The Revelation of Jesus - Revelation 9:1-12

1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

Revelation 9:1-11

By using our eyes and and ears to make decisions about our life, some as simple as crossing the street, we maintain a level of safety in this world. God made this world to be inhabited, and He designed us with certain physical attributes that allow us a measure of safety and pleasure while in this world. These physical properties are distinctly helpful while living on this planet and are called our senses. Through the first four trumpets, God is appealing to us through our senses hoping we come to our senses before the grand delusion occurs.

As we peer up into the night sky with our eyes and observe the stars, we are often moved to consider if there is anyone or anything out there. Some will answer that question with a resounding, "No way! There is just us and what we can see." Others will consider the possibility of the existence of someone and someplace out there because they can not conceive that we could possibly be all there is. Yet, because our eyes are not able to see past the veil of the night sky, we wonder. Our physical properties have been designed to work in this realm, but they are not so good in dealing with spiritual matters. Therefore, God describes us as people with ears that cannot hear and eyes that cannot see. He is describing the spiritually deaf and blind.

Occasionally, Heaven will lift the veil and someone on this side will see beyond it. Once that happens, you are forever changed. It changes your priorities and perspectives. Things in this world begin to fade. The things that used to be very pressing, suddenly become less so. Your world view will also shift and become skewed according to this world because you will suddenly have your eye on a different prize. The time of the end is a time when Heaven will split the veil and every eye shall see the revelation of Jesus. Revelation 1:7 However, before we can look upon His face, we must first resist the great delusion.

The great delusion permits darkness to pierce the veil before righteousness rips it apart. Therefore, the first thing many of us witness beyond the veil will be the demonic forces. The next thing we witness and appreciate from behind the veil will be the grandeur of Lucifer. Do not be deceived by his luster and lies. He is not the one we are waiting for. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 The first four trumpets impact our habitation and appeal to our senses because God desires to get our attention. He longs to warn us of the coming delusion as the veil continues to thin until the eastern sky finally splits removing the wall between our world and the dwelling place of God. Revelation 6:12-17

trumpets in Revelation 9 describe the lifting of the veil to this generation of people. Revelation 9:1-12 describes the lifting of the veil allowing us to see Satan's army which is the revelation of the dark side of spirituality. Revelation 9:13-20 lifts the veil revealing the angels of light led by the Son of God. Revelation 9 is a powerful demonstration of the cosmic conflict as the war in Heaven comes to our realm. It will be a time of great woe. Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! Revelation 8:13 refore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! Revelation 12:12

The tabernacle that Moses built was patterned after the one in Heaven. It had a courtyard and a sanctuary. The sanctuary was divided into a holy place and a most holy place. These two rooms were separated by a curtain of tapestry that was dark blue in color and had angels embroidered all over it. In the tabernacle that Herod built, this curtain was torn from the top to the bottom at the crucifixion of Christ. This curtain was a 6 inch thick tapestry that could not be torn if you placed a draft horse on either side of it and they pulled with all their might. The tearing of the veil demonstrates God's desire that all be able to see beyond the veil. The apostle Paul said that spiritually minded people can see to the other side but only darkly as if looking through a glass. 1 Corinthians 13:12 Believers know there is another side, but we only see in part. If we could travel the entire cosmos, we would not see God with our physical eyes because we would still be traveling within the veil. God is a great mystery yet to be revealed, and He dwells in righteousness beyond the veil.

The only person in Israel that could go beyond the veil and enter the Most Holy Place was the great high priest, and he could only go once per year on the Day of Atonement. However, when the veil was ripped at the crucifixion of Christ, the way was made sure for all to enter in and with great confidence. Hebrews 10:19-20 It is the desire of the Father to reveal Himself to us. He looked forward to the Day of Atonement when He could be face-to-face with one of His own. However, even the great high priest could only enter in with trepidation and only after much consecration. The veil was a barrier designed to protect the people. Christ said He came to reveal the Father to us. John 14:8-10 Before we can see the Father, the veil must be lifted. The veil was torn apart representing the splitting of the sky at the coming of Jesus. Revelation 6:14

Before God comes in all His glory, He will prepare His people just like He prepared the great high priest to meet with Him behind the veil on the Day of Atonement. The Days of Awe (Feast of Trumpets) represent our allotted time to make this preparation. It is the work of Ha Satan to blind our spiritual eyes and close our spiritual ears through deception. He will delight in testing us just like he tested Job. Therefore, the time of preparation will also be a time of trial and testing. There will be a great desire during this time to see God; therefore, it is the perfect time for Satan to show himself to us claiming that he is God. Many will be deceived, but now you know.

