Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Certainly our Savior God is blessedly thorough. After an angel preaches “the everlasting gospel” to the entire earth (Revelation 14:6-7), John records, “And there followed another angel, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication’” (Revelation 14:8). Here is another warning to the whole world. There is considerable debate regarding whether “Babylon” is a literal rebuilding of that ancient city and empire (and nemesis of Israel) or a symbol for the political, economic, and religious system headed by the Antichrist and the false prophet (as we studied in chapter 13). Of course, both interpretations can be true, for a worldwide government is likely to have a base of operations. The details of the fall of Babylon are found in Revelation 17 and 18, and we will study those details later. For now, let us heed this and other Biblical warnings about idolatry and immorality. Worldly ideas and patterns of behavior are wrong and destructive. Wise people “flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness” (I Timothy 6:11).