1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,400 Revelation chapter 8. We will see how far we will get tonight. We will definitely get 2 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:13,000 into chapter 9. I know that for a fact. We will probably make it through verse 6, but 3 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:19,360 we will see. So Revelation chapter 8, we are continuing with this study. You remember that 4 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:24,960 last week we started talking about the 7 trumpets and we were beginning to look at the first 5 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:33,640 4 trumpets last week and we saw how the first 4 trumpets correspond to the plagues in Egypt. 6 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:40,600 We were noticing how the effects of the trumpets being blown can be seen in our world today. 7 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:46,600 But as noted, we have noted this many times that as history continues to progress and 8 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:52,880 we get closer and closer to the end, these judgments, the effects of the judgments are 9 00:00:52,880 --> 00:01:00,600 going to begin to intensify. So this gradual intensification that leads all the way to 10 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:07,560 the end. And I think that's why there is a very clear break between the first 4 trumpets 11 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:13,440 and the last 3 trumpets. Because notice that last week we ended with the 4 trumpets in 12 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:20,240 verse 12 of chapter 8 and then verse 13, it marks this shift that is going to begin the 13 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:27,160 intensification. So look at verse 13, this is what it says. Then I looked and I heard 14 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:36,800 an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead. Whoa, whoa, whoa to those 15 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:42,280 who dwell on the earth at the blast of the other trumpets that the 3 angels are about 16 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:48,240 to blow. Now I want you to notice that warning there. Notice that whoa is repeated 3 times. 17 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:52,640 I mean that itself is an intensification. The angels in heaven declare that God is 18 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:57,880 holy, holy, holy. I mean that's to show that He is perfectly holy and now you have about 19 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:04,240 the judgments, whoa, whoa, whoa. These are bad. I mean it's like this voice is calling 20 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:09,160 out saying, hey you thought the first 4 trumpets were bad. You thought, oh that sounded scary. 21 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:15,520 Just wait until you see what's about to happen. And most of this chapter, most of chapter 22 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:22,400 9 is spent describing the 5th trumpet and the effects of the 5th trumpet. And it's going 23 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:29,560 to describe this locust army which is going to be very interesting. It's a locust army 24 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:36,360 that wreaks havoc upon the earth and you need to understand that there are two key Old Testament 25 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:42,960 passages that serve as a background to this passage. The first is going to be Exodus and 26 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:49,120 it's going to be chapter 10 verses 1 through 20. We don't have time to read all these 27 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:55,040 verses but that's the first background to this passage. Exodus chapter 10 verses 1 through 28 00:02:55,040 --> 00:03:01,200 20 and it's the 8th plague upon Egypt which was the plague of locusts. Now I'm going to 29 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:07,520 read verses 14 through 15 of Exodus 10 just to give you an idea. It says the locusts came 30 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:13,680 up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt. Such a dense 31 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:20,320 swarm of locusts has never been seen before nor will ever be again. They covered the face 32 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:24,660 of the whole land so that the land was darkened and they ate all the plants in the land and 33 00:03:24,660 --> 00:03:29,760 all the fruit of the trees that the hell had left. Not a green thing remained, neither 34 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:34,800 tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. So that's going to be a key 35 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:41,800 background passage for understanding what's going on here. The other one is found in Joel 36 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:50,120 chapter 2. That also, that chapter describes a locust army that comes to wreak havoc upon 37 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:54,280 the earth. And what we need to know going into Revelation chapter 9 is that there's 38 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:59,440 a lot of symbolism going on here. I mean the whole thing. Revelation is just full of symbols 39 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:04,080 and pictures and imagery but this is a very symbolic chapter and we're going to get into 40 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:08,080 the details but I want us to focus on the big picture. We've been saying this like it's 41 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:12,560 easy to get called up in all the little details and appreciate the bark on the tree but you 42 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:18,520 got to take a step back and admire the forest too. And the whole point of this, so if we're 43 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:22,200 just trying to get out of the