Deeper Waters

Welcome back readers to Deeper Waters. We are going to be continuing our Trinitarian Commentary tonight in the book of Revelation. It’s hard to believe we’ve gone through the whole Bible looking at the Trinity and I do hope you’ve benefited from it. First, I ask for your prayers for my continual Christlikeness and that my will will submit to the hand of the potter. I also ask that readers pray for my financial situation. I have an awfully expensive Summer coming up. Finally, I ask for prayers in a third related are in my life that I will rise up to be who I need to be. For now, let’s go to the text. Tonight, it’s Revelation 19:11-16.

¹¹I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. ¹²His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. ¹³He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. ¹⁴The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. ¹⁶On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Two days ago, we saw the bride and it was a beautiful and pristine event. Now, we get to see her groom. What do we see however? We see a horse and on the horse sets a warrior who is faithful and true. This was the same title Jesus gave of himself in Revelation 3:14.

We are told that with justice he judges and makes war. Just when we thought a wedding was about to take place, it seems that a war must take place first. However, this rider is a good rider who rides with justice. This is also a passage that should once again eliminate the image of Jesus I so often see that we think of today, of gentle Jesus meek and mild. Jesus was meek and mild to the righteous, but to the unrighteous, he was anything but.

Revelation 1:14 and 2:18 both mentioned Jesus having eyes of blazing fire. We are also told he has a name that no one knows save he himself, paralleling what happens in Revelation 2:17. I also like to use this verse on Jehovah’s Witnesses to ask them if they think that the Father is ignorant of something.

Most grooms would wear something fancy, but this one wears a robe dipped in blood and his name is the Word of God, fitting since he is the Word in John 1:1. The blood imagery shows the nature of the war that this rider is fighting in. There will be many casualties.

The sword should remind us of 1:16, 2:12, and 2:16. The scepter imagery will remind us of 12:5 and most notably, 2:27 which uses the exact same verse. This is a rider who is not fighting defensively but offensively. He is charging out to meet the enemy.

The treading of the winepress should remind us of Revelation 14. John is drawing out much of the imagery of the past to show the nature of the one who is riding. He wants the reader to get as serious as possible a picture of what is going on.

Lastly however we see his name. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We talked about this earlier, but this is the title given to the Lamb as well meaning this Lamb who we have seen throughout this book is the same one who is the warrior coming to conquer. Is he named? No. John expects us to know however who he is speaking of.

The groom is here. What of the wedding? That is for another time.

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. Tonight, we are going to be continuing our Trinitarian Commentary in the book of Revelation. Before that, I do ask for your prayers. First in my continued Christlikeness, which I believe is having an effect and producing in me a greater confidence.  I also ask for prayers for my current financial situation. I finally ask for prayers in a third related area of my life. I trust that God is working in these situations to bring about a greater good. For now, let’s go to the text of Revelation 19:10.

¹⁰At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

This is the point in between the appearance of the bride and the appearance of the groom. John bows down to worship the angel and he is told to stop by said angel. What is important for our purposes at first is that the angel resists worship. We can point to numerous times in the gospels and the Acts where people bow down to Jesus and worship him and he does not resist it.

The only one worship is to go to is God. The angel makes that clear, yet Jesus accepted worship. We can especially point to passages where people bow down and then worship him. In Matthew 28, for instance, the text says that his followers fell down and clung to his feet and then worshipped him. It cannot mean just bow down then, for there is no point in saying that they clung to his feet and then bowed down.

What is most interesting is what he says about holding to the testimony of Jesus. What does he mean by this claim? How is it that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy and who really brought prophecy into this book at this point?

We can think back to the two witnesses. They were the ones who testified in Revelation 11. We spoke back then about them holding to the message of Christ. We can also think of Hebrews 11 where we are told that Moses suffered for the cause of Christ.

All prophecy has ultimately been about Christ. He is the centerpiece of it all. The testimony of Jesus means that the testimony pertains to Jesus. In a way, we could also say it is testimony from Jesus. It is the testimony that comes from God about the Son.

