Woe is Me!

Have you ever heard anyone make the statement, “Woe is me?”  What they mean is that they are hurting or distressed or sad or grieved. 

 

Did you know those words can be dated all the way back to the oldest book in the Bible? 

 

Job 10:15

If I am wicked, woe to me; Even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head.  I am full of disgrace; See my misery!

 

Other instances of this same statement can be found in multiple Old Testament passages.

 

Psalm 120:5

5 Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech, That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!

 

Isaiah 6:5

5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone!  Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”

 

Jeremiah 4:31

31 “For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor, The anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, The voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself; She spreads her hands, saying, ‘Woe is me now, for my soul is weary Because of murderers!’

 

Shakespeare even included it in Hamlet in 1602. 

 

Again, woe is me means that the speaker is hurt or distressed or sad or grieved.  That is exactly what very well could be said by anyone who lives through Revelation 9.

 

By way of reminder, in our study of John’s Revelation, we are looking at a futuristic event known as the great earthly tribulation.  It begins after the rapture of the church and in Revelation 6 with six seals of God’s judgment. 

 

These six seals include the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.  The seventh seal is opened at the beginning of Revelation 8 and includes four of seven trumpets of God’s judgment. 

 

The final three trumpets of judgment are called woes from Revelation 8:13, and the first and second woes or the fifth and sixth trumpets are here in Revelation 9.  This morning, we are going to see a trumpet of demons and a trumpet of death and a temptation to decline.

 

Let’s see one more reminder before we look at 9:1. This is the diagram that I showed you last week from Dr. Charles Ryrie.  These are God’s judgements on earth during the seven-year tribulation and the second half of the that tribulation.

 

 

1. A Trumpet of Demons, Revelation 9:1-12

1 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 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. 5 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. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.  7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 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. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.  12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things. 

 

Verse one tells us that the fifth trumpet or angel sounded, and John saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth.  John didn’t see the star actually falling.  This was an event that took place in the past, and I believe it is an allusion to the fall of Satan because of similar language found elsewhere.

 

Isaiah 14:12-17 (originally applied to the King of Babylon)

12 “How you are fallen from heaven,

O Lucifer, son of the morning!

How you are cut down to the ground,

You who weakened the nations!

13 For you have said in your heart:

‘I will ascend into heaven,

I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;

I will also sit on the mount of the congregation

On the farthest sides of the north;

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,

I will be like the Most High.’

15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,

To the lowest depths of the Pit.

16 “Those who see you will gaze at you,

And consider you, saying:

‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,

Who shook kingdoms,

17 Who made the world as a wilderness

And destroyed its cities,

Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’

 

Ezekiel 28:12-16 (originally applied to the King of Tyre)

12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

“You were the seal of perfection,

Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;

Every precious stone was your covering:

The sardius, topaz, and diamond,

Beryl, onyx, and jasper,

Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.

The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes

Was prepared for you on the day you were created.

14 “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.

15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,

Till iniquity was found in you.

16 “By the abundance of your trading

You became filled with violence within,

And you sinned;

Therefore I cast you as a profane thing

Out of the mountain of God;

And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,

From the midst of the fiery stones.

 

Luke 10:18

18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

 

If this wasn’t Satan, it was one of his arch demons.  Verse eleven refers to him as the king over these demons that were locusts.  Other names for him include Abaddon and Apollyon, which both mean destruction.

 

Also in verse one, we see a particular location for these demons as we have already identified their leader.  Verse one says that the key to the bottomless pit was given to him.  This bottomless pit is none other than death and the grave or Hades.  It is the temporary home of demons.

 

Satan will then open the bottomless pit and up will come smoke that was will be so thick and so dark that it covers the sun. 

 

After we have seen the leader of the demons and the location of the demons, we see locusts that will be demonic.  Now there is a question as to whether John is talking about real, literal locusts. 

 

The reason why these may not be literal locusts but for sure demons is because they will not do what locusts normally do.  In verse three, they will have power like scorpions, but they won’t do any harm to the vegetation, but that is usually what locusts do.  Locusts normally ravage plant life. 