details and focus on the big picture, the big picture 44 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:29,880 that you have to focus on is the effects that the locust army have on the earth. So whatever 45 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:34,000 the locusts are, whatever they mean, whatever their face is and all this other kind of stuff 46 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:41,680 all the little details, the point is the effects that they have on the earth. So we will get 47 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:47,600 into the details and we're going to start with verses 1 and 2. And the fifth angel blue 48 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:55,280 is trumpet and I saw a star falling from heaven to earth and he was given the key to the shaft 49 00:04:55,280 --> 00:05:01,720 of the bottomless pit or the abyss and he opened the shaft of the bottomless pit and 50 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:07,160 from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace and the sun and the air were 51 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:14,000 darkened and the smoke from the, with the smoke from the shaft. Now that's about as 52 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:19,440 far as we can get for now because there's already a bunch to talk about. So notice first 53 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:27,120 we have a fallen star. Anything interesting about this fallen star that you see there 54 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:42,120 in the first two verses? Yes. Yeah, it says he rather than it. So this fallen star is 55 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:49,120 either an angel that's coming down from heaven to open the abyss or the bottomless pit after 56 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:56,000 receiving a key from God or it's some sort of demon who has been placed in charge of 57 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:02,600 the abyss or the bottomless pit or it is Satan himself who is in charge of the bottomless 58 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:07,080 pit, the abyss. And so we have to decide, well, which one is it? You know, we've got 59 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:12,120 three options here. Which one is it? As you can imagine, all scholars agree on this. So 60 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:17,840 there's no debate, right? That's revelation. Of course there's debate. Nobody agrees 100% 61 00:06:17,840 --> 00:06:23,400 on this, but I do think it's most likely a reference to Satan because this echoes another 62 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:27,920 passage in Scripture. Did this sound familiar to you at all when Jesus says these things? 63 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:33,640 Did it sound familiar? Luke chapter 10 verse 18, if you want to just reference that, that's 64 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:44,640 Luke 10, 18. And the Bible says this is Jesus talking. He said, I saw Satan fall like lightning 65 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:51,960 from heaven. Now in that passage, that's when the 72 are returning and Jesus is saying because 66 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:57,320 of his disciples presence in the world and because of their ministry efforts, because 67 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:03,480 of their evangelistic efforts, he sees Satan having a great defeat. Basically Satan's power 68 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:08,680 and authority had been undermined. It was like he was fallen from heaven like lightning 69 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:15,480 because of what Jesus and his disciples were doing in the world. Well here, it's a little 70 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:21,040 different. It's referring to a fallen star, which is most likely Satan and his presence 71 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:26,920 on earth because notice John does not see the star as it's in the process of falling. 72 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:34,080 He just sees it after it has fallen, right? He sees a fallen star and it also makes sense 73 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:40,080 that this would be Satan because we learn later in this passage, in the same passage, 74 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:46,000 that this angel is called the angel of the bottomless pit has a name that corresponds 75 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:51,880 with the name of Satan. He is called Apollon. He is also called Abaddon, which both of those 76 00:07:51,880 --> 00:08:00,440 is Greek and Hebrew just means destroyer. It's best to view this as Satan. We kind of 77 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:05,960 have ourselves a situation here like that of the book of Job. You remember what was 78 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:11,760 happening in the first part of the book of Job? God calls all his angels, Satan comes 79 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:16,800 and God's like, hey, have you seen Job? He's great. Love that guy. He is awesome. Satan's 80 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:21,680 like, well, yeah, because you've blessed him so much. Just take some of that stuff away 81 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:29,440 and then see what he does. God grants Satan permission to go and torment Job but not kill 82 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:33,800 him. Remember that. He specifically said, do whatever you want to him, but don't kill 83 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:40,840 him. Here we have a very similar situation where God is granting Satan. Notice he has 84 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:45,640 to receive the key from God. He doesn't just own that on his own. Satan has no power and 85 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:50,760 no authority except that which is given to him by God. He's not equal. People think that 86 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:55,680 Christianity is this dualistic. We just have these competing forces of God versus the devil. 