 Here we are in Revelation chapter 9 beginning at verse 1, then the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit and he opened the bottomless pit and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace and The Sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth and to them was given power as The scorpions of the earth have power They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth or any green thing or any tree But only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads and They were not given authority to kill them but to torment them for five months Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man in Those days men will seek death and will not find it they will desire to die and Death will flee from them The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle and on their heads were crowns of something like gold and Their faces were like the faces of men They had a hair like women's hair and their teeth were like lion's teeth And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle they had tails like scorpions and There were stings in their tails their power was to hurt men five months and they had a King over them the angel of the bottomless pit whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon But in Greek he has the name of Pollyon One woe is passed behold Still two more woes are coming after these things uh-huh so I'm 20 years old and I got saved and And The first thing that follow-up counselor says to me is read your Bible So I do and I'm reading from Matthew. I didn't start with Genesis. I started with Matthew I figured well the New Testament probably pertains to me. I had to start there So I start with Matthew and I just proceed until I get into revelation I'm in my parents den and I read Revelation chapter 9 what I just read and it sends Holy Ghost goose bumps up my spine and I As I'm reading this now as we just read it It's pretty pretty dramatic. Isn't it? It's pretty drastic wanting to die Scorpion stings. I mean that's that's pretty heavy So I take my Bible and I go into the kitchen where mom and dad are and I hold the Bible in my hand like a good TV preacher and I hold it up and My mom and my dad were seated at the kitchen table Where they would normally be when they were just conversing having a cup of coffee or whatever and I said mom and dad this is the word of God and Listen to what God's word has to say and I opened it to where I had just been reading in chapter 9 and I read this passage to the conclusion to verse 21 and Then I I closed it and That's that's when I gave my first Exordive message. I said I don't know what this means But I do know this It's not speaking to me It's speaking to you and I pointed at my dad it's It's speaking to you and That's when I told my dad dad. You're a good man And my dad was a good man. My dad was a very good man He would get up Monday through Friday at the same time My mom would make him some coffee. She would make him breakfast My dad would eat his breakfast drink his coffee Get into his little pickup truck Drive into Los Angeles to go work at Davies warehouse. That's where he worked a place called Davies warehouse I used to think that they named the warehouse after me When I was a little boy and He drove what was called a bobtail and he made local deliveries That's what my dad did and my dad would come home every day Monday through Friday at the same time Five to seven to seven o'clock. That's when he got home every day like clockwork There were times when my dad would be ill with a flu, but he would go to work anyway There were times that my dad was on vacation the phone would ring My dad would go in and take somebody's route because the guy couldn't come in I had a very productive man for a father He was devoted to my mother in my life up to that point and then following till the day he died I do not remember my father one time that I ever saw him show any undo affection to any woman Other than my mom. He showed affection to her and his daughters and that was it There there there was that could tell you stories about my father being respected by men a hard worker a good man Productive in every way my mom was ill with various diseases from the time She was 24 25 years old My dad would work extra so that he could make money so that he could pay for her bills for the medical Doctors and variety of things all through my life My dad wasn't the kind of man who would go out to a store to buy himself something because he deserves it after all His money went to his family. That was my dad and Here I am five years of alcohol abuse five years of drug abuse Recently saved wild-eyed hippie barefoot long hair tie-dye t-shirt type guy holding a Bible saying to my dad Dad this doesn't speak to me it speaks to you and that's when I pointed to my dad and I said dad You're a good man You are the best man that I will ever know but you will be the best man in hell if you don't give your heart to Jesus Christ Bow your head You're gonna receive Christ as your Lord in your Savior right now Because daddy I love you and I do not want to go to heaven without you And my dad my dad bows his head and My mom and that's how they got saved Revelation chapter 9 Didn't have a clue, but it doesn't apply to me. It applies to you It applies to you daddy Daddy told me later on You know David when you told me I was going to hell. I wanted to get up and punch you The disrespect He said but I thought He said I saw the change that God had done in you it. It's only three weeks He said I saw the change that God had done in you He said you were bad. You were a bad kid. You needed God He said