Rev 6:8 Critters

When God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, God released ten “plagues” on the Egyptians to convince them to release the Hebrews. The plagues were specifically targeted at ten of the gods worshiped by the Egyptians.

In a similar fashion, the various “plagues” released during the seal, bowl and vial judgments in the Revelation are similar to what we are doing to corrupt the earth, only magnified. For an example, let’s look at Revelation 6:8.

Rev 6:8    And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

We have great ingenuity creating weapons and systems for so people can “kill with sword”. Between religious practices that make certain animals sacred, causing food to be wasted to the point where humans starve and political acts that result in famines, we kill with hunger today. I am not sure what killing with death is, but we probably do it. The last method is killing with the beasts of the earth. Some of what is happening with beasts today may surprise you.

Apparently bears are becoming more aggressive because of acclimation to the presence of humans and human encroachment on their habitat. It is on the History Channel and in the newspapers. According to one resident of Alaska there used to be maybe one bear attack on humans every ten years. Nowadays there are at least 2 attacks every year.

For some smaller beasts, just look to the hybrid Killer Africanized Bees. There was a geneticist in Brazil in the 50′s that tried to create a bee that produced like African bees and was gentle like European bees. Oops! Before the work was finished an assistant removed the guards that kept the queens inside the hives. A bunch of queens left for the wild with their colonies right behind them. The swarms have made it as far north as Flagstaff Arizona, breeding with local honeybees and picking up traits that allow them to survive in high altitudes and cold temps. Swarms hit people and sometimes kill them, others survive as many as 4000 stings and end up in ICU.

There are even smaller beasties we have killing people. Besides weaponized versions of anthrax bacteria and smallpox and ebola viruses, we have some nasty critters in the wild, such as MRSA and “flesh eating bacteria” or necrotizing fasciitis. These are bacteria that have adapted to the insane measures taken to sanitize facilities and equipment in hospitals.

Of course, the judgments of Revelation have not started yet. What we see in terms of what will be seen is just a foretaste. If you think it is bad now, dealing with a hostile environment that is just going to get worse, you do not want to be here when the seals get broken, the trumpets sounded and vials get dumped.

Accepting the free gift of salvation that Jesus provides now will keep you from having to navigate through the worst living conditions man has ever seen. If you wait until the meat grinder starts up to ask Jesus to forgive your sins, chances are good you will end up with your head cut off. That might actually be a good thing according to Revelation 7, to die during the seven year period of rule by the man of evil. The biggest problem with that strategy is the lying wonders that could deceive even those that belong to Jesus. If you wait, you might just miss the whole thing and end up on the wrong side of history.

Me personally, I do not want to see any of it. I would much rather spend that seven years in heaven with Jesus, getting ready for the second coming and the start of the 1000 year kingdom to come.

Related posts:

1. Prophecy is precise
2. SPACE.com — Sun Surprisingly Active During Low Point in Cycle
3. So what do we do?
4. Brutality… really?
5. # 6 – Judgement

 Print This Post

Posted by bradfoot

Text filed under BibleStudies, CloserToGod, Eschatology, salvation | Comments Off