Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Hello, friends.
Rain is falling. Predictions are that it’s going to pour this weekend in our area—with flooding and risks of landslides. But I need to get out there and set up my mill. At least it’s under a roof. A guy just dropped off a trailer load of logs and will return soon for us to mill them. I thought he would only have enough to consume about an hour—but that load looks more like 4 hours.
Yesterday I had a little excitement dropping a couple trees for another guy. They were so inter-twined that we about had to drop them both in one go. I got myself into a bind and didn’t want to risk breaking a length of 4800-pound-test rope, in which case those trees would smash his house, so I opted to run home and return with my boom truck so I could make use of its winch muscle. Once that was rigged, it was a piece of cake.
Both little boys are here for the weekend. They’ve been up since before 5am. 5 days till Christmas? Oh, my! Ready or not, be blessed.
Love, Ray.
Have you ever wondered why world history reveals so much intense hatred for Jews? Have you ever wondered how it is that the Jewish Nation has even survived over time to remain a distinct people group in the wake of all that hatred? I am convinced that explanations for these historical phenomena cannot be done in purely objective and reasonable terms—it can only be explained spiritually. Based on the Biblical premise that there are only two spiritual powers (kingdoms) in the universe, I have to draw these two fundamental conclusions:
- Satan hates the Jewish people and wants to destroy them (as well as those who embrace the promised Jewish Messiah).
- God loves the Jewish people and has promised to preserve them (as well as those who embrace the promised Jewish Messiah).
This chapter presents a dramatized symbolic overview of this reality. God seems to love theater and puts on a real show for John! But without attempting to unravel and interpret all the data and details, I want to focus on the bottom line that sustains God’s people as contained in verse 11. “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so as to shrink back from death.”
The reason I refer to this as “the bottom line” is because I believe the same recipe for overcoming that characterizes this group of Jewish believers from the tribulation period, is the same recipe for our own victory. Let me summarize this way:
- Personal salvation—“by the blood of the Lamb.”
- Evangelistic testimony—“by the word of their testimony.”
- Fearless faith—"they did not love their lives so as to shrink from death.”