Lent Season Mar 28

Going Beyond - Revelation
Carri Lynne Pratt

Messiah Appears

Today's Reading: Revelation 14:1-5

"Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb,
standing on Mount Zion, and with Him
144,000 who had His name, and His Father's name,
written on their foreheads." Revelation 14:1

In this passage, Jesus is making an appearance to the 144,000 who had been sealed (in chapter 7). They  worship before Jesus and before the Throne and "sing a new song" to Messiah that "no one could learn" except for them. (Keep in mind that this is not the "Second Coming" of Christ to the whole Earth, that happens in Revelation 19:11 we'll be there soon!).

A significant passage of Old Testament Scripture parallels today's verse regarding the return of Messiah to Earth:

"On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which

faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be

split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley,

so that half the mountain will move to the north and

half to the south." Zechariah 14:4

"Many Jews have wanted to be buried on the Mount of Olives since antiquity, based on the Jewish tradition that when the Messiah comes, the resurrection of the dead will begin from the Mount of Olives." Rabbi Ari Enkin, United with Israel.org

     

The Mount of Olives is where Jesus spoke about "the sign of (His) coming and the end of the age." Matthew 24:3 and it is also the spot where Jesus ascended to Heaven:

"After He had said this  this, He was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. While He was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven.” Acts 1:9-11

Reflection: Consider the Old Testament prophecies (regarding the end of the age & the return of Christ) and the words of Jesus with the book of Revelation, and meditate on how they fit together perfectly. You can trust in God's word to be true.