Week 52
Hebrews 10-11
The writer continues by now demonstrating in chapter 10 the purpose of the law, which is to show us the need of a savior (since no one can actually keep the whole law), and how Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for sin. Thus it is only because of God’s grace that anyone can be saved, and that salvation must come through faith, as he quotes from Habakkuk 2:4 (“the just shall live by faith”).
Chapter 11 is called by many the “hall of faith”, providing many examples from Old Testament history of men and women who were treated as righteous by God as a consequence of their faith. That faith was demonstrated by each of them in different ways, but the vital common thread was that each of them believed what God had promised, and they looked forward to that fulfillment, even though they may not have seen it in their lifetime. All of these give us examples to copy, so that we might likewise demonstrate our faith in what God has said and done in Jesus Christ, so that we may appear before Him in the righteousness of Christ, rather than our own unrighteousness.
Hebrews 12-13, 2 John, 3 John
Chapter 12 concludes by pointing to all of those great examples, with an encouragement for each of us to lay aside the sin and things that spiritually drag us down, and run our own race for Christ with perseverance. We have become sons and daughters of the most high God, and He loves us (and disciplines us) as His own dear children. We should each live our lives for Christ with a heart of gratitude and devotion for what He did for us, and how great His love is towards the whole world, that anyone who comes to Him can be accepted by God forever.
In all of this we are encouraged to build up godly character within each of us, loving and serving each other with integrity and faithfulness, and putting aside those sins and behaviors that used to be normal for us.
The 2nd and 3rd epistles of John are both short personal letters to individuals. The first to an unnamed Christian lady, and the second to a disciple and friend of John’s named Gaius. In both of these letters John provides encouragement and instruction, echoing the things written in his gospel and 1st epistle - love. Hate what is evil and love each other as servants of Jesus Christ. Do not accept evil doers, or those who would cause division within the body of believers.
1 John
Much of this 1st epistle of John echos things that were written in his gospel, including the first verse, which speaks of Jesus as being the Word of Life from the beginning (see John 1:1). This is a general epistle, which was meant to be circulated around to the various churches, and it is clearly a companion to the gospel of John. The gospel of John was written to prove that Jesus is the Christ, Who was God sent from God the Father, so that people might believe and be saved. This epistle expands on that theme, emphasizing that The Christ is Jesus, and providing practical instruction for Christian living.
We are instructed not to sin against God, but that when we do sin, He will forgive and cleanse us when we repent and seek His forgiveness in Christ. Those who are saved are living in the light of God, Who is Jesus Christ, and those who hate their brothers or sisters in this world demonstrate that they remain in darkness. Love is the key to life in Christ, as we cannot claim to belong to God if we do not love others, just like Jesus first loved us.
Revelation 1-3
This book was written very near the end of the 1st Century AD, when John was an old man, and it appeared to him in a vision when he was in exile on the island of Patmos. It is titled The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which literally means the “unveiling” or “revealing” of Jesus, so even though people think this book is about the end of history and end times, it’s really about Jesus. The first chapter opens with the appearance of the glorified Jesus Christ, Who gives John instruction to write down the things that he is going to see and hear. In chapters 2-3 Jesus dictates letters to seven churches in Asia Minor, where He provides an appraisal and instructions regarding the condition of each church. These 7 letters are seen as both literal (for those physical churches), as well as prophetic of the entire church age throughout history.
In chapter 1 Jesus appears to John in all His heavenly glory, and with His instructions to write, He also provides a key for us to help in understanding the whole book. In verse 19 Jesus tells John to write about “what you have seen”, “those things that are (now)”, and “the things that will take place afterwards”. Chapter 1 includes the first part (“what you have seen”), chapters 2-3 the second part (“those things that are”), and the remainder of the book is the third part (“the things that will take place afterwards”).
Ephesians - Jesus commends them for the things they’ve done, but is not pleased that they have “lost their first love”.
Smyrna - The persecuted church that Jesus encourages to remain faithful even unto death.
Pergamum - The city where satan’s throne was, and the church that embraced idol worship and sexual immorality.
Thyatira - A church that is commended for their good works and perseverance, but who also tolerated a false prophetess among them, who led people into all sorts of evil.
Sardis - A church with a good reputation in the world, but not with God, as Jesus describes them as already dead. Even so, there were a few in Sardis who were faithful.
Philadelphia - A faithful church of love that Jesus promises to keep safe from the day of tribulation.
