Today, Saturday April 30
Hell Let Loose on Earth Revelation 9:1-6 “Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.”
In Revelation 8, the seven angels with seven trumpets begin to sound. I believe these seven trumpets begin to sound at the beginning of the second half of the tribulation which is three and half years long. When the first four trumpets sound in this chapter, desolations take place on the sea, the earth and the heavens. Now in Revelation 9:1-12, the fifth angel sounds the fifth trumpet and the first woe takes place.
Revelation 9 describes two frightening armies that are liberated at just the right time and permitted to judge mankind. One army is from the pit of hell (vv. 1-12), and the other is from the east (vv. 13-21). Today, we will look at this army that comes from the pit and hell is let loose on the earth!
The "bottomless pit" is literally "the pit of the abyss." Luke makes it clear that this "pit" is the abode of the demons (Luke 8:31), and John states that Satan will be temporarily "jailed" there during our Lord's reign on the earth (Rev. 20:1-3). The Antichrist (i.e., "the beast") will ascend out of this pit (Rev. 11:7; 17:8). It is not the lake of fire, for that is the final "prison" for Satan and all who follow him (Rev. 20:10), but part of that hidden underworld under the Lord's authority. Today, the fearsome army described here is already incarcerated, waiting for the hour of liberation.
This fallen star is a person, the king over the beings in the pit (Rev. 9:11). He does not have complete authority, for the key to the pit had to be given to him before he could loose his army. This "star" is probably Satan and the army, his demons (Eph. 6:10). One of the names for Satan is Lucifer, which means "brightness"; he also is compared to the "morning star" (Isa. 14:12-14). Jesus said to His disciples, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven" (Luke 10:18).
When the pit was opened, smoke emerged as though the door of a furnace had been loosened. Jesus compared hell to a furnace of fire (Matt. 13:42, 50), an image that ought to make people stop and think before they jest about it. The smoke polluted the air and darkened the sun, which had already been darkened when the fourth trumpet sounded.
But it is what came out of the smoke that truly terrorized mankind: an army of demons, compared to locusts. The eighth plague in Egypt was a devastating swarm of locusts (Ex. 10:1-20). People who have never encountered these insects have little idea of the damage they can do. When God wanted to judge His people, He would sometimes send locusts to devour the harvests (Deut. 28:38, 42; Joel 2).
These are not literal locusts, because locusts do not have scorpion like stings in their tails. These creatures do not devour the green vegetation; in fact, they are prohibited from doing so. This demonic army is given the assignment of tormenting all who have not been protected by the seal of God. The 144,000 men from the tribes of Israel would therefore escape this painful judgment (Rev. 7:1-8). In fact, it is likely that all who have trusted the Lord will be sealed in some special way and protected from torment These demons will sting people and thus create such pain that their victims will actually want to die, but death will flee from them (Jer. 8:3).
This is only the first of the three woe judgments! Only those left behind, who have rejected Christ and His salvation, will have to face these terrible judgments! Today is the day of salvation, please accept it before it is too late!
God Bless!