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.)
In addition to the “great earthquake” of the seventh vial or bowl judgment (Revelation 6:17-20), an unprecedented hailstorm bombards the earth: “And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague thereof was exceeding great” (verse 21). This storm reminds us of the localized seventh plague against the Egyptians (Exodus 9:13-35), but this tempest is worldwide. Moreover, these hailstones are supernaturally large. Scholars debate the weight of a “talent,” some thinking that it was around 50 pounds, others believing it to be about 100 pounds. Even the smaller of the two would be horribly destructive. Earlier, we found that the people of the earth “hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains” (Revelation 6:15b). Such locations would afford some protection against hailstones – but not against an earthquake! The combination of a worldwide hailstorm and a worldwide earthquake is a sobering example of the thoroughness of the justice of God.