Daily Devotional For May 21, 2025
And I heard the number of those who were being sealed, 144,000, sealed from all the tribes of the sons of Israel. Rev 7:4.
This passage in Revelation (7:4-8) echoes Old Testament passages where the armies of Israel are numbered (next devotional). The 144,000 are the End-time army of God. But this is a different kind of army. This army doesn’twin victory by forcing its will on others. Instead, the model of Christian warfare is the Lamb that was slain (Rev 5:6). Christians overcome not by intelligence or human power, but by the blood of the Lamb (Rev 12:11). In other words, Christian victory comes through weakness, not strength (see 2 Cor 12:7-10).
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn spent years resisting his captors in the Soviet gulag. He sought to achieve some semblance of control over his schedule, his food and other matters. But when he became a Christian, he relinquished such attempts at control. In so doing he “became free of even his captor’s power.”
A Hezbollah leader was shocked when Brother Andrew offered his life in exchange for that of a prisoner. The Muslim leader became Brother Andrew’s friend. But observing the lack of commitment among most Christians, he later protested, “Andrew, you Christians. . . are not following the life of Jesus anymore. . . . You must go back to the book, the New Testament.” What he meant was that the teaching of Jesus includes loving our enemies, something the Hezbollah leader had not experienced from Christians until he met Brother Andrew.
An army is about more than just personal needs; close co-operation with others is required for success. So our lives together as Christians are an important part of our witness. The genuineness of our experience is seen in how we treat each other (John 13:35).
An army must be prepared for both offense and defense. There are times when the Christian soldier can do no more than hold a position against the devil’s schemes (Eph 6:11-14), But Christians are also issued an offensive weapon; the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph 6:17).
We are, therefore, called to do more than just worship and encourage each other in a church setting, waiting for the lost to come in. The 144,000 take the good news of salvation outside the walls of the church into the “highways and byways” of our communities. But Revelation makes it clear that every “offensive” is made in weakness, trusting in the power and the presence of our Lord.
Lord, I wish I was bolder in witness. It is not that I am ashamed of You, but I am afraid that people will think differently of me. Help me to remember that in humiliation and weakness I am following Your steps. There is nothing to fear because Your path leads to victory.