Page 1297 - The MacArthur Daily Bible

TN_12_MacArthur_Bible_Dec.qxd 8/8/03 17:34 Page 1278

DECEMBER 19
11 Rescue me and deliver me from the because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of
3
hand of foreigners, the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to
Whose mouth speaks lying words, them was given power, as the scorpions of the
And whose right hand is a right hand earth have power. They were commanded not
4
of falsehood— to harm the grass of the earth, or any green
12 That our sons may be as plants grown thing, or any tree, but only those men who do
up in their youth; not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
That our daughters may be as pillars, 5 And they were not given authority to kill
Sculptured in palace style; them, but to torment them for five months.
13 That our barns may be full, Their torment was like the torment of a scor-
6
Supplying all kinds of produce; pion when it strikes a man. In those days men
That our sheep may bring forth will seek death and will not find it; they will
thousands desire to die, and death will flee from them.
And ten thousands in our fields; 7 The shape of the locusts was like horses
14 That our oxen may be well laden; prepared for battle. On their heads were
That there be no breaking in or going crowns of something like gold, and their faces
out; were like the faces of men. They had hair like
8
That there be no outcry in our streets. women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’
15 Happy are the people who are in such a teeth. And they had breastplates like breast-
9
state; plates of iron, and the sound of their wings was
Happy are the people whose God is the like the sound of chariots with many horses
10
LORD! running into battle. They had tails like scorpi-
ons, and there were stings in their tails. Their
Proverbs 30:10
11
power was to hurt men five months. And they
Do not malign a servant to his master, had as king over them the angel of the bot-
10
Lest he curse you, and you be found tomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is
guilty. Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name
Apollyon.
Revelation 9:1–21
Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a
9 star fallen from heaven to the earth. To
him was given the key to the bottomless pit.
And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke
2 9:11 Abaddon,…Apollyon. Although locusts
arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great normally have no king (Prov. 30:27), these
furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened demonic creatures do. His name in both
Hebrew and Greek means “destroyer.”There is
a hierarchy of power among the demons, just
as among the holy angels. Apparently, “the
9:3 locusts. A grasshopperlike insect that angel of the bottomless pit” is one of Satan’s
descends in swarms so thick they can obscure most trusted leaders or possibly Satan himself.
the sun and strip bare all vegetation. In the
1950s a locust swarm devoured every grow-
ing thing for several hundred thousand
12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more
square miles in the Middle East.These are not
normal locusts, however, but specially pre- woes are coming after these things.
13 Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard
pared ones that are merely the outward form
of demons,who,like locusts,will bring swarm- a voice from the four horns of the golden altar
14
ing desolation (Joel 2:1–5). “Like” appears 9 which is before God, saying to the sixth
times in John’s description. He finds it difficult angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four
to describe what he sees in a way the reader angels who are bound at the great river
15
can understand. scorpions. An arachnid that Euphrates.” So the four angels, who had
inhabits warm, dry regions and has an erect been prepared for the hour and day and
tail tipped with a venomous stinger. A scorpi- month and year, were released to kill a third of
on’s victim often rolls on the ground in agony, mankind. Now the number of the army of the
16
foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth in horsemen was two hundred million; I heard
pain. The demons in locust form are able to the number of them. And thus I saw the hors-
17
inflict the physical—and perhaps, spiritual— es in the vision: those who sat on them had
pain like the scorpion (v. 5). breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and
sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were
1278