Revelation 9: Plagues and the People of God

Key Verse
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk…
 
Meditation
God’s sovereign grace gives believers security in a world filled with spiritual opposition. Satan is real, and his power is destructive, but it is never ultimate. 

Today’s reading gives terrifying imagery of demonic forces released in judgment. Locust-like creatures with the sting of scorpions emerge from the abyss (vv. 1-12), followed by an army bringing destruction and death (vv. 13-19). But notice the repeated limitations: authority “was given” to them (v. 3), they were told whom they could harm (v. 4), and even their time was limited (v. 5). Evil is active, but never unbridled. Even the powers of darkness remain under the sovereign authority of God.
 
The human response is sobering. As the plagues of Egypt hardened Pharaoh’s heart, these judgments do not produce repentance among those who survive. They “did not repent” of their idolatry, murder, immorality, and theft (vv. 20-21). Judgment alone cannot soften a sinful heart. We need sovereign grace to open our eyes, turn our hearts, and lead us to repentance.
 
For Christians, Revelation 9 is frightening but ultimately strengthening. We should neither minimize spiritual warfare nor magnify Satan beyond his place. The enemy is powerful, but he is not sovereign. Jesus is.
 
Until Christ consummates His kingdom, believers will experience opposition, suffering, and spiritual warfare. But those sealed by the Spirit belong to the victorious King. Satan cannot overturn God’s purposes, undo Christ’s finished work, or snatch His children from His arms.
 
The powers of darkness are limited; the reign of Jesus is not. Nothing in heaven, on earth, or under the earth can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Today’s Reading
And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.

12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire[c]and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What do you feel after reading the judgment coming from opening the fifth and sixth seals? Fearful? Anxious?
 
-What difference does it make to see God’s sovereignty in every step, the security of those sealed by Him, and the parallel of Israelites in Egypt?
 
-Jesus took the judgment we deserve, so when our faith is in Him, we need not fear the just judgment God allows on those who do not know His grace. Take a moment to pray for strength to celebrate the security you have in God’s steadfast love, and to claim His authority over the perceived power of the enemy.
 
Key Verse
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk…