...To Lead to Repentance (Revelation 9 - Especially 9:20-21)
Notes
Transcript
20 But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk!
21 And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
John’s goal is to make people only feel secure in God and the Lamb.
John’s goal is to make people only feel secure in God and the Lamb.
The whole purpose of these series’ of 7 is to show more and more detail, and more and more reasons, why we should be secure ONLY in God!
This causes hearers and readers to question where their security lies.
Again, the purpose of this letter is NOT to spell out a chronological order of “End Time” events.
The purpose is to encourage faithful followers of Christ to remain faithful, and to encourage the repentance of idol worshipers.
20 But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk!
21 And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Each of these cycles of 7 tells the same story, but it adds more detail.
Each of these cycles of 7 tells the same story, but it adds more detail.
All, hopefully, culminating in the feeling that there is no security except for the security God provides through/by/in the Lamb!
Have you ever had a “Scardy Cat?”
We did once...
She hid in the darkness! She’s seemed to be afraid of the light
Well, isn’t that true on a much larger scale!!!
The plagues of Exodus 7-11 are in the background of chs. 8-9
The plagues of Exodus 7-11 are in the background of chs. 8-9
Hail, water turning to blood, darkness, locusts
Even the bitter waters of “Wormwood” are reminders of the Exodus event, but in opposite order. In Exodus 16 bitter waters are made fresh, but in Rev. 8:10-11 fresh waters are made bitter.
Even though not all of the plagues are mentioned, John seems to be drawing from that imagery to HIGHLIGHT God’s purpose and human lack of security aside from God.
The plagues stand as a great reminder of God’s REDEEMING and DELIVERING actions in the history of the world! They also are a reminder of God’s judgment on those who look for security aside from God and who oppress God’s people in order to make them feel secure.
Do you remember the PURPOSE of the Plagues?
13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. 14 If you don’t, I will send more plagues on you and your officials and your people. Then you will know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 By now I could have lifted my hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the face of the earth. 16 But I have spared you for a purpose—to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth.
Remember, the plagues are not just another story.
They are the DEFINITIVE story of God’s dealing in a redemptive way for His people! But, they aren’t just the story for/of the Hebrew people. The Exodus is, by God’s grace as we are grafted into that family, it is OUR STORY TOO!
And, the Exodus plagues really frame John’s story in Revelation. For, the plagues weren’t fully fulfilled until Passover where the blood of the lamb was shed so people could be marked and freed.
So, even though there are these plagues described, it will ultimately be by the Blood of the Lamb (the Lamb of ch. 5) that oppression will be dealt with!
Chapter 9 is the stuff of the imagination of horror stories
Chapter 9 is the stuff of the imagination of horror stories
Rainy night. Thunder, lightning, the lights go out. You search for candles, a cold chill comes across the room. The front door has been blown open. You still search for candles. You hear a low growl. You have found the candles, now to find the matches. The growl is getting closer. You can begin to smell whatever is coming near you. You grab the matches and light the candle, only to have to wind blow it out. The growl gets closer. You grab another match and light the candle, it goes out, but this time you catch a short glimpse of the yellow glowing eyes of the beast that’s in your house, and then, the candle goes out.
Just telling that gives me the cold chills and the hibby jibbies! Security is GONE!
That’s the feeling John arouses in these chapters! Especially in chapter 9. This is the stuff of nightmares! All geared to make you question where lies your security!
Crazy locusts (Revelation 9:1-12)
1 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. 2 When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke.
3 Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions. 4 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. 5 They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting. 6 In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!
7 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. 8 They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like the teeth of a lion. 9 They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people. 11 Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon—the Destroyer.
