Tag Archives: Apocalypse

Chapter-a-Day

My Desire

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“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
Matthew 24:12-13 (NIV)

One of the spiritual lessons that I’ve learned along my earthly journey is to be aware of synergies between different things in my life and meditations. I begin each weekday reading a chapter and sharing my thoughts in this post/podcast, but my trek through the Great Story does not end here. I listen to and read other sources of study and meditation. I study as part of preparation for messages I’ve been tasked to give. Usually it’s like striking down a separate path of thought. Sometimes, those roads converge, and it’s then that I have learned to pay heed.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts/podcasts that I’ve been listening to a series of podcasts by the Bible Project on the metaphor of mountains throughout the Great Story. One of the most impactful for me was an episode about the prophet Elijah. Elijah had a great spiritual victory on Mount Carmel, but despite the miraculous and big-screen worthy triumph he inexplicably sank into suicidal depression. He flees to Mount Sinai where he gives up, hands in his resignation, and God accepts it.

Elijah did not finish well.

Nevertheless, the prophet Malachi prophesied that Elijah would return. Jesus stated clearly that John the Baptist was that Elijah. Just this past Sunday I gave a message in which John sends his disciples to Jesus to ask if He is really the Messiah or if he should expect someone else. John was languishing in Herod’s prison. It was not what he expected, and it prompted a crisis of faith. Jesus cryptically tells John to expect no such miraculous deliverance, then adds: “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

John did not finish well.

Just last week I celebrated my 59th birthday. That mean’s I’ve entered my 60th lap around the sun. And, that has me thinking about what’s out there on the horizon.

In today’s chapter, Jesus has left the Temple and His showdown with the power brokers of that earthly religious kingdom. He and His disciples camp out on the Mount of Olives just outside of Jerusalem (More synergy. There’s that theme of mountains cropping up!). Jesus is talking about the end times. As I read all the prophetic words that create so many questions, I decided to focus in on what can’t be questioned. I paid heed to the things Jesus demanded of His disciples in light of the events He prophesied. I found three (and there’s that number three again).

Don’t be alarmed. (vs. 6)
Don’t let your love grow cold; Stand firm to the end. (vss. 12-13)
Keep watch. Be ready. (vs. 42, 44)

In the quiet this morning, I find myself simply feeling the desire to spiritually end this earthly journey well and meditating on that desire. I don’t know the number of my days. I could have 31 years (or 14,976 days) left on this earthly journey and make it to 100. Nevertheless, there are certainly fewer days ahead than there are behind (today is day 21,558). The world I observe around me is not the same place I remember from my youth. I can already see how easy to fall into cynicism, criticism, negativity, and despair. I witness it in others. But, I have yet to see what Jesus described as “distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.” And, the fruit of the Spirit includes the attributes of joy, peace, patience, and faithfulness.

So I enter this another day of the journey determined to practicing the things I need to do to keep cultivating and bearing the fruit of God’s Spirit to the end. Not being alarmed, not letting my live grow cold, and being ready for the end. The end of my days, or the end of the age, whichever comes first.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!

Chapter-a-Day

The Tension

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“Pray that this will not take place in winter, because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again.“
Mark 13:18-19 (NIV)

There is a great tension lying at the heart of our culture today. I’ve been observing it for the last several years. I also observe that most people are completely unaware of it.

One end of the spectrum there is a great pessimism. Anxiety and mental distress is off the charts. The pandemic and its aftermath resulted in global uncertainty, cultural divide, and political unrest that we’re still feeling today. And then there’s the fact that both sides of the cultural and political divide have unprecedented ability to stoke fear, hatred, and misinformation through social media. Fear is the great human motivator, and media outlets use it to keep people addictively reading, watching, and clicking because it’s what makes them money.

World War III, genocide, terrorism, riots, political corruption, assassinations, school shootings, health care crisis, and climate change aren’t just daily headlines, they stream at us every moment of every day through our phones, tablets, computers, and televisions.

