Wed.’s Devo - The Fifth Trumpet

Read Rev. 8:13-9:11 Chapter 8 ends with a “Woe”, for the next three trumpets. The church is raptured at this point and those left will have to go through the “woe”. When the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, Satan fell from heaven to the earth. He opens the lid to hell and releases great evil. This evil is so great, it changes the atmosphere. Locusts are released that sting the ungodly like scorpions. It is so painful, that many contemplate suicide to escape the pain. They are only allowed to sting the ones who don’t have God’s seal on their foreheads. The fifth trumpet corresponds to the fifth church age - Sardis. The locusts of those days were the false teachings that rose from the pit of hell. Scorpions kill by raising their tails overt their heads but do not kill. The church leaders of their time exercised power over the people. Their stings spiritually paralyzed the weak followers. It was written to them to be watchful, and to strengthen the things which remain, because they were not found perfect before God. These people who remain after the church is taken, will be left so that they will have another opportunity to repent. In Rev. 3:3 they were told to remember what they had received in the past and hold fast to it, and REPENT. On them, Jesus will come like a thief and steal the true church from them. They will not understand or know when that will happen because it will be hidden from them…. but not from the true church that is ready. God never does something he doesn’t first tell his prophets. In the fifth seal we see the repented ones who die during this time. They are given white robes and told to rest till others join them in death. We see these locusts have hair like women, iron breastplates, and wings. Their king was Abbadon in the Hebrew, and Apollyon in the Greek. This is the angel of the bottomless pit. Lord, we pray for those who will be left that they will be strengthened for the time they will have to endure. Give them repentant hearts.