[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 363 – Revelation 9-12; Luke 22 summary!
2 Samuel 22 offers us an example of David’s poetry. We know David wrote many of the Psalms included in the Bible. The poem in chapter 22 gives God the credit and glory for all of David’s victories in battle and for protecting him throughout his life. We find parts of this poem in several of the psalms. David calls God his “rock.” He tells us he called out to God in his distress and God answered. We see the personal nature of the relationship David had with God, and we are reminded of God’s desire for us to be in relationship with Him. As we examine the various religions of the world, we find most of them point to an impersonal god or gods, but the God of Israel, the true and living God, always looks for people, and upholds the righteous. That was certainly the case in David’s life. David was imperfect as all of us are, but God loved him and blessed him throughout his life.
As we move to 2 Samuel 23, we are told we are reading the last words of David. They aren’t the “last” words of David, but they do point us to the end of David’s reign as king. David recalls that God promised to have one of his descendants rule on Israel’s throne for all generations after him. The second half of the chapter lists David’s thirty mighty men. In reality, the list includes “the three,” who were mightier than the thirty along with the thirty. As we read the men’s names, along with their exploits in David’s service, what strikes me is the loyalty these men showed David. Every leader knows loyalty is a vital component of being an effective and successful leader. After all, as John Maxwell once put it, “If you think you are leading, but no one is following, then you’re only taking a walk.” David was never simply taking a walk. He had people who were willing to die for him, to kill for him, and to go wherever he led them. That loyalty was earned by David’s own loyalty to the LORD, and to his men.
In 2 Samuel 24, we read about one of David’s last actions as king. It was an ill-advised command to take a census of Israel and Judah. The reason the action was ill-advised was it resulted in God’s judgment. We’re told God incited David to command the census, but the command was a test from God, which David failed. To count one’s people or troops in that day showed a desire to demonstrate one’s power or influence. David ought to have trusted in the LORD and not the number of his people or troops. Joab realized as much and attempted to dissuade David from having the census carried out. When the census was completed, the LORD sent Gad, the prophet, to David and gave him three options for how judgment would be carried out for this act of rebellion against God and His provision. David chose a plague, because it would put the final death toll in the LORD’s hands, rather than in the hands of David’s enemies. 70,000 people died through the plague, which finally ended when David bought the threshing floor of Aruanah, and offered sacrifices to the LORD there. When Aruanah offered to give David the threshing floor and the oxen needed to offer the sacrifice, David said he would not offer to the LORD that which cost him nothing. What a powerful principle for us to keep in mind as we live our lives. God offers His salvation to us freely through the blood of Jesus, and yet Jesus told us if we want to be His followers, we must deny ourselves, take up our crosses daily and follow Him. Our salvation was free to us, but it cost Jesus everything. As we live out our faith, it will have a cost for us as well.
As we return to Mark 14, we return to the painful last night of Jesus’ life. The chapter starts with Jesus having a meal in Bethany and being anointed with expensive perfume. Some in the group were upset the money was “wasted,” as the perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. But Jesus affirmed the action and pointed out the woman was preparing his body for burial. He said she would be remembered for her good deed. Then we read about the Last Supper, Jesus’ prediction of Peter’s denial, Jesus’ time of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, His arrest and finally of Peter’s denying three times he had ever known Jesus. When it came to the last moments before Jesus was crucified, He was alone. Those closest to Him either betrayed Him, denied Him or abandoned Him. This had to be one of the darkest moments in Jesus’ life. We know from His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane that He asked God to remove what was coming ahead of Him. Jesus knew He was going to take the sin of the world on His shoulders on the cross, and it shook Him to the core. Yet, in the end He told His heavenly Father, “Not My will, but Your will be done.” That attitude shows us Jesus is both Lord and Savior for us. While as Lord He owns us and gets to tell us what to do, He was first willing to die for us to purchase our lives out of sin, so He can lead us. That kind of Lord is worthy of being served!
Day 363 – Revelation 9-12; Luke 22
Revelation 9 offers us an explanation for what will happen when the fifth and sixth trumpets are blown. The first will result in a plague of locusts, with stings like scorpions that will hurt but not kill those who are stung. The second will result in the death of one third of humanity. I once had a professor who called the fractions of people killed by the various attacks in the end times as “fractions of grace.” God could simply wipe out everyone and everything on the earth, as He did during the time of the flood in Genesis 6-9, but He promised not to do that. It’s striking to notice the reaction of those who experienced the plagues and the attacks: they did not repent. Fallen humanity, of which we all start out as a part, seeks to blame others, to deny responsibility, and to reject God’s grace. Thankfully, some of us do accept it and receive the forgiveness of sin that has always been the only hope we have for living life in its fullness now, and forever.
Revelation 10 tells of another angel who came down from heaven with a scroll. He stood with one foot on the land and one on the sea. (We have a similar image in one of Daniel’s visions in the Old Testament.) In this case, the scroll causes seven “thunders” to speak, and John was about to write down what he heard, but he was told not to record it. Then John was given the scroll to eat. He was told it would be sweet in his mouth, but it would be sour in his stomach. This reference to sweet in the mouth and sour in the stomach is one we read fairly often among the prophets of the Old Testament. The point is sometimes a message of judgement “tastes” good as we offer it, but when we consider the consequences of it, it sours our stomachs. Once we have tasted the grace of God in our lives, it is no longer possible to experience His judgment without some sorrow for those who must experience it.
Revelation 11 starts with a record of two witnesses, who are Moses and Elijah. They will testify for “1260 days.” This number is significant in the Book of Revelation, and in the Book of Daniel. It is also recorded as three and a half years, or as a time, two times, and a half time. Each is a way of saying a short (three and a half years), and indefinite period of time. After their time of prophesying against those who have rejected God, the beast or anti-Christ is released to kill them. After they were dead for three and half days, God resurrected them and called them back to heaven. Following this the seventh trumpet was sounded, and worship is proclaimed forever and ever. If the Book of Revelation ended here, we wouldn’t miss not having the rest of it, except that Revelation 21-22 tells us some amazing things about heaven. The intervening chapters 12-20 tell us again and again of the judgment on those who reject Jesus.
Revelation 12 offers us a fantastic description of two crucial events: Jesus’ birth and the devil and his demons being cast down from heaven. The first part of the account seems to happen after the first, because the devil couldn’t have been waiting to kill Jesus, before he became the devil! In any case, the descriptions in the book of Revelation cause a great deal of challenge to those who seek to interpret every image literally. The dragon has long been an image for the devil, but he is a fallen angel, who even now can appear to us as “an angel of light,” as the Apostle Paul reminded us. The scariest thing about the devil these days is how many people he has convinced he doesn’t exist. It’s extremely challenging to fight an enemy we don’t believe exists. Revelation 12 reminds us he does exist and his goal is to destroy anyone and anything that serves Jesus.
As we return to Luke 22, Judas leaves the group to meet with the religious leaders. He agrees to betray Jesus. This is followed by Jesus last supper with the disciples, followed by Jesus praying in Gethsemane. After this is Jesus’ arrest, Peter’s denial of Jesus, and the soldiers mocking Jesus, and His trial before Pilate. All-in-all, next to Jesus being crucified, this was the worst day in the history of humanity, because we conspired to crucify our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. When I say “we” conspired, “we” weren’t there physically, but it was our sin that put Jesus in that place, and if we were in that time and place we know we would either have ignored Him, denied Him or betrayed Him, because that is what those closest to Him did!