Missions Paul

Do you remember all the way back to chapter 1 and verse 4 “Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come”? 

Well, here we are, it has been fulfilled; we have arrived! 

“And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. (Revelation 11 v 16-17) There is no ‘who is to come’ for He is here!

One day what we have longed for all our lives will be amongst us! The One who is and who was will have come and made it all an amazing wonderful reality for us. 

At that time (though we perhaps don’t like the phrase as it has so many political connotations) there will be a great levelling up.
“The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name,both great and small—and for destroying those who destroy the earth.” (v18)

There are many in our world who are comforted by these words. God is going to right every wrong. God is going to judge every small and great injustice and also reward both the small and great. 

Do not worry about what people are saying about you today. Think about what God will say about you on that day!

Don’t pursue success today as if it was the greatest reward you could ever have. Think about the reward that will be yours on that day!

Here is the final trumpet, the seventh, the complete and the perfect declaration of the King.

“The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said …” Revelation 11 v 15)

Again, remember we don’t read this vision as a timeline. It could be that we now want the Revelation to end because the world has been saved and the Kingdom has come. But there is more to come in that John will share different perspectives of what he has already seen until we come back to this very section when loud voices are heard in heaven declaring, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever” v15.

After these next few verses we will move into our chapter 12 and we do so perhaps exhausted with immersing ourselves with the seven seals and the seven trumpets and yet we still have more terrible things to come! We will be trying to understand a woman giving birth and a great dragon nearby which the angels of heaven under the leadership of Michael will defeat. A beast will rise from the sea with a number 666, the earth will be reaped with a sharp sickle and then we at last come to the seven bowls! Seas will turn to blood, darkness will happen, Armageddon begins and then of course the Whore of Babylon! I am sure you are looking forward to more encouraging devotions on these events!

So what is happening here in v15 is definitely a welcome rest, a respite, selah moment confidently looking upward to the fact that the kingdom and the power of this world will submit to the Kingdom of God.

You may be right in the thick of things. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. It has been so tough and you know tomorrow will be the same. But today, right now, you can breathe for a moment and your faith realises that all is not in vain but there will come a day when everything is perfected and you will be complete in the Kingdom of God for ever. The tough stuff will pass away and you will be with Him for ever and ever!

I know I usually have a Sunday small thought but that didn’t happen yesterday!

If you have been defeated by the enemy simply because you have tried to be and do what a follower of Jesus should, then wait, it isn’t over, it is only 3.5 days. Wait and see what happens next! God is coming!

“But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. ¹² Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on. ¹³ At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. ¹⁴ The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.” (Revelation 11 v 11-14)

So how will the world be converted?

Will it because the Church prophetically calls it into repentance, v3 (through sackcloth)? NO.

Will it because the Church will operate signs and wonders, v6? NO.

It will be through the martyrdom/the true witnessing of the Church as it lays its life down for the world. Now who is that a mirror of?!

You may feel walked over, slandered, unfriended and of course much more in terms of persecution but take heart, God is using your experience to bring your world to Him!

The Church (the 2 witnesses) throughout history has carried the message of repentance and the demonstration of signs and wonders. We would want that to be a picture of completeness and perfection. But of course throughout history we just know for the persecuted that is simply not their experience. “And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” (v3) Those days are 3.5 years, half of the seven. It hasn’t been and it isn’t perfect.

Then what happens?

“Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. ⁸ Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹ For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. ¹⁰ The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. (Revelation 11 v 7-11)

Who is the beast and where is the great city also called Sodom (that corrupt city) and Egypt (that self-dependent city)?

For John’s generation it was the Emperors and Rome. For the future generations it has been a variety of pagan and oppressive rulers and their empires. Though the Church has spoken the truth and even moved supernaturally they have experienced time and again the enemy celebrating their demise throughout every generation. But again we take heart because we know that isn’t the end of the story, it isn’t complete, it is half of the seven again, it is 3.5 days, so if it isn’t perfect then it means that God still has a move to make. He does!

Key thought: If you have been defeated by the enemy simply because you have tried to be and do what a follower of Jesus should, then wait, it isn’t over, it is only 3.5 days. Wait and see what happens next! God is coming!

I think I have said before but I know there are so many great commentators out there who have researched and wrote far better than these devotional thoughts. I feel dwarfed by the task when there are so many books out there. But I also know there is a lot of speculation and nonsense also!

