Revelation Lesson 23: Hardhearted Humans, Stubborn & Hopeless 

Revelation Chapter 9: 13-21

“Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’ So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.

“And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.

“But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.  And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”

We hate death. We fight it with every fiber of our being. The struggle to live is ingrained in our DNA and the DNA of all creation. God created people, men and women, as eternal beings. We know that we will live forever; the question is, where? As our bodies age, we still remember that kid that we once were. We mature in our thoughts and learn a few things, but we remain young inside. The body slows, the mind may slow and even wander, but the soul is youthful and ready for the next step.

Are you ready? Has your future been secured in Jesus and by Jesus? This is the question that all mankind must face. There is no R.I.P. without Jesus as your eternal peace. You must have peace with God the Father through God the Son, and this peace is in us through God the Holy Spirit. John the Apostle puts it this way in John 5:12, and this is as plain as it can get:

“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Four Angels, demons bound by God, Revelation 9:13-14

In the Bible we never see the Holy angels ever in chains. They are free as they do the work of the Lord around the earth and in Heaven. Many of Satan’s angels are also free and are part of the principalities against whom we fight daily (Ephesian 6: 12). But there are some very, very dangerous angels that are bound by God. In Jude verse 6 we are told this about some of these angels; I have my understanding of this but it is not relevant to our discussion today,

“And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.”

So, there are angels that are bound in chains, under darkness until the time of the judgment day. In Revelation 7 we have already met another set of four angels that are stationed at the four corners of the earth, referring to the 4 poles: North, South, East and West. It is clear that these four angels in chapter 7 are not the same ones we meet in chapter 9.

Right now, as the time of Halloween approaches here in Southern Ontario and around North America, we hear about demons and ghosts. People make fun of them. Of course there are no ghosts; we are told that once a man/woman dies they are immediately taken to Heaven or to Hell. They do not wander around their loved ones or stay in the house. But in the case of demons, the Bible is clear that these exist and are actively serving their temporary master Satan. There is a real and seemingly violent spiritual battle going on with the armies of Heaven and Hell all around us.

These four angels that we meet in Revelation 9 are made by God, and at one time they would have been in His service. But, in their rebellion, they had to be bound for whatever reason we don’t know and don’t need to know. God repurposed them, and He set them in chains until a specific hour, day and month. These phrases are eye-opening statements for many Christians. You mean that God had these demons chained and He knew exactly what day that they would be released – in fact He designed the day? Yes! A thousand times Yes! Many Christian parents, my wife and I included, teach our kids a little song:

This is the day (this is the day) that the Lord has made (that the Lord has made).
We will rejoice (we will rejoice) and be glad in it (and be glad in it).
For this is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it;
This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made.

We use this to help our kids to appreciate each day, and there is nothing wrong with that. But Psalm 118:24 where we find the root of this song, this is a part of Halal Psalms sung at the Passover. “This is the day that the Lord has made” is a reference to the day that Jesus was crucified. God made that day, He planned that day, and nothing was left to chance – from making sure that Rome was in charge of Jerusalem to making sure that the soldiers were professional killers who understood death, so that Jesus’ death could not be disputed; to the fact that Rome used crucifixion as a main source of killing criminals; to the fact that there was a new unused tomb in which to bury Jesus, and on and on we can go.

God planned every last detail, worked within the framework of man’s free will, and overlooked every decision in His Sovereignty. That day, that particular day, was the day that God had made to make atonement for our sins.

Well, in like manner, He has prepared these demons – the bound angels – for a particular month, day and hour, and that day had arrived for the people of earth. During the previous trumpet, they had longed for death and they were forbidden from dying by God. But this day they were going to get death; the very thing they had longed for but was so elusive would now hunt them like prey.

I love this verse as do many Christians; we think about our home in Heaven:

1 Corinthians 2:9 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

Well, let me say to you that this is also true for those under the wrath of God. They could not imagine the horror that was coming their way. The finite human mind could not have pictured these Hell-bent demons that God unleashed on the earth. I am literally shaking as I write this, trying to imagine the suffering that will engulf the earth. They are released from the area of the Great River Euphrates (verse 14).

This river plays a prominent role in the Bible; it is mentioned quite often. It was one of the four rivers that ran in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:10-14). It ran through Babylon and was a witness to the people who revolted against the Lord in Genesis 11. Of course, Babel is the root of many of the pagan religions that exist even today. This river has seen many revolts against God along that way of man’s history. But on this day, there would be only obedience by these fallen angels; no revolts today.

Two-Hundred Million Demons, Revelation 9:16-17

This this is the first army of 200,000,000 unleashed upon the earth. There will be another army later on, a physical one. This is a spirit army; the ‘soldiers’ are visible and certainly terrifying, but it is a spiritual army nonetheless.

One of the things that one will learn as you study the Bible is that the spirit world is real and that it is often more real than the physical world that we see. Spiritual warfare is real; Satan fought Michael for the body of Moses (Jude verse 9). Jesus cast out demons; He was attacked and personally tempted by Satan; demons recognized Paul but not others; we can go on, I am sure. The spiritual world has not changed. It is still active and alive today.

The people on earth at this time begin to be slaughtered. One-third of the remaining population is killed by these demons who look like horses in the body, have the heads of lions, and tails that are like snakes.

You know, sometimes we get what we ask for; and when we get it, it is nothing like what we envisioned. There is a monument called the Georgia Guidestones; it has Ten Commandments of the New World Order. The first one is this: Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.

No one ever thinks that they are one of the ones that they are going to get rid of. We currently have a population of about 7,000,000,000; so to get to the 500,000,000, they have to kill off over 90% of the population, and that will include some of the very people who are pushing for this change. God is about to answer their prayer, so to speak. These demons will ravage earth; death will be painful and plentiful.

I cannot imagine the stench that will hover over the earth: the smell of death, sulfur and the aroma of burning bodies. No one will be safe from these demons and their deadly heads, both to the front and rear. These things are unstoppable; they do not need sleep or rest; they have no pity and no emotions. They know their fate – the pit of Hell.

Recall how the demons, when they met Jesus, often asked if He was there to torment them? Was it the time? they would ask. They know their fate, their end, and they have accepted that there is no redemption for them. So why be good; why even try? The wrath of God is nothing to be messed with. Being under the wrath of God is a horrible place to be.

Hardhearted People, Revelation 9:20-21

These two verses are some of the hardest verses to read in the scriptures. The people of earth were seeing the wrath of God in a way that shook them to the core. They could see what happens to the redeemed versus the lost. In the previous trumpet, the sealed ones of God were not even touched by the scorpion locusts. Yet, the people of the earth would not repent. The opportunity to repent was there; they simply refused to do it. They continued to defy God and would not humble themselves before Him.

How sad! It really is. I read this, and it breaks my heart; I feel sad. God is willing if they will, but they simply will not.

They continue to worship false gods, idols and demons; they continue in committing murder, in sorceries and in sexual misconduct. They not only refuse to repent, they would not even stop their immoral practices. I mean there are 200,000,000 demons killing people all around them, and they continue to worship them rather than turn to the Living God!

Oh, what a sad people we are! We are so stubborn and hardhearted, bullheaded and full of pride that we cannot admit we are defeated and that we need help.

So many try to please God on their own, to please God without Jesus, pushing the idea that God has to accept their righteousness because they are better than the next guy.

God wants to have mercy on us; He wants to help us and save us. God extends His grace in the midst of His wrath, and He is both willing and able to offer us peace. But so many of us reject Him, as do these people here during this time not too far into the future.

Lord help! Come to Jesus NOW! Come while there are no demon armies chasing you and no scorpion locusts biting you; and, for now, there are not even humans chasing you to kill you – at least not here in North America. Repent; call on Jesus and be saved. The end is near.

Ephesian 2:14-18 “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.”

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

 

 

Revelation Chapter 9: 1-12

“Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So, the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months.

“Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months.

“And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.”

It is hard for some to accept that the book of Revelation is literal. It is hard to accept that these hard things will actually happen. Yes, the merciful, kind, gracious and loving God will set forth a course of death and destruction that many Christians question. How, they ask, could a loving God allow this to happen to people?

For about the last generation we have changed the preaching about the holiness of God to make it so that, for the most part, we talk about His love, His kindness, His grace, His gentleness and the like. And yes, He is all those things. But the same God who made the Garden of Eden and who inhabits Heaven, made Hell and the bottomless pit. We have tried to make God more palatable to the lost man; and what we have done is poison a generation of people, even many Christians who do not fear God any longer.

Just a few weeks ago I was reading through the book of Exodus, and in chapter 19: 21-25 we see these warnings,

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish. Also let the priests who come near the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them.’

“But Moses said to the Lord, ‘The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them.’ So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.”

This is a warning from the Lord for the people not to come too close to the mountain where He was giving the Law, lest they be killed. The Lord will ‘break out’ on them and many will die. God is loving, He is kind, He is gracious and He is gentle, BUT, He is also ruthless to those that defy Him. He is not your friend if you are rejecting Jesus.

Let this be clear to you, God poured out His wrath on Jesus. He allowed Him to be beaten beyond recognition, His beard to be pulled out, and His brow to be pierced by a crown of thorns; He allowed mere men to hammer large spikes into Jesus’ hands and feet because He became sin for us. What Jesus went through for you and me was a glimpse of how God deals with sinners. It is harsh, ruthless and without pity. If God did this to His Son, imagine what He will do to those who rejected His Son and cheapened His great sacrifice for us.

God does not need you to like Him to be God. But you need God to know you will live forever, and He will only know you if your sin is covered in Jesus’ righteousness.

The beasts of the Bottomless Pit, Revelation 9:1-12

In this passage, one of the angels comes down from heaven and opens a place called the bottomless pit, and lets out some of God’s secret creations. These ‘insects’ (actually demons) are not like any insects that have ever been seen before. They look like locusts, but they bite like scorpions. These locusts are not interested in grass or vegetation; NO, they bite men. For five months they torment the people of the earth. They do not attack the people who are sealed by God, beginning with the 144,000 Jewish men. These locusts are not allowed to kill people, just torment them. They bite them, and the sting is like that of a scorpion.

