Additional Thoughts on Revelation Part Two
REV 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
REV 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Many judgments have already fallen in the previous chapters. And in this chapter creatures from the bottomless pit are released to torment men. Creatures of wickedness like the world has never seen.
Witnesses of God’s truth are also on the earth with His seal in their foreheads (verse 4). People can see that they are protected from the creatures. People are seeing with their own eyes the judgment of God being poured out upon the earth and at the same time God’s protecting power for His own.
And yet in verses 20 and 21 it says that they will still not repent. They still refuse to repent of the works of their hands. They continue to worship devils, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can’t see, hear, or walk. Even after all that has happened so far and all that they have seen, they refuse to repent of their murders, sorceries, and fornications. They even refuse to repent of stealing.
What we see here brings Jeremiah 17:9 to mind. “The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
A man’s heart can be so set on wickedness that nothing will get him to repent and turn to God. Not even the terrible judgments of the tribulation. Do not let it get to you when you run into people that refuse to trust Christ.
Just keep on witnessing and praise God that not everyone will refuse to repent and trust Christ. The people who do get saved are worth all the trouble and all the rejection.
REV 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
REV 9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
REV 9:4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
These strange creatures are let loose upon the earth out of the bottomless pit. Try to picture these evil creatures from the Bible’s description.
REV 9:7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
REV 9:8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
REV 9:9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
REV 9:10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
These wicked creatures are let loose to hurt men. They have been locked up for thousands of years just waiting to unleash their evil upon men. And when their chance finally comes they will not hold back. No doubt they are eagerly awaiting this event right now. Their wicked imaginations are dreaming of the evil that they will afflict and they will let it loose with vigor and fury. But no matter how great their evil desire is to hurt men, there are some men that they will not be allowed to harm.
They will not be allowed to harm those with God’s seal in their foreheads (verse 4). God will protect His own even in this great judgment. Even in judgment you will find God’s mercy.
Since God can protect His own even from the fury of these wicked evil beasts, can He not protect and care for you? The answer is of course He can. He is above all things. He is all powerful and in control. While He is judgment, He is also Love. He can meet out judgment and mercy at the same time. Judgment will come to those who reject Him and mercy to those who receive Him. And the wicked circumstances of this world cannot stop His mercy being extended to His own. God can and will take care of you.
REV 9:15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
They were prepared for an hour. A certain hour on a certain day on a certain month, of a certain year. Here we see the foreknowledge of God. From eternity past God knew exactly what would transpire. He knew what He would do in the Tribulation. So God prepared these four for a specific purpose. They were to kill the third part of men. It will be no problem for them. They were prepared by God for this purpose. They were only to do this once and at a certain set time. Not before. So right now they are waiting.
We see many things here. One is God’s exact foreknowledge. It is not only that He knows what will happen, but that He also knows exactly when it will happen. Two we see His Sovereignty. This is His plan and will be carried out by His order. This also shows that God is in complete control. This will happen at the exact appointed hour. God will not be late. He will not be early. Man can in no way foil His plans nor can man speed them up. God prepared these angels for an exact hour on a certain day of a certain year.
Some will falsely teach that man can usher in the kingdom if he does this or that. They are just fooling themselves. God has a set plan that will happen at a set time.
We should take great comfort from the fact that we have an Almighty Sovereign God who is on the throne and is working all things out according to His will. Instead of getting all worried and spend our time fretting about current events, what we need to do is trust in our God and put our energies into being a witness for Him. Our main concern should be taking as many people as we can with us to Heaven when He comes to get us.
REV 10:4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
REV 10:5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,
John heard what the seven thunders said and was about to write them down, when he was told not to. This shows that John was writing what he was seeing and hearing while the revelation was going on. John did not wait to write it all down after the revelation stopped.
We are not told what the seven thunders said. God has a reason. Every word that is written in God’s Word has a reason for being there. And everything that God left out, He did so for a reason. There is nothing in the book that is not supposed to be there and we are not missing anything that we are supposed to have.
This is another place in the Bible where we see that not only does God care about what words are in His Bible, but we also see that God is active in what went into His Word.
I believe that since God cared enough what went into His Word in the first place that He also cared enough about it to preserve it. We need His Word just as bad as those who got the originals. God knows that of course and I believe that God loves us just as much as He did the people back then. God promised that He would preserve His Word and I believe that He did.
