Still Did Not Repent

The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Revelation 9:20-21

In the midst of recording all of the horrible things that come upon the earth, John notes that there are still many who will not repent. I find it interesting, out of all the things that could be listed as the main sins of humanity, John sees these five things in his vision.

First, the sin of worshiping false idols is at the top of the list. The idols themselves can’t see, hear or walk. They are just statues made of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood. They are nothing in and of themselves. But worshiping them is worshiping demons. Why? Because demonic entities always stand behind false idols.

The apostle Paul makes this same point to the Corinthians when he said, “Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons”(1 Corinthians 10:19-20).

The bottom line is that any religion that worships anything but Jesus as God in the flesh, Son of God and Savior of the world, is worshiping a false idol. Standing behind their false religion is the worship of a demonic principality.

Next, John lists four more sins that humanity is steeped in that, while he expected humanity to repent from, they continue in without hesitation: 1)murder, 2)magic arts (occult practices), 3)sexual immorality, and 4) theft (greed). Look at any major American city that is being eroded from the inside out, and you will find these four sins rampant within its boundaries.

Where you find one if these in abundance you will also find the others in abundance. Murder rates soar; sexual immorality is the norm; people seek out psychics, palm readers, seances, reiki healing, and mediums instead of the Lord; corruption and greed define the economic climate of our day.

God’s patience and kindness with our sin is meant to lead us to repentance. The call to repentance is an invitation into freedom, freedom from all of these dark chains that can bind our life. Yet, one day will be the last day. One day God will set everything right in the world. One day He will bring judgment on the world. One day evil will be finally and ultimately dealt with. Until that day, we are called to live a lifestyle of repentance and work toward a world that looks more like the Kingdom of God and less like the kingdom of darkness.