These locusts-like creatures are a highly organized and well-armored group. It does not appear that men will be able to kill them, and they will affect people all over the earth. How could God make such creatures? He is Supreme and He can do all that He pleases.

We just got a cat, and it is playful and cuddly, but she will turn and bite you as well. We see nature shows about lions; they can be so playful with the cubs but then turn and kill off intruders with ease. We go to these parks and see the killer whales; they are so majestic, but in the wild they are very good killers. They hunt in packs, often killing baby whales with precision and without pity.

These ‘locusts’ will do a lot of damage; your local hardware store will not have the spray to kill them, and they are not afraid of men. Now I understand why there was a cry of ‘Woe, Woe, Woe’ at the end of the last chapter. The previous parts of the tribulation could be escaped by death and dying, but this one cannot be dodged. This is one of the greatest parts of this judgment, and we will look at this in the next section.

Locust swarms can block out the sun as they are so plentiful. There are a lot of these tormentors to go around; no one will be left out. A scorpion bite can be quite painful I have learned as I am researching. Some can cause you to be in great agony, foam at the mouth and even grind your teeth in pain. John the apostle seems to be at a loss for words; he uses the word ‘like’ often. He is trying to wrap his head around what he is seeing, but his confusion is a great reflection of what the people on earth will be feeling during this time. They have never seen anything like this before, and they can neither control them nor kill them. They are powerless to stop the torment.

We are told in Proverbs 30:27 that the “locusts have no king,” yet they advance in ranks. These ‘locusts’ here in the Tribulation do have a king; his name in Greek means ‘Destroyer.’ These locust-like creatures will be demons. They look like men in the face, they look like horses in the body, they have wings and they are loud. They sound like horses in battle when they advance.

Hollywood has not thought of anything this bad ever for any horror film. This is a creature only God can control. I cannot imagine what life, and I use that term life very loosely, will be like on earth. Billions of people suffering in immeasurable agony with no hope of a reprieve.

Only God controls Death, Revelation 9: 6

Life will be so bad on earth during this attack by the locusts that people will want to die. The most basic of instincts is the will to live. Except in the most extreme cases, people have a built-in desire to live. We feed ourselves, medicate ourselves and care for ourselves so that we can live. The entire world takes medication to try to live longer. We fight death with pills, diets, exercise, and religion; and one of the biggest draws to Christianity is eternal life. But the bite and the torment of these locusts will be so painful that the people on earth will wish for death.

From the context, it appears that some will try to kill themselves and not be able to. It says “men will seek death.” They will try to commit suicide, and God will not allow it. Can you imagine the gruesome scenes on earth – people with gunshot wounds to the head, their bodies destroyed from jumping off tall buildings, their necks distended and bruised by trying to hang themselves, their bodies broken for jumping in front of vehicles – and yet they are not able to die?

There are two things I take from this:  one is the absolute Sovereignty of God over life and death. We, in the modern world, are so enamored with our right to vote that we do not understand what a genuine Sovereign is. Even the current Queen of the Commonwealth, Elizabeth 2, is not a true and genuine Sovereign. She does not control life and death. In the heyday of true kings, they did. If they let you live, you did; and if they commanded that you died, you did.

There are a few absolute rulers still on earth, but even then, they can be limited by the international community. We see this in places like North Korea. Their leader is a sovereign, but his power is limited only to North Korea. But God’s Sovereignty transcends all aspects of the creation. He controls the things above, on and even below the earth. God is even Sovereign over death. In this case here during this time in the Tribulation, He temporarily stops death. Wow, listen to that! God stops death.

This is one of the reasons that just reading the Revelation brings blessings. Our God has the power to stop death. This should bolster the faith of everyone who reads this. This is a power unique to the God of the Bible – the power to stop death, to control death and to overrule death. Death, we are told, is not a respecter of persons, BUT it will respect God. It will obey the God of the Bible. Oh, what an awesome God we serve! Oh, what a powerful God we serve!

The second thing that I take from this is God’s grace even in the midst of His wrath. The people want to die to escape their temporary torment here on earth, but death will immediately put them in eternal torment in Hell. This torment will last but a short while, some five months, but Hell is forever. Had God let them die, they would have been in a worse situation.

Maybe, just maybe once they get past the five months, some of them will see and understand that the people of God were not attacked; and maybe, just maybe some of them may repent and be saved. Even if it were just one of them who repented, then this stay on death would be worth it.

Sometimes we miss the ‘little’ wonders of God’s grace in the middle of the storms. God is good; even in His wrath He is good.

Are you as diligent as God at helping people stay out of Hell? This is our primary job as people in local New Testament churches – making disciples, teaching and sharing the Gospel, lifting Jesus up so He can draw ALL men to Himself. Be agents of God’s grace; tell someone the Gospel. Let us work like we believe this verse, 2 Peter 3:9,

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca