Emmanuel Lutheran Church

Sermon for Midweek of Easter 2

Revelation 9:1-12

Let’s spend a moment reviewing the outline of Revelation. There are seven series of visions, with each series of visions essentially covering the entire New Testament period, offering different details and focusing on different things. The first series of visions was the seven letters to the seven churches, offering divine counsel to all God’s churches on earth until Christ comes again. The second series of visions was the vision of the seven seals, which taught us that the Gospel will go on, as did the rider on the white horse, even in the midst of all kinds of wars and famines and tribulations, during which time the elect are kept safe both on earth and in heaven.

We began last week looking at the third series of visions, the vision of the seven trumpets. After the first four trumpets sounded, we saw a third of all sources of life on earth damaged: the vegetation, the seas, the springs of drinking water, and the sun, moon, and stars. And it seems clear that the trumpets should be interpreted as signaling, not the destruction of natural sources of life, but of spiritual sources of life: the corruption of the Word of God and of the witness of the Church through various false doctrines and heresies.

This evening we’re going to focus on the sounding of the fifth trumpet and the events that followed.

The trumpet sounds, and a star falls from heaven to earth. But it’s not really a star at all. It’s a person or a personality. He is given the key to the bottomless pit, otherwise known as “the abyss.” The abyss is clearly a symbol of hell. And this key to the abyss isn’t to lock people in or let people out. It’s to let out this billow of smoke that darkened the sun and the air, and the grotesque swarm of locusts that came out of the smoke.

Who is the star? A few verses later he’s called the angel (or messenger) of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. (Those Hebrew and Greek words each mean “Destroyer” or “the one who brings ruin.”) And he serves as king over the locusts that came out of the abyss. There are two main interpretations of this star. It’s either Satan himself, or it’s Satan’s servant, the Antichrist.

Let’s look at a few pieces of evidence pointing to Satan as the star that fell from heaven to earth, as the angel of the abyss. Jesus once said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” There are also references in the apocryphal book of Enoch and possibly a reference from the book of Isaiah talking about the fallen angels as stars that fell from heaven. In chapter 12, which begins the fourth series of visions, the Devil is clearly identified as the fiery dragon whose tail drew a third of the “stars” of heaven to earth, and who himself was cast out of heaven to the earth, together with his angels. So this star or angel with the key to let the smoke and locusts out of the abyss could be Satan.

Or it could be the primary servant of Satan who works within the boundaries of the Christian Church on earth, namely, the Antichrist. In the first series of visions, stars represented the “angels” or the pastors of the seven churches. A star can signify a notable teacher in the Church, or a notable institution of teachers in the Church that started out “in heaven,” that is, teaching the truth of God, but eventually “fell to earth,” that is, moved away from the truth of God. This angel is called Destroyer. And in 2 Thessalonians 2, St. Paul calls the Antichrist the “son of destruction.” Historically, we have identified the Roman papacy as the Antichrist. The first bishops of Rome were good. But over the first six centuries of the Church, the bishop of Rome grew in power and influence until he became the primary teacher in the Church, not of the truth, but of error. In the next series of visions beginning in chapter 12, the devil is cast down to earth in the beginning of the series, but then the Antichrist shows up later in the visions, as this “star that fell from heaven” shows up later here, in the vision of the seven trumpets.

I favor the interpretation of this as the Antichrist. But in either case, it’s someone (or someone representing a corrupt institution within the Church) who releases false teaching into the world.

That false teaching is represented first, with smoke coming up from the abyss—smoke that obscures the light of the sun and darkens the air, making it hard to see. That’s what false teaching does. It makes it hard to see the truth of God’s Word. It makes it hard to see what’s truly good, right, salutary. It makes it hard to see clearly who Jesus is and what His will is for His people. Is it hard to find the truth of the Gospel today? You bet it is! Why? Because so much smoke has gone up from hell, making the truth hard to see and hard to find.

Smoke, and also demonic locusts. Now, in the past, God has used real swarms of locusts to plague His enemies. He did it in Egypt. He did it again at the time of the prophet Joel to the people of Israel who had turned away from God to idols. But the locusts in this vision aren’t bugs at all. You can tell that from how they’re described and from the fact that they don’t attack vegetation at all. To them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 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. So these “locusts” don’t attack the crops. They attack people, and not all people, but only those who are not marked with God’s seal, that is, those who are not the elect children of God. They’re attacking unbelievers, or those who believe for a time, but in the hour of testing, fall away.

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. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. The locusts bring, not death, but torment. Sharp, stinging torment, like a scorpion sting, except these locusts aren’t stinging the body; they’re stinging the soul, to the point that people want to die to escape this torment, not realizing, of course, that death doesn’t end any torment for the unbeliever.

