Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension.
Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 361. We are reading Revelations chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11, as well as the entire book of Philemon, or Philemon, depending on how you like to say it. I like to say Philemon because...
I don't know, that's the way I first heard it. And we're also reading Proverbs chapter 31, verses 16 through 18. The Bible translation I'm reading from, as always, is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension.
If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan for these last five days, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. Maybe you'd be preparing for the next. trip around these 365 days of scripture by getting the Bible in your reading plan. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe and receiving daily episodes and daily updates. It is day 361.
We're reading revelations chapters eight, nine, 10 and 11, as well as Philemon and Proverbs 31 verses 16 through 18. The revelation to John chapter eight, the seventh seal and the golden censer. When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God and seven trumpets were given to them.
And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden sensor.
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Chapter 2: What is the significance of the book of Philemon?
And he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne. And the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God. Then the angel took the sensor and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth.
And there were peals of thunder, loud noises, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. the seven angels and seven trumpets. Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets made ready to blow them. The first angel blew his trumpet and there followed hail and fire mixed with blood, which fell on the earth.
And a third of the earth was burnt up and a third of the trees were burnt up and all the green grass was burnt up. The second angel blew his trumpet and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died and a third of the ships were destroyed.
The third angel blew his trumpet and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the fountains of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became Wormwood and many men died of the water because it was made bitter.
The fourth angel blew his trumpet and a third of the sun was struck and a third of the moon and a third of the stars so that a third of their light was darkened. A third of the day was kept from shining and likewise a third of the night.
Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew in midheaven, Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth at the blasts of the other trumpets which the three angels are about to blow. Chapter 9 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key of the shaft of the bottomless pit.
He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.
They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green growth or any tree, but only those of mankind who have not the seal of God upon their foreheads. They were allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill them. And their torture was like the torture of a scorpion when it stings a man. In those days, men will seek death and not find it.
They will long to die and death will fly from them. In appearance, the locusts were like horses arrayed for battle. On their heads were what looked like crowns of gold. Their faces were like human faces, their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lion's teeth.
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Chapter 3: How does Philemon's letter address the issue of slavery?
And the angel whom I saw standing on sea and land lifted up his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there should be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God, as he announced to his servants, the prophets should be fulfilled.
Then the voice which I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, Go, take the scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land. Chapter 11 The Two Witnesses Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and I was told, rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there. But do not measure the court outside the temple.
Leave that out for it is given over to the nations and they will trample over the holy city for 42 months. And I will grant my two witnesses power to prophesy for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes.
If anyone would harm them, thus he is doomed to be killed. They have power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying. And they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to afflict the earth with every plague as often as they desire.
And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.
For three days and a half, men from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.
But after three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them and they stood up on their feet and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, Come up here. And in the sight of their foes, they went up to heaven in a cloud. And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell.
Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is soon to come.
The Seventh Trumpet Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.
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Chapter 4: What do the seven trumpets in Revelation signify?
I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion, but of your own free will.
Perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, as a beloved brother. especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. So, if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all or owes you anything, charge that to my account.
I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will repay it, to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ." Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be granted to you.
Final greetings and benediction. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. The book of Proverbs chapter 31 verses 16 through 18.
She considers a field and buys it. With the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard. She clothes her loins with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night. Father in heaven, we give you praise. We thank you so much.
Thank you for bringing us to this place. Thank you for this letter of St. Paul to Philemon. Thank you for giving us insight into judgment, for giving us insight into the fact that this world, though good, is broken and will not go on forever. The brokenness will not go on forever. You will bring your just judgment to us, to our lives, and to the world that you've placed us in.
Help us to be faithful to you. Help us to be found watching and waiting, prepared to receive you as you deserve to be received. Help us to endure pain well. Help us to endure suffering like your Son, Jesus Christ, endured it. And we ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Chapter 5: How do the plagues in Revelation reflect God's judgment?
We talked about family members. If we saw each other, not as those who get in our way, not as those who are supposed to serve us, but as brothers and sisters, then we would have a different world. What Paul is writing to Philemon is a picture of that different world that could possibly be ours.
I don't know if that makes any sense, but just one last thought when it comes to this big issue that exists in our world right now. So back to Revelation. What do we have? We have chapters 8 through 11. So there's a lot of stuff happening. We have the seventh seal. Remember, with each opening of each seal, there's more destruction coming upon the earth.
At the same time, there were those who were protected by this seal that they had on themselves. And it's interesting. I mentioned this before. I'll mention this again. There is a debate regarding the dating of the book of Revelation that some say is before the year 70. Others say it's around the year 80 to 90. Again, those are important to note. The majority idea is the later dating.
The minority view is the earlier dating. But regardless, they were writing to a people. John was writing to a people who were in persecution. And he's writing to them, revealing to them the power of worship that's happening in heaven. In fact, look at this chapter eight, the very beginning, it talks about this golden censer.
And it says this, it says, he stood at the altar, this is chapter eight, verse three, another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer. He's given much incense to mingle with the prayers of the saints upon the golden altar before the throne. And the smoke of the incense rose up with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God.
Remember this, remember that these are the prayers of the saints, the holy ones on earth. going up before God, who presented before God by those saints, the holy ones in heaven. And this is so important because we have the intercession of the angels. We have intercession of saints. Here we have this worship in heaven happening.
And this is very important because we're going to get in a second, we're going to get the image of the temple in heaven, but Stay tuned. We next have the seven trumpets. So the seven angels, the seven trumpets. We first have the seven seals. Then we have the seven trumpets. This is hopefully you've noticed that from the scrolls, yep, there were some pretty big destruction came upon the earth.
And those correlated with the destruction that Jesus Christ himself had prophesied would happen. Like every one of those seven images of destruction Correspond directly with what Jesus had said. Now we have the seven trumpets and you can notice this is that there's even more destruction. There's also going to be seven bowls and the seven bowls are going to be even more destruction.
So just keep that in mind. We have the seven seals, the seven trumpets and the seven bowls that mark destruction. Now, this can be a lot to take. And that is a lot to take. Maybe even for, for John, who is witnessing this whole thing. We're just hearing about it, but John got to see this whole thing. And what's happening is he's given a little reprieve.
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Chapter 6: What is the role of the two witnesses in Revelation 11?
I mean, even right. Peter said this. He said, when you're considering the Lord's return delay, it's not delay. It's he's God's being patient. He's being patient. So you can actually turn back to him at some point though. I'm not going to say God's patient runs out. That's not true. God doesn't run out of patience. God is long suffering.
He endures so much, but at some point, the time, the opportunity runs out. And this is one of the messages of Revelation. It's one of the messages of the Bible is that here is God who loves you so much. He loves me so much. He loves all of us so much, every single person. And at some point, the time is going to run out. Again, it's not God's love that runs out.
It's not his patience that runs out. It is just the time. At some point, we get what we've chosen. And even after some of these plagues and after some of these devastating things happening upon the earth, there are those who will continue to choose themselves. They'll continue to choose anything but God. In chapter 11, we have these two witnesses. And in these two witnesses, it's very, very...
the mysterious, who they are. They could simply be, you know, two Christian prophets in this context. But at the same time, it talks about how they have power, and this is chapter 11, verse 6, says that they have power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of the prophesying, and they have power over the water to turn them into blood.
And to afflict the earth with every plague as often as they desire. That kind of sounds a little bit like two people we encountered in the Old Testament. Who was an Old Testament person who had power to shut the sky so that no rain fell for, I think it was three years. His name was Elijah. Who was the prophet who turned waters into blood and had every plague afflict the earth?
Well, that was Moses. So it could be possible in some ways that this is... Moses and Elijah reappearing, or this is prophets who kind of symbolize Moses and Elijah. Um, regardless what it is, is here is a clear sign that God is present. God is active. God is real. And what it happens, the nations of the world team up and kill them.
And then they congratulate each other over having killed these two prophets. And I think there's something so powerful about this. You know how often in the New Testament here, the Christians have written about, you can't belong to both the world and to God. And a lot of us, we think, well, no, I mean, I kind of live in a decent, there's decent people around me in the world. And you're right.
There are decent people all over the place, everywhere. At the same time, When we fully belong to the Lord, in some ways we can see ourselves and say, I don't really belong to this world. I don't really belong here. I don't feel like I fit in. We should often as Christians feel like we don't fit in. I think too often we feel like we fit in and that might not be to our benefit.
That might actually be to our detriment. They've killed these two prophets, these two witnesses. Witness in this term, in a sense, you know, is the Greek, which means martyr. They've killed them and they're celebrating and it says, they gaze upon their dead bodies and what happens?
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Chapter 7: How does Revelation depict the end times and judgment?
They rejoice over them, make merry and exchange presents because these two prophets have been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. And that's what the world does to prophets. Sometimes the world recognizes that they were holy, but gosh, you can even think of people that have died recently in our age who have been clearly holy And yet people call into question their holiness.
Maybe they had something going on. Maybe they had some ulterior motive. Maybe there was some other kind of, you know, deception happening in their life. And of course we're all broken, but think about how much the world hates holiness. I think we like it from afar, but when it's up close, we don't like it. And so we have this opportunity. The opportunity is to turn back to the Lord.
Last little note. At the end of chapter 11, we have John looking into heaven. He says this in verse 19. Then God's temple in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. And there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder and earthquake and heavy hail. Once again, like a Mount Sinai situation, but also he sees the ark of the covenant.
This is the end of chapter 11. This is absolutely so important for us to pay attention to. Why? Because the Ark of the Covenant has been lost. Remember, Jeremiah hated away hundreds of years before this. And now John sees it for the first time in his entire life, for the first time in centuries. He looks into heaven and he sees the Ark of the Covenant. This is so important. Why?
Because it's in the Lord's temple. Remember, the worship that was happening in heaven is now happening in Christian churches, is happening on altars, is happening in the Catholic church. all of the time. This is the place, this is the action, and this is the work that you and I are made for.
I'm sorry this is so long, but again, we only have a few days left for each other, but here we are on day 361. What a gift it is to just, again, hear. It's not a gift to hear about judgment, but it is a gift to hear. Here's what the Lord is doing. He has brought judgment to the world. He will bring it again, not to punish those who are innocent, but to bring justice to this world.
I'm just praying for myself. And I pray for you that we can be recipients of God's mercy, even in the midst of the need for justice. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me.
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Chapter 8: What insights can we gain from Proverbs 31 in this context?
My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.