Revelation 11:1-3 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there. 2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 
 
IN the previous passage, John became an active participant in the vision as he experienced the sweet-sour affects of God’s Word upon his life. John now receives a second task. He is to measure the temple of God and count the true worshipers at the altar in heaven.
    Is this a real or symbolic temple? Many conjecture what temple this is to be. Some think it is be a future temple formed from an unused temple blueprint God revealed in Ezekiel 40-42. But since John is told to count the worshipers at the altar, we can understand the temple is heaven; thus, John is to measure Jesus’ universal church. This measurement is more of a protection action than a numerical counting. When we measure our responsibilities as a parent, spouse, child and church member, we realize our responsibilities in God’s care.
    Are you counted as God’s temple? You are if you are saved in Jesus are God’s temple. 2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
    In Revelation, God fulfills these words. John measures the temple to demonstrate God’s care for his church. The Lord is reminding John and all of us that we are to 1) taste his sweet message 2) persist against sin’s sour persecution and 3) measure – protect and count – Jesus’ church at the altar.
    The “outer court” is the place for unbelievers, even “members” of a church who reject Jesus. God will allow them to persecute his church for a limited time of 3 ½ years or 42 months – also 1,260 days. Note, this is one-half of seven years. Seven is the number of completion and perfection. The church’s persecution is not a complete persecution. God is still protecting his people amid the trials we experience now and in the future. During this time, God will send two witnesses – two prophets – to call people to salvation. We’ll learn more of these two as we continue.
    This is the way of the church since it began, isn’t it? I hope we can all understand in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, that God has ordained, in his own plan, a time for suffering and a time for victory. See this vision as God’s call to you. He commands you to be a good shepherd for his church. Measure your work in the church. Go to the altar. Live as a temple of God prepared to worship at heaven’s altar. Be a witness for Jesus.
    How will you do so?
 
Prayer: Teach me, Jesus, to be measure my life in relationship to your truth. I pray I am a good witness for your salvation. In your name I pray, amen.  
 
 
 

Revelation 10:8-11 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.” 10 I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. 11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”
 
THE mighty angel showing God’s glory and authority stands with one foot on the sea and one foot on land. Imagine you are John, and God commands you to go to his majestic angel to receive a scroll from his hand. Would you be afraid? Might you wonder if you would be acceptable in this angel’s presence? But perhaps John was confident and sure of heaven’s command. After all, hadn’t he seen Jesus transfigured in heaven’s glory? He had talked with, eaten with and touched the risen Christ. For decades, too, John had watched God’s Spirit work remarkable miracles among the Jews and Gentiles to advance the gospel. I believe John was eager to see what God is about to teach him.
    What was God’s message? Most likely it is the specific revelation of God’s sovereign majesty to be spoken again to the church on earth. We know this is God’s message because the scroll’s words were sweet. Hear Psalms 119:103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! & Psalms 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. From Noah to John, the Bible describes God’s blessed sweet words offering salvation’s refuge for his chosen leaders. Indeed, it is  a privilege to feed his honey-like words to a hungry world.
    But the Word turns sour to many opposing hearts. God’s patriarchs, prophets, disciples, apostles and even his Son experienced the sour taste of abuse, neglect, condemnation and death. Since Jesus’ ascension, people supposedly of his own church have killed each other. How many pastors, teachers and godly leaders have tasted the sour opposition from hard hearts to stifle and even force them from ministry? How often is a prophet without honor in his hometown? (Matthew 13:57) Who wants to be viewed as “that Christian”?
    Yes, opposition sours your passion, doesn’t it? Even John is in exile because of the gospel’s sweet words. But see, through the angel, the Lord commands, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” John is not done. Jesus is still saying, “Follow me.” The apostle still had an apostolic mission to fulfil. John obeyed; that’s why we read his words today.
    Are you perhaps sour about the lack of response to Jesus’ sweet words you preach, teach, write, pray or share? Be encouraged. Be a warrior. Be sweet in God’s sight. Go to the mighty God in prayer. Receive Jesus’ sweet words from Scripture each day. His sweet truth will renew your mind. You will be ready to do what is good and pleasing for the Lord.
 
Prayer: I pray you help me offer your honey-like words to many, many people – especially my friends, neighbors and relatives near and far. Amen.
 

Revelation 10:1-5 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2 He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4 And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.” 5 Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven.
 
