Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given authority like the authority of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to damage the grass of the earth or any green growth or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torture was like the torture of a scorpion when it stings someone. And in those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, August 20, 2025
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Whoa. This punishment is directed at those who were persecuting Christians at the time. Christians had been “sealed,” in the same way the Passover lamb’s blood protected the Israelites in Egypt from the 10th plague. This is seriously dark stuff, though, and it speaks to one of the problem I and so many like me have with Revelation. Yes it’s metaphorical and poetic and full of fantastic imagery that is beautiful in many ways. But this stuff is raw with hatred, self-justification, and self-righteousness. It speaks to the most base negative instincts of humanity and for centuries it has led some Christians to believe they are justified in seeing their “enemies” as worthy of this kind of horrific treatment. There is no way in this realm of existence that a loving God would do this to anyone. Period. A God who would allow this kind of suffering—who would inflict this kind of suffering—is no God I would worship.
But at the time in which it was written, perhaps it gave those who were under the threat of persecution a modicum of hope. Inspiration to keep the faith even if they were suffering earthly torture. I can’t know for sure. I wasn’t there, nor have I ever been called upon to proclaim my spiritual convictions at the risk to my life.
If nothing else, perhaps this passage is an invitation for us to be creative in wondering how to address the kind of marginalization faced by anyone for their beliefs, especially as we continue to be dangerously polarized and tempted into this kind of dark desire for the destruction of those we disagree with.
How would I envision God showing up to make things right with those who have carried out persecution, torture, and oppression?
