Revelation 10:5–6: “The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven 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,”

September 3rd, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The angel does something that should be familiar to us because it is very similar to the ritual used today in our American court system. In the United States, a witness is required to raise their hand and take an oath to “tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” This angel’s sworn oath is, “that there should be delay no longer.” We remember the prayer of the souls martyred under the altar in Revelation 6:9–11, who asked, “How long Lord?” This is God’s response, there will be no more delay and there will be a completion of judgment. When this will exactly take place in time, no human can say, but we all would be wise to be ready at any time.

There is an ancient, instructive fable about 3 rookie devils who were being sent to earth for their first assignment. Old Beelzebub asked them what they planned to whisper in people’s ears so that they would end up in hell. The first one said, “I’ll tell people there is no God.” Satan replied, “That won’t work, because in their heart of hearts they know there is a God. FAIL!” The second said, “I’ll tell them there is no hell.” “That won’t work either,” said Satan. “The world is full of so much pain and suffering, injustice and cruelty that people know hell exists as a place of punishment for the unrepentant and wicked. FAIL!” The third devil thought carefully for a moment and then said, “I’ll tell them that there’s no hurry.” “Perfect!” Satan cried. “People will be fooled into believing that there’s plenty of time to change. You tell them that and hell will be overflowing with millions of lost souls! Go forth and do so!”

“LORD, help us to remember today that time is short and You desire “that none would perish but that all would come to repentance.'”