Revelation 9 - Verse by Verse Bible Study

By Pastor Steven L Anderson

Video

January, 2013

Now in Revelation chapter 9, we continue with God pouring out His wrath with these trumpet

judgments. We saw the first four trumpets in Revelation chapter . In Revelation chapter

, we start out with the sounding of the fifth trumpet. The Bible says in verse number ,

"And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and

to him was given the key of the bottomless pit." So we see that the star is referred

to as a "him" here, and it says that "he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke

out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason

of the smoke of the pit." And of course hell is often referred to as the bottomless pit,

hell is also often referred to as a furnace of fire. And it says that the angel that has

the key to the bottomless pit, he opens the bottomless pit, and smoke arises out of the

pit, and the sun and the air are darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. It says

in verse , "And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was

given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that

they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree;

but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." So these locusts,

instead of eating up all the greenery, as locusts often do in the Bible... And locusts

are never something that is a positive thing in the Bible... Even in the United States,

there have been plagues of locusts that have happened in the past, going back hundreds

of years where locusts would come in and they would eat up all the plants, they would eat

up all the crops. And it was devastating to people, because they plant these crops, they're

looking forward to the harvest, and then the locusts come in. And a locust is basically

a migrating grasshopper that flies. And these locusts would come in and just eat up all

the plant life, and just leave nothing behind. And it was devastating to farmers and to people

who lived in that area. In the Bible there are similar things where locusts come in and

eat the greenery. But these locusts that come out of hell, or out of the bottomless pit

are different, in that they're not going to touch any green thing. They're not touching

the grass, they're not touching the trees, they're only there to hurt the men that have

not the seal of God in their foreheads, referring to the fact that in chapter , the ,

received that seal in their foreheads that would cause them to be immune from God's wrath

being poured out. So everyone except for the , of the children of Israel that we

talked about back in Revelation chapter , is being tormented and plagued by these horrible

locusts, whose sole purpose is to do nothing, but to hurt human beings. Look if you would

at verse number five. "And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but

that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a

scorpion, when he striketh a man." Now I've never been struck by a scorpion, has anybody

here been struck by a scorpion? Who here has been struck by a scorpion? You know in Arizona,

yeah, a lot of people have been struck by scorpions. I know my son Solomon at one point

was struck by a scorpion, and he was in a lot of pain, and you can, if you've never

been struck by one, you can look it up and do some reading about it, it's very painful,

it's tormenting. Especially when you see just how many of these locusts there are, and how

they're going to spend MONTHS tormenting men. You say "well, how bad is it going to

be? How painful are these scorpion-like wounds going to be?" Well look what it says in verse

number . "And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire

to die, and death shall flee from them." So just so that there is no question about how

painful this is going to be, when these locusts are tormenting them, the Bible says it will

be so painful that people will be wishing that they were dead. They'll be in so much

pain and agony and burning from these scorpion-like wounds that they are receiving from the locusts

that they are going to just wish that they would DIE, just to have relief from the pain.

That's what's going to be going through their minds. Look at verse . He gives a description

of the locusts. "And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle".

Now, why would they be like unto horses prepared unto battle? Well, horses throughout history

have sometimes worn battle armour or some kind of a shielding of their bodies. Let's

keep reading and we'll get into more of that. It says that they "were like unto horses prepared

unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold". Not a literal crown

of gold, but AS IT WERE, crowns like gold. So basically the shapes of their heads were

have some kind of a maybe pointy structure toward the top of their head, that's like

unto a crown of gold. "Their faces were AS the faces of men". So they do not have the

faces of men, but their faces are similar to the faces of men, and the Bible says "they

had hair as the hair of women", obviously referring to long hair, because the Bible

clearly teaches in st Corinthians that it's a shame for a man to have long hair,

but that a woman's hair is her glory. So these locusts have hair like unto women, "their

teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates"- referring to, I believe,

a very strong exoskeleton, because they are locusts. And it says "they had breastplates,

as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots

of many horses running to battle." So imagine the terrifying sight of a swarm of these locusts

coming to you, the sound of their wings... These locusts are beating their wings, and

it sounds like horses running into battle. Now look, I've heard some pretty loud insect

noises in my life. I remember when I was in Illinois, sometimes the insects would be so

loud, it just blew my mind when it was really muggy and warm outside on a really humid day.

