Revelation – Victory in
Jesus
Chapter 9- The First 2 woes!
Welcome to Ch. 9! The Eagle left us in closing at Ch. 8, basically saying
what warning? The “woes” he called out are now upon us. Chapter 9 shows
the 1st 2. As we read this and study it, I want you to work hard to keep focused
on the interpretation we are studying: The Fall of Roman Empire. This chapter
can really relate to that if you pay close attention. Make sure you keep that
mindset throughout tonight. The 2 pictures painted here are:
1) A great plague
2) A great invasion
Let’s read VS 9-12 together.
Here is where I see how smart you may be. In relation to the Roman Empire
theory, what DO YOU THINK are some possible interpretations of what this plague
could be symbolizing?
Let us look at some points from the individual verses, and then I’ll ask again,
and we will discuss one very valid interpretation.
V1- The 1st 4 angels announced natural disasters. The 5th angel announces the
opening of the bottomless pit. What do you think the “star falling from
heaven” symbolizes? LET’S READ LUKE 10:18----------- I think John is
using this description to establish that this is Satan himself! So this star
(which is used often as a symbol for Satan) is fallen to earth and is given a
key to the “abyss”. Keys always symbolize power or authority over. So he has
power over this abyss. What do you think the abyss is? The
description is used 4 times in Revelation. To the Jews this description
represented all forces still rebellious to God’s will! The Bible indicates it
may be a place where demons dwell (Luke 8:31). I believe it is Hades or hell…. A
dwelling place of Satan and his minions.
V2- Out of the pit comes a great smoke. What could this represent?
It is Satan’s greatest weapon….deception. Smoke makes vision cloudy..it deceives
the eyes. Sin does the same thing through Satan! It makes our judgment and
decisions cloudy! This smoke of deception fills the air and darkens the sky. The
light (God’s truth) is clouded by Satan’s smoke (his lies/temptations). Here the
smoke has blinded the eyes of many…..especially in the Roman Empire!
V3- Locusts come from the fire. What do you think they represent?
In the Bible locusts are always connected to destruction (Exodus, Psalm, Joel).
It would seem to be the same here. They come from the smoke. Following the lies
(the smoke), the next progression is A LIFESTYLE OF SIN! That is what I believe
the locusts represent! More specifically, the horrible internal sin and
rottenness of the Roman Empire! It is a known historical fact that one major
contributing factor to Rome’s demise was a series of corrupt rulers and leaders!
What do you think it means by “they were given power like Scorpions of the
earth? I think it is simple: Most often a sting of a Scorpion will hurt
like heck, but they WILL NOT kill..they aren’t fatal. These will cause anguish
but not death!
Isn’t that like sin? Once you are fully trapped and addicted…eventually it turns
on you and starts to literally destroy and decay.. a punishment, and despite
what you wish, it does not kill you or go away! *Also note that once again they
were “given power”- establishing yet again that only GOD is the power source of
everything!
V4- This is not a literal locust plague of earth. The grass and tress will not
be hurt! And neither will the Christians!!!!! In sense of the Roman Empire
and its corruption how could this parallel to the Christians? The moral
decay of the Empire could NOT spiritually harm the Christians! It could cause
persecution, discrimination etc., but it would not affect their relationships
with God!
V5- This verse is painful. They could not kill them….but only torment them for 5
months! Is that a literal 5 months? If not what do you think it
represents? Just like the “1/3” from last week, it is not literal. I
think it just shows that there is a definiteness to the torture, that it does
have an end, and it is incomplete….there is nor final death! Only God knows the
actual length of time it will take sin to eat way the Roman Empire. (it reached
through 15 emperors). But the moral conditions were undoubtedly horrendous by
all historical accounts, and even in Romans 1:18-32.(ex: 14 of the 1st 15
Emperors were homosexual)
V6- Oh the wages of sin!!! What a picture of despair this paints…mean are
seeking and longing to die! Because of their rottenness and sin they would
rather die than deal with the pain and consequences anymore. What is the
irony here? It is that physical death offers NO relief for the wicked!
They desire a death to end all suffering, but that is IMPOSSIBLE for the sinner!
****Physical death is NO remedy for pain when dying outside of a relationship
with Jesus Christ! And the tragedy is that once it occurs, there is no more
opportunity to change your relationship with Jesus (Heb. 9:27).
V7-10- I do not know how critical it is to determine specifically what each
description means rather than determine the over all picture as a whole, but it
is quite interesting descriptions! Let us take a look!
• “Horses prepared for battle”- sin’s destructive forces ready to conquer their
enemy (mankind)
• “something like crowns of gold”- only Jesus and his followers will win the
victory crown! These are “something like”, a cheap imitation. Their victory too
is only an imitation and is not permanent…Satan only knows temporary victory!
• “faces resembled human faces”- OKAY THAT IS FREAKY! (I have no clue on this
one!!!!) Any ideas?
• “hair was like women’s hair”- sorry fellas—it is NOT calling women evil here!
Once again—NO CLUE – any ideas?
• “teeth like lions”- this one is easy…… Sin destroys and devours!
• “breastplates like iron”- this paints a picture of the enemy being well
fortified and almost above defeat
What a description huh?? Sounds like ONE ugly bug—sin is ugly!
V11- They have a king who rules them. Who rules over sin? Here he
is called “Abaddon” or “Apollyon”. These mean “destroyer”—SATAN. The lesson is
quite clear: Satan has one goal----DESTRUCTION!
So there is the 1st “WOE”…and the Eagle knew what he was speaking about too!!!
That really was harsh. Now what doe sit all mean? In relation to the Roman
Empire how can you translate this?
The locust plague represents the moral decay and ungodliness of the Roman Empire
(sin). It is controlled by Satan (sin) and only effects the non-Christians
(sin…ULTIMATELY only the unsaved WILL be affected by Sin, because a Christian’s
is cleansed by Jesus! Satan opened up his furnace of lies and the smokes of
delusion and empty promises spilled out, blinding men from the light. In this
blindness, they seek happiness and pleasure in wrong sources…and the result is
great torment. It is very painful, but not deadly. Once trapped and controlled
deeply in sin, a man no longer finds pleasure in life!!! The Christian in this
plague is not affected…because they have the blood of Jesus! Cool huh? I am sure
glad I am a Christian!
Now for the 2nd “WOE”. If the locusts had a “tormenting effect”, then the next
will prove to have a “killing effect”.
Read VS 13-21
V14- What does this sound similar to? It sounds a lot like the 4
angels in Ch. 7. These Angels are bound, as they are Angels of God’s wrath. They
are held in readiness at “the great river Euphrates”. What significance
does this great river hold in Biblical study? It was the Northern
boundary of the land promised to Israel. It was also the border between Israel
and the Northern countries whose armies the prophets repeatedly warned of. From
this area, the Assyrians captured Israel. From this area, Babylon came against
the city of Jerusalem. In the NT times, this river separated the Roman Empire
from the Parthians, who had several times defeated the Romans in their attempts
to stabilize their East boundary. So……the readers to whom John was writing would
be very familiar with this background behind this river!
V15- God’s “ministers of judgment”, as these angels are often called have been
set free to go to work. They have been ready and prepared and were waiting for
his command. Once again it gives a symbolic time period…..it goes to show that
God had a very specific time (and place) for everything to occur! They let loose
a force that will kill 1/3 of the people. Which people? We see a
HUGE difference in this woe, as Christians ARE directly affected by this.
External invasion would definitely mean death fro some Christians…no distinction
is made! Why? Because this is God’s judgment against ROME. But in some
judgments, Christians will suffer harm. The great news though, is that they need
not fear… because not even death will separate them from the love of Jesus!
V16- What did the angels let loose? It was a HUGE invading army of
horsemen. HUGE…200 million! What a picture that paints! In real formation this
would be one mile wide and 85 miles long……… YIKES !
V18- Again death is depicted here. And the death is brought on by the same
agencies that make Hell a place of horror and death! Again John (by using only
1/3) is emphasizing that God is still trying to call people to repentance and
not FULLY judging!
V20- What a sad statement…but still a reality even today! The 2/3 that was
spared should have been expected to take warning and repent and follow God: but
so far nothing! In fact, they don’t even repent of their idolatry. There is no
hint that the ungodly will repent as a result of these sufferings! Why the
emphasis on idolatry here? Because a bulk of God’s judgment was AGAINST
idolatry. After all, isn’t MOST sin a form or direct result of this? In Rome, it
was the root of their sinful condition!
WOW…so there is “WOE #2”. Intense huh? What do you think it could
represent? Historically this is an EASY one! This 6th trumpet indicates
an external invasion of the Roman Empire. And it seems to come from the “land of
the Euphrates. This is in fact historically correct. The Parthian Army and their
infamous cavalry were from this area (modern day Iran). They were Rome’s most
dreaded enemy and a constant threat to its’ boundary. They had never been fully
conquered by Rome…..and in fact, they did mount a huge invasion…a MAJOR
contributing factor to Rome’s fall! Pretty cool I think !
So we have seen natural calamity, internal decay and external invasion…yet they
have only seemed to harden the hearts, rather than soften, of the non Christian.
Because of all of God’s opportunity given to turn, and their blatant rejection,
God will open the next chapter with “NO MORE DELAY!!!” See, there is point
beyond which God will not continue to extend his invitations! A time when delay
is no longer possible….. Whoa to be on the wrong side at that time!