Why in this book at this point? This is about redemption and the redemption is found in the Son and that is how one gets the white for the righteous acts of the saints. The way to that redemption is found only in Christ. Only he can give us the righteousness. I also find it interesting that this happens after John sees the beauty of the bride. We, the church, are that beautiful bride and when John sees us, it is then that he is tempted to worship. Let us see this as testimony of how we will be changed.

What does this say about Jesus? All prophecy is about him. He is the one who is to be worshiped. May our testimony today be testimony of the Son as well.

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. I realize it’s late tonight but I had company over so some of you no doubt aren’t reading this until the morning. That’s fine. We are continuing our Trinitarian Commentary and tonight, we’re going to be in Revelation 19. It’s hard to believe that we’re nearing the end of the Bible. First I ask for the usual prayer requests. I ask that you pray for my character that I will grow to be more Christlike and especially get a lot of my thinking under control. I also ask for prayers for my financial situation. I finally ask for prayers in a third related are in my life. Now that I’ve mentioned my requests, it’s time to honor the request of you, the reader, and get to the blog. We will look at Revelation 19:6-9.

⁶Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
⁷Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
⁸Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)

⁹Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

Weddings are always festive times and in the Jewish world, a wedding was quite the celebration. Remember we read about the wedding at Cana in John 2 and that was certainly a celebration where there would be wine to last everyone for a week. Now in this book as we near the end, we hear about the wedding of the Lamb.

Once again, the imagery is striking. We do not expect to hear about a Lamb getting married, but we are. Now the reason we are using this text tonight is not because it speaks of the deity of Christ, but this is an important forerunner to an upcoming text.

Unlike weddings in America, in this one, we see the bride first. She is given fine white clothing to wear. We are also told that this white represents the righteous acts of the saints. In order to be a fitting bride for the groom, the Lamb, she must be pure and holy.

The imagery however of a wedding supper can indicate the high status of the Lamb as such a feast was thought to take place in the end, such as is seen in Matthew 8 where all will be gathered to a great feast but those who are not righteous would be cast out. This is referring to a major eschatological event.

I ask that my readers for now simply keep this passage in the back of their minds. I can assure them I do want to give a contrast to another passage that is just ahead, but for now, we must leave it as it is. When we continue our study, we will see the relevance.

That study will continue tomorrow.

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Deeper Waters blog where we dive into the ocean of truth. We are going to be continuing our Trinitarian Commentary later tonight. First, I wish to produce my usual prayer requests. The first is for my Christlikeness, which I believe has been making a difference in the past few weeks. Second, I still wouldn’t mind some financial assistance coming in. I have a lot of expenses that are coming up this Summer. Third, I ask for prayers in a third related area of my life. For now, let’s get to the text. We’re going to be looking at Revelation 17:12-14.

 ¹²“The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. ¹³They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”

Remember readers that for the eschatology, I’m letting you all come to your own conclusions. I hope what I’ve said in the look at Revelation so far has been something that people of all manner of different eschatological persuasions can agree with.

Evil kings here are seen as going to war against the Lamb. Once again, we must not lose sight of the terminology that we have taking place. Who would think about writing something about kings going to war against a Lamb, yet so many times we have read this book probably and overlooked this term, which is the one John uses the most. (Interestingly, it’s also the one that in the gospel of John, John the Baptist uses to introduce Jesus to John.)

Note that the Lamb is referred to as the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. Let’s look at the first one first. The reader would think of Deuteronomy 10:17.

For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.

And Psalm 136:3

Give thanks to the Lord of lords,for his steadfast love endures forever;

Both of these speak of his deity. YHWH was said to be the Lord of Lords, supreme over all of the supposed gods of other religions. The Lord of Lords title was the superlative way of referring to someone as Lord. It is akin to our saying “The best of the best.”

Other kings were frequently called the King of Kings in the same way, such as Nebuchadnezzar. What does this say about Jesus then? By applying both, Jesus is the supreme God and he is the supreme king. He is the ruler of men and he is the ruler in the spiritual realm as well. Putting both together shows the high rank that he holds in the universe.

