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Grace & Peace: Revelation 93

Douglas Wilson on April 3, 2018

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments (Rev. 16:4-7).

Now comes the time for third bowl of wrath to be poured out upon Jerusalem. The previous judgment was upon the ocean; with this plague the sentence falls upon the fresh water. Again, with the trumpet judgments, the affliction was partial. Now comes the end, when the sentence is final. So in this segment, the third angel empties his bowl of wrath. Far from objecting, another angel, the angel of the waters, declares that the judgment is righteous. The Lord is righteous, and He is the one who was, is, and is to be. *He* is the one who has determined this calamity. The next statement by the angel of the waters helps to confirm the place where this sentence must fall. As a city, the murder of prophets was characteristically Jerusalems signature item (2 Chron. 36:15-16; Luke 13:33-34; Acts 7:52). When it came to prophets and saints, this was a bloodthirsty city, and so it was fitting that God turned all their fresh water to blood.

Jerusalem richly deserved to have this happen to them. Jesus had predicted this would happen, and He said that the murder of prophets over generations is *why* it would happen.

“Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation” (Matt. 23:31-36).

Earlier the martyrs had cried out from under the altar, seeking Gods vengeance on their behalf (Rev. 6:9). The tribulation of the trumpets began to answer their cry for justice, and now the finalization of justice is imminent. And so it is that another voice comes from the altar, echoing the sentiments of the angel of the waters*. Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.*

Bible Challenge #31

Becky Pliego on April 3, 2018

¡Hola, hola! Week 30 is here! Woohoo! And how wonderful it is to know that the Lord has helped us to persevere and not lose heart. For all of us working behind this project it is a great joy to hear from you and know that the Lord is doing a mighty thing in your lives and communities as you open the Word and read it. Our God is faithful and His Word is sure!

I have been thinking this week about the – very simple but nonetheless amazing – fact that when we take the Book of God and read it, we are opening the same book that all of the Redeemed of the Lord have read through the ages all over the world. The same message that sustained them sustains us. The same Truth that has shaken the world before, is the same Truth that is shaking ours today. We are truly united by the same living Word to the family of God through time and space.

All of this thinking gave me the idea to share with you some advice from the Saints from long ago regarding the Scriptures, especially advice on how to read and approach the Scriptures (this explains why our email is longer this week).

John Newton, in one of his letters wrote, “If you sincerely seek the Lord’s direction by prayer, you will of course make use of his appointed means of information, and search the Scriptures. Give me leave to offer you the following advises, while you are reading and comparing spiritual things with spiritual. First, Not to lay too great stress upon a few detached texts, but seek for that sense which is most agreeable to the general strain of the Scripture. The infallible word of God must, doubtless, be consistent with itself: if it does not appear so to us, the obscurity and seeming inconsistency must be charged to the remaining darkness and ignorance of our minds. As many locks, whose wards differ, are opened with equal ease by one master-key; so there is a certain comprehensive view of scriptural truth, which opens hard places, solves objections, and happily reconciles, illustrates, and harmonizes many texts, which to those who have not this master-key, frequently styled the analogy of faith, appear little less than contradictory to each other. When you obtain this key, you will be sure that you have the right sense.”^[1]

Spurgeon delivered a wonderful sermon on how to read the Bible^[2], and I will share his main points here: 1) Read and depend on the Spirit of God: “Look up, reader! The next time the book is in your hands, look up before you open it—and while your eyes are running down the page, look up and pray that God would shine upon it! And when the chapter is finished and you put the book away, take a minute, again, to look up and ask His blessing. If by reading the Scriptures we were only always reminded of the Holy Spirit. If we got no other good from the Scripture, itself, except the turning of our souls to think upon that divine and blessed one, that would be, in itself, an inestimable blessing! Do read, then, thoughtfully remembering the great author.” 2) Read and meditate: “I like to turn it over and over again in my mind, for any one text of the Scriptures you will find to be like the kaleidoscope. Turn it one way and you say,“What a fair truth of God is this!” Turn it another way and you see the same truth, but under how different an aspect! Turn it yet once more—and keep doing it all day—and you will be amazed and delighted to find in how many lights the same truth will appear and what wonderful permutations and combinations you can find in it!” 3) Read and apply: “Endeavor in reading a page of the Scriptures, always to see how much it belongs to you…Ask God not to let your Bible be another man’s Bible, but your own Bible. 4) Read and practice. 5) Read and pray: “A passage in Scripture will often open up when you pray over it…we should pray over every passage in order that we may be enabled to get out of it what God would impart to us. A text is like a treasure chest which is locked—and prayer is the key to open it—and then we get God’s treasure! The text is God’s letter, full of loving words, but prayer must break the seal.” 6) Read and try: “Scripture is not to fit your opinions, but your opinions to conform to the blessed word!” 7) Read and tell out: So you, Christian, who are the noblest work of God, should not be satisfied unless your life is continually spreading around of the truth of God which has been made vital to you and will be new life to others!”