This may seem a difficult chapter to read. So what is happening in chapter 11? It is just before the 7^th and final trumpet sounds. It is the time of the second woe.

John measures the temple; the Holy City is trampled on for 3.5 years; 2 Witnesses prophesy for 3.5 years; they are then killed by the beast from the Abyss and they lay unburied for 3.5 days; after this they are then raised to new life and ascend to heaven; then there’s a severe earthquake and 7,000 die but the survivors worship God; that’s the second woe over.

Simple!!

“I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. ² But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. ³ And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” ⁴ They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.” ⁵ If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. ⁶ They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want. ⁷ Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. ⁸ Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹ For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. ¹⁰ The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. ¹¹ But after the three and a half days the breath^[b] of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. ¹² Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on. ¹³ At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. ¹⁴ The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.” (Revelation 11: 1-14)

We must keep to the fact that this vision contains numbers that are symbolic. The number seven is symbolic of divine completeness and perfection.

John knows that the temple is not a literal one, in fact it was destroyed probably around 20 years before this vision on the island of Patmos. But he is called to measure the Christian community, the holy place, the place where the Spirit of God dwells. For a season, for half of perfection, the Church is going to be trampled on by the nations of the world. It was certainly not feeling like perfection stuck on Patmos nor for the Christian community under the power of Rome but more of that later.

The 2 Witnesses, the 2 Olive trees and the 2 lampstands are the Church. I think so anyway! It is not 2 individual personalities but a symbol for the Church. The Bible shows us in many places that to settle disputes you do so with at least 2 witnesses. Steeped in his culture is the story of King Zerubbabel and the High Priest Joshua told in Zechariah 4. They are standing alongside the lampstand and we already know that the lampstands of Revelation 2 and 3 are the seven churches.

The Church enters into a season of mourning (sackcloth) and rightly so because of the sin and wickedness of the world. During this time they move with supernatural authority. Like Moses who brought the plagues and who stood against Pharaoh and like Elijah who stopped the rain and who stood against Ahab so the Church will operate with signs and wonders against evil. That’s what John saw.

I was reading yesterday of how in 2016 Canada had 1,018 deaths by medical assistance (euthanized) but by 2021 just 5 years later this figure rose to 10,064! Then I immediately read a pop-up social media flash about the state of Britain in 2022 with regards the abuse of children. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published a seven year inquiry where they concluded that child abuse is at an epidemic stage with millions suffering. It found that in any group of 200 children, 10 boys and more than 30 girls would be victims before the age of 16. Statistics showed the age of victims was getting younger, with a 45% rise in offences against those aged under four in recent years!! God have mercy!

I am writing this from Brazil as the nation is trying to elect their new President amidst what seems like a long period of corruption. But I am conscious also of the lack of moral compass in our own political life in Britain. Leadership with integrity and values is seriously lacking in every party!

The Church in every corner of the world and as in previous generations at various times need to put on sackcloth figuratively and call for repentance. But we must do that within the atmosphere of supernatural activity. The Church is not toothless and powerless. We have the Spirit of God dwelling amongst us and we must step out and change the world we live in!

Repentance and the supernatural is our message and our response!

They say we learn something new every day. Well I certainly have today. There is something called pica eating disorder or Xylophagia, the desire to eat non-food items, like paper. Search online and you can read really sad stories of the struggles people have to deal with this disorder.

But we are reading today the verses where John is commanded to eat the scroll. This is not a disorder but an order.

“Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’  I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” (Revelation 10 v 8-11)

• You can only speak what is in you. Prophesying with the book inside you is totally different to passing on information of the book. We are not editors but part of the message. We don’t just speak the message but we are the message of Christ.

• You cannot have the sweet without the sour. Some would want to take all the nice things of the Bible’s message about God and leave it like that. God loves us. God is gracious. God does things for us. But the uncomfortableness is there. God is the judge. God demands obedience.

• What is in you will sustain you in the difficulty of what is around you. Perhaps for the 1st century readers and for those in 2022 under great persecution it is to know that God expects us to continue to walk through our suffering and difficulty and the book will help us do that. Think of the 3 temptations of Christ and how He used the ‘book’ to fight off the devil.

In the Guardian newspaper on 4^th September 2022 an article was titled, “The super-rich ‘preppers’ planning to save themselves from the apocalypse.” It was a depressing read as Tech-billionaires spent their wealth on luxurious bunkers and top of the range military security so that they can survive the end of the world.