but Madeline my sister Madeline Madeline came to faith in Christ and He said I knew I was better than you But I knew I wasn't better than Madeline because Madeline Madeline never had dates. She didn't go out with anybody the first boyfriend. She ever had she married She's still married to him 30 some years later She she was the classic good girl not just a good girl that classic good girl It would be Friday night. She's there in between mom and dad She's eating popcorn with curlers in her hair watching TV with them on a Friday night when she's 15 16 17 18 years old See that was Madeline. So she was at this time 16 And she was just a good girl and my dad said I knew I was better than you But I'm not better than her and if she needed Jesus Christ She he said I knew the combination of how evil you were and How good she was he said I knew I was somewhere in the middle and I knew he said I needed Jesus He said now here's something important for all of you evangelists before you go home and tell your daddy is going to hell Let me finish this When you said you loved me and didn't want to go to heaven without me That touched my heart That touched my heart My dad I had I don't remember ever and this is not the me show. I'm just trying to explain the context My dad hadn't told me he loved me until I was 17 I Don't know how many of you men know what I'm saying I think many of you do my father never said I love you. He just didn't it wasn't part of his way He came from that generation that said listen I put food on the table. I put clothes on your back I put a roof over your head and you have a bed to sleep in I Did that for you and if that's not love, I don't know what else is that was my dad But my dad never would put his arm around you. My dad would never say I love you the way my dad was is he'd hit me in the back of the head when I went by and and I finally asked my mom why is dad hitting me in the head. Oh Your daddy's saying he loves you when he does it that was my dad Anybody know what I'm talking about if you guys know what I'm talking about some of you do some of you do wow Well, he really loves me today. I'm bleeding But that was it so I didn't need to hear that You love me, but dad just would never say it. That was my dad, but he was a good man hard worker Revelation chapter 9 my dad I read it to him and you just read some of it with me and That's pretty heavy stop And so dad said when you said you loved me and he didn't want to go to heaven without me He said that's what touched my heart because God used something about my dad that you see in me And that is this my dad loved his family My dad would have died for us in an instant without a thought he loved us We knew that that family for my dad was Everything that was my dad So when I asked his son whom he loved and I'll say this openly the most and it's true It's true My dad had blue eyes. I have blue-green eyes I was a little light-skinned Mexican kid in a dark brown chocolate family and There was just something about me that my dad had just had the sing for so I knew that all so when I I'll all my life So I know he loves me and one day he finally told me he says yeah, I love mama said tell him tell him And he said that's true David. He said I really really love you nice and that was sweet I appreciate that but I always knew that but when I shared with him daddy. I love you now that was new He had never said that to me till I was 17. I was in a lot of trouble and Then I had said that to him. I don't remember. I don't know if I had said it since I was four years old and Now I'm 20. I Hadn't said it in all those years daddy. I love you haven't said it now. I'm saying it I love you daddy, and I don't want to go to heaven without you So what am I trying to say? Let me just lay this as a foundation when you preach the gospel love the people you speak to love them Love them. Let them know I deeply love you. That's the reason I'm telling you this if I didn't love you I wouldn't say anything But because I do I'll tell you and that's how it was with my dad And by the way sometimes when I'm teaching here, and it's kind of difficult. Please understand I love you too, and that's why I tell you the truth. I don't think a pastor should ever do anything other than tell the truth That's what we're called to do. So getting into the passage. Let's look at it together We're examining the trumpet judgments The trumpet judgments begin with the opening of what is called the seventh seal Now there are three sets of judgments. I've been mentioning to you about this Let me just reiterate and each of these sets of judgments will gain in intensity You start with the seal trumpet the seal judgments you move to the trumpet judgments and then you conclude with what are called the bowl judgments and The greatest and most final and most horrific will be the bowl judgments now Chapter 8 revealed the sounding of four of the trumpets I mentioned to you last time we're together that that is also referred to as the judgment of thirds Because you see that a third of the earth is affected in this way the Sun etc So it's called the judgment of thirds the judge the trumpets trumpets were sounded by angels who are standing before God and What they were doing is they were signaling as we saw in chapter 8 They were signaling what are called ecological disasters now the Bible reveals how the universe has been designed and The universe is designed to bring glory to God as a matter of fact the design of the universe is actually part of how the Lord Reveals himself. It's called general revelation And so it's actually part of how the Lord through general