Thy Strong Word From Kfuo Radio

Rev. Mark Jasa, pastor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Pasadena, California, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 12. “Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon.” Chapter 12 introduces a ferocious dragon. Like the Seleucid beast of Daniel, it has ten horns, symbolizing earthly authority and force of power. Unlike any other beast though, it has seven crowned heads, symbolizing the heavenly authority of God. The dragon is “red,” the color symbolizing Edom, the perennial enemy of God’s people. The Idumean King Herod tried and failed to kill the Lord Jesus as an infant. The army of 20,000 Idumean soldiers brought violence upon Jerusalem, but the church escaped to Pella. Whether in the form of Edom, Rome, or even Jerusalem in its apostasy, the spiritual power of Satan always accuses God’s people—but the accuser has been defeated in the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. All who are baptized in the Ascended Messiah’s name “have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb

Rev. Steven Theiss, retired LCMS pastor, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 11. “I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” Before the seventh trumpet blast, chapter 11 describes two witnesses who sound a lot like other biblical figures: like Moses & Elijah, they turn rivers to blood and summon drought. Like Joshua and Zerubbabel, they fuel the lamps of God’s people to rebuild the Temple (Zechariah 4). Who are they? In the end, they are compared to the Lord Jesus, who died, rose, and ascended in Jerusalem. Historically, these two witnesses may correspond to Jesus ben Ananias and James the brother of the Lord Jesus, who died as martyrs (“witnesses”) in Jerusalem right before the city was destroyed. The seventh trumpet sounds, and the true temple of God in heaven is opened, where Jesus Christ rules the church in Sabbath rest all over the world.

Rev. Mark Birkholz, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Oak Lawn, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 10. “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” In chapter 10, John is commanded not to write down this mysterious message for us. Why mention it at all? He is then given “a little scroll” which he is commanded to eat. It tastes “sweet as honey,” but it becomes nauseating in the end. The only other edible scroll in Scripture is described in Ezekiel 3. The prophet Ezekiel also ate a sweet scroll, only to become nauseous when he was taken away from Jerusalem and left with the exiles in Babylon. Like exiles, the early Christians had to leave Jerusalem for a place called Pella, “Christ having told them to abandon Jerusalem” as one early church historian wrote. Within the next few years, Jerusalem was besieged and then destroyed, along with the Temple. Over a million people died. The Christians thanked God for mercifully sparing them, but they mourned bitterly. Eve

Rev. John Lukomski, retired LCMS pastor, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 9. “They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit.” Chapter 9 might seem to take a darker turn to describe Satan and the demons, but this fifth angel is a servant of God! He is sent to earth by the trumpet and “given the key” to open the abyss. He does not war against people with “the seal of God on their foreheads,” nor is he king of the underworld. He rather rules over the army of locusts to restrain them, tormenting only God’s enemies. Like the angel of death, he heralds new creation. The eagle, the abyss, and the lions remind us of God’s fifth and sixth days of creation: the Lamb on the throne makes a new heaven and a new earth, reigning over all things.

Rev. Kevin Parviz, pastor of Congregation Chai v’Shalom in St. Louis, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 100. “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!” Psalm 100 isn’t a short summary psalm, but a profound insight into a very specific situation: walking through the temple gates into the courtyards. Such holy places can only have so many people there at once. Yet even when the numbers seem small, there are more who praise God—and more things to praise God for—than appearances suggest. Even when Israel was sheltering in place during the Passover, even when the disciples were hiding in secret after Good Friday, God was at work with creation and resurrection. We are never cut off from the Temple, nor from each other, because through baptism we are all part of Jesus Christ the true temple.

Rev. Jaime Nava, pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Maplewood, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 22. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” No other psalm is more tightly connected to the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus than Psalm 22. Yet, for all the allusions and fulfillments, this psalm is first of all about David. He went from popular warrior to despised “worm.” He found himself besieged and betrayed for weeks or maybe even months, reminiscent of our own times. Yet even his cry of abandonment is a cry of faith; our faith is brightest when we feel the darkness most acutely. The title mentions “the dawn,” as this psalm of hope in the midst of pain anticipates the Lord’s resurrection and ascension.

Rev. Thomas Eckstein, pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Jamestown, North Dakota, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 116. “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.” Psalm 116 is used in so many ways in church tradition: during Easter, before communion, at funerals, and on Maundy Thursday. What ties it all together? God’s people speak as one voice, as God’s servant raised from the death of exile. At the newly restored temple, God’s people finally could celebrate Passover together again. And our Lord Jesus sang this psalm with His disciples at their Passover celebration in the upper room. “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” So precious was Jesus, that God brought Him back from death itself, and us with Him. We long to gather as His body, the true temple.

