The Fifth Trumpet

Rev. 9:1-6 (ESV)
And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. [2] He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. [3] Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. [4] They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. [5] They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. [6] And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

You know, I always here people whining about the mark of the beast, and making sure they don’t have it. They are afraid of getting tattoo. They are afraid of having their dogs given a computer chip. They are afraid of their cellphones, social security numbers, barcodes, and the list goes on. I’m always left scratching my head.
I’m also wondering why I never have someone asking how to get the seal of God on their foreheads? I mean if I thought grasshoppers with the power of scorpions were going to come out of the pits of hell and torment me for five months so that I wish I were dead, but am not, I think I might be a bit more concerned about getting the seal of the lord on my forehead then I would be about not having the mark of the beast.
What is this seal of God? Baptism. It is that simple. God seals us as his own when he baptizes us, when water is poured over us and the triune name is spoken over us. There God makes promises to us and claims us as his. We become his servants, he puts his seal on our foreheads as it were, to mark us as his, so that we an the whole world know that we are his.
This star that falls from heaven and has the key to the pits of hell, he is the devil. He releases his hordes to torture those who are his. He has no power over those that belong to God. He is not allowed to torment those who belong to God. He must leave us alone. But the devil is a sick and perverted person who loves to torment his servants, his slaves. But in doing this he serves God’s purposes. Having a foretaste of the torture to come, people are led to find relief, relief that can only be found in baptism. The torture leads to repentance, and hearing the gospel also faith.