All of this belongs to who? The Lamb.

The comfort we can get? It is because of who the Lamb is that he is able to overcome. How he overcomes evil does not matter. John doesn’t tell us. What matters is that he overcomes evil because of who he is. He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

We shall continue tomorrow.

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. We are continuing now our Trinitarian Commentary in the book of Revelation. There are just 6 chapters to go as we start chapter 17 tonight. It’s really incredible that we’ve come all this way. I hope you all have got a lot out of this study. I know I sure have. I had no idea it would be this huge project when I got started, but it has been and it’s been a blessing. Of course, I do ask for your prayers for my continued Christlikeness and I do believe that that is taking effect very well. I find my mode of thinking has changed to a better one. I also ask for your prayers in my financial situation. Finally, I ask for prayers in a related area of my life. For now, let us go to the text. It’s Revelation 17:8.

⁸The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come.

The beast in Revelation is the constant villain John has on the scene. Although he gets his power from satan, he is the one who is the main opponent of the saints. John wishes to contrast however the evil of the beast with the goodness of the Lamb.

In our Trinitarian study tonight, this will be a contrast verse. The beast is the representative of the powers of evil, but evil is always limited. There are times when it is essentially down for the count. Again, I leave it to my readers to work out the specific eschatological timeframes that they see in the book for themselves. We wish to talk instead about how Jesus relates to this.

In Revelation 1:8, we saw that God is described as the one who was, who is, and who is to come. We’ve said a number of times that Jesus is in the divine identity meaning the same could be said of him. Jesus is goodness by nature. There is never a time when good is not. There are times when evil is not. Evil is the privation of the good that ought to be there.

The reminder for the Christian in any day and age is first off a good one. It is first that evil will never be eternal. There will be times when evil is not on the scene. Now I am not saying we have a perfect world in this life, but there are times where we do experience some relief from suffering. Evil always comes back however. The Christian reminder is that God is always there when that evil shows up. He outlasts all evil and he will outlast all evil. What a message to the church that the greatest adversaries that we can face are on a leash.

Let us fear not evil, but overcome evil with good.

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. I’d like to thank someone who contacted me privately to say that they’re appreciating the blog. That’s always something good to hear, as well as their advice on Christlikeness. That is something even better to hear. We will be looking at Revelation 15 tonight in our Trinitarian Commentary. I won’t be putting up the text because I plan to get the main idea of the chapter and so I hope you’ll follow along in your Bibles or at a website like www.biblegateway.com. I do wish to reiterate those prayer requests. The first is for my Christlikeness and I am seeing a change take place that does please me. The second is for my financial situation and I am hoping for another great windfall. The third is for another related area. For now, let’s get to the chapter.

This chapter is about the victory of the saints over the beast and we are told about the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb. Once again, the Lamb is the usual referent that John uses when he speaks about Jesus. It’s likely that this is one song that is being referred to joining the old and the new together. For those who want to see the original Song of Moses, it’s in Exodus 15.

So what was the Song of Moses? The Song of Moses was victory after the crossing of the Red Sea. The people of Israel had been delivered from the bondage of Pharaoh. That imagery was always in the mind of the Jew in the Old Testament. God was the God who had delivered them from the land of Egypt.

Later, he was the one who had delivered them from Babylon. For the Jew however, there was always the thought of still being in exile even when they returned. The blessings of God had not been restored to them. They were still in captivity. N.T. Wright has argued that Jesus’s message was in essence “The exile is over.” His ministry was the start of the kingdom of God.

For the song of the Lamb then, it is announcing victory over evil forces. Again, it is not my point to state the timeframe of the events. However, I do wish to state the point of the song. There is victory for those who are in Christ. There has been promised freedom from the forces of evil.

