The Trumpets, Demon Locusts, and Worship

Please turn to the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 8.

We are continuing to go through Revelation chapter by chapter—verse by verse.

and I confess—I need to prepare you for today’s passage...

If you had to make a list of some of the strangest, weirdest passages in all of the Bible—these chapters might make your list, especially chapter 9.

but there is a point that God is communicating.

and to help us interpret this…we can get so sidetracked by Revelation..

remember---this is a vision from God to the apostle John who was suffering—written to real Christians in the 1st century who were suffering. They would have been encouraged by this—understood the imagery at some level.

which reminds me that Revelation is not about cracking a secret code—but more a book that paints a picture with bright and vivid colors to communicate God’s truth. it gets our attention.

and most of the imagery we get in Revelation actually comes from the OT—so if keep these things in mind—it was written to real people, it’s not about cracking a code, the OT is our guide—if we remember this, we can make progress interpreting this.

so with that said…let me read. Don’t stand yet—I will have you stand later.

here is the vision that John the Apostle continues to get from God--

Revelation 8:1–5 (NIV)

1 When he (Jesus) opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne.

4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.

5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

so we saw the first 6 seals in chapter 6…and now we finally get to the 7th seal.

look at verse 1 —

Revelation 8:1 NIV

1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

and it’s short. silence—whenever silence is communicated in Scripture—it is a sign of God’s judgment in the OT. and the reference to “hour” means it is a sudden—and “half an hour” —whenever half is used it’s reference to times of crisis and judgment from the book of Daniel.

so whenever we looked at the 6 seals a couple weeks ago—I said that the first 5 seals are things God is bringing between Jesus’ 1st and 2nd coming. things like war, famine, violence, even persecution.

and the 6th seal is crazy—because the stars are falling from the sky, the heavens are shaking—I believe that is a reference to the final judgment, the end, when Jesus comes back. and I believe the 7th seal here is part of that final judgment.

but then in verses 2-5—we saw another vision of angels, trumpets, and incense being offered—these are symbolic of the prayers of God’s people rising up before God!

BTW--which is such a cool and amazing symbol—that our prayers matter. In fact, these verses are probably an answer to back in chapter 6—with the 5th seal—when John sees a vision of all the martyred saints crying out to God—saying “How long, O Lord—when are you going to judge the world and bring justice.” those prayers are going up to God, and He is going to answer with the 7 trumpets.

btw—this is a reminder that prayer matters—our prayers before God are like this fragrant incense that rises up before God. and He responds. We are such DOERS here in America. Revelation reminds us we need to be kneelers before God in prayer.

now—whenever we read Revelation we want a perfect timeline—we kind of assume that the next chapter is what happens next. but if the 6th and 7th seal were a reference to the final judgment, then time is backing up showing us another angle of what is going between Jesus’ 1st and 2nd coming, and also before the end.

time moves funny in Revelation. (we got to the end and now we are backing)

and God is going to pour out his perfect justice on the earth with these trumpets.

Let me read

Revelation 8:6–13 NIV

6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. 7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. 8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. 10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11 the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. 12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night. 13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”

pause...

The first 4 trumpets---are what we would consider more “natural disasters.” but even though they are “natural” they are still under the “supernatural” hand of God—he is the one causing these angels to blow his trumpets of judgments… on the earth..

As we read and listen to these trumpets—some of the background to these is the plagues in the OT—when God sent Moses to confront Pharaoh to let God’s people go. God sent a plague of hail then. He sent plagues that affected the waters then—the Nile turn to blood. we saw a plague of darkness then. It’s like these plagues of de-creation—the same God who created it is now de-creating the world.

in addition, another story in the OT—where trumpets are in the story of Joshua. Joshua was the leader who followed Moses to lead God’s people from Egypt into the Promised Land. and as part of that leading—they marched around the walled city of Jericho—blowing trumpets for 7 days—as a sign of God’s judgment upon Jericho—warning of his coming judgment, and on the 7th day, when they blew the trumpets the walls came tumbling down and God’s people were victorious.

