Revelation 9:1-12
Horror!
We are in the midst of the greatest tribulation mankind will ever
see.
Rev 4 - John (the church) relocated
Rev 5 - The Holy God took the Holy Book and Holy One began to open
the seals.
Rev 6 - Man against Man - A great war breaks out which is followed
by a famine, and together they kill 1/4 of world’s
population.
Rev 6 & 8 - Nature against Man
1. The earth shakes so violently that the islands and mountains
move.
2. The greatest prophetical event in the world begins its
fulfillment with the falling of stars, the sun dimming, and
the moon turning red!
3. 1/3 of ocean dies, 1/3 of the shipping is destroyed, 1/3 of
the drinking waters are polluted, and 1/3 of the greenery
of the earth is consumed.
Rev 7 - In the midst of all that, God has called and sealed His
144,000 Jews for His service.
If that is not bad enough, in \\#Rev 8:13\\, God sends an angel to
announce that the world has not seen anything yet! Why? Because now,
God starts to directly judge the earth Himself. This series of
judgments we will call, "God Against Man Judgments."
Read the text - Revelation 9:1-12.
There has never been a Hollywood production that could begin to
compare to the reality that will take place as God begins to
personally move against mankind.
Lets study these beings that bust out of the hidden recesses of the
earth in four thoughts: The Commencement, The Creatures, Their
Control, and Their Captain.
I. \\#Rev 9:1-2\\ The Commencement
A. \\#1\\ The Bible says a "star" falls from the heaven to earth.
1. The word for "star" means just that, a star.
(Unpreached throught: It is possible that a real "star" falls from
the sky with such force that it cracks earth’s crust, releasing these
beings locked away.)
2. It is the Greek word from which we get asteroid, so we
would take it that some kind of heavenly body will fall
to the earth. (That has actually been happening but
apparently the objects are getting bigger and bigger!)
3. However, this star seems to be a living entity.
a. It possesses a key and moves with intelligence not
only to open the pit but to lead the army which comes
out of the pit.
b. Some would say it is either a demon.
c. Because it falls from heaven to heart, some would
say that it is Satan himself.
d. Still others would say that the being is one of
God’s angels, just doing what God has commanded
to be done.
e. It really does not matter WHO the star is since
God obviously kept his identity from us. What
matter is WHAT he is about to do.
4. This being has a key.
a. Having the key means that God has given him authority
to do what he is about to do.
b. Hence, who he is does not really matter.
c. Whether this is an angel, a demon, or the devil, this
is happening because God has granted permission for
the being to open the door.
B. With the key, the being opens a door to the bottomless pit.
1. The bottomless pit is referred to several times.
2. Satan himself shall be locked away in this pit for 1,000.
Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from
heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and
a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old
serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound
him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut
him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should
deceive the nations no more, till the thousand
years should be fulfilled: and after that he must
be loosed a little season.
3. The pit appears to be a prison for demons and is probably
where the worst demons have been locked away.
Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their
first estate, but left their own habitation, he
hath reserved in everlasting chains under
darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
a. As bad as the devil and his demons are, many Bible
students believe that the worst demons have been
locked away to prevent them from doing their evil
to mankind.
b. Yet during the tribulation, they are to be freed.
c. Can you imagine just how bad this world will get when
they are loosed?
(1) Let me answer that for you.
(2) No. You can’t. Nobody can. Look at what we are
seeing today and imagine a hundred or a thousand
times worse.
C. Once the door is opened, so much smoke pours out of that hole
that it darkens the sun.
1. Have you noticed how God is tearing up the things that man
has begun to worship?
a. \\#Rev 8:7\\ Trees and vegetation
b. \\#Rev 8:8-9\\ Seas and sea creatures
c. \\#Rev 8:10-11\\ Fresh water
d. Now the air is polluted so badly the sunshine
disappears.
