Fifty Shades of Grace Chapter 21

21--Revelation Made Easy Part 4--The 7 Trumpets

This is going to be a rather long post since it will cover all 7 trumpets and you will need to read Revelation 8:6-11:19 in your Bibles so you know where we are. It is quite scary, but it is a delicious kind of scary because we know that God's people are under His protection and it will all work out OK. The trumpets are a series of plagues that the unbelieving Israelites will recognize from their knowledge of the Old Testament (OT). 

In each section I will include Old Testament references as well as excerpts from first century history, so that you can see how these things were fulfilled by A.D. 70. 

The first trumpet—hail and fire mixed with blood destroying 1/3 of the land, 1/3 of the trees and all the green grass. 

Joel 2–30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

Exodus 9–22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” 23 Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24 There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. 

Josephus writes: “…for there broke out a prodigious storm in the night, with the utmost violence, and very strong winds, with the largest showers of rain, with continued lightnings, terrible thunderings, and amazing concussions and bellowings of the earth, that was in an earthquake. These things were a manifest indication that some destruction was coming upon men, when the system of the world was put into this disorder; and any one would guess that these wonders foreshowed some grand calamities that were coming.” (JW 4.4.5)

The second trumpet — a great mountain burning with fire, 1/3 of the sea will become blood, 1/3 of ships destroyed. 

Exodus 7 —17 Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.

Josephus writes: “Now as those people of Joppa were floating about in this sea, in the morning there fell a violent wind upon them; it is called by those that sail there "the black north wind," and there dashed their ships one against another, and dashed some of them against the rocks, and carried many of them by force, while they strove against the opposite waves, into the main sea; for the shore was so rocky, and had so many of the enemy upon it, that they were afraid to come to land; nay, the waves rose so very high, that they drowned them; nor was there any place whither they could fly, nor any way to save themselves; while they were thrust out of the sea, by the violence of the wind, if they staid where they were, and out of the city by the violence of the Romans. And much lamentation there was when the ships were dashed against one another, and a terrible noise when they were broken to pieces; and some of the multitude that were in them were covered with waves, and so perished, and a great many were embarrassed with shipwrecks. But some of them thought that to die by their own swords was lighter than by the sea, and so they killed themselves before they were drowned; although the greatest part of them were carried by the waves, and dashed to pieces against the abrupt parts of the rocks, insomuch that the sea was bloody a long way, and the maritime parts were full of dead bodies; for the Romans came upon those that were carried to the shore, and destroyed them; and the number of the bodies that were thus thrown out of the sea was four thousand and two hundred.

The third trumpet — great star fell from heaven burning like a torch. The name of the star is Wormwood (bitter) and 1/3 of water became bitter and many people died from it. 

The great star falling from heaven represented the collapse of a nation. During the lifetime of Nero, there were 2 major comets that were believed to be ill omens by those who studied the signs in the heavens. 

Numbers 5 —23 “Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24 And he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain. 25 And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand and shall wave the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar. 26 And the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 27 And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has broken faith with her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall become a curse among her people.

Josephus writes: “Sometimes the Romans leaped into their ships, with swords in their hands, and slew them; but when some of them met the vessels, the Romans caught them by the middle, and destroyed at once their ships and themselves who were taken in them. And for such as were drowning in the sea, if they lifted their heads up above the water, they were either killed by darts, or caught by the vessels; but if, in the desperate case they were in, they attempted to swim to their enemies, the Romans cut off either their heads or their hands; and indeed they were destroyed after various manners every where, till the rest being put to flight, were forced to get upon the land, while the vessels encompassed them about [on the sea]: but as many of these were repulsed when they were getting ashore, they were killed by the darts upon the lake; and the Romans leaped out of their vessels, and destroyed a great many more upon the land: one might then see the lake all bloody, and full of dead bodies, for not one of them escaped. And a terrible stink, and a very sad sight there was on the following days over that country; for as for the shores, they were full of shipwrecks, and of dead bodies all swelled; and as the dead bodies were inflamed by the sun, and putrefied, they corrupted the air, insomuch that the misery was not only the object of commiseration to the Jews, but to those that hated them, and had been the authors of that misery. This was the upshot of the sea-fight. The number of the slain, including those that were killed in the city before, was six thousand and five hundred.” (JW 3.10.9)

The fourth trumpet — 1/3 of sun, moon and stars were struck bringing darkness. An eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew overhead “Woe woe to those who dwell on the land.” 

