Tag: Revelation 9

Praise Yah!

*Isaiah 17-18

*Psalm 112

*Revelation 9                                                

-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)

            Today is 9/11, it’s appropriate to remember and reflect.  In today’s Revelation reading we’re continuing on with some of the things from yesterday, so  if you’ve not read through that, go ahead and take a second to get caught up.  Today as we start reading on Revelation 9, the 7th seal has been broken, and 4 of 7 trumpets have sounded, and things are about to get worse for those on the earth.  Even still, during all of this man won’t repent but continues to “worship demons, idols of gold and silver, nor repent of their murders or sorceries or sexual immorality or their theft” (Rev 9:20-21).

            That being said, our primary focus today isn’t going to be the apocalyptic events that are going down, but more a study of “how we got here” to this dark time, and how we might be (possibly) spared from the righteous wrath of God in that day (see Rev 9:4).

            So let’s take a step back and look at things.  We know that God, our creator, owns not only us but the entirety of the earth and everything on it (and the heavens, etc, etc, see Ps 24:1 for reference).  He’s proud of His creation, because He thinks (and I agree) that He did a good job when He made it (see for  reference:  Gen 1:4, 1:10, 1:12, 1:18, 1:25, and 1:35).  I think any reasonable being looking at the beauty of the creation would agree, particularly if you overlook the glaring ugly things that we’ve done to the planet, the giant tacky roadsigns along the freeway of creation.  God did an amazing job.  The creation, as it was and as it was intended, is beautiful.

            We also know that, as the proud Father of this creation, one of the biggest pet peeves that God has is that His creation gives the praise and glory that is due to Him to something or someone else.  That’s why when God warns the people about idolatry, He let’s them know right off the bat that it’s because he is a (rightfully) jealous God (see Ex 20:5, 34:14).  Imagine for a moment if you spent a long time planning, designing, and then building a beautiful (insert anything you’d like to imagine here).  You finish it, it’s fantastic and beautiful, and absolutely surpasses all expectation.  You nailed it! 

            Then a group of folks come up and admire your (whatever it was), and they are just brimming with praise: “Great job!  Lovely work! Beautiful!” and you are justifiably happy, because you really did a good job and it’s being acknowledged.  Then one of them goes “Yea Bob, great job!” and they all turn, pat one of the folks on the back repeatedly, and walk off talking about what a great job Bob has done.  WAIT A MINUTE! Who’s this Bob guy?  YOU did all the work, Bob wasn’t even nearby.  What the heck?!  Now stop for a moment and think: how do you feel right now?  That’s probably kind of how God feels when we give the praise and glory that is due Him to any other thing, or being.  When we do such things, we may be worshipping demons.

            A very good portion of the Old Testament before the Exile was essentially an object lesson against idolatry.  Here in Isaiah 17:10-11, we see again as a warning: “10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation And have not remembered the rock of your strong defense. Therefore you plant delightful plants And set them with vine branches of a strange god. 11In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in, And in the morning you cause your seed to flourish; But the harvest will be a heap In a day of sickliness and incurable pain.” (LSB).  So, the branches of a “strange god” can seem “delightful”.  We can hedge and fence it in and think it’s pretty, and we can cause these fabrications to flourish, but the harvest of such an abomination will be “sickliness and incurable pain”.

            I believe no man can know the mind of God, or fully understand Him.  That being said, there are things that God reveals about Himself.  He has feelings, He’s offended when we act rebelliously, and He loves us fiercely.  He’s proud of what He made.  There is only one of Him, and He made us and everything we can see.  Through the ages, men have planted delightful plants, and set them with the vine branches of a strange god, fenced them in, and made them look appealing.  God has warned us about this, so it is the absolute height of folly to worship any other God than has been revealed to us in scripture.  That’s why it’s so important to be discerning when reading scripture.

            When Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment was, he said “the greatest commandment is this: Listen!  God (YHWH) is the only God, and you should love Him with your heart, mind, and soul.  Second to this, you should love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29 and following).  In his ministry, Jesus gave all glory and credit to God.  Be like Jesus.  Give God the credit He is due, love Him for it, and exhibit that love as an action by loving the other people that God created as much as you do yourself, that’s how to honor God.  We don’t need to add strange stuff to the bible to make the story beautiful, it’s already beautiful.  When we add to what is written, we’re planting “delightful plants with vines of a strange god”.  It’s just not what God told us, He’s actually specifically told us not to do such a thing.  Don’t do that.  The word of God is enough.

            In our Ps 112 reading today we see a number of critical understandings on how to give God the glory (all following from LSB).  Firstly: “1Praise Yah! How blessed is the man who fears Yahweh,“.  Secondly: “4Light arises in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous. 5It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; Who sustains his works with justice.”.  This would fall under that “love your neighbor as yourself” bit that Jesus quoted just above.  Be compassionate and gracious, righteous and generous to your fellow creation.  This is reiterated, and noted additionally that this type of behavior will be rewarded here: “9 He has given freely to the needy, His righteousness stands forever; His horn will be raised in glory.”  Set yourself up for success, and begin trying to love your fellow creation, radically.  Conversely and by comparison, “10The wicked will see it and be vexed. He will gnash his teeth and melt away…”. 

            So, we need to honor, fear, and love the God who made us.  We see that we can do this by listening to God, honoring God as He has revealed Himself to us (and without adding bits), and by loving the rest of the humans He created as much as we love ourselves.  It’s simple, and it’s important.  Listen now though, and I will tell you a great secret, an opportunity for you to help cover any foolishness and sin that you have done.

            I have 2 dogs, and 1 is named Bo.  Whenever something is destroyed, when something is chewed up or broken, when my bread is gone off the top of the counter, we always know: “it was Bo.”  It’s always Bo.  He is just terrible, he eats our food, he tears up our trash, he chews up things we need.  He is also the most loving dog I’ve ever met.  When I prostrate myself on the ground to pray, Bo will come and lick my head until I get up.  Then he’ll try to wiggle his head under my head and lick my face, and lay down with me, trying to get his head in a position where he can (continue to) lick me all over my face profusely.  My point in bringing this up is: Bo is the bad dog.  Bo is the one who destroys things.  It’s always Bo.  It’s also almost impossible to be mad at Bo when he’s so loving and he’s licking your face repeatedly for about half an hour.  Take the hint.  We need to “be like Bo” in the manner of our affections towards God – also, stop stealing the bread.

REFLECTION QUESTION

What are some practical things we can do to ensure that we aren’t planting strange vines in our garden, and to be more loving toward God?  Try to think of at least 3.

PRAYER

Father God, You have made me and all things in this place.  All glory belongs to You.  Thank you.  Please forgive me when I fail you, and help me.  I love you.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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The Right Days and Hours

Revelation 9

Thursday, November 24, 2022

Chapter 9 gives much more detail on the first and second woes than the first four trumpets, which received just six verses. That mirrors the brief coverage of the first four seals. It is true that seven is “a number of completion or perfection”, but I think more than that is involved with the several sets of seven in Revelation. John’s vision is very complicated, but how it was relayed to him helped him pass it along. It also helped others to memorize it (many believers have heard rather than read Revelation). One aspect is how certain descriptions parallel or contrast with each other. Another useful detail is the images it contains, particularly the throne. Most of John’s vision can be placed relative to that central image. We can’t automatically visualize how that gives the vision structure, but we can attempt to bring it to mind. Perhaps John didn’t always hear the 24 elders at the same volume in the background of a scene, they could have been ‘turned down’ in his perception to let him concentrate on a new event, but several times we read of scenes happening near the throne or of John looking farther away. We don’t always understand the significance of the details John provides, but some of that may be in what we are actually looking for. John provided this book for audiences with varying needs, encouraging in times of persecution, reminding of God’s promises, and offering warnings, among others. Perhaps the final generation of this age will make very special use of the vision, employing some of its peculiar design as an aid to its understanding, when taken in context with events.

The fifth trumpet involves a pit being unlocked to release creatures that are like winged locust-horses prepared for battle. They have human faces with lion’s teeth, long human hair and something like gold crowns. They also have scorpion tails that they will use for five months to deliver pain in a reign of terror. Their targets are only those who don’t have God’s seal on their foreheads (9:4, referring back to chapter 7). These attacks cause so much pain people wish to be dead, but they aren’t killed. You can choose whether to see them as monsters, or perhaps a really complex metaphor. In Jeremiah 51 we read of an army serving God in bringing judgment described as “a population like locusts” (v. 14) and “horses like bristly locusts” (v. 27), maybe picturing their armor. But this goes a fair way beyond that. And it doesn’t help that their leader is described as an angel king known as Destruction or Destroyer. We only hear of him this one time, but it seems like we will read about the pit again a few days from now – the key to the pit will be brought back by another angel so that the devil can be locked up there (20:1-3).

