Bible Study - Revelation NINE

In this episode, we take a verse-by-verse journey through the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets, examining the demonic torment unleashed from the abyss, the release of the four bound angels, and the devastating consequences of humanity's refusal to repent. 

Discover what these prophetic events reveal about God's justice, Satan's kingdom, spiritual warfare, and the urgency of the gospel. Join us as we unpack this challenging chapter, helping you understand not only what Revelation 9 says, but why it matters for believers today.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Summit Church Tennessee. Thank you for joining us as we share with the sermons and teachings from Summit Church in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Our prayers that today's message encourages your faith. It helps you grow in your relationship with Jesus. Check out our website at summitchurchtn.com. Thanks for listening, and we pray this message encourages you today.

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And we are officially into the things where it gets a little strange. This moment forward, but there is a purpose of it all. Revelation 9 is going to mark a very dramatic shift in the trumpet judgments. Judgment moves directly against humanity. There will be demonic forces that are released. And humanity is going to experience some supernatural torment and destruction. This chapter is going to reveal the terrifying consequences of rebellion against God. And if you can think about the people that maybe you know in life, or you've heard them say that they'll talk about it's not a big deal if I uh deny God or say there is no God, or you know, if I go to hell, I'm going to party and all this stuff and everything. This is the time where everything's really going to shift, and all those individuals that willingly chose to rebel against God, they're going to see something that is beyond their comprehension. And it's alarming because when humanity continually rejects God, judgment eventually includes the removal of divine restraint, which allows demonic forces to operate. But here's the thing allows them to operate to God's sovereign purpose. It's not like the demonic is going to be overthrowing or overdoing anything God. God is going to allow them to do what they do, but they're only going to go as far as He'll allow. God is still sovereign, God is still in control, but God has a purpose in some of these things that are going to happen when we see this. This chapter, we're going to see the fifth trumpet judgment. We're going to have the opening of the bottomless pit. We're going to get to the infamous demonic locust that is on the earth. There are going to be the sixth trumpet judgment. You're going to see these four angels released from the river Euphrates. There'll be a massive army of destruction. And the crazy thing about all this, you're still going to have people to rebel against God and refuse to repent. Revelation 9, verse 1. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven, which had fallen to the earth, and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. So the fifth angel sounds his trumpet. John writes that he sees this star from heaven and it falls to the earth. And this is language that John obviously has been already using. Immediately we're going to understand that this is not a literal star. This is not something that a fallen star in the sky. Because what we see is going to happen, the text says he was given a key. So here's something to understand about this. The star from heaven, which had fallen for the earth, and the key, the bottomless pit, was given to him. Him is connected to the star. So it is obviously not a shooting star. It's not a bright star or anything that we could possibly imagine. It's some kind of being, but John describes it as simply a star. The star is described as one who receives authority, receives a key for what purpose? To open the bottomless pit, the abyss, right? Throughout scripture, stars are sometimes used symbolically. I think we touched on this before. It gets tricky because at times stars can mean exactly what we would think it would mean when we see the stars in the sky. But many times the Bible will use the word star, but it's actually describing an angelic being. In this case, we would assume and believe that it is some kind of angelic being, but to what measure we don't know fully, but we're going to dive in just to a little bit more. In Job 38 and 7, Job 38 and 7 it says, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. Revelation 1 and 20 reminded us that the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. Most interpretations of a star in the Bible are angelic. So here's the thing. There are people that say this is Satan. So let's go with this just for a second. Why do some people believe this is Satan? Well, the text says it's a star that had fallen. Some see that as the connection in Isaiah 14 and 12 when it says, How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning. In Luke 10 and 18, Jesus said, I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Because the star falls, and then it's given some kind of authority, some