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What is in Revelation chapters 8 and 9?
When the seventh seal is opened, there is destruction of a third of almost everything. Then of the “seven angels standing before God” as it says in Revelation 9:1-4, the fifth angel “opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth.” And in Verse 4 the locusts were told to harm “only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” The Bible doesn’t tell us who was speaking to the locusts. Was it the angel? Was it God?
In any event, the Seal of God is believed to be the genuine faith in Him as demonstrated through loving Him by all our heart, soul and mind. This excludes those who go through the motions but yield no results which God would see as being good. Who would those be? They would include leaders who claim to love God, but such love doesn’t show in their hearts. They ignore the least of the people they preside over, while favoring those who have an abundance of power, wealth and influence. They would also include those who follow such leaders wholeheartedly, not just on social media. They would include those who worship other gods through their actions ad behavior.
In Verse 5, the locusts “were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.” Some commentators believe that Verse 5 has already come to pass, with the evil that are living on earth being pursued and harassed by others. If this is the case, then it’s true that between the time the New Testament was written until now, a third of the earth and sky have been destroyed. This brings to mind our environment. Have man-made structures not replaced much of the vegetation and foliage on land? Has not man overused the natural resources in parts of the world without giving back so that forests are replaced by dessert? Has not the ozone layer been depleted?
In Genesis 28, God says to Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and HAVE DOMINION OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA AND OVER THE BIRDS OF THE HEAVENS AND OVER EVERY LIVING THING THAT MOVES ON THE EARTH.” Has God not Given Adam and Eve the responsibility of maintaining the earth and the living things on it?
What is the purpose of Revelation in general? Is it a warning to us of what will happen to those of us who do not have “God’s Seal” on our foreheads? Does it narrow down John 3:16 to those who are receptive enough to see the light of God and not reject it? Does Revelation effectively say, ‘Love God, or else?’
There are many who say that the Jews who suffered since Lord Jesus appeared on earth, including those who were marginalized, disenfranchised, and who died during the Inquisition, the Crusades and the Holocaust effectively did not have the Seal of God on their foreheads. But I believe there may be more to it than that. God in His Covenant with the Jews on their way to the Promised Land gave them the responsibility of minding His House of Worship, keeping the light on in it so that other people may enter. The 500 some-odd Laws the Lord charged them to follow had put them in a certain standing to
mind His House of Worship that no others are expected to fulfill. In that regard, those who took part in their suffering were the locusts that Revelation 9 speaks of. There were also locusts who made Christians suffer that shouted ‘Lord, Lord’ and nothing more.
Lord Jesus shines a bigger light on that House of Worship, telling others that in this is their salvation, having everything they need. All the others need for their salvation is to love God and love eachother, instead of abiding by all the Laws, including those that are ceremonial in nature, that God commanded the Jews to abide by. God commissioned the Jews to mind His House of worship, but He wants all to be in it and to love Him and eachother. And as it says in the last Verse in Revelation, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”
When the seventh seal is opened, there is destruction of a third of almost everything. Then of the “seven angels standing before God” as it says in Revelation 9:1-4, the fifth angel “opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth.” And in Verse 4 the locusts were told to harm “only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” The Bible doesn’t tell us who was speaking to the locusts. Was it the angel? Was it God?
In any event, the Seal of God is believed to be the genuine faith in Him as demonstrated through loving Him by all our heart, soul and mind. This excludes those who go through the motions but yield no results which God would see as being good. Who would those be? They would include leaders who claim to love God, but such love doesn’t show in their hearts. They ignore the least of the people they preside over, while favoring those who have an abundance of power, wealth and influence. They would also include those who follow such leaders wholeheartedly, not just on social media. They would include those who worship other gods through their actions ad behavior.
In Verse 5, the locusts “were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.” Some commentators believe that Verse 5 has already come to pass, with the evil that are living on earth being pursued and harassed by others. If this is the case, then it’s true that between the time the New Testament was written until now, a third of the earth and sky have been destroyed. This brings to mind our environment. Have man-made structures not replaced much of the vegetation and foliage on land? Has not man overused the natural resources in parts of the world without giving back so that forests are replaced by dessert? Has not the ozone layer been depleted?
In Genesis 28, God says to Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and HAVE DOMINION OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA AND OVER THE BIRDS OF THE HEAVENS AND OVER EVERY LIVING THING THAT MOVES ON THE EARTH.” Has God not Given Adam and Eve the responsibility of maintaining the earth and the living things on it?
What is the purpose of Revelation in general? Is it a warning to us of what will happen to those of us who do not have “God’s Seal” on our foreheads? Does it narrow down John 3:16 to those who are receptive enough to see the light of God and not reject it? Does Revelation effectively say, ‘Love God, or else?’
There are many who say that the Jews who suffered since Lord Jesus appeared on earth, including those who were marginalized, disenfranchised, and who died during the Inquisition, the Crusades and the Holocaust effectively did not have the Seal of God on their foreheads. But I believe there may be more to it than that. God in His Covenant with the Jews on their way to the Promised Land gave them the responsibility of minding His House of Worship, keeping the light on in it so that other people may enter. The 500 some-odd Laws the Lord charged them to follow had put them in a certain standing to
mind His House of Worship that no others are expected to fulfill. In that regard, those who took part in their suffering were the locusts that Revelation 9 speaks of. There were also locusts who made Christians suffer that shouted ‘Lord, Lord’ and nothing more.
Lord Jesus shines a bigger light on that House of Worship, telling others that in this is their salvation, having everything they need. All the others need for their salvation is to love God and love eachother, instead of abiding by all the Laws, including those that are ceremonial in nature, that God commanded the Jews to abide by. God commissioned the Jews to mind His House of worship, but He wants all to be in it and to love Him and eachother. And as it says in the last Verse in Revelation, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”
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