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Book of Revelation – Chapter 9

Next, we begin the three woe trumpets, with the first four war trumpets sounding. 

Fifth Trumpet – Woe #1, A Satanically Energized Belief

Humanity, already preconditioned, will look “to the occult for entertainment, enlightenment, and eventual enslavement.” John Phillips commentary, page 124. The star falling from heaven to earth is Satan. Given the key to the bottomless pit, opening the gate, he releases thousands of foul, evil spirits. Satan was given the key and had permission to release those terrible beings upon humanity. We cannot imagine what the earth will be like with the Church removed from the world. 

John Phillips’s commentary stated that we are told 13-things about these released spirits.

(1) they are incarcerated in the bottomless pit. God mercifully chained them there for humanity’s sake but now lets them loose upon the earth for judgment upon man. 

(2) these demons are infernal (hellish; diabolical). They are not ordinary locusts, for they are supernatural and are incapable of being killed.

(3) they are insatiable (impossible to satisfy). Locust-like in their appetites, they go after unregenerate, godless men, those who did not have the seal of God in their forehead. Those with the seal of God are not to be touched.

(4) they are intolerable. The sting of these locust-like demons brings great torment, so great that men scream for death but cannot find it. These tormented men cannot die yet are in anguish beyond words to describe. The torment lasts for 5-months. 

(5) they are intrepid (fearless) like horses prepared for battle; defiant, eager to torment godless men. 

(6) they are invincible. With golden crowns, these demons conquered all in their path. No weapons defeat them. 

(7) they are intelligent as men’s faces, exercising rational thought with a diabolical cunning. This curse would be like an intellectual virus that chooses who and who not to attack, and there is no cure.

(8) they are insidious. “As the hair of women” means something is attractive about these locusts. The occult fascinates humanity, but it will lure men to their doom. 

(9) they are inexorable (impossible to stop). These locusts have the teeth of lions. Nothing can pry them loose once these fearsome demons fasten to their human victims.

(10) they are insensitive. The locust-like demons have breastplates like iron. None of these monsters act with sympathy toward those suffering, crying, and in agony. Being unmoved, they are without heart, showing no mercy. 

(11) they are inescapable. Demonic locust-like wings were like the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. These attackers move like the wind, flying swiftly and surely toward their prey. Men have no place to hide, no refuge, none at all. 

(12) they are injurious (causing damage or harm) with tails like a scorpion with stingers. Notice that this description is repeated twice in verse 10 and verse 3 for emphasis. Such a force has only one aim – to injure man for the next five months.

(13) they are indivisible. This destructive force has a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek language has his name Apollyon, meaning “the destroyer.” One woe is not past, but two more woes are coming.

Sixth Trumpet – A Satanically Energized Battle Altering History

The apostle John heard the voice say, “Release the four angels bound in the great river Euphrates.” We know of angelic princes existing from Daniel 10:13, 20-21. These four angels get released to carry out a predetermined plan that God planned long ago for this hour. The “four” are a unique four of significant influence and power because they can marshal their armies by the millions the moment they are released. John heard their number as 200 thousand-thousand or as 200 million. God gave the “four” thirteen months and one day to slay one-third of the remaining humans on earth. This event is under God’s control, and nothing happens without His approval.

Something that we need to note. These 200 million are not the 200 million in chapter 16 at the battle of Armageddon. “The chief feature of that battle (Armageddon) is the involvement of the hordes of the Far East. Here in chapter 9, there is no reference to ‘the kings of the East,’ nor Armageddon. This battle array is another battle altogether, but one that is only slightly less important.” John Phillips commentary pages 130-131. 

This army of 200,000,000 are men driven by demonic forces. Driven mad, they march directly into battle with the latest modern weapons. The warfare will be gruesome as the carnage staggers the mind. This battle will leave more than 1 billion dead. At this point, the Beast is now in power and rapidly stepping forward to assume his role as this world’s god.

For more about this battle in chapter 9, we should refer to Ezekiel 38-39. Briefly, Russia invades Israel along with thousands and thousands of others. Joined with Russia are Libya, Iran, Ethiopia, to name a few. Who is the opposition? Only a few Western nations who wag their fingers and complain in front of a television camera. But the speed of the attack by Russia will leave them wondering how they missed this troop movement. When the smoke clears, Israel, left with a seven-year supply of captured fuel, will take over seven months to bury all the dead bodies of the invaders. Only 1 out of 6 Russians will make it out alive as they run home into Siberia, far away from the slaughter.

The survivors remained unrepented. Nor did they repent of their murders, sorceries, fornications, or thefts. They continued to worship devils, idols of precious metals, stone, and wood. 

Next, another parenthesis occurs in Chapter 10 with the Lord Jesus Christ placing His claim to the earth.

February 3, 2024 - Posted by Bill Wyler | Bible, Last Days | Bible, Consequences, Future, GOD, Truth