The Angelic Conflict - Part 12 -
REV 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven [Satan] which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit [the abyss] was given to him.

REV 9:2 And he opened the abyss; and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air became darkened by the smoke of the pit.

REV 9:3 And out of the smoke came forth locusts [the demon army from the Abyss] upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Grace precedes judgment! There is never a judgment which destroys a segment of the human race until first of all that segment of the human race has an opportunity to repent.

Noah preached for 120 years before the flood came. PSA 76:10 “For the wrath of man shall praise Thee”

They are going to be restricted as to what they can do to their target - believers and unbelievers of the Tribulation who live in the cosmic system.

REV 9:4 And they were told or commanded that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

The alternative to trying to commit suicide is to accept Christ as personal savior - or for believers to rebound and get out of the cosmic system.

Pain can serve as a motivation, but in some cases pain makes a person a lot worse. Pain, suffering, and adversity makes us worse or better, but it never leaves us the same.

Disaster, adversity, pain, difficulty, and problems give us a fantastic opportunity for improvement!

Thousands of years after members of the human race have been suffering in the lake of fire, if they were offered to believe on TLJC and trust in Him as their Lord and Savior, I believe they would still reject Him.

The more some people suffer, the more bitter and arrogant and hateful and resentful and they become. Satan and the fallen angels still rebel against God even after they were given a second trial.

When Satan is put in prison for a thousand years, the first thing he does when he gets out is start a human revolt against God.

The sin nature gets more and more corrupt as it gets older, Eph 4:22, and all of those in the lake of fire have their old sin nature.

REV 9:4 And they were told or commanded that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

COL 1:16 “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -- all things have been created by Him and for Him.”

The demon army can’t destroy vegetation. They are not permitted to kill their targets, torture only. ACT 12:23

While demons can perform extra-natural and super-natural acts in the environment of planet earth, they cannot control anything in planet apart from divine permission.

1JO 4:4 “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”

Those who have the seal of God became saved after the Rapture, during this Tribulation period - only a certain group of believers have the seal of God.

The ones that are sealed are not called believers but “those believers who are bond-servants of God,” REV 7:1-4.

bond-servants = doulos = those believers who are slaves or servants to God, who carry out the will and purpose of God.

The target is believers and unbelievers in the cosmic system, but there is no permission to attack believers.

2TI 2:19 Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness.”

Since these individuals have said “no” to the divine plan and therefore “yes” to the satanic plan, they are now turned over to Satan.

torture = basanizo = to question by applying torture, to torture, to vex with grievous pains (used of body or mind), to torment, to be harassed, to be distressed.

The wages of serving Satan is torture and misery from his own hand.

Before TLJC comes back in the Second Coming (Second Advent), Satan turns on his own kingdom. Satan will terminate his own rulership by his own decisions.

Robert R. McLaughlin Bible Ministries

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Robert R. McLaughlin 2001