A Swarm

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

A SWARM

Rev 9:1-11

9:1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. 7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.  

NIV

We go from just one verse at a time to this large chunk of description of the fifth trumpet which is also the first woe. All of this must be dealt with in its entirety as any one verse alone would have little meaning to afford us any truth and thus a lesson for our life. This could be seen in so many ways and in fact has been by so many scholars. Again we have those who would commit this to a historical event regarding Israel and the Romans. Others would see a time of a plague of real locust of a special species yet see by men, resembling one of the plagues upon Egypt. There is some symbolism it might seem at work here as well. Because of the resemblance of human faces it would seem by some this is a mighty army raised up by the destroyer, Satan himself. We know that at some time he will raise up an army to fight against Jesus at the last battle. Perhaps this refers to a time that is coming when a darkness will come over the Christian church. Again we should wonder if we are here during all this or have we left already. But if this is in fact a time when this angel of darkness, this destroyer opens the bottomless pit and a smoke a darkness falls upon the earth, and from it comes a tremendous false doctrine which torments people. Maybe it could have been the Romans, but it also might be the extremist ISIS group, if we are to see this as an army of men bringing terror upon the people for five months. As far as the people who cannot be harmed, it is those who have the seal of God on their foreheads. Is that us? Are we then here? If we have already left, in the rapture, and as we have thought before there will be some people who have seen the light during the first four trumpets and returned to God, repenting and accepting Jesus as their Savior. These people will still be present during this fifth trumpet but will not be affected by the swarm of locust. It is also possible this is a representation of some great false doctrine which sweeps across Christianity. The vast smoke from the abyss blacks out the light, the truth. Men will come in swarms deceiving many believers. The average believer will be stung by their words and will not see the truth anymore. There is such a great number of false teachers and preachers in the world today, but this is certainly not the number as seen by John. Whether this is an actual army of men, such as a great military invasion that either the extremists could muster, or perhaps the nation of North Korea or even China, but the problem with that is they cannot do harm to those who have the mark or seal of God upon them. Any human army from another part of the world which has some faith other than Christian would certainly do harm to believing Christians, in fact might even single then out for torment, as ISIS does today. Some would say that John can only describe what he sees in the terms of his knowledge of the time he lives in, but then we would have to discount that God has inspired him to write these words. But because God inspired him to write this and with the absolute foreknowledge of all the advancement of mankind, including all the military might available today, it is unlikely that John wrote of something he did not understand. This has to be a supernatural event for the purpose of God. This has to be one more attempt to show mankind there is only one way to salvation, and that is through Jesus Christ. If all mankind is in torment except those who are true believers in Christ, who have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, marked by God as his, then the world will know he has the power to save, to protect, to provide for his people. All of scripture has the purpose of revealing the character of God and his purpose for creating mankind. Scripture also reveals the rebellion of mankind against God, and how he continues to demonstrate their folly, their foolish thinking and the results which will ensue. He is determined to save them from their folly, but he has also given them over to their futile thinking. Yet he will bring destruction upon them if they do not repent. So we have another event which will be not death, but torment in order to show them God is still in control of their lives. We need to be ready for this should it happen in our lifetime and the rapture of the true church has not happened. But if it does not happen in our lifetime we can be assured it will happen and once again we can tell the message to others so they too can be sealed by the Holy Spirit. If this is symbolic of a great false doctrine then we have that message as well. We need to rest assured Jesus will build his church. The message of truth will ring out loud and clear. Let him who has an ear, let him hear. A swarm is coming. 

A Warning

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

A WARNING

Rev 8:13

13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"

NIV

The eagle flies is the actual intent here, it is not an angel that appears as an eagle, but an eagle which some scholars would ascribe to the Romans as that eagle was their main emblem which the held on poles. This would then place all these preceding four trumpets and the next three which are the woes to the past. If this is the case the whole of the Revelation is about the past, then there is no hope of the new city of Jerusalem where we will spend all of eternity with our Lord. How can a portion of this Revelation be about the past and then jump to the future? If it is all past then we have no hope of what is to come for it already came. What John is describing here is a warning to the inhabitants of the earth. This Greek word used here means just that, earth, the whole of the solid portion, the terra firma portion. That means all the solid portion including all the people who live on it. This is not the language we would expect describing the land of Israel or Judah, thus it is for the whole of the earth, all the peoples of the earth will be getting a warning that even greater peril is coming upon them. The time frame of this pending peril from when this eagle screams his woes is not known to us. But what we do know is God once again is giving fair warning to his creation. If they have not repented of their sin, and turned to him after the first four trumpet blasts and the resulting calamities, they are going to experience even more if they do not repent. We are going to see also described in these three woes a directive by God not to harm anyone who has his mark upon them. Again it is supposed by some this would mean the whole of Christianity, or at least those of us who are born again, are still here during these woes. But John has already seen a vast multitude in white robes standing before the throne of God. If that multitude is not us, but only those who have died before all the woes, then we should hope we are dead before all this happens. If there are still believers living upon the earth during all this then no rapture has ever happened. But it is also fair to conclude there are some people who did turn to God during the first four trumpets and their calamities exerted upon mankind. We might also consider all this which John takes a long time and many words to describe could happen all at the same time or within a matter of minutes rather than years. But the point of this eagle is to warn mankind more is coming their way. The door is still open, they have time to repent. When these woes come upon them they will notice those who have turned to God not being harmed and they should get the picture God is their refuge, he is their tower, their salvation. Why wait to see what these three woes will bring you, come to me now, today is the day of salvation. This is his message and it has never changed. He desires we put all our trust in him. We cannot save ourselves from these pending calamities, only he can. We can trust all he said is true and will happen someday. If it begins in our lifetime, praise God, for we know he is our hope, our redeemer, our refuge in our time of trouble. For we are in the household of faith. We will stand in the congregation of the righteous before the throne of God. But there are still others who need to hear that message, that warning of impending danger that is coming upon the earth. Let us be that voice for God. Let us warn others this time is coming.  Although many will, no one should have to experience the three woes coming. 

