Revelation Study 14. Revelation 9:1-21 (pg. 93-95)

 5th trumpet: the star fallen from heaven to earh given the key to the bottomless pit, opens it and releases locusts.

6th trumpet: the release of the 4 angels bound at the Euphrates, leading mounted troops. 1/3 of mankind die

 Interlude

7th trumpet only in 11:15 

 

 

 2. The first four seals were limited judgment: oil and wine were spared from the famine (6:6); only a fourth of humanity died (6:8). How do the first four trumpets compare (8:7-12)?

A third of earth, sea and waters were destroyed. A third of humanity dies (9:18)

For Further Study: God sent plagues on Egypt to deliver His people from slavery, reveal His power, judge the Egyptians for idolatry, and prove that the gods of Egypt were false. Compare the plagues In Exodus 7:14-11:10 to the judgments of trumpets and bowls In Revelation. What echoes of Exodus do you observe In Revelation? What do you think God is saying by planning these echoes?

 

 

	Trumpets	Bowls
1. Water to Blood (Ex. 7:14–25)	2nd Trumpet: ⅓ of the sea turns to blood, ⅓ of sea creatures die (Rev. 8:8–9)
2. Frogs (Ex. 8:1–15)
3. Gnats / Lice (Ex. 8:16–19)
4. Flies (Ex. 8:20–32)
5. Livestock Pestilence (Ex. 9:1–7)
6. Boils / Sores (Ex. 9:8–12)		1st Bowl: Painful sores afflict those with the mark of the beast (Rev. 16:2)
7. Hail and Fire (Ex. 9:13–35)	1st Trumpet: Hail and fire mixed with blood hurled at earth (Rev. 8:7)	7th Bowl: Heavy hail falls from heaven on people (Rev. 16:21)
8. Locusts (Ex. 10:1–20)	5th Trumpet (1st Woe): Locusts emerge from the Abyss to torment people (Rev. 9:1–11)
9. Darkness (Ex. 10:21–29)	4th Trumpet: ⅓ of the sun, moon, and stars darkened (Rev. 8:12)	5th Bowl: Kingdom of the beast plunged into total darkness (Rev. 16:10)
10. Death of Firstborn (Ex. 11–12)	6th/7th Trumpets: Widespread death and armies killing ⅓ of mankind (Rev. 9:15)	2nd/3rd Bowls: All living things in the sea die; men given blood to drink (Rev. 16:3–6)

 The plagues destroy the authority of false gods, called to repentance, vindicate God's people and show the hard-heartedness of man.

 

For Thought and Discussion: In your judgment, Is It right for Christians to pray that God will judge the wicked? Why or why not? If so, with what attitude should we do this?

Yes, because it is a prayer of the redeemed saints

Yes, because it is sanctified and answered by God.

We leave vengeance to the Lord. We do not take revenge on our own behalf.

The curses are addressed through God 

We take delight in the justice and holiness of God. 

it is an insufficient idea to “hate the sin and love the sinner”. Some sinners are to be ignored and rebuked 

Honest prayer is good. 

  

•Psalms 5, 7, 35, 59, 69, 79, 109, 137, and 140 express strong emotions of anger, injustice, and a desire for God's vindication against those who oppose the psalmist and God. 

•The early church uses these psalms: In Acts 1:20 Peter quotes Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8 regarding Judas.

•Christians pray in the NT for the same thing as the psalmists:

• – If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. (1 Cor 16:22)
• –If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (Gal 1:9)
• –I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

3. Compare what the martyrs said about the inhabitants of the earth after the fifth seal was opened (6:10) to what the eagle says about the inhabitants before the fifth trumpet (8:13). What do you observe?

“O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

 “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

 

“Those who dwell on the earth” is code for the unbelieving world. The eagle speaks of the answers to the martyrs’ prayers. 

4. Along the same lines, consider how God responds to the prayers of the saints (8:3-5). What have the saints apparently prayed?

Judgment

5. a. How do the inhabitants of the earth respond to the horrible but still limited plagues of the first six trumpets (9:20-21)?

“They did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, ²¹ nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
 

b. What does this tell you about human character?

 There is no repentance even in Hell. Rebellion remains. Forgetful. 

c. Have you seen this attitude today? If so, explain.

“I can’t/won't believe in a God who can ….”

“No one, not even God, has the right to tell me how to live my own life”

6. Only a third of the earth, the trees, the sea creatures, the drinking water, the sun, etc., are affected by the first four trumpets. The locusts are allowed to torture but not to kill (9:5). The four angels are permitted to kill only a third of mankind (9:15). Why do you think God sends such horrifying plagues, yet limits them? (Consider 9:20-21.)

He pours out His judgments in progressively increasing measure.

He measures out his process of judgment

There is more opportunity for both repentance and suffering.

7. Do you think God is cruel to send such awful afflictions on the inhabitants of the earth? Why or why not?

"Cruelty is the intentional causing of physical or mental pain, a lack of mercy, and harsh behavior toward people or animals"

There is an implication of the lack of morality of the one afflicting the suffering and an enjoyment of the process. God does not primarily enjoy causing suffering (Ez 33:11), although He does take delight in judging rightly (And as the Lord took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you, Dt 28:63)

Isn’t hell cruel?

 
8. What difference does it make to you that the locusts are freed with God's permission (9:1) and that God chooses what they are and aren't allowed to do (9:3-5)?

God is utterly in control of their origin, actions, target, and extent of their action.

For Thought and Discussion: What do you think the locusts of 9:1-12 are? Literal locusts? Demons? Symbolic of the torments of Iife that make unbelievers want to die? Explain your reasoning.

 

They come from the shaft of the bottomless pit (9:1-2)
They came from the smoke (9:3)

They have power like scorpions of the earth (9:3)

Told not to harm vegetation, only those without the seal (9:4) 

Allowed to torment them for 5 months, but not to kill. Sting worse than death (9:5-6)

LIke horses prepared like battle (9:7a)

Crowns of gold on their heada (9:87b)

Human faces (9:7c)

Women's hair (9:8)

Teeth like lion's teeth (9:8)

Breastplates like breastplates of iron (9:9)

Noise of wings like many chariots with horses rushing into battle (9:9)   

Tails and stings like scorpions, with stings in their tails (9:10)

Their king is the angel of the bottomless pit, Abaddon