87 00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:59,280 It's not like that. It's always just God and the devil's running around trying to cause 88 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:04,120 trouble but it's not a real battle at all. It's like when Ezra tries to hit me and I'm 89 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:09,360 like, now if I ever find out that you hit me, it's just a little thing. There's no battle 90 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:14,840 there, right? That's God and Satan. So Satan has no power, no authority except that which 91 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:20,480 God gives to him. So God grants him this key, allows him to open the bottomless pit or the 92 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:28,360 abyss and stuff is going to happen. He is going to release this army. Before we move 93 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:33,960 on from there, it's important for you to remember that the bottomless pit or the abyss, whatever 94 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:39,680 your translation says, it's not hell. You all remember that? Hell is never referred to 95 00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:47,120 in that way in the Bible. Hell is the lake of fire and all that kind of stuff but the 96 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:52,760 bottomless pit or the abyss, it's the realm of the demonic. That's all it is. It's the 97 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:58,240 demonic realm. It's the place where demons are confined until they are released into 98 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:03,080 the earth and it's the place from which the demonic come. Now obviously they were angels 99 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:09,520 at one point who have fallen but they are now kept in this abyss until they are released 100 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:15,120 into the earth. So that's exactly what happens here. God gives Satan the key to the abyss 101 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:21,160 and he unleashes these demonic forces upon the earth and it's going to last during the 102 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:27,880 entire church age, the entire time between Christ's ascension and his return. Notice 103 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:39,760 what it says here, this smoke, it's very interesting. The smoke rises up and causes darkness. It 104 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:46,160 causes the sun to go dark and people are having a hard time seeing. Since we're talking about 105 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:50,280 spiritual matters here because we need to understand that the locusts that are going 106 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:54,880 to be described here, they're not literal locusts and we know that based on their description. 107 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:59,560 They've got human faces, they've got manes like horses, they've got armors. They're 108 00:10:59,560 --> 00:11:03,840 not literal locusts. It's symbolic. It's a picture and we're going to get into that 109 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:09,040 in a little bit. We're talking about spiritual matters here. You have the realm of the demonic 110 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:14,280 releasing demons. That's what the locusts are. They are demons and they are inflicting 111 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:20,280 some sort of spiritual pain, some sort of spiritual torment into the world. When we're 112 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:25,400 talking about this smoke that rises up, you have to understand it's saying, think about 113 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:31,920 it as a picture book. You've got the gates of this abyss opening. Smoke is going throughout 114 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:36,560 the whole earth in such a way that things are darkened. But if this is a spiritual matter, 115 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:43,560 it's referring to spiritual darkness. In other words, when Satan releases the demons into 116 00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:49,800 the earth, they are going to make it such that people are kept in spiritual darkness. 117 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:54,280 That's the smoke that's rising up here. That's actually confirmed in other places in scripture. 118 00:11:54,280 --> 00:12:04,200 In 2 Corinthians 4-4, the Bible says of unbelievers, in their case, the God of this world has blinded 119 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:11,120 the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory 120 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:17,960 of Christ, who is the image of God. So they are blinded from seeing the light of God because 121 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:23,040 they are kept in this darkness because the smoke has risen. You know this, if you've 122 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:29,520 ever been at a campfire or a bonfire and the fire got out of hand and there's a whole 123 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:33,560 bunch of smoke, you know you have a hard time seeing it. It stings your eyes. You can't 124 00:12:33,560 --> 00:12:37,080 really open them or anything. You can't really see anything, especially if the room gets super 125 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:41,800 smoky. It's hard to see. That's what the Bible is saying here. That this world and 126 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:46,080 the people in this world, their eyes, their spiritual eyes, it's like they have smoke 127 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:51,080 in them. They can't see. Their eyes have been darkened and they aren't able to understand 128 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:55,480 the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're not able to see His beauty in the light of 129 00:12:55,480 --> 00:13:00,680 the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ because Satan and the demonic forces have darkened 130 00:13:00,680 --> 00:13:07,120 them. They've blinded their eyes to keep them in that state of spiritual darkness. That's 131 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:13,680 the image that's being portrayed here. And notice that it gets even worse in verses 3-6. 132 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:21,760 This is what the Bible says. Then from the smoke came locusts on earth and they were 133 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:28,000 given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the 134 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:34,120 grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have 135 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:39,080 the seal of God on their foreheads. They were allowed to torment them for five months, but 136 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:45,360 not to kill them. And their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 137 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:51,760 And in those days, people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, 138 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:58,280 but death will flee from them. That's a pretty grim picture of the night. I mean, that's 139 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:05,800 what it's literally describing as these demons are unleashed into the world. And again, the 140 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:11,640 locusts, they aren't literal locusts. They are demons. But the reason they're described 141 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:18,280 as locusts is because that is a very fitting picture because locusts are a destructive 142 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:22,960 animal. Are they not? They're a very destructive beast. And particularly, they're destructive 143 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:29,160 to what? Anybody know what they eat? Crops, right? Fields that are ready for harvest. 144 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:34,680 And so it's a very fitting picture, right? It's amazing because Jesus, he looked out 145 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:44,160 and he said, wow, the fields are what? Right for harvest. If only we had what? Some labors. 146 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:47,400 So Jesus looks out at the world and says, man, what a harvest. This is great. If only 147 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:55,240 we had some labors. So it makes sense that those who are opposed to God and His kingdom 148 00:14:55,240 --> 00:15:02,080 and His ways would be described as the very animal who destroy harvest. Does that make 149 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:07,120 sense to you? It's very, it's very clever. You describe them as this beast, this animal 150 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:12,760 that is known to destroy a harvest. So God's plan is for His people to go out in the world 151 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:17,640 and to be the labors in the field and reap the harvest that's ready. But at the same 152 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:23,600 time, Satan has his plan. And Satan says, I've got my own army and I'm going to get 153 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:30,080 to the harvest fields before you can. And my army is going to destroy all the potential 154 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:37,960 harvest that there was going to be. That's why they're described as locusts here. And 155 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:43,640 you learn that these are the demons that are coming from this place and they're this destructive 156 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:48,400 force that are working against God's plans and they keep people in this spiritual darkness 157 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:53,720 and destroy the potential harvest. But what's interesting is they're not like the locusts 158 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:58,920 in the plague in Egypt. You remember in the eighth plague, it said that the locusts ate 159 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:05,360 all the green grass and all the shrubs and nothing green was left in all of Egypt. What's 160 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:14,360 different about this? Yeah, they're specifically told don't touch anything green. So in Egypt, 161 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:21,880 everything green. Here, nothing green. Instead, it's actually a lot scarier. They focus specifically 162 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:30,680 on people. They don't touch the grass. They harm the people. And they are harming specifically 163 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:39,240 people who what? Not believers. They don't have the seal of God on their forehead. Now, 164 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:45,200 you remember we said this a few weeks ago, but in the first century, masters would brand 165 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:50,600 their slaves with their own name on the forehead. And so if you were to see a slave, they had 166 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:54,000 their master's name branded here and it was a way of showing ownership. You looked at 167 00:16:54,000 --> 00:17:00,040 that guy, you knew who he belonged to. Well, that's why it says in the Bible that God puts 168 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:04,480 his seal on our forehead. It's metaphorical. It's not literal. We're not walking around 169 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:10,120 with a big old seal on our forehead, but God seals us with his Holy Spirit. And that's 170 00:17:10,120 --> 00:17:15,080 to show ownership so that when we are in the world, as people are supposed to be able to 171 