Thy Strong Word from KFUO Radio

Rev. Tim Droegemueller, pastor of Living Faith Lutheran Church in Cumming, Georgia, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 34. Psalm 34 paints a beautiful image: “Those who look [to the LORD] are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.” And yet, this psalm is from when David “pretended to be insane in [the Gathites’] hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard” (1 Sam 21). Not exactly proud and radiant, right? David was desperate and “crushed in spirit,” and yet God saved him from an impossible situation. David praises God for it, saying that God is constantly present and ready to rescue His faithful. To highlight this constancy, David begins each of these 22 verses with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, all 22 letters in order. Along the way, we see our Lord Jesus, both prefigured as the “angel of the LORD” who saved David and also prophesied as “the righteous one” who was rescued from death in the resurrection on the third day.

Rev. Lucas Witt, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Baltimore, Maryland, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 8. “Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth.” As fiery and devastating as chapter 8 may be, the seventh seal with its seven trumpets are an answered prayer. God has prepared us for battle like Israel’s twelve tribes, but it is God who comes to fight and defeat our enemies. The long silence, the hailstorm, the chaos at sea, the wormwood meteorite, and the plague on the stars symbolize vindication and creation. They recall the silence before the trumpet blast at Jericho, the plagues against Egypt, and creation itself. God hovered over the silent abyss, and then brought order to the stormy waters by His strong Word. God spares His people while He creates a new era, starting with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

Rev. Curtis Deterding, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Fort Myers, Florida, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 7. “I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000.” The number symbolism continues in chapter 7, and although interpretations abound, the church’s understanding has shown great consistency. The four angels at the earth’s four corners in the opening contrast with the four riders of the previous chapter’s first four seals; these 144,000 will “stand” in the midst of God’s wrath, just as the Lamb who once was slain is “standing.” The language speaks of battle preparations. The list is like those of Numbers and Joshua, Judah’s tribe marching first among God’s people, faithless Dan excluded. 1000 recalls the cohorts of Israel’s armies, and 12 represents the people of God; they represent us as God’s baptized people. We face our “eastern border” as a great resurrected army as in Ezekiel 37. Although we have wandered in the wilderness, Christ is our tabernacle who shelters us. He has already conquered and shown us the victory.

Rev. Nate Ruback, pastor of Grace Lutheran Chapel in Bellefontaine Neighbors, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 6. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse! Depicted in art countless times over the centuries, they are well known even in popular culture. Are they code for future events? These riders rather represent the past and the present, the “kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful” of every age (v 15). The colors may be the same white, red, black, and dapple-grey from Zechariah 6, representing those whose power comes from tyranny, warfare, oppression, and disaster in every part of the world. Yet all of these are in the hand of God, and “the wrath of the Lamb” will avenge His people against them. Through baptism we will “stand without fear before the judgment seat” clothed in Christ’s righteousness.

Rev. Daniel Olson, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Luxemburg, Wisconsin, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 5. “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” Revelation 5 is the source for “This is the Feast,” a well-known and beloved hymn among Lutherans. This seven-fold blessing is meant for the seven-horned and seven-eyed lamb, worthy to open the seven-sealed scroll. This Lamb of “seven” does the work of God: He sacrificed Himself for us, He reigns supreme, and He sees all through the Spirit. Even while separated, we are joined together in prayer as the temple of Christ. When we hear the gospel we receive the Spirit, which means we receive Christ Himself. Like the people in Zechariah’s day who had no temple to gather in, we still worship with myriads of angels and animals even while scattered.

Rev. Jacob Heine, pastor of Christ the Rock Lutheran Church in Rockford, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 4. “On each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes.” In Revelation 4 John’s perspective is spirited away from Asia Minor to God’s throne room. Much is familiar—a door, the voice, white robes, the crowns. The church and our worship are windows to heaven. But there are these four living creatures and “twenty-four elders.” The elders represent God’s people old and new, the tribes of Jacob’s twelve sons and the church of the Lord’s twelve apostles. The creatures, however, represent all creation: an ox for the livestock, a lion for the beasts of the field, an eagle for the birds of the heavens, and human face for mankind. They worship God “day and night” around “a sea of glass.” God is putting all six days’ creation into perfect order, removing all waves and chaos, perfecting what He started in Genesis. Christ gives us thrones and crowns that we might fall down in worship.

Rev. Kevin Golden, pastor of Village Lutheran Church in Ladue, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 3. “You are dead.” “You have kept my word.” “You are wretched, poor, blind, and naked.” The Lord Jesus sees all and knows all, and He knows “the works” of all churches, symbolized in Revelation 3 in the historic churches of Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. We look at some churches and see vitality or an abundance of resources, but all that could be death and poverty from Christ’s perspective. We have to see beyond the “name” of branding and reputation to see the name of identity—only Christ’s Word is gold, and only His life of good works in us is vitality. Although Philadelphia had “but little power,” they were true “Jews,” true members of the tribe of Judah because of Christ “who has the key of David.” Baptism gives us our truest identity in the immovable Christ despite the world’s shifting opinions and appearances.

Rev. John Lukomski, retired LCMS pastor and co-host of Wrestling with the Basics, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 2. Stars, lampstands, angels and churches: one thing is clear, these letters in Revelation 2 are not John’s private letters to select individuals, but Christ’s own words meant for the whole church. The first letter is for the church in Ephesus. They weren’t struggling with emotions, but with actions, the fruit of our faithfulness to Christ (Jn 14:15). As for Smyrna, they were beset by intense persecution, so Christ encourages them to see their spiritual splendor. Pergamum and Thyatira have demonstrated endurance and good works, but they have also tolerated immorality which threatens to destroy them (see the episode on Zechariah 3 for more on the white stone!). We see ourselves in these churches, weak in ourselves and yet conquerors in Christ.

Rev. David Boisclair, pastor of Faith and Bethesda Lutheran Churches in North St. Louis County, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 1. “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore.” Christians shouldn’t be scared of Revelation; it’s the language of our “Sunday” worship and our tradition! And more importantly, it all points to Jesus Christ as our Savior who conquers our enemies and says “Fear not.” Chapter 1 describes the book as a “revelation” or an “apocalypse,” in the same way that Daniel and Zechariah contain apocalypses: Jesus removes the veil to show us the world from a spiritual perspective, especially past and present events. Just as God is Creator, so Christ is the Alpha and the firstborn from the dead. Just as God will bring the new creation, so Christ is the Omega who will judge the living and the dead.

Rev. Christopher Maronde pastor of St. John Bingen in Decatur, Indiana, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Zechariah 14. “On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two.” As the Lord Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives, so shall He descend there to render judgment. The talk of geography and weather however is meant to remind us of the Exile and the Exodus. This fourteenth and final chapter of Zechariah retells the previous two to show that God’s preservation will not be easy or without casualties. The Hasmoneans withstood the siege at great cost, and the church suffers great loss even as God sees us through hard times. Yet Christ comes to bring us “living water” and the tree of life, the new day of the new creation with sure and certain peace.