those who claim to have all the answers while people beneath them starve to death. The truth is that God is calling us to change the world through the ordinary, the marginalized and the poor. We are called to be foolish so that the world can come to understand what God’s love looks and feels like.

There are missionaries out there in the world today that are being foolish for God. One of them is Randy Marshall and you met his family a number of years ago when they came here. Randy is a missionary and he and his family are currently in the Ukraine bringing this message of foolishness to the young people around them. They send me an update almost weekly that chronicles the successes and yes, even the struggles that they have. He told me once that he was in Russia and lost everything he owned when they decided to kick him out of the country. And there are hundreds just like him all over the world. They are people who would take their talents and skills and bring the message of foolishness, the message of love to the world. Some of these brave men and women gladly put their lives on the line every day to do that work.

By the way, as the world tells Boston that they are wonderful and the Dodgers that they are losers, as the world of baseball goes through its annual upheaval of coaches being fired and players being moved, those who are foolish for God are winning. Micah the prophet has told us what we supposed to do in the world in verse 6:8, ^NRS  Micah 6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

There is a small cathedral outside Bethlehem that marks the supposed birthplace of Jesus.  Behind a high altar in the church is a cave, a little cavern lit by silver lamps.  You can enter the main edifice and admire the ancient church.  You can also enter the quiet cave where a star embedded in the floor recognizes the birth of the King.  There is one stipulation, however.  You have to stoop.  The door is so low you can't go in standing up.

Are you foolish enough to trust God to lead you where God would want you go? Are you foolish enough to begin to be different in the world around you? Are you ready to part of the world of fools?

Have you been tested

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC on November 18, 2018

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^NRS Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. ³ The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." ⁴ But he answered, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" ⁷ Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" ⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; ⁹ and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" ¹¹ Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

A Young Lieutenant and CMSGT of the Air Force are deep into a discussion after the young lieutenant has just arrived at his first duty station.  After several days of getting acquainted, the CMSGT asks the young lieutenant, “Who are you?”  Just having finished many weeks of training, testing, and ego building, the Lieutenant replies smugly, why I am second Lieutenant, Joe Air Force.  The CMSGT looks at him with that stern look that 27 years in the service brings and says, “No son, everyone has a name.  I don’t want to know who you say you are, I want to know who you are.”

Would you be able to answer his question?  Often we do not know the answer to that question until we are tested to the limits of what we believe we can endure. Who are you?  That is an important question that each of us needs to ask ourselves each minute of the day.  I was once asked if I had been tested upon responding that I was moving ever deeper into my faith life with a gentleman that had identified himself as a Baptist minister.  The gentleman went on to say, the devil does not test those he already has, but severely tests those he most stands to lose.”

And so it goes, for shortly after, I began to be tested, and tested, and tested.  For you see, like the young lieutenant, I was full of arrogance and self-importance.

My world was built around the word, I.  You know it,

• I don’t need advice, I am smart enough to understand
• I don’t need help, I am strong enough to know what I should do
• I don’t need counsel, I am intelligent enough to know what to the answer is,

Pause

And the trumpets blew, and the walls of Jericho came tumbling down as thousands of dollars, my hopes and dreams, slipped into the shifting sand of deceit and fraud and ego.

So what is testing and temptation? Are they the same or different? And if they are different, what measure do we use to tell them apart? Have you ever read the story of Job? Job is a faithful servant of God whom God pushes up to Satan as an example of a great child of God. Satan suggests that God allow Satan to test this relationship by bringing about trials and adversity in Job’s life.

Job perseveres in this story and maintains his faith no matter what Satan throws at him. Abraham is asked to give up the child that God promised by sacrificing him on the altar. Some suggest that Abraham knew that God would not have taken Isaac but I believe that Abraham’s faith was such that if God asked, Abraham would do. Then along comes Jesus who is tempted by Satan three times in the wilderness. I want you to notice a couple of key things about this piece of scripture. First of all, Jesus prepares himself for the testing by fasting and praying and being in relationship with God. We talked about this last week. In this story, Satan tempts Jesus, which is different from being tested by God. Jesus is tempted to go against the will of God. Jesus is tempted to sin. So we have our definition if you will and the distinction between testing and temptation. One is tempted to sin, to be disobedient to God, to go down the path that we should never take. Jesus says that the power-overcome temptation is prayer and faith.  

Henry Blackaby, noted teacher and preacher, suggests that God tests us in order to determine if we are ready to move to the next level in our spiritual journey. In other words, are we ready to commit ourselves to God, completely? Here is a thought for you. You are tested in your strengths, not your weaknesses. The areas in your life where you have comfort and believe in your own abilities are the areas that will be tested. Trust me, it works that way.

