A Horse Is a Horse--Unless It's a Locust

Some of us can remember the show, or at least have seen reruns, of Mr. Ed. The show had a unique premise of a talking horse who had an ornery attitude. It seemed the only person who could communicate with Mr. Ed, the talking horse, was his owner, Wilbur. The wife and neighbors thought Wilbur was downright peculiar at times. After all, who ever heard of a talking horse?

Well, that talking horse would almost make sense and seem normal when comparing to the creatures who look like horses in the first woe, found in Revelation 9.1-12:

Revelation 9:1–12 (NASB95)

Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them. The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle. They have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months. They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon. The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.

We’ve been talking for several weeks about the need for the church, all who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, to be busy about sharing the Gospel with any and all who cross our paths. According to the Bible, every single person on this planet will have to make a choice. As we study this first woe, my desire is that for all who are listening, whether in this church building or online, that all of you would make the right choice.

Everyone will be required to make a choice--choose wisely.

Today’s message will be shared as if it is the background to a theater production which should cause all who are observing to take to heart the consequences of your choices which will be required to be made. We’ll be looking at the setting of the production, the summary of the players involved, and the scene which will be played. However, when this takes place during the Great Tribulation, it will not be at all entertaining.

The Setting of the Production

This is the fifth trumpet judgment, which is the first woe prophesied. In the first verse, there's a comment about a star that has come from the sky to the earth. This star was given a key to the shaft of the abyss. Immediately, one wonders about the significance of the star. This star is not a heavenly body, but rather an angelic being. Throughout the Bible, stars are often used to describe angels. The Bible seems to suggest that this particular star is probably Satan. There is also a correlation between the fact that Lucifer had been cast from the heavens because of his rebellion against God. You can read about that in Isaiah 14.12-15, and other Old Testament passages.

Another question that should come to our minds is, what is the bottomless pit? The abyss, as some translations word this, seems to contain only evil. Revelation 11 and 17, show the bottomless pit as the place of origin for the beast. The locusts which come out of it are bent on destruction. They know their king as the angel of the bottomless pit. His name, Abaddon, or Apollyon, is a personification of destruction. The Hebrew word is used also in Proverbs 15:11, where the writer describes "death and destruction lying open before the Lord." So it seems that God is going to use Satan's own schemes and gimmicks to serve as the fifth trumpet judgment.

Those demons whom God had cast into this bottomless pit are often described as some of the most wicked of all of the fallen angels. There is reference to these in multiple places in the Bible. The pastor/scholar John Phillips describes this scene quite graphically. Picture what the world would be like if we were to open the doors of all the penitentiaries of earth and set free the world’s most vicious and violent criminals, giving them full reign to practice their infamies upon mankind. Something worse than that lies in store for the world. Satan, cast out of heaven, is now permitted to summon to his aid the most diabolical fiends in the abyss to act as his agents in bringing mankind to the footstool of the Beast.

The Summary of the Players

Let's now look at what comes up out of the abyss. You will recall that the fourth trumpet judgment caused the light to be darkened by 1/3. Now, the intensity of the smoke would cause the sun and sky to be dark and even more intensely. From within that smoke comes a huge swarm of locusts unlike anything humanity has ever seen. Personally, I believe that the light being darkened could actually be from this horrific horde of locusts.

Throughout the Old Testament, we read of the incredible destruction that took place when God sent locusts to punish evil. In the history of the early Mennonites from my wife's family who came over in the 1870s, I have read of the horrible effects locusts can have. While the train was transporting many of her families settlers to Kansas, they encountered a plague of locusts and grasshoppers. These creatures were so thick, they covered the railroad tracks, creating such a slick mass that the train was unable to keep moving. We have also read stories of how locusts swarmed upon a field of green grain and stripped the field right down to the dirt in a few short hours. To see a swarm of locusts or even grasshoppers descending upon a community like a literal cloud was frightening to all who have experienced it.

According to verse seven, these particular locusts had quite an unusual appearance. These demonic beings took on a visible form. John is careful to say they "looked like" as he gives the description. They were like horses ready for battle. Their heads had something which gave them the appearance of having crowns of gold. Their faces had similarities to human faces. Their hair was incredibly long and their teeth showed an unforgiving cruelty. The noise that their wings produced was frighteningly noisy. These locusts are especially developed for the torment which they will give. It would also seem, by the uncharacteristic qualities of these locusts, that they would be demonic forces. This seems evident by the fact that their king is bent on destroying humanity.

The Scene to Be Played

What did these locusts do? Verse three states they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth. Satan does enable them to have incredible power. However, God allows only what will accomplish his purposes, even in judgment. These locusts would not be permitted to harm any vegetation, which is what a normal locust would do. This passage also implies that a period of time had gone by, as there was grass once again. These evil creatures could harm all who did not have the seal of God on their forehead. In other words, the entire unbelieving world is going to be at the mercy of these hideous creatures.

