Look at verse 11, "And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless
pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon."
Now I want to spend some time on this verse because so many people have mistakenly been
taught that Apollyon is the devil.
Who's ever heard that before?
Apollyon is Satan.
And Pilgrim's Progress is a great example, a book written by a Baptist preacher hundreds
of years ago, and in the book Apollyon is Satan.
Well, first of all, Pilgrim's Progress also teaches that a person can lose their salvation,
so that book is filled with false doctrine.
And that's why we shouldn't get our doctrines from man and from man's books and from man's
commentaries, but we should use the Bible itself to give us our doctrine, because I'm
going to prove to you beyond a shadow of a doubt right now that Abaddon or Apollyon is
not Satan.
And anybody who's saying that Apollyon or Abaddon is Satan just doesn't know their Bible.
It's that simple.
Let me give you just several reasons why Abaddon or Apollyon cannot be Satan.
Number one, he has a completely different name.
Now, the Bible tells us over and over again in the book of Revelation when it refers to
Satan, he's always clear.
He says the great dragon was cast out, which is the devil, and Satan, which deceived the
whole world.
The serpent, which is the devil, which is Satan, which is the dragon.
God over and over again is very clear in the book of Revelation when he's talking about
the devil, and the Bible consistently calls him the serpent, the dragon, Satan, the devil,
Lucifer, but never do we see him called either Abaddon or Apollyon.
And later I'm going to get into more about the Hebrew word Abaddon and the Greek word
Apollyon there.
But first of all, it's a different name.
Second of all, this is the wrong timing.
Satan does not fall from heaven at the sounding of the fifth trumpet, because if you remember,
the Bible is clear in Daniel chapter 12, verse number 1, that Michael the archangel will fight
against the devil, he'll stand up for his people, and then after that there will be
a time of trouble such as was not since the beginning of the world.
So basically, Michael cast the dragon out of heaven, which we read about in Revelation
12.
That takes place before the tribulation takes place.
So Satan is cast out of heaven before the tribulation, not at the fifth trumpet of the
wrath of God.
There's nothing in the Bible that would indicate this timing for Satan's fall from heaven.
So first of all, they have different names.
Second of all, it's a totally different timing.
Number three, go, if you would, to Revelation 20.
In Revelation 20, we see this same angel of the bottomless pit, because remember, it says
in Revelation 9-11, "They had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless
pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon."
So according to Revelation 9-11, Apollyon is the angel of the bottomless pit.
He is also the king over the locusts that are from hell, and he also had the key of
the bottomless pit to open hell and let the locusts out.
Now go to Revelation 20.
Now review back to chapter 1.
Didn't Jesus say that he had the key of hell?
Jesus Christ said, "I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore."
And he said, "I have the keys of hell and of death."
So wouldn't it make sense that if Jesus has the key to hell or to the bottomless pit,
that he would give it to his angel to open and that he wouldn't turn it over to Satan?
Oh, here's Satan.
Here's the keys, man.
Take the keys to the car, buddy.
Take it out for a spin.
You know, God's not going to give something that he has the keys to.
He's not going to turn that over to Satan.
He could turn it over to one of his servants, which Abaddon or Apollyon is one of his servants.
He's an angel from heaven that has the key to the bottomless pit.
Now, let me prove it to you.
If Apollyon is Satan, as these false stories have told us, then how does it make sense
that in Revelation 20, the angel of the bottomless pit casts Satan into hell?
I mean, is this Satan casting himself into hell?
That makes no sense, does it?
Look at Revelation 20 verse 1, "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the
key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him
a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon
him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled,"
and on and on.
So look, who is the one who has the power to basically lock Satan into hell?
To grab Satan, bind him up, throw him into hell.
Okay, that's Abaddon, that's Apollyon, that's the angel of the bottomless pit.
And let me say this, he's greater in power and might than Satan is.
Is he not?
Because he's able to bind Satan.
He's able to throw Satan in and lock him up.
So this Abaddon or Apollyon is the angel of the bottomless pit and he casts out Satan.
Hey, can Satan cast out Satan?
No.
So therefore the angel of the bottomless pit or Apollyon is not Satan.
So number one, they have totally different names.
Number two, totally the wrong timing for Satan to be cast out of heaven.
Number three, Apollyon is the one who binds Satan, therefore he cannot be Satan.
And number four, Satan is not a king of the bottomless pit.
He does not rule in hell.
You know, there's a false doctrine out there amongst Satanists that says this, better to
reign in hell than to serve in heaven.
Who's ever heard that before?
You know, it's better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven.
No, let me tell you something.
Satan worshipers and Satan himself will not rule in hell.
You know what they'll do?
They'll be tormented in hell along with everyone else.
Hell is the place where the devil will suffer and be tormented.
Read Isaiah chapter 14.
It's his downfall.
Hell is not his kingdom.
