The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 361: Judgment and Repentance (2023)

Episode Date: December 27, 2023

Fr. Mike summarizes and contextualizes the book of Philemon, addressing the tension of slavery addressed in the Bible. He provides an explanation on the continued destruction depicted in Revelation as the visions of the apostle John, holding it up to the light of the Gospel. Today’s readings are Revelation 8-11, Philemon, and Proverbs 31:16-18. Unlock the full experience of The Bible in a Year (with Father Mike Schmitz) with the Ascension App! (https://link.ascension-app.com/fRv0ZJ4OMDb)Get access to an interactive reading plan, the complete text of the Bible, episode transcripts, summaries, and more. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

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Thank you so much again for being part of this community and God bless. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline,

we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 361. We're reading Revelations chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11, as well as the entire book of Philemon, or Philemon, depending on how you like to say it. I like to say Philemon because, I don't know, that's a way I first heard it. And we're also reading Proverbs chapter 31, verses 16 through 18. The Bible translation I'm reading from, as always, is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan for these last five days, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in

a Year. Maybe you'd be preparing for the next trip around these 365 days of Scripture by getting the Bible in a Year reading plan. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe and receiving daily episodes and daily updates. It is day 361. We're reading Revelations chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11, as well as Philemon and Proverbs 31 verses 16 through 18. The Revelation to John, chapter 8, the seventh seal and the golden censer.

When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne. And the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth. And there were peals of thunder, loud noises, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. The seven angels and seven trumpets. Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets made ready to blow them. The first angel blew his trumpet and there followed hail and fire mixed with blood,

which fell on the earth. And a third of the earth was burnt up. And a third of the trees were burnt up. And all the green grass was burnt up. The second angel blew his trumpet and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. And a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great

star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the fountains of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became Wormwood, and many men died of the water because it was made bitter. The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the water because it was made bitter. The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light was darkened. A third of the day was kept from shining,

and likewise a third of the night. Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew in midheaven, Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth at the blasts of the other trumpets which the three angels are about to blow. Chapter nine. And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth,

and he was given the key of the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green growth or any tree, but only those of mankind who have not the seal of God upon their foreheads. They were allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill them. And their torture was like the torture of a scorpion when it stings a man. In those days, men will seek death and not find it. They will long to die and death will fly from them. In appearance, the locusts were like horses arrayed for battle. On their heads were what

looked like crowns of gold. Their faces were like human faces, their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lion's teeth. They had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. They have tails like scorpions and stings, and their power of herding men for five months lies in their tails. They have as a king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon. The first woe has passed. Behold, two woes are still to come. Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar

before God saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. So the four angels were released, who had been held ready for the hour, the day, the month, and the year to kill a third of mankind. The number of the troops of cavalry was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number. And this is how I saw the horses in my vision. The riders wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lion's heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur issued from their mouths. By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur issuing from their mouths.

For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails. Their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound. The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, nor give up worshipping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot either see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their immorality or their thefts. Chapter 10. The Angel with the Little Scroll. Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over

his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. He had a little scroll open in his hand, and he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, and called out with a loud voice like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down. And the angel whom I saw standing on sea and land lifted up his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there should be no more delay,

but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God, as he announced to his servants, the prophets should be fulfilled. Then the voice which I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, Go, take the scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land. So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll, and he said to me, Take it and eat. It will be bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth. And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth. And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, you must again prophesy about many

peoples and nations and tongues and kings. Chapter 11. The Two Witnesses. Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there. But do not measure the court outside the temple. Leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for 42 months. And I will grant my two witnesses power to prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, thus he is

doomed to be killed. They have power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying. And they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to afflict the earth with every plague as often as they desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them, and conquer them, and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three days and a half, men from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents,

because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. But after three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, Come up here. And in the sight of their foes they went up to heaven in a cloud. And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is soon to come. The Seventh Trumpet Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying, We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who are and who were, that you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged. For rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth. Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple, and there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder,

an earthquake, and heavy hail. The letter of Paul to Philemon. Salutation. Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy, our brother. To Philemon, our beloved fellow worker, and Apphia, our sister, and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and the church in your house. Grace to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philemon's Love and Faith I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers,

because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and all the saints. And I pray that the sharing of your faith may promote the knowledge of all the good that is ours in Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. Paul's plea for Onesimus. Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you. I, Paul, an ambassador, and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus, I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me. I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.

I would have been glad to keep him with me in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion, but of your own free will. Perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. So, if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will repay it, to say nothing of your owing me even your own self.

Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be granted to you. Final greetings and benediction. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. The Book of Proverbs, chapter 31, verses 16 through 18. She considers a field and buys it. With the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard.

She clothes her loins with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. Father in heaven, we give you praise. We thank you so much. Thank you for bringing us to this place. Thank you for this letter of St. Paul to Philemon. Thank you for giving us insight into judgment,

for giving us insight into the fact that this world, though good, is broken and will not go on forever. The brokenness will not go on forever. You will bring your just judgment to us, to our lives, and to the world that you've placed us in. Help us to be faithful to you. Help us to be found watching and waiting, prepared to receive you as you deserve to be received. Help us to endure pain well. Help us to endure suffering like your son,

Jesus Christ, endured it. And we ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So let's once again kind of start with the letter of St. Paul to Philemon. And again, people say Philemon. I've always heard Philemon. And so I don't know how to say it. I'm just going to say Philemon. So St. Paul's writing to Philemon, who is someone that Paul had brought into the faith. Paul had brought Philemon into relationship with Christ, brought him into the church. And Philemon had a slave named Onesimus. And Onesimus, at one point, we understand, he ran away. As he ran away, he ran to Paul and Paul helped him become a Christian as well. And so here is St. Paul's letter to Philemon saying, I'm sending back your slave,

your runaway slave, but hey, FYI, he is now your brother. And it even says, I would have liked to keep Onesimus here as my brother, as my fellow co-worker, but there's a justice here. And the justice is I'm asking you to receive him back, but receive him back, not as a slave, but as a brother. And there's just something just really powerful about this because again, one of the claims that's leveled is that people tried to use the scriptures to validate or endorse slavery. And at the same time, we have, what do we have in the scriptures? We've heard this from the very beginning, all the way back in the Old Testament. What we've heard is there is this, it was mutually agreed upon service, right, is the idea behind this. At some point, yes, could there be abuses? Absolutely.

But especially in Christian, this, how would anyone say it? Like Christian slavery. It's basically when Christians owned slaves, what they were instructed to do, commanded to do was to treat their slaves as brothers and sisters, essentially. And so there's that recognition that we have such a, and rightfully so, a horrible correlation and connotation when it comes to slavery, of course, because we're so familiar with this brutal racist slavery. And yet here in St. Paul's letter to Philemon, he's sending Onesimus back, but he makes it very clear. I'm sending him back to you not as a slave, as a brother. very clear. I'm sending it back to you not as a slave, as a brother. And there is something that I would say, even if employers and employees who are Christians saw each other like this, we'd be in a different world. We'd live in a better world. Again, we're not talking about

slavery here. We're talking about simply teachers and their students. We talked about family members. If we saw each other, not as those who get in our way, not as those who are supposed to serve us, but as brothers and sisters, then we would have a different world. What Paul is writing to Philemon is a picture of that different world that could possibly be ours. I don't know if that makes any sense, but just one last thought when it comes to this big issue that exists in our world right now. So back to Revelation, what do we have?

We have chapters eight through 11. So there's a lot of stuff happening. We have the seventh seal. Remember that with each opening of each seal, there's a more destruction coming upon the earth. At the same time, there were those who were protected by this seal that they had on themselves. And it's interesting. I mentioned this before. I'll mention this again. There is a debate regarding the dating of the book of Revelation that some say is before the year 70. Others say it's around the year 80 to 90. Again, those are important to note.

The majority idea is the later dating. The minority view is the earlier dating. But regardless, they were writing to a people. John was writing to a people who were in persecution. And he's writing to them, revealing to them the power of worship that's happening in heaven. In fact, look at this chapter 8, the very beginning. It talks about this golden censer. And it says this.

It says, he stood at the altar. This is chapter 8, verse 3. Another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer. He's given much incense to mingle with the prayers of the saints upon the golden altar before the throne. And the smoke of the incense rose up with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God. Remember this. Remember that these are the prayers of the saints, the holy ones on earth going up before God who presented before God by those saints, the holy ones in heaven. And this is so important because we have the intercession of the

angels. We have intercession of saints. Here we have this worship in heaven happening. And this is very important because we're going to get in a second, we're going to get the image of the temple in heaven, but stay tuned. We next have the seven trumpets. So the seven angels, the seven trumpets. We first have the seven seals. Then we have the seven trumpets. This is hopefully you noticed that from the scrolls, there were some pretty big destruction came upon the earth. And those correlated with the destruction that Jesus Christ himself had prophesied would happen. Like every one of those seven images of destruction correspond directly with what Jesus had said.

Now we have the seven trumpets. And you can notice this, is that there's even more destruction. There's also going to be seven bowls, and the seven bowls are going to be even more destruction. So just keep that in mind. We have the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls that mark destruction. Now, this can be a lot to take. And that is a lot to take maybe even for John, who was witnessing this whole thing. We're just hearing about it, but John got to see this whole thing. And what's happening is he's given

a little reprieve. Here's a voice that speaks to him from heaven saying, go take the scroll, which is open in the hand of the angel who was standing on the sea and on the land, went to the angel, told him to give me the little scroll. He said, take it and eat it. It will be bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey to your mouth. And there's this moment of, I would say even compassion on John. At the same time, this scroll that's bitter to his stomach, but sweet to his taste, it relates both the sufferings and the victories of Christ's church. He's given both a taste of the desolation and a taste of the consolation before he has to prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings. Now this is just, again, it's fascinating.