See the Light

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

SEE THE LIGHT

Rev 8:12

12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

NIV

To make sense of this fourth trumpet we need to forget all the scholars who cannot agree with one another on anything regarding symbolism of what John is describing. Just as before John is telling the reader what he is seeing or reading what is played out on the scroll. Although it is of future events, some scholars would argue is happened already with Rome, and some others rulers. Once again this would take any significance away from the rest of mankind after the fact. So how does this fourth trumpet work for us? What do we get from this? How can this be for future mankind’s benefit? We have seen God strike total darkness over Egypt for three days as one of the plagues to get Pharaoh to let his people go. Total darkness includes all the sun, all the moon and all the stars. But here only one third of them are darkened. We should remember that the effects of the first three trumpets are still happening while this supernatural event begins to take shape. Certainly the astronomers would be in an absolute state of chaos trying to explain to the world what is happening. Although there will be a darkening, it is not total as with the plague on Egypt. Once again God is showing himself, his power, to bring men to repentance. It is one thing for a partial eclipse of the sun, or of the moon, but to have a third of all the universe disappear from sight all at the same time, it can only mean God is at work. We see the love of God attempting to reach out to his creation, to show them they need to look to heaven, to look up to him. Perhaps there will still be those who claim all this is due to some form of man’s pollution and that we are causing all this, that we have destroyed the ozone layer, or something of that nature. It seems some will never come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, but God will not go quietly into the night, leaving them to perish. He loves all of mankind, not just a few of us who have already been saved. We too cannot and should not go quietly into the night. We should be boldly proclaiming the coming of the Lord. Whether this happened or will happen is not of the greatest importance. But God wanting his people to see him is the greatest single purpose for all that happens. This is not a permanent darkness, but only a partial one, so that people can still see the light. We need to point people to that light. Jesus is the light of the world. 

Bitterness

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

BITTERNESS

Rev 8:10-11

10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11 the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

NIV

Once again we find a great disparage in the opinions of the scholars regarding the meaning of this third trumpet as we have with all the trumpet sounds. We have found symbolism abounding from some, while others appear to attempt to explain the historical events which enacted these prophetic words. Neither have any significance to our life today in that sense. But what we can see here is the fact that a great blazing star falling from the sky influenced much of the waters of the earth making them bitter and thus causing many to die. If we cannot see how many people are near death because of their bitterness toward God, we cannot see the truth here. There is a great influence toward being bitter toward God whose name is Satan. Who else was thrown out of Heaven and could have been seen as a blazing star, having been a very great angel filled with pride. We have to be careful not to drink the water of bitterness even if we may be going through a time when it seems God is not doing anything about our troubles or hardship, or perhaps slightly difficult times. It would seem many have become bitter toward God. This would mean it is not the unbeliever who is bitter and near death because of it, but it is those who know there is a God to be bitter towards. Of course all mankind has the knowledge of God within, but many have suppressed that truth by their wicked deeds, or lifestyle. But that does not mean they are bitter toward God, as they refuse to acknowledge there is a God. No, it is those within the household of faith who might be influenced by those bitter waters. Yet it is possible all this has not happened as yet and there will be a time when the water of this earth will not be fit to drink. When and if that is the case it surely is not because of the effects of man’s pollution, but it will be completely due to the authority of God giving this angel the command to sound his trumpet bringing all this upon the earth. But once again our lesson is to remain faithful and true to God, not allowing any bitter feeling to take hold within our being. It is possible for those in the household of faith to experience bitterness toward God because of what would appear a lack of his moving or doing something in their lives. Bitterness is something which cannot be seen because it is in the foundation or within the structure of the being which can be hide behind the façade of faith. We need a clear examination of the structure to insure the influence of bitterness is not there, and we are not near death, which would be a spiritual death. No, there is none there, we have a complete trust in the workings of God in our life. We know all things work for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. We have complete faith in God and are in fact thankful for all he has done, all he is doing, and all he will ever do in and for our life. Whatever God brings into our life we can be sure it is for our benefit, and therefor there is no room to be bitter about anything. These waters of bitterness are not for us to drink. But someone is or will and we need to tell them there is a spring of living water. 