kind of key, and opens up the abyss, there's people that believe that this is Satan. But because the star is described as already fallen, that does give us a little bit more insight to something. Let's challenge the view here. Let's challenge the idea of whether or not this is Satan. First of all, Satan in Scripture is never portrayed as having any authority over hell. None. Even though history, culture, and even some religions will paint portraits, and the ideology that Satan is this ruler of heaven, scripture never gives us that understanding. In fact, scripture tells us that Satan is destined to be judged there. We'll see that in Revelation 20, specifically verse 10. The devil was thrown into the lake of fire. Satan is not hell's king. He is hell's future prisoner, but this causes a lot of people to run wild with some ideas. Other people believe that this potentially is a fallen angel. Some suggest a high-ranking demon, others a powerful fallen angel. One is assigned to release a judgment. The view, the ideology of this, it does fit well because the abyss appears to contain some kind of imprisoned demonic force. And a demonic being releasing demonic forces would be consistent with the context of it. Some believe that it is a holy angel. The text never says the star was evil. It just says the star had fallen from heaven. Some argue this simply describes the movement between heaven and earth. And I saw the star come out of heaven to the earth or fell from heaven to the earth. In that interpretation, God sends an angel, God gives him authority, the angel opens the abyss, and judgment proceeds. Now, even though there's going to be people say it's Satan, even though people's gonna say it's angelic, and even though there's people that's going to say that it's a fallen angel, let's not get ahead of ourselves just completely yet, because it may be the reason it is left out intentionally is because it was intentional. Have you ever read in the Bible where you read something and it says, and he sat down by a tree? You go, okay, he sat down by a tree. And then later you see he sat down by a juniper tree. Why is one just a tree and another one is identified as a type of a tree? Because there is something that the one that is writing this is wanting us to know about that particular tree in that context. So John never names the star, which could be intentional. Why? Because the emphasis is not on who the star is. The emphasis is on who is in control. The focus cannot be about the identity of the messenger. The focus has to be the authority behind the mission. To him was given. This may be the most important phrase in the entire passage. Notice what John does not say. John does not say he seized the key or he took the key or he possessed the key. What John says is the key was given to him. In other words, he didn't have the access to that unless God gave him that. There is that language that we see through John's writings of a divine sovereignty of who God is. Throughout all of Revelation, the authority is repeatedly described as being granted. In Revelation 6.2, a crown was given to him. In Revelation 6.4, to him was granted to take peace from the earth. Revelation 13, 5, we'll get there. Authority to act was given to him. Revelation 13 and 7, it was given to him to make war with the states. The states. The saints. Lord have mercy. Getting way ahead of myself there. But again, this is going to be a theme that John is always going to reiterate that everything that is happening is because it is permissible by the Father. It reminds us that even the darkest and the wicked and the most evil that you can possibly imagine still operate under divine limitations. Which is just wild because of where we're going in this chapter. So the key belongs to God. It does represent authority. But let's ask the question: who ultimately possesses the keys? Revelation 1 and 18, I have the keys of death and of Hades. This means that Jesus controls death. He controls Hades. He controls the abyss, the judgment. No angel, whether good or evil, will act independently. The key must be first given. One of the greatest mistakes that people will make when reading Revelation is assuming that somehow Satan is going to take over the entire world, and that fear tactic of, oh, it's going to be bad, and Satan's going to rule and reign, and there's nothing that God can do is the exact opposite of what is happening. Every chapter demonstrates God opens the seals, God authorizes the trumpets, God sets the limits, God determines the timing, God controls the outcome. Martin Luther, if you remember who he is, once summarized this truth by saying, Even the devil is God's devil. That's a pretty good statement right there. Ultimately, it means that Satan is not God's equal. And it's wild to think about. I get it, because he is a created being that is operating under God's sovereign authority. That's strange to us. Why doesn't he just, why in the garden did it not just all end in all that? And why does wickedness have to happen? And of course, there's tons and tons of reasons why, but that's just one of the things that why don't God just squish him, you know? The frightening reality of Revelation 9 is not that demons are