Laodicea - The church that was neither hot or cold, but only lukewarm, which was repulsive to Jesus. They thought they were rich and healthy, but Jesus declared them to be sick and impoverished.
Revelation 4-9
Chapter 4 represents a shift into the 3rd and largest section of the book, which focuses on “those things that will take place afterwards”. John is caught up into heaven, and he sees a vision of the throne room of God (compare Isaiah’s vision of this in Isaiah 6). Jesus appears as a lamb that had just been killed, and He alone is worthy to open the book, and all of heaven bows down and worships Him.
The book was sealed with 7 seals, and the Lamb of God started opening those seals. The four horses and their riders went out into the four corners of the earth, heralding war, and famine, and economic disasters. The 5th seal revealed many martyrs who had been slain for Jesus, and the 6th brought great natural disasters upon the earth. Then 144,000 Jews are sealed for protection, and a huge multitude of people were gathered around the throne of God, who had come out of great tribulation.
The Lamb broke the seventh seal of the book, revealing another 7 angels with trumpets, who all prepared to blow their horns in their given order. The first four trumpet blasts brought succeeding forms of destruction and judgement upon the earth, with much life on the earth dying. The 5th trumpet heralded the opening of the bottomless pit, where demonic hoards came out to torture (but not kill) unbelievers on the earth. The 6th trumpet released an army of 200 million warriors from the east of the Euphrates river, and another 3rd of mankind died.
Revelation 10-14
In an interlude prior to the 7th trumpet sounding, another angel appears in heaven and gives John a small book to eat, and his commission to prophesy all that he saw was reiterated to him. John is given a measuring stick, and told to measure the temple area (but not the outer court), and he’s told about God’s two witnesses that will prophesy and perform wonders on the earth for 3 1/2 years during the great tribulation. Those two witnesses will be killed at the end of that time, but God will raise them to life after 3 days, and all the world will see them come alive, and taken up into heaven.
The 7th trumpet blows and the arrival of Christ’s kingdom on the earth is announced in a loud voice, and the elders in heaven worshipped God. God’s temple in heaven is opened up to reveal the Ark of the Covenant, and there was great thunder and earthquakes and hail on the earth.
John sees a vision of a woman in heaven, who represented Israel, and delivered a Son that satan attempted to kill, but failed. That woman (Israel) is provided a place of protection for 3 and 1/2 years of great tribulation. During that time satan will attempt to set up his kingdom on the earth, with his messiah (the anti-christ) and his prophet, who causes great trouble on the earth for those years. At the end of that time the Lamb of God will descend upon the Mount of Olives, and He will judge satan, his angels, and the many who follow the devil on the earth.
Revelation 15-18
Seven angels are given the seven bowls of God’s wrath, and when the first bowl was poured out on the earth it produced horrible sores on all who had the mark of the beast, and worshipped his image. The second bowl caused the sea to turn to blood, and the third bowl likewise ruined the rivers and springs on the earth. The fourth caused the sun to burn men, and the fifth caused the beast’s kingdom to be in darkness, with great pain upon his followers. The sixth caused the Euphrates river to dry up, so that the army of the east could cross. The final bowl brought an end to God’s wrath, with earthquakes and large hail upon the earth. Babylon the great harlot of the world is finally judged, and the whole world will mourn her passing. Babylon was responsible for the blood of prophets and saints who had been killed on the earth.
Revelation 19-22
Jesus appears in heaven to execute His wrath upon the kings of the earth, and they all gather for the battle of Armageddon, where a battle with God’s enemies occurs, and Jesus is victorious over all! Satan is thrown into the abyss for 1,000 years, and the kingdom of Jesus is established on the earth. After 1,000 years satan is released, and he will organize another attempt to destroy Jesus and Jerusalem, but they will be destroyed, and satan will be judged and cast into the lake of fire to be tormented forever, along with his anti-christ and false prophet. Then will God judge the living and the dead, and all whose names are not written in the book of life will also be thrown into the lake of fire, as will death and hades.
Then God will make a new heaven and earth, and the new Jerusalem will descend upon the new earth, which is described as being like a bride that is adorned for her husband. From that point forward God will dwell with men, and Jesus will be the light of the city, so that there will be no sun or night. Flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb will be the river of life, and on its banks the tree of life.
Jesus promises that all of the things written in this book will happen, and they will occur quickly.