August 16, 2015 - Redeeming Judgment (Session 11) - Revelation 9:1-12 Big Idea: God is the avenger of His people. Notes about the Context and Background of the Passage Having seen the scenes from the throne room of heaven in chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation over the past two weeks, where Almighty God gave Jesus, the worthy Lamb who was slain, the seven sealed scroll that contained the deed to the universe, the proclamation of God’s redemption of all things. Chapters 6-16 describe the seven year Tribulation time and the judgments that will befall those who are in not in Christ; these judgments will lead to Armageddon and the defeat of Babylon in chapters 17-18, ushering in the beginning of Christ’s Millennial reign and the final judgment at the Great White Throne in chapter 20. Chapter 6 describes the breaking of the first six seals of the scroll and the judgments that accompany their fracture, including the unleashing of the Antichrist, war, famine, vengeance for the martyrs death, and widespread fear. Chapter 7 pauses the breaking of the seals before the seventh seal to describe the 144,000 witnesses who will be sealed by God and will lead a great multitude to salvation in Christ in what will be the largest revival in the history of earth (Rev. 7:9-17). Chapter 8 resumes the seal judgements with the breaking of the seventh seal, which calls for a silence in heaven in anticipation of the coming judgments of the seven trumpets in Revelation 9-11 (see below for the notes on the Trumpet judgments). Revelation 12-14 describe the happenings on earth during the 3 and 1/2 years before Christ returns fully that make up the third woe accompanying the 7th trumpet, a period that will come to an end in Revelation 15-16 with the Bowl judgments, which will devastate the earth, leading to the judgment of the Antichrist and those who reject the Lord in Revelation 17-18 that will en in the Marriage feast of the Lamb in chapter 19 and the beginning of the Millennial Reign of Christ. To help put all of this in order, I have attached 2 helpful charts to the end of these notes from Robert Lightner’s Last Days Handbook (1997, Revised and Expanded, Wipe and Stock, Eugene, Oregon). Notes about the Passage Choosing Revelation 9:1-12 as a passage of study is difficult for a number of reasons. It covers the 5th Trumpet judgment, which is a part of a section that details 7 Trumpet judgments, all of which result from the 7 seal judgments and lead to the 7 bowl judgments; in other words, there is an extensive context that this passage is taken out of, which we have not covered. This fact alone causes some difficulty, as you’ll have to explain why the terrible descriptions of this chapter are here since your class will not have the background of knowing that this is one of the many judgments by which the Lord is cleansing the creation of sin preparing for the coming of Christ and the redemption of all things. Further, this section is filled with very vivid images with little to no interpretation in the text. While this is nothing new in the Revelation, as many symbols require a knowledge of the Old Testament to decipher in this work, many of these images are only found in Revelation, providing you with little help in interpretation from other areas of Scripture. In addressing the struggle of interpreting the images of Revelation 9, Daymond Duck, in the The Book of Revelation: The Smart Guide to the Bible (2006, Thomas Nelson), offers the following conclusion: “It’s difficult to believe, and kind of scary, but some of what has traditionally been considered symbolic may not be symbolic after all. People will be dealing with the subterranean world [the demonic underworld], so it’s entirely possible that some of the hellish characteristics of these creatures are literal. In that case, no explanations are need, and the judgments may be more fearsome than once thought” (p.121). Indeed, the world we encounter in Revelation 9 is very different than the world we know today. A key passage to me in understanding the destruction and chaos envisioned in Revelation 6-16 is found in Romans 1:18-32, where Paul details that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness, a process by which God gives sinful man over more and more to his own evil desires and passions, leading to

