Aidios Theos

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. I Samuel 3:1

Image for a moment we are in ancient times and there is a great king that comes to your city. This great king comes through the city and enters the palace. And once there, he goes into a great throne room. The king invites certain individuals to come in with him to the throne room and sit at a large table. Then, the doors to the throne room are shut. This great king speaks with those at the table with very specific instructions, but those outside cannot hear what is said. What happens is those outside the doors began to speculate and wonder, and then rumors began. When the doors are open again, only those who are inside with the king hear what is said. Yet those outside the doors of the throne room run and begin to tell what they believe was said even though they were not inside the throne room with the king. At the right time, the king will destroy those false prophets for their iniquity. But in the interim there will be a war of words - those true and those false.

As we continue to dig deep into the book of Revelation, I want us to remember; ultimately we are here to honor and worship God. Every breath that we take, every action and decision should always be about glorifying God. And I want to remind us that God’s word contains many details and mysteries. Some of them we can know, others will likely remain mysteries, but we should always consider that God put all the words in his book. They all matter and we cannot ignore any part of it. Ronald Allen and Gordon Borror in their book, “Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel,” note a story of a master artist who traveled to America to work in places of worship. One day someone noticed this craftsman working really high up near the ceiling, and that no one would be able to see what he was working on. In other words, what the artist was working on would never be seen from the floor. So he asked the craftsman, “Why are you being so exact; no one can even see the detail you are creating from this distance? The artist quickly told the sightseer, “God can!” (p. 29) And I think this should be our attitude as we approach God and his word - every book, page, chapter and verse matters. Every detail counts.

When we think about end-times theology, we are immediately transported to the idea of the four horsemen. Many people many not even know where this idea comes from – Revelation chapter 6. But before we dive into the six seals of Revelation 6, I want to pause a moment and reflect on why we do this in the first place. I have a book on my shelf titled, “The Last Days According to Jesus,” it was written by Dr. R. C. Sproul. In the introduction Dr. Sproul explains why there is a crisis in eschatology. The critical view of the Bible that many have today originated during the Enlightenment, when rational and naturalistic philosophy was at its zenith. This was followed by Hegelian philosophy which had an evolutionary view of history. All of this was leading to a religion that was not supernatural and did not include a transcendent God. Jesus is reduced to a magician or moral teacher. In 1906, Albert Schweitzer published, “The Quest for the Historical Jesus.” Schweitzer states that Jesus believed that the kingdom of God would be inaugurated by a catastrophic event, a divine act of God. But according to Schweitzer this never occurred, so the eschatology of Jesus was unfulfilled. Put another way, the expectations of Jesus for the kingdom of God were delayed. But of course when we read the New Testament, we find that the kingdom of God is at hand. In Matthew 3, John the Baptist declares, “the axe is laid to the root of the trees.” And this is why we do this. For centuries the academic world has consistently undermined and attacked the Word of God. My goal is to set the record straight and defend the truth!

In the book, The Apocalypse Today, Thomas Torrance states, “Surely there is a question here we must ask of ourselves. If there is no wormwood, are we really in touch with the Word of God? If our message is not disturbing and even sometimes tormenting, may we not wonder whether we have ever really eaten God’s holy Word?... Why does the Church of Jesus Christ today sit so easy to her surroundings? Why do Christian people live such comfortable and even undisturbed lives in this evil and disturbed world? Surely it is because we are not true to the Word of God.”

"As I looked, this horn made war with the saints, and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints received the kingdom." Daniel 7: 22

Little Horn

“And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.” Revelation 17:3

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; Daniel 2:20-21

Consider what the Bible tells us about defending the gospel.

Purpose

It is always important to know when a book is written, and this is especially true of Biblical books because it aids in our interpretation of what the author is trying to convey. Revelation is a special case because most people do not realize how the date of its writing actually affects the interpretation. Two of the views of Revelation are futurism, meaning the events described in entire book of Revelation (or most of the book, Ch. 4-22) are in the future from the date of its writing. However, Preterism requires a date before 70 A.D. because this view holds that the most of the events in Revelation (Ch. 1-19, partial preterism) are about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the events leading up to it. The book of Revelation is a prophecy about events that would soon take place. So, establishing the date of Revelation is crucial to interpreting the book. Or put another way, the dating of the book can eliminate certain views and give us a better picture of what the Apostle John was talking about in the visions of the book.