A simple glance online and you realise that the world is indeed crazy. The CEO of Reddit has had laser eye surgery in 2015 because of his concern of the availability of glasses and contacts when the world ends. A former Facebook product manager in 2016 bought an island and filled it with generators, solar panels and thousands of ammunition so he can survive. Really?!! Yes it is true, they are prepared!

Well we may not have their billions but what can we do whilst we wait for the end of the world? Let’s first read some verses:

 ^“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.” ⁵ Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. ⁶ And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay! ⁷ But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.” ⁸ Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” ⁹ So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’ ¹⁰ I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. ¹¹ Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” (Revelation 10 v 4-11)

So ….

• We do not enter into speculation of things we are not certain about, v4. No one knows what the seven thunders have said and John hasn’t written it down. God has made sure that there are things we still do not know. There will come a day when everything is known but for now we don’t. So why akin to many cults has the Church throughout the generation’s written books and timelines and produced films and presentations suggesting we know more than we do? If we are staying true to the Bible then we should have questions without answers. Why did that happen? The answer is: “I don’t know but I leave that in the hands of God for the day when everything is revealed and I do know.” It calls for trust in Him.

• We live our lives as though there is not much time left, v6. The seventh trumpet will soon sound! (The book isn’t a timeline where every chapter moves us nearer to the end. If that was so when the sounding of the 7^th trumpet happens in chapter 11 the book would close but obviously we are only half-way there. The second half of Revelation comes at the same story but from a different position. We have to keep reminding ourselves of this.) However there will be a day soon when all will be revealed and for now we wait. It is not a waiting at a bus stop. But it is a waiting in the place of living our lives to the full. I sadly buried a church member who for the last 10 years of their life was just waiting for God to show them what to do! He should have got on with it! He waited and in his waiting he procrastinated and then when I buried him I realised he had died a long time ago. If not careful the Church can be like an old film where the backdrop is moving but the car and the passengers may look like they are advancing but they are in fact going nowhere. Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today. For tomorrow may never come.

• We go to the many with the message from heaven, v11. This is the wonderful opportune time for people to know Jesus. Yesterday I sat listening to story after story from Church Pastors telling what the Church was doing in reaching their many. Often we beat ourselves up because of the Christian statistics in our nation but we can be encouraged that effort is being given to the presenting the gospel message to different peoples, tribes and tongue here and overseas.

What do we think? What do we say? What do we do?

This is why John came up higher. This is why he is here and this is the moment of the whole Revelation for it is here when John takes hold of the vision written down. Jesus has removed the seals and now the scroll can be read (chapter 5). John is the one to do just that.

We have come through the 6^th trumpet; hell, fire and brimstone, destruction though no repentance and in that context we ask: what are we the church to do?

“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. 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, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke… Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’ I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” (Revelation 10 v 1-3, 8-11)

What do we do when the world has gone mad?

1. We recognise that this is God’s world: The mighty angel with legs full of fire like pillars positions one on the sea and the other on the land. This world is His. No matter what you see and what you hear. No matter what evil wreaks havoc never forget God owns the whole world and He is very much in control.
2. We recognise that this is God’s word: The mighty angel gives a lion-like loud shout. The message from heaven outweighs any voice from the earth or under the earth. It is His voice that is to be feared nothing else. It is what He has declared. It is His promises for your life. It is the assurances found in the Bible that give you the reason to live. It is the promptings of the Spirit within your spirit that He is with you that cause you to gain strength.
3. We recognise that we are God’s witness: The mighty angel gives the scroll to John and in obedience to the voice he eats the scroll and is then told to prophecy to the world. We don’t turn back, hide away, but in the presence of enemies we rise up and declare what is deposited in our lives, the eternal truth of the Lamb and we do that to every tribe and tongue, to the poor and to the presidents.

I was visiting a church recently and was advertised the week before as ‘Paul Hudson will be speaking next Sunday!’ Now for those who are not northerners in England, Paul Hudson is very famous, he is the BBC Weatherman. So when I turned up at this particular church one member was very disappointed that I looked nothing like Paul Hudson!

It wasn’t really a mistaken identity because one look at me and you know I am obviously an alias Paul Hudson!

Maybe you have a story of mistaken identity?

Wouldn’t it be amazing to be mistaken for Jesus?

