Week 48, Day 3
November 30, 2022 Scripture: Jude A Discipleship Prayer: “To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude 24–25) Increase my joy. Prepare me to enter your presence. And praise be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Prayer can be a transformative thing. We often make it a checklist, or a long list of folks who are in need of healing, help or who are far off from God to be brought near. But we can also pray that we may be transformed. Jude’s closing doxology is that we would now be transformed and renewed by the powerful love of God to be brought before the Lord holy and blameless in his sight. Week 48, Day 4 December 1, 2022 Revelation 1 “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” (Revelation 1:3) “I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.” (Revelation 1:12–13) “The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” (Revelation 1:20) We are nearing the finish line of our New Testament in a year reading plan. That means we are in Revelation! Blessed are those who read, hear and obey the book of Revelation. So keep going, and don’t give up. I will do my best to encourage you in the text. For now, let’s do some interpretive fun in this opening chapter. We need to keep in mind that Revelation utilizes three different literary genres, all at once. It is a letter, prophecy and is also apocalyptic. It is a letter because it is written to the churches and portions of it read very much like an apostles letter to the church. The first three chapters are certainly letter. All of it is apocalyptic, which uses great imagery to convey the certain truth that Jesus is king and the enemy is defeated. I love Randy Harris who says of Revelation, “God wins, you pick a side, don’t be stupid.” In this we will also see prophecy. We often think of prophecy as prediction of the future, but most prophecy is about revealing the present problems and warning of impending disaster. It’s always a call to repentance and a warning if the call is not heeded. We should read the book with all of this in mind, and more. That there is also a lot of images of the book drawn out of the Old Testament. We will also encourage the reading of the book by allowing it to interpret itself. Here’s what I mean. John frequently tells us what many of the images mean. Right here in chapter 1, is a great example. What are the stars and lampstands all about? “I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.” (Revelation 1:12–13) “The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” (Revelation 1:20) The powerful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is surrounded by seven stars. Those stars, John clarifies, are the seven churches. Taking it all together, you then read chapter 1 again and see that Jesus is at the center of the churches. The churches are facing incredible challenges. The persecution of the church, the suffering of believers, the pressures to conform to Rome, give allegiance to their gods and emperors… all of this pressure is hanging in the balance, and God’s encouraging word is that Jesus is in the midst of the churches. He knows us and cares deeply for us. We are not alone. God is with us! God stands in the midst of his churches still today. He knows our love, he knows the pressures, he knows us. He knows the obstacles we face, the challenges to our faith. We are not alone. The victorious one lives and reigns and watches over us.
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AuthorJordan Ickes, Minister of Etna Green Church of Christ. Archives
December 2022
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