Darkness is a metaphor for the collapse of government. The eagle just happened to be the standard of the Roman army.

Exodus 10 — 21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.

Amos 5:20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,

    and gloom with no brightness in it?

Amos 8:9-10 And on that day,” declares the Lord God,

    “I will make the sun go down at noon

    and darken the earth in broad daylight. 

I will turn your feasts into mourning

    and all your songs into lamentation;

I will bring sackcloth on every waist

    and baldness on every head;

I will make it like the mourning for an only son

    and the end of it like a bitter day.

Joel 2:1-2 Blow a trumpet in Zion;

    sound an alarm on my holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

    for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,

a day of darkness and gloom,

    a day of clouds and thick darkness!

Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains

    a great and powerful people;

their like has never been before,

    nor will be again after them

    through the years of all generations.

Zephaniah 1:15-16 — A day of wrath is that day,

    a day of distress and anguish,

a day of ruin and devastation,

    a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness, 

    a day of trumpet blast and battle cry

against the fortified cities

    and against the lofty battlements.

Fifth trumpet (first woe) Smoke covers the land and locusts torment people for 5 months

The star from heaven is a reference to Satan. He is called the angel of the Abyss. 

Exodus 10 — 4 The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. 

The locusts are a metaphor representing demons swarming from the abyss. 

Matt. 12:43-45 — 43 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

Jesus had cast demons out from the people, but since they did not accept him, they would be tormented by many more demons. 

Interestingly, the final siege of Jerusalem lasted for 5 months and all the historians of the day including Titus (the Roman general) described it as the most horrific of scenes. They describe “terrible methods of torment” and “inward torment.” 

In JW book 5 Josephus describes atrocities and torments that are difficult to read and concludes with this:

“It is therefore impossible to go distinctly over every instance of these men's iniquity. I shall therefore speak my mind here at once briefly: - That neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was, from the beginning of the world.” 

The sixth trumpet (second woe) Angels are released to kill 1/3 of mankind.

1. The four angels appear at the Euphrates—a God appointed border of the Promised Land. The number 4 is generally used in Scripture to mean the 4 points of a compass which seems to indicate here that the whole world is at was with Jerusalem. In fact Tacitus recorded that the world’s forces wanted to join with Rome against Israel and that Titus received many additional forces. 
2. The location of the angels at the Euphrates means that Israel’s borders will not withstand the onslaught and the rivers will not keep the armies out. 
3. The number of 200 million “twice ten thousand times ten thousand” mounted troops was the approximate population of the earth at that time according to some estimates. 
4. They wore breastplates the color of fire: Josephus writes: “Accordingly, as the usual appointed time when he must distribute subsistence money to the soldiers was now come, he gave orders that the commanders should put the army into battle-array, in the face of the enemy, and then give every one of the soldiers their pay. So the soldiers, according to custom, opened the cases wherein their arms before lay covered, and marched with their breastplates on, as did the horsemen lead their horses in their fine trappings. Then did the places that were before the city shine very splendidly for a great way; nor was there any thing so grateful to Titus's own men, or so terrible to the enemy, as that sight. For the whole old wall, and the north side of the temple, were full of spectators, and one might see the houses full of such as looked at them; nor was there any part of the city which was not covered over with their multitudes; nay, a very great consternation seized upon the hardiest of the Jews themselves, when they saw all the army in the same place, together with the fineness of their arms, and the good order of their men. And I cannot but think that the seditious would have changed their minds at that sight, unless the crimes they had committed against the people had been so horrid, that they despaired of forgiveness from the Romans; but as they believed death with torments must be their punishment, if they did not go on in the defense of the city, they thought it much better to die in war. Fate also prevailed so far over them, that the innocent were to perish with the guilty, and the city was to be destroyed with the seditious that were in it. (JW 5.9.1)
5. There was a public vision: Josephus writes: “Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one and twentieth day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,] a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities. Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the temple,] as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, "Let us remove hence.”
6. The historic reality reflects Rome’s mighty army. This was the first professional military army which had 4 brigades going out against farmers. 
7. The response to the horsemen is non-repentance. This represents a Jewish situation. Jesus had predicted that demons would be unleashed on the land, and the type of immorality fits the Jewish leaders of this time.
8. The idolatry represents apostasy. Men refuse to repent of “the works of their hands” which refers to idols made with hands and in this case is the temple itself. Even Titus remarked about this. Temple idolatry went back to the time of Jeremiah: Jer. 7:4, 14-15 Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ 14 therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. 15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.

The Mighty Angel

John uses interludes to interrupt things for dramatic effect and to build anticipation. 

Contrast the appearance of the mighty angel in 10:1 with the star in 9:1 and we can see that while the star represents Satan, Christ is the angel. We see similar descriptions of Christ in Revelation. The imagery is linked with God—face like the sun, rainbow over his head, wrapped in a cloud, legs like pillars of fire, plants his feet on sea and land, like a lion roaring. 

The scroll — there is an OT referent: Ezekiel 3:1-3 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

The scroll gives both Ezekiel and John the strength to continue to prophesy. The scroll is written on front and back. 

The Angel strides land and sea. The land = promised land = Israel and the sea = Gentiles, showing His dominion over all. Remember the courtroom drama: 

1. The angel performs a legal transaction
1. he stretches his arm to heaven which is the posture of “swearing in” in a court
2. He swears an oath to heaven. Heaven is a witness. He swears by creation and anticipates a new creation
3. the oath declares NO MORE DELAY. Time has run out for Israel. The mystery of God is the inclusion of the Gentiles. (Eph. 1:9-10)

2. John ingests the scroll and its bitterness signifies jealousy. In the OT if a husband became jealous, his wife was forced to drink bitter water. 

3. The timing of the action is 42 months In the spring of AD 67, Nero commissioned Vespasian and a full scale war continued until August of AD 70—42 months. 

The Two Witnesses

The measuring of the temple. Measuring is a symbol of protection and John only measures the inside of the temple but the outer court is given over to the nations to trample for forty-two months. This measuring functions the same way as the sealing in Rev. 7 and its purpose is to protect true believers while false external worship is destroyed. True believers ARE the true temple. So the Christians will be protected from the coming destruction. Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical Histories 3.5 reports that the Christians were commanded by a revelation (an angel) to go to the region of Perea to the city of Pella. 

The two witnesses are not identified, but in a court of law two witnesses are needed to bring a charge. These witnesses have many similarities to Elijah (who shut up the sky causing a 3-year drought) and Moses (who turned water to blood). They have the same kinds of powers and although they are killed, they rise after 3 1/2 days and are brought up to heaven much like Elijah was. 

The seventh trumpet (third woe) brings the revelation of Jesus Christ as the King. 

In a way this would be like the coronation ceremony of the King. The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever…for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. 

Do you see that this is the event to which all recorded Scripture points? Every prophet looked to this day. Every king from David on looked for the Son of David to take the throne and reign forever. It is accomplished!!! 

The very last book in the Bible gives us what we have been looking for since Genesis 3:15 when God first promised Adam and Eve a Savior. What was promised in Genesis 3:15 is fulfilled in Revelation 11:15. And everything in between is about how God worked it all out. What an amazing story filled with grace upon grace! 

Here is part of my amazing story:

Fifty Shades of Grace Chapter 20

20--Revelation Made Easy Part 3--The Scrolls and 7 Seals

Remember how I told you that we have to interpret Revelation based on the Old Testament. Well, let me tell you a secret that very few people know. Revelation  was actually written in code on purpose. John wrote the book of Revelation in Greek, but he used Hebrew idioms and Hebrew grammatical structures with tons of references to the Old Testament prophets precisely so that the Romans would not understand it. Anybody who had read the Old Testament would recognize the language right away, so Jews and Christians would “get it.” But their enemies would not. That is because Christians were going to be persecuted and the book of Revelation  is meant to be a comfort to them as they wait for their enemies to be destroyed. 

The Greek word for revelation is apocalypse.  So it is right to say that the Old Testament is the key to understanding the apocalypse code--the key to understanding Revelation.  

I should warn you that you should read Revelation chapters 4 through 8:5 before you read this, so you know what I am talking about. Then you can read this to understand what all the symbols are. 

