John
the apostle shared how, “And
the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven,
saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms
of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever,
and the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats,
fell
upon their faces, and worshiped God, Saying, We give you thanks, O
Lord God Almighty, which are, and was, and are to come; because you
have taken to you your great power, and have reigned. And the nations
were angry, and your wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that
they should be judged, and that you should give reward unto your
servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear your
name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the
earth”,
and in chapter eleven and verse nineteen of Revelation John shared
how
“the temple of God was opened in heaven” where
we read:
And
the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his
temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and
voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
The
verse reads, “And
the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his
temple the ark of his testament:”
John
began with the words, “and
the temple”
which means “the sacred edifice or sanctuary consisting of the Holy
Place and the Holy of Holies” “of
God”
or “pertaining to the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised
of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “was
opened”
which means “opened up” “in
heaven”
or “within the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order
of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other
heavenly beings”, “and
there was seen”
or “and it was beheld, allowed to appear and be shown” “in
his temple”
which means “within God's sacred edifice or sanctuary consisting of
the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies” “the
ark”
which refers to “the wooden chest or box which was the sacred ark
of the covenant” “of
his testament”
which refers to “God's covenant, disposition, arrangement, compact
and contract”. John saw “God's temple
or sacred place of worship” “opened”
in “heaven”
where he saw God's “ark
of the covenant”.
The
verse continues, “and
there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an
earthquake, and great hail.”.
John
added the words, “and
there were lightnings”
which means “the glare and bright shining of lightning”, “and
voices”
or “and sounds and tones of uttered words and speech” “and
thunderings”
which means “thunder such as comes in a storm”, “and
an earthquake”
or “and a great quaking, shaking, tempest and commotion of the
earth”, “and
great hail”
which refers to “massive and abundant ice from the sky as hail”.
John saw “lightning,
an earthquake and great hail”
and heard “voices
and thunderings”
from the “temple
of God”.
When
we consider John's words in this verse, we might imagine what an
ominous scene this was for him to see and hear. “God's temple”
was “opened in heaven” for John to see, and when he looked upon
it, he saw God's “ark” as well. The aftermath was a
display of “lightning, voices, thunders, earthquakes and great
hail” which must have startled and intrigued John as God
allowed him to be within their audience. God desires for every person
to have a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ, and
when they do, these awesome sights and sounds might be among those
which they shall observe.
Next
time we begin a new chapter where John shares, “there
appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun ”
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment