The prediction of sorrows
"And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to sound." Revelation 8v13
The judgments already predicted to fall are bad enough but worse is yet to come. The key to the understanding of this verse is how we interpret the phrase "the inhabiters of the earth." This should be understood as "earth- dwellers" in the sense of those who wish to dwell on earth as opposed to heaven: in short they are in rebellion against God in the face of severe judgments. It is a pertinent question, am I an earth- dweller or am I a heaven- seeker? The phrase "them that dwell on the earth", or something similar, appears throughout the book in chapter 3v10, 6v10, 8v13, 11v10, 12v12, 13v8, 13v14, 14v6, 17v2, & 17v8. This phrase is used to describe those who have no time for God and who wish this earth to continue, as it is, without Him. They prefer to look for a perfect world built by man, and seek to build a kingdom on earth in opposition to God.
Similar phrases like "the kings of the earth" are found (chapter1v5, 6v15,16v14, 17v2, 17v18, 18v3, 18v9, 19v19). Another one is the "merchants of the earth" (18v3,18v11, 18v23). Another one is "the harlots and the abominations of the earth" (17v5). All of these phrases described various categories of people who have no time for God. The idea is that they are spiritually wedded to the earth and all its principles and ways in opposition to God. Allied to their rebellion against God and rejection of Jesus Christ is their allegiance to the anti-Christ; they readily receive the mark of the beast (chapter 13v16/17; 14v9;14v11;& 16v2).
Antagonism to God; allegiance to Satan. The days described here will be much more polarized than they are now. There will be no sitting on the fence then; you are either with God or against Him. Something spectacular happens, with an angel flying through the mid heavens making a loud proclamation, such that none can escape it. The proclamation is a threefold woe on the earth dwellers, the last of which will explode into the seven vials of the wrath of the living God. The actual meaning of the word "woe" is "alas" or "O no!" This signifies impending final doom and judgment, in which God will bring all earthly rebellion to an end. The first four trumpets have been but a warning of the ferocity of the judgment of God. The final three trumpets are the reality of it.
The word "woe" occurs in the bible more than one hundred times and forty times in the New Testament. The prophet Isaiah used it to proclaim ultimate loss to the sinners of his day (chapter 5). These sinners were amongst the professing people of God. In chapter 6 the same prophet, when he caught a glimpse of the glory of the throne of God, he said "woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." This is the effect of the direct sight of the holiness of God. Jesus used this word thirty two times and seven times alone in Matthew 23, directed to the Pharisees and scribes the religious leaders of His day. The word "woe" represents the final and just judgment of God for all who refuse His way, even upon those who wish to set up a religious alternative to His way.
The message at the end of this chapter is that the die is cast; the fury of heaven will proceed from now until the end; and all the while as we shall see that right to the end men will be given a chance to repent. Many will refuse it and suffer eternally.
No comments:
Post a Comment