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.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 9:11

Light from Darkness

What do you believe about light and darkness, about good and evil, about God and the opponents of the LORD?

John begins his gospel much like Genesis with contrasts between light and darkness and introduces evidence of the presence of Christ and the Spirit of God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… 

That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

John 1:1,5 CSB

John compares Jesus to light, God’s answer to formlessness and darkness. Moses illustrates darkness in the beginning (Genesis) as chaos prior to God’s intervention by creation. 

Genesis 1:

2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.

And the Spirit of God moved like the wind over the gathering wave of a deep unending sea.

And God saw that it was good.

Light and darkness, good and evil, God’s plan and chaos: always separated. The Apostle John makes this separation very clear to the church as he writes in his third letter:

3 John 1:11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

Choose Light or descend  into darkness?

We like the Apostle John because he points us toward Christ’s love for the world. His gospel emphasizes Jesus’ love with little mention of the devil.

Some christians and others of this twenty-first century doubt the existence of the devil or question the influence, if any, of Satan and demons. We think we know these influencers of evil from other books of the Bible and tend to dismiss demons and devils.

John’s gospel is all about the Light.

John 1:9 The true light that gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

Yet Jesus cautions us, pointing to contrasts between light and darkness, good and evil, and yes, between following Him or the prince of darkness.

Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

“I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness.

John 8:12 & John 12:46

These warnings against darkness from the Son of God ought to be enough, yet the prince of the world would tempt us to worldliness.

These warnings from John’s gospel do not differ from those of the Prophets.

Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD!
What will the day of the LORD be for you?
It will be darkness and not light.

Amos 5:15 CSB

Revelation – ἀποκάλυψις apokalypsis

When we think of young John, the loving faithful follower of Jesus, we forget that he lived a long life as the only surviving Apostle. Rome finally banished John to Patmos where he received a terrifying apocalypse from the risen Christ.

God judges the world; that is, those of the world who have turned away from the only Savior, our Lord.

Do you fear the uncertainty of darkness?

Consider the uncertainty of death!

Should God punish sin?

Dare you consider the darkness of death, experienced by your soul?

Judgement of the World

“Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”

Revelation 16:1

10 The fifth [angel] poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness.

People gnawed their tongues because of their pain

11 and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they did not repent of their works.

Judgement! And punishment, even after death.

No redemption from sin, no help from the beast or false prophet.

Certainly no post-death incarnation into a new or different body, not even that of a lowly animal. (Such selfish idolatry of those lost souls who strictly adhere to such ancient lies or worship false gods.)

John proclaims Jesus’ love for the world! Yet the world rejects Him, because their deeds done in darkness are evil.

And who is behind it all? Who would lead sinners into a place of darkness and evil since the beginning of the world? John tells us.

That Great Dragon of Darkness

12:9 καὶ ἐβλήθη ὁ δράκων ὁ μέγας ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος ὁ καλούμενος Διάβολος καὶ ὁ Σατανᾶς ὁ πλανῶν τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν γῆν καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ μετ’ αὐτοῦ ἐβλήθησαν

Revelation 9: The Fifth Trumpet

The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key for the shaft to the abyss was given to him. 2 He opened the shaft to the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great furnace so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft.

The Dragon Thrown Out of Heaven

⁷ Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, ⁸ but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. 

You with eyes to see, souls seeking the Light of salvation: observe the terrible intensity of the battle between good and evil – Satan’s opposition to the Lord God and Christ Jesus. It is a battle to the death for our souls!

Yet by the mercy of the LORD’s Sacrifice of love on the Cross for you, Christ Jesus purchased victory eternal over the dragon of darkness.

⁹ So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.

The many names of the evil one

He hides in the shadows of darkness and speaks lies to false prophets. We know this dark imitator of light by many names, confusing even more our blurred vision of his subtle evil.

The great dragon – δράκων  from familiar imagery of Greek mythology to John’s audience. The ancient serpent – ὄφις , a familiar reference to the cunning tempter in Eden , a clear reference to original sin חַטָּאָת.

John clarifies the identity of the enemy with two additional names more familiar to us, first: the devil – διάβολος diabolos in the familiar Greek, which means slanderer or accuser. He is known as the tempter πεῖρα, one who would bring you to a trial or terrible experience. It is a word from a root word πέραν meaning,  ‘to pierce,’ which contains significant symbolism in the war between good and evil, between Christ and Satan.

John’s second identification is the most familiar and most feared: Satan. The contemporary name in the Greek,  Σατανᾶς  Satanas, also known to fellow Jews, believers along with John, as Satan שָׂטָן.  

Revelation 16:10 refers to Satan’s princely throne as ‘throne of the beast,’ θηρίον thērion, implying his wild, venomous nature, even brutal, savage and ferocious, sometime illustrated as a bestial man.

Is is any wonder that the evil one wants man, created in the image of God, to dismiss him as myth?

More names of the prince of darkness

While relating the prophesy known as the fifth trumpet, John refers to Satan as: ‘the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.’

Luke’s Gospel describes the actions of demons, evil spirits influencing a human soul, confronting Jesus.

28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said in a loud voice,

“What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torment me!”

29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man…

31 And they begged him not to banish them to the abyss.

Deep in the darkness of the pit of the abyss sits the throne of its angel and prince.

John identifies the destroyer of souls as Abaddōn, from the Hebrew אֲבַדּוֹן ‘abaddown most associated with the sheol and the grave.

The LORD brings death and gives life;
he sends some down to Sheol, and he raises others up.

1 Samuel 2:6

Knowing its familiarity to the learned Greek culture of the Roman empire, John also refers to the prince of darkness as Apollyōn, the Greek adjective for destroyer.

War in Heaven

Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer.

Revelation 12:7-8

Though Satan rules the darkness and entices sinners to turn against Christ Jesus and bow down at the throne of darkness, dare you doubt the consequence of the war between good and evil? 

Revelation 19:

Satan and the false prophet are defeated and punished.

The saints then reign with Christ.

The Lord reigns over a new creation and a new Jerusalem.

The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 Night will be no more…

Revelation 22:3b-4a

The Apostle John pleas to his beloved churches, to beloved saints who claim Christ. The commandment of God is love, as Christ has loved us.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him.

1 John 1:5

Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!