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more and more pain in judgment. In the same way, as the Tribulation time continues, God removes more and more of his common grace, whereby He has patiently protected all of creation from receiving the full brunt of the judgment we deserve. When the seals of scroll are broken, though, God begins the process of removing His hand of protection from the world, unleashing the terrors that are seen in these chapters. With the breaking of the seven seals in Revelation 6-8, the world has experienced the coming of the Antichrist, war, famine, the death of a quarter of Earth’s population, the death of the martyrs (true believers coming to Christ after the rapture), and terror that fell over all of creation from the earthquakes and cosmic disturbances taking place throughout the planet. With the breaking of the seventh seal (8:1), silence fell over heaven in anticipation of the trumpet judgments that were to be unleashed. Revelation 8:2-5 describes the quiet scene in heaven, where seven angels prepared to sound the trumpets given them by God, while another angel comes before the altar with a censor of incense. This altar, described earlier in 6:9 in connection with those martyred for their faith in the 5th seal judgment, stands before the throne of God (8:3); the incense here, as earlier in Revelation, represents the prayers of the saints, which are offered up before God (8:4). Alan Johnson notes that this scene is a symbolic gesture leading into the trumpet judgments, as “a strong assurance is here given to the suffering followers of Christ that their prayers for vindication are not forgotten because God will speedily vindicate them from their enemies’ assaults. So close is the altar to God that the incense cloud of the saints’ prayers rises into His presence and cannot escape His notice” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 12, 1981, Zondervan, p.489). While we are getting ahead of ourselves a bit here in talking about application or take aways for this passage, this is really the way that this passage brings hope to a struggling and persecuted people, like the audience of the Revelation: it is a reminder that God hears His people’s cries and will avenge their pain. Though the world may trample on the saints now, God is not ignoring the prayers of His people; rather, the scene of the incense being thrown to earth in 8:5, resulting in thunder, lightning, and earthquakes, reminiscent of the description of the presence of the Lord in Exodus 19:16-19 and earlier in Revelation 4, is a sign that God has heard their prayers and is coming to vindicate His people. As Paul Beware concludes, “These judgments [the trumpet judgments] are more severe than the first six seal judgments and come in answer to the prayers of the saints of God” (Understanding End Times Prophecy, Rev. and Expanded, 2006, Moody, p.313). The first four trumpet judgments are recorded in chapter 8, describing in quick fashion the partial destruction of most of the systems of earth. These judgments, occurring in the last 3 1/2 years of the 7 year tribulation period, will include: the loss of a third of the trees and all of the grass (1st Trumpet); a third of the sea turning to blood, leading to the death of a third of the ocean creatures and the sinking of a third of the ships (2nd Trumpet); a third of the water sources being contaminated, leading to death for many (3rd Trumpet); and the sun, moon, and stars will lose a third of its light (4th Trumpet). This is followed by the unleashing of demonic creatures, who will devastate humankind with three “woes” (8:13), beginning in chapter 9. Our passage this week covers the fifth trumpet, which is the first woe (9:12); the sixth trumpet delivers the second woe beginning in 9:13 and ending in 11:14 after a brief pause to detail the angel who is coming with a proclamation of judgment in chapter 10 (the scroll of Ezekiel 2-3 and Zechariah). The final trumpet is blown in 11:15 and it’s judgment seems to be completed in the bowl judgments of chapters 15 and 16. The trumpet, often known as the shofar trumpet, was usually made of a ram’s horn and resembled a modern-day bugle in size and scale. Johnson (1981) noted that trumpets were commonly used in Jewish life as signaling instruments, carrying out various functions including: signaling war or danger, a call that peace had come, announcing the new moon, beginning the Sabbath, or signaling the death of a noble person. Their use as a signal of the end times was well established in the Old and New Testaments (see Isa. 27:13; Joel 2:1; Zephaniah 1:16; Matthew 24:31); the trumpets signify that God is going to war with His enemies on behalf of His saints!

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In truth, a traditional outline is not necessary for Revelation 9:1-12, as it lays out a narrative of the events following the sounding of the fifth trumpet. This explains why the ETB outline seems a bit arbitrary and jumpy, as it seeks to capture 4 big ideas of locusts unleashed, believers protected, death sought, and judgment administered. As with most narratives, would be easier to view along the elements of a storyline: setting/ opening, rising action, climax, resolving action. Such an organization could be seen as: Climax: 9:6-11 The locust army appears with their king, “The Destroyer” Rising Action: 9:4-5 The locusts’ mission plans and news of doom Setting: 9:1-3 An angel is sent to open the Abyss and release demonic locusts into the earth.

Resolve: 9:12 The first woe has passed; there are two more to come

The benefit of looking at the passage along the movements of a story is that it helps us to see the true emphasis and them of the text. While the ETB material seeks to emphasize the directive to the locusts in 9:4 to harm “only people who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads,” turning the phrase into a call to turn to Jesus before judgment comes, the text does not focus on this theme. Rather, the Bible passage actually focuses on the release and rise to power of the locusts in the fifth trumpet as God’s method of judgment, reaching a climax at the appearance of the locusts and their king in 9:6-11. It is not the security of God’s people that is brought to light in this passage, but the utter destruction and despair that will visit the inhabitants of earth during this judgment, a time when the angels have already said, “Woe to the inhabitants of earth” (8:13). Even with laying out a storyline, though, this passage is much debated and interpreted in various ways, so we’ll try to walk through its parts to make sense of the action and the images. With the fifth angel’s horn, John sees a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, carrying a key to the shaft of the Abyss. This star is a personal being (like the angels in 1:20), as opposed to the fiery celestial body seen in 8:10 with the third trumpet, as he is pictured as unlocking the shaft of the Abyss. Some argue that star is an angel sent from Heaven’s throne, who may have kept the keys to the Abyss until Rev. 20:1, when Satan is locked away. Many argue, on the other hand, that the star is Satan, also known as Lucifer (“brightness”), who was once compared to the morning star (Isaiah 14:12-14) and of whom Jesus said He saw “as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18); if this is the case, it may be that this event is the same event that will be pictured in 12:7-9 when Satan will be cast out of heaven to earth. In either case, it is clear that the star does not possess the power to control the Abyss on their own, as the key to the shaft was given to them (9:2). The Abyss is not a new concept to the book of Revelation, but rather, was referred to in Luke 8:31, when demons begged Jesus not to cast them into the Abyss. It was viewed, then, as a sort of prison for the demons (Jude 6 is probably in mind here) and a place associated with death (Romans 10:7), envisioned here as a bottomless pit with a shaft leading into it. This will be the holding place for Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet during the Millennial reign of Christ in Revelation 19-20 before their final judgment in

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20:10-14. The picture of the Abyss is frightening, if not awesome, as 9:2 describes it as a shaft producing smoke as a great furnace to such a degree that the opening of the shaft darkened the sun and air around the earth. But more frightening is what emerges from the Abyss in 9:3: locusts who were given power like scorpions have on earth. Locusts plagues are some of the harshest plagues of mankind, as they travel in ranks so great that they can darken the sky and they reduce lands to starvation by eating all of the vegetation of the land. The description of the locust army’s invasion of Israel at the Day of the Lord in Joel 2 is parallel to the descriptions found here and points to the fact that these are not ordinary locusts. Indeed, unlike regular locusts that devour grass and green plants, 9:4 details that these locusts are not given the fauna to devour, but instead, they were directed toward people not sealed by God’s seal (this is a reference to the 144,000 Jewish witnesses in Rev. 7:4-8). Scorpions are equipped with stingers to stab and poison their prey; victims rarely die from a scorpion’s sting, but they often turn black and blue and go into convulsions with allergic reactions, creating unbearable pain (Duck, p.123; cf. Rev. 9:5). That these locusts possess these powers (9:3) goes in line with their mission in 9:5 to torment people, but not kill them. Just as a typical locust has a five month life span, so will this judgment from this demonic locust army (9:5 and 9:10). The climax of John’s telling comes in the appearance of the locusts as an army, complete with quite vivid descriptions. Seeing a picture of a locust will help to understand why John was able to identify these creatures as locusts, though you will also be able to see the difference between the natural locust and the demonic version seen in Revelation 9:7-10.

