Revelation 8:10-9.12

Revelation chapter 8 I’m going to read verses 10 through 13 and we’ll be looking at chapter 9 when to get there I’ll read the section on chapter 9 we’ll look at chapter 8 verse 10 and the third angel sounded and there fell a great star from heaven burning as it were a lamp and it fell upon the third part of the rivers upon the fountains of waters. The name of the star is called Wormwood. The third part of the waters became wormwood and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter. And the fourth angel sounded and the third part of the sun was smitten, third part of the moon, third part of the stars. The third part of them was darkened. the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. And I beheld and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven saying with a loud voice, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, to the inhabitants of the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to sound. May God bless to us, His God bless to us. sacred this morning. We have found that the Lamb of God has taken the seven-sealed book from the hand of his heavenly father who sits on the throne and has begun to open the seals of that book and reveal until we can get the contents of the book. Reveal. I said in our last study that perhaps we could look at the opening of the seals as the title page of the book. Gives us the broad overview, a general indication of the content of the book itself, like the chapter headings or the major sections of the book. Well, when Jesus Christ resumes opening the seals here in chapter 8, the seventh seal issues forth the trumpet judgments. And the contents of the book now begin to be revealed in more detail. The seven seal here has now been opened and the first trumpet has sounded. We saw that in verse seven of chapter eight. The land is smitten in Israel. And we said that this referred to the Roman scorched earth policy and the cutting down of a tremendous amount of trees. They used these for siege works against various cities that they would conquer and so forth. And so they depopulated the trees in the land. The second trumpet, verses 8 and 9 of chapter 8, the sea was smitten. We said there was a burning mountain that fell. Here we referred that to Israel. We referenced Christ’s words in Matthew 21 about a mountain being cast into the sea with reference to the nation. And we said that the sea becoming blood and so forth referenced the Mediterranean sea battles and the Sea of Galilee Sea battles with the Romans, which led to very bloody seas because of that. And now we’ve reached the point where we’re ready to open the third trumpet. And that’s where we’re going to begin. this morning. The third trumpet in verses 10 and 11. Now we find this great star, wormwood, falls. Now, in scripture, shooting stars are often used to refer to those who are apostates. In other words, it describes apostasy of some sort. For example, in Jews, verse 13, the false prophets in the church are said to be wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. They’re falling stars. Stars are supposed to be light bears, but falling stars are not reliable for direction and they burn out. And the reason they, that’s why they fall from heaven. So they’re no longer a light source. Israel was to be a great light for the nations. Through the word of God, through the worship that they observed that God had given them, but Israel has become apostate, a fallen star, no longer able to spiritually enlighten others. Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity, Josea 141, or the Virgin of Israel was fallen, Amos 5,2, or even as we saw about Jerusalem in chapter 14 of Revelation, verse 8, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, is fallen that great city. Now, because of this apostasy, we see here that the waters are made bitter to drink. Israel is made to taste the bitterness of their apostasy. In other words, they’re going to taste. I suffer misery and sorrow because of it. Wormwood was the name of a plant known for its intense bitterness. Israel must drink the bitter waters associated with its status as a fallen star. Now, if you hold your place here, look with me at Jeremiah 9, 13 to 15. This is an earlier occasion where we find with regard to Babylon, and the Israelite apostasy, and what happens with Babylon, when they overrun the nation. And here’s what the Lord says to them here. This gives us a template, see, for the interpretation of this passage we’re looking at in Revelation. And the Lord Seth, because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein, but have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Balaam, which their fathers taught them, therefore thus saith the Lord of Hulst, the God of Israel, behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. And so we have the same, I think, concept here. Apostasy leads to the same. to bitterness for the nation. Now, there is a sense in which we could argue that some of this could be taken even in a more literal sense because a lot of the waters became polluted because of the different battles and so forth that they had and the bloodshed, and it would get into the water supply, Jordan and the Giazziah, galley, and so forth. wherever different water supplies would be contaminated because of all the blood running in the land. Invading armies often would also block up or poison the water supply during war so that they could deprive the enemy of water supplies. When it says here that one third of the rivers and fountains of water were affected at this point, we take this to refer to the fact that only a third of the nation is being looked at at this point, is being conquered. So it’s not the complete situation that we had previously with the seals which gave us the big picture. Here we’re looking at a portion of the country being overrun, like Galilee, for example, being overrun. and that leads to one-third, let’s say, of the nation being affected by this. So the third trumpet sounds here, and the waters are affected. Any questions about that? Let’s move on to the fourth trumpet here in verses 12 and 13. We read here in the fourth angel sounded, the third part of the sun was smitten. the third part of the moon, third part of the stars, so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shown not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. And I beheld an angel flying through the midst of heaven saying, whoa, saying with a loud voice, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa to the inhabitants of the earth, by reason of the other trumpets of the three angels. which are yet the sound. Now, one third here, of the sun, moon, and stars are darkened. We’ve looked at this language before. We looked at it in chapter 6 and verse 12. We said this denotes the collapse of the nation. When we have a full eclipse, or we have a complete darkening, the sun, moon, and stars, it is a complete collapse of the nation. Darkness signaling. the, you know, falling under the awful judgment of God as witnessed at Christ’s crucifixion when the Savior felt forsaken by God the Father there was darkness in the land for three hours and so forth. Some view this one-third of the sun, moon, and stars darken, as progress toward the total eclipse that has been spoken of of the heavenly lights in chapter 6, verse 12. that we’re moving toward that complete eclipse. So that, again, we have the idea here of Gal Lee now has been overrun. One third of a nation has been conquered. And then we have here the swift messenger that cries out here about the judgment that is to come. The threat here, of course, is that things are going to get worse. There’s three rows because there are three more trumpets to sound. And things are not going to get, you know, more improved. They are going to get more severe. And so he’s warning them here, crying out, about what is to come upon the inhabitants of the land, or the earth, as it says here. So we should look at these, this whole section that we’ve been considering here as in a future end of the world Holocaust, we could see them as expressions, figurative expressions, of God’s judgment on the Israel John’s Day. There’s no reason to project this into a future situation when these things must shortly come to pass. Any questions on this section? Yes. He does talk about, I think, only one-third being spared, if I’m not mistaken. And there’s also a prophecy in Zachariah Chapter 13. Yeah, 13. The end of chapter 13 of chapter 13 of Zachariah. But I, that talks about this also. Let me see what it is. It’s verses 8 and 9 of Zachariah here. The one that we see in Ezekiel has to do with the Babylonian captivity, and I think two-thirds are destroyed, and one-third is spared, and then the one-third, he even cuts those down. In other words, the ones that survive, they even have, there are more that die. If I’m not mistaken, I think that’s what Ezekiel talks about that. Here in Zechariah, we have the two-thirds that are mentioned. In verses 8 and 9, it shall come to pass, that in all the land saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part of them through the fire and refine them as silver is refined and try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them, and I will say, it is my people, and they shall say the Lord is my God. So the third here that’s spared, actually he refers to those who actually come to faith or trust in the Lord. But it’s interesting, if you look into chapter 14, the first few verses, Jerusalem gets overrun. And I would refer that to the 70 AD situation that he’s talking about here. You’ll notice in chapter 13 also in verse 10, he talks about the spirit of God being poured out upon the land. and I think that would come into effect with regard to the day of Pentecost and the salvation. Also, he speaks about those mourning who have pierced the Lord here, interestingly enough, which references Revelation 1-7. But since these two don’t seem to match up quite right, I didn’t bring it into play. and so I think the best explanation is to just say it refers to like Galilee being overrun like the first part of the the war and that seems to fit better with the idea that eventually the whole land will be overrun the whole everything will go dark. But right now just a portion of it is mentioned. Any other questions? All right, let me just stop for a second here and touch on a couple practical observation on chapter 8 and then we’ll go into chapter 9. Versus 8 1 to 6, we have the prayers of the saints being heard and answered. That’s what’s focused upon. All the saints are known as praying people. The people of God pray just as if they were breathing. I mean, you just can’t do without, if you’re really a true child of God, you can’t do without prayer. It’s just not, it comes naturally to you as one filled with the spirit of God. As Psalm 326 says, for this show, everyone that is godly pray unto thee. When the interest of the church are at stake, the earnest prayers of God’s people go up, and their call upon God to spare and to help them. Your prayers have need of the incense and intercession of Christ to be made acceptable. We notice that there has to be some type of help with the prayers that are prayed. And the prayers of the saints are made like unto a sweet smelling incense before God by the Lord Jesus Christ who always is received with the light by the Lord in his intercessions. Your prayers, when accepted in heaven, make a profound change on the earth below. God answers the prayer and he avenges his troubled people is what we see. The second part of this chapter, notice this, God is a way of using waves of judgment to utterly confound his enemies and overwhelm them. And we see that in verses 7 to 13 and with the idea of more woes to come. One trumpet, after another sounds here. And there rains down from God blow after blow upon apostate Israel. At times God is pleased to inflict punishment by degrees on his enemies. To completely demoralize them, to sag them lower and lower before final destruction comes. God makes their lives miserable here. And he removes all sources of comfort. He makes everything bitter. For the way of transgressors is hard, the Bible says. And you’re made to drink of your own sinful ways. They come back to haunt you. God proclaims worst judgments are still to come. There are final woes. For they have not shown remorse for their sins, nor have they repented of their evil ways. The Bible says that God shall be known by the judgments which he executes in Psalm 916. For the wicked, think about this. The worst is always yet to come. Hell awaits them. The worst is yet to come. There are more woes to come than what even is presently endured by them. all right. Let me now move your attention to chapter 9. And I’ll read the first 12 verses and we’ll try to cover that this morning as well. And the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star fall from heaven upon the earth. And him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit. And there arose arose