Are You Being Destroyed? (Revelation 9)
GIST: Sin will seem appealing, but it’s destroying you. Will you repent and call to repentance?
Today, we’re going to look at Revelation 9 (the whole chapter ☺️). Last week, I told you the original plan was to walk through the first six trumpets as one unit, but time wouldn’t allow that. So, what we’re looking at here is the fifth and sixth in this series of pictures which point to what will be happening (and growing in intensity) until Jesus returns.
Last week, we looked at some crazy imagery from the first four trumpets. After church, Melissa and I were “debriefing” ☺️, and she said, “Man, that had to have been a weird passage for visitors to come in on! It was talking about oceans being turned to blood and something about wormwood tainting the fresh water supplies…and talking eagles. My response was… “Wait until you read chapter nine ☺️!”
However, like last week, we need to step back and take these images for what they are: pictures meant to point us to what Jesus is doing and who He is. Last week, we saw His justice. He is coming back to judge the world, but He is also patient. He won’t be back until He’s done saving people, so we saw a call not to waste our time but to come to Him in repentance now.
As we read what comes right after that, please don’t forget to look at this through the spiritual lens of what God is doing. In fact, let me give you our gist, then we’ll break the passage into two chunks. Gist: Sin will seem appealing, but it’s destroying you. Will you repent and call to repentance?
I. Sin Will Seem Appealing, But It’s Destroying You.
Look at verses 1-12 first.
“1 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them. 7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon. 12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.”
Oh, the speculations over this passage! And again, I need to admit weakness here. There are definitely portions of this vision I do not completely understand, but there are some things we can see clearly. Where we left off last time, the talking eagle gave us three woes emphasizing the warning Jesus is giving the lost on earth. This is then a breakdown of the first woe—a picture of despair—and I think we can understand enough to get the implications of that. Namely, watch out, sin will look enticing, but it wants to kill you! This is a lot like the picture of the wormwood tainting the freshwater because it points to what you expect to be refreshing bringing death instead.
Let me break this section down a bit by asking a few questions in an attempt not to skirt anything.
Who/what is the fallen star? Let’s do a little cross referencing here. In Luke 10, we see Jesus sending out the 72 to prepare the way for the gospel. When they return, we see this interchange: Luke 10:17-20 “17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Given this passage and the fact the angel of the bottomless pit is referred to as the destroyer (Apollyon) and is “king” over the results of sin (more on this in a second), I feel we can say this is Satan.
What is his purpose here? There are many interpretations given for what is happening here when Satan is given the key to the bottomless pit and smoke and scorpions come out. Yet, there are few points that seem most important.
Satan is under Jesus’ control. This probably sounds jarring, but it’s true and vital to understand. Jesus holds the key to the bottomless pit. In fact, He holds the keys to everything (Revelation 1:18). He is sovereign over everything. This situation is no different. In His plan, He allows Satan to act. It reminds me of Romans 1 “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them...24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves…” It’s also reminiscent of Satan asking for permission to torment Job. He cannot act without Jesus allowing him. They are not equals. He is a created and defeated foe. In fact, look at what he’s being permitted to do.
His attacks are the natural result of sin. Guys, he’s attacking the lost. While we have seen several instances of actual, physical judgment on the world (at least in part), this one seems to be more spiritual. There are a couple reasons I think this. First, you have smoke darkening the sun, which seems to symbolize evil obscuring good (John 3:19-21 “19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”). Second, they are told not to harm anything physical, but just those who are not yet saved (see chapter 7 for note on “those sealed by God”). So far, we don’t see anything physical happening that Christians are exempt from here. They will get sick. They will die. They will, in fact, be persecuted and murdered, so this seems to be pointing to something else. In the fifth seal, we saw the flipside of this image, the perspective of the murdered saints. While waiting on the return of Christ, they eagerly anticipate the end of sin-caused suffering and the full presence of Jesus. The lost, however, are tormented by the gods they serve. See, Satan being the “king of this world” means the world is following in his footsteps. He doesn’t have any actual authority. In fact, what is he doing to those who are following his path? He’s tormenting them!
This next picture, crazy as it looks, is actually the key to getting this whole section.
