Thy Strong Word

Hosted by Rev. Will Weedon.

With guest Rev. Tim Ostermeyer of Hope Lutheran Church in St. Ann, Missouri.

Revelation 11

The Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, ²but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. ³And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

⁴These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. ⁶They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. ⁷And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit^[a] will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, ⁸and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically^[b] is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. ⁹For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, ¹⁰and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. ¹²Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

The Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” ¹⁶And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷saying,

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
    who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
    and begun to reign.
¹⁸The nations raged,
    but your wrath came,
    and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants,^[c] the prophets and saints,
    and those who fear your name,
    both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

¹⁹Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings,^[d] peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

Footnotes:

Revelation 11:7 Or the abyss
Revelation 11:8 Greek spiritually
Revelation 11:18 Greek bondservants
Revelation 11:19 Or voices, or sounds

About the Host

Chaplain William Weedon — Rev. William Weedon

The Rev. William C. Weedon accepted the call to serve as The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s (LCMS) Director of Worship and International Center Chaplain and was installed on May 7, 2012. In his director of Worship role, Weedon is responsible for proposing and creating programs that carry out the purposes and aims of the LCMS in matters of worship. As chaplain at the LCMS’ International Center in St. Louis, he works with the president’s office in planning and supervising all chapel services held there, as well as offering informal chaplaincy and counseling services to employees as requested.

A 1982 graduate of Concordia College—New York, in Bronxville, N.Y., Weedon earned Master of Divinity and Master of Sacred Theology degrees from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, in 1986 and 1998, respectively. Prior to joining the staff at the LCMS International Center, Weedon served as pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Hamel, Ill., since 1992. From 1986 until 1992, he was pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Burlington, N.C.

On August 4, 2014, Rev. Will Weedon joined the Worldwide KFUO Radio team as the program host for Thy Strong Word, a bible study series that examines each book and chapter of the Bible in depth.

Rev. William Weedon

We have the distinct privilege of borrowing LCMS Director of Worship and International Center Chaplain Rev. William Chancellor Weedon for an hour a day to add Host of Thy Strong Word to his list of titles. Native to the central Maryland area just outside of Washington D.C., he enthusiastically enjoys his coffee, playing piano, and singing heartily, as well as spending time in the pool with his wife Cindi, three children and their spouses, and seven grandchildren. He’s one of those people that listens to Christmas music year-round, but we still let him in our studios. You may find him reading a good murder mystery or some writing by Johann Gerhard, Joseph Ratzinger, or Alexander Schmemann while eating a chocolate torte made by his wife Cindi. When he’s read all the books he can manage, he escapes outside to hike, bike, or even run in his Vivobarefoot shoes that Andy Bates, his favorite famous person, told him to buy.