You might wonder why the pagan world simply didn't have an incredible cropdusting effort to exterminate these creatures. After all, what harm could regular locusts do, ugly and frightening as they might be? They were actually given supernatural power. These locusts had tails which will inflict a sting upon people that was comparable to the sting of a scorpion. It was so intense that the Bible states these locusts would torture unbelieving humanity for five months. It was not just a small sting or bite. It was so intense, the Bible tells us that people will look for ways to die in order to escape the awful torment. But the reality is that they will remain alive amidst their agony.

Why allow torment for five months without death? It might be that through that spiritual and physical torment, God will be giving a last opportunity to repent and turn to Jesus.

Conclusion

It is difficult to believe that there is such an incredible fascination with horror shows in our society. It is not just during the month of October. We are seeing advertisements for various shows in the horror genre. Among the criminal mindset, there is also a morbid mindset to experience torturing and hurting other people. There is even a sick enjoyment at being a participant in the reception of torture. This is referred to in the psychological world as sadomasochism. Even amongst children, there is a thrilling curiosity with things of violence even with toys. This can be seen at toy stores, video games, computer games, books, etc.

I often wonder if the parents and society overall don't realize, that although much of this is imagination and role-play, that if it were real, it would destroy lives. I ask the question, rather than looking for ways of hurting others or viewing terror and horror, should our time not be better spent in trying to find ways to keep people out of those situations?

Many of us are incredibly thankful for the fact that we belong to Jesus Christ! We know that we will not have to endure the terrible persecution that will come during the tribulation period. However, who of us could possibly enjoy watching a neighbor, family member, or coworker go through such torture as John has described here in today's passage? If we were to go downtown and see the shopper next to us suddenly attacked by a locust, would we not feel sorry for them? Would we not wish that we could rescue them? However, consider that the shopper next to us will shriek and wail in absolute agony because of the unbearable pain. This shopper would beg to die and begin convulsing and falling to the ground because of the torture that the locust has inflicted. But it doesn't stop. Every time you see this person, you will see this horrible scene for the next five months; 152 days. Who would be able to possibly look on without concern? Would our hearts not break within us, no matter what this person's past may have been?

Friends, those of us who know Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior have a responsibility to present the message of salvation to the unbelieving world. We have a choice to make. We cannot afford to stand idly by while the unbelieving world prepares itself unwittingly to be judged by our Lord.

Those who are listening who do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, are going to have to prepare yourselves. You have a choice. Either you will die before this judgment takes place, or you will experience this torturous event we have read about today, personally. Either way, you will eventually have to face Jesus Christ as your judge. If you are not saved, you will then find yourself experiencing torture and torment even greater than what has been described by John, as you spend eternity separated from Jesus Christ, burning in hell itself, with no relief.

You can choose another alternative, however. You can admit before God that you are a sinner. We call that confession.

You can tell God that you are sorry for your sins. You can let him know that your desire is to not continue in your current lifestyle and philosophy. Instead, you want to do things God’s way. The Bible calls that repentance. This is possible because of the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross, paying the penalty for the sins of humankind for all the ages.

Then you can ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and take over and make you a brand new person. You can ask Jesus to make you a child of God, giving you eternal life with Jesus. We call this acceptance, which result in being "born again." The Bible says that "everyone who believes on him parentheses Jesus in parentheses would have eternal life."

When you do this, the Holy Spirit comes into your life, baptizing you into the family of God. The Holy Spirit gives you the power to say no to sin and yes to godly living. The Holy Spirit gives you and me the desire to serve the Lord. The Holy Spirit lives within us as a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance in Christ Jesus.

Today, I present four choices before you. For the believer, you can choose to continue as if nothing is going to happen to the unbelievers. You can remain self-centered in your Christianity. But know that you will have to give an account for the blood of many whom you chose not to share what Jesus would do for them.

Or, you can choose to purposefully, intentionally share with others what Jesus Christ desires to do in their lives. This also involves making choices as a church that we do whatever is necessary to make the presentation of Jesus Christ more readily available and attractive, by how we live our lives.

Now for the unbeliever; the one who does not know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. You also have two choices. One choice is to take a chance that everything I have presented from the Bible is just a fairytale. You can continue to live your life as if you control your own destiny. You can take that chance and hope to make me and many others look like fools.

Yet, what if what the Bible says is true? That would bring you to the other choice, which I described earlier. Turn your life over to Christ. Confess, repent, and accept.

Christian, you have been presented with two choices. Unbeliever, you have been presented with two choices.

For those who are Christ followers, if you choose to be proactive and intentional in proclaiming Jesus Christ so that others might have the opportunity to become part of the family of God, I invite you to come forward to publicly announce your decision.

If you are not a Christian, and you want to choose to become a follower of Jesus Christ, then I invite you to come forward and publicly proclaim that you recognize your need for forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ.

Whatever choice you make, based upon God's word, the Bible, I can guarantee it will make a difference for eternity.