Rev. Stewart Crown, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Palo Alto, California, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 43. “Send out your light and your truth.” This pair of themes occurs all over the Bible, but how is it supposed to rescue this son of Korah here in Psalm 43? The Hebrew word for “truth” doesn’t focus on facts and figures, but rather God’s truth-telling integrity. On the one hand, we all rely on God’s integrity and faithfulness to reassure us even when life is full of doubts, even when we feel forgotten and rejected by God. On the other hand, perhaps this Korahite needed God to restore integrity to a broken legal situation, to rescue him from lies and false accusations that were preventing him from going south to the Temple. In the end, we all need God to not only vindicate us in particular situations, but to justify us by forgiving us our sins before Him. Light and truth are ultimately found in our Savior, who in the Gospel of John calls Himself both “the truth” and “the light of the wo

Rev. Kevin Parviz, pastor of Congregation Chai v’Shalom in St. Louis, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 42. “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.” This psalm’s beautiful opening line is well known and has found its way into contemporary music. What does it really mean though? What was the psalmist going through when he sang these words? This psalm is about God’s presence in the Temple. Even though the psalmist longed to go up to the Temple, adversaries would prevent him every time a major festival came around. The imagery of panting thirst, sorrowful tears, and overwhelming waters recalls our Lord’s words when He was teaching in the Temple at the Feast of Booths: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” The God of creation is never far from His faithful, and the purest streams flow from His Messiah, the true Temple.

Rev. Tim Droegemueller, pastor of Living Faith Lutheran Church in Cumming, Georgia, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 34. Psalm 34 paints a beautiful image: “Those who look [to the LORD] are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.” And yet, this psalm is from when David “pretended to be insane in [the Gathites’] hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard” (1 Sam 21). Not exactly proud and radiant, right? David was desperate and “crushed in spirit,” and yet God saved him from an impossible situation. David praises God for it, saying that God is constantly present and ready to rescue His faithful. To highlight this constancy, David begins each of these 22 verses with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, all 22 letters in order. Along the way, we see our Lord Jesus, both prefigured as the “angel of the LORD” who saved David and also prophesied as “the righteous one” who was rescued from death in the resurrection on the third day.

Rev. Lucas Witt, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Baltimore, Maryland, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 8. “Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth.” As fiery and devastating as chapter 8 may be, the seventh seal with its seven trumpets are an answered prayer. God has prepared us for battle like Israel’s twelve tribes, but it is God who comes to fight and defeat our enemies. The long silence, the hailstorm, the chaos at sea, the wormwood meteorite, and the plague on the stars symbolize vindication and creation. They recall the silence before the trumpet blast at Jericho, the plagues against Egypt, and creation itself. God hovered over the silent abyss, and then brought order to the stormy waters by His strong Word. God spares His people while He creates a new era, starting with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

Rev. Curtis Deterding, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Fort Myers, Florida, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 7. “I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000.” The number symbolism continues in chapter 7, and although interpretations abound, the church’s understanding has shown great consistency. The four angels at the earth’s four corners in the opening contrast with the four riders of the previous chapter’s first four seals; these 144,000 will “stand” in the midst of God’s wrath, just as the Lamb who once was slain is “standing.” The language speaks of battle preparations. The list is like those of Numbers and Joshua, Judah’s tribe marching first among God’s people, faithless Dan excluded. 1000 recalls the cohorts of Israel’s armies, and 12 represents the people of God; they represent us as God’s baptized people. We face our “eastern border” as a great resurrected army as in Ezekiel 37. Although we have wandered in the wilderness, Christ is our tabernacle who shelters us. He has already conq

Rev. Nate Ruback, pastor of Grace Lutheran Chapel in Bellefontaine Neighbors, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 6. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse! Depicted in art countless times over the centuries, they are well known even in popular culture. Are they code for future events? These riders rather represent the past and the present, the “kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful” of every age (v 15). The colors may be the same white, red, black, and dapple-grey from Zechariah 6, representing those whose power comes from tyranny, warfare, oppression, and disaster in every part of the world. Yet all of these are in the hand of God, and “the wrath of the Lamb” will avenge His people against them. Through baptism we will “stand without fear before the judgment seat” clothed in Christ’s righteousness.

Rev. Daniel Olson, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Luxemburg, Wisconsin, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 5. “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” Revelation 5 is the source for “This is the Feast,” a well-known and beloved hymn among Lutherans. This seven-fold blessing is meant for the seven-horned and seven-eyed lamb, worthy to open the seven-sealed scroll. This Lamb of “seven” does the work of God: He sacrificed Himself for us, He reigns supreme, and He sees all through the Spirit. Even while separated, we are joined together in prayer as the temple of Christ. When we hear the gospel we receive the Spirit, which means we receive Christ Himself. Like the people in Zechariah’s day who had no temple to gather in, we still worship with myriads of angels and animals even while scattered.

Rev. Jacob Heine, pastor of Christ the Rock Lutheran Church in Rockford, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 4. “On each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes.” In Revelation 4 John’s perspective is spirited away from Asia Minor to God’s throne room. Much is familiar—a door, the voice, white robes, the crowns. The church and our worship are windows to heaven. But there are these four living creatures and “twenty-four elders.” The elders represent God’s people old and new, the tribes of Jacob’s twelve sons and the church of the Lord’s twelve apostles. The creatures, however, represent all creation: an ox for the livestock, a lion for the beasts of the field, an eagle for the birds of the heavens, and human face for mankind. They worship God “day and night” around “a sea of glass.” God is putting all six days’ creation into perfect order, removing all waves and chaos, perfecting what He started in Genesis. Christ gives us thrones and crowns that we might fall down i

Rev. Kevin Golden, pastor of Village Lutheran Church in Ladue, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 3. “You are dead.” “You have kept my word.” “You are wretched, poor, blind, and naked.” The Lord Jesus sees all and knows all, and He knows “the works” of all churches, symbolized in Revelation 3 in the historic churches of Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. We look at some churches and see vitality or an abundance of resources, but all that could be death and poverty from Christ’s perspective. We have to see beyond the “name” of branding and reputation to see the name of identity—only Christ’s Word is gold, and only His life of good works in us is vitality. Although Philadelphia had “but little power,” they were true “Jews,” true members of the tribe of Judah because of Christ “who has the key of David.” Baptism gives us our truest identity in the immovable Christ despite the world’s shifting opinions and appearances.

Rev. John Lukomski, retired LCMS pastor and co-host of Wrestling with the Basics, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 2. Stars, lampstands, angels and churches: one thing is clear, these letters in Revelation 2 are not John’s private letters to select individuals, but Christ’s own words meant for the whole church. The first letter is for the church in Ephesus. They weren’t struggling with emotions, but with actions, the fruit of our faithfulness to Christ (Jn 14:15). As for Smyrna, they were beset by intense persecution, so Christ encourages them to see their spiritual splendor. Pergamum and Thyatira have demonstrated endurance and good works, but they have also tolerated immorality which threatens to destroy them (see the episode on Zechariah 3 for more on the white stone!). We see ourselves in these churches, weak in ourselves and yet conquerors in Christ.

Rev. David Boisclair, pastor of Faith and Bethesda Lutheran Churches in North St. Louis County, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Revelation 1. “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore.” Christians shouldn’t be scared of Revelation; it’s the language of our “Sunday” worship and our tradition! And more importantly, it all points to Jesus Christ as our Savior who conquers our enemies and says “Fear not.” Chapter 1 describes the book as a “revelation” or an “apocalypse,” in the same way that Daniel and Zechariah contain apocalypses: Jesus removes the veil to show us the world from a spiritual perspective, especially past and present events. Just as God is Creator, so Christ is the Alpha and the firstborn from the dead. Just as God will bring the new creation, so Christ is the Omega who will judge the living and the dead.

Rev. Christopher Maronde pastor of St. John Bingen in Decatur, Indiana, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Zechariah 14. “On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two.” As the Lord Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives, so shall He descend there to render judgment. The talk of geography and weather however is meant to remind us of the Exile and the Exodus. This fourteenth and final chapter of Zechariah retells the previous two to show that God’s preservation will not be easy or without casualties. The Hasmoneans withstood the siege at great cost, and the church suffers great loss even as God sees us through hard times. Yet Christ comes to bring us “living water” and the tree of life, the new day of the new creation with sure and certain peace.

Rev. Steven Theiss, Retired pastor in Frohna, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Zechariah 13. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” After waves of disciples had left Him, our Lord quoted these words from Zechariah 13 to signal that the Twelve were about to abandon Him as well. Even in the centuries since, waves of sheep have wandered off from the church, and disasters have scattered us at times. Yet through it all, God “refines” us like silver and gold, and we never stop gathering as God’s people, albeit in different forms. When our Lord was pierced, “a fountain opened” in His side to give us the Sacraments, which make us part of His body. God refined His people as the Maccabees purified the Temple, and we look forward to the day when God will make us totally pure in the new creation.