powerful. The confronting or no, the comforting reality is that even evil is subject to the authority of Jesus Christ. So before we get on with this chapter, it's important to remember the identity of the star is less important than the source of the authority. Remember when we started this course, the purpose of this is the revelation of Jesus Christ. And if we get our focus off Jesus, it will be easy for us to embrace a spirit of fear, panic, or worry, or guilt, or shame, or condemnation, all these things. But if we keep everything in the lens of who Jesus is, we will remain focused knowing that God gets the glory. Let's talk about the bottomless pit just really quickly before we move on. The Greek word is abyssos, A-B-Y-S-S-O-S. And thankfully, that just translates to abyss. And it literally means a deep pit or a place of confinement. Now scripture gives us the understanding that the abyss is a prison for certain demons. It is a place of restraint and a realm, R-E-A-L-M, that is associated with darkness and judgment. The terminology abyss actually appears in other scripture. Luke eight and thirty-one. In 2 Peter 2 and 4, demons begged not to be sent into the abyss. In Jude 6, certain fallen angels are kept in chains awaiting judgment. It's wild to think, but some rebellious angels are reserved for future judgment. And the passages suggest that some demonic beings are already imprisoned. And they're awaiting God's appointed time. Contrary to what the world may say, the spirit realm is real. And it's active. And we don't always see everything. But just because we don't always see it doesn't mean that it's not real. Oh, it's there. There was a um, he's a real popular YouTuber. I don't know if y'all saw this recently. He and his wife made the decision to abort their baby because they found out their baby was going to have Down syndrome. And it was horrific, just to be honest. I've been following it for a while. Well, the interesting thing is, of course, you know, he he goes on and he attacks Krishna as being wicked and vile and all this stuff. But he comes on and he's he makes this statement, and I could not help but think about it specifically in this chapter chapter. He makes this statement. He says, You can threaten me with hell, but when I die, I won't go because I don't believe in it. It's believing in it is not even required. And I just thought my heart literally broke for this guy because I was like, man, that's such a horrific statement to make. Because believing in hell is not even the standard. Verse 2 through 6. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth, and power was given to them as the scorpions of the earth have power. And they were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months. And their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death and will not find it. And they will long to die, and death flees from them. Oh my gosh. I told y'all, this is where things kind of get as an old school term out of the 80s, gnarly. I mean, this is first of all, we have locusts right now, right? What do they live off of? Grass and green things. And one of the first things is they're not going to eat the grass. They're not going to touch the green things. But oh, they're going after man, but they can't kill man. They're going to torment man as a scorpion keeps stinging man. It's going to sound fun. When the pit is open, that smokestack arises, as John said. But the sun becomes darkened. The atmosphere, gosh, can you imagine what the atmosphere would be? And then here come these locusts out of the smoke. Now, they're not ordinary locusts, obviously. Locusts in our day, they destroy grass, crops, vegetation. But these locusts are specifically commanded, you cannot harm the grass, the trees, or the plants. So there is this right out of the gate, there is this possibility that these are not normal locusts. Now, I also want to keep in mind that they could still be normal locusts in the function because God could shift the function of it. So, who are they specifically tormenting? All of mankind? No. Those who are not marked with the seal of God on their forehead. It is a clear distinction that the seal belongs to God. Those that are sealed belong to Him, and those that are unsealed will be exposed to judgment. This is a reminder of God's faithfulness, His preservation, and His ownership. It's wild to think about that these creatures are not permitted to kill. Now, if you can remember what a locust looks like, does anybody kind of remember what it is? If not, Google it and kind of get an idea. But we're going to get a description in just a moment. But one thing that we know right out of the gate is they're going to sting like that of a scorpion. I haven't been stung by a scorpion. Has anyone in this room been stung by one? For all intents and purposes that I've read, and I've seen stupid people on TV, it seems to hurt. It seems to have a pretty significant amount of pain to it. So much so that we can see that this kind of suffering is going to be overwhelming, and people are going to beg to die, and they can't? It's wild because the scripture says men will seek death and will not find it. Now, I can't explain this, so just stay with me just for a