The Trumpet Judgments, Part II (Rev 9:1-11)
And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!" Rev 8:13, NKJV
Last week, we returned to our study in Revelation in Chapter 8 with the opening of the Seventh Seal, which in turn resulted in the beginning of the Trumpet Judgments. We studied the first four of these judgments, which are:
Hail and fire mixed with blood, destroying vegetation
Meteor strike, polluting the Mediterranean Sea or perhaps an ocean
Wormwood, perhaps a comet, making bitter a vast amount of the water
Darkening of the Sun, Moon and stars
These first four trumpets were ecological in scope; in other words, they were God ordained forces of nature that affected nature itself. The result was what we would call ecological disasters, and these would be catastrophic in extent. Yet, as mentioned in last week's Monday devotional, things can get worse and in this case they do with the opening of the three "Woe Trumpets".
The English term woe is translated from the Koine Greek ouai (oo-ah'-ee); a primary exclamation of grief; "woe" (New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary). MacArthur states in his Revelation 1-11 Commentary: Woe is used throughout Scripture, an expression of judgment, destruction, and condemnation. Jesus pronounced the "woes" on Jerusalem, Bethsaida and Chorazin in the Gospels, stating among the woe pronouncements that if Sodom and Gomorrah had seen the mighty works he had done they would have repented.
In short, ouai is a prophetic pronouncement of coming doom and gloom upon a people; and the fact that this angel uses the term three times has a dual significance. First, it means that doom and gloom are coming, and it will result in great grief and misery (picture grief X 3) in those affected, the "inhabitants of the earth" which is a euphemism in Revelation for those that reject the gospel (MacArthur). Secondly, the term is used three times because there are three trumpets yet to sound.
The eagle is a bird of prey, and the vision is one of coming condemnation. Robert L. Thomas notes in his landmark Revelation 8-22 An Exegetical Commentary that "the picture is that of a strong bird rushing to it's prey, in this case referring to the rapid approach of God's remaining vengence...at one extreme, the eagle speaks of the salvation of God for Israel, reminding that the plagues are the birth pangs of God's new age (Ex 19:4) but at another it is a bird of prey, associated with blood, death and rotting flesh (Job 39:27-30) In addition, the eagle flies high up in the air, is visible to all, and it's call is unmistakable; it is also possible this is the fourth cherub mentioned in Revelation 4.
As bad as things have been so far in Revelation, the worst is to come.
The Trumpet Judgments; Demons From The Deep, Part I
Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. Rev 9:1
The next three trumpet judgments are ones that are much worse than the previous four. They regard the demonic realm. The star fallen from heaven here is not an object from outer space--it is obviously an intelligent being referred to as "him" with the key to the bottomless pit. Who, then is this star?
By letting Scripture interpret Scripture, we see that this is Satan. In Revelation 12, which we will study in a few months, the story of the fall of Satan and his fallen angels is told. The illustration is given of Satan being a great dragon, and how "his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth" (Rev 12:4, NKJV). A few verses later, we see Scripture interpret Scripture:
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Rev 12:9, NKJV
Now you might be looking at Revelation 9:1 and make the statement "this star will be thrown down in the future." But in the Koine Greek the action is in past perfect tense, and in the NKJV translation it is as well: "I saw a star fallen from heaven". The KJV says I saw a star fall, which would seem to indicate that it was happening as John was watching, but the NASB does the best translation with "I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth". That Satan fell was an action which happened and is permanent; his normal place of dwelling is here on earth. Satan does appear before God from time to time in Heaven, as is seen in the book of Job; yet his normal place of habitation is Earth.
The fall of Lucifer, who became Satan, is recorded in two passages--one in Isaiah and the other in Ezekiel. Let's take a quick look.
"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! Isa 14:12, NKJV
This shows Lucifer, who rebelled against God (see verses 13 & 14), being cast out of Heaven (fallen). Satan's pride started sin, and it was the temptation of Eve by a sinful Satan that brought sin into the world. Remember this: we are most like God when we are humble; we are most like Satan when we are prideful.
"You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. Ezek 28:14-15, NKJV
Satan was perfect until iniquity was found in him: pride, and resulting rebellion.
In addition, Jesus Himself witnessed Satan being thrown from heaven, and this would have been in the past when Satan rebelled: I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. (Luke 10:18b, KJV).
Smoke from the Pit
And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Revelation 9:2, NKJV
Satan is given the key to the bottomless pit (literally, pit or shaft of the abyss). There are mainly two different ideas as to the meaning of this term.
Some feel that this would seem to indicate that this is a separate place from Hades, the temporary dwelling place of the unsaved; it is a place worse than Hades itself; that there is Hades then there is Tartarus, which is a lower place than Hades itself. Clarence Larkin, well known for his prophetic illustrative charts, shows Tartarus to be a separate place all together from Hades, which is a kind of "temporary hell". However, Hell proper (the lake of fire and brimstone, Revelation 20 and 21) has no current inhabitants and with the exception of Antichrist and the False Prophet will not contain any inhabitants until after the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20:11-15). There is also the view that this is Hades, with no separation there at all.
Some view "the shaft of the abyss" as the shaft that goes down to Hades, but we can't really be dogmatic on this topic. What is it's location? We know from the scriptures that Hades is in center of the earth; and actually, a "bottomless pit" could very well exist. If you were to try to dig to the center of the earth, you would end up in China; if you could actually do that, and both ends were sealed, you would be in a bottomless pit because the only way out is up!
In the story of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31, we can see that there is fire in Hades. Where there is smoke, their is fire. We can see that the rich man calls out to Lazarus, who was in Paradise (then the part of Hades, the abode of the dead) from Torment (the place for lost souls, and also possibly some fallen angels)
"Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.'" Luke 16:24, NKJV
Robert Thomas notes that the huge volume of smoke that will belch out of the "pit of the abyss" is likened to that of "a large smelting furnace, usually used for purifying metals". In other words, this will be a vile smelling, thick smoke. In fact, the smoke will be so heavy that it will darken the light of the sun, already darkened on a cosmic level as noted in the judgment of the fourth trumpet (8:12).
It was said a few years ago--and I do believe that you can listen to this on the internet on YouTube--supposed screams of those imprisoned in Hades. There was even a story that stated that the top of the shaft of the abyss was found and that an attempt was going to take place to open it. Of course, this is wild speculation and tall tales that you would expect from the tabloid media. But I would ask this question: why would anyone want to unseal Hades? I sure wouldn't even if I could; opening Pandora's Box would be mild in comparison. This pit is where the most vile and evil of demons are kept; more tomorrow.--JH
Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. Rev 9:3-6, NKJV
These are not locusts like you would typically envision. Unlike the plague of locusts in Exodus, this plague of locust like beings will not eat up the green plants or the grass (which would have regenerated). No, these locusts are demonic in nature; their plague will not be to destroy vegetation but to torment the unsaved.
Currently, there are demons that are loose and those that are bound. We can see in the New Testament that there are two passages that show this:
For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
2 Peter 2:4, NKJV
And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; Jude 6 NKJV
As noted yesterday, there are different ideas about Hades and that there is a tartarus hades (from tartaroo, translated as "hell" in 2 Pet 2:4 above) or gehenna hell. Hard call to make quite honestly, but I do think that tartarus hades is a separate part of Hades because these fallen angels--which I feel are demons--are mentioned as being reserved in chains. These would be bound demons. The key reason why some are bound is because they did not keep their proper domain. What does this mean?
In Genesis 6, we are told of the perversion of the human race, and how these "sons of God" (angels) took to themselves wives and procreated, with the offspring being giants (nephalim). Some scholars think that these fallen angels--demons--physically had relations with the women; however, I find that unlikely as angels do not procreate, and they are a different being than we are. They would not be compatible. More likely, these demons possessed men and the offspring was giants; this was a Satanic plot to pervert and destroy the human race.