Hear again the description of these locusts: 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. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 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. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. What can we make of this strange, impossible description? They’re like war horses, determined to race to battle and attack. They have crowns made of something like gold—they appear to be victorious and glorious, but their glory is a sham. Men’s faces, women’s hair—they don’t look entirely like monsters. There is something innocent-looking, harmless-looking about them, until they open their mouths and you see their teeth like lions’ teeth. Breastplates of iron mean they’re not able to be killed. Tails like scorpions mean they don’t only attack from the front, with the mouth, with their doctrine, but also from the back, with their poisonous practices.

The locusts represent heretical teachings and practices sponsored by demons and governed by hell. There’s a whole swarm of them, attacking all who fail to hold firmly to the Word of Christ and to faith in Christ.

Shall we list some of the heresies that sprang forth from the Roman papacy and that attacked people’s souls and consciences? Purgatory, indulgences, prayers to the saints, the pope as infallible, the pope as the head of all Christians, tradition over Scripture, tradition as necessary for Christians to follow, the sacrifice of the Mass, the inequality and hierarchy among ministers, abusive behavior by the ministers, Communion in only one kind, pilgrimages, relics, apparitions of the supposed Virgin Mary, believers being told to doubt their salvation, justification by faith + works. We could go on. For those who have been led away from God’s Word to believe in such things—it’s a constant tormenting of the conscience.

But the locusts were only give power to hurt men for five months. That’s the usual lifespan of a locust, apparently. It’s also half of ten, so, maybe, not the whole time of the New Testament period. We could suggest that the time of the Antichrist’s real and almost-universal hold on people came to an end at the time of the Reformation when the Roman lies were exposed with the light of Scripture, although the false doctrines of Rome are certainly still around today. And any number have come along since.

In any case, this is one of the three great “woes” that God said would come upon those who did not receive the love of the truth, as St. Paul says in 2 Thess. 2. And we still see the fallout of it today.

For as hard as some of these images are to interpret, the message for us in our time is really very simple. It’s no different from what Jesus told His disciples plainly: Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves… He who endures to the end shall be saved. Take your Christian faith and life seriously. Take God’s Word seriously. Know that the devil will try to obscure God’s Word and poison people’s minds with false doctrine, and he will do major damage in the world. See all the many denominations and all the false teachings within Christianity, not as a sign that the Word of Christ is unclear, but as a sign that the devil is doing with it exactly what Jesus said he would do with it. And pray that the merciful Lord will keep you safe from the smoke, safe from the locusts, and able to see His truth clearly. He won’t abandon you in that endeavor. You have His Spirit. You have His promise. And you have the protection of your Good Shepherd to keep you safe from the wolf—and from the locust—who seeks to destroy you. Amen.

Sermon for Midweek of Easter 1

Revelation 8:1-13

John’s vision of the seven seals revealed the destruction that God would bring on the world in various ways leading up to the end, even as the Gospel would also be going forth, even as the believers on earth and the saints in heaven would be guarded in God’s safe-keeping. Chapter 8, before us this evening, has the seventh and final seal being opened by the Lamb, which serves as the introduction to the next vision, the vision of the seven trumpets.

Now, I’ll tell you, there’s a lot in this chapter that is hard to interpret. For the most part, we’re going to follow the interpretation of Johann Gerhard, the sound Lutheran teacher of the 17^th century. His understanding fits well with the text, with the larger context of Scripture, and with the ancient commentators on Revelation whom he cites repeatedly in his commentary, but it’s far different from the modern scholars and the modern fanatics. So be it. We’ll do our best, trusting ultimately in the Lord to guide us. And since this is a sermon and not a Bible study, we’ll focus on the main points and leave the details for a different setting.

The Lamb opens the seventh seal, and there’s silence in heaven for half an hour. It seems best to view this as a “pregnant pause” as the anticipation builds for the next vision, or as a “reset,” because the vision of the seals took us all the way through the New Testament era up to the end of the world, and now we’re going back to the beginning again in the vision of the seven trumpets.

The seven angels standing before God were given seven trumpets. These don’t need to be seven literal spirit-being angels. They’re messengers in the vision, set aside for God’s sacred purpose. And that purpose is, largely, destruction. It’s depicted as destruction rained down from heaven on the trees and grass, seas and ships, streams and rivers, and the sun, moon, and stars. But only a third of all these things are destroyed, which is clearly not literally possible. It seems clear that the destruction being described in this vision isn’t done within nature, but within the Church, namely, the destruction that’s brought about by heresy, by false doctrine. Not that God is the source of false doctrine. But He does use it as a punishment against those who refuse to love the truth of His Word. That’s the understanding we’re going to work with.

Now, before the seven angels blow their trumpets, we’re told of “another angel” standing at the golden altar, like the golden altar of incense that stood in the ancient temple. He offers incense combined with the prayers of all the saints, making them all pleasing to God. Now, who is this angel, and what is this incense that makes prayers acceptable to God? I think the best interpretation is that this angel is Christ Himself, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us, as Paul writes. Christ is the true High Priest of the New Testament who stands before the altar of God, holding His merit, His works, His worthiness before the Father on our behalf, so that we have access to the throne of God, so that our prayers are acceptable in His sight.

Our prayers are mentioned here because they, together with Christ’s intercession, are the best stronghold against the false doctrine and resulting persecution that are about to be unleashed on the world. “Prayers prevent heresies from advancing as far as Satan attempts to sow them.”

He fills His censer with fire from the altar and then throws it on the earth. That sounds like a bad thing, but not if this fire is the fire of the Holy Spirit, whom Christ pours out on His believers starting on the Day of Pentecost in order to spread the Gospel and strengthen us in these difficult days. The noises, thunderings, lightnings, and earthquake sound scary, unless they are the thundering of the Gospel in the world, the lightning of miracles done in the first century Church, and the earthquake of the world being shaken by the Word of God as it takes hold in the world and as the Christian Church fills the earth.

But what happened shortly after the Day of Pentecost, as the apostles the Gospel far and wide? Heretics arose. False teaching, already by the time of St. Paul and surely by the time of John’s writing.

The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. Destruction rained down from heaven and destroyed the trees and the green grass. Some of this sounds similar to some of the ten plagues in Egypt, which brought destruction on the Egyptians while the children of Israel were kept safe. Here a third of the trees are burned up. If we’re right in identifying these calamities as heresies and the heretics who teach them, then we may be dealing, not with a single false teacher, but with certain groups of false teachers who appeared over the first few centuries, or who have appeared over and over again ever since then. Gerhard suggests certain heretics of the first and second centuries who may be represented by the hail and fire, but we won’t go into that here. The trees, then, would be prominent Christian teachers. Remember, Jesus compared prophets to trees that bear fruit, either good or bad. By their fruits you will know them. Not all teachers of the Church are wiped out by this heresy; the universal apostasy from the faith hasn’t taken place yet. But a “third” of them are.

Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. This may be another group of false teachers who followed after the first group. There were dozens of them in the early church, and some of them had large followings. The sea, in this case, would be the Church, and the creatures in the sea who died would be believers who allowed themselves to be led astray by the false teachers. The ships represent those who were looked up to for their understanding and for their holy lives. But a third, of them, too, were destroyed by false doctrine.

Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter. Don’t think of asteroids here, or of Armageddon by asteroid. I’m not aware of an asteroid that can target the drinking water in the rivers and springs. No, again, this is a spiritual destruction, the fresh drinking water that sustains men’s souls is the Word of God. But the Word of God is poisoned, made bitter and deadly, by the heresy of these false teachers. We still see the results of that poisoning today, don’t we?, among all those who claim to be Christians but whose perverted understanding of the Bible ends up killing any faith that was there to begin with, so that the water of life has become for them a water of death.

Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. Christ, in Scripture, is called the Sun of Righteousness. The Church is sometimes represented with the moon that reflects the light of Christ to the world, and the stars are the teachers of the church, as in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Many heretics in the early centuries of the Church obscured the doctrine of Christ and obscured the confession of the Church and of its teachers. The great apostasy and the universal falling away hadn’t happened yet. But you might say that a third of the world’s light sources were darkened by false doctrine in those early centuries of Christianity.

And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

Heretics and their false doctrine did terrible damage to the Christian Church in its early days. But more was to come, and that’s the theme of the next chapter. What do we take away from all this?

Well, instead of viewing all the false doctrine and all the different denominations in the world as sign that Christianity isn’t the true religion, or as some sort of problem that we have to solve, understand that the situation we see today and that we see throughout the history of the last 2,000 years is exactly what God said it would be: a Church that is assaulted over and over again by false teachers, who do tremendous damage, at least to the Church in its outward form. Those who cling to Christ as our one Mediator and Intercessor, who pray for God’s help, and who take His Word seriously will be kept safe through all this destruction. But those who have refused to love the truth, who have loved the doctrines of men more than the word of God, who have allowed themselves to be impressed by flashy teachers or by nice-sounding teachings—they will perish with the world.

So, cling to Christ as your one Mediator and Intercessor. Send up your prayers for God’s help to escape the punishment of heresy and the spiritual destruction that is already running rampant throughout the world. And keep taking His Word seriously, so that, as Paul wrote to the Ephesians, we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head, which is Christ. Amen.