12 The first terror is past, but look, two more terrors are coming!
John is dealing with apocalyptic mythology
Fallen angels who will be turned loose before the End of Time
Isaiah 14: 4-20 picks up on this mythology
“Canaanite mythology knew the story of how one of the gods, Athtar the “Day Star” (Venus), had been proposed to take the place of Baal, but did not succeed and had to come down to earth where he reigns as “god of it all.” In Isaiah 14:4-20 the mythical pattern is mockingly applied to the pretensions of the king of Babylon, who is pictured as aspiring to attain the divine throne but instead was cast down to the pit of Sheol, the abode of the dead. In verse 12 the Babylonian king is taunted: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star [Hele’l, “Luminous,” translated “Lucifer” in the KJV], son of Dawn [Shahar, the name of a Canaanite deity]! Although the myth originally and in Isaiah 14:12 had nothing to do with the idea of Satan and the origin of evil, this connection was later made in (Jewish and) Christian tradition” (Eugene Boring Revelation, 136-7).
So, in using the apocalyptic genre to write this letter, John picks up on this tradition.
This angel comes and opens the abyss (a black hole that would connect our world to another world/dimension)
From the abyss comes these crazy horror locusts
Many have interpreted this scene as detailing a Black Hawk helicopter or some other sort of military equipment. This interpretation fails to see the importance of Revelation for its own time. So, to really understand what John/Jesus is saying and revealing we need to do some research.
It’s like political slogans and name calling. Today we understand it but in 100 years we would have to do some history to know why people said what they said!
So, here’s some thoughts I have (as well as many scholars) on the locusts.
These locusts aren’t natural, that’s pretty clear.
Aside from their description (which stands in contrast to those who surround God’s throne - they are wearing crowns on their head, not casting them down, their faces are disfigured in that they are a conglomeration of animals faces as opposed to the 4 faces of the 4 different creatures around the throne)
But, they don’t even behave naturally. Locusts naturally eat grass, but these evil demon locusts do the opposite of what would be natural; they destroy flesh.
So, we can recognize things/people that are like this. For example, the Emperor of Rome behaved in an unnatural way.
Burning people at the stake, throwing people to lions/wolves, boiling people in hot oil etc… That’s NOT NATURAL
But, John also highlights that they behave in an unnatural way because there is a dark power that they are acting on behalf of.
We say, “The devil made me do it…” Now, that is true in a sense. It doesn’t keep us from being judged for our choosing to follow that dark power.
John is highlighting that these locusts that act in an unnatural way are really tools of a greater darker power that is opposed to God.
Sin, for example, is not just the things we do that we ought not do. It is a dark force that is working in the world to draw us away from God.
So, these locusts are just symptoms of a greater evil that is trying to work in the world. They aren’t the big problem; just a sign of it.
The Emperor of Rome, Caesar, then is like one of these locusts. He inflicts lost of pain. But really, he isn’t the biggest mamma jamma out there. He’s a TOOL.
Today, we use the word “tool” to describe someone who’s a jerk and who is pointless; someone who does the bidding of someone else. In that sense, Caesar is still a TOOL!
More evidence of this thought
Revelation 9:11 (NLT) 11 Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon—the Destroyer.
This can be interpreted a couple of ways. The word king = basileious which was used to describe the Roman Emperor. These locusts can either be interpreted as agents of Rome (or agents of ANY and EVERY nation that suppresses and oppresses God’s people). But, I disagree with that interpretation.
Given the way John has already, in Chs. 2-3 portrayed Satan or a dark, chaotic force, at play in the world using Rome to do his bidding, and given that we will soon read about a dragon and a couple of beasts, I interpret this to mean that there is a greater, darker, more sinister power at work in the world.
And, the Emperor of Rome, who thinks he is high and mighty, is really just one of many “Mini-Me’s” doing the bidding of the king of the abyss. In other words, the Emperor really is insignificant!
My logic continues into the name given this “king”
Abbadon and Apollyon
Both meaning destroyer
If anything, John is making clear that this force is anti-creative. It is bent on total destruction!
Apollyon is a play on words “Apollo” one of the Greek gods
He was considered the god of many things
Music, oracles, poetry, medicine, art, sun, light, plagues
Domitian, the Emperor who reigned during this time, the one who claimed to be god and who encouraged people to worship him as a god. The emperor who had temples built in his honor. He believed himself to be Apollo re-incarnate!
But, there’s something else you should know. This is why historical study of Revelation is SOOOOO important. If we just read it and come to conclusions based upon our assumption that this reveals a chronology of End Time events we miss the many layers that this letter has.