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:20,280 look at us as if we did have a seal on our forehead and go, that's a Christian. I know 172 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:24,360 it without a shadow of a doubt. I can clearly see the fruit of the spirit in their life. 173 00:17:24,360 --> 00:17:28,360 That's how obvious it should be to the whole world that we are believers. It should be 174 00:17:28,360 --> 00:17:33,920 like we have a big old stamp right there on our forehead. Is that always the case? No, 175 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:37,880 it's not, unfortunately, but that's how it should be. And so that's why it's talking 176 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:42,800 about here. The people know that we belong to God because we've been sealed. And as 177 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:50,520 his sealed people, the Locust Demon Army does not touch us. They do not harm us in the way 178 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:56,160 that they're going to inflict torment on unbelievers. So those who have not been sealed 179 00:17:56,160 --> 00:18:00,720 by God, those who do not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, those who do not belong 180 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:05,160 to God, but actually belong to the kingdom of darkness, they are going to suffer the 181 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:11,720 torment of the Locust Demons. And it says here that they are allowed to torment but not kill 182 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:25,760 them for five months. What's the question here? Why five months, right? Seems very specific. 183 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:38,440 So why five months? Anybody have any suggestions? About five months. Approximately. So yeah, 184 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:43,040 there are two things at play here. Very, very good, Michael. Two things at play here. Average 185 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:48,680 lifespan of a Locust about five months. So they're tormenting for their entire existence 186 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:56,760 is what that's saying. But also the dry season in this area lasted about five months. And 187 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:04,520 that's when the Locusts would actually strike and go after the harvest fields. It was odd 188 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:09,120 for a swarm of Locusts to be active during the entire five months. Normally they'd hit 189 00:19:09,120 --> 00:19:15,800 a spot or two and then kind of be done. But this swarm of demons is active the whole time. 190 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:20,200 So with five months, it's literally just two ways, like two different ways or one way of 191 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:24,160 saying two different things or the same thing. I'll get my words. You can interpret it two 192 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:28,920 different ways, but at the end of the day, it means the exact same thing. They are tormenting 193 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:34,240 for their entire existence. For as long as they are allowed to exist, they are tormenting 194 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:40,640 here on the earth. And so the Bible goes on to describe the type of torment and says it's 195 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:49,640 like a scorpion's thing. Have you ever been stung by a scorpion? No, me neither. So I 196 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:53,920 don't exactly know what it's like, but what we need to understand as it's going to go 197 00:19:53,920 --> 00:20:03,360 on to describe here is that the torment of the demons is not physically. That would be 198 00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:13,600 easier. The torment of the demons is mental, spiritual, and psychological. And you see 199 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:18,800 that people are in anguish. It says that the unbelieving world is so distraught and in 200 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:28,640 anguish due to the torment of the demons that they desire death, but it escapes them. It's 201 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:33,520 the Bible's way of saying that the demons from the abyss, they create this culture of 202 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:42,360 death on earth. They create this atmosphere in which people long for death. People make 203 00:20:42,360 --> 00:20:49,840 this idol out of death almost and even promote death and they make light of death. And I 204 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:54,840 was thinking about this and thinking about how many people this affects today. I mean, 205 00:20:54,840 --> 00:21:00,880 you have people who are suffering mental illness and this isn't just exclusive to unbelievers. 206 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:06,840 I mean, believers can suffer in this way too. But for the unbeliever who is suffering in 207 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:12,600 this way, they think about death. They long for death. They might even make a plan for 208 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:18,640 suicide, but so many of them don't actually go through with it. Death escapes them. It 209 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:25,840 eludes them. Why? Because they're actually afraid of death. If you pull all the nations 210 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:33,800 in the world, the number one, most biggest fear is always what? Death. Everybody is afraid 211 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:38,640 of death, especially as an unbeliever. Believers have no fear of death, right? We might fear 212 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:44,920 dying, but death, not a big deal for the believer. But unbelievers are terrified of death because 213 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:50,920 they cannot say for certain what comes next. And so you live in this world in which they 214 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:55,560 are psychologically tormented. There's mental illness. There's depression. There's all 215 00:21:55,560 --> 00:22:00,320 sorts of twisted thoughts. They are longing for death. They want to commit suicide, but 216 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:07,320 it escapes them because they are afraid of death itself. And that's their existence. 