For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Rev. 8
What do v. 3-4 suggest about our prayers? Everything about God’s temple is symbolic of Jesus and how He unites us with God. So when people say that the incense is symbolic of the prayers of God’s people, I somehow think there is more to it than that. The incense for the temple was a very specific formula that was not to be used for anything else. And it was to be handled in very specific ways. In Revelation 8 we see the prayers of God’s people offered, not on their own, but with the incense. I wonder, then, if the incense specified for the temple and mentioned in Revelation 8 symbolizes the prayers of Jesus. We know He prayed for us. And it is through His intercession on our behalf that God hears and accepts our prayers.
It is a rather awesome thought that our prayers, together with the intercession of our Savior, are the fuel for God’s wrath unleashed on the earth. Such seems to be the imagery of Revelation 8:3-4. The martyrs, revealed at the fifth seal in chapter 6, had said, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” (Rev. 6:10b). That seems to me to support this image. God hears our prayers; our prayers of praise, reliance, thanksgiving, trust – He hears them all. The book of Revelation is our assurance that, from God’s timeless perspective, He has already answered every last one of those prayers.
Ezra 9-10
Ezra confessed as though the people’s sins were his own. Why? Have you ever prayed this way? If not, take some time to do it now. Ezra understood that the exiles were one body, unified under their God. The apostle Paul later said the same thing about us, the Church, who are unified as one body in Christ. A body is only as good as its weakest link. If there is a problem with one part of the body, the entire body feels it. As Paul might suggest, how can the hand say, “Forgive that unrighteous eye”? The exiles were in it together. So when Ezra saw part of the group turning to their own ways, he saw it as a personal problem. I believe this is the right attitude for us, as Christ’s Church, to have as well. We are in it together.
What I find very interesting is that we have no indication that Ezra so much as tried to convince the people of their guilt. Instead, he turned straight to God in prayer. Then, “While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites – men, women and children – gathered around him. They too wept bitterly.” (Ez. 10:1). We don’t know if these people were the guilty, the innocent, or a combination. What I see, though, is that one man’s sincere response to God on behalf of the entire body initiated a larger, similar response. They then stood together as one to seek healing for their body. Again, this is how the Church should work!
Ps. 87
This is a love song about Jerusalem. Do you love your city this way? How do you show your love for your city? God’s “city” isn’t made up of bricks and mortar, streets and buildings. It is made up of people; people who have been born again through Jesus Christ into God’s family. And God loves His family. That is both comforting and challenging to me. Comforting because I know I am part of that family. Therefore, I know that God loves me and nothing can stand against me. Challenging because, as we saw in John’s letters, if I don’t love what God loves, then I oppose God. Don’t want that!! So the question, then, is do I love God’s family?