And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them.  And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and the word of God.  These did not worship the beast or his image, neither did they receive the mark upon their foreheads or upon their hand.  And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.  The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished.  This is the first resurrection.  Blessed and holy is the one having a part in the first resurrection.  Upon these the second death has no power.  But they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with Him a thousand years.  Rev. 20:4-6.
 
    A returning missionary was rear-ended at a traffic light, causing minor damage to the car he had borrowed from a friend.  When the officer arrived at the scene, he could not find the proof of insurance for the car, so he ended up receiving a ticket for $341.  That news did not go well with his missionary salary.  Even worse, it meant an appearance before a judge at the local courthouse.  What was doubly frustrating was that the proof of insurance had been in the car all along!  He had just not recognized it.
 
    So here he was sitting in the court with a host of other felons and fiends, planning to throw himself on the mercy of the court.  But before the bailiff called his name, another person appeared with a ticket exactly like his.  The person merely produced the proof of insurance, and the judge pronounced the blessed words of mercy, "Dismissed!"
 
    Now the missionary had reason for a little hope.  When the judge called him to the bar, he produced the proof of insurance, and the judge again said, "Dismissed."  The missionary walked out of that courthouse, into the morning sun, with a glad and grateful heart.
 
    The book of Revelation has a strong focus of judgment.  But God's judgment is not something that His people need to fear.  And it is more than just deciding who will be saved and who will be lost.  The judgment in this text allows the saints to review the events of history and see that God has consistently done the right thing.  That conviction is important for the health of the universe and everyone in it.
 
    The amazing thing is that God is willing to submit Himself to judgment for our sakes.  Caring about our feelings--even throughout eternity--He gives the redeemed a 1,000-year period to examine His actions.  After careful review they will be satisfied both with His justice and with their position in His kingdom.
 
Lord, I am so grateful to know that You care about our feelings and our understandings.  I trust that You will one day have the answer to all that troubles me now.

   I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.  And he seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.  He threw him into the abyss, locked it, and sealed it over him in order that he might not deceive the nations any more until the thousand years were finished.  After these things he must be released for a short time.  Rev. 20:1-3.
 
    Do the 1,000 years take place before or after the second coming of Jesus?  Three major views have sought to answer this question.  In the postmillennial approach, Jesus comes after 1,000 years of human progress.  While popular in the nineteenth century when education and scientific progress made many believe that the world was getting better, it doesn't, however, match the Bible's prediction that things will be very difficult before the end (2 Thess. 2:8-12; 1 Tim. 4:1-5; Rev. 13-19).  Also, it also doesn't match the realities of today's world.
 
    The premillennial view regards the millennium as a literal 1,000 years after the second coming of Jesus.  In the amillennial view the millennium is not a literal period of 1,000 years but a symbol for the whole Christian Era from the cross to the Second Coming.  The choice between these two may not make a huge difference from a devotional point of view.
 
    Our family pediatrician recently approached me with a fourth view of the millennium.  He said, "I get a little tired of all these arguments about whether the millennium is 'pre' or 'post' or 'a.'  I've decided to develop a different approach."
 
    "What's that?" I asked.
 
    "I call it panmillennialism!  That means everything will pan out in the end!"
 
    Our pediatrician's position may make a lot of sense.  I believe, however, that John clearly intended the 1,000 years of our text to occur after the Second Coming.  By the time the millennium begins, characters such as Babylon and the beast have already passed off the scene (Rev. 19).  The beginning of the millennium also comes after the mark of the beast and the forced worship of the beast's image (Rev. 13:15-17; cf. Rev. 20:4).
 
    So if the millennium begins with the cross (the amillennial position), the events in Revelation 13-17 would have to have occurred before the cross.  But I am aware of no serious scholar of Revelation who interprets the book in this way.  While I want to respect the kinds of theological arguments that godly people make for the amillennial concept, that position does not seem to flow from the narrative of Revelation itself.
 
Lord, the arguments people have over the meaning of the Bible sometimes leave me confused and discouraged.  Help me to trust that You will work it all out in the end.

 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered to make war with the one sitting on the [white] horse and with his army....And the rest were killed by the sword that came out of the mouth of the one sitting on the [white] horse.  And all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.  Rev. 19:19-21.
 