And this idea that the devil's down in hell ruling and reigning, you know, that works
great when you're watching Mary Melodies and Porky Pig has horns and a pitchfork and a tail
and he's going ah ha ha and he's poking people in the rear end with a pitchfork.
You know, that's not reality, my friend.
The devil does not rule in hell as Mary Melodies, you know, has taught.
The Bible teaches that the devil will be punished in hell.
You know who rules over hell?
God does.
God is the creator of hell and God's lieutenant, God's angel, Abaddon or Apollyon has the key
to the bottomless pit, not Satan.
Satan's going to be locked up in there and he's dead sure not going to be pulling a key
out of his pocket and letting himself out early.
He's not going to be let out until God lets him out at the end of the millennium.
And so this idea of Satan being a king over the bottomless pit or ruling over hell, which
comes from believing that Apollyon is Satan is a false doctrine that basically exalts Satan,
giving him some kind of an authority in hell.
You know, let's not give Satan more credit than what he deserves.
He is not ruling in hell.
He will suffer in hell.
In fact, at this point, the devil's never even been to hell because he's not going to
be cast out until the beginning of the tribulation.
And so he's never even been there.
Right now, he walketh about on this earth as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
But let's go a little deeper now.
Let's look at the word Abaddon and the word Apollyon just to prove beyond a shadow of
a doubt that Apollyon is not Satan and just to show you who he really is.
Let's look at every time the word Abaddon is used in the Old Testament and let's look
at every time the word Apollyon is used in the New Testament.
Now of course in your English Bible these words aren't going to show up, but that's
why he tells us in the Hebrew it's Abaddon, in the Greek it's Apollyon.
Let's look these up and see what this angel Abaddon is associated with.
Go back to Job 26, "Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering."
Did you get that?
The word destruction there in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon in this verse.
So that tells that Abaddon means destruction, and what is it associated with?
Hell, right?
Go to Job 28, verse 22, and it says, "Destruction and death say, 'We have heard the fame there
of with our ears.'"
Go to chapter 31 of Job, Job 31, verse 12, "For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction
and would root out all my increase."
So what has destruction or Abaddon been associated with so far?
Hell, death, fire.
Getting it?
Okay.
Go to Psalm 88.
The Bible reads in Psalm 88, 11, "Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave, or
thy faithfulness in destruction."
So look, just as a grave is a place where a dead body is kept, destruction is a place
where dead souls are kept, right?
Associated with what we saw before, hell, death, fire, the grave.
Okay, look at Proverbs 15, Proverbs chapter number 15.
Look at verse 11 of Proverbs 15, the next mention of Abaddon here.
It says, "Hell and destruction."
So do you see the association again?
The word destruction there in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon.
"Hell and destruction are before the Lord.
How much more than the hearts of the children of men?"
And lastly go to Proverbs 27 verse 20, "Hell and destruction are never full."
So the eyes of man are never satisfied.
Now doesn't it make perfect sense then that Abaddon would be the name of the angel of
the bottomless pit when the word destruction or the word Abaddon is a word that's always
associated with hell, fire, and death?
See how simple it is to understand when you look at it in that light?
You say, "Okay, I get it.
What about the word Apollyon?"
Well, the word Apollyon is used in the New Testament because remember the Old Testament
was originally written in Hebrew and the New Testament was originally written in Greek.
Look at Matthew 7.13 and think about this in light of all the Old Testament mentions
of Abaddon.
Matthew 7.13 says, "Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the
way that leadeth to Apollyon," he's saying, "that leadeth to destruction.
And many there be which go in there at."
So look, what's that verse talking about?
People going to hell, right?
He says, "Many people, the majority, the broad way leads to hell."
It leads to destruction, remember, over and over again.
And look, you don't have to go back to the Hebrew and Greek to figure this out because
you could have just looked at all those Old Testament verses where it said, "Destruction
in hell, destruction in hell, destruction in fire, destruction in hell, destruction in
death."
And note that when the Bible says here that the Broadway leads to destruction, you'd know
he's talking about the Broadway leads unto hell, my friend.
Because he said that them which believe not, the Bible says he afterward destroyed them
that believe not.
He said, "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather
fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body."
Where?
In hell.
We have the mention of the Greek word "apollyon" in the New Testament.
Romans 9.27 is another verse that in the Greek tongue uses the word "apollyon."
It says in Romans 9.22, "What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known,
endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?"
Apollyon in the Greek has to do with wrath of God, which obviously hell is the place
of God's wrath.
Philippians chapter 3 verse 19 talks about people whose end is destruction, whose God
is their belly and who glory in their shame, who mind earthly things.
When he says their end is destruction, that word there is Apollyon in the Greek.
It says in 2 Peter chapter 2 verse number 1, "But there were also false prophets also
among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring
in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bringing upon themselves
swift destruction."
Again, associate with people who are going to hell.
A couple of verses later it says, "Their damnation slumbereth not."
People that are damned to hell, they're going to destruction, they're going to hell.
