Victory Over the Beast
Revelation 15:2 shows the hope we have when facing the beast. I know many fear the book of Revelation due to the tribulation on the earth during the time of these visions, but there is victory. In verse 2 it says "And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands." Granted the victory is not for everyone, but for those that could conquer the beast and its image and its number. Those are the tribulation martyrs? Meaning those are willing to die for the name of the Lord.
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The 4 Trumpets
There are more than 4 trumpets. there are actually 7, but this chapter only covers 4, so we will cover the others in the following chapters. More from this vision explains how there are 7 angels who stood before God and each of them had a trumpet. Each angel blew their trumpet which holds a special meaning for each one (Revelation 8:6-13). First, hail and fire mixed with blood hit the earth burning up all the grass and a 1/3 of the trees and 1/3 of the earth. The second trumpet being blown had a great mountain burning with fire (possibly a volcano) and it was thrown into the sea destroying 1/3 of the ships, 1/3 of the living creatures and 1/3 of the sea became blood. The third trumpet was blown and a star fell from Heaven and it fell on 1/3 of the rivers and on springs of water. The fourth trumpet created dark days as a third of the sun, moon and stars are blacked out and days were not as bright nor the nights. The end of times looks bleak with destruction of the earth's natural resources and dark for people, subsequently.
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Temptation and Forgiveness
Temptation is an issue everyone is going to deal with. Whether the temptation is sexual, financial, or even violent, we all have temptations. One of my biggest temptations is food. I like sweet food. I have had a sweet tooth for a long time and find it very hard to stop. But, my will power isn't strong enough to change that (Philippians 4:13).
In Luke 17:1-2, Jesus shows that it would be better to have a stone around our necks and be thrown into the sea than to cause a child to sin. So, even if we mess up, that stinks, but to cause a child to sin is even greater in God's eyes. Children depend on us to teach them what is right and wrong from God's perspective. If we stray off of God's path and teach a child to fight and resort to violence, is that setting them on the path to being Christ like? What about our words? How do we talk about people we are not fans of? Do we make fun of them and call them names? Kids pick up on things that we don't always think we are teaching them. A parent may not teach a child to drink underage but the parent could have a very liberal system at home that allows for the children to be influenced by the parents usage of alcohol. We have to watch ourselves.
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s a matter of fact, the next thing Jesus says in (verses 3-4) is to "pay attention" to ourselves. Not just pay attention to who we are and how we are around children, but also how we are when people come to us and seek forgiveness from us. He tells us that if our brother sins, we rebuke him (expression of sharp disapproval or criticism). And if he repents we forgive him. We cannot hang on to the past hurt and not forgive. If we do that then that is like saying God shouldn't forgive us for our trespasses against Him and no one else should forgive our sins against them. Jesus is speaking about a community here. We are not just individuals with no affect on each other. We are all connected which is part of why we are commanded to love one another.
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