Boy, those insects would go nuts, and it was a very loud sound. But you know what, it didn't

sound like horses and chariots running to battle. These locusts are going to be coming

in such quantities and with such force that the sound of their coming will be like the

sound of chariots and horses running to battle. And it says here, they had breastplates like

breastplates of iron. Well think about this. Bugs have an exoskeleton, don't they, which

could be characterised as a breastplate? And many bugs have such a strong exoskeleton that

they're very difficult to crush. And probably all of us have had that bug that just wouldn't

die, and you're stomping on it, it just does not die. Well, these particular locusts, you're

not going to be able to step on them and kill them, I don't believe, because this exoskeleton

that is similar to iron, is not going to stomped by your foot, and your little pair of shoes,

it's not going to destroy these things. So you say "well, if these locusts come around

me, I'm just going to step on them. Well hopefully everybody here is saved tonight, and so you're

not even going to face any of this anyway, because this is after the rapture has already

taken place with the opening of the sixth seal. But for those that are unsaved, when

these things come, they're not going to be simple stepped on. They're going to just keep

on coming. They are not going to die that easily. And it says in verse , "And they

had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was

to hurt men five months." days, using the Bible's reckoning, of torment from these

scorpions. And people will wish that they were dead, it's going to be horrible. Look

at verse . "And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit,

whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon."

Now I want to spend some time on this verse, because so many people have mistakenly been

taught that Apollyon is the devil. Who has ever heard that before? "Apollyon is Satan".

And "Pilgrim's Progress" is a great example. Book written by a Baptist preacher hundreds

of years ago. And in the book , Apollyon is Satan. Well, first of all, Pilgrim's Progress

also teaches that a person can lose their salvation, so, that book is filled with false

doctrine. And that's why we shouldn't get our doctrines from man and from man's books

and from man's commentaries, but we should use the Bible itself to give us our doctrine.

Because I am going to prove to you beyond a shadow of a doubt right now, that Abaddon

or Apollyon is NOT Satan! And anybody who is saying that Apollyon or Abaddon is Satan,

just doesn't know their Bible, it's that simple. Let me give you just several reasons why Abaddon

or Apollyon CANNOT be Satan. Number one, he has a completely different name. Now, the

Bible tells us over and over again in the book of Revelation when it refers to Satan,

He is always clear, He says "the great dragon was cast out, which is the devil, and Satan,

which deceiveth the whole world." "The serpent, which is the devil, which is Satan, which

is the dragon". God, over and over again is very clear in the book of Revelation when

He is talking about the devil, and the Bible consistently calls him the serpent, the dragon,

Satan, the devil, Lucifer. But never do we see him called either Abaddon or Apollyon.

And later I'm going to get into more about the Hebrew word Abaddon, and the Greek word

Apollyon there. But first of all it's a different name. Second of all this is a different timing.

Satan does not fall from heaven at the sounding of the fifth trumpet. Because if you remember,

the Bible is clear in Daniel chapter , verse number that Michael the archangel will fight

against the devil, he will stand up for his people, and then AFTER that there will be

a time of trouble such as was not since the beginning of the world. So basically Michael

casts the dragon out of heaven, which we read about in Revelation . That takes place BEFORE

the tribulation takes place. So Satan is cast out of heaven BEFORE the tribulation, not

at the fifth trumpet of the wrath of God. There is nothing in the Bible that would indicate

this timing for Satan’s fall from heaven. So first of all they have different names,

second of all it's a totally different timing... Number , go if you would to Revelation .

In Revelation we see this same angel of the bottomless pit, because remember, it says

in Revelation :, they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit,

whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

So according to Revelation :, Apollyon is the angel of the bottomless pit. He is

also the king over the locusts that are from hell, and he also had the key of the bottomless

pit to open hell and let the locusts out. Now go to Revelation . Now, review back

to chapter . Didn't Jesus say that he had the key of hell? Jesus Christ says I am he

that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore. And he said "I have the

keys of hell and of death". So wouldn't it make sense that if Jesus has the key to hell,

or to the bottomless pit that he would give it to his angel to open, and that he wouldn't

turn it over to Satan? "Oh, here Satan, here's the keys man. Take the keys to the car buddy,

take it out for a spin." No, God's not going to give something that He has the keys to,

he's not going to turn that over to Satan. He could turn it over to one of His servants,

which Abaddon or Apollyon is on of His servants- he is an angel from heaven that has the key

to the bottomless pit. Now, let me prove it to you. If Apollyon is Satan, as these false

stories have told us, then how does it make sense that in Revelation , the angel of

the bottomless pit casts Satan into hell? I mean, is this Satan casting himself into

hell? That makes no sense, does it? Look at Revelation verse . "And I saw an angel

come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him

a thousand years, 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 on and on. So look, who is the one who has the power to basically lock Satan into

hell. To basically grab Satan, bind him up, throw him into hell? That's Abaddon, that's

Apollyon, that's the angel of the bottomless pit. And let me say this, he is greater in

power and might than Satan is. Is he not? Because he is able to bind Satan. He is able

to throw Satan in, and lock him up. So this Abaddon, or Apollyon is the angel of the bottomless

pit, and he casts out Satan. Hey, can Satan cast out Satan? No. So therefore the angel

of the bottomless pit, or Apollyon, is not Satan. So number one, they have totally different

names, number , totally the wrong timing for Satan to be cast out of heaven, number