So how do I tell the difference? If I am being asked to go against the will of God, if the request requires of me to do something sinful, then I am being tempted. If the events in your life, like that of Job, are stressing your faith in God then more than likely you are being tested. God needs to know what you can and will do when faced with the obstacles of life and the temptations of evil. God asked Abraham to give up a great personal price at least twice. The first when God asked Abraham to go, give up his comfortable life and move to where God wanted him to be. Abraham had great faith and moved. Then God asked him to give up his son. Abraham went to the mountain prepared to do what God was asking.

So what are these tests we speak of and how do you experience them?  Well, we experience life every day and they are more common than you can imagine. They are things like fear, worry, discouragement, anger, doubt and prejudice.

So what does all this mean? It means quite simply that you should be able to identify the source of the testing or temptation and then know how to conquer it. But the best news is that we have help along the way. We cannot presume to believe that we have the power and ability to conquer all of the adversity that will come our way. What we do know is that we have hope in God to assist us in our struggles. For Hebrews tells us in verse 2:18 that, “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

So what do we do? First, if we are being tested then we persevere. That means that we obey God no matter what the cost. When God is testing us, it is to prepare us for the next step in our journey. When God speaks, it will create a spiritual crisis in our lives. It did with Abraham, Moses, and David. It did with Paul on the road to Damascus. I can promise you this one thing. That when God is speaking to you in your life that your life is about to change. And I can promise you this, when God is going to change your life greater things than you can imagine will be possible through the power of God.

Your faith is being tested as we ask the church to trust God and go in the direction that God is calling us to go. Not knowing whether that path is going to be easy or a great struggle, not knowing if we will have the resources to do all that God is asking, and fearing that it might be something we don’t really want to do or are uncomfortable doing. God is calling us to be tested and then we can do incredible, amazing things for God. If you are like me, all too often we experience fear at being called to go where we have never been or do what we have never done before. It is easy to stay comfortable in the same routines and natures. If Abraham had not answered God, Israel would not have been a reality. If Moses had not answered the call to Egypt, we would not be here in the way that we are. If David had not felt confidence in God, Israel would have been defeated by Goliath. God is faithful! If God wants it to happen and we are faithful enough to persevere through the test, it will happen.

When we take our stand with God, nothing, not a single thing can prevent you from being who God wants you to be. And rejoice in that testing and rejoice in the ability to withstand sinful ways. In God, there is hope, in Satan there is death. Are you ready to be tested?

Revelation - Chapter Nine

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Chapter 9 – The Beast

Read Chapters 17 and 18

We begin this section of John’s vision with an invitation to come and see the judgment of the great whore who is seated on many waters. There is much discussion about who or what the great whore is. Preterists are convinced that she represents Jerusalem, basing their argument on Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel (see Isaiah 1:21; Jeremiah 2:20; Jeremiah 3:1–11; Ezekiel 16:1–43; Ezekiel 23) among others. Israel in the midst of their disobedience to God is called a whore. They point to the fact that Jerusalem like Rome is built on seven hills and they believe that the destruction in 70 AD is the point of the chapter 17. Futurists on the other hand argue that the whore is the Roman Catholic Church, the Roman Empire, a religious entity not yet arisen in the world, or a future rebuilt city in modern day Iraq.

We have this image of the woman sitting on a scarlet beast with blasphemous names on it. She is clothed in purple and scarlet. Scarlet is the color of the devil according to Isaiah 1:18. Some would say the colors are symbolic of the wealth in Rome. In her one hand is a cup full of abominations. We see the reference to this in scripture, ^NRS  Jeremiah 51:7 Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD's hand, making all the earth drunken; the nations drank of her wine, and so the nations went mad. On her forehead was written a name may be a reference to the fact that prostitutes in Rome had their names on their foreheads for identification of their vocation and who they were. The issue of Babylon the Great raises many questions and many ideas of the identity of the woman. In earliest of times Babylon was considered to be the greatest city and center of the Babylonian Empire. For Israel this was the largest of their enemies and eventually broke the nation of Israel. John would have known this history as a bleak period of their heritage. We hear John describe her as drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses. Here we have some potential understanding that John may well be talking about Jerusalem since the Saints to John would likely have been the Old Testament prophets and those who stood up to the leaders of Israel during their times of disobedience.

We are introduced fully to the Beast with explanation from John’s guide. The Beast is described as having seven heads and ten horns and is about to ascend from the bottomless pit. There is this little play on words describing it as it was and is not and is to come. This leads Preterists to believe that it is Nero since he was and is now dead and myth amongst the Romans was that he was to be resurrected. Some go so far as to say he was resurrected in the image of Domitian. Futurist thought is that this is the Anti-Christ, mimicking the image of Christ and yet he is not Christ and is to come in the future just prior to tribulation. The seven heads are seven mountains which could lead us to look at Rome or Jerusalem for both were built on seven hills. We will talk about the 10 horns later. Verse 9 calls into question that the seven heads are also seven Kings, five of whom have fallen, one is living and one is yet to come. If we place John’s Revelation after 60 AD we find that Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero have all passed at this point. There were three interim Emperors that most historians don’t count. We then have Vespasian who is the Emperor when Titus destroys Jerusalem and the Temple. Titus served as Emperor for a short while fitting in nicely with the scripture concerning the Kings. Here we see a historical correlation with Domitian who becomes Emperor after Titus and is considered by most historians as the most evil of all the Roman Emperors. His persecution of Christians was considered next to Nero in its audacity and suffering. Futurists believe that the seven Kings are seven nations that are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece which at John’s time were all past into history. Rome was the living kingdom and the future kingdom is the kingdom of the Beast.

The ten Kings also have historical significance to us though John would not have known them. Following the destruction of the Roman Empire the Empire is divided into ten divisions or political alliances. They were Alemanni’s (present day Germany), Frank’s (present day France), Burgundian’s (present day Switzerland), Suevi’s (present day Portugal), Vandal’s (see chapter 2, page 8), Visigoths (present day Spain), Anglo-Saxon’s (present day England), Ostrogoth’s (see chapter 2, page 8), Lombard’s (present day Italy), and Heruli’s (see chapter 2, page 8). Preterists point to this historical alliance as the fulfillment of John’s Revelation. Futurists point to a future 10 nation alliance that is to come. Some point to the current European Union as the resurrection of the Roman Empire. What is intriguing about this is that their symbolism includes a woman riding a beast, a statue of her sits outside their headquarters. Other symbolism includes their headquarters building is modeled after Brueghel’s 1563 painting of the Tower of Babel. Futurists believe that out of this alliance will come an antichrist, the complete opposite of Christ and yet he will deceive many into believing that he is the Messiah come again. Futurists also point to verse 14 as a direct reference to Daniel 9:27 where they believe it says that the Anti-Christ will break a covenant with Israel 3 ½ years into the Tribulation period and begin an all-out war on Christians everywhere.

In verse 15 we have a definition of the waters that tells us that the woman sits over all the nations, peoples and languages. Our understanding is skewed by time. For John, Rome was in fact over all the known world of his day. He had no idea that there was a large land mass between England and China called North and South America. Preterists point to this fact to say that for John he was pointing to Rome. Futurists take into account what we know two thousand years later. They point to a new city, maybe built on the original Roman Empire, maybe Jerusalem and maybe a rebuilt Babylon as the site of the woman in chapter 17. At the time of the original writing of this study, Saddam Hussein was still in power and was trying to rebuild the old city again. Since his demise, there has not been much talk about it being rebuilt on the original site.

In chapter 18, we have the beginning of the final chapters of the story. The Angels are beginning to sing a song of destruction and doom for the Beast, the Woman and of course Satan. Their song mimics the words of the prophecy of doom song from Isaiah and Jeremiah (Isaiah 13: 19-22; Jeremiah 51: 24-26; 61-64) which foretell of the destruction of the famed city Babylon. In fact Babylon is conquered and all but abandoned by 141 BC.

^NRS  Isaiah 13:19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. ²⁰ It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; Arabs will not pitch their tents there, shepherds will not make their flocks lie down there. ²¹ But wild animals will lie down there, and its houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will live, and there goat-demons will dance. ²² Hyenas will cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant palaces; its time is close at hand, and its days will not be prolonged.

^NRS  Jeremiah 51:24 I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the wrong that they have done in Zion, says the LORD. ²⁵ I am against you, O destroying mountain, says the LORD, that destroys the whole earth; I will stretch out my hand against you, and roll you down from the crags, and make you a burned-out mountain. ²⁶ No stone shall be taken from you for a corner and no stone for a foundation, but you shall be a perpetual waste, says the LORD…⁶¹ And Jeremiah said to Seraiah: "When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words, ⁶² and say, 'O LORD, you yourself threatened to destroy this place so that neither human beings nor animals shall live in it, and it shall be desolate forever.' ⁶³ When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it, and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, ⁶⁴ and say, 'Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disasters that I am bringing on her.'" Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

Note that in Jeremiah verse 64 the destruction of Babylon will be complete and the city will never rise again. Jeremiah's warning creates some tension if the Babylon of John’s Revelation is the Babylon of old since its destruction by 141 BC would be the end according to God.

