Hardened Hearts in the Tribulation
 What
Jesus revealed to the Apostle John in the book of Revelation
is a scenario that goes beyond anything any script writer
could ever imagine. The pain and suffering that will
come upon people during the time of the tribulation
is too horrible to imagine, which is one reason why
John often used the word "like" to describe
what he was seeing. Quite simply, he had seen no precedent
for what Jesus was showing him.
Chapter nine is an interesting chapter, not only because
of the dramatic events that are described there, but also
because of three verses that have to do with the hearts of
men during those times. The time frame is, of course, the
7 year tribulation period, and the main events of the chapter
are the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets. But, these
particular verses go beyond mere events to reveal the deep
degree of godlessness, spiritual decay and hopelessness that
will exist in the hearts of many who are left behind at the
rapture.
When the fifth trumpet will sound creatures that John described
as locusts will come out of the bottomless pit and their only
goal will be to torment sinful men in a most painful way.
For five months they will inflict a level of suffering that
is unprecedented - they will not kill people, but will sting
them with some sort of stinger that will produce pain and
suffering as when a scorpion stings a person. The context
indicates there will be no escape from these creatures and
no relief from the terrible suffering they will inflict. At
each turn people will be stung, perhaps many times per day.
In bed, in the shower, while driving, at work...no escape
and no relief. This will go on for five months. So, the first
verse to note is verse six which is indicative of how hopelessly
unbearable the pain will be, And in those days men will
seek death and will not find it; and they will long to die
and death flees from them (Revelation 9:6 NASB).
The other two verses that capture our attention regarding
these matters are verses 20 and 21, and these aptly show just
how hardened the human heart can become. And the rest of
mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent
of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons,
and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone
and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and
they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries
nor of their immorality nor of their thefts (Revelation
9:20,21). While reading these verses it seems strange that
the people going through this will refuse to repent before
God and cast themselves upon His mercy. Yet, adamantly refusing
to repent is exactly what they will do.
Further, it seems that in light of all that is happening
around them, people will clearly see that this horrible series
of events is nothing less than miraculous; that is, it is
out of the ordinary and must of necessity be by the hand of
God. Actually, the people who will go through this will indeed
know this is of God! Revelation 16:21 clarifies this matter
of their knowing from whom the plagues are coming, And
huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down
from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of
the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely
severe (emphasis mine). Yes, people will know who is sending
these plagues and why. But, they will not be able to kill
themselves in an attempt to escape and they will continue
to refuse to repent.
There is a big question about all this. If they will know
who is doing all this and that the reason is their rebellion
toward God, then why will they not repent of their sin and
turn to Him? After all, the cause-and-effect will be so obvious!
The answer can be found in something that might not be so
obvious to the casual reader of the Bible. Miracles in the
absence of faith have only one result: they tend to harden
the human heart. On the surface such a statement seems almost
incredible, but that does not detract from the truth of it.
Consider the story in Mark 6:1-6. In that text Jesus was in
His hometown of Nazareth teaching in the synagogue. The people
listening to Him had known Him all His life, and they just
could not believe this hometown-boy was indeed the Messiah.
Verse five says, He could do no miracle there except that
He laid His hands upon a few sick people and healed them.
It did not matter that Jesus performed miracles in their presence;
the majority of His fellow citizens simply refused to believe
in spite of those obvious miracles. And the reason they refused
to believe? They had no faith, and the result was that their
hearts were hardened. This has always been, is now and always
will be the case. Likewise, the people in Revelation 9:20-21
will not repent because their lack of faith will harden their
hearts, and the presence of the miraculous will change nothing.
One of the things that makes this passage so sobering is
the probability that many people alive today will be among
those very same people described in that text. Could this
really be? Yes. The return of Jesus for His church, commonly
called the rapture, is imminent. Soon after the rapture Israel
will sign a treaty with a world ruler whose title will be
Anti-Christ, and the signing of this document will signal
the beginning of the tribulation period, the period in which
these events will take place.
It is of great importance to understand that the events of
Revelation are not necessarily relegated to some time in the
distant future. And there are at least two reasons for this.
First, there is no Bible prophecy that must be fulfilled before
the taking of the church. It could happen at any moment. Second,
the world stage is ready with the main players (Israel, the
European Union, the United Nations, the World Council of Churches,
and others) already on stage and moving quickly to their positions
for the opening scene. A number of people alive today will,
in my opinion, be those we read about in these passages. Many
will die from the plagues described beginning in chapter 6,
but many will still be alive to experience first-hand the
sting of the locust-creatures in chapter 9 and will be there
to shake their puny fists in the face of God.
The inability to die by some means is something that is associated
only with the locust-creature plague. In verse 15, when the
sixth angel sounds his trumpet, 33% of those still alive will
die. Some will believe that death will bring relief from their
suffering. Not so! Death will only move a person from the
torment of the earthly plagues to the fiery torment of those
who die separated from Jesus Christ. This same false sense
of relief associated with death is common even today. But,
the truth of the matter is this: no matter the kind or degree
of a person's suffering, death will not bring relief if that
same person is not a blood-bought disciple of our Lord.
There are those who think that the judgments of Revelation
are just too terrible for God to pour out. They believe God
is love and that He could never do these things even to rebellious
humanity. True, God is love, but love is only once facet of
God's character. God is also a God of justice, and a just
God cannot allow sin to go unpunished. Jesus died to take
upon Himself the punishment due to every human being. This
means the same God who righteously demands payment for sin
also provided that payment on the cross. Redemption is free
to all who will make Jesus both Master and Savior. What some
folks seem to forget is that He will not be our Savior without
also being our Master. Jesus is not simply a "fire escape"
saving people from hell and then allowing them to live in
rebellion to Him. And that is the problem with the people
in Revelation 9. They would dearly love to escape the torment
of the tribulation, but their decision to not place their
faith in Jesus prevents them from wanting Him as Lord of their
lives - the result of hard hearts.
God is indeed righteous in His dealing with rebellious humanity
in this way. Take a look at Revelation 16:5,6, And I heard
the angel of the waters saying, "Righteous are You, who
are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things;
for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and
You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it. Twice
in that chapter, verses 9 and 11, John records that rebellious
humanity will actually blaspheme God because of their sufferings,
but they simply will not repent! As late as chapter 14:6 John
says God will send an angel to proclaim the gospel message
to those who are still in rebellion against Him and to warn
them to not worship anti-Christ and take his mark. Most, however,
will not listen.
No, these judgments are not the random and capricious actions
of a God who has lost His temper at humanity. God is without
question righteous in pouring out His wrath upon a race of
people immersed in their sin and in their hatred for Him.
It is nothing less than amazing that He will even offer grace
and mercy to all who will accept it during this time, but
He will. And faithless and hardened hearts will simply not
respond to that amazing offer of pardon.
That many will be saved during the tribulation is a fact
(Revelation 7). However, one would be very wise to not consider
this as an option to exercise after the rapture. 2 Thessalonians
2:1-12 says that God will allow those who did not love the
truth to be deceived in their belief system during that time.
Further, if a person chooses to not serve God presently when
it is easy (at least in our country), what makes that person
believe they will do so when this decision will cost them
their life? Also, our next heart-beat is not promised, and
once a person dies (often suddenly and tragically) that person
no longer has opportunity to repent and accept God's mercy.
It is the end of every opportunity, and there is no appeal.
The tribulation. Jesus said it will be a time of unprecedented
world trouble, and the sketch we have in Revelation does not
fully present the total horror that will be played out during
those years. Our only hope is in the coming of Jesus for His
church. It could happen at any moment, and it is that very
moment we love and pray for so fervently. Maranatha! DLM
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