Revelation 9:1:20 The Abyss Opened /Greg L Bahnsen Revelation Verse By Verse{ Part 34 of 63}

Many blessings to us we would acknowledge as completely undeserved. We can come before you this morning only pleading that you'll forgive us for our many sins for the sake of that righteous intercessor, our Savior, Jesus Christ. We pray, Father, that his righteousness might be imputed to us and our sins be laid on him. We thank you that you have loved us in such a marvelous way that you would draw us to yourself and reconcile us to you through the blood of your son. We pray, Father, that with gratitude, then, we would look to the word of the Lord this day, that we would feed upon it, seeking strength for our spiritual lives, that we might carry forth the warfare of this age with renewed vigor and faithfulness and dedication. We ask you, Father, that you would so strengthen us this day by the sword of the Spirit and the Word of God, that we would indeed hasten the day in which the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. For it's in his name that we pray. Amen. We come to chapter nine of the Book of Revelation this morning, and at chapter nine, Revelation, it's, I guess, in one sense amusing to see what many of the commentators do, but of course, in another sense very sad to see how the Word of God is left devoid of its intended power by some of the more or less silly schemes that men can devise to interpret this particular passage. Without any doubt, it's a very bizarre passage of the Word of God in terms of what is described, very terrifying in terms of what is described. And there are many interpretations that have been offered for it. I think to put chapter nine in its proper context, it would do us well to do our few moments of review before reading chapter nine. And then right on the tail of our review, we'll read chapter nine. Then that might help you be acclimated to what you're going to read therein. Now, the Book of Revelation, as I've said many times before, is divided into three major sections. The first major section of the Book of Revelation is chapter one, as John says at the end of this chapter that he is to prophesy of things which he has seen, things which are the case, and things which are to be hereafter. The things which he has already seen are those things in chapter one, the introduction. In the first vision. What is the first vision? In Revelation, John sees what in chapter one. We all need to warm up a little. Chapter one is the vision of Jesus Christ in the midst of the candlestands, Jesus Christ is present with his church in this age. And in the right hand of Christ are the seven stars of the seven churches. He holds the officers of the Church in his right hand. Christ is the Lord of the Church. Christ is present with the Church, even as in the Great Commission, he said, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. And because Christ is with His Church and He has all power and authority, he enables His Church to disciple the nations. And so in chapters two and three, we read of the things which are presently the case in John's own day. That is, the seven letters to the seven churches, the seven churches of Asia Minor. And throughout, John speaks of the condition of the Church. He rebukes the Church for its errors, and he exhorts the Church to some particular accomplishment. What is the persistent exhortation in the two chapters containing the seven letters to the churches? That is, chapters two and three? Over and over again, John exhorts the Church to do what? To overcome. Now the Greek word means to be victorious, to triumph. Jesus said, I am with you always. To the end of the age. All power and authority is mine. Therefore disciple the nations. And so in Revelation, we see that Christ is with His Church, with all power and authority. And in chapters two and three, he tells his Church to overcome. He says, it's time to triumph. It's time to get rid of our internal problems. It's time to conquer our external enemies. And of course, the conquering that the Church does is not a literal military conquering, but rather is a warfare waged with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God or the preached Gospel. So John finishes chapter three, and that's 2/3 of the Book of Revelation. Of course, it isn't 2/3 in terms of the text, but it's 2/3 in terms of the outline. The things which have been, the things which are. And now, beginning in chapter four, the things which shall be hereafter. In chapters four and five, John stresses the sovereignty of God. First of all, the sovereignty of God in creation. Chapter four. And then in chapter five, we have introduced a scroll which is in the hand of God, which has seven seals on the back of it, a seven sealed scroll. And everyone wails in heaven because there is no one found worthy to open the scroll of the book. And then we are introduced to the line of the tribe of Judah, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who has overcome and now is able to reveal the events of world history, because he is the sovereign Lord over history, is able to open the seven sealed scroll and reveal for us the Things that God intends for John's own day. And so what we have is the sovereignty of God in creation, chapter four, the sovereignty of God in redemption, chapter five. Then beginning at chapter six, the seals of this book, the seals of this scroll begin to be broken. And one by one Jesus Christ breaks the seals of the book. And we begin to have a preview of the contents of the scroll. You see, you can't read the scroll until all seven of the seals are broken. So as these seals are broken, it's not as though we're getting some consistent and systematic presentation of world events, but rather we have previews. It's like the fly cover of a current day book. We have previews of what is to be found in the scroll. And the first four seals are commonly called the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. And the first horseman comes forth riding upon a white steed, conquering and to conquer. Now the word conquering and the word to conquer in the Greek, both the same word, different forms, but they're the same word that is used of the Lamb of God who has overcome, who has conquered to open the book. The same word used of the Church which is supposed to conquer. And so who did I say the rider on the white horse was going forth conquering. And to conquer? Christ. That's right. Christ is now going forth to make for himself an empire in the power of God to show his sovereign kingly might, he goes forth conquering to conquer. And what are the three horses that follow in his train? War, famine and pestilence. And by such judgments in history, God chastens the nations. And God rebukes men for their failure to repent. And God shows men the precursors to his final judgment if they will not turn to him. Alright, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Then we come to the fifth seal and the sixth seal. And then there's a break. What are the fifth and sixth