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 13:13 gives a specific description of one of the evil activities of the Antichrist’s false prophet: “And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.” This “fire” from the skies reminds us of the ministry of the prophet Elijah in I Kings 18; no doubt, the false prophet’s actions are a mimicry of that Old Testament ministry. Malachi 4:5 says, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” Although Jesus made it clear in Matthew 17:11-12 that this prophecy was fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist, some still expect Elijah to return, and these benighted individuals will be susceptible to the false prophet’s display of power. Also, this “fire” will remind people of the miracles of the two godly witnesses of Revelation 11:5 and will thus serve to diminish their testimony. We should note, of course, that the false prophet’s demonstrations of power are completely negative. Such destructive power is not worthy of our praise. Rather, we worship Jesus Christ, God the Son, Who uses His might to save eternally.