Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 20:1-15.  There are so many powerful truths about Jesus that we can learn from this passage.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Revelation 20:1-3 (NIV) 
1  And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.
2  He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 
3  He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. 

On verses 1-3:  Previously in Revelation 9 we read of “the angel of the Abyss” (9:11) who was also called a “fallen star” and given the key to the Abyss (9:1).  Many commentators believe this angel is Satan himself.  Here in Revelation 20:1 John sees another angel coming down out of heaven possessing the key to the Abyss and holding a great chain.  This angel seizes the red dragon Satan, throws him into the Abyss, locks and seals the Abyss, so that Satan cannot deceive the nations for 1,000 years.  After the 1,000 years are over, verse 3 says that Satan “must be set free for a short time”.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 19:1-10.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Revelation 19:1-4 (NIV) 
1  After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 
2  for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” 
3  And again they shouted: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.” 
4  The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: “Amen, Hallelujah!”

On verses 1-4:  Earlier in Revelation 17-18 we read of Babylon, a prostitute who according to many commentators symbolizes the spirit of false religion.  The spirit of false religion is all about people thinking they can reach God on their own effort.  In Revelation 17, Babylon’s fall is predicted.  In Revelation 18, we read of how the kings and merchants who dealt with Babylon will mourn after her death.  Now in Revelation 19 we hear heaven’s response to Babylon’s fall.  John hears the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting praises to God because He has judged Babylon and avenged the blood of His servants whom Babylon was responsible for killing (v1-3).  The 24 elders and 4 living creatures in heaven join in this great worship.  They cry, “Amen” (a word spoken to affirm the trustworthiness of what has just been said) and “Hallelujah!” (which means “Praise the Lord”) (v4).
 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 17:1-21.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Revelation 17:1-2 (NIV) 
1  One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. 
2  With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.” 

On verses 1-2:  The key to properly interpreting the book of Revelation is correctly identifying the characters that appear in the book.  Who is “the great prostitute, who sits on many waters” (v1), who committed adultery with the kings of the earth and intoxicated earth’s inhabitants with her adulteries (v2)?  Many commentators believe that this great prostitute represents false religion.  What false religion are we talking about?  In this sharing, I will use the term “false religion” to mean every system of belief in the world that preaches that man by his own effort can reach God or become his own God.  The great prostitute of false religion has affected people all over the world for millennia.  It gives people a false hope and a false comfort that can be fairly described as “adultery” (v2a), for it involves running from the mercy and grace that God, our true lover, offers to us and running into the arms of a false religious system that is all about one’s own effort and exalting oneself.  The comfort of this false religion is like the false comfort of being “intoxicated” (v2b) in that the comfort is fleeting and does not last. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 14:14-15:8.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Revelation 14:14-20 (NIV) 
14  I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one “like a son of man” with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.
15  Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 
16  So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. 

On verses 14-20:  Who is the one “like a son of man” sitting on a white cloud with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand?  This is most likely a picture of Jesus.  The prophet Daniel, writing about a vision he had about the Messiah to come, says, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Daniel 7:13)  Jesus often referred to himself as the Son of Man.   Here John sees Jesus crowned with a victor’s gold crown (called a stephanus), often worn by athletes after winning a competition.