Revelation Study Series 14a - God’s Mysterious Plan Fulfilled (Chapter 9) Series

Revelation Study Series 14a - God’s Mysterious Plan Fulfilled Chapter 9a

01.30.22

Message…

Worst Year Ever - 356 AD

In Europe, "It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year," says McCormick, a historian and archeologist who chairs the Harvard University Initiative for the Science of the Human Past.

A mysterious fog plunged Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia into darkness, day and night—for 18 months. "For the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during the whole year," wrote Byzantine historian Procopius. Temperatures in the summer of 536 fell 1.5°C to 2.5°C [36.5 F], initiating the coldest decade in the past 2300 years. Snow fell that summer in China; crops failed; people starved. The Irish chronicles record "a failure of bread from the years 536–539." Then, in 541, bubonic plague struck the Roman port of Pelusium, in Egypt. What came to be called the Plague of Justinian spread rapidly, wiping out one-third to one-half of the population of the eastern Roman Empire and hastening its collapse, McCormick says.

https://www.science.org/content/article/why-536-was-worst-year-be-alive#:~:text=Temperatures%20in%20the%20summer%20of,port%20of%20Pelusium%2C%20in%20Egypt.

After what we will discuss today…536 AD will seem like Spring Break!

*(LW Recap) In ch. 8, the Lamb, the only One worthy to take the seven sealed scroll from the One on the throne. He broke the seventh seal. With the breaking of that seventh seal came seven angels with seven trumpets. These trumpets represent seven judgments.

Trumpet 1…

Rev. 8:7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth. One-third of the earth was set on fire, one-third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass was burned.

Trumpet 2…

Rev. 8:8 Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the water in the sea became blood, 9 one-third of all things living in the sea died, and one-third of all the ships on the sea were destroyed.

Trumpet 3…

Rev. 8:10 Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch. It fell on one-third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star was Bitterness. It made one-third of the water bitter, and many people died from drinking the bitter water.

Trumpet 4…

Rev. 8:12 Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of the sun was struck, and one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars, and they became dark. And one-third of the day was dark, and also one-third of the night.

And, if all that weren’t bad enough…the worst has not even begun!

Rev. 8:13 Then I looked, and I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air, “Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets.”

356 AD, the Civil War years, years of WW1/WW2, Vietnam War years, 2020-Present…you could throw all of this together and none of it will be anything like what is coming!

Revelation 9:1-2

1 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.

2 When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke.

“...a star that had fallen to earth…”

This star is clearly a created being. There is debate as to if this is satan, some other fallen angel, or just an angel.

I believe it is satan. With the description that “...a star that had fallen to earth…”

This indicates that the “fall” had already taken place as John is seeing this.

Ezekiel 28:12-15

12 “Son of man, sing this funeral song for the king of Tyre. Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: “You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and exquisite in beauty.

13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone—red carnelian, pale-green peridot, white moonstone, blue-green beryl, onyx, green jasper, blue lapis lazuli, turquoise, and emerald—all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created.

14 I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire.

15 “You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you.

Isaiah 14:12-14

12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world.