In these next verses some have thought it was Jesus that John saw. Remember how the 6^th trumpet has been blown and a third of the world has been killed and the rest won’t repent. We are waiting for the 7^th trumpet and this is something of an interlude where we see 2 events taking place; the angel and the little scroll; and the 2 witnesses.

“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.” (Revelation 10 v 1)

John saw another mighty angel. Jesus cannot in anyway be described as ‘another’.

Gabriel means ‘mighty one’ so it could be him. But it doesn’t matter. It was another mighty angel.  What does matter is his description and what he brings as he comes down from heaven. (In his vision John often moves around. For example he has moved from the throne room to below heaven now as the mighty angel comes down)

• He is robed in a cloud: We will read soon in 11:10 “Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.” The angels coat being a cloud describes the presence of God
• A rainbow above his head: This symbol is well-known in the UK now not because of the LGBTQ+ who adopted it but because during the pandemic it was the symbol of our NHS who saved lives. It is of course the Biblical sign for mercy. Despite the sin of the earth God’s mercy is hovering and protecting a remnant.
• His face was like the sun: It’s true that Jesus’ “face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” (1:16) but it only shows that this angel’s face is glowing because of being in the presence of God. It speaks of the glory and majesty of God.
• His legs were like fiery pillars: This could be a description of God’s judgment, holiness and purpose. Remember this? “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.” (Exodus 13:21)

Mistaken for Jesus. I don’t think this mighty angel was Jesus but I do think the angel looked like Him.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if our churches were mistaken for Jesus?

Can you imagine the world seeing the presence and the glory and majesty of God? Can you imagine the world experiencing grace and mercy over the judgment and purpose of God for the earth?

That must be our prayer.

Let there be a mistaken identity.

Let the world see Jesus in me.

We are reading about the 6^th trumpet and after the release of these 4 demons they kill a 1/3^rd of the earth’s population revealing the mercy of God that He really does want the world to come back to Him. But they don’t. We are told that not even this destruction turns them back to God. Let’s read a couple of verses and focus on a chemical that stood out as I read it this morning. I use the British spelling!

“The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulphur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulphur. A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulphur that came out of their mouths.” (Revelation 9 v 17-18)

Throughout the Bible this chemical is quoted, fourteen times and it is always to do with destruction. Small amounts can be used as healing agent. Large amounts are the experience of hell. In fact, eventually we will arrive at Revelation 19 and 20 when we will read of hell’s lake of burning sulphur.

In speaking of the last days and His return Jesus indicates what the world will be like by comparing it to the time of Sodom, “But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:29; see Genesis 19)

What John sees in his vision is frightening. He sees a huge-scale demonic attack on the world with the use of chemical weapons. So what do we make of this? When will this happen? And again we resist the timeline because for one thing when you are underneath such atrocities then your great tribulation is already here and secondly not even the Revelation gives us permission to know the times and dates for Jesus’ return (Acts 1:7).

What we do know is that sulphur has been used in war throughout history. In 2009 British archaeologists discovered that in approximately 256 AD 20 Roman soldiers were killed by inhaling poisonous gas from a stove that was pumping out burning sulphur. This was in Dora-Europas in East Syria.

What we do know is that the Germans used Suphur in 1915 at the battle of Ypres and chemicals were used in the horrors of the Holocaust. The U.S, used chemicals in Vietnam; Russia in the Soviet-Afghan War; Egypt in the Yemeni Civil War; Iraq against Iran and the Iraqi Kurds; Syria in 2013; and I have left out lots of other historical atrocities where sulphur plus other destructive chemicals were used.

What we do know is that in 2022 the earth still lives under the threat of chemical, biological and nuclear warfare.

It is therefore not difficult to see that sulphur plays a part in the end-time destruction of a part of the world. We can also see it is very much connected to a lost eternity.

So here’s an application:

1. We will know the earth’s time is short when not even the threat of a lost eternity has any impact on the population who refuse to repent.
2. The threat of destructive weaponry all point to the final end and one day soon it will be so.
3. Sulphur when used by wickedness is a frightening evil but for the followers of Jesus it is a positive sign for what is to come. As with the Sodom story when God was taking His people into a new place and as with the Revelation of chapter 20 when God declares ‘I am making everything new!’ the escalating use of sulphur and other such weaponry are pointers that though this earth will be finally destroyed God will take us all into a new heaven and new earth!