On the other side of the spectrum there is great optimism. Hans Rosling, his book Factfulness, and his team at gapminder.org have been beating their drums to a very different tune for some time, along with intellectuals like Harvard’s Steven Pinker. They prove that if you look at the actual facts, human beings on planet earth have never had it so good. Extreme poverty is at the lowest levels ever across the globe. Wars and conflicts are killing fewer people than ever in human history. Humans are living longer, have more access to health care, more access to education, and the status of women has never been higher than in all of human history.

Interestingly, Rosling has a thirteen question multiple choice test that he administered to people around the world including gatherings like the United Nations and the worlds most prestigious universities testing people’s knowledge regarding facts about things like global poverty, population, education, and health. The results regularly revealed that he’d have gotten better test scores from a room full of monkeys randomly selecting answers.

So, which is it? Are things worse than ever, or better than ever?

Today’s chapter brought this great tension to mind, as Jesus tells His followers that the end of the Great Story is not going to be a pleasant experience. Wars, famines, earthquakes, and cataclysmic events are in store before the climactic end and new beginning.

As I have meditated on these things over the years, I have come to a couple of important personal conclusions.

First, I observe that most human beings operate in binary ways of thinking. It’s an either-or world: Red or Blue, black or white, left or right, salvation or condemnation, optimism or pessimism. But, the truth is often both-and.

For example, scholars for centuries have argued about Jesus words in today’s chapter. Was He talking about the events of the first century, or end times yet to come far in the future? I’ve heard scholars argue both, but my study of the prophetic gives me plenty of examples of it being both-and. Metaphors are layered with meaning. Jesus may have been speaking at once about the cataclysmic events in Jerusalem 70 A.D. and events thousands of years in the future. Even Jesus said in today’s chapter, “No one knows. Not even me. Only the Father”.

This also leads me to believe that the great optimism and pessimism tension is just another both-and scenario. In fact, from a spiritual perspective this makes more sense to me than anything else. If I really believe what I say I believe, then there is an Evil One and forces of evil that are dead set against God and everything God is about. It would make perfect sense that evil would twist and contort truth (e.g. things are better than any time in human history) into lies (e.g. things have never been worse) in order to stoke fear, anxiety, despair, hatred, anger, conflict, violence, and upheaval.

And this brings me to two other conclusions.

Jesus words do speak of things spiraling out of control in the end, and He clearly says to “watch” for it, and expect it. So, I am not that surprised by the steady stream of fear-inducing, anxiety-producing pessimism that I’m confronted with every day across the entire spectrum of media. I believe that things will eventually spiral out-of-control, even if there’s every reason for it not to do so. It’s been a recurring theme throughout the entire Great Story.

Finally, me responding with fear and anxiety is the exact opposite of what Jesus expects of me and His followers. Jesus’ foundational teaching from the beginning was to seek first God’s Kingdom, stop worrying about the things of this earth, and store up eternal treasures for a coming reality. This is a basic faith issue. If I really believe what I say I believe, then yes, things will ultimately go to hell in a hand basket on this earth, and I don’t have to be afraid or “worry ’bout a thing, ‘cause every little thing is gonna be alright.”

And so, I endeavor on this day, and each day, to follow Jesus command to his followers at the end of today’s chapter: “Watch!”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

The Whole Crowd

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The Whole Crowd (CaD Ezk 7) – Wayfarer

“‘They have blown the trumpet,
    they have made all things ready,
but no one will go into battle,
    for my wrath is on the whole crowd.”
Ezekiel 7:14 (NIV)

It was about 25 years ago that I first heard of the “2G” principle of investing. I was speaking with one of the executives of a client of ours. This individual was not only in a high-paying position but also came from a very wealthy family and had an apocalyptic view of where current events were taking us. It was around the time of Y2K when many believed that all of the world’s computers would stop working when the date changed from 1999 to 2000. There was a lot of fear being stirred up, and my client told me they had switched their investing to the “2G” principle: Gold and Guns. Gold because when you don’t have an electronic record of the money in your accounts, then the only tangible currency is precious metals. Guns because when society breaks down like Lord of the Flies those with guns will be more likely able to protect themselves and their loved ones and survive.

