Archive for December 2023

John 16:12-24, Revelation 5, Job 31:1-23, Amos 1-2 Revelation 5: Yesterday, we entered with John in his vision into the very throne room of heaven. But, if we may put it reverently, heaven has a problem. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”…

John 16:1-11, Revelation 4, Job 30, Joel 2-3 Revelation 4: We start to enter into parts of the Book of Revelation that are filled with mystery – and that use language, pictures and images of which we are unfamiliar. For an introduction to the Book of Revelation as a whole, and its style and genre, see the first…

John 15:18-27, Revelation 3:14-22, Job 29, Joel 1 Revelation 3:14-22: And finally in these letters to the seven letters of Asia, we come to the famous letter to the church in Laodicea. There is historical evidence that in the Laodicea area there was naturally occurring water that was used as an emetic – something to induce vomiting. So…

John 15:9-17, Revelation 3:1-13, Job 28, Hosea 13-14 Revelation 3:1-13: Two more of the seven churches of Revelation. First Sardis, then Philadelphia. For Sardis, there is stern criticism. They have a reputation of being alive, but are really dead. It must have come as quite a shock to the people of Sardis. They had a good reputation. They…

John 15:1-8, Revelation 2:18-29, Job 27, Hosea 9-12 Revelation 2:18-29: So now we come to Thyatira. In this book of Revelation, John is led by the Spirit to have a vision of Christ and his word to these seven churches of Asia. And next in the list is Thyatira. As with many of the churches there are things…

John 14:22-31, Revelation 2:1-17, Job 25-26, Hosea 7-8 Revelation 2:1-17: We now come to the awesome – and very practical – assessment that Jesus makes of these historic churches. We should not forget the fact that we are talking about parts of the world that are now deeply immersed in Islam. And that should cause us to listen…

Hosea 4-6, Job 24, John 14:15-21, Revelation 1:9-20 Revelation 1:9-20: For an introduction to the Book of Revelation as a whole, see the previous devotional on the first part of chapter 1. Here we begin to get into the content of the book proper, and we are entering into the substance of John’s vision. Note, the five parts…

Hosea 1-3, Job 23, John 14:1-14, Revelation 1:1-8 Revelation 1:1-8: The Book of Revelation is a book that everyone reads with trepidation. Who will be annoyed by this or that interpretation? What sort of unnecessary conflict will be produced if you take this line on this passage or another viewpoint on another passage? Understandable as such concerns are,…