Let’s continue our study in the book of Revelation. Please read previous posts 1- 4 before reading this post. We are in Revelation chapters 8 – 9. We are looking at the seven trumpets and will begin with this post on the coming Woes. Please remember to go back and read the first four posts, I want you to have the chronology correct and see the cumulative effect of these trumpets. Frankie.
As I have mentioned before, if you think things are bad now in this Pre-Tribulation era we are living in, you haven’t seen anything yet. I am coming alongside of AMIR TSARFATI and his great book REVEALING RREVELATION. Frankie
The First Woe: It’s hard to imagine John’s feelings as he is witnessing the suffering upon humanity. Sure, there is the understanding that God is just, and they are receiving the wages of their own sin. But one would have to be very cold-hearted to not empathize at least to some extent with the plight of those remaining on earth. John knew, though, that it was only going to get worse. After all, there were three angels near him who had not yet blown their trumpets. and there was now another angel that flew by to remind everyone that the worst is still yet to come.
I looked, and I *heard an angel flying through the midst of the heaven, saying with a loud voice, ” Woe, woe,woe to the The inhabitants of Earth because of the remaining blast of the trumpet of the 3 angels who are about to sound.” ( verse 13) * Look closely, John heard an angel flying through the midst, interesting.
In the book of Revelation, not only are there the three series of judgments, but there are also three woes. The word translated “woe”, is the Greek term ouai. It is an expression of pain and anger. It is a cry of distress. It is someone calling out who doesn’t know where to run because the governments have collapsed, the hospitals are overcrowded and under supplied, and the volunteer organizations have all disbanded because everyone is just trying to survive. As soon as the angel had flown by crying, “Woe, woe, woe, for those who shall survive the earth, the first of the three woes begins.
Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. (Revelation 9:1)
The bottomless pit is another one of those images in Revelation that culture has taken and run with, of course getting everything wrong as it does. The Greek word is abussos, from which we get the word abyss. The word is found nine times in the Bible, seven of which are in the book of Revelation. What is the abyss?
When Jesus went to the Gentile side of the Sea of Galilee he met a man who was possessed by a demonic horde. Jesus asked the name of the demons, and they answered “Legion” because there were so many of them. (Luke 8:30). As Jesus prepared to cast them out, the demons became terrified and pleaded with Him not to send them into the abyss (verse 31). In an incredible act of mercy to those who were His enemies, Jesus instead sent them into a nearby herd of swine. The pigs panicked and ran down the hill into the sea, where they drowned.
Similarly, every time that we find the abyss or the bottomless pit in Scripture, it is associated with demonic forces. John tells us that the beast will ascend from the abyss (Revelation 11:7 ; 17:8), and at the end of the tribulation, the devil will be locked away in the bottom pit for a 1000 year period before being released out into the. world to deceive the nation’s once again (Revelation 20:1-3). Thus, we can be confident that whatever goes into the abyss or comes out of it is demonic in nature. Note: This is getting to be a lengthy post, I will finish the first woe in part six, coming soon, Frankie The Earthman.
Frankie The Earthman 