revelation draws the attention man He does that through his creation in Psalm 19 verses 1 and 2 It says the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork Day and today utter speech and night and tonight reveals knowledge So God uses creation to declare his glory in Romans chapter 1 verse 20 Paul said since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen Being understood by the things that are made Even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse The writer of heroes says every house is build it by some man and he who built all things is God And so creation is intended to declare certain things it declares the glory of God And so creation can declare the glory of God But it can also and this is what we're seeing chapter 8 into chapter 9 It can also reveal his wrath In verse 7 of chapter 8 One third of the trees and vegetation were destroyed by hail and fire in Verses 8 and 9 a great mountain perhaps as I mentioned last time an asteroid was thrown into the sea One third of the seed turned to blood one third of the living creatures die in verses 10 and 11 a star Perhaps a meteorite falls to the earth one third of the springs of water become poisonous and many die as a result of that And so the heavens are actually being used to bring ecological disasters in Verses 12 and 13 one third of the sun moon and stars were struck and darkness closed in as I mentioned to you last time That's a temporary and partial blocking of the Sun because later on that's revealed. We'll see that in chapter 16 verses 8 and 9 Jesus had spoken about that in Luke chapter 21 verses 25 and 26 when he said there'll be signs in the Sun moon and stars on the earth Nations will be an anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea men will faint from terror Apprehensive of what is coming on the world for the heavenly bodies will be shaken So we see that beginning to take place ecological disasters But the universe is beginning to actually Real under the wrath of God and God is now ecologically bringing judgment on the earth And so as I've said as I'm saying these are ecological man is impacted But the judgments have actually been on nature But chapter 9 records two judgments on man himself now One last thing and then we'll look at this in verse 13 of chapter 80 He said I looked and heard an angel flying to the midst of heaven saying with a loud voice Whoa whoa whoa to the inhabitants of the earth because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels Who are about to sound? I'll just say this as a sidelight. It really isn't something worthy of Speaking a whole lot about simply saying this is an angel that is warning of upcoming calamity. There was a time When satellites for the satellite for TBN was referred to as the angel and So there were those who are saying well perhaps this is in reference to TBN and I have to say no I don't think so. This is an angel and the angel is warning of upcoming calamity But the point that was being made is this man still refuses to Repent here's a scripture for you Proverbs 29 one for those who take notes He who is often rebuked and hardens his neck will suddenly be destroyed in that without remedy They refuse to repent that reveals the hardness of the human heart So much judgment is impacting and they still refuse to bow their knees to the Lord Now the three woes that the angel cries out are the last three trumpet judgments Chapter 9 verses 1 through 12 is what is called the fifth trumpet judgment the first woe that was referred to Verses 13 through 21 of chapter 9 is the sixth trumpet judgment or the second woe There'll be a parentheses We'll see this in chapter 10 from verse 1 to chapter 11 verse 14 And then you have the seventh trumpet or the third woe that will sound and so that's your Introduction verses 1 and 2 the fifth angel sounded I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth So the sealant trumpet judgments have taken us deeply into the tribulation and now we see the fifth trumpet sound Notice in verse 1 how he says I saw a star fallen from heaven Notice how it says to him was given the key to the bottomless pit to him Now we've seen things happening in what would be called the starry heavens You see it in chapter 6 verse 13 chapter 8 verse 10 and 12 Unusual things are happening in the starry heavens, but these passages referred to what we would call material stars But in this passage in verse 1 it's obvious that John is not writing of a star Notice he's referring to a person the fifth angel sounded I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit So this isn't speaking about a literal star This is a fallen star but it has great authority in Scripture there are those who would point out that angels can be referred to as stars in Job 38 verse 7 He speaks of when the morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy in Scripture There is one who would fit this description of a great or an angel with great authority and that would be Satan and Satan is a fallen angel in Luke chapter 10 verses 17 through 20 it says the 70 returned with joy and said Lord Even the demons submit to us in your name He replied I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy Nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the Spirit submit to you rejoice that your names are written in heaven But what is it that Jesus said I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven? What we're looking at in verse 9 is a picture of Satan And we're going to look at that for just a moment Scripture records that there are various names of this arch enemy of God one I should point out that