second. We would have to think about the idea. Does this mean that man could try to commit suicide and they still not die? It's exactly what it means. But how that works out, I don't know. I don't know. There's multiple ways to commit suicide, but obviously what God is going to do in this moment is not let them die. It has to be one of the most sobering moments in the book of Revelation. When you can see these individuals tormented so much they desperately want this relief, and death is unavailable. What a wild thing to think about. Now, humanity has this idea sometimes, sadly. When people go through hard times or depression or loss or they suffer, they often believe that they can escape this by removing themselves from life. In Revelation, here at this moment in time, it's actually going to reveal the opposite that death is not the answer. Only Christ can truly deliver us. Whether we are in a depression or we are in unforgiveness or we're in hatred or we're in despair. The answer is never the escape. The answer is always the redemption. And this is something that we have to continually remind ourselves of. It's wild, though, because the absence of repentance is going to produce this suffering. So here's something to think about. It's not that God is going to say, I'm going to allow this to happen because I'm mad at you. God is allowing this to happen because they willingly chose to rebel. So what is happening is a judgment that they themselves actually brought upon themselves. The wages of sin is death, but interesting enough, can't die. So there is consequences to your rebellion. Let's go seven through ten. And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle, and on their heads, as it were, crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men, and they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots of many horses rushing to battle. And they have tails like scorpions and stings. And in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months. Now, what do we remember about John and his willingness to describe the things that he sees? One, he could be using some kind of allegory. He could be using a language that Jews would only understand and Gentiles would understand by the things he's saying. Or he's seeing something completely different, and he's trying to describe what he is seeing by the things that he knows. But let's take it literal just for a second. If I can get that first image up there. This is a gnarly looking creature. But this is exactly what John describes. So if this was the actual thing that he saw, that thing looks pretty wicked. Like horses prepared for battles, they have crowns, faces like men, hair like women, teeth like lions, breastplate of iron, and tails like scorpions. Now, can you imagine just for a second that the abyss is open, a big smokestack comes out of it, and out of the smoke suddenly come these naughty looking things. Now, here's the other thing about this. How big is this? We don't know. For the record, a locust, you know, about that big, right? Anybody ever seen one any bigger than that? You may have, I don't know. But if this is truly what it is, and it's not an allegory, it's not John just saying something to be saying something, you kind of feel like this is bigger than a normal locus. And one of the reasons you sort of feel that way is because of how he articulates the horse, the breastplate, the face, the crown. All these things look rather large, right? But we don't know for sure. Now, there is a key in this. John says they are like horses, like the face of a man, like the scorpion. He is using a key word right here describing that this is possibly not actually what this is on the screen here. Because he's using the terminology, it is like the face of man. Now, possibly you remember you've heard it said that it could be something else that John saw. I'm going to explain it. Next screen, please. You ever heard anybody say that it is a Apache helicopter? All right. How can it be an Apache helicopter? Well, wings with the sound of an army of chariots horses. The blades. That could sound like thundering horses, right? Faces like men, well, it could literally have men in the cockpit. Teeth like lions. What's one of the things that militaries love to do? Paint on equipment. So they could paint on the teeth of it. And then it says breastplate of iron. What if the breastplate of iron is the machine itself? And then, of course, the tail's like a scorpion. Now, this is why a lot of people say that possibly what John was seeing was an Apache helicopter. Here's what I always want to say. This is a possibility. But I also want to say that what John, the first picture we have before, is also a possibility. What I want us to understand is it's not important to get hung up on what it exactly is. It's just to know that John is painting a picture. And this picture is going to have terror with it, pain with it, suffering with it, cruelty. But its purpose is, or the emphasis is on their destructive nature, that terrifying presence, and of course, demonic origin. Now, let me say this again. I think when you look at the Apache helicopter, yeah, and we kind of look at that stuff, that makes sense, right? But there's one thing