In verse 4 we hear a calling out of the people by God. Regardless of your view it would appear that at this moment in time, whenever that might have been or when it is to come, there is still time to make a choice in favor of the Book of Life or the alternative. For those who are living during this time there is even a greater need for evangelism and a sense of urgency to win people into relationship with God. Time is truly running out for those who have not made that choice. By verse 11 the world has truly degenerated into a chaotic place. Preterists simply point to the idea that in the midst of the height of the Roman Empire you needed Roman coins in order to buy or sell. But that was not true at the fringes of the Empire. Futurists point to a time to come when all commerce will shut down. Verse 24 gives us an important clue. John here is writing of the voice of the Angel who throws a mighty stone into the sea, …saying that in you was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slaughtered on earth. Only Jerusalem killed the prophets of Old which would lead us to believe that John is talking about this great city in his prophecy. We could also argue that John may not be talking about simply the Old Testament prophets but also about the Apostles and Disciples of his day though that might well be a stretch.

The Saints before Us

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 11/4/18

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^NRS Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children-- "My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him; ⁶ for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts." ⁷ Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline?

There is a story about a busy man who was walking to an appointment in a major city. While walking he encountered a man on the corner, beaten up, down on his luck who had the biggest smile he had ever seen. He could not get that smile out of his mind so he turned around and went up to the man. “How is it, that you, obviously homeless, have such a big smile?” The man replied, “Because I have Jesus.” The businessman scoffed, turned, and walked away. But hour after hour, day after day, the businessman could not get the man’s comment nor his smile out of his head. What is it about Jesus that could cause a homeless man to smile so? He picked up a copy of the Bible, had never opened it before and began to read. He was fascinated by the Old Testament stories and the prophets made him ponder. But the New Testament stories of Jesus were incredible. Suddenly he wanted to know more so he visited a church and talked with the Pastor. In time, he gave his life to Jesus. As it was, he happened to be in the city again on business and he sought out the man on the corner. He was still there and smiling. So he told him his story and the old man smiled even more. If my smile brings people to Jesus he said, then I am doing what Jesus wants me to do. The ripple effect of witnessing.

Today we come to celebrate All Saints day. It is a day when we remember those who have gone on before us. Several weeks ago, Brian Brown shared with us the ripple effect. As chair of the Board of Discipleship each year it is my honor to recognize those whose evangelism and witness have made a difference. The award is called the Harry S. Denman award. Harry was a great evangelist. But he was not always that way. Harry traveled as part of his work and one night, late, he arrived at the hotel tired. His desire was to go to bed and so he stepped to the desk and checked in. He remarked that he felt this overwhelming call to talk to the young man that night but he was tired and worn out. He said later, he could not sleep that night with the overwhelming feeling that he should have talked with that young man. So the next morning he went to the desk and inquired about the young man. He was told that the young man had taken his life in the wee hours of the morning. Harry was so broken about that and his unwillingness to talk to the young man the night before, that he swore that he would never miss the opportunity to reach out in witness ever again. The ripple effect.

I have often wondered how many times we have an opportunity to create a ripple. In this world of fast moving people, encountering people from all over the world, how much a ripple my actually make in the world around us. What if a little act of random kindness to a complete stranger caused that stranger to do an act of random kindness to another stranger and so on? How many lives might be changed with one little smile. How many people might have lives impacted if someone shared with them the love of Jesus. Someone said to me the other day that my sermons reach back to ancient times. That somehow they are not modern. It was meant to be derogatory but I took it as a compliment. If we spend our lives living the ways the early disciples spent their lives, witnessing and confessing our faith, what ripple effect might we create? Isn’t after all, the reason that we are all here? As I wrote this, I began to ponder, what are the ripples of Sydenstricker? Some years back there was colleague and friend who was preaching in the Farmville District and then came to the Eastern Shore District. Her name was Suzanne Spencer. She is the second wife of John Spencer after both of them lost their first spouses to illness. The ripples go and go.

When we begin to think about Paul’s words about the cloud of witnesses, we cannot help but pause and think about our own congregation. How many could ever have imagined that a meeting in the grove in 1907 by Reverend Sydenstricker would cause an entire congregation to feel the need to establish a church here. But in 1910 that is exactly what happened. Caleb Hall donated 4/10’s of an acre to construct a church, to be named Sydenstricker. In November 1955, Reverend Henry S. Amidon was sent to Sydenstricker to close it. However, he had a greater vision than that and so he went about growing the church, revitalizing it in every way, through faith, energy, number of members and the building itself. Our history tells us that in 1978 we had a challenge to actively evangelize and grow or maintain status quo. The congregation, the report tells us, wanted to meet the challenge. A new sanctuary was built and was consecrated Palm Sunday 1981. The ripple here in this community continues.

As we pause this day, we remember, those who made a difference in the lives. We have already lifted up Rev. Amidon. Following him Rev. Jack Martin arrived, a man I got to know when he was District Superintendent of the Petersburg District, who had a vision for a larger church and a larger community presence. Following his leadership and the building of the new sanctuary, Ed and Libbie Wright arrived believing in that vision and doing all they could to make it possible. Some of the names I have heard are Claude and Jane Gentry, Shirley Dolfi who shared the original congregational care, Barb Russell whose life purpose was to recruit young people and the leaders to lead them. Nell Barnard who was the original flower person, who raised flowers for the altars each week. The Hall family who have been a part of this church from the very beginning. Today we have the memories of those who have passed to their heavenly reward to spur us on for the future. Never rest on the laurels of the past, but embrace the challenge of the future. That has been the mantra of Sydenstricker for generations and that job has been passed down to us today.

We are called therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. How many of us can say that we came to faith because of the witness of someone before us? How many of us take seriously the command of Jesus to go therefore, to make disciples, to baptize and to teach. We are called to be the place where people can find Jesus, learn about God’s love and then share that love with the world around us. We are called just the same as those in the grove in 1907 to promote the love of God through our actions, words and deeds and to share the Gospel. We are called to show Christ’s love in action, bringing God to people and people to God.

As we remember, let us look forward. Who can we be if we put our faith and trust in God? What can be accomplished if we trust God to venture out and witness? Reverend Sydenstricker said it best, “We are ready to believe that the seed sown will bring fruit, and our labors will not be in vain…” There is much to be done. Let us celebrate the legacy of those who have gone on before us and then move forward into new realities, new beginnings, all to the glory of God.

Revelation - Chapter 8

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Chapter 8 – The Bowl Judgments

Read chapters 15 and 16

In Apocalyptic writing the numbers 3 and 7 are often used to mean completeness, perfection or finality. Certainly John has brought us to this place of completeness with the three groups of judgment. There were the Seven Seals followed by the Seven Trumpet judgments and now we have the Seven Bowl judgments. We are introduced to seven angels who have seven plagues to be poured down on the people who have accepted the Mark of the Beast. These new plagues will bring to mind the plagues brought upon Egypt in order to set the people of Israel free. They were isolated to that individual nation of Egypt and did not affect the whole world. Then we were introduced to the plagues from the Trumpets and Seals. But those judgments affected only part of the earth. Here we have the completion of the judgments against those who refused to accept God. We should note that those who have received the mark of God as opposed to the Mark of the Beast are exempt from the judgments that are inflicted on a person. Just as God has provided for those who are faithful when the Mark of the Beast refused those same folks to not be able to buy and sell, God will provide for those who are left to face these final judgments. It does not say in scripture that the faithful will not face pain and suffering when food and water supplies get short. We are reminded that our reward will be great in heaven.

As we await the pouring of the bowl judgments upon the earth, we see the Saints standing on a sea of glass (see Rev 4:6) with fire mixed in it and they are singing. They are singing the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb. The Song of the Lamb is sung by those who are martyred for God throughout time while some say that they are the martyred from the Tribulation period alone. The Song of Moses (see Exod 15) was introduced to us when Moses and the Israelites had successfully crossed the Red Sea and they celebrated the drowning of the Pharaoh’s Army by God. It is a song that has been sung repeatedly throughout the history of the people of Israel, used in the dedication of the new Temple after the Babylonian Exile (Psalm 118) and then at major holidays since till our present day. It is a song of celebration of what God has done. The song of the Lamb is also a celebration to God. But we should notice that at no time in the words of the song is anyone other than God praised.

In verse five we are told that the angels come from within the Temple of the Tent of Witness. John may well have has pulled this descriptive from the Old Testament understanding in Exodus when the Temple of God was a tent with the Israelites in the wilderness before Solomon’s Temple was built (Numbers 9:15; 17:7; 18:2). The Temple fills with smoke (see Isa 6:4; Ezek 10:4) as God moves within it and the Angels come forward to do God’s bidding. One of the four living creatures we were introduced to in the beginning of John’s Revelation hands the bowls to the angels. Remember that the four living creatures represent the best in heaven. The seven bowls are filled with the full wrath of God. What we glean from this is that these judgments are the final judgments against the people, the demons and the Beast who have aligned themselves with the lawless one.

