The mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands;the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. Rev. 1:20.
I drowned about 10 years ago. Funny, though, I'm still here. Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef off Australia, I was about 400 yards from shore in five-foot-deep water, so when my strength began to give out I wasn't worried. That was when I discovered the water wasn't five feet deep--it was seven feet deep! And I was in big trouble.
Fortunately I spotted a rock about 18 inches high and 18 inches wide in the sand below the water. Standing on the rock, I managed to get my nose above water. Unfortunately, waves kept washing me off the rock, so I couldn't get my strength back. I called to my wife, who is a better swimmer than I am. To make a long story short, she came over and helped me stay balanced on the rock until help arrived.
A few months later we told the story to a friend who had done a lot of diving. "How were you able to keep your nose above water and hold your husband up when you're so much smaller than he is?" he asked my wife.
"I balanced myself on the tips of my fins," she said.
His eyes grew wide. "That's impossible! Fins won't support your weight."
"Well, that's what I did! They felt as solid as my own legs!"
He thought for a minute. "There's no way that could work. An angel must have held you up!"
I'm inclined to agree. In my desperate situation I didn't know how she did it--I was just grateful that my wife was as solid as a pillar next to me. As I think about her explanation, I'm also convinced an angel held her up.
what are the angels of the seven churches? Some interpreters think they are the messengers that carried John's apocalypse and read it to the churches. Others consider them the pastors or leaders of the churches. Still others conclude that they are God's secret guardians that step in to help when needed, such as what I experienced in Australia.
The book of Revelation is full of angels. Most of them are clearly not human beings. In Jewish tradition, angels guide the activities of earthly rulers (Daniel 10:13, 20, 21, for example) and are sometimes held responsible for the earthly ruler's behavior. Perhaps these seven angels watched over the leaders of the churches. It is nice to know that the church, feeble an defective though it may be, has the same kind of watchcare from God's angels that every one of us has.
Thank You, Lord, for the messengers that watch over all of Your people.
I drowned about 10 years ago. Funny, though, I'm still here. Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef off Australia, I was about 400 yards from shore in five-foot-deep water, so when my strength began to give out I wasn't worried. That was when I discovered the water wasn't five feet deep--it was seven feet deep! And I was in big trouble.
Fortunately I spotted a rock about 18 inches high and 18 inches wide in the sand below the water. Standing on the rock, I managed to get my nose above water. Unfortunately, waves kept washing me off the rock, so I couldn't get my strength back. I called to my wife, who is a better swimmer than I am. To make a long story short, she came over and helped me stay balanced on the rock until help arrived.
A few months later we told the story to a friend who had done a lot of diving. "How were you able to keep your nose above water and hold your husband up when you're so much smaller than he is?" he asked my wife.
"I balanced myself on the tips of my fins," she said.
His eyes grew wide. "That's impossible! Fins won't support your weight."
"Well, that's what I did! They felt as solid as my own legs!"
He thought for a minute. "There's no way that could work. An angel must have held you up!"
I'm inclined to agree. In my desperate situation I didn't know how she did it--I was just grateful that my wife was as solid as a pillar next to me. As I think about her explanation, I'm also convinced an angel held her up.
what are the angels of the seven churches? Some interpreters think they are the messengers that carried John's apocalypse and read it to the churches. Others consider them the pastors or leaders of the churches. Still others conclude that they are God's secret guardians that step in to help when needed, such as what I experienced in Australia.
The book of Revelation is full of angels. Most of them are clearly not human beings. In Jewish tradition, angels guide the activities of earthly rulers (Daniel 10:13, 20, 21, for example) and are sometimes held responsible for the earthly ruler's behavior. Perhaps these seven angels watched over the leaders of the churches. It is nice to know that the church, feeble an defective though it may be, has the same kind of watchcare from God's angels that every one of us has.
Thank You, Lord, for the messengers that watch over all of Your people.
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