Revelation 9
By Pastor Steve
The Dream or The Message?
I do not really have very many dreams—at least not dreams that I can actually remember. Even the dreams I remember are usually pretty normal as far as dreams go. But every once in a while I have a rather bazaar dream and actually remember bits and pieces of the dream. When I do, I talk to my wife about it and then simply blame it on whatever I had for dinner the night before or remind myself to avoid eating too close to bedtime. I have no idea if my eating habits have anything to do with my bazaar dreams—but I have to blame it on something!
When I have dreams that contain kind of bazaar subject matter, I generally pass them off and don’t really give them a second thought. But once in a while I have dreams that coincide with my faith journey. When that happens, I tend to take a little more stock in what I was dreaming and actually ask the Lord if He is attempting to communicate some important truth to me. The reason for this change of pattern concerning my dreams is simple; I do not want to miss anything the Lord might be attempting to say to me.
While reading Revelation 8 & 9, I was thinking about the bazaar visions that John experienced while he was “in the spirit” with the Lord. The strange sights that he witnessed, the amazing content of the revelation from the Lord would have been one of the dreams I probably would have avoided attempting to discern. Although the visions are bazaar in context to human experience, the messages are profound to say the least!
In our reading for today, Revelation 9, I was captivated not by the Woes, not by the locusts that resembled horses with human faces; I was not overwhelmed by their tails that looked like the stingers of scorpions. I was not even amazed at the destruction that happened to the physical planet and the inhabitants that were the result of the plagues.
What astonishes me in this chapter is found at the very end—in the last few verses. In my opinion, it contains the most pertinent message of chapters 8 & 9. John said: The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
When I think of the intense imagery of this Revelation from the Lord, all I can think of is the fact that human pride and self-sufficiency can become so destructive that it can lead a person away from salvation within the depths of devastation. I pray that as you read this text, you will consider the things of life that separate you from the Lord of life. I pray that you will repent of any wrong living and embrace the righteous lifestyle which the Lord desires for all who follow Him. Amen and Amen!