The first angel steps forward and unleashes the first bowl on the people of the earth who have taken the Mark of the Beast. They develop painful sores that cause them to desire to be dead and yet they cannot die. We are reminded of the 6^th plague in Egypt (Exod. 9: 8-12) and the story of Job (Job 2:7). The second Angel steps forward and pours the second bowl into the sea. Some would argue that this is strictly the Mediterranean Sea but most would argue that at this point the plagues are world-wide. Imagine the stench and the destruction of food supplies and world-wide commerce when all the animals of the oceans die and rise up to the surface. We are reminded of the 1^st plague that God brought upon the Egyptian people (Exod. 7: 14-25). The third Angel pours the third bowl into the waters of the world’s rivers and springs and they turn to blood. Our water supply for crops, drinking and other uses are now ruined. We are told that this in retribution for the blood of the Saints who have been martyred by the world. Now we come the fourth Angel and the fourth bowl. This will be the final bowl judgment upon the living people directly. The bowl is poured out and the sun becomes dangerous to those exposed to its light. Imagine for a moment that without water the world becomes a parched, hot, and hostile environment. Some have argued that these are all done through nature as God has continuously done throughout the history of the world. We have red tides (see news for Florida in September 2014) where algae contaminates the water, killed off sea life, and left a blood like look to the water. Some might point to the current dangers of Global warming as the fulfillment of this prophecy of the sun. I suspect that these are all future events since even the Preterists cannot point to specific events in the past that align themselves with the Bowl Judgments.

We now reach the point where God will turn the wrath of God on the Beast and the Dragon. The fifth bowl is poured on the very throne of the Beast. It brings total darkness to the residence of the evil force John calls the Beast, also known as the Anti-Christ. There is some discussion here about exactly where this will be. If we are Preterists and we believe that Nero was the beast then we should be able to look back and find an event that fits this during his reign. Some say it is when Rome burned and the sun was obliterated by the smoke. Futurists on the other hand point to this as a future event but argue whether the throne will be in rebuilt Babylon near present day Baghdad, Rome or even Jerusalem. Saddam Hussein had in fact begun construction at the site of ancient Babylon, the capital city of the Babylonian Empire. For those pointing to Jerusalem they argue that the Anti-Christ taking up resident in the Temple is the true desecration of the Temple described in Luke 21: 20-21. Preterist’s look to Antiochus IV but this was well before Jesus prophecy. This reminds us of the 5^th trumpet and the 9^th plague on Egypt (Exod 10:21-23) We are told that men curse God but that no-one repents.

The sixth bowl is poured out on the Euphrates River and it dries the river up. The people of the John’s time would look to the Euphrates as the edge of the known civilized world and as a natural barrier to the forces that lived beyond it. Here we are introduced to two new actors in this vision, the False Prophet and the King of the East. The False Prophet is believed to be the little horn in earlier prophecy (Daniel 7:8; Rev 13) and most folks believe this to be either symbolism for the Roman Catholic Church or the Head of the church during Tribulation. The king of the East may be a literal presence or symbolism for the evil forces that will gather depends on your world view at this point. Futurists take this literally and believe that this will be a King from China with an army that moves towards Israel. At this point the Dragon and the Beast are desperate so they deceive the armies of the world to begin to assemble to go to war with God in a place the NRSV calls Harmagedon. Literally that would mean the Mountain or Hill of Megiddo which is a real place. The valley of Megiddo has been the center of battles throughout history with at least 34 major battles for control of the trade routes to the East and Middle East. In Biblical times we have the stories of Barak (Judges 4), Gideon (Judges 6:3), Saul’s death (1^st Samuel 31:8), and then in history Pharaoh Thutmose III in the 15^th century, Napoleon and battles in World War I. Napoleon described the valley as the most natural battlefield in all the world.  Here the final confrontation will occur. I dare not call it a battle since you will see that it is one sided in favor of Jesus.  (Zechariah 12 & 14; Zephaniah 3:8; Isa 24)

The seventh and final bowl judgment is poured out on the air. It is the final bowl judgment and the final of the 3 groups of God’s wrath. Ephesians 2: 2 describes the Devil as the Prince of the Air. It is quite likely that John is aware of that description here. In that moment there is a great earthquake in the great city. Again there is disagreement whether this is Rome, Babylon, or Jerusalem. The city is torn in thirds and all the cities (probably a reference to all the major cities) of all nations will fall. The people are then confronted with large hailstones weighing as much as 100 pounds (7^th plague on Egypt Exod 9:22-26) that cause them again curse God without repentance.

So ends the judgments phase for those living.