Over the years, I’ve known others who have adopted the 2G investment strategy. As a natural pessimist, I certainly get the logic and the appeal of preparing for a doomsday scenario. If I had a lot of money to invest I might be more tempted to join them, but I don’t so I’m hoping that doomsday’s imminent threat will fizzle out like Y2K.

For the people of Ezekiel’s day, the prophecies of imminent doom were more tangible. The region was at a crossroads, smack dab in the middle of multiple empires, both established and emerging. The Assyrians and already decimated the area and the Babylonians were currently holding sway. Ezekiel was preaching to his people living in exile, so they’d already experienced their own version of doomsday. Ezekiel’s messages proclaimed that there was more, and worse, to come for his people.

Throughout history, those who are rich have a greater chance of riding out doomsday scenarios like war and famine. The 2G investment principle is predicated on it. What’s fascinating about God’s message through Ezekiel in today’s chapter is both his audience and his message. When the Babylonians took Zeke and others into exile, they took the best and the brightest, the rich and the powerful. It was a shrewd strategy. King Nebuchadnezzar knew that rebellion in vassal states required intelligence, power, and money. By bringing the educated, powerful, and wealthy back to Babylon, he reduced the chance that those left in Jerusalem would rebel while giving him and his people access to some of the greatest minds among his enemies from which he and his people would benefit.

One of the overarching themes in Zeke’s message was that God’s judgment was going to fall on “the whole crowd.” Rich and poor, educated and uneducated, white collar and blue collar, urbanites and farmers, there wasn’t a demographic who was going to escape the doomsday that was coming. For the 2G-type investors of their day, Ezekiel writes:

“‘They will throw their silver into the streets,
    and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean.
Their silver and gold
    will not be able to deliver them
    in the day of the Lord’s wrath.
It will not satisfy their hunger
    or fill their stomachs,
    for it has caused them to stumble into sin.”

In a few minutes, I will sit down with Wendy to have our coffee and peruse the headlines over breakfast. There’s a lot of talk about World War III and various doomsday scenarios. Both sides of the political aisle like to whip up a frenzy of fear about doomsday scenarios should their opponents win in November. It’s the same every four years.

As I meditate on these things this morning, I am also mindful of the reality that history is marked by dark periods. We are certainly not immune from bad things happening and having to live through periods of intense difficulty. As a disciple of Jesus, however, I find that His teaching was consistently about faith, contentment, and trust. He repeatedly tells me not to worry, not to be anxious, and not to be afraid. The doomsday that Ezekiel proclaimed happened just as predicted. Jerusalem was besieged and people starved before the entire city was destroyed and burned along with Solomon’s temple. But I also know the end of the story. God’s promises to the exiles were also fulfilled. They returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple.

In the same way, I know the end of the Great Story. After a period of intense doom, there is a new beginning of Light, and Love, and Life. The further I get in my spiritual journey, the more I’ve come to realize that being a disciple of Jesus is about letting go of my fear, anxiety, and worry about the former while embracing my whole-hearted faith in the latter.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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AP Prophetic Lit

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AP Prophetic Lit (CaD Dan 11) – Wayfarer

“His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.”
Daniel 11:31-32 (NIV)

Throughout my school years, I had various teachers and counselors encourage me to take Advanced Placement (AP) courses. In many cases, like English and History, I was ready for the challenge and it worked out really well in accelerating my studies in those subjects. In other cases, namely math, I wasn’t ready to make the jump that my teacher insisted I take. I never really recovered. Eventually, I ended up abandoning math as a course of study. I have always regretted this.

In a similar way, I know many who at some point in life, perhaps multiple times, dive in and commit themselves to read the Bible. Since most books contain a linear storyline, it’s common to start at the beginning. But the Great Story, while it does have a storyline, is arranged thematically. Some parts read fairly easily for modern beginners, even if the ancient stories contain head-scratching content. At some point, however, most casual readers give up and abandon it like I abandoned the subject of math. I consider this regrettable.