ONE of the challenges in understanding Revelation is to identify the various angels involved in the vision. The angels of the seven churches in Rev 2-3 are leaders of those churches. Other angels are the seraphim, directing worship and the release of four horsemen. Some angels are demons, described as bound and then released. Here is another angel who displays heaven’s glory and power.
    This angel is very Christ-like. Jesus is described in the Transfiguration (Mark 9) and Revelation 1:13-16 in similar glorious brilliance. But we know this is not Jesus because he is never called “angel” in the New Testament and especially in Revelation. This angel is one designated to carry the authority of God onto the earth.
    Because he stood on the sea and the land, the angel’s announcement will affect the entire earth. His authority is sure. The lion-like voice that quiets the seven thunders (loud tumult), commands, “Seal up!” and then raises the right hand to heaven demands obedience.
    Thus, the contents of the second, smaller scroll remain unknown. Although Revelation reveals many characteristics of God such as his justice, his authority and his heaven, we will not know all until the end of the age. Paul writes of heaven’s mysteries in 2 Corinthians 12:1a, 4 “I know a man (Paul) who …  was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.”
    One aspect of a living faith in Christ is to believe heaven is much, much more than we can imagine and understand. Sometimes we can become entrenched in the details, only to miss God’s grand majesty. Shaping heaven in our own image closes our mind to a heaven God created in his image. Let us be open to hear God’s Word and to see what he makes plain. May we, also, be willing to await heaven’s inexpressible wonders.
 
Prayer: Lord God, I look forward to eternally celebrating heaven’s glories with you. Amen.   

Revelation 9:13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number. 17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury. 20 The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood — idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
 
THIS is overwhelming, isn’t it? But let’s work through the vision to learn how it applies to each of us today.
    The sixth trumpet blows, and the second woe is released. Against man’s great sin comes God’s greater judgment. Physical torment described in the previous passage turns into death for one-third of the earth’s population. A voice, either from God or from one to whom he has given authority,  speaks, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” These angels are demons bound until this time. We know they are not good angels because God does not bind the good. God’s curse on sin binds angels and people. You praise God Jesus came to reverse the curse, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners…to release the oppressed. (from Luke 4:18-19)
    God’s purpose is threefold: 1) to encourage his persecuted church 2) to inspire his church to teach salvation and 3) to warn the sinner of this great death. Sin destroys the sinner; it does not destroy God’s church.
    In the Jews’ history, too, Babylon came from east of the Euphrates River as a tool of God’s judgment authority to destroy and exile unbelieving Israel. In a like manner, God will judge an unbelieving world.
     The great numbers in this passage could be symbolic of sin’s destruction over the centuries. Yet, it is estimated 87.5 million military personnel and civilians died in 20th century wars. The prophesied war is certainly within God’s power.
    “But where,” you might ask, “is God’s love?” It’s right here. Since sin entered Eden, God has repeatedly promised blessing and warned of curse. He fulfilled his eternal promise of salvation when sacrificed his Son, so you can be sealed against this awful judgment.
    Know his love today. Be free in Jesus. Call on the name of the Lord and be saved. This vision is, indeed, for you today. God is speaking right now of his salvation. Are you hearing him?
 
Prayer: Move my heart Lord to love others so much I tell them of you. Amen.
 

Revelation 9:1-12 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. 7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon. 12 The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.
 
THIS is the fifth of the seven trumpets, the first of the three woe’s. Let’s understand what God is revealing here. First, the star that had fallen from the sky to the earth is an angel form heaven. He is not falling because of sin, but he is coming from heaven at God’s command. He opened the Abyss – a place of demonic forces. John’s contemporaries would have seen this as the sea. They knew not what was under the water’s surface.
    From the Abyss came evil as smoke from a gigantic furnace. As a fiery volcano, the ash darkened the sky. Then locusts came down upon the earth. These are grasshoppers given power like that of scorpions. Unlike grasshoppers that eat all vegetation and do not harm people, God gave these locusts instructions not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
    Note, this is a plague of suffering. Even though people wanted to die because of their great pain, God would not allow them to die. The locusts were armored with fearful strength. And the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. One of the most fearsome sounds to ancient people was the sound of war chariots approaching. The locusts’ leader is a demonic angel  or demon. His name, Abaddon, means Destruction.
    God first gave a similar judgment image to his people in Joel 1: 6 A nation has invaded my land, powerful and without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. God’s Word is constant and true. How precious is his salvation to seal his own from pain and suffering.
 
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your promise of Psalms 121:7 to keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life. Amen.

Revelation 8:13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”
 
THIS verse is a brief break, a transition between the first four trumpets and the last three. God again reveals sin’s great harm to humanity.
    In the United States, the eagle is a symbol of strength and leadership. We as Christians also find comfort in Isaiah 40:31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Rejoice in God’s comfort for you. Be assured, you can pray and receive strength, rest and peace for your soul.
    But the eagle’s strength becomes a devouring image for unbelievers. Through Habakkuk, the Lord described Babylon as a devouring eagle. Habakkuk 1:8c Like eagles they swoop down to devour. This was God’s judgment against the unrepentant Israel to send them into exile. God’s people experienced great woe because they rejected him.
    Here again, the Lord God gives to John the same judgment message to the unrepentant world. The three “woe’s” reflects the three-part repetition of completion in the Hebrew language. As “holy, holy, holy” (Rev 4:8) affirms God’s complete holiness, the three woe’s confirm the sinners’ suffering will be complete. This is God’s revelation to unbelievers. Sin brings great suffering and death. As Israel did not repent to east God’s judgment, much of the world will reject repentance. Our Lord, then, will also judge those inhabitants of the earth who continue to deny Jesus.
    The first four trumpets brought horrible physical suffering on the earth. The next three will bring spiritual suffering to the unbelievers. History has proven these words are true. The future will continue to prove God’s Word. Be sure that as you are in Jesus, you are sealed from such suffering.
 
Prayer: Lord God, turn hearts to faith. Teach the world of your powerful blessing to keep your church safe from judgment. In Jesus’ name, amen.
   

Revelation 8:7-12 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. 8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. 10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11 the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. 12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
 
MANY of us are aware of the plagues against Egypt described in Exodus 7-12. Those plagues served two purposes: 1) To show the Creator, not creation must be worshiped. 2) The cycle of nature was not in mankind’s control. The Lord used the unnatural phenomena to judge the Egyptians’ idol worship. The plagues also awakened both the Egyptians and the Hebrews to know the Lod God is sovereign over the heavens and earth.
    Now as we see what “must take place” (Rev 4:1b) God, in essence, expands the plagues from Egypt onto a third of the earth. One third of the world’s water turns red. Darkness also covers one-third of the earth. Further, mountains fall into the sea. Fire scorched the earth. People who have witnessed severe volcanic activity and flowing lava know what that looks like.
    Wormwood is a bitter root. In the third trumpet, this symbolizes the bitterness of sin’s sorrow and death. This water that becomes bitter is especially grievous as it reverses God’s blessing: Exodus 15:22b For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter…25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.  
    Blessing is bitterness to sweetness. Curse is sweetness to bitterness. See how sin turns sweetness into bitterness, living water into blood, light into darkness, life into death. Why do we want the curse in our lives?
    Throughout history, mankind has replaced the true worship of the eternal Living God with the worship of animals, mountains, wind, rain and, most of all, the self. Might you consider his judgments are too severe? Then it is good to stop and remember his blessing: Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient…4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved.
    God’s grace adds life. Are you willing to receive his sweet salvation as your rule of life?
 
Prayer: May you rule your earth, Lord. Put away false worship, so all will worship the Lord God only. Amen.

 

Revelation 8:3-6 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. 6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
 
MANY times people of the church express a disinterest in Old Testament Scripture. Few seem to want to know such details as in Exodus 30:7-9 “Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. 8 He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the Lord for the generations to come. 9 Do not offer on this altar any other incense or any burnt offering or grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it.”
    But do you see why God gave those instructions so many centuries ago? He was giving to the Hebrews then a vision of heaven. He was demonstrating to them what it is like in the eternal Promised Land. Heaven is a place of worship.
    In fact, the angel in the vision is acting as a priest, taking the prayers of the saints (believers) to the Father. Be sure, as Aaron had no power to answer prayers, neither does the angel. Only the Holy Trinity answers prayers.
    The prayers could be specifically for the justice and peace prayed by the martyrs in Revelation 6:10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” This is how we should often pray, too. We must seek God’s justice for those the great wrongs that swallow up life throughout the earth.
    Then God answers the saints’ prayers. He throws down fire upon the earth. God’s authority and power are again illustrated in the fire and earthquake as his creation groans in judgment.
    God’s Word describes similar visions of judgment and God’s demonstration of power. Ezekiel 10:2b “Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And in Exodus 19:16-On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.
    God is just. He answers our prayers for his justice to rule the earth. We have many reasons to pray for justice in our countries. Pray for God’s laws to be the foundation of your nation. Pray for the lawbreakers’ hearts to repent and call on the name of Jesus to be saved. The Lord hears and answers your prayers.
    God’s justice will continue onto his broken creation as the seven angels prepare to blow their trumpets in turn. “The trumpet blasts have three purposes: 1) to warn that judgment is certain, 2) to call the forces of good and evil to battle, and 3) to announce the return of the King, the Messiah.” (from The Life Application Commentary Series)
    Our Almighty God will bring disorder onto his creation to ultimately establish his justice.
 
Prayer: We pray, Father, against injustice. Many laws in our country oppose your law. Establish your truth in our homes, communities, states and nations. In Jesus’ name, amen.  

Revelation 8:1-2 When Jesus opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
 
ENJOY the silence. Following this quiet 30 minutes in heaven, the visions of destruction, death and disease onto the earth become increasingly violent. Heaven’s judgment will break loose against the hell’s evil on earth. The Judge will wage war to the end.
    As Jesus then opens the seventh seal, know this is not the end of the Father’s revelation. It is, instead, the beginning of the Seven Trumpets, a third revelation within the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Let’s count them: We have heard from God regarding 1) the Seven Churches (among the seven lampstands) and 2) the Seven Seals. Now 3) the Seven Trumpets are about to resound throughout creation. The trumpet sounds will release more angels to deliver God’s wrath on sin. Then be prepared. After this will come 4) the Seven Bowls of judgment!
    But let’s not be overwhelmed. Still your mind. Count it joy you have the opportunity to learn more of our God and his sure hold on your life. Let your heart and soul be still in God’s presence each day to anticipate a deeper understanding of his Holy Word.
    Let’s stop, then, to consider the 30 minutes of silence. What would that be like? Is it possible to rest for 30 minutes in the tumult of your life? Do you trust God to care for your anxieties? Can you really sit and be quiet? What would happen? Perhaps 30 minutes of silence will lead you to prayer, trusting your Sovereign God, indeed, has you in his hands. In fact, some think the heavenly silence here could be God’s silence to hear your prayers for his “will to be done on earth”.
    But perhaps the silence is another view of the biblical image of God calling us to be still amid turmoil. For example: Psalms 37:7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. There is, too, the comforting Psalms 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” And the beloved Psalms 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside the still waters.
    Then we see our Comforter offering us his stillness amid the physical storms. Mark 4:39-40 Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you yet have no faith?” 
    That’s it, isn’t it? Why are we so afraid? When we believe our Lord is with us, standing against hell’s fury for us, we can be still! We can put away our grief, doubt, worry and anxiety to say, “I know you are God.”
 
Prayer: Jesus, I pray you still my heart to focus on you. Turn me from myself to see your gracious love and care for me and for your people. Amen.

Revelation 7:15-17 “Therefore, they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat 17 because the Lamb, who is in the center of the throne, will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
 
BECAUSE the New Testament repeatedly refers to Jesus as the Lamb, we readily accept this image. We understand he is the sacrificial Lamb, who has died on a cross, now risen and ascended to heaven. But let’s consider how difficult this would for a culture that herded sheep. They raised sheep to one day slaughter them for their meat and to have a sacrifice to God. Sheep, too, are essentially helpless to care for themselves. A lamb has no mind of its own, eager to follow other sheep even if it is to destruction. Shepherds are necessary to keep sheep alive. Even today om the Mideast and as we’ve just returned from Mongolia, sheepherding is vital to many livelihoods. The Jews would know too of Isaiah 53:7b he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
    Yes, we can understand the lamb as a sacrificial animal. But how does the image of Jesus as a lamb correspond with Jesus as the Lion of Judah? Why would the Father show Jesus as a Lamb, not the Lion, at the center of heaven’s authority?
    Consider the lamb as an ongoing revelation of God’s extravagant love for you. Jesus, the Lamb, reminds the redeemed that God has given himself entirely to suffering, sacrifice and death, so you would not suffer sin’s condemnation. The Lamb reminds us Jesus has walked earth’s roads, faced scorn and unbelief. He has been mocked, threatened and afflicted. The Lamb knows your needs, your sufferings and your joy. Without him, you are helpless. Jesus can come in power and glory one day as the Lion of Judah because he has been the Lamb, silent before his accusers, accepting the sacrificial altar.
    See, also, the image of a tent to shelter you. God has promised this also in Isaiah 33:20 Look upon Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.
    The Lamb fees you the Bread of Life. You will drink living water. Hunger, thirst and discomfort will be in the past because the Father has sacrificed the Lamb.
    The apostle Paul also wrote God demonstrating strength through weakness: 1 Corinthians 1:27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.  
    The Lion of Judah is also the Lamb. It is of God’s character to serve his beloved creation in humility and sacrifice.
 
Prayer: You chose humility and weakness to make us pure before you in heaven, Jesus. Thank you for your humble, eternal and protective love. Amen.