The rest … 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.
Now that we’ve spent over twenty weeks in Jeremiah … can you pick out where these verses come from? Surprisingly … not Jeremiah! They are from Revelation 9:20-21. These words about mankind’s recalcitrant refusal to be reconciled to God are spoken after the devastation of the Sixth Trumpet and the destruction of one third of the population of the earth.
There are certainly many reasons to be anticipating our Lord’s rapidly approaching return, but I am sometimes discouraged by the reckless novelty with which Bible prophecy is pursued. So much of what I read and hear seems to major on ferreting out what science experiment or secret society will be the catalyst for these events. I think Revelation is abundantly clear! God will be the undeniable catalyst … everyone will know and acknowledge that fact. If humans could in anyway attribute the coming global tragedies to natural or man-made causes … they certainly would. Consider Revelation 16:8-10:
The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
The issue in these last days will not be atheism. It will be the ultimate expression of mankind’s ancient sin … “although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Romans 1:21)