His Power

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

HIS POWER

Rev 8:8-9

8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

NIV

Here is the second of the trumpets being blown and we could imagine seeing a great mountain all ablaze, such as either with all its trees on fire, or perhaps it is a volcano in the midst of an eruption, being cast into the sea. There is some symbolism at work here and some scholars would suppose the mountain represents a great nation at war, including a naval battle which causes many deaths and the blood of men make the waters red with blood. But again this is man’s vision of human actions rather than the power of God at work bringing men to repentance. Of what value is knowing about either the destruction of a past empire such as the Roman Empire, or some future empire? How would that knowledge enhance our relationship with God? How would that knowledge bring more people to repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? But if an actual mountain, volcano such as the size of Mt Saint Helens were lifted from the earth and cast into the ocean it would cause many people to stop in their tracks and take notice. Whichever it is, symbolism or reality it is the power of God at work. All that he does is for the sake of his creation whom he loves dearly. Although his wrath is going to be upon those who refuse him, it is by their own choosing to experience his wrath. Just imagine how much damage to the world’s fishing industry is being done by this second trumpet sound. We do not know the time frame between the first and the second trumpet blasts, nor to the third and so on through all seven. Therefore it may well be one at a time allowing the power of God to sink into the hearts of men. Although some might still say this mountain falling into the sea was just a result of global warming caused by man and now we have killed off many of the fish of the sea, putting a third of the fishing fleet out of business, resulting in economic chaos. We need to see God is at work, demonstrating his power and absolute authority over all creation. Our God, the Almighty God, desires for all mankind to know him, acknowledge his Son, Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. But a day is coming when as with Noah, he will shut the door, and those who are not in the ark of safety, the cross of Christ, will be destroyed. But as far as this moment in time at the sound of the second trumpet, God is still keeping the door open. Who will warn the people? Who will go to tell them of this impending disaster? We keep telling people of the love of God, how he wants to bless them, how he wants to give them eternal life. But have we warned them of the dangers of refusing him? There have been some who have heard this message from our voice, but perhaps not enough have heard that message. Maybe it is time to speak up once again, reminding those who have not believed as yet, they still have time before God closes the door. Who will go? Here we are Lord, send us, before all this destruction. 

What is to come

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

WHAT IS TO COME

Rev 8:6-7

6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. 7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

NIV

We understand these seven may be the seven that were first mentioned as the seven spirits of God and so now that the last seal of the scroll has been broken and all the scroll is available to John to read, he tells us this is what he sees. As the first angel sounded his trumpet we see what we have already seen happen to the people of Egypt when God sent the plagues upon them. Hail and fire came down from heaven when Moses stretched out his arms toward heaven. But here we see a picture of one third of all the earth was burned up, a third of the trees and all the green grass. Some scholars would make those trees to represent the rulers, the rich and powerful of the world and the grass the common people. Some would make all this only relevant to Judah, that in fact the grass and the trees were actually destroyed. No one knows for sure how this will all play out except God. So many have tried their hand at interpreting all the symbols within this revelation making cases many of these events have already happened in the history of Israel or some thinking this is what is to come in the last days of mankind. But the point is all this was written for all of mankind for all of time until God determines the end of this is to happen and all the earth and heavens will be utterly destroyed and a new earth and heaven will be created where we will spend all of eternity with him. One thing we can be sure of is that God will bring judgment upon all those who refuse to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. He did it in the days of Noah and he will do it again, only not with water, but with fire. He hailed down fire on Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wicked ways. He will once again bring hail and fire upon the earth because of mankind’s wicked ways. We will be here to see it? Perhaps we will, that is the body of Christ as a whole, as for some have already fallen asleep stepping into eternity while others of us might also take that step before all that God will bring upon the earth. But there may be believers who are still here, or we all may have already been taken up in the rapture before this judgment is to come.  Yet we can be sure God will bring his wrath upon the earth because of the wickedness that exists. When will mankind understand? How did we get it and others either have not or will not? There is much more to come upon this earth from God through the blowing of the other trumpets yet mankind will not repent. Just as the Pharaoh’s heart harden against God, mankind might well do the same in response to this hail and fire. Many accuse God of wrong doing, claiming him to be a God of wrath rather than a God of love, but they are all wrong. It is a denial of the truth of their wicked ways, blaming God for their troubles rather than taking responsibility for their own actions. We should learn from this for sure. We need to always be aware of our actions and how that when we fail it is we that fail God, he never fails us. As one actor once made jokes about the devil made me do it, we cannot blame the devil either for our failing God. We have to always acknowledge our sin before him, humbling ourselves before our God. It is prideful to think we have no sin, or that we no longer sin, and pride always precedes the fall. If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. All this hail and fire are mixed with blood, which may well be the blood of the Lamb with which we are washed and made clean. God is telling us he has provided a way for our salvation. Remember we who overcome will be given white robes, robes that have been washed pure white as the driven snow. So let us always be mindful that our God reigns both in heaven and earth but more importantly in our hearts. His power and authority is unmatched in all creation for it exists by his very words. We need to make sure his power and authority is unmatched in our hearts as well. All these trumpets is not so much as to what will happen to mankind as it is about all his power and authority over all that is. God has the authority over our lives and so we give him all praise, glory and honor for he loves us enough to die for us, so that we do not have to worry about what is to come.   

Silence

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

SILENCE

Rev 8:1-5

8:1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

NIV

And so the seventh seal has been broken and the scroll is now completely opened. Some scholars would say that all which we read in this revelation does not happen in chronological order, that it goes back and forth, as well as it has scenes in heaven and on earth. Other would say this only concerns the happenings upon Israel because the whole of the scriptures deal with Israel. If both of these are truth then the events as well as the whole of scripture has no meaning for all of Christianity. If Jesus came to die for the whole world, which he did, then the whole of scripture including all that has already been revealed to John and the rest which is to be revealed to him has incredible meaning to us. With the opening of the seventh seal we see there was a great silence in heaven for about half an hour. While this silence was in progress the actions regarding the angels was taking place. Again we could see so much similarity in John’s description of what is happening and the way the Jews practiced worship in both the tabernacle and then the temple. But this is not that, this is something far more significant. But before we get too involved with all the happenings, we should spend some time considering this silence. Even this silence during the ceremony of incense is still practiced by one faith today. But it is not simply a ceremony. This silence should give us a moment to pause. The silence in heaven was about what is about to take place. When something surprising or overwhelming is about to happen we have heard it stand it takes our breath away, or silence. But there is more here about silence or silent prayer, as we see here the prayers of all the saints. So often we think we have to keep talking when we pray, in fact there are times when some would wax on, so to speak, in prayer perhaps to prove their spirituality, or their ability to quote the scriptures in prayer, or for whatever reason. There may be time for that kind of corporate prayer, but when one member of the congregation is praying with many words many of the rest may not be praying with the same thoughts, in fact they may be off somewhere else. It is difficult for us to hear the voice of God when we are engaged with our mouth making so many words.  The prophet Elijah when he was on Mt Horab  was in a cave when fire and an earthquake were happening, but when he heard a gentle breeze he covered his face, for in the gentle breeze he heard the voice of God. This may be the only time in the scripture where we find God speaking in a small gentle voice, but we cannot assume he will be yelling loudly at us with his direction for our lives, so loudly that we will hear him over the sound of our own voice babbling on in prayer. God is not a God of confusion nor is he rude and will not interrupt us during our vocal exhibition of prayer. We need to spend a period of silence if we are to hear from God. We need to just sit, or kneel, or fall prostrate on our faces, or even stand, it really does not matter our position as much as the fact we need to keep quiet, silent, listening instead of talking. Yes he has told us to bring our petitions to him, but what he has to say is so far more important than anything we could ever say. Although we need to deal with these seven angels how they were given the seven trumpets to see if any life lesson could be seen for us, it is better for us to simply stay focused on this moment of silence and learn we too need to spend silent time before the Lord, if we are to hear from him. True we could keep on asking over and over again for our needs, or for the needs of others, but when do we expect to hear from him? Do we think of him as just doing whatever we ask without ever saying a word? True, Jesus said the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. But God is far more than just a giver of whatever as long as we ask in the name of Jesus. But then that is something else altogether. We could ask why we do not have everything we ask the Father for in the name of Jesus. But we digress. We need to see how important it is to hear from him, rather than his hearing from us. Our life is more than just about us, it should be about him. Yes, he does want to hear from us, but he also wants to talk to us, to fellowship with us, to walk in the cool of day, side by side sharing all his wisdom and knowledge with us, guiding our lives, directing our footsteps. It is those times we are silent, even silent in our prayer that we can hear his voice.  We need to know that time of silence. 

White robes

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

WHITE ROBES

Rev 7:13-17

13 Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes — who are they, and where did they come from?" 14 I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. 16 Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

NIV

As John views this scene as it is revealed on the scroll one of the twenty-four elders asks him who all those people in white robes are. But John does not know and so he tells this elder that he knows in a way that says, “Tell me”. So here we are, all the people who came out of the great tribulation. Here we have to stop and consider are we to go through what we call the tribulation, the seven years referred to as the tribulation when in the halfway point Satan reveals himself to the world and offers sacrifice on the rebuilt temple. This is the only time in this version of the scripture this word tribulation appears. The King James Version uses that word several times, but all of them mean the same as it means here, to be under pressure. This Greek word has been used to mean, persecution, affliction, suffering, troubles and hardships in other translations as well as in this one we use here. Could this imply those seven years? If we think about all those words wrapped up in the word tribulation we might also consider that simply living the Christian life here among this pagan world is tribulation enough. We are faced with temptation upon temptation each and every day being under pressure to succumb to such temptations. If we think for one minute that we have no temptations then we deceive ourselves. These white robes are the ones given to him who overcomes, remember we are overcomers because we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, but that does not mean we are perfect in this flesh and that we still have to deal with the troubles of life, the affliction of our flesh, the persecution of our faith, the hardships of life itself. Remember to those of us who have overcome we will be made a pillar in the temple of God, never again to leave it. As far as his tent being spread over us,

Ps 91:1

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  

NIV

David wrote those words as he was inspired by the Spirit of God, and here we have the same scene. We will find rest in the shelter, the tent, of the Most High and we will find rest in the Shadow of this tent of the Almighty. We also have this phrase of never again will we hunger or thirst and the sun will not scorch us. We are reminded of the words of the prophet Jeremiah:

7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. 8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

NIV

Our roots are deeply planted by the spring of living water and we draw all we need for not only life, but eternal life from this spring, Jesus is this spring, he is the word of God, for we are told also by John that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and was God and he became flesh and dwelled among us. Jesus also told us:

John 4:13-14

13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 

NIV

All this truth is wrapped up in the song we will sing before our Almighty God. We will experience all this and we will be there dressed in those white robes. We also should note they are our white robes, which signify purity. This is not the righteousness of Jesus, for Jesus is also there, but we will have a righteousness before God because we have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. We will no longer have to be subject to temptations, to trials, to persecutions, to hardships, nor any other form of tribulations. We will never again shed a tear, for we will be in constant rejoicing for we will be in his presence for ever and ever. Because of all this, we should make sure we live our lives in a manner that is worthy of such a great reward. Always trusting in our God, always rejoicing because we are his children and he is our Father. Always filled with faith, hope and love. The time is coming when we get our white robes.

