Revelation 8:6-13 – The Plagues of Repentance
I don’t know if this is where the expression “saved by a hair” comes from, but this passage evokes an interesting episode in Ezekiel’s career. According to Chapter 5 of his book, Ezekiel was instructed by the Lord to shave off all his hair and divide it into thirds. He was instructed to burn a third of his hair, strike a third of it with a sword (that would have been an interesting sight!), and scatter a third of it to the wind. This was God’s way of describing the doom of the nation of Judah for rejecting him. They would perish in destruction and in warfare, and those who remained would be scattered and forgotten. It’s a pretty depressing or frightening prediction, but there was a glimmer of hope in the midst of it all. Before burning, slashing, and scattering his hair, Ezekiel was instructed to take a few strands of hair and tuck them safely away in his pocket (well, actually “in the folds of his garment,” since pockets apparently hadn’t been invented yet). Even in the midst of terrible destruction, God would redeem and rescue a righteous remnant who hadn’t abandoned him. Perhaps Jesus had this episode in mind when he assured his followers that God has numbered the hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30). He carefully watches over and protects the faithful, just as Ezekiel tucked away those few strands of his hair.
All of this relates to this passage from Revelation. The angels have received their trumpets to enact God’s will that had been hidden in the scroll that is now opened. And with each of the first four trumpet blasts, destruction comes upon the earth. In order, a third of the land, the sea (or salt water), the rivers and springs (or fresh water), and the sky are destroyed. The first and most obvious connection between Ezekiel and Revelation is the “thirds:” Ezekiel’s hair was divided into thirds to be destroyed, and a third of each element of creation is destroyed as the trumpets sound. But this connection is a bit sketchy, since almost all of Ezekiel’s hair is destroyed, but only a third of creation is destroyed with the sounding of the trumpets. The relationship between these two episodes comes out when we recall the few strands of hair that Ezekiel tucked away for safe keeping. Destruction in both situations was not total, but was limited, and limited quite a bit in the case of this passage. There’s a point to the destruction, beyond God destroying a world that had rebelled against him. The point to it all is repentance: those who turn away from their rebellion or self-indulgence and direct their lives to God. In Ezekiel’s case, the strands of hair in his pocket represented the righteous remnant of Israel: those few who heeded God’s message and abandoned their idolatry, immorality, greed, and pride. In the case of this passage, the destruction of a third of creation was meant to be instructive. As people see it, they are hopefully inspired to leave their sinful ways and accept Christ’s lordship. This is a dramatic example of what we read about in Hebrews 12:4-13: God brings hardship into the lives of his people as a form of discipline, to enable them to “produce a harvest of righteousness and peace.”
Not all of creation is destroyed by the first four trumpets. It happens in order to draw people to God. It’s the same approach that we use with our criminal justice system, and with capital punishment in particular. The theory is that if we see people being sent to jail or executed for committing certain crimes, the rest of us are less likely to commit those crimes ourselves, out of fear of the consequences that we’ll face. When we are confronted with the awesome and destructive power of God, we’re more likely to turn our lives over to him. I personally prefer to draw people to God with an invitation of love and grace: come to God who loves you and will recreate your life into something wonderful. And there is Scriptural support for this kind of an approach. Others, however, prefer what is pejoratively called a “fire and brimstone” approach. Turn your life over to God, or face dire consequences. One of the most powerful sermons in colonial America, preached by Jonathan Edwards and called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” is an excellent example of this approach. Is one approach better than the other? Not really. Because God has created us all in different ways, an approach that reaches one person will not work on someone else. It’s the same reason why we have such a wide variety of churches. Some people are able to worship God best in a highly liturgical setting, while others worship better in a contemporary setting. Some prefer intimate settings while others are inspired by huge gatherings. Music touches some, while sacraments are meaningful for others. Whatever it takes to bring people to God (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)! This passage is God’s attempt to reach those who respond better to threats and warnings than to invitations and promises.
The order of events heralded by the trumpets represents an undoing of creation: first the land, then the water, then the sky. According to Genesis 1, God first created the sky (on the second day), then gathered the water together, and finally created the land (on the third day). This isn’t a random order of events. The trumpets give us the message that God can un-create what he made.
