Thursday, February 25, 2016

I Will Continue Striking You - Leviticus 26::21-28

Leviticus 26:21-28 ESV 

“Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins.
And I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that your roads shall be deserted.

“And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me,
then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins.
And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
When I break your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

“But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me,
then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins.

In Revelation we see the wrath of God unfold in a sevenfold fashion. The four horsemen of judgment that appear in the first sevenfold structure find expression in this passage: 

The wild beasts loosed are signified by the white horseman representing the beast of Satan rising from the waters of the deep. 

The sword is wielded by the next rider of the red horse. 

The break in the supply of bread is signified by the rider of the black horse. 

The rider of the pale horse is death who opens his mouth to swallow a fourth of the earth. 

Revelation 6:8

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 focus of the wrath of God is on Israel and the earth dwellers. Those who live in the kingdom of heaven have escaped the wrath for those who remain on earth. We who believe and have faith in God have been transferred into that kingdom. 

Revelation 3:10-11

Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.
I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.

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