Five Months of Hell (The Seven Trumpets) | Revelation 9:1-11 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

We've come to feast on his word. And so please meet me in your bibles in Revelation chapter nine. Revelation chapter nine. It could be said that an effective teacher knows and recognizes when repetition is necessary in order to firmly establish truths in the minds of learners. And I say that because it could be that you've, realized that some of these introductions in our study of Revelation are similar.

And I'm here to tell you that's intentional. Because the aim in that is after hearing over and over again the structure of this book, it would be so ingrained in your memory as you hear about the layout and the overarching theme so that it would become almost second nature. With that being said, we are still examining God's final program of judgment for the last days, and we are looking at three series of judgments, each consisting of seven acts, seven events, and we've already completed the first set. We already looked at the seal judgments. The scroll has been completely opened by the hands of Christ, And now we find ourselves in the midst of the trumpet judgments.

And if you were here two weeks ago, you recall that we looked at what happened after the four trumpets were sounded, And we are ready to see the final three. But before John is given insight into the last three trumpet blasts, there is a strange and interesting interruption. It's in the last verse of chapter eight. Look at Revelation eight thirteen for a moment. Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead.

Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth. At the blast of the other trumpets, the three angels are about to blow. You know this well. Woe is our common expressions in the scriptures to represent and to signify and call out condemnation or judgment. And double woes are not uncommon either.

When you see woah, woah, it's because there is an emphasis. But a triple woah, like what we find here in this verse, is rare. Now, we might think the message of this verse is that there is an extreme emphasis. But in actuality, its main purpose is to assign each woe to each of the remaining trumpet blasts. That's what we're gonna find in this new chapter.

A woe for the last three trumpets. Now here's the question that came to mind immediately. Why do the last three trumpets receive this ominous recognition instead of the first four? And the answer is very clear when you compare both. You see, when we looked at the first four trumpets, we saw that they triggered devastation upon nature.

One third of this part of the earth, one third of the rivers, one third of this. It was all about the earth, the planet. Now as we come to the last three trumpet alarms, we're going to see that they will set into motion judgment and torment against people directly. Humans will now be targeted, not indirectly, but directly. So this is very sobering.

And these events, particularly set off by the fifth trumpet, are so severe that they might be understood as hell on earth. Actually, an appropriate title for this passage of scripture that we're about to read is five months of hell. And I'm sure you're gonna see it as we read Revelation nine verse one down to verse six. Let's do that together. And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.

He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them.

And their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. And in those day in those days, people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them. Father, we realize immediately that we need your wisdom, and Lord, I am very aware that I need your help in delivering this. Every preacher, oh God, that is honest recognizes the need of your help.

And, Lord, every listener who who understands their need will say, open my heart. Help me to hear what you have to say. So, Lord, just take over and have your way in the service, Lord, especially now as we unpack your word. We give you glory for your help. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. There are many ways that one can approach this nightmarish scene. So many details, so many mysteries, so many questions. But as I was reading over this passage over and over again throughout this past week, certain words began to surface. Certain words began to be highlighted, and I wanna show you what I mean.

Look back at verse one in the second part. And he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. Look at the second part of verse three. And they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. Look at verse four in the beginning.

They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree. Finally, look at verse five. They were allowed to torment them for five months. It is so easy to get caught up by this horrific set of details and this ghastly imagery, but woven through it all is the language of God's sovereignty. Do you see it?

I see it. Revelation teaches us many things, but one of the things that it continually reaffirms is the extent of God's authority both in the realm that we see and the one that we cannot perceive. And what we have here before us is a reminder that the Lord's governance extends to realities that we often forget he has mastery over. And so as you and I approach this, I face value reading it may be terrifying. It may cause us to be curious.

But when you meditate on it, I trust that you will be strengthened in your faith and who God is and what he is capable of. I have one goal today before we break bread in reading and expounding on these verses. Just one simple mission that you and I would see just how big God is. The God that you love, the God that you sing to, the God that you trust in for your daily needs, I want to show you today through this passage that he is incredibly majestic. There is not one corner of the universe that he does not have jurisdiction over.

