TOPIC: LOSS OF ALL MEANINGFUL Existence. THE DAILY FOUNTAIN DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE OF THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)

 THE DAILY FOUNTAIN DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE OF THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)

DATE: WEDNESDAY, 6TH OCTOBER, 2021

TOPIC: LOSS OF ALL MEANINGFUL EXISTENCE

TEXT: REVELATION 9:1-12

1. Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit.

2. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.

3. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

4. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

5. And they were not given [authority] to kill them, but to torment them [for] five months. Their torment [was] like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.

6. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

7. The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces [were] like the faces of men.

8. They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' [teeth.]

9. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings [was] like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle.

10. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power [was] to hurt men five months.

11. And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew [is] Abaddon, but in Greek, he has the name Apollyon.

12. One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.

MESSAGE:

In this passage, the judgment of unbelievers will be carried out by locusts which have been commanded not to kill but to torture. The nature of these locusts is not that of a physical insect. They are expressly forbidden to inflict the kind of destruction which is characteristic of an insect. Their human-like faces and hair indicate that they are intelligent Spiritual beings. They do not kill, but the torment unleashed on the human family is so devastating that men seek death but only to discover that death has run away.

           

The prophet Joel described a locust plague as a foreshadowing of the day of the Lord, meaning God's coming judgment (Joel 2:1-10). In the Old Testament, locusts were symbols of destruction because they destroy vegetation. Here they symbolise an invasion of demons called to torture people who do not believe in Christ Jesus. Those who will be free are only those who are in Christ Jesus.

PRAYER: 

Dear Lord, may I find rest in You when these days of torture come. Amen.