The last seal is broken, the trumpets begin to sound. This sounds scary. But it’s actually good news, here’s why…
I admit, as I read this passage I am filled with both wonder and misgiving. I don’t want to drink poisoned water, or be killed by a meteor falling out of the sky. I really, really don’t want to experience God’s wrath. Ah, but wait….do you remember the last chapter? At the time this is happening there is a great crowd in heaven that has come out of the great tribulation. And on the earth, a certain number of people have been “sealed” as protection from the evil things happening.
What I’m saying is this: it’s not outside the realm of possibility that we as Christians are in heaven by this point. As we will read in the next chapter, all of these terrible things are directed to getting people to repent and acknowledge God.
So the early church would look at this passage and hear “the people who are persecuting us will be punished”.
In fact, anyone who is being persecuted will read this passage and see that the God is going to win in the end, and the suffering that they are enduring will not be in vain. It’s only in the first world countries where there isn’t a great deal of persecution that we worry about what we might have to go through. Everyone else in already going through it.
Take a break from the picture of terror for a minute and look at the first few verses. The prayers of God’s people are going up before God who is acting because of them. I marvel at the idea that what I pray appears in heaven before God as a fragrance….and I am challenged by it. What are we praying? Are my prayers worthy of being before the King of the Universe? Am I praying conceited or selfish prayers, which would be unacceptable, or am I praying in the way that God wants me to pray? (with humility and a teachable spirit, and with transparency).
God is in control, and we are on His side! Be encouraged! Those who reject God are going to pay the price, and those who accept Him will be rewarded.
Apart from the mysteries that this chapter opens up, there are a few things that we can know concretely.
1. The earth will not endure in it’s current form.
2. There will be a time of punishment from God that takes the form of a meteor strike, among other things.
3. The prayers of God’s people are powerful.
Enjoying,
PR