He is so strong. He is so powerful. He is so mighty, and we get a snapshot of it right here. And so today, we're going to look at three domains that our God has authority over. Three realities that he governs that we often miss or don't really give him credit for or recognize his presence in, three of them.

And the first one is this, God's sovereignty over the underworld. God's sovereignty over the underworld. Look back here again at verse one and verse two. When this fifth angel blew his trumpet, John saw something immediately. A star, he says, I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.

We've seen stars falling in our study of Revelation, have we not? We remember during the seal judgments, and particularly the sixth one, how there were many stars that had fallen as a fig tree would dispense figs when it is shaken. And not too long ago in the trumpet judgments, we saw in the third trumpet that there was a great star that fell from heaven, and it fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water. And so now we come to this text, and we almost anticipate that this is just another cosmic disturbance. But we quickly learn that this is no ordinary star.

In fact, this is not a real star. This is not a literal mass from the sky falling into the earth. It's a person. And that's not us making this interpretation on our own. John tells us.

Look at the language. It has person like qualities. He star he saw a star falling from the heaven to earth, and he, he, oh, he, he was given what? A responsibility. He was given the key, and he was called to action.

He was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. So what we have here is a person that fell from heaven. Now we know that this person is not a human. This person is from another realm, from a heavenly realm because it fell again from heaven. Now here's what's interesting.

We see in the scriptures that angels are referred to more than once as what? Stars, especially in Job 38 verse seven. So now the question follows. This is an angel, an angelic being that fell from heaven. Is it a good angel?

Is it a bad angel? Is it the chief of demonic angels? Is it Satan? Because Satan, we're told in more than one place in the Bible, fell from heaven. Well, some would say, it has to be a good angel because no way would the Lord give a key to a bad angel to open up this shaft to a bottomless pit.

Other would say, no, it has to be a bad angel. It has to be a fallen angel because he's fallen. Let's not spend our energy here. This is the point that I want to drive into our hearts. This angel was given a key by God for a day.

He's borrowing one of God's keys, and this key opens the door to what is known as the bottomless pit. Bottomless pit. This is important in the book of Revelation. In all the New Testament, the bottomless pit in the original word, it's actually one word, it's the word where we get abyss from. It appears a total of nine times in the New Testament.

Seven of those nine times, where do you think? Revelation. And when you collect all the references to this abyss, this bottomless pit, you learn what its function is. It represents a deep, dark, very real, spiritual prison house for fallen angels. Do you remember what happened when Jesus arrived to the gatherings, and there was that very tormented soul who is filled with thousands of demons?

And Christ unusually asked the name of this demon. And here's a reference for you in Luke eight verse 30. I'll read it. Jesus then asked him, what is your name? And he said, legion, for many demons had entered him.

Verse 31, and they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Whatever you do, son of God, do not bring us to the abyss. Scripture teaches us that from the time of the fall, God has assigned certain demonic beings to a gloomy darkness to be chained everlastingly until the final judgment and their verdict is made. Peter shares this in second Peter. Jude shares this in his short epistle.

There are actual demonic beings who are in this very moment apprehended, incarcerated, and kept from freely roaming on the earth. Now there's a whole other category of demons who have been running loose on this earth since the beginning of time, but there's a whole different group of fallen angels that have not seen the light of day, that have been kept and will be kept until that final day except for what we find here. Do you understand what's happening here? God is permitting an angel to open the door for the worst of the worst demons, for the vilest spiritual criminals who have harassed humanity in unspeakable ways to freely roam on the earth and do as they please to an extent for almost half a year. This is terrifying and rightfully so.

And this background shows us here that God is doing this as an act of judgment. God is doing this because he wants to let them be his agents of chastisement and judgment. Notice the description of the smoke in verse two. Can you see it with me? It says here that in verse two, he opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace.

