The Lord Our God Rules Over All
The 4th trumpet ends with darkness, a biblical symbol of judgment and destruction. The first four trumpets were directed at the earth. Now an eagle warns of three approaching woes. The three woes are the coming three trumpet judgments. These three are directed at the earth-dwellers, the unbelievers who have forsaken God. The eagle announces them as woes because they are much worse than the first four. If we thought the first four were bad, we have seen nothing yet.
Trumpets 5 and 6 are much longer descriptions than the first four. They add important clarifications to the seals, the trumpets, and bowls. These two especially show and prove to the earth-dwellers that the false gods they have followed are demonic forces and that these evil powers are not their friends. In the Gospels, we see that demons possess people to torture and kill them (Mk 5:1-20; 9:14-29). They are the enemies of all human beings, all who are made in the image of God. This happens also with the locust plague of the 5th trumpet and the demonic cavalry of the 6th trumpet. The locusts torture the earth-dwellers for five months so much so that people long for death. Then the horsemen give them the death they longed for, and one-third of humankind dies. Yet the tragedy of sin continues. In spite of the absolute proof of both the omnipotence of God and the hatred of the false gods for their own followers, evil people do not repent but reject God’s offer and return again to worship the very evil powers that had just tortured and killed so many of them. Their hardened hearts and refusal to repent justify God’s final judgment.
This is the stuff of nightmares, science fiction, and horror movies. Locusts were well known for their destructive power causing much human suffering. The terror of horse-drawn chariots was known and feared. At that time the whole Roman Empire knew and feared the fierce, unconquered Parthian mounted cavalry to the east beyond the Euphrates river. So, these are well-known instruments and symbols of terror, destruction, and death. In John’s vision, these powers are multiplied and intensified to evoke terror — scare people out of their wits in order to warn them.
1. The Demonic Locust Army
Stars are often the symbols for angels and falling stars can represent Satan or fallen angels, that is demons. Whether this star is a fallen angel or a good angel that descended from heaven to the earth, it serves as an agent of God’s judgment. God gives it the key to the shaft of the abyss.
The abyss is the abode and prison for the demons, the angel of the abyss, the beast, and Satan, thus, for all the powers opposed to God. This is a place that is anti-God, anti-creation, and anti-life, a place of destruction and chaos. Smoke billows up from the shaft, from the abyss. When Yahweh descended on Mt. Sinai, smoke “billowed up … like smoke from a furnace (Ex 19:18). In Joel 2:30 “blood and fire and billows of smoke will indicate the day of the Lord. The smoke here is a sign of God’s wrath and coming destruction. The smoke darkens the sun and the air. This echoes the 4th trumpet. It recalls Joel 2:10 in which the locusts are so dense that “the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine.”
Out of the smoke pours forth an army of locusts. This recalls the locust invasion of Joel 1:2-2:11 and the 8th Egyptian plague (Ex 10:1-20). All the OT imagery of locusts comes together in this vision. They are a warning, symbolize God’s judgment, and announce the arrival of the Day of the Lord. God gives the locusts authority over the earth-dwellers and power to inflict harm on them. However, He limits their powers. They are allowed only to torture them, not to kill them, only for a limited period of time, and only those who do not have the seal of God. This torture involves intense pain and agony. The unbelievers will suffer enormous physical, psychological, and spiritual pain so much so that they will seek and long deeply for death but they will not find death as it flees from them.
John combines human and animal-like features to describe these diabolical monsters. The details of the description are not as important as the terrifying effect upon those who hear the vision. These are human-torturing monsters with heavy equipment and armor that make them impregnable and irresistible. Their gruesome appearance, their origin in the abyss, and the demonic character of their leader point to their demonic identity. They are demons released from the pits of hell. Their king and leader is the angel of the abyss, which could be Satan himself or more likely one of Satan’s chief commanders. His name is Abaddon or Apollyon. The Hebrew means the place of destruction and the Greek means destroyer — a very appropriate name. Demonic powers, evil forces, and the influence of Satan are behind anything that opposes God’s rule and kingdom in this world. They are behind anything and anyone that does not follow Jesus in obedience by living the kingdom life, who denies the existence of God, who exploits, and oppresses other people trying to destroy the image of God in them.
The message here is that these demonic forces are organized, powerful, terrifying, and filled with hatred and contempt for their followers. As soon as God grants them permission, they torture and kill all who have rejected God, while God’s people are protected by his seal.
2. Beware of Idols
These are not attack helicopters, not futuristic, science fiction mechanical robots, or some fantastical creatures. We must be careful of literal interpretations that equate these visions with human weapons, nations, armies, or leaders. On the other hand, we should also avoid purely spiritual interpretations, which say that these are the spiritual, psychological, and emotional torments of individual humans. No, these visions portray real demons that will be released and allowed to do their evil work in the world as the end approaches. These graphic, fierce, and terrifying images serve to shock and awe John’s audience and us — to shake us from our complacency and bring a reality check on life and this world. They serve to destroy the fantasy that this world will always continue as normal. It shocks us so that we will recognize that terrible sufferings are already happening around us. It shocks us to warn us to be ready because more and worse is coming.