for me to struggle on this. What are those things doing coming out of the abyss? Because it says that when the bottomless pit was open, smoke came out of it, and out of the pit, and through the smoke, came the locust. So I just, again, I'm not discrediting that because maybe when they take off and they go through that, I don't know. Maybe John sees it that way. I don't know for sure. But here's what I want us to understand. It's interesting to think that God would use anything like this. But in Scripture, interesting enough, God used wicked forces to accomplish his judgment. There had to be a Judas. And the Bible tells us that Judas obviously had a demon in him, for when he hung himself and fell to the ground, his body opened up and demons came out. It's crazy to think, but in Exodus, it says that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh and created Pharaoh for that purpose. That's wild to think about. It's not that he's saying, I give evil a thumbs up. I hear people say, well, if God is good, then he must also be bad, because the opposite of good is bad or evil. I've heard people say this in that terminology. And it's not that at all. That evil, that bad is still about his purpose. Now, the terrifying appearance of these creatures, it's going to release some horrifying and spiritual darkness side of things, right? Verse 11. They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abdon. And in the Greek, he has the name Apollyon. Now, the locusts have a king, which tells us that these aren't ordinary. Which is interesting. Because Proverbs 30, verse 27 says the locusts have no king. And yet, these locusts do. Hebrew named Abdan, Greek name Apollin, both names in Hebrew and Greek mean destroyer and destruction. The Bible identifies him as the angel of the abyss, and whether or not this is Satan himself or some kind of high-ranking demonic ruler, that can be debated. But what is crystal clear is that it is associated with destruction and judgment. It's fascinating because Satan's, the world of Satan always promises freedom and yet always produces destruction. Verse twelve. Behold, two woes are still coming after these things. Well, that's encouraging. The first woe has passed. And yet John says, Two more are coming. Here's John saying, the worst is yet to come. Chin up. It will intensify because of the refusal to repent. Verse 13 through 15. And the sixth angels sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. And the four angels who had been prepared for the hour and the day and month and year were released, so that they might kill a third of mankind. We just went through these locusts, harassing and stinging man, and what's the number one thing that can't happen? They can't die. And now all of a sudden, the four angels who are at the river Euphrates are released, and what is their assignment? Kill a third of the population. Interesting. Now, verse 13 gives us something rather interesting. The six angels sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God. What is that? Oh come on. Y'all gotta know what that is. What is it? What do you want to say, Belinda? Do what? Tabernacle? Think within the tabernacle? Go a little bit deeper. What do we, what do we, um what has four horns on? Not the altar. Go a little bit deeper. What has four horns? Alright, let's go back to the days of Moses, right? Y'all can come in if you want to, or do you need yes, sir? Sorry. Yeah, you're good. Um, think a little bit deeper just for a second. Let's go back to the tabernacle of Moses, okay? You have the brazen altar, you have the wash basin, you have going into the um uh uh inner court, you have the table of showbread, you have the altar of incense, you have the candle, uh the the menorah, you have the light, and then when you went into the inner court, you had the ark of the covenant, which represented what? God. Right? And here's the thing. Yes, on top of that ark there was angels and the wings, we see all that, but where was the blood placed? On the horns of the ark. It's crazy to think about, but look, where is it at? Right before God. Now, we also know, if we remember, in Revelation 8, that the prayers of the saints are ascended from this. Right? We remember this. Now it's interesting because now judgment is going to proceed from it. The four angels are being released, and we do have to ask, why were they ever bound to begin with? Because Scripture never binds holy angels. So if these four are bound and God doesn't bind his holy angels, what does this possibly tell us? They're possibly fallen angels, they're possibly demonic, they're possibly being reserved for this future judgment. The Greek word, by the way, here is angelos, A-N-G-E, L-O-S, which can translate to principalities, powers, rulers, and authorities. Does that remind anybody of any verse in the Bible? Ephesians, right? So there is this possibility, and this is this is my opinion, you can take it for what it's worth. My first get-go when I go this and they're bound, I automatically think principalities. That's just what I think. That's how my mind is in that, because it specifically highlights the Euphrates River. Now, does it mean it's principalities? We don't know. It just means that it's