Revelation 9:1-12 describes the grand delusion planned by Satan and allowed by God. Why would God allow such a thing? This question requires a really long answer, but I will give you the short answer. God allows Satan to test us for the same reason He allowed Satan to test Job. Our faith during the time of trial reveals to the entire cosmos the rightness of God to impart righteousness to His own.

Before the testing time comes, two things must occur. The accuser of the brethen that accuses them before the throne of God both day and night, must be overcome and cast down. Satan becomes bold enough to challenge God regarding the daily. The daily is the sacrifice that is offered by Christ for the world as a corporate entity. All day long, both evening and morning, Christ intercedes on behalf of the entire world because of His great love for us. The Father receives this intercession because of His great love for us. Satan thinks it is ridiculous to do such a thing for violators of the law; therefore, he challenges this occurrence in Heaven's court. Satan does not realize that the daily is the very reason he has not been destroyed. When the daily is cast down so is Satan. He is kicked out of Heaven and is confined to earth for the time of testing. The faithful ones will vindicate God and His actions when they resist Satan and refuse his lies. Heaven rejoices when Satan is kicked out, but it is a cause of great woe to the world because Satan will be full of wrath when he comes. Revelation 12:10-12

The other thing that must occur is the preparation of a people to declare the truth during the time of the grand delusion. The first three seals describe our preparation time. Before Satan appears Christ will declare Himself to those in Heaven, on the other side of the veil and prepare the prophets to herald His arrival just like John the Baptist. Seal 1: The Lamb will demonstrate that He is a warrior king, and He is our captain when He denies Satan regarding believers. Seal 2: He will provide believers with an instrument of war--the sword of truth (Word of God). Seal 3: He will prepare believers to work in His fields during the time of harvest and will anoint us for the work with the oil of the Spirit of God and the wine of the word. Once Satan is kicked out and the saints are prepared, the testing time begins.

Once the prophets of God have been prepared, the earth experiences God's four sore judgments of famine, pestilence, sword and wild beasts, effects of Seal 4. The first four trumpets deliver the cause of the four sore judgments as the earth is ravaged by the asteroidal impacts. Revelation 8:7-12 Just to be clear, it is my understanding that the opening of the fourth seal releases the first four trumpets.

The earth has been ravaged. Its people are devastated and seeking God with all our might. Satan does not reveal himself immediately. He wants us to be a little more desperate. He initiates phase one of his grand delusion by terrifying us with the physical appearance of the demons. Right now, the veil is in place and we cannot see the demons with our physical eye because God has confined them in the abyss, a place of spiritual darkness. 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Luke 8:26-31 God cast the fallen angels (demons) into an abyss and confined them there because of their evil intent for the earth. Foolishly, people call them out of the abyss during séances where they cause great harm while the church sleeps blissfully unaware. When the veil is removed, they will be set free from the abyss by their angel king. They will take on physical form allowing us to witness their presence.

Revelation 9:1-3

In apocalyptic language the terms can be literal or figurative. In the fifth trumpet, the star that falls represents a fallen angelic being. He is the king over the fallen angels and falls to the earth when he is kicked out of Heaven during the war in Heaven. We will learn more about this war in Revelation 12. The angel king is given the key to the abyss indicating that Heaven has agreed to allow him to try the final generation similar to the way he tried Job. His first deception will be very effective. He will command the demons to come to the earth and terrify us. This experience on top of what we have just been through will make us very ripe to receive Satan as our Messiah when he finally reveals himself to us.

Hollywood has prepared us very well for this deception with movies regarding alien beings. When these demons appear to us we will perceive it as an alien invasion. Those that do not know their God and understand the word will be petrified with fear. The only ones that will not be influenced by the presence of these hideous looking creatures will be the prophets. They have the seal of the Living God in their foreheads. The forehead protects the frontal lobe of our brain. All of our decision making and processing memory is in the frontal lobe, and since the prophets know who these beings are, they are not overcome by their imaginations and the terror the mind can create.

Just as Satan had constraints regarding Job, he and these creatures are also constrained. They are given license to influence the people of our planet, but there is a limit to the harm they can do. They can not harm the grass, plants or trees. These elements have already been harmed by God's four sore judgments. God is our daily provision. He will determine and define our supply of food and shelter, not another. The demons will be allowed to test us, but they will not be given the prerogatives of God and can not cause unrest within nature and death within humanity.

They will absolutely terrify all but the prophets with their presence. It is a torment of the mind. When Orson Welles broadcast the War of the Worlds in 1938, people committed suicide in a variety of ways because their fears caused their minds to fail them. They preferred death refusing to receive the notice of the hoax. During this time people will desire to die, but they do not. The fallen angels are not allowed to kill them, just like Satan was not allowed to kill Job. It is God's desire that we live, not die.

Revelation 9:7-9

The scripture stretches the language of John's day to describe these beings. However, words are needed that were not available to John making their appearance very mysterious to us. They are a vast mounted army. In days before the industrial revolution, a mounted army was a thing to fear because they were swifter than their foes and they could maneuver within the fray. If you saw a large group of men coming at your village mounted on horses, you knew they were prepared for battle. Jesus came riding on a donkey demonstrating His desire to be at peace with us. When He comes again with the Heavenly army, they will be riding horses because they will war against Satan and his demons forcing them to let His people go.

On their heads, they wear crowns of gold and have faces like ours because they are the sons of God and like humanity, they were also created in the image of God. The crowns of gold demonstrate that they are not exactly like us. Through Christ we will be given these crowns of gold (crown of life), but today we are mortal. Genesis 6:3 We were created as mortal beings with the ability to choose life or death through our obedience. The tree of life was our source of eternal life, but when we sinned through disobedience, we were cast out of the garden without access to the tree of life and became subject to the law of sin and death; the soul that sins shall die. Genesis 3:21-24 However, Christ will give His own this blessed gift of eternal life at His coming when we are changed from mortal to immortal. 1 Corinthians 15:50-57; Revelation 2:10 These creatures and their demonic angel king, Lucifer, will forfeit their crowns of life when they lose the war at the final battle. Ezekiel 28:14-19; Isaiah 14:9-17

These creatures have hair like women and teeth like lions. Like Samson, their long hair is indicative of their great strength and the violation of their vows to God. Judges 16:17 They were created to be the mighty ones in the image of The Mighty One and are stronger than mere mortal men. Psalm 103:20 However, God made them strong and will remove their strength just as the Philistines deprived Samson of his strength when they shaved his head. They have the teeth of lions demonstrating their strong desire to destroy and consume the human race just like their father the devil. They move among us seeking to destroy all they can of humanity. 1 Peter 5:8 Do not despair, our savior also has attributes like a lion making Him a worthy opponent of the devil. Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah making Him the rightful heir to the throne and Satan just an usurper. Revelation 5:5

Creatures have breastplates of iron. Body armor is most critical in defense. In days prior to the industrial revolution, the army with the strongest shields and breastplates were the least vulnerable. In this war, this army wears breastplates of iron indicating their strength and the vulnerability of any foe and begs the question, "Who can make war against these creatures?" In addition to their superior body armor, they also have massive weaponry and their machinery defies explanation using words that were common to men during John's day making it impossible to adequately describe their means of travel. Revelation 12:7, 17; 13:4, 7; 17:14; 19:11, 19

These creatures have attributes that are like the locusts and scorpions. They are like the locusts because they come in a hoard and there is no escaping them as they sweep the skies on their way to earth. Their sting is like that of the scorpion because the suffering of the mind caused by these horrible looking creatures is unrelenting. A scorpion sting is unlike a sting by any other creature. It is acutely intense and unrelenting. The suffering that is caused by the sting of a scorpion can not be relieved. People that have been stung by a scorpion before the ointments developed by modern medicine knew they could not get relief from their suffering, but would have traveled far and wide for a possible remedy. The people of the world will be desperate beyond description for relief when after five months, Satan finally appears.

Our world leaders will form a global committee to help us recover from the first four trumpets. It will be a natural move to form a new world order. All our current wars will cease because we do not have the resources to continue them. All the nations of the world will join forces because we now have a common enemy. We will through our own efforts corral the whole world. Satan will not even have to gather us up. We do that for him. All he has to do is appear as our savior to drive these beings from our presence and we will bow down to worship him. The whole world, except the prophets, will be honored to revere Satan as god since we can now see that god is real.

My mother always told me that you can believe only half of what you see. Sadly, Satan is real, but he is not God even if he shows himself to be God. Only the Creator God is good and gracious to us. Satan will appear to be gracious, but it is a lie. It doesn't matter how you say his name, he is a bad one (Abbadon Hebrew). It is a lie that he desires to save us; he has practiced destruction for so long until destruction is all he knows. When God's own draw near to God, they will become more like Him by beholding Him. However, when you separate yourself from the love of God, you become unlike Him. Satan is the absolute opposite of God. God is a creator; Satan is a destroyer!

12 The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.

Revelation 9:7-12

The first woe has arrived. You are probably wondering what Satan will do when he reveals himself. Nothing that will benefit the planet or its people. However, the planet will begin to recover from the first four trumpets and Satan will receive undeserved credit for that. He will appear to honor those that honor him, but it is a lie. He only does that to draw the world to him. This part of the scripture only tells us about his arrival, but Revelation has much to say about him in other places. However, before knowledge of his actions discourage us, God chose to tell us first of the demise of Satan. It will strengthen us to know that he will meet his end and we will be redeemed. Join me in our discovery of the next woe as we learn more. . .