The Bottomless Pit
Notes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION
We are picking back up in Revelation chapter 9. Last week we covered chapter 8 and the first four trumpet judgements.
REVIEW:
The first four judgements impacted the earth
1/3 of the vegetation
1/3 of the sea
1/3 of the fresh water rivers
1/3 of the sunlight and moonlight
Then the eagle gave the warning to the earth:
Woe, Woe, Woe to the inhabitants of the earth for the remaining 3 trumpet blasts are about to sound
THE FIFTH TRUMPET
Revelation 9:1–2 “Then 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. 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.”
“A star from heaven…had fallen to the earth”
This star represents a person because he is given a key and opens the bottomless pit
This is another angel sent from the throne to carry out God’s will
Some think its a fallen angel, but this would be the only one in the whole book that does God’s will
The word fallen is not a spiritual term, but is the same word “descending”
The bottomless pit
This is the realm of the dead
It is often referred to as hades or Sheol
It is a place of torment or imprisonment
The difference in Hades and Paradise
Both places of the dead
One of torment for those who do not do the will of God
The other for the upright who do the will of God
Revelation 9:3–4 “Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were told not to 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.”
“locusts upon the earth”
Locusts were the 8th plague in Egypt
In the plague they devastated the crops the fruit trees, and every plant in the field all throughout Egypt
“and power was given to them”
Again here we see the divine control of God over the powers of evil
They are given specific instructions, and limits as to what they can do
And notice they are told to NOT harm the earth or the tress, but to harm those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads
Since these originate from the bottomless pit, we are to understand these as demons
These are Satan’s angels
Those who follow the beats, who serve the beast, who are against every man
Application
Who do they torment?
The very people who follow them (those who do not have the seal of the living God)
Everyone falls into one of the to categories: Jesus follower or Satan follower
And notice that those who follow Satan are now attacked by Satan’s demons
Sin promises so much, but always leaves a path of destruction
Sin looks good, feels good, seems good, is what everyone else is doing, but always turns on us in the end
It pretends to be our friend, pretends to be for us, pretends to to be our ally, pretends to do much for us and met all of our needs but ALWAYS crawfishes on the deal and seeks to destroy
QUESTION: What are some ways sin deceives us today?
Revelation 9:5–6 “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; they will long to die, and death flees from them.”
Here is a sad taste of eternity
We all know about eternity
Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has planted eternity in the human heart”
The demons are given the power torment for five months
They do not kill
They do not destroy
Their assignment is to torment men
In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the Bible says, “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.”
Jesus said describes this place as “weeping and gnashing of teeth”
So if you ever wonder what it is like for a lost person who dies, it is this: torment
Its a place where the worm never dies, because the flesh of man is always alive
Application
Our world does not like to think about the idea of hell
It is common thought that everyone who dies, “fly high”
They gained their wings, they are in heaven now
But that is not true, and it is important that we never buy into that idea, or agree with it
Revelation 9:7–11 “The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. 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. They have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months. They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.”
Now we see that these are no ordinary locusts
“They were like horses prepared for battle”
these demons went on a full out war against man
“heads appeared to be crowns like gold”
means victory
They were victorious in their conquest
faces like the face of men
Some think this is to symbolize their desire to usurp God’s creation for themselves
“hair like women”
Another human like characteristic
“teeth like lions”
a great appetite like a lion
“breastplates like iron”
They were invincible
great battle armor that humanity could not overpower
“tails like scorpions”
This is what they will use to torment men
Sting them with with their tails
They follow Abaddon
The name means “destroyer”
This is either the devil himself or a evil representation of the devil
Either way the main point does not depend upon his identification
MAIN POINT:
Evil is an organized army
They are not a bunch of redneck demons running around like idiots
They have a plan and they have an organized system of attack with a very skilled leader
Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”
The word scheme means: “a systematic plan or arrangement for putting a particular idea into effect”
What is that idea?
Destruction
He wants to destroy everything he can get his hands on
The devil has a plan, he has an army, and he has a scheme
Sometimes he uses the world
In my experience, he mostly uses religious people to carry out his work
THE SIXTH TRUMPET
Revelation 9:13–18 “Then the sixth angel 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 day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind. The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone. A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths.”
“release the four angels who were prepared for the hour and the day and month and year”
Now these are God’s angels of wrath
These too are likely demonic
Their number 200,000,000
This is just another verse that gives us a definite time of God’s clock
He has a day, an hour in which he will put into motion His plan to end this age and judge sin
And their task: to kill 1/3 of mankind
roughly 3 billion in today’s numbers will die by the hand of these demonic horseman
In Rev 6, one fourth of the of the population was killed, now 1/3 is killed
Revelation 9:19–21 “For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm. 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 of 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.”
Here we see the reason God is taking only fractions of people: “so that they would repent
But they would not repent of the works of their hands
QUESTION: What specific things are listed that men should repent of here?
worship of demons
idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood
What are idols?
Anything we put over God
murders
sorceries
immorality
thefts
God’s longsuffering
What a picture of God’s grace and kindness
He gives us so much time to turn to Him