Author Archive for: meiling

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.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 8:1-13.  Let’s go!

On verses 1-13:  When the Lamb opens the seventh seal, there is about a half hour of silence.  Then heaven launches a series of attack against the earth.  First an angel takes a gold censer and fills it with fire from an altar where incense (representing the prayers of God’s people) is burning.  That angel hurls the gold censer onto the earth.  Not only does this cause peals of thunder, rumblings, lightning and an earthquake to occur, but this also seems to trigger the next series of attacks, where one by one seven angels each with a trumpet in hand blow their trumpet to call forth a specific attack from heaven on the earth.  Chapter 7 describes what happens when the first four angels with trumpets blow their horns.

After the first trumpet sounds, hail and fire mixed with blood are hurled onto the earth, burning up a third of the earth as well as a third of all trees and green grass (v7).

After the second trumpet sounds, a huge mountain is thrown into the sea, causing a third of the sea to turn into blood, a third of marine wildlife to die and a third of the ships to be destroyed (v8-9).

After the third trumpet sounds, a great blazing star called Wormwood is hurled onto a third of the rivers, causing a third of the waters to turn bitter, killing many people who drank from it (v10-11).

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 7:1-17.  Let’s go!

Revelation 7:1 (NIV) 
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.

On verse 1:  After the sixth seal is broken, John sees four angels holding back “the four winds of the earth” (v1), effectively stopping any wind from blowing on the earth.  According to some scientists, if there was no more wind on the earth, much of the earth would become uninhabitable, temperatures on the earth would become either extremely hot or extremely cold, mass migration would lead to coastal regions being heavily populated, marine life would die, widespread famine would occur and many people would not be able to survive.

Similarly, we need the wind of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Without the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus likens to a wind (see John 3:8), our spiritual lives would dry out.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 6:1-17. Let’s go!

Revelation 6:1-2 (NIV)
1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!”
2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

On verses 1-2: Jesus, referred to here as the Lamb, opens the first of the seven seals, which causes a rider on a white horse holding a bow to appear. While Jesus Himself will later appear on a white horse (Revelation 19:11), according to many scholars, this particular rider on this particular white horse is not Jesus but the anti-Christ, a powerful figure bent on conquering everything he sees.

What can we learn from this? In the end times, an anti-Christ, also known as “the man of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4), will appear and deceive many into following him. We will discuss the anti-Christ in more detail as we go further along in Revelation.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 5:1-14.  Let’s go!

Revelation 5:1-4 (NIV) 
1  Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 
2  And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 
3  But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 
4  I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 

On verses 1-4:  John’s vision of heaven continues as he sees in the right hand of God a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals (v1).  At first no one is found worthy to open the scroll or even look inside it (v2-3).  This causes John to weep and weep (v4). 

Why would John weep so much because no one could open the scroll?  Part of the reason I believe is because the scroll represents God’s will.