Milo

“I AM COMING SOON”
Revelation 21–22

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (Rev. 22:17).

God’s final message to us is an invitation to heaven.

Overview
God creates a new heaven and earth where He will dwell with men (21:1–5), from which the ungodly will be excluded (vv. 6–8). A heavenly Jerusalem will serve as the capital of the recreated earth (vv. 9–21), and God Himself will be there (vv. 22–27). There will be no more curse or night, but we will serve God and see His face (22:1–6). The vision ends with a warning (vv. 7–11), an open invitation (vv. 12–17), and the assurance that Jesus is coming soon (vv. 18–21).

Understanding the Text
“A new heaven and a new earth” Rev. 21:1. Both Isaiah and Peter graphically describe the dissolution of the material universe. Second Peter 3:10 says that “the heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” There is no place in eternity for a universe which has been corrupted by sin.
What a reminder for us. If it is necessary for God to replace a thousand million galaxies, untold millions of light years removed from earth, and all because of human sin, how awful must sin be. And how swiftly we should draw back from temptation!

“The New Jerusalem” Rev. 21:2–4. The real significance of Jerusalem in history is that it is the one place on earth where God chose to be uniquely present with men. The story of the temple’s dedication reports that God’s glory filled the temple: He settled there to be accessible to those of Israel who worshiped Him. Thus earthly Jerusalem serves as a metaphor for the heavenly city, destined to be the capital of the new heaven and earth.
God was present in earthly Jerusalem, but insulated from His people by the curtains and walls of the temple. The New Jerusalem is heaven, because there will be no more insulation of God from men. He will be with us, and “He will wipe every tear from [our] eyes.”

“To him who is thirsty I will give to drink” Rev. 21:6–8. Isaiah used this same imagery, crying out:

Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost (Isa. 55:1).

Just so, here God says, “I will give to drink without cost.”
Heaven is ours at no cost to us. But hell is earned, by the vile, unbelieving acts that men perform.

“It shone with the glory of God” Rev. 21:9–21. The New Jerusalem is the most carefully described of anything in these chapters. Possibly this is because the city is the residence of God, who is Himself the focus of eternity to come.
Some scoffers have had a field day with the Holy City. Even though it is a 1,400 mile square, one man calculated that it could hardly hold a fraction of the people who must have lived from Adam’s distant day to ours.
“Heaven isn’t big enough!” he announced. And newspapers actually picked up his words, and ran them as the heading of a story on his findings!
Of course, even a careless reading of the text of Revelation 21 shows that the city rests on a restored earth, in the center of a renewed universe, and that the city is NOT “heaven” at all. But no one bothered to check the Bible’s text. Not the scoffer with the slide rule. And certainly not the editors of the papers that printed his findings.
How sad when people fasten on to some detail of the text, distort it, and announce once again that the Bible’s credibility has been disproved. How sad when reading of an eternity we each must face, that what is overlooked is the promise, “I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.”
This is the real story in Revelation 21. Not the details of what life may be like when time has come to an end. But the invitation to make God our God; God’s promise that “he will be My son” (v. 7).

“The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” Rev. 21:22–27. In the Book of Psalms there is a sequence of poems known as “songs of ascent” (Pss. 120–134). These songs were either sung by pilgrims as they approached Jerusalem to worship or, as some commentators believe, sung by Levites as they stood on one of the 15 steps that tradition says led up to the temple from the court below. These were songs of joy; songs of praise. Songs that expressed the worshipers’ sense of grand privilege as they approached the dwelling place of God on earth.
Just think what it means for heaven to have no temple. And think of the songs of joy that we will sing. For when in eternity we enter the New Jerusalem, we will be coming not to a building that represents God’s presence, but to God Himself. And our whole being will overflow with praises and delight.

“No longer will there be any curse” Rev. 22:1–5. This, with God’s personal presence, is the most wonderful thing about heaven. There will be no more curse. We will at last be unfettered. The potential that God planted in the human soul when He created mankind in His own image will at last be released from the cancer that eats at us now. We do not yet know what we will be, John says, “when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).
We shall serve Him, the text says. We will see His face. And we will reign forever and ever. We can’t imagine everything that serving God and reigning implies (see DEVOTIONAL).
But if you wish to dream, dream of freedom from sin’s curse; of becoming the person God has always intended you to be. And dream of seeing God face-to-face.

“The time is near” Rev. 22:10–17. It seems strange to read, “Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong” and “let him who does right continue to do right.” At least, it seems strange until we sense the immediacy in the context. Jesus has cried, “I am coming soon!” (v. 7) and will immediately utter the same cry again (v. 12).
When Jesus comes, our destiny will be fixed. Today there is still time for the one who does wrong to repent. When Jesus returns, the door of opportunity will close.
Jesus is coming soon. Every man needs to heed that warning cry, and respond while the Spirit and the bride still say, “Come!”

“Amen! Come, Lord Jesus” Rev. 22:18–21. The more we know of life on earth, the more attractive heaven is.
The young dream dreams of next year, of marriage, of promotions on the job. The middle aged dream of retirement. And the aged dream of yesteryear. How sad if all our dreams are of life on this earth, of fleeting days and nights, and passing joys.
The Christian who has gazed on earth and found it a void has a different dream. We look up, and in our reverie imagine a loud trumpet blast. And with the saints of every time and place, we cry “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus.”

DEVOTIONAL
Heaven
(Rev. 21:22–22:5)
Donald Grey Barnhouse used to speculate in his Monday night New York Bible Class. What would heaven be like? He didn’t know, of course. But he was quite sure that God had wonders beyond description in mind.
“I expect that one day God will tell me, ’Donald, go create a world and people it and govern it for Me,’ ” Barnhouse would say. Somehow he felt that the whole re-created universe, with it myriads of galaxies and uncounted stars, should be filled with beings who loved and worshiped God, and found great joy in Him. To Barnhouse this earth, and our race, was but a seed. And when that seed sprouted, and history had run its course, a redeemed humanity would be the agency through which God spread the knowledge of Himself through an endless multitude of possible worlds.
Perhaps. God’s purposes undoubtedly have a scope that exceeds our most exalted imaginings.
But these concluding chapters of Revelation do make one glory exceedingly clear. When this world ends, we will know God. We will walk in His light, freed forever from the curse of sin. Free to serve Him, to see His face, and to love Him as we ought to love.
And for us, this is enough. For the true definition of “heaven” is, “heaven is where God is.”
And that is where we will be.
No wonder John, who has seen it all, cries “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus.”

Personal Application
The greatest blessing the new year could possibly hold would be the return of Christ.

Quotable
“Will He not give us all things when we are with Him? What shall our life and our nature not be when His promises unto us shall have been fulfilled! What will the spirit of man be like when it is placed above every vice that masters and subdues—when, its warfare ended, it is wholly at peace.”—St. Augustine

THE LAKE OF FIRE
Revelation 20

“Then death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death” (Rev. 20:14).

Heaven and hell are the ultimate realities.

Background
The thousand-year-reign. This is the only mention in Bible of a thousand-year period during which Christ rules on our present earth. Yet many of the themes seen in this puzzling chapter are developed quite fully in the Old Testament and in Christ’s own eschatological teaching. One scenario, which may not be correct, but which is most fascinating, explains the chapter in this way.
After the armies of earth are crushed at Christ’s return, the surviving population experiences the judgment described in Matthew 24. Many who enter the kingdom Christ will rule are thus unconverted individuals; if you will, Germans, but not Nazis. Christians, members of the body of Christ, have already met Christ in the air, as 1 Thessalonians 4 describes. The martyrs who experience the “first resurrection” are Old Testament saints or believers of the Tribulation era, as Daniel 12:4 indicates. These reign with Christ on earth for the thousand years, fulfilling the prophets’ predictions of an era of peace under the Messiah.
Despite the ideal environment established by Christ in the Millennium, when Satan is released at the end of the era he finds willing followers among the descendants of the survivors, eager to rebel against the Lord. This final rebellion is quickly put down, Satan is assigned to the lake of fire, and at this point the universe itself dissolves, as described by Isaiah and in 2 Peter 3.
Now final judgment takes place. The dead appear before God, and all who are not written in the Book of Life—that is, who have not during one of history’s eras put their trust in God—are consigned to the lake of fire.
One thing fascinates me about this interpretation of Revelation 20 and the many Old Testament and New Testament passages integrated with it. When God warned Adam in the Garden of Eden not to disobey, He said, “When you eat of it you will surely die” (Gen. 2:17). When Adam sinned death struck: first a spiritual death, and out of that a biological deterioration. No matter what man accomplishes in the physical universe, humanity remains spiritually dead, the grip of sin tragic and unbreakable.
One way to look at sacred history is to see it as a demonstration of this fact, and of the utter necessity of salvation. Human beings can and do blame crime and corruption on environment, on heredity, on Satan’s influence, and on a host of other factors beyond individual control. But the fact remains that it is because of sin and spiritual death that pain and evil stalk us still.
God first gave man utter freedom—and the world became so evil the race had to be destroyed in the Genesis Flood (Gen. 6–8). Then God instituted human government by making man responsible to correct evils (9:6). And ancient empires emerged, whose rulers’ pride and greed was expressed in terrible wars and torture. Then God chose a single family, the Jewish race, and covenanted to be their God. Even though He gave them a law that showed how to love Him and one’s fellow man, Israel rebelled again and again, turning aside to idolatry. So God sent a Saviour, and proclaimed a Gospel of forgiveness and transformation for all. And the world ignored the invitation, preferring the pursuit of sinful desires. So at the last Christ institutes a kingdom where righteousness is enforced: a golden age of peace and plenty, with Satan’s influence removed. Even then, when Satan is released, mankind gladly throws off the bondage of goodness to rebel yet again against God. In this all the awfulness of sin is finally, fully, revealed. And man apart from God’s redeeming grace is shown to be a sinner indeed.
In this historic demonstration of the sinfulness of humankind, the necessity for a lake of fire is found. Each human being is too significant to simply perish, as if he or she had never been. And yet because sin is sin, and unredeemed men truly are spiritually dead, the unredeemed must be forever isolated from eternity’s holy state.

