I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 9-12.

    I just realized another reason that it is hard to make sense of John’s visions in this book. They are presented sequentially as if they occurred/will occur in the order that they are written down. Yet that is not entirely true. For example, the child to whom the pregnant woman in this passage gave birth is Jesus, but the passage presents the birth after many other events which had not yet happened. This is just a reminder that the purpose of John writing this was not to tell us what is going to happen in the future. The purpose of this letter was to communicate how, as confusing and terrifying as everything that happens may be, God has a plan for the world which will come to pass in His time.

    John writes that, despite the terrors and suffering following the fifth and sixth trumpets, those who had not already turned to God beforehand did not repent of their sins (murder, witchcraft, sexual immorality, and theft). Immediately after writing that we see another passage which shows that John’s vision was influenced by Ezekiel. Ezekiel was also given a scroll which was sweet in his mouth. In both cases, the scroll references a message from God for the prophet to preach to people. The point of the prophet being told to eat the scroll was that we are to take to heart ourselves the message which God gives us before speaking it to others. Here in Revelation John reminds us that, while there is a sweet satisfaction to speaking God’s word, in particular God’s judgment, to others, there is also a sourness as we realize how far short of God’s standard we have fallen. We may be called to confront others with how they have failed God and brought harm to others, but we must remember that we too have failed God and, by doing so, have hurt others.