The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Revelation 16:1,
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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"Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, 'Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth.'"
What follows this verse in John's revelation is the account of these seven angels pouring out these seven bowls of the horrific judgment of God on the earth.
For whatever reason, I can't help but think this morning of the passage of the Roman centurion with a paralyzed servant who understood how the chain of command works and is utilized in God's kingdom. He approached Jesus on behalf of his servant to ask for healing. When Jesus offered to go to his house, the centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." Matthew 8:8-9. Jesus' response is an eye opener, "When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, 'Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.'" Verse 10.
Jesus acknowledged the centurion knew some things about the kingdom of God, that it operated on a structure of authority and used a chain of command in its operations and activities. Jesus credited the centurion's understanding of this as being due to his amazing faith.
The thrust of the passage in Matthew 8 is to illustrate the importance and value that faith provides relative to our understanding of the things of God and how his kingdom operates. What we learn of the kingdom of God, thanks to the faith of this centurion, is that the things of God don't just happen willy-nilly. There is structure, with God providing direction from his posture of supreme authority. A chain of command is employed and God's directions are carried out.
This is what we see as "the loud voice" tells the seven angels to go and dispense the bowls of God's wrath on earth. The "loud voice" demonstrates what the centurion knew of the kingdom of God.
It is here in Revelation 16:1 as well as other passages in this book. God determines the times for things to happen and orchestrates them through those who serve him - all done in a tight-knit orderly fashion. Commands and directions are issued and carried out.
This may seem a mundane and unremarkable point, but it helps me understand and appreciate something of the kingdom that those of us who are of faith are headed for. I believe it also helps us understand something of the nature of our God: structure that includes defined lines of authority/responsibility and delegation of tasks. These imply that God has an agenda, that he pursues his agenda, and does so through what we associate with the order we find most often in the way the military carries out its business.
What follows this verse in John's revelation is the account of these seven angels pouring out these seven bowls of the horrific judgment of God on the earth.
For whatever reason, I can't help but think this morning of the passage of the Roman centurion with a paralyzed servant who understood how the chain of command works and is utilized in God's kingdom. He approached Jesus on behalf of his servant to ask for healing. When Jesus offered to go to his house, the centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." Matthew 8:8-9. Jesus' response is an eye opener, "When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, 'Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.'" Verse 10.
Jesus acknowledged the centurion knew some things about the kingdom of God, that it operated on a structure of authority and used a chain of command in its operations and activities. Jesus credited the centurion's understanding of this as being due to his amazing faith.
The thrust of the passage in Matthew 8 is to illustrate the importance and value that faith provides relative to our understanding of the things of God and how his kingdom operates. What we learn of the kingdom of God, thanks to the faith of this centurion, is that the things of God don't just happen willy-nilly. There is structure, with God providing direction from his posture of supreme authority. A chain of command is employed and God's directions are carried out.
This is what we see as "the loud voice" tells the seven angels to go and dispense the bowls of God's wrath on earth. The "loud voice" demonstrates what the centurion knew of the kingdom of God.
It is here in Revelation 16:1 as well as other passages in this book. God determines the times for things to happen and orchestrates them through those who serve him - all done in a tight-knit orderly fashion. Commands and directions are issued and carried out.
This may seem a mundane and unremarkable point, but it helps me understand and appreciate something of the kingdom that those of us who are of faith are headed for. I believe it also helps us understand something of the nature of our God: structure that includes defined lines of authority/responsibility and delegation of tasks. These imply that God has an agenda, that he pursues his agenda, and does so through what we associate with the order we find most often in the way the military carries out its business.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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