The scroll in Revelation has its counterpart in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel also has 4 living creatures who are very similar to the ones described in Revelation. Ezekiel’s vision is about the rebellion of Judah and its subsequent destruction. In Revelation, the scroll is God’s divorce decree against unbelieving Israel. Jerusalem and the unbelieving Jews are about to be destroyed. Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and in Matthew 8:11-12 he told the people that the sons of the Kingdom would be cast into utter darkness. 

The Seven Seals

The first four seals are four horsemen. The Old Testament backdrop for them is in Zechariah where they were commissioned to prepare the land for final judgment. Knowing this, we know that in Revelation we will have the same interpretation. 

The first seal—the white horse is not Christ, because Christ is the one opening the seal. Also someone is giving orders to the white horseman and nobody orders Christ around! The horseman probably represents Vespasian, who is the Roman general sent by the emperor Nero to fight against Jerusalem. The color white means he will be the victor.  The bow symbolizes that the war is fought from a distance. The crown is a second evidence that victory is assured to the Roman army. 

The second seal—the bright red horse and its rider. Red represents blood. Revelation  is filled with bloody images—the blood of the slain Lamb, the blood of the saints, and the blood of God’s enemies. It means death and destruction are near. The sword means that now the fighting is closer. The battle is now inside Jerusalem with Jews fighting each other. Both Josephus (Jewish Wars 5.1.5. and 6.2.3.) and Tacitus (another historian) report that while Jerusalem was surrounded, there was civil war going on inside the walls. The horseman takes peace from the earth. The Roman Pax Romana was being destroyed by the Jews who revolted in A.D. 66 requiring the Romans to squelch the revolt. 

The third seal—a black horse and its rider. 

The color black—and the weighing scales both represent famine. The Jews inside the walls of Jerusalem would starve to death if they didn’t die from the sword. Josephus reports (5.3.4) that John of Damascus and Simon set on fire houses full of corn as if doing it on purpose to serve the Romans. So the Jews were not only killing each other, but they were burning the storehouses where all their grain was kept. They destroyed corn that would have given them enough food to last for several years if they were under siege.

The fourth seal—a pale horse and its rider. 

This would have been a greenish death pallor. The Jews were going to be buried by the Romans. However there is a limitation: 1/4 of the people die. The wild beasts—represent a covenant curse (Lev. 26:22). So many Jews were dying inside the city, that there was no place to bury the dead, so they threw the carcasses over the wall and into the valley below. (See also Jeremiah 7 and 19—the Valley of Slaughter). Another covenant curse was cannibalism (Lev. 26:29) and Josephus and others report the cannibalism that was taking place in Jerusalem during the siege. 

The fifth seal—souls of the slain.

John now glances up into heaven where he sees the martyred saints crying out for vengeance and vindication. The heavenly altar—The earthly altar (Ex. 29:12) was a place where the blood of sacrifices was spilt. John sees the blood of the saints spilled out on the heavenly altar. They were killed for testifying—“for the witness they had borne.” Notice again the forensic courtroom language. They testified against Israel—that the Jews had killed them.

In verse 10 we see that judgment is on those who “dwell on the land.” (Land means ‘promised land’ or Israel and is sometimes translated “earth” but since John uses words heavily connected to Old Testament we are going to go with “land” since that is how it is stated in the Old Testament. Also Rev. 1:7 clearly states that the judgment is on the tribes who pierced Jesus and they would be located in Jerusalem.) 

Jesus also supports this view when he prophesies to the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23—32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah,[a] whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

The sixth seal — earthquake, black sun, blood moon, falling stars, sky rolled up like scroll, mountains and islands moved from their places. 

This is de-creation language—the Creator is tearing the world apart. The Old Testament uses the same language. (See Isaiah 13, 34:4; Ezekiel 32; Jeremiah 4; Joel 2) The same words are used in these prophets to describe foreign armies and nations and to describe how God will mete out justice. 

Significance of heavenly phenomena—God ordained stars and planets to rule day and night. (Gen. 1) Falling stars always represent the fall of rule—in some cases earthly governments, in this case the temple. (Even today stars symbolize rule—our fifty stars on our flag represent state rule.) 6:15 tells us the “kings of earth” (the priests of the land) will hide themselves in caves. Jerusalem was well known for all its caves and tunnels and secret passageways. This is where the priests would have gone to hide. Some of these hiding places were under the temple itself. Notice in verse 16 that they do indeed recognize the Lamb as Christ himself. Remember when Jesus told Caiaphas “you will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds in power and great glory?” Well, the time is here! Peter also makes this connection in Acts 2:16-24 where he quotes Joel and accuses the Jews of crucifying the Son of God.

