Revelation 9 Devotional

Hearts That Would Not Turn

“Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.”Revelation 9:20 (BSB)

Revelation 9 is hard to picture and harder to read. Smoke pours from the Abyss, and out of it come locusts with the sting of scorpions, tormenting people for five months ruled by the angel of the Abyss (9:1-11). Then four angels bound at the Euphrates are released, and a vast mounted army kills a third of mankind (9:13-18).

Even here, God sets the limits. The locusts may not touch anyone who has God's seal on the forehead (9:4). They may torment but not kill (9:5). The four angels are released at an hour, day, month, and year already prepared (9:15). Nothing in the chapter is random. The most sobering verses come at the end. The survivors still do not repent. They go on worshiping demons and idols that cannot see, hear, or walk, and they do not turn from murder, sorcery, immorality, or theft (9:20-21). Suffering alone does not change a heart. Only God's grace does that. If your heart is soft toward him today, that is his gift, and it is worth answering now.

To think about: Is there any sin you have held onto even after God has warned you, and what would turning from it look like today?