, Apollyon is the one who binds Satan, therefore he cannot be Satan. And number , Satan is

not a king of the bottomless pit. He does not rule in hell. You know, there is a false

doctrine out there amongst Satanists that says this "better to reign in hell, than to

serve in heaven". Who has ever heard that before? You know, "it's better to rule in

hell, than to serve in heaven." No, let me tell you something. Satan worshippers, and

Satan himself, will NOT rule in hell. You know what they'll do? They'll be tormented

in hell along with everyone else. Hell is the place where the devil will suffer and

be tormented. Read Isaiah chapter , it's his downfall. Hell is not his kingdom. And

this idea that the devil is down in hell ruling and reigning, you know that works great when

you are watching "Merry Melodies" and Porky Pig has horns and a pitchfork, and a tail,

and he's going "ha ha ha", and he's poking people in the rear end with a pitchfork. That's

not reality my friend! The devil does not rule in hell, as Merry Melodies has taught.

The Bible teaches that the devil will be punished in hell. You know who rules over hell. God

does. God is the creator of hell, and God's lieutenant, God's angel Abaddon or Apollyon

has the key to the bottomless pit. Not Satan. Satan is going to be locked up in there, and

he is dead sure not going to be pulling a key out of his pocket, and letting himself

out early. He is not going to be let out until God lets him out until the end of the millennium.

And so this idea of Satan being a king over the bottomless pit or ruling over hell, which

comes from believing that Apollyon IS Satan, is a false doctrine that basically exalts

Satan. Giving him some kind of an authority in hell. Let's not give Satan more credit

than what he deserves. He is not ruling in hell, he will suffer in hell. In fact, at

this point the devil has never even been to hell, because he is not going to be cast out

until the beginning of the tribulation, and so he has never even been there. Right now

he walketh about on this earth as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. But let's

go a little deeper now. Let's look at the word "Abaddon", and the word "Apollyon", just

to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Apollyon is not Satan, and just to show you who he

really is. Let's look at every time the word "Abaddon" is used in the Old Testament, and

let's look at every time the word "Apollyon" is used in the New Testament. Now, of course

in your English Bible, these words aren't going to show up, but that's why he tells

us, in the Hebrew, it's "Abaddon", in the Greek, it's "Apollyon". Let's look these up

and see what this angel Abaddon is associated with. Go back to Job . "Hell is naked before

him, and destruction hath no covering." Did you get that? The word "destruction" there,

in the Hebrew tongue, is "Abaddon", in this verse. So that tells us that "Abaddon" means

"destruction", and what is it associated with? Hell, right? Go to Job , verse , and it

says "Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears." Go to chapter

of Job. Job verse . "For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root

out all mine increase." So what is "destruction", or "Abaddon" been associated with so far?

Hell, death, fire. Getting it? Okay? Go to Psalm . The Bible reads in Psalm :.

"Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?"

So look, just as a grave is a place where a dead body is kept, destruction is a place

where dead souls are kept, right? Associated with what we saw before... Hell, death, fire,

the grave... Okay, look at Proverbs . Proverbs chapter number . Look at verse of Proverbs

, the next mention of Abaddon here. It says "Hell and destruction"- do you see the association

again? The word "destruction there in the Hebrew tongue is "Abaddon". "Hell and destruction

are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?" And lastly

go to proverbs , verse "Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never

satisfied." Now doesn't it make perfect sense then, that "Abaddon" would be the name of

the angel of the bottomless pit? When the word "destruction", or the word "Abaddon"

is a word that's always associated with hell, fire and death? See how simple it is to understand

it when you look at it in that light? You say "okay, I get it. What about the word Apollyon?"

Well, the word Apollyon is used in the New Testament, because remember the Old Testament

was originally written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was originally written in Greek?

Look at Matthew :, and think about this in light of all the Old Testament mentions

of Abaddon. Matthew : says "enter ye in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate and

broad is the way, that leadeth to"- Apollyon, he is saying.- "that leadeth to destruction,

and many there be which go in thereat". So look, what's that verse talking about? People

going to hell, right? He says many people, the majority, the broadway leads to HELL,

it leads to destruction. Remember, over and over again? And look, you don't have to go

back to the Hebrew and Greek to figure this out, because you could have just looked at

all those Old Testament verses where it said "destruction and hell, destruction and hell,

destruction and fire, destruction and death". And note that when the Bible says here that

the broad way leads to destruction, you would know he is talking about the broad way leads

unto hell, my friend. Because he said, that them which believe not, the Bible says He

"afterward destroyed them that believed not." He said "fear not them which kill the body

but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to DESTROY both soul

and body", WHERE? In hell. Let's look at another mention of the Greek word "Apollyon" in the

New Testament. Romans : is another verse that in the Greek tongue uses the word "Apollyon".

