Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Revelation+009

 

Chapter 9 (ESV)

¹The 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. ²When 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. ³And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. ⁴They 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. ⁵They were not given power 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 a man. ⁶During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. ……

²⁰The rest of mankind that 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. ²¹Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Old Time prophets often called for Israelites to repent and return to God. They emphasized the final judgment and terrible consequence of refusing to repent.  It is only in true repentance can we be saved from the terrible punishment of sin.
2. In this passage, despite God’s judgment, many people still go on their merry way (vv20-21). And sometimes, we are just like them. During such times, God is actually forcing us, through difficult circumstances, to look inside ourselves for our persistent refusal of God’s gracious invitation.  If we are honest to see what we truly are, we would humbly ask God for the grace of repentance and deliverance.
3. Sit silently. Allow the Holy Spirit to show areas of your “persistent stubbornness”.  Ask God for “humility to see and grace to repent”.

 

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, I am a stubborn and rebellious person, and I dwell in the midst of a stubborn and rebellious people. You have taught me to search my heart through the words of the Bible and the harsh environment. But I am still nostalgic for worldly pleasures, forgetting that the day of your terrible judgment is coming. May the Holy Spirit enlighten me, help me put down the stubbornness in my heart, and follow You in humility and repentance.

 

HYMN:

I Surrender All – youtu.be/5e3O4eH2oeI