Monday August 25, 2008
REVELATION: DIVISION V
THE SEVEN TRUMPET JUDGMENTS: EVENTS DURING THE GREAT TRIBULATION, 8:1-11:19
D. The Blast of the Sixth Trumpet: Demonic-like Military Horsemen, 9:12-21
(9:12-21) Introduction: the trumpet blast of judgment is going to fall upon the earth, upon the ungodly and evil of this world. We have seen this in the first four trumpet blasts that fell upon nature. Horrifying and catastrophic events destroyed one third of the vegetation, water supply, sea life, and the shipping and fishing commerce of the world. Scientists warn us all the time about the possbility of such horrors unless the environment is protected. Such a horrible time is coming. But note: in the first four trumpet judgments, man himself will not be afflicted, not on a massive scale. That is, man’s body will not be attacked; his body will not suffer any massive ill effects from the catastrophes. But after the natural disasters the ungodly and evil of the world will be judged. The last three trumpet judgments will be directed against them personally, and millions will be afflicted and destroyed. They are going to reap what they have sown. They have sown terrible ungodliness; therefore, they are to reap the punishment of their evil. And the punishment is to be so severe, it can only be called a prolonged period of woe. The last three trumpet judgments are the woe judgments, the judgments directed against the ungodly and evil of this world. The first woe judgment was seen in the former passage, the blast of a demonic-like plague of locusts. The demonic locusts could only torture men, not kill them. But now the sixth trumpet blasts forth its judgment, and another horde of demons come forth. This time, however, there is a difference. These are military demons, and they shall take their toll upon human life. An astronomical number of the ungodly and evil of the world will die under the judgment of God’s righteous hand in this woe judgment. This is the judgment of the demonic military horsemen.
1. More woes lie ahead (v.12).
2. The four fallen angels are set loose (v.13-15).
3. The military horsemen and demonic horses appear (v.16-19).
4. The judgment has a purpose: to lead people to repentance (v.20-21).
1. (9:12) Judgment— Woe: more woes lie ahead. There is to be catastrophic destruction and devastation in the great tribulation that is coming upon the earth. It will be such a terrible time that it can only be described as a period of woe, that is, of extreme grief, distress, suffering, affliction, and calamity. The woe judgments of God are the trumpet judgments that zero in on afflicting the bodies of the ungodly. One woe has already been covered, the demonic-like locusts. Two more woe judgments are yet to fall upon the evil people of the world.
2. (9:13-15) Angels, Fallen— Judgment: there are the four fallen angels set loose. Three facts are given about their being loosed.
1. They are set loose by a command coming from the golden altar. This is the altar of incense where the prayers of God’s people are kept (cp. Rev. 6:9-10; Rev. 8:3-4). This symbolizes a significant fact: God launches this judgment especially to vindicate the millions who will be slaughtered in the holocaust of the antichrist. God is going to be perfectly just. He is going to execute perfect justice against the antichrist and his followers who have slaughtered millions. They too shall be slain by the judgment of God. The very prayers of the golden altar cry out for the name of God to be vindicated against those who laughed, mocked, rejected, denied, disbelieved, disobeyed, and cursed God. God is going to hear these prayers.
2. The four released angels are bound at the great river Euphrates. Note that the definite article is used: the. The four fallen angels are four specific angels. As will be seen in a few moments, they will be four angels of high military rank.
Why would the angels come from the Euphrates? Scripture does not say, but two reasons seem likely.
Þ The head or spring of the Euphrates river flowed out of the garden of Eden. It was there, of course, where Satan first tempted and overthrew man. The first sin that resulted in the fallen human race took place at the head of the Euphrates river. It was also there that the first murder took place and it was in the region of the Euphrates that the first organized rebellion against God took place. (All this is pointed out by the excellent Bible expositor, Lehman Strauss. The Book of the Revelation, p.194).
Þ The Euphrates was the western boundary of the promised land that God promised to Abraham.
Therefore, beyond the Euphrates can be looked upon as the outer reaches of the earth, as the place where the spiritual enemies of man are kept. As William Barclay says:
“The angels, therefore, come from the distant lands, from the strange and alien and hostile places, from these very parts of the world from which the Assyrians and the Babylonians had in time past descended with destruction upon Israel. So, then, the angels come from the quarter from which disaster had in ancient times come upon God’s people Israel....The four angels are Angels of Punishment; they come from the part of the world from which death and disaster and slavery had so often come” (The Revelation of John, Vol.2, p.64).
3. The four fallen angels were loosed and they prepared to execute a judgment upon the earth: the judgment of slaying one third of the ungodly and evil population of the world. Remember why: because the billions upon earth will follow and give their total allegiance and support to the antichrist and the policies of his government. One of the major policies will be the holocaust launched against the believers of the world. Literally millions will be slaughtered. Simply stated, God will not be able to take the diabolical evil of ungodly people any more. He will allow His justice to finally be executed and demonstrated: the diabolical, the ungodly and evil, shall reap the slaughter they have inflicted upon others.
4. Note one other fact: God has already set the time for this judgment. There is an exact year, month, day, and even hour that this judgment is to fall upon the ungodly and evil. The hour is already fixed.
3. (9:16-19) Judgment— Angels, Fallen: there are the military horsemen and their demonic horses. Five things are said about this demonic horde.
1. There will be an army of two hundred million. Imagine an army of two hundred million demonic spirits let loose upon the earth. This will be the army that the four fallen angels will command, an army such as the world has never seen before.
2. The riders will have breastplates. The breastplates are “firey red and sapphire blue and sulphur (brimstone) yellow” (The Amplified New Testament). The breastplate symbolizes that they will be indestructible, protected and defended as they go to war against the ungodly of the world. Man will not be able to stop them.
3. The horses will be horrible and add terror upon terror on the ungodly.
Þ They will have heads like lions: ferocious, fierce, devouring, cruel, and consuming.
Þ They will have mouths that spit out fire: a hellish and firey nature; a vengeful, angry, and wrathful nature (cp. Rev. 14:10; Rev. 19:20; Rev. 21:8).
Þ They will kill one third of the ungodly and evil upon earth. How? By the plague of fire, smoke, and brimstone. (Note: the weapons used by this demonic army are not given. But observe how fire, smoke, and brimstone sounds like an atomic explosion. We must, however, keep in mind that this slaughter is being masterminded by evil spirits and demonic forces—all being executed under God’s will as a judgment upon the ungodly and evil of the world.)
Þ Their power is in their mouths, heads, and tails. The head symbolizes intelligence; the mouth symbolizes deceptive speech and a hunger to consume and to destroy; and the serpent-like tails symbolize poisonous strikes and deadly wounds.
Thought 1. The picture of the great tribulation is a picture of horror heaped upon horror. It is a frightful and fearful scene. But note: with what we know about the possibility of atomic destruction, environmental devastation, and the possibility of some monstrous gene mutation—the judgments of God’s book can no longer be doubted. Not if God is really God, and not if He is truly just, and not if some diabolical leader arises (as they have in the past) who launches a holocaust against God’s people. God is bound to execute justice if some demon of a person slaughters millions and millions of His people, and if the whole world gives its support. It is this that will cause the antichrist to differ from all former world leaders who have killed millions. They had only limited support. But in the last days, the antichrist will have the support of most of the ungodly and evil people of the earth.
4. (9:20-21) Judgment: there is the purpose for the judgment—repentance. Two significant points are now made.
1. The ungodly and evil survivors of the earth still do not repent and turn to God. Two thirds of the population will survive, not because they deserve to survive but because God is merciful. God is always merciful even in the midst of judgment. He will give the ungodly of the earth another chance to repent, speaking to them through the judgments, but they will not repent.
Thought 1. Lehman Strauss makes an excellent point about this fact:
“God has never delighted in the death of the wicked. In the midst of His visitations of severest judgments, He delights to be gracious to the guilty. But alas, the death of one billion people in the earth, with the accompanying grief and the confusion which must follow such a disaster, finds the residue of people not willing to repent. Such is the human heart, deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. After two world wars, and one hundred lesser wars in the past fifty years, the world is more wicked than ever. Instead of repentance, sin increases” (The Book of the Revelation, p.196).
