Finale Revelation and Imagination Daily Devotional- 39
by David Joynt on July 14, 2021
Get Real November 23 Devotional
November 23, 2024
REVELATION 9:1-9 | 1And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit; 2he opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given authority like the authority of scorpions of the earth. 4They were told not to damage the grass of the earth or any green growth or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5They were allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torture was like the torture of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6And in those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them. 7In appearance the locusts were like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; 9they had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle.
The dramatic images of Revelation resemble nightmares. Nightmares are often unreal or inconsistent in their timing, setting, or sequence but they are still terrifying, because they are rooted in fears that connect with actual dangers. John’s vision in our scripture today illustrates this. Locusts were a real danger to crops and food supplies, scorpions then and now have deadly venom. We are asked to imagine a setting where these creatures were tasked with attacking humans.
To heighten the tension, we are told they emerged from beneath the earth accompanied by dark smoke that turned daylight dark by blocking the sun. Further, they were the size of battle horses, and here the fear is of the actual armies of the long-haired Parthians from across the Euphrates.
Notice how many of the visions in Revelation employ and combine pictures of things we naturally fear.
What do you have nightmares about?
