The Fifth
Trumpet Judgment
Chapter
One - Verse One
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.
(Revelation
9:1)
This book is a
study of the first eleven verses found in the ninth chapter of the Book of
Revelation. Let us begin our study of this chapter by first identifying this
start in verse one. We need not
speculate as to who or what this star might represent, since the Bible assures
us in 2 Peter 1:20 that “…no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private
interpretation.” Knowing this, we can
rest assured that Scripture will interpret itself without man’s help. The task of the believer is to labor in the
Word and search the Scriptures daily.
CHRIST: THE STAR FROM HEAVEN
Christ Himself is
pictured as a star in Scripture. We read
of this in Numbers 24:17 - “…there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of
Isaiah 9:2 gives us a prophecy of the coming Messiah -
“The people that walked in darkness have seen a GREAT LIGHT: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of
death, upon them hath the light
shined.” Again, this is speaking of
the Christ who would come and redeem His people from spiritual darkness, saving
them from eternal and outer darkness.
Christ indeed was the LIGHT and the MORNING STAR that came into the
world. It is no wonder He is symbolically portrayed in Scripture as the morning
star; taking on the characteristics or attributes of a great radiance, as does
the transition from darkness to dawn.
“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light,” the
prophet Isaiah declared centuries before its fulfillment. The New Testament confirms this in many
places, declaring that Christ is indeed the
light of the world.
This word “light” in
the New Testament Greek is defined as luminousness in the widest
application.
TRUE BELIEVERS
AS STARS
True believers are
also referred to in Scripture as stars.
For example, consider Daniel 12:3 -“And they that be wise shall
shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to
righteousness as the stars
for ever and ever.” Again we see this
in Psalm 148:3 - “Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.” We read of God blessing Abraham and promising
to multiply his seed in Genesis 22:17 _ “That in blessing I will bless
thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars for the heaven, and as the sand which is upon
the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.” It is here that Abraham’s spiritual
descendants, that is his spiritual seed (all who seek God through faith in
Christ), are compared to the sands of the sea shores, and as the stars
of heaven. We understand that this is
speaking of true believers, since this phrase “…and thy seed shall possess the
gate of his enemies” must be in reference to victory over Satan. We have a parallel passage to this statement
found in Luke 1:68-71.
Luke 1:68-71 -
68 Blessed be
the Lord God of
69 And hath
raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
70 As he
spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
71 That we
should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
This is of course salvation
language spoken of here. Our enemy whom
we are saved and delivered from is Satan and his kingdom of darkness. This is what Genesis 22:17 had in view as it
alluded to the seed of Abraham possessing the gate of their enemies. This spiritual seed will multiply as the stars of heaven. As Christ is the head of His Church, we the
believers are to be joint heirs with Him.
As He is the bright and morning star, likewise we are to be as stars
that shine with His radiance.
SATAN’S
MESSENGERS AS STARS
Satan’s whole plan
from ages past was, and still is, to exalt himself above God, and to be
worshipped as the Creator. Consider Isaiah 14:13-14 -
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.
As Satan ascends
and mounts up into the congregations of God, he shall do so very discreetly. He will disguise himself as a star of
or light bearer, while bringing forth false doctrines or half truths;
being nothing more than damnable heresies.
Let us recall II Corinthians
11:13-15 -
13 For such
are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the
apostles of Christ.
14 And no
marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore
it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the
ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Verse fourteen
tells us that Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. This
word light carries the meaning of luminous in the widest application. Not only is Satan transformed into an angel
(meaning messenger of light), but likewise his apostles or servants are as well. If we are not serving Christ, then we are
indeed serving Satan, whether we care to believer that or not makes no
difference, since it is a biblical fact.
Jesus said: “He that is not with me is against me…,” (Matthew
12:30). Yes, Satan and his apostles are
equated to stars in Scriptures,
along with Christ and His faithful believers.
In Satan’s kingdom are found imitators of Godliness. They disguise themselves as apostles of
light. We read in Jude verse thirteen how they are symbolically portrayed as stars. “Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their
own shame; wandering stars,
to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.”
SATAN: THE
FALLING STAR?
From Revelation 9:1
this star is seen as falling. “…and I
saw a star fall from heaven…” This word fall in the Greek carries the
meaning of: To fall, or to fail. This verse doesn’t appear to be in reference
to Christ as some have supposed. God is perfect
and cannot fall or fail in any way. On
the other hand, Satan fell
from the grace of God along with his angels.
All of humanity is in a fallen spiritual state and under the spell of
Satan. Only those who have been cleansed
by the blood of Christ can be taken from this fallen condition and brought back
into fellowship with God, as was our condition prior to man’s fall in the
Garden of Eden.
This star that fell
from heaven seems to refer to Satan himself.
He fell from…where? He
fell from…heaven. Who else fell from heaven other than Satan
and his host of angelic beings? No
one. Adam and all of humanity have
fallen from grace, of course, but we are speaking of falling from God’s throne
of heaven. God is the only one who knows
for certain who or what this star is supposed to represent. It does appear fairly certain that it is a
symbolic representation of Satan, however what we can know for a fact is that
this star represents spiritual darkness and evil upon the church during the
last days. The symbolic language in the
Book of Revelation has much more in view than a mere shooting or falling
star. The Bible deals strictly with the
We again read of
Satan being cast out of heaven in Ezekiel chapter twenty-eight.
Ezekiel 28: 15-17 -
15 Thou wast
perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was
found in thee.
16 By the
multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence,
and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the
17 Thine
heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by
reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay
thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
Notice carefully in
verse seventeen that Satan is said to possess brightness. This is another important link, in as far as
Satan being the fulfillment of the falling star of Revelation 9:1. “Brightness” here is another Hebrew word for
“shinning.” We read much the same in
these verses as we read in Isaiah chapter fourteen. Verse sixteen here in Ezekiel chapter
twenty-eight states that Satan was cast out of heaven, while in verse seventeen
we are told that he was cast to the ground, which is the same Hebrew word that
was used in Isaiah…meaning earth! In Ezekiel 28:18 God declares that He will
bring Satan to”…ashes upon the earth.” This is depicting Satan’s total and
final ruin, as he was first cast out of heaven, and finally he is to be cast
into the lake of fire (a spiritual metaphor of eternal hell) at the second
coming of Christ, Revelation 20:10.
We are shown yet
another picture of Satan’s fall in Ezekiel
32:7-10-
7 And when I
shall put thee out, I will cover
the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon shall not give her light.
8 All the
bright lights of heaven will I make dark
over thee, and set darkness
upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
9 I will also
vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the
nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.
10 Yea, I
will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid
for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at
every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall.
Although the
subject of this chapter in Ezekiel is Pharaoh, king of
Darkness at the Crucifixion
Luke 23:44 - “And it was about the sixth hour,
and there was a darkness
over all the earth until the ninth hour.
45 And the
sun was darkened, and the
veil of the temple was rent in the midst.”
Mark 15:33 - “And when the sixth hour was come,
there was darkness over
the whole land until the ninth hour.”
Notice that Luke’s account says that the darkness was over all the earth
while Mark’s account says that the darkness was over all the land. The Greek word that is used seems to be
translated both ways, so we really don’t know how far from
Matthew 27:45 - “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land
unto the ninth hour.”
The fearful
darkness upon the land or earth was fulfilled at Christ’s crucifixion,
precisely as declared in the Ezekiel passages.
The Bible gives further evidence that this star that fell from heaven is
in fact Satan.
Luke 10:17-18 -
17 “And the
seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto
us through thy name.
18 And he
said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” This
was stated by Christ as He was instructing seventy appointees to go out into
the cities two by two and proclaim the good news of eternal salvation. Lightning as used in the above verse carries the
meaning of bright shinning, glare, or to flash as lightning. Christ states that He saw Satan fall from haven,
as lightning. Revelation 9:1 has the
same occurrence in view; Satan falling from heaven as a star or lightning,
meaning bright shinning. We also recall
the words of Christ in John 12:31 as
He speaks of His death and resurrection.
There we read: Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince
of this word be cast out.”
Satan Defeated at the Cross
Satan was totally
defeated at the cross. Hebrews 2:14 makes this
clear: “…that through death he might
destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil.” This word cast, as used in John 12:31 means to
excommunicate; to drive out; to expel; to send away’ to thrust out’ and so
forth. Satan was cast down and
defeated by Christ going to the cross on our behalf. We also see from Revelation 8:10-11 a parallel passage of Satan being
described as a star falling to the earth. There we
read:
10 And the
third angel sounded, and there fell
a great star from heaven,
burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and
upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the
name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became
wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
The word bitter in
the Greek carries the meaning of being poisonous, while the definition of
wormwood is defined as bitter.
Here again, this star (depicted as a great star) can only be in
reference to Satan. Who else has been
commissioned by God to silence the truth of God’s Word? God allows Satan his final and most deceptive
endeavor, toward the end of time, at attempting to destroy the pure Word of
God. He comes to silence the
Gospel! He comes to “…destroy the third part of mankind,” by
causing them to become bitter or poisonous.
The third part that God is speaking of can be shown from Scripture to be
the Church of Jesus Christ. Please see
the chapter in this study entitled “The
Church: the Third Part.” It is
this precious true doctrine of the Gospel of Christ that will be poisoned and
made bitter during the time of the Great Tribulation. True believers within the corporate church
are sealed and cannot lose their salvation, although those within the church whom
yet have not experienced the new birth, that is to say being born again (new
creatures in Christ; cf. II Corinthians 5:17), will fall prey to this massive
onslaught once Satan is released from his spiritual prison, symbolically
portrayed as the bottomless pit.
Let us consider yet
another passage of Scripture where Satan is again seen being cast out of
heaven, and unto the earth. We will
begin at Revelation twelve and verse seven.
Revelation 12:7-12
7 - And there
was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the
dragon fought and his angels,
8 And
prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the
great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world: he was cast
out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. [cf. Revelation 9:1 “And I saw a star
fall from heaven unto the earth.]
10 And I
heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and
the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our
brethren is cast down, which
accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and
they loved not their lives unto the death.
12 ¶Therefore
rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the
earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath,
because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
13 And when
the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which
brought forth the man child.
We see strong
language in these seven verses to support the fact that Satan was indeed cast
out of heaven and unto the earth at the cross.
From verse seven we learn that there was war in heaven, and this war was
between Christ and His angels and Satan and his angels. This conflict was surely not resolved until
Christ was sacrificed on our behalf, taking upon Himself the sins of all who
would ever be saved. At that particular
time as verse nine declares, Satan and his angels were CAST out of heaven and
into the earth. This is the time where
Christ spoke of as recorded in Luke
10:18 saying: “I beheld Satan as lightning fall [cast out] from heaven.” Christ references this also, as seen in John 12:31 where He
declares: “Now is the judgment of this
world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” Christ says that He is not of this world
(John 17:16); however Satan is without question the prince of this world. In addition to his title given him, he is
also mentioned being “the prince of the air,” (Ephesians 2:2), as we stated earlier. Satan will continue to sway the world into
spiritual destruction until the day that Christ returns to this earth in judgment. Satan was unquestionably cast out of heaven at
the cross, and his persuasion to deceive the world was most assuredly crushed
at that time. Satan will remain in this
condition until God releases him for a short period of time, near the
end of this age, to go forth and once again deceive the nations of the world,
as we read in Revelation 20:7. IT WOULD
SEEM THAT THE WORLD HAS ARRIVED AT THAT TIME!
