They Did Not Repent

December 15

Micah 7

Psalm 141:7-10

Proverbs 129:24-25

Revelation 9

They Did Not Repent

“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 sexual immorality nor of their thefts.”  Revelation 9:20-21 LSB 

This is a truly horrifying passage.  By this point in the Tribulation, those left on Earth will have  experienced things we cannot even fathom.  They will have endured terrifying natural disasters, wars, famine, diseases, and plagues.  If you think of the worst apocalyptic movie you have seen, it doesn’t even come close to depicting what is coming on Earth during the Tribulation Period.  By this point, everyone will have heard the messages of the 144,000 Jews who will spread the gospel throughout the Earth.  The technology Satan will use to communicate with everyone on Earth, will also be used to spread the gospel during that time.  The Antichrist will, no doubt, deceive many and will give explanations for the disappearance of all the Christians.  He will likely say that we were abducted by aliens because we were weak or because they needed to purify the Earth from those who were “bad.”  He will have to lie to explain why millions just disappeared suddenly and to keep people from believing the truth, that the rapture foretold in the Bible, really happened.  He doesn’t want them to believe that because then they will know that the Bible is true and that Jesus really is the Son of God who came to Earth as a human baby, lived a perfect life, willingly offered Himself as a sacrifice to die on the cross, was buried and raised to life again to pay the penalty for our sin defeating death and Hell.  They will have to acknowledge that everything in God’s Word is true. 

Those left on Earth will have all the information they need to make a wise decision.  They will have the opportunity again to believe and be saved, but this verse says that the rest of mankind will not repent and turn to God.  They will reject Him again.  They will know the truth and they will still refuse to repent.  No one will be able to say they didn’t know or to claim that it isn’t fair that they will be sent to Hell.  Paul describes these people in Romans 1:28-32, “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.  They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice.  They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness.  They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” ESV  God is the righteous judge and He will provide perfect justice for all.