Faithful and True

My last post of the entire year and of this blog...and God gives me the joy and pleasure of having the chapter with one of my TOP favorite verses in it and I am sure you can probably guess why.  Here it is:

"Then I saw heaven opened and there was a white horse.  Its rider was Faithful and True, and He judges and makes war in righteousness."
                                 ~Revelation 19:11

Indulge me for just a moment on this verse...God is God and He could come back to the earth ANY way He wants to because He can do ANYTHING.  So, having said that, don't you think it says something special about the place of horses in His creation if He chooses to come back on one of them?  The book Heaven is for Real (which I HIGHLY recommend by the way) is a book about a little boy who almost dies during surgery for a burst appendix and he takes a trip to heaven and spends some time with Jesus and His angels.  If you read the book, you will see that there are A LOT of things that take place to make the validity of his story rock solid.  Well, once his mom and dad figure out a few years later what had happened during that surgery and they are uncovering the events slowly, the FIRST thing that he tells them about his encounter with Jesus is this (are you ready?):  JESUS HAS A RAINBOW HORSE!!!!  When I was reading this at about midnight one night, I about came unglued because I felt like my intense love of horses and how special I think they are was finally validated!  So, here's what I think happens...Jesus turns to His rainbow horse on that VERY SPECIAL DAY and says to him, "Go WHITE, we are going back today!"  This just makes me absolutely CRAZY!!!!

Okay, back to the Scripture. :)  My HCSB Study Bible has this to say about Chapters 17:1 to 19:5:

"This section is a postscript to the bowls of wrath, expanding the reader's understanding of Babylon the Great, her relationship with the beast, and the scope of her just and final judgment."

 In Chapter 17 verses 1-6, one of the angels who had the bowls gives the meaning of the previous vision of the AntiChrist beast that was to reign for 1,260 years, and then was to be destroyed.  In verses 7-18, the angel explains the mystery of the woman, and the beast that had seven heads and ten horns.  As with most of Revelation, these verses bring up a lot of controversy and a lot of different interpretations.  A few things to think about here though:

• What effect to the descriptions of evil in this book have on us?
• How can we best fight evil and promote good?

Jeremiah 51:7 states "Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord's hand, making the whole earth drink.  The nations drank her wine; therefore, the nations go mad."  Hmmm...sounds familiar doesn't it?

Chapter 18 verses 1-3 proclaims the fall of mystical Babylon.  Verses 4-8 tells us about a voice from heaven that warns God's people about taking part in her plagues.  Verses 9-19 proclaims the lamentation over her fall.  Verses 20-24 calls the Church to rejoice because of her utter destruction.  A few key things to consider here:

• The "merchants of the earth" great wealth came from the exploitation of others and the complete indifference to people's needs.
• There are MANY parallels between "the merchants of the earth" and Western society...what can Christians do about this?
• Babylon stands for any political system that opposes God.  It represents political power, decadence, and hatred of God's followers.

Ezekiel 27:31 reminds us that "They shave their heads because of you and wrap themselves in sackcloth.  They weep over you with deep anguish and bitter mourning."

Chapter 19 verses 1-5 proclaims the joy at God's victory over Babylon.  Verses 6-10 announces the great and awesome marriage of the Lamb.  And verses 11-21 are a vision of the Christ going out to destroy the beast and his armies.

Some things to consider and think about here:

• These hymns of praise should be used by us today in our worship and prayers.
• The white horse is a symbol of victory, power, and triumph.

Ephesians 5:25-27 states this about the marriage of the Lamb:  "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word.  He did this to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless."

I think this is a quote worth reading about ALL of Revelation:

"To comment in detail on this severe and vivid poetry would be like trying to analyze every note in a piece of music:  we wouldn't hear the tune.  It is best simply to read it, perhaps aloud, and sense how tragic, how poignant, how catastrophic and inevitable is the collapse of a world power which overreaches itself."
                                               ~Stephen Travis

So as I am about to hit the "button" to send my very last post of this amazing year we have had together, I cannot help but say ONE MORE TIME thank you...thank you for the insights...thank you for the laughs...thank you for the tears...thank you for the time you spent on this...thank you for the hard work...thank you for the friendships becoming closer...thank you for the journey...I love you ALL more than words could possibly ever express!!!!