21 November 2022

Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
Apocalypse 14:1-5, NRSV

The Book of Apocalypse (or Revelation) is the final book of the New Testament which charts the trials and tribulations that God’s people would undergo before the ultimate and final victory of Christ over evil. In the section read today, we hear about how a group of faithful believers have been delivered from a dangerous “Beast”. They stand with the Lamb of God as they prepare for a final holy war between the Kingdom of Christ and the Kingdom of Satan. Their fidelity had effectively given them a seal of protection as signified by the marks on their foreheads. They had been prepared to show their fidelity to God and his Son and God had preserved his people.

• • Why do you suppose that Christ is here represented by “the Lamb”?
  • What marks us out as followers of Christ?

Pray today for those who suffer persecution in the practice of their faith.