 

However, these locusts won’t even kill humans, but they will torment any and all humans who haven’t been sealed by God.   We know the 144,000 Jews have been sealed and any other tribulation saints alive at this time. 

 

Their torment will be like the sting of a scorpion for five months, and men and women will want to die but can’t and won’t.  The purpose of this first woe and all of these judgments is to get men and women to turn to Christ before it is too late.

 

He further describes their appearance in verses seven through ten.  They are like horses prepared for battle.  They have crowns on their heads and faces of men and hair like women and teeth like lions and breastplates of iron, and their wings sound like chariots. 

 

Verse ten moves from the picture of a locust to the locust having a scorpion’s tail, and that tail is going to sting and hurt men and women for five months. 

 

This section ends by going back to the leader of the demons.  He is called their king in verse 11 with the name of Destruction or Destroyer.

 

Brothers and sisters, this fifth woe reminds us that Satan is real and has a real agenda.  That agenda is to destroy and torment anyone he can.  That doesn’t mean I see him around every corner and under every table. 

 

However, I am fully aware of believe 1 Peter 5:8-9.

 

1 Peter 5:8-9

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

 

 

2. The Trumpet of Death, Revelation 9:13-19

13 Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. 19 For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.

 

The sixth trumpet or second woe is one of death and begins in verse thirteen.  That verse says that John heard a voice from the alter saying to release four angels or I believe demons that were bound at the Euphrates River.  This destruction will originate from the east.

 

In verse fifteen, you see their objective.  They will kill a third of mankind.

 

If you take this third in Revelation 9 and pair it with quarter in Revelation 8, that is over half of the world’s population and could be in excess of 4 billion people.  What do you do with all of those corpses?

 

This destruction will come in the form of an army of horseman numbering two hundred million.  There was no way for John to see them, but he heard the number. 

 

They were horsemen with breastplates the color of fire.  The heads of the horses were like lions.  From their mouths came fire and smoke and brimstone.  Their tails were also lethal and did much harm. 

 

If you can’t wrap your mind around a two hundred-million-member army, remember that India and China both number one billion plus people today.  Furthermore, they are both to the east of the Euphrates? 

 

There was even an edition of Time Magazine dated May 21, 1965 in which China boasted of a two hundred-million-member army over 50 years ago.  Therefore, it might not be as impossible as you think.

 

Before we look at these last three verses, I want to remind you that even in the midst of all of this death, God will still ultimately be in control.  Let me show you.

 

In verse 1, who gave the key to the bottomless pit to fallen star?  It was God.  In verse 3, who gave the locusts their power?  It was God.  In verse 4, who commanded them as to what to do and set their boundaries?  It was God.  In verse 5, where did they get their authority and who determined the five-month period?  It was God.  And in verse 15, who decided the hour and day and month and year four bad angels to carry out their judgement?  It was God.

 

God is in complete control of everything.  Even the devil has to get permission from God to act. 

 

 

3. The Temptation to Decline, Revelation 9:20-21

20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

 

Perhaps the most shocking verses of this chapter are these in verses twenty and twenty-one.  There were witnesses to these demon locusts that tormented humanity and this unthinkable army destroying anyone in its path, but many of them still didn’t repent. 

 

They didn’t repent of their idolatry or their murdering or their sorcery or their immorality.  They kept on with their lives of sin.  They declined to repent. 

 

 

Conclusion

Is that a temptation that you are facing today?  Are you tempted to decline repentance?  You see God’s hand of judgment and hear God’s word, but you’re declining to change your behavior. 

 

Hebrews 3:7-8

7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness.”

 

Brothers and sisters, don’t harden your hearts today.  What is keeping you from acting today?  What is keeping you from giving your life to Christ today? 

 

• What is keeping you from coming for believer’s baptism today?
• What is keeping you from joining the church today?
• What is keeping you from reconciling your marriage today?
• What is keeping you from committing to tithe today?
• What is keeping you from witnessing to that friend or family member today?

 

You’ve heard God’s voice today.  Don’t harden your hearts, but obey today!