Thomas Watson has some advice on how to read the Bible^[3], but I will mention only two points: 1) He encourages us to “get a fervent love for the Scriptures,” and he continues saying, “Prizing refers to the judgment of a man, but love means also the affections. We should delight to be in the pages of God’s Word; we must learn to delight in its comforts and in its reproofs and corrections.” 2) Watson also chooses to encourage those who struggle to profit from their reading saying, “You can profit from reading the Scriptures even if you do not attain to the level of others. Do not judge yourself according to the standard of others.”

I hope you also find encouragement in these words and that you continue to strive to abide in the Word of God:

This week we will read Jeremiah, 2 Timothy, Proverbs 22 and 23, and Psalms 48, 49, 52. And I am sure you will find this to be a banquet that will satisfy your soul.

May our prayer this week be, “Lord, teach us to pray as we read the Word and mediate on it as we pray and work.”

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and Ladies Fellowship Team from Christ Church

Grace & Peace: Revelation 92

Douglas Wilson on March 27, 2018

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

“And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea” (Rev. 16:3).

As numerous commenters have pointed out, the second bowl of wrath is similar to the judgment that was delivered through the second trumpet. The difference has to do with the extent of the judgment. With the trumpet judgment, when the great mountain was pitched into the sea, a third of the sea became blood (Rev. 8:8). The judgment was partial. Here the judgment is complete. Not only did the sea in its entirety become blood, but it was like the blood of a dead man—putrefying, coagulated, and clotted.

This is still the final horror falling upon the Jews in revolt, and it is reminiscent of the plague that helped destroy Egypt—with Judea now being the new Egypt. In the first plague to afflict Egypt, the Nile turned to blood (Ex. 7:17-21).

A part of the fulfillment of this prediction by John may have happened at the Sea of Galilee, where Josephus recalls one encounter. Remember that this Sea was where Jesus often taught, and where many of His disciples had made their living.

“They were killed by the darts on the lake; and the Romans leaped out of their vessels, and destroyed a great many more upon the land: one might then see the lake all bloody, and full of dead bodies, for not one of them escaped. And a terrible stink, and a very sad sight there was on the following days over that country; for as for the shores, they were full of shipwrecks, and of dead bodies all swelled; and as the dead bodies were inflamed by the sun, and putrefied, they corrupted the air . . . (Wars, III.10.9, emphasis mine).

Bible Challenge #30

Becky Pliego on March 23, 2018

¡Hola, hola! Happy week 29 of the Bible Reading Challenge! Thank you to all who have shared your testimonies (on the Facebook page, personal messages or emails) of how the Lord has used this challenge to encourage you to persevere in the Word. One of the reasons I love hearing your testimonies is that, as I read your words, I can clearly see that it is really nothing that we are doing that is making the change in your life, it is the Holy Spirit through the Word of God who is doing ALL the encouraging. It is ALL His doing and for that we are immensely grateful.

And let me explain that when I say that we recognize that it is the Holy Spirit through His Word doing a wonderful thing in your life – and in mine – I am saying more than just a good, biblical phrase. I am affirming what Protestant Christians through the ages have believed and defended even with their own lives. So what do we believe about the Scripture, Friends? I want to mention here 5 important things that we believe about the doctrine of the Scriptures^[1]:

1. We believe that its authority comes from God Himself. God the Father is the One who speaks the Word, Jesus is the Incarnate Word of God, and the Holy Spirit empowers His Word and vivifies it in the life of men.

