God holds back evil, so evil does not completely destroy
Revelation 8:6-13
6 Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets made ready to blow them.
7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were hurled to the earth, and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea. 9 A third of the sea became blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many died from the water because it was made bitter.
12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light was darkened; a third of the day was kept from shining and likewise the night.
13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew in midheaven, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”
The first four trumpets are sounded, there is great destruction – a third of the earth, of the sea, of the drinking water, and of the sky are destroyed, made unusable, or disappear. Yes, it is catastrophic – but it is limited to one-third. Just as the four horse-riders of chap. 6 had their power limited, just as the angels in Rev. 7:1 held back the destruction, here again the power of destruction is limited by God. God holds back the forces of evil which would keep on destroying, their power is limited by God’s action.
The destruction accompanying the first three trumpets has a definite ecological feel. The grass is fried and a third of the trees are gone, and what may be an larging desert takes up a third of the land. In the ocean there is mass extinction as one third of sea creatures die, leading to a food crisis in the seas. And one-third of the drinking water is destroyed, leading to death among human beings. The environment is under attack and the costs to human beings are significant.
An angel following the fourth trumpet says, worse is yet to come. The anxiety and the stress of not knowing what is next is often worse than the destruction itself, and the angel voices those fears clearly with “woe, woe, woe.” We need to remember that God has limited the powers of the destructive forces. Nothing will completely destroy the creation, God will protect a remnant, that is his promise.
In the midst of fearful events, we hold firm to the promise that God will hold back the forces that threaten complete destruction of places and buildings and people. God will keep his promise and never allow the complete obliteration of all of humanity or the creation.
PRAYER:
We rejoice, O Lord, that you hold back the forces of destruction, that even now you prevent evil from having full sway in the world. We confess we often forget your providential hand at work in the world. Cause us to recognize your hand of protection present in the world and in our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.