217 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:12,320 That's the world in which they live. I want you to think for a moment about the world 218 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:18,760 that's describing because it sounds a lot like our world, does it not? I mean, are we 219 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:26,760 not living in a culture of death right now? Look at the rise in abortion rates. Look at 220 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:36,960 the rise of people who were pro-physician assisted suicide. I even saw where a Japanese 221 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:44,120 company was inventing a suicide chamber where a person can literally go in and they would 222 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:49,680 press a button and I think it filled with nitrogen. And so you would start to breathe 223 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:53,880 the nitrogen and you wouldn't really notice anything, but you would just slowly begin 224 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:59,680 to fall asleep and then die. And it was for anybody who just wanted to come in in their 225 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:05,000 life. And that's the culture that we live in, where we're creating instruments of death 226 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:11,280 to escape this life. I mean, think about how death is downplayed all the time now. I mean, 227 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:16,320 we're so used to it from movies and TV shows and video games that we don't even think anything 228 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:23,200 about it anymore. It's a culture of death that we're living in and then you see these 229 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:32,280 other effects as well. Because notice this, our world is becoming increasingly more spiritual, 230 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:39,720 but unfortunately not more biblical. And that's an issue, is it not? I mean, people want to 231 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:44,560 say that spirituality is dead, but it is not. It is alive and well in our world today. Everybody 232 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:49,560 is spiritual. They're just not biblical. That's why people are more willing to believe in good 233 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:54,360 vibes than pray to a sovereign God of the whole universe. They believe that something 234 00:23:54,360 --> 00:23:59,320 like that exists. That's why they go into all this sort of like mantras and crystals 235 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:04,560 and meditations of various kinds and zodiac signs and horoscopes and all this kind. They 236 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:11,200 have all this spirituality, but no one is willing to seek spirituality in Christ. There's 237 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:16,760 no biblical aspect to this at all. You also see people twisting all of God's ways and 238 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:22,280 all of God's decrees. And what I want you to understand, when you see this picture of 239 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:29,080 Satan releasing these demons into the world and they are causing this spiritual and mental 240 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:35,840 and psychological torment where they are literally darkening the minds of unbelievers and blinding 241 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:40,520 them from seeing the truth of the gospel, you have to understand the Bible wants us 242 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:47,520 to view the world in the way in which Revelation describes it. Because so often we're looking 243 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:53,600 for a literal locus and the effect of the locus is right in front of us. And God's saying, 244 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:58,000 what are you doing? You're looking for a little flying bug with wings and it's happening 245 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:02,720 right in front of you. Look at the effects all around you. But we don't see the world 246 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:07,880 that way. We've got to learn to see the world as Revelation describes it. So for instance, 247 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:15,600 let me give you an example. When you see a gay pride parade or you see people marching 248 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:21,680 for abortion rights and people marching for the right to murder babies all the way up 249 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:27,520 to the moment of birth for any reason whatsoever. When you see something like that, you know 250 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:33,360 what that looks like according to Revelation? It looks like rising smoke from the abyss that 251 00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:40,160 darkens understanding and blinds people to truth. It looks like a swarm of locusts descending 252 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:44,920 upon the earth to promote the kingdom of darkness and keep people out of the kingdom of light. 