6/2010. Revelation 9:1-21. When The Star Opens The Abyss: The 5th and 6th Trumpets- Msg and Questions
When The Star Opens The Abyss: The 5th and 6th Trumpets
Link to Revelation Messages and Questions Link to Kevin’s Bible study materials
Revelation 9:1-21 Lesson 9
Key verse 9:1; Kevin E. Jesmer 6-2010
“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.”
In this passage, the 5th and 6th angels blew their trumpets. There would be great destruction, but servants of God who bear his seal would not be harmed. God’s purpose in releasing this destruction on mankind was to bring godless people to repentance (20). However, they did not repent but continued in idolatry, magic arts, immorality, theft, etc. In this passage we learn that though Jesus’ people often suffer persecution in a godless world, they can find comfort knowing that on the Day of Judgment, only those bearing God’s seal will be saved. We will also discover that God wants people to repent and be saved, but if people do not repent and accept his grace, there is no way to be saved. May God grant each of us repentant hearts and his seal on our foreheads, through the blood of Jesus.
Part l: Those With The Seal Of God (1-12)
The Abyss was opened in God’s right time. Let’s read verses 1-2, “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. 2When 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.” John saw a “star“, but this time the “star” was anintelligent being, able to take hold of a key that was given him and he opened the Abyss.
First, what is the Abyss? It sure doesn’t seem like some place I would like to go to even if I was a cave explorer for National Geographic. It is that horrible of a place.The Abyss is a”bottomless pit“. In verse 2, John saw smoke rising from the shaft leading from the Abyss.It resembledsmoke billowing out of an active volcano, which darkens the sun with its dark plumes. Smoke sometimes relates tojudgment, doom, and torment in the Bible. In Luke 8:31 Jesus drives some demons out of a young man suffering from demon possession. The demons begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. It is primarily a type of prison for demons but not their final abode, which isthe lake of fire.
What a foreboding scene! Is there a bright side to all this? Yes…If we look closely we can see that the key to the Abyss ‘was given’ to this ominous star. (9:1) He didn’t have it on his own accord, nor did he take it from its owner, who is God himself (for the key to the shaft of the Abyss is normally held by Christ.) (Rev 1:17,18) But now it is temporarily given to another heavenly being who, simply appears to carry out God’sinstructions. In other words he is operating under God’s authority to fulfill God’s purpose. Though things seem to be out of control sometimes, God is actually in control.
The pollution that was pouring out of this Abyss, like the BP Gulf Oil Spill, was not the only thing that came out of that pit. Let’s read verses 3-4. “And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. “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.” In the Old Testament, The Prophet Joel described a locust plague as a foreshadowing of the ‘Day of the Lord’, meaning Christ’s coming judgment (Joel 2:1-10). Locusts were symbols of destruction because they destroyed all plant life. The eggs that they laid would become nymphs, the next spring who would eat the tender shoots. Here, the locusts symbolize an invasion of demons called to torture people who do not believe in God. The main intent of any demon is to prevent, distort or destroy peoples’ relationship with God. Because they are utterly corrupt and degenerate, they appear as locust in John’s vision. Probably these demons also assume some of the characteristics of locusts, overwhelming, hideous and devouring everything…never being satisfied. The locust demons also have a leader. Look at verse 11.“They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon” His name means Destroyer. How would you like to have a name like “Destroyer”? Some of our boys might be thinking, “Ahh cool!”
These locusts caused people to suffer greatly. Look at verses 5-6, “They were not given power 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 a man. 6During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.” Their power was limited by God. They could only torture people and cause them to suffer in agony for five months. Because of the influence of these scorpion-like locusts, people will seek death but will not be able to escape their pain. They long for death rather than repenting and coming to God. The suffering they would endure is like that of the sting of a scorpion. What is the sting of a scorpion like? (let’s get someone up here to demonstrate the symptoms as I read them.) Well, according to the Mayo Clinic, the sting of a scorpion may include pain, which can be intense, with numbness and tingling in the area around the sting, but little or no swelling, muscle twitching or thrashing, unusual head, neck and eye movements, drooling, sweating, restlessness or excitability and sometimes inconsolable crying, difficulty breathing, high blood pressure, increased heart rate, muscle twitching, weakness. (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/scorpion-stings/DS01113/DSECTION=symptoms) It sounds pretty bad. Our friend Elijah Kasango was bit by a scorpion as he lived in a refugee camp in Zaire.
But there is a bright side to this story dark story as well. Their activity on the earth was limited by God. Look at verse 5a, “They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months….” God limits what they can do. They can do nothing without his permission. In other words, they are under God’s authority. God is our King. He is our sovereign Lord. He is in control of even things that make us afraid, like a bad economy, like sickness, and even violent crime. He uses things to serve his own purpose and to bring people back to him in repentance and faith.