2. There will be several gross sins for which the ungodly need to repent. And remember: there will be an enormous increase and intensification of the evils in the end time.
a. There will be an increase in the worship of evil spirits and the worship of idols. Actually, the devils are said to be behind the worship of idols. Just think about how much worship of evil spirits and idols is going on today. How much is going on in the cities of the world at any given moment? Scripture actually declares that the worship of all gods except the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the worship of an evil spirit or idol. In fact, Scripture even declares that covetousness is idolatry. Why? Because a person has set his heart on something other than God Himself, and man owes his first allegiance to God.
Note that no idol can see, hear, or walk; and how true this is. They cannot answer a single prayer, give a single ounce of strength, lift a single finger to help, save a single hair, extend life a single minute, carry a person one single inch toward heaven. They cannot arouse one single moment of acceptance out of God nor give one moment of eternal life to a person. An idol is lifeless. It can do nothing for man. But note: the evil spirits behind the idols can damage and destroy a person’s soul forever. It will be this that will cause so much idolatry and worship of evil spirits in the last days. The antichrist will demand the worship of the state. There will apparently be laws passed demanding that a person give his first loyalty to the state, much as we see in some nations today and have seen in past history. The worship of the state, of course, aids a government in keeping control of its people. This is the worst kind of idolatry, for a person has to submit to the state or else he is usually imprisoned and executed. In the government of the antichrist, people will be executed for not giving their first loyalty to the state.
God hates idolatry and demands in no uncertain terms that man turn away from his idolatry and from the worship of evil spirits.
“But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils” (1 Cor. 10:20).
“Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).
“And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk” (Rev. 9:20).
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Exodus 20:4).
“Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the lord your God” (Leviticus 26:1).
“The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the lord thy God” (Deut. 7:25).
“Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them” (Deut. 11:16).
“I am the lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images” (Isaiah 42:8).
“And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generation” (Leviticus 17:7).
“They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not” (Deut. 32:16-17).
“And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions [imaginations]” (Psalm 106:36-39).
b. There will be an increase in the sin of murder. Remember all the martyrs John saw in heaven, the numberless multitude of believers slaughtered by the antichrist and his government and followers. The martyrs were so many that “no man could number [them]” (Rev. 7:9). Believers will be slaughtered all over the world—from all nations and tribes and languages and people. Just think of the holocaust that will take place—not even a single tribe of the earth, not where a believer exists, escapes the attempt of the antichrist and the world to stamp out the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. The antichrist will have his followers all over the world and they will support his murderous moves against the believers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another” (Matthew 24:10).
Þ Note: this is undoubtedly the difference between the holocaust of the past and the holocaust of the antichrist. In the past the diabolical leaders like Hitler and Stalin had only a number of people who supported their murderous genocide; the antichrist will have world-wide support. The fact that it is world-wide and that it is launched against all the followers of God’s Son will trigger God’s decision to go ahead and move in His final judgment.
The point is this: murder will be one of the great sins of the antichrist and his followers. It is a sin for which the ungodly and evil must repent or face the terrible judgments of the end time and of eternity.
“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matthew 5:21-22).
“He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness” (Matthew 19:18).
“But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters” (1 Peter 4:15).
“Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:15).
“Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13).
c. There will be an increase in the sin of sorcery (pharmakōn PWS: 3654). Note that the Greek word is close to the spelling of the English word pharmacy, that is, a place that handles drugs. Sorcery includes all kinds of witchcraft, the use of drugs or of evil spirits to gain control over the lives of others or over one’s own life. In the present context it would include all forms of sorcery including astrology, palm reading, seances, fortune telling, crystals, and other forms of witchcraft.
“So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the lord, even against the word of the lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it” (1 Chron. 10:13).
“And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:19-20).
“And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers” (Micah 5:12).
“Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies” (Galatians 5:20).
d. There will be an increase in immorality (porneia): a broad word including all forms of immoral and sexual acts. It is pre-marital sex and adultery; it is abnormal sex, all kinds of sexual vice.
“Flee fornication. Every sin that man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18).
“But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints” (Ephes. 5:3).
“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5).
e. There will be an increase in thefts (klemmatōn PWS: 3953): to cheat and steal; to take wrongfully from another person, either legally or illegally.
“Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15).
“Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another” (Leviticus 19:11).
“Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth” (Ephes. 4:28).
“Not purloining [stealing], but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things” (Titus 2:10).
Copyright: Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible, Chattanooga, TN Used by Permission
