The fifth and sixth trumpets address the Lamb’s opponent. This devotional reading looks at Satan, hell, and physical death.
Nuggets
- The star that fell from Heaven is Satan.
- John gave us a description of hell and its inhabitants.
- The first woe is physical death.
- Judgment is released by the sixth trumpet.
At first, I wondered how much we were going to get out of the fifth and sixth trumpets because of the few sermons I came across.
Ooo, baby. Was I wrong!
Let's Put It into Context
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Devotions in The Trumpets and the Bowls series
Fifth Trumpet
“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” (Rev. 9: 1 ESV)
The star that fell from Heaven is Satan.
Okay. This trumpet is evidence that Revelation should not be taken chronologically.
But then it also gives a strong argument that what John wrote is symbolically. How do we get that the “… start fallen from heaven to earth …” (Rev. 9: 1 ESV) is Satan?
Fallen Star
People much smarter than I am believe this is talking about Satan.
But doesn’t this contradict what Jesus said? It was in an aside to the disciples that He said something about the fall. The 72 disciples other than the Apostles had just returned from being sent out two by two to prepare the field for His future arrival (Lk. 10: 17-18 ESV).
If Jesus, somewhere around AD 30, said He saw Satan take his fall, how can it be part of the fifth trumpet that is supposed to happen at the end of the age?
Bradlee may be onto something. He talked about the significance of being fallen. That means something is not in the place that it is supposed to be.
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Let’s describe it this way. If God is supposed to be our True north, Satan was heading south. Anytime we sin, we are not in the place we were supposed to be.
It really doesn’t matter how Satan got off the path. If he was knocked off, he is off the path. If he chose to do a U-turn, he is still off the path.
Either way, it was Satan’s choice to turn or to get into a position to be turned.
Choosing to not do God’s Will gets us in a position to be turned. Choosing against God means Satan’s character was broken.
Key to the Bottomless Pit
Nowhere in God’s Word does it say that hell was created. Because of that, it does not say who – or Who – constructed it.
I read somewhere that it was believed that the places the water was stored for the flood became hell after the water exited its reservoirs (Gen. 7: 6).
Both places are considered in the depths. Plus, wouldn’t it be poetic justice for hell to be the place where the elements of judgment were housed until they were needed? Isn’t the current hell waiting is judgment?
Hell has been described as a bottomless pit. We would think that it would need to be.
If there is going to be a multitude in Heaven, there is going to be more people in hell. “… For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many” (Mt. 7: 13 ESV).
A Description of Hell
“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. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 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. 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. And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them. 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, their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; 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. They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 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” (Rev. 9: 2-11 ESV)
John gave us a description of hells and its inhabitants.
Smoke from the Pit
What verse 2 is talking about is evil exists. Here, it is likened to smoke.
Evil is widespread. It has infected every square inch of this earth.
That isn’t a good thing. Evil is destructive. It not only hurts us now, but it also leads us to death.
Thomas addressed that. He wrote,
“Moral evil, in its incipient state, so stupefies the faculties and blinds the conscience that the subject only becomes aware of it by the advent of [a] messenger from heaven — an angel from heaven uncovers it, makes it bare to the soul.”
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Think of it this way. When a building is burning, the smoke makes it very difficult to see. Smoke inhalation can also disorient us because of oxygen deprivation.
The smoke of evil blinds us. “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (II Cor. 4: 4 ESV).
How does Satan blind us? He wants to keep us in the dark, away from the light.
Because Satan in Prince of this world, spiritual blindness is also a part of it. He manipulates our perception of ourselves so that we do not accurately see ourselves, let alone see ourselves the way God does.
This spiritual blindness convinces us that sin is not really sin. Satan questions us as to how sin can be if there is no real God. It is true that only God tells us what sin is. But He has the authority to do that. He is our Creator.
Satan also blinds us as to our sins. We not only want to ignore what is sin, but we also want to ignore it in us.
On the Day of the Lord, all spiritual blindness will be removed. We will see the Lamb as He truly is.
By blinding us, Satan promotes our ignorance and apathy. Working out our salvation means we are striving to clear the smoke that is blinding us from the eyes of our hearts.
Locusts with the Power of Scorpions
We knew God had used locusts before to punish the Egyptian nation. God had been showing His might when He was punishing the Egyptians for their treatment of the Israelites (Ex. 10: 1-19).
In Joel’s day, God was using the locust to punish the Israelites. “What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten” (Jl. 1: 4 ESV)
This is worse.
But think about it. Mankind is so much bigger than the little locust. Shouldn’t we easily be able to best them in a battle?
Not when God is on their side and using them!
What if the locust were really demons? They were sent by Satan. Can he control nature?
Anyway, the locusts shouldn’t be the focus here. The focus should be they were being punished for something they did wrong.
Watkinson explained what that wrong is. He wrote, “These mystical locusts personify the lusts and passions which destroy the soul, and which, destroying the soul, destroy all things. Our text suggests that sin affects great things, it promises great things, and it never gives what it promises.”
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The First Woe
“The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come” (Rev. 9: 12 ESV)
The first woe is physical death.
This part has always confused me. We just got done talking seals. We are talking trumpets now and are going to slide into bowls soon.
How do woes fit in? For that matter, what are they?
Bradford told us they are evils. He wrote in his discussion about the white horse,
“Woe is usually the result of evil. And when we understand this and understand that with the 21 judgments of Revelation God is indeed sending 21 woes to the world, to say He is sending evil is merely semantics. So, yes, God does send evil things to the world in order to bring about His will and to execute His judgment upon humans (and at times to test the faith of His worshippers).”
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Spurgeon had a different take. He felt the woes were death, judgment, and the second death.
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That makes this more of a timing reference. I could see this as Revelation 20: 11 has occurred. Physical death has come to everyone.
The second woe is judgement. That is Revelation 20: 12.
The third woe would be the sentencing. “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20: 15 ESV).
Sixth Trumpet
“Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’ 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. The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 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. By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 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” (Rev. 9: 13-19 ESV)
Judgment is released by the sixth trumpet.
Voice from the Horns of the Altar
The cry comes from the presence of God.
God is going to take an active hand in the events of the Day of the Lord. Everything comes out of the plan for judgment He has devised. This is especially true if the first woe that just occurred is physical death for all mankind.
Since physical death for all has occurred, we are ready for the fulfillment of the prayers of the saints. Remember, in the fifth seal, the martyrs were requesting vengeance. They were told their prayers would be answered — just not that day.
The time for salvation has passed. Forgiveness is no longer available. Judgment has arrived.
Seiss believed the Lamb was the One to issue the directive.
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Release the Four Angels
The angel immediately obeyed.
The sixth angel is directed to command four avenging angels to act. These angels control the Euphrates.
Seiss thought that, since the angels were bound, they were evil angels. I don’t know.
True, the angels “… were released to kill a third of mankind” (Rev. 9: 15 ESV). I don’t think that necessarily makes them evil.
The archangel Michael will fight Satan and his demons in Revelation 12. It is probably pretty safe to assume that some of those will be killed.
Does that make Michael evil? No.
If these four angels are following God’s directive to kill a third of mankind and they do, that doesn’t make them evil. That makes them obedient.
Maybe Seiss is using a different definition of evil. Usually, we think of good as righteous and evil as sinful. Maybe he is thinking the act is evil.
One, God will not allow sinful angels in Heaven.
Kill a Third of Mankind
Verses 15 and 18 indicate that a third of mankind will be killed by the unleashing of the angels.
Two, how many times did God unleash a killing spree on the Israelites as judgment (Num. 21: 4-9; II Sam. 24: 1-17)? Does that make Him evil?
No. It makes Him Judge.
God will use death as punishment for our sins. We can’t think that God will turn a blind eye or pull His punch when He is correcting and punishing us.
Horses in my Vision and Their Riders
Seiss equates these four angels with the locusts in the fifth trumpet.
What we are to understand in this section is that the angels are going to wreak havoc on human life. This is a global destruction.
God will only take so much before He says, “I’m done.” Even then, He still shows mercy by not just wiping everyone out.
Mankind Still not Repentant
“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, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts” (Rev. 9: 20-21 ESV)
Regardless of God’s show of might and mercy, some will refuse to turn to Him.
So much for “show me and I will believe it.”
Even in Jesus’ day, people were wanting miracles so that they could be convinced by evidence that Jesus is the Messiah (Jn. 6: 30-31). But it doesn’t work that way.
Faith has to be in the unseen. It has to come from a place beyond our understanding, knowledge, and opinions.
The issue here is some people will just refuse to believe regardless of what they are shown or experience. They have hardened their hearts to His promptings. They are stubborn.
It isn’t about proof. It is about obedience and submission.
Part of the reason is what we just talked about. Sin blinds us to belief in God. We explain what is occurring by saying it has some other reason as its trigger.
Making the Connections
Why did God allow Satan to disobey Him? Bradlee brought up some good points.
- Why couldn’t God control what He created?
- Didn’t He know Satan was going to disobey? If He didn’t, He’s not omniscient.
In other words, why God allow sin to happen?
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Well, if God did anything to stop sin from occurring, that would make Him a dictator. He would be taking away our free will.
God wasn’t going to do that – especially since He knew that this was a better way. Yes, a more painful way. That goes without saying.
But God knew we needed to make the choice for Him or against Him. That makes it more meaningful.
God didn’t want machines that blindly followed Him and didn’t think for themselves. He wanted us to consciously choose Him because of love.
How Do We Apply This?
- Watch and pray so that we are not blinded by sin.
- Ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to guide and help us.
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Father God. Lear out the smoke from our eyes so that we may see You clearly. Amen.
What do you think?
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