Revelation 9:4
4 And[kai] it was commanded[rheo] them[autos] that[hina me] they should[adikeo] not[hina me] hurt[adikeo] the grass[chortos] of the earth,[ge] neither[oude] any[pas] green thing,[chloros] neither[oude] any[pas] tree;[dendron] but[ei me] only[monos] those men[anthropos] which[hostis] have[echo] not[ou] the seal[sphragis] of God[theos] in[epi] their[autos] foreheads.[metopon] KJV-Interlinear
4 And
they were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green
thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their
foreheads. NASB
These demons have been
penned up in the Abyss for a very long time.
We are not told the duration of their incarceration.
When they are released,
what appears first is the dark smoke representing their attitude, which is
totally devoid of truth.They are filled
with hate and evil to the core and worse.
However, God controls everything,
and in our verse, these demons are given a command (orders) from God, and they
obey them.
One would think that
these demons would want only one thing when released, and that would be to go
out and kill and do whatever destruction that they could. Perhaps it was this group who sent the
universe into its groaning state, eons ago?
But, again, Jesus Christ controls everything, and they comply. It is an interesting contrast in attitude for
the demons.They are full of hate, but still
hold a greater regard for Christ’s power, which they fear even more.
We are still in the
introductory verses of the demons.We
have not yet made it to their tormenting capabilities.
With a picture like a
locust and scorpion, they are certainly not pretty, but rather ugly and
repulsive, and scary to have around.If
you saw several billions of these demons coming at you, then you might stop and
reconsider your attitude toward Christ.
At least one would think that.
The demons are given
orders to ignore the plant life, namely the grass and crops and trees and
such.Normally locusts will devour all
of the plant life in their area, and then move on to the next area with
vegetation and destroy it.
The typical
characteristic of a locust infestation, is that they swarm in huge numbers that
cannot be counted.They are massive in
number.They descend on their target,
typically plants, and cover it and devour it all. So they have mouths and bite and chew,
obviously.Locusts do not have stingers
in their tails as do scorpions, but then these demons are a unique group.
And their marching orders
are simply this – to ignore the plants, and torment unbelievers only.
Those who do not have the
seal of God ‘in’ their foreheads, is an expression for unbelievers.
‘In’ the forehead is a
reference to their decision, or rather their lack of a decision to believe in
Christ.
Seal, ‘sphragis,’ means a protective fence, and do not enter
fence, a protective barrier which prevents misappropriation. And this seal exists within the soul when a
person believes in Christ.You have a
seal in your soul, but you will not be able to see it in the mirror.
This is not a tattoo on
the forehead, but the designation of the soul, for those who are saved, verses
those who have not believed and therefore are not saved.
Now, you and I cannot go around
and look at someone and determine whether they are a Christian or not, just by
looking at them.But it would appear
that God will make it very clear as to just who is a believer in Christ and who
is not.It could be too, that most of
the world population is an unbelieving population.
In any case, if someone
during this assault, believes in Christ, then they would no longer be an
unbeliever, and therefore would be off limits to the demon assault.
So keep that in mind when
we cover the next few verses.The
assault can be stopped instantly, with the act of a mere thought – faith in
Christ.How difficult could that be?
Also, the next assault by
demons will bring death.So, this could very
well be the last opportunity for many people to believe in Christ, lest they
harden their attitudes against Christ, and then face death and permanent loss
of their eternal future.
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