2. God compares the smoke to that of a "great furnace."
a. The word "as" is used.
b. In this section, "as" is used 9x and "like" is used
3x.
c. I mentioned to you in a previous message that when the
Bible uses comparative language, we will take the
things spoken of as symbols.
d. Why is John using symbols? Because there is nothing
on earth like what he was seeing.
3. The furnace speaks to me of heat and fire.
a. It is as if a doorway to hell itself is opened.
b. The Bible tells us that hell was not intended to be a
place for humans but demons.
Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them
on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed,
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels:
c. Apparently. that is exactly what this place has been
used for all of these centuries.
d. When we think of hell, most do not consider that
humans do not belong there.
e. Neither do they consider that the most horrendous of
beings, demons, WILL be there. (Whether they have
any freedom or powers there, I do not know—and I
do not want to find out!)
4. Once that doorway is opened, some of the beings inside are
loosed on to this earth.
(Unpreached throught: The beings may be loosed as spirits with no
physical bodies. The description may be John describing what the
evil spirits look like and do with symbolism.)
a. These beings may look and act like monsters from a
science fiction movie, but they are actually demons.
b. Demons are spiritual beings with greater power and, I
suppose, greater intellect than mankind.
c. These beings will hunt down and hurt humans in ways
that we cannot even begin to imagine.
II. \\#Rev 9:3, 7-10\\ The Creatures
A. If you haven’t figured it out yet, let me tell you that the
normal laws of physics and science do not work during the
tribulation.
1. I am certain that at the beginning of the tribulation,
scientists will try to explain away the events that are
happening on the earth in some scientific way.
2. No doubt, many will believe it.
3. However, it will get more and more difficult for them to
do so.
4. We noticed in the first four trumpets that the things that
were damaged or destroyed, such as the green grass and
trees, the sea, the sea creatures, the sea ships, the
fresh drinking water, and even day and night itself, are
all destroyed or diminished by 1/3.
5. That is God’s way of telling the inhabitants of the world
that what is happening on the earth is not a random
process. It is the hand of an intelligent Being.
6. In saying that, I am not saying that God won’t use the
acts of mankind to fulfill these prophecies; but I am
saying that sooner or later, people are going to realize
that these events are neither random nor possible
without an unseen Power overseeing it.
7. Sooner or later (probably later), mankind will know these
situations have been orchestrated.
B. These demonic beings appear to take on a physical body.
1. I take these beings literally.
a. Unless there is a reason not to, I accept that what
the Bible says as literal.
b. In the first two verses of this chapter, John may be
describing something that earthly inhabitants will
not see, but I believe these beings are demons which
are literally released from hell.
2. Since demons are spiritual beings, having no physical
body, it is possible that the demons will inhabit a
physical body.
a. Here is where I think it is possible that man’s
actions may come in.
b. I think it is possible that man, through genetic
engineering, will create the body that these beings
will inhabit.
(1) When Jesus was on earth, the Bible gave us
accounts of demons inhabiting both humans and
animals. While we have no creature like this
on earth, it is possible that man will make one.
(2) This is not something that man can avoid.
(3) Scientists are always trying to push the envelop
on what they can do.
(a) I realize that some of the greatest
achievements in science have come with some
religious prophets like myself condemning
it.
(b) While I believe and support most scientific
endeavors, at some point, things are likely
to get out of hand.
(c) I think this might be the case here. Man
might engineer the bodies of these powerful
beings.
(4) Like the computers and the internet, there is no
doubt Satan will use the things that mankind is
creating for his evil purposes.
C. \\#3\\ Physically, they appear to be bug-like creatures, a
cross between locusts, scorpions, horses and even humans.
1. \\#7\\ "locusts" - This maybe a reference to their size
or their movement patterns.
a. Locusts are larger sized insects, normally from 1 to 3
inches. Some have been documented larger.
b. Locusts are flying, swarming creatures.
Rev 9:9 …and the sound of their wings was as
the sound of chariots of many horses running
to battle.
