Hello! I am Jon Paulien and I’m glad you came to this page to check out my work. I am a New Testament scholar and Professor of Religion at Loma Linda University. On this website you will find a collection of my articles, commentary on Revelation, and links to my blog, videos, and other resources. Make sure you check the articles link above regularly to see the latest postings. In my hand above is an exact replica of p52, the earliest extant New Testament manuscript fragment, containing portions of John, chapter 18. Centered above my head is a replica of ancient Greek pottery. At either end above are two sets of books from, and about, my favorite spiritual author, Ellen G. White. I hope you enjoy the site.

Daily Devotional For October 2, 2026

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And I saw, out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are the spirits of demons, doing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole inhabited world to gather them for the battle of the great day of God Almighty. Rev 16:13-14.

           This text is parallel to Rev 13:13-14, where the land beast calls fire down from heaven to deceive those who live on the earth. Here the deceptive trinity (dragon, beast and false prophet) send out unclean spirits to perform miraculous signs in order to deceive the leaders of the world in order to gather them in behalf of evil at the final battle of earth’s history.
           Deception seems to imply that the one deceived is somehow not responsible for what they didn’t see or understand. But the reality is that people open themselves to deception on account of greed or envy or some other selfish motivation. Being deceived, then, is not an excuse, it is a consequence. This is illustrated by an entertaining Jewish joke.
           The story is told that in the early 1900s an old Jew is traveling alone in his compartment on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. The train stops, and an officer in the czar’s army gets on. He and the Jew travel for a while in silence. Suddenly the officer grabs the Jew by the lapels and demands: “Tell me, why are you Jews so much brighter than everyone else?”
           The Jew is silent a moment, then responds, “It’s because of the herring we eat.”
           The officer quiets down, and the trip resumes. Soon the Jew takes out a piece of herring and starts to eat it. The officer asks him: “How many pieces of herring do you have?”
           “A dozen.”
           “How much do you want for them?”
           “Twenty rubles.” A big sum of money.
           The officer takes out the money and gives it to the Jew. The old man gives him the herring, and the officer takes a bite. Suddenly he stops. “This is ridiculous,” he says, “In Moscow I could have bought all this herring for a few kopecks.”
           “You see,” says the Jew, “it’s working already.”¹
           Now obviously we laugh at this joke because of where it stops. Had the situation continued, the Jew would probably have been attacked or thrown off the train. But in the story we see how the old man exploited the other’s envy and greed to relieve him of his money. In the last days Satan will exploit our weaknesses to deceive us away from our faithfulness to God.

           Lord, I don’t want to give Satan even the slightest point of entry into my life. Guard me with the infinite power of Jesus’ blood.

¹ As told in Ansel Oliver, “Me? Meek? A Look at Jewish Humor and Meekness,” Adventist Review, October, 2003, 23