The Fifth Trumpet Judgment

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Chapter Eleven - Verse Eleven

 

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.

(Revelation 9:11)

 

The bottomless pit is occupied by Satan and his fallen angels.  The Book of Jude and II Peter make reference to this:

 

Jude verse 6 - And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

 

2 Peter 2:4 - For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

 

Since Satan and his host were in effect destroyed at the cross, we can assume with scriptural backing, that they have been held in one place only since that time.  The bottomless pit may well have other names assigned to it throughout scripture.  This is where Satan and his fallen angels appear to have been held since the cross, and this is where they’ll stay until God releases them for a short period of time at the end of the age to deceive the nations of the earth, Revelation 20:7;17:8; 13:3; 11:7.  Revelation 11:7 tells us that Satan is in this bottomless pit until the true Church (God’s two witnesses) has finished its testimony.

 

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.

 

It is at that particular time that Satan and his fallen messengers (angels/demons) will ascend out of this pit to once more wage an all out spiritual battle upon mankind.

 

Satan will be loosed when the true Church, as a whole, has finished their testimony, represented by the two witnesses; the two olive trees and the two candlesticks of Revelation chapter eleven.  Can anyone be saved after the Church has finished their testimony and Satan has once more been released?  This seems to be the big question that is being asked.  Perhaps God has chosen not to make this absolutely clear in scripture?  Perhaps there will still be a scattered few being saved during this time?  Or again, maybe no one can be saved after this time.  Dear reader - if you cannot say that Christ is the center of your thoughts, then please take the advice of Isaiah 55:6 “SEEK YE THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUIND, CALL YE UPON HIM WHILE HE IS NEAR.”  History seems to have finally caught up with the Book of Revelation.  When God opens our spiritual eyes to the truth of biblical interpretation, one cannot deny that we are living on the threshold of the end, or perhaps in the midst of those days of great tribulation.

 

 

THE ANGEL OF THE BOTTOMLESS PIT

 

 

The word angel can be translated messenger as well.  When Revelation 9:11 states that “they” had a king over them; the “they” that is spoken of are the locusts that come up out of the bottomless pit.  These locusts are spirit beings; the demons or fallen angels that fell into transgression long ago with Lucifer.  Contrary to what many churches are teaching, one cannot physically see them as they come up from the bottomless pit.  Whether one would say their fall was at the cross or before, their outcome is nonetheless the same.  They were cast into the bottomless pit where they would stay until being released for this particular end-time event, which must and will come to pass.  It is the influence of these spiritual beings, these locusts that swindle and deceive the fallen global church during this time.  These locusts are fallen angels - demons if you will - that cheat and defraud mankind of the true Gospel.  At the same time all false teachers of the Gospel are characterized by the attributes of these locusts.  In a sense these locusts are not only fallen spiritual beings, but God attributes the word “locusts” to people as well; ones who will spiritually eat up God’s truth with their own damnable words and doctrines.  They are unknowingly led and influenced by these spiritual locusts.

 

Scripture informs us that these locusts have an angel over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit.  As we said earlier, angel can be translated as messenger very easily in Scripture.  The name of this king is Abaddon in the Hebrew and Apollyon in the Greek. The Hebrew defines Abaddon as destroyer or destruction while the Greek defines Apollyon also as destroyer or destruction.  Both are nearly identical in definition. There is only one being that can qualify as the “king” of the demons or the “king” of the abyss, and that is of course Satan himself.

 

 

SATAN: KING AND ANGEL OF THE  BOTTOMLESS PIT

 

Satan is typified by the king of Tyrus in Ezekiel chapter twenty-eight.  This chapter gives more details of Satan’s origins than any other chapter in the Bible. 

 

 

Ezekiel 28: 12-17:

 

12 - Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

 

13 - Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

 

14 - Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

 

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 mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

 

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.

