The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets

Today’s reading is one of the most cryptic that we’ve encountered so far. Remember to read with curiosity and humility, and avoid jumping to conclusions or connections to our present time (especially reading about plagues). As you read, remember that the events described here were meaningful to the first readers (who faced invading armies from the east) and to us today (as we experience suffering of a different kind). For all of us, the message continues to be – God will bring judgement against sin and idolatry. And He will even use painful events in our fallen world to call people back to Himself. As you read, reflect on this question: how has God been using the pain of this year to draw you closer to Himself?

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REFLECTION

The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets
by Dan Kidd

The book of Revelation is simultaneously an apocalyptic and a prophetic letter. In Chapter 9, we see both elements on full display. The chapter is apocalyptic in its depiction of spiritual, invisible events that come to bear in material, visible consequences. It is prophetic in that it warns of imminent judgement for all who do not repent of their sinfulness and return to obedient worship of the one true God.

The final verses of Chapter 9 (vv.20-21) clue us in to God’s desires for this period of suffering and death: that the sinful would abandon their idoloatries and their destructive immoralities and turn their face to the Way of Jesus. Note the similarities between these first two “woes” (v.12) and the plagues of Egypt, and how the people remain impenitent—just like Pharaoh. As I read this chapter, I am reminded of the prophetic proclamations made throughout the Old Testament and by Jesus himself. They cry out to us, “your sinfulness will be your undoing.”

In Chapter 9 we read of a fallen star opening the Abyss, from which first comes the plague of terrifying, torturous locust-monsters; followed by the invasion of “twice ten thousand times ten thousand” soldiers, mounted on fire-breathing, lion-headed warhorses.

Pestilence and plague.
First anguish, then death.
Even still, the people remain stone hearted.
This is alarming!

Jesus told us plainly that the wages of sin is death. Our sinfulness is costly—to others and to ourselves. How often am I too comfortable with my sinfulness? How often do I justify injustice or exploitation when they benefit me? Where am I apathetic when I ought to be activated? If monstrosities like these are the spiritual consequences of sin, why do I not run from my sin, at full sprint, into the tender but fortified arms of the Father—the Lion of Judah?

Meanwhile, the righteous faithful—those with God’s signature on their brow—are spared, protected, passed over. While the tables of the wicked are being overturned, those they have abused are finally seeing justice come to bear. The high are being brought down to the lowly. This is evidence that God has always seen the harassed, the oppressed, and the downtrodden, and their cries have always been in His ear. For them, this prophetic revelation from Jesus to John is comfort and hope.

At minimum, this passage invites us to consider the possibilities found in our pain. When we are shackled by the shame and circumstances of our sinfulness, we can flee to the freedom offered us in the grace God. And when we are suffering under conditions we cannot control, including the abuse of others, we can know that we are seen by the God who sees us (Gen 16:13) and, in time, He will set all things right.

UALC’S CAMPAIGN OF PRAYER

TUESDAY - TRUTH In the midst of all the messages being heard, pray for accurate information to drown out false reporting and click-bait tactics.