When Hell Comes to Your House | Revelation 9:1-12 | J. Allen Mashburn

There can be little doubt that the Book of Revelation contains some of the most frightening images in the entire Bible. This passage may be the most frightening of them all.

We are in the midst of the seven trumpet judgments. The first four trumpets have been sounded and they brought forth horrible scenes of death and destruction. The earth’s environment has been shattered and mankind is writhing under the awful judgments of a holy God.  Chapter 8 closes with an angel flying through Heaven pronouncing three “woes” upon the “inhabiters of the earth”. This angel knows that the plagues unleashed by the sounding of the last three trumpets will be far more horrible than anything we have witnessed yet.

Why does the Lord give us these graphic descriptions of what the world will face during the Tribulation? Why write about such tragedy, death and suffering? I think there are three very good reasons why these things are dealt with in the book of Revelation.

1.  These things are mentioned so the church will know what we have been saved from. It is exciting to know that God will deliver His people from this kind of judgment.

2.  He extends this glimpse of the future as a warning to those who have not trusted Jesus as their Savior. He wants them to know what they will face if they continue on in their sin and in their rejection.

3.  They are given so that those of us who know the truth might be motivated to share the Gospel with the lost.

As we consider the judgment associated with the fifth trumpet, I would like to share some of the awful realities that are presented in these verses. Regardless of whether you are saved or lost there is a word here for you.

We are living in a day when the subject of Hell is viewed with much skepticism. People just don’t believe in a literal place of torment. In fact, many preachers and church members reject the notion of Hell, as it is presented in the Bible. People joke about Hell and use the word as a byword in everyday language. But, these fact is, Hell is a real place! Real people are going to endure real torments for a real eternity in a real place called Hell. They can attempt to deny it is they wish, but Hell is still real. In these verses, Hell visits earth. I would like to take these verses and point out the terrible realities that will be visited upon the earth in the last days.