God of Power

November 14, 2021 Background Scripture: Revelation 11 Lesson Passage: Revelation 11 — 19 When we look at the world around us and its intricate details and order, we should be convinced that there is a God Who created all of this. We can go beyond that and look at the elements beyond earth that can be seen in a clear sky at night. God created that too. The God Who created everything is obviously very powerful. The scripture says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork." In other words, there is enough evidence in nature to declare the existence of a Creator. Indeed, there is enough physical evidence for us to be in awe of God whether we know Him or not. The power He possesses should frighten us. Yet, there are some people who will push the limits until God demonstrates some of His power in correcting them. We have proof in the Book of Revelation that some of those people will continue to exist until the world, as we know it, is destroyed. In our Lesson Background, God sent two witnesses to cry out against the evil powers in the earth. Their names are not given but the power from God that they wielded was described. Their power was like that given to Moses and Elijah during their earthly ministries. According to Israel's history, the departure of these two from this world was controlled by God in an extraordinary manner. Moses was on top of a mountain with God when he died, and God buried his body in an unknown grave. God sent a chariot of fire that carried Elijah into the sky while his protégé, Elisha, looked on. So, there is no wonder that these two unnamed witnesses would appear to be these two faithful prophets of God. Despite the powers they possessed to fight against those who would harm them, they did succumb to the beast from the bottomless pit that killed them. Their bodies lay in the streets while the wicked people of the earth celebrated their demise. They were so overjoyed by the destruction of God's two witnesses that they celebrated by sending gifts to each other; their death was treated like a special holiday on earth. Then God sent the breath of life back into their dead bodies and they lived again to the wonder of those on earth. Then God called them back up and they ascended in a cloud as their enemies watched. Afterwards, God sent an earthquake that killed thousands. The survivors gave glow to God out of fear. At the sound of a trumpet, there was an announcement that John heard in Heaven. The announcement was that God had retaken control of the kingdoms on earth. Twenty-four elders prostrated themselves and worshipped God. Much of the Lesson Passage is the text of the elders' testimony of worship. They praised God for His eternal being and the display of His power to rule the universe. They also anticipated the judgement of the wicked dead and the rewarding by God of the righteous who trusted in Him. The enemies of God who fought against Him by destroying the earth would be destroyed by God. Then John saw the answer to a great earthly mystery. No one has known the whereabouts of the ark of God's covenant for centuries. The ark's location was revealed to John. It was safe in the temple of God in heaven. With its revelation to John, nature responded with earthquakes, lightning, thunder, and hail. God's engraved covenant has been perfectly preserved and secured in God's presence for many years, It has been kept by God's power; the same power that was demonstrated in the destruction of God's enemies on earth. He is a God of power. Robert C. Hudson October 16, 2021

United in Praise

November 7, 2021 Background Scripture: Lesson Passage: Revelation 7:9 17 The Book of Revelation is the only New Testament book of prophecy. As such, one must be careful to not treat all its contents as historical narrative. Put another way, much of this writing is not recording what has already happened but what is to come. There is much to learn from Old Testament prophecy to guide us through this. The reason is that most of the Old Testament prophecy has now been fulfilled. In looking at Old Testament prophecy and examining the fulfilment of it, we can see that the written prophecy included images, symbols, and statements. We can also see that the written prophecy rarely had a timeline included although the events were given in the proper sequential order. So, when Isaiah prophesied about the Messiah, the prophecy included what we today know as His first advent and second coming. Isaiah's prophecy did not disclose to us the great expanse of time that would separate the two events. Today, we are living between the two advents of Christ. As we consider unfulfilled prophecy, we can take comfort in the sequential order of events, but we must take care to try to pinpoint where we are on the timeline. In considering the Book of Revelation, we should note that Chapters 2 and 3 tell of events involving the church in the world. There is no more mention of the church until after the final judgement. And then, in Chapter 21, the church, the bride of Christ, is seen descending from above. We note this because at the beginning of Chapter 4 the writer, John, is called up to Heaven to view the culmination of life on earth. With this school of interpretation in mind, we believe the church is raptured from the earth at the beginning of Chapter 4 and the events of Chapter 4 through Chapter 20 occur after the church is no longer in the world. With this as our perspective, we now turn to today's Lesson Passage. John, in Heaven, was shown a multitude of people dressed in white robes and holding palm branches. The multitude was too large to be counted. It was composed of people from every region, nationality, and language. John's guide, one of the elders, asked him to identify the group. John admitted to not knowing who they were. Then the elder informed him that the members of that group were delivered out of the Great Tribulation on earth. This group was not part of a rapture but had lived during the time of Great Tribulation on the earth. I feel confident in saying that this group is not the church. This is a countless number of individuals who will accept Jesus as their personal Savior after the church is no longer in the world. Today, when I hear someone say they want to be in that number that John saw that no man could number, I respectfully disagree with that. I want to be in the number that is raptured from the earth before the time of tribulation and Great Tribulation. The world is a sinful and difficult environment to live in. I don't want to live in this world without the church, But it is encouraging to know that God's mercy will extend beyond the Church Age. Even when there is no church in the world, the grace of God will still be available to lost souls who cry out to Him. As the church today strives to be united in praise to God, there will be other believers who will come after the church is no longer here and they too will find themselves united in praise! Robert C. Hudson October 16, 2021