Revelation 7:16 ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’ nor any scorching heat.
I read an article this morning about up to twelve inches of snow falling in the Big Island of Hawaii. This isn’t something I expect for Hawaii. And living in central Florida, I wonder if I am next. The Northerners who have migrated, either temporarily or permanently, wouldn’t have problem with driving in that kind of weather, but the true Floridians would have a big headache.
You see, we get used to certain things about our world. And for most of us, we like the routine of life. We don’t want too much change to happen too quickly. We want some monotony in our lives.
But there are some things we would opt out of if we had the chance to do so. We would opt for food on a regular basis, rather than the alternative of scarcity and hunger. Hunger is tough.
For those in our world that live day to day with the threat of hunger just a few days away, hunger is something that can mean life or death. For some it leads to death, but for many others it just becomes a desperate challenge to obtain enough calories to sustain life. Life becomes one long search for food, and many other things just don’t happen.
The promise of food and drink in our text is a powerful one. It is written to a group of people who have passed through a time of great tribulation. They have remained faithful to Jesus, but have suffered greatly. Hunger has been element of their suffering.
And in a dessert climate, one like Israel, water was more important than food. That is because of the intensity of the sunlight that constantly bakes those of us who live under its intense rays. The high angle of the sun means that there is less atmosphere to dissipate the rays, leading to sunburns.
Now if you are hungry and thirsty, and then have to experience this kind of dessert heat, it puts your life in danger. So, these followers of Jesus who are facing persecution and rejection by their own communities get reassurance the LORD is faithful. When His Kingdom comes, these wants will disappear.
But right now we live and a world of want. Too much suffering and deprivation takes place around the world, much of it because of war, political power struggles and ideologies of many different types.
But Jesus’ people are different, or at least they have been different in the past. They have built tens of thousands of schools and medical clinics, hospitals and care centers around the world. They have raised the level of dignity afforded people in some of the most oppressed areas of the world. They have offered hope, when hope was no where to be found.
But there is still more need than there is supply. There are many who take care of “me and mine” at the expense of everyone else. This should not be the attitude of Christians.
We are not yet in the “never again” time yet. We are still in the “right here and now.” There are believers right now whose homes are be destroyed and their bodies mutilated, and the sole reason for that abuse was their faith in Jesus. They are living in the “here and now” and looking forward to the “never again.”
The Arnold Journey 