Sermon Tone Analysis

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.