Pastor’s Bible Reading Schedule: Daniel 8-10; Revelation 8
Devotional Thought:
The first five seals (deception of peace, war, famine, death, and retaliation) are simple descriptions of the introductory judgments that will lead up to the climax of God’s divine wrath being poured out upon the world. While we are not given the exact timetable for the trumpet and bowl judgments, we are confident that they happen after the abomination of desolation, which is the second half of the tribulation period. This last seal embodies the trumpet and bowl judgments and demonstrates the culmination of God’s wrath on Israel’s rejection of His Son. What a climax of grace when Jesus Christ comes back to earth, at the end of this seal, to rescue those who rejected Him and once again bring salvation to Israel. This last seal opens with silence for 30 minutes. I have never been through a tornado, but those who have say that there is an eerie silence and stillness right before the terror of destruction moves through the area. As the seal is broken and the scroll unrolled to reveal the destruction about to happen, all of heaven is silent. One author puts it this way, “Heaven, which had resounded with loud praises from the vast crowd of redeemed people and angels, became deathly still. The hour of God’s final judgment had come—the hour when the saints will be vindicated, sin punished, Satan vanquished, and Christ exalted.” As judgment comes, the first angel sounds the first trumpet and hail and fire mingled with blood destroy a third part of the earth’s trees and all the grass is burned up. The second angel sounds and a great mountain burning with fire in cast into the sea which causes one-third of the sea to become blood and one third of all the creatures of the sea are killed and one-third of all ships are destroyed. As the third angel sounds, a star falls from heaven, named “Wormwood.” The result is one-third of all the water, rivers, and fountains are made bitter and many people die. The fourth angel sounds the fourth trumpet and it brings destruction to one-third of the sun, moon, and stars and there is an extended 8 hours of darkness. It is amazing how we expect the world to just function each day the way it is supposed to function. Romans 1 teaches us that the reprobate mind of the unsaved man worships the creation more than the Creator. God is systematically going to demonstrate His superiority over all creation. Verse 13 tells us an angel announces, “woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth…” The next three trumpets are yet to sound and the destruction and devastation to the earth will be remarkable.
Personal Requests:
• Lord, thank you for my salvation. I am so grateful for your grace that spares me from the torments of these events.
• Lord, help me to be motivated by the certainty of these events to share the gospel with those who need to hear the good news of the gospel.
• Lord, help me to never forget your justice and holy hatred of sin. Help me to remember how sin violates your very nature and character and how sin should offend my new spiritual nature given to me.