# 49 2021 Dev. Revelation 9:20. Bad News! Read all of chapter nine first. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.
Revelation 9: 20“The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands…”
Intro. This vision that John sees is put into the words of men so that those who believe will understand by the power of the Holy Spirit. What is being described here is from eternity to eternity. God, who is outside of time, operates in the eternal present, represents to us what is about to happen in time, as long as time lasts.
We need to go back a bit; Chapter 8 brings us to the trumpet blasts of the first four angels but three more trumpet blast are coming. Where the first four blasts harmed the earth, the next three blasts are directed at people; “Woe! Woe! Woe! To the inhabitants of the earth,” All the judgments we now are reading about are not a one-time event. Like the sealing of God’s people that covers all of God’s people from the beginning of time to the end of time; judgments in Revelation follow that truth and are executed over all of human history.
Chapter 9 begins a higher level of judgment, “the fifth angel sounded his trumpet and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth.” Who or what is this star? It is the same being Jesus saw falling from heaven, Satan (Lk.10:18).
He does not have free reign; he is given a key; it is important for us to know that God is in control. He opens the abyss, smoke and fumes billow out hanging over the earth blocking the sun. “Out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like the scorpions of the earth. 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.” There are limits on what they could do and only for five months. What is the meaning of all this? The abyss represents hell presently, the smoke is the power of deception, delusion, of sin and moral darkness, that Satan brings upon the earth from the fall to this day. The locusts are symbols for all the evil of hell in this world. I have seen locust blocking out the sun and devour a large area of forest near our house in Africa, overwhelming to the point of helplessness and hopelessness. Scorpion bites, only one, is painful and lasts for three days. I can’t imagine multiple bites. The description of the beings is hellish, they have animal and human men and female features, they symbolize demons, fallen angels and they have a leader over them named, Destroyer. Beginning with the fall, Satan is hell bent on destroying God’s creation but they are not allowed to touch God’s people, only if God allows it.
V.19-13 “The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God.” The voice said; ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’” God is following His plan, “the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.” A huge number of mounted troops are mentioned. Again, there is a hellish description of the horses and riders. This is a description of all war; we have already experienced terrible wars and with the huge stock piles of nuclear and conventional weapons the destruction of future wars will increase. When the world is at war all people suffer including God’s people. In the past peoples east of the Euphrates river were considered evil and godless. They have played a large role in God’s punishment of His people and they have been punished accordingly. In our time how can we forget the atrocities inflicted on the people of the middle east that continues to this day.
Vs.20-21 is a reflection on these events, and it is a reflection on current events as well. “The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent. The current plague we are in right now is part of God’s warning to us. Yet, people are not listening, lawlessness has increased, immorality is rampant. Do we really think we will get on top of this virus with all the discord, disunity, racial hatred, disrespect and selfishness that now defines our country, our world? I think not! Yet, God is in control, He will take care of his people. “In this world you will have trouble, Jesus said, but do not despair, I have overcome the world.” Thank you Lord Jesus!
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