Being bound all of these years since Noah in Hades--in a temporary hell--would be a horrible thing. It would drive a person mad, and it would in my estimation result in beings that are beyond being angry; they would be filled with rage. This is what we see with these demonic locusts.
Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. Rev 9:3-6, NKJV
The locust is a sign of judgment, shown in Exodus as a judgment upon Pharaoh's Egypt because he would not let the Israelites go. There were literally millions upon millions of these insects, that are similar to grasshoppers, that descended upon the land and satisfied their appetites by eating everything in sight. However, these demonic "locusts" will not eat a single blade of grass or green leaf; instead, they will seek out and torment the unsaved masses.
The sting of a scorpion is not like the sting of a bee or wasp. Those may smart, but not like a scorpion sting. The scorpion venom affects the nerves themselves, and according to some study that I have done the person unfortunate enough to be stung by a scorpion suffers with it for five months. And when I state that the suffer, they suffer day and night, and some people even die from the sting.
The tribulation saints and Messianic Jews of that time will not be affected, as they will have the seal of God upon their foreheads. While the text in Revelation states only that the 144,000 "superevangelists" will have a seal on their forehead, we can see in other places in God's Word how the saved are sealed. For instance, we can see how the saints of Christ are sealed unto the day of redemption (Eph 4:3, KJV); sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Eph 1:13, NKJV); Who hath sealed us and given the earnest (promise) in our hearts (2 Cor 1:22. KJV). In short, this judgment of the "locusts" will be upon the unsaved and rebellious during that day only.
The unsaved masses will be in great pain and suffering in that day because of this demonic plague; they will wish that they were dead and will try any and all means to kill themselves. Yet, God will supernaturally keep these people from killing themselves.
You might say that all of this is mean, it is vengeful, and that a loving God would not torture men. However, there is a great element of mercy shown; God repeatedly gives men the opportunity to repent and to come to Him in faith. I can tell you that I came to faith during a very difficult, painful time in my life. However, I am thankful for that incredibly difficult period; if not for God putting me through that time, I would not have seen my need for a Savior. Those saved during that time will agree as well.
The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon Rev 9:7-11
It is one thing to have to suffer the intense pain, but these locusts will also terrorize the peoples that are their ordained targets. When the word gets out that these demonic locusts are on the loose, people will run and hide from them and cower in fear. Their very appearance is frightening to say the least:
Crowns of something like gold: the word for crown here is stephanos, a victor's crown. This speaks of the unstoppable victory over those that these locusts have been dispatched to torment.
Faces like men: this shows intelligence. These will not be mindless insects, these will be beings with knowledge.
Hair like women's hair: the hair of a woman is said to be her glory (1 Cor 11:15), and as strange as it sounds there will be an attractiveness to the unsaved, almost an irresistibleness. When seen, the unsaved will not be able to resist and may even be drawn to these horrible creatures.
Teeth like lion's teeth: This indicates a voraciousness. There will be an unquenchable thirst for conquest of the unsaved masses.
Breastplates of iron: indicates strength and invincibility. The demonic locusts cannot be killed.
sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle: People will be able to hear their approach, and it will be very loud and deafening. For those that remember the cicada's appearance in 1999, you will remember how loud those insects were; and there will be many more of these locusts.
They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months: As mentioned before, these locusts will have scorpion tails; they will inflict a sting that will last for five months and will cause great pain.
And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. Both of these titles, Abbadon (Hebrew) and Apollyon (Greek) mean "the destroyer". Some scholars think this is Satan, but it would appear that "The Destroyer" is a "general" in Satan's demonic army. Satan has a military like order to the demonic world (Ephesians 6:12; principalities, powers, rulers, spiritual hosts of wickedness).