All

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

ALL

Rev 7:11-12

11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"

NIV

Once again these angels that are standing all around the throne and he who sits upon it, the number of which is uncountable were giving praise to God. But this time they all fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God. Once again seven words, Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. We have already dealt with these words before so we need to see if there is another lesson for us here in this scene that John is viewing on the scroll. We have to remember none of this has happened, but it will someday, it is only what John is viewing of things that are now and are to come. In some sense we do have to think what is it that is now in compared to that which is to come. What would have been happening now as John was in his later years and being banished to an island? What would be happening now that he was in the Spirit and was carried into the presence of heaven? Of course we know that the Lamb was opening the seals on the scroll and John was told to come up and see what was on the scroll. That was happening in the now. What John described are both scenes in heaven and on earth. Maybe the scenes he describes as in heaven are actually happening, but then the multitude in white robes are people from earth, who will we actually find out more about. It appears they are not really there yet, but are that part which is to come. Nevertheless what John tells us here is about the way and to the extreme of how God should be worshipped. If the angels do and say all they do and say, why shouldn’t we? If anyone knows the majesty of God it should be the angels, who are in his presence all the time. Yet we seem not to worship in any similarity to how these angels worship him. Perhaps we should take a lesson from these angels. Sure we may not fall on our faces, especially in church, that would be just too weird. Some think those churches filled with believers that talk in tongues, or dance in the aisle, or even raise their hands are weird. Some believers have become so stoic in their worship it might be said God is not even being worshipped, at least how he is both worthy and accustomed to. Have we joined those ranks of the stoic or have we openly worshipped him with all our heart, all our mind, all our spirit and all our strength? Are we willing to be considered weird for the sake of God? The least we could do would be to raise our hands as we stand in the congregation singing with all we have in worship to him. He has saved us. He has given us eternal life. He has provided our daily bread, which we could see as Jesus, the bread of life. But he has also provided for our material bread. He has healed us. He has done everything for us. In him we have our being. Why should we allow what others think of us when it comes to worshipping our God? Some might say if we are too animated in our worship we give Christianity a bad name, but it is those who have become sedated in their worship who actually give Christianity a bad name. Have we allowed the world to infiltrate our style of worship? We should be flat out living our faith out loud, with full and complete worship of God. We should be giving him all praise, all glory, and all honor, all power, all wisdom, all strength and most of all, all thanks. 

The Multitude

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

THE MULTITUDE

Rev 7:9-10

9 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

NIV

Although some scholars are of the opinion what John is describing for us here is a vision as he says “I looked and there before me…” , but we have no reason to believe those opinions. John is still looking at what was revealed in the scroll after the sixth seal had been opened and the scroll had been rolled out some more. It makes perfect sense because he was told to come and see what is to happen now and what is to come later as he observed the information on the scroll. But either way, whether he is actually having a vision of real events, or seeing these events pictured on the scroll, the fact remains there are going to be millions upon millions,  billions upon billions, zillion upon zillions of people, a number that is uncountable standing before the throne of God all dressed in white robes. This is no doubt our life lesson, as we are going be to among that great multitude. The interesting point here is that if we are of the opinion that just a few of us are going to be saved, that is only those of us who are of the household of faith, or only us who belong to a certain denomination we would be sadly mistaken. Of course John is viewing this number of people from the perspective of one who is coming from a time when only a few in compared to the whole of the world believed in Christ. The gospel had not yet been preached throughout the whole of the world. In this viewing of the things to come, John notices that there were people from every nation, every tribe, people and language. This would tell us that the gospel will be preached in every nation, which by our time it appears it is being done, or will be very shortly. There is going to be far more people saved then we might imagine. It certainly is not going to be the few frozen chosen, so to speak. Those who are so dogmatic about their beliefs being the only truth, and if we do not believe the way they do, we are out and they are in. So many denominations have taken that position for so many years, even starting with the first organized church. Man seems to get in the way of what God actually will do. He will see to it that the full number of people hear the truth and believe in Jesus Christ and an uncountable number of people will be saved, wearing white robes and proclaiming salvation belongs to the our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb. This should also serve to tell us that salvation does belong to God. That is he will save who he will save. It is not up to us who gets saved and who does not. It is not up to us to judge who will be saved and who will not. We cannot determine that any person will be saved. It is not our function. We have been called to share the gospel message in all the world. We have been called to talk to people about Jesus Christ. We have been called to be a voice in the wilderness crying prepare the way for the Lord. Prepare your hearts to accept him. There is going to be many more people that God will bring salvation to then we can imagine. Now having said that, over the centuries since John saw this multitude, we would have to think a multitude have already experienced the salvation of God. But has it been from every nation, every tribe, every people or group, or race, or ethnic group, or every language? With our technology of today it is possible this could be done in no time at all and we could be near the time when we all will be standing in our white robes before the throne of God. What a day that will be when our Jesus we will see, what a day, glorious day that will be. We will not be alone, for we will be with a great multitude of people praising God and the lamb.  