REV 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
Everything that has happened and will happen has been known by God from before the world began. God declared many events to His servants the prophets, and they wrote them down for us in scripture. Be rest assured that everything will happen just like God said it will happen. No man and no devil can derail God’s program.
We see this over and over in scripture with events that have already happened and came true. A study of the events and kingdoms that were predicted in the book of Daniel are a good example. It all came true just like God said. The study of the prophecies of Jesus is another great example. Not one of them was wrong. The mathematical odds of this happening are astronomical. The only way to account for them is the fact that an all knowing God gave the predictions thru His Holy Word.
Since we have so many predictions that have already come true and not one that was wrong, be can be assured that all God’s yet future predictions will also come to pass just like He declared to His servants the prophets.
REV 10:1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
Angels are very powerful. It took only one angel a single night to wipe out an entire army of over 180 thousand men. God let John see into the future so he could record these events for us. And here John sees another mighty angel. God does not have only one or two angels at His command. God has a multitude of them. One place in the scriptures that shows us this in in Luke Chapter 2.
Luk 2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Luk 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
John sees one of these mighty angels and tries to describe him. He says his face was as it were the sun. So his face was not the sun, it just was like the sun. And John says that his feet as pillars of fire.
This angel’s face was shining very bright and his feet were aflame in some way. Notice John did not say that his feet were fire. They were just like fire in some respect. You need to watch the difference between the literal language of Revelation and the like as language.
This angel was on a mission from God. A mission of judgment upon the earth. You will often see fire used in connection with the judgment of God. Pillars speak of strength, something that is set. This angel was on a mission of judgment from God that was set like a pillar. And that purpose was shown forth in a way that John could see and record. This will happen one day just as John recorded it. God’s judgment is coming upon this wicked world one day. How soon no one knows but God. He has a set time and He will not be late. The question is are you ready? Have you ever put away your pride and accepted Jesus as Lord?
REV 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
During the Tribulation God will send two witnesses to the earth.
REV 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
REV 11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
They will be given great power. This power from God will validate what they say. Many people will believe them and get saved. One place that we read of them is in Rev. 6:9-10.
REV 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Only after they have finished their testimony does God allow them to be killed. God has always been on the throne. God is still on the throne today, and God will be on the throne forever. It does not matter how hard the powers of wickedness try to thwart God, they cannot. God’s plans will be fulfilled.
Where many run into trouble is that they look at something and say, How can God allow that? How can that be in God’s plan? The fact is that we are unable to understand. God’s ways are not our ways. God’s plan is above our feeble ability to understand. We can only see today and not the beginning to the end. Our place is not to armchair quarterback God. Our place is simply to understand that God knows what He is doing. Our place is to exercise faith in Him. The two witnesses will not be killed until after they finish their testimony and not one second before.
REV 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
REV 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
REV 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
REV 11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
When God’s two witnesses are finished with their testimony, then they will be killed. The people of the earth show their great wickedness for they leave their bodies in the street. They will not let them be buried. But that is not all. They then rejoice over the death of God’s prophets. They even make a holiday out of it and send gifts to each other. It will be kind of like Christmas but in reverse. Instead of giving gifts to honor and celebrate the birth of God’s son, they give gifts to honor the death of God’s men. They are wicked, wicked, wicked.
Verse 8 tells us that the great city is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt. Sodom was a town full people that hated God, His ways, and His men. They pursued a lifestyle that is an abomination and indulged in all kinds of wickedness. This city will be like that. In the Bible Egypt is a type of the world. They will have no interest spiritually for the things of God. Are not our cities growing more and more like this city in Revelation? From verse 8 I believe that a deviant lifestyle will be very common place during the tribulation. It will be a very wicked time. And even with two prophets sent from God and endowed with special powers to show their authority, most men will not believe and they will rejoice at their death. This shows the depth of the wickedness of the heart that rejects Jesus.
How should this affect me? First we should not be surprised when the gospel is rejected. And two we should not stop serving God. Be like the two witnesses. They kept proclaiming God’s truth until God’s time came for them to stop. They witnessed as long as they could. And they did it regardless of the rejection of their message. They were not motivated by results. If you are, you can get discouraged very quickly. You need to be motivated by a love for Jesus. You need to be concerned about doing what He wants. We must work while we can for the day is coming when we can work no more.
Just keep loving and going after sinners. Some will get saved.
REV 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Some false teachers try to make the great city into something else. They try to say it is not a real city but it just stands for something else. Talk about abusing the Word of God. Of course it is a real literal physical city. The word of God uses literal language. It is called the city. It is not just any city. The Bible does not say a city, NO it says the city. And look at the context of the verse. God sends two witnesses to the earth. They literally preach the word of God and after they are done with their witness, God allows them to be killed. Their real literal bodies are left to lie in a real literal street of this real literal city. The word of God is clear on the matter. The literal language and the context prove that it will be a real literal city that is being talked about here.
So what does it mean then when it says, “which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt” That is an easy question that is really quite obvious. It is simply telling us what the spiritual condition is in that community. The spiritual condition of that real literal city will be like the spiritual condition that existed in the town of Sodom and the country of Egypt, both of which God destroyed. Sodom God completely destroyed and God brought the Ten Plagues upon Egypt.
If you want to know what the spiritual condition of Sodom and Egypt was like, you don’t have to guess. You don’t have far to look for the answer. It is clearly recorded for us in the book of Genesis and the book of Exodus. Both were very anti God. They did not have the morals of the Bible. In Sodom they had rampant sodomy that was forced upon others, and they attacked those associated with God. In Egypt they worshipped idols, were involved in slavery, and they also attacked those associated with God. They were even killing their babies. The spiritual condition of both societies was dark, it was evil, it poured forth hate against God and His people. The great city mentioned here will be similar. And what happens in this city backs this up. They do not even have the decency to bury the bodies of the dead witnesses. They show their disdain for the people of God by just letting them lay in the street.
Some will say, if only God would clearly show forth His power, then people would get saved. They are mistaken. God will clearly show forth His great power during this time. In fact they will even admit that it is the wrath of God. They will know that He is doing it, and yet most will not turn. They will hang on to their darkness and shake their fist at God. It will be a very dark time. Without the restraining force of the redeemed on the earth, sin and the anti-God sentiment will have free reign.
I am glad that I will not have to live thru it. The false teachers might just have to. Won’t that be quite a shock to them? Unless they get saved. That is always the hope. That they will realize their mistake and the lack of repentance in their false conversion. That they will put away their pride, admit their sin of their false teachings, admit that they deserve the fires of hell, and call upon Jesus for mercy. If they ask for salvation, Jesus will save them. An evidence that they really get saved would be if they destroy all their false books. That is actually a Biblical example. You find people in the book of Acts who destroy the books of the falsehoods that they followed and propagated before they got saved.
Christian beware of the false teacher. And if you are a false teacher. Repent before it is too late and you have to spend an eternity in hell.
REV 12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
We know from verse 9 that the dragon referred here in verse 4 is the Devil. The stars of heaven is a reference to angels. This is the verse in the Bible were we learn that 1/3 of the angels followed Satan.
REV 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Here we see that the fallen angels that followed Satan fight with the angels that followed God. We also see here that Michael is in charge of the good angels. There is order in heaven, we see a chain of command in the angels. God is a God of order.
REV 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Of course Satan and his angels will lose. They are on the losing side.
REV 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
At this time in the tribulation Satan and his fallen angels will be cast out of heaven to the earth. Satan’s activity will be restricted to the earth for the rest of the tribulation.
What was Satan doing in heaven you ask?
REV 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
He accuses us of all kinds of things before God. The term night and day is a figure of speech. You have most likely used it yourself. For example, “That boss has me slaving away night and day.” This does not mean that I am working every single minute of every day. It just means most of the time.
This tells us that most of Satan’s time today is spent at the throne of God accusing us. However, he is not there every single minute. The book of Job is a good example of this. Satan also walks to and fro in on the earth. The New Testament tells us that the Devil walks around seeking people to devour.
Satan may accuse us all he wants but it comes to nothing because we have an advocate also at the throne. 1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
REV 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
There is a great battle going on that we cannot see. Michael and his angels fight against Satan and his demons. Here we have mentioned a great battle that will take place in the future. It says there will be war in heaven. This is hard for us to envision. We have so little information in the scripture about these battles. How exactly do they fight, what kinds of weapons if any are used? There is much we don’t know. But we do know that these battles go on all the time. This warfare is not reserved for the tribulation only. One example is in the book of Daniel.
