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Day 20 Revelation 9 Revelation 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he strikes a man. 6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. 7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. 8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. 9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. 10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. 12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. An angel fallen from heaven. Isaiah described the angel who intended to usurp the throne of God. Isaiah 14:9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirs up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? 11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. 12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most-High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 16 They who see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who did shake kingdoms; 17 Who made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; who opened not the house of his prisoners? 18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, everyone in his own house. 19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, who go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet. 20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. Jesus confirmed Isaiah’s prophecy. Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. (KJV) Here we see Lucifer, that fallen angel given a task—to loose the demons of Hell from the bottomless pit. However, in his given task, God commanded him not to touch those sealed by God, but only those who rejected Jesus as Savior and Lord. Satan has always had his limitations. He cannot do more than God commands. Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. 7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence come thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one who fears God, and eschews evil? 9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? 10 Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. 11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. 12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD. Those demons were described as locusts who feed on everything in their way. Here they feed on the souls of man, tormenting them for five months, a limited time. It is a time of spiritual darkness so great it will look like black smoke coming from the pit of Hell. John described the locust. He looked like a man clothed in beauty as a woman with a breastplate of iron. However, as beautiful as the locust is, it is as deadly as a scorpion. Sin always looks beautiful. Sin is persuasive as a person of authority, yet that authority is deadly. Sin destroys lives leading people into spiritual darkness. It is that spiritual darkness the locusts lead those who did not have the seal of God in their foreheads. You also see the angel’s name, Abaddon or Apollyon meaning destroyer. Lucifer’s purpose is to destroy the lives of people so they will not accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. John 10:10 The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Lucifer, here in the role of Antichrist, cannot touch those sealed by God. Being sealed, they will receive the abundant life Jesus told them they would have. With restrictions set forth by God, Lucifer can only hurt those he has already enslaved. He will hurt them further by tormenting them with the decision they made to stand against God, rejecting Jesus as Savior and Lord. Whose side do you want to be on when the Tribulation takes place? Will you stand for Jesus Christ and have the seal of God on your forehead, or will you stand against Him and be tormented by the Antichrist because of your decision not to follow Him? The decision is yours. Let’s pray: Father, let me always stand for You and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Keep me from the persuasions Satan tries to implant in my mind to sin against You. Keep me steadfast in my faith in You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. Copyright © 18 July 2019 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay