Revelation 9:3

Revelation 9:3

In Revelation Chapter 9 we are told what happens on the earth once the devil is cast out of heaven. Not surprisingly, the results are not good. Evidently the devil knows that his time is short, and therefore he redoubles his efforts to cause misery on the earth. Rev. 9:3-10 says, "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. 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. 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 strikes a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die and death shall flee from them. 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. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle."

Because this chapter of the Bible started off with two verses that were obviously symbolic in nature, it is likely to think that the rest of these verses that we just read are also symbolic. If they are symbolic then in our age where we have seen such fantastic weapons of war created by the nations of the world, it’s easy for us to think of modern weapons that perhaps the Apostle John was referring to. Biological or chemical warfare could cause the torments mentioned in this passage. When John described what he saw as having breastplates of iron, he could easily have been talking about armored vehicles of our day. When John mentioned the sound of their wings, we could easily interpret that as being armored helicopters or fighter airplanes. We do not know for sure, but it’s possible.

One thing that is for sure is the true source of this violent and destructive warfare that will come upon the earth. We were told in Rev. 9:1-2, and now we are told again in Rev. 9:11. It says, "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 his name is Apollyon." The power of the devil will motivate these military forces to attack and to destroy. We know it’s the devil because he is called the angel of the bottomless pit. We know it’s the devil because in Rev. 9:1 he is called a star who fell from heaven to the earth and who had the key of the bottomless pit. Often in the Bible names are given to individuals in order to describe their character. The words Abaddon and Apollyon mean "destroyer." God is the creator. The devil is the destroyer, and the devil will destroy more than he has ever done before during the time of the Great Tribulation.

The power of the devil is limited. Notice in Rev. 9:4 that when these forces of evil were turned loose in the world to destroy, they were told that they could only harm those who did not have "the seal of God in their foreheads." This is typical of what usually happens in the world. When Jesus was on the earth, the demons fled in fear of Him. Just the name of Jesus has the power to cast out demons. Believers have nothing to fear from the powers of darkness as long as they put their trust in God. But unbelievers have much to fear. They are all equally children of the devil, but they devour and destroy one another. This is exactly what will happen during the Great Tribulation, but on a much grander scale.

It’s significant to note that the devil is called the angel of the bottomless pit. The bottomless pit is a prison that was created for the devil and the other fallen angels. It was not created for man. The purpose of God is that all humans would spend an eternity with Him in heaven. God sent His Son to die on the cross so that we could be given life in heaven as a free gift. Notice that the devil was originally an angel, but he lost his standing in heaven by rebelling against the authority of God almighty. When human beings rebel against God, they are choosing a fate similar to that which has befallen the devil. It’s not God who has chosen to condemn man, but it’s man who has too often chosen to reject God and His Son Jesus Christ.

After telling us about the destruction and misery that will take place in the first part of Revelation chapter 9, the Bible tells us in Rev. 9:12, "One woe is past, and behold there come two woes more hereafter." We are being told the details of the seventh seal, and of the seven trumpets that will sound. The last of the three trumpets have been set apart from the others, perhaps because the sorrows of the Tribulation get worse as time goes by. Rev. 9:13-16 says, "And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God. Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, a day, a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand; and I heard the number of them."

In this passage of scripture we are told about four angels who were bound, but then were loosed, and once they are loosed an army of 200 million goes on the attack. It’s possible that the four angels who are loosed are evil angels. This would follow the same pattern of what happened in the first part of Revelation Chapter 9 when the devil opened the bottomless pit. Since the river Euphrates is mentioned, it may be that the army of 200 thousand thousand, which equals 200 million, will cross the Euphrates River as they attack other nations. We know the result of this attack from verse 15: one-third of the population of the world will be killed.

The weapons of this great army are described in Rev. 9:17-19. It says, "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. By these three was the third part of men killed; by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone which out of their mouths. 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." In the age in which we now live, with all the modern weaponry that nations have created, we know that such powerful weapons of war are not only possible, they already exist. According to Revelation Chapter 9, not only do the powerful weapons of war exist, but they are used by nation against nation with horrible consequences. If that battle were to take place today, 2 billion people would be killed. If it happens many centuries from now and the population continues to grow, billions more will perish. This could be a nuclear war, or a war with other destructive weapons that we have yet to imagine. Whatever the weapons are, they will be very effective. They will do exactly what they were designed to do: kill; and they will kill one-third of the population of the earth.