That expression, smoke arising like the smoke of a great furnace, in relation to the judgment of people only appears in one other place in all of the Bible. Can anybody guess where? Sodom and Gomorrah. After Sodom and Gomorrah experienced God's wrath, fire and brimstone falling from heaven, we're told there that Abraham looked upon the land, and he saw smoke arising like the smoke of a furnace. And that's almost repeated here word for word.

Why? It foreshadows something devastating. It shows here that there is going to be a severe manifestation of God's holy justice like the world has never really seen. And as you look at this, you think to yourself, is there any hope? I mean, what what do you make of this?

Well, again, read between the lines. Don't focus on the demons. Focus on the one who has authority over the underworld. He's able to keep them back and he's able to loosen them, and I want you to see what's going to happen upon Christ's return at the end of Revelation. Go to chapter 20 of Revelation, and notice that immediately after Christ returns bodily and places his feet on the Mount Of Olives, and he deals with the enemies of God's people, one of his first priorities before he establishes his millennial reign is what you see in Revelation 20 verse two.

And he sees the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the what? Pit, the abyss, the very same word, and shut it and sealed it over him so that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be released for a little while. There is a day coming when the chief of demons, the prince of all that is dark and wicked, the head of all demonic operations will be arrested. There's a warrant for his arrest.

And he will be imprisoned for a literal one thousand years before the new heavens and the new earth commences, this world is going to experience a length of time free from any satanic temptation, devilish oppression, possession, and even deception. That day is coming. What I just read to you is not a description of heaven, because at the end of the verses we just read, it says he's gonna be released again. This is speaking about when Jesus returns, he is going to set up his reign, and one of the glories of his physical reign on the earth is he's gonna take Satan and all his minions and launch him into the pit for a thousand years. And the redeemed and even those who remain, who are unbelievers, who will live in that reign are gonna know a world that has never been without demonic presence.

Now, here's why this is important. Those who don't believe that this is all future and that this is literal have to interpret this in another way. So many who don't hold to the futurist interpretation of the book of Revelation will say, what we just read there about the thousand years and Satan being put into a pit, that's all figurative, And it's speaking about today. It's speaking about how Satan has been bound. One thousand years is just a symbolic number.

Satan has been bound since Jesus Christ died on the cross. To which I respond, how is he doing all of this while bound? All this chaos, all the increase of evil, this is him bound? I don't wanna see what he's like when he's set free. So this is this is a dilemma.

You either take all this against spiritually or you acknowledge that there is a glorious future ahead, not just for the church, but the entire world as it sits under the governance of the precious prince of peace, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. But he has control over that pit now, and he has a divine purpose behind it. So the first thing I want you to understand is hell, which is another thing, I don't wanna confuse you, this underworld, this abyss is not ruled by Satan. I know I know people get their theology from cartoons where Satan sits on this throne, and he's in hell, and he can belch out as many demons as he wants. This angel was given a key from God to let loose, and God has many keys as we're gonna find out.

The second thing that we see sovereignty at play here, at work here, is very close to the first. God's sovereignty over demons, not just the place, but these persons. Like the star, we read about what? Locusts. There are no ordinary locusts.

They are locusts because again in the Old Testament, locusts were one of God's most devastating acts of judgment. They would devour all of your resources within a short span of time. We see it in prophetic literature. We see it literally taking place in actual manifestations of God's wrath. Locusts.

Locusts. Locusts. So again, the student of the Old Testament in the scripture says, this is not good. Locusts. But then you read on and you see these aren't bugs.

Go to verse seven of Revelation nine. In appearance, the locusts were like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were what looked like crowns of gold. Their faces were like human faces. Their hair like woman's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth.

They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. They have as a king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name is in Hebrew is Abadan, and in Greek, he is called Napoleon. What do we make of this?

