Christ defeats the pain of a guilty conscience

Leviticus 18; Psalm 22; Ecclesiastes 1; 1 Timothy 3

The topic headline in my Bible for Leviticus 18 is “Unlawful Sexual Relations” and the list, mostly about incest, covers everything else humanity comes up with. My devotional guide has this to say: “Just because this is the first time that some prohibitions have been articulated in the Bible does not necessarily mean that this is the first time anyone thought of them or condemned the practices in question. Before murder is actually prohibited as such, Cain commits it, is condemned for it, and is punished. The same is true for many actions treated in the Law of Moses. Much of the Law of God is written on the human conscience, so that societies without Scripture erect moral structures which, however different from the values of Scripture, overlap with Scripture in important and revealing ways.”

Having God’s laws written on our conscience no doubt keeps much of the world from total chaos. Without a general sense of right and wrong, anarchy would take over. I shudder thinking about what the world would be like. I also shudder to think about the weight of guilt that is on the lot of us. I know my own sins, both deeds and evil thoughts. I watch the news and see depravity in its headlines. Just hours after Easter celebrations, I’m thinking of the horror of the cross where Jesus bore the sin of the world, all of it, every person’s sin from the beginning to the end of time. I shudder and cannot imagine how awful His pain.

On the cross, Jesus spoke the first few words of Psalm 22. He died before saying all this psalm where David describes His death in vivid prophetic poetry:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? . . . . But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” . . . . I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. . . . For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots . . . . You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him . . . . All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you . . . . For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it. (Psalm 22:1–31, in part)

In the beginning of His horrors, He felt forsaken and as the psalm goes on to describe the rejection of man it also describes the assurance — God has not hidden His face but has heard His cries and turned this horror into the greatest of all victories. He would soon rise from the grave declaring His righteousness and proclaiming salvation for all who put their faith in Him. Jesus shouted, “It is finished” and Jesus wins!

APPLY: And because He defeated all that guilt and shame can do to us, we who believe in Him are also winners. Nothing can change the victory of Jesus over death. Today I’m filled with gratitude and worship for the One who gives me freedom from guilt and shame and life everlasting. Even as I still battle my selfish and sinful self, I have His assurance that one day, that battle will end and I will be with Him forever.

The beginning of the end?

In the revelation of Jesus Christ to John, he is taken up to heaven, sees God holding a scroll with seven seals and saying only the Lamb that was slain is worthy to open the seals.

From this point, the church is not mentioned. Because of this, and because of the story of Noah rescued from wrath, and because of a few New Testament verses that say that God will raise the dead in Christ and catch up those who are alive to be with Him, I believe that Christians will not experience the events described in the next section of this vision. We may go through intense persecution toward the end, but not experience God’s wrath. Jesus did that for us.

Of these seven seals, the first six are described and the seventh later. It is as if the first six are a preliminary and the seventh opens up a greater judgment. Anyway, these six are described:

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

Some think this is Jesus, but a better view is that of a world ruler who establishes his rule without arrows. Some passages call him the Antichrist. There will be a time of peace but then destruction. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:3)

When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

The peace of the first seal does not last long. The end of the age has begun.

When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”

This third seal depicts famine, a common situation after war. In this description it is severe; a day’s wages for small portions of grain. Many will suffer hunger.

When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

The fourth seal depicts something even worse than the seals before it — death will destroy one fourth of the world’s population with more war, famine and disease. This will mean billions will die in a time of great tribulation. If the church is gone, there will be no help from God’s people and no spirit of restraint in the slaughter.

The fifth seal describes the fate of those who are saved by faith during this time. They will be persecuted and killed, then “each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”

When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:1–17)

This seal shows judgment on sin and the depth of sin being judged. The world falls apart and those who remain try to hide. They’d rather be crushed to death by rock than face the wrath of God.

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Lord Jesus, I know You as my Savior, see You as Lord of all, understand You as the Lamb of God, but this vision shows a side that I cannot imagine, the Lamb filled with wrath. Yet in a small way, I get it because of the way I respond to some of the terrible things that are already happening in this world: parents torturing and killing their children, people subjecting helpless people to slavery of all kinds, random killings, governments abusing their people, heartlessness and selfishness that harms everyone. Do these things signal the beginning of the end? Or is it a wake-up call to Your people to get with it and tell the world about Your way of escape? May I be faithful to whatever You give me to say and do.

Today’s thankful list . . .

- so much to think about from these verses.

- meeting and praying with a woman from another country who has a great passion for God.

- having enough energy to make cinnamon buns and seafood chowder.

- my hubby promised me a foot message during the hockey game on television.

- the friend whose funeral is Saturday was a child of God and is now with Jesus.