True Israel

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

TRUE ISRAEL

Rev 7:1-8

7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." 4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, 6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, 7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, 8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

NIV

Once again we are faced with understanding this revelation as to it only having meaning for Israel or for the whole of the church, the whole of Christianity. It would appear in these words here it has meaning only for Israel and it could have already applied to them with the destruction of Jerusalem around 70AD. One problem with that is through research we have noted many of the tribes did not exist as tribes in that day. The ancestry had been either lost or forgotten, at least by men, but then not by God so it is possible the number did exist from every tribe, but then why would there only be that many marked, why was it an exact number from each tribe? So we are left with another concept that being this is a representation of the whole of Christianity. First we have to understand that Jesus brought a new covenant which made the old one obsolete, therefore this revelation refers to those of the new covenant. So what is our take away? What do we expect from these four angels and the fifth one who put a mark on the people? It would seem there is a sense of peace throughout the Christian world, that God has directed his angels to hold back the forces that would bring destruction until the full number of those who would accept Jesus, being marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit.

Eph 1:13-14

13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession — to the praise of his glory.

NIV

This makes perfect sense, that we are the ones marked by that angel, for the day of the Lord when everything will be laid waste except we will be taken up. This would also agree with the fact that all of Israel will be saved, which the Apostle states in the letter to the Romans. But the word also states that the true Israel is not those who are circumcised in the flesh but true Israel is those how are circumcised of the heart, so this is about we who have been circumcised of the heart.

Rom 2:28-29

28 A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart , by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.

NIV

This means we have exposed the tenderest portion, the most sensitive area of our heart to Jesus. We are the ones who have been marked. A day is coming when those four angels will be given orders to let go of the winds, and destruction will follow for those who have the mark of the beast, which we will see later, but not to those of us who have been marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit. We will be taken, we will escape this great calamity which will be unleashed upon the world, upon mankind who has refused to acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. But there is still time, the winds are being held back and it is incumbent on us to keep speaking, to keep spreading the good news, in hopes there will be others who can be sealed with the mark of the Holy Spirit, others who will become true Israel.  

Who can stand

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

WHO CAN STAND

Rev 6:15-17

15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"

NIV

Here we see how mankind reacts to that terrible earthquake, the darkening of the sun and the moon turned to blood red along with the mountains and islands being moved. All the great leaders of the world who rule with political power or military might, or from great wealth owning or employing many people including all those who are under the influence of these pagan dictators of sorts make an effort to hide from this great day of wrath.  Some scholars suppose this to have already happened to Israel by the Romans, but then they do not see this as the Great Day of the Lord. Yet how could all which happened to the universe already taken place? No, we would have to think that what John saw was the whole of the pagan world, those who live by their own god rather than thee God almighty, the creator of heaven and earth, fleeing in an attempt to save themselves. This simply shows us that man cannot save himself from the great day of wrath, no one can stand. It is another picture which we have already seen in the events surrounding Noah. Mankind thinking themselves so powerful, so filled with their own wisdom, had hearts that were bent toward evil all the time. Yet God make a provision for them, he had Noah build an ark and take over one hundred years to do so, all the time announcing to the people God’s intent. It would make sense that if the people repented and turned and listened to Noah, turning from their own ways back to the ways of God, the day of the great flood would not have happened. Here John sees these same type of people, with hearts bent toward evil all the time making their attempt to save themselves. We have to know that if a person’s heart is not bent toward God all the time then they are bent toward evil. Many might be good people in the eyes of people, but in the eyes of God, who does not look on the outside as man does, but see the intent of the heart, sees their true heart. We would be wise to examine our own heart, as David did, asking God to seek our heart to see if there is any iniquity within. We need to be worshipping our Lord with all our heart, all our mind, all our spirit and all our strength or body, which is presenting our body, our life as a living sacrifice to God, which is our spiritual act of worship. As Noah was safe in the ark, while God destroyed all of mankind who had turned their back to him, we will be safe in Christ, God’s provision for those who accept him as their God, their creator, their salvation. The day is coming and it will be terrible for those who refuse to accept Jesus. Yet because he loves his creation he did provide for their salvation, but how will they know? Who will tell them? We know God declares that all mankind has the knowledge of him in their hearts, for he put it there, but they suppressed that knowledge with their evil deeds. We also know that all mankind can know God by his creation, so that no man is without excuse. We know the Spirit is always convicting men of their need of repentance and acceptance of Christ. But we also know that Jesus has commanded us to go into all the world and preach the good news. Although God is able to speak into the hearts of man, he also requires us to be one of his voices, one of his methods of speaking into the hearts of men. Who will go? Who will tell them a day of wrath is coming? It has to be us.  

