June 22, 2020, Psalms 102, Revelation 4

Psalms 102

 A prayer of an afflicted man, when he is faint and pours out  his lament before the Lord. 

Hear my prayer, O Lord; 

let my cry for help come to you. 
Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. 

Turn your ear to me; 

when I call, answer me quickly. 

For my days vanish like smoke; 

my bones burn like glowing embers. 
My heart is blighted and withered like grass; 

I forget to eat my food, because of my loud groaning. 

I am reduced to skin and bones. 

I am like a desert owl, 

like an owl among the ruins. 
I lie awake; I have become

like a bird alone on a roof. 
All day long my enemies taunt me; 

those who rail against me use my name like a curse. 

For I eat ashes as my food

and mingle my drink with tears 

because of your great wrath, 

for you have taken me up and thrown me aside. 

My days are like the evening shadow; 

I wither away like grass. 
But you, O Lord, sit enthroned forever; 

your renown endures through all generations. 

you will arise and have compassion on Zion, 

for her stones are dear to your servants; 

her very dust moves them to pity. 

The nations will fear the name of the Lord, all 

kings of the earth will revere your glory. 

For the Lord God will rebuild Zion

and appear in his glory. 
He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; 

he will not despise their plea. 

Let this be written for a future generation, 

that a people not yet created may praise the Lord. 

The Lord look down from his sanctuary on high, 

from heaven he viewed the earth, 

to hear the groans of the prisoners

and release those condemned to death. 

So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion

and his praise in Jerusalem

when the peoples and kingdoms 

assemble to worship the Lord. 
In the course of my life he broke my strength; 

he cut short my days 

So I said: 

Do not take me away, O my God, in the mist of my days;

your years go on through all generations. 
In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, 

and the heavens are the work of your hands. 

They will perish but you remain; 

they will all wear out like a garment. 
like clothing you will change them 

and they will be discarded. But 

you remain the same, 

and your years will never end. 

The children of your servants will live in your presence; 

their descendants will be established before you. 

 

Revelation 4

A Scene in Heaven

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things. 

Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. 

And he who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around his throne, like an emerald appearance. Around the throne were twenty four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads. 

Sardius: the precious stone, thought to have been a ruby, in the breastplate of the Jewish high priest. Ex. 28:17.

Jasper:a compact, opaque, cryptocrystalline variety of quartz, usually colored red: often used in decorative carvings.

Out from the throne come flashes of lighting and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; 

and before the throne there was something  like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four creatures full of eyes in front and behind. 

The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like a man, and the fourth creature was flying like an eagle. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, 

"Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come" 

And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 

Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for you created all things, and because of your will they existed, and were created. 

What splendor! 

His eyes red like fire.

His throne with all its sapphire and rubies. 

A stone can also represent= something unbreakable, endurable, rare, and/or costly. 

Flesh= is weak and soft, and aging. 

Creatures with four faces

• mans face
• lions face
• eagle face
• calf face
• eyes all around
• six wings
• they speak
• they worship God

The lion is the king of the jungle. A man is smart or we could say God's intelligent creatures. The eagle is sharp and the strongest flying creature. The calf is a strong ground animal. Birds with two wings can fly pretty high and fast so A creature with double wings can fly twice as high and fast. 

The living creatures have great attributes about themselves. The lion, calf, eagle, and the man's face. I bet their instincts are outstanding. The eagle hunts well, the lion is powerful and  Their eyes allow them to see various things at one time. We can see in one direction at a time but I bet their eyes allow them to see different directions at the same time. 

Ezekiel

Chapter 1

God visits Ezekiel

On the fifth of the month, it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin--the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kedar River in the Land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the Lord was upon him. I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north-an immense cloud with flashing lighting and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what like four living creatures, In appearance their form was that of a man, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze (Just like Jesus feet). Under their wings on their four sides they the hands of a man. All four of them had faces and wings, and their wings touched one another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved. They did not turn as they moved. Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. Their wings were spread upward; each had two wings, one touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body. Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches (their presence is like a fire lit on a torch). Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright and lightening flashed out of it. The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning. As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: they sparkled like chrysolite, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not turn about as the creatures went. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around. When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them move; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. Whenever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 

Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked like an expanse, sparkling like ice, and awesome. Under the expanse their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood still they lowered their wings. Then there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell face down, and I heard the voice of one speaking. 

His body is liken to precious metals in its appearance. 

Uniquely metals cannot be destroyed by the elements. They can be put in fire, water, oil, dirt and not be destroyed. Just image no bullet, no fire power, no arrow, no substance is able to penetrate this type metal. His feet like burnished bronze.  His mouth is liken to a two edge sword. His words are powerful.  The rainbow, the lighting, and the living creatures are nothing like anything that exist on the earth. Rainbows are great and it is awesome God has one over his throne. 

Two Witnesses:

 Ezekiel and St. John 

The Purpose of the book of revelation was to encourage the believers in the midst of suffering and persecution. 

NIV 

Distinctive Features is the frequent use of the number seven. The seven beatitudes. The Seven churches, the seven stars, the seven golden lampstands etc....