Late one July morning in 1874, 12-year-old farm
girl Lillie Marcks watched the sunlight dim and
a peculiar darkness sweep over the Kansas sky.
A whirring, rasping sound followed, and there
appeared, as she later recalled, “a moving gray-
green screen between the sun and earth.” Then
something dropped from the cloud like hail,
hitting her family’s house, trees and picket
fence. A child in Jefferson County, Kansas, who
had gone out at midday to draw water from the
well exclaimed: “They’re here! The sky is full
of ’em. The whole yard is crawling with the nasty
things.” A settler in Edwards County, Kansas,
reported: “I never saw such a sight before. This
morning, as we looked up toward the sun, we could
see millions in the air. They looked like
snowflakes.” What this Kansas trio saw that
summer was also observed by others statewide and
across Dakota Territory, Montana Territory,
Wyoming Territory, Colorado Territory, Iowa,
Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, the Indian
Territory (present-day Oklahoma) and Texas.
What Marcks described as “a moving, struggling
mass” of grasshoppers (was) technically Rocky
Mountain locusts (and they) had invaded the Great
Plains. Farmers, their pants legs cinched with
string, ran to cover their valuable wells. In
many cases their drinking water was about the
only thing they could save. As the swarms landed
on houses, fields and trees, the skies cleared,
but then the real devastation began. The locusts
soon scoured the fields of crops, the trees of
leaves, every blade of grass, the wool off sheep,
the harnesses off horses, the paint off wagons
and the handles off pitchforks. They washed in
waves against the fences, piling a foot or more
deep. They feasted for days, even devouring the
clothing and quilts farmhands threw protectively
over the vegetable gardens.
Livestock feasted on the locusts, and farm
families killed many of the invaders by building
bonfires. But there were just too many of the
“nasty things” for man or beast to control. The
locusts, farmers grimly quipped, “ate everything
but the mortgage.”
(They) infested an estimated 2 million square
miles.
http://www.historynet.com/1874-the-year-of-the-locust.htm
c. Of course this is not locusts, at least not as we
think of them, for they will not eat grass or any
green thing.
d. Their purpose will be torment the people who have
not been marked by God.
2. \\#7\\ "horses"
a. Perhaps having four, tall legs and being fast-
moving creature on the ground.
b. Locusts have six legs and scorpions eight.
c. Imagine trying to outrun one or more of these
creatures.
3. \\#7\\ "prepared for battle" - They are protected,
probably with a hard exoskeleton.
a. \\#9\\ They have breastplates of iron. Although
bug-like, these creatures will not be easily
killed by a heavy foot.
b. \\#7\\ "crown of gold" - A jagged brow to hurt
those who try to or accidentally step on it.
4. \\#7\\ "faces of man" and \\#8\\ "hair of woman" - I
have no idea how to interpret that other than
literally.
5. \\#8\\ "teeth of lions" - Sharp, long, devouring teeth.
6. \\#9\\ "and the sound of their wings was as the sound
of chariots of many horses running to battle"
a. Their sound will be a heavy, deep, loud, and
rumbling sound.
b. Imagine trying to sleep in the house and hearing
this coming.
c. Then remember most of the homes will have been
destroyed in the war and natural disasters!
III. \\#Rev 9:4-6\\ Their Control - These creatures will have three
governors placed on them.)
A. \\#4\\ The creatures can not hurt grass or any green thing on
the earth.
1. Although these creatures are describes as locusts, God
makes it clear they are not locust-like in their
behavior.
2. On the one hand, this is a good thing. A supernatural
plague of locust could certainly destroy what will be
left of man’s basic food supply.
B. \\#4\\ The creatures cannot hurt the 144,000 witnesses.
1. This is the only plague that the Bible specifically says
the 144,000 will not endure.
2. As the demons were under the control of Jesus when He
walked on the earth, so these demonic creatures will be
under God’s control in the tribulation.
