Study of End Times - Week 20
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Last week we did not make it through the entire study, we stopped about half way through, and now we have the other half, which contains the fifth trumpet and all that goes with it.
Now last week we looked at the first four trumpets, and seen that they brought this increase of judgment and torment to the tribulation period, the first trumpet brought judgment to the land and things that grow, the second trumpet brought judgment of oceans and things that live in the sea, the third trumpet brought judgment of rivers and men who walk on earth, and the fourth trumpet brought judgment on the skies and the light that shines from it.
Which brings us to where we stopped, the fifth trumpet, and the beginning of chapter nine.
E. The Fifth Trumpet:
E. The Fifth Trumpet:
The fifth trumpet sounds, and there is an invasion from the bottomless pit.
1 The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key for the shaft to the abyss was given to him. 2 He opened the shaft to the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great furnace so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft.
Demons will be released upon the earth from a bottomless pit. The Greek word for bottomless pit is abussou, from which we get our English word abyss. Who are these demons? They will be especially vile, malicious, and powerful. In fact, they are so diabolical that God in His mercy prepared a special pit in which to lock them away until the appointed time.
These demons are not like the demons who have roamed the earth since they fell from heaven. They dread to go to the pit! When Jesus cast the demons (called Legion) out of a man - Luke 8:31
31 And they begged him not to banish them to the abyss.
This is also the place Peter referred to when he said in 2 Peter 2:4
4 For if God didn’t spare the angels who sinned but cast them into hell and delivered them in chains of utter darkness to be kept for judgment;
I defined the fallen star as Satan in the last section. Here Almighty God has given him permission to open the door to the bottomless pit to set the demons free.
The Demons: The Dominion of the Antichrist
The Demons: The Dominion of the Antichrist
We need to learn eleven things about the demons from the abyss:
They are degenerate spirits. They are the vilest of the vile.
They are darkening spirits. in Revelation 9:2 we learn that a demonic darkness will come upon the earth that will choke out the light.
They are devouring spirits. Revelation 9:3-4
3 Then locusts came out of the smoke on to the earth, and power was given to them like the power that scorpions have on the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant, or any tree, but only those people who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads.
In the Middle East locusts have swarmed like great clouds and blotted out the light of the sun and the moon. They devour every bit of plant life in their path like an army - every blade of grass, every flower in the field, every seed and stalk of grain, sometimes even stripping the bark from the trees. But these particular locusts will not feed on green things. They will feed on the hearts and souls of men. And as they do, they will inflict torment like a scorpion.
But these are not literal locusts, or even scorpions, but they are demons from the abyss that will inflict torment on those that are unbelievers, those that have come to Christ during the tribulation period, that have received the seal of God during this time, these demons are not allowed to harm or bother them.
4. They are debilitating spirits. Revelation 9:5-6
5 They were not permitted to kill them but were to torment them for five months; their torment is like the torment caused by a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 In those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.
A scorpion sting is like none other, it is just crazy and there are many different kinds of scorpions. But the worst I have had is this huge wasp, stung me in the arm and with in a few minutes my whole arm was swollen, from my shoulder to my finger tips and it got to the point that I could not bend my finders and felt like my skin was going to bust open because my arm was that swollen. I ended up after refusing to for a couple hours, going to the hospital and getting a couple of shots.
But it says they will be tormented for five months, see my pain went away, it took some time after I got the shots, but it went away. Those in the tribulation will be tormented consistently with no relief, for five months, to the point that they will want to die, but will not be able too.
Five months is the normal life span of the Locusts in he Middle East and even though these were not literally locusts, they represented locusts, these demons would torture the people for five months, long enough that the people would seek to die to get away from the torment but would not be able to die.
5. They are dauntless spirits. Revelation 9:7
7 The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. Something like golden crowns was on their heads; their faces were like human faces;
The first part of the verse says the locust are like horses prepared for battle. Picture a team of mighty horses pawing the ground, snorting in fury, and covered with armor. Think of their ability to gallop quickly into battle. They are eagerly dauntless for their mission of doom. Now picture yourself standing in front of them and trying to stop them. No amount of money will be able to do it. The military cannot help. And even medicine will not work. They are dauntless.
6. They are domineering spirits. Next part of verse seven there says, they had something like a golden crown was on their heads. Satan has always wanted to wear a crown. Now hell has a holiday, and the world has said to Jesus Christ, We will not have You rule over us. Instead they crown Satan and his demons to rule. Demons will have dominion in the great tribulation. No human ingenuity will be able to stop them. It will be a reign of terror.
The golden crown - as crowns do - it signifies authority and in this case, authority from the abyss, from Hell.
7. They are deceptive spirits. Notice the last part of verse seven: there faces were like human faces. What does that mean? Like human or men’s faces is a symbol of intelligence. The Antichrist will be crafty and subtle.
24 For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
Satan has a cunning plan. When he sends the Antichrist into this world, he will be able to make people think white is black, black is white, up is down, and down is up. This may sound hard to believe, but I think the Antichrist will be so conniving that he will make you murder your mother and think you are doing God a service.
The Antichrist will be so deceiving that people will follow after him and not even realize the evil that they are doing or the evil that he is doing.
8. They are defiling spirits.
8 they had hair like women’s hair; their teeth were like lions’ teeth;
God has given women their hair for their glory, and it is beautiful, but these demons will use that as a trap. In many ways these deceptive demons will seem alluring. The Bible speaks of seducing spirits.
1 Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,
We see that now to some extent but it will continue to get worse, as we get closer to the end of times.
But they will have teeth like lions. This is the picture of Satan we see in 1 Peter 5:8
8 Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
These evil spirits will be hideously beautiful and brilliantly deceptive. Which makes me think of when Jesus warned us about the wolves in sheep's clothing in Matthew 7:15
15 “Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves.
The Antichrist and all his false prophets will be so attractive not just in appearance but also in their leadership, in their message, in the way they conduct themselves, that people will flock to them, but they will just be wolves in sheep clothing, they will be demons.
9. They are defiant spirits.
9 they had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots with horses rushing into battle;
These demons will be wearing impenetrable armor so that groans, cries, and shrieks of their victims will be meaningless to them. They will not be moved from their course of action. And wave after wave will come. You can hear the chariots rumble. They cannot be stopped. They cannot be outrun. There is not place to hide.
Nothing will affect these demons, they will not have emotions, therefore, they will not be affected by hurting people, by leading people in the wrong directions. There will not be anyone that will attack them because everyone will be deceived by them and believe that they are the true leaders, the ones that are right.
10. They are durable spirits.
10 and they had tails with stingers like scorpions, so that with their tails they had the power to harm people for five months.
Five months is the normal lifespan of a locust. Five is also the number of completeness. What does this mean? Until their deed is done, they cannot be stopped. Nothing but the hand of Almighty God can stop these durable spirits. They cannot be destroyed. There is no weapon against them.
The demons will have a tail like a scorpion that is the demons will use their tails to harm people, they will not kill the people, but harm them for five long and drawn out time, as we seen earlier that these five months will be so tormenting that the people will want to die but will not be able too.
11. They are diabolical spirits.
11 They had as their king the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
12 The first woe has passed. There are still two more woes to come after this.
Apollyon is Satan himself.
Can you imagine what would happen if all the prison doors in America were flung open? If every rapist, murderer, pervert, arsonist, abuser, and thief were free to roam the earth, and no police force could protect us? That is the idea here. Now imagine just one more thing: What if, by some means, all of these criminals were organized under one ruler. There is a ruler - his name is Apollyon.
We can think of it in those terms but when the demons from the abyss are released and Satan are leading them, they will be far worse than anything we could ever imagine.
But the story doesn’t end there. The Bible has wonderful news! 1 Thessalonians gives us two bright notes to close out this week.
10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Isn’t that wonderful? Here is the second great news:
9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.
God will not pour out His wrath upon the church. God will chastise us, but He will never pour His wrath upon His bride. What husband would pour out his wrath upon His bride just before the marriage supper? The church is the bride of Christ. One of these days another trumpet will sound, and this is the trumpet that will call us to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air.
This world is headed for hell and judgment, and if you do not intend to go there, may I suggest you avoid that path by giving your heart to Jesus Christ.