The Dominion of the Antichrist
Revelation 9: 1-12
Satan is determined to destroy this planet! The Bible describes Satan as the “father of lies” (John 8:44). He is the ultimate deceiver. His name means, “accuser,” and he is depicted as the accuser of God and His people. (Rev.12:10) He is opposed to God and seeks to alienate men from truth! He misled the fallen angels (Rev.12:4) and he tempts men and women to sin against God’s laws. He inspires the very spirit of Antichrist! (1John 2:18-23). The term angel (angelos) means messenger. God’s angels are divine messengers. (Hebrews 1:14). By contrast, Satan is pictured in scripture as a fallen angel, the leader of a band of other fallen angels, who deceive the whole world. (Rev. 12:9) He is ultimate power behind the Antichrist and the False Prophet (Rev. 13:4). Satan’s oldest trick is self-deception. When he tempted Eve in the garden, he appealed to her selfish desire to be like God. This was the same desire that led to his fall in the first place Satan was once called Lucifer, “son of the dawn” (Isaiah 14:12), but he was cast from his lofty position in heaven, along with the angelic host that rebelled with him. The bible calls this rebellion the “mystery of lawlessness” (2 Thes. 2:7). Satan and his angels willfully and deliberately sinned against God. Jude 6 says they “did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper abode.”
2 Peter 2:4 “For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held unto the day of judgment.”
Prior to his fall from heaven, Satan was called “star of the morning,” and he drew the third part of the stars of heaven with him. (Rev.12:4) Billy Graham writes, “the greatest catastrophe in the history of the universal creation was Lucifer’s defiance of God and the consequent fall of perhaps one third of the angels who joined him in his wickedness.”
SATAN IS A REBEL WITH A CAUSE. Satan is the epitome of selfishness! He was created for the purpose of glorifying God, but he had always desired to displace God and rule the universe himself! In Isaiah 14:13-14 we see the selfishness of Lucifer! This selfishness is expressed in the ‘I will” statements! I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mount of assembly. I will ascend above the heights of the cloud; I will make myself like the Most High.” Who is Satan?
1. Ruler of this world (John 12:31) “the time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out.”
2. Prince of the power of the air. (Ephesians 2:2) ESV. “In which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.”
3. God of this world. (2 Corinthians 4:4) ESV
“In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
These titles make it clear that Satan is the unseen ruler behind the human rulers of the ungodly world. He is the inspiration for every tyrant who has ever used his power to kill, persecute, and suppress decent people. He is the god of those that reject the living God! They are following Satan! All people are under Satan’s rule until they come to Jesus Christ and into His Kingdom by faith! Satan is dedicated to the spirit of destruction!
THE FIFTH TRUMPET: Demonic Invasion (9:1-12)
Demons will be released upon the earth from the bottomless pit. The Greek word for bottomless pit is abussou, from which we get our English word, “abyss”. Who are these demons? They will be especially malicious, and powerful. In fact, they are so diabolical that God in His mercy prepared a special pit in which to lock them away until the appointed time. These demons are not like the demons who have roamed the earth since they fell from heaven. They dreaded to go to the pit! When Jesus cast out the demons called, Legion, they begged Him not to banish them to the abyss, the pit! “And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.” Luke 8:31 ESV
Almighty God has given Satan permission to open the door to the bottomless pit to set the demons free! There will be horrible demonic activity upon the earth during the tribulation! Let me mention eleven things about the demons from the abyss: 1. They are degenerate spirits! They are the vilest of the vile.
2. They are darkening spirits! Revelation 9:2 “He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with smoke from the shaft,” This demonic activity will choke out the light upon the earth. Satan after all is called the Prince of darkness!
3. They are devouring spirits! Revelation 9:3-4 “Then from the smoke came locust on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.”
Locust can devour every bit of plant life in their path, but these will not touch plant life but will feed on the hearts and souls of people. They will inflict great pain on all who do not bear the seal of God!
4. They are debilitating spirits! Revelation 9:5-6. “They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.” The pain and suffering will be so horrible that people will want to die but they can’s die! Suffering for five months in agonizing pain and discomfort!
5. They are dauntless spirits! Revelation 9:7. “In appearance the locust were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth lions’ teeth.” Picture a team of horses ready for battle. They are ready for battle! Dauntless in their attacks! They can’t be stopped!
6. They will be domineering spirits! Revelation 9:7. “something like gold crowns on their heads!” Satan has always wanted to wear a crown! Now hell has a holiday, and the world has said to Jesus Christ, “We will not have you rule over us!” They instead crown Satan and his demons to rule. Demons will have dominion in the tribulation years! No human force can stop them! It will be a reign of terror!
7. They are deceptive spirits! Revelation 9:7. “their faces were like men’s faces.” What does that mean? It is a symbol of intelligence! The Antichrist will be crafty and subtle. Satan has a cunning plan that will captivate the mind and hearts of people. He will make you think that killing your children is a good thing.
8. They are defiling spirits! Revelation 9:8. They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like that of a lion. A woman’s hair is a symbol of seduction and defilement. God has given women their hair for their glory, and its beautiful, but these demons will use that as a trap! 1 Timothy 4:1 speaks of seducing spirits! They will have teeth like a lion! We are warned in the bible that devil is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour! These demonic spirits will be hideously beautiful and brilliantly deceptive.
9. They are defiant spirits! Revelation 9:9. “They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle.”
They cannot be stopped! They cannot be outrun! John is describing as best he can what he sees. This sounds like modern weaponry. Modern warfare is implied! John had never seen anything like this!
10. They are durable spirits! Revelation 9:10! “they have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails.” Five months is the average life span of a locust! Five is a number of completeness. What does this mean? Until their deed is done they cannot be stopped! Nothing but the hand of God can stop these durable spirits. They cannot be destroyed! There is no weapon against them!
11. They are diabolical spirits! Revelation 9:11-12. “They have as a king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon. The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.”
Imagine all the prisons in America releasing all their prisoners! Absolutely no law and order in the land!
Let us read 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11. NLT “For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. So, encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing!”
God will not pour out his wrath upon His bride, the church! God will chasten us, discipline us, but He will never pour out his wrath upon His bride just before the Marriage Supper of the Lamb! This onslaught described in Revelation 9 is for the judging of the nations, and the redemption of Israel. Next week we will look at Revelation 9:13-21… a World Gone Wild!
What should we do with what we have heard in this series of messages? Pray for the return of Jesus. Pray for the lost to hear the gospel. Pray for your boldness and courage to stand firm in terrible days of unrest. Continue to live out your faith!