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The Devil Appears In Person
Study 5
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The Fifth Trumpet

“The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the Earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five month. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them…They [the locusts] had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.” (Revelation 9:1-6, 11, insertion mine)

God does not permit the devil to escape from the prison in the abyss (the spirit world) until the sounding of the fifth trumpet. At the appointed time, the bottomless pit will be “unlocked” and the devil and his angels will be allowed to come out of the spirit realm and be visible to the people of Earth. God illustrated the appearing of the devil and his angels to John as a swarm of locusts coming up out of the Earth. From a distance, several hundred million angels would look like a dense swarm of locusts. The swarm that John saw in the vision was so great that he says it darkened the Sun! As the swarm came closer to him, John saw that the locusts actually looked like riders on horses. Leading the swarm was an angel king from the abyss whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek, Apollyon. Both names mean the same thing: “Destroyer.” The imagery and language used in Revelation 9:1-11 is similar to language used five hundred years earlier in Joel 2:1-11 where the prophet describes the appearing of the Lord and His angels as a great swarm of locusts prepared for battle. God permits the devil and his angels to physically appear on Earth after a majority of the world has heard and rejected the truth about the worship God requires. Notice Paul’s words; “They [the majority of people] perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but delighted in wickedness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12) The first key point in this verse is defiance. Paul says, “they refused” to obey God’s truth and be saved. Why will they reject God’s truth? “The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.” (Romans 8: 7,8) Therefore, when a majority of people reject God’s last offer of salvation, He sends them a powerful deception. God releases the devil from the abyss and He empowers the devil to rule over the people who refuse to recognize His sovereign authority. This is an interesting point about the Great Tribulation: Each person will worship one of two masters.

Three important elements are revealed when God releases Satan and his angels from the bottomless pit. First, Satan will come with a cloud of angels (like a swarm of locusts). These demons will be clothed with brilliant light. Remember, the devil himself will be a magnificent being of dazzling light. (2 Corinthians 11:14) Although Satan will do his utmost to imitate the Second Coming, God limits the devil’s deception. When Jesus appears at the Second Coming, Jesus will not touch Earth, the saints will be caught up in the air to meet Jesus and He will take them to Heaven where they will spend 1,000 years. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, John 14: 1-3; Revelation 21:2) However, Satan will come down out of the sky and He will walk upon Earth in various places. This is why Jesus warned, “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it….So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightening that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:23, 26,27)

Second, God does not allow Satan to physically appear on Earth until a majority of the world has rejected the gospel. I believe that this will occur in about two and half year period. During this period, the 144,000 will proclaim the truth about worshiping God so that everyone on Earth can make an informed decision. The result will be simple. When God sees that a majority of Earth’s population intends to rebel against His gospel, He allows the devil to appear. God has a very wise purpose for doing this. The physical appearing of the devil will force the people of Earth into one of two groups: people who worship God out of choice and people who worship the devil out of force. In a final effort to bring rebellious human beings to their senses, God will empower the 144,000 to proclaim a special message throughout the Earth. This message is so inflammatory that most – if not all – of the 144,000 will become martyrs for preaching it! The message is this: “…If anyone worship [obeys] the beast [the devil from the abyss] and his image [his one world church] and receives his mark [tattoo] on their forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been pored out full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.” (Revelation 14:9,10, insertion mine) Since a majority of the world will think the devil is God, speaking against “God” like this will be considered utterly derogatory and blasphemous and the 144,000 will be horribly persecuted for their testimony!

The third reason God allows the devil to physically appear is that God wants people of the world to get a “close up” view of the demon they are following. The issue of worship will be completely resolved after the devil arrives. The devil will demand worship, and through his lieutenants, he will clearly explain what men and woman must do. God continues to do less through His servants, the 144,000. The saints will submit to God’s law. The wicked will submit to the law of the devil. That is the vortex surrounding the decision that all humans will face. Every person will exercise his or her power of choice and God will seal every decision.

Five Months of Torture

According to Revelation 9:3-6, after Satan and his evil angels appear, they will have five months to torment the wicked. This may seem strange at first, but God does not let the devil hurt His saints “with the sting of the scorpions tail.” The devil will inflict this torture on the nonreligious wicked in order to subdue them. The devil will not hurt those who believe he is God, either. Instead, he will hurt people who have not made a decision to join with his forces or with God’s saints. Just what the torment is and how it is inflicted is not clear from Scriptures. However, we know the torment will hurt like a scorpion’s sting (which is awful). The people who suffer this affliction will long to die, but the devil’s sting is not fatal. God allows the devil to torment “undecided” people with scorpion like pain because God’s offer of salvation is still open. Everyone that the devil harms can be delivered from agony if he or she will turn from rebellion and worship the Lord. (See Numbers 21:6-9 for a parallel story.) Remember, God will do everything possible during the Great Tribulation to save as many sinners as possible!

An Angel of Light That Works Miracles

When Satan appears, his radiant countenance will dazzle the people of Earth. Millions will eagerly believe his claims that he is God because of his appearance alone. Paul says, “…for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14) Revelation says the wicked will be awestruck when they actually see the devil! “…The inhabitants of the Earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast….” (Revelation 17:8, italics mine.)

Satan’s first work after appearing “in the flesh” as a brilliant God-man will be to convince the world that he is divine – that he is actually who he claims to be. Paul warns, “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day (the second coming) will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He opposes and exalts himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, and even sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God….The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3,4,9,10)

The Greatest Deception of All

To convince that he is God, Satan will use one miracle above all others – he will actually call fire down out of Heaven at will! This “proof of divinity” will secure his deception. Because the 144,000 will not have this specific miracle working power, the devil will eclipse their power and end their ministry. (Revelation 11:7) John says, “And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to Earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of Earth….” (Revelation 13:13,14) Remember, the appearing of the devil is “a powerful delusion” sent from God. The devil is granted power to call fire down from Heaven because God is bringing the offer of salvation to an end. Before the devil’s appearing, God put forth the clearest evidences of truth before the human race through the testimony of the 144,000 servants. God wants people to worship Him because of “Spirit and truth” not miracles! (John 4:23) Therefore, God reduces the ministry and power of His servants while increasing the deceptive powers of the Antichrist.

John describes the appearing of the devil as “lamb-like beast. (Revelation 13:11) The intended contrast is obvious. Depending on the Bible translation, Revelation refers to Jesus as the “Lamb” 30 times or more. John describes Satan as a “lamb-like” beast because the devil masquerades as Jesus. John warns that Satan will make every effort to deceive the world into believing that he is worthy of worship. When Satan appears, every quadrant of Earth will have experienced massive destruction. Extreme suffering will be everywhere. Earth’s skies will have been dark for a long time, and millions of people (perhaps billions) will have grown deathly ill from famine. The death toll will be numberless, and millions of people will die every day from plague and disease. People will be filled with despair, and religious leaders will constantly reprimand sinners, telling them to repent and worship God so that His wrath will subside. Religious persecution and intolerance will be everywhere because Babylon (the coalition of religious leaders) will be determined to appease God at any cost. (What other option do they have?) Foremost in all people’s minds will be the question, “What more can we do to appease God so that He will end our suffering?”

In the midst of this hellish nightmare, the devil suddenly appears. Satan uses incredible displays of signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, the very elect. (Matthew 24:24,25) His purpose has always been to destroy this world because it is the handiwork of Christ. When Satan’s day of opportunity comes, it will be the perfect moment for him to fulfill this ambition. The devil will capitalize on the rebellious hearts of the wicked. He will lead the majority of the world away from hearing and believing the truth preached by God’s servants, the 144,000. Because of the miracles that he has power to do, the devil will deceive or destroy everyone but the saints. After he gains control of Earth’s nations, he will command the people of the world to worship “the image” or die! Revelation 13:15 says, “He, [Satan]…caused all who refused to worship the image to be killed.”

The Image of the Beast

What is the image of the beast? Whom does the beast represent? The beast from the sea in Revelation 13:1-8 represents Babylon. The seven heads represent the seven religions of the world and the ten horns represent ten kings who will play a strategic role near the end of the world. The image of Babylon will be a consolidation of the world’s diverse religions and nations into one global church/state. When the majority of Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Moslems, Hindus and all others believe that Satan is actually God, they will be willing to do whatever he demands. Can a human being give too much or do too much for God? The devil will demand that all religions must be dissolved into one religion. Think about this for a moment. If God were physically on Earth to establish His eternal kingdom, how many different churches could He allow? How many different views of God are possible when God is physically among men to reveal what is truth? The establishment of an “image” is the establishment of a likeness of Babylon. In short, the devil will form a new composite religion and he will require everyone to leave his old religion behind. His new religion will be designed to dissolve the antagonistic differences between Moslems, Jews, Hindus, Catholics, Protestants, ect. This new church or religion will have a special benefit. All who join it will receive permission to buy and sell. The members of the devil’s kingdom will have access to the necessities of life (food, water, medicine, ect.) which the devil’s forces will control. In other words, citizens of the devil’s kingdom will be able to buy and sell because they will receive a mark or tattoo showing that they belong to the “One True Church.” The saints, on the other hand, will be cut off from all necessities of life. It is just as well, for they would rather die than submit to the demands of the devil. The wicked will volunteer to receive the mark of the beast, justifying that it is a small price to pay for survival. Meanwhile, the saints will be fed and cared for by angels sent from God.

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