If you don't
have a One Year Bible or prefer something online, this link will take you to
the day's reading, http://oneyearbibleonline.com/daily-oyb/. This
site allows you to select from several languages and several English
translations.
DECEMBER 25
Merry
Christmas! Everyone thinks of peace and silence when they celebrate Christmas.
Even if they don't believe in Jesus, they think of peace. They like the festive
atmosphere, and they like the day off of work. It really is too bad that they
don't get what is going on. Jesus' second coming will have peace and silence
only after the dust has settled, and that is putting it lightly. Today I was
reading about Jesus evading arrest in the temple around Hanukkah (around Dec.
25, just months before His sacrifice), and later saying to some Pharisees who
were trying to scare Him in Luke 13:34-35, O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are
sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen
gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house
is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, "Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
The
offer of peace comes and goes. People still miss Him this Christmas, although
the offer is being made today. Until a person is thirsty, they will not come to
the waters. Until they are so needy that they cry out, "I need you"
(or, blessed is He comes in the name of the Lord), they will not welcome the message
or the Messiah. As disciples, we bring this message of His coming and His offer
into the harvest; and those who are thirsty come to the waters and find peace.
Zechariah 8
The
time of these messages is still the occasion noted at the beginning of chapter
7. The people had come to Zechariah and asked him if they still needed to fast
for Jerusalem. To understand everything God is saying be sure to underline, Thus says the Lord of Hosts.
Vs.
1-8 We have a "before and after" scenario here. Verses 1-2 have His
wrath against the nations (wait until you read the chapter in Revelation
today), but the rest of the verses describe peace and security, with God
dwelling in their midst. For Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the other leaders who have
had to deal with opposition from within and without, this vision of the future
of Jerusalem made their efforts worthwhile.
Vs.
1-3 Once again, notice God's care for Zion. Let Him punish Jerusalem and Israel if He must, but a wise nation would
make peace with these people and bless that city.
Vs.
4-5 This is what God has planned for the people of that future city.
Vs.
6-8 At the Lord's second coming He will gather all of Israel that is scattered
all over the world.
Vs.
9-13 The beginning and the end of this section says, let your hands be strong. Even though God would bless that present
remnant, the generation and remnant they were working for was the future Israel
that would be saved and be honored by God at the second coming of Christ. We
know enough from Ezra, Nehemiah, and Malachi to know that this present
generation did not honor the Lord. But that shouldn't discourage them, because
God has told them of the future and of His future blessing to the nation. God
has given us all of this information for the same purpose, to make our hands
strong as we follow Christ now in the harvest.
Vs.
14-17 If they had obeyed God, they would have experienced more blessing. When
we get to Malachi it will look very sad. Malachi reads like the 1 Corinthians
of the OT. Still, as evidence of God's deep patience and faithfulness, there
will be a remnant of Israel that will serve Him in the Tribulation and be a
testimony to the earth in the Millennial Kingdom.
Vs.
18-19 Instead of Israel commemorating their sad and tragic past by these fasts
they imposed upon themselves, God will turn their fasts into feasts. Notice the
last sentence and the therefore. What
do you think the therefore is there
for?
Vs.
20-23 This is their testimony to the nations in the Millennial Kingdom. For an
interesting connection to this, read Isaiah 55. In Isaiah 55 God tells Israel
how He will make this prophecy possible.
Revelation 16
As
I've mentioned before, the only people who will really understand what is
happening in the Tribulation, particularly the timing of events we're reading
about here, will be those who are believing and going through the Tribulation.
It will give them hope knowing what events follow what events. It will help
them hang on in faith and hope. One of the challenges in what we'll read today
is that the seals are very similar to the trumpets. Some think they are the
same thing and others only put some time between them. I think there is a space
of two years or more between the trumpets and the seals. I think the interlude
in the judgments has been used by God to allow mankind to accept or reject Him.
Their rejection has been shown in killing God's followers and then following
the antichrist. Receiving that mark was a terrible idea. I think God gave the
earth this interval of "calm" to give people a sense of false
security. They might have thought, "The worst is over, we survived and now
who cares about all that scary "God" stuff?" If that is the
case, the similarity of the bowls to the trumpets will let people know that God
was behind these plagues. The intensity of these bowls will be 100 times worse
than the trumpets and they come because the world is killing God's followers.