253 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:50,600 That's exactly what that looks like according to the book of Revelation. When you hear about 254 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:58,000 and see the absolutely mind blowing number of young people who are so mentally confused 255 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:04,640 that they actually believe they are a different gender than the one they were born with. And 256 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:10,840 you see the confusion that arises today from the gender crisis in our world. What are you 257 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:15,520 looking at according to Revelation? You're looking at the smoke of the abyss that is 258 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:22,040 darkened minds and continues to keep people in darkness. Isn't it amazing that this is 259 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:26,440 increasing now exactly how Revelation said it would? As we get closer to the end, this 260 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:30,560 kind of stuff is going to intensify because at no other point in human history have we 261 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:35,960 ever had a gender crisis like this, right? Shouldn't that raise a couple red flags? Everybody's 262 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:41,280 saying, well, it's so natural today. People were just not open to it back then. No, something 263 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:47,120 is going on. There's a spiritual warfare at play here because you don't read about anyone 264 00:26:47,120 --> 00:26:52,480 in the 17th century, 16th century, 15th, anything like that of people saying, hey, I'm actually 265 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:58,000 a girl. I was just born with a boy's body. That didn't exist. The reason it exists today 266 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:02,760 is because the locusts have descended upon the earth and they are increasing in their 267 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:08,080 number. They're increasing their expansion. They're darkening the minds. The smoke is 268 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:14,880 blinding people to spiritual truths. I mean, if you'll another example, when you hear and 269 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:22,960 see prosperity teachers preaching a false gospel and you see them leading people astray, when 270 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:29,200 you see them praying on the harvest, the literal harvest, here are people who come to church 271 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:33,040 and you see these prosperity preachers praying on the harvest. What are you looking at? You're 272 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:38,360 looking at a swarm of locusts who are here to do the bidding of Satan and further the 273 00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:43,800 kingdom of darkness rather than serving Christ the king and expanding the kingdom of light. 274 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:50,600 That's exactly what you're looking at. That's the world according to Revelation. The demonic 275 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:57,180 forces that have been unleashed on our world are terrifying and the consequences and effects 276 00:27:57,180 --> 00:28:02,600 of their efforts are horrific. But all of this should just make us all the more thankful 277 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:09,240 for Jesus, should it not? When you read about what's going on here in this scene as scary 278 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:16,480 as it is, we who have turned from our sins and trusted in Christ, who have received the 279 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:23,520 indwelling presence of God by His Holy Spirit and have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, we 280 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:30,920 will never have to suffer the effects of this swarm of demons. That's good news for us. 281 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:38,720 Is it not? They're only allowed to touch the unbelievers because God has sworn to watch 282 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:45,560 over us and protect us. I'm reminded of the night that Jesus was betrayed when He looked 283 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:54,520 at Peter and He said, Peter, Satan demanded your life. Imagine Jesus saying that to you. 284 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:58,880 Would that not be the most terrifying thing you'd ever heard? I'd be thinking Satan knows 285 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:06,080 who I am. Are you kidding me? Satan demanded your life. And Jesus says, but I have prayed 286 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:14,800 for you. It doesn't matter that Satan demanded it because Jesus prayed for it. He intervened. 287 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:20,760 He protects His people. He watches over His people. And we're not Peter, but we know that 288 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:29,880 Jesus is our intercessor and our mediator, and He intervenes for us. He prays for us. 289 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:35,800 He is before the Father making intercession for His people even right now. So yes, demonic 290 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:41,160 forces, they're going to seek to oppress us, right? You'll never be possessed by a demon, 291 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:46,440 but you could be oppressed by a demon. They will oppress us. They will tempt us. They 292 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:52,600 will seek to thwart God's plan and prevent His kingdom from expanding. We also know 293 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:58,320 who wins. I read the end of the book. I know. Spoiler alert. Our whole series is called 294 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:04,960 The Triumph of the Lamb. Jesus will have the victory. And as His people, we will stand 295 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:09,880 in victory with Him. And so we need not fear this swarm of demons because Christ is more 296 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:14,880 powerful than all the forces of the Abyss. Amen? 297 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:28,960 It's to be a parallel, I think, or at least an antithesis to the plagues in Egypt because 298 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:33,160 in the plague in Egypt, they were only allowed to eat the grass and the green things, but 299 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:38,160 not touch the people. But here is showing, hey, you thought that plague was bad in Egypt. 