Day 264: 144,000 and Then Some

Revelation 7; Nehemiah 9:38-10:39; Psalm 102

There are some denominations that think only 144,000 will be saved because of this chapter in Revelation. It talks about marking the foreheads of the servants of God, and lists 144,000 who will receive this mark. However, immediately after this, John sees "a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language." These people were standing before the throne of God, wearing white robes and singing praises. Hm...so who are these people? According to the elder, "these are the ones who have gone through the great suffering. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and have made them white." If that doesn't sound like salvation, I don't know what does. I'm probably wrong on this, but the way I see it, there will be 144,000 Jews who are marked and then a massive amount of the rest of us who will get to praise God in heaven.

The elder goes on to explain what this large crowd gets because of their salvation through the Lamb's blood: "They will never hunger or thirst again, and they won't be troubled by the sun or any scorching heat. The Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to streams of life-giving water, and God will wipe all tears from their eyes." That is beautiful. Jesus Christ does so much for his people. Following him is worth everything with a promise like that.

The agreement that all the priests and Levites sign is all about practices that will help to keep the focus of their lives on The Lord. They will remain pure and holy, set apart because they won't let their sons and daughters marry foreigners. This isn't about racism or something, it is simply about protecting what is sacred. God didn't want them to marry foreigners because every time they did they turned from him and started worshiping other idols. The very next thing is about resting on the Sabbath and not overworking. The last part has to do with bringing offering to the temple. Are they to bring what is left over? Nope, they are instructed to bring the first and the best of what they have. Why is this important? Because when we depend on God to the point of giving the first and the best, we have to trust him to provide throughout and at the end. So often we give God what is leftover in our lives. The time we have left in the day, the money still left at the end of the month, and that doesn't require any faith and it certainly isn't worshipful if it isn't our best.

This psalm is primarily about how we as humans are weak, fading, temporarily here on this earth. We are at the mercy of God and of time. But God is so powerful, just, constant, eternal, deserving of praise, and merciful.

Day 263: Martyrs

Revelation 6; Nehemiah 8:13-9:37; Psalm 101

I'm not for certain exactly what the 4 horsemen in this chapter in Revelation represent, but my best guess are the Antichrist, war, famine, and death, in that order. However, what stands out to me in this chapter are not the four horsemen, but the image of the martyrs. They are under the altar waiting for God to fulfill the judgment. What is powerful is God's response to them: "each of those who had been killed was given a white robe and told to rest for a while." They are washed clean, clothed with honor and purity, and given peace. That is so beautiful! However, what comes next is both sad and powerful: "They had to wait until the complete number of the Lord's other servants and followers would be killed." Ouch. What are these martyrs beneath the altar waiting for? What is God waiting for? For others who proclaim Christ to meet their death at the hands of others. Because of their faith, they will be killed. I kind of assume this will happen during the end times, but at the same time, people TODAY will be killed for their faith all over the world. I am in awe of those who would truly give up their life to stand firm for Jesus Christ and I can only hope and pray that I would be able to demonstrate that same faithfulness in my life and death if that was the case.

These passages of Nehemiah are an example of humility and acknowledging who God really is. The people had fallen far away from God, but they wanted to do things right again, so they read the Word and followed it. They had a worship service that lasted 6 hours! Some Christians today would be appalled that a service would last a minute more than the allotted 60 per week. Then they offer up this prayer of their history. They recognized that they and their ancestors had turned away. During times of prosperity and peace, they would forget about God seek foreign idols, and God would turn them over to their desires. When they were stuck and helpless, they would finally cry out and God would rescue them again. This history shows two things: first, that people are forgetful and needy, and second, that God's love never fails.


This psalm explains how we can live and lead with integrity, to be honest and fair. The last four verses say this: "Anyone who spreads gossip will be silenced, and no one who is conceited will be my friend. I will find trustworthy people to serve as my advisers, and only and honest person will serve as an official. No one who cheats or lies will have a position in my royal court. Each morning I will silence any lawbreakers I find in the countryside or in the city of The Lord." So who should we surround ourselves with? With those who are trustworthy and honest. What should we do everyday? Silence the gossipers and lawbreakers. To do this is to demonstrate integrity; may God help us to do these things.

Day 262: Not Just a Box to Check

Revelation 5; Nehemiah 7:4-8:12; Psalm 100

"EVERY tribe, language, nation, and race" and "ALL beings in heaven and on the earth." Who did God want to save? Who did Jesus die for? Who should sing praises? Who will worship Jesus at the end of days? Jesus came to save everyone, and according to John's vision, all people will one day sing praises to him. Why does Jesus deserve this? Two reasons as stated in scripture: first, he is God; second, he "has won the victory" over sin and death.

In Nehemiah, the people asked Ezra to read from the book of God's Law and "from early morning till noon, he read the Law of Moses to them and they listened carefully." They wanted to hear what God had to say to them, they paid attention to his word with open ears and hearts. They didn't just want to check off the church box or the read my Bible box. This was important to them! When God's word was opened, they even spent time bowed down in worship. God's word is powerful and these people understood that. Sometimes we get so used to having stuff, like our Bibles, our churches, that we take it for granted. These people, when they had heard the Law, they realized just how far they had fallen and were really upset. The leaders encouraged them that this wasn't a day to be sad about their past sins, but to celebrate God and their desire to be his people. They were to be glad about what God had accomplished in them, not dwell on their failures. It can be easy to see the Bible as a big list of rules or expectations, and in some ways it is. But Jesus came not to be a rule enforcer, but to be a life giver, and that is what we can focus on and celebrate and live for.

Psalm 100 reminds of how awesome the God we serve is. We do not need to be afraid, because his "love and faithfulness will last for ever."

Day 261: Worship 24/7

Revelation 4; Nehemiah 5:1-7:3; Psalm 99

So there are some crazy things that John sees in his visions in Revelation. Animals with eyes all over their body--weird. However, these strange creatures do something that is very important for us to notice: "Day and night they never stopped singing, 'Holy Holy Holy is The Lord, the all powerful God, who was and is and is coming!'" They never stopped! They worshipped constantly. You and I need to do that, too. But wait, don't we have jobs and lives? We can't sit in church 24/7. True, we can't. But if our worship is reserved for the hour we spend in church every week, then we are misunderstanding what God expects of us and what is truly worship. To praise or worship God means to give credit, give glory, give utmost respect and admiration to him, not a few well selected songs that go with the sermon. Praise and worship is an attitude of our hearts, not a time spent singing. These beasts in Revelation were constantly singing, yes, but what they are doing is worshipping The Lord, praising him. I think it would be naive to say that God wants us to sing 24/7; but an attitude of praise and worship is something that I do believe he wants from us. It's a powerful way to live.

Nehemiah reveals an important quality of good leadership: caring sacrificially for those beneath us. The leaders had been taking advantage of their position and again money and power through taxes, slavery, and rape. Previous governors had asked for an allowance and food paid by the people, requiring them to pay more than necessary. Nehemiah rebukes these people for their actions. His reason? "We must honor our God by the way we live, so the Gentiles can't find fault with us." How we live our lives shows what is most important to us, and God should be most important. We are to live holy lives, blameless, and without fault, so that others will see our lives and give glory to our God.

The story of Nehemiah and the wall gets even more interesting. Some dudes send for him to come and talk about stuff outside of the city. Nehemiah realizes that they just wanted to stop the work of rebuilding the wall. The wall represented strength and the fact that they were rebuilding something was going to show that God was on their side, so it was super important that they complete it. Slowing or stopping the work would give other nations a chance at overpowering them. I think there are people today who seek to intentionally or unintentionally hinder the work of The Lord. Christians sometimes get caught up in these distractions, thinking they need to appease everyone or explain themselves, when we should just keep going. Nehemiah, through this process asks God to give him strength and when the wall is finally finished, their enemies "felt helpless, because they knew that our God had helped us rebuild the wall." God got the glory in a powerful way because they stuck to their plan and didn't get side-tracked by distractions.

This psalm repeats the phrase, "Only you are God!" Sometimes we can get caught up in something else that we think is important and put it before The Lord in our lives. Anything that becomes more important than our relationship with God, has become a god. This psalm reminds us that the only one, the only thing, that is truly worthy of such a title is The Lord.

Day 260: Lukewarm

Revelation 3; Nehemiah 4; Psalm 98

A couple of the churches addressed in Revelation seem to be missing the point. They are dead, empty, lukewarm, asleep, and weak. These churches need to wake up and decide if they are going to be completely devoted to Jesus or not his followers at all. Before I read the book Radical and started reading by Bible, I was asleep, I was lukewarm. These messages could have been written just for me. I was in danger of being caught off guard and spit out of the mouth of God; I thought I was doing ok, and that ok was good enough, but I didn't realize just how far off from the truth I was. I needed to trade in my sin-stained, mediocre, ineffective Christian life for white garments. I needed to open my eyes, decide whether I was going to be hot or cold for Jesus and then hold firmly to that decision. I look around today and I do see a lot of lukewarm churches who are asleep. Revelations says that there will be a "time of testing that everyone in all the world must go through." If we don't trust in Jesus and if we don't know what we believe or how to stand firmly on it, we are not going to "win the victory" and be able to "sit with [Jesus] on his throne."

I love this part of the story in Nehemiah. The Jews are rebuilding the wall, but they don't get to do whistling while they work, smiling, and enjoying their project. There are people hurling insults and curses at them, threatening to attack and kill them. Not exactly a pleasant work environment. These are God's people, shouldn't he be saving them from their enemies? God does protect them, but it doesn't mean that they won't have enemies or have to deal with persecution. Nehemiah is wise and encourages them, reminding them that God will fight for them, and he has the workers build with one hand and carry a weapon in the other. God will fight for them, but they have to be prepared to step in to battle if The Lord calls them to. We will have enemies, people that hate us and insult us because of our beliefs and the work we do for God's kingdom. It is inevitable. But, we should be reminded by this story that if we trust and believe and prepare ourselves, God will fight on our side.

This psalm is a cry to worship. God deserves our worship in any way we can.