This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

This is day two of our look together through Revelation chapter 9. We're going
to focus on verses 1 to 2 today. And as we look at these verses, we make a turn
in these trumpet judgments.

Last week we looked together at judgments that came upon the earth, the physical
things of the earth. This week we begin to look at judgments that come upon
mankind, the people that are on the earth. Revelation chapter 9 verses 1 and 2
says this, "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 the sky
were darkened by the smoke from the abyss.

" You can see in these verses there are some deeply spiritual things that are
happening here. There's a star and you see an abyss. And understanding who this
star is and what this abyss is all about is key to understanding this battle
between good and evil that's going to be won by good, won by God throughout the
book of Revelation.

First, who is this star? Is this star that had fallen from the sky to the earth,
is this star Satan or is it some other angel? Remember in the book of
Revelation, stars are angels.

But here is a star that's fallen from the sky to the earth, a star that has
fallen. You know that Satan is a fallen angel. We're going to read about that
more as we go through the book of Revelation.

So it's very difficult not to see that this is Satan. Now some people don't
believe that it's Satan. They believe it's another angel and I know why.

In a moment, this star is going to be given the key to the shaft of the abyss
and we don't want Satan to have the key to anything, especially to this shaft of
a place of punishment. We think that that is only the key that God has. But I'd
remind you that in the end, God's going to take this key back.

It's only given for a time. This I believe is Satan, this angel who was given
some measure of choice and who chose to believe that he could be like God and
due to pride, his pride, he fell from heaven. And when he fell, one third of the
angels fell with him.

They became demons who followed him to do evil. However you picture this angel,
it's a recognition of the fact that what you and I see as far as good and evil
in this world, it's not the whole picture. There's a spiritual battle between
good and evil that this world is involved in and the events of this world are
caught up in that is much greater than this world.

So you have this angel that falls from the sky to the earth and then there's
this abyss. What is this abyss that these angels come out of, that this smoke
comes out of? Is it hell?

No, it's not. We're going to find out later in the book of Revelation that there
is no one in hell yet. Now that may sound confusing to you.

I told you, if you're going to study the book of Revelation, it's great to read
the rest of the Bible and understand it first and this is one of those places.
There is, as you read through the rest of the Bible, you see this in the Old
Testament, you see this in the stories of Jesus, there is a place called Hades
that you read about in the Bible where demons reside and where those who do not
know Christ when they die are awaiting final judgment. We're going to find out
later in the book of Revelation that death and Hades, this temporary place of
awaiting judgment, death and Hades are going to be thrown into hell, a permanent
place of judgment.

Hades is the place where you await the inevitable judgment. You can't escape the
judgment that's coming. You can't change once you've gone to Hades, but it's not
finalized until this earth is finished.

Now, if that makes you scratch your head a bit, we're going to come back to this
as we go through the book of Revelation. You can read in the ministry of Jesus
some about this place called Hades or the Abyss. In Luke chapter 8, Jesus is
throwing some demons out of a man and these demons beg to be thrown into some
pigs rather than to be thrown back into the Abyss, a place of punishment, a
place of torture that they did not want to be in.

They didn't want to be locked up there again. Well here, we're going to find out
in Revelation chapter 9, these demons are let out of the Abyss. They are set
loose for a certain period of time to punish mankind.

We're going to find out why as we walk through this chapter. And then later, a
few chapters later in Revelation, they're going to be thrown back into a place
of punishment, now called hell. And then it's going to be permanent.

There is no in and out anymore. Notice the keys in Revelation chapter 9 are
given to this fallen star. We're going to find out later, once again, that's
only temporary.

Those keys will be taken from Satan. They'll be given to someone else for
eternity. Satan may be prince of this world for a time.

That's one of the names given to Satan in the New Testament, the prince of the
world. But God's only given him a certain measure of control for a certain
amount of time. In the end, he too will follow the orders of the only king.

Now what's this all about, this star in the Abyss? They tell us something very
important about these judgments against evil in the book of Revelation. They
tell us two things.

First of all, although this world is deeply impacted by evil, this world is not
the ultimate source of evil. Evil was brought into this world by one named
Satan. The source of evil is the evil one, and in the end, the evil one is going
to be punished.

In fact, we're going to find out in the book of Revelation that hell is a place
that is reserved for Satan and the evil ones. God does not want for one person
to go to hell. The only way to go to hell is to reject the love of God in Jesus
Christ.

He has made provision for everyone in all of human history to spend eternity
with him in Jesus Christ. And hell is a place that was made for this evil one,
Satan, and the demons that followed him. Now it's a place of separation from
God, and if I choose not to be with God in this life, I'm going to choose, I am
choosing not to be with him for all of eternity.

And so I'll be with Satan and these evil ones. But just remember, in this battle
of good and evil, although this world is impacted by evil, it's not the ultimate
source of evil. So the judgment you see against evil in the book of Revelation
is not just about this world.

It's about Satan and the evil ones and these spiritual forces of darkness. God's
going to judge that in the end, once and for all. The second truth that the
angel in the abyss remind us of at the beginning of this chapter is the truth
that although this world will be destroyed because of evil, we who live in this
world don't need to get caught up in that destruction.

I don't need to get caught up in the destruction that's going to come upon
Satan. Instead, I can accept the grace that's given in Jesus Christ to
understand the book of Revelation. As we walk through this ninth chapter, we're
going to see unfold before us this battle between God and Satan, but the
ultimate victor is already determined.

It was finished at the cross. When Jesus said it is finished at the cross, he
did not mean that his life was finished. He was going to be resurrected.

He's going to live for eternity. He is God. He did not even just mean that his
work on earth was finished, that the work that he came to do for those three
years of ministry was finished.

No, he meant that the plan of salvation for all mankind, for all eternity, it is
finished. God's plan. I can live according to Satan's plan and I'll be finished.

Or I can live according to God's plan and see that in the end, evil will be
destroyed and God's goodness is going to prevail. Let's take a minute to talk to
our good, our holy, our heavenly father. Our father, we thank you for your
goodness.

Lord, we admit that we don't understand all the reasons why you've allowed evil
for a time in this world. We know that it's partly to give us free choice
because along with choice, there's the opportunity to love you. We understand it
in part, but we don't understand it in whole.

There are things here that are bigger than us and we admit that we know that,
but we trust you. We trust you as a good God and we know that one day you will
do away with evil and that your goodness will win the battle, win the victory
and your goodness will reign in eternity. We look forward to that day.

We look forward to your goodness and I pray that today you'd help us to see how
we can experience your goodness in everyday life, how we can share your goodness
with those who are around us. Thank you that you are a good God and as a good
God that you will do away with evil. In Jesus' name, amen.

Tomorrow, we're going to continue to learn about good and evil as we look at
this fifth trumpet judgment.