Overview
The last battle over, Satan is chained (20:1–3) and martyrs are raised from the dead to reign with Christ (vv. 4–7). After a thousand years, Satan is released and again deceives the nations, but is then thrown into the lake of fire (vv. 8–10). This universe is then dissolved, and all the dead judged. Those not in the Book of Life are thrown into the lake of fire (vv. 11–15).

Understanding the Text
“He seized the dragon” Rev. 20:1–3. “I don’t know why I did it,” some Christians say. “I guess the devil must have made me do it.” At best it’s a poor excuse. The devil may tempt and encourage us to sin. But Satan can’t “make” us do anything. Why, even God doesn’t “make” us do things. He simply gives us the freedom to choose.
It would be nice if Satan were bound today. I suspect some of the corruption we see in our society would disappear. But even if he were bound, you and I would remain responsible to choose between evil and good; between God’s will, and our own.

“They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years” Rev. 20:4. The members of this group are carefully identified. The fact that they had not worshiped the beast or received his mark indicates they must have lived and died during the terrible final years when the Antichrist held sway.
Even so there is a vital lesson here for us. Participation in evil may seem the easy or even the necessary choice at times. Many an employee has remained quiet, despite being aware of illegalities in his company’s practices. Many an engineer has remained silent despite doubts about the safety of the product his employer produces. Many an accounting firm has been aware of sharp practices covered up in creative annual reports—and by taking refuge behind “accepted accounting standards” perpetuated fraud rather than lose an account. The martyrs of Revelation remind us that it may cost to take a stand for what is right. But that in the end, the rewards of righteousness are great.

“The first resurrection” Rev. 20:5–6. Some have objected strenuously to the notion that there might be more than one resurrection of the believing dead. A Rapture for Christians? A special resurrection for Tribulation martyrs? Another for Old Testament saints? How confusing! “Why,” they say, “God wouldn’t do anything like THAT.”
Perhaps not. But I’m always fascinated by folks who are utterly certain about what God would and wouldn’t, or could and couldn’t, do. It must be wonderful to have such a secure grasp of God’s intentions.
Personally, while I’m not ready to be dogmatic, I have the impression that God’s plans are far more complex and multifaceted than even the most creative of us can imagine. Why, even the good cooks I’ve known haven’t been satisfied to serve meat and potatoes at every meal. I suspect the future God will place before us will outdo the most lavish spread ever conceived for a royal court or luxury cruise.

“The devil . . . was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur” Rev. 20:7–10. Jesus tells us that the lake of fire was “prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). Hell wasn’t formed with mankind in mind. Heaven was.
This is an important truth for us to hold on to. God has done everything possible to keep human beings out of that eternal lake of fire. Including experiencing on Calvary a fate more awful for Him than the lake of fire could be for any man. On Calvary He who knew no sin was made sin for us, and the crushing weight of all of history’s evil seared the holy Son of God.
If anyone goes to the lake of fire it will be because he has not responded to the love of a God who reveals Himself to all men through creation’s universal Word, and through His incarnation (see DEVOTIONAL).

“The Book of Life” Rev. 20:11–15. It’s in the Old Testament as well as here. This image of a book in which a record of those who know and love God is maintained. Malachi 3:16 calls is a “scroll of remembrance” which “was written in His presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored His name.” Here it is the Book of Life. And how appropriate a name!
Being found here is the difference between eternal life and eternal death. Between endless life in heaven, and unending existence in the lake of fire. How good it is to know that when we trusted Jesus as Saviour, our names were recorded there.

