Just a quick reminder that there will be study tonight, March 31st at 7pm in the Grace Chapel Geneva House. We will be discussion Revelation chapters 19-20. Also bring any ideas (or quick email me or comment on the blog) about what you’d like to study next since our time in Revelation is quickly coming to a close.
Looking forward to seeing everyone again this week.
Bryan
Seeing as I’ll be gone this coming Wednesday, and Jason just returned from a trip and has a bunch on his plate, I think we’ll be canceling study this week. We’ll resume the following week, March 31st with reading chapters 19-20.
Since I’ll be gone until late Tuesday the 30th, don’t count on my posting any questions for preparation, but please take a read or two through the passage and check out what good ol’ Vern has to say.
See you all next week.
My deepest apologies for the lateness of this summary and questions. I’ll keep the email short.
Last week we went over chapters 14-16, focused a lot of our discussion on the harvest passage and the cup of God’s wrath poured out upon unbelief and and unrepentant world. We looked at the totality of the seven bowls that cause destruction upon the entirety of creation.
This week we’re reading chapters 17-18 and are introduced to the Great Prostitute and see the fall of Babylon described. Here’s some questions as you mull over what you read / have read:
We talked about the counterfeit trinity (Dragon, Beast, Prophet), it seems like the Great Prostitute could be a false Bride (the Church) – in what ways is the prostitute imitating the Church? In what key ways is she different? How/Why are people seduced by her and how can that be a warning for us?
There are some poems from groups lamenting the downfall of the prostitute, who are they and why are the lamenting her demise? In what ways were they attached to her and what can we glean from the metaphorical principles she embodies to apply to our own walks and lives?
Hope to see you all tomorrow evening at 7pm in the Geneva House.
7pm this Wednesday, we’ll be discussing chapters 14-16 of Revelation.
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Last week we discussed chapter 13 and looked at the two beast which the dragon raises out of the land and the sea. We spent a bit of time discussing all of the various imitations these creatures and their actions have in relation to the true trinity and to Christ (father, son, spirit – dragon, beast, prophet; christ rising from the dead – the beast’s seemingly “mortal” wound; etc.) We also spent some time on the beast’s mark that he imprints on all his followers and how there seem to be some clear lines being made between the followers of Christ and those of the beast. A great point that Keith brought up was the seeming ease and lack of questioning the masses undertook before following the beast and applied it to contemporary culture; the beast is pretty powerful and cool, seems to be able to do a lot, how could it be bad? Satan (the dragon/beasts) seems to do a very good job of being quite deceitful, we’d do well to heed the warnings toward perseverance and not be deceived by seemingly innocent, harmless, and “good and powerful” things that can easily distract us from true worship directed toward the true God.
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This week as we go through the next three chapters we’ll be reintroduced to the 14400, have three angels finish up the “symbolic histories” section, do some harvesting, and go through the seven plagues/seven bowls.
We see the aspect of “marking” once again this time with Christ’s followers being marked – what have we discussed so far as the importance of these markings and how would this have any implication on our current lives? The saints also proceed to sing a song which only they can learn, because they are pure/virgins – what does the concept of sexual purity have to do with these saints and with the song they sing?
The harvest metaphors are a pretty powerful story, based on what you know about harvests and based on other portions of scripture that use harvest stories, what’s going on here?
This week’s section has a lot of singing and praising God for his just wrath against evil, we are often very quick to praise God for all his good blessings and provisions, but as a culture we don’t usually praise God as a just, holy, and wrathful ruler. Why can these characters in Revelation bust out some powerful and heartfelt praise for the horrible calamities poured out upon evil and what can we learn and apply from these praises to our own life and culture?
We finish up our time with the seven bowls of God’s wrath – in many ways these are similar to the trumpets we’ve already seen (or heard if you will) but what ways are the different? How does this progress the narrative of Revelation toward completion?
Brothers,
Men’s Bible Study is back once again this week, March 3rd at 7:00pm in the Grace Chapel Geneva House – on the discussion docket for the evening we have Revelation chapter 13.
Last week we looked at chapters 11-12 and discussed the two witnesses, their proclamation of truth to an unbelieving and scorning world who end up killing them for their testimonies. However the Lord raises them from the dead and into heaven amidst a great earthquake. We did note a contrast with previous calamities, in those the peoples’ hearts were hardened, after the witnesses were raised up and the earthquake came, those remaining were terrified and gave glory to God.
The seventh trumpet once again ushers in Christ’s final return and reign on earth. The elders bust out a sweet song glorifying God’s righteous judgment and realignment of a crooked world.
We begin another set of stories, this time more akin to a telling of Lord of the Rings – we get the great dragon (or serpent if you prefer) waring against the seed of the woman (see Genesis ch3). A massive heavenly battle in which the dragon is defeated and “the salvation and the power and kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down”; the dragon is cast to earth and is a bit angry to say the least and sets of to make war even though he knows he’s ultimately already been defeated (think of Ben Loos’s wounded bear in an alley analogy).
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This week some questions as we consider the two beasts which the dragon calls out of the sea and the earth:
The first beast is a crazy conglomeration of beasts with wacky horns and crowns, a real ugly and powerful beast who can at best imitate the power of Christ. As always, Vern has a great bullet point list with some of the imitations:
http://www.frame-poythress.org/Poythress_books/Returning_King/BRvCom12.htm (almost halfway down the page)
What do you think is the point of all these imitations? What do the actions of the beast and its followers tell us about the beast’s goals and desires for the earth?
Verse 8 contains a very reassuring and powerful passage granting confidence to believers – stating that all will worship the beast except those whose names have been written in the book of life since before the foundation of the world – how can this be a reassurance for us?
The second beast is an imitation of the Holy Spirit completing the mock trinity (dragon, beast, prophet/beast 2). What is the significance of a mark? In what ways are Christians marked?
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See you all Wednesday.
