Revelation 9:1-12

1. Intro.
1. up to this point the devastation that has rocked the earth seems to have been directed toward the physical world itself, and affecting man only indirectly
2. the last three trumpets are distinguished from the other four by the fact that they are the woe trumpets
1. we are entering a section that will boggle the mind
2. these woes mark the deepest, darkest, and most painful period of the Great tribulation
3. these will be the blackest days in human history
3. the language used in this section is very vivid, wild and difficult to explain
1. the best way to understand all Scripture is in the literal sense
2. if another interpretation is in order, then the writer will furnish the key to understanding it
2. the opening of hell – 9:1-5
1. when the fifth trumpet sounds, John sees a star fall from heaven – 1
1. this is not a literal star, but some personality [and to him was given]
2. this star is an intelligent agent, for things are distinctly ascribed to "him" which could not be said except of a living being
3. only an intelligent being could be given a key to a material place and a command to obey
4. there is no indication that this is a fallen angel
5. he will descend from heaven to open the bottomless pit, liberating the creatures who will fulfill this vision
6. He must be a holy and trusted angel to have the key to the pit
7. he is not the angel of the bottomless pit (9:11), for no king of demons could be trusted with such a key
2. thus far the trumpet judgments have only affected the physical world
1. this trumpet goes beyond the physical world and calls into action other powers
2. the doors of separation between the earth and the prison of evil spirits are opened - 2
3. the mysterious and vicious inhabitants of the underworld are permitted to overrun the globe, and to inflict torture and woe upon the unbelieving inhabitants
3. when the pit is opened, a thick blackness issues from it like the black smoke of a great furnace - 2
1. this blackness fills the air and obscures the sun
2. out of the smoky blackness proceed living things, horrible in shape, vicious in disposition, and armed with power to afflict and torment people
3. John calls them locusts; but they are supernatural, not earthly locusts - 3
4. because people prefer the service of the devil, God allows them to fully experience his administration - 4
1. because people do not receive the truth, God gives them what they love
2. they are allowed to reap the reward of their perverse choice
3. because people reject the Lordship of Christ for the lordship of Satan, God in judgment enlarges the powers of the lord of their choice so that they may have the full benefit of his vicious will
5. the destructive power of these locusts is limited – 4-5
1. these creatures were forbidden to hurt the grass or any green thing
2. these creatures were forbidden to kill people - 5
3. they are not permitted to touch the sealed ones at all – 4 (those that were sealed are still on earth)
4. the extent of their power is to horrify and torment "the men who have not the seal of God upon their foreheads"
6. they have the capacity to injure and torture people – 5
1. they inflict their torment by means of stings, like the stings of scorpions
2. these stings are in their tails which resemble scorpion tails
3. The pain from the sting of a scorpion, though not generally fatal, is the most intense pain that any animal can inflict upon the human body
7. The duration of this extraordinary plague is five months – 5
1. men will be stung and bitten by locusts for five months
2. they will swell and hurt, beg and scream; but they cannot die
3. To be subjected to such intense anguish, and to have it endure for "five months," is a woe which only they who feel it can fully know
4. death itself would be preferable to such an existence
3. man’s response to this plague [in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it] - 6
1. not only are the locusts forbidden to kill, but the people afflicted by them are hindered from dying
1. they shall "fervently desire to die," and "shall seek death;" but the woeful fact will be that they cannot find death
2. whatever efforts they make to escape from life will fail
2. these are amazing words
1. guns will not kill, razors will not sever arteries, poison will not poison, necks will not break, hearts will not stop
2. Men will go on their faces and beg God to kill them
3. it is humanly impossible to understand such fierce realities, but since the Bible declares it, we have no alternative but to believe it
4. there is no difficulty in the language used, the language is plain and obvious
3. the judgments of God are coming
1. the agents for them are ready and at hand
2. they are to come with awful severity upon all the rebellious and ungodly
3. they are coming into this present world
4. people shall feel them, and go on with their unbelief
5. hell is to be let out upon the earth, and no human hand can prevent its torments
6. when the rebellious complete this five months of horror, the first woe will be fulfilled, and two other and more horrible ones follow
4. a description of this army of demon-locust – 9:7-10
1. there is no way that these can be understood to be mere insects
1. neither can they symbolize some human army of the past or future
2. they can only be demonic spirits , released from the bottomless pit
3. they have a body that God has prepared for them
2. John is describing what he saw, and seems to be searching for words to communicate the amazing sight [were like unto, as it were – 7]
1. they can fly like locust
2. they can run like horses
3. they can sting like scorpions
4. it is easy to imagine the terror that these creatures could produce
3. these creatures will vanish as suddenly as they came [to hurt men five months]
1. mankind will be given another brief relief in hope that some would repent
2. as in the plagues in Egypt, this will merely result in most people hardening their necks
5. This great army of locusts is organized: it has a king, a leader – 9:11-12
1. the king over the locusts is the devil: Satan himself - 11
1. he personally leads his army of tormentors
2. his name in the Hebrew is Abaddon, which means DESTRUCTION
3. in the Greek it is Apollyon, which means DESTROYER
4. the devil is a deceiver, and has always wrought destruction
5. these demon locusts are not to KILL men, but they are to torment them
2. a warning that worse things are to follow - 12