DEVOTIONAL
The Lake of Fire
(Rev. 20:7–15)
There are many images of eternal punishment in Scripture. But the one that recurs most often is that of a vast, dark, and smoldering pool of burning sulfur, whose fumes rise sullenly into a leaden sky. Jesus Himself used language like this. He spoke of a place “outside.” A place of “darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 25:30). A moment later He called it “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (v. 41). The striking fact is that in His teaching Jesus spoke far more often of hellfire than of heaven!
You and I can’t begin to grasp what the lake of fire is like, or fully understand the necessity for its eternal existence. There are no words that soften the impression given in Scripture, no arguments that make the terrible fate so many face palatable. All we can do is to confess that Scripture teaches that the lake of fire smolders there at history’s end. And confess that God is love, and by love’s eternal sacrifice, God has offered each human being a way of escape.

Personal Application
Let Scripture’s images of the lake of fire deepen your awareness of what it means to be saved.

Quotable
“I cannot preach on hell unless I preach with tears.”—D.L. Moody

BABYLON’S FALL
Revelation 18–19

“Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!” (Rev. 18:10)

When Christ intervenes, all the world holds to be important will be and mean nothing at all.

Background
Babylon. Babylon has both historic and symbolic significance throughout Scripture. Babel was the site of man’s first banding together to build a city, and a tower, “that we might make a name for ourselves” (Gen. 11:1–5). Later the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar served as the symbol of ultimate worldly power and wealth, and the temporary conqueror of God’s people. The prophets rail against the pride and arrogance of Babylon; a pride rooted in military success and wealth. It is little wonder that here in Revelation the name “Babylon the Great” is given to human civilization itself. Mankind bands together, not to serve God and neighbor, but to make a profit, and enjoy luxuries which all too often are exacted from the poor and the oppressed.
In Revelation’s picture of the fall of Babylon the Great at history’s end, we read God’s evaluation of worldly society itself. We read His contempt for the greed that motivates us, for the avarice that makes us passionately desire luxuries over justice, and for all our craving for power.
As we read of Babylon the Great, and observe its fall, we remember the verdict expressed in John’s first letter:
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything that is in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:15–17).

Overview
An angel announces the end of human civilization, “Babylon the Great” (18:1–20). The judgment is carried out (vv. 21–24), to heavenly Hallelujah’s (19:1–10). At last the heavens open, and Christ is revealed at the head of heaven’s armies, as King of kings and Lord of lords (vv. 11–16). Earth’s armies gather for a last desperate stand, only to be crushed by Christ Himself (vv. 17–21).

Understanding the Text
“A home for demons” Rev. 18:1–3. Babylon is a place where demons feel comfortable, because the values expressed in the society Babylon represents are at such odds with the values of our God. We must be careful, lest in valuing the wrong things, we find ourselves at home with evil (see DEVOTIONAL).

“Come out of her, My people” Rev. 18:4–8. The power and luxuries enjoyed by the men and women of this world are real enough. But they are devastating to the spiritual life. The greatest danger in having many possessions is that in time they begin to possess you.
God has given us all things richly to enjoy. But nothing must become more important to us than God. And no thing must become more important than a brother in need. Babylon is condemned because her people value material possession so much that they willingly commit crimes against their fellow man.
One of the greatest discoveries of my life came when I realized, after purchasing my first car, that I did not really care whether I had it or not. Since then I have lived alone in a single room, and been the owner of a fine, large house. And learned that there is no real difference to being with and being without.
Enjoy the things God gives you. But in your heart surrender them so perfectly to God that if He should take them all, you would suffer not one moment’s grief.

“They will weep and mourn” Rev. 18:9–17. In 1929, as the stock market crashed, many a New Yorker opened his windows, and jumped. They would understand completely the grief expressed in Revelation 18, for they too cried out, “All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.”
Because they mistook the shadow for reality, the passing scene for stability, and the temporal for the eternal, they were unable to withstand the sense of loss.
How terrible to be a citizen of Babylon. How much better to fix our gaze and hopes on heaven.

“All who earn their living from the sea” Rev. 18:17–20. Again, the sea represents mankind. Those who earn their living from the sea are those whose whole grasp of life’s meaning is bound up in society’s material values. As civilization, with its wealth and splendor, comes crashing down at history’s ends, such men will weep. But the saints, apostles, and prophets of God will rejoice.
Perhaps we should rejoice even now when we experience reverses. To lose what we cannot keep, that your desires may again be fixed on what we cannot lose, is great profit indeed.