2. We believe in the inerrancy and the infallibility of the Bible, which means that we firmly believe that there are no errors in it and that its teachings are all true, and that it “is completely trustworthy as a guide to salvation and the life of faith and will not fail to accomplish its purpose” (Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms).

3. We believe in the necessity of the Scriptures. We believe that we need the Word of God to show us what sin is, to teach us how can we repent, how can we be saved and how can we live in this world. We need it and God in His kindness gave it to us. He has made Himself known to us not only in the Creation (that would not be enough for us to know the way to be a saved), but through the written Word so that we may know Him.

4. We believe in the clarity of the Scriptures. By this we affirm that anyone who can read or hear the Word of God proclaimed can understand the way to be saved. The only thing that can impede a man from understanding the Gospel message is his own sinful nature, but the Holy Spirit can always open the eyes of those who are blind so that they can understand it and repent and believe and come to a saving faith.

5. We believe that the Word of God is sufficient. In the Scriptures, God has given us all that we need for knowledge of salvation and how to live a life that is pleasing to Him. We don’t need to hear an external – or internal – voice to hear God’s voice. We can always read/hear what God wants to say to us in the Sacred Scriptures.

I hope that by reading these points you will find the desire to want to study more of the precious and important Doctrine of Scripture. We should want to know the Scriptures more, to love them more, to obey them more so that we may know our God better and worship Him better. We want to truly be women of the Word!

We have already finished reading Job and Romans and now this week we will be moving into Ecclesiastes, James, 1 Timothy, Romans 8, Ephesians 2, and Psalms 47, 69, 88, 105, and 130. If you allow me, I would like to suggest a little change on how to read these readings so that you will not have to cut the books so much (which is always the best option):

On Monday read James and Psalm 47, on Tuesday read Ecclesiastes 1-6, on Wednesday Ecclesiastes 7-12, on Thursday 1 Timothy, and Friday remains the same.

On Saturday we have a catch-up day and if you are up for a challenge within the challenge, read (or listen!) to the epistle of Paul to Romans in one sitting (or even maybe two… if you want to stretch it into Sunday).

May our prayer this week be, “Father, we are often afraid to pray, asking you to give us humble hearts, but we know that you give more grace to the humble; so we draw near to you through the Word and prayer, trusting that in our drawing near to you, you will continue to draw near to us -even in the midst of our trials and our humbling.” (James 4:6-10)

Under His Sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and the team of Christ Church Ladies Fellowship

^[1] Read the Westminster Confession of Faith Question 1 to dig deeper into this question.

Grace & Peace: Revelation 91

Douglas Wilson on March 22, 2018

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

“And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image” (Rev. 16:1–2).

No one could go into the heavenly Temple until after all seven bowls were poured out (Rev. 15:8), and so that must mean that the great voice coming out of the Temple here is the voice of God Himself. The fact that He gives all seven angels their marching orders all at once would seem to indicate that these bowls of judgment are poured out in quick order, in rapid succession.

The effects of these seven emptied bowls run parallel to the effects of the seven trumpets blown earlier. But while the seven trumpets tended to partial destructions measured in thirds, the impact of the bowls is more complete and total. We have arrived at the crescendo, and Jerusalem is about to be no more.

In addition, we see that there are similarities with the plagues that had destroyed Egypt at the time of the Exodus (Ex. 9:8-12), and the meaning of this appears to be that the old Jerusalem has become her ancient adversary Egypt, and that the hated Christians were about to be delivered through a new Exodus, and were to take their place as the new Israel.

Those Jews who had the mark of the beast—who had cried that they had no king but Caesar—were afflicted with grievous sores. They prided themselves on being free from idolatry, but they were in fact in bondage to idolatry. These sores appeared on those who “worshiped his image.” This particular plague in response to covenantal infidelity had been promised to Israel centuries before, and in a way that linked them with Egypt.

“The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed . . . The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head” (Deut. 28:27, 35).

Deuteronomy says that they are sores that cannot be healed, and that would appear to be the case here. The sores appear at the first bowl of wrath, but those afflicted with them are still suffering from them when the fifth bowl is poured out (v. 11).