Rev 22:6-21 Jesus is coming
I read this so long ago that I had to reread which this blog was meant for me to remember what i've read aish anyway.
Now the angel reassures John that everything he's seen and heard is true because the angel is a messenger from God. Next is a promise that Jesus is coming soon. Here, the inherency of word is absolute. Verse six says "These words are trustworthy and true..." Again and again after this the angel stresses the importance of the "words of this book." I find this reassuring because it is the prophetic books that I find the most difficulty to not believe but understand. There is a bit of faith and trust that must come in to play when understanding these books and thank God that these are His words written in His book that I can know that what I read is truth. No debate about that, the bible is simply truth. I digress from the passage, continuing on.
I don't know what so overwhelmed John to start worshiping the angel who was telling him about what would happen. But he quickly got rebuked by the angel and points him back to God as the only one deserving praise. This so struck me, not that i didn't already know this, but i forget that i don't deserve praise. It doesn't matter how hard you work or what you accomplish, still, God is the only one worthy of praise. Worship is for the creator not the created. Do not worship the angels, brothers and sisters, even when they come with plagues and mighty acts of destruction, to worship them would only warrant more of that destruction on yourself.
The next verse (10) warns John to not seal up the words of the prophecy. This seems to be an exhortation to write down what he's seen and heard. "For the time is near" makes me think that there are some really important things (obviously everything in the bible is important) in this book that we should know! and soon! It sounds like we ought to get ready. How? by not sealing up the words of the prophecy. Thats what I'm getting from this verse. Once through is not enough, I'm hope I come back to this book soon.
Verse 11 sounded like curse and blessing for actions but after reading notes it seems that it is referring to the finality of the end. The evildoer will do evil and the filthy will be filthy, there will be no redemption for them. Yet the righteous and holy will not lose their characteristics. It is a reminder that it's not too late to accept Christ, to pursue righteousness, but! one day it will be too late.
Christ is coming soon, He is God, it will be crazy. We are to wash our robes with the blood of Christ, this is the only prescribed method in this passage to attain access to the tree of life that will be in God's city. Those who do not wash their robes will be outside the city. Jesus reiterates again that He has sent this angel, that this is His message to His followers. In the closing of this passage is a prayer to Christ for him to "come." This is the prayer that we ought to have. The sooner he comes the sooner we can take from the water of life, by his grace.
the passage closes with a warning about taking or adding to the scripture, repeating the prayer for Christ to come, acknowledging the imminence of His return.
Goodness that is a long passage but i can finally move on. I will catch up soon. Sorry for the delay but work has been kurhazy.
Thank God for revelation, that we may know the signs and be prepared for the one thing we ought to look forward to.
No comments:
Post a Comment