Revelation - Week 17

Day 1

The Bottomless Pit

READ

Revelation 9:1-2

1 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 2 When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke.

The first of the three terrors, or woes, are now poured out on the earth. The “bottomless pit” or “abyss” was likely inhabited by demons (see Luke 8:31). When it was opened, smoke poured from it and darkened the sun and turned the air dark. There is no need to try to use natural phenomena to explain this. God is at work in bringing judgment on the earth.

REFLECT

Those who love Jesus know God as one who frees from all condemnation, but someday God’s judgment will fall on unbelievers.

RESPOND

With a friend, read passages such as John 3:18; 5:24; and Romans 8:1. May you rejoice in knowing there is no judgment or condemnation for the person who is in Christ Jesus.

Day 2

Stinging Locusts

READ

Revelation 9:3-4

3 Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions. 4 They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

From the thick smoke came locusts who had power to sting like scorpions. These likely were demons who looked to the apostle John like locusts. They were instructed not to harm vegetation but only those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. This is a judgment on unbelievers—those who had rejected Jesus Christ as Savior.

REFLECT

Notice that even during the Great Tribulation those who turn to God in faith are protected.

RESPOND

Read Revelation 7:1-4 to see who had received the “seal of God.” These were being protected from being tormented or dying in the Tribulation.

Day 3

Torment

READ

Revelation 9:5-6

5 They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting. 6 In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!

The demons were told to torment those who had not received the seal of God on their foreheads. They were to torment them for five months. The pain will be so excruciating that unbelievers will want to die but be unable to do so. The world may talk now of those who commit suicide but even that would not be possible during the Tribulation.

REFLECT

There are few things sadder than a loved one who has committed suicide. During the Tribulation unbelievers will suffer such pain they will want to die but be unable to do so.

RESPOND

Do all you can to encourage others in despair not to take their lives. Believing in God can give them hope. How sad it will be in the Tribulation for unbelievers to be in such pain they will want to die but not be able.

Day

Five Months

READ

Revelation 9:7-10

7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They had what looked like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human faces. 8 They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like the teeth of a lion. 9 They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people.

Remember that the apostle John is writing in the first century and trying to describe what these things looked like to him. These creatures John was describing would torment unbelievers for five months. Only those who had the seal of God on their foreheads would be exempt from this torment and suffering.

REFLECT

Marvel again how God protects His own. In the Tribulation, those around them would be in torment and wanting to die while the believers were protected.

RESPOND

Do not be too hard on the apostle John for using so many symbolic descriptions. Imagine what you would have written in his situation.

Day 5

The Destroyer

READ

Revelation 9:11-12

11 Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon—the Destroyer. 12 The first terror is past, but look, two more terrors are coming!

Verse 11 gives us a clue the bottomless pit is inhabited by demons. Their leader is known as the destroyer and that is certainly what he and his subordinates are doing in the Tribulation. The hordes of demons are released to torture unbelievers for five months. Verse 12 indicates the first terror, or woe, is passed but there are still two more to come.

REFLECT

There is only one devil, also known as Satan, but there are many demons who serve as his emissaries. For the believer today, there is the assurance that greater is He who is in you (the Holy Spirit), than he who is in the world (see 1 John 4:4).

RESPOND

With a friend, read the attacks of the devil on Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11. Jesus was tempted, in the sense that He was “tested.” Because He was wholly God as well as wholly man: however, there was nothing in Him that made Him even think about yielding to the testing of the devil.