Welcome to The MHB Podcast. This is Michael Baun. And welcome to my 153rd episode. In this episode I’m going to continue with our study of the book of Revelation. We are in chapter 9. This chapter shows us the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets which usher in judgments worse than those of the first four. Let’s begin by reading verses 1-12:
Rev 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose 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.
Rev 9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Rev 9:4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
Rev 9:5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
Rev 9:6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
Rev 9:7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
Rev 9:8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
Rev 9:9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
Rev 9:10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
Rev 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
Rev 9:12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
The chapter jumps right into the fifth angel sounding the fifth trumpet and a star falling from heaven unto earth. As in the previous chapter, I think it’s safe to interpret this passage symbolically because we know what stars literally are. It’s likely the fallen star in this passage represents some prominent member of the Christian church. Perhaps this person was elite among the clergy like an eminent Bishop or someone similar. Whoever it is this person is a betrayer of the church who becomes something like an Antichrist if not the Antichrist. This religious figure is given a key to the bottomless pit which allows him to set loose powers of hell in the world.
Once the fallen star opened the bottomless pit a tremendous amount of smoke rose into the air and darkened the sun. This is a metaphor for how Satan wields the powers of darkness. Evil people depend on deceptions and darkness in order to accomplish their designs. Satan’s work is carried out by blinding the eyes of humanity and obscuring their understanding of truth. This is no different than how the worst totalitarian regimes in history established their own power. Every dictator requires some form of censorship because their survival depends on keeping the population in the dark, extinguishing light and knowledge, and promoting ignorance by way of propaganda and lies. People become so deeply wrapped in lies that their own identity takes shape around them and it becomes too painful to tell the truth. It’s also the case that totalitarians punish courageous individuals who speak up in defense of the truth. The Soviet government under Stalin established incentive structures which paid their own citizens to inform on each other if anyone was heard speaking out against the regime. This kind of incentive inspired division which was so pervasive that it wasn’t uncommon for family members living in the same house to inform on each other. If anyone wasn’t fooled by the propaganda, they were too terrified to admit this fact.
Out of the dark smoke came a swarm of locusts which is one of the plagues God used against Egypt. These locusts can be understood as miserable and useless people who scheme against their neighbors and promote cruelty. You can see the human equivalent of this in the mindless mob who burn down cities and hurt people indiscriminately and with impunity. If you separated out a mob into individuals almost none of them would participate in the wickedness they do when in a group. That’s because the mob is controlled by the spirit of destruction – the same spirit behind the swarm of locusts seen in Revelation. The locusts in this passage were given permission to harm anyone who did not have the mark of God on their foreheads. The damage they did is best understood as spiritual damage. It was not a military persecution and the swarm was prevented from harming the creation itself.
The locust swarm in this case was like a pervasive poison which infected the souls of those who did not belong to God. It’s like sanctification only in reverse. Sanctification is when the Spirit of God purifies you across time in order to make you more like Him. The locust swarm of heresies and idolatry was an infection which slowly and secretly led people astray until they became bitter, resentful, and lost all peace of mind. Those who were marked by the seal of God were immune to this toxin because they had given themselves over to God by faith and His grace preserved them. When an entire population descends into psychosis it becomes obvious which people are anchored in the truth of Jesus Christ. It’s so obvious they might as well be marked by a seal on their foreheads.
Notice how God never loses control during these seasons of chaos and how He foreordains the appointed timeline. In the case of the locusts the season of judgment was limited to five months. An important point to remember about God is that He sets limitations to the time-frames for both judgment and gospel-grace. In this life God’s patience in bringing judgment to turn you away from wickedness and towards Him will only last so long. Five months doesn’t seem like a very long time to endure judgment but the locust swarm was rather horrible. If we can understand the swarm as religious heresies and spiritual torment which caused people to act like mindless mobs then we can imagine the emotional pain was quite severe. A person has to be in a really bad place to despair of their own life and according to this passage suicidal ideation would have been very common. That’s what happens when you allow the poisonous drip of lies to infect your conscience. The lies cause you to re-frame your perceptions in such a way that makes life itself seem unbearable. The greatest defense against this, as witnessed in this passage, is to be marked with the seal of God on your forehead. This means to be immersed in the truth of God and cling to it with all your faith and all your hope. That’s how you stabilize your mind and promote spiritual well-being, and it’s also how you immunize yourself against pervasive deceptions which wash across the culture and torment the consciences of many.
We’re given a description of the locusts which gives us some insight into the characters who were spreading deceitful poison during this judgment. They were given the tools and equipment necessary to carry out this work. The locusts pretended to have great authority and were confident of their own victory. They had crowns like gold on their heads which by worldly standard would have been the mark of authority – but their authority was a lie. The locusts appeared deeply wise on the surface but in truth they were possessed by the spirits of devils. The passage says the locusts had hair like women which denotes the allurement of their seeming beauty. Often times deception is seductive to our souls in the same way an attractive woman is seductive to a man. The locusts may have appeared as gentle as women but they actually had the teeth of lions which reveals how these people were very cruel at heart. The breastplate of iron tells us that these locusts had the protection of worldly powers which might mean they were protected by the state or national government. It’s not easy to fight deception when you’re in the midst of a culture war – but this process becomes exponentially more difficult once the deception manifests itself in the state and your own government seeks to defend it.
The passage indicates that these locusts made quite a commotion in the world. They were able to move country to country which suggests their efforts were well-funded and highly orchestrated. Dangerous deceivers rarely ever present themselves as what they actually are. If they did they wouldn’t be dangerous because most people would just figure them out and turn them away. At first glance the lies seem to make sense and they are especially tempting. It’s not until you walk down that road a ways that you discover your mistake. The faces of the locusts were seductive and the sting was in their tails. This means the cup of their abominations probably tasted luscious at first but later stung like the bite of a venomous snake. That’s how it goes with propaganda as well. You don’t realize your mistake until you have a moment where your belief in the lies causes a terrible sting. Maybe the sting causes you to snap out of it and maybe it doesn’t. Maybe you use the pain of it as an excuse to become an even worse person. How you react to the truth is a decision which is entirely your own to make.
This passage also identifies the leader of the locusts and describes him. His Hebrew name is Abaddon and his Greek name is Apollyon which means destroyer. He was once one of the angels of heaven but had become a fallen angel who resided in the bottomless pit. In the pit he occupied a position of authority like a prince, a general, or a governor. The powers of darkness appeared to answer to his beck and call. The angel Apollyon employs himself in the schemes of destruction and is rather successful at it. He appears to take pleasure in his diligent work which betrays the hellish spirit which must have caused his fall from heaven to begin with. The locust swarm in this chapter are categorized as his emissaries and his army which he uses to destroy the souls of humanity. I don’t think you would be wrong to suggest that when a mob of crazed people runs through neighborhoods killing, destroying, and expressing unexplained rage they are being controlled by the spirit of Abaddon or Apollyon. He is the destroyer and under certain conditions you can find people who want nothing but to destroy things. But always remember the key to being immunized against this venom: it is the mark of God on your forehead. It is you belonging to God through Jesus Christ by faith alone. This preservation might not save you from being destroyed by those possessed by a spirit of destruction – but it will save you from becoming the destroyer yourself. God said do not fear those who can only destroy your body, instead fear Him alone because He can destroy both body and spirit in hell. If God is with you, you need not fear anything but God Himself – and this fear is not a destructive fear, it is an edifying fear. It is the reverential fear of worship which leads to everlasting life. Once the locusts were finished with their appointed work the fifth judgment ended and the sixth trumpet was sounded. Let’s read verses 13-21:
Rev 9:13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
Rev 9:14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
Rev 9:15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
Rev 9:16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
Rev 9:17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
Rev 9:18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
Rev 9:19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.
Rev 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Rev 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
This passage can be broken into two parts: first is the preface to the vision and second is the vision itself. In the preface to the vision we see God give permission for the angel to set loose the sixth judgment. The enemies of the church have no power apart from the power God allows them to have. You might ask why He allows them to have any power at all, and the answer is God uses His enemies to accomplish His divine purpose every bit as much as He uses faithful Christians. If you hate God and you hate humanity, then try as you might to spread hell on earth but in the final analysis God will redeem perfect light out of the darkness you caused. People who hated God crucified Jesus Christ and even a crime so horrible as this was redeemed into the gospel itself which is the greatest news the world has ever heard. God does not allow the forces of darkness to be unleashed on a nation until the nation is ready for punishment. He restrains the wickedness Himself in order to give the nation plentiful opportunities to repent.
