The Book of Revelation would probably be the last place to teach upon the subject of the depravity of fallen man. Yet, as I will show, it is there seen clearly.
"And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." (9: 20-21)
"And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds." (16: 8-11)
When I read these prophecies I am amazed at the people in the Apocalypse who are suffering under great tribulation and the wrath of God and who react the way they do. What do they do? They blaspheme God, express their anger towards God's anger, and "repent not." Rather than condemn themselves, they condemn God who is bringing the Apocalyptic evils upon them for their sins. This shows just how evil will be the final generation who experience the divine judgments of the Apocalypse. They certainly do not react in the same way Nineveh did when judgment was given against them by God. Here is the record:
"And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not." (Jonah 3: 4-10)
The Ninevites repented upon the mere prophetic message before any destruction began. Yet, the sinners in the Apocalypse have the destruction ongoing and yet fail to repent. Our Lord spoke of other communities who, like the Apocalyptic sinners of the last days, failed to repent even when it was clear to them that God was exacting vengeance upon them. The record is:
"Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee." (Matt. 11: 20-24)
The Bible speaks of the "hard and impenitent heart" (Rom. 2: 5) and of the "wrath" that they "store up" for themselves. This is the depravity of man. He will not turn from his sins, will not justify God, will not confess his sins and the justice of God in condemning him and his crimes. This is because they are "haters of God" (Rom. 1: 30), completely anti God. (See Rom. 8: 6-8). This is the attitude we see in billions in the world today. They are like Nietzche.
This reminds us of the time in Israel's history when they were suffering widespread death by divinely sent plague of serpents. God, in the midst of his execution of wrath, showed mercy by allowing Moses to take one of the serpents and to place it on a pole so that all who looked at the crucified serpent would be spared the judgment of death. Jesus referred to this and said:
"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3: 14-15)
But, none in the Apocalypse look to Christ to save them. They do not accept his atonement and forgiveness.
"The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God." (Psa. 9: 17)
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