Vs.
1-2 The loud voice in this case intensifies the burning wrath of God. Notice
the wording of Zechariah 8:2. How poetic that the only people affected by this
will be those who received the mark of the beast. This will be a worldwide
plague of pain. And, it will give God's people a break from being pursued. Just
think, all the police and soldiers and politicians of the world will have the
mark and be hurting. During the Tribulation, those who are reading this will
understand that the bowls of God's judgment are underway. They will know
exactly when this judgment has begun. That's pretty cool, I'd say.
V.
3 The second trumpet killed a third of the fish. This second bowl kills all
marine life. God can make more fish later, but for now, the oceans are totally
dead. Also, the blood of a corpse looks black, not red.
Vs.
4-7 The fresh water will be turned to blood. Notice that this judgment shows
that all of these are in response to the people of the earth having killed
those who follow Christ. Note that the altar doesn't really speak. Under the
altar are the martyrs whose blood was spilled out for Christ.
Vs.
8-9 Everyone was happy that the sky finally began to clear up, but wait, the
ozone is gone! Whatever the problem is, people are burning up, worldwide. Even
a sunscreen rating of 835 isn't helping here. Notice that there is a connection
here to the plagues of Egypt in that people know it is God, but they do not
repent. It doesn't say that God hardened their hearts because, like Pharaoh,
their hearts were already hard.
Vs.
10-11 When God brought darkness to Egypt, it didn't affect the Jews (Ex.
10:23). That means this will only affect those nations that follow the
antichrist. It's hard to find your painkillers when you can't see. This is also
poetic justice for following Satan and ignoring God. They wanted darkness and
they got darkness. And again, they fail to repent. Apparently they had that
chance.
Vs.
12-16 Now, the Euphrates was already dried up once. My guess is that through
the power of the antichrist and the false prophet (beasts 1 and 2) the water
was restored to the river and a treaty of peace was made with China. This time,
it appears that the Euphrates is dry for good and the forces opposed to the
antichrist get mad. And guess what, because they don't follow the antichrist,
they can see and can march on toward him.
There
is a question here that we can't answer, but one that is good to consider. Why
are these armies assembling at Armageddon? We know the Lord is bringing them
there for the day of judgment, but Satan is also calling them there. Satan
knows that they couldn't be victorious against Jesus, any more than they could
be successful against Satan's own spiritual power. If Satan is rational at that
moment, the only thing I can imagine is that he is bringing mankind there to be
damned by God. I think that makes him happy, but it might also be that God
allows some nations to resist Satan, the antichrist, and the false prophet. As
we will see in the next chapters, "Babylon" never submitted to the
antichrist and will pay a price for that. Nothing makes you lose your mind more
than being the bully on the block and having someone mock you. It could be that
these spirits that go out are spiritually inciting the nations who oppose the
antichrist to come and duke it out so that Satan can destroy them. This option
would be my guess.
V.
15 is Jesus' note to the entire seven-year judgment, that it will begin without
warning. This period of time will be so devastating that it will be worth it to
be ready. You won't want to live through that time nor be present at this last
war. The reason I think Jesus is referring to the entire seven years is that by
the time you get to this time period of the Tribulation, those who believe will
be able to know that the time of His return is very near. When the war at
Armageddon begins, you could almost set your watch. On the other hand, this is
also a wake-up call for any followers at that time who have given up hope or
are overwhelmed by the sorrow and hardship. Jesus often said, "He who
endures to the end will be saved." "Saved" means they will be
kept from despair and damage.
Vs.
17-21 Not only is this a great earthquake, 793 on the Richter scale, but the
earth is also leveled and the islands cease to exist. One note here is that it
says that at the time of the Millennial Kingdom, Jerusalem will be the only
mountain in that area. That must mean that Jerusalem is spared some of the
devastation. It also means that the plain of Armageddon just became broader and
flatter. This might be why it says in Zechariah that Jesus will have to rebuild
the temple and why the city won't have any walls. But beyond Israel, every city
on earth will be destroyed. That will definitely slow down local governments
trying to find the followers of Jesus. Then there is a sound and light show and
100-pound hail. Even in Texas that would be considered big. Again, it looks
like this hailstorm is worldwide. I'll bet the insurance companies have ceased
to exist by this time. So, how can you curse God knowing He did this, and not
repent? But hey, we can do anything. We are Man.
