And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Revelation is an apocalyptic book written by the apostle John around 90 AD, addressed to Christians living under brutal Roman persecution. It uses intense, symbolic imagery — not as a literal news forecast, but as a poetic and prophetic disclosure of spiritual reality. Chapter 9 describes devastating plagues echoing the judgments God sent on Egypt in the Old Testament book of Exodus. Even after these catastrophes, the surviving people refuse to turn from their false worship. John lists their idols — gold, silver, bronze, stone, wood — and adds a bitter observation: these objects cannot see, hear, or walk. It is a dark, honest portrait of how deeply the human heart can cling to things that have no power to help.
God, show me what I bow to without even realizing it. Give me the courage to see it clearly and the grace to let it go. I don't want to cling to things that cannot hear me or help me. I want to know you — the God who actually does. Amen.
The saddest line in this verse isn't about the plagues. It's the word "still." Still did not repent. After everything. The human capacity to cling to things that are clearly not working is something we tend to locate safely in ancient people with their gold statues. But John's description has a satirical edge: they kept worshiping things that cannot see, hear, or walk. Blind things. Deaf things. Things that just sit there. The question that should make us uncomfortable isn't "who are those people?" It's what do I keep going back to that cannot actually do anything for me? Modern idols don't look like bronze figurines. They look like the approval you keep chasing from someone who will never give it freely. The financial cushion you're building that you think will finally make you feel safe. The distraction you reach for at 10 PM rather than sitting with what's actually true. This verse doesn't offer comfort — it's a mirror. The hard thing about idols is that we rarely choose them consciously. We just notice, one day, that we've been bowing. What have you been bowing to? And what would honest, undramatic repentance even look like for you?
Why do you think the people in this passage refused to repent even after experiencing such devastating loss? What does that tell us about how idolatry works in the human heart?
John's idols are gold, silver, and stone. What are the equivalent things in your own life — the things you rely on for security, identity, or comfort that aren't God?
Is it possible to worship something without consciously choosing to? How would you even recognize it in yourself? What are the signs that something has become an idol?
John describes a collective, cultural refusal to repent. How do the values and pressures around us — social media, career culture, consumerism — make certain idols invisible or even celebrated?
If you identified one thing in your life that has quietly taken God's place — something you trust more than him — what is one honest step you could take this week toward loosening its grip?
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1 Timothy 4:1
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
1 John 5:21
Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.
1 Corinthians 10:21
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exodus 20:4
For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Revelation 22:15
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Romans 1:21
Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:
Matthew 11:20
Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
Daniel 12:10
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent even then of the works of their hands, so as to cease worshiping and paying homage to the demons and the idols of gold and of silver and of bronze and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;
AMP
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk,
ESV
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;
NASB
The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.
NIV
But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.
NKJV
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!
NLT
The remaining men and women who weren't killed by these weapons went on their merry way—didn't change their way of life, didn't quit worshiping demons, didn't quit centering their lives around lumps of gold and silver and brass, hunks of stone and wood that couldn't see or hear or move.
MSG