Revelation 22

2 things today, as we wrap it up.  I like how this verse sounds.  Let the thirsty drink the water of life!

17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

2nd verse that caught my attention is this:

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City,

This book is so full of imagery and mysterious depictions of wild visions.  And yet, it says they are not to be added to, or taken away from.  That means that everything that is written here is important to God, and important for us to understand.  I must admit, its a real challenge for me.  I kept referring back to the "understanding revelation" web site, to try to decifer it.  This is a book that could be studied for the rest of your life, and still not unlock everything in there.

BOOM!
done, 1 time through!

have a great Thanksgiving break!
Give all of your family a hug for me

tp

Revelation 21

6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. 

I can't imagine what this will, or must be like for God.  We have only seen a snipet of time.  We only see what our perspective shows us.  But, he has seen all of humanity.  He has witnessed all the good and bad in all of us.  And at this point, his plan is complete.  "It is done."

When I finish a big project,(by big project I mean putting up a towel rack or something like that) I always get this rush of accomplishment and satisfaction.  I wonder if God is that way.  When his MASSIVE "project" is done....what will he look at it and say?  Will he say, "man that was a mess!", "it's about time!", "I can't believe its done"  I wonder.

tp

Revelation 20

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gog_and_Magog

this is an interesting reference to the 2 names mentioned in the first part.


Let me ask what might be a COMPLETELY crazy question.  As I read through this book.  I keep seeing references to Christ waking up the dead.  Some where good and some where not.  This gets into a discussion about time....but, I always envisioned the soul passing from the body to heaven...immediately.  In many of these chapters it sounds like the dead will sleep until it is time to sort everybody out.  Do you read it that way?  What is your thought?

I'm not sure if I've ever heard of the second death before.  It brings the concept of being a "born again Christian" into my thoughts.  Are those two related?

The lake of fire is the second death.15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Lots of questions today...

Revelation 19

This chapter reads a little like the Lord of the Rings.  With Jesus coming in riding a white horse.  Or maybe I should say that the Lord of the Rings stole some of its imagery from Revelation.  This represents the final squashing of evil, by Christ.  

I was curious about the wedding reference, and the label of bride.  I know that we've read several times about the church being Christ's bride.  I thought this timeline was interesting in regards to that idea.

Figuratively, with reference to the church,

1. The betrothal takes place on earth during the church age;
2. The presentation will take place in heaven following the Rapture (v.7); and
3. The marriage feast will take place on earth following Christ's return with the church.

This is an interesting idea about the "opening of heaven"

Again as we saw in chapter four, a door opened in heaven. This opening of heaven is not to go in, but is the opening for Jesus and His followers to come out. The door to heaven has never been closed for the Christians to enter in. The "horse" symbolizes war, and the fact that it is "white", symbolizes victory. White, also, symbolizes holiness and righteousness. This tells us that this war is a holy war, and Jesus is victorious.

lots of rambling today.

Revelation 18

Couple things caught my eye today.
The first is the gender assignment given to this "thing."  It is consistently called a woman or her or she.  I don't know what that means, just thought it was interesting.  It seems like it is something that has led us astray......just like Eve did?.....hmmmm

11 “The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore— 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.

This is the second part of what I grabbed.  This is the first time in a while where the results are actual and easy to comprehend.  This says that the business world will be turned on its head and the typical economic engine will cease to work.  That would mean mental and physical disaster for most people.

tp

Revelation 17

I'm not sure what to take from this one.
I read the "helper" notes.....and I'm still a little lost for words.
The language is pretty rough in this one.  The notes talked about what the symbolism means, but I still don't know what I'm supposed to take from this one.

Here's my simple take on what is in here.
The "prostitute" represents the many people who are focused more on the world than on God.  And yet, they still think they are part of the church.  She is dressed very fancy.....just like the world would treasure....but she is missing the true point, which is God and his plan.  She is sitting on the beast because she has completely submitted to the beast (being the worldly looking glass)  It even talks about this method gaining power, but only for a short time.

I don't know.
I could be WAY off on this one.

tp