This is the day the Lord has made

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE

Rev 6:12-14

12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

NIV

And so it begins. Although we have had earthquakes all over the earth, some of fairly high magnitude with much destruction of property and some even of life, none of those in the past will come close to comparing with this great earthquake that is to come. Instead of just a portion of the earth feeling the effects of the quake, the world earth will tremble in a quake of a magnitude no man has ever felt. This is not a natural earthquake that happens because a fault in the earth's crust is moving. This is a supernatural earthquake caused by the hand of God.  We also have experienced what we call an eclipse of the sun when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, but there is not total darkness, there still remains an aura of light coming from behind the moon. This is the blackening of the sun as if from a sackcloth made of goat hair. This is complete darkness, total darkness as if the sun did not even exist. This will allow us to see the heavens as we may not have ever seen them before and we will see the reason. At the same time the moon will be turned to blood red. Now we have had some people, even believers concerned about what is called a blood moon and that we are going to have four of them in a short time. This again is nothing but a natural event of our solar system, and if we are all honest the red glow of the moon is certainly not the color of blood, it is just a faded shade, reddish in color. When God turns the moon blood red, it will be the dark red of blood that flows out of a cut in our skin. This again is a supernatural event, as well as the sun is darkened so we can see all the stars in the blackened sky falling toward earth. The entire universe will be shaken, not just the earth. This earthquake will remove every mountain from it place, every island will disappear, and they will be swallowed up by the oceans. Mankind will no doubt know that God is at work in this. This only proves to us that God is God and man is just man, a creation by the hand of God and we live at his pleasure. We can do nothing about what is to come. We cannot save the earth, no matter how much we try. We cannot save the environment for God has established it and he is God and we are but men. It is when men think they can save this planet from the effects of man, they must be either thinking they are God, or they simple what to control the rest of the people for their own agendas. God is God and we are but men created by him. A day is coming when every knee shall bow and understand he is God. All these signs will come. Whether we believers are here to see them, or we have already been taken up, it matters not because we know God has us in the palm of his hand. He will provide for us. Sometimes we see that providing for us in our material lives, but ultimately his provision was Jesus on the cross, providing us with eternal life. This supernatural day could happen at any moment, our being here to see it, or our being taken up to heaven first and watching it from there. So no matter what happens we can be sure this is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. 

Be Ready

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

BE READY

Rev 6:9-11

9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.

NIV

We have run out of the four living creatures to invite John to come and see what has been revealed as the lamb opens the fifth seal and more of the scroll is revealed, yet John is there to view what now can been seen. He saw an altar with souls under it. These are the people who have been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. The Greek word translated slain, carries a far more brutal meaning than our word slain implies. This word means to butcher an animal for sacrifice. If this writing on the scroll is of things that are now and that which is to come and we have had somewhere around two thousand years or so from the time John was able to see this portion of the scroll it is possible that some of those souls are already there, under the altar. But it is also possible that some more will join them. Many people have indeed been martyred for their faith. Many of the Apostles were butchered for their faith in Jesus and the testimony they maintained. We are seeing Christians being slain even today in other parts of the world and even some here in American. The number of those killed for the sake of the gospel may not yet be complete. We should know those who have been slain are not actually crying out for vengeance, but some people have used the term blood cries for blood, in the sense that justice might be served that every murderer, every persecutor of such a crime will be punished. We have to believe those souls who are under this altar are not sad, or are crying for justice, for they are with God and must be in a state of perfect contentment and joy. Yet there is more to join them. We should be ready for such a fate if that is what is to come. Many people who join the armed forces know they may have to give their lives for their country. They know it could happen even when they are not deployed in some battle zone. We have had extremists murder our soldiers who were at home. We also have all the people who serve as police who know they might be killed in the line of duty and still all these people willing do their jobs. This is the attitude we Christians need to have. We will live out our testimony of the gospel, speaking out, living out loud, and knowing that we might be killed for our faith someday.  A day could come when we will be actually murdered, slain, butchered because we confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior. But there also is another form of being slain that may not include actual murder. This is the simple persecution by those who oppose God and his standards. We could lose our jobs, or be passed over for promotions or one of many other forms of hatred toward us, if we continue to be the voice for God to those who need to hear the truth. But it is most likely what John saw was actually murdered members of the Body of Christ. We need to be prepared if we are the part that completes the number. This is not just dying because we are believers, but this is brutal butchering, as we have witnessed these Islamic terrorists groups like ISIS do to Christians. We need to be ready to maintain our testimony if we are meant to be a part of that number. That is not to say we will be, but if we are, we need to be ready. 

Pale

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

PALE

Rev 6:7-8

7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

NIV

Having visited many a viewing or wake and stood before the casket it is obvious the rider on the pale horse is death. The grave accepts those who are pale due to death. This pale is the exact opposite of being flush with life, the blood coursing through our veins. So as the Lamb opened the forth seal and the fourth living beast called John to come and see what was now available to view, he saw this rider called death upon the pale horse. Hades is in fact the grave who accepts all the rider causes to experience this death. But we should also remember that Hades is thrown into the lake of burning sulfur which we will see much later in this revelation that was given to John and thus to us. So this fourth of the earth which the rider death was given power over will be among those who will experience the second death as well. This would certainly imply those are the people who have refused to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. This may mean this is not a geographic fourth of the world, but rather a fourth of the world population. Could it be simply by chance or a coincidence that the Muslin population is now at twenty-three percent of the world’s population and is growing and will soon be one fourth of the world’s population? Of course we cannot judge that nor should we, but it is certainly interesting as they certainly refuse to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. But this could also be on a more personal level for each person in the world, which includes the many in America who do not believe. When the pale rider comes to those people they will be at once pale in death and not enter into the presence of the Lord, but rather into the grave of Hades, the place of departed souls. This should serve us well to be thankful the Holy Spirit was able to convict us of our sin and that we repented and accepted Jesus into our lives. For we know without a shadow of doubt that when we are finished with this body, and we lay it down, we leave to enter into the presence of God. We are told to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. There is one other truth here that has not yet been dealt with. This fourth of the population will die because of either war, famine or a plague such as the Egyptians experienced. But the other thing about wild beasts, should bring us another reason to pause. Some would say that mankind is destroying the environment of the wild animals pushing them to survive on reserves set aside for them. Some would say we are making certain species become extinct, that mankind is at fault. Yet here we see that many of mankind will fall prey to the wild breasts who are used by the rider on the pale horse with Hades following after to take those departed souls. We also need to know that all this power was given to him by God. He has everything under control and we who love him have nothing to fear from him whatsoever. We will never be pale.   