Up until the time
that Satan is loosed, he is spiritually bound in the bottomless pit and cannot prevent
God’s elect from coming into salvation.
This is not contrary to what we reading 1 Peter 5:8: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may
devour.” Satan is still very much in an
active existence in this world today, nonetheless, he has been totally defeated
by the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
From that time Satan could no longer frustrate God’s plan of
salvation. In this sense he has been
cast into prison and his ability to hinder those who would come into salvation can
no longer be prominent, as it was in the days of the Old Testament. Keep in mind that during the flood of Noah’s
day there was only a minuscule amount that were saved - only eight souls being
found righteous before God. Eight
souls! Satan was indeed prevailing until
he was locked in his spiritual prison at the cross. When he is released from this prison at the
sounding of the fifth trumpet, it will be for only a short while, known as the Great
Tribulation. During this time Satan will
once again be allowed by God to stifle and block the entrance of heaven, all in
accordance with the Father’s sovereign will. Consider what Christ says in Matthew 12:28-29:-
28 But if I
cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the
29 Or else
how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he
first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
An extremely clear
and precise portrayal of just how Christ first bound Satan, this strong man, that He may plunder
his house. Since the time of the cross,
the Gospel of Salvation through Christ has been plundering Satan’s house (this
world) more vigorously and forcibly than at any other time since the fall of
man in the Garden of Eden.
Satan, in one
sense, was cast out of this world at the cross.
His ability to prevent the going forth of God’s Word was crushed;
however not only was his hindering power limited and cast out of this earth, he
himself (along with his fallen angels) were indisputably cast out of heaven at
this time. “…neither was their place
found any more in heaven,” Revelation 12:8.
What then occurred in heaven immediately after the casting out of Satan? Revelation
12:10 gives us the answer: “And
I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now
is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power
of his Christ.” Again, we
repeat…when did this occur? When did
salvation through Christ come into the world?
When did the “power of Christ’ or the “kingdom of our God” come to
earth? Let us recall the words of John
the Baptist, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: “…make straight the way of the Lord.” (John
1:23); and again in Matthew 3:1-3:
1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching
in the wilderness of
2 And saying,
Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3 For this is
he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in
the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
John the Baptist
went out ahead of Christ to declare that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. For something to be at hand means that it has
arrived. John was sent from God to
declare the arrival of the
Revelation 12:12 - ¶Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye
that dwell in them. Woe to
the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you,
having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Was Satan given the
ability in God’s overall plan to hinder or prevent salvation from the time of
his fall (at the cross) until the return of Christ at the last day? Is this the space of time that the above
verse twelve of Revelation chapter twelve speaks of? Satan was defeated at the cross and cast to
earth with great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time left. Rather than assume that this short time
is the entire Church Age, it is much more likely that the short time represents
the length of the Great Tribulation period; a time wherein Satan will once more
be loosed for a little season,
[short time], (Revelation 20:3). That is
the time where his wrath will be the greatest, thus the reason Christ deemed
that period as Great Tribulation, because God will allow Satan to hinder the
hearing of the Gospel. Christ tells us
in Matthew 24:22 and Mark 13:20 that those days will be shortened … a little season?
Satan’s Prey
Who or what does
Satan pursue once he is cast to the earth?
Revelation 8:10 tells us that Satan fell upon the third part
of the fountains of waters and
upon the third part of the rivers. Just how are we to understand this type of
language? Why would Satan want to pursue
and attack rivers and fountains of water?
Was he thirsty from falling all the way from heaven? A ridiculous thought, of course, but if one
insists upon interpreting Scripture from a strictly literal perspective, then
this kind of foolishness would have to be taken into consideration. Christ taught in symbolical language, being
not only the author of the four Gospels, but being the writer of the entire
Bible itself, from Genesis to the Book of Revelation. One of many names given to Christ in Scripture
is The Word of God, found in Revelation 19:13.
To ponder upon the “words in red” in many bibles, and to believe that these
are the only words of Christ, is not only a half truth, but is in actuality
tantamount to subverting the authorship of God.
Let us now consider how God defines rivers and fountains of waters.
Rivers and Fountains of
Water
Revelation 21:6 - And he said unto me, It is done. I
am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is
athirst of the fountain of the water
of life freely.
Revelation 7:17 - For the Lamb which is in the midst
of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes.
John 7:38 - He that believeth on me, as the Scripture
hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water.
Jeremiah 2:13 - For my people have committed two
evils; they have forsaken me the fountain
of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that
can hold no water.
Jeremiah 17:13 - O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that
forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in
the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
Zechariah 14:8 - ¶And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from
The Gospel of Jesus
Christ is the fountain of living waters; the good news to man that contains
eternal life. Living waters being another
metaphor or analogy, assuring that whosoever truly drinks of this water will
live forever. Christ asked, in John
chapter four, the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well for a drink of water. The Samaritan woman replied, (paraphrasing)
how is it that you, being a Jew, have asked me, a woman of
John 4:13-14 -
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever
drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But
whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up
into everlasting life.
From Revelation
8:10 we discovered that when Satan fell from heaven at the time of the
cross, he fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the third part of the fountains of waters. This phrase third part, as was stated
earlier, is a reference to the congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ here
on earth. Satan indeed goes straight to
the church congregations in his attack after his expulsion from heaven. This is where his attack and deception is
aimed. The inhabitants of the word who
are already on the outside of the church are not subject to Satan’s deceptive
tactics. Why should they be? They are, for the most part, deceived already
with the love and care of this world. Satan
has already manipulated and deceived the multitudes into thinking that the Gospel
is an elementary and obsolete custom reserved mainly for the weak and
simpleminded. No, Satan is not concerned
about them in the slightest, knowing that they are very much deceived into his
grip. However, it is in fact the rivers
and the fountains of living waters that Satan must silence! These are Christ’s Word among congregations that
are still bringing forth the true Gospel of salvation. These
waters are the true Gospel and those who proclaim it. These are the rivers and fountains of water
that this great star Satan falls
upon, causing them to become bitter. Again it is imperative to note that true
believes CANNOT be deceived or lose their salvation. It is the Word of God that Satan will stifle
along with the multitudes of tares within the hearing of Gospel. Once the Gospel is made bitter, it is no
longer effective and cannot bring forth salvation. Satan would have every church congregation on
earth to shrewdly turn God’s word into a half truth; therefore preaching lies
and damnable heresies.
The Dragon and the Woman
Revelation 12:13 states that when Satan (the dragon) saw
that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the
man child. From this chapter we once
more encounter similar details, only with a different type of symbolism. This woman is representative of national
Revelation 12:17 - And the dragon was wroth with the
woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments
of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The remnant of the
seed of
Today’s national
“I beheld, and the
same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;”
Satan comes
masquerading and duplicating Christ by employing cunning and deceptive false
doctrines. He counterfeits and disguises
the truth, even as in Daniel where he leads the little horn in his final bid to
silence the Gospel.
And it was given unto him to make war with
the saints,
and to overcome them: and power was given
him over
all
kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
(Revelation 13:7)
SATAN GIVEN KEY TO THE BOTTOMLESS PIT
The
remainder of verse one of our study of Revelation chapter nine speaks of Satan
being given the key to the bottomless pit. Let us remember that Satan was cast
down to the bottomless pit at his destruction at the cross. It should be
emphasized here that Satan is not given any power or authority after being cast
to earth until the time appointed. Satan was not given the key to the
bottomless pit immediately upon being cast to earth. There is a great span of earthly time from
his fall at the cross until he rises from the bottomless pit. He and his angels were cast into outer
darkness as we read in Jude verse six:
“And
the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he
hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness until the judgment of the
great day.” We also see this same truth brought out in II
Peter 2:4 - “For if God spared not the angels that
sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivereth them into chains of
darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.”
