So Pray.

I used to avoid Revelations, as a reaction to being taught pretribulation theology as a teenager, complete with the post apocalyptic novels of Jerry Pournelle, Heinlen and others. But I was in error. When I read this book now, I see some things that are current, and I consider this work of John of great value.

When I grew up the idea of the Soviet and NATO destroying the world in a thermonuclear exchange was the fuel of novels.

It drove my nation into an antinuclear stance. We smelt the uranium on the breath of the diplomats who wanted us aligned with the West. We broke our treaty obligations from the generation before.

I could say that I did not vote for this, which is (generally) true: the only time I supported Labour was when they were reforming the economy after NZ almost went bankrupt. I've never trusted the Troskyites or Greens, who now seem to be the same people.

Revelation 8

8 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ² Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. ³ And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, ⁴ and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. ⁵ Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings,^[a] flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

⁶ Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. ⁷ The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. ⁸ The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. ⁹ A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. ¹⁰ The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹ The name of the star is Wormwood.^[b] A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter. ¹² The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the  sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so  that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day  might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night. ¹³ Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

I am not sure if this is what the passage refers to, but what I see, locally, is that the local Kiwis, rural Kiwis, are building settling ponds, reforesting, monitoring nitrate runoff and the health of our streams and rivers. Last century there were no salmon in the harbour: we now have them  (though I will still not eat any fish or seafood from this harbour or the Manukau harbour I grew up next to in Auckland: they still take sewage overflow).

The new immigrants do not care. They fish out of season. They resent and resist the standards we have built over generations – and multiple big earthquakes.

The traditions that preserve the land are being broken by the very elite who preach the most careful nurturing of indulgences (or carbon credits). And this will not end well. It never has.

Although the woke would also regulate our prayers and the symbols we use to say we are praying (though I do not think an emoji is a prayer) we should continue to pray. Consider that our prayers are as incense in the courts of the creator. They have great value.

You may be placed where you are sweeping floors and picking up lego. Pray. When you find yourself in places of great responsibility, pray. When you can influence those around you, pray.

For the scripture discerns our motivation. The enemy has his minions and NPC. We are not so. In prayer we are able to not merely bring our requests to the Almighty, but the Almighty shows us his purpose for today.

And today, as always, will be busy and have its trials.

So pray. And may we be among the blessed before the throne when our time on this earth has ended.