It says in Romans :. "What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known,

endured with much longsuffering the vessels of WRATH fitted to destruction". Apollyon

in the Greek is associated with the wrath of God, which obviously, Hell is the place

of God's wrath. Philippians chapter verse talks about people "whose end is destruction,

whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things."

When he says their end is destruction, that word there is "Apollyon" in the Greek. It

says in nd Peter, chapter verse , "But there were false prophets also among the people,

even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies,

even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."

Again, associated with people who are going to hell. A couple of verses later it says

their damnation slumbereth not, right? People that are damned to hell, they're going to

destruction, they're going to hell, okay? Doesn’t this make perfect sense, why the

name of the angel of the bottomless pit, would be Abaddon, or Apollyon? Okay, another place

is nd Peter :, where the Bible reads "As also in all his epistles, speaking in them

of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are

unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."

Here we are talking about people who don't understand the Bible being destroyed, because

the Bible of course teaches that the saved have the ability to understand the word of

God. The unsaved do not have the ability to understand the word of God. So look, is there

any doubt in our minds (when we look up all the Hebrew mentions of Abaddon, all the Greek

mentions of Apollyon, we put them side by side) that the word "Abaddon", or the word

"Apollyon" means "destruction", and it is always associated with death and hell. And

it has a lot to do with hell and fire. Okay, pretty clear, right? Makes sense, since he

is the angel of the bottomless pit. Now, I've seen some people try to claim "well, the word

Satan means destroyer, and so therefore, if you look up the word Satan it means destroyer,

and therefore it's the same." No, "Satan" does NOT mean "destroyer" AT ALL. The word

"Satan", whether you look it up in Hebrew or Greek does not mean destroyer, and really,

we don't need to go to the Greek or the Hebrew, just our English Bible here, the King James

Version has all the information we need, because if I look up all four times that "Satan" is

mentioned in the Old Testament, it's really easy to gather what the definition of the

word Satan is. And I'm going to show you, it's not "destruction", or "destroyer", it

has nothing to do with that. This is the first time the word "Satan" occurs in the Bible,

it says in st Chronicles :, "And Satan stood up AGAINST Israel, and provoked David

to number Israel. Now the operative word in that verse is "against". Satan means "someone

who stands against, or someone who is an adversary. Then if we go to the next mention of Satan

in the Bible, it's in Job chapter and , Satan is speaking against Job. And then God

says to Satan, "you've moved me AGAINST him, without cause". Look at Zechariah, chapter

, I want you to actually turn to this one. And in Zechariah chapter , we see the fourth

mention of Satan, and I'm going to come back to the third mention, but for now, go to Zechariah

chapter number three and see the fourth mention of the word "Satan" in the Old Testament,

and the Bible says in Zechariah :, "And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing

before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him." Well, if

I'm going somewhere, and somebody is resisting me, that means that they're against me, and

they're pressing against me, and they're exerting force against me. I'm trying to go this way,

but somebody is resisting me, or stopping me from doing so. Well that's what we see

in the picture here in Zechariah :. And if we go back to the third and final mention

that I want to show you from the Old Testament of the actual word "Satan"... And I realise

that the devil, or "Satan" is mentioned in Genesis , Isaiah , Ezekiel , but I'm

talking about the word "Satan", the word "Satan" is used in four passages. It's used in st

Chronicles :, Job chapters and , Zechariah verse , and then it's also found where

I am about to show you here in Psalm verse . And in Psalm , verse it says "Set

thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand." Well that ties in

perfectly with what we saw in Zechariah , where Satan stood at the right hand of Joshua

the son of Josedech and resisted him, and pressed against him. If we back up just a

few verses in Psalm , and start reading in verse number , the Bible reads "For the

mouth of the "wicked"- notice the word wicked- "and the mouth of the deceitful"- notice the

word "deceitful"- are open against me; they have spoken against me with a lying tongue"-

notice the word "lying"- "They compassed me about also with words of hatred"- notice the

word "hatred"- "and fought against me without a cause"- notice the word "fought"- "For my

love they are my adversaries"- notice the word "adversaries"- "But I give myself unto

prayer. They have rewarded evil for good"- notice the word "evil"- "and hatred for my

love. Set thou a wicked man over him, and let Satan stand at his right hand." So he's

saying, because my enemies have been deceitful, they've lied, they've been against me, they've

been against me it says twice in verse , they hated me, they fought me, they were my

adversaries, they were against me, they were evil, they had hatred... And he said, "because

of that, let Satan be against them." So what do we see here about Satan? The word "Satan"

simply means one that stands against, or one that one that is an adversary of you. One

that is in opposition to you, that is what Satan means. The one who is AGAINST us, or

our adversary. That fits in perfectly with the New Testament when He says "your adversary

the devil walketh about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour." Now look, isn't

that very different than destroyer, or destruction? Totally different. "Adversary" or "one who

stands against or in opposition of" is completely different of a definition of the word "Satan",

to the definition of the word Abaddon or Apollyon or destruction. And so look, these people

have two completely different names. "Apollyon" is not "Satan". They have two different functions.

