Thursday, November
9, 2017
Then I looked, and I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it
flew through the air, “Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world
because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets.” Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I
saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to
the shaft of the bottomless pit. When he
opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and
air turned dark from the smoke. Then
locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given
power to sting like scorpions. They were
told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not
have the seal of God on their foreheads.
They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with
pain like the pain of a scorpion sting. In
those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee
from them! The locusts looked like
horses prepared for battle. They had
what looked like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human
faces. They had hair like women’s hair
and teeth like the teeth of a lion. They
wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots
rushing into battle. They had tails that
stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people. Their king is the angel from the bottomless
pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon—the
Destroyer. The first terror is past, but
look, two more terrors are coming! Revelation
8:13 & 9:1-12(NLT)
The
Book of Revelation records the final judgment of God. Terror, scorpion-like stinging, torture, preferring
death, but unable to find it, and then the bad news; it’s not over yet!
This
is just a small portion of the description of what awaits those who reject God
by refusing His Son, Jesus. It’s not at
all popular in any sense to speak about such things. I understand that; it isn’t popular with me,
either; yet, there it is…how can we avoid it?
Short
answer: we can’t!
The
world as we know it will be changed by a violent judgment at the time of God’s
choosing. While we do not know the exact
time or how much of what we read in Revelation is metaphor or literal, we do
know that if it is literal, it’s horrible.
And, if it’s simply metaphorical, that doesn’t make it any less
threatening.
These
verses always come to my mind in fall.
The trees are turning bright, vibrant hues, announcing the beginning of
the end of growing, and the time to harvest and prepare for winter. The trees along our street were spectacular
this year. It’s easy to get drawn into
the color show, and forget what’s really happening. The leaves are dying, and are about to hit
the ground (then get raked-up, and raked-up, and raked-up)! The leaves’ swan song is brilliant; they go
out in a blaze of glory. But it’s death,
nonetheless.
Leaves
dying, letting go of the branches, falling to the ground and returning to the
dust from which it came – does that raise any parallel thoughts for you? It certainly reminds me of the liturgy I’ve
spoken over too many gravesites: ashes to ashes, dust to dust…!
And
so…to the point…everything changes…leaves, seasons, lives, circumstances…all;
with one exception:
I am
the Lord, and I do not change…Malachi 3:6a(NLT)
That’s
frightening and comforting. It’s
frightening to acknowledge if you recall that God always keeps his word;
judgment is certain.
It’s
comforting if you remember that God always keeps his word; forgiveness is also certain
for those who trust in Christ’s atoning death.
For You
Today
The
most important thing in your life, past, present or future is something of
which your Google assistant or IPhone calendar program will never remind you…to
accept Christ and serve Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Haven’t you put that off long enough? It’s fall…leaves and lives are hitting the
ground.
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