seals? At the fifth seal we hear a cry. The seal is broken. And immediately John hears the cry. Of what? Of the martyrs. That's right. Which are underneath the altar. And what do the martyrs cry for? For vengeance. It's an interesting type of prayer. It's one which is out of, out of sorts, out of character with what is usually called 20th century evangelical Christianity. Not that evangelical Christianity is wrong to pray for things other than vengeance, but the fact is we find it singularly unchristian to pray for vengeance. And yet John hears the martyrs crying to God. How long, the faithful and true, how long until our blood is avenged on our persecutors on earth. And so this is an unusual type of preview of what we're going to find in the scroll. We see Christ going forth to conquer. Then we see three ravishing types of events that Christ uses as historical judgments on the nations. And then we hear the martyrs crying out for vengeance. And it's interesting. And this is another indication that the seals are not to be read as necessarily in chronological order, because the answer to the cry is wait, wait, be patient. Wait upon God's timetable. And then the sixth seal is what? Immediately they're avenged. We see the judgment of God fall. And the response to this judgment, the expression of the wrath of the Lamb against men, is that men run to the mountains, to the hills, crying that they fall upon them, that they be saved, that is that they be hidden from the wrath of the Lamb. Then at chapter seven, we've seen six of the seals now broken. We can't open the scroll until the seventh seal is broken. And at chapter seven, what happens? Something of an interlude before that seventh seal can be broken, until we can finally get to the scroll, the something must take place. And what's that exactly? There must be a sealing of the people of God before the final seal of the scroll is broken. Until this historical judgment of God that's going to be depicted in the scroll is finally shown to us, we must be reminded that God will seal his own, that God will put his own mark upon their forehead, that God will pick out and will protect those who are his people. Well, how are the people of God designated though these ones who are sealed? We read of two groups in chapter seven. At least we have two descriptions in chapter seven. I'm going to argue that it's one group under two descriptions. The first group is called what are characterized the first group in chapter seven, the first description of a group. That's right. 12,000 out of each of the 12 tribes of Israel, comprising 144,000, one of the favorite subjects of interpretation in the Book of Revelation. Who are the 144,000 of the book of Revelation? Are they literal Jews? That says they come from the twelve tribes of Israel? Are they the Jews? Are they even the faithful among the Jews? How are the tribes listed? Are they listed as we find them in the Old Testament? Are they listed according to the distribution of the land of promise in the Old Testament? No two tribes are conspicuously missing the two tribes which are known for the origin of idolatry in the Old Testament among the Jews. Now, John is not speaking of literal Israel. He's speaking of faithful Israel. And throughout the New Testament, we know that there is a new Israel of God. Those who are of the seed of Abraham are those who have the faith of Abraham. They are the people of God. As Paul says in Galatians, the sixth chapter. He pronounces blessings, benedictions upon the Israel of God, speaking of the Christian church. So John here is speaking of those who are true Jews, true Israel, those who are circumcised of heart rather than circumcised in the foreskin of their flesh. And so the true Israel of God, the 144,000, the complete number of God's elect, are sealed. And then John hears of another group. And this is an innumerable number of people. Not 144,000, but a group that can't be numbered at all. And this group is out of every tribe, tongue and people and nation. This is an international group. Quite clearly, John is referring to the Gentile Church. That is the church from all the nations. Those who are faithful to Jesus Christ, those who have the faith of Abraham. And he refers to them as the 144,000. Okay, so he hears 144,000. But he sees an innumerable number of people. All right, so these people have been sealed. And we are told of this group of people that they wear white robes, that they are washed in the blood of the Lamb, that they come through tribulation, that they are faithful, that they are elect from the earth. Any number of other things are told. And then the blessings and the benedictions of these people are related at the end of chapter seven. But we haven't got to the seventh sea seal yet. You see, six of the seals have broken. Before we can open the scroll, we're reminded that God's people are sealed. God's people are owned and protected by Him. God's people will not undergo these judgments. And then chapter eight, right, where you expect the seventh seal to be broken, John says there's a half hour of silence. You see, the suspense is mounting in this drama. You've been waiting finally to see the scroll. When the scroll is introduced, the main problem is nobody can open it. And then finally God resolves the dilemma. He gives us his Son, Jesus Christ, the Sovereign One in the realm of redemption, to open the scroll. And then we can't really read the scroll immediately. We've got to get through the seven seals. So we go through six of the seals. The sixth seal is a rather long one. And then there's this whole interlude for the sealing of God's. People. And so then finally we come to the seventh seal, so we could break it and get to the contents. And. And John says, no. God waits a half hour as the, you see, suspense mounts. And then John sees another angel going to the golden altar. And with the prayers of the saints, the prayers of the martyrs for vengeance on earth, he sees that angel take the coals of the altar and put it in his censer and cast it upon earth. And now God is going to judge the world. Of course, the judgment of God here is not the judgment of all mankind. That becomes clear when we read chapter eight and see that these judgments pertain to one third of the earth or one third of mankind or one third of the sunshine in matter such as these. But finally, after this vision of the angel going to the golden altar and casting coals upon earth, the seventh seal is broken. And seven angels now stand and prepare to sound their trumpets. The trumpet, of course, is a call to judgment, a call to battle. We've been anticipating and anticipating and anticipating, and finally God says, and now here's the content of the scroll, John. It's the content of seven trumpets of judgment. God's seven trumpets against the enemy of his true people, the church of Jesus Christ. And then four of the trumpets sound in chapter eight, and they sound in quick succession. There's very little elaboration. Somewhat awkward to understand the