“The light of a lamp will never shine in you again” Rev. 18:21–24. The world created by lost humanity is doomed to endless destruction. In biblical times a light was always kept burning in a family’s home at night. Even the poor kept a single lamp lit. For one’s “lamp to go out” symbolized an empty and abandoned home.
And so it is with Babylon. When with great violence God overthrows Babylon, that city of the lost will never be built again. Remember that, as you watch the endless stream of commercials that try to convince you that you must possess more and more. Babylon’s light will soon go out, never to shine again. The spells that led all the names astray will crumble into dust. And those who resisted Babylon’s allure will know an endless joy.

“Hallelujah!” Rev. 19:1–10 The scene again shifts to heaven. There the fall of Babylon is a cause for rejoicing. God now reigns. And all the saints will celebrate at the wedding supper of the Lamb.
The symbolism here is powerful too. In the Old Testament God is pictured as the Husband of Israel. In the New Testament Christ is the Bridegroom, the church His chosen bride. In biblical times the joining of the betrothed occasioned a week-long celebration. Friends and neighbors feasted, danced, and sang as they shared the newly married couple’s joy.
The wedding supper thus joyously marked the inauguration of the rest of life: a life in which two who had been separate would now be one.
Just so with us. Earth’s tragic tale is ended. Babylon lies in ruins. And at last Bridegroom and bride sit down together at the nuptial feast. For all eternity ahead life will be new. And they will at last be one.

“Kings of kings and Lord of lords” Rev. 19:11–21. Christ now and at last leads armies of angels that snuff out mankind’s last resistance to His rule. Satan is bound. The beast and false prophet are summarily condemned to the lake of fire. And as for the rest, “the rest of them were killed with the sword that comes out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorge themselves on their flesh.”

DEVOTIONAL
O Babylon!
(Rev. 18:1–13)
Babylon. The city of man.
John writes, “She has become a home for demons.” If you wonder why, and want a standard against which to compare Babylon, choose Eden. In Eden man lived in harmony with nature. An intimate relationship existed between Adam and Eve, and the first pair and God. The scene is pastoral; the dominant impression is one of harmony and simple joys. In the quiet of Eden there is time to contemplate; time to discover; time to grow and to become.
In contrast the clamor of construction echoes throughout Babylon. The city rumbles with activity. Bustling crowds rush here and there, eager for success, zealous to gain some new luxury. God’s gentle rule is replaced by an authoritarian government that maintains its power by serving the passions of its citizens, and carelessly crushing those who oppose. Shops filled with unnecessary goods stimulate citizens to greater effort to gain more. Everywhere in Babylon there is luxury without satisfaction, achievement without delight, success without fulfillment.
In the mad rush of Babylon mankind is caught up in the pursuit of the meaningless. In the lights of the city mankind’s eyes are blinded to the real issues of life, even as a moth is drawn to the flame that snuffs out its life.
Babylon is a trap, crafted by Satan, populated by the foolish, filled with the detestable, rich in material wealth but utterly poverty-striken in the coin of heaven. Babylon is a home for demons, a snare for humankind.
In the coming year, guard your motives, and keep watch over your desires. Babylon is here around us. Do not let her seduce you.

Personal Application
Learn to see the demonic in what to others seems to give life meaning.

Quotable
“The final chapter of human history is solely God’s decision, and even now He is everywhere active in grace or judgment. Never in all history have men spoken so much of end-time, yet been so shrouded in ignorance of God’s impending doomsday.”—Carl F.H. Henry

WRATH POURED OUT
Revelation 15–17

“Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever” (Rev. 15:7).

God is just in His judgments, however terrible they may appear to you and me.

Background
Mystery Babylon. After describing further judgments that are poured out on earth, John introduces something called Mystery Babylon. In symbolic form this is a woman, drunk on the blood of the saints, who is herself done away with by the Antichrist.
Identification of the Antichrist rests again on language found in Daniel’s later chapters; language which suggests leadership of a consortium of political powers. The woman is often interpreted to represent a single, false, worldwide religion which featured worship of the beast and persecution of those who believe in God. The image of her riding the beast (17:3) suggests that religion is a tool used by the Antichrist in his rise to power—but discarded when power is achieved (see v. 17).
Certainly some of this is speculative. At the same time, within this context, explanations are given that make one thing sure. The beast of Revelation is the evil ruler and enemy of Israel whom Daniel describes in chapters 11 and 12. And the events here fit that prophecy so closely that we must assume Daniel and John share a common vision of things to come.

Overview
John sees seven angels, who are given bowls filled with the wrath of God (15:1–8). These are now poured out on the earth, but mankind’s only response is to curse God (16:1–21). John also witnesses the destruction of a woman generally taken to represent false religion (17:1–6), which is done away with by the Antichrist, who demands the total allegiance of all (vv. 7–18).

Understanding the Text
“Last, because with them God’s wrath is completed” Rev. 15:1. The judgments described in Revelation 15 and 16 are the last in the series of punishments to be experienced by earth’s unrepentant population. These are terrible indeed. Yet we should remember that whatever happens on earth, to believer or unbeliever, is but a prelude to eternity. Some comfort themselves with the notion that a loving God would have no use for hell. The horrors which now take place on earth are evidence that God will deal most harshly with sin here and hereafter.

“Those who had been victorious over the beast and his image” Rev. 15:2–4. What a strange description: “Those who have been victorious.” Victorious? When the context makes it clear that those so praised have died in the beast’s vicious persecution of believers?
Yet they are victorious. Their victory consisted in resisting every pressure to join the powers of evil. The fact that they suffered is irrelevant. The fact that they were killed is of no account. What matters is that they remained true to God, and in that, they triumphed.
What a principle to remember as we enter another year. It is no matter what we may lose on earth, or how weak we may appear. In doing what is right, and remaining true to God despite the cost, we triumph.

“Out of the temple” Rev. 15:6–16:1. The seven angels that John now sees receive seven bowls filled with the dregs of God’s wrath. When the content of these bowls is poured out on the earth, the temporal phase of God’s judgment will be complete. But note that these angels appear from the temple.
In Israel’s religion, the temple was the place God’s people came to meet with Him. They worshiped God there. They brought their sacrifices and their offerings, and sang their praises on the temple steps.
There, hidden beyond the curtain that sheltered the temple’s inmost room, God’s presence rested. The wall and curtains that shielded Him from profane gaze also shielded the worshipers. The essential holiness of God, the blazing glory of His righteousness, was too overwhelming for any man to see and live.
But now we see seven angels, who have been within the temple and who are themselves afire with smoke and glory. They emerge to accept the bowls that bring God’s judgments to a fiery close.
Let’s remember, as we approach God, confident of our welcome, that His temple is a place of worship, but a holy place as well. We must approach Him in holiness and purity, for our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29).

“And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail” Rev. 16:2–21. This chapter summarizes the series of judgments that are poured on the earth from the angel’s golden bowls. It also reemphasizes a theme we’ve seen expressed before.
After the first series of judgments, John says that men tried to hide from God (6:15–17). After the next series he reports that mankind “still did not repent” of their idolatry or immorality (9:20–21). Now, after this series, John says, “They cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.”
These responses must be contrasted with the enthusiastic welcome given the Antichrist when he exhibited supernatural powers. The basic difference is that the judgments from God reveal His power—and man’s sin. The wonders worked by the Antichrist reveal his powers—but appeal to man’s sinful nature.
I’ve been interested in a new school of evangelism which argues that “signs and wonders” are and have been a key to winning people to Jesus. I doubt it. A person who will not respond to God’s Word about Jesus will not be moved by signs and wonders. The issue lies in the heart of a man, and nowhere else.

“The great prostitute” Rev. 17:1–6. All through Scripture false religion has been identified with adultery and prostitution. This is in part because the pagan religions we meet in the Old Testament were nature faiths, and sexual orgies intended to stimulate nature gods to send rain were essential elements. Even more significantly, however, idolatry is associated in the Old Testament with immorality because the worship of false gods is a violation of covenant relationship with the Lord. There is only one God. To abandon Him in favor of another spiritual relationship is nothing less that adultery on a cosmic scale.
Thus interpreters of Revelation agree that in this chapter, Mystery Babylon, the great prostitute, the woman drunk with the blood of God’s saints, is false religion. Even more, it is false religion developed to the nth degree: religion for its own sake, religion that hates the true God, religion that actively persecutes faith.
The reformers loved to identify the woman’s purple and scarlet clothing with dress adopted in the Catholic church, and delighted in the fact that Rome is a city set on seven hills. As corrupt as 16th and 17th-century Catholicism became, that identification is unlikely. What is sure, however, is that “religion” often is the enemy of God, and of His people. Cults today, and the possible future world religion portrayed here, are not friendly to true Christianity, which calls us simply to love Jesus and one another, and to be zealous of doing good.

DEVOTIONAL
Riding the Beast
(Rev. 17)
Whatever else we may draw from Revelation 17, it seems quite clear that it’s dangerous for religion to hitch a ride on politics.
Granted that the imagery is obscure. Even so, if we take the scarlet-clad woman as religion, the beast she rides (v. 7) fits Daniel’s and Revelation’s description of the Antichrist.
It’s such a natural marriage. Religion, eager to gain adherents, unites with the current political power. But religion, which planned to use the marriage to gain her ends, suddenly discovers that she is herself being used! And when there is no more use for religion, she is cast aside.
I don’t want to identify American Christianity with Mystery Babylon, or the beast with any political party. But it is worthwhile to observe that no marriage between faith and politics is secure. What is even worse, a marriage between an authentic Christianity committed to spiritual warfare and any political party, committed to maintaining political power, is disastrous for faith. The weapons of our warfare, Paul once wrote, are not carnal, but are spiritual.
Why then would we ever abandon the source of our power, to ride the beast?