God can use tools from across the world to bring judgment upon a nation. Almost one year ago a single microscopic virus made its way out of a laboratory in Wuhan, China and the entire world changed as a consequence. There are at least several ways to interpret the judgment in this passage but I think it’s helpful to put it into a historical context which was the rise of the Turkish power by the Euphrates River. This would explain the four angels who were bound in the Euphrates and set loose by the permission of God. The military operations described in this passage are given the timeline of one hour, and a day, and a month, and a year. These cryptic forms of time laid out in prophetic visions will probably remain a mystery to us until we pass on into heaven. But for the sake of discussion we can say the time-frame denotes one hour from when the operation begins to when it ends. During this judgment, in this span of time, a third of the targeted population was impacted.
John numbered the army in this vision as two hundred thousand thousand. If you take two hundred thousand multiplied by one thousand you get 200 million – so that’s quite a large army. And that’s really just the number of horsemen, John didn’t account for the infantry itself. Whether we should consider this number as an exact specification or whether it’s just meant to denote a huge army we can leave up to interpretive decision. If one of the manifestations of this prophecy was the Byzantine-Ottoman conflict then it’s true the army of the Ottoman Empire was vast – although it wasn’t quite 200 million. The Turkish or Ottoman army was formidable by equipment standards as well. Their horses were fierce and their horsemen adorned polished, expensive armor.
The Ottoman Turks caused a tremendous amount of havoc across the Roman empire and they may have killed as many as a third of the population. But their damage was limited to the purpose for which God used them. The Ottoman army used artillery which the vision described by fire, smoke, and brimstone issuing out of the mouths of their horses. They had cannon artillery the likes of which no one had ever seen before and they used these massive weapons in their siege of Constantinople. The Roman empire had become very anti-christian by this time so it’s sort of ironic how the people who used the spiritual toxin represented by the locust swarm to infect and destroy souls were now being bodily destroyed by cannon fire. We in the western world are not above this sort of outcome today. If we continue to cause spiritual division among ourselves and continue to poison the public mind with demonstrable untruths, then we are going to weaken ourselves until we become vulnerable to real enemies who are watching patiently from the outside.
The next part of the passage gives us a look into how wicked humanity can become. The generation subjected to the dreadful judgments in this vision were stubbornly impenitent. Those who weren’t killed by God’s wrath looked up in defiance and refused to repent from the sins for which God was so severely punishing them. The sins of the generation in this vision can be categorized as idolatry, murder, fornication, and theft. They refused to give up their idolatry and instead they clung to graven images which cannot hear, see, or help them. Many of the people in this generation were or will be murderous. Christians have been murdered and persecuted ever since there’s been Christians and this is not likely to stop. Sexual impurity was not something they were willing to repent from and indeed they often incorporated it into their idolatrous rituals. The human tendency to do this is why so many cults tend toward sexual abuse and impropriety. The theft is likely a reference to the extortion which takes place in cults all over the world. Corrupt religious leaders abuse the faith of their followers to enrich themselves thereby stealing what actually belongs to God. The wealth schemes laid out by wicked leaders cause cascading negative effects which result in families being impoverished. All of these sins are markedly anti-Christian and despite the revelation of God’s wrath, these sinners were and will be obstinate in their defiance of Him.
This chapter has taught us that God uses His own enemies and instruments to punish wicked people elsewhere. Every army on planet earth belongs to God and will answer to His final authority. He is the Lord of hosts. God can and will use any world power to accomplish His own purposes even if they fail to realize that’s what’s happening. But even the most powerful nations on earth have limits set to them by God. Regardless of how formidable your military, your country can do exactly nothing beyond the point God allows it. When God brings judgment into the world He expects sinners to repent while they have the opportunity. God’s judgment reveals His own glory and His own power – it gives us every reason to realize who we are in relationship to Him and to return to Him. This is why so many Christians find God during or after a life-crisis. God is frequently found in the midst of judgment for your sins. But even though many will learn righteousness as a consequence of judgment, there are some who will refuse to give up their iniquity. Hardening your heart against God in the midst of judgment leads to ruin because you cannot overcome God. Every moment and every place in history where God has judged He has overcome – and He will continue to do so.
But because of God’s grace and because He loves us, He’s given us the truth by His word. He’s given us the way to live by directing our consciences concerning the ways not to. Because of His love He continues each day to grace us with the source of life until our time is up and we go home to Him. Because God loves us He’s given us the way, the truth, and the life. All of these things He’s given us when He gave us Jesus Christ.
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