Turn To God (Away From Idols)

...and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they did not repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. [Revelation 16.11] 

This verse stood out to me today from Revelation 16. I realized a timeless value in what it says; all by itself, it reveals a universal problem among people.

When things go terribly wrong (as is described in today's One Year Chronological Bible reading), people blame God. I cannot say their blame is misplaced, but their cursing of God is. The root of this problem is idolatry; they would not repent (turn away from idols) and turn to God.

But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! [Revelation 9:20]

Everyone was burned by this blast of heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had control over all these plagues. They did not repent of their sins and turn to God and give him glory. [Revelation 16:9]

...and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they did not repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. [Revelation 16:11]

Turning to God is what the 1st Commandment is all about:

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.2-3] 

Turning away from God is idolatry and what the 2nd Commandment is all about:

“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. [Exodus 20.4-6] 

Cursing God for troubles and not repenting and turning to Him, but instead unrepentantly turning to man-made idols for solutions (thus attributing god-status to them or God-association with them) is a violation of the 3rd Commandment:

“You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name. [Exodus 20.7] 

Every curse described in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is designed, by its manifest pain and suffering, to alert and cause man to turn to God. To turn to God, one must necessarily turn away from idols (including "self").

For all the difficult to understand events and circumstances described in the book of Revelation, this one fact stands out: God desires that man repent and turn to Him (turning away from idols). As long as man remains in unrepentant denial about his idolatry, he will naturally remain dazed and confused about the book of Revelation. 

Pain and suffering, in the times detailed in Revelation, as well as in our time now, call us to one and the same response: repent of sin (idolatry) and turn to God. 

The solution of repentance and turning to God at the onset of pain and suffering is too simple for religious people and preposterous to the ungodly as, in common pride, both refuse to repent and turn to God. Neither the religious nor the ungodly are willing to turn away from their idols, their man-made products and services promising relief from pain and suffering, requiring payment but not repentance, and turn only to God (Exodus 20.3).

For the record, turning to God means turning to God ALONE (away from every idol).

Why is it absolutely necessary to turn away from every idol? Because idols, by their very nature, invoke lifelessness:

Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell. They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and throats but cannot make a sound. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them. [Psalm 115.4-8]

The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have  mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and mouths but cannot breathe. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them. [Psalm 135.15-18] 

Jesus said: 

For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’ [Matthew 13.15]

Father, may Your people grasp the necessity of humble repentance (actively turning away from idols) and turning to You - as a lifestyle. As we hear Your Word spoken in truth, may we turn from the blindness and deafness of idolatry so that we might understand and be healed (delivered from our pain and suffering). So be it.