One of them is doing God's will. Look, let me ask you this. Is it God's will that the

people in Revelation be punished and tormented by locusts? God is sending the locusts to

torment wicked people. So he is using His guy, Apollyon, to do it. Satan is on the side

of the people who are being tormented. Satan is the one that's ruling over the kingdom

of the antichrist that's being tormented by these locusts from hell. So it makes no sense

on so many different levels to believe that Apollyon is Satan. But there is always going

to be somebody who just says "well, Pilgrim's Progress said it, I believe it, that settles

it for me." There are always going to be people who don't care what the truth is, and they

just love their book or their commentary or their preacher, I frankly just believe what

the Bible says, and I'm interested in the truth, and I don't see how anybody could still,

after hearing what I just explained, believe that Apollyon is Satan. Two completely different

persons. Very clear isn't it? Let's look at something else on these locusts from hell.

First of all, I don't want you to forget. Turn to Joel chapter . I don't want you to

forget that when the bottomless pit was opened, the Bible says that smoke came out of the

pit and darkened the sky and the air, and the sun. So basically, while these locusts

come out of the pit, the worlds in darkness. Now let me ask you something. If you had to

deal with these type of locusts from hell, would you rather do it in the light or in

the dark? Man alive! Goodnight! Can you imagine these things coming after you in the dark?

I mean you would at least want to see what you are doing, right? Well if we compare the

fifth trumpet and the fifth vial, and again, in my chapter sermon, I am going to prove

beyond any shadow of a doubt that the events of the trumpets and vials, even though they

are different events, take place in lockstep, concurrently. They go first trumpet, first

vial, second trumpet, second vial, second vial, third trumpet, third vial, fourth trumpet,

fourth vial, fifth trumpet, fifth vial, sixth trumpet, sixth vial, and then the seventh

trumpet, and the seventh vial converge. I am going to prove that. If you don't believe

that, listen to the sermon on Revelation when it comes, and it will prove that. But

if you remember, the events of the fifth vial are darkness upon the face of the earth. Well

that matches perfectly with the fifth trumpet, where the sun and the air are darkened. So

these people, not only are they going to be tormented by these horrible locusts from hell,

they are going to be dealing with it in a lot of darkness, it's going to make it a lot

harder to defend against these things. Now in Joel chapter , we have a passage about

the day of the Lord. Now again, before I get into Joel , let me emphasise to you that

whenever we're dealing with Old Testament passages about end times prophecy, or about

the second coming of Christ, or about the day of the Lord, we must always realise that

Old Testament prophetic passages about end times Bible prophecy have an application for

the immediate future that already happened back then, and they also point toward the

events of the end times. A lot of people don't understand that. They take a passage from

the Old Testament, and they just want to make them ALL about end times Bible prophecy, %.

Well, you've got to remember, Joel was speaking to specific people back then about things

that were in the very near future. Those things already happened. But, there's also another

application that goes beyond that, that ties in with future events of the end of the world

spoken of in the New Testament. So, for example, I'll prove it to you. Look at Joel chapter

, verse . It says "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain:

let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is

nigh at hand", and there are other places that say that "the day of the Lord is at hand".

Well in the New Testament, the Bible says don't let anybody tell you the day of Christ

is at hand, that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, the man of

sin be revealed... The New Testament clearly teaches that the day of the Lord that comes

in the End times with the sun and moon being darkened, and the stars falling, that will

happen after X, Y and Z take place first. For example, Matthew , it says "AFTER the

tribulation" is when the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars fall. But basically,

when you look up the term "day of the Lord" in the Old Testament, He is often talking

about a near term Judgment that's about to happen, and He calls that "the day of the

Lord". But then he also foreshadows, I guess you could call it "the BIG day of the Lord",

that's where the sun and moon are darkened and the stars fall. And that is going to be

immediately after the tribulation. And that is associated with Christ coming in the clouds.

Now, look at Joel chapter , and verse . It says "A day of darkness and of gloominess,

a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great

people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after

it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them

a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate

wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them." So here in Joel , God is prophesying

destruction upon the children of Israel here. And he is saying that that destruction will

come in the form of an invading army. That already happened, that has already been fulfilled.

But, it also foreshadows future end times events, let me show you why. Look at verse

number . He gets into some symbolism and some imagery here that is very similar to

Revelation , and very similar to these locusts that come out of hell. Look what it says in

verse . "The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so

shall they run." Now remember how the locusts had an appearance like unto horses prepared

unto battle? Look what it says in verse . " Like the noise of chariots on the tops of

mountains shall they leap". So again, the noise of chariots, brought up in Revelation

, "shall they LEAP". Now look, do grasshoppers or locusts leap? Of course they do. I mean

if you look at a grasshopper or a locust, which is a flying grasshopper, don't they

make these big giant jumps? They make these great leaping movements. And so it says here,

it says "on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that

devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before their face the

people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness." So look, people are in

pain. This army is like unto horses, and has a sound like unto chariots. Identical to what

we read about in Revelation in that sense. Verse , "They shall run like mighty men;

they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways,

and they shall not break their ranks: Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk

every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded."

So here we see... And look, let's apply this to Revelation , the locusts, because I believe

that's what it is a foreshadowing of. Even though he was dealing with short term events

in the book of Joel of an army coming and invading, a literal army. Now, we're getting

into stuff that doesn't sound like a literal army. Because we get into this fact that when

this particular army falls on the sword, they're not wounded. Remember that breastplate of

iron, that exoskeleton that can't be wounded? And he says that the people are going to be

in pain, and it says that they shall climb the wall like men of war, it says they shall

leap. And then look at verse . " They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run

upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows

like a thief." Now picture locusts. Picture these insects from hell that sting like scorpions,

but are like locusts with iron exoskeletons that are tormenting mankind, and picture them

running up walls. Can't you picture and insect doing that? Running up a wall, leaping. Look

what it says. They're going to enter in at the windows. So it says they are going to

go into the cities. So imagine being in the city, and these horrific locusts from hell

described in Revelation , they're running like men of was, they're running up the walls.

They're climbing in the windows. I mean, you go in the house, you shut up all the doors.

They're running, they're coming in the windows, they're coming through every crevice... Man,

you better get the weather stripping on your house figured out on that front door! Because

I mean they're going to come in, they're going to climb in, they're going to enter in like

a thief meaning you're not going to know when they enter in! They're going to come and get

you, it's going to be dark! They're going to be crawling all over you, they're going

to be biting you! And this is of course the unsaved. I mean this is horrible isn't it?

Look what he says next. " The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble:

the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining". Remember?

Why is it dark? Because the smoke came out of the pit and darkened up everything. "And

the LORD shall utter his voice before his army", and on and on... "He is strong that

executeth his word". I just thought that was interesting. I'm not trying too big of a deal

about that, but Joel , pretty interesting how it lines up with a lot of parallels with

Revelation . It kind of puts a little bit of detail into those locusts, how they are

going to be coming through the windows, climbing up the walls, leaping on you. I mean it'll

be on the ground and just leap on you! And then that scorpion tail just comes down and

shoots that venom into you, and you wish you were dead, of course, speaking to the unsaved.

Pretty bad. Woe unto them! That's why that's called the first woe. It says in verse ,

if you're back in Revelation , it says "One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes

more hereafter." One down, two to go. That's a bad outlook for the people upon the earth.

Let's look at the sixth angel sounding the sixth trumpet. Verse . "And the sixth angel

sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before

God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound

in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for

an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men." So, when

the sixth angel sounds the trumpet, the judgment involves one third of mankind being slaughtered.

That's pretty major isn't it? I mean BILLIONS of people on the earth. Well when that sixth

trumpet sounds, these four angels are going to be loosed from the great river Euphrates,

and their Job is to slaughter one third of mankind. I mean that's a pretty serious judgment

right there. Now who are these four angels? Well, it says they're bound in the great river

Euphrates. Well, back in Genesis chapter , the Bible talks about the River Euphrates

being in the land of Eden there. And if you remember, let's just quickly turn back there

to Genesis chapter when man is kicked out of the Garden of Eden, so that he will not

continue to eat of the tree of life. In Genesis , verse , it says "So he drove out the

man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which

turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. So on the EAST SIDE of the garden

of Eden, he puts these four angels to guard that tree of life. He doesn't give a number,

he just says he puts Cherubims there, but he says they are facing "every way" to keep

the tree of life with a flaming sword. So basically, if this is the tree of life, we

could picture one turned this way, facing this way with a flaming sword, one facing

this way with a flaming sword turned out, one facing this way with a flaming sword turned

out, and one facing this way with a flaming sword turned out. Obviously there are four

directions, four compass points. North, south, east, west. So it makes sense there would

be FOUR of the Cherubims. Now, that was before the flood. After the flood, obviously geography

is going to be a little different, because the cataclysmic worldwide flood made a lot

of changes on this earth. You know, it's probably when the Grand Canyon was formed, when you

have all these fountains of the deep being broken up, and rain flooding over the highest

mountain. That's going to affect the face of the landscape, and so I believe today that

the location of the tree of life, and the location of where the garden of Eden was,

is now partially in the bottom of our current Euphrates river. Well in Revelation , when

we see the sixth angel sound, the four angels are loosed from the bottom of the Euphrates