    I wrote the previous devotional early on the morning of Mother's Day.  In the afternoon my family and I drove off to a friend's place where a number of families were gathering together to celebrate the occasion.  After a nice meal the group began to break up into smaller groups and found quiet places to talk in the house or around the wooded yard outside.
 
    I joined a small group near the pool, which was slowly being filled from a hose.  When one member of the group asked if I was anticipating any new publication, I mentioned that I had just published several, but a devotional book would keep me occupied for a while.  Someone asked me what a devotional book on the book of Revelation would be like, and I shared the penicillin story on the previous page.  And I said something to the effect that "the book of Revelation describes God's antibiotic for the universe."
 
    A member of our group, who teaches business at the university, pondered the concept for a while and then inquired, "If God has an antibiotic for the universe, what do you see as the resistance to that antibiotic?"
 
    Not having thought in those terms, I answered flippantly, "You can't make an illustration stand on four legs!"  But the more I thought about his question, the more I felt that it might have some relevance to the issue of God's cleansing the universe of sin and sinners at the end of history.
 
    You see, resistance to antibiotics occurs when people don't finish the bottle.  They take just enough of the medicine to feel better, and then they stop.  The problem is that the partial dose of antibiotic kills off the weaker bacteria in their system, but the remainder are strong enough to resist the next batch of antibiotic to some degree.  If enough people take partial doses, new strains of bacteria that the antibiotic can no longer control arise.
 
    By way of analogy, resistance to God's saving work arises from free will.  God allows us to frustrate His work in our lives if we so choose.  When we apply the gospel just enough to feel better, but don't take the full dose of its cleansing power, our resistance to the gospel gradually grows.  Over time we respond less and less to God's call.  The day may come when the only way to overcome our resistance is through the destruction illustrated in the passage above.
 
Lord, give me the full dose of Your transforming power.  May I never be satisfied with halfway measures.  I accept Your Lordship of my life.

 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered to make war with the one sitting on the [white] horse and with his army.  And the beast was captured, also the false prophet who performed miraculous signs before him (with these signs he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and worshipped his image).  These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.  And the rest were killed by the sword that came out of the mouth of the one sitting on the [white] horse.  And all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.  Rev. 19:19-21.
 
    When I was a teenage boy, these images fascinated me.  I guess I had the youthful ability to disconnect an image from its gruesome reality.  As I have gotten older, I have become less comfortable with parts of this passage.  The thought of human beings burning in a fire or being impaled with a sword is not pleasant.  (I even get wimpy when faced with the dentist's needle!)
 
    We know from literature of New Testament times, however, that the apocalyptic images of Revelation 19 resonated with that generation.  Again, God meets people where they are.  The message of this violence is that the Lord will one day eliminate sin and evil from the earth.  Abuse and torture will end when the beast and the false prophet meet their fate.  It is like medicine for a sick world.
 
     For most of human history bacterial infections were like a death sentence.  Pneumonia, scarlet fever, syphilis, and festering wounds meant that few people lived beyond middle age.  But on September 3, 1928, in London, a Scottish researcher named Alexander Fleming glanced at some petri dishes in his laboratory.  They were about to be sterilized for reuse.
 
    "That's funny," Fleming commented to himself.  He noticed that the bacterial cultures in the petri dishes were dying off.  The culprit seemed to be a liquid he called "mold juice," the product of spores that must have wafted in from a lab downstairs.  Fleming determined that the spores were Penicillium notatum and renamed the fluid penicillin.
 
    Having seen the horrors of infection during World War I, he was searching for a safe and powerful antibiotic.  Up until that day he had found only an extremely weak one, called lysozyme, which he extracted from body fluids.  Amazingly, even after the discovery of penicillin, it was still a decade before other scientists took notice of Fleming's work, purified penicillin for mass production, and turned it into a miracle drug.  Antibiotics are God's tokens within the natural world that He will one day purify the universe from sin and evil.
 
Lord, thank You for the promise that suffering, sin, and evil will not last forever.  I open myself to Your cleansing spiritual antibiotics today, because I want to be more like You.

 And I saw an angel standing constantly in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice to all the birds that fly in midair, "Come, gather yourselves to the great feast of God in order that you might eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of generals, mighty men, horses and those that sit on them, and the flesh of everyone, whether free or slave, small or great."  Rev. 19:17, 18.
 
    The last half of Revelation 19 (verses 11-21) contains some gruesome images.  The rider on the white horse wears a robe dipped in blood and strikes down whole nations with a sharp sword that comes out of his mouth like a cruise missile!  The resulting carnage is so great that all the vultures in the world have difficulty cleaning up after the battle.  Like many other parts of Revelation, this would not seem a promising place to find spiritual guidance for everyday living!
 
    The plagues directed against Egypt in the book of Exodus are representative of the plagues yet to come.  In the Exodus story Pharaoh kept backing off whenever God sent a new plague.  Out of fear he would promise to let the Israelites go free, but as soon as the Lord let up on the pressure, he would go back on his promises.  Pharaoh considered God's kindness a sign of weakness, a chance to take back what he thought he owned.
 
    Islamic extremists believe that they are right in what they do.  Convinced that they are fighting "The Great Satan," many have no difficulty hiding in orphanages and hospitals, using innocent women and children as shields, and even slaughtering their own people if they think it will advance the cause.  They don't see such behaviors as wrong, but as necessary sacrifices in service of a greater cause.  The fact that their enemies try to avoid killing civilians is not perceived as kindness or mercy but rather as weakness.  They assume that if those who oppose them truly believed in their cause, they would slaughter everyone that got in the way, women and children included.
 
    On the cross Jesus had the capacity to destroy His torturers and anyone who took their side.  On that fateful Friday 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem His tormenters laughed at a Man who had willingly allowed Himself to be humiliated, beaten, and ultimately killed.  They thought His refusal to even argue with His captors was a sign of weakness.
 
    God had Revelation written to assure us that it will not always be so.  His kindness toward Satan and those who take his side will not continue forever.  Satan's days are numbered.  The Lord's kindness is not weakness--it allows us time to repent of our own lack of kindness.  In the end God will prove powerful enough to end injustice and deliver His people from evildoers.
 
Lord, teach me how to display Your kindness in spite of insult and injustice.  Keep my eyes fixed on the final outcome.

  And I saw an angel standing constantly in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice to all the birds that fly in midair, "Come, gather yourselves to the great feast of God in order that you might eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of generals, mighty men, horses and those that sit on them, and the flesh of everyone, whether free or slave, small or great."  Rev. 19:17, 18.
 
    We notice a lot of feasting going on in this chapter of Revelation.  First of all, the Lamb is planning to marry His bride and wants to celebrate with a major feast (Rev. 19:7-9).  In this passage we find another feast--a gruesome one--parallel to the first.  The two feasts represent two destinies that follow from two possible decisions.  People can chose either a relationship with Jesus or they can go their own way.
 
    Great moments in relationship are often related to food.  One of my favorite things in all the world is to have a date with my wife.  Whatever else is involved, we like to eat at a restaurant.  And two things are critical in the choice of restaurant: (1) the food must be tasty to us, and (2) it helps if it is a quiet and special place.  Fast food is not always the best selection for a date.
 
    Likewise, we build a relationship with Jesus by spending quality time in His Word.  But people often give up daily reading of God's Word because they don't find it very "tasty."  My dating experiences suggest some ways to enhance the devotional experience.
 
    1. Make a Reservation--It requires no reservation to eat at McDonald's or Burger King.  In fact, you don't even have to get out of your car!  In many parts of the world, mealtime is more like a pit stop at Daytona than Thanksgiving dinner at grandma's house.  Fast food won't do for a serious date.  Just as you must make a reservation to eat at a fine restaurant, it helps to block out a daily time to feast at the table of the Lord (Ps. 23:5).
 
    Now, just where are you going to find the time to make this reservation?  How do I find time to date my wife?  Making it a priority, we decide that the quality of our relationship requires the best of our time.  If we say, "Let's see if we can fit it in," it won't happen.  If necessary, we decide a week ahead.  And we make sure that our date is at a time when we are wide awake and at our best.
 
    2. Choose a Table--Next we ask for the best seat in the restaurant.  We aren't content with a seat by the swinging door the waiters use or an open table surrounded by others, because we don't want to be interrupted.  And we especially like quiet booths by the window with the sun shining in.  With all this preparation and anticipation, we can hardly wait to see the menu.
 
Lord, I remember many special moments with You.  I want to make a fresh start with You today.

   Out of [the rider's] mouth comes a sharp, two-edged sword, in order that he might strike down the nations with it.  He will rule them with a rod of iron, and he will trample the winepress of the furious anger of God Almighty.  He has upon his garment and upon his thigh a name written: "King of kings and Lord of Lords."  Rev. 19:15, 16.
 
