Missed any of our Revelation series? You can catch up here!

Last week we spent some time considering Revelation chapter 8 and the lessons it holds for us regarding the potent force of prayer. Today I wanted to share with you a bit of a tangential post. :) It’s not exactly part of our Revelation series, but it relates well to that discussion.

In my personal devotion time I’ve been reading through the book of Daniel. It has been years since I really studied this book and I forgot how much I love it! Daniel is one of those rare individuals that I would truly consider a hero of the faith – this man is a faithful follower of God, even when thrown into a den of lions or put into a position of great power under multiple kings (a situation that would probably destroy most of us much faster than facing hungry lions!)

Yesterday and today I’ve been reading Daniel chapter 9. The chapter opens for us with Daniel studying “the books” – the portion of Scripture that was written down at the time. He’s not just casually reading, he is studying, and God reveals something important to him through the text.

I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. (9:2)

Daniel is diligently studying the text. He believes that the Scriptures are literally true and expects that prophecy will come to pass. He realizes that the Scriptures indicate that Jerusalem would be desolate for 70 years… and he also realizes that the time is almost up. His response?

So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. (9:3-6)

Daniel falls before the Lord with humility and passion, entreating God for mercy on the basis of His character and promises – fully acknowledging that they deserved punishment.

“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.” (Dan. 9:17-19)

Now, the kicker of this passage for me is what happens next. Talk about answered prayer!

While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill- while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding.  As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. (Dan. 9:20-23a)

Oh, that is so rich! I just keep coming back to these verses and turning them over in my mind. Questions I’m pondering:

• Do we study the Scriptures with this type of intensity and faith? As we continue on through the prophetic visions in Revelation, do we believe that these things will actually happen? I know that there are many Christians who would say that I go a little too far in my literal interpretation of Scripture – that’s fine with me. I’m not going to be dogmatic about things that aren’t clear… but so, so many things ARE clear. Like Daniel, I want to read the Bible with eyes of faith, expecting God’s Word to be fulfilled exactly as He said it would be!

• If I really believe these things will happen, what will be my response? How should it change my prayer life? How should I intercede on behalf of so many who have fallen away from truth or rejected it altogether? Notice when Daniel realizes where they are on the prophetic timeline that he doesn’t immediately head out to the street corner to yell at people to repent or arrogantly flaunt his Biblical knowledge. He humbles himself, repents personally, and prays with intensity on behalf of God’s people.

• Do I expect God to answer my prayers? I love the wording of Verse 23 in the ESV – “At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved.” Have I built the kind of relationship with God where I am praying so in tune with His will (and I could only be that in tune with His will if I know His Word this well!) that I expect Him to respond to my prayers with this type of answer?

I pray that as we continue on through this Revelation study that this will not be an academic or mental exercise for you or for me. If God’s Word says these things are so… do we believe it? And if so, what will we do? How will we pray? How might God respond?

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Missed any of the Revelation posts? You can find them all indexed here.

On Tuesday we looked at Revelation 8:1, when silence fell in heaven in anticipation of the judgments to come. After this half hour of stunned quiet, the next portion of God’s plan begins to unfold.

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Revelation 8:2-5

As the stage is set for the trumpet judgments to come, we find this interesting scene of an angel hurling incense from a censer to the earth below, triggering thunder, lightning, and an earthquake. What is going on here?

The Bible equates incense going up before the Lord with the prayers of the saints.

May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

Psalm 141:2

And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

Revelation 5:8

Prayers of the saints – prayers for God’s judgment to come and finally triumph over all the evil and injustice prevalent on the earth below – are strengthened with “much incense” provided by God Himself. Millions of prayers that echo Jesus’ words of “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” are joined in common purpose with the will of God – He has heard, His will will be done, and He will act.

Let me tell you something in all honesty – I don’t understand prayer. I really don’t. I can give you no eloquent explanations about how our requests intersect with the will and sovereignty of God Almighty. I don’t understand why, how, and when He listens to us. But I know this: He tells us to pray, He tells us He will hear us, and in some amazing way that I cannot comprehend, our prayers make a difference.

The prayers of “all the saints” are gathered up in these verses and join with God’s own plan.

What a potent force is prayer! The saints go into their bedrooms, close the doors, kneel down, and pray. They spread out before God their petitions, and God hears. The prayers are placed in the scales of judgment. In some mysterious way not explained to us, prayer changes things. This is true in every age… For prayer never reaches God in the clumsy, inept, feeble way it leaves our lips. So then, there was silence in heaven for half of hour (of heaven’s time) while God graciously takes into consideration the prayers of His own. (Phillips 128)

Do we take prayer as seriously as we should? The Bible describes prayer in terms of warfare, and these verses in Revelation remind us that our prayers are heard and do carry a great weight – and yet, we yawningly pray before bedtime and recite trite prayers before our meals.

What a potent force is prayer! I find myself together with the disciples asking, “Lord, teach me to pray.” To really pray… to pray like it matters, like it impacts eternity.

Missed any of the Revelation posts? You can find them all indexed here.

As we looked at the last few chapters in Revelation, we have envisioned loud, tumultuous scenes. Earthquakes, natural disasters on an unthinkable scale, people crying out in terror, the multitude of the redeemed and the host of heaven thundering out their worship before the throne.

Put that silly image of people floating around on clouds and playing quiet tunes on small harps out of your mind. Heaven will be filled with uproarious praise, and earth will be far from quiet during this time.

At the beginning of chapter eight, however, this thundering sound comes to a shocking pause.

When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

Remember that the scroll is the title deed to the earth. It describes not what Christ will inherit, but how He will reclaim what is already rightfully His. As each seal is broken and the scroll is unrolled further, more of the plan of God and the tribulation judgments are revealed.

As this seventh and final seal is broken and the contents of the scroll are revealed for the first time, silence falls. The fervor of the worshipers pauses as the weight and reality of what is to come is made known to them. This seventh seal contains the seven trumpet judgments to come, and the seventh trumpet contains the final bowl (vial) judgments. These judgments which telescope out are brought to light with the crack of this seventh seal – and they are sobering to behold.

This silence must surely also be full of expectation. Those who have been longing for the redemption of God’s broken world, longing for His justice to reign, longing to see every knee bow and recognize Jesus for who He really is catch their breath, for the time has come.

“The hour of God’s final judgment had come – the hour when the saints will be vindicated, sin punished, Satan vanquished, and Christ exalted. The greatest event since the Fall is about to take place and all heaven is seen waiting in suspenseful expectancy.” (MacArthur 238)

Are you feeling restless today? Is your heart yearning, crying out “how long, O Lord?”

Be still. Consider the silence of this verse… and rest in the fact that there will be a day when all will be made right. In the meantime, let us not fail to share truth with those around us, for the judgment is sure – and sobering.

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalm 46:10

Starting to think about Christmas shopping?

Don’t forget about Women at Risk International’s amazing online store – I love WAR’s ministry to the least of these, seeking to make a real difference in the lives of women who have been rescued out of human trafficking or providing a better life for those who are most at risk.

You will be amazed at their huge selection of jewelry and other beautiful items, you will love their prices, and you will feel great about the fact that 90% of each purchase goes directly to the safe house or the individual woman who produced it.

Want to learn more about WAR? Check out the Redeemed series which ran here on KristiStephens.com during the spring of 2010.

“Experiencing God in the midst of an assembly, the gathered people of God – His church – is like hearing God in concert. We all, in different ways, experience God throughout our day as individuals: in our private devotional life, in the beauty of nature, and in our acts of service to the poor. But as wonderful and necessary as these experiences are, they do not replace the experience of God in concert. Like an iPod or portable music player, they replicate the music of the concert experience, but they cannot replace the concert itself. God is a master musician, and He is best experienced live in concert.

I’d like you to think about heaven for a moment. When the curtain is pulled back and we get a glimpse into the world of heaven in the book of Revelation, we see an enormous assembly-  a concert of living creatures, elders, and people of every tribe, nation, and tongue gathered together around the throne of God (Rev. 4-5; 7; 14). Heaven is not presented as a private recital of God’s glory. It’s not an individualistic experience. When the Bible speaks about the end-time return of Jesus Christ, we are told it is the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19) – a giant, celebratory, communal feast, not a series of private picnics. It’s a community experience…

When we assemble together as the church, we re-create the concert of heaven here on earth. Hebrews 12:18-29 teaches us that the gathering of God’s people is a re-creation of this heavenly experience. Just as Israel gathered around the temple and the tabernacle to re-create their foundational assembly at Mount Sinai, we do something similar when we gather as an assembled church. Instead of re-creating the assembly on Mount Sinai, we join our worship to the eternal worship of the assembled in heaven (Heb. 12:22-29). Because we have come near to God in this heavenly assembly, we should ‘worship God with reverence and awe.’ (v. 28)” [Samra, 32-33]

This quote comes from an excellent book written by my parents’ pastor and friend, pastor Jim Samra from Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His book, The Gift of Church, is an excellent read – highly recommend it! And *pssst* – tomorrow on Scripture Dig we’ll be announcing a giveaway of this book, if you’d like to try to win a copy for yourself! You might also want to consider purchasing a copy as a gift – this is pastor appreciation month, after all! :)