The truth is that some sections of the Great Story are difficult even for learned readers. Among the most difficult are prophetic, or apocalyptic, passages like today’s chapter. Daniel’s complex and detailed vision is actually quite fascinating, but without a little background knowledge of both history and apocalyptic theories, it could easily seem like a hodgepodge of gobbledygook.

What’s fascinating is that most of today’s chapter is a very accurate prophecy regarding the fate of the land of Israel in the centuries following Daniel. The prophetic vision is like a playbill identifying all of the key players in the historic dramas of the Persian and Greek Empires. It leads to one of the most infamous periods of their history, a period most modern followers of Jesus know little-to-nothing about because it happens between the Old and New Testaments.

A few chapters ago I briefly mentioned the heinous ruler arose to power in the land of Judea before the ascendence of the Roman Empire known to history as Antiochus Epiphanes. He sought to eradicate Judaism in Judea. To that end, he famously shut down Jewish worship at the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and then audaciously sacrificed a hog on the altar in a pagan ritual to Zeus. Hogs were considered unclean by the Law of Moses, and his act was seen as a blasphemous abomination prophetically predicted by Daniel in verse 31 of today’s chapter. As I contemplated this in the quiet this morning, I thought about how I might feel if a Satanic ritual abortion was performed on the altar of my local church.

So far so good, but starting in verses 35-36, the prophetic narrative stops clearly describing actual historic events and rulers. The final section of the chapter has yet to be fulfilled historically in any meaningful way and it remained somewhat mysterious for over 500 years. Then Jesus spoke to His followers about the end times and mentions that there will be another “abomination that causes desolation” (Matt 24:15). History does have a way of repeating itself, and Jesus seems to indicate that there will be another version of Antiochus Epiphanes to come. A few decades later, John received his Revelations on the Isle of Patmos and his visions of an antichrist and an unholy trinity of the dragon (Satan) and two beasts (anti-christ and his prophet). The end of today’s chapter seems to fit hand-in-glove with John’s vision of a blasphemous, conquering anti-christ sweeping in to conquer the Holy Land. And so, scholars contend that the final prophetic writings of Daniel have yet to be fulfilled. They are pieces of a prophetic puzzle regarding the end times.

So what am I supposed to take away from today’s AP Prophetic Literature chapter? What does it have to do with me this Wednesday morning in the 21st century?

The first thing is very simple. Daniel’s prophetic vision so accurately predicts the geo-political events of the next couple of hundred years that I’m reminded of what many artists have found to be true: things are already written. And, this leads to the second thing.

When Paul writes that “all things work together for good for those who love God and have been called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28) it is more true than I can possibly imagine. This sows seeds of peace in my soul, no matter the outward circumstances. I think of a scene in The Lord of the Rings in which Galadriel explains to Frodo that the completion of his mission will mean an end to the power of the three elven rings and an end to the elves time in Middle Earth. When Frodo asks Galadriel what she wishes to happen, she replies, “That what should be shall be.”

Having the desire that “what should be, shall be” on the grand scale of the Great Story affords me much-needed context to the rather minor scale of my own life circumstances.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

“Yet, I Will Rejoice”

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"Yet, I Will Rejoice" (CaD Hab 3) – Wayfarer

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.
Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NIV)

Today’s final chapter of Habakkuk contains the lyrics to a psalm that Habakkuk wrote in response to his two-question dialogue with God in the first two chapters. Habakkuk is an ancient multi-media prophecy with two chapters that are almost like the script of a play and ending with a song.

Habakkuk has been warned by God that He is going to bring judgment on His unrepentant people by bringing the Babylonians down upon them. Habakkuk would have known what this meant. The Babylonians, along with their neighbors the Assyrians, had a reputation for violent sieges that destroyed and plundered cities while violently killing the citizens within. But God also promised Habakkuk that the Babylonians themselves would face their own day of judgment.

