Archive for month: June, 2020

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 14:1-13.  Let’s go!

Revelation 14:1-5 (NIV) 
1  Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 
2  And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 
3  And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 
4  These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 
5  No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
 
On verses 1-5:  After his vision in chapter 13 of earth being controlled by Satan the red dragon, the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth, John’s vision switches to heaven where John once again sees the 144,000 whom he saw earlier in Revelation 7.  These 144,000 are quite possibly Jewish Christians who came from the 12 tribes of Israel.  Here in these verses we learn more about these 144,000 and the role that they play in heaven:

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 13:1-18.  Let’s go!

Revelation 13:1-2 (NIV) 
1  And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.
2  The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.

On verses 1-2:  Picture this: While the red dragon representing Satan stands on the sea shore, a beast rises out of the sea.  Like the dragon, this beast from the sea has 7 heads and 10 horns (compare Revelation 12:3 with 13:1).   Resembling a leopard but also having feet like a bear and a mouth like a lion, this beast is not for God but against God.  Each of the beast’s 7 heads displays a blasphemous name, making a false statement about God (v1b).  The dragon and the beast are clearly affiliated as the dragon gives the beast his power, his throne and great authority.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 10:1-7.  Let’s go!

Revelation 10:1-4 (NIV) 
1  Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars.
2  He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,
3  and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke.
4  And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”

On verses 1-4:  Revelation is full of strange and awesome creatures: living creatures, fallen angels, the scariest locusts ever conceived, crazy “horses”, the list goes on.  Sometimes I think that if Pokemon could be transported into the world of Revelation, Pikachu, Charmander and all their Pokemon friends would look at some of the creatures in Revelation and think, “They’re so weird.” 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 9:1-21.  Let’s go!

On verses 1-11:  If there was any passage in the Bible that resembled a science fiction movie, it’s these 11 verses.  What is going on here? The fifth angel sounds his trumpet, which then triggers “a star that had fallen from the sky” to appear. Apparently this star is not an actual star from space, but a fallen angel who is referred to as “he” in verse 2.  This fallen star (or fallen angel) is given the key to “the Abyss”.  While “the Abyss” sounds like some kind of space craft, it is not clear what the Abyss is.  We do know that when the fallen angel opens the Abyss, enough smoke comes out of the Abyss to darken the sun and sky.  After that, the most powerful and scariest looking locusts come out of the Abyss.

Unlike the locusts that God sent in the book of Exodus who ate of all of Egypt’s vegetation, the sole purpose of these much scarier locusts was “not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree” (v4), but to hunt down those who have not been marked by God with a seal and torturing them for five months.

The leader of these locusts is “the angel of the Abyss” (v11).  It is very probable that “the angel of the Abyss” in verse 11 and the fallen star in verse 1 are the same person.  His name (Abaddon in Hebrew or Apollyon in Greek) means “Destroyer”.  Thus many commentators believe that this angel of the Abyss, this fallen star, is none other than Satan himself.