a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace. And sun, the air, were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth or on the land. And upon them was given power as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass. or the earth, nor any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads. To them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months. And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he strikeeth a man. And in those days shall men seek death and shall not find it and shall desire to die and the death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locust were like unto horses, prepared under battle. In their heads were as it were, and on their heads were as it were,, crowns like gold. And their faces were as faces of men. And they adhered as the hair of a woman are women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron. And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like under scorpions. And there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. And had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in the Hebrew tongue. is Abadden, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollion. One woe is past. Behold, there are two woes more hereafter. Here we have the fallen star. Now it seems to me that this fallen star, which is an angel, he’s called the angel of the bottomless pit in verse 11. So I take this a fallen star as reference to Satan. Again, we have the idea of apostasy with the falling of the star. And we read in Isaiah 1412, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? Or as Jesus said in Luke 1018, I saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven. The abyss here, the bottomless pit, is acknowledged to be the prison of demons or what we call unclean spirits, fallen angels. Luke 831, and we’ll see in Revelation 20 that Satan himself will be cast into the bottomless pit in verses 1 to 3 of that chapter. So the locus which come out of the bottomless pit here are not normal insects. We have here the idea of the release of demonic forces kept presently imprisoned by God, but unleashed, if you would, by Satan at this point, by permission of God. Satan here doesn’t have the ultimate control over the release. He must be given divine permission to do it. Notice, he has to unlock the abyss, and he he has to to be given a key. He doesn’t have the key. He has to be given the key. And the earth, which these locusts attack, is the land. Israel. That is the focus of the plague. So these demon locusts were told, don’t harm the grass or the trees for the vegetation. Now, if it was a normal locust plague, that’s what they were, we eat. So he’s indicating to us this is not a normal plague of locusts. In fact, they were scorpion-like with these stingers in their tails, and they are to repeatedly torment people, strike terror into the hearts of these people. They attack all those in the land who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. Remember, there’s the 144,000 the earth have been sealed by God. These are the ones who believe on Christ. These people who don’t have the seal of course are the unbelievers. These are the ones who worship the beast. They were rejecters of Christ, and therefore, they will be tormented. Now there’s an interesting passage. Hold your place here, but look at Luke chapter 10 for a moment. When Jesus sends out the disciples to heal the sick and preach the gospel in chapter 10 of Luke, it’s interesting what he says here in verses 17 through 20, because they come back and they’re all excited because even they’re all excited because even the demons were subjected to their power, that they were able to cast out demons from people. So we read here in verse 17, and the 70 returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us through thy name, and he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and notice he says, and scorpions. Notice how he uses this in connection, it seems, with these demonic forces. They’re classified as scorpions here. And I think that references the passage in Revelation. And over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding, and this rejoice not that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names. are written in heaven. So I suggest to you that this passage is helpful to us in thinking about Revelation chapter 9. Now, it’s interesting. You’ll notice that they, twice were told here, that they can torment people for five months, and we’re also told they’re not allowed to kill them. So there’s a restriction on these demonic forces. Remember how Satan was going to attack Job and God put like a restriction. You can harm them, but you can’t take his life. Here we have the idea you can harm these people, but I don’t want their life taken immediately. You can torment them for this period of time. So this is the period of time. It seems the five months, it seems to be corresponding to the final siege of Jerusalem by Titus when the Jews were driven hopelessly mad and trapped and they were tormented in that situation. And the siege lasts five months from April 70 to the end of August 70. Josephus states how malicious and evil the trapped Jews treated one another within the city. I’m going to read a section from book five chapter one paragraph 5 from Josephus. And now as the city was engaged in a war on all sides from these treacherous crowds of wicked men, the people of the city, between them, were like a great body torn in pieces. The aged men and women were in such distress by their internal calamities that they were for the Romans and earnestly hope for an external war in order to their delivery from their domestic miseries. Please let the Romans invade. Let them begin the siege. The citizens themselves were under a terrible consternation and fear. Nor had they any opportunity of taking counsel and of changing their conduct, nor were there any hopes of coming to an agreement with their enemies. nor could such as had a mindfully away, for guards were set at all places in the heads of the robbers, although they were seditious one against another in other respects. Yet did they agree in killing those who were for peace with the Romans, or were suspected of an inclination to desert to them as their common enemies. They agreed in nothing but this to kill those that were innocent. The noise also. of those that were fighting was incessant, both by day and by night. But the lamentation of those that mourned exceeded the other, nor was there any any, nor was there ever any occasion for them