Lesson 22: Trumpets of Destruction, part 2

Revelation 9:1-12
1 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.
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 the smoke from the shaft.
3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.
4 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.
5 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.
6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.
7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces,
8 their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth;
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.
10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails.
11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.


One of the most incredible things we see some people trying to do today is to raise up or locate the gods of the ancient civilizations. From the moment sin first entered this world in the Garden of Eden, through Adam and Eve, humankind has searched for the same goal Lucifer wanted (Isaiah 14:12-14) – he wanted to be like God, and he wanted to do it himself. People today are looking for God’s power, wisdom, and eternal life – but they want it without Him! And Lucifer, now called Satan, is right there to tell them they can get it if they follow him rather than Creator-God. Power is being promised from the old gods, if people will just release them from the prison where God sent them, and the first five verses above show that God allows them to do this – with horrible results!

People seek for eternal life without God, and verse six says God allows them to obtain it to some extent – again with terrible results. Now people will want to die and will not be able to. The appearance described in the last verses would seem to be everything humankind would like to have – but it all leads to death and destruction.

*Have you ever thanked God for not giving you something you asked Him for?