Dan 10:11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
Dan 10:12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
Dan 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
Daniel was praying for an answer and an angel was dispatched, but he got delayed. He got into a battle with a demon for 21 days and Michael had to come and help him.
Michael is called one of the chief princes. This shows that there is an organizational structure with angels. Michael also seems to have more power. He is involved in key battles and here is helping out a lesser angel.
There is a lot that goes on that we never see. God was sending the answer to Daniel but it was delayed by an angelic battle. How many times do we pray and the answer does not come for a while. How many times is it due to some battle going on that we do not see? The fact is that we have no way to tell. What we need to do is just keep praying and wait for the answer. It might get delayed, and yet when the answer comes it will still be right on God’s timing.
He has some reason for allowing these battles, and yet they will never thwart God’s plans or His timing. Have patience, have faith in God, wait for an answer and keep praying like Daniel did.
REV 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Satan is real. He is the great deceiver. He was a liar from the beginning and a murderer. He does not only pick out a few to try to deceive and leave the rest alone. He is out to deceive the whole world. He will use many methods. Sometimes he uses the deception of “fun”. Things like smoking, drinking, pornography, and so on. Those who are deceived by it never see the hurt and destruction it causes until it is too late. This kind of deception causes both physical pains as well as emotional. Satan is an expert at this kind of deception. He hates men and loves to see them suffer.
But the deception of “fun” is not the only kind of deception that Satan excels at. He is also in the religion business. And he is a master at deceiving people thru religion. He will use systems of religion that will be completely unlike Christianity. Systems like Islam or the following of Buda and a host of others. He will not get everyone with that so He also has systems of deception that will at least claim Christianity. Systems of idol worship and works like Catholics. Some will not fall for that so Satan has systems that will name the name of Jesus, but it is a totally different Jesus. A Jesus who was the brother of Lucifer. Still others need a different deception to follow and Satan is glad to provide it. Some want a health and wealth gospel. A gospel without repentance. Satan will provide any kind of deception as long as it will keep people from the truth. The truth that man is a sinner and is deserving of hell. That it is impossible for man to work his way to heaven. There is nothing a man can do to earn salvation. He will provide any deception to keep man from feeling conviction about his sin before a Holy God. To keep him from coming to God with a truly repentant heart and calling out for mercy. Satan does not want to see men call upon the Lord to be saved. So he will use deception of fun or the deception of a works salvation, and for some he will use the deception of a different Jesus. The deception of Saturday worship to be saved, or the deception of church membership to be saved, or the deception of what is called the sacred name movement. Satan’s arsenal of deception is almost limitless. From false gods, to false Jesus, to corrupting the word of god, to false arrogant scholarship. We need to do what the Bible says and exercise good biblical discernment. Don’t believe every new wind of doctrine.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
REV 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
At this time in the tribulation you are either saved and worshiping God or you are worshiping Satan. Everyone will be worshiping one or the other. This is another place that shows that people will get saved during the tribulation. The logic for that is simple. Since all of the saved people leave and meet Jesus in the clouds before the tribulation starts, then to have saved people on the earth during the tribulation there must be newly saved people.
Many people do listen to the two witnesses that God sends and they get saved. Satan and his beast will of course not like this.
REV 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Getting saved during the tribulation will bring you trouble. Satan and his beast will make war with those who get saved, and they are given the power to overcome the saints. Many will be killed for their new found faith in Jesus.
The tribulation will be a terrible time. It is much better to get saved today and not have to go thru the tribulation.
REV 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
REV 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
REV 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
REV 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
REV 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Satan always comes up with a counterfeit. He has counterfeit religion, counterfeit bibles, and counterfeit preachers. And here we see him try to counterfeit the works of Jesus. Jesus was wounded unto death, Jesus received worship, Jesus spoke great things, Jesus had great power, and Jesus did many miracles. Satan creates his counterfeit. Verse 3 there is a deadly wound. In verse 4 there is worship of the beast. In verse 5 he speaks great things, of course they are blasphemy, and he has power. In verse 13 he does counterfeit miracles.
Satan does create counterfeits of what God does. Satan is in the religion business. Do not just believe every smooth talking man with a side show. The Bible tells us to try the spirits. Compare what a man says to the Word of God. Do not fall for one of Satan’s counterfeits.
See more lessons from Revelation