As you read through the incredibly detailed and quite shocking description of the things John saw in his vision you might be forgiven for thinking it was a scene from a truly awful horror movie. The image of locusts that look like warhorses (their heads aren’t so dissimilar in shape) that can deliver a sting as painful as a scorpion’s but with effects lasting 5 whole months is quite terrifying.
There’s an image of a star falling from the heavens that’s given a key to the great abyss that seems to speak of Satan falling from heaven, releasing the demonic hordes from the pit of hell to wreak havoc and destruction on the earth. All that leads to death and destruction for millions upon millions of people. It describes an almost unimaginable holocaust of events that might be too terrifying for us to contemplate. And yet, this is what we’re told the end of time is to look like.
The verses that really caught my attention though were v.20-21 which tell us that despite all the things that transpire in this time, “The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshipping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood – idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
Have we become so wilful and stubborn that even in the face of the kind of devastation described here that we still refuse to turn to our God and Saviour to repent (turn away) from our sinful lifestyles ask for forgiveness. Our stubbornness will inevitably prove to be our true downfall. It’s borne out of pride and selfishness and prevents us from seeing the error of our ways. Stubbornness and pride are insidious enemies.
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Questions:
Are there aspects of your life that hem you in by your stubbornness? Are there things that you do, or say that you won’t change because you can’t see beyond it? What do you need to surrender to God?
Prayer:
Forgive us Lord Jesus for our stubbornness and pride. Show us the things that we need to surrender most to You. Help us to release them into your almighty hands that we might see the glory of Your face and know the power of Your presence within us. Amen.