The god Apollo. Guess what his symbol was… LOCUST!
With this kaleidoscope of images, John is tearing down people’s sense of security in Rome and any other nation!
He is highlighting that you cannot be secure in Rome because Rome is not free from answering to a greater power. Rome is just 1 of many locusts that do the bidding of the king of the abyss.
John seems to be highlighting the thought that if you thought it is bad under Nero or Domitian, just wait until the power behind them all is revealed! YOU CANNOT BE SECURE AS A PART OF THE POSSE OF THESE GUYS!
It’s the rider on the Red Horse (ch. 6) played out in greater detail!
But, the insecurity continues with the invading army (9:13-19)
13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God. 14 And the voice said to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River.” 15 Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth. 16 I heard the size of their army, which was 200 million mounted troops.
17 And in my vision, I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them. The riders wore armor that was fiery red and dark blue and yellow. The horses had heads like lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths. 18 One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues—by the fire and smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses. 19 Their power was in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails had heads like snakes, with the power to injure people.
Last week we discussed the Rider on the White Horse that stood as a reminder of the Parthian Threat to the East. Well, this is that image spelled out in more detail!
We are told that with the 6th trumpet the angels east of the Euphrates River were allowed to become an army of 200 million. By the way, the boundary between Rome and the Parthian Empire (in some spots of the empire) was the EUPHRATES RIVER!
Again, security is threatened! The people already feared, or had somewhat of a fear of the Parthian Empire invading. John plays on that fear and multiplies it by 200 million to highlight that there is no security in the empires of this world. There is only security in the Kingdom of God!!
And then we get to the saddest 2 verses (I feel) of Revelation. 9:20-21
And then we get to the saddest 2 verses (I feel) of Revelation. 9:20-21
20 But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk!
21 And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
In the wake of all this evil that has run amuck in the world, people are still bent on rebellion against God!
Think of it this way. Because of Free Will, evil always is a possibility. But, with the exercise of our free will towards evil, evil became actual. There is evil in our world because WE CHOSE IT!
In these scenes, and in the scenes yet to come, it is as though God lifted the restraints off of evil. Like what we read in Romans 1:24-27 it seems as though God says, “If that’s what they really want, then let them have it until evil destroys itself and implodes in on itself.”
24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
So, there’s evil in the world because we want it.
But, in the wake of all this destruction and chaos, logic and common sense is thrown out the window.
Instead of repenting from evil; idol worship, magic arts, thievery etc… people continue in their evil ways and yet expect something to somehow be different. THAT’S INSANE! Literally!!!
Yet, it is God’s desire that we repent.
Yet, it is God’s desire that we repent.
These kaleidoscopes of insecurity (not just in Revelation, but in our WORLD today) are permitted by God to LEAD us and DRAW us to repentance...
11 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?
32 I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!
We should be PRAYING for the repentance of those in our world!!
1 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 5 For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.
God is PATIENT, not bringing about the final judgment yet, because HE DESIRES the repentance of people...
9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
4 Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?
A word about the word ‘Repent’
A word about the word ‘Repent’
The Roman Court System would command Christians, those who committed treason against Caesar, to REPENT of their evil ways.
Some would. Some people would give up being faithful witnesses unto God because the temporary (although, to them it seemed beyond temporary), yet immediate security it offered.
Other faithful followers would continue to remain faithful in the midst of temporary insecurity, but eternal security! Even though there might be suffering for a moment.
John, again is playing with words, in that he beacons those who think there is security in Rome and with Rome to REPENT (to do the very thing they beacon the Christians to do!).
But, they prefer to be like my cat. They run from the light, further and further into darkness until one day all their securities are exposed as a fraud!
And, I must ask myself some questions that I encourage you to ask of yourself.
Do I find security in anything other than God and the Lamb?
Religion, Spirituality, Economy, National Pride, National Security, the next “Big Thing” etc…?
What idols keep me from repenting?
What false securities do I have that I need to turn from?
Who in my life should I commit to praying for that they can be led to repentance?
Will I commit to praying for them?