seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Revelation 9:20 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. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Well, this is from amazingdiscoveries.org.
After all these judgements the rest of the men “represented not.” God’s object in sending these judgements were not only to punish but also to call Papal dominated Europe to repentance. The rest of the men are said to worship “idols.” At this time the Western Church worshiped images of “saints.” “The men” also did no repent of “their murders,” the Christians slaughtered for their belief in Bible truth; their “fornication,” a symbol of doctrinal impurity, or of their “thefts,” the usurping of God’s authority.
This commentary comes from Biblegateway.com.
For the first time, John gives full attention to the human response to these divine judgments. He has mentioned the human response twice before, but only in passing, as a way of dramatizing the severity of the judgments themselves, first in 6:15-17, where people hid in caves and cried out to the mountains to fall on them, and second in 9:6, where they desired death but did not find it. This time the human response is in spite of the severity of the judgment, not because of it. The point is made twice that these terrible judgments did not bring about repentance or a change of heart among those who were not killed.
It is natural to ask whether these plagues are the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur under the sixth trumpet or the whole trumpet series up to this point. But the question is moot because the three plagues of verse 18 are the only ones in the entire series specifically designed to be lethal to human beings. More illuminating is John's characterization of the rest of mankind that did not repent. His own moral values come to expression in his list of their vices: worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot see or hear or walk; also murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts (v. 21).
The vices John lists are characteristic of the Gentile world. John is at one with Judaism in his sharp denunciation of Graeco-Roman society. His list is based in part on the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:1-17), which explicitly forbid idolatry, murder, adultery and theft. He stands squarely in the tradition of the prophet Jeremiah, who ridiculed idolatry in Babylon (Jer 10:1-16; compare the apocryphal Letter of Jeremiah), and of the apostle Paul, who condemned Gentile idolatry and immorality (Rom 1:18-32) and equated idol worship with the worship of demons (1 Cor 10:19-20). John probably still has in mind those false prophets in Christian congregations who advocated "sexual immorality" and eating "food sacrificed to idols". John's disturbing vision is that none of the judgments described up to now have succeeded in bringing about repentance or any change of heart in an evil world. The surviving inhabitants of the earth are like Pharaoh in the face of the plagues on Egypt in Moses' time: their hearts are hardened and they will not repent. Exodus preserves the sovereignty of God by insisting that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. No such statement occurs here. On the contrary, it appears that if God's purpose is to bring the world to repentance (compare 2 Pet 3:8-9), it has failed--at least for the time being.
It is natural to ask whether these plagues are the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur under the sixth trumpet or the whole trumpet series up to this point. But the question is moot because the three plagues of verse 18 are the only ones in the entire series specifically designed to be lethal to human beings. More illuminating is John's characterization of the rest of mankind that did not repent. His own moral values come to expression in his list of their vices: worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot see or hear or walk; also murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts (v. 21).
The vices John lists are characteristic of the Gentile world. John is at one with Judaism in his sharp denunciation of Graeco-Roman society. His list is based in part on the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:1-17), which explicitly forbid idolatry, murder, adultery and theft. He stands squarely in the tradition of the prophet Jeremiah, who ridiculed idolatry in Babylon (Jer 10:1-16; compare the apocryphal Letter of Jeremiah), and of the apostle Paul, who condemned Gentile idolatry and immorality (Rom 1:18-32) and equated idol worship with the worship of demons (1 Cor 10:19-20). John probably still has in mind those false prophets in Christian congregations who advocated "sexual immorality" and eating "food sacrificed to idols". John's disturbing vision is that none of the judgments described up to now have succeeded in bringing about repentance or any change of heart in an evil world. The surviving inhabitants of the earth are like Pharaoh in the face of the plagues on Egypt in Moses' time: their hearts are hardened and they will not repent. Exodus preserves the sovereignty of God by insisting that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. No such statement occurs here. On the contrary, it appears that if God's purpose is to bring the world to repentance (compare 2 Pet 3:8-9), it has failed--at least for the time being.
Yesterday, in today's world, a man walked into a Jewish Synagogue and murdered at least 11 worshipers. Not long ago, another man walked into a prayer service in a Protestant Church and murdered people.... at a prayer service. The Catholic Church is being riddled by sex scandals while other Protestant Churches are preying on the poor to send them their money for a bigger and better building.
When the death toll went to nearly a dozen.... I got to thinking about Red Horse.... and how it's supposed to take away our peace.... and how it will bring hate to the world. It made me wonder.... are we seeing these end time? Is that huge earthquake from Revelation 6:12 in the near future?
There is a church near my home that opens a food bank on Saturdays. People line up in their cars in the church parking lot. As the people pull up in the cars, the volunteers load a box of food for each person in the family and lots of bread and cakes. Yesterday they were giving out three loaves of bread, muffins, a cake and some danishes for each family. The volunteers working in the food bank and the parking lot.... are wearing fire arms..... the fear is.... someone will be shot while sitting in a food line. How bad are things? What is the price of a loaf of bread?
AND even after all the hate, hunger, pain, natural disasters and conquest by an army made up of 200 million troops, they were too stubborn to repent. Stubborn, stupid humans.
