The Fifth and Sixth

vv. 10-11) 3rd Trumpet: The Waters Struck

We may easily associate this with a comet or meteor crashing into the earth and bringing disaster.

What do you think?

Some say the star means Attila and his Huns; others, Genseric with this vandals falling on the city of Rome; others, Eleazer, the son of Annus, spurning the emperor’s victims, and exciting the fury of the Zealots; others, Arius, infecting the pure Christian doctrine with his heresy… It certainly cannot mean all these; and probably none of them.

Wormwood is a very bitter substance, and proverbial for bitterness and sadness.

What I found interesting is the proportion of these disasters stay the same. 1/3.

vv. 12-13) 4th Trumpet: The Heavens Struck

This does not describe a 1/3 lessening of light, but 1/3 of the day and night are plunged into absolute darkness.

Matthew 24:29 NKJV

29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

The angel’s woes are well founded, because 1/3 of the earth’s population will die in the next three trumpets.

What are these judgments teaching us about God?

This world is being laid waste. How could God do this?

He is just—firstly, we see God’s justice. The unbeliever might look at this and say, “God is cruel.” That is certainly what Satan wants you to believe. But that isn’t the case. God’s original creation was “very good.” That was the paradise which He gave people. But humanity rebelled and messed it up.

And the rebellion that began with Adam and Eve continues, and is getting worse. It is that rebellion in the face of God’ goodness that brings the world to this point.

People often ask, “If God is good then why does He allow suffering? Why doesn’t He just end sin?” The truth of the matter is that He will. This is what is happening in the book of Revelation. God is going to end sin once and for all. But you cannot end sin without judging the sinner. So first the sinners are judged, then sin will be finally done.

Another point I’d like to make is this: God is the great “I AM,” meaning He is who He is. Not who people expect or what Him to be. And who He is, is just. The destruction in this book is not the result of a capricious God.

Instead an example of the Biblical principle of “reaping what you sow.” Mankind is responsible. What happened when the sixth seal judgment occurred? When people were confronted so clearly with the truth that God is real and that He is unhappy with them, what did they do? Repent? No, they hid from Him. And they wanted to kill themselves rather than turn to the Lord.

God is merciful—God’s mercy and God’s justice are often seen side by side. This is true here too. God tells the world what will happen ahead of time, so that when it does they will know without any doubt that He is true and real. Time is quickly running out. Turn to God and repent before it is too late.

And that is the same message we are preaching today too. Repent now, today is the day of salvation. Don’t wait.

Application: Don’t grow attached to this world—

1 John 2:15–17 NKJV

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

The world is going to end. It is headed for judgement. The thing we see don’t last. The things most people pursue; pleasure, money, fame, do not last. The pleasures of this world are fleeting. Security offered in this world is temporary.

We should be asking ourselves this question, “Is the work I am doing doing to make a difference for eternity.”

Introduction to chapter 9

Something I want to draw your attention toward as we begin chapter 9 is in regard to the demonic influence here in this chapter.

That when Satan is in control, he doesn’t show mercy. As the tribulation continues, we not only see Satan’s power increasing; we also see that mankind suffers more and more.

This isn’t only true in regards the end times, but we see the same thing taking place today. When we give the enemy, increasing power, uncontested… People suffer as a result. Yet, this is how we are to fight these spiritual battles:

Ephesians 6:10–13 NKJV

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

The evil day: Ephesians 5:16

Ephesians 5:16 NKJV

16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

vv. 1-2) The Scene

[1] “I saw a star fallen”

What are some of the things you notice about this star?

This star is a person, and not a literal star.

Who might this star be?

Suggestions have included Nero, a fallen angel, an evil spirit, the Word of God, a good angel, or even Jesus Himself.

In the context, this star is best seen as an angel. This is because of what we have read so far in Revelation. That the stars are associated with and were interpreted by Jesus to be angels in chapter 1.

However, whether this angel is a good or bad angel depends on its relation to the angle of the bottomless pit. If it is the same angel found in verse 11, it is an evil angel—perhaps Satan himself. If it is a different angel, it may be a good angel sent by God to ope n up this bottomless pit for the purpose of judgement.

In my opinion I think that the most likely interpretation of the identity of this fallen star is Satan. That this star is fallen makes us associate him with Satan.

Luke 10:18 NKJV

18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Many commentators believe this reference is to a pre-cosmic confrontation referenced in Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2:4

Jude 6 NKJV

6 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;

2 Peter 2:4 NKJV

4 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;

Revelation 12:8–9 NKJV

8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 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.

I would also make the connection, which few other might see, that the fall of Satan in view here is also the background behind the judgments on the kings of Babylon and Tyre (Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28). While there can be no doubt that the two kings are the immediate objects of disfavor, the text in both places offers a lot for two earthly kings.

If, however, they represent in their persons a more ominous event that preceded them, then one should not be surprised to hear Jesus, Jude, and Peter reference the event, which is all the more the case if the even assists in understanding the origin of evil.

The verb tense (fallen) indicates not only a past action but also one with continuing results. The fall of Satan, therefor, is presented as an event, the result of which comprise a continuum essentially without hope of reversal.

Two points I’d like to point out: “To him was given the key to the bottomless pit:” We do not want to paint the wrong picture here… Satan is not the master of hell. He will be hell’s victim, not it’s ruler.

Secondly, we notice that the key is given to this being, and that it is given at a specific time and for a specific purpose that furthers God’s plan. This angel—good or evil—servers God’s purpose, even if they do not intend to.

Where is the bottomless pit?

The most straightforward answer is that it is in the center of the earth, because there, one might say that all is “top and nothing is “bottom.” However, another interpretation is that this is symbolic.

Luke 8:31 NKJV

31 And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.

2 Peter 2:4 NKJV

4 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;

Jude 6 NKJV

6 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;

These verses imply that “abyssos” is a prison for certain demons. And this is most likely the same. More generally, this place is considered the realm of the dead, the same as Hades:

Romans 10:7 NKJV

7 or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

Revelation 9 is a good example of how this book can sometimes be wrongly spiritualize in its interpretation. An example of this would be to say that the star is the Word of God, the pit is human nature, and the lesson is that if the Gospel is reject, horrors are unleashed.

It’s safe to say, that is far from the plain meaning of the text.

[2] As we would expect, the Abyss is opened by the fallen star, and John describes what appears to him to be smoke ascending out of a great furnace.

The smoke is not like the luminous cloud of the presence of God in the exodus but is rather a blackening smoke as from the burning of coal, which as it spreads heavenward from the Abyss has the effect of darkening the air and the sun.

These are obviously not your average locusts. As we will see they avoid plants and attack mankind like scorpions attack. They are in my opinion, “A visual representation of the hordes of demons loosed upon the earth.”

The idea here is simple, as part of the judgment of the great tribulation God will allow demonic hordes, previously imprisoned, to descend upon the earth like a swarm of destructive locusts. They are not as some have suggested, heretics, Muslims, Turks, Jesuits, monks, or Protestants.

vv. 3-11) The Supernatural

vv. 2-6) Locusts from the pit

vv. 7-10) Appearance of these locusts

v. 11) Abaddon//Apollyon

vv. 12-17) The Sorrow

vv. 12-13)

vv. 14-15)

vv. 16-19)

vv. 20-21) The Stubbornness