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It’s often been noted that in Revelation, Satan repeatedly counterfeits what God is doing: e.g. the saints are sealed upon their (Rev 7.3; 9.4; 14.1), so in turn the beast requires his mark to be upon the foreheads of his followers (Rev 13.16; 14.9 etc).

There is also an interesting juxtaposition between the devil’s wrath and that of God. When the devil, who is the accuser, is cast down from heaven, he comes upon the earth in “great wrath,” because he knows that his time is short (Rev 12.12). In contrast, Rev 15.7 speaks of the seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. The devil’s wrath is temporary; his time is short. But the eternal God  has authority over the lake of fire, which will have torment “day and night forever and ever” (Rev 20.10).

Satan is a pitiful parody of the Most High God.

One of Peter Leithart’s chief insights is that a priest is a palace servant.

In preparing a sermon on Lord’s Day 12 for this Sunday (by way of Revelation 1 – which, by the way, focuses upon God’s people as servants in 1.1 and as a priesthood in 1.7), this got me reflecting on the question of how the high priest relates to this. If a priest is a palace servant, what is a “high” palace servant?

This in turn led me to think about the predominant Servant theme in Isaiah, a rabbit trail that turned out to be helpful, although I’m not entirely sure yet where to go with it. (more…)

[Originally posted on my Rabbisaul blog July 13 2007]

In support of the notion that each church (or perhaps city?) is to be led by one single pastor or bishop, rather than by a plurality of elders, some of whom may preach, the angels of the seven churches in Revelation are often put forward. Each church/city was represented by one “angel” who was addressed, rather than a leadership group. Since “angel” (Greek aggelos) means “messenger,” it is suggested that these are the pastors or bishops of the churches.

Quite aside from the fact that I don’t think that aggelos in Scripture usually refers to human beings, I’ve long maintained that if “angels” in Revelation 2-3 refer to pastors/bishops, the same must be the case throughout the book, and I don’t believe that will hold.

(more…)