They are described as being “like horses equipped for battle,” which is a dual reference in regards to the locusts. War horses are symbols of power in destruction, as they were the war machines of ancient warfare, but locusts are actually known as little horses (this is their title in Italian) on account of their long, horselike face. Something “like a gold crown was on their head,” which again resembles the fillet along the locusts’ back, while at the same time calling to mind the imagery of crowns worn by nobles and royalty into battle. Their faces resemble that of man’s, not claiming that they are men, but definitely showing their distinction

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from natural locusts. Their hair “like women’s hair” has been understood to be a reference to the long antennae, especially considering the heavy use of describing locusts’ antlers as women’s hair in arabic proverbs. Yet, their teeth are “like lions’ teeth,” a striking image that suggests the terrible devastation that these creatures could bring. With the pictures of the armor and their wings sounding like horses running into battle, these creatures are clearly seen as an army ready for action. Walvoord reminds us, “Obviously John was describing what he saw but did not interpret each characteristic. The picture is one of Satan’s awesome supernatural power and the demon world especially in relation to unbelievers” (p.952). Whereas natural locusts have no leader or king, as Proverbs 30:27 describes, the locusts of have a king that is revealed in 9:11. This king is called the angel of the Abyss and is given both a Hebrew and a Greek name. The Hebrew name, Abaddon, is a term that means “destruction” and is used six times in the Old Testament (3 times in Job, once in Psalms, and twice in Proverbs); it normally travels in a pair with Sheol (or Death). The Greek name, Apollyon, is only used here in the Bible and means “exterminator” or “destroyer.” The picture is clear that the king of the locust army is tasked with destruction and torment; while his aim is not to kill the people, it is to terrorize them and devastate them in painful and torturous means. Though many identify Satan as this king of the Abyss, John has consistently maintained the same title for characters throughout his vision; as he will later refer to Satan as the Red Dragon (12:3-4, 9), it wouldn’t make sense for him to use a different title here that is only used here in Revelation. The reference to the king is not here to point out a figure as much as to emphasize the cause of the locusts: to bring destruction and destroy mankind. In truth, this is the tragedy of this passage, as 9:6 describes the despair created by the locust army among mankind. People will seek death and will not find it; they’ll long to die, but death will flee them! The choice of the locust as the picture of the demonic destroyers is fitting in light of the nature of locusts. Locusts don’t hurt people by directly attacking them, but rather, they destroy people by taking away their food. This is why locust plagues were so treacherous to people in Bible times (and remain so even today); unlike some creatures that humans can guard themselves from their bite or their sting, locusts harm humans by stripping away everything that has life around them. So it will be with Revelation’s locusts, who will bring great pain and sorrow to mankind, but not through an attack that man could fight against or could even escape through death; they are coming to make mankind suffer with a relentless pain. When this five month period has ended, the first woe has passed, declares 9:12; yet, even more disheartening is the reminder that two more woes are to come. Frankly, this is a tough passage to teach for a Sunday school class and raises a number of questions for us to ponder personally. Typically, teachers will aim to end on a good note, but this passage is a straight tragedy story line; the main character, mankind, ends in a much worse condition than he began in. It really kills the joy of fellowship to discuss how conditions will be so bad that people wish they were dead, but they can’t even find relief in death, as the Lord allows them to suffer through the judgment. Further, those of us who believe that the church will be raptured before the Tribulation period begins with the breaking of the first seal of the scroll may question why God has revealed such a violent and excruciating picture of those who will be left behind. Some may even question how a good God could allow such pain to befall creation. But such questions reveal how little we are taking into account the context of the book of Revelation and the rebellion of mankind. The purpose of this story is not to give a sneak peak of end times events, for we have already been given that in the Old Testament (these events are written about in Joel, Ezekiel, and Isaiah, not to mention the indirect references found in other books of the Old Testament). Instead, this is a message that is given to encourage a group of struggling churches who wonder if God will ever hear their prayers to end their suffering and to be their avenger, a fact pointed to in 8:2-5, as mentioned above. Will those who hate the things and the people of God ever be punished for their actions? Will God stand up for His people or will He let them be walked over by those seeking to persecute them? In allowing the demons to roam the earth with this judgment and bring pain upon mankind, those who have chosen to rebel against

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God are receiving justice for their actions. But is this too hard of judgment? Maybe the people just need another chance to hear the gospel? While the message of Christ is still being presented by the 144,000 witness and the two witnesses (chapter 7), the stunning truth is that even severe judgments as we’ve seen here will not lead the people to repentance; 9:20-21 notes that the ones who were not killed by the plagues that made up the first six trumpet judgments “did not repent of the works of their hands,” but instead, they continued in their idolatry and sin. In the end, then, this week’s passage is a powerful reminder that God is the avenger of His people (Deuteronomy 32:43) Nahum 1:2-3 begins, “A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; the Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on HIs adversaries and He reserves wrath for His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” To a people struggling under the weight of persecution and oppression, this is a sweet reminder indeed! There is a real consequence to turning away from the Lord and that picture is not a pretty one at all. Understanding that God will avenge His people should lead us as believers to hold onto our hope, as God has not forgotten us and will fight on our behalf; but it should also push us to share the gospel with those around us, knowing what awaits those who turn away from the Lord. Have fun with this tough passage; I’m praying for you friends.

Note: In an attempt to help you carry out the full function of your class or group to grow in your faith with God, to care for and love one another, and to share your faith with those who are lost, I’m going to begin to aim these lesson plans to stay close to 35 minutes. A suggested outline for your class may look like this: A. Fellowship ministries - 10-15 minutes - This is a time to share prayer concerns, check up on people who have been out, plan gatherings for outside of class, and make plans for specific ministry needs for the people in your class. This is when we focus on the people in our class. B. Mission plans - 10 minutes - This is a time to discuss people we plan to talk to about Jesus or invite to class, share testimonies of sharing Christ with others, and make plans for class evangelism and mission projects. This is where we focus on those who are lost and in need of grace. C. Bible Study - 30 minutes - This is when we study God’s Word and seek to apply it to our lives! N.B. - This is merely a suggestion that can help you plan an hour long class. Some weeks will require more time in Fellowship or Mission time and some weeks you may not have the full hour to proceed. In general, though, this would be an easy model that will help you focus on loving one another, sharing Christ, and growing in Him. Let me know if you have any suggestions at [email protected]

