Revelation 21

“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them” (21:3). Scripture’s great story concludes with the fulfillment of God’s plan to dwell among His image-bearers. From Adam and Eve to Abraham, Israel, and finally the “Word made flesh”, God has been calling sinful humanity back to Himself so that we can live in fellowship with Him. When He makes everything new (21:5), no hint of suffering or evil will remain. The “Lord God Almighty and the Lamb” will live among redeemed humans, without darkness (21:22,25).

“To the thirsty I will give water without cost ...” (21:6). God freely offers life, now and forever, to “the thirsty” – those tired of what the world offers and longing for what Jesus brings.

Revelation 20

“And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God” (20:4). In John’s time, as in many times and places, those who refused to worship the powers and idols of the world (symbolized by the beast and its image) were attacked and even killed. But John saw that in the final reckoning, these seeming “losers” would rise and reign with Christ, sharing in His authority and being “priests of God” (20:6).

“Books were opened” (20:12). One day, God’s accounting will be the one that matters. Those who follow Jesus, often considered naïve, vulnerable, and foolish by the world, will be called “blessed and holy” by God (20:6).

Psalm 150

“Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!” (1). The psalmist exhorts us to praise the Creator who rules and reigns from His holy heaven. But, instead of remaining distant, He came to His own rebellious creation and intervened with “acts of power” for our deliverance. This God of “surpassing greatness” deserves to be praised with cymbals and harps, trumpets and dancing.

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (6). Our natural response to the Giver of Life is to offer songs of praise, to recount His acts of power, and to put our own lives into His hands as our “true and proper worship” (Rom 12:1).

Zechariah 10-12

“The idols speak deceitfully ... they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd” (10:2). Israel’s leaders – kings, priests, and prophets – had failed God’s flock. The Lord told Zechariah to demonstrate Israel’s story by acting as a shepherd for sheep “marked for slaughter”. Zechariah started out with two shepherd staffs named Favor and Union, but these symbols of God’s blessing were broken (11:10-14), just as Israel had broken God’s covenant.

Israel’s sin, like all human sin, caused disaster and provoked judgment. Yet God’s love and His plan of redemption endured. “For the Lord Almighty will care for his flock ... I will restore them because I have compassion on them” (10:3,6).

Zechariah 8-9

“I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City ...” (8:3). The Lord promised the returned exiles that He was not finished with Israel. They had been a “curse”, but they would be a “blessing”; the world would see God’s special presence among them (8:13, 23). God told His people to rejoice, because He was going to send His righteous and victorious king to Jerusalem, “lowly and riding on a donkey” (9:9).

“He will proclaim peace to the nations ... the Lord will save His people on that day” (9:10, 16). God’s faithful promises never fail. He is still proclaiming peace to each one of us who will give up control and receive the humble King.

Zechariah 6-7

“When you fasted and mourned ... was it really for me that you fasted?” (7:5). When the returned exiles asked the prophet Zechariah about their rituals of fasting, the Lord reminded them of the dangers of empty religion. Earlier generations had sacrificed and fasted but ignored God’s instructions: “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor” (7:9-10). Rejecting God’s powerful Word (5:4), they had brought disaster on themselves.

“It is he who will build the temple of the Lord ...” (6:13). The restarting of temple rituals wasn’t enough. God promised to bring a priest-king who would change hearts and show the way to a transformed life.

Revelation 19

“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God” (v1). After the scene of God’s judgment on evil, John heard a great multitude shouting praises. All those who refused to bow down to the world’s idols, the “great and small” who were faithful to Jesus (5), rejoiced when the one called Faithful and True began to reign (v11). John bowed to the angel who brought this vision of victory, but the angel said, “Worship God!” (10).

“For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus” (v10). The visions of God’s victory and His coming reign point us to Jesus. Turning our backs on the fears and temptations of the world, we are called to live courageously as citizens of the true King.

Revelation 18

“‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ ... For all the nations have drunk themaddening wine of her adulteries ... and the merchants of the earth grew richfrom her excessive luxuries” (v3). As powerful as the world’s rulers, influencers,and owners seem to be, John’s vision shows it all crashing down. When God comes to judge (v20), the world’s “glory and luxury” gives way to plagues and death (v8). Political leaders, business leaders, all those whose highest values are comfort and selling “luxury and splendor” will mourn (v11, 14-15).

“Rejoice, you people of God!” (v20). Just as believers in John’s day were faithful under pressure, God calls us to imitate His love and holiness in a world that glorifies self-idolatry and sin.

Revelation 17

“I saw that the woman was drunk with ... the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus” (v6). In John’s time, many believers were martyred under the authority of the mighty Roman Empire. John’s vision used images of a prostitute (Babylon, symbol of worldly power) and a beast to depict the great evil unleashed when humans use their strength and achievements for sinful purposes. Inevitably, these powers turn against people who refuse to worship them (v4,12). But, in the end, worldly “winners” end up in self-destruction (v12).

“The Lamb will triumph over them” (v14). The idols of excess, pleasure, and power promise much but lead to suffering. The rule of the Lamb calls us to “deny ourselves” and serve Him, the giver of Life.

Psalm 149

“Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of his faithful people” (v1). God’s people – “the people of Zion” – are urged to bring new songs of praise to God in response to His kindness. Israel praised God in communal, public celebrations (“dancing ... timbrel and harp” v3), and they also sang and worshipped in private, “on their beds” (5). Declaring the truth about God was part of both praise and judgment (v6-9), and eventually the “new song” became the truth of God’s salvation (Acts 14:15).

“For the Lord takes delight in his people” (4). We do not worship an impersonal or unresponsive deity, but instead we sing to the Lord who knows us, loves us, and delights in our praise.

Zechariah 3-5

Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates ... are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch” (3:8). Miraculously, the Jews who had been exiled to Babylon were allowed to return to Judah and begin rebuilding Jerusalem and its Temple. God told the high priest Joshua that this amazing restoration pointed toward even greater “things to come.” The God who rescued His people from exile would bring the Branch, the Messiah, to truly cleanse their sins and remove their shame (3:9).

“’Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” (4:6). The rescue, healing, and restoration we need does not come by human efforts or power. The Lord, by His Spirit, rebuilds the ruins.

Zechariah 1-2

“’Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you’” (2:2). Like Haggai, the prophet Zechariah urged the returned exiles in Judah to not repeat their ancestors’ mistakes. God planned an amazing future for the ruined Jerusalem: an angel said that one day, it would be “a city without walls” because God Himself “will be a wall of fire around it ... and its glory within” (2:2-5). God’s plan for Judah was far beyond land; He said, “Shout and be glad ... For I am coming” (2:10).

“For I am coming, and I will live among you” (2:10). God’s answer to sin and disgrace, exile and shame, is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us.

Haggai 1-2

“Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while thi house remains a ruin?” (1:3). In the prophet Haggai’s day, the exiled people of Judah had been miraculously brought home to their own land, but the Temple remained in ruins. Instead of rebuilding God’s house, they were busy with their own personal projects (1:7-11). The prophet declared that all their hard work “turned out to be little” because they were not putting God first (1:9).

“Be strong ... and work. For I am with you” (2:4). Our anxious, self-focused projects fall short of what God desires. He calls us to put Him first so that His Spirit can work through us to accomplish His amazing purposes. “Do not fear” (2:5).

Revelation 16

“They cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him” (16:8). John’s vision of plagues of judgment recalled the plagues in Egypt, when God was rescuing the Israelites from slavery. Just like the Egyptians who oppressed God’s people, those with the “mark of the beast” (2) refused to repent, even when the plagues grew worse (16:11). God’s judgment was fierce against those who had “shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets (16:6).

“You are just in these judgments, O Holy One” (16:5). When it seems that evil has temporarily triumphed, we can trust that God sees and will not ignore the suffering of the innocent. He will make things right.

Revelation 15

“Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations” (15:3). John saw God’s people singing “the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb” (3), echoing the psalms. The same God who brought Israel out of Egypt under Moses’ leadership is the One who rescued “the nations” from sin and death through Christ. From the Temple in heaven (5), God will keep faithfully judging, saving, and working out His purposes until all is “completed” (1).

“All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed” (15:4). Through His righteous acts revealed in Christ, the King of nations continues to call all people to Himself, until He returns in glory.

Revelation 14

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on” (14:13). John’s vision reassured persecuted believers that death was not the end for the Lamb’s followers. Worldly empires are ultimately powerless (Babylon has fallen, v4, 8) against Jesus’ resurrection life. The symbolic 144,000 (ch 7; 14:3) are redeemed and safe with the Lord on Mt Zion, God’s city (14:1). Those who worshiped the beast are marked by evil, but those who follow the Lamb have “his Father’s name written on their foreheads” (14:1).

“They will rest from their labor” (14:13). No matter what dark powers are shaking our world, in Christ we are secure. Faith in Him carries us through this life and all the way to His resurrection kingdom.

Psalm 148

“Let them praise the name of the Lord, for at his command they were created” (148:5). The psalmist reminds the whole created universe that existence itself is a gift of God. From the sun, moon, and shining stars, to great sea creatures and wild animals, everything is urged to “Praise Him!” because His Word brings life. Men and women, from kings to little children (148:12), are called to join with creation’s praise of the Creator. Being alive in an awesome universe causes us to worship.

We praise the Lord because He did not abandon what He had created. Despite our sins, He rescued us and made us “the people close to His heart” through Israel’s Messiah, Jesus (148:14).

Zephaniah 1-3

“Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger” (2:3). Zephaniah pronounced judgment against “all mankind” (1:3), pagan nations and even Jerusalem itself. “Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one ... She does not trust in the Lord” (3:1-2). Because Jerusalem’s prophets and priests were “treacherous” and did “violence to the law” (3:4), God’s judgment was coming. However, He promised deliverance for the “meek and humble” (3:12).

“I will rescue the lame; I will gather the exiles” (3:19). God is the “Mighty Warrior” who is against the proud and rebellious, and He is the Redeemer who takes “great delight” in those who run to Him for refuge (3:17).

Habakkuk 3

“I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day” (3:2). After the prophet’s complaints and God’s responses, he prayed toward resolution in his soul. He recalled God’s past mighty deeds: the Lord “shook the earth ... and made nations tremble (6); He “raged against the sea” (8); and He “delivered” His people (13). With this in mind, Habakkuk found faith to wait patiently for the Lord’s action (16).

“Though the fig tree does not bud ...” (3:17). When we “stand in awe” of God’s amazing creation and His mighty acts of deliverance – especially His great salvation through Christ - we find strength to face temporary disappointment. He promises to help us “tread on the heights” (3:19).

Habakkuk 1-2

“How long must I call for help?” was the prophet Habakkuk’s first complaint to the Lord (1:1). God answered this question, saying that he will “do something .... you would not believe”: He would deploy the Babylonians to bring justice (1:5). God’s use of the Babylonians was unsatisfactory to Habakkuk, so he complained a second time. “Why do you tolerate the treacherous?” (1:13). Habakkuk waited for an answer, confident that the Lord was involved (2:1). “Write down the revelation”, God responded (2:2); justice will “certainly come” (2:3-19).

God does not “prove false” with His people (2:3). We can live by faith in His character (2:4), even as we wait. He reigns forever from his “holy temple,” and all His purposes will be accomplished (2:20).