Devotions

20250607

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.

20250606

citizens of the future

Revelation 7:1-8:5

Revelation 7:1 After this I saw four agents standing at the four corners of the land, restraining the four winds of the land so that no wind could blow on the land or on the sea or on any tree.
Revelation 7:2 Then I saw another agent rising up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four agents who were allowed to wrong the land and the sea:
Revelation 7:3 “Don’t wrong the land or the sea or the trees until we seal the slaves of our God on their foreheads.”
Revelation 7:4 And I heard the number of the sealed: 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites:
Revelation 7:5 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Judah, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
Revelation 7:6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
Revelation 7:7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
Revelation 7:8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Benjamin.
Revelation 7:9 After this I looked, and noticed a vast crowd from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands.
Revelation 7:10 And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!
Revelation 7:11 All the agents stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four animals they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God,
Revelation 7:12 saying, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God for ages and ages. Amen.
Revelation 7:13 Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes, and where did they come from?”
Revelation 7:14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Revelation 7:15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. The one seated on the throne will shelter them:
Revelation 7:16 They will no longer hunger; they will no longer thirst; the sun will no longer strike them, nor will any scorching heat.
Revelation 8:1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in the sky for about half an hour.
Revelation 8:2 Then I saw the seven agents who stand in the presence of God; seven trumpets were given to them.
Revelation 8:3 Another agent, with a golden incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the devotees on the golden altar in front of the throne.
Revelation 8:4 The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the devotees, went up in the presence of God from the agent’s hand.
Revelation 8:5 The agent took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the land; there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

citizens of the future

Revelation 7:1–8:5 pauses the movement of judgment long enough to show who will stand when the shaking of the world begins. The vision does not deny that harm will come to the earth, the sea, and the created order. Instead, it reveals that God marks and preserves a people who belong to him, ensuring that their final destiny is untouched by the turmoil that surrounds them.

The first group John sees is the 144,000—symbolic of the redeemed “of the sons of Israel.” This number represents completeness rather than arithmetic precision. It points to the Jewish believers of the first century who embraced the Messiah and became the firstfruits of the new creation. They are sealed, not to escape suffering, but to be identified as God’s own in the midst of it. Their presence in the vision affirms that God has not forgotten his ancient people, and that the promises made to Israel find their fulfillment in the Lamb.

The second group is vast beyond counting: a multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They stand before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes and holding palm branches—symbols of victory, purity, and joy. Their presence shows that the future is not narrow or exclusive but expansive, global, and diverse. The Lamb’s redemption reaches to the ends of the earth, gathering a people who have come through great tribulation with their faith intact.

Their destiny is secure even though the world around them is shaken. God’s promise is not that they will avoid hardship, but that hardship will never have the final word. The hunger and thirst that mark life in a broken world will be gone. The scorching heat that symbolizes oppression and suffering will no longer touch them. The Lamb himself becomes their shepherd, guiding them to springs of living water and wiping away every tear. The future is defined not by the harm that comes to the earth but by the care that comes from God.

Revelation also affirms that God hears the prayers of his people. Their cries rise before him like incense from the golden altar. The imagery is intimate and deliberate: nothing prayed in faith is lost, ignored, or forgotten. The prayers of the saints become part of the very means by which God brings his purposes to completion. The future is shaped not only by the Lamb’s authority but also by the petitions of those who belong to him.

This vision assures that the redeemed—both the firstfruits of Israel and the multitude of the nations—have a future held firmly in God’s hands, marked by protection, provision, and the certainty that their prayers reach the throne.

LORD, we trust you to make our dreams of the future a reality, and to shepherd us during this dark and trying age.

20250604

a certain future

Revelation 5:1-14

Revelation 5:1 Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides, sealed with seven seals.
Revelation 5:2 I also saw a mighty agent proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”
Revelation 5:3 But no one in the sky or on land or under the land was able to open the scroll or even to look in it.
Revelation 5:4 I wept and wept because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or even to look in it.
Revelation 5:5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Notice, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so that he is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Revelation 5:6 Then I saw one like a slaughtered lamb standing in the midst of the throne and the four animals and among the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven breaths of God sent into all the land.
Revelation 5:7 He went and took the scroll out of the right hand of the one seated on the throne.
Revelation 5:8 When he took the scroll, the four animals and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and golden bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the devotees.
Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and you purchased people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation.
Revelation 5:10 You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the land.
Revelation 5:11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many agents around the throne, and also of the animals and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands.
Revelation 5:12 They said with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!
Revelation 5:13 I heard every creature in the sky, on land, under the land, on the sea, and everything in them say, Blessing and honor and glory and power be to the one seated on the throne, and to the Lamb, for ages and ages!
Revelation 5:14 The four animals said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

a certain future

John’s vision of the scroll in Revelation 5 gathers together the entire drama of God’s redemptive plan. The scroll represents the full sequence of events by which God will bring creation to its appointed goal—judgment, renewal, resurrection, and the restoration of all things. Its contents are sealed because no creature is worthy to bring history to its fulfillment. Only the Lamb, who was slain and now stands alive, possesses the authority to open it. His worthiness is rooted in his sacrificial death: by his blood he has ransomed people for God from every tribe, language, people, and nation. The future is therefore not an uncertain horizon but a written reality, secured by the Lamb and unveiled through him.

Because the scroll is opened by the Lamb, the future is not left to speculation or fear. It is revealed as something already determined by God and guaranteed by Christ’s redeeming work. The visions that follow do not merely predict events; they disclose the meaning of history under the rule of the crucified and risen King. The Lamb’s victory is the foundation of everything that will unfold. What he has accomplished ensures what will come to pass.

The certainty of the future rests on three truths embedded in the song of heaven. First, there is the assurance of ransom. The death of Christ is not a partial or potential act but an effective redemption. Those purchased by his blood belong to God, and nothing in the unfolding of history can overturn that claim. The future is secure because the decisive act has already occurred at the cross.

Second, the redeemed are made a kingdom and priests. This is not merely a future assignment but a present identity that will reach its fullness in the age to come. The people of God will share in the holy vocation originally intended for humanity: to reflect God’s character, to mediate his presence, and to serve in his worship. The future is therefore not only rescue from sin but restoration to purpose.

Third, the redeemed will reign on the earth. The destiny of humanity is not escape from creation but participation in its renewal. The Lamb’s victory leads to a restored world in which those he has ransomed share in his rule. This reign is not domination but stewardship, the fulfillment of God’s intention from the beginning.

The future, then, is certain because it is written, secured because it is purchased, and glorious because it is shaped by the Lamb who opens the scroll.

LORD, thank you for giving us a destiny, and revealing it to us in your word.