Image: "What Was and What Is", 2021, Nez Perce Creek, Yellowstone Nat. Pk. Wy
Revelation 9:4–6 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. ... 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
Revelation 9:11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
Revelation 9:13–15 Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.
Revelation 10:5–7 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven 6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, 7 but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.
Revelation 10:11 And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”
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This sad sight along the Nez Perce creek struck me as somewhat representing the Nez Perce tribe itself. A 19th-century historian cited these people as "the richest, noblest, and most gentle of Indian peoples as well as the most industrious." [Helen Hunt Jackson, A Century of Dishonor] They sought to accommodate the European incursion by an early treaty that promised they could stay on their huge territorial homeland. Needless to say, the forces of greed and "progress" found that commercially and physically inconvenient (to say the least) and their land was incrementally chopped up and parceled out until they rebelled and fought. Their heart-breaking epic 1100 mile retreat under Chief Joseph ended when fewer than 200 starving and sick people surrendered as Joseph declared: "I will fight no more forever." Today they are a relatively few "trees" standing amidst the memories of many, truly great ancestors.
I do not overly romanticize the history of the Native Americans in the US but, to me, the Nez Perce represent the best of those cultures.
Their fate, I think, can also illustrate what the "best" of fallen mankind's achievements will face when God brings about the closing trumpet blasts in human history. There will come a day when the awful sovereignty and power of God will leave a few standing and they will look upon the devastation that their war against God has brought. Unlike the Nez Perce, they will recognize that there was no injustice in their fate. Even as their inevitable defeat is blatantly and undeniably pressing upon them, mankind, in those days, will not "repent of their murders, or their sorceries, or their sexual immorality, or their thefts." (9:21)
In these chapters, we are told that with the "sounding of the seventh angel" the "mystery of God would be finished." (10:7) In other words, God's eternal plan for His creation would draw to a close as He completely rids of the world of the seditious rebels who have rejected His right to rule. The details of that final consummation are still hidden from us. They were, in my opinion, that which the "seven thunders" uttered (10:4) and which John was instructed to "seal up" and not write. On the day of their sounding, there will be no longer any delay. (10:6)
Perhaps we should take this to heart and realize that the previous six trumpets are already sounding. Mankind is being afflicted with gross and insurmountable challenges that have very real and devastating consequences on our environment, our social development, and our political stability. Wherever we scan our world and its history we see our remaining "trees" standing amidst the testimony of past "judgments." How many people have perished in our wars, many of which were motivated by less than noble sentiments? How puny are our attempts to stave off the forces of "death and destruction" symbolized by the titles "Abaddon" and "Apollyon"? (9:11) Can we not say that many "thirds" of the world's population has been racked with pain and suffering and death? (9:7-15)
The demonic forces that God has allowed to run rampant in our society have produced the most awful and previously unimaginable depravity. I only mention the war on the unborn as one blatant example. Man has truly reached a level of wickedness that defies excuse. We deserve what we get... and we, mankind as a whole, will get it.
It is left to us, as the heirs of John's further ministry assignment, (10:11) to "prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings." This is the continuing ministry of Christ's Church: to stand and warn. But we must believe it. We cannot be fooled by the apparent "security" promised by our wealth and physical power. At one time, the Nez Perce were a powerful and multitudinous people, now they are a bare remnant. When God sounds His final trumpet and the thunders sound from heaven, rebellious mankind's end will come. This is, in one sense, our hope. In another, it furnishes the impetus for zeal, courage, and boldness in our continuing witness.
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