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 July 15, 2026

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And when their (the two witnesses) testimony is finished, the beast who comes up from the Abyss will make war with them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And some from every people and tribe and language and nation will gaze on their bodies for three and a half days, and they would not permit their bodies to be placed in a tomb. Those who live on the earth will rejoice over them, celebrate, and send gifts to one another because these prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. But after three and a half days the breath of life from God entered into them and they stood up on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them. Rev 11:7-11.

           After the close of the 1260 days there is a final message to a dying world. The Abyss is the home of demons, the place where they are confined (Luke 8:31). So the beast from the Abyss is either Satan or some civil power controlled by Satan. Around the time of the French Revolution, many people saw the events of their day forecast in this text. They believed that the attack on the two witnesses represented the atheist attacks on the Bible in the context of the Revolution.
           Rejection is painful, especially when you care deeply about those who reject you. In ancient times it was considered the ultimate rejection to be refused burial (1 Kgs 21:24; Jer 8:1-2 and 14:16; Ps 79:2-3) after one’s death. And not only were the two witnesses left lying in the street, the wicked celebrated their humiliation by sending each other gifts like the Jews did after their deliverance in the time of Esther (Esth 9:19, 22).
           But God reverses this rejection by breathing the breath of life into the two witnesses. Their resurrection fills their enemies with great fear. One of the consequences of the French Revolution was a great revival of interest in the Bible. The great Bible Societies were founded in the following decades. So while the greatest attack against the Bible was in the 1790s; the 1800s saw the Word spread more widely than at any time in history.
           It is interesting how enemies become united in their common opposition to God’s people. Lifelong enemies, Pilate and Herod, were reconciled in their rejection of Christ (Luke 23:12). Sometimes parents are more willing to see their children become secular, or even criminals, than to join some other denomination. Nothing unites people like opposition to God and His people, and that will certainly be the case in the last days.

           Lord, I want to seek the kind of unity that draws people to You, unity in love and caring concern, not unity in opposition to others.