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Day 356 – Thru the Bible
Today we continue Revelation.
Revelation 17 – As in , chapter presents a satanic parody of God. In God was described as “Him who is and who was and who is to come”; the beast is described in as the one who was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit. The beast tries to be God, but unlike God the beast goes to destruction.
Only the true gospel of the true God saves. As in 13:8, in 17:8 the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life will worship the beast. Yet God is able to preserve His own from all satanic deception. This is what we see when the Lamb conquers (17:14), and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful. Jesus has saved His own, enabling them to be faithful to Him.
How does this truth give you assurance about your future?
Revelation 18 – When Old Testament Israel was in its captivity, the prophets often spoke of a new exodus that would result in the return of the people from their exile to Babylon. The words of verse , “Come out of her, my people,” pick up the words of , “Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea.” This is because the fulfillment of the exodus initiated in the bowls of wrath is resulting in the fulfillment of the return from exile as the fall of Babylon is celebrated. God’s people come out of Babylon (the representation of earth’s evil; examples, Revelation , , ) to journey toward the new Jerusalem (), and also so that they will neither take part in her sins nor share in her plagues.
God delivers those who believe the gospel from His wrath and from the sins that incur that wrath. Verses 9–24 show the obliteration of everything people choose over the gospel and holy living, and the visitation of God’s justice gives way to the call in verse 20 for those who belong to God to rejoice in the triumph of God which entails their vindication. In verses 22–23 all joy is gone from the wicked world: the rejoicing will be done by God’s people, not the world. Reflecting on this stable assurance, our hearts are moved with fresh confidence and trust in the Lord of heaven.
As you face struggles and evil in this world, how does this encourage you to press on and trust God with the outcome?
What other thoughts or questions does today’s reading bring up?
Some of these notes are from the ESV Gospel Transformation Bible study notes. We highly recommend this study Bible.
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