River. They are bound in the Euphrates River. I believe that that's the same angels from

Genesis :. When we look at chapter , about the sixth vial being poured out, it

talks about the river Euphrates being dried up at this time. So right now, down in the

depths of the Euphrates river, I believe that these four Cherubims are there waiting. Now

I'm not going down there and looking for them. But I believe that they're there. They're

there, and they're ready to slaughter. And there's going to come a time when the sixth

trumpet is blown that they come out of there, and they will slaughter one third of the population

of the earth. How are they going to do it? Look at the next verse. "And the number of

the army of the horsemen"- verse , of chapter - "were two hundred thousand thousand". So

these four angels are leading an army of horsemen, and that army numbers MILLION. So these

four angels lead thousand thousand soldiers in an army that will slay the third part of

man, or slay one third of the human race. Let's read about the description. "And thus

I saw"- verse - "the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates

of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads

of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone." So here we have

an army of million. These horses have breastplates of fire and of Jacinth and of

brimstone. The heads of the horses are like the heads of lions. Out of their mouths issued

fire and smoke and brimstone. "By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire,

and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths." So people are

going to be burned up and die of smoke inhalation. And it also says, verse , "For their power

is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had

heads, and with them they do hurt. And the rest of the men which were not killed by these

plagues"- meaning the other two thirds of people that are still alive after the horrible

onslaught of this army of million, he says they did not repent 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: Neither repented

they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts."

So, this army of horsemen, it says the horses have breastplates of fire and brimstone, the

horses heads breathe fire and smoke, they have tails like serpents that have heads and

do hurt. Now, we could just take this for face value. And I think that that's a valid

interpretation, to say "hey, these are horsemen that are riding on these horses that are not

like normal horses if they have tails with serpent heads, lion heads and breathing fire-

just these horrific creatures. Now, in the fifth trumpet judgment, we saw horrific creatures

from hell. The locusts. And I believe that those are literal locusts. You know, special

locusts that dwell in hell, that have these scorpion tails, and stingers and all this

kind of stuff. But, I sometimes wonder when I'm reading about the sixth trumpet judgment

if perhaps this is some kind of a machine that John in looking at and describing. Because

of the fact that John is speaking in the language of what he is familiar with. Because John

is seeing these things, and he is writing down what he is sees. And you know when I

read this, I can't help when I'm thinking about these breastplates and this breathing

fire, or breathing smoke, and the tails that are like heads... Whether this could be, if

somebody's looking at, something like a tank. And I'm not saying a tank like we know, but

maybe something more serious than that. Some kind of a mechanized force here. Some kind

of machinery or armour that is spewing out these type of armaments of fire, and smoke

and brimstone. I'm just throwing that out there, that's another interpretation that

people have sometimes looked at this as... something along the lines of a tank. But again,

I don't want to speculate too much about this, whatever it is, it's bad. Whatever it is,

it's killing a third of the human race. Whatever it is, it's breathing fire and smoke, and

people are dying from the smoke, they're dying from the fire, they're dying from the brimstone.

And you know, isn't it amazing how they're STILL not repenting of their deeds? People

are just as wicked, just as sinful. You know, there are some people who just will never

get it. Right? I mean, no matter what happens. So, again, the goal of God's wrath is not

to get people to change their ways. Because if that's the goal of God pouring out His

wrath, to reform these people, it's not working. Because it's not reforming anybody in those

last two verses. What it is, is it's to punish. You know, a lot of people today, they have

a warped view of punishment, because today when we talk about the death penalty, or we

talk about punishments that our government doles out, usually it's what? Imprisonment?

And they often say, "You know the only goal of punishing any criminal should be to reform

him." And here's what they say. "The death penalty... How is that reforming him? He's

dead, you know, we've got to reform everybody." But you know what? The Bible teaches justice

and punishment. Not just to reform, but to punish. And the Bible teaches that the death

penalty is scriptural. It was instituted when Noah got off the ark. It was reiterated all

throughout the Bible. It's reiterated even in the New Testament, okay? And you say "well,

how does that reform anybody?" No, it punishes. And God is not trying to reform the earth

here. He is not trying to reform mankind. He is going to show up with His armies, He

is going to set up His millennial kingdom. He doesn't care whether these people are reformed

or not, they're toast. They're getting destroyed. He's not worried about that. At all. So God's

goal with pouring out His wrath is to take vengeance. You say "is God just this vengeful,

vindictive God, just punishing for the sake of punishing, and punishing for justice sake?"

Yes He is. Now the Bible tells US not to be vengeful and vindictive, because the Bible

says "unto us, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for vengeance

belongeth unto me saith the LORD". He said "vengeance is mine, saith the LORD. I will

repay." So look , is it our place to take vengeance? But is God righteous to take vengeance?

Yes. Vengeance belongs to the Lord. The Lord has every right to be vindictive and vengeful,

even though he told us not to be, because that is His place, not our place. And what

we're seeing here, with these first six trumpets that we've seen, is God taking vengeance on

a wicked world. And He tells us exactly why He is taking vengeance, why He is so angry.

Because He tells us what they didn't repent of! And the things that they didn't repent

of, are the things that he is judging them for. And he is saying I am judging them for

x, y and z, but even when the judgment came, they did not repent of those things. What

are they? Why would God kill the third part of man with fire and smoke and brimstone,

using this army of million? Why would God send locusts from hell with scorpion-like

tails to torture and torment the people that dwell on the earth for five months. What would

make God so mad, that would cause Him to pour out that kind of wrath and judgment? Why would

He do it? You say "God, why are you going to do such HORRIBLE THINGS in the book of

Revelation?" Well when we see it listed in verse and in verse we can see God's

intent was to punish specific things. And He says, "Even when I punished those specific

things, they did not repent of those specific things." What are the specific things that

brought on this judgment upon the world? He says they "repented not of the works of their

hands, that they should not worship devils". So the first thing that God mentions as being

a major sin of mankind that brought on this judgment, he said "they're worshiping devils".

And He said "they're worshiping idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood;

which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk". The number one thing He is punishing is worshiping

other gods. You see that? He is punishing the world for worshiping devils, and for worshiping

other gods and idols and statues and images. What else is He judging it for? Verse tells

us. "Neither repented they of their murders". All the abortion, all the four thousand babies

a day that are butchered and killed in America alone. Four thousand babies a day are murdered

and butchered and killed in a painful death. And you say "oh, God doesn't care, God's okay

with it". NO. GOD IS GOING TO JUDGE THAT MURDER. And that's not the only murder that goes on.

There are all kinds of other murders that go on in this world, all kinds of other innocent

people are being killed. But abortion is a big one isn't it? He says, they didn't repent

of their murders nor of their sorcery. SORCERY, witchcraft is what he is talking about there.

He says "nor of their fornication". What's He judging? Look, you can downplay it and

say "oh, it's not a big deal if I sleep with my girlfriend before we are married. It's

not a big deal if we move in together before we're married. It's not a big deal if I sow

my wild oats in my college years, and I go to bed with a few different people, and test

things out, and just "get some experience". No, it IS A BIG DEAL. And you OUGHT TO BE

A VIRGIN WHEN YOU GET MARRIED! And THAT"S WHAT GOD DEMANDS! AND GOD'S WRATH IS UPON

FORNICATORS! GOD IS ANGRY WITH THOSE WHO HAVE SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE, BECAUSE IT'S FORNICATION,

IT'S WICKED, AND IT'S LISTED WITH SORCERY, and murder, and worshiping other gods, IT'S

A VERY BIG SIN. And you want to GO TO YOUR WEDDING ALTAR PURE, HAVING NEVER COMMITTED

FORNICATION! That's what the Bible DEMANDS of you, as a Christian. And God's UPSET about

fornication. VERY SERIOUS SIN! And He says "nor of their thefts". There is a lot of stealing,

and robbery that goes on. You know, nobody wants to just work and make their own money,

and sit down under their own vine and their own fig tree. You know, we've got to lock

the doors, we've got to alarm everything, cameras, alarm our vehicles, alarm our houses,

we have to guard everything. You know you can't leave stuff sitting out. You know if

you leave your cell phone sitting around, you leave your wallet sitting around, you

leave a bunch of money sitting around, you leave stuff in the front yard. I mean, every

day I tell my kids, "put your bikes in the back yard!" Because if they leave those bikes

in the front yard, they're stolen. Why? Because this world is filled with theft, that's why.

Thieves everywhere. THIEVES, MURDERERS, DRUNKS, FORNICATORS, God's sick of it. He is going

to judge it. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father we thank you for

this chapter Lord. Man, these are some serious judgments with the fifth and sixth trumpet.

Thank God for your grace. Thank God for salvation. Thank God we won't be there for this horrible

outpouring of your wrath, because man... I can't even imagine what it would be like,

but Father, thank you for your grace, and thank you that you have not appointed us unto

wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. And in Jesus' name we pray,

Amen.