eighth chapter at many places, but nevertheless, John doesn't dwell on it. He just goes, trumpet one, trumpet two, trumpet three, trumpet four. What are those four trumpets? Well, what do they hearken back to? What is the literary figure from the Old Testament that is used in the case of these first four trumpets? The plagues on Egypt. Exactly. Egypt. Even as God brought plagues upon the enemy of his people in the Old Testament and released his people, Exodus, his people, from oppression, so God now in history is going to judge the oppressor of his people and give them freedom. And who's the oppressor of God's people in this day and age? Who is it in this first portion of the Book of Revelation that John sees as the enemy of God's people? No, not Rome. Rome is going to get its licks in the second half of the book. The first half of the book is given to say, that's right, the apostate Jewish church localized in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was persecuting the people of God, the true people of God. That's why early in the book we read of the synagogue of Satan, those who falsely call themselves Jews. John has a real you See Polemic against the Jews who were oppressing the. The Church of Jesus Christ. We know that the enemy that is being judged at this particular time is an enemy of John's own day. From the fact that at the very beginning of the Book of Revelation, chapter one, verse three, John says, for the time is at hand, and at the end of the Book of Revelation, he'll be told not to seal up the book. He won't have time to seal up the book because. Because God says, these are things which are soon to come to pass. So in John's own day, there are two enemies, two primary enemies that are going to be judged. And the first one, as we know from chapter 11 and remember our brief preview of coming events, in chapter 11, we noticed that the city that falls, the city that is judged, is the city where our Lord was crucified. And there can be no doubt in anybody's mind historically, then, that John is speaking of Jerusalem in his day. And he says, jerusalem will be judged of God. And so we see the four plagues that God will send upon Jerusalem, just like he sent four, just like he sent ten plagues upon Egypt of old. And then we come to verse 13 of chapter 8, and this is the introduction to our Bible reading for this morning. And John says, and I saw, and I heard an eagle flying in mid heaven, saying with a great voice, woe, woe, woe for them that dwell on the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet, of the three angels who are yet to sound. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth. And there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss. And he opened the pit of the abyss, and there went up a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth. And power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads. And it was given them, they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months. And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when it striketh a man. And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it. And they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war. And upon their heads, as it were crowns like unto. And their faces were as men's faces. And they had hair as the hair of 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 rushing to war. And they have tails like unto scorpions and stings, and in their tails is their power to hurt men. Five months they have over them as king. The angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue he hath the name Apollyon. The first woe is past. Behold, there come yet two woes hereafter. And the sixth angel sounded. And I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, one saying to the sixth angel that had the trumpet loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed that had been prepared for the hour and the day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of men. And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice 10,000 times 10,000. I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates, as of fire and handsome, and brimstone. And the heads of the horses are the heads of lions. And out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three plagues was the third part of men killed by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouth and in their tails, for their tails are like unto serpents, and they have heads, and with them they hurt. And the rest of mankind who were not killed with these plagues repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons and the idols of gold and silver and. And of brass and of stone and of wood which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. We'll stop reading this morning. There at the end of chapter nine. As you can see, it's a fantastic chapter. The imagery is fantastic. It's overwhelming, and I think it's overwhelmed many commentators. It's amazing to read the number of options that are open to people. If the commentators are viewed to be experts in the matter of interpretation of the Book of Revelation. Let's Try to work through this slowly, however, and see if we can come to some sensible conclusions about it. Verse 13 of chapter 8. And I saw and I heard an eagle flying in mid heaven. The eagle flying in midheaven is an indication that, by the way, here the Greek might be read, a solitary eagle, one eagle flying in midheaven all by himself. And flying in midheaven means flying in the very meridian of the sun, at the very topmost part of the arc of the sun. So right overhead, John hears and sees this eagle flying in heaven. And the eagle is crying out in a loud voice, woe, woe, woe. The three woes that are now going to be introduced in chapter nine and ten and following are set over against the first four trumpets that have been heard. And so the appearance of the eagle marks the difference between the first four trumpets and the last three trumpets of the seven. That's interesting, because that's precisely the breakdown we had with respect to the seven seals. First four seals are. Are grouped together, and then the last three appear separately. Now, in the case of the three woes which are to follow the four trumpets that have already sounded, we have an intensification of the judgment of God. The last three trumpets are going to represent events in world history which are far more calamitous than the previous events that God has sent by way of judgment. Whereas the first four trumpets were nature's indirect judgment upon Jerusalem at the time of its fall. Now the last three trumpets, the three woes, will be man's direct attack, God's use of men directly to judge other men. The eagle, by the way, was a. Was a symbol and a. A sign to people of that day of warfare or pillage or some sort of destruction. The eagle was considered much like a. For some reason I'm failing to come up with this now. Vulture. Yeah, like a vulture today, when the eagle circled around, you see, that said there was some dead meat, there