there are theologians who argue as To whether or not Satan is an actual being There are those who say that there is what would be called a Satan principle Sometimes they refer to evil as simply man-made or man-generated But a moment ago, I just read to you what Jesus himself said he made it very clear I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven So I don't think that Jesus would agree with the theologians who say there is no such being as Satan Jesus obviously Said there is and so let's see. I'll read this liberal theologian or I'll take Jesus at his word I wonder which I should do And so Jesus spoke concerning him in a literal sense and and when you read the Bible you will see that he's actually referred to But under different names or titles. He's called Satan the word Satan means Adversary that's what the word means. He's called the devil. The word devil speaks of a slanderer He's Lucifer. He is the accuser of the brethren. He's called Beelzebub He's referred to as the prince of this world He's called the prince of the power of the air. He's called the god of this age He's referred to as the adversary the dragon the serpent the deceiver He's spoken of as an angel of light. He's the prince of demons. He's also referred to as the wicked one Satan is real The scripture teaches that he originally was a high ranking angel He was the mightiest angel. He was what it was called a covering cherub Covering cherub was the one was one of the angels who that were actually created to be close to the glory of God It is believed that he was originally the heavenly choir director Interesting huh want to go into music ministry remember that because he led the worship He directed worship and praise to God and I want to show you something about this So what we're gonna do together is we're gonna change. We're gonna look into Ezekiel Let's turn our Bibles to Ezekiel chapter 28 I want to show you something Ezekiel chapter 28 because we're gonna look at this and I'm gonna develop this with you Ezekiel chapter 28 For some of you that may be a new experience of opening your Bible and looking for a passage and You may be wondering even as I'm saying that where is Ezekiel Ezekiel's with the Lord is Ezekiel Right after Lamentations and just before Daniel Ezekiel chapter 28. I want to develop this with you. So beginning at verse 11 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man take up a lamentation for the king of tire and say to him Thus says the Lord God You were the seal of perfection full of wisdom and perfect in beauty You were in Eden the Garden of God Every precious stone was your covering the sardias topaz and diamond Burl onyx and jasper sapphire turquoise and emerald with gold Workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you and the day you were created Timbrels and pipes this is part of the reason why incidentally that he's called the heavenly choir director because that speaks of musical instruments You were the anointed cherub who covers I established you you were on the holy mountain of God You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created till iniquity was found in you By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within and you sinned Therefore I cast you as profane a profane thing out of the mountain of God And I destroyed you oh covering cherub from the midst of the fiery stones Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor I cast you to the ground. I laid you before kings that they might gaze at you And so this is what we're looking at we're looking at Satan and let me show you a couple of things not I'm not going to give you a thorough teaching on that passage right now But let me give you a couple things that relate to it Now Notice how he says You were in Eden the Garden of God and so we know he's not speaking to the literal king of tire here because The king of tire could not have been there So he speaks of him and he says in verse 12 for example You were the seal meaning the model of perfection you were wise and you were beautiful in Verse 13 he says you were covered with precious stones when he says you're covered with precious stones This would remind us of the high priest as well as the new Jerusalem the stones reflect the light of perfection They don't create radiate their own light, but reflect God's light And so he was a creation, but didn't have any glory of his own It was something he was to have reflected from God in verse 15 Ezekiel makes it clear that Satan is a created being He's not a self-existing being he was not created as Satan But he became the opposer when he rebelled against the will of God See sometimes people will say that Satan is just a little less than God. That's an absolute lie. That is outright error He's nothing anywhere close to God. He's a creation. He is not infinite. He's not Omni present. He's not omni omniscient. He has none of those qualities He's a creation and as a matter of fact it says that iniquity was found in him that word found simply It means that it was detected and what was it that was detected? He desired what belonged to God So verse 17 makes it clear what happened through pride. He left his position and he did so voluntarily Now Satan has a will and he voluntarily used it to turn away from God How do we know that Satan has a will? Isaiah tells us in chapter 14 verses 12 through 15 for those of you who are taking notes How you have fallen from heaven. Oh morning star son of dawn You have been cast down to the earth you who once laid low the nations you said in your heart I will ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I Will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I Will ascend above the tops of the clouds. I Will make myself like the most high But you are brought down to the grave to the depths of the pit these The statement I these are called the five I wills of Satan the five. I will I Will ascend into heaven This is the sin of self-seeking and self-promotion Angels do not have the highest heaven as their lawful place of residence because that's God's domain He says I will raise my throne above the stars of God He desired to possess a throne of his own and to rule above other angels He says I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain in other words I will rule the earth and I will be over Israel. He said I will ascend above the tops of the clouds of the Approximately 150 references to clouds over 100 refer to the divine presence and glory He says I'm going to take that which belongs only to God in other words He says I will make myself like the most high I'm going to be like God a possessor of authority and I'm going to be Lord over heaven and earth I will take what belongs to God Almighty alone. And so as we see Satan had eye problems Now at the present time and you can turn back to revelation because I'm not going to give you as thorough a teaching as I could on this Just wanted to touch this at the present time He still has access to heaven Job chapters 1 and 2 make reference to that how he approached God Job 1 6 says the angels came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came with them But ultimately Satan will be restricted from heaven and as part of the tribulation period He will be cast down to the earth and you'll see this in Revelation chapter 12 Now I want to continue looking at this fifth angel sounded a star fallen from heaven to him was given the key I want to continue that by pointing out that the Bible reveals that Satan possesses limited But great power and influence on the earth Satan bestows kingdoms in Luke chapter 4 verse 6 When he was speaking to Jesus he said I will give you all their authority and splendor Before it has been given to me. I can give it to anyone. I want to Satan can inflict illness in Job chapter 2 verse 7 Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores From the soles of his feet to the top of his head Satan can Buffett believers in Luke 22 31 Jesus said Simon Simon Satan has asked to sift you as wheat Satan keeps people in fear of death Hebrews 2 14 says since the children have flesh and blood he too shared in their humanity So that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death. That is the devil Satan can control the weather Job chapter 1 verses 18 and 19 speaks concerning this mighty wind that swept from the desert and struck the four corners of the homes of the children of Job and Satan keeps people in spiritual blindness and what is this is special tactic it's to keep people rejecting Jesus as Messiah That is what he does Listen, and this is just something practical to give to you When you give the gospel of Jesus Christ, please don't get into this mentality that unless they pray with you and accept Christ Then your efforts were in vain My responsibility is to sow seeds Somebody else may come and water them, but the Bible tells me very clearly, but God gives the increase So don't get caught up like a salesman because there are some people who will do the door-to-door Ministry or evangelism ministry or mission ministry and they think if people aren't coming to faith in Christ And I must be a failure my efforts aren't strong enough my wisdom isn't enough the gospel is not powerful enough You need to understand that it's the enemy who's blind in the minds of those who don't believe How do I know that second Corinthians chapter 4 verse 4 the God of this age is blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the glory of the gospel of Christ who's the image of God and That's why you give the message and pray that God will open their understanding. That's why you do that You just pour out that message There are some people who will hear when you're sharing and They will say I need Christ and there are other people Who will hear when you're saying what you're saying and say I want nothing to do with them Remember that the same son that hardens clay will melt the wax in The same message where somebody will hear about Christ and say I need him There's somebody else in that same room listening to the same thing saying I can't stand anything that this person is saying So what's our responsibility what you need to know that the people are blind spiritually blind and So you just give them the gospel and let God do his work It's been said let the lion out of the cage You just let it go and let it do the work that God determines that that word will do just trust the Lord But remember that the enemy has blinded people and they are spiritually blind when people get mad and they say oh man I can't stand you Jesus said if they hate you don't be surprised. He says they hated me before they hated you So it's really not you per se that they're hating So much as the message and who's being presented and they get mad at him keep that in mind And so that's what the enemy does. There's one thing though that I want to point out as I'm developing an introduction to verse one He is limited by God Remember that God protects those who belong to him In first John chapter 4 verse 4 you dear children are from God and have overcome them because The one who is in you is greater than the one who's in the world First John 5 18 we know that whoever is born of God does not sin But he has been born of God But he