Doesn't this make perfect sense why the name of the angel of the bottomless pit would be
Abaddon or Apollyon?
Another place is 2 Peter 3.16, where the Bible reads, "As also in all his epistles, speaking
in them of those things in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that
are unlearned and unstable rest, as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction."
Here we're talking about people who don't understand the Bible being destroyed, because
the Bible of course teaches that, you know, the saved have the ability to understand the
word of God, the unsaved do not have the ability to understand the word of God.
So look, is there any doubt in our minds when we look up all the Hebrew mentions of Abaddon,
all the Greek mentions of Apollyon, we put them side by side, that the word Abaddon or
the word Apollyon means destruction, and it is always associated with death and hell.
And it has a lot to do with hell and fire, okay, pretty clear, right?
Makes sense, since he's the angel of the bottomless pit.
Now I've seen some people try to claim, "Well, the word Satan means destroyer."
And so therefore, you know, if you look up the word Satan, it means destroyer and therefore
it's the same.
No, no, no.
Satan does not mean destroyer at all.
The word Satan, whether you look it up in Hebrew or Greek, does not mean destroyer.
And really we don't need to go to the Greek or the Hebrew, just our English Bible here,
the King James Version, has all the information we need.
Because if I look up all four times that Satan is mentioned in the Old Testament, I mean
the word Satan, it's really easy to gather what the definition of the word Satan is.
I'm going to show you, it's not destruction or destroyer, it has nothing to do with that.
This is the first time the word Satan occurs in the Bible.
It says in 1 Chronicles 21, 1, "And Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David
to number Israel."
The operative word in that verse is against.
Satan means someone who stands against or someone who is an adversary.
Then if we go to the next mention of Satan in the Bible, it's in Job chapter 1 and 2,
Satan is speaking against Job.
And then God says to Satan, "You've moved me against him without cause."
Look at Zechariah chapter 3, I want you to actually turn to this one.
And in Zechariah chapter 3, we see the fourth mention of Satan.
I'm going to come back to the third mention, but for now go to Zechariah chapter number
three and see the fourth mention of the word Satan in the Old Testament.
And the Bible says in Zechariah 3.1, "He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before
the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him."
Well, if I'm going somewhere and somebody's resisting me, that means that they're against
me and they're pressing against me and they're exerting force against me.
You know, I'm trying to go this way, but somebody's resisting me or stopping me from doing so.
Well, that's what we see the picture here in Zechariah 3.1.
And if we go back to the third and final mention that I want to show you from the Old Testament
of the actual word Satan, I realize that the devil or Satan is mentioned in Genesis 3,
Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, but I'm talking about the word Satan.
The word Satan is used in four passages.
It's used in 1 Chronicles 21, 1, Job chapters 1 and 2, Zechariah 3 verse 1, and then it's
also found where I'm about to show you here in Psalm 109 verse 6.
And in Psalm 109 verse 6 it says, "Set thou a wicked man over him, and let Satan stand
at his right hand."
Well, that ties in perfectly with what we saw in Zechariah 3, where Satan stood at the
right hand of Joshua the son of Josiah and resisted him, okay, and pressed against him.
If we back up just a few verses in Psalm 109 and start reading in verse number 2, the Bible
reads, "For the mouth of the wicked," notice the word wicked, "and the mouth of the deceitful,"
notice the word deceitful, "are open against me.
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue," notice the word lying, verse 3, "they compass
me about also with words of hatred," notice the word hatred, "and fought against me without
a cause," notice the word fought, "for my love, they are my adversaries," notice the
"But I give myself unto prayer, they've rewarded me evil for good,"
notice the word "evil," "and hatred for my love.
Set thou a wicked man over him, and let Satan stand his right hand."
So he's saying, "Because my enemies have been deceitful, they've lied,
they've been against me, they've been against me," it says twice in verse 2.
He says, "They hated me, they fought me, they were my adversary,
they were against me, they were evil, they had hatred."
And he said, "Because of that, let Satan be against them."
So what do we see here about Satan?
The word "Satan" simply means one that stands against
or one that is an adversary of you, one that is in opposition to you.
That is what Satan means.
The one who is against us or our adversary.
That fits in perfectly with the New Testament when he says,
"Your adversary, the devil, walketh about as a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour."
Now look, isn't that very different than "destroyer" or "destruction"?
Totally different.
"Adversary" or "one who stands against" or "in opposition of"
is completely different of a definition of the word "Satan"
to the definition of the word "Abaddon" or "Apollyon" or "destruction."
And so look, these people have two completely different names.
Apollyon is not Satan.
They have two functions.
One of them is doing God's will.
Look, let me ask you this.
Is it God's will that the people in Revelation 9
be punished and tormented by locusts?
I mean, God is sending the locusts to torment wicked people.
So he's using his guy, Apollyon, to do it.
Satan is on the side of the people who are being tormented.
Satan is the one that's ruling over the kingdom of the Antichrist
