Unrepentant

“The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts” (Revelation 9:20–21).

Chapter nine of Revelation describes the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets of the judgment of God.  The fifth trumpet heralds the opening of the bottomless pit or abyss and the unleashing of a demonic horde to wreak havoc on those who do not have the seal of heavenly protection.  These devilish beings are likened to locusts but they are much more terrifying.  Their leader bears a name that describes the goal of his army -- destruction.  The sixth trumpet continues the theme.  Another massive army, who had previously been held back (cf. Revelation 7:1), is also now released to bring further judgment to those who defy God.  Their description would also strike fear into the heart of even a seasoned warrior.

The two verses at the end of the chapter, listed above, are some of the saddest words in all of Revelation.  Surely anyone who experienced such judgments from God would repent and turn back to Him, right?  And yet, many remained stubbornly defiant and hardened to any heavenly attempts to get their attention.  The prophet Jeremiah dealt with the same kind of people in his day.  He writes of those whom God disciplined but still “refused to repent” (Jeremiah 5:1-3; cf. also 8:4-6).

Let’s all repent while we have the opportunity to do so.  Why?  Because the day may come when we become so hardened in our sin that we move beyond the reach of God’s restorative efforts.  At that point, no amount of God’s discipline or judgment makes any difference.  We end up dooming ourselves to destruction with no one to blame but ourselves.

God loves you!

Mike