What can be learned from this? It is that those who are united with the Lamb are victorious. We do not need to fear the forces of evil in any day or age. The same God who delivered Israel out of the bondage of Egypt can deliver us out of any bondage that we face today. There is a continuity throughout Scripture and while I do believe the canon is closed, it is still the same God acting throughout that canon and he is still acting in the world today. No matter our time or place, we can be sure that if we are with the Lamb, we will be victorious.

That is something that should make us sing!

Hello everyone and welcome to Deeper Waters where we dive into the ocean of truth. I am in a pretty good mood today and I’m thankful for that as I learn to be a more Christlike man. That is, of course, the first prayer request of my evening. Next, I ask for prayers for my finances. I was just writing a check and while I have enough in savings, things are getting tight. I’m cashing a paycheck soon, but I do hope enough comes in for my plans this summer. Lastly, I ask for your prayers in a related area. For now, let’s get to the Trinitarian Commentary where we will be looking at Revelation 14:9-10.

⁹A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, ¹⁰he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

We’ve been going through Revelation and noticing many odd things about the Lamb in this book. One such passage occurs tonight where we find the Lamb in a position that we wouldn’t expect and one that too often we have passed over probably without taking the time to consider what the text says.

I am a believer in the doctrine of Hell and I do believe it’s eternal conscious torment. I do not wish to make a defense of that at this point as I have done so in other blogs. For now, I will simply assume it for the sake of argument as I examine the text.

We are told in this text that if anyone takes the mark of the beast and worships him, then he will be tormented with burning sulphur. There is hardly a more terrifying picture of judgment, but what is interesting about this is that all of this takes place in the presence of the Lamb.

We must once again lose the idea of the Lamb as meek and mild. In this book, the Lamb goes against everything that we think a lamb would do. He is one who is feared and one who is a judge. In this passage, he is surrounded by the holy angels and apparently stands in judgment of all those who did not take his mark, indicating his forthcoming victory in the book over the beast.

As we go through the book then, we will see more about the Lamb in relation to his victory over the beast. While the beast is seen as a monstrosity, the Lamb, while having a different description, is the conqueror. The Lamb  is not considered to be a beast but to be the Lord of all the creation. This will mean the Lord over the beast even in that the beast must submit to the Lamb ultimately. It won’t be willingly, but in the end, the Lamb will prevail.

What a message of hope that would be to the ancient church. So should it be to us today.

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. Tonight we’re going to be continuing our Trinitarian Commentary by looking at Revelation 14:1-5. First, I ask for your prayers for my continued Christlikeness. I believe these are being effective as noted by the words of my friends and my own thinking being more sound and logical. Second, I ask for your prayers concerning my financial situation. Third, I ask for your prayers in a third related area in my life that I believe God is working at. For now, let’s go to the text:

¹Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. ²And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. ³And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.⁴These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.⁵No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

What an image this must have been. The lamb was standing. Let us take the time to consider that. The lamb seems to be the favorite term John uses to describe Jesus and as we know, lambs don’t stand. However, this lamb is standing and he is standing on Mt. Zion, a mountain that represents salvation in the OT.

He has with him the 144,000. His name is on them as is the name of his Father. It is an interesting reference to see the Father of the Lamb being spoken of. There is a picture of majesty symbolized by such sounds as the sound of rushing water and a loud peal of thunder. One interesting thing to do with Revelation is to note how many times the word “like” shows up in the text. John cannot truly describe what he sees. He just says “like.”

The 144,000 in this passage are those who follow the lamb wherever he goes. This is not meaning in a directional sense, such as taking a turn on Main street and continuing till one reaches Trade Street. No. This is more along the lines of the path of the cross. They are disciples of the Lamb and are willing to follow that path to the bitter end. This would be a message of comfort for many who had to take that path and should be a message of comfort today.

These came from among men we are told and were offered as firstfruits. What is important for our purposes is that these are seen as a sacrifice to the Lamb and to God. Normally, a lamb would be offered as a sacrifice on behalf of the people. In this case, the people are being a sacrifice of sorts on behalf of the Lamb.

What an exalted view John has of the Lamb and as we see, his work is directly tied into the work of God. The two are not separated. If we are to honor God, we must be prepared to honor the Lamb, not as one of a lesser nature, but as one of equal nature to the Father.

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. I certainly have had a busy day and I hope a very productive one and also one that has helped shape me into Christlikeness. As I think about that, isn’t that what we should hope for every day? Thus, with my prayer requests, I ask that you keep praying that for me. I also ask for your prayers in my financial situation. I’m in a very tight spot with a lot to plan for and I’m going to need a lot of resources to do it. Lastly, I ask for prayer in a third related area in my life to which at this time I will not state what it is. Tonight, we’re going to continue our Trinitarian commentary with Revelation 12:10-12.

¹⁰Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
¹¹They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
¹²Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”

This is a hymn of victory after the defeat of the devil. We are interested mainly in seeing what this tells us about the doctrine of the Trinity. Noteworthy is that victory is seen as coming through salvation. The offer of salvation and the possibility of it being actualized is seen as victory. It means the devil has not made the world and the human race irredeemable. God has won again.

Notice that this is to the kingdom of God and the authority of his Christ, that is, Jesus, the Messiah. The two are again tied in together. The power of God and the authority of Christ both have brought about the victory in the world. It is the power of God that transform a life and it is by the name of Jesus that that power is given to us.

In fact, what is interesting is that in verse 11, we are told that it is us who overcame the evil one. How? We did it by the blood of the lamb. How incredible. By proclaiming Christ, we have defeated satan. When we make Jesus Lord of our lives, satan is defeated. What a message this must have been to the early church wondering if their efforts were in vain to proclaim the gospel. What a message it is to the church today when we wonder if our efforts are in vain to proclaim the gospel!

As the final part says, this is cause for rejoicing. Woe to those who are still in bondage. We should do what we can. Those of us who are free can rejoice, but we should also do what we can to make sure others have reason to rejoice. As Luther said, we are beggars telling other beggars where we found bread.

We shall continue tomorrow.

Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. Well I’ve certainly had a great evening and of course, the personal details are left to me and to those who I wish to reveal them. We’re going to be continuing our Trinitarian Commentary tonight. Can you believe we’re halfway through the last book of the Bible? Before that, some prayer requests. I first off ask for your prayers that I will continue on the path of Christlikeness and I believe I’ve made some progress today. I also ask for prayers with my finances as the windfall I had was good for one purpose, but there’s still more needed. I finally ask for prayers for the related area in my life that all will go well. God’s changing me there I believe. For now, let’s go to the text of Revelation 12:1-6.

¹A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.²She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.³Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. ⁴His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. ⁵She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. ⁶The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

Many of us are familiar with the Christmas story. We think of shepherds visiting and wise men. The most dangerous part we see is when Herod tried to kill the baby Jesus. I believe Revelation 12 is telling that from a different perspective. Now if you disagree, that’s fine. I do think we can all agree that this child however is Jesus.

What do we know about this child. First, this child is in direct opposition to the work of satan. If this child succeeds, the powers of darkness fail. This I believe is why Herod really sought to kill the child. Herod’s act was demonically inspired. I’m not saying Herod was possessed, but I’m saying he was tempted and with a bloodthirsty king like him, it was easy to give in.

This child will rule all nations with an iron scepter. We think of Jesus as meek and mild. Jesus came to save, but he also will be the king who sits on the throne one day and all will bow before him. We dare not believe in Jesus meek and mild exclusively. The one that prayed “Father, forgive them” is the one that will judge them if they do not repent.

Finally, this child is snatched up before God. While Jesus has ontological equality with God, we must remember that he is distinct from the Father. A great error in the church lies in that we usually use illustrations of the Trinity that are modalistic, such as a man who is a husband, a son, and a father. Great illustration if you want to show the heresy of modalism. Terrible if you want to show Trinitarianism.

In the end, we have the Lord who is fully God who will rule the nations. His work is in opposition to the works of the devil that he has come to end. May that end come soon.