who has been born of God keeps himself and the wicked one does not touch him Cannot When he says does not sin does not make sin his habit and practice and way of life It's not that we don't fail we do but it's not our way of life It's not how we live habitually Now I'll take it a step further. Satan is aided by demons Those are fallen angels Because Satan is a created being he's limited as I mentioned He's not omniscient omnipotent nor is he on my present Therefore he has legions of devils who fell who aid him in his rebellion And so that's who you're looking at here in verse one The fifth angel sounded I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth To him was given the key to the bottomless pit and he opened the bottomless pit and Smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace and the sun and the air were Darkened because of the smoke of the pit then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth to them was given power As the scorpions of the earth have power They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth or any green thing or any tree But only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads They were not given authority to kill them but to torment them for five months their torment was like the torment of a Scorpion when it strikes a man in those days men will seek death and will not find it They will desire to die and death will flee from them And so to him was given the key notice to the bottomless pit The keeper of the keys has the power to open and shut in the New Testament a key is used by He used to denote power and authority This bottomless pit is called the abuso That word is used seven times in Revelation. It speaks of the prison holding some demons. It's called we use the term the abyss It's a temporary detention center until the lake of fire, which is final judgment And so this is speaking of a temporary detention center But he's opening up this bottomless pit and there are demons that are being released and that's the point that he's making hordes of ferocious demons are allowed to escape Now these have been bound since the days of Noah in Jude verse 6 it speaks of the angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation He's reserved them in everlasting chains under darkness until the judgment of the great day 2nd Peter 2 4 says if God spared not the angels who sinned but cast them down to hell Delivered them into chains of darkness. They were reserved unto judgment speaking of this place and then in Luke chapter 8 verses 30 and 31 Jesus asked what is your name? He said legion because many devils were entered into him and they besought him that he would not command them to go into the Deep or the abyss or the abuso So it's a temporary detention center where evil spirits have been incarcerated since the times of Noah The enemy allows them while God gives him the ability or allows him to open it up and these these Demons that are of unspeakable evil come forward now Here's the thing we already see evil Why would this be remarkable it's because these were demons who were from the time of Noah and when you read the book of Genesis in the description of what was taking place and the impact that these these evil demons were having at that time What we have right now are evil, but they are not equivalent to what was going to take place during the tribulation What is going to take place is going to be more evil than any person in this room beginning with myself could even imagine If you think that there is evil on the face of the earth and there are people who deny it that they say there's really not That's only because they they're really not looking. They really don't see We're in India driving in a bus In I believe the city was madras already had been there for nine days Saw so much poverty and pain so much decay and sorrow That my heart was broken. I have to be honest with you. There's just something about seeing these babies begging everywhere you go Millions of people in poverty the stench of decay Seeing somebody next to us a small lake bathing next to them somebody is washing their clothes and Next to them is somebody with a pot bringing water out of that dirty water With the pot that taking water to go cook with it To smell and to see to go into a temple to see what they do there and To see babies young kids four or five six years old With their hands out asking for food when you walk in and you watch the the people who are there going into the Into the temple you see them walking past the children So they can take grain and feed rats And I've seen that I've been there. I've seen it Where they go past the children who are begging for food? To go and give their grain offering to rats that inhabit that temple And I'm driving with a friend of mine. Well with the whole team were driving in this bus and I look on the sidewalk and 40 feet from me as we're driving by in this two lane on the corner. I see a little girl Who was probably three years old? Lane naked on a on a three by four sheet of cardboard That was her bed And when I see this little baby with her mama sitting next to her my heart Was absolutely that was it. I can't take any more of this is this breaking my heart and you know where The team is being taken to a place where they they call it ladies in cages women in cages It's where the prostitutes are literally placed in cages like kennels and there are women in there Who have become impregnated Who are raising their babies in these cages the one who would argue and say there's no evil They're blind There is such evil in this world There is there's evil But it's going to be