Friday, 27 June 2025

Thoughts on the readings for June 28th (1 Samuel 9, Isaiah 53, Revelation 15, 16)

Having set the background for the times of Israel's first earthly king, Saul, the record now introduces us to him in chapter 9. He was in stature and beauty all that any nation could want as their representative, head and shoulders taller than anyone in Israel and at first a truly humble man from the least significant and somewhat ignominious tribe. His father's asses are lost and sought after for 3 days, indicating his diligence. In seeking the asses he seemingly stumbles across Samuel the seer (the former title for a prophet as one who foretold future happenings). When he and his servant come to Samuel's town he is expected by the prophet, whom God had forewarned, and is honoured in the sacrifice with the shoulder normally reserved for the Governor (see Isaiah 9:6). Additionally he is told the asses had been found and he is required to stay overnight as Samuel had more to say. Isaiah from verse 13 of chapter 52 till the end of 53 will reveal to us Yahweh's suffering Servant exalted. That Servant is - the Lord Jesus Christ (typically seen at that time in their diseased and humiliated, and yet recovered and elevated king Hezekiah). Despite his abject appearance the Servant would astound the world's rulers. The message that was seemingly unbelievable was nonetheless true. He was an extension of God, Yahweh's saving arm, yet unlike ideally chosen human dignatories, lacking in outstanding beauty; our truest representative carried all our weaknesses, sufferings and passions. Throughout his life our Lord sympathised with all our frailties and temptations: Hebrews 4verses 13-5:10. Verses 4-6 outline the way in which our Lord was in himself able to bare our sins away by his perfect life and his offering of himself on the tree: Colossians 2:11-15; 1 Peter 2 verses 21-25. Jesus' essential sacrifice became the means of our redemption to the Father. Truly "he bore our sins to the tree" and when he was reviled he opened not his mouth in response (1 Peter 2 verses 22-25). Jesus was without guile. He was the Lamb of God "which takes away the sin of the world": John 1:29. His offering totally freed from sin and he has, like a father, birthed us as the liberated children for his kingdom (Hebrews 2:10-18). Verse 9 tells that although the Jewish rulers sought to have his body cast into Gehenna, like a common criminal they failed. This was because the rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, begged Jesus' body from Pilate and laid it in a new, unused tomb. The principal under the Law involved here is the sacrifice being placed in a clean place by a fit person - ie Joseph's new tomb had not been contaminated, corrupted by another dead body: this is an imperative ritual principle. God, although grieved by His Son's death, was pleased with the result of that offering: the redemption of mankind. Despite Jesus dying without a child he has brought many sons to birth (as the father of the future age: Isaiah 9verses 6-7; Hebrews 2 verses 10-18). Isaiah 53 verses 12 says that our Lord was numbered among the transgressors - though he personally was sinless: the Apostle Paul explains this in 2 Corinthians 5 verses 18-21. Revelation 15 verse 2 is a small vision of the victorious saints with Christ having completed the judgment of the great whore described in the pouring out from the seven bowls of judgment the seven plagues of chapters 15-16. The crystal clear sea speaks of a world without nations and at peace. These bowls plagues to be poured out and describe the judgments of the Lord GOD Almighty to be poured upon the guilty snd to chastise them for their persecution of the faithful believers of the Lord Jesus Christ. The events of chapter 2 begin and end the work of the seventh trumpet. The angels of this great and marvellous are said to have "the seven last plagues". The plagues are a series of calamities and disasters affecting the enemies of Israel, and the Saints and Witnesses, with whose blood they have intoxicated themselves. They are called the last plagues "for in them is God's wrath fulfilled". These outpourings are outlined in chapter 16 of Revelation. The troubled sea of the wicked (Isaiah 57 verses 20-21) is to become tranquil once God's wrath has been pacified (the final outcome of these judgements will be a world at peace - Psalm 46 and Revelation 21). The nations will be pacified and will learn true worship; as verses 3-4 of chapter 15 indicate. Verses 5-8 provides a glimpse into the Most Holy Place of that Temple after those judgments have been completed. Chapter 16 deals with the outpouring of those bowls of judgment. Note the command of the mighty angel who unleashes the Divine wrath on the persecutors of God's faithful saints. Verse 2 sees the first bowl poured on Catholic Europe after the accession of Napoleon to the throne, as emperor of the French on September 22nd, 1793. The second bowl was of Napoleon's campaigns in naval battles. The third was against the alpine districts and rivers of northern Italy - which region had witnessed savage persecution of the saints by the Roman Catholic Church. The angel effecting those calamities acknowledged the justice of our Sovereign in so repaying the evils done in the name of religion. Verse 8-9 tell of the severe scourge delivered to the Austrian-Hungarian seat of Catholic Europe in Vienna in the battle of Austerlitz. The fifth bowl saw Napoleon continue his campaigns against the Hapsburg emperors of Austria. The culmination of this bowl was Napoleon's capture and imprisonment of the Roman pontiff himself. Napoleon's work having been completed sees him removed from the scene. The great impediment to Israel's return and restoration was the Ottoman Empire. The sixth bowl was poured upon this eastern Islamic power - symbolised in the drying up of the river Euphrates. This began around the early 1800s and was finished by the end of World War I. The frog-like message that emerged from the French Revolution was the death knell for the old colonial empires and saw a surge of nationalism. The same spirit is evident today in the Arab Spring. The final outworking of nationalism will be a bringing of Armageddon and the return of our Lord Jesus Christ to establish the one empire to last forever - the kingdom of God on earth: Daniel 2 verses 44-45. These frog-like spirits emerge from the dragon (eastern Europe United under Russia); the Beast ie United Western Europe; and the false prophet - the pope. Interestingly the European Union was created in 1956 by the Treaty of Rome. Armageddon is the battle of the Lord GOD Almighty in the land of Israel. It is described at length in Ezekiel 38 and Joel 3 (which is the source of the coined Hebrew word "Armageddon" meaning a bundle of sheaves in a valley for threshing, or judgment). The 16th chapter concludes with the pouring out of the final bowl of judgment on Rome itself - called Great Babylon. Having punished those nations which supported the Beast (of chapter 17) Rome will next heavily feel the Almighty's vengeance for her evils. Chapters 17-19 give greater details of these judgements and the reasons for which they will be meted out. Penned by Warwick Rosser and his team, produced by Christadelphianvideo.org See more Thoughts from the Christadelphian Dialy Bible Reading Planner (By R.Roberts) here... https://christadelphianvideo.org/thoughts-on-the-readings-for-june-28th-1-samuel-9-isaiah-53-revelation-15-16/?feed_id=94821&_unique_id=685e4806ee344

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