For this reason they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple, and the One sitting on the throne will spread His tent over them. Rev. 7:15.
To truly appreciate what our passage today is saying you need a sense of the ancient setting. For me, spending time in a tent is "roughing it." I might do it for a change of pace, but I wouldn't want to live like that every day. My youngest daughter is different. As I mentioned in an earlier devotional, she recently spent eight straight days backpacking in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan--in February! During that month in Michigan most of us stay outside just for a moment. She was outside the whole time, sleeping in "tepees" at night with a small portable gas-burning stove. For me that's a little too much adventure! And I doubt that was the kind of tenting experience our text had in mind.
I came close to understanding the passage, however, when I visited Petra in the country of Jordan. It is a red rock area similar in appearance to the national parks of Utah. The visit begins with about a two-mile hike that includes a twisting trail through a narrow canyon. You come out of the canyon into a vast open space surrounded by cliffs with all kinds of ancient dwellings carved right out of them! The view is exciting, but he sun beats down on you, and water is rather scarce back in there. And visiting the sites involves some stiff up-and-down hiking.
After climbing 1,000 feet to the "high place," we returned to the central valley around noon, hungry and thirsty and at least a two-mile walk from the last sign of civilization. As we passed a Bedouin tent, a man at the front beckoned us in. At first we were reluctant, not sure what we were getting into, but when we saw some of our colleagues already inside, my family and I went in too. The tent itself consisted of black hides stretched over a frame, but beautiful carpets covered the ground, and we saw lovely cushions to lean on. The man offered us lunch and cold drinks. Believe it or not, I think I had a Sprite in the middle of nowhere! In that heat and dryness it was a joy to come inside for a cold drink and delicious food. But best of all was shade from the sun, and the most wonderful, soft cushions on which to rest aching muscles.
Revelation 7 tells us that God will "spread His tent over us" in the intense noonday heat of the troubles we face both now and when the end-time comes. This text offers us an image for hard times. When life gets tough, God provides a cooling tent in the knowledge that nothing happens to us that cannot serve a purpose in the larger picture (Rom. 8:28). And in the searing fires of the end, His cooling tent will be a comforting refuge.
Lord, at times I have thought that the hard things of my life meant that You didn't care. Help me to experience Your cooling shade in the challenges that I will face today.
To truly appreciate what our passage today is saying you need a sense of the ancient setting. For me, spending time in a tent is "roughing it." I might do it for a change of pace, but I wouldn't want to live like that every day. My youngest daughter is different. As I mentioned in an earlier devotional, she recently spent eight straight days backpacking in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan--in February! During that month in Michigan most of us stay outside just for a moment. She was outside the whole time, sleeping in "tepees" at night with a small portable gas-burning stove. For me that's a little too much adventure! And I doubt that was the kind of tenting experience our text had in mind.
I came close to understanding the passage, however, when I visited Petra in the country of Jordan. It is a red rock area similar in appearance to the national parks of Utah. The visit begins with about a two-mile hike that includes a twisting trail through a narrow canyon. You come out of the canyon into a vast open space surrounded by cliffs with all kinds of ancient dwellings carved right out of them! The view is exciting, but he sun beats down on you, and water is rather scarce back in there. And visiting the sites involves some stiff up-and-down hiking.
After climbing 1,000 feet to the "high place," we returned to the central valley around noon, hungry and thirsty and at least a two-mile walk from the last sign of civilization. As we passed a Bedouin tent, a man at the front beckoned us in. At first we were reluctant, not sure what we were getting into, but when we saw some of our colleagues already inside, my family and I went in too. The tent itself consisted of black hides stretched over a frame, but beautiful carpets covered the ground, and we saw lovely cushions to lean on. The man offered us lunch and cold drinks. Believe it or not, I think I had a Sprite in the middle of nowhere! In that heat and dryness it was a joy to come inside for a cold drink and delicious food. But best of all was shade from the sun, and the most wonderful, soft cushions on which to rest aching muscles.
Revelation 7 tells us that God will "spread His tent over us" in the intense noonday heat of the troubles we face both now and when the end-time comes. This text offers us an image for hard times. When life gets tough, God provides a cooling tent in the knowledge that nothing happens to us that cannot serve a purpose in the larger picture (Rom. 8:28). And in the searing fires of the end, His cooling tent will be a comforting refuge.
Lord, at times I have thought that the hard things of my life meant that You didn't care. Help me to experience Your cooling shade in the challenges that I will face today.
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