Fire and blood
by Tatiana Overduin
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Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth … (Revelation 8:13).
Read Revelation 8:1-13
Today the Revelation story continues and intensifies.
Again, I sit and ponder. Silence. The images revealed in this text, flash before my eyes, like a cinema blockbuster – all the thrills and screams. But this is no movie.
The description is so unpleasant that I struggle to believe it’s true. But it is true because it’s God’s word. ‘All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness’ (2 Timothy 3:16). What we have here is a holy calamity.
‘Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth …’ (verse 13).
Who can be saved from this desolation? Our hearts turn to those we love and care for, who do not live lives that honour God. We grieve. What can we do to be saved? We read in verse 4, that our prayers are valuable to God, so valuable that they are held. ‘The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand’. This is the second time this week that we are reminded that our heartfelt prayers are precious to God.
We have read and meditated upon many extraordinary topics and themes: angels, incense, prayers held in golden bowls, the four living beings, the elders, the throne of God and the Lamb of God. Binding seals, the heralding of trumpets, the golden censer of the Kings of kings, the response of nature as thunder peals, fire mixed with blood … but we need not fear what is to come, as Christ has made us co-heirs with him in his heavenly kingdom.
‘But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we eagerly wait for him to return as our Saviour. He will take our weak mortal bodies, and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control’ (Philippians 3:20,21).
We pray: all-powerful God, we come humbly before you, seeking to understand your works and all your ways. Help us, Lord, to believe, so that we may stand before your throne in heaven, with the multitude, before the Lamb. Have mercy on us, Lord. We especially pray for our loved ones; that they may also believe in you. We seek you, to grow in faith, so as to stand atoned before heaven’s throne, together with you. Amen.
Tatiana is married to Jim, and they live in Largs North, a seaside location in Adelaide. They have two adult children and six grandchildren, who are a wonderful blessing to them both. Tatiana teaches full-time as an English, History and Religion teacher; she gained a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Australian Lutheran College in 1996, and in her spare time, she enjoys knitting, gardening, singing for church, writing and swimming. Her home congregation is Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide.
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