The Spirit Realm
Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that fell from heaven to earth, and he was handed the key to the shaft leading down to the pit of the deep. Revelation 9:1
God created people to be a three part being, made up of a body, a soul and a spirit. Our body is the part of us that moves us around in this physical world. It also allows us to be seen and gives us authority in the earth. Without a body, we cannot operate according to the laws of physics on this planet. Our soul consists of our mind, will and emotions. We think, feel and make choices from that part of who we are. Then there is our spirit person. This is the part that connects with God, the part of us that operates in faith and learns from the Holy Spirit when He lives on the inside of us. Our spirit part is where God takes up residence.
As a three part being, there are three parts to our world also. There is the physical part that we move around in, there is the soul part of how we connect with others. There is also the spirit part that we cannot see, but we know by faith it is there. The spirit world is not some place far away or only in the heavenly realm. It is the part of this world that we live in that either tries to pull us in a negative direction or we choose to move toward God through His Holy Spirit.
As we begin reading Revelation Nine, we see an intense scene unfolding. The fifth trumpet sounds and a fallen star from heaven was given the key to the bottomless pit. With that key there is now released on the earth of great locusts that come out of a cloud of smoke. These locust are fierce and they have power to torment the people on the earth that do not have the seal of God on them. They are not given power to kill people or any vegetation that is still alive in the world at that time. The passage says these locusts will afflict the people of earth for five months.
As I read about these images and the description of these unimaginable creatures and events taking place, I ask myself if these are physical scenes that the apostle John was describing or was he writing about what he was seeing in the spirit realm. These spiritual forces coming against people to turn hearts to God or away from Him. My other consideration is that John was trying to explain things of the future that he had never see before and didn’t have words at the time for what he was seeing. Either way, the results were the same. People were being tormented and through that time of suffering, people were either turning to God or away from Him.
The reality is that the people that are in the world during the time that the pit is open will face the same choice that we do today. That decision is to call out to God for salvation and protection or to turn away from Him and run to a hiding place. Whether we view this from the perspective of the physical world or the spiritual world doesn’t change the fact that we have been given the choice to choose and that is what sets us apart from every other created being. In the words of Deuteronomy 30:19, Life and death have been set before us to choose. Psst, the correct answer is to choose life so that you and your children may live with Him forever.
Today I want to encourage you to not be full of fear when you read about these disturbing images through this vision John wrote. Instead, view these words through the same lens that you view the world today, through the spirit realm. We know there is activity out there that we cannot see with our physical eyes and that even though the battle tries to rage on, our enemy has already been defeated. Rejoice today in knowing we already have the victory and that despite the enemy’s efforts to derail us, when we call out to our heavenly Father and follow His lead, He will take us through every opposition to triumph.
Today’s scripture reading: 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.
The Daily Dose 