For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Rev. 10
“There will be no more delay.” (v. 6). Why would God delay? (see 2 Peter 3:8-10). “The mystery of God will be accomplished, just as He announced to His servants the prophets.” (Rev. 10:7b). What is this “mystery of God”? I think I would have to say that it is God’s plan, which He has had in place since before the beginning of time (mind blown). His plan, of course, is Jesus. For it is through Jesus that people from every tribe, language, and nation will be reconciled to our Holy and Righteous God. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega.
There was, still is, and will continue to be doubt about Jesus. He was not what people expected. God gave John this extravagant vision to confirm that Jesus, the suffering servant and sacrificed lamb, is indeed the great mystery of God – the conquering King who will overcome sin and death forevermore. That remains God’s unchangeable plan.
As for the delay, Jesus explained that in His Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13. He is patiently waiting for the harvest to be ripe, so the wheat is not damaged when the weeds are pulled up. It’s not really a delay, as it was worked into the plan from the start. But there will come a time when the harvest is ready. Once that time comes, God’s justice will come swiftly.
Neh. 3-4
In the Bible Project’s video on Ezra and Nehemiah, they pointed out the three phases, each with their leader, of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. They also pointed out how each phase had a very anti-climactic ending. They rebuilt the temple, but God’s glory did not fill it as with the original tabernacle or Solomon’s temple. The spiritual revival led by Ezra was capped with the people’s failure to stay pure. We haven’t reached the end of Nehemiah’s story just yet, but I am beginning to see a correlation in all of this. I think the reason for the anti-climactic endings is that God is very intentionally showing us that the work of Christ can only be completed by Christ.
The temple phase represents Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is the only thing that can truly bring God’s presence to us. The spiritual revival represents God’s new covenant through Christ. It is only through Christ that an unrighteous people can stand pure before God. The rebuilding of the wall that we are reading about, then, represents the building of God’s Kingdom – the body of believers in Christ Jesus. “Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble…?” (Neh. 4:2b). That is precisely what God does through Jesus. He gives us life, replacing our dead hearts of stone with living hearts of flesh.
Ps. 88
What emotions does the psalmist express to the Lord? What emotions do you feel free to express to the Lord? I wonder what prompted Heman the Ezrahite to pen this Psalm. Was he in the depths of despair for some reason? Or did he simply receive a prophetic word and write it down? All I can think of when I read this Psalm is Jesus’ cry from the cross, recorded in Matthew and Mark and prophesied in Psalms 22. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps. 22:1). This entire Psalm seems to expand on that statement, even to the point of offering virtually nothing in the way of hope. That seems unusual in a Psalm to me.
Though the Psalmist calls out many attributes of God in verses 10-12, the only truly positive statement I see in this entire Psalm is the very first line. “LORD, you are the God who saves me.” (Ps. 88:1a). When I think about it, though, that is really all the hope we need. There is no darkness so deep, no despair so heavy that this truth does not hold. The LORD is the God who saves me. Period. It is true for me because it was true for the One who walked the forsaken road depicted in this Psalm.