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pain in the future

Revelation 8:6-9:21

Revelation 8:6 And the seven agents who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
Revelation 8:7 The first agent blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled to the land. So, a third of the land was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
Revelation 8:8 The second agent blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea. So, a third of the sea became blood,
Revelation 8:9 a third of the creatures having throats in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
Revelation 8:10 The third agent blew his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky. It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water.
Revelation 8:11 The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood. So, many of the humans died from the waters, because they had been made bitter.
Revelation 8:12 The fourth agent blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day was without light and also a third of the night.
Revelation 8:13 I looked and heard an eagle flying high overhead, crying out in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the land, because of the remaining trumpet blasts that the three agents are about to sound!”
Revelation 9:1 The fifth agent blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the land. The key for the shaft to the depthless place was given to him.
Revelation 9:2 He opened the shaft to the depthless place, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great furnace so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft.
Revelation 9:3 Then locusts came out of the smoke on to the land, and power was given to them like the power that scorpions have on the land.
Revelation 9:4 They were told not to wrong the grass of the land, or any green plant, or any tree, but only those humans who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads.
Revelation 9:5 They were not permitted to kill them but were to torment them for five months; their torment is like the torment caused by a scorpion when it stings a human.
Revelation 9:6 In those days humans will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.
Revelation 9:7 The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. Something like golden crowns was on their heads; their faces were like human faces;
Revelation 9:8 they had hair like women’s hair; their teeth were like lions’ teeth;
Revelation 9:9 they had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots with horses rushing into battle;
Revelation 9:10 and they had tails with stingers like scorpions, so that with their tails they had the power to wrong humans for five months.
Revelation 9:11 They had as their king the agent of the depthless place; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
Revelation 9:12 The first woe has passed. Notice, there are still two more woes to come after this.
Revelation 9:13 The sixth agent blew his trumpet. From the four horns of the golden altar that is before God, I heard a voice
Revelation 9:14 say to the sixth agent who had the trumpet, “Release the four agents bound at the great river Euphrates.”
Revelation 9:15 So the four agents who were prepared for the hour, day, month, and year were released to kill a third of the human race.
Revelation 9:16 The number of mounted troops was two hundred million; I heard their number.
Revelation 9:17 This is how I saw the horses and their riders in the vision: They had breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and from their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur.
Revelation 9:18 A third of the human race was killed by these three plagues — by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths.
Revelation 9:19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails, which resemble snakes, have heads that do wrong.
Revelation 9:20 The rest of the humans, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands to stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk.
Revelation 9:21 And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.

pain in the future

The passage in Revelation 9–11 does feel like a puzzle that requires careful attention to symbols, echoes of earlier Scripture, and the flow of the visions. It is not surprising that interpreters have differed, because John is describing realities that unfold in his future but still before the final return of Christ. The visions are not snapshots of a single moment but portray the character of an age—an age marked by judgment, warning, and human resistance to God.

The wars, plagues, and torments described are not limited to one region or one people. They fall on “the inhabitants of the earth,” a phrase John uses consistently for those who live in rebellion against God. The scale is global, and the effects are devastating. The imagery of fire, smoke, sulfur, and demonic cavalry is intentionally overwhelming. It communicates that the world is not drifting toward peace or stability but is repeatedly shaken by forces beyond human control. These judgments are not arbitrary; they are meant to expose the emptiness of human pride and the futility of idolatry.

The most striking line—“the rest…did not repent”—captures the tragedy of the human condition. Even when confronted with suffering that should awaken humility, the world clings to its idols. John lists the very sins that define humanity’s rebellion: worship of created things, violence, sorcery, immorality, and theft. The refusal to repent is not a failure of information but a hardness of heart. The judgments reveal the truth about humanity as much as they reveal the justice of God.

This refusal to repent is not merely a feature of the end times; it is a pattern visible throughout history. Disasters, wars, plagues, and upheavals have rarely produced widespread repentance. Instead, societies often double down on the very behaviors that brought destruction. John’s words, though astonishing, are accurate to the world’s posture. The visions expose a sobering reality: suffering alone does not change the human heart. Only the Lamb can do that.

Yet the passage is not without hope. The judgments are not the final word. They are warnings, not conclusions. They show that God is not indifferent to evil and that history is moving toward a decisive reckoning. For those sealed by God, the future remains secure. For those who resist, the warnings grow louder.

The passage ultimately reveals both the depth of human rebellion and the persistence of God’s call. It shows a world that refuses to repent—and a God who continues to act until the story reaches its appointed end.

LORD, help us to listen to our pain. May it drive us to you and not from you.