Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, holy, holy is He
Sing a new song to Him who sits on heaven’s mercy seat
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, holy, holy is He
Sing a new song to Him who sits on heaven’s mercy seat
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come
With all creation I sing praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything and I will adore You, I will adore You
Clothed in rainbows of living color
Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder
Blessing and honor, strength and glory
And power be to You the only wise King,
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come,
With all creation I sing praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything and I will adore You
Holy, holy, You are holy
Filled with wonder, awestruck wonder
At the mention of Your name
Jesus, Your name is power, breath and living water
Such a marvelous mystery…
(Revelation Song, Written by: Jennie Lee Riddle, Lyrics © Integrity Music)
Revelation 11, The Message
The Two Witnesses
1-2 I was given a stick for a measuring rod and told, “Get up and measure God’s Temple and Altar and everyone worshiping in it. Exclude the outside court; don’t measure it. It’s been handed over to non-Jewish outsiders. They’ll desecrate the Holy City for forty-two months.
3-6 “Meanwhile, I’ll provide my two Witnesses. Dressed in sackcloth, they’ll prophesy for 1,260 days. These are the two Olive Trees, the two Lampstands, standing at attention before God on earth. If anyone tries to hurt them, a blast of fire from their mouths will incinerate them—burn them to a crisp just like that. They’ll have power to seal the sky so that it doesn’t rain for the time of their prophesying, power to turn rivers and springs to blood, power to hit earth with any and every disaster as often as they want.
7-10 “When they’ve completed their witness, the Beast from the Abyss will emerge and fight them, conquer and kill them, leaving their corpses exposed on the street of the Great City spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, the same City where their Master was crucified. For three and a half days they’ll be there—exposed, prevented from getting a decent burial, stared at by the curious from all over the world. Those people will cheer at the spectacle, shouting ‘Good riddance!’ and calling for a celebration, for these two prophets pricked the conscience of all the people on earth, made it impossible for them to enjoy their sins.
11 “Then, after three and a half days, the Living Spirit of God will enter them—they’re on their feet!—and all those gloating spectators will be scared to death.”
12-13 I heard a strong voice out of Heaven calling, “Come up here!” and up they went to Heaven, wrapped in a cloud, their enemies watching it all. At that moment there was a gigantic earthquake—a tenth of the city fell to ruin, seven thousand perished in the earthquake, the rest frightened to the core of their being, frightened into giving honor to the God-of-Heaven.
14 The second doom is past, the third doom coming right on its heels.
The Last Trumpet Sounds
15-18 The seventh Angel trumpeted. A crescendo of voices in Heaven sang out,
The kingdom of the world is now
the Kingdom of our God and his Messiah!
He will rule forever and ever!
The Twenty-four Elders seated before God on their thrones fell to their knees, worshiped, and sang,
We thank you, O God, Sovereign-Strong,
Who Is and Who Was.
You took your great power
and took over—reigned!
The angry nations now
get a taste of your anger.
The time has come to judge the dead,
to reward your servants, all prophets and saints,
Reward small and great who fear your Name,
and destroy the destroyers of earth.
19 The doors of God’s Temple in Heaven flew open, and the Ark of his Covenant was clearly seen surrounded by flashes of lightning, loud shouts, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a fierce hailstorm.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
Life will get worse before it gets better. The place is Jerusalem, and the time is the first half of the tribulation. Israel is worshiping again at its restored temple, built under the protection of the Antichrist, whose true character has not yet been revealed. John’s measurement of the temple is a symbolic action. To measure something means to claim it for oneself. The Lord was saying through John, “I own this city and this temple, and I claim both for myself.”
John envisions the battle between God and Evil heating up; but we must remember that this war already has a Victor. Jesus, is our Victor over death. John was an eye-witness to Jesus defeating death and rising to life three days later! John has preached this Good News all his life, forming churches to believe and follow Jesus while waiting for His return. In this passage we learn of two witnesses assigned by God to stand for God in power from God. These witnesses will demonstrate God’s Presence and Power to the outside world in need of a change of heart. It’s almost as if they are asking sinners, is evil your final answer?
The beast of evil is released to wreak havoc in the world—with limited, allowed power from God. We must remember that God is and always will be in control of the situation. As we read, we must also remember that this war already has a Victor—Jesus Christ who has been named by God as King of kings and Lord of lords—whether we believe in Jesus or not. “Every knee will bow” … (Philippians 2)
As I read the revelation, a vision of things to come; it humbles me. We are currently living in our world with all we need and we still whine and complain that we do not physically have enough. We are easily offended by what is said to us and appalled at what is said on social media against what we believe. We respond from our hearts (who deceive us) without engaging our minds with the mind of Christ. We judge the world “as going to hell in a handbasket” (I’m still not completely sure what that means) as our faith falters. We soon give up on telling humanity the Good News, thinking what’s the use.
As nominal, compartmentalized believers, we call on God to fix our problems, repair what is broken, and “bless us.” But we leave this form of inner worship of self-pity to complain and blame everyone and everything around the perimeter of our lives for what is going wrong…without looking within.
“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 We consistently battle the one who is opposed to God. “Choose this day whom you will serve,” says Joshua to God’s people! (Joshua 24:14)
We huddle and draw close to those who are like us and believe what we think while staying inside the walls we build for our own protection and wonder why they soon crumble. We live our lives with much fear and anxiety while sitting and stewing in our circumstances—sometimes created by our own lack of faith, lack of learning, lack of commitment with the lack of discipline to be and do what is right and good in the mind and heart of Jesus—who truly suffered and died on a cross to save us! Then he rose in resurrected power to give us hope for eternal life.
So, who are we, really? We lack Jesus if we have not given our hearts, minds, souls and bodies completely to Jesus daily as an “offering to God”! Jesus is everything we long for and satisfies everything we desire to be whole when we give all to Him. It is by the power of His Holy Spirit that begins to transform us from the inside out!
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Romans 12:1-2, MSG
The great announcement is that the kingdom of this world belongs to Jesus Christ. Of course, Christ does not claim His royal rights until He returns, but the victory has already been won. Today, He rules over a spiritual kingdom, but in that future day, He will reign over the nations of the world.
The focus of attention is on the ark of God’s covenant, the symbol of God’s presence with His people. This vision of the ark would have greatly encouraged God’s suffering people, to whom John sent this book. The ark would have reminded them of His presence and the faithfulness of His promises. The Ark—the seat of mercy. God is merciful to His people. Even in wrath, God remembers His mercy. God knows what He’s doing—Trust Him.
Let us prayer the prayer of Habakkuk—a prophet of God
“Lord, I have heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.
Repeat them in our day,
in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy.”
“Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.” Habakkuk 3 passages
In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 