    The phrase "furious anger" is almost untranslatable.  A literal reading would be "trample the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty."  I'm not sure what the "fury of the wrath of God" attempts to say except that He is "really, really, really angry."
 
    The book of Revelation takes us on a tour of the vocabulary of anger.  The original Greek has expressions for such words as "anger," "angry," "wrath," and "fury."  We are not surprised that the dragon is angry (Rev. 12:12, 17) or that prostitute Babylon is full of wrath (Rev. 14:8; 18:3).  The bad guys in most stories tend to be types who can't control their feelings.
 
    What does surprise us is how often the book portrays God as angry, furious, or wrathful (Rev. 11:18 and 14:10, for example).  When we encountered the seven last plagues, the book told us that they are the full and final outpouring of God's wrath (Rev. 15:1).  Naturally we had hoped that by the time we had gotten to Revelation 19 we would have been done with this troubling side to the divine personality.
 
    One way to deal with this is to note that the Old Testament often depicts God as angry or wrathful.  It is as if Jesus and the Old Testament God portrays two dueling sides to the divine character.  But Revelation does not allow us this illusion.  It makes very clear that the Lamb also gets angry (Rev. 6:16, 17) and that He is approvingly present at the torment of those who accepted the mark of the beast (Rev. 14:10).  Evidently anger can be a healthy thing or an unhealthy thing, depending on the circumstances and the motivation behind it.
 
    The key, I think, is that the wrath of God is not an emotional thing--it is a judicial one.  God isn't throwing a hissy fit.  His wrath is a settled disapproval of anything that disturbs the happiness and tranquility of the universe.  He is the defender of victims and the rescuer of the oppressed.  We shouldn't judge this language on the basis of our own dysfunctional emotions.
 
    It reminds me of a speeding ticket I got in New Jersey a few decades ago.  Written on it were the words: "The people of the state of New Jersey against Jon Paulien."  Boy did I feel rejected!  That really hurt--I mean, 8.6 million people upset at me!  Then I realized no one was really angry with me, not even the police officer.  I had just broken a small  piece of the social contract that holds New Jersey together.  The "wrath" of New Jersey has been a good motivator ever since.
 
Lord, I am thankful to know that You are there wherever injustice occurs.  Help me to trust that you will set everything right in Your time.

 And I saw heaven standing open, and I observed a white horse, and the one sitting on it called "Faithful and True."...And the armies of heaven were following Him on white horses...Rev. 19:11-14.
 
    The last half of Revelation 19 contains some arresting images.  Nevertheless, it was a small point of grammar in verse 14 that caught my eye one day.  You see, the Greek language has four different ways to express the past tense.  The Greek word behind the translation "were following" (in verse 14) is an imperfect indicative.  This word form expresses continuous action in the past.
 
    In other words, the action of riding together was continuous.  The armies of heaven "were following" the rider on the white horse.  Such following is not a one-time act, but an ongoing habit.  They are accustomed to riding after their leader.  Apparently success in heaven as well as on earth often depends on the team staying together.
 
    A friend of mine saw an interview on public television between Charlie Rose and the well-known American cyclist Lance Armstrong.  Armstrong had just won the Tour de France for the fourth consecutive time (he now has seven consecutive victories).  What makes Armstrong's story particularly compelling is not just the fact that he is the first American to be so successful in this unique event, but also that he has won the series of races in spite of a battle with cancer.  His recovery from cancer and ongoing triumphs have inspired many around the world to keep fighting when the disease strikes.
 
    Near the end of the interview Charlie asked Lance for the secret of his success in winning the three-week Tour de France.  Armstrong could have given many answers, and all of them would have made a lot of sense.  He could have talked about conditioning, determination, and strategic skill.  But that is not how he responded.
 
    He told Charlie that the secret to his success at the Tour de France was "never ride alone."  You see, Lance is part of a team, the U.S. postal team, which consists of nine riders.  The team has one goal in mind: to support the one rider who has the best chance to win the race.  So the rest of the team sacrifices itself for the sake of that one rider.  They carry food for him and sometimes ride in front of him to break the wind.  In general they manage the race in such a way that their leader is never stranded or struggling alone.  Surrounding by his teammates, Lance never rode alone and was not vulnerable to the attacks of others.  He remained strong throughout the race until the final victory.
 
