As
John the apostle continued to share about the “tribulation” that
was to come upon the earth, he shared concerning the first six seals
Jesus removed from the “scroll” in God's right hand. He began to
write about what happened when Jesus,
“had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the
space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before
God; and to them were given seven trumpets … And the seven angels
which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first,
second, third, fourth and fifth angels” blew
their trumpets, and great judgment fell upon the earth. John
continued, “And
the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of
the golden altar which is before God,
Saying
to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which
are bound in the great river Euphrates, and the four angels were
loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and
a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army
of the horsemen were
two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And
thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them,
having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the
heads of the horses were
as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke
and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by
the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of
their mouths, for their power is in their mouth, and in their tails:
for their tails were
like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. And
the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet
repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not
worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone,
and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:”
In chapter nine and verse twenty-one of Revelation, John shared how
these people “neither
repented of their murders, sorceries, fornication...or thefts”
where
we read:
Neither
repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries,
nor
of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
The
verse reads, “Neither
repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, ...”
John
began with the words “neither”
which means “not and in no way” “repented
they”
or “change their minds for better or heartily amend with abhorrence
their past sins” “of
their murders” which
means “of their slaughtering and slaying”, “nor”
or “no at all” “of
their sorceries”
which means “the use or administering of drugs, poisoning and
witchcraft”. John saw how these people though struck by the “two
hundred million horsemen”
continued to “murder”
and “abuse drugs”.
The
verse goes on to say, “...
nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”
John
added the word, “nor”
which means “not in any way did they repent” “of
their fornication”
or “their illicit sexual intercourse, adultery, homosexuality,
lesbianism or intercourse with animals”, “nor”
which means “not and in any way” “of
their thefts”
or “of their stealing things”. John saw how these who suffered so
greatly continued in their “illicit sexual” behaviors as well as
“stealing” from others.
When
we consider John's words in this verse, we marvel at the rebellion of
those who remain on the earth even after the destruction carried out
by the “two hundred million horsemen”. It seems that no
matter what happens around them, these people will not “repent”
from their wicked ways. “Murder, drug abuse, fornication and
stealing” are such a part of their lifestyle and culture that
they will not turn from them. God is a God of great “mercy and
grace”, and He desires to “save” people through a relationship
with His Son from their “lifestyles” that are not in accordance
with His word. These who will have seen God's judgment upon one third
of the people on the earth will not turn from their evil ways, but
there is opportunity to “repent” and turn one's life over
to Jesus today.
Next
time we begin a new chapter as John shares how he saw,
“another
mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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