something that is connected that isn't holy. There are theologians that believe that just like God has archangels, and then he has angels, and he has cherubims, and he has all these kind of ranking created angels, that Satan has some kind of ranking order as well. Now, there are people, again, that believe these are high ranking demons. Notice because of what is released. Their mission is quite extraordinary in the fact that they're going to kill one third of all of mankind. Now, this is really something to be interested about because if we remember the chapter before, we had a lot of thirds. But in all those thirds, man wasn't one of those. Now, all of a sudden, we're shifting from all the thirds that affected the land, the created things, now it is going to affect the created ones. But it's interesting because there's this language here that is very, very fascinating because they've been reserved or prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year. That's an interesting term, right? Now, how many of those are there? Four. How many angels or how many beings are released right here? Four. It could be that one represents the hour, one represents the month, one represents the day, the month, and one represents the year. It could be, but we don't know 100%. What we do know is it is a very specific assignment. And obviously, it's significant in the prophetic timeline of God. Now, again, whether or not they're principalities, whether or not they're fallen angels, the debate can range on, and people, some will say these are demonic beings, but they're not ordinary demonic, it's different than what we battle, or whatever the case may be. But here's the thing: whatever their rank is, or whatever the purpose, their identity is, we can't camp out there. We have to move forward and understand what is the purpose of it all. Well, let's talk about the Euphrates connection just for a second. The Euphrates River in biblical history has been associated with Babylon. Nimrod. Which, by the way, of all the biblical names, how come moms don't name their kids Nimrod? Euphrates River has a biblical history associated with rebellion. False religion and human pride. Because it specifically names Euphrates, it is where it makes you think that this is something territorial over a specific region. And I, in my honest opinion, I think that is okay to see it that way. Daniel 10 and 13 said, the prince of the kingdom of Persia, right? The prince of Persia captured the answered prayer of Daniel. Daniel prayed and it was instantly answered, but in the second heaven, this prince of Persia captured it. We remember this, right? And it stayed there for 21 days until the archangel came and whipped the prince of Persia to get the answered prayer, right? We all remember that. We understand that that is some kind of territory. Now, where do we know Persia is today? If you look at the news today, you won't find many people that use the phrase Iranians. They will use the terminology Persians. So it is talking about a clear probability that it is territorial. Now, it does interest us because this connects to Daniel chapter 10. Why is the connection to Daniel 10 or the book of Daniel so important is because you can't understand the revelation of Jesus Christ without understanding the book of Daniel, which is why we went through Daniel. But here we are in the midst of what is known the tribulation period, but it's also known as Daniel's 70th week. So the timelines and the correlation are going to interlock with one another. If these type of territorial rulers exist, then it would say that there's some kind of high-ranking order. But here's the problem the text never clearly says that. So we have to treat this as a possibility and not something that we can say for certain. Now, here's what we can say with confidence about these four angels. They are real angelic beings. We can say this confidently, they're almost certainly fallen angels. For what reason? God is never going to bind holy angels. We know, too, that they're bound until this appointed time. We know that they're released under God's authority. What did it say? And I heard a voice from the four horns, right? Also, they are connected to one of the largest judgments that we'll see in Revelation. And obviously, they're powerful spiritual beings. What we can't say 100% is that they are principalities, or that they're the same as the Prince of Persia and Daniel, or that they're rulers of certain nations, or that there's some kind of hierarchy in the demonic realm. We can't say that for certain. But prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year. This kind of doesn't kind of tell us, it tells us point blank that nothing is random. It's not like God has a big wheel and he spins it, and whatever it lands on that day, that's what he releases. Nothing is accidental. Everything is going to be on his timeline. And now we go to see a third of mankind wiped out. That's pretty terrifying when you think of it. In chapter 8, we went over how much a third is. Think about a third of the population right now. And yet, in all this that is happening, the abyss opens up, the smoke comes up, these locusts come out, all this stuff happens, and yet there is