was some sort of destruction that was available for them to feed upon. And so the one eagle is a sign of this dreadful judgment that's going to come saying, woe now for the last three trumpets, Woe to them that dwell on the earth. The phrase them that dwell on the earth is used throughout Revelation for unregenerate mankind, for earth dwellers, for those who are not spiritual, for those who are not belonging to the kingdom of Jesus Christ, for those who are unregenerate, woe to them. And then chapter nine begins. The fifth angel sounded, which is the first woe. The fifth angel sounded. And I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth. For those of you who are studying Greek, that's a good example, one of the better examples in the New Testament of a dramatic perfect tense. John says he sees. He sees a star which has fallen, but it's just fallen. The accomplished result is there, but it's dramatic. John sees this star that has fallen to the earth just immediately. But the fallen star is not like the star we read of in chapter eight, which was obviously some massive molten metal that fell to the earth. A star as we literally understand it. Rather, this star is in some sense a person. For the star fallen from heaven is someone that is given a key and someone who opens the abyss with this key. John says the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen into the earth. And there was given to him the key of the pit, of the abyss, and he opened the pit. So here we have a star standing for a person. It's a personal star of some sort. It's just fallen. And the fact that it has fallen has led some commentators to think that this is really a fallen angel. You get it in the vision. The star comes down out of the sky. Theologically, that means the star has fallen, the star is an angel, and therefore it's a fallen angel. All makes perfect sense, doesn't it? The only difficulty is it confuses the drama with the referent of the drama. That is, John sees the star descending out of heaven. That doesn't have theological significance. That's only in terms of the picture that he saw. The theological reference has nothing to do with a fall like the fall of mankind or the fall of the angels and so forth. Rather, John has seen a descending star. But this star represents a person. That might remind you, by the way, of the 14th chapter of the book of Isaiah, verse 12, where the king of Babylon is designated a fallen star. I don't think John means for us to think of the king of Babylon here, but it's that kind of imagery from the Old Testament that he's making use of. Well, now, who is this person that is the fallen star or the descended star? Well, what might come to your mind immediately as the star fallen from heaven? Let me tell you some of the options that the commentators give you. Some say it was Nero, some say that it is a fallen angel. We have mentioned that already. Some say it was just an evil spirit. Others say it was Satan himself. On the other side of the ledger, some people argued that this was a good angel. Some have even said it was the angel Uriel. Who from Jewish apocalyptic literature was supposed to be the angel that guarded the abyss. Others have said that the star falling from heaven is the word of God, the gospel. Yet others have said it's Jesus Christ who comes down to earth. And so you have all the options from Satan to Jesus Christ, including the word of God and evil spirits in between. And so there's a lot to choose from. What's the answer to the question? And the answer is that there is no answer. John doesn't intend for us to understand this as any particular person. If he did, more information would have been given. It's always easy for the commentators to get very fascinating in their theories when there's not enough evidence to theorize about. John here simply says there is a star fallen from heaven and this star performs certain duties as God gives this person or this star to do. There is certainly not evidence I should mention before we go on. Also, there's no evidence here, as so many liberal commentators and critics have been wont to say about the Bible, that in Jewish thought the stars were thought of as personalities, that they were celestial beings with their own separate personality and lifetime and behavior. It's thought that the Jews were a very mythological people and they didn't know the difference between simple stars, which we know to be in the heavens, and then personalities and evil spirits. The Jews thought the stars were evil spirits. Well, you can arrive at that conclusion only if you have a very shallow hermeneutic. That is a principle of interpretation. For the only evidence that the Jews may have thought of stars as personalities is always found in poetic, prophetic literature. But it's precisely in poetic and prophetic literature that metaphors and similes abound, that where symbolism comes to play, and it's just because of the symbolic and figurative nature of these passages that the critics, I think, have been unduly critical. That is, they've failed to give the one criticized the benefit of the doubt. Obviously, in literature of this sort there is. There is place for a figurative use of language. And that's all we find right here as well. This star fallen from heaven is said to be given the key of the abyss. In this chapter, we're going to find this language of something being given, authority being given to sting or the key or authority, power being given. In this particular case, over and over again, John will stress in this chapter that all those marks of power and authority are given to those that have them. His point is that there is no independent power possessed by this star person. There's no independent power in heaven. And earth, that God is the Sovereign One. And God distributes to those who have power on earth that power which they exercise. In this particular case, the power or authority given. The key given is to the pit of the abyss. Or perhaps a better translation would be the shaft, the abyss. John envisions this particular pit, this bottomless pit, as being, of course, a very great pit. But at the top it apparently has a narrow opening. And from the narrow opening from the shaft to the pit, it then broadens out further down. And so here you have a shaft into the earth, and then a large pit that opens up underneath it. Now, this shaft to the abyss, the shaft to the pit is locked, and this star fallen from heaven. This person is given the key that he might unlock the shaft, or the neck of the bottle, as it were, so that it be opened up and the contents can escape. And he opened the pit of the abyss. The abyss here described physically as something of a bottomless pit with a narrow opening at the top. But the abyss in the New Testament is always considered the abode of demons, the source of evil spiritual agencies which influence men. A good example of that is found In Luke the eighth chapter, verse 31. Let's look at that. Luke 8. 