Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: Revelation 8-9 and Psalm 57

In Revelation 5:8, before John saw the Lamb unsealing the scroll containing the God’s will for the progression of the Age of the End, the prayers of God’s people were presented to God as golden bowls of incense. Here in Revelation 8:3, another angel offers incense with the prayers of all God’s people, just before the series of trumpets is sounded. It’s as though these two moments reveal that the prayers of God’s people trigger His interventions on the earth. As one commentary has it, “More potent, more powerful than all the dark and mighty powers let loose in the world, more powerful than anything else, is the power of prayer set ablaze by the fire of God and cast upon the earth.” (Torrance)

And so, in this vision, John hears the trumpets begin to sound. This time – as John again sees God allowing humanity to experience the inevitable consequences of human sin – those consequences mirror the plagues sent on Egypt in Exodus 7-11. Back in Egypt, those plagues failed to move Pharoah to repent. Instead he hardened his heart against God even more! And here too, even though the plagues are followed by the same four horsemen of Revelation 6 which are now pictured as destroying one third of humanity, rebellious humankind is unmoved to repentance. As v.20-21 records: “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.“

How tragic. Despite the Gospel having gone out to the ends of the earth through the Church of Jesus Christ, and despite God so obviously showing humanity the terrible consequences of sin, those who are in rebellion against God remain hardened and unrepentant.

Life application: Let’s do two things today. First, let’s honestly appraise our lives and repent of all known sin. let’s ask the Lord for the purifying work of His Spirit so that our lives will align with His will. Secondly, let’s pray fervently for the kindness of God to lead this world to repentance. We have seen in Revelation that sin’s harsh consequences never seem to awaken people to the need for repentance. But as Romans 2:4 says, “God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance.” So let’s leverage the power of prayer that we have witnessed in Revelation 8:3 and let’s ask the Lord to show His kindness to people through us, so that they may turn to Him and be saved.

“More powerful than anything else, is the power of prayer set ablaze by the fire of God and cast upon the earth.“