Number one, I don't think it's helpful to try to explain every single detail and what could be the specific meaning behind it. Here's what you take from this. This grotesque description of these beings is meant to reflect the hideousness and the twisted nature of these beings. This is clearly demonic, And these demonic creatures are again by very nature, so vile, so despicable, totally wicked that their physical description reflects that distortion. I don't know if you visualize this description.

If it looks strange, if it looks ugly, it's meant to be. Because these are again angels that have betrayed the living God and have chosen even to their own eternal doom to resist him and to fight against his purposes to this very moment. So when you see this, you're supposed to almost cringe and shrink back like, this is almost like these are like monsters. They are monsters. And though you don't want to pluck every single detail, though you can, there is obviously an importance behind these things.

If there's one thing to take from it is that they are extremely powerful. Look again at some of these things. Teeth like lions teeth, breastplates of iron, wings that sound like chariots rushing into battle, tails that sting like scorpions. And above that, they have a king. So there's there's rank, there's order, there's there's strategy in the kingdom of darkness.

As much as they cause chaos, they're very much sophisticated. And this this fact that they have a king also is extra validation that they are not locusts, real locusts. You know why? Because in Proverbs 30 verse 27, Proverbs thirty twenty seven says locusts have no king. It's a very interesting observation in the book of Proverbs.

There's a spiritual lesson behind that. But these locusts, they have a king. And John says, he has a name. And for some reason, John wants to give us the name in Hebrew and in Greek. And I'll tell you this, it's not so that John can show us that he knows multiple languages.

Both of these names in their meaning represent destruction, represent devastation. But why Hebrew and Greek? To show that the influence of this demonic being, this prince of demons, affects the whole world, Jew and Gentile. His impact is global. There's nothing outside of his reach in terms of his venom, and his plans and his deception and his destruction.

So you read this in isolation and you step back and you think, this is this is horrible. What chance does humanity have against these forces? What can you do to resist them? How can this earth, how can the people of God even fight against these invisible beings that are so obviously destructive and powerful? And though they are clearly so able to wipe out humanity in an instant, they can only go so far in what we just heard and learned earlier.

That's the point again. If you just chop off seven down to verse 11 and put it somewhere, you would think this is who we're up against, but you have to read what we read earlier. This is something for you and I to understand, and I'll tell you why in a moment. But look at what they can't do. Come back to verse four.

They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree. So they could not go so far in their attempt to damage anything. They could not kill anybody, though they were able to kill, they could only harm, and they couldn't touch a single plant, a single tree, a single blade of grass. I mean talk about specific authority. But not just what they could unleash in terms of their power, but the duration of it.

You can go one second beyond five months. And my favorite, these demonic beings, though they they drool at the thought of being able to devour those who are creating God's image, could only harm those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. The people of God were untouchable. And this is something again for you and I to reflect on because there's a growing fascination with the demonic and christen them today. There are entire ministries that are being built on the mistaken idea that genuine born again spirit filled Christians are in need of deliverance from demons possessing them.

And in order for that kind of a message to become convincing, these kind of teachers will over and over again highlight and focus on the extent of the power of demonic beings. So much so that they entertain very strange concepts of behavioral patterns that have to be associated with these demonic influences. Do you do you arrive late all the time for work or for church? There's gotta be a demon. Are you asleep all the time?

It's probably the demon. Are you impatient? It's a demon. Demon. Everything's a demon.

Everything's a demon. And why is that presented? Because it it calls for everybody to need deliverance then. It brings in business. It brings in followers.

It brings in supporters. And no doubt, we should never, in arrogance, minimize what these creatures are able to do. Even Michael the Archangel would not directly rebuke Satan. He called the Lord to rebuke him. So there has to be a level of respect in that sense.

But I want to present to you the focus of the Christian. That although these are again very mighty creatures, they are not mightier than God. They are not. They can't even take a step without his permission. They can't choose their weaponry.