to leave off their lamentations, because their calamities came perpetually one upon another. Although the deep consternation they were in prevented their outward wailing, but being constrained by their fear to conceal their inward passions, they were inwardly tormented without daring to open their lips and groans, nor was any regard paid to those that were still alive by their relations, nor was there any care taken of burial for those that were dead. The occasion of both which was this, that everyone despaired of himself, for those that were not among the seditious had no great desires for anything, as expecting for certain that they should be very soon destroyed. But for the seditious themselves, they fought against each other, while they trod upon the dead bodies as they lay heaped one upon another, and taking up a mad rage from those dead bodies that were under their feet, became the fiercer therein. or thereupon. They moreover were still inventing somewhat or other that was pernicious against themselves. And when they had resolved upon anything, they executed it without mercy and admitted no other, it omitted no method of torment or barbarity. Josephus adds this also in wars. Book 5, Chapter 10, and Paragraph 2. The madness of the dissidious did also increase together with their famine, and both those miseries were every day inflamed more and more, for there was no corn which anywhere appeared publicly, but the robbers came running into and searched men’s private houses, and then if they found any, they tormented them. them because they had denied they had any. If they found none, they tormented them worse because they supposed that they had more carefully concealed it. So we have the tormenting here that takes place. Now we have a description of locusts in verses 7 to 10 here of chapter 9. Now the appearance of the locus is not real. Now we have to understand. understand this is a symbolic representation of demonic forces. The picture provided is meant to convey something about the character of the demonic forces. In verse 7, we’re told they’re like horses. We have the idea of them coming swiftly, like an invading army, like a cavalry of the cavalry of the invading army. They wear crowns like gold. no, no, they’re not really gold. They’re like gold. These are principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this world, as Ephesians 612 tells us, but true authority does not reside with them. Christ has all authority in heaven and earth. So they only have crowns like gold. They have faces of men. Unlike real locusts, demons here are high. highly intelligent creatures. well, usually when men are referenced with regard to animals and that is the reference of their intelligence. Verse 8, they have long hair like a woman. They can be very seductive in introducing people to evil. In fact, the Bible calls demons seducing spirits in 1 Timothy 4.1. They have the teeth of lions. Here we have the idea of the ferocity that they have in harming people. Remember, Satan, their king, is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And so they’re out to devour people. They’re out to do harm. Verse 10, they have tales like scorpions. They’re malicious. They take the light in repeatedly tormenting human beings. In verse 9, they have breastplates of iron. This gives us the idea that they’re invulnerable to any human means to stop them. How can you stop demonic forces? The sound of their wings, is also mentioned. There were so many demons that the noise was like a massive army, the moving of many chariots and horses and a legion. could even enter into a man, according to Mark 5’9. So the idea of such a massive demonic influence taking place is mentioned here. And this increases the woe of those who are attacked. Satan is the king over them, according to verses 11, 12, this vicious army of locusts. Abadden and Apollion, both mean destroyer. In the Hebrew and the Greek. They destroy people’s lives. Satan is here the leader of this group. Satan leading his demonic army with mad fury against these apostate Israelites is only the first woe. You can look at this and say, boy, this is bad. This is only one woe. There’s a, two more to come. Jesus prophesied of this woe coming upon the wicked generation of his day and notice how he puts it in Matthew 12. I’m going to have to wind this up. Matthew 12. Let me begin with verse 38. Then certain of the scribes and the Pharisees answered saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. and he answered and said unto them an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign. There shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. Now notice what kind of generation it is. It’s an unfaithful generation. Unfaithful to the Lord. Apostate. Verse Jonah was, as verse 40 says here, first Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so so the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And the men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it because they repented of the preaching of Jonas and behold a greater than Jonah is here. Christ is preaching. And they’re going to crucify him. They’re not going to listen. The queen of the south shall rise up in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it. For she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold a greater than Solomon is here. and you won’t listen to him. This generation won’t listen to me, preach. And then he tells this story, verse 43. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out. When he has come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh with him seven other spirits. more wicked than himself. And they enter in and dwell there. And the last state of the man is worse than the first. And notice this phrase, even so shall it be also under this wicked generation. Jesus Christ has come. He’s casting out demons, isn’t he? He is curtailing the work of Satan. But do they love Christ? That they appreciate what he’s doing? No. And so what’s going to happen. It’s going to get worse. The demon possession is going to increase. This generation is going to feel it. And that, to me, is what Revelation Chapter 9 is speaking of. This very idea of this generation being demonically influenced, and it’s going to be worse than it is presently because Christ has been clearing out the demons. He’s been casting in the out. But they didn’t like Christ. And got rid of them. All right, I’ll stop at this point. Any other questions or thoughts on this? All right, let’s close with the word for the rest of it.