Shelter From the Storm (Revelation 6:1–7:17)

In the early 1900s, it was not uncommon for over a million people each year to lose their lives due to natural disasters like floods and droughts, earthquakes and fires, tornadoes and landslides. Fast forward one hundred years and, in this past decade, the average annual death toll was less than 10,000. Why this dramatic improvement? Is it because there are less natural disasters today? No. The positive trend is largely due to the fact that humanity has become better prepared for the storms, more understanding of their power and behaviour, improved in anticipating their arrival, and more efficient at seeking adequate shelter when they hit.  Revelation 6 and 7 is a storm warning. A big one is coming—a category 5 tempest of divine wrath, unprecedented in scope and power. At the same time, there is also an impenetrable shelter of grace that has been provided, an indestructible and eternal refuge for all who would climb inside.