Let's go back. I keep jumping back and forth, but we're going back to chapter 9, verse 20. It says, the rest of mankind, this is after the horns were blown. It says, the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands, nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot either see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their immorality or their thefts. I think it's important for us to recognize, yes, this is judgment coming upon the world, but this is judgment meant to be oriented towards repentance. This is so important for all of us. I mean, even right, Peter said this. He said, when you're considering the Lord's

return delay, it's not delay. It's he's God's being patient. He's being patient. So you can actually turn back to him at some point though. I'm not going to say God's patient runs out. That's not true. God doesn't run out of patience. God is long suffering. He endures so much.

But at some point, the time, the opportunity runs out. And this is one of the messages of revelation. It's one of the messages of the Bible is that here is God who loves you so much. He loves me so much. He loves all of us so much, every single person, and at some point, the time is gonna run out. Again, it's not God's love that runs out. It's not his patience that runs out.

It is just the time. At some point, we get what we've chosen, and even after some of these plagues and after some of these devastating things happening upon the earth, there are those who will continue to choose themselves. They'll continue to choose anything but God. In chapter 11, we have these two witnesses.

And in these two witnesses, it's very, very mysterious who they are. They could simply be two Christian prophets in this context. But at the same time, it talks about how they have power, and this is chapter 11, verse 6, they have power to shut the sky,

that no rain may fall during the days of the prophesying, and they have power over the water to turn them into blood and to afflict the earth with every plague as often as they desire. That kind of sounds a little bit like two people we encountered in the Old Testament. Who was an Old Testament person who had power to shut the sky so that no rain fell for, I think it was three years. His name was Elijah. Who was the prophet who turned waters into blood and had every plague afflict the earth?

Well, that was Moses. So it could be possible in some ways that this is Moses and Elijah reappearing, or this is prophets who kind of symbolize Moses and Elijah. Regardless, what it is, is here is a clear sign that God is present. God is active. God is real. And what happens? The nations of the world team up and kill them. And then they congratulate each other over having killed these two prophets. And I think there's something so powerful about this. You know how often in the New Testament here, the Christians have written about, you can't belong to both the world and to God.

And a lot of us, we think, well, no, I mean, I kind of live in a decent, there's decent people around me in the world. And you're right. There are decent people all over the place, everywhere. At the same time, when we fully belong to the Lord, in some ways we can see ourselves and say, I don't really belong to this world. I don't really belong here. I don't feel like I fit in. We should often as Christians feel like we don't fit in. I think too often we feel like we fit in and that might not be to our benefit. That might actually be to our detriment. They've killed these two prophets, these two witnesses. Witness in this term, in a sense, you know, it's the Greek, which means

martyr. They've killed them and they're celebrating. And it says, they gaze upon their dead bodies. And what happens? They rejoice over them, make merry and exchange presents because these two prophets have been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. And that's what the world does to prophets. Sometimes the world recognizes that they were holy, but gosh, you can even think of people that have died recently in our age who have been clearly holy. And yet people call into question their holiness. Maybe they had something going on. Maybe they had some ulterior motive. Maybe there was some other kind of deception happening in their life. And of course, we're all

broken, but think about how much the world hates holiness. I think we like it from afar, but when it's up close, we don't like it. And so we have this opportunity. The opportunity is to turn back to the Lord. Last little note. At the end of chapter 11, we have John looking into heaven. He says this in verse 19, then God's temple in heaven was opened and the ark of chapter 11, we have John looking into heaven. He says this in verse 19, then God's temple in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. And there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder and earthquake and heavy hail. Once again, like a Mount Sinai situation, but also he sees the ark of the covenant. This is the end of chapter 11. This is absolutely so important for us to pay attention to. Why? Because the ark of the Covenant has been lost.

Remember, Jeremiah hated away hundreds of years before this. And now John sees it for the first time in his entire life, for the first time in centuries. He looks into heaven and he sees the Ark of the Covenant. This is so important. Why? Because it's in the Lord's temple. Remember, the worship that was happening in heaven is now happening in Christian churches. It's happening on altars. It's happening in the Catholic church all of the time. This is

the place. This is the action. And this is the work that you and I are made for. I'm sorry this is so long, but again, we only have a few days left for each other. But here we are on day 361. What a gift it is to just, again, hear. It's not a gift to hear about judgment, but it is a gift to hear. Here's what the Lord is doing. He has brought judgment to the world. He will bring it again, not to punish those who are innocent, but to bring justice to this world. I'm just praying for myself and I pray for you that we can be recipients of God's mercy, even in the midst of the need for justice. I'm praying for midst of the need for justice. I'm praying for you.

Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.