The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands, nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders, of their sorceries or their sexual immorality, or their thefts.
– Revelation 9:20–21
Wow, these two verses. They come at the very end of Revelation 9. And we obviously don’t have time in just a couple minutes here to dive into all the various interpretations of Revelation and the different themes in Revelation.
Revelation 9:20–21 teaches us the consequences of hardened unbelief.
In chapter 9, you see all kinds of terrifying pictures of the Holy Judgment of God. Plagues and people experiencing death and the punishment of sin. It’s happening in such graphic imagery. Then you get to Verse 20. The people who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They still didn’t turn from sin. They still kept worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk. And they didn’t turn from their sin in all these different ways, murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, thefts.
As I read these verses, I just think we need God’s grace to open our eyes. Because left to ourselves, we will give ourselves over continually to sin. Even when it’s costly in our lives, even when it wreaks havoc in people’s lives around us. Look around the world. Do we have enough evidence that sin leads to horrible places? Terrifying consequences? That sin leads to destruction? That sin leads to war and strife, that sin leads to all kinds of just injustice and harm towards so many people? Yet, we’re still tempted to sin.
Today, you and I are tempted to sin. Just take sexual immorality here. We’re tempted to think, and desire, things that are outside of what God calls us to think and desire, what God says is good for us and good for others. That’s just one example.
Revelation 9:20–21 warns us of the destructive power of sin in our lives.
We’re still tempted to worship money and to pursue possessions and the stuff of this world. No. God and his Word is made super clear to us in Revelation 9 where sin leads, in such a way that you and I might turn from sin today.
Be on guard today against the deceptive nature of temptation. When you and I are tempted to sin today, it won’t be the devil, the adversary, saying, “This is going to lead to your destruction. I’m tempting you to do it.” No. It’ll be temptation, like, “This will be good for you. This will lead to good for you.” That’s where it all started in Genesis 3, the lie that disobeying God will lead to our good, and it won’t. We have all the evidence around us in the world that it won’t.
God help us today to turn from sin. Lord help us today, when we are all tempted in all kinds of ways, subtle ways. God help us to be sensitive to temptation, to sin today, and to flee it, not to flirt with it. To run from it, not to rationalize it. God, we pray to you, help us today to see where sin leads and hate it all the more. Jesus, we praise you for your salvation from not just the penalty of sin, but the deceptive, destructive power of sin in our lives. We praise you as the Victor over sin, the Sinless One who died on the cross for our sins.
Prayer for the Agariya People
God, we pray for the spread of your salvation from sin, through us today and through your church around the world. Think about all these gods that are worshiped who cannot see or hear or walk. We pray for the Agariya people of India, this Hindu people group worshiping hundreds of millions of false gods. Oh, God, we pray that the Agariya people would be saved from false worship, to be reached with the good news of your salvation from sin as the one true God. We pray for your salvation, your life, for the Agariya people of India, even as we pray that you’d help us to live out this salvation from sin in our lives today. We pray all this according to your word in Revelation 9:20–21 in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