I
think there will be some length of time in here. It will take time in this
newly and completely devastated world to rally troops to Israel. And now too,
we'll have an interlude because a city (nation?) of the world has been
completely destroyed and the earth will mourn.
Psalm 144
Vs.
1-2 I wonder if David wrote this after a battle. In the heat of fighting,
having narrowly missed many swords and arrows, and having defeated so many who
came against him, David is now able to think about what happened. Reflecting
back he realizes it was God who saved him and who gave him those unique moments
when he prevailed. In 2 Samuel 8 it mentions that David's battles were not only
with the "neighbors" but with other nations further north that were
called out by Syria to fight against David. David was actually fighting against
the "nations."
Vs.
3-4 We all need real moments like this. What are we that God is so interested
in us?
Vs.
5-8 As we are seeing in Zechariah and in Revelation, God's creative power also
works in humbling the pride and rebellion of men.
Vs.
9-11 Outside of The Psalms and one reference in Isaiah, the only other “new
songs” are in Revelation 5:9 and 14:3. These foreigners may have been those
mentioned in 2 Samuel 8.
Vs.
12-15 David's desire for the peace of the nation will be granted in the future
where Christ will reign and where David himself will be the leader of Israel
under Him.
It
is interesting that one of the things David thinks about is God's steadfast
love. God had anointed David as a young teen and told him through Samuel that
he would someday be king. David was probably amazed that he was still alive.
There was only one thing to which he could attribute this: the steadfast love
of the Lord.
As
disciples, God has promised us fruit, spiritual joy and abundance in following
Christ. But, we've got to keep following and pressing forward in the harvest.
And when it comes, we'll say, like David, that it was totally the Lord and our
fruit was the result of His steadfast, faithful love, just as He had promised.
Proverbs 30:29-31
We've just seen that God makes
things. He made the "small and wise" in the last proverbs. Today,
God made it naturally so, that these can't help but look stately and proud. It
is His doing. Tomorrow comes the lesson.
Please Read
the Following Disclaimer
I'm writing the Reading Notes to and
for those who are following a One Year Bible and are interested in growing
deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the
growth of a discipleship culture in the church, that is, groups of 3-4
disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to
reach out and make disciples, who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most
universal and important discipleship manual we have and it is the key to our
growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here,
or what we are to be doing, or whom we are to be following. My comments are
only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of
God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are
designed to keep us, as disciples, focused on Christ and our role in His
harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be
willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their
growth as disciples, making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a more descriptive
commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary (BKC).
I read the BKC in doing background for the Reading Notes and refer to it quite
often. I also make reference to maps or charts in the BKC, though I will only
note where those resources can be found. Often you can do a search for these
and find them in Google books. Buying both volumes of the Bible Knowledge
Commentary would be a good idea.
I am not endorsing any particular
One Year Bible translation; in fact, I read something you probably don't, Die
Revidierte Lutherbibel, 1984. Unless noted, all Scripture quotes are from the
ESV Bible.
Anyone reading along with us is
welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own
observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition
or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any
point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as
I understand it. Often there is a breadth of opinion on certain events, both
historical and prophetic. Many of my views come from my church background,
theological training and my personal study.
I'm
doing this with discipleship in mind, meaning, I'm writing out thoughts that
will keep discipleship and our growth as disciples applied to what we are
reading. Remember, the real focus of the Reading Notes is to be a
supplement, a disciple’s commentary, giving motivation and insight so that we
will keep following our Lord in the harvest, reaching the lost and making
disciples, who make disciples. Being in
the Word every day, sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning directly from Him, is the
essential essence of being and making disciples.
May the Lord bless you as you follow Him in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples. Dan
If you would like documents
containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
If you would like a full
presentation of discipleship read Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples.
Or if you are struggling with
insomnia and would like a long boring dissertation on disciple making, these
can both be found on https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
Reading Notes ©, Dan Kachikis
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
The One Year Bible © by
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189
The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.
All charts/graphics/outlines
from the Bible Knowledge Commentary are used with the permission of David C.
Cook.
© 1983, 2001 John F Walvoord and Roy B Zuck.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary is published by David C Cook.
All rights reserved. Publisher permission
required to reproduce.
No comments:
Post a Comment