Satan
is a created being and a fallen angel, therefore he would, out of necessity, be
put into this category. He is in spiritual
prison, in darkness, awaiting the final judgment when he, along with this
angels and fallen humanity, are cast into the lake of fire (eternal damnation)
at the last day. This darkness spoken of
here in Jude and in II Peter can be shown to be the bottomless pit.
Who
ultimately holds the KEY to
this bottomless pit? It is Christ alone
who has the power to open and to close the gates to this eternal darkness. We see proof of this from Revelation 20: 1-3 -
1
¶And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit
and a great chain in his hand.
2
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent ,which is the
Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3
And cast him into the bottomless
pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive
the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and
after that he must be loosed a little
season.
This
“little season” seems to coincide perfectly with “short time” of
Revelation 12:12 - “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.
Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, [cast to earth] having great wrath, because he knoweth
that he hath but a short time [little
season].”
We
should clearly understand that it is Christ, and Christ alone, who has the
power over Satan to cast him into the bottomless pit. Christ holds the keys to this bottomless
pit. Verse one is speaking of Christ
having or possessing these keys. In studying
chapter nine of the Book of Revelation, we see that Satan does not possess the
keys to this pit, but rather was merely GIVEN
these spiritual keys; a figurative statement indicating that Satan is given power
to spiritually deceive the nations.
Christ is the rightful owner of these spiritual keys. The following verses speak to this:
Revelation 1:18 - I am he that liveth, and was dead;
and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Revelation 3:7 - ¶And to the angel of the church in
Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he
that hath the key of David, he
that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
We
have nearly identical language in the Old Testament concerning the coming of
Christ and His power over death and hell.
In Isaiah 22:22 we read the same type of language concerning the coming
of Christ:
Isaiah 22:22 - And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his
shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut,
and none shall open.
What
magnificent language and insight God has laid down in His Word! Centuries before the appearance of Messiah,
Old Testament Scripture foretold of His coming.
It should be no surprise to the believers in Christ; knowing that all of
Scripture, both Old and New Testaments are written to testify of Christ. God the Father will lay upon the shoulders of
Christ the key of the house of David. In
simple terms this tells us what we should already know; Christ, the Anointed of
God who is Himself the God of all things, has been given authority over His
eternal kingdom, the eternal House of David, symbolized by, represented by,
figured by and pictured by Old Testament Israel. No man can thoroughly understand the Godhead,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, yet we receive it in faith.
Satan
will stay bound in his prison until, and only until, Christ unlocks or opens
the pit, giving Satan full power and authority to desecrate the congregations
as judgment upon the corporate church.
Again, the true believers will not be deceived by this global
assault. Some interpret this period of Great
Tribulation to last twenty-three hundred days, as seen from Daniel
8:13-14. We also want to consider Revelation 20:7-8:
7
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed [released in the Greek] out
of his prison,
8
And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of
the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom
is as the sand of the sea.
The
Thousand Years
The
term thousand years in the above verse seven is taught in Scripture to represent
God’s completeness, and cannot
mean a literal one thousand year period.
If so, this would be inconsistent with the rest of the Bible. This thousand year period mentioned here is
again a symbolic term representing God’s completeness, and finds its
fulfillment in the Church Age. This is
the time for harvesting souls, since Satan is now bound and cannot frustrate
God’s salvation plan. The number ten,
one hundred, or one thousand frequently represents the completeness of God’s
plan. Some examples are: the ten
coins of the parable of Luke 15:8-10 represent the completeness
of all believers. The one-hundred sheep of the parable
of Luke 15:3-7 likewise represent the completeness of all
believers. The thousand generations of Psalm 105:8 represent the
completeness of all who are commanded to believe the Gospel. Likewise, the thousand generations of Deuteronomy
7:9 represent the completeness of all those throughout time who will keep
God’s commandments through faith. No man
can keep God’s commandments. This is why
we are in such a great need for a Savior.
Satan
Loosed From Bottomless Pit
It
is at the time near the second coming of Christ that Satan is released from the
bottomless pit as judgment upon the corporate church. Christ gives Satan the key to the bottomless
pit as we read in Revelation 9:1. Verse
two states that he, that is Satan, opens the bottomless pit. In order for Satan to release himself form
this bottomless pit, he first must be GIVEN
the KEY; meaning to be given authority.
As we read earlier, Christ alone holds the keys to death and hell, and
of the bottomless pit. Why is Satan
given these keys? For the purpose of
being God’s instrument of judgment upon the corporate church! Let us consider
the following verse:
Revelation 11:7 -
And
when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth
out of the bottomless pit
shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
We
plainly read that when God’s two witnesses have finished their testimony Satan
will then be allowed to rise up out of his spiritual prison, the bottomless
pit, to wage war on them (NOT the world, but to the wage war on the Words of
Christ- The Gospel). Chapter eleven of the
Book of Revelation speaks of the two witnesses who testify of Christ to the
world. These two witnesses are NOT two
mere individuals, as many have outrageously claimed. No, these two witnesses are one entity of
global witnesses and can only be those who proclaim the true Word of
Christ. In the spiritual essence, they
will be overcome and killed. In other
words their witness and testimony (Gospel) will be silenced in accordance with
God’s plan for the end of the age. The
Church (the two witnesses) is also defined in Scripture as the two candlesticks
and the two olive trees. “These are the two
olive trees, and the two
candlesticks standing before the God of the earth,” (Revelation 11:4).
Revelation
11:7 is in perfect harmony with the rest of Scripture. When these two witnesses have finished their
testimony at God’s appointed time, Satan will then be allowed (given the key)
to leave his prison and go forth for a little season or for a short
time to destroy or silence the Gospel of Christ. This then is nearly identical language to the
subject of this chapter, the loosing of Satan.
It is identical language to what we read in Revelation 9:1 where Satan
is given the key or loosed from the bottomless pit.
We
also read of Satan being released from the bottomless pit in Revelation 17:8 -
8
“The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of
the bottomless pit, and go into
perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not
written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold
the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”
Here
we have yet another picture of Satan being released from his prison before he
is judged at the last day and cast into the lake of fire; that is the eternal
hell of the second death. Satan will be loosed
for a short time, prior to being cast into hell along with his fallen angels
and all of fallen humanity. Notice
carefully that the above verse eight speaks of Satan going into perdition after
his release from the bottomless pit. Perdition is translated from the Greek,
meaning damnation; ruin, or loss.
This is the sentence of Satan and all who are under his power and
authority. Satan must first be released
from his prison for the purpose of deceiving the nations, as he did prior to the
cross, and this will not occur, as we read in Revelation 20:3 “TILL” the thousand years
should be fulfilled. In other words, it
occurs at the end of the Church Age when God’s completed time for harvesting
souls is finished. Then, and only then, will
God allow Satan to ravage the congregations.
This tribulation period will be of such great magnitude as to be
unparalleled in the history of mankind. Never before has the enormity of such
an event occurred on such a global scale.
The world will then unknowingly to into what Scripture declares as the Great Tribulation; for the
salvation of souls will have come to its end, or at least have nearly
ended. Man shouldn’t declare positively
that no souls will be saved during that time period, although it certainly
looks that way. There are a few verses
that seem to hint of a trickle of souls still being saved during the Great
Tribulation. We do know for certain that
if any will be saved, it will be few in comparison to the number that was saved
(during an identical time span) prior to this tribulation period. No wonder Christ warns us of this time in
Matthew 24:21, declaring: “For then shall be Great Tribulation, such as was not
since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” What could possibly be worse than the hope of
eternal salvation being lost and replaced with the surety of outer and eternal
darkness?
END
OF CHAPTER ONE