Thy Strong Word from KFUO Radio

Rev. Nathan Meador, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Plymouth, Wisconsin, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 13. “Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.” Does this beast and its mark foretell a dystopian future? History never fails to repeat itself, but the two beasts of Revelation 13 likely refer to the local and global authorities aligned with Satan, persecutors of Christians in the time around AD 70. The number 666 is derived from the Hebrew alphabet, in which letters represented numbers. Here the numbers add up to the same person whose image was minted or “marked” on the coins: Caesar. The corrupt leaders of Judea were puppets of the Roman emperors, who were literally worshiped as divine. Although the world still at times seems aligned against us, the church endures knowing that Christ defeated the ancient persecutors of the church, even as He defeated Satan in His death, resurrection, and ascension.

Rev. Mark Jasa, pastor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Pasadena, California, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 12. “Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon.” Chapter 12 introduces a ferocious dragon. Like the Seleucid beast of Daniel, it has ten horns, symbolizing earthly authority and force of power. Unlike any other beast though, it has seven crowned heads, symbolizing the heavenly authority of God. The dragon is “red,” the color symbolizing Edom, the perennial enemy of God’s people. The Idumean King Herod tried and failed to kill the Lord Jesus as an infant. The army of 20,000 Idumean soldiers brought violence upon Jerusalem, but the church escaped to Pella. Whether in the form of Edom, Rome, or even Jerusalem in its apostasy, the spiritual power of Satan always accuses God’s people—but the accuser has been defeated in the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. All who are baptized in the Ascended Messiah’s name “have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb.”

Rev. Steven Theiss, retired LCMS pastor, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 11. “I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” Before the seventh trumpet blast, chapter 11 describes two witnesses who sound a lot like other biblical figures: like Moses & Elijah, they turn rivers to blood and summon drought. Like Joshua and Zerubbabel, they fuel the lamps of God’s people to rebuild the Temple (Zechariah 4). Who are they? In the end, they are compared to the Lord Jesus, who died, rose, and ascended in Jerusalem. Historically, these two witnesses may correspond to Jesus ben Ananias and James the brother of the Lord Jesus, who died as martyrs (“witnesses”) in Jerusalem right before the city was destroyed. The seventh trumpet sounds, and the true temple of God in heaven is opened, where Jesus Christ rules the church in Sabbath rest all over the world.

Rev. Mark Birkholz, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Oak Lawn, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 10. “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” In chapter 10, John is commanded not to write down this mysterious message for us. Why mention it at all? He is then given “a little scroll” which he is commanded to eat. It tastes “sweet as honey,” but it becomes nauseating in the end. The only other edible scroll in Scripture is described in Ezekiel 3. The prophet Ezekiel also ate a sweet scroll, only to become nauseous when he was taken away from Jerusalem and left with the exiles in Babylon. Like exiles, the early Christians had to leave Jerusalem for a place called Pella, “Christ having told them to abandon Jerusalem” as one early church historian wrote. Within the next few years, Jerusalem was besieged and then destroyed, along with the Temple. Over a million people died. The Christians thanked God for mercifully sparing them, but they mourned bitterly. Even as we mourn amidst disaster, we trust that God will see us through, just like He always has.

Rev. John Lukomski, retired LCMS pastor, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 9.

Rev. Kevin Parviz, pastor of Congregation Chai v’Shalom in St. Louis, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 100. “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!” Psalm 100 isn’t a short summary psalm, but a profound insight into a very specific situation: walking through the temple gates into the courtyards. Such holy places can only have so many people there at once. Yet even when the numbers seem small, there are more who praise God—and more things to praise God for—than appearances suggest. Even when Israel was sheltering in place during the Passover, even when the disciples were hiding in secret after Good Friday, God was at work with creation and resurrection. We are never cut off from the Temple, nor from each other, because through baptism we are all part of Jesus Christ the true temple.

Rev. Jaime Nava, pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Maplewood, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 22. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” No other psalm is more tightly connected to the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus than Psalm 22. Yet, for all the allusions and fulfillments, this psalm is first of all about David. He went from popular warrior to despised “worm.” He found himself besieged and betrayed for weeks or maybe even months, reminiscent of our own times. Yet even his cry of abandonment is a cry of faith; our faith is brightest when we feel the darkness most acutely. The title mentions “the dawn,” as this psalm of hope in the midst of pain anticipates the Lord’s resurrection and ascension.

Rev. Thomas Eckstein, pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Jamestown, North Dakota, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 116. “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.” Psalm 116 is used in so many ways in church tradition: during Easter, before communion, at funerals, and on Maundy Thursday. What ties it all together? God’s people speak as one voice, as God’s servant raised from the death of exile. At the newly restored temple, God’s people finally could celebrate Passover together again. And our Lord Jesus sang this psalm with His disciples at their Passover celebration in the upper room. “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” So precious was Jesus, that God brought Him back from death itself, and us with Him. We long to gather as His body, the true temple.

Rev. Stewart Crown, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Palo Alto, California, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 43. “Send out your light and your truth.” This pair of themes occurs all over the Bible, but how is it supposed to rescue this son of Korah here in Psalm 43? The Hebrew word for “truth” doesn’t focus on facts and figures, but rather God’s truth-telling integrity. On the one hand, we all rely on God’s integrity and faithfulness to reassure us even when life is full of doubts, even when we feel forgotten and rejected by God. On the other hand, perhaps this Korahite needed God to restore integrity to a broken legal situation, to rescue him from lies and false accusations that were preventing him from going south to the Temple. In the end, we all need God to not only vindicate us in particular situations, but to justify us by forgiving us our sins before Him. Light and truth are ultimately found in our Savior, who in the Gospel of John calls Himself both “the truth” and “the light of the world.”

Rev. Kevin Parviz, pastor of Congregation Chai v’Shalom in St. Louis, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 42. “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.” This psalm’s beautiful opening line is well known and has found its way into contemporary music. What does it really mean though? What was the psalmist going through when he sang these words? This psalm is about God’s presence in the Temple. Even though the psalmist longed to go up to the Temple, adversaries would prevent him every time a major festival came around. The imagery of panting thirst, sorrowful tears, and overwhelming waters recalls our Lord’s words when He was teaching in the Temple at the Feast of Booths: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” The God of creation is never far from His faithful, and the purest streams flow from His Messiah, the true Temple.