no panic in heaven. God is not filled with fear, he's not losing control. Thank you. Even if it truly is one of these things, and that's what we see if people are here. I'm just telling you right now, my plan's not to be. So I'm just telling you, one of y'all can tell me. But if this thing is here, and it would feel like if this is what we truly saw, if mankind really saw that, it would feel like things are in total chaos. And yet it's also revealing that God has not lost control. It's crazy to think about this. Verse 16 through 19. And the number of the armies of the horsemen were 200 million, and I heard the number of them. And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and of those who sat on them. The riders had breastplates, the color of fire, and the hyacinth and the brim of brimstone, and the heads of the horses were like heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone. And a third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like the serpents, and have heads, with and with them they do harm. Whoa. Just when you think it couldn't get any more interesting than that thing. Two hundred million. Two hundred million. That's the size of the army. And it's those things that you're looking at. The horses have heads like lions. Fire is coming out of their mouth. Smoke is coming out and moving out. And then brimstone out of their mouth. And then, strangely enough, their tails is not like scorpions, their tails are like serpents. So are these natural? Are they supernatural? Some interpret this as military forces of the human nature, some kind of mechanized warfare. Others say this is demonic forces, a demonic army, supernatural. Now, here's what we can say. The language obviously is emphasizing that there is terror, there is judgment, and there is destruction. Third of humanity is going to be killed, which the scale of that is staggering to think about. The fifth trumpet, when it was sounded, it was torment without death. The sixth trumpet, when it sounds, is massive death. For there are two more coming. Judgment continues to increase with its um severe consequences, and that persistent rebellion is going to have some devastating consequences. Revelation 9, I mean, verse 20 and 21. And the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and stone, and of wood, which can neither see nor hear, nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their immorality, nor of their thefts. This is wild to think about. The ones that do not have the seal of God on the forehead, the ones who have been tormented for five months, begging to die, and the ones that still survive this thing, the Bible clearly says they still refuse to repent. Here's specifically what John said. They refuse to repent of idolatry, they continue to worship false gods, they continue to worship the demonic, embracing that spiritual deception. They refuse to repent of murders and sorcery, which is where we also get the word pharmacia. You've possibly heard the word pharmacia before. Now, pharmacia is where we eventually get a Latin word, where we get a Latin word that gives us the English word, pharmacy. But, let me go ahead and clear this. Everything you get at the pharmacy is not wicked and evil. Okay? It's this is, even though that is the connected word, there is something very deeper to this that is not simply getting an ibuprofen over the counter, or I can't even think what you get on that. So, Zach, can I get that third picture? Alright. These are the overall scenario, right? Out of the abyss, torment without death, then you have this king that's mentioned, and then this horror. This is Revelation 9. Specifically, verse 6 in those days shall men seek death, and they shall not find it, and they shall die. It's a desire to die, and death shall flee from them. This is what kicks off Revelation 9. This is before the four angels. This is before what we see here in the horses. This is crazy. This is the catapult of all this. And this wasn't enough to wake them up. It shows you ever um you know, you have people, I'm hurrying. You have people that that suffer from kind of like a Thomas mentality. I believe it when I see it, right? You know, and by the way, Thomas was never rebuked. Jesus actually said it's more blessed for those that can believe without ever seeing. But here's the thing we kind of sometimes have this mentality if people just saw a miracle, they would believe. People can see miracles, deliverances, and all those things, and some are so devoted to a hard heart they still won't believe. They refuse to repent. And judgment alone doesn't change their heart. Can I get the last picture, please? It's crazy to think about this. The voice of the golden altar, the release of the four angels, the hour, the day, the month, the year, and two hundred million. Even after this, the Bible says they refuse to repent. Now, it's not simply that the Bible says John saw this. This is the reason he is he's writing these down. These are things that uh John the Revelator, Apostle John, the one whom he loved, these are things that he is showing in this time room. It chapter nine demonstrates that there is this impeding danger that mankind will face, but they'll face it because of their