The calamities caused by at least three of the trumpets also brings to mind the plagues that God sent to Egypt in order to convince them to free the Hebrew slaves. The order is somewhat different, but the plagues of Egypt included a plague of blood, of hail, and of darkness, which we find here in the first, third, and fourth trumpets. Later in Revelation, we’ll encounter echoes of the plagues of frogs, boils, and locusts.
Our passage provides one more allusion to Old Testament events: the strange reference to a star named Wormwood, who poisons the waters. Wormwood is a bitter-tasting plant that is referred to by several prophets (such as Jeremiah and Amos) to represent the bitterness of God’s judgment and the bitterness that comes from perverting God’s justice. Here, it is personified as a star (understood by the ancients to be spiritual beings) who brings God’s punishing bitterness to the fresh waters of the world. It is a reversal of the miracle at the waters of Marah during the Exodus (15:22-25). The thirsty Israelites came upon a spring of water in the desert, only to discover that the water was undrinkable. In response to their complaints, God had Moses throw a piece of wood into the water to make it drinkable. Just as the trumpets signal the undoing of creation, they also signal the reversal of God’s blessings.
There are two points to notice here. First, the destruction is under God’s control. The events that come from the four trumpets are not a rebellion or an attack against God’s good will. They are God’s will! Sometimes, God does bring about calamity. We don’t always understand how tragedy and destruction fit in with his plans, but they do. I have seen times when people have experienced terrible things, and it has brought them closer to God. We can only hope, with God, that these kinds of experiences happen more often.
Second, we would be foolish to assume that the events of these four trumpets will only happen at the end of time. By the time we get to Chapter 16 and the first four of seven bowls, then we will learn about the final and total destruction. Here, however, we gain insight into the destruction and calamity that goes on all around us, and has for centuries. It too can play a part in God’s plan.
After the fourth trumpet, an eagle proclaims woe upon the inhabitants of the earth. It is a declaration of God’s judgment that they have already experienced, and a warning of worse things yet to come.
Earth is not our home, as the old gospel song proclaims. We are only passing through. Living here is full of woe. And that woe isn’t necessarily contrary to God’s will. So often we assume that a world under the control of a good and loving God won’t have any suffering in it. But that’s not the case. There is evil in this world which God attacks, punishes, and destroys. Before destroying it, he provides us the opportunity to move from the “destroy” to the “redeem” column, by accepting his offer to cleanse us of our sin through the saving work of Christ. Then we can become one of those precious strands of hair in the fold of Ezekiel’s robe.
Of course, none of us want to be told that we’re suffering because God is chastising us. But when the destruction of the trumpets comes close to our lives, it’s time for us to recognize God’s wrath and discipline, while there’s still time to make the change.
All of this relates to this passage from Revelation. The angels have received their trumpets to enact God’s will that had been hidden in the scroll that is now opened. And with each of the first four trumpet blasts, destruction comes upon the earth. In order, a third of the land, the sea (or salt water), the rivers and springs (or fresh water), and the sky are destroyed. The first and most obvious connection between Ezekiel and Revelation is the “thirds:” Ezekiel’s hair was divided into thirds to be destroyed, and a third of each element of creation is destroyed as the trumpets sound. But this connection is a bit sketchy, since almost all of Ezekiel’s hair is destroyed, but only a third of creation is destroyed with the sounding of the trumpets. The relationship between these two episodes comes out when we recall the few strands of hair that Ezekiel tucked away for safe keeping. Destruction in both situations was not total, but was limited, and limited quite a bit in the case of this passage. There’s a point to the destruction, beyond God destroying a world that had rebelled against him. The point to it all is repentance: those who turn away from their rebellion or self-indulgence and direct their lives to God. In Ezekiel’s case, the strands of hair in his pocket represented the righteous remnant of Israel: those few who heeded God’s message and abandoned their idolatry, immorality, greed, and pride. In the case of this passage, the destruction of a third of creation was meant to be instructive. As people see it, they are hopefully inspired to leave their sinful ways and accept Christ’s lordship. This is a dramatic example of what we read about in Hebrews 12:4-13: God brings hardship into the lives of his people as a form of discipline, to enable them to “produce a harvest of righteousness and peace.”
Not all of creation is destroyed by the first four trumpets. It happens in order to draw people to God. It’s the same approach that we use with our criminal justice system, and with capital punishment in particular. The theory is that if we see people being sent to jail or executed for committing certain crimes, the rest of us are less likely to commit those crimes ourselves, out of fear of the consequences that we’ll face. When we are confronted with the awesome and destructive power of God, we’re more likely to turn our lives over to him. I personally prefer to draw people to God with an invitation of love and grace: come to God who loves you and will recreate your life into something wonderful. And there is Scriptural support for this kind of an approach. Others, however, prefer what is pejoratively called a “fire and brimstone” approach. Turn your life over to God, or face dire consequences. One of the most powerful sermons in colonial America, preached by Jonathan Edwards and called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” is an excellent example of this approach. Is one approach better than the other? Not really. Because God has created us all in different ways, an approach that reaches one person will not work on someone else. It’s the same reason why we have such a wide variety of churches. Some people are able to worship God best in a highly liturgical setting, while others worship better in a contemporary setting. Some prefer intimate settings while others are inspired by huge gatherings. Music touches some, while sacraments are meaningful for others. Whatever it takes to bring people to God (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)! This passage is God’s attempt to reach those who respond better to threats and warnings than to invitations and promises.
The order of events heralded by the trumpets represents an undoing of creation: first the land, then the water, then the sky. According to Genesis 1, God first created the sky (on the second day), then gathered the water together, and finally created the land (on the third day). This isn’t a random order of events. The trumpets give us the message that God can un-create what he made.
The calamities caused by at least three of the trumpets also brings to mind the plagues that God sent to Egypt in order to convince them to free the Hebrew slaves. The order is somewhat different, but the plagues of Egypt included a plague of blood, of hail, and of darkness, which we find here in the first, third, and fourth trumpets. Later in Revelation, we’ll encounter echoes of the plagues of frogs, boils, and locusts.
Our passage provides one more allusion to Old Testament events: the strange reference to a star named Wormwood, who poisons the waters. Wormwood is a bitter-tasting plant that is referred to by several prophets (such as Jeremiah and Amos) to represent the bitterness of God’s judgment and the bitterness that comes from perverting God’s justice. Here, it is personified as a star (understood by the ancients to be spiritual beings) who brings God’s punishing bitterness to the fresh waters of the world. It is a reversal of the miracle at the waters of Marah during the Exodus (15:22-25). The thirsty Israelites came upon a spring of water in the desert, only to discover that the water was undrinkable. In response to their complaints, God had Moses throw a piece of wood into the water to make it drinkable. Just as the trumpets signal the undoing of creation, they also signal the reversal of God’s blessings.
There are two points to notice here. First, the destruction is under God’s control. The events that come from the four trumpets are not a rebellion or an attack against God’s good will. They are God’s will! Sometimes, God does bring about calamity. We don’t always understand how tragedy and destruction fit in with his plans, but they do. I have seen times when people have experienced terrible things, and it has brought them closer to God. We can only hope, with God, that these kinds of experiences happen more often.
Second, we would be foolish to assume that the events of these four trumpets will only happen at the end of time. By the time we get to Chapter 16 and the first four of seven bowls, then we will learn about the final and total destruction. Here, however, we gain insight into the destruction and calamity that goes on all around us, and has for centuries. It too can play a part in God’s plan.
After the fourth trumpet, an eagle proclaims woe upon the inhabitants of the earth. It is a declaration of God’s judgment that they have already experienced, and a warning of worse things yet to come.
Earth is not our home, as the old gospel song proclaims. We are only passing through. Living here is full of woe. And that woe isn’t necessarily contrary to God’s will. So often we assume that a world under the control of a good and loving God won’t have any suffering in it. But that’s not the case. There is evil in this world which God attacks, punishes, and destroys. Before destroying it, he provides us the opportunity to move from the “destroy” to the “redeem” column, by accepting his offer to cleanse us of our sin through the saving work of Christ. Then we can become one of those precious strands of hair in the fold of Ezekiel’s robe.
Of course, none of us want to be told that we’re suffering because God is chastising us. But when the destruction of the trumpets comes close to our lives, it’s time for us to recognize God’s wrath and discipline, while there’s still time to make the change.
posted by Rev. Peter de Vries, Old Union Presbyterian Church @ 6:32 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home