A message to the Self-Seeking

Revelation 16:2-21

Dad was right, we do not learn from history, so we are destined to repeat the lessons and the pain that goes with them.  What does the apostle John see in the first bowl of God’s wrath; “The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.  The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.  The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and spring of water, and they became blood. Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:  “You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”  And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.”  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.”

These people did not tear their clothes as Josiah did, no they cursed the name of God, and the next three plaques were even more terrible, and still the people refused to repent.  God has blessed us so much, but have we forgotten where the Bible is in our home, not that it is lost, most often it is on the bookshelf, or table in the living room, but is it in our hearts, in our minds, or have we lost it?  The apostle Paul gives us this word in Romans 2:8, “but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.  There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.  For God shows no partiality.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice