THE 5TH TRUMPET A PREVIEW OF HELL: ENDLESS DARKNESS (9:1-2).
As Chapter 9 opens, we find John introducing us to the dreadful realm of fallen spirits and their abode: the abyss.
This bottomless pit is often mentioned in God’s Word (9:1-2, 11; 11:7; 20:1,3) as the holding tank of punishment for the fallen angels, demons, the beast, the false prophet, and Satan. Every time the Bible describes it, the location is at the center of the earth. If all of these are taken literally, then God has designed an impregnable fortress holding the most fearsome creatures existing anywhere in the universe.
These spirit beings of the highest magnitude of evil are leftovers from Satan’s rebellion. Jude tells us some were trying to corrupt the human race so the promised seed of the woman (Jesus, Gen. 3:15) could never come.
Others seem to be key leaders of Satan’s forces, and they have been held back until now. This abyss or bottomless pit is only an intermediate step before the final abode of the Prince of Darkness and all his followers. In chapter 20, the final place of terror is the Lake of Fire of Gehenna, Jesus spoke of so often in His warnings scattered throughout the Gospels.
The fallen Lucifer is given permission to open the dungeon of demons and loose the legions of terrors.
A PREVIEW OF HELL: RELENTLESS TERROR (9:3-12)
As the shaft leading downward is unlocked, the infernal smoke of the pit billows out of the darkness, unleashing the pent-up fury of hell. With the most destructive imagery known to man, John describes them as locusts. No plague was more fearsome in the ancient world.
Truly, the Day of the Lord, portrayed in this short prophetic oracle’s revelation through God’s Spirit, is a day that is to be heeded. God clearly demonstrates the need for repentance and the physical disaster that must follow moral disintegration.
Three times, God uses Locusts as a vehicle of judgment. Each is a plague of horrible proportions.
1. In Exodus 10:4, 12-14 and 19, Moses unleashes an 8th plague -locusts that HORRIBLY DEVOUR.
2. In Joel 1 and 2, God sends a plague of locusts that HORRIBLY DESTROY.
3. In Revelation 9:3 and 7, the 5th trumpet sounds the release of HORRIBLE DEMONIC HORDES like locusts from the Abyss
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