Revelation - Chapter 7

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Chapter 7 – The Red Dragon

Read Chapter 12 - Chapter 14

We begin this chapter with great imagery of the period that most scholars call the Great Tribulation. But as with any story we may need some background information. Chapter 12 is really the background we need to move to the end of the story and the introduction of the players for that period of time. It doesn’t particularly matter what view you have of John’s Revelation to understand chapter 12 since the imagery is for all time. Whether the great battle described happens at the beginning of the world or during the Resurrection makes little difference to the outcome but it does at least explain to us the basic story we already know well. Christ is Lord and Savior through the crucifixion and resurrection and that His death and resurrection overcomes death by sin and He alone now carries the keys of death. Satan’s frustration at the cross must have been tremendous when we think that at the moment of death he, Satan believing that he had won and was victorious, learned that he truly was defeated. I believe in those moments following Jesus death, when He descends into Hell, as the creeds tell us, and has secured the keys for all time Satan realizes his peril. So let’s meet the players.

We first are introduced to the woman who is clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars surrounding her head. She is pregnant. So who is she? The vast majority of those that study the Bible indicate that she represents Israel. More specifically they point to Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37:9 where Jacob is the sun, Rachel is the Moon and the Stars are their sons, the tribes of Israel. ^NRS  Genesis 37:9 He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, "Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me." The mother is pregnant with a son who is universally explained to be Jesus. Jesus comes from the lineage of Israel. Roman Catholics believe that the woman is Mary, mother of Jesus and though we can also see that as a possibility the imagery here would suggest a broader understanding like the nation of Israel.

We are introduced to the second great figure of the Apocalypse, the Great Red Dragon. John paints us an image of a creature with seven heads, ten horns and 7 diadems on each head and a tail that sweeps 1/3 of the stars from heaven to earth. We have met this great dragon before in Genesis 3:1 as the serpent, in Job as the Devil and in Isaiah as the morning star. Some of the commentary argues that Satan was the greatest of angels until he wanted to place himself equal or above God. More on this in a moment! There is of course discussion about the image itself though as I said, it is universally accepted that we are talking about Satan. When Satan was sent from heaven he was given dominion over the earth. As we get into the 7 heads and ten horns we get some disagreement between Preterist and Futurist. Preterists believe that the seven heads are the Seven Hills of Rome and so the Red Dragon represents the Roman Empire of John’s Day. In fact Rome is built on seven hills and at the time of John’s writing which we believe to somewhere between 69 AD and 96 AD there will be a total of ten emperors before Rome begins its divide. Based on that the Preterist historical thought is that the ten horns are the ten emperors of Rome, the sixth being Nero and the tenth being Vespasian. In between these two are three rulers, Galba, Otho and Vitellius who combined ruled for about 1 ½ years from July 68 AD to December 69 AD. More on these three’s significance in the Revelation later! I had difficulty here finding consensus among the Futurists about the image of Satan other than all agreed that we are meeting Satan in this imagery. In the scripture Satan wants to devour the child as the child is a threat to his dominion and power. The child must be defeated if Satan has any hope of defeating the forces of good.

The woman gives birth and the child is taken up into heaven out of the Devil’s reach. We are told that the child will rule with an iron rod which leads us back to Psalm 2:9 ^NRS  Psalm 2:9 You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Preterists believe that the birth pangs represent the persecution and suffering of the nation of Israel up to the time of Jesus birth. Now it gets a little interesting here as to how to interpret the events that take place in the next few verses. We are told that the child, who is universally accepted as being Jesus, is taken up into heaven. Are we talking about a literal event which clearly would point to the Ascension through the resurrection or are we talk about a metaphorical summary of the fact that Jesus is beyond the reach of the Devil? What we are told is that the woman escapes to the wilderness for 1,260 days or 42 months. Preterists point to three different historical events that fit this picture. During the Greek rule of Israel Antiochus Epiphanes conquers Jerusalem around 170 BC and included in that destruction is a desecration of the Temple itself. The entire campaign lasted 42 months. During that crusade many of the Jewish people fled into the wilderness. The second story is the Jewish-Roman war from March 67 AD to September 70 AD. During this 42 month campaign which ends with the destruction of the Temple, the people also fled into the wilderness because of what Jesus had told them (see Matt 24: 15-21). And the final scenario which fits this passage is Nero’s persecution of the Jews from November 64 AD to June 68 AD. Futurists on the other hand believe this period to be the second half of the Tribulation period when Satan has free reign. They base this on the prophecy in Daniel, ^NRS  Daniel 11:41 He shall come into the beautiful land, and tens of thousands shall fall victim, but Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites shall escape from his power.

We now arrive at the story of the battle in heaven. Does this occur at the beginning of time as most believe or is the telling of the story at the time of the resurrection? Preterists almost universally agree that this is a telling at the time of the resurrection. They base their belief on the idea found in John 12:31 ^NRS  John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. They believe that prior to this moment Satan has access to heaven as we find in the story of Job, where we see Satan appearing to freely move in and out of heaven. If this is in fact that period of time it would explain the anger of Satan towards the people of God. Having lost the great battle at the crucifixion and resurrection Satan begins in earnest to wage war on the Church. Satan pursues the woman (nation of Israel) but cannot catch her and so he begins to attack the children of the woman. Again there appears to be consensus among the views that the children are either Jews or the Christian church or both.

In dispensationalist thought, we have reached the halfway point of the Great Tribulation. Here we are introduced to a new player. In chapter 13 the Dragon stands on the sea and a beast arises out of the sea with seven heads, ten horns and ten diadems on each horn. The beast is like a leopard with feet like a bear and a mouth like a lion. Here again we have a disagreement as to the meaning of the beast that we see. Preterists believe the 7 head are the 7 hills of Rome and the 10 horns are the ten emperors up to and including Vespasian. They believe that the blasphemous names are in fact the idea that the emperors declare themselves to be God and demand that they people worship them as such. Some Preterists believe the ten horns are the ten alliances of the Old Roman Empire when it fell held loosely together by the Papacy in Rome. In Futurists thought, the sea represents the nations or Gentiles and that the ten horns are a ten nation alliance which will form prior to tribulation possibly from the old Roman Empire. The beast is the Anti-Christ that will emerge from within the New Empire which originates from the Old Roman Empire (see Daniel’s two visions, chapter 2). Some futurists believe that the Beast is the collection of the cultures from all three prior generations based on Daniel’s vision. Whatever you believe it is not a good time for the Christians.   

Satan gives the beast full power just as God has given Christ full authority in heaven and earth. We have this interesting issue where one of the heads is mortally wounded and then apparently resurrected causing the world to worship the Beast. In Preterist thought this is the death of Nero and the rising of Vespasian who brings order back to Rome and is the ruler who causes the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. Dispensationalists point to an event where the Anti-Christ will be mortally wounded and then resurrected causing many to believe that he is in fact the Messiah. The beast has authority for 42 months where he makes war on the Christian church and wins those earthly battles. During this time, there will be consolidation of power and a One World Government.  To the Preterist’s, this was a time when Rome had conquered the entire known world and was under Roman domination.

During this time, another lessor beast appears that is inferior to the first beast with two horns looking like the lamb. Futurists believe this beast to be the Roman Catholic Church or even the Papacy itself. They glean this from the idea that the Lamb is Jesus so the two horned lamb would be the church. This beast will have great power including the building of an idol statue to the first beast and gives it breath. I am reminded of the story in Daniel of the great statue of Nebuchadnezzar that all were required to bow down and worship.

We come now to one of the frightening pieces of the Apocalypse for most people, the control of the world finances and the ability to prevent people from buying and selling. The mark of the beast has been discussed throughout the generations. Interestingly Preterists point to Nero while Futurists point to the Anti-Christ. The mark of the beast from the Preterist view is the stamped image on the coins of the Roman Empire and a requirement to use only Roman coinage to purchase or sell. Craig C. Hill suggests that it may well represent the total economic power of Rome where even the coins themselves become idolatry to the Christians. The Idealist point to the fact that 666 could represent many different people and so this is in fact simply a universal number. The fact that 6 is one less than the perfect number 7 indicates that it is simply representative of the evil in the world. The futurists point to the idea of a super currency where we cannot purchase and sell without having that currency in our possession. They point to the idea of the current global economy as indicative of this idea and they also point to technologies like bar coding and the microchip. Two points of hope if you follow any of these lines of thinking. It does not say that Christians will starve, simply that they will not be able to buy or sell. And likewise there will be no doubt that you have made a choice to stand against God to receive whatever the mark is.

Chapter 14 begins with the image of Christ on Mt. Zion. Most believe that He is in heaven at this moment looking down as He begins His descent for the Second Coming. But prior to that he seals 144,000 blameless witnesses. There is great discussion about who these witnesses are. Futurists believe they are Jews and they represent the final push to bring the nation of Israel back to God. Preterists believe that they represent the Christian church or some perfect number of witnesses down through the ages that have brought countless souls to Christ. Some, like the Jehovah Witnesses believe this is the final number of those who reside with Christ in heaven. But once these witnesses have the opportunity to do their job, judgment comes in the imagery of the sickle and the wine press.