December 12, 2019

BIBLE READING: Revelation 9

20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

In chapter 9, The fifth and sixth trumpets are revealed. The fifth trumpet reveals something described as terrible demons like locusts; that are come to torment only those who have rejected God. Those, who are stung by these demons, are in so much torment that they wish they were dead. The sixth trumpet calls four “angels” from the Euphrates River, which is followed by a large army of 200,000,000 of horsemen and horses that have never been seen before. They descriptions of all the creatures are quite unique, so you can read it for yourself through out the chapter. This grand army wipes out one third of the population of the earth.

This seems like something straight out of a nightmare. The worst creatures you could possibly imagine reeking havoc, tormenting, and killing. This is simply awful; how could this happen? Look at the last two verses, 20 & 21. The thought could be made of, “why could God allow this?” but these two verses reveal the heart attitude of these men on earth. They have come to a point where God has given them chance after chance to repent, and they refused to back down. The good news is we serve a wonderful, merciful, and gracious God, but there comes a point where God cannot tolerate the sin any longer. These men have vowed their lives over to the mark of the anti-Christ, and their hearts will unfortunately not give. God still gives man a chance, and the wonderful news for we who have accepted Christ are secure in the Lord. The God who has this much power in chapter nine, is the same God who cares and wants all to commune and have a relationship with Him through Jesus! Let’s be thankful for this, and always keep a tender heart toward what the Lord would want for our life.

David Fulp