There is no way to talk about Christianity in any substantive way without giving special attention to repentance. To repent is to turn away from one thing in favor of something else. In the Bible, repentance means to turn away from sin and turn in faith to the Lord. It is a firm “no” followed by a grateful “yes.” In chapter one of his gospel, Mark records Jesus proclaiming, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” The prophet Ezekiel preached, “Repent and turn from your transgressions.” John the Baptist in Matthew chapter three came on the scene, saying, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Peter, in his sermon at Pentecost, announced, “Repent and be baptized.” Paul, in his preaching in Acts chapter 17, said, “God is commanding all people everywhere to repent.” There is simply no other way for a sinner to appropriately respond to God.

Though restrained, the Lord has been exercising judgment upon the world ever since the fall. The four horsemen of chapter six have been riding through the world all along as instruments of Divine judgment. The trumpets of divine justice have been sounding with increasing volume. But while so many have and will repent, many others remain hardhearted. The warnings sounded in the first six trumpets are met, by many, with sinful indifference.

Chapter nine of Revelation ends with the tragic announcement that those sinners whom the Lord spared did not open their eyes and shake themselves into spiritual morality and spiritual sanity. Rather, having been spared by the Lord’s mercy, they refused to repent and instead continued on in their sin. It is yet another reminder of two truths. One, the Lord forgives every sinner who repents. And two, God does not judge the innocent. Those sinners who continue to suppress the truth and worship idols are judged by standard of God’s own perfect justice.

The cycle of trumpet judgments begins with a reminder that those whom the Lord has sealed cannot ultimately be harmed by those dread messengers of judgment. Those are words of great comfort given that Christians do indeed suffer all those sorrows and afflictions that are common to mankind in a sinful world. Nevertheless, they have been freed from the power of canceled sin. They have been delivered from the sting of death.