31. Okay. In Luke 8, we read of Jesus encountering the Gerizim demoniac. In verse 30, Jesus asked him, what is thy name? And he said, legion. For many demons were entered into him, and they entreated him. They, the legion of demons entreated Christ that he would not command them to depart into the abyss. In this account, the demons are tormented by the fact that before their anticipated time, Jesus has come, and now they are going to be dispossessed of their place of abode, and they're going to have to now go to the abyss. The abyss is the abode of demons, the source of evil spiritual agencies directed against men. It's inhabited by spirits, and yet it's firmly under God's control. And that must remind you of the book of Job, I hope. You see, Job was tormented and tempted of the devil, of Satan. And yet Satan, we see, always has to go to the throne of God for permission to do what he does. God firmly is in control, even of the evil spirits. And so here we have the abode of the evil spirits, and it's locked up tight. And those spirits can only do their work and can only have their force in world history. And as God allows by his sovereign decree, the abyss is perhaps not so much a place of torment for the demons, by the way, as A place of incarceration. In chapter 20 of the book of Revelation, we read that Satan is bound and thrown into the abyss for the 1000 years, which we call the millennium. Satan is bound for a thousand years. He is kept under lock and key for a thousand years. But then later, he's loosed from the abyss and from his change he goes out and he deceives the nations once again. But then finally, he's apprehended by the Lord and he's cast into the lake of burning fire. And that lake of fire, apparently is John's way of designating the ultimate place of judgment for the demons. The abyss is something of a holding procedure, a place of incarceration. However, while it is mainly a place of incarceration, clearly the demons don't like it there, because when Jesus comes to the Gerizim demoniac, you notice that they all cry out, don't cast us into the abyss before the time. It's not a place they're very anxious to go to. There's something terrible about it nonetheless. In fact, when it is opened up here in Revelation 9, we see that smoke billows forth from the abyss. And so it's not a very commendable and comfortable kind of place. To be sure, the smoke coming forth from the abyss, when it is finally opened up at its neck, blots out the light of the sun and pollutes the atmosphere completely. John sees the utter devastating results of opening up the abyss and letting the evil spirits have their way. Look at Joel, the second chapter, verse 10 from the Old Testament. It will turn out, as we read through here, that a good deal of the imagery used by John comes from the prophecy of Joel. And so we have our first reference to Joel here, Joel 2, 10. There Joel says, the earth quaketh before them, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. And so again, a darkening of the sun being referred to in Joel's prophecy. And we'll come back to Joel's prophecy to see what he's referring to in just a moment. Okay? Chapter nine of Revelation, verse two. He opened the pit of the abyss. There went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And out of the smoke now, verse three says, came forth locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. Now in the first four trumpets, you see, we have so many different types of imagery used here. You have to change gears easily here so you don't get too confused. The first four trumpets have already been heard. The fifth trumpet we're now hearing. But now in the first four trumpets we said the imagery is taken from the plagues on Egypt. Now the fifth trumpet sounds, and it turns out that the plague is that of locusts. That reminds you, I trust, of the eighth plague on Egypt we read of in Exodus the tenth chapter. But that plague on Egypt, the plague of locusts, is understood figuratively in the prophecy of Joel as another kind of plague that God will use against his enemies. In Joel the second chapter again, you might as well leave your finger in the book of Joel, we'll be back and forth for a few minutes. Here. In Joel, chapter two, verse four, we read this. In Joel, chapter two, we read of a plague of locusts to come upon Israel. And then verse four says, the appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, and as horsemen, so do they run. Verse 5. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as strong people set in battle array. In Joel, the prophecy of Joel, we are being told that the armies of Assyria, which are going to overrun the land of Israel, as God depossesses his people, as he takes them from the promised land. The armies of Assyria are figuratively seen as a herd or as a flock of. Of locusts, as a plague of locusts that will come upon the land. And we're reminded in Joel 2, verse 4 that this is not literal locusts. For these locusts are like unto horsemen, they're like unto horse, and the men that ride on them arrayed for battle. And so Assyria will come in battle against Israel, and Israel will be taken away, will be deported from the land. And so the eighth plague on Egypt, the locust plague, is now understood figuratively by Joel as a plague of locusts come upon Israel, not upon Egypt, but upon Israel, as God sends invading armies into Israel to punish his sinful people. And so also in Revelation the ninth chapter, out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth. And look at verse 7 of Revelation 9. And the shapes of the locusts were likened to horses prepared for war. There seems to be no doubt but that Joel is the background for what John is saying here. This too is a plague of locusts, figuratively, but standing for horsemen that are come for war against Israel. So the locusts are a conquering army which are going to be used to judge the enemy of God's people in this case, as in Joel's going to be used to judge Israel, because Israel is now persecuting the chosen people of God, the followers of Jesus Christ. Verse 3 stresses again that they don't have independent power, but it is given to them. Out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth, and power was given them. And the power is likened as to the power of scorpions of the earth have power. Then verse four says, and it was said unto them, these locusts with scorpion power, it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads. Perhaps chapter nine, verse four is one of the clearest places you can go in the book of Revelation to demonstrate to those who would take an opposite approach to the one we see in this class, to demonstrate how the book must be interpreted and how it must not be interpreted. First of all, you'll notice that verse four here says that they should not hurt the grass of the earth. As I mentioned to you last week, in chapter eight, we already read that all the green grass of the earth has been destroyed. And so what sense would it make to give a commandment not to destroy the green grass? It's not there to be destroyed. Clearly, John is using figurative language, not literal language. If he were using literal language, then we'd have an error in the text, obviously. But John doesn't want us to think of this as an allegory where every element must be consistently used throughout. To stand for one thing, he uses one vision, then he goes to another vision, and the figures can change, and the way he uses even the same figures can change. And so in the first place, this is not a book to be read literally and in that kind of order. Well, now the grass is gone. Therefore it makes no sense to command these beings not to attack the grass. Secondly, we are told in this verse of those who have been sealed by God. Remember in our review just before the scripture reading this morning, where do we read of the sealing activity of God, where He seals his people in that series of visions that is called the seven seals. That's right. You have the seven seals, then you have the seven trumpets. Later we'll have the seven bowls or the seven vials of wrath. Now, why am I bothering to remind you that it's in the course of the seven seals that we read of the sealing activity of God on his people? But it's now, in the seven trumpets, that allusion is made back to that. Well, remember I said that one very popular interpretation of the book of Revelation says that the seven seals, the seven trumpets and the seven bowls of wrath all recapitulate the same period of time. They are all saying the same thing, but in a different way. They're all rehearsing the same basic truths. Well, the difficulty with that recapitulation interpretation of the book of Revelation is that in this second alleged recapitulation of world events in God's final judgment, we have reference to what takes place in the first rehearsal of those same events. That is, John is building upon what has gone before. He is not repeating what has gone before. That is, if each of these series of events, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, the seven bowls, were to be self contained units to be interpreted as covering one span of human history in the final judgment, then within each one you should be able to understand the figures given in that. Within that pericope, within that paragraph or within that series of events. You can see with the looks on your faces that I better say that over again. Okay, John is referring. Each one of these is a separate unit, seven seals. All right, you can put that aside. Let me put it to you another way. According to this interpretation, there are seven trumpets. Well, you put that aside. Let me put it to you another way. Now there are seven bowls of wrath. Each one is detailing its own particular, has its own particular emphasis, but it is giving us basically the same material. The difficulty is John would then have to refer to the seven. I mean, would have to refer to the sealing activity of God within the series called the seven trumpets. For that series to make sense standing by itself, each one is supposed to be a recapitulation of the same events. But here it's quite clear that literarily John is drawing upon the seven seals. And that suggests to you what I've already told you, I think, that that John really is going through a drama here. We must be following Act 1, Act 2, Act 3 of the drama. In the first portion of the drama, we see a scroll that nobody can open. In the second portion of the drama, we see that the lion of the tribe of Judah can't open it and he's breaking the seal. So we can finally get to its opening. And at the end of the breaking of the seals, we see God protecting his people, putting his mark on them. Then the drama continues. And now we get to the contents of the scroll and as it's unrolled, the trumpets start Sounding. And it makes very good sense in the midst of the blaring of the trumpets for John to refer to what's happened earlier in the play, what's happened earlier in the drama. But it doesn't make sense on a recapitulation pattern. Alright, so verse four of chapter nine tells you two things about the book of Revelation. One, it can't be interpreted literally, that is, if you believe in an inerrant Bible. Secondly, it can't be interpreted, not very easily. It can only be interpreted in an awkward way if you hold that it's a recapitulation pattern. But now what does verse four have to say beyond just teaching us what approach to the book we should have? It was said unto these locusts with scorpion power that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, neither any tree. It's amazing. What do locusts usually eat? The grass of the earth and green herbs and the leaves of the trees. And so now they are commanded, don't eat what you usually eat. Are we to understand by the locusts here literal locusts? Obviously not. They don't operate like literal locusts at all. And so God is commanding us. Don't get confused. These locusts don't eat the things locusts usually eat. In fact, the total prohibition is the grass on the earth, the plant plants of the earth and the trees of the earth. Nothing's left for them to eat. Their natural food, the vegetation of the earth has been put off limits. Rather they are to hurt men. These are locusts that attack men. And it's not just men, but it's godless men. Because those who are sealed by God are not attacked by the locusts. Those who have God seal, those who are owned by him are protected. Just as in the case of the Egyptian plagues. God's people were not affected by the plagues. The land of Goshen was spared and God's people were spared. But the godless had the plagues brought against them. And so now in this case, it's going to be the godless who are attacked by these locusts, whatever they may turn out to be. I want to suggest to you that's precisely what history teaches us happened. Now, we've already suggested in terms of the broader context that this is a judgment against Jerusalem. We're referring to the Jewish war and the fall of Jerusalem of A.D. 70 here, when the Roman armies brought God's judgment against the apostate Jews. But what happened previous to the attack of the Roman armies on Jerusalem? Jesus had told his people, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that you must flee. And history teaches us that the Christians fled Jerusalem when they saw the signs of the times. They fled to Pella, to be more precise, and they were protected. And not one Christian died in that war. Isn't that interesting? John says here, these locusts that are going to attack are going to attack men, but they won't hurt those that are sealed by God, God's elect, those who are owned by him are going to escape the devastation of these locusts, whatever they may be. Let's read on. Verse 5 says, and it was given them that they should not kill them. You see, the locusts don't eat vegetation, they attack men. But in this particular case, we're told that they don't kill the men, but rather they torment the men for five months. And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when it striketh