Through the Bible - Hosea 5-6, Revelation 2
Good morning,
A friend of mine that works for Moody Publishing recently gave me some new books to read. Among them were "Why We're Not Emergent" and a commentary on the book of Revelation. I've read the first and am in the process of reading the second. The final chapter of "Emergent" also contains a commentary on some of the chuches mentioned in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation.
Kevin DeYoung writes, "If we had to distill our advice to the emerging church into one sentence, it would be this: Listen to all the churches in Revelation. Emergent leaders need to celebrate all the strengths and shun the weaknesses of the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 - and admit that Jesus description for health is more than community, authenticity, and inclusion."
Besides being an apocalypse and a prophecy, the book of Revelation "was also a letter - a letter addressed to the churches in Asia minor. The number seven suggests that the churches were more than real churches; they were also representative churches, symbolic of the church universal. In other words, the problems in these seven churches are the root problems in all churches. Their strengths were our strengths and their weaknesses are our weaknesses."
Read the introduction to the book, the first few verses from The Message:
Rev 1:1-3 A revealing of Jesus, the Messiah. God gave it to make plain to his servants what is about to happen. He published and delivered it by Angel to his servant John. And John told everything he saw: God's Word — the witness of Jesus Christ!
How blessed the reader! How blessed the hearers and keepers of these oracle words, all the words written in this book!
Time is just about up.
Today's verse is verse 3 from that passage.
Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. NKJV
In the next few days, I hope that you'll take a few minutes to read about these seven churches. Look for, dig, see if you find the similarities with your own church or others in your community, or possibly,where you came from and/or grew up in.
Kevin DeYoung writes, "Christians like me would get a lot more out of emergent critiques if they recognized that there are just as many undiscerning, overtolerant Pergamums and Thyatiras in North America and the United Kingdom as there are loveless Ephasuses."
Whether conservative, liberal, orthodox or emergent, I think that we can all learn a lot from what Christ had to say to these seven churches.
I'll close with a verse from Hosea 6 which is today's Old Testament reading.
Hosea 6: 6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,
And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
In Christ,
Mike
Rev 1:1-2:1
Introduction and Benediction
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants — things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Greeting the Seven Churches
4 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Vision of the Son of Man
9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," and, "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."
12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. 19 Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. 20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.
NKJV
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