Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

This Chapter was one of the hardest to read.  Suffering is real.  As I was studying this chapter, I googled how many kinds of suffering are portrayed in the Bible.  According to one source, there are 14 different kinds of suffering.  For Revelation 9, the suffering was classified as apocalyptic suffering: momentous and catastrophic.  For those who remain during this period of tribulation will suffer extreme physical torture. John described a demonic horde as similar to locusts, having tails and stings comparable to that of scorpions, but also like horses with crowns, human faces and hair, lions' teeth, iron armor, and making a roaring noise. The painful stings will be so excruciating that men will beg to die, yet death will not come.  This attack will last for no less than 5 months.  This suffering will be so unbearable that it will usher in the end of time no doubt.  

As I listened to various speakers teach from the Book of Revelation, a common pattern was found regardless of who was teaching.  Each speaker agreed  that even in great suffering people continued to curse God and would not turn away from their wicked ways.

Revelation 9:20-21 says, “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... Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.”

This is a tough passage to read, but amid all of this suffering, we can still remember the hope of Jesus. When we see those who are suffering, those who are far from God, even those who despise God, let us be moved to compassion. Let's step into our purpose. Let's point others to Him!  

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• How is it that you can be convicted of sin in your life by the Holy Spirit, yet a fellow believer might continue with that same sin without conviction?
• Is there anything in your life that does not honor God and needs to change? Identify it and pray about it until it becomes less and your ability to overcome it becomes more.
• Prayer: Dear God, we know that you are a God of mercy.  We know that You have offered us the opportunity to confess our sins and believe in You through our professions of faith.  Lord, for those who do not know You, please burden their hearts to choose faith so that they will not have to face an eternity of suffering and separation from You.  Burden the hearts of those who already know You to help win over those lost souls for eternity. Amen.

Family Devo: Revelation 9

By: Carrie Hobson

When partnering with your family to know, love, and follow Jesus, we strive to create and share content filtered by the Head-Heart-Hands model.   

Head: the knowledge of God and His Word | Heart: the personal connection from scripture | Hands: a missional mindset  

Head 

Yesterday, we talked about how God gave people another chance to turn to Him before they wouldn’t have another chance. In today’s reading, John tells more about his visions. He sees more judgments poured out on the people. There was a star with a key that fell from Heaven and opened the bottomless pit. Demonic locusts were released on the earth to torment the people for five months if they didn’t have the seal of God on their foreheads. Then there was an army of angels that were sent to destroy the people. The whole point of all of this was to show that God was in control and to bring about repentance from the people. You know what is crazy?! Even after all of that, people still didn’t repent and turn to God. They kept on sinning and doing whatever they wanted to because they cared more about their evil desires than what was right.  

Heart 

All of these people in the last couple of chapters are enemies of God. Their hearts don’t reflect His loving kindness. It sounds so harsh and scary that God would do these things to people, but their eternity meant SO much to Him. He was trying to save them from an eternity of torment unlike anything they’d experienced before. He truly loves people and wants them to turn to Him. You know how your parents discipline you when you do something wrong? They punish you to make you stop doing the thing you were doing wrong. This is what God was doing. It was because He loved them!  

Hands 

Sometimes you’ll have to show tough love to people. Remember your whole purpose is to point them to Jesus! Pray for them and don’t give up even when it feels like you aren’t making any progress.  

Prayer: God, thank You that You love us so much and want the best for us which is eternity with You! We love You!