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May 2020

More from Revelation

Here are further notes written last year. I include a new prayer.

Friday 31st May, 2019: Revelation 18:9-20: Godly sorrow.

“9 ‘When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. 10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:

‘“Woe! Woe to you, great city,
    you mighty city of Babylon!
In one hour your doom has come!”

11 ‘The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more – 12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.

14 ‘They will say, “The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your luxury and splendour have vanished, never to be recovered.” 15 The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn 16 and cry out:

‘“Woe! Woe to you, great city,
    dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet,
    and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!
17 In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!”

‘Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. 18 When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, “Was there ever a city like this great city?” 19 They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:

‘“Woe! Woe to you, great city,
    where all who had ships on the sea
    became rich through her wealth!
In one hour she has been brought to ruin!”

20 ‘Rejoice over her, you heavens!
    Rejoice, you people of God!
    Rejoice, apostles and prophets!
For God has judged her
    with the judgment she imposed on you.’” NIV

 

‘’Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death’’ (2 Corinthians 7:10).

As Babylon disappears in a plume of smoke, great grief is expressed by those who benefited from the system. But this is not repentance. It may well be regret and remorse, but the dismay is over their ruin – their financial losses. It is not repentance for sin. These who mourn are not blessed; they will not be comforted, for they are not mourning over their wickedness. We have here an example of what Paul calls ‘’worldly sorrow.’’

 PRAYER: Lord, at a time when we understand that many people are turning to you in prayer and linking with online services, we ask that this will not be a superficial turning. May we truly mourn over our sin, and not just our losses.

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More from the Interlude on Revelation

What we are going through may just be one of many ‘overtures’ to the ultimate fall of ‘Babylon, but be clear that Babylon’s days are numbered.

 Thursday 30th May 2019: Revelation 18: 11-13: Soul-traders.

“11 ‘The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more – 12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.” NIV

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with trade. We live in an inter-connected world where people grow things, produce things, make things which others want and/or need, and are prepared to pay for. I can’t see that there is anything fundamentally wrong with the idea of goods fairly sold at a fair price. I don’t think the book of Revelation is condemning the normal processes of trading at this point. But, like everything else in the world, trade is now tainted by sin; it is contaminated by lust and greed, covetousness and dishonesty etc. Things get bought and sold that shouldn’t be. This also applies to people.

There is something slap you in the face shocking about the statement:

‘’…and bodies and souls of men’’ (13b).

 There is also something tragically contemporary about it. Human trafficking is a huge, corrupt, wicked business right now. We have modern forms of slavery.

Tom Wright explains its place in Roman times:

‘Slavery was to the ancient world, more or less, what steam, oil, gas, electricity and nuclear power are to the modern world. Slavery was how things got done. Life was almost literally unthinkable without it.

And yet John believed in the God of the Exodus, the God who sets slaves free. A huge amount of his book, as we have seen, was built up on the basis that what God did in Egypt he will do again, this time on a cosmic scale – and that the basic act of slave-freeing has already taken place with the sacrificial death of Jesus…(5.9)’ ‘Revelation for Everyone’ pp.164/165.

Slavery was the system upon which the ancient world was built. It was one of the expressions of ‘Babylon’ then, and it remains so now. But as we keep seeing, ‘Babylon’s’ days are numbered.

 

 

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Thoughts for today

I find there are many blessings in keeping a journal. This time last year Jilly and I were in Florence, and day by day we had separate quiet times, and then came together to share what we had discovered in God’s Word. We were looking at the later chapters of the book of Revelation. As I was reading my journal this week, and looking at the notes I had made, I could scarcely believe their relevance to the present time.

When we returned home, these jottings became the basic ‘ingredients’ for a number of devotional thoughts. For the next few days, I’m going to interrupt the current series on   1 Peter, and have a few re-runs from Revelation 18. I’m not saying we are living through the fall of ‘Babylon’. We may be. I don’t know for sure. But I think this is certainly a foretaste of it’s fall, and a warning to turn fully to the living God. Let’s make sure that we are not building our lives on idols that will fail us, and ultimately fall.

So here are my thoughts from Wednesday 29th May 2019:                                      Revelation 18:9-20: Three Woes

“9 ‘When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. 10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:

‘“Woe! Woe to you, great city,
    you mighty city of Babylon!
In one hour your doom has come!”