The first interlude. The four angels are holding back the winds of destruction. 

The four winds of the earth refer to the four points of the compass. The angels are being commanded to withhold judgment until God’s elect are marked for protection. Everything is in place for judgment to occur but there are still Christians in Jerusalem. The holding back of the winds is to give them a chance to get out. (Luke 21 and Matt. 24 & Josephus 4.9.1 and 4.10.5) This is accomplished by the suicide of Nero and the failure of Galba to keep the Roman Empire from being destroyed. As a result, Vespasian is recalled to Rome and he takes his army with him. Eusebius records in Ecclesiastical History that the Christians were instructed to go to Pella. Jews from all over the world were making their way back into Jerusalem, thinking that proximity to the temple would save them. But Vespasian sent his son Titus back to finish the job. 

The 144,000—were the Jewish core that started the church age. The number is highly symbolic like the rest of Revelation. Ten was a perfect number and ten cubed was thrice perfected. The number one thousand is often used in Scripture to signify the perfect number. (Ps. 50:10; I Peter 3:8)  The 12 tribal elders times the 12 apostles make the 12 x 12 which = 144. So the 144,000 are the Jewish Christians who are kept during the tribulation and who will go out and spread the gospel to the world. This had already begun and the world already had the gospel. 

Seal on the foreheads: The OT backdrop is Ezekiel 9:3-7. The mark on the forehead is not a literal mark; it stands for the allegiance of belief; it is a worldview. The forehead represents the mind. Those who believe in Christ are marked as His and are under His protection. 

The great multitude from every nation in 7:9 now includes all Christians from all time—Jews and Gentiles. This number is not a set number—no one can number them. And they are not from the 12 tribes—they are from every tribe and nation and language. This is in contrast to the 144,000 from the 12 tribes. 

Old Testament references in verses 15-17 are mainly from Isaiah and Psalms. 

The seventh seal —silence in heaven for about half and hour. An angel with a golden censer fills it with fire and throws it on the land in response to the imprecatory prayers of the saints. 

Old Testament backdrop: The plagues mimic the plagues of Egypt, so that the Jews will recognize God’s hand in it. The scene mimics the scene at Mt. Sinai—peals of thunder, flashes of lightning, rumblings. And the 7 trumpets mimic the taking down of Jericho. With all these reminders of how Yahweh dealt with His enemies, there could be no doubt in the minds of the unbelieving Jews that God’s wrath was now directed against them.  

Random pics of God's grace in my life:

Fourth of July in South Haven MI

Halloween

Our Sweet Grady Boy!

Halloween

Precious Kate

Scrapbooking

Franklin Park on Grandparents' Day

Waiting for moms to pick them up

Waiting on moms

Fifty Shades of Grace Chapter 19

Chapter 19-Revelation Made Easy—Part Two—Divorce Court 

The book of Revelation reveals Jesus Christ as the Redeemer who was promised long, long ago in Genesis 3:15. He is the King who restores Eden, the offspring of the woman Eve, and the Son of David. When a King begins to rule, the first thing he does is to secure his borders and build up his fortresses. The way Jesus did this is shown in the book of Acts. As new converts came to Christ, he secured them by giving them the gift of the Holy Spirit who dwelt within them and was a seal of their salvation. They could never again be captured by any enemy. They are His forever. 

Then he sent them out all over the world to establish churches. These churches were His way of building up his fortresses. Cities and towns all over the Roman Empire had pockets of Christians who were slowly building up the army of believers. 

Once these fortifications are in place, a King begins to make war on his enemies. In the first century, the greatest enemies of Jesus and the church were the unbelieving Jews. They were the ones who had Him crucified. Jesus made war on Jerusalem and completely destroyed the city and the temple and all evidence of the first (old) covenant. He did this in A.D. 70 and all the events of that time were recorded by a man named Josephus. 

You may remember back in Fifty Shades of Grace Chapter 8 how God divorced the ten tribes of Israel. Revelation  is a compelling divorce court drama about how God divorced Judah and put an end to the old covenant. Here is the evidence from the Old Testament: 

1.Israel was under a legal covenant from the time of Mt. Sinai in Exodus 19. 

2. As in any court, there were witnesses to this: Deuteronomy 4:26 says, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed.” 

3. We know it was a marriage covenant: Jeremiah 2:2 says, “Thus says the Lord,“I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown."

4. Judah followed Israel down the path of idolatry which God calls adultery because she was his bride. Jeremiah 3:6-10 says, “The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore.  Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree.  Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.”

From all these passages in the Old Testament, we know that Judah will also be divorced by God and that he will begin a new covenant with a new bride—the church of Jesus Christ. We know from the Old Testament that judgment always begins at home. Israel was judged and then the other nations were judged. 

It is the same way in Revelation. Before beginning to destroy the unbelieving Jews, Christ sends letters to the 7 churches in Asia Minor warning them about staying faithful to the end. He commends them for what they are doing right and rebukes them for their lack of faithfulness and tells them what they have to do while they wait for him to return. Some of the things he tells them seem a little strange to us today because we don’t know the background of these cities. Just to give you a little idea of the context, I will give you a short history lesson on these seven churches.

Interesting facts about the 7 churches of Revelation

Ephesus (the city of change) was the most important city and capital of Asia Minor. It was a port city on the coast and its layout was a grid. IT had the largest amphitheater in the world and the breeze from the sea carried the sound so you could hear well in the cheap seats! The temple of Artemis (Diana) was located here and was one of the 7 wonders of the world. It also boasted a huge gymnasium which brought workouts to new heights. The gym was adjacent to bathing areas and had public toilets that accommodated up to 36 people at a time all in the wide open spaces with no privacy. It has a large library with four pillars inscribed with wisdom, knowledge, intelligence and destiny. Ephesus also had a huge Agora which would be like a modern day shopping mall where they sold textiles, wine, perfumes, foods—anything at all. Today Ephesus is about 6 miles inland from the shore because the harbor began to fill with soot and the coast receded. Ships could no longer harbor there. Jesus warned this church that they had lost their first love and needed to repent.

Smyrna (the city of life) is Ismir today. The church was probably founded by believers from Ephesus. It was very wealthy and the ruins of Smyrna lie in the heart of Ismir today. It was a crossroads of sea and land travel. The Agora in Smyrna was a 3-story structure. Polycarp, a disciple of John was martyred in Smyrna. He was appointed by John to be the bishop of Smyrna. He was martyred under the rule of Marcus Aurelios. While he was being tied to the stakes, the people heard a voice from heaven saying “Be strong Polycarp and play the man.” They meant to burn him alive, but after they tied him to the stake and started the fire, a wind came and swirled around him keeping the fire from burning him. His executioners then plunged a sword into his side and his blood gushed out extinguishing the fire. His death inspired and emboldened other saints. Interestingly, John had written in Revelation: “Do not fear what you are about to suffer...Be faithful unto death.” 

Pergamum (the city of authority) became the capital city of the Roman province in Asia and was a center of learning, medicine, and religious books. Its library rivaled the Alexandrian library and drew many princes, priests and scholars. Noted for its marble carvings and architectural beauty. They worshipped Zeus and Athena, the Roman Emperor and other gods. Some scholars believe that John’s friend Gaius was the first bishop of Pergamum. Jesus warned them in Revelation that some of them were going astray and they needed to repent.

Thyatira (Weakness made strong) was a small town noted for commerce and guilds such as tanners, coppersmiths, potters, and purple dyers. Lydia was from Thyatira. A woman whom Jesus called Jezebel was destroying this church with her immorality and the church was tolerating it. Jesus warned them about her and told them to hold fast until he returned. 

Sardis (the city of death) was a very wealthy city and also had a temple to Artemis. The people lived in luxury and had their gymnasiums and bath houses, one of which included a frigidarium for cold water baths for athletes. They looked vibrant and alive, but John wrote: “You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” There were only a few true believers left at the time of Revelation. 

