Diane

The theme of testimony and witness is vital, in one way to the church that existed when John wrote this Revelation because they had had so little time to establish themselves after the crucifiction. Ever since Jesus died, they had been persecuted and scattered. They did not have the luxury we have where we can practice our religion without fear (in North America) and God Bless and keep those who are reading this from other parts of the world where this freedom as yet is unknown. Thinking back, without the constant encouragement from the church and the validation of the disciple who remained who was there in the presence of Jesus, most people would start to question themselves and their testimony. Witness is important. John is an important witness to this vision, Jesus was an important witness to the plan of God and the resurrection after death that could be promised to all of us. Jesus died FOR us. He was totally faithful to God and his purpose on earth, dying for our sins on our behalf. He had never lied during his time on earth and was therefore a faithful and true witness to the church after his death. I sometimes think that I have it too good. There's really no reason why I should feel afraid to be a clear witness in this culture. The only thing that may hold back a number of Christians (myself included) is that the standard of Jesus is VERY high. I'm a Christian in progress but not a good witness as an example of what Jesus would have me be. I have a LOT of growing to do yet before people come to me, knowng that I am God's child. We may be afraid because we are not comfortable yet in displaying Jesus through ourselves.

Hi. I'm Diane and coming to you from Mississauga, Ontario in Canada. I'm married with three kids, two of whom are in University. I enjoy working and love the Word and talking to people about it. The Revelation is an important but difficult book to understand so I look forward to hearing and participating in discussions about it.

Jesus was a substitute for me because for each of the curses I have (sin, sickness etc.) he took those on for me. For everything I have ever done, ,he has paid the price. Not only did he accept these for me so that I did not have to pay the price, he went down into hell for me. He took on the punishment I would have had so that I could be part of the family and enter and abide in his kingdom. Through one man, Adam, sin was introduced and through one man, Jesus, sin no longer had it's hold (we won!). God is a GOOD God!!!

From how large a group of people does God remove sins in Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12? In what sense is this a universal sacrifice of salvation? In what sense is Jesus' sacrifice wasted on some people? The sins of the world were put upon Jesus so God would remove the sins of ALL the people since Jesus and God made no distinction. The sactifice might be wasted on some people if, after hearing about he gospel, they do not receive the grace for their sins and make Jesus the Lord of their life. I like God's approach, though, in that there was no pre-judgment beforehand so that only the number of people who would value the sacrifice would be the ones that were saved. Because Jesus took on ALL the sins of the world, from that point on, every person, up until the last split second of their life can repent, turn to Jesus, believe in the Resurrection and be saved from an eternity in hell. Jesus took on more than he needed to but he loved each of us so much that he did not quibble about whether or not he should take on all the sins. Everyone is welcome. Praise God!!!!

What a GREAT answer Patty. I think that we've been removed from the finality of death and the consequences of the act of taking a life. We've been 'protected'. The seriousness of the act is important...otherwise it would be called a sacrifice. There's lots of food for thought from the posts I've read here. We are, indeed, repulsed by animal sacrifices because we are not grounded in country living anymore to a great degree. We may have lost something else, however, and that is a sense of the importance of life and the fragility of it. I can only imagine how seriously the Jews felt about their sins since this was the covenant God had to make with man and it took an animal's life as a substitute.

When John mentioned 'Lamb' in the statement, typically, lambs were sacrificed. Not only did this imply sacrifice but also that the sacrifice was perfect and without blemish (as the sacrificial lambs had to be). Sin of the world was a radical concept because it spoke directly to the sin that Adam incurred in the Garden of Eden and through this sin (separation from God) all other sins were derived. To take away the sin of the world was to completely remove (not cover) the sin from the world bringing us back to connection with God. Jesus was the final sacrifice ending this once and for all.

These are really GREAT responses. I agree that there was nothing wrong with Gideon requesting the gold from the plunder as was customary. A thought did occur to me, though in looking through some of the responses. It doesn't mention that the gold was taken to the priests and sanctified prior to the creation of the ephod. Even after, if the ephod had been ritually cleansed, this would have put the blessing of God on the item and would have reminded the people of who exactly caused the victory for their country. Do you think that we can sin (in this case) on two fronts: 1. doing what we think is right/is a good idea and 2. not consulting God when it comes to spiritual matters.

I think that as the Bible indicates, Gideon, for the rest of his life held the darker forces at bay. Only after his death did the nation return to Baal. Gideon did try his best to meet the middle road with God and God assisted him to accomplish HIs will. I don't get the sense though that Gideon was a man after His own heart the way David was. Gideon had to struggle much more to be courageous and rely on God. Even through this, ,though, Israel had peace. It just seems a shame that Gideon struggled so hard and as soon as he died, he was forgotten. Would be interested in any other comments from the group.

Amen to that! Totally agree that this is the very way that the devil keeps trying to distract us and keep us less than effective against HIM!

God saw Gideon as He knew he could be (calling things as though they were). Gideon could only view himself based on his perception of his circumstances. Only a couple of things about this. As humans, I think we all tend to look at ourselves based on our circumstances (the physical and emotional conditions that we perceive) quite a bit of the time. When we do this, then we are only confirming the circumstances and perception and not pulling ourselves out of the situation and declaring the inheritance that God has told us is ours based on our convenant with God. I know that when I do this, it affirms that I trust in what I can sense (which is always changing) rather than what I believe (which is eternal). I'm trying to get better at kicking this habit and moving forward in God's vision of myself rather than my own perception which only limits me. The other thing I wanted to share is a quote I heard from Tony Campanolo, a Christian speaker from Eastern College in the U.S. He noted that we tend to perceive ourselves in the light of the responses from whoever is most important in our lives. For example, if a Mother is close to and supportive of her child and is the most important individual in the child's life, the child will perceive themselves in terms of how the Mother perceives him, regardless of how any other person perceives him. The question Tony asked was....who is the most important person in your life? This is the person who will shape the perception of yourself. If we keep God as the most important person in our lives, we will automatically align ourselves with His views and standards (isn't it great the way He created us???!!!) Just some food for thought. God Bless