What is with these crazy-looking scorpions? Again, I’m not going to claim to understand all of this imagery completely. However, as I’ve studied this, I’ve seen some insights provided which point to the nature of this torment. Let’s just take a few pieces here.
horses prepared for battle→ They have a destructive purpose.
on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold→ But they seem to have authority or prominence.
their faces were like human faces→They look like us! They’re “normal”, or at least give the illusion of approachability.
their hair like women's hair→ They are attractive or appealing.
and their teeth like lions' teeth→ But inside, they are dangerous--deadly.
they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle→ Here we come back to the opening image. They have a purpose—destruction— and they are strong and prepared to execute it.
This is good to notice, but what does it mean? Sin seems attractive and powerful. In fact, in our world today, it’s not only appealing, but it often is portrayed as the best or right thing. Just like the psalmist wrote in Psalm 12:8 “On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.” Sin is exalted and following God is villainized. Yet, where does this lead? That’s the corner piece of this warning. It looks good, but “...the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
What’s the significance of 5 Months? I am unsure of the significance of the stinging tails (and I have read many possible explanations). Nonetheless, like the third, the results of these “stings” are temporary (and that might be the significance, because apparently scorpion stings are rarely deadly, but they sure hurt!). As terrible as this is, it is not forever. This is not a reason to “tough it out”, but rather a call, yet again, to the urgency of repentance. After spiritual despair on earth, there is eternal judgment, but they are still being offered hope.
So, are Christians exempt from this torment then? Saved people are sinners covered with Grace—so the only difference between us is hope. We still face this sin-filled, fallen world, but we know the end of the story—and knowing that we’re part of it should change how we look at brokenness! We are not trying to face these trials alone or serve false idols who cannot save us. We have the truth—which has set us free. Therefore, this spiritual despair which wages war on the lost is not meant to affect those who are in Christ because our eyes should be fixed on the Savior. Which leads to the question inherent in the rest of the chapter→
II. Will We Repent & Call To Repentance?
“13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound. 20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
Is this the end…again? Like with the 6th seal, the 6th trumpet is the beginning of the end. We see the authority of God (horns of the altar) commanding four angels who have been specifically prepared, (which are probably connected to the four angles at the beginning of chapter 7) by God’s sovereignty, for this task of judgment. Then we see the means of their destruction in spiritual terms similar to the scorpions. But the key image here is the judgment. We have fire and sulfur and smoke. Apparently, the only other place in the Bible where all three of these occur together is in the account of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24 “24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.”) which was punished for its sinfulness. So we have sulfur, smoke, fire— the judgment of God— coming from their mouths. They’re coming from the Euphrates which is probably also symbolic because that term was frequently used to refer to “the place from which conquest comes” since so often this had occurred in their history. These creatures also have powerful snake tails, and throughout the Bible, serpents are usually used to symbolize Satan, and, therefore, sin. Therefore, it seems this image is yet again a picture of Jesus’ judgment coming clearly and powerfully. Sin is being taken seriously. Yet→
People will see His judgment and choose to reject Him anyway. Remember, all this is happening, but the world isn’t over yet, so people are still being called to repentance, but… We talked about this last week, and it definitely bears repeating. In the Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis said, “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Still yet, people will choose to plug their ears rather than turn and experience grace.
TAKEAWAYS
If you are saved, do not fall victim to spiritual despair—fix your eyes on Jesus. I want to make sure you hear me here. It will be easy to feel overcome by not just the sins of this world in general, but your own personal sins. This is normal and natural, but it shouldn’t be permanent. Too often, we claim to have hope, but live just as overwhelmed and hopeless as everyone else. Don’t just offer lip service. Really trust Him.
And by all means, we have to share the gospel! This is a picture of those trapped by the appeal of a world bent on their destruction. They will lose, and in the meantime live hopeless lives sustained by temporary pleasures and misplaced (and circumstantial) optimism. If you are saved, your life should be transformed by love. My life should be transformed by love. So, if we’re truly loving, how in the world can we read a passage like this and not be moved to warn those around us and point them to the hope that is within us (1 Peter 3:15)? In as many ways as we can, our lives should be defined by this.
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