Todays readings … Job 33, Zechariah 9, Revelation 7,8&9
Our readings in the book of Revelation are about the climax of human history – we read of visions, largely, but not entirely, in symbol, picturing God’s judgements. It is a time for opening the book of life. There are blessings for those he judges as righteous and the opposite for the others. There does not appear to be a third group, one cannot be in a neutral positionl! Although, as with the Israelites coming out of slavery in Egypt, we can reason that those under 20 will not be counted as ready for judgement.
John looks and sees “a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the lamb clothed in white robes …. crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb’” [7 v.9-10]
“The lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd and he will guide them to springs of living water and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” [v.17]
Jesus is the Lamb and we read in the Gospels of him speaking of ‘living water’, “If anyone thirsts, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” [John 7 v.38]
Jesus had spoken about this to the Samaritan woman saying, “whoever drinks of the water I will give him, it will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” [John 4 v.14]
We can understand that kind of symbolic language.
One is tempted to ignore the other side of the picture! The angel is told, “Do not harm the earth … until we have sealed the servants of God on their foreheads” This reminds us of the blood on the doorposts in Egypt when God was about to bring the final plague!
In Revelation we also read of plagues on “the rest of mankind” continuing on, those “who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent … nor give up worshipping demons and idols … nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality …” [Ch.9 v.20-21]
It is interesting that in the margin of the NKJV Bible sorceries is given the meaning of drugs! We live at a time when the climax of human history is approaching fast, how much had “drugs” come into us – we think of their misuse. The need today to fill our minds with God’s word is greater than ever.
