It’s that time of year. The sun has gone on what seems to be an eternal hiatus and in its place we get freezing temps, snow, ice, and slush. Our minds wander to a warmer climate where we can recline on a beach, sunscreen in one hand and iced tea in the other. Now that’s what I call livin’.
Sometimes a little warmth sounds so good, not to mention the idyllic beach-inspired tranquility. Our lives get so overrun with things to do, places to be, and broken-down stuff that even the polar vortex recedes into the furthest reaches of peripherality as we find ourselves trapped in a vortex of chaos, watching life spin helplessly out of control. We wonder, is anyone in charge?
The question is valid far beyond our personal lives. The world is in a mess. Every day we hear of corruption, abuse, and abject poverty. We even have reached the day where baby-killing is accepted, gender dysphoria is celebrated, and public reverence for God is criminal.
What’s going on? Did God forget that this earth is even here? Why doesn’t He intervene?
There is an answer to that question, and we find it in Revelation 11.
John has watched as the first six angels blew their trumpets, each in turn initiating a judgment on the earth. While waiting for the seventh, John was given two interesting jobs. First, he was to eat a scroll, symbolizing that he would once again share God’s message with the world, and second, he was to measure a temple.
Wait…what temple? There was no temple at the time of the prophecy. The Romans had destroyed it twenty years earlier.
Remember, though, that this is a vision of future events. The first half of the seven-year Tribulation was over. The Antichrist has revealed his truly demonic colors and the world was spiraling into the whirlpool of God’s wrath.
What does that have to do with a temple? Simply this—God was showing John that no matter how terrible things become on the earth, He was still in charge. John’s readers would have remembered that the ancient prophet Ezekiel also had a vision in which a temple was being measured—signifying hope for the distraught (and temple-less) Israelites. John passed along the same message—a new temple means that God still has a plan for His people.
During the second half of the Tribulation, God exponentially ratchets up His judgments on sin. People die by the millions and unprecedented disasters wreak havoc on nature.
But He’s still in charge. The earth may be in chaos, but it’s a controlled chaos. God just doesn’t forget about His people.
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