Personal Application
Prayer and witness overcome the world.

Quotable
“Politics is the art of the possible, not the art of the ideal.”—Russell Kirk

THE BEASTS
Revelation 12–14

“Men worshiped . . . the beast, and asked, ’Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?”’ (Rev. 13:4)

Human beings are often deceived by those who appear to be powerful.

Background
Symbols in Revelation 12–14. We are naturally curious as to who is represented by the figures that make such an overwhelming impression in these powerful chapters of Revelation. One figure, that of the dragon, is interpreted in the text. The great red dragon is Satan himself, “who leads the whole world astray.”
While the woman of chapter 12 has been variously interpreted as humanity, the church, and Mary, it is best to understand her as representing Israel. This is the people from whom Christ came; the people whose tragic journey over the past 2,000 years indicates Satan’s continuing hostility.
The “sea” in Scripture generally is a symbol of humanity. The “beast out of the sea” is the Antichrist, who is clearly linked by details in the text to the Antichrist of Daniel’s prophecies. The “beast out of the earth” is usually called the “false prophet.” Together the devil, the Antichrist, and false prophet compose an unholy trinity, a distorted reflection of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They achieve great power on earth, and win the allegiance of what remains of humanity. They seem to triumph over God’s saints. But the triumph is only apparent. After a final warning is conveyed to all on earth, a new, intensified level of judgment begins.

Overview
Signs in heaven review events: the hostility of Satan for God’s chosen people (12:1–3), the birth from Israel of the Saviour (vv. 4–5), and an attack on Israel inspired by Satan during the Tribulation period (vv. 6–9). Satan’s influence is now limited to earth (12:10–17), where he energizes the Antichrist (13:1–10) and false prophet (vv. 11–18) to rally mankind against God. The 144,000 witnesses of Revelation 7 remain faithful (14:1–8) as angels assist in warning humanity (vv. 6–13), and heaven itself joins in the destruction of sinful mankind (vv. 14–20).

Understanding the Text
“A male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter” Rev. 12:1–5. The language of the text is messianic (cf. Ps. 2; Isa. 9:6–7). The woman is Israel, from whom the Christ was born. And the dragon is Satan.
How fascinating it is to see Satan crouched, ready to pounce on the Child as He enters this world in weakness. And what a reminder. Satan failed to thwart God when Jesus walked here as a man. Despite Satan’s own considerable powers, how futile all his efforts are! He could not defeat a weakened Jesus. He is helpless against the Lamb, slain but now alive and powerful on God’s own throne!
Don’t worry about Satan. For all his posturing, he is a defeated enemy. Lost mankind may one day be enraptured by his appearance of power. But you and I know that there is more power in Jesus’ appearance of weakness on the cross, than in all the armies Satan will be able to hurl against God.

“To a place prepared for her by God” Rev. 12:6. Some have linked this with Jesus’ warning in Matthew 24:20–21, and concluded that during the Tribulation God will shelter the Jewish remnant in Mount Seir. One group has even gone so far as to store New Testaments, printed in Hebrew, in Seir’s caves.
Perhaps they were too precise in their preparations. But they did not go too far in their faith. One day soon all that John describes will come to pass. History will culminate in scorching judgments. And we are wise if we too prepare for that day.

“He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short” Rev. 12:7–12. The one thing that opposing generals dread is that the enemy may learn their plans, and find some way to counter them. How fascinating that, in prophecy, God not only tells us what lies ahead, but also makes the same information available to Satan!
But how significant this is as well. Satan may know what lies ahead. But there is nothing he can do to change the outcome of his rebellion! His frantic efforts, his raging hostility toward God’s own, express frustration rather than confidence. He knows his time is short.
And we know that Satan has been, and will be, overcome by the blood of the Lamb.

“He pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child” Rev. 12:13–17. There really must be a place in our understanding of prophecy for Israel. God chose the Jewish people, and loved them consistently from the days of Abraham to the birth of Christ. Paul assures us that God has not rejected this people whom He foreknew, but that a day is coming when “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26). God’s people still are precious to Him.
When, at history’s end, the focus returns to Israel, and the prophet’s visions take solid form, Satan’s hatred of God will burn against the people that God so loves.
Whatever else this may say to us, one thing is clear. Satan hates what God loves. Those who have antagonism toward the Jews are most surely on the wrong side.

“Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast” Rev. 13:1–10. Note the number of times that “power” is mentioned or alluded to in these verses. It’s there in verses 2, 4, and 7.
Isn’t it strange that “power to make war” is so attractive to humanity? We’ll follow anyone who has power, and who promises to make us powerful. No wonder the dictators of history were able to win the allegiance of their people so easily. “Power to make war” attracts us, and we want to be on the winning side.
But note the word God has for His saints. As the Antichrist wins victory after victory, believers are told “this calls for patient endurance.” Some of us will go into captivity. Some to the sword. And to all around us we will appear the weakest of all. And yet, the weak win. And the powerful of the earth lose.
May we learn to see the victory implicit in weakness, and the defeat inherent in power to make war, and live accordingly.

“He deceived the inhabitants of the earth” Rev. 13:11–18. I can’t help being amused at those who take Uri Geller seriously. Bend nails by mind power? I’m sure! It’s a lot like the “Christian” couple who amazed Christian congregations by the messages the Spirit gave about details of people’s lives-until someone recorded the radio messages being transmitted to the speaker by his wife through a “hearing aid.”
If we’re so gullible when tricksters are involved, think how easily deceived folks will be when real supernatural powers are openly exercised!
The picture given of the future here contains a vital reminder. No matter what one claims to be able to do, don’t desert the Word of God. No matter what economic sanctions exist, locking believers out of opportunities to work, or even to buy food, don’t abandon the Word of God. Fix your confidence in Christ and His written Word, and do not be deceived.

“They follow the Lamb wherever He goes” Rev. 14:1–5. We met the 144,000 in Revelation 7. They were identified there as Jews, sealed and sent out by God to witness about Him during the terrible times associated with history’s end. Here we see them, redeemed, standing before God’s throne and praising Him with a song that is uniquely their own. And here we hear God’s commendation. “They follow the Lamb wherever He goes.”
You and I are not numbered with the 144,000. But we can be among those of every age, of whom it can be said, “They follow the Lamb wherever He goes.”

“He had the eternal Gospel to proclaim” Rev. 14:6–13. Throughout the Christian era, sharing the Gospel has been the responsibility of human beings. But now, with humanity deceived by Satan, God demonstrates His grace in a unique way. Powerful angels call on mankind to worship God, and make the nature of the impending judgment absolutely clear.
This last expression of grace is rejected, and the saints are encouraged to endure. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on,” a voice from heaven says. “They will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
No matter how hard life here may be, or how unrewarding it seems to remain faithful to the Lord, remember. We are promised rest. And our deeds will not be forgotten, but will follow us to glory.

DEVOTIONAL
Battle Hymn
(Rev. 14:6–20)
Our American Civil War was undoubtedly the bloodiest of that era. Some 600,000 young men perished, 300,000 of them from disease and exposure associated with their military service.
As the terrible cost in lives became more and more clear, the imagery of Revelation 14 captured the imagination of Julia Ward Howe. How like a farmer harvesting a crop, gathering great armloads of grapes, and trampling on them till blood-red juices flow. How like John’s terrible vision, in which the blood pours from the winepress of God’s wrath, gushing down ravines surrounding the Holy City and spreading out for 180 miles!
And so the great “Battle Hymn of the Republic” was born. God, Howe said, is “trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. He has loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword.” Somehow, in that terrible, costly struggle, Julia Ward Howe sensed the triumph of God’s truth.
And she was right. Decades before, when the Constitution was being hammered out, the founding fathers shied away from the issue of slavery. The South was too wedded to the institution, and all the colonies must unite in declaring independence. And so the evil was ignored. It festered deep in the body politic year after year, until finally it could no longer be ignored. By then it was so deeply entrenched that it could only be excised at the cost of blood. The grapes of wrath were trampled out, and 600,000 young men died.
Every evil is like slavery. Undealt with, it festers in the soul. Christ purges those who turn to Him. But those who will not must be trampled, as God’s truth goes marching on.

Personal Application
The vision of judgment teaches us the momentous nature of our sins.

Quotable

He has sounded forth the trumpet
  that shall never call retreat,
He is sifting out the hearts of men
  before His judgment seat;
O be swift my soul to answer Him!
  be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies
  Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom
  that transfigures you and me;
As He died to make men holy,
  let us live to make men free,
While God is marching on.

Glory! glory, hallelujah!
Glory! glory, hallelujah!
Glory! glory, halleluhah!
His truth is marching on.

-Julia Ward Howe