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.)
Revelation 17 speaks primarily of the religious aspect of the Antichrist’s brief Tribulation reign. Verses 1 and 2 employ strong language: “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials and talked with me, saying unto me, ‘Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.’” This vivid picture of debauchery reveals the logical outcome of opposing Jesus Christ, God the Son. The combined imagery of adultery and drunkenness is powerful and disturbing. The Bible uses marriage as a picture of the Church’s relationship with Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:22-33). It also contrasts drinking with a relationship with God the Holy Spirit: “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess [dissipation]; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). The opposite of God’s ideal is thus found in the completely sinful reign of Satan’s Antichrist. May we “flee fornication” (I Corinthians 6:18a) and instead “draw nigh to God” (James 4:8a).