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Teaching Plan for this week’s lesson Hook I. See if you can picture this scene in your mind: there are two kids playing together (they could be siblings or cousins or friends - it’s up to you!). As you watch them play, you notice that one kid always picks on the other - he’s a bully! As you watch longer and longer, you see the bully pick more and more at the other kid and never seems to get in trouble for it. The more he gets away with it, the more he bullies and just seems to get worse and worse and worse. A. Can you see that picture in your mind? How does it make you feel? B. Some of you are probably upset and some of you are downright mad! I can’t stand to see someone bully around another person! But let me add a detail and see if it changes your opinion: suppose that as you watch the bully push around the other kid, the bully’s dad walks in, sees what his child is doing, and punished the bully; does that change how you feel? C. It wasn’t fun to watch a child get pushed around by a bully, but somehow it takes away the blow a little bit when we know that the bully will be held accountable and the bullied child will be vindicated. When justice comes into the story, we know that a wrong has been addressed and it even gives us hope that bullying will come to an end. II. This may sound like a strange way to begin our lesson today, but as we go back into the book of Revelation this week, we’ll see that this story of the guilty facing judgment and the victim being vindicated is at the heart of a passage filled with imagery and a great deal of pain. We’re going to be looking at Revelation 9:1-12 this morning, but before we get there, turn with me to Revelation 8:1 as we go over a little bit of background to get up to speed. Book I. If you remember the last two weeks, we have been able to see scenes from the throne room of heaven in Revelation 4 and 5. As we have seen those scenes, we’ve seen that God alone is worthy of our praise and that He has a plan to redeem all of creation, a plan shown in Revelation as a scroll with seven seals. Jesus is the only one who is worthy to open the seals of the scroll and reveal how the rest of history will unfold leading to our redemption. A. With the church already taken from earth (the Rapture), chapter 6 shows the breaking of the first six seals of the scroll; as each seal is broken, judgments follow, preparing the way for the final judgment of all of creation. The seal judgments include the unleashing of the Antichrist (a leader that the world will worship), war, famine, the death of a fourth of all people, and widespread fear that spreads over all of creation. B. Chapter 7 describes how 144,000 Jews, 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, will be sealed with God’s seal on their forehead and will join two witnesses in singing the praises of the Lord, leading to a massive revival on earth when multitudes will come to Christ. C. Chapter 8, then, begins with mention that the seventh seal was broken and silence fell across the heavens. The seventh seal brings as its judgment seven trumpets, each of which will bring its own judgment when it is blown. Look with me at 8:2-5 really quickly. 1. What is the angel doing in verses 3 and 4? We had seen earlier in the book that the incense that is burned on the altar of God is the prayers of the saints; here, we see an angel bringing more of the saints’ prayers before God and the aroma making its way up to His throne. 2. These are the prayers of those saints who came to faith in the Tribulation time (the time when seals are broken); they are prayers for deliverance and prayers that God would avenge them from the people who attack and persecute believers in the world. To think back to our example earlier, these are the prayers of the bullied kids to gain relief from the bully and to see the bully punished for his actions.

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3. Look at 8:5 with me: these prayers, lit by the fire of God’s altar are thrown down to earth, where they bring thunder and lighting and earthquakes. These are all signs that tell that God’s presence is near and this scene leads into the seven trumpet judgments. What’s the point of this mini history lesson? The trumpet judgments, when God will begin to judge the wicked for their actions, are God’s answer to the prayers of the saints. Keep that in mind, but we’ll come back to it D. So, the rest of chapter records the first 4 trumpet judgments and they are bad: a third of the vegetation is destroyed with the first trumpet, a third of the sea turns to blood with second; a third of the rivers and streams are given bitter, contaminated water, and all of the sources of light for earth lose a third of their brightness. 1. At this stage, a global catastrophe would be taking place, as people are losing the food of vegetables and plants, there is no clean water to drink, dead fish and destroyed ships are floating ashore in blood tinged waters, and the days are shorter and all times are darker. 2. Chapter 8 ends with an angel saying “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth,” signaling three woe judgments that will be most devastating judgments seen to this point. II. This is where we pick up this morning in 9:1-12, where we’ll see the fifth trumpet judgment, also called “the first woe.” It’s a bit easier to understand this passage in the movements of a story, so let’s begin by seeing the setting here in 9:1-3. I want you to take a moment to read these verses and, in groups of 2 or 3, tell each other what you think is going on. A. So there’s a star that seems to be an angelic being that has fallen from heaven to earth; many believe this is Satan, although it could be another angelic being. This star was given the keys to the Abyss. 1. The Abyss is described as a prison for the demons and a place of the dead in Luke 8, Romans 10, and the book of Jude. Here it is described in the terms of a bottomless pit with a shaft that serves as its entrance. 2. As the star opens the shaft, smoke begins to billow out like a great furnace to the point that the sky is darkened across the earth. As the smoke pours out, creatures that look like locusts come out of the Abyss. 3. The stage is set, but before we move along, could you imagine how terrifying this would be to see? B. The rising action takes place in 9:4-5, where we see the mission given to these locust creatures; read these two verses and when you do, we’ll discuss a couple of questions: 1. What were the locusts told not to do in verse 4? Normal locusts torment mankind by swarming around plants and eating all of the crops, leaving man to starve in their aftermath. But these locusts are different; they were told not to harm the grass or the plants (remember that a third have already been destroyed with the first trumpet), but to go after all of the people except for the 144,000 witnesses sealed to proclaim God’s word. 2. What were the specifics of this torment in verse 5? The normal life cycle of locusts is five months, which is also the length of this judgment. Notice the specifics of their mission; they were not to kill the people, but they were to torment them like the torment caused when a scorpion stings a man. Adults rarely die from scorpion stings, but the venom from such a sting often causes a painful reaction where the victim will turn black and blue and can be thrown into convulsions; the picture is a torment that won’t kill man, but will make him suffer. C. The climax is found in 9:6-11; we’ll back to verse 6, but let’s start by seeing the appearance of the locusts as an army in 9:7-11. I’m going to show you a picture of a locust that will help us understand what John is relating to when he calls these demonic creatures from the Abyss “locusts” [teaching tip: a large version of this picture is found at the end of these notes]. 1. How did the locusts’ appearance alone inspire fear?

