Corona Devo 3176
My husband and I were pretty conservative parents when it came to introducing "scary" stuff to our children.
Even though I grew up watching "Scooby Doo" cartoons, we withheld (even) those cartoons from our children when they were small--too many ghosts, goblins, and spooky things that we just weren't ready to fill their minds with when they were young.
And the same was true for Halloween. Our oldest is almost twenty years old, but he can still recall his elementary years and (obediently) closing his eyes as we would drive by the houses decked-out with skeletons and gravesites in their front yards.
The "scary" of life is always available...and will be learned, but (my husband and I) were never in a hurry to introduce it.
Which brings me to God's Word today. I would prefer to skip-the-chapter of Revelation 9, or at the very least close-our-eyes, and drive right by it.
But every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. (6) Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar (Proverbs 30:5-6).
The Book of Revelation holds so much to be learned, received, and understood, with some things to look (so!) forward to, and some that could scare our socks off: much worse than the villains of Scooby Doo.
The apostle John received some visions from the Lord, or revelations. Hence, the Book of Revelation is a compilation of what God gave John of what will occur in the future.
Jesus came to earth the first time as a baby in a manger, and then He grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52). Jesus came with a purpose (prescribed by His Father and Himself) and a prescribed (life-saving for you and me) outcome: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
We are familiar and hopefully intimate with the knowledge of Christ's first coming. It changed the world and I pray that the truth of His first coming has changed us and our eternal destination.
But Revelation introduces and foretells of Christ's second coming, and because it is in a time yet to come, there have been decades of debate over whether Believers will be here for the events (and kept safe during them), or if we will be removed (raptured!) prior to all of the spiritual fireworks that will happen when John's narration of Revelation comes true.
My purpose and call today is not to support one (pre/post tribulation) interpretation or the other, but rather to share the truth of the Bible as it is written.
John sees myriads of angels as God gives him a vision of what's to come, but John also sees seven specific angels who will execute God's judgments upon the earth.
And when the fifth angel comes on the scene...well, get ready for spooky things that we might not be ready to fill our minds with. But...we must, because God's Word (the Bible) is written for us to read.
And (spoiler-alert!) the scary parts of these Scriptures are only scary for those who do not know and have a relationship with the Lord. We will be all right, Brothers and Sisters in Christ, but that doesn't mean that spooky things are not brewing. Be on the look out for the fifth angel, and we still might want to cover our eyes.
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.
The description is explanatory enough and graphic. This time of judgment sounds horrible for those who have not made the decision to follow Jesus. Most of us would prefer to turn the Bible-page and pretend this Chapter is not in here.
But, just like watching a horror movie in which we know something terrible is about to happen... but we can't turn away and so we watch anyway--let's keep reading in Revelation 9.
John goes on to describe the locusts, and (Yikes!), they are worse than any Scooby Doo villain, ever. They are hideous and horrible....and they are our holy God's instruments.
(7) The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. (8) Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. (9) They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. (10) They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. (11) They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).
(12) The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come. ~Revelation 9:7-12
In order to read (and be wrecked) by the two other woes, you will have to crack the Bible open to the last chapter on your own. But here's a hint...there is death (of 1/3 of all mankind) and it comes via horses and fire, smoke, and brimstone (Revelation 9:17).
We would think that such scary outcomes (for those not-believing in a Holy God) would cause repentance, and would invoke belief and adherence to God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
Wouldn't we think that anyone left on earth would be "scared-straight" by the scary-happenings and the multitude of death that they were witnessing?
Wouldn't we turn to God if we were in such a scary/hopeless/helpless/stark situation?
But interestingly....sadly....shockingly: The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. (21) Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts. ~Revelation 9:20-21
I am not sure which is more scary: facing the consequences of God's wrath, or perpetually choosing not to follow and obey God. Both sound horrifying to me, and I would rather close my eyes and drive by both.
~~~
Whether or not we will personally witness these events (in the future), I cannot say. But I fully believe that they will occur because God has said (in His Word) that they will.
But this is no cartoon or parody.
This is God's Word, and it will contain scary subject matter for those who refuse God.
...but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ~Revelation 9:4
sarah
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