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 17:9 presents a symbolic picture of powerful kingdoms arrayed against God: “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.” John then provides additional symbolic detail: “And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come: and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition” (verses 10-11). “And there are seven kings” is literally “the seven heads are seven kings.” These “seven kings” lead seven separate kingdoms (“seven mountains”) that oppose God (and, by extension, His people). Five preceded John’s day: the most obvious possibilities are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon (the first Babylon, that is), Medo-Persia, and Greece. We are certain that the “one” is the Roman Empire, which controlled much of Europe, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean in the 90’s when John was imprisoned (by the Romans) and when he received and wrote “the Revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1). The context of Revelation indicates that the seventh is a future confederacy of nations that will seek to destroy Israel at the end (more about this tomorrow). The vast historical panorama of these brief verses is a reminder that our Lord is fully sovereign: “Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little thing” (Isaiah 40:15).