Both of these stories are part of the background here. God is blowing his trumpets—signaling his judgment is being poured out on the earth. That people need to take notice.

He is blowing his trumpets—showing us that our sin and rebellion against God who made us and loves us is serious!

and even though it seems like a lot of bad things—he actually restrains it—because a 1/3 is referenced—it’s bad! but it could even be worse—God is shaking things up—showing us that sin is serious and we need to turn to Him before it is too late.

Now, we would love to figure out what exactly is this going to look like. people have tried to match up from history what these events looked like—like for instance with a volcanic eruption or with Chernobyl disaster in 1986. but the fact is—we can’t do that precisely.

furthermore—we wonder—have some of these happened to some extent—

OR are they still to come—

is it only one event or several—and I can give you a very confident “I don’t know.” If i had to make my best guess—I would answer some of BOTH. we certainly see horrible natural disasters since Jesus came and will come. and it is likely there may be some final decisive disasters—so maybe the best answer is both.

but we learn that God He takes our rebellion seriously. He is judging and will judge the earth. that even these upheavals in nature—point to a God who is in control.

whenever disaster strikes our world today with floods, drought, tornados, hurricanes—while I get nervous when TV preachers say “This is the judgment of God...” b/c we don’t always know—we live in a fallen world. Despite that—I do think their instinct is right that whenever disaster strikes in our world—do we remember that sin is serious—God is still on the throne—and we need to turn to Him and others do before it is too late?

if your life is being shaken up right now—for whatever reason—are you turning to God who loves you—who CAN use upheavals in our life to get our attention—that we belong to Him?

God is blowing his trumpets of judgment—in answer to the prayers of his people—He is bringing his justice on this earth and sin.

Let’s keep reading chapter 9—and now you can stand.

Revelation 9 NIV

1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. 7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer). 12 The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come. 13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number. 17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury. 20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

and Welcome to First Missionary Church.

so the first 4 trumpets—focused on more “natural” disasters.

trumpet #5 and trumpet #6 are more obviously “supernatural”.

trumpet #5 pictures demons coming out of the earth. it uses the images of hordes of locusts coming to inflict pain on all those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. locusts were one of the plagues with Moses and Pharaoh. The book of Joel in the OT also uses locusts to describe God’s judgment, devouring everything in their path.

Here they are demons coming to hurt and inflict pain—upon those who do not belong to Jesus.

we wonder again—is this something still to come? in the future? possibly…or is this is a picture of what life is like now too to some degree for all those who don’t belong to Christ?

If you don’t belong to Jesus, if you are not sealed and covered by His blood—If He is not your Savior and Lord and treasure, you are certainly more vulnerable to spiritual and Satanic attack.

Nancy Guthrie in her book “Blessed” (which we have in the Book Nook)

These demons appear commanding, invulnerable, seductive, and cunning. But they sting and hurt and torment. The power to hurt people is in their tails, in devastation left behind after the fun has been had. And doesn’t this seem to reflect the reality that so many things that seem so empowering, so natural, and so enjoyable on the surface actually end up bringing misery? Reveling in supposed freedom to indulge, so many people find themselves enslaved to things that are quite literally killing them. So many people indulge in things that they think will add to their lives but really only take and take from their lives. That’s because they come from the pit of hell, from the one who “comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). John gives us his name here in Revelation in both Hebrew and Greek, both of which mean “destroyer.”

Certainly, there are many people in the world who have rejected Christ as their king who would never admit to having this Abaddon or Apollyon as their king. They can’t see it. They think that they are in charge of their own lives and their own destinies. But John can see, from the perspective of heaven, that all who are not sealed, all who have refused the offer of grace from the true King, all who dwell on the earth have a king who only wants to destroy them. He wants to destroy their happiness. He wants to destroy their families. He wants to destroy their futures.

Guthrie, N. (2022). Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation (p. 130). Crossway.

this is serious—a vivid picture of demonic attack.

and yet there is hope...

We are reminded that despite how powerful they are—there are limits on these demons by God.

vs. 4 — they are not allowed to harm certain things.

vs. 5—they can torture but not kill-

and it’s limited — 5 months. (lifespan of a locust)

showing us that still Jesus is in charge of all these.

the 6th trumpet also shows some type of demonic forces emerging from the Euphrates River—

in the OT—armies that brought destruction on Israel came from the region of the Euphrates.

some type of beings—probably demonic—are at least demonically influenced—come as troops—200 million strong! riding and inflicting not just pain—but death—fire, smoke, and sulfur from their mouths.

they also inflict injury.

this may be a reference to wars—to demons influencing world wars.

It also may be— a reference to false teaching—because their mouths are mentioned. possibly both! certainly false teaching can be just as deadly—because it involves our spiritual eternity.

while we would love to nail down every line.

look at 9:20-21 again. This is the point of chapters 8 and 9:

Revelation 9:20–21 NIV

20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

the most important command that Jesus said is this:

Matthew 22:37 NIV

37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

and anything we love more than God is what the Bible calls an idol.

Back then, they literally had images and idols of the false gods and goddesses—idols may from gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood.

today, our idols here in America are not like that.

What do we worship?

Money—money seems to have an allure of power, security, success, and image. Jesus said You cannot serve both God and money, recognizing its power over us.

love and romance and sexuality—that these things are not just relationships—they have a godlike influence and control over us. sexuality has become so important that we elevate to our very identity—it becomes an idolatry.

success is another one; or achievement

power and politics are others, platforms, political parties, leaders...

really anything that we trust, love, or serve more than Jesus—is an idol—even good things if they become ultimate things can become idols—things like ministry success, even family.

Idols become our saviors and lords. and even if we say—I don’t worship anything or need anything, we are duped. because you are worshipping your own independence. we have to worship something. that’s how God made us—and he made us to worship Him.

God blows these trumpets, announcing his current and coming judgment, and He wants us to turn to Him before it is too late.

those who are in Christ, will be protected, even welcoming the final judgment because we get to see Jesus, our Savior!

those who don’t know Christ, will experience these, suffer through these, and experience torment.

final application:

Ask, “What am I currently worshiping?” What is the #1 thing?

realize that worshipping idols = worshipping demons. (9:20 says they did not stop worshiping demons—idols of gold, silver, etc.) (that’s a shocking statement! the kingdom of darkness loves to deceive—Satan is the Father of lies…behind even the so-called “innocent idols”---there is demonic influence. it’s like this passage is showing us—it’s pulling back the curtain—that we think we are eating cheesecake or filet mignon—but it’s maggot infested, really—influenced by demons)

When life gets shaken, it is an opportunity to see what we really worship. (this is not easy) if you are getting shaken in life right now—it’s like a magnifying glass is being put on your heart to figure out what you truly worship.

Look to Jesus.

He is the one who is blowing these trumpets. He is limited his judgment so that we will repent. He could pour out God’s full judgment upon us and we would deserve it but He gives us an opportunity.

but Jesus Christ, the trumpets were blown on Him on the cross. On the cross, God blew all the trumpets of wrath, all the trumpets of our sin’s punishment, all of it on Jesus.

He did it so that we could confess our sin and idolatry to Him, and receive Him as our Savior, and Lord, and our life and treasure.

you see our hearts will only be satisfied in Him.

Jesus Christ is the best Savior and Lord and Master. what you worship rules you…and Jesus is the only Master who will truly satisfy you. none of your idols will—you always need more of them (like an addiction to get the same high) and they leave you empty.

in addition, if you don’t reach the standard of your idol (more money, more power, _______), your idol will punish you your whole life. but in Jesus—He took the punishment. In Jesus, He looks at you and says “I love you.” “You are my beloved. with you, I am well pleased).

what are you worshipping today?

Let’s pray