300 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:42,280 That was just a picture of judgment in history. But wait till you get to this because they 301 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:48,880 won't be touching grass then. They're going to be touching only people. So I think that's 302 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:55,400 probably, but it also could have to do with the first four trumpets. The grass was affected 303 00:30:55,400 --> 00:31:03,320 and burned up and things like that. And so I think it was trumpet one, maybe, where all 304 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:08,520 the, yeah, so in the first trumpet when it blows, all the grass and the trees were burned 305 00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:17,200 up or at least a third of them were. And so there's probably not much left at that point 306 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:31,680 anyway. Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly right. That's a great point, Michael. Yeah, Satan 307 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:37,360 doesn't care about grass. He cares about people. That sounds odd to say. Satan does not care 308 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:44,480 about people. Satan wants, yeah, we get what you, right, right. No, Satan does not care 309 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:54,320 about people. He wants to keep people from God. So, yeah. We'll get to that next week. 310 00:31:54,320 --> 00:32:15,800 But yeah, no, no, you can ask your question now if you'd like. Yeah, we'll talk about 311 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:22,440 this more next week, but just kind of to give you a brief answer is it's apocalyptic literature. 312 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:29,920 So the language is highly symbolic and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John is 313 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:39,920 trying to describe what he sees using language that's not necessarily weightier, but that 314 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:46,120 contains more than just a simple description. So you're going to read about how like they've 315 00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:54,560 got names like women's hair, you know, type thing when locusts only have antennas and 316 00:32:54,560 --> 00:33:01,160 they are like horses that are stampeding. They've got faces like people. And I think 317 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:06,640 it's meant to give us the idea that these demons that have been unleashed in the world 318 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:13,040 could be anybody. Looks like a person has nice hair. Like, because, you know, movies 319 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:17,040 and TV shows, they always depict like Satan and the demons are red. They've got these 320 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:20,800 horns and they've got this fork tail and all this kind of stuff. And it's like, well, 321 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:26,560 that's not actually they come as an angel of light. So I'm not convinced Kenneth Copeland 322 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:30,120 is not a demon. Just putting that out there for you. I don't know if I'm still recording, 323 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:33,440 but thanks, thanks, Jordan. I don't know where recording that'll get taken down or 324 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:40,600 we'll get sued and he's got more money than almost God himself. So, but I'm not convinced 325 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:44,000 he's not a demon. I mean, Joseph and I and Jordan and I, we've talked about this. There 326 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:47,640 have been some videos that have surfaced that are just and you see that he's promoting 327 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:53,320 a kingdom of darkness. He's a prosperity teacher. And so I think when you have a description 328 00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:57,160 where it's like, hey, it's a locust, but it's also it kind of looks like a person and they've 329 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:03,080 got nice hair, but they sound like a stampeding army. It's meant to draw us again to the effect. 330 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:07,280 Why is it a locust? Because locusts are destroyer. They're here to reap the harvest before the 331 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:11,120 disciples. Why does it sound like horses? Because there's so many of them and they are 332 00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:16,160 unleashed in our world. Why the human faces and the hair? Because it could be anyone and 333 00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:20,880 they aren't these ugly, twisted red things. They could have nice glossy hair. It looks 334 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:25,400 like they've just conditioned it like you just don't know who it is or who it could 335 00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:30,040 be, but you know that they're present and you know them by the effect, not what they 336 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:33,760 look like. So I think that's why there's a very description there. I could be wrong. 337 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:37,840 Again, it's revelation, so we're free to come to different conclusions, but I think that's 338 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:42,880 maybe one of the reasons. Alright, Joseph, how about you close this in 339 00:34:42,880 --> 00:35:07,940 and open alleys?