Week 22 "The Locusts From The Bottomless Pit Series

WEEK 22

“The Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts From The Bottomless Pit”

Date: December 4, 2002

Place: Allendale Baptist Church

Text: Revelation 9: 1-12

Introduction

Two weeks ago we bean to study the trumpet judgments. We noticed that these judgments have increased in intensity. The last three trumpets are separated from the other four by the fact that they are three “woe” trumpets. In the Bible woe means real bad.

We are beginning a section that I call kind of weird and wild. It boggles the mind as we read through it. Many different interpretations have been given for this section. But we must remember that these things are not to frighten the child of God, as believers you and I are not going through the tribulation period.

The church will have been taken out of the world by this time. It is not the blessed hope of the church to endure these things. These are the things that will happen in the great tribulation period.

The last three trumpet judgments are generally associated with the last three and one-half years of the seventieth week of Daniel. These will be the blackest, darkest days in human history.

Again we must remember to let Scripture speak for itself. As we have seen John has furnished the key to any other interpretation.

Verse 1

“Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth.”

 We have already seen 2 stars and we said these are literal stars or possibly meteors fallen from heaven and have destroyed the vegetation and the rivers and streams.

 This star seems to be a different kind of star because it is called “him” and acts with intelligence.

 This star not only acts with intelligence, but he is given a key which he uses.

 The original Greek wording is “already been fallen”. It is speaking of a masculine personal pronoun.

 We believe this star to be speaking of Satan.

 The reasons for interpreting this star is Satan are abundant:

 Isaiah 14:12 says; “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. For you have said in your heart I will ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.”

 Luke 10:18 tells us; “And He (Jesus) said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”

 These Scriptures seen to confirm the position that Satan is in view here. John will tell later in Revelation 12:7-9 that Satan was put out of heaven and cast to the earth.

 What will Satan do?

 He goes down and takes the key to the abyss, which apparently means the God is permitting him to do it.

 The key denotes authority and power and is given to him by God. IT IS THE PERMISSIVE WILL OF GOD…

“Bottomless pit”

 This literally means the pit of abyss.

 It is mentioned 7 times in the book of Revelation, it always refers to the prison where some of the demons are incarcerated. The place of the severest torment and isolation

Verse 2

 Out of the shaft or bottomless come a great smoke that will cover the entire earth.

 Do you remember about 2 years ago that volcanic ash that covered the sky for several days? It covered all of the cars and was causing sickness. Some days it was so thick you could almost cut it.

Verses 3&4

“Locusts”

 Now we know locusts are grasshopper-like insects that descend in swarms so thick they can obscure the sun and destroy vegetation.

 These are not the usual locusts because:

1. they eat no vegetation

2. the locusts have no king (Proverbs 30:27); these do

3. in the plague of Egypt the writer had said, “Before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.” Exodus 10:14

4. But they are literal creatures resembling literal animals.

* There victims are those who have refused salvation through Christ Jesus.

Verse 5

 The scorpion is shaped like a lobster and lives in damp places. His sting is in his tail, not fatal but is very painful.

 They will torment men for a period of 5 months.

 I read in one of my commentaries that the normal life cycle of locusts is 5 months, usually from May thru September.

 Does that have a special meaning, I don’t know…