Daily Bread 2010 - Revelation 9
Daily Bread 2010 – Revelation 9
Revelation 9
1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
As predicted in the previous chapters, the last three angels bring the three woes which wreak havoc and destruction on the earth. The abyss, in the bible, is a place of desolation where supernatural beings reside. We can see with each trumpet the judgment of God is intensifying, and the difference between this fifth angel and the four that preceded it, is that it affects people. Also whereas God brought the destruction with the first four trumpets, in this one locusts from the abyss inflict the punishment.
These are not like the locusts mentioned in other biblical plagues that destroy crops and grass, but were given power (authority) to inflict punishment on those who were not marked with the seal on their foreheads. While some assume those sealed are the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel, other assume all who are believers would have been sealed with the mark of God. I.e. Why would God allow demonic angels to torture believers for five months?
Then, when the sixth angel sounds his trumpet, four angels who had been previously bound were set free and allowed to kill a third of mankind. Finally, it says the rest of mankind who had not been sealed still did not repent of their evil ways including: sexual immorality, murder, magic arts, or thievery. We see God’s desire is that through these events that men and women might turn to him and repent, but appears not even these events were enough to turn these people back to God.
While the fifth and sixth angels bring a lot of destruction, it is all a prelude to the seventh angel, which will take more than one chapter to describe. While it is hard to get our minds around these apocalyptic visions from John, they are a sober reminder that there will be an end to the world and a final battle between good and evil. While God is in control and allows evil and evil powers to exist on this earth, ultimately there will be a judgment reserved for these demonic beings. As the apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6, “Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of this present darkness.”
While we shouldn’t be obsessed with such powers we also mustn’t be ignorant. Importantly we must realize that as sons and daughters of God, God has given us His power as we have been sealed in our baptism through belief in His Son and in the power of His Spirit. And to that end, “Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”
Jesus as we pray in the Lord’s prayer, “Deliver us from evil”. We know you cannot take us out of the world, but help us to be an influence for Your kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven. Make us wise to avoid evil and to learn how to use the spiritual weapons you have equipped us with including: prayer, fasting and reading Your Word. Send Your Spirit to protect us and give us discernment to walk in the light and shun the darkness. In Your name we pray, Amen.
Revelation 9
1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
As predicted in the previous chapters, the last three angels bring the three woes which wreak havoc and destruction on the earth. The abyss, in the bible, is a place of desolation where supernatural beings reside. We can see with each trumpet the judgment of God is intensifying, and the difference between this fifth angel and the four that preceded it, is that it affects people. Also whereas God brought the destruction with the first four trumpets, in this one locusts from the abyss inflict the punishment.
These are not like the locusts mentioned in other biblical plagues that destroy crops and grass, but were given power (authority) to inflict punishment on those who were not marked with the seal on their foreheads. While some assume those sealed are the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel, other assume all who are believers would have been sealed with the mark of God. I.e. Why would God allow demonic angels to torture believers for five months?
Then, when the sixth angel sounds his trumpet, four angels who had been previously bound were set free and allowed to kill a third of mankind. Finally, it says the rest of mankind who had not been sealed still did not repent of their evil ways including: sexual immorality, murder, magic arts, or thievery. We see God’s desire is that through these events that men and women might turn to him and repent, but appears not even these events were enough to turn these people back to God.
While the fifth and sixth angels bring a lot of destruction, it is all a prelude to the seventh angel, which will take more than one chapter to describe. While it is hard to get our minds around these apocalyptic visions from John, they are a sober reminder that there will be an end to the world and a final battle between good and evil. While God is in control and allows evil and evil powers to exist on this earth, ultimately there will be a judgment reserved for these demonic beings. As the apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6, “Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of this present darkness.”
While we shouldn’t be obsessed with such powers we also mustn’t be ignorant. Importantly we must realize that as sons and daughters of God, God has given us His power as we have been sealed in our baptism through belief in His Son and in the power of His Spirit. And to that end, “Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”
Jesus as we pray in the Lord’s prayer, “Deliver us from evil”. We know you cannot take us out of the world, but help us to be an influence for Your kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven. Make us wise to avoid evil and to learn how to use the spiritual weapons you have equipped us with including: prayer, fasting and reading Your Word. Send Your Spirit to protect us and give us discernment to walk in the light and shun the darkness. In Your name we pray, Amen.
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