Philadelphia (the missionary city) An earthquake destroyed the city in AD 17, but Tiberius rebuilt it. It was famous for its grape industry, textiles and leather goods. It was called the “Gateway to the East.” Dionysius was the major god, but they also worshipped the sun and serpent gods. It was captured by the Turks in 1390. Christians lived there until the early 1900s. Jesus said this church was holding fast and keeping his word and they would be spared from the hour of trial coming on the whole world. 

Laodicea was extremely wealthy. It was located in the Lycus Valley and the city Hieropolis was to the north and had public baths from natural sources that had very hot water. Also nearby was the city of Colossae which had very cold water springs. However the aquaducts that brought water to Laodicea carried water that was tepid and tasteless and rather repulsive. So the Laodiceans knew what it meant to be neither hot nor cold and understood why a person would want to spit this out of his mouth. Jesus told this church it was lukewarm and said he would spit them out of his mouth. The Laodiceans were known for three things: wealth, clothing, and eye and ear medicines. Yet John wrote in Revelation that they were poor, naked and blind. Hmmmm.... Blinded by their affluence, they could not see what was coming. 

It was only by the GRACE of Christ that he lovingly told his church how to endure the upcoming tribulation. 

Random grace in my life looks like this:

The Children's Island

We rowed out to the island in Papa's boat.

Our three adorable passengers.

Somebody is taking "butthead" literally.

All worn out after a day of hard work!

Fifty Shades of Grace Chapter 18

Revelation Made Easy—Part One

Have you ever read the book of Revelation? It is full of very scary things and lots of strange creatures and bizarre events. Most people do not understand the book very well and they have devised all kinds of ways to try to interpret its meaning. As a result, everybody comes up with his own idea of what it means and then they fight with everybody else who has another idea. 

I think it is always best to let Scripture interpret Scripture. That way we know the Holy Spirit is the one who is interpreting for us. Some people try to use the daily news or the internet to interpret Revelation, but we are going to use the Bible itself. 

We will start at the very beginning with Genesis. In Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve sinned, God promised them that one day a Redeemer would come and save his people and restore Eden. God’s people waited a very very very long time, but finally the Redeemer came and his name was Jesus. He lived a full life and then his own people had him crucified and he died and was buried. But he rose up from the grave, proving that he was one who had God’s approval to reign over the whole earth. He was the promised Redeemer, the son of David, the one who would be king forever and ever. 

When he ascended into heaven and sat down at God’s right hand, he began to rule. But he had not been formally presented to the people of the world yet. In the Old Testament, you may recall that King Solomon had a coronation ceremony. The book of Revelation is about how God “revealed” Jesus as the human king over all creation. That is how the book got its name. It is all about the big reveal! It is Jesus’s coronation ceremony!

The very first thing a king does when he becomes king, is to destroy his enemies. If you read the New Testament very carefully, you will see that the number one enemy of Jesus and of the Christian church at that time was the Jews. The book of Revelation is a book about how Jesus destroyed the unbelieving Jews and their old covenant and began a brand new covenant with his people who believed on him. His new bride included both Jews and Gentiles and his bride is the church.

Before we look at how he does this, we need to go all the way back to the Old Testament again to see what God says will happen if his people are rebellious and worship other gods. If you look at Leviticus chapter 26 under the “punishment for disobedience” section, you see that God says four times  “I will strike you seven-fold for your sins!” That is very significant, because the book of Revelation is laid out in just that way. There are four sets of seven punishments. They are called letters, seals, trumpets and bowls. 

As always, God begins with his own people when he begins to purify the nations, so the seven letters are addressed to seven churches in Asia Minor. The seven seals represent a declaration of war. Do you remember in the book of Esther when that wicked Haman put the King’s seal on his declaration of war with the Jews? The seven trumpets are the final warning sounding the alarm that destruction is imminent—just like when the Israelites blew the trumpets when they marched around Jericho. And the seven bowls are the final destruction. 

So you see, by understanding the Old Testament and the way God works, we already have a good idea about what lies ahead in the book of Revelation and why it is laid out the way it is. The person Revelation is revealing is the long promised Redeemer who will one day restore Eden—Jesus! 

Random pics of God's grace in my life:

 Sweet Alice riding Rosie

 

Katy, Sadie and Alice

 Katy and Alice

 Meagan and Krissy

 Preparing to make Christmas Trees

 Getting the base of the Christmas Trees

 The finished trees! Alice Katy and Sadie

Our sweet Grady boy!