The Two
Witnesses Part ll
Lesson 15
Page 2 of
2
return to [page 1]
Take a closer look at
the fifth trumpet
This trumpet marks the
appearance of Satan claiming to be
Jesus. He is the “angel
king” of the Abyss. Notice
John’s description:
“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.
When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose
from it like the smoke from a
gigantic furnace. The sun and
sky darkened by the smoke from the
Abyss.
And out of the smoke
locusts came down upon the earth and
were given power like that of
scorpions of the earth.
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.
They were not given
power to kill them, but only torture
them for five months. And the
agony they suffered was like that of
a sting of a scorpion when it strikes
a man. During those days men
will seek death, but will not find
it; they will long to die, but death
will elude them.
The locusts looked
like horses prepared for
battle. On their heads they
wore something like crowns of gold,
and their faces resembled human
faces. Their hair was like
women’s hair, and their teeth
were like lion’s teeth.
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.
They had tails and
stings like scorpions, and in their
tails they had power to torment
people for five months. They
had a king over them the angel of the
Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is
Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.
The first woe is past; two other woes
are yet to come.” Revelation
9:1-12
The language of this
trumpet is generally analogous.
John best describes the things he saw
with analogies or the allusions to
Old Testament references. Actually,
the meaning of this trumpet is better
understood when it is compared to
Joel 2, for Joel saw a very similar
scene. The difference between
Joel and John is that John saw the
coming of Satan (the angel king from
the Abyss) while Joel saw the coming
of the Lord! Notice Joel’s
remarks:
“Blow the trumpet
in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy
hill. Let all who live in the
land tremble, for the day of the Lord
is coming. It is close at hand
– a day of darkness and gloom, a
day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading
across the mountains a large and
mighty army (of locusts) comes, such
as never was of old or ever will be
in ages to come. Before them a
flame blazes…nothing escapes
them.
They have the
appearance of horses they gallop
along like cavalry. With a
noise like that of chariots they leap
over the mountaintops…At the
sight of them, nations are in
anguish, every face turns
pale…Before them the earth
shakes, the sky trembles, and the sun
and moon are darkened, and the stars
no longer shine.
The Lord thunders at
the head of his army; and his forces
are beyond number, and mighty are
those who obey his command. The
day of the Lord is great; it is
dreadful. Who can endure it?
Joel 2:1-11
Compare their views
Joel saw a great army
of locusts that looked like horses.
John saw the same.
Joel saw the sun and
moon darkened. John saw the
same.
Joel marveled at the
power of the army. John
marveled at the same.
Joel saw the Lord at
the head of His army. John saw
the angel king of the Abyss at the
head of his army.
Two important
connecting points are presented
regarding the appearing of Satan:
1.
Satan is let out of the Abyss (spirit
world) in Revelation 9 and is
returned to the Abyss in Revelation
20. “And I saw an angel
coming down out of heaven, having the
key to the Abyss and holding in his
hand a great chain. He seized
the dragon, that ancient serpent,
which is the devil, or Satan, and
bound him for a thousand years.
He threw him into the Abyss and
locked and sealed it over him…
Revelation 20:1-3
2.
From the fifth trumpet we learn that
Satan is allowed to come out of the
Abyss and physically appear upon the
earth during the fifth trumpet.
What will he do after he appears?
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. They were not given
power to kill them, but only to
torture them for five
months…” Revelation 9:4,5
It is interesting to note from these
verses that Satan and his angels
cannot harm the physical things on
earth that have been already hurt
during the first trumpet.
Why do Satan and his
angels torment the wicked and not the
saints? To make the world violently
angry with the Two Witnesses and
their followers!
Two Witnesses have
great power
We will study the Two
Witnesses in our next lesson.
For now, we need only to understand
that they are God’s
representatives upon the earth during
the trumpets. They have great powers
and the earth is afraid of them!
Notice what John says about them,
“If anyone tries to harm them,
fire comes from their mouths and
devours their enemies. This is
how anyone who wants to harm them
must die. These men have the
power to shut up the sky so that it
will not rain during the time they
are prophesying; and they have the
power to turn the waters into blood
and strike the earth with every kind
of plague as often as they
want.” Revelation 11:5,6
Satan, after appearing
upon the earth torments the wicked
beyond what the Two Witnesses have
already done and lays the blame upon
God’s representatives.
Thus the world becomes even more
enraged with the Two Witnesses and
their followers and concludes that
they must be destroyed.
Who is the angel king,
the beast from the Abyss?
Only once in
Revelation’s story does an
“angel king” come out of
the Abyss. Twice in Revelation,
a “beast” ascends out of
the Abyss. Since Revelation
12:9 clearly tells us that the
dragon-like beast is a fallen angel
called Satan, we can safely say the
“angel king” that ascends
from the Abyss in chapter 9 is the
devil. When we compare
Joel’s account of the second
coming with the appearing of the
angel king from the Abyss, we can be
safe in concluding that Satan is the
angel king.
What does the beast
from the Abyss do? Notice the
following verses: “Now when (the
Two Witnesses) have finished their
testimony, the beast that comes up
from the Abyss will attack them, and
overpower and kill them.”
“The beast which
you saw…will come up out of the
Abyss and go to his
destruction. The inhabitants of
the earth whose names have not been
written in the book of life from the
creation of the world will be
astonished when they see the
beast…” Revelation 17:8
When Satan appears on
earth claiming to be God, the world
will be astonished. He will
deceive the entire world with his
miracles and great supernatural
powers. Satan will eventually
“kill the effectiveness of
God’s representatives by
appearing to be so powerful and so
much greater than those representing
God’s cause. Each person will
have to make a very hard decision:
follow the teachings of the Bible and
receive the wrath of Satan or follow
the teachings of Satan (claiming to
be God) and receive the wrath of God.
Revelation 17:8
clearly say that those whose names
are not written in the book of life
will be astonished at the appearing
of Satan. But the saints will
be expecting him. After all,
the fifth trumpet clearly explains
when he appears. We’ll
study Satan’s appearing and work
more closely in a later lesson.
For now, understand that he appears
during the fifth trumpet.
A close look at the
sixth trumpet
The second woe is a
great war. John says, “The
sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and
I heard a voice coming from the horns
of the golden alter that is before
God. It said to the sixth
angel, who had the trumpet,
‘Release the four angels who are
bound at the great river
Euphrates.’ And the four
angels who had been kept ready for
this very hour and day and month and
year released to kill a third of
mankind.
The number of the
mounted troops was two hundred
million. I heard their number.
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 loins, and out of their
mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur.
A third of mankind was
killed by the plagues of fire, smoke
and sulfur that came out of their
mouths. The power of the horses
was in their mouths and in their
tails; for their tails were like
snakes, having heads which they
inflict injury. The rest of
mankind that 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. The second woe has passed;
the third woe is coming soon.”
Revelation 9:13-21; 11:14
This trumpet describes
a great war (the ultimate holy
crusade) into which Satan leads his
deceived followers. Satan sets
out to establish a one-world
government and he succeeds for a
short time. Satan overcomes all
political opposition and crushes the
work of God upon earth. He,
Satan, as God, will sit on a throne
as the King of kings of earth, and
Lord of lords over the religious
systems of earth. He will rule
the world through deception and
force. Daniel saw the
conclusion of this Great War in his
vision (Daniel 11:21-45). The outcome
is that Satan appears to win. The
war under the sixth seal, like any
other war, forces everyone to take
sides. At last the world stands
in two camps: those obeying Satan,
and those obeying Jesus!
A close look at the
seventh and final trumpet
Now comes the close of
mercy. Everyone has made his
decision. John says, “The
seventh angel sounded his trumpet,
and there were loud voices in heaven,
which said: ‘The kingdom of the
world has become the kingdom of our
Lord and of his Christ, and he will
reign for ever and ever.’
And the twenty-four
elders, who were seated on their
thrones before God, fell on their
faces and worshipped God, saying:
‘We give thanks to you, Lord God
Almighty, who is and who was, because
you have taken your great power and
begun to reign. The nations
were angry; and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the
dead, and for rewarding your servants
the prophets and your saints and
those who reverence your name, both
small and great; and for destroying
those who destroy the earth.’
