Puffs of Smoke

 I’m again in the middle of my reading through Revelation. And I came to this passage in chapter 11: “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged . . . .”

This text falls during the unthinkable carnage, death, and destruction wrought by God Himself in judgment of the world that has consistently, willfully, and persistently spat at Him and His commandments. If it has been a while since you have read Revelation, I urge you to do so sometime soon. Don’t let the imagery keep you from learning the lessons therein. But, back to the text: “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged.” (Revelation 11:18). Sometimes I am completely flummoxed by how such intense supernatural blindness, such spiritual INSANITY can completely distort those who love darkness, such as those described in chapters four through eighteen of Revelation. It is a true insanity that propels mere creatures, puffs of smoke, whose breath God can take from them in less than a heartbeat – insignificant mounds of flesh and blood and bone – to fulminate, blaspheme, and shake their fists in their Creator’s face. You can’t make this stuff up. Surely this truth is stranger than any fiction. And make no mistake – please, do not make the mistake to think such supernaturally shaped blindness is dissimilar to that which we see beginning to engulf our world today, and falling across our country – as well as many of our families. Christian – if you are not yet awake, I beg you – wake up! Even on this day after the celebration of our Messiah’s birth, strengthen the things that remain. The various and stern warnings the Lord Jesus lays against the seven churches in chapters two and three of the same book – those same warnings apply to you and me in this 21st century. Do not let the supernatural blindness enfold you. This is not a time to play church. It is not a time for ‘business as usual.’ Remember what happens to those spoken of in Jesus’ Parable of the Sower.