See the Light

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

SEE THE LIGHT

Rev 8:12

12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

NIV

To make sense of this fourth trumpet we need to forget all the scholars who cannot agree with one another on anything regarding symbolism of what John is describing. Just as before John is telling the reader what he is seeing or reading what is played out on the scroll. Although it is of future events, some scholars would argue is happened already with Rome, and some others rulers. Once again this would take any significance away from the rest of mankind after the fact. So how does this fourth trumpet work for us? What do we get from this? How can this be for future mankind’s benefit? We have seen God strike total darkness over Egypt for three days as one of the plagues to get Pharaoh to let his people go. Total darkness includes all the sun, all the moon and all the stars. But here only one third of them are darkened. We should remember that the effects of the first three trumpets are still happening while this supernatural event begins to take shape. Certainly the astronomers would be in an absolute state of chaos trying to explain to the world what is happening. Although there will be a darkening, it is not total as with the plague on Egypt. Once again God is showing himself, his power, to bring men to repentance. It is one thing for a partial eclipse of the sun, or of the moon, but to have a third of all the universe disappear from sight all at the same time, it can only mean God is at work. We see the love of God attempting to reach out to his creation, to show them they need to look to heaven, to look up to him. Perhaps there will still be those who claim all this is due to some form of man’s pollution and that we are causing all this, that we have destroyed the ozone layer, or something of that nature. It seems some will never come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, but God will not go quietly into the night, leaving them to perish. He loves all of mankind, not just a few of us who have already been saved. We too cannot and should not go quietly into the night. We should be boldly proclaiming the coming of the Lord. Whether this happened or will happen is not of the greatest importance. But God wanting his people to see him is the greatest single purpose for all that happens. This is not a permanent darkness, but only a partial one, so that people can still see the light. We need to point people to that light. Jesus is the light of the world.