As I read and pondered the prophet’s lyrics in the quiet this morning, there were a couple of things that struck me.

First, I couldn’t help but see echoes of John’s Revelations in the apocalyptic, doomsday images. Plague and pestilence in verse 5 brought the four horsemen of John’s apocalypse to mind. Earthquakes, mountains crumbling, along with other natural calamities were also in Revelations along with God arriving with wrath. So was John writing about Judah and Babylon, or was he writing about the end times? As I’ve observed before, the metaphors of prophetic and apocalyptic writing are layered with meaning. As I have often observed on this chapter-a-day journey, the answer is “yes/and.”

The second thing that came to mind as I meditated on Habakkuk’s psalm is that he knows God is going to first bring wrath upon His own people and then will eventually execute judgment on the Babylonians. Habakkuk, however, is just like me knowing that the end times will eventually come yet not knowing when. He’s ignorant. His psalm reminds God “In your wrath [on your people] remember mercy” (vs.2) and he gives a nod to God eventually delivering His people (vs. 13) but the rest of the song seems pretty focused on the evil Babylonians getting their just desserts.

I found this to be particularly human on Habakkuk’s part. He knows God is going to bring consequential wrath on the Hebrew people, but Habakkuk doesn’t want to think too much about that. He conveniently skips that part and jumps to God’s deliverance while he waxes apocalyptic about God’s wrath on the Babylonians for most of the song. I have to confess that I’m no different. I don’t want to think about suffering or having to endure hard times or experiencing judgment. I do, however, want to see swift judgment and fiery wrath raining down on those I have judged to be evil on my own personal scales of justice. As I’ve seen oft-quoted in the media of late: “Rules for thee but not for me.”

Yet it’s the end of Habakkuk’s song that, just like the psalmists before him, brings everything together in a pretty amazing statement of faith. He does embrace the notion that he may personally suffer as God makes good on His promised judgment. It’s the beautiful statement of faith I pasted at the top of this post

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.

In the quiet this morning, I confess that I identify with these ancient words. We are living in strange times. Things are changing at a rapid pace. Times are difficult and I have no guarantees that even more difficult times aren’t ahead of us on this terrestrial ball…

yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Book Summary List

Revelation (Jun-Jul 2022)

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Each photo below corresponds to the chapter-a-day post for the book of Revelation published by Tom Vander Well in June and July of 2022. Click on the photo linked to each chapter to read the post.

Revelations 1: The Rabbit-Hole and the Three Questions

Revelations 2: Hearing the Simple Message

Revelations 3: Spiritual Self-Exam

Revelations 4: Crowns and Surrender

Revelations 5: The Alpha Point and the Omega Point

Revelations 6: “What Do You Expect?”

Revelations 7: “Every Nation, Tribe, People, & Language”

Revelations 8: Ignorant, Mindful, & Ready

Revelations 9: “Gonna Change My Way of Thinking”

Revelations 10: Justice

Revelations 11: Prophetic Pondering

Revelations 12: Not of this World

Revelations 13: My Choice

Revelations 14: Wisdom to Know the Difference

Revelations 15: The Bigger Picture
Revelations 16: Love and Justice

Revelations 17: Rogues Gallery

Revelations 18: The Funeral

Revelations 19: The Wedding

Revelations 20: The Books

Revelations 21: Death-to-Life

Revelations 22: The End is the Beginning

Chapter-a-Day

The Wedding

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The Wedding (CaD Rev 19) – Wayfarer

Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
Revelations 19:9 (NIV)

I mentioned yesterday that Wendy and I were at a wedding this past weekend. The dinner was amazing. If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, you know that Wendy and I love a great meal, especially when it’s the trifecta of a great meal with great people enjoying great conversation.

At one point between savory bites, Wendy looked at me, her eyes as wide as saucers. “This is not only the best wedding meal I’ve ever had, but it’s right up there with maybe being the best meal I’ve had, ever.”

High praise, for sure. A great meal is always special amidst the love, laughter, joy, and celebration of two lives being united as one.