Provided for

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

PROVIDED FOR

Rev 6:5-6

5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"

NIV

So the third seal is now opened and more of the scroll is available to either read or view. As before one of the living creatures invites John to come and see what is now exposed. This time he sees a black horse with a rider holding a pair of scales. The rest of what was said about this rider is somewhat in the form of a proclamation. We have no idea who made this proclamation as we are simply told it was a voice from among the four living creatures. It might have been the voice of Jesus or of God the Father, but in either case what was said has importance to our lives. First as in other cases within the scriptures the color black denotes distress in some form, or famine or even calamity. Combined with the references to different foods we are to garner the idea of a time when the necessities of life will be rationed out. Of course we have seen famines in different parts of the world in various times in history and even in our day, but this rider on the black horse will bring this to the world in a widespread distressful period. It seems difficult to imagine that here in American with our fruited plains. We seem to have a virtual horn of plenty. Yet a day is coming when even this land will experience the effects of the rider on the black horse. In recent years there has been a greater number of ads for survival foods. Food that is freeze dried and has a long shelf life. We also know that the Mormon’s believe in storing up certain foods. Perhaps all this is due in some sense to people believing a time of great distress is coming. But this should not be of any concern for us. Jesus has repeatedly told us not to be concerned about tomorrow, not to store up treasures here on earth where rust and rot will destroy. He has always told us that he would provide for our daily needs. What we should always remember is the character of God. He desires that all men should come to repentance and accept his Son Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. All that happens upon the earth, any form of distress, famine, and calamity would be intended to bring people to repentance and accepting Christ. This famine or distress is not of natural causes, it is not because we have harmed the earth, or the environment. This distress is sent forth by God, with the rider on the black horse. This is a supernatural event the whole world will witness. But we have nothing to fear from God. He will always provide for us. We also should remember that although we are seeing things within the scroll revealed in somewhat of a linier fashion that does not necessarily mean they happen in that particular sequence. At some point we are told we will be changed in a twinkling of an eye and we will be raised or raptured up out of this earth into the presence of God. Whether that happens before all the distress or not is really of no matter because God will still sustain us. We can remember the time when the Israelites were in great distress in Egypt and God sent all the plagues onto the Egyptians, including pestilence and famine. He also ended it all by sending the death angel to kill all the first born. But he provide for his people. They applied the blood of the lamb to their doorposts and the death angel passed over them, Hence they celebrate the Passover to this day. But we also have applied the blood of the Lamb, but not to the doorposts of our home, but rather to the doorpost of our hearts. We will not experience the effects of this rider on the black horse. God has provided for us. 

Given the power

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

GIVEN THE POWER

Rev 6:3-4

3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.

NIV

 Once again we need to remember that John was instructed to write down what was now and what was to come later. Some Scholars would attempt to ascribe these descriptions to actual events in the past history of Israel, but they may not be as filled with the wisdom they so opening confess they have. These writings on the scroll are of events that are to come. Israel was already without peace, had been for centuries over and over again being captured by so many others and had been presently occupied by the Roman Empire. Here we see the second seal being broken and the second living creature saying to John, Come up here and look into the scroll and see what is now visual to read or see now that the second scroll has been broken. So John sees the red horse a fiery red horse, and its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. Can this be a picture of anyone else then Satan? Of course we have the riders on the black and pale horse yet, that also could be seen as Satan as well, but then maybe all three of them are him. From the very beginning when God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the most peaceful environment possible, the Garden he created for them and they had the pleasure of walking with him in the cool of the day, Satan disturbed that peace. Even before that when he was Lucifer, a great angel living in the peace of heaven, he disrupted that peace and stirred up division among the angels. Jesus brought peace to the earth, the angels proclaimed that to the shepherds, telling them “Peace on earth toward all men”. If mankind would live in that peace Jesus brings, there would be no conflicts, no wars, no killing of one another. But we know that is not the case for the rider on the red horse is roaring around, like a lion seeking whom he might devour. Yet on a more personal note, a life lesson we have to take to heart is that when we invite Jesus into our heart we experience his peace. The rider on the red horse has the power to take our peace. That sounds a little odd, that he would have the power to take the peace of Christ from us. But that is a fact in the sense that he will do everything in his power to disturb our peace, to cause us to doubt Jesus, to tempt us to, in some sense, kill others for our personal gain. We can see in our world today nations, world leaders who are certainly under the power of the rider on the fiery red horse. They are actually killing one another and there is no such thing as peace. Mankind seems rather to have this kind of life, than experience the peace of Christ. We cannot afford to allow Satan to have that kind of power over us, to steal our joy, our peace. If we stay close to Christ, keeping our heart pure, allowing the Spirit to direct us, Satan cannot disrupt our peace, no matter how much power he has been given. This is another lesson we should also know very well. Any power that Satan has, was given to him by God. Satan is not equal in power to God. It is not good and evil two equal diametrically opposed forces. What John saw was the rider on the fiery red horse who was given the power to take peace, given by God. This rider has no power of his own. He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world.