Week 45 Day 2

November 14, 2023 | Be On Mission

Two More Trumpets are Sounded

Scripture: Revelation 9(NIV)

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).

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

¹³ The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. ¹⁴ It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. ¹⁶ The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.

¹⁷ The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. ¹⁸ A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. ¹⁹ The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

²⁰ The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. ²¹ Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Devotional

With the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets, all kinds of terrific and terrible images are brought forth. To explore these, let’s look at four broad views of interpreting the book of Revelation.

Historicist View – This group sees Revelation as a predictive history from the apostles to the end of the world, with much of it already having taken place over the past 2000 years. Some of them see the star fallen from heaven as Mohammed, and the locusts as the Muslim Arabs who invaded in the 600s-700s AD. The five months equals 150 days, which symbolically means 150 years, the length of time of those invasions.

Preterist View – This group believes Revelation is mostly about what was taking place in the day it was written, with application to today and the end of the world. Some of them see the fallen star as symbolic of false believers in their day, and the five months representing the Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire (66-73 AD) and Rome’s siege and destruction of Jerusalem.

Futurist View – This group believes most of Revelation is about things that will come in the future and have not happened yet. Some of them see the fallen star as a person like the pope, while others see it as Satan himself. For them, these terrible events take place after the rapture of the faithful, when destruction is brought about by giant locusts, which some see as modern helicopters.

Spiritual View – This group sees Revelation as a symbolic look at good vs. evil throughout eternity, and does not tie it to any specific events from the past, present or future. Some of them would say the fallen star is symbolic of Satan, who is always poised to terrorize God’s faithful. The five months is the normal life cycle of a locust, and signifies that the torment will not last forever.

Regardless of the perspective one takes in reading Revelation, the closing verses of chapter 9 are sad. “The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.”

Pause right now and ask the Lord if there is any way in you that is out of alignment with His desire for your life. Wait. Listen. Repent. Change.

Poem

Silence... Then Trumpet Blast!
Revelation 8 & 9

Then as the seventh seal was ripped
Great silence by all present gripped
The angel guard, trumpets received
Attention stood, gold bowl retrieved
The prayers of saints, great incense gave
The prayer of saints asleep in grave
Welcomed by God upon the throne
Then suddenly, a deep, wild moan
Each angel set their horn to mouth
First blast, blood fire, hail heaven spout
One third of earth was scorched and burned
God’s purifying fire returned
On second blast, volcanos spilled
Blood making sight on sea distilled
One third of ships were then destroyed
The oceans’ depths—one third devoid
At third blast, something like a star
Depleted lakes, creeks, springs and shore
Fourth blast hit moon, then hit the sun
Great darkness came, great night had come
Doom! Doom! The eagle’s cry did shriek
From ocean’s depth to mountain peak
Upon fifth blast, a key did fall
Unlocking deep abyss of hell
Smoke rose choking life giving air
Locust destroying everywhere
The unmarked cried for death to come
Their pleas were silent to the Son
Time had run out, the judgment due
The first Woe struck as trumpets blew
With number six of trumpet blast
Four angels long restrained, unclasped
One third of humans were destroyed
Yet, those not killed, seemed to avoid
The warning call to bow, repent
From evil ways did not relent

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