The metaphors of a wedding, of a bride and bridegroom, are used repeatedly by Jesus. At the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the metaphor was even understood and shared between Jesus and His cousin, John the Baptist:

[John’s disciples] came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”

Sometime later, the same disciples of John asked Jesus why His disciples didn’t religiously fast the way John made them fast:

Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.“

Toward the end of His ministry, Jesus was still using this metaphor. He told a parable of ten bridesmaids waiting for the bridegroom to arrive so they could accompany him and his bride with their oil lamps to the wedding feast at the house of the bridegroom and his family. Some of the bridesmaids got tired of waiting and they didn’t have their oil lamps filled, trimmed, and ready when the bridegroom arrived.

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that the ancients often used weddings and funerals as metaphorical contrasts. John uses this ancient device in yesterday’s chapter (a funeral dirge for the demise of “Babylon the Great”) and today’s chapter in which Jesus, the Bridegroom, having tarried like the bridegroom in His parable for 2000+ earth years (as of today), finally celebrates a heavenly wedding feast and is united with His metaphorical bride, all of His followers whose names are written in the Book of Life.

But the contrasts aren’t over! There’s a feast to come that is a stark contrast to the wedding feast of the Lamb. An angel in heaven cries out to all the vultures and carrion fowl on earth to prepare for their own morbid picnic.

Jesus and a heavenly army then descend to meet the unholy trinity and all of the kings and kingdoms of the earth, those who had steadfastly refused to repent during the great tribulation, gathered against Him. The only weapon brought to the battle is the metaphorical sword of Jesus’ words. The anti-christ and his false prophet are captured and thrown into a lake of fire. Their followers become the entree du jour for the vultures.

In the quiet this morning, I’m struck by the simple roots of these contrasting metaphors. A funeral and a wedding. A death dirge and a wedding feast. The eerie silence of a battlefield when the battle is over and the carrion fowl pick at the corpses, and the raucous cheers of a wedding party, blessedly satiated and maybe a wee bit intoxicated, unabashedly dancing to “YMCA.”

I can’t help but be reminded of what God said to His people at the outset of this Great Story:

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses…I have set before you life and death…”

I made my choice. I sent in the RSVP.

I’m simply waiting for the bridegroom to arrive.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Funeral

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The Funeral (CaD Rev 18) – Wayfarer

Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:

“With such violence
    the great city of Babylon will be thrown down,
    never to be found again.”
Revelations 18:21 (NIV)

This past weekend, Wendy and I were honored to be part of a friend’s wedding. I officiated and Wendy coordinated the rehearsal and the ceremony, so we were there with the family, friends, and loved ones for the entire shebang. We knew relatively few members of the wedding party and the families, so I spent a lot of time simply observing those involved and their celebration. There really is nothing quite like a wedding to celebrate life, love, family, and community in both the moment as well as its perpetuation.

In ancient literature, writers often contrasted weddings with the lamentation of funerals. Talk about a powerful contrast: the joyous perpetuation of life and the harsh reality of inevitable death. Revelations chapters 18 and 19 are an example of this contrast on an apocalyptic scale.

Today’s chapter, Revelations 18, heralds the final execution of judgment on “Babylon the Great.” Babylon first appears in the Great Story in Genesis 10. The Babylonian empire destroyed Jerusalem and took the Hebrews into exile around 600 BC. The ancient kingdom of Babylon became a metaphor for evil human empires in the prophetic and apocalyptic literature throughout the Great Story.

In John’s day, those reading his Revelations understood “Babylon the Great” to be the Roman Empire. It was Rome who had persecuted Jesus’ followers with cruel and unusual punishments. The Romans were known for their creatively tortuous execution methods, including the tying of a giant millstone to the neck of a victim and tossing the millstone and victim into the sea or a deep river to drown. As people who had seen the luxurious excesses, human cruelty, and unjust persecutions that the Romans flaunted, John’s readers would have read today’s chapter as God’s promise to judge Rome, raze it to the ground, and “pay her back double for what she has done” (vs. 6).

It’s hard not to read Revelations and try to connect the apocalyptic characters to specific people or nations. Throughout my entire spiritual journey, I have heard and read speakers and authors hawking their interpretations to the masses. In the quiet this morning, I read the chapter and thought about the way the global economy works. It is more interconnected than ever before and the economic troubles we are currently experiencing around the globe seem eerily familiar in the text. Merchants lament that they suddenly have no customers to export their goods. Sailors cry out because there are no open ports for their cargo.

As I pondered this, it made me wonder if “Babylon the Great” is less about one specific nation and more about an entire world order that oppresses the poor and vulnerable in order to traffic everything from gold to humans in order to amass wealth for the insatiably rich and powerful kings and kingdoms of this world.

Ultimately, I believe that today’s chapter is about the execution of divine judgment and the funeral pyre of human injustice on earth, complete with the catastrophic ripple effect that comes with the demise of such a system.

In the quiet this morning, my mind can’t help but turn back to current events. The last two years have been an object lesson in just how intertwined our economies and supply chains have become. A global pandemic has led to diverse and widespread social, political, and economic instabilities. As I ponder this, I’m struck by two, make it three, thoughts. The first is just how easily a small group of power-brokers might manipulate and control economics on a global scale. The second is how quickly such a system might fall apart should catastrophe strike, leading to a descent into global chaos.

The third is that John’s Revelations envision both scenarios.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Rogues Gallery

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Rogues Gallery (CaD Rev 17) – Wayfarer

The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
Revelation 17:16 (NIV)

In my previous post, I drew upon a comic book character to discuss the topic of justice in relation to the justice God brings upon the earth with a trinity of judgments that culminates in seven bowls of God’s wrath. This morning, as I meditated on the chapter, I found myself once again finding the world of comic books an apt parallel.

In classic comics like Batman and Spiderman, we are introduced to a rogues’ gallery of antagonists with whom our superheroes wage a battle of good and evil. Occasionally, the writers will weave a storyline in which all of the bad guys join together to fight the intrepid hero or heroine.

In a similar way, today’s chapter reveals John being given a vision of a rogues’ gallery of earthly power-players bent on waging war on God and God’s people:

  • The “Great Prostitute”
  • The “Beast” on which she rides
  • Seven Kings that are also seven hills
  • An eighth King, the anti-Christ, allied with the Seven Kings
  • Ten Kings who have yet no kingdom, allied to the Beast

When Jesus began His earthly ministry, Satan (whom Jesus called the “Prince of this World”) showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in all their earthly power and splendor. The Prince of this World then offered to give them all to Jesus if Jesus would only bow and worship him. Jesus passed on the offer, knowing that His kingdom was “not of this world” and that He was sent on a mission with a much higher purpose.

The rapidly approaching climax of John’s Revelation, just like a great story or movie, has the key players from the beginning of the story and conflict advancing towards the story’s ultimate clash: God, the Serpent, and fallen humanity. Satan and his rogues’ gallery scramble for power and authority to wage this war.

What struck me as I read the chapter was the in-fighting among these earthly power players. In his letter to Jesus’ followers in Galatia, Paul listed the characteristics of those who live according to the Prince of this World: “hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions.” When you have multiple players each driven by hatred, discord, and selfish ambition, it’s basically impossible to create any sustainable alliance toward a common goal. Evil always ends up imploding from the inside out as evil ones will always eventually turn on their own to satisfy their personal hatred, rage, and selfish ambition.

In the quiet this morning, I am reminded that in the earthly conflict of good and evil to which I am subject on this earthly journey, God continually reminds me to persevere and endure. Jesus passed up the quick and easy way to earthly power offered by the Prince of this World instead choosing instead to endure the suffering and death that led to a eucatastrophic resurrection and eternal power. So Jesus urges me to follow in His footsteps.

The opening verses of Hebrews 12 came to mind as I pondered these things:

Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
Hebrews 12:1-3 (MSG)

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Ignorant, Mindful, and Ready

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Ignorant, Mindful, and Ready (CaD Rev 8) – Wayfarer

The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.
Revelation 8:4 (NIV)

As a student of history and as a mindful observer of life, I have noted that followers of Jesus in every generation seem to be convinced that we are in the end times. This is not the first time I’ve mentioned it on this chapter-a-day journey. It seems to me that as human beings age and we feel our own sense of dread with the inevitable approach of “the end” of our own earthly journey, it is easy to project this sense of “the end” on the world around us.

As a young man, I read books that predicted the world wouldn’t last beyond my high school years. Since I graduated high school in 1984, many would-be prophets mingled Orwell and Revelation in predicting doomsday. I seem to remember televangelists predicting the date of the rapture and the beginning of the end on more than one occasion. Then came the doomsday scenarios of the end of the 20th century that mingled the apocalypse with the Y2K global computer meltdown (history shows that apocalyptic predictions spring up at the end of centuries like flowers in spring). More recently, we had the end of the Mayan calendar that people associated with the end of all things.

With this in mind, I want to be careful with my thoughts on today’s chapter. I don’t want you to read what I’m not writing.

In today’s chapter, John’s vision from God’s throne room in heaven continues. When the seventh seal on the scroll is broken there is a dramatic pause, thirty minutes of silence before the next round of judgments on the earth begin. The prayers of God’s people rise as incense before God’s throne. Recall the cries of those who’d been martyred in chapter six: “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”

I always have to remember as I read the Great Story that God layers life with certain themes. Just a few weeks ago in a Message among my local gathering of Jesus followers, I gave the example of how the diagram of an atom looks like a little solar system. The moon revolving around the earth, the planets revolving around the sun, and our solar system in the galaxy continue to expand this layered motif outward into the expanding universe. God is an artist, and he layers themes and motifs in both creation and in the Great Story.

The prayers and cries of the martyrs (those believers through history who were tortured and killed because of their faith) echo God hearing the prayers of God’s people enslaved in Egypt (Ex 3:7). The judgments and plagues in today’s chapter and subsequent chapters echo the plagues on Egypt. God’s deliverance of humanity from the shackles of a fallen world ruled by evil as we read it in the book of Revelation is a macrocosm of the story of God delivering His people from Egypt.

As the angels blow their trumpets of judgment in today’s chapter, plagues fall on the earth. The hail mixed with blood echoes the ninth plague on Egypt. The sea turned to blood echoes the first Egyptian plague. The waters turning bitter in the third trumpet are the reverse of God turning the bitter waters sweet at Marah for the Hebrews. The fourth trumpet echoes the ninth plague on Egypt.

I couldn’t help but notice that the consequences of the trumpet plagues are largely disruptions of nature which will disrupt commerce which in turn will wreak havoc on the global supply chain, which will only fuel economic and international strife, which will only fuel the works of the four riders of the apocalypse that have already been loosed: conquest, war, violence, famine, and death.

Disruption of supply chains, disruptions caused by war, supply shortages, famine, inflation, economic disruption, anger, violence: sound familiar? Yes, I can’t help but see the current events around me and think to myself how quickly things can spiral and descend in an out-of-control chain of events around the globe.

And this is where I don’t want you to read what I’m not writing. I’m not saying we are in the end times. I continue to maintain, as Jesus taught, that no one knows the day and the hour. I’m determined to cling to this ignorance. I can, however, read today’s chapter, look at current events, and appreciate how cataclysmic events like a global pandemic, natural disasters, wars, and famines can quickly destabilize the entire world as is described in the “Trumpet Judgments” in today’s chapter. And while Jesus said that I don’t know the hour and the day, He told multiple parables in which He encouraged His followers to be alert and to always be ready for the end to arrive.

And so, I enter today mindful and endeavoring to be ready, come what may in my own lifetime.

Note: Four recent messages were added to the Messages page today, an archive of YouTube and MP3 fiiles of messages.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.