One would think that the consequence of such horrors happening to the people of the earth would be that they would cry out to God for help. We are told what the most common response will be in Rev. 9:20-21 that says, "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. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." Five sins are listed here that are committed by those who live during the time of the Great Tribulation and who refuse to repent and turn to God. Everyone has sinned in some way, but if you do not repent when you have the chance, your sins will be like cords that will bind you. The first sin mentioned here is the sin of idolatry. You do not have to worship an image to commit idolatry. The greatest commandment is to love God with all the heart, mind, soul, and strength. When you love something else instead of God, you are committing idolatry. There are people today who love things other than God, and they become enslaved to those other things. Idolatry has always been one of the great sins that keeps people from following God and Christ.

We are told in Rev. 9:21 that people in the time of the Great Tribulation will not repent of their murders that they commit. We have already been told that the period of the Tribulation will be a period of violence, and murder, and men killing men such as the world has never seen. Perhaps there will be so many murders because of the famines and economic turmoil that neighbor will kill neighbor in order to steal their neighbors’ food. We are told that stealing is also one of the sins that will be prevalent during the Tribulation. There will be many murderers, and evidently they will find a way of justifying and rationalizing the murders that they commit, because it says here that they will not repent of the murders.

After being told that they will not repent of the murders, we are also told that they will not repent of the sorceries. The word that is translated "sorceries" comes from the Greek word "pharmacon" from which we get the word pharmacy, and it literally means drugs. They will not repent of the drugs that they take. The implication is that the Great Tribulation will be a time when drugs are greatly abused.

Another sin that is mentioned that people will refuse to repent of is the sin of fornication. Fornication is the misuse of sex. Sex is good in marriage, but outside of marriage it’s a horrible sin. God made sex outside of marriage a sin because it hurts the family unit, it spreads diseases, it brings unwanted pregnancies, and it causes emotional and psychological damage. Common sense tells you that sex outside of marriage should be avoided at all costs, but people during the time of the Great Tribulation will commit fornication and they will refuse to repent and turn to God and seek forgiveness.

Life will be miserable during the time of the Great Tribulation, not only because of the famine and the economic turmoil and the natural disasters, but also because of the sinfulness of the people who will be alive at that time. Sin has bad consequences. No one on the earth is more miserable than the sinner who refuses to repent. The sins that will be predominant during the Great Tribulation are idolatry, murder, fornication, drug abuse, and theft. Idolatry is a lack of respect for God. Murder is a lack of respect for another person’s right to life. Fornication is a lack of respect for another person’s purity and privacy. Drug abuse is a lack of respect for one’s own body, and of course stealing is a lack of respect for another person’s property. Many people who have done such things have come to experience the amazing grace of God, but during the time of the Great Tribulation the gross sins will be multiplied and so will the hardness of hearts.

When there are difficult times, God always has an answer. There is nothing too hard for God. If people will not repent, then God will find another way of reaching them; because the purpose of God is not to condemn man but to save him. If people will not listen to their own conscience, perhaps they will listen to an angelic being. Rev. 10:1-3 says, "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little book open; and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried seven thunders uttered their voices."

John saw and heard this mighty angel, but we are not told if the people on the earth heard the angel or not. But there are a couple of lessons that we can learn from this angel. We are told that he was a mighty angel. Some angels are more powerful than others. Some angels have been given more responsibilities from God than others. The same is true about human beings. God creates us for a reason. Try to find that reason and fulfill your purpose. When the angel came seven voices thundered. John heard what they had to say. The Bible says in Rev. 10:4, "And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not." John was not permitted to tell us everything that he saw and heard in his great vision. Some things are revealed to us, but some things are not. We are responsible to give attention to the things that are revealed to us. But we are supposed to leave alone the things that are not revealed. Some people try to find answers to things that God has not revealed. That’s one of the reasons for arguments and disagreements among Christians. God has not revealed to us everything that’s going to happen during the Great Tribulation. We do not have all the answers. We know the things that God wants us to know, but He has not told us everything. In the study of the Bible, make sure that you concentrate on the things that have been revealed, but do not waste your time on the things that God has purposely not made clear.

One of the things that God has made very clear is that the end is coming. We do not know exactly when the end will take place, but we know that it’s coming. Life as we know it on this earth will end. That’s the emphasis of Rev. 10:5-7 that says, "And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that therein are, and the earth and the things that therein are, and the sea and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he has declared to his servants the prophets." If you make something or create something, then you are the one who also decides what happens to what you have made. You can keep it, or sell it, or do away with it. If you are a potter, you can make a pot and then decide to keep it or make it over again. God created the heaven and the earth, and He decided that these things would exist only temporarily. And God has clearly informed us that the end is coming. Do you live as though life on this earth will last forever, or are you truly aware of the temporary nature of life? Are you ready to meet your Maker? If not, you can get right with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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