worse when these ferocious Evil demons that have been incarcerated since the time of Noah are released and Finally have their opportunity to do the evil that they desire to do So for those who are here during that time It's going to be horrible It says in verses three through six out of the smoke locusts come upon the earth and they had great power locusts now When you read this some say they are most likely demonically energized Others would say this is really simply a picture of demons But what we have is a cloud. It's a cloud like smoke that covers the Sun There are so many is the point. It's making now The locusts have a scorpion sting and They harmed those who are rejecting Jesus. They have no authority to kill. He says but they can inflict incredible pain Now remember we had read about the hundred and forty four evangelists whether protected as Well as the others who have been saved but those who are getting stung notice the pain is suffered for five months Now I was reading about scorpions and a scorpion sting can produce pain for several days Scorpion stings can be so powerful that they might even kill children so the pain is Intense in verses seven through ten it speaks of the shape of the look of the locusts and like horses prepared for battle Now I want you to notice that he says they're like he keeps using the word like this may indicate that something other than a little Interpretation would be Intended there they are portrayed though as being fierce their portrayed as being evil their portrayed as being powerful There's a description woman's hair lion's teeth but the way that this is Presented notice verse 10. They had tails like scorpions were stings in their tails their power was a hurt man five months They had king over them the angel of the bottomless pit whose name was he in Hebrew is a baton in Greek He's a Polly in well as they're speaking concerning this it could be a description of of a literal Locusts of course and there are others who would say that it could be a picture of something other than that perhaps even a description of a helicopter like a copra helicopter And some have said well, this is a possible that it's possible that they may be cobra helicopters spewing nerve gas That we don't know but there are those who would postulate that it says they are portrayed as being immune from destruction because they have armor Now notice again. They had a king over them the angel of the bottomless pit That helps us to know that they may not be literally locusts because Proverbs 30 27 says locusts have no king Yet they all advance in ranks What we actually are seeing here for sure is this Satan's characters revealed he is destruction and he is destroyer Because the name in Hebrew is a baton destruction in the Greek. He has the name a Polly in destroyer So Satan is destruction and destroyer. He is identified One last thought and then we'll We'll close with prayer and we will worship the Lord because we're not going through this Thank You Jesus Have you have you I don't want to make this too personal, but let me say it like this. I have Had the opportunity of Seeing someone die and to see the pain they're in Some of us have my mama was in such terrible pain in Her last few days last few months terrible pain terrible pain She had broken her back. She She used to wear a little bag that gave her such trouble her hands were so arthritically crippled that She couldn't even hold a spoon Mama was in terrible pain and do you want to know some of you have been in this church if you don't mind Let me be personal in this way When my father went home to be with the Lord that was a sudden thing that I didn't expect My dad was well one day and he was dead three or four days later I was a knot ready for that and some of you some of you in this in this room Perhaps were with us years ago and my dad went home to be with the Lord and and some of you I know I can look out and recognize some of you You went through the pain with me. You saw me suffering up here The pain of such a sudden departure Something I wasn't ready for it took a long time for me to finally Daddy's with Jesus, but it was painful But mama died last year my mama died a little over a year ago, and I haven't done the same thing And some people might say well he really was upset when his dad died But it seems like his mom's death didn't affect him the way his dad's did here's the reason because I prayed Jesus Either heal her or take her home He'll her or take her home. She says she's in such pain and Lord. I know that I Just know that you're going to take her home So when my sister was holding her my mama in her arms and my mom breathed her last Died in the arms of her little girl and my sister calls me up and says mama died. I Had sorrow But not like I had for my father why because I had been saying Jesus please take mama home She needs to go home. She's in such pain. Please take her home So it wasn't like a relief. I can't say that But the burden was yielded easier Imagine you crying out for five months. I Need to die the pain is so intense and You cannot die You're in an accident and your body is torn up and the pain is But you cannot die Death is suspended the scorpion sting the pain and the crying out What a terrible picture What a terrible picture for five months and They can't die and they can't die. This reveals the character of the enemy. He is destructive and he destroys He's referred to as the king that speaks of his authority But it also shows what kind of foe we have What kind of foe we have but I rejoice to know that Jesus crushed his head Jesus destroyed this is the destroyer