God can take a person’s suffering, inflicted on them by the devil, and turn it into his good purpose. Think about Jesus. The devil did not want Jesus to fulfill his mission to be the Savior of the world. And so he threw all he had at Jesus causing him to be rejected and suffer greatly and be nailed to a cruel cross. The devil may have thought he was successful in thwarting the salvation plan of God. But he was not. Acts 2:23-24 reads, “23This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,[a] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” Though all the fury of hell was thrown at Jesus, in the end, it fulfilled God’s plan to make Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Praise God for his sovereign control of this world and our lives. Anyone who commits themselves to Jesus, Jesus commits himself to them and leads them fruit bearing and to eternal life in the kingdom of God.
Another bright side is that they only hurt those who did not place their hope and trust in God. Look at verse 4b, “…but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads” There is a timeless spiritual principle that we can learn from this passage. Jesus’ people often suffer persecution in a godless world, but on the Day of Judgment, only those bearing God’s seal will be saved. Also servants of God, who bear his seal, would not be harmed in the time of suffering. “How do we get this seal on our forehead?” some of you may be asking right now. Listen to Ephesians 1:13-14, “13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” It is quite simple. Repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ. Place all of you hope and trust in him as you follow him as your Lord and Savior. When you repent and believe, you will be sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
John then proceeded to describe the creatures he saw from head to tail. Let’s read verses 7-12, “The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon. 12The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.” ” There is an old Arab proverb which says that the locust has a head like a horse, a breast like a lion, feet like a camel, a body like a serpent, and antennae like the hair of a maiden. (Constable’s notes) Locusts can be likened to horses when examined closely. Perhaps the reference to hair like women’s, meant long hair, conveying a kind of wildness. Long hair in biblical times also was a sign of glory, so perhaps they have some glory. Lion-like teeth may indicate how powerful they were. John’s description seems to indicate that they were frightening (cf. Joel 2:4). Their crowns (Gr. stephanos) probably symbolize their victory over the objects of their oppression. Their iron breastplates, gave them the appearance of invulnerability. It also means that someone was fighting against them. Who? It could have been the armies of people who did not believe in God. The sound of their activity was terrifying, like the sound of battle. Their resemblance to men suggests their intelligence, but they are not men. They were able to inflict all types of torment on large numbers of people. Some interpreters believe they represent a human army with flying war machines run by internal combustion engines. Still others interpret them as demons.
Part ll: Those Who Did Not Repent (13-21)
There was something in store for those who did not repent and accept Jesus at their Christ. Look at verses 13-16. “The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’ 15And 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. 16The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.” The altar in the temple had four horns, one at each corner, and these were called the horns of the altar (Exodus 27:2) In the vision, someone near these four horns called out to the sixth angel. He gave the angel a command to release the four angels who were bound at the EuphratesRiver. These angels were bound and therefore we can say that they must have been fallen angels. If they were good angels why bind them? Let them go around and do their good deeds. These were bad angels. Not only bad, they were exceedingly evil and destructive. But they do not have the power to release themselves and do their evil work on earth at will. Instead, they are held back by God and will be released at a specific time. This area was the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire. In the first century, people would have thought of the Parthians, the world’s most dreaded cavalry at that time. The Parthians were the only warriors the Romans could not and did not defeat. They came from beyond the Euphrates and filled peoples’ hearts with terror. Whatever the case, the point is that our God, is the sovereign Lord. Our God is in control and he brings about his justice. No demonic forces can thwart his plans.
The number of troops in this army is somewhat prophetic of the end times. Let’s read verse 16, “The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.” The sixth angel blew his trumpet and four angels with an army of two hundred million were released and sent to kill a third of mankind. In John’s day, this number of mounted troops in any army was inconceivable, but today there are countless countries and alliances that could easily amass this many soldiers. In 1965 China claimed to have an army of 200 million (cf. Time, May 21, 1965, p. 35). In WWll, the combined Allied and Axis forces at their peak, totaled about 70 million. The number of people sympathetic to radical religious causes could be over 200 million. So, such a human fighting force is very conceivable in the end times.
What was the purpose of this vast army? Look at verse 15. “15And 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.” Their task was to put one-third of those who dwell on the earth to death. That is not a good purpose for living, but I guess someone has to do it. I have greater hope for higher purposes for each one of you. These four horrible angels “had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year.” With all that’s going on, we again see that nothing is random. They were used by God to bring his justice on a hardened, unrepentant populace.
What did this vast army look like and how did they fulfill their dastardly purpose? Let’s read verses 17-19, ““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. 18A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19The 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.” Horses were swift implements of war in ancient times. Some interpreters have suggested that what they represent are modern weapons that shoot both forward and backward, such as missiles. Red, blue, and yellow breastplates covered both horses and riders. This was defensive armor. They had lion-like horse heads. Lions are terrifying, fierce, and destructive at times. Fire, smoke, and sulfur spewed out of their mouths. The colors of fire, smoke and sulfur are also red, blue, and yellow. Fire, smoke, and sulfur are natural elements that God used to bring judgment in the past during similar conditions, like the destruction poured down on Sodom and Gomorrah. (cf. Gen. 19:24, 28). He may use them again at the time of the end.
The judgment’s toll upon mankind will be enormous. “18A third of mankind was killed…” (18a) Here, one third of all people are killed. In Rev 6:7-8, one forth of mankind was killed. If you do the math, that leaves us with only half of those we started with. Imagine…over one half of the people in the world will have been killed by God’s judgments. Many more died as martyrs and for other reasons (cf. Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21-22). Even more would have been killed if God had not set limits on the destruction. Together they will be responsible for the largest death toll in human history so far.
We can see God’s purpose in unleashing his wrath upon the earth in verses 20-21. Let’s read them. “20The rest of mankind that 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. 21Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.” Clearly, God wanted to bring godless people to repentance (20). We are now living in the age of grace. God is leading people to himself through his love, his grace, forgiveness, truth, and divine-fatherly discipline. God is leading the world to himself through his Son Jesus Christ. John 3:16 reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that who whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Millions upon millions of people today are responding to his tender call, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30) But in the end times, people, who have spent a life time ignoring and rejecting God’s call, will be facing eminent, eternal judgment and condemnation. What is God to do? Sit back, fold his arms and let them all go to hell? No, even in the end times, God does not want anyone to perish, both now and in the future. (2 Peter 3:9) And so he tries his best, right to the bitter end, as any father would do. How did the people respond to his last ditched-rescue attempt? Look at verses 20-21 again. They did not repent but continued in idolatry, magic arts, immorality, theft, etc. These people were so hardhearted that even the plagues did not drive them to God. Nevertheless some will become believers in Jesus Christ (ch. 7).
How could these people get so hardened? People don’t usually fall into immorality and evil suddenly. They slip into it a little bit at time until, hardly realizing what had happened, they are irrevocably mired in their wicked ways. The Bible says that anyone who sins is a slave to sin. ( jn 8:34) Any person who allows sin to take root in his or her life, and anyone who does not know the grace of Jesus very detailedly, can find themselves in this predicament. Temptation entertained today becomes sin tomorrow, then a habit the next day, then separation from God forever. (James 1:15) To think that you can never become as evil as the people in verses 20-21 is the first step toward a hardened, unresponsive heart. We must humble ourselves, daily repent of our sin before God and acknowledge our need for Him. God’s people are the broken hearted, those who allow the word of God to penetrate their lives and take root in their hearts. God wants to give us a new heart. King David said it best, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10) The true spiritual labor of a Christian is to not lose their heart to the world and its evil desires, but keep it tender and responsive to Jesus. This is why we must train ourselves to listen to the word of God and allow ourselves to be healed and cleanse through the word daily. May God create in each of us a pure heart and help us to deeply honor and respect him during worship so that are hearts may not grow hard from sin and the world. Then we can stand firm in out faith, both now and in the future.
In this passage we learned that God wants all people to come to repentance and faith and be saved and to this end he tries his best. He wants to place his seal on us, the promised Holy Spirit. But we must not wait for destruction to come upon us. Repent and believe now and be saved, for today is the day of salvation. (2 Cor 6:2) We also learned that God is in control and no matter how bad things get God has his good purposes in our lives. We need to trust God. We also learned to keep our heart soft and tender and responsive to God and his word, or sins deceitfulness will hardened our hearts. Hard times will come and they will get harder. Come to Jesus, and be found in him. You will taste true hope and glorious victory.
- Read vs. 9:1-2. At the 5th trumpet sound, a star that has fallen from the sky is given the key to the Abyss. What does the star represent? (1, 11, 12:4, 20:3,7) As he opens the Abyss, what happens to the sun and the sky? (2) What does it symbolize?
- Read vs. 3-12. How do the locusts torture the unbelievers? (5,6) What is the extent of the evil operation? How does this judgment differ from the previous judgments? Describe the appearance of the locusts. (7-12) What do they symbolize? Where does their power come from? (10,11, IS9:15)
- Read vs. 13-21. At the 6th trumpet sound, how does the angel kill a third of mankind? (14,15,11:7,13:7) What do the horses and riders symbolize? (17-19) Where does their power come from? (18,19,13:5) What is the response of the survivors? (20,21) Think about the phrases that show about God’s control in the midst of the terrible work of the devil. (4,5,6,15,20)
Interact with us using Facebook