MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron
We just finished a summary of the Revelation of Jesus Christ - the last book in the Bible written by the apostle John - which we also studied in 2020. During Covid, many people were asking, Are we in the last days? Where are we in relation to the timeline? Following Jesus' example, I might answer those questions with a couple of questions: Where are we in relationship to God? And what is our trajectory?
In relation to God, on this 4th of July, where are we as a country? We dread the news and the next election. Devastation continues in Ukraine, in Gaza, in our major cities, and even in our small towns. Drug deaths, abortions and suicides are common, as family and churches are abandoned. We lose faith in our government, medicine, and science, even in ourselves.
I recently spoke at a church in southwest Kansas, where pioneers traveled west looking for a better life. They saw an opportunity, in newspaper ads and letters, but once they came, it wasn’t always what they expected. However, bringing their loved ones, they formed towns and schools and churches, and sought to make the place better. They could have stayed where they were, but something had driven them to press on.
Individually we may think we're headed north, south, east or west, but what is the destination, the goal? Seventy-three times in the Bible, the word "Repent" appears, spoken to people who were off course. Even if we chose at one time to follow Jesus, the question now is - even if behaviors are different - has our altitude changed? A promise in the Bible is, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Jesus knows our struggles, and He provides a way to be transformed and to "move up".
God's Word has prophecies for the modern world, as well as for when it was written. If we roll back time, the decline of Babylon and Rome might be likened to 2024. In Revelation chapter 17, an angel spoke. "'I shall show you the judgment of the great harlot...'" - anyplace with an obsession for material accumulation and constant stimulation - which has taken over much of American culture.
After Babylon falls (Revelation chapter 18), there come warnings and woes, and a lament for the great city. Then, in chapter 19, a fourfold Hallelujah, predicting God's great victory.
Verse 1: "I heard, ... a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, 'Hallelujah!'"
Verse 3: "A second time they said, 'Hallelujah!'"
Verse 4: "The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures worshiped and sang, 'Hallelujah!'"
Verse 6: "The voice of a great multitude like waters and thunder cries, 'Hallelujah! for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!'"
So, what's going on?
Back in Revelation chapter 12:1-6, John had shared the troubling vision of a spiritual struggle between good and evil. The warfare included the attempted murder of a baby, an attack on heaven, and efforts to destroy the church. But the Child was taken up to heaven, and throughout evil times, God will preserve His people. Jesus said, "'These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world'" (John 16:33).
Early in Revelation, Jesus' call to the seven churches was to be overcomers. We can't do this alone, but by banding together as His Church. We do it by starting on an upward way. God loves us the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us here. Regarding the election some are dreading: whichever way it turns out, like the pioneers, we can make our place better.
Proverbs 3:5 tells us, "Lean not on your own understanding." Romans 12:2 reads, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind...". Ephesians 4:23-24 says, "...be made new in the attitude of your minds; and... put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
When times are troubled, take heart. "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you" (James 4:10). Jesus came to demonstrate a godly life, pay the penalty for sin, rescue us from a downward trajectory, and put our feet on an upward way. He wants what is good for us.
