Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Does the book of Revelation tell us what its name means--that is, reveal the meaning of what's going on in the world today? Yes! Let it speak. Its series of Seven Churches reveals the overall history of Christ's true church through the ages down to our time today (chapters 2, 3). Its series of Seven Seals reveals the history of apostasy in the Christian church down through the ages (chapters 4-7). Its series of Seven Trumpets reveals the meaning of world history in relation to God's plan of salvation (chapters 8-11).
For centuries, humble Protestant scholars have seen in chapter 9 the story of Islam and its significance in the world. "The fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. ... And the sun and the air were darkened ..." (vss. 1, 2). The sixth trumpet pinpoints the identity (vss. 13-21). Islam was divinely permitted for a special task: to be a scourge to the fallenness of apostate Christianity.
The apostasy ("the falling away," 2 Thess. 2:3-7) in the popular church in the early Christian centuries fed a ferocious zeal for Islam's propagation. Reverence for idols, for example, ignited in the Muslim breast an anger they saw as "righteous," and in retrospect one understands it directed at blatant public contradictions of God's holy law. Muslims had protested a fallen Judaism; now they protested a fallen church. They saw Islam as the world's savior. Thus they still see it.
The culture of the West is widely viewed as "Christian." We are in history redivivus. The "fallen star" had its origin in heaven; its monotheism impacts the thinking of the billion-odd Muslims, among whom die-hard zealots view Hollywood and dancing cheerleaders as the ultimate essence of "Christianity." The book of Revelation clarifies the confusion of our post 9/11 world. "Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near" (1:3). Its message to all is, "Repent" (3:19).
Take a good look at the "seven trumpets." The "seventh" is even now sounding (11:15-19). The News behind the news is Christ's High Priestly ministry.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 2, 2005.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."