Then God’s temple
in heaven was opened, and within his
temple was seen the ark of his
covenant. And there came
flashes of lightening, rumblings,
peals of thunder, an earthquake and a
great hailstorm.”
Revelation 11:15-19
This trumpet announces
the close of probation. Mercy
has been extended as long as
possible. Every person has made
his decision for or against the
gospel. Those who sided with
Satan carry the mark of Satan –
a mark necessary to conduct business,
a permit to buy and sell! Those
who sided with the gospel appear
frail, weak and helpless against the
dragon. They can’t buy or
sell. All forms of life-support
are cut off. Satan has
eliminated every means of earthly
survival for them. In fact, the
devil will lead the world in a united
effort to exterminate these people as
quickly as possible.
Jesus distracts the
consolidated powers of Satan by
sending the seven last plagues. This
is the third woe or curse mentioned
by the living creature. The awful and
terrible plagues containing the fury
of God’s wrath fall upon all who
received the mark of the beast.
Trumpets parallel 7
last plagues
There are some obvious
comparisons between the trumpets and
the plagues. Notice:
Seven trumpets
1.
Hail, fire, and blood upon 1/3 of
earth
2.
One third of the sea turns to blood
3.
One third of the drinking water
becomes bitter
4.
Sun, moon and stars affected (1/3 of
heaven struck)
5.
Satan appears bringing affliction on
the wicked
6.
Great war – millions killed
7.
Hailstorm, earthquake
Seven last plagues
- Terrible sores
upon all rebelling against
God
- Sea turns into
blood – everything in it
dies
- Drinking water
and river turn to blood
- Sun scorches
people with intense heat
- Great
affliction on the government
of Antichrist
- Final war upon
saints – Armageddon
- Great
hailstorm, earthquake and
final destruction of earth
The point is made that
the trumpets (seven first plagues)
are samples in many respects of the
seven last plagues. The main
difference between these two groups
of plagues is God’s mercy.
Those that keep the
commandments of God and remain
faithful (faithful means faith-full)
to Jesus will live by this precious
promise: “He who dwells in the
shelter of the Most High will rest in
the shadow of the Almighty. I
will say of the Lord, ‘He is my
refuge and my fortress, my God, in
whom I trust.’ Surely he
will save you from the fowler’s
snare and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find
refuge; his faithfulness will be your
shield and rampart.
You will not fear the
terror of night, nor the arrow that
flies by day, nor the pestilence that
stalks in the darkness, nor the
plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten
thousand at your right hand, but it
will not come near you. You
will observe with your eyes and see
the punishment of the wicked.
If you make the Most
High your dwelling – even the
Lord, who is my refuge – then no
harm will befall you, no disaster
will come near your tent.”
Psalms 91 1-10
Summary
The seven trumpets
will soon come as horrible and
devastating judgments upon earth.
Yet, it is the very nature of these
things that arrests the world’s
attention to hear the everlasting
gospel. Outside the context of such
dramatic events, what credibility
does the gospel have today among
earth 6+ billion people?
The purpose of the
trumpets is salvation, for the door
to salvation remains open until the
seventh trumpet sounds.
Revelation’s story will come
into sharp focus when the trumpets
begin because people all over the
world will see things coming to pass
right before their very eyes!
Thus the full gospel will go to the
ends of the earth in a very short
time period.
One final point, the
trumpets are only “samples”
of the wrath of God. The seven
last plagues are even worse. If
the trumpets are terrible, what will
the effect of the seven last
plagues? The severity of these
things should cause us to carefully
consider the everlasting gospel for
it contains a very specific
warning! This warning will be
studied in the next lesson.
Quiz
- What does the
throwing down of the censer
indicate?
- What causes
the destruction described in
the first three trumpets?
- What happens
during the fifth trumpet?
- What happens
during the sixth trumpet?
- What is the
major difference between the
trumpets and plagues?
Memory Verse: Psalm
91:1-10
Notes:
return to [page 1]
