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.)
The terrible power of the Antichrist during the Tribulation is temporal and temporary, confined to earth and to a little less than seven years. Revelation 13:9 is a call to listen to God’s gracious warning: “If any man have an ear, let him hear.” In the early part of the book of Revelation, we find a similar invitation given seven times: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). Note that “what the Spirit saith to the churches” is not used in Revelation 13:9, for the Church has been raptured into heaven before the Tribulation begins, as recorded in Revelation 4-19. Still, our Savior God reaches out to the billions who are living on earth as the Tribulation draws to a close. The obvious application for us is to listen now to what our Lord has written down for our instruction and edification. On the Mount of Transfiguration, God the Father spoke to the three disciples there: “A bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, ‘This is My Beloved Son; hear ye Him’” (Matthew 17:5). Let us listen to Jesus today, for His Word will never lead us astray.