DAY 352

SEEING OUR REALITY THROUGH DIFFERENT EYES

Obadiah and Revelation 9

SCENE THREE: WARNING FOR THE WORLD con’t

We did a lot of work yesterday on this scene, its setting and purpose. I pointed out that the first four trumpets were largely external, almost environmental situations…today we move to trumpets five and six, and they are very different. This is one of the sections of this work of Scripture where I believe it is important to remind ourselves that we are not going for a literal interpretation. Let me ask you though, what is your reaction to what you read? Is it dread, or fear, or simply, “Oh my gosh, this is scary and terrible?” I believe what we are seeing described is a glimpse of the supernatural world…possibly hordes of demons (as if the locusts are not frightening enough!). The important question to ask here is not “How”, but “Who, and Why, and What does this mean?”

We have read of locust scenes before; remember Egypt. What we read is that someone opens a pit, i.e. these hordes emerge from the place of death. Who opens it? A fallen star, quite possibly Satan. Their appearance is seemingly indescribable, but their effect is sheer terror. They torment people to the point that death would be desirable. And these torments are endured by those who do not believe. I process this aspect of the scene as something I witness every day. I am with people; some believe and some do not. I am with people who suffer; some who believe and some who do not. The difference is remarkable; for those who do not believe, it is sheer torment, or sheer resignation to an abyss of nothingness. I kid you not, I am not exaggerating. So what I am saying here is this horrific scene is what is taking place at a spiritual and supernatural level every day—we live in a spiritual world where the Evil One seeks to destroy (the meaning of the word Apollyn) humanity—notice how these woes describe the situation for those who do not believe. I conclude this is not a punishment for those who do not believe, but a natural outcome of unbelief when suffering comes.

With the sixth trumpet people have again tried over the years to be literalist’s. Ascribing the imagery to Russia, or China, or the United States—but this is certainly not the case or it would lose its meaning as time passed and new world powers emerged. Nor are the horses’ modern day tanks, etc. But we must take seriously the figurative nature; we must work to understand the full literal force of this drama. And the point is simple—humans’ rebel and there are wars and death. Right now as I am typing this I am watching footage from Damascus, Syria and a father carrying his blood covered almost lifeless body of his child. I don’t mean to be dark, but do we really need more pictures to believe Revelation. And even after there is all this sin and death—people still do not repent. They do not turn to God, and it is God, and not humanity, that can save us. It is sad. Much of humanity is deaf to the voice of bereavement. Much of humanity shakes its fist at a God is claims to not believe in. And God, having sent His Son, painstakingly and patiently waits as he watches his children tear one another pieces. Could he intervene? I believe at one level in the spiritual realm he is. At another level there the free will factor we have spoken about before. The Bible however is clear, God wants his children to come home.

A NOTE ON OBADIAH: Obadiah wrote this shortest book of the Old Testament probably soon after the armies of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem (586 BC). During this conquest, the people of Edom helped capture fleeing Israelites and turn them over to the Babylonians. They even took up residence in some Judean villages. This angered the Lord, for the Edomites, as descendants of Esau, were related to the Israelites (Ge. 25:21-26, 30) and therefore should have helped them. Obadiah prophesied that Edom would be repaid for mistreating God’s people. Obadiah also asserted that God is sovereign over the nations and that the house of Jacob would be restored because of God’s covenant love for his people.