a man. Verse 5, it was given them. You see the stress again. God's sovereign God has all power and authority. And whatever these locusts do, they do under the sovereign disposition of God. This power must be given to them. But it's a power to torment, not a power to kill. That corresponds to what is true of the natural world. About scorpions, too, you know, you may recall the scorpion bite is an extremely painful thing. However, doctors tell us that it's rarely fatal. Can be fatal, but it rarely is. Nevertheless, it'll give you such torment that you almost wish you were dead. And so John takes what we know about scorpions in the natural world, and he applies it here. He says, just like a scorpion, these men will want to die, but they won't, and they'll be tormented five months. What does the five months refer to? It's repeated in verse 10. And they have tails like unto scorpions and stings, and in their tails is the power to hurt men. Five months. Well, I'm just going to give you four of the interpretations that are available, and you can pick from them what you think fits best into this particular context. It so happens that the lifespan of a natural locust, not of a symbolic locus, obviously we don't know about the lifespan of symbolic locusts, but real locusts, and that is, in the real world of nature, usually live, as you guess, about five months. It so happens that the dry season in Israel is also five months long. And it's in the dry season that the locusts breed, you see, in the desert, and then they have to ravish the farmlands in order to eat. And so that's also the period which is the greatest danger for locust infestation. So what I'm saying is some commentators say here that John is just reminding us of the habits of locusts and that he's just. This is part of the drama, it's just filling out the figure, it's filling out the picture. And the locusts have their effect for five months. They live five months or were under the threat of locusts for five months. Others say that the five months. If you'll do a word study of the word five and the way five is used in the New Testament, you'll see that often in illustrative literature of the New Testament, five is being referred to the five wise virgins, the five unwise. And there's any number of illustrations that could come to mind. And Leon Morris, who was a very respectable New Testament scholar, says that oftentimes it would appear that the use of the word five here in the Greek means and a few. Now, in some cases it has to be literal, as when five sparrows are sold for two farthings, I mean, that's just the market value of a sparrow in that day. But in other places, places, it appears that 5 could just be thrown out, as we might say, a few. And so some people read this and the locusts have the power to hurt men for a short while, unlimited duration, unspecified duration, not unlimited, just we don't know how long. It's limited, but it's not defined exactly. And then fourthly, there are those who will say that this is five literal months. If you'll do a little reading about the Jewish war, it turns out that these would then be the five months during which the troops of Gessius Florus, one of the leading generals in the Roman army at that time, the troops of Gessius Florus tormented the land of Palestine during the Jewish war for five months. In particular, that is the greatest striking of the Roman armies against Jerusalem came over a five month period. And the reason I'm not telling you which one's right and which one's wrong is I'm just not sure this morning. That last one is certainly fascinating. In light of what we know the meaning of the passage to be. It might correlate very well with history. The problem is there's just not really enough given in the text to say for sure. Maybe it is the five months of the greatest attack of the Roman troops against the land of Palestine. Maybe it just means there's a limited but undefined duration of torment. But what's the Torment. Now, apart from the five months, I would suggest that here John is stressing the epidemic spread of disease which accompanies warfare in general and accompanied in particular the Jewish war of AD 70. In the next trumpet to sound in the latter part of chapter nine, John will show us the warfare itself. He will show us the attack of the armies against Jerusalem. He'll speak of the exact details of the war here I think he's referring to the war, but he's stressing the torment that accompanies it. The epidemic spread of disease and went with it. We know from reading Josephus it was a terrible period of time for that very reason. Verse 6 says that the torment will be considerable and in those days men shall seek death and shall in no wise find it. Notice that what John says next is exactly what he's just said. He's trying to stress with different words the same point. He goes on to say, they shall desire to die and death fleeth from them. That's an interesting phrase in the Greek. Literally it means and death keeps running away from them. They're desiring death, they're seeking death, they're trying to lay hold of death to save them, and death keeps running away. That's quite a contrast to the apostle Paul, isn't it? What we read in Philippians, the first chapter. Paul says, of course, for me to die is gain. And yet what he'll accept life for the profit of the Church. Paul is willing to accept that undesired life for the sake of the kingdom of God. And here are men just pleading that death would relieve them of their torments. Not quite the attitude of the apostle. What is this referring to here? In chapter nine, verse six we have one of the concrete references to the fact that this is the fall of Jerusalem. This helps identify the referent as the destruction in AD 70 of Jerusalem itself. For we read of men seeking death, and yet death not relieving them. That harkens back to Revelation the sixth chapter, verse 16. That is the sixth seal of the scroll, when it was broken, hinted to us that the contents of the book would say this. And they say to the mountains and to the rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. So the fly leaf of the scroll, the hint already was that that's what men would want. And what does Revelation 6:16 refer to? I mean, we have to do a two step analysis here. Revelation 9 is harkening back to the sixth seal, Revelation 6 and that reading in Revelation 6 turns out to be an allusion to Luke the 23rd chapter, verses 27 to 30. So let's look at Luke 23 again. We've done this once before, but I want to remind you what we saw then. Luke 23:27. Jesus is going to his crucifixion, and there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them, said, daughters of Jerusalem, don't weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming in which they shall say, blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that never gave suck. And then shall they begin to say to the mountains fall on us, and to the hills cover us. Jesus says, if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? Daughters of Jerusalem, don't weep for me, for God will avenge my death. He will send judgment against Jerusalem. Remember Jesus the eve before he comes into Jerusalem. He says, jerusalem, Jerusalem, I would have gathered you to myself as a hen gathers her chicks, but your house is left unto you desolate. And in the Olivet discourse he said, the abomination of desolation will come against this place, namely the temple. And in Luke's parallel version of that, he says, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that it's time to flee. And so quite clearly, Jesus is predicting here that God will avenge him, because by judging Jerusalem. And so he says, women, when God judges this dry tree, this rotten tree of Israel, don't weep for me, weep for yourselves. Because at that day, men are going to ask the mountains to fall on them. Now, I don't deny that the reference to men wanting mountains to fall on them would be an appropriate way to speak of the final judgment as well. I mean, if it's true in history that God's judgment elicits that kind of plea from men, how much more? By the way, those of you who are taking logic a fortiori in the much greater will it be that God's judgment will elicit this kind of plea from men. But the fact is, historically, Jesus says on the way to his crucifixion, when Jerusalem is destroyed, that's when men will want the mountains to fall on them. They're going to seek death, and God will not grant it to them. And so at the fall of Jerusalem, you're going to have this tormenting scorpion type epidemic against the Jewish people. The epidemic ravishes of war. Well, we haven't got to the locusts themselves. And our time's almost up, so we'll have to pick this up next time I'm with you. However, in our remaining moments here, I would like us to summarize what the locusts look like and then what some of the interpretations of the locusts are. Very quickly, the fearsome appearance of the locusts is said to be this. If you follow along in the passage, these are locusts that have a scorpion type power of torment for five months. And later we read that this torment is in their tail and the locusts have scorpion tails provided with scorpion stings in them as well. A really fascinating picture, a fearsome picture, but there's even more. These scorpions are shaped like war horses. All right, so you have locusts, scorpion tails and stings, but shaped like war horses. They have golden crowns or what appear to be golden crowns on their heads. They have men's faces and women's hair, they have lions teeth, they have iron breastplates. And when they flap their wings, it sounds like horse chariots rushing to war. Well, it's a devastating picture, isn't it? John has really conjured up is that that's how fearsome God's judgment is going to be. It's like a locust plague where the locusts are scorpion like, horse like lion like man like they have breastplates of iron and when they go flying, it's like chariots rushing to war. Jesus said, women don't weep for me, for in that day men will ask for the mountains to fall on them. When the Roman chariots rush in war against Jerusalem with breastplates of iron and men like faces and they have scorpions things in their tails, that's the day to fret. That's the day to ask for God's relief. These scorpions, I remind you, these locusts don't hurt the vegetation, they hurt men. They come to do battle and to do war. Well, I'll leave you with some interpretations of the locusts here. In closing, real quickly, Philip Morrow says that the locusts here refer to the Islamic empire, the growth of the Islamic empire. Leon Morris says these locusts refer to demonic activity in the world. William Hendrickson says these refer to the powers of darkness in the inner soul of man. A really weird interpretation, I think. Hengstenberg says these refer to the hellish spirits that are unleashed on the earth. Dana of Dana and Manti fame says that these are the forces of corruption which will undermine the Roman Empire. And then finally, one more far out interpretation from Hal Lindsey in his commentary in Revelation, Lindsay says, by the way, you can always tell something about a man's theological viewpoint if you look at the positions he feels are worth mentioning and worth refuting or making use of. That is, Lindsay doesn't refer to any of the interpretations I've referred to or the one I'm going to give next time I'm with you. But he says this. There are diverse opinions among Bible teachers as to whether these creatures are actually going to be a supernatural mutant locust, especially created for this judgment, or whether they symbolize some modern device of war. The only two options that are open is that God's going to create a locust that looks just like this, a mutant form of natural locust that's going to come and attack people, or it symbolizes a divisive war. He goes on to say, I have a Christian friend who was a Green Beret in Vietnam. When he first read this chapter, he said, I know what those are. I've seen hundreds of them in Vietnam. They're Cobra helicopters. Lindsay says, that may just be a conjecture, but it does give you something to think about. A Cobra helicopter does fit the composite description very well. They also make the sound of many chariots. My friend believes that the means of torment will be a kind of nerve gas sprayed from the tail of the Cobra helicopter. Like I say, in one sense it's amusing to see what commentators can do with this kind of passage. It says it's either going to be a literal mutant locus. We're going to find insects that look just like that, or it's going to be a Cobra helicopter with nerve gas from its tail, or it's the Islamic empire, or demons or evil spirits, or the inner dark powers of the soul or forces of corruption or what have you. Or it just may be, as I'll say next time, that it's the Roman army attacking Jerusalem. Let's close in prayer. Father, we ask you that you would sensitize us to your truth and make us open to it. We ask you, Father, that you'd give us an understanding by your spirit of what the scriptures say, especially in this difficult passage of your word. We pray these things, Father, not simply that our curiosities would be satisfied and that our imaginations might be tickled, but rather, Father, that we would be empowered to be your people, that we would take heart when we see the fulfillment of prophecy, when we look to you as the sovereign disposer of every human event in world history. We pray, Father, that you would quicken us and strengthen us that we might be more faithful as your people. We ask you, Father, that you would enable us to pray the prayer of the saints as we read in this book. That we pray for your historical vengeance against the unrepentant. That we pray as well that you would empower the sword of the spirit to convert the hearts of men. We ask you, Father, that you would in all these things teach us to look to you, to trust you as sovereign and to obey your word. For it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.