111. Revelation Chapters 14-22

Revelation 14-22 (Thru the Bible Commentary Series #60) J. Vernon McGee. 1979. Thomas Nelson. 204 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: This chapter contains several events. It is an interlude in which we see the Lamb on Mount Zion, hear the proclamation of the everlasting gospel, the pronouncement of judgment upon Babylon and on those who receive the mark of the Beast, then the praise for those who die in the Lord, and the preview of Armageddon.

I am reading the Bible in 2020 using the daily M'Cheyne (Robert Murray M'Cheyne) plan. I thought it would add a layer of substance to in addition to the four chapters a day, to also read commentaries for those chapters. For that I am using Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible. But the plan goes through the New Testament (and Psalms, I believe) twice. So now that I've finished Henry's commentary for the New Testament, I am tackling the New Testament commentary section of J. Vernon McGee's series.

This is not my first time reading J. Vernon McGee. I've read probably thirty or so of his commentaries. Most recently Revelation 6-13.

I really am LOVING McGee. This has been the best idea--to correspond my Bible reading with commentary reading. 

This is NOT my first time reading McGee's commentary on Revelation. In fact, I'd say that his commentary on Revelations was one of the first of his to read way back when. (The only one that might have come first was Isaiah or Jeremiah?) 

Overall, I have enjoyed these books. I haven't always agreed with every single sentence or every single paragraph. But his insights have been at times thought-provoking or fascinating. The third volume focuses on the very end of the tribulation. It also covers the millennial reign of Christ and the New Jerusalem. 

Favorite quotes:

Let me make it clear that I make no apology for these scenes of judgment. God has not asked me to apologize for His Word. He has told me to give it out. We need to face up to the facts:1. Sin is an awful thing.2. Sin is in the world.3. You and I are sinners. The only remedy for sin is the redemption Christ offered when He shed His blood on the cross and paid the penalty for our sins.4. You and I merit the judgment of God. Our only escape is to accept the work of Christ for us on Calvary's cross. (52-53)

What God is doing may not look right to you, but if you don't think God is doing the right thing, you are wrong, not God. We need to adjust our attitudes and our thinking. (65)

As we contemplate the destruction of Babylon, we think of other great cities and civilizations of the past which have fallen. One of the most widely read books of all times is The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon in 1788. In it he gives five basic reasons why that great civilization withered and died:1) The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis for human society.2) Higher and higher taxes; the spending of public money for free bread and circuses for the populace.3) The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming every year more exciting, more brutal, more immoral.4) The building of great armaments when the real enemy was within--the decay of individual responsibility.5) The decay of religion; faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life, losing power to guide the people. (117)

My friend, learning to know Him is one of the things that is going to make heaven heaven. He is so wonderful that it is going to take the rest of eternity to really know Him. The folk we meet down here are not very exciting folk when we get to know them, are they? But the more we know Jesus, the more exciting He will be. (134)

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible