Revelation 16:15 “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”
This unique passage in Revelation has a warning and a blessing.
The first part of this verse was a warning about the suddenness of the Lord’s return as He is coming as a thief to the world not anticipating His return.
The second part of this passage was in reference to the duties of the priesthood in the days of the Temple. The Levities were in charge of keeping the Temple holy, day and night.
Throughout the evening, the captain of the guard would make his rounds to make sure that those who were assigned watched attentively so that no one would defile the Temple during the night. If a watchman was found sleeping, he was beaten and his garments were set on fire so that he had to return home naked in his shame!
It’s hard to imagine any believer sleeping at this hour! We are seeing events unfold with such clarity, there is a sense of urgency as the days grow darker. Let us seize this time, and recognize the great opportunity we have to share the gospel to a world more ready to receive it. To even the most hardened person … they can clearly see that the world has radically changed in ways like never before.
You are one of today’s watchmen! As the world gets darker … continue to shine His light — in His love, for you shall truly reap if you faint not! So be blessed … as you continue to watch!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]One of my heroes of the faith, Watchman Nee, once said something profound about entering the rest of God. He said, “Carnal Christians crave works; yet amid many labors, they are unable to maintain calm in their spirit. They cannot fulfill God’s orders quietly as can the spiritual believers… their hearts are governed by outward matters. Being “distracted with much serving” (Luke 10:40) is the characteristic of the work of any soulish believer. They have not yet entered the rest of God.”
Thousands are gathering in Washington D.C. today to pray for the inauguration of the new president of the United States. I know a number of people who will be there and I think it’s a good thing, but this reminds me of a story I heard once.
We arrived at the airport late Thursday night with our bags and our kiddos only to find out that our flight was canceled because of a freak accident — a tractor ran into the plane, of all things! So we repacked our ourselves tightly into a small rental car to make the two hour drive to get back home to Arad in the middle of the night. Our flight was postponed till Sunday.
There was a man who had four sons, and he wanted them to understand the importance of not rushing to judgment. So, he sent each one on a journey to view a pear tree that was far away. He sent the first son in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in the summer, and the youngest in the fall. After they all returned, he gathered them together to hear what they had seen.
The Hebrew letter mem, equivalent to our English letter “M,” has a fascinating characteristic: it has two forms. The “open mem” appears at the beginning or middle of a word, with a small opening in its design. The “closed mem,” however, is used exclusively as the final letter in a word, fully sealed in its appearance. This distinction is consistent throughout the Hebrew language—except for one extraordinary exception found in the Bible.
Yeshua (Jesus) gave a remarkable parenthetic instruction in the middle of His Olivet discourse on the time of His coming and the end of the age. While it is unlikely that He himself said this, He certainly inspired Matthew to insert, “..let the reader understand”, concerning this critical event prophesied by Daniel, the Abomination of Desolation. His exhortation intended us (the readers of Matthew’s gospel) to learn what this means.
In John Bunyan’s best-selling book, Pilgrim’s Progress, the central character, Christian, begins his journey leaving the city of Destruction and ventures on his way toward the Celestial City. Early on his journey, Christian decides to depart from the narrow path onto an easier one which leads him to the territory of Despair and its stronghold, Doubting Castle.