The wife and I finished reading through John’s gospel recently.  I thought it would be good to proceed to John’s epistles, but Sarah stated that she really desired to read through the book of Revelation.  I sighed and agreed, knowing that there was precious little I would be able to contribute to the confusion we may get ourselves in by reading the apocolypse of John.

Well, I couldn’t be more wrong. 

• Each time Sarah stopped us and said, “Well what do you suppose that means?”  I shrugged my shoulders and said, “It appears to be metaphorical to me.  My professor termed it a verbal painting.  It communicates emotion more than exact predictions.  Let’s keep reading.”
• She would nod her head and we would continue.
• Then, light bulbs were going off in our heads.
• Once we stopped trying to figure out what it meant and simply respond to what was said, we tasted the goodness and faithfulness of God.
• In the midst of the opening of the Seven Seals, there is a break in the flow of thought.
• The people of God are seen worshipping Him.  And there is not one missing.  All have been preserved, none have been destroyed.
• Then the Seventh Seal was opened.

In the midst of the woes, there is a blessing for God’s people.  Sarah and I looked at each other, with tears in her eyes and a smile on my face (both indicative of our joy), and we recounted that the woes are not for the children of God, but for the ungodly, for those who do not love.  We rejoiced in God’s promise that we will not be destroyed, we have not been forsaken, and no amount of persecution the Church has ever or will ever face could remove one member of Israel from the presence of God when this time has passed.

To YHWH be the Glory!