2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
In this segment of this series on spiritual warfare, we are going to look at that portion of God’s plan where we see the accused (God’s faithful children) finally avenged. It stands to reason that I must begin any discussion of this type with my testimony that I believe every word in the Scriptures to be both true and consistent. Time as we mark it is a human convenience which is limited to the physical laws of the universe as we know it. God’s concept is different, and He is not held to such constraints. We know this from 2 PET 3: 8-9, “But do not forget one thing, my dear friends! There is no difference in the Lord’s sight between one day and a thousand years; to Him the two are the same. The Lord is not slow to do what He has promised, as some think. Instead, He is patient with you, because He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.” Any efforts we engage in attempting to set a human time clock on the Lord’s revelation or activities are futile and useless. The bottom line is that we must each know the Lord well enough to trust that things will happen or be done by Him in His own perfect timing. I, for one, admit to having had a major struggle on more than one occasion with that. This impatient writer wanted it all done yesterday, tied up in a neat package!
REV 5: 1-6: 1 is a passage which reveals a great deal about how we, the faithful (accused by Satan and his followers) will be avenged. Let’s mine it for its treasures. We learn that Christ alone is worthy to open the scroll, which represents the mortgage for dominion over the earth. That was stolen from God in a major deception of Adam and Eve in GN 3: 1-6 by Satan (in the form of a serpent). John, the Revelator, is allowed to see into the future and is shown that only the Lion of Judah (Christ), made eligible to open this scroll with its seven seals (representing the last judgments) by His sacrifice on the cross, can successfully do this task. JN 14: 9 & 11 have already made it clear that Christ does nothing without the Father’s direction. So, we know that this too is Christ obeying His Father’s command. Christ is signified here by the term, “the Lamb (the Innocent) that was slain (6).” He is described as having “seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God that have been sent through the whole earth.” Seven is God’s number of completion and perfection. That is why it crops up so often in the Scriptures. Horns represent authority, as we saw liberally mentioned in the book of Daniel. Seven horns here represents total authority granted by God and omnipotence (being all-powerful). The seven eyes represent being omniscient (being all-knowing). You’ll remember that in JN 3: 34 we are told, “The One Whom God has sent speaks God’s words, because God give Him the fullness of His Spirit.” The seven spirits of God which have been sent through the whole earth certainly suggest that He is omnipresent (present everywhere).
We are told that He was given the scroll from the right hand of God in (7). As He was given the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before Him. Each had a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people (8). This verse is very important to all of us who believe. It is a head’s-up that our prayers are heard and that they matter. We learn that they really do arrive in the heavenly Holy of Holies, and the Christ really is our Advocate and Intercessor there [HE 8: 1-2]. What follows in (9-10) is the singing of the Song of Redemption. We must pay careful attention to these words, because they are a vital consummation of prophecies made earlier: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to break open its seals. For You were killed, and by Your death You bought for God people from every tribe, language, nation, and race. You have made them a kingdom of priests to serve our God and they shall rule on earth.” [Note: RO 8: 17; EPH 2: 6-7; 2 TIM 2: 12; COL 1: 26-27].
The Song of Redemption is followed by the Seven-Fold and then the Four-Fold Doxologies in (12-14). “The Lamb Who was killed is worthy to receive power, wealth, wisdom, and strength, honor, glory, and praise! And I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, and in the world below, and in the sea-all living beings in the universe-and they were singing: ‘To Him Who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be praise, and honor, glory, and might, forever and ever!’ the four living creatures answered, ‘Amen!’ And the elders fell down and worshipped.” If there was ever any nagging doubt that intent on God’s part was voiced without being acted upon, it is shattered in REV 6: 1. “Then I saw the Lamb break open the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice that sounded like thunder, ‘Come!’” None of this would come to pass if we didn’t matter a great deal to our Abba Who loves us. Every prayer that we sent up to Him in accordance with His will, He promises to answer [JN 15: 7]. Throughout the final separation of sheep and goats [MT 25: 32], we see ample evidence that our prayers, the prayers of the faithful, are being acted upon. That is why Matthew was inspired to say these words in MT 18: 19-20, “And I tell you more; whenever two of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in My name, I am there with them.” No matter how important or unimportant we may think we are in earthly terms, each of us and our prayers matter tremendously to God. We should never forget that or feel that just because things don’t seem to be happening fast enough to suit us. To be sure, they will all happen, evil will be conquered and justice accomplished, in God’s perfect time. I hope you feel as I do that you would like to be a part of it.
PRAYER: O Lord, today You bring us to meditate upon the issue of prayer and how it matters to You. You have revealed a lot about this in Scriptures, and we must believe it. PS 10: 17-18, “You will listen, O Lord, to the prayers of the lowly; You will give them courage. You will hears the cries of the oppressed and the orphans; You will judge in their favor, so that mortal men may cause terror no more.” PS 18: 3, “I call to the Lord, and He save me from my enemies.” PS 86: 5 & 7, “You are good to us and forgiving, full of constant love for all who pray to You…I call to You in times of trouble, because You answer my prayers.” PS 145: 18, “He is near to those who call to Him, who call to Him in sincerity.” JER 33: 3, “Call to Me, and I will answer you; I will tell you wonderful and marvelous things that you know nothing about.” MT 7: 7-8, “Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks will receive, and anyone who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to him who knocks.” If we ever felt like we are alone without help or ability to communicate with You, it was Satan deceiving us into this foolishness. You are always there for us and eager to hear our prayers. In EPH 6: 18, You reminded us to pray for all of God’s people and to keep praying, not to give up. JAS 5: 16, “So then, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect.” We stand before You today in humility to confess our sins and to offer You our worship, adoration, loyalty, diligence, honor, glory, trust, obedience, praise, and utmost thanksgiving. We pledge our faith that You will bring eternal justice and end Satan’s sway. We beseech You to allow us to be a part of that. In Christ’s holy name, amen.
Having discussed REV 5: 1-6: 1, we can now go back tomorrow to a fascinating story from the OT, in JER 32: 6-15, 44, to see how all of this is part of a plan God set in place before the Creation. In this case, we looked first at the outcome and then, go back to see what foreshadowed this magnificent consummation of all prophecy in the Bible. That is the way that God allows us to put together to pieces of a complex puzzle and come to gain a closer perspective on our lives to His. We can be reminded that God allows those who He holds in esteem to see into the future, i.e. to see His whole plan as outlined in the Scriptures. Therein, we find even more evidence of the profound love God has for His children. We are so very blessed by this! Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn