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 September 27, 2026

View in the Daily Devotional Index

And I heard from the altar, saying, “Yes! Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.” Rev 16:7.

           This is something new, an altar that talks! A lot of strange creatures speak in Revelation, but this beats them all! It reminds me a little of Jesus’ comment about the stones crying out to honor him, if the people would not do it. But why is the altar before the throne of God making a proclamation about God’s justice?
           There is a clue in Rev 8:3-4. There it tells us that the golden altar is the place from which the prayers of the saints arise, mingled with the incense of the altar. The “prayers of the saints” is actually an echo of the souls under the altar in Rev 6:9-10. These souls cry out to God because of the unjust treatment they have received from those who live on the earth.
           So the altar is the place that stores, so to speak, the prayers of all the saints who have been treated unjustly, killed, or tortured for their faith. It is the place in heaven where all the cries for justice that have ever ascended from earth are collected. That altar is filled with coals of fire, which symbolize God’s anger regarding all of that injustice. The Book of Revelation portrays the time when the fire of God’s judgment erupts against all the perpetrators of injustice.
           But the altar represents something else as well. It is also the place where the blood of sacrifice is brought, sanctified in a cloud of incense. So the altar also represents forgiveness. It is the place where every sinner can go to have the weight of sin removed. Even those who have done heinous crimes can come to the altar in repentance and receive forgiveness.
           The horrors that are poured out on the wicked are not inevitable for you and me. Provision has been made for every sinner to be forgiven and cleansed. No one is forced to face the wrath of God. The Lamb has died for those sins. He has allowed Himself to experience the fires of God’s wrath so that no one else need experience it, except by their own choice.
           If we lay our sins on the altar, they will be burned up there. But if we choose not to repent, if we choose to cling to our sins, the altar will draw those sins to itself, consuming us along with them. Those who feel they are “good enough on their own” will not be separated from their sins or from the ultimate consequence of those sins.
           That’s why there are so many plagues and so much bloodshed in the Book of Revelation. It is picturing the full, natural outcome of our daily choices. Revelation gives us the call to come back to God, back to God before it is forever too late. In order to get our attention, it portrays the consequences of not coming back to God. The choice is ours.¹

           Lord, I see more clearly the reality of sin in my life and the consequence of not turning to You for forgiveness and cleansing. I choose to come to You today.

¹ Based on E. Lonnie Melashenko, “Revelation: The Book of the End,” Adventist Review, October 16, 2003, 16.