    "Never ride alone" is a heavenly principle that works for bike races and the race of life.
 
Lord, I need You to "ride" with me today.  I can't make it through this day alone.

 And I saw heaven open, and I observed a white horse, and the one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.  Rev. 19:11.
 
    Why is it that the day after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year?  Isn't it fascinating that people in American society spend a whole day giving thanks for everything they have, then turn around and dash out the door to get hold of a lot more things that they don't have?  It is almost as if the day of Thanksgiving alerts everyone to the fact that they don't have enough (which in most American homes, at least, is a silly idea).
 
    But in my opinion, the strangeness of the day after Thanksgiving is exceeded by the day after Christmas.  On Christmas Day (or Christmas Eve)  Americans get more gifts than at any other time of the year.  Then on the following day they rush out to obtain even more things (at special sale prices)!  Something is seriously out of proportion here.
 
    The morning after reveals more about our lives and character than the day before.  While we might profess some noble sentiments on Thanksgiving or Christmas, the way we behave the morning after shows if sincere action actually supports our thoughts.  Let's face it.  Human beings are natural consumers.  Naturally self-centered, we want more and more.  Unable to ever have enough, we are as fickle as fleas.
 
    Jeremiah understood this all too well.  He knew that even the best of us have a hard time following through the morning after.  That is why he pointed to God's faithfulness as the only solid place on which we can base our lives.  "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (Lam. 3:22, 23, NIV).
 
    You and I have a choice today.  We can head out to seek our own way and gratify our own desires, living today as if it were the day after Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Or this can be God's kind of new morning, in which we see things through His eyes.  A morning in which, seeing the hunger and heartache all around us, we choose to serve rather than be served.
 
    To live for Him today is to follow in His footsteps.  He is faithful and true.  His promises are so sure that they are like prophecies of His future behavior.  His sentiments become His actions.  I want to be more and more like Him.
 
Lord, I thank You for Your continuing faithfulness.  If You were not faithful, I and everyone that I love would be lost.  Today, help me to live according to Your ways and think according to Your thoughts.

     And I saw heaven standing open, and I observed a white horse, and the One sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.  His eyes are like a flame of fire, and upon His head are many crowns, having a name written which no one knows except Him.  He was dressed in a garment that had been dipped in blood, and His name was called "The Word of God."  And the armies of heaven were following Him on white horses, dressed in fine linen, brilliant and pure.  Rev. 19:11-14.
 
    Kobe Bryant was born to greatness.  His father had played in the National Basketball Association, the world's most respected professional league.  From childhood on Kobe had been groomed to follow in his father's footsteps.  The ability to dunk, shoot, and dribble was in his genes.
 
    After a spectacular high school career (named national Player of the Year in is senior year) he entered the NBA at the age of 18, the youngest player ever to get into a game.  At the age of 20 he was a starter on one of the best teams in the world, the Los Angeles Lakers, and made the All-Star team.  By the age of 22, when most players are just entering the league as rookies, Kobe Bryant was unquestionable one of the best players in the world.
 
    A handsome man, rich and famous, he could have lived the swinging life of an alpha male in a world that idolizes talent, wealth, and fame.  Instead, in his early 20s he married the beautiful Vanessa Laine and became a family man, much to the disappointment of thousands of young women, to whom he was a hero.  He also became a hero to many young men in the ghetto, who dreamed of a day when they could be like him.
 
    Then tragedy struck.  In early July 2003 he was staying at a resort hotel in Eagle, Colorado.  He met a 19-year-old concierge in the lobby of the hotel, and she visited his room.  No one but the two of them knows what happened next.  She accused him of rape, while he says what occurred took place with her consent.  As I write, the painful round of charge and countercharge has been making its way through the courts.  His wife and teammates have so far stood behind his story.
 
    Whether or not Bryant was guilty of a crime, the anguish on his face, and that of his wife, as he admitted infidelity on national television was painful to watch.  It was a reminder to all that life has only one Hero that we can honor without conditions--Jesus Christ.  The minute we place others on a pedestal, or even try to climb on one ourselves, we invite failure.  The one called The Word of God, who is always faithful and true, is the only hero truly worth following.
 
Lord, I need human mentors and guides, but I pray that I will place my ultimate trust only in You.  I pray also that my daily actions might be an encouragement and not a disappointment to any who choose to look up to me.