11 ‘The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more – 12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.

14 ‘They will say, “The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your luxury and splendour have vanished, never to be recovered.” 15 The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn 16 and cry out:

‘“Woe! Woe to you, great city,
    dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet,
    and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!
17 In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!”

‘Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. 18 When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, “Was there ever a city like this great city?” 19 They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:

‘“Woe! Woe to you, great city,
    where all who had ships on the sea
    became rich through her wealth!
In one hour she has been brought to ruin!”

20 ‘Rejoice over her, you heavens!
    Rejoice, you people of God!
    Rejoice, apostles and prophets!
For God has judged her
    with the judgment she imposed on you.’ NIV

 

Everything in the world which is man-made, however glorious it may appear, has a ‘sell-by’ date on it. It won’t last. Nothing in this world will, but Jesus’ words ‘’will never pass away’’ (Matthew 24:35).

I was considering this recently while on holiday in the beautiful Italian city of Florence. Jilly and I visited the Pitti Palace, where the powerful Medici family once lived and ruled. Their art treasures may still be around, but they are long gone. In the state rooms we saw portraits of various people who must, at one time, have been famous, wealthy, and maybe even feared. But we had no idea who they were! So it goes with this world’s pomp and glory. It is fading and passing.

‘The pleasures of sin are but for a season, and they will end in dismal sorrow.’ Matthew Henry

‘Babylon’ – the world system – is under God’s judgment, and it is a just judgment. She is on borrowed time. I was impressed by this quote from the ‘IVP New Testament Commentary’:

‘The kings, merchants and seafarers of the earth mourn Babylon’s demise with three variations, or stanzas, of the same song (18:10, 16/17, 19)…The merchants and the seafarers elaborate the basic stanza in keeping with their respective interests…The seafarers do not know it yet, but before long the sea itself will be gone (21:1).’

‘’The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever’’ (1 John 2:17).

 

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Daily Bible Thoughts: 1 Peter 3:14: Word for Today

14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. ‘Do not fear their threats ; do not be frightened.’ NIV

As a Christian you live in a hostile world, and that can be scary. There are people who hate God and therefore loathe His church and want to do damage to it; some even want to get rid of it. True believers are, at one level, ‘an endangered species’. It is dangerous to be a Christian, even when you don’t feel in danger.

Living with this reality could play havoc with your emotions. Where you feel the intimidating presence of persecution on a regular (if not daily) basis, as Peter’s first readers no doubt did, you could cave in to fear.

But Peter quotes a text that surely is a ‘word for today.’

‘’Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.’’

 Once again I remember that Peter spent a lot of time in Jesus’ company, and what two words did Jesus repeatedly say?

‘’Fear not.’’

 Here in verse 14b we have ‘a quotation from Isaiah 8:12. Peter’s meaning is that we believers should not fear the things other people fear. Other people fear the loss of their wealth. Or they fear the loss of health-they fear death. These are things that believers in Christ do not need to fear.’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.915.

PRAYER: Lord, in my best moments, I know that I have nothing to fear. But I confess that I am often assaulted by all kinds of fears. Like the psalmist, as I seek you, please deliver me from all fears. In these frightening times, I pray that my peaceful life will be a wonderful advert for your Kingdom.

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Daily Bible Thoughts: 1 Peter 3: 13-14: More on the blessed life

13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. ‘Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” NIV

Peter is saying in this passage that the ‘’good’’ life is a blessed life (9b). But (and this is counter-intuitive) part of that blessing comes our way in persecution (14a). There are bad people who are opposed to the good life.

‘’Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?’’ It seems like a ‘no-brainer’. Who would want to hurt people who bring good to the world? But the sad, and realistic, truth is that there are plenty of such people out there. Peter goes on to highlight that there are ‘’those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ’’ (16). He recognises that a Christian can ‘’suffer for doing good’’ (17), and that this can be ‘’God’s will’’.

 So we must say that ‘the good life’ will not necessarily be an easy life. We should not expect it.

Again, the Peter who wrote these words was there on the hillside when Jesus said:

‘’Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.’’ (Matthew 5:10 – 12).

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1 Peter 3:10: Button it

10 For,‘Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.”NIV

‘’He that keeps his mouth keeps his life…’’ Proverbs 13:3

‘Beware of leaving your tongue in gear when your mind is in neutral.’

I don’t know who said the above, but it’s a super quote. As Peter writes about ‘the good life’, he emphasises how important it is to rein in the tongue, and he indicates that this is possible. We know from James 3:1-12 (and from regrettable personal experience!) that it is oh so difficult to control our speech. But it’s not impossible for anyone who has Jesus living in them by the Holy Spirit. (Consider 1 Peter 2:23).

I am learning, over the long haul, that this must apply not only to the words I speak out loud, in conversation, with others, but also to what I quietly say to myself inside my own head. I can create scenarios in my mind that have no objective reality; I can tell myself lies about what is happening and believe them as if they were true. I doubt that I’m alone in this. We need to be careful about our self-talk (and we are always talking to ourselves).

To live ‘the good life’ we must walk in repentance (11). Positively, we are to pursue peace; negatively, we must turn from all evil. This includes the sins of speech.

PRAYER: ‘’Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.’’Psalm 141:3

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1 Peter 3:8-12: The good life

8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For,

‘Whoever would love life
    and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
    and their lips from deceitful speech.
11 They must turn from evil and do good;
    they must seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
    and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. NIV

 

In these verses Peter describes, and calls Christians to,‘the good life’. It is one in which we love others; where we seek to do them good, even though they may treat us bad. It’s about ‘’blessing’’ others (and consequently being blessed by God).

In the ‘Sermon on the mount’ Jesus taught: ‘’Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven’’ (Matthew 5:44,45b).

In the previous section we saw the importance of prayer at the heart of marriage (7). It struck me just the other day that this is its ‘next door neighbour’ passage, and it too has prayer at its heart (12). If we would live the good life, as it is described here (and see how different it looks to the world’s definition. Some of you will remember the ‘Martini’ adverts from a few years ago!), then we can only do it prayerfully. Prayer is the ‘engine room’ of the Christian life.

‘Little prayer, little power; some prayer, some power; much prayer, much power.’

PRAYER: Lord, teach us to pray.

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1 Peter 3:8: Good soil

“8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.” NIV

It’s interesting that among the various words used in this verse to call believers to loving harmony, there is also mention of humility.

Humility is good soil in which so many other lovely graces will bloom. It is absolutely essential for peaceful relationships in the home, in the church…in fact anywhere! Pride is utterly destructive of human concord.

I find that when I feel hurt; when I think I’ve been badly done to or mistreated; if I take a long hard, honest look in the mirror, I usually see a lot of pride in the reflection. I think that for some reason I deserve better. Why do my thoughts travel in that direction? Because I think I’m more important than I am. What is that? Well, being quite clinical, it begins with ‘p’ and ends in ‘e’ and has ‘rid’ in the middle.

Towards the end of this letter Peter is to write:

‘’All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”[

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.’’ (5:5b,6).

Remember God’s law of gravity: What goes down must come up! (See Philippians 2:1-11).

PRAYER: Lord, you call us to, in humility, consider others better than ourselves; to look not only to own interests but also to theirs. Lord you know me better than I know myself, and you know why I say to you, I’m going to need help with this. Even as I ask for your strength, I know it is already given, and I thank you.

 

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1 Peter 3:8-9: Starting at home

8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” NIV

‘’Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.’’ The Message.

I appreciate that some who read these notes will be living alone. My heart goes out to you, especially if you’re finding it extra hard at the moment. But these words do apply to you, and you will be given many challenging opportunities in life to practice this teaching with people who live beyond your four walls:

‘’That goes for all, no exceptions’’.

 Nevertheless, please will you bear with me while I say a word to couples and families? It’s just this: that the behaviour Peter advocates is not merely a recipe for harmony in the local church. It starts at home, and arguably that may be (at least for some) the most difficult place to do this. These days of ‘lock-down’ could well have compounded the problems. But remember, in the early church, many Christian congregations would be located in homes, and made up of extended families. This teaching very much applies to home life.

But, thankfully, Peter does not envisage anyone having to live this way under their own steam – as we shall see.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I once heard that home is ‘the place where we are treated the best, and behave the worst.’ I pray this will not be true of my home, but with your help, let it be a place of harmony, peace and true Christian fellowship.

 

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