3. The fact that God specifically mentions they are immune to
this plague may indicate that they are venerable to the
others.
4. Another supposition is that not only the 144,000 are
protected from the tribulational plagues but so are their
followers.
a. There is no Scriptural evidence of this.
b. While God separated His people from some of the
Egyptian plagues and we believe that He will take the
church off the earth before the tribulation begins,
that doesn’t mean that every one who accepts Christ
will be supernaturally protected during the
tribulation.
c. The tribulation is the time of judgment and it is
likely that everyone—both saved and lost—will be
affected.
C. \\#5-6\\ The creatures will not kill but torment. (The word
used is "torture.")
1. \\#10\\ These demonic insects inflict a sting with their
scorpion tail that makes the victim wish they had died,
but they will not.
2. How do scorpions sting?
a. Scorpions have two pairs of pincer-like claws and
four pairs of legs like other arachnids. The
claws are used to hold the prey while the
scorpion lifts its tail and stings the prey.
b. The sting is connected to a poison gland. The
poison is used to stun and paralyze the prey and
sometimes even to kill it.
c. Normally a scorpion sting produces severe pain and
swelling at the site of the sting. The area
becomes numb and sometimes leads to frothing from
the mouth. Since it affects the nervous system,
respiratory paralysis and convulsions follow.
http://www.pitara.com/science-for-kids/5ws-and-h/how-bad-is-the-
sting-of-a-scorpion/
3. The results of the sting are described as torment.
4. The duration of the torment is listed as five months.
5. Does that mean the creature and the sickness they cause
lasts only for five months or could it be that the
creatures lives on, to sting again and again?
6. \\#6\\ The fact that God will not let people die at that
time is God’s way of showing mankind that there are
things worst than death.
a. What is worse than death? God’s judgment.
b. God is actually doing these people a favor by not
letting them kill themselves.
c. If they kill themselves, they will seal their doom
in eternal judgment, the worst of all fates for
mankind.
IV. Their Captain - \\#Rev 9:11\\
A. At least they are just bugs, right?
1. Bugs are persistent but Raid will stop them, right?
2. Not these! These bugs have a captain.
B. His name is Abaddon (Hebrew) or Apollyon (Greek).
1. The names means "destruction" or Destroyer.
2. Yet these bugs are not designed to destroy the vegetation
or the physical structures of the earth.
3. There purpose is to destroy man’s health, comfort, and
will.
C. If the creatures are demonic, it would make sense that their
leader is demonic too.
D. It would also make sense that the leader has earned the right
to lead by merit.
1. This leader will likely excel in strength, intellect, and
wickedness.
2. I would anticipate that he is second only to Satan.
(a) You have seen movies where the evil is intellectual—
able to anticipate its victims’ moves, stronger
than its victims.
(b) All of these beings have both more intelligence and
more ability than any human being.
(c) These creatures will move with power and a plan.
3. The earth will face a demonic attack like never before.
(a) What could be a "fix" for this situation?
(b) To repent and turn to God.
(c) That is never mentioned in the text which would make
me think that it never crossed the minds of mankind.
E. You can run if you want, but they will catch you.
1. You can stomp them if you want. You will hurt yourself
not them.
2. You can try to kill them if you want, but they will out
think you.
3. Mankind will fall prey to these creatures of the dark.
Perhaps man will find a way to defeat and kill these creatures in the
five months mentioned or perhaps the bodies of the creatures will
merely die after five months, but what of the demons loosed from the
pit? Will they just go away? I don’t think so. I think they will
find new ways to torment man until the end comes.
\\#12\\ And God announces that this is the first woe, but two
more are left! Another pronouncement of woe. Another warning that
things are going to get even worse!
The only way to be ready is to be gone. The church leaves in
Revelation 4. Jesus has paid the price of the ticket. You can receive
your by faith and repentance. Do so today.
<Outline
Index> <Close Window>
