Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 25; Ezekiel 26; Ezekiel 27; Ezekiel 28; Revelation 10
Scripture: Revelation 10:1-4
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."
Observation: What message did the voices of the seven thunders speak? John was about to write it down, but "a voice from heaven" told him not to. Why? I wish I could say, "God explained it to me," but He hasn't so, why lie? The truth is, I don't know. Nobody does.
Application: What this speaks to me is the truth that the invisible spiritual realm is both invisible and spiritual. (Wow, profound, huh?) Seriously, though, because it is invisible, I cannot see it -- because it is spiritual, I cannot figure it out. It is a mystery. Mystery is something we like in novels and motion pictures, but not much in church. But while we have certain things of which we can be sure (the Bible is God's word; God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Jesus death and resurrection is the only means of gaining a right standing before God), even these have elements of mystery that we cannot fully understand. (And there is plenty of truly weird stuff in the Bible that we can'r really understand.) Paul wrote "now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror." (And the mirrors of Paul's day weren't as good as ours.) So we don't see clearly, and sometimes it seems backwards.
Bottom line: HUMILITY. We have to have humility and say, "I don't understand it all," and even sometimes, "I don't understand at all." But faith sometimes means trusting beyond the headlights. God has chosen to limit how far I can see and yet He says, "trust Me." I do.
Prayer: Lord, I do trust in You and I do trust You. I thank You that You have shrouded truth from us humans -- that You reveal it as You see fit. Help us to trust, obey, and marvel at You. You are the great, mighty, eternal, compassionate, merciful, mysterious, sovereign Lord.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
2 comments:
Mike, what I see in this also, is that our relationship with God has rules. And one of those rules is similar to the rules we have with people: Our conversations with God are personal. We don't have the right to tell everyone everything God tells us unless we have permission from Him. I hear people all the time telling others about their revelations from God. I always ask myself "I wonder if God gave them permission to say that?" It is obvious that the Apostle John understood the difference.
Mike, Thanks for this application. I agree with your insight. The only problem I have with it is that I wish I had thought of it first!
Mike
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