They can't go as long as they want to. They can't even use one of their hideous fingers or their teeth to cut the grass. They are restricted. They are held back because there's a sovereign force greater than these beings. In fact, if all of hell came against one soul hidden in Christ, they would not succeed.

If Abbadon and Napoleon himself towered above the weakest and feeblest of all Christians, though filled with the Holy Spirit, he would not be able to do anything. Do you understand what we have in Christ? Do you understand the the the package of our salvation includes that if we are sealed Yes. This is a specific seal for a specific group of people in a specific amount of time, in a specific period of time, but it's no different for us sealed with the Holy Spirit. So add on top of this the the teaching of being delivered by demons to the concept of Christians being cursed by demons.

That there's people there casting curses and casting spells. Where do you get the idea that a Christian filled with the Holy Spirit can be cursed? Where do you get the idea that an innocent believer who went to some vacation and grabbed some souvenirs from a foreign land brought it and you just invited devils to take over your house? Is it that easy? Is our salvation that weak?

Is our walk with Christ in the spirit so vulnerable? I was reading the Psalms the other day. I'm going through Psalms in my personal reading, and I stumbled upon a verse I want to share with you. Listen to this in Psalm one zero nine verse 28. Psalm one zero nine verse 28, David says, let them curse but you will bless.

Let them curse but you will bless. Is that what you believe? Are you not in a greater covenant than that of Moses and the Israelites who did not know that there was someone in a whole group of people really hoping and planning to curse them as they traverse through the wilderness? They didn't even know it was happening and God turned every curse into a blessing. Is it any less under the blood of Jesus Christ?

Demons are real. Their power is real. There is real possession. There is real oppression. There is a real need for people to actually be delivered from demons.

But if you're in Christ, you are untouchable. You are untouchable. It's true in the tribulation period. It's true today. And be careful who you listen to.

People's personal stories do not trump over scripture. Be careful of that. Satan is a deceiver, and I'm unfortunately seeing many people, especially the younger generation, gobbling up this teaching for many reasons. But I find this in my bible, that you can have the worst of the worst demons unleashed upon the earth, and those who are sealed by God will not be harmed. That's your inheritance too because God is sovereign over demons.

Lastly, God, as you know, is sovereign over death. Come with me here. In verse five, we read the word torment appearing three times. Like the torment they're inflicting upon the masses is so intense that look what the masses will choose to do, at least attempt to do in verse six. And in those days, people will seek death and will not find it.

They will long to die, but death will flee from them. So this will be so overwhelming that that most people, if not all of them, who have been struck by these demons will attempt suicide, will try to kill themselves, would in in relief try to kill one another, and there's gonna be a strange phenomenon during these five months. No matter what you do, nobody's able to die. It's really a miracle. And it's going to only confirm further that the source of the suffering in these five months is supernatural.

This is something strange. Now as you look at this you might be wondering why would God allow this? And one might say, well it's because God doesn't want to give them an easy escape. He doesn't want to offer them immediate relief. I don't think that's God's heart behind it.

Because this pursuit of death, would that lead to actual relief? No. Only to greater torment. Because Jesus said, if you die in your sins, you will perish. So this this was for five months, but there is an eternal torment for the wicked.

And if these people had access to the cessation of their life at will, then you're talking about most of the world plunging themselves into hell in a matter of months. Do you know what I see here? Hopefully, you agree with me. I see grace. That's what I see.

God withheld death. He closed that door. It was not accessible. But why? Because this population had already seen so many things, had received so many warnings, had perceived and experienced so many disasters.

And evidently, they have not yet called upon the Lord. They're not sealed by him. And so the Lord now takes it to another level. He actually has a woe attached to this trumpet blast in order for this people to wake up. Some people get saved through preachers and there are other people who get saved through pain.

And that is God's intention here. That they would finally realize this is not normal, this is not humane, the fact that this is plaguing the globe, the fact that we're trying to die and we can't die, this has to be God. God forgive me. I repent. I call upon you.

Rescue me. There's an interesting passage in Job that confirms what I'm conveying to you. In Job 38, and this is where I'm ending. Verse Job 33 rather, verse 14. It says, for God speaks in one way and in two, though man does not perceive it.

For God speaks in one way and in two, though man does not perceive it. And what are the ways that he speaks to men, though man does not immediately understand that it's God trying to get their attention? Well, here's one of them. Look at verse 19 of Job 33. Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones so that his life loathes bread and his appetite the choicest food.

His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen and his bones that were not seen stick out. His soul draws near to the pit and his life to those who bring death. For what purpose? Verse 29. Behold, God does all these things twice, three times with a man to bring back his soul from the pit that he may be lighted with the light of life.

There are some people who are lying in hospital beds today because God is speaking to them. There are people who have had life altering accidents because God is speaking to them. You might be sitting here today, and you receive the diagnosis. You don't know God. Could it be that he's speaking to you?

I'm not saying every sickness is a message from God. I'm just saying it's a possibility. And one of the reasons why the Lord allows us is because God understands something you and I often forget. These bodies are temporary. This life is short.

There is something coming more real than whatever you know here. Eternity. Eternity. And God in his mercy, though you may even have cursed him because of the pain in your life, knows that that pain is temporary and it's worth experiencing it if you call upon him to be saved. God speaks in many ways.

He doesn't just speak through sermons. This is his primary way, his word, but there are other means that he gets man's attention, especially those who are extra stubborn. What you find with the fifth trumpet is a generation that are extremely stiff necked. And so what does God do in his sovereignty? Well, he's sovereign over the underworld, and he's sovereign over the demons, and he's sovereign over death, and he un he unlocks it, and he lets them loose, and he allows them to torment people for five months for the sole purpose of them crying out for salvation and be kept for eternity.

That's what's happening here. And here's the point I wanna end with. If God can postpone death, as we saw, for the purpose of a wicked people to have a chance to repent, What does that power mean for those who already belong to him? I I wanna speak to the believer and say remember the truth of this verse when you are fearful, dads, husbands, of leaving your wife or children behind prematurely. Cling to this promise and God's sovereignty over death when you receive the phone call that you dreaded your whole life and a doctor gives you that report and it confirmed what you feared.

If you are regularly haunted by the possibility of accidents or maybe you you get threats from unstable people, and we're seeing that more and more happening here. You wanna talk about more manifestations of demonic activity? It's happening in our culture, is it not? Don't lose sight of God's sovereignty. Your king and mine not only has the key to the abyss, back in Revelation one, we learned that he has the key to death.

And in his perfect wisdom and in his wonderful grace, God considers every factor of your life and mine. He knows just the right time and the right means to open that door called death and to say, son, daughter, it's time to walk through. That's the hope that we have. The same one that has the power to withhold death from the wicked, he knows when to suspend it from your life, and he knows when it's time for you to walk in it and through it. So what do you have to fear?

Our God is sovereign over everything. Our God is sovereign over the underworld, the abyss, the demons who are there, the demons that will be released, and even death itself has to submit to God's will. And you and I get to live in that reality every single day. Why? Because of what Jesus Christ has done for us.

That's why. One more reason to celebrate this bread and this cup. We have such a great salvation because of him. Lord, we thank you for this time. We are spellbound by your sovereignty, and we choose to pause as we are ready to feast on these elements, what a redemption we have.

What a salvation we have. What promises are these? Thank you for the seal of the Holy Spirit. Thank you that we are immortal until you say so. Thank you that we are stronger and more resilient because of Christ our savior.

Thank you in a very unpredictable world where it seems like demons are more loosened than at any time that we can remember before. We are safe in Christ. Our children are safe in Christ. Our homes, our finances, our bodies, our ministries, they're safe in Christ. We give you all thanks now as we meditate on these things.

In Jesus' name, amen and amen.