rebellion and their unwillingness to repent. Now, I say this and we'll then we'll go to questions if we got any. I can read this, and possibly you can read this and go, how in the world could this not cause them to repent? And I want to answer it this way possible. Now I want you to think about your own walk with the Lord. How much wickedness were you involved in and you saw, and yet you still failed to repent until the day you did repent? The evidence of wickedness doesn't it can, but more than likely it doesn't draw people into repentance. What, according to scripture, what draws people to repentance? The Holy Spirit and what? The goodness of God. This is why, even though this chapter is so horrific and terrifying to a degree, if we only look at it at that measure, we will miss what is good of God in this chapter. And some might say, how is there any good? Well, they didn't kill all of mankind. That's pretty good, right? Two-thirds are left. So there is this hope. There is this way of redemption, possibly. What is the way of redemption? Repent. Right? But there's also the goodness of God is He is only allowing this to happen under His control. It's not total annihilation. Now, of course, if we were going through this, we wouldn't feel that way. But what I want to say is as we sit here and we look at all this and we go, how in the world could they not repent? We were just as guilty. We participated in wickedness, we done wickedness, and many of us we ran. Even in the midst of it. Any questions? Well, make sure to get on the recording.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:39

One statement and one question. So talking about why they didn't repent. Think in the time of deception, they probably were thinking their idols and their false gods is what saved them from dying. Very good point. So they were they were deceived in how that was that. Um, but the one question I know we kind of talked about it last time. So in chapter eight, a third of the trees and all of the grass is dead. But then the locusts come and say, You can't touch the grass. So, from a time frame standpoint, you know, the grass is not gonna all burn across the entire planet and then instantly be back. Right. So, kind of how does that fall?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:19

Yeah, um, it's very difficult to get again, this isn't within the first three and a half years. So, you know, about where that falls on the timeline, I can't say 100%. I would say that we're definitely between where the grass is is completely annihilated to all of a sudden, obviously there's green grass and green trees and all that. Um, you know, how long does that take to happen? That could be a few months, that could be um um in some places, maybe even possibly a few uh weeks. It it's crazy, even though we remember the wildfires in 2016, right? And we saw the mountains and the trees and how horrific that looked. But how long did it take for grass to start to come up? Not long. Not long at all. So, in my personal opinion, I think we're at the tail end of this, but between that point and this point, it didn't take a real long time, but I can't say for sure. I wish I could. It'd be neat to be able to line this up perfectly on this. But if anyone's here, y'all can tell me later. Any other questions? Awesome. Okay, just wanted to make sure. So next week we move into uh chapter uh 10, and this progression is going to keep going. And like I said, we're gonna keep seeing these things that are supernatural, these things that are possibly natural, and again, we're not always going to have the answer. We're not always going to be able to say with 100% um confidence and accuracy that this is that. Like we talked about in the beginning with these locusts, they could actually be locusts, or like many people would say, it could be an Apache helicopter that looks like a locust, and that's what John was describing. How and what it is is irrelevant. What it does is is important. What it does and why God allows it, that's what we have to look at as we continue to proceed forward. So again, I know that this chapter is heavy, and I know it's difficult to say where is the goodness of God in this, but there is. As long as you keep your focus on Jesus Christ, you will not get consumed at the terror and the destruction and the killing and the bloodshed. You will actually see how good the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is in all this. But if you go tell into a fear tactic, you can totally miss God in all of it. And again, I will keep saying it over and over and over. This is not revelations. This is not the book of Revelations, this is the revelation of Jesus Christ. And we have to continually ask ourselves: if it is the revelation of Jesus Christ, then who is that revelation for? We can't just simply skim over that and not always have that in the forethought or the background of our mind because it is very, very, very important. Just for an example, those that did not repent and they were not killed, if they get a revelation of who Jesus is, what's going to happen? They're going to repent, right? So it's crazy, but God always has a plan with hope, redemption, and a pathway to the Father through the Son.