The sixth trumpet is blown, and a voice speaks from the four horns of the golden altar (in front of God’s throne). This takes us back to just before the start of the sequence of seven trumpets when a censer filled with fire from the golden altar was cast onto the world. Each of the first four trumpets related to flame, and the fifth trumpet involved a burning star falling from the sky and smoke rising up. Now with the sixth trumpet the reference to flame is very distinct. The voice calls for four angels which have been bound at the Euphrates River in the Middle East to be released. We are told they were kept in waiting for this exact day and hour, but it isn’t fully plain what their role in the situation is. Perhaps they act as generals directing the force which emerges, for there comes a massive army of what are in effect mobile flame throwers. They are described as 200 million horsemen mounted on creatures with lion’s heads and snake tails capable of producing fire, smoke, and sulfur from the mouths at both ends. Sulfur (which has also been known as brimstone) produces a dangerous gas when it burns, and its flames are difficult to put out. The text pictures the fire, smoke, and sulfur as three plagues on humanity.

We are not given a timeframe for how long the second woe devastates humanity, but the death toll is a third of the global population. We also learn that in the wake of these events the survivors do not change their ways. In 6:16 we heard that the people realized God’s wrath had come, but they wanted to hide from it rather than repent. This text reaffirms that remorseless attitude, as well as stating some of the evils they were guilty of. Between the two trumpets there is quite the display, first a group of people who hurt so badly they wish they were dead but who don’t improve their lives during the course of five months of this, and then the deaths of masses of people without providing a cautionary tale to anyone. If God is teaching lessons by these events perhaps it is less to the people of that time than to us, letting us see how far gone matters will be by then, making us aware that God picked the right time for the end of the age. Renewal needs to come, I long for renewal actually, but let it be at the right time. The Father knows all the right days and hours.

Lord, you are loving and patient and kind. But you will not let the wicked go unpunished. You are the one who provided the Lamb, you wanted the stain of sin to be removed from me before I even knew what it was. You want to avoid punishing. You want to save, to protect, to shelter. You once flooded your creation and said you would never do it again. But you reserved this world for fire because the flood didn’t solve everything. And I’m sorry all this came about. I grieve that it was necessary. Please show me how to be a blessing, to use your Spirit to make this world a better place and reduce some of the suffering that might have been in it when you will need to act. Thank you God, I love you. Amen.

-Daniel Smead

Reflection and Application Questions

  1. Would you rather…live through the events of the 5th trumpet or be killed in the events of the 6th?
  2. Why do you think God prompted John to write down the vision of the book of Revelation? Why are we reading it today? What specific further actions should it lead us to?
  3. Can you give an example of God’s perfect timing, either from the Bible or a personal account?
  4. How would you describe God’s love AND His need to punish the wicked to someone who has never met God?
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Refuse to Repent

Revelation 9

Revelation 9 20a NIV

If you haven’t found out by now, Revelation is a strange letter; there are all sorts of images and visions that don’t quite make sense to us most of the time. In chapter nine, things get much stranger, as we see some terrifying images of God’s judgment being sent upon unrepentant people that have killed God’s people (i.e. Christians). However, strange as it may be, this chapter is absolutely crucial to understanding what John is trying to communicate throughout the whole letter. There is a key theme that needs to be drawn out if we are to understand what John is talking about.

 

In chapter eight, we saw angels getting ready to blow seven trumpets that would bring about God’s judgment, in response to the prayers that God had heard from His people back in chapter six. When we come to chapter nine, the fifth trumpet is blown, bringing about this terrifying, demonic locust army that goes around tormenting people for five months. They look strange, sound strange, and behave in a strange manner. There have been many theories about what these locusts are, but I don’t believe John’s focus is on who or what these locusts are; they are more of a background image than anything.

 

John’s main point is found at the end of the chapter, after the sixth trumpet is blown. In 9:20-21, we learn that, even though all these terrible and strange things are happening to these people, they still refuse to repent and change their lives. That is the point of John’s message of the trumpets; even God bringing His fiercest and most terrifying judgment on people is not enough to get them to repent. We saw a similar situation in Exodus, when Pharaoh refused to repent, even though God brought 10 plagues on the land. This is also John’s point with the later seven bowls (16:10-11), and likely the point of the previous seals as well.

 

The question that we, as the readers, are left with is, “What will make people repent?” That question will be answered in chapter 11, when we are introduced to the Two Witnesses.

 

For you today, I encourage you to think about the way that you spread the gospel to others. What will work better? Preaching about God’s judgment and condemnation, or offering hope and encouragement? If God’s righteous judgment isn’t enough to bring about repentance in people’s hearts in Revelation, don’t assume that it will work for you either. Let’s offer a hope that is focused on the love of the cross and a merciful God that has offered His own Son for us all! Let’s preach the good news!

 

Talon Paul