Revelation is a letter to the church, to believers, and so it warns us that great tribulations are coming and we should be prepared. These terrifying visions encourage us to trust God, know that He is in control, persevere, and endure in faithful witness. They also warn us of the dangers of dabbling and flirting with idolatry, sinful behaviors, and immorality. Now is the time to repent, turn back to God.
With this demonic locust plague, like the plagues in Egypt, God shows the unbelievers the powerlessness of their earthly gods. Even more, by allowing evil to run freely, God shows the true nature of these evil beings—they hate and torture their own followers. Their fallen nature is obvious. The message is clear: demonic powers are behind all idolatry, and their purpose is to destroy rather than to build up.
When we give up living the radically different kingdom life of love, we compromise with the world, and very soon we speak and act and behave like the world. We get caught up in lies, anger, fear, hatred, and murder taking life away from others. Following the ways of the world and idols leads only to deception, suffering, and death. We should not flirt with the idols of this world because this world and the entire social order will be destroyed when God’s judgments are poured out on the earth and the earth-dwellers. Christ alone is our Savior, our only and adequate security.
When we suffer at the hand of the world, we should never envy the position of our persecutors. We should not retaliate or take revenge. Eventually, our persecutors will suffer too. God will vindicate his persecuted people. Revelation’s main concern is not to satisfy our curiosity or to provide clues for solving the end-times puzzle but to purify our hearts and deepen our devotion to the Lord of lords and King of kings.
3. God Is In Control
Since the fall, when human beings rebelled against God, and sin and evil entered the world, the big question has been, “Is God still in control?” When we look at the world today, we sometimes wonder, “Is God still in control?” Revelation reaffirms unequivocally that the Lord our God is in sovereign control. God gives the fallen star the keys of the shaft of the abyss. He gives the locusts the power that is like the power of scorpions. He tells them not to harm the earth’s vegetation but to harm only the people without God’s seal. He gives them authority to torture them, not to kill them, and only for 5 months. He limits the time of torture. As one author puts it, “Even the demonic forces can do nothing, unless God allows it. Many have the mistaken opinion that Satan has autonomy from God and can do whatever he wishes. That could not be further from the truth. Satan is powerless and has already lost at the cross. Everything he and his followers do in this book can only be done after God gives permission. Even more than that, all the actions of the evil forces are part of the divine will, thus part of the divine plan. . . . he simply allows their evil to express itself.”
The sovereign Lord rules over and controls the forces of evil. God will judge evil. His judgment is right and just because it is directed at the hardened hearts and the total wickedness of the unbelievers who refuse to repent, worship the demonic powers, and persecute God’s people. And in the end, God always defeats evil. Human leaders and evil rulers may have their “hour” but ultimately they and their empires fade. From the short vantage point and short time span of our individual lives, justice seems delayed, and the world seems to be spinning out of control. But, from the long perspective of God’s history, the power of oppressors is always brought to an end. God remains sovereign even over the choices made by human governments and evil empires.
Thus, God is not absent in times of the world’s hardship but remains in control. We have seen terrible things and much horror in our times. And we will see more as more terrifying forces of evil are released on the earth. For evil to be finally conquered it has to be allowed to come out into the open and do its worst. But God and the Lamb remain sovereign and in control. And throughout all this, God protects his people against demonic attacks. These trumpet judgments only affect the earth-dwellers, the unbelievers. He protects us. We may suffer persecution and even death, but we will never suffer the wrath of God. Satan and his evil forces are dangerous, but they are a defeated enemy.
The Lord our God rules and is in control. Therefore, we must let the Lord fight our battles. The militia movements that seek to arm themselves to survive the end-time battles misunderstand Revelation. The Lord does not depend on our carnal means to accomplish the purposes of his kingdom. Yes, we are the end-time, kingdom army of God but we do not fight with physical weapons. Our weapons are the gospel, God’s Word, our faithful witness, and living the kingdom life. And the ultimate weapon is love. God calls us to work in this world to heal the pain around us and to be peacemakers. The cross of Christ testifies and proclaims that God loves a world hostile to Him, and that He wants them to repent, and be saved. That is the love we must proclaim in word and in deed, the kingdom love that we must live out and practice every day even if that means that we may suffer and die for our Lord. That is how we die to self, take up our crosses, and follow our Lord, even in suffering and death. That is the message of Revelation — endure in faithful witness to Jesus Christ our Lord no matter the circumstance, no matter the consequences. We should not fear because our God, the Lord of lords and the King of kings rules and is in sovereign control. And He is coming soon. Come, Lord Jesus.