 

Satan at one time was God’s anointed cherub!  He was as perfect as any created being of God could be.  He had free access into heaven itself, where he strolled at will, verse fourteen tells us.  Verse seventeen shows us that his heart was lifted up because of his beauty, thus he was corrupted because of his brightness.  The Hebrew defines brightness as: a bright shining (as of a city).   Recall in verse one of Revelation chapter nine that we saw a star fall from heaven.  This star was said to be a “bright shining,” (see “Satan: The Falling Star” in chapter one of this study.)

 

Satan’s age-old plan has not changed, even though he knows that he has but a short time left, Revelation 12:12.  His plan from ages past is to “…ascend above the heights of the clouds; I WILL BE LIKE THE MOST HIGH,” Isaiah 14:14.  To be like the most High is to be a duplicate or a counterpart to Christ.  That is a false Christ, an antichrist.   Satan’s goal has not changed from the time his desire was established to be like the Most High.  He deceived our first parents in the Garden of Eden, and has been spiritually killing off most of humanity ever since.  Daniel 11:45 gives us a description of Satan’s final demise:

 

Daniel 11:45 - And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

 

Why is it that Satan comes to his end without any help here in Daniel 11:45?  The haughtiness, pride, and arrogance displayed by Satan confirms what Isaiah fourteen taught, that he would ascend above the heights of the clouds, to become like God himself.  Now, at the end of time, we see him planting the tabernacles of his palace (i.e., his spiritual kingdom) between the seas in the glorious mountain.  He has planted his kingdom within spiritual Jerusalem; he has planted his kingdom within the corporate church of Jesus Christ worldwide!  In the physical world what is located between the seas in the glorious mountain?  Is it not literal Jerusalem itself?  Of course it is.  However, this in itself is not what God is showing us although it may well have a physical parallel to be played out.  God again seems to be using symbols and metaphors.  Physical Jerusalem was always a representation of God’s completed church or a symbol of the bride of Christ.  Therefore the verse as stated … “he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain” … seems to be clearly showing the Abomination of Desolation.  That is when and where Satan comes to his end.  It is only when Satan enters into the temple of God that God will bring him down once and for all. Once Satan has committed the Abomination of Desolation (overtaken the corporate church) there is no turning back.  It is then but a short countdown to Judgment day.  We again emphasize the fact that Christ’s true Church can never be affected by the Abomination of Desolation and as Jesus promised…the gates of hell shall not prevail against His Church. 

 

At the Abomination of Desolation history will have revealed the “man of sin” in fulfillment of II Thessalonians 2:3-4:

 

Verse 3 - “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”

 

Verse 4 - “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is God [cf., “…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, Isaiah 14:13.”] or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God [The corporate church: Satan commits the Abomination of Desolation by planting his kingdom within the New Testament Temple or God.] shewing himself that he is God.”

 

Christ gives us much warning in the Gospels concerning this same end-time event.  We are being repetitious here in the following passages but it is of such grave importance that it bears repeating.

 

Matthew 24:15-16 -

15 -  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

 

16 - Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

 

 

Mark 13:14 -

14 - ¶But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:

 

Luke 21:20-21 -

20 - ¶And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

 

21 - Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

 

The Book of Daniel has much to say concerning this event as well:

 

Daniel 11:31 -

31 - And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.

 

Daniel 12:11-12 -

11 - And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

12 - Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.

 

In all probability the Abomination of Desolation has either taken place or is very close at hand.  One only needs to take a close look at the church today; its inner workings and strange doctrines being proclaimed along with its false signs and wonders being orchestrated.  More than this, today’s church is being slandered as never before.  The church of Christ, the spiritual Jerusalem or spiritual Israel is indeed “compassed with armies,” as Luke 21:20 forewarned:

 

20 - ¶And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

 

 

And when these things begin to come to pass,

then look up, and lift up your heads;

for your redemption draweth nigh,

(Luke 12:28)

 

END OF STUDY