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2. The description of this invading army sent to torment mankind is almost identical to the description given in Joel 2 of a locust army that will come upon Israel. These descriptions in 9:7-10 are similar to locusts, but show the severity of these creatures. a) They are ready for battle, as they are equipped like a war horse, marked by golden crowns, and armored with chests like iron breastplates. Arabic proverbs often referred to the locusts antennae as a girl’s hair and the fierceness of the creatures can be seen in their teeth that are like lion’s teeth. b) Locusts are known to swarm in ranks, an image that is picked up by their wings sounding like many chariots rushing into battle. Unlike natural locusts, though, these demonic creatures are equipped with tails like a scorpion so that they could harm people for 5 months. 3. Normally locusts have no leader, but in this passage, their king is mentioned as an angel of the Abyss; his hebrew name means “destruction” and was often linked with death in the Old Testament, while his Greek name means “the destroyer.” Some argue that this is a reference to Satan, but Satan will be called the Red Dragon in Revelation beginning in chapter 12 and is never referred to as the angel of the Abyss. No, this detail about the king of the locusts is not given for us to focus on his identity, but to emphasize the mission that the locusts are being led toward; they follow their king into destruction in order to destroy. D. This judgment will be horrible in scope, as the locust army is unleashed on mankind to cause an inescapable suffering. Look back at 9:6 to see the effect of these locusts on man: it will be so bad that the people will hope to die, but won’t be able to find death. Imagine the despair! Look I. The passage doesn’t end with a happy resolution, but rather, it closes with ominous summary statement: the first woe has passed, but two more remain. How would describe this judgment of God? II. One of the tough questions to consider here is: why was this vision given to the churches of Revelation? After all, the church will not be present during this time and those who remain with God’s seal are protected from this carnage (9:4). If the message of Revelation is supposed to bring hope to the believers in these struggling churches, how do these events accomplish that? A. The reason we started with Revelation 8 was so you could see that this is part of God answering the prayers of the saints; in fact, all of these judgments show God restoring justice by punishing the wicked and protecting the righteous. To a group of churches suffering daily, whose prayers would be for God to remove the evil that tortures them and rescue them from persecution, this is the answer to their prayers. B. Even more, this is a reminder that God will avenge His people. Turn quickly with me to the little book of Nahum, where we’ll read 1:2-3. The Lord will stand up for His people; He will guard them. We can take hope in knowing that our prayers are not in vain and God is not unaware of our suffering; instead, He will avenge His people. III. But we also see how important it is that we share the gospel with others, as these judgments are reserved for the enemies of God, those who reject Christ as their Lord. IV. What is your response to this passage? Took Do you have friends that don’t know the Lord? Pray that God will bring lost people into your life that you can share the gospel with this week

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