THE SEVENTH SEAL

Today’s Reading: Revelation 8 

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

This is the original artwork for the musical “The Scroll” by Bruce Stacey, which Crossroads featured in the Pavilions of Promise at three World Expos in Vancouver, Brisbane, and Seville. Notice the seven seals! (Revelation, chapters 5-8).

Key Verse: Revelation 8:6

So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

Jim and Kathy Cantelon write today’s 100 Words segment (originally published in Crossroads’ “Day Unto Day” devotional series)…

The seventh seal is opened and a half-hour silence follows (verse 1). As the silence ends, John sees “seven angels who stand before God” being given “seven trumpets” (verse 2). These seven angels haven’t been mentioned as yet, but they are probably some kind of personification of the “seven spirits” before the throne in 1:4. They are given seven trumpets and each angel in turn blows his trumpet.

But before they blow their trumpets another angel appears. One author calls him “the angel of worship”. He offers incense at the altar, and it ascends “with the prayers of the saints…before God” (verse 4).

Here is what Lynn Harold Hough says about these events:

“It is remarkable that in the midst of all the rushing movement of the book of Revelation there is always time to set each particular experience in rich and noble perspective. The hour of worship has its own rights amid all the heavenly events. Even God’s judgments are not apart from the saints. They include the prayers of the saints.” (Interpreter’s Bible Vol. 12 p. 426).

Then the trumpet disasters begin. First come hail and fire (verse 7). Then a burning mountain falls into the sea (verse 8 ) followed by a blazing star falling on the fresh waters (verse 10). The result is a badly scorched earth and polluted sea and land waters. Then a fourth trumpet reduces all day and night light in the heavens by a third (verse 12).

The chapter ends with an eagle warning about the disasters yet to follow (verse 13). There are still three trumpets to be blown.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I pray for the wisdom and strength I need in order to respond well to these warnings of coming judgment. In the light of these future events, may I serve You more fervently with my whole heart and mind. I ask for this working of Your Holy Spirit in me in the Name of the Person who lived life at 100% of His potential, Jesus Christ. Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

Jim and Kathy Cantelon spent seven years in Jerusalem planting a great congregation of Christians, and encouraging other such congregations throughout Israel. Some will be surprised to discover that there are several thousand Jewish Christians there. In some respects it is like the first century when all the early Christians were Jewish, and, of course, that included Jesus Himself (click here for the exciting ministry of Jerusalem’s King of Kings congregation). When the Cantelons returned to Canada, I immediately contacted Jim and invited him to join me as a host on the 100 Huntley Street telecast. Later Kathy became our producer for Eye to Eye, which featured Jim interviewing the “who’s who” of Canadian politics, literature, academia, etc. Currently their mission field is Africa (click here for a look inside “WOW “Mission”).

Revelation 7 makes interesting reading to a member of those who call themselves “Jehovah’s Witnesses.” They originally claimed that they were the 144,000. I would ask them at the door, “Of which tribe are you?” When they got to be more than 144,000 in number, they had a problem. They had experience manipulating their teachings before. They provide an example of the dangers that can arise when attempting to interpret the Bible in general, and Revelation in particular, without reference to the historical understanding of the early church leaders, as well as those who are in the mainstream of prophetic understanding today. In his excellent book, Blood Moons Rising, Dr. Mark Hitchcock (in his chapter called “The Dating Game”) writes, “Jehovah’s Witnesses founder Charles Taze Russell set 1874 as the date of Christ’s return. After that, their leaders continually earmarked various years: 1878, 1881, 1910, 1914, 1918, 1925,1975, and 1984. After nine wrong dates, they claim to have given up on predicting the time of Christ’s coming.”

Yours for remembering the Apostle Peter’s words, “No Scripture is of any private interpretation” (2 Peter 1:20),

David

P.S. A lot of trumpets are blown in today’s chapter. Below is a photo of when a shofar was blown at the beginning of “Heaven’s Rehearsal” 2008 in Toronto (click here for info on Heaven’s Rehearsal). A shofar is a musical instrument of ancient origin, made of a horn, traditionally that of a ram, used for Jewish religious purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices. All pitch control is done by varying the player’s embouchure.

The Bible in Christ Church Jerusalem is written in Hebrew. In the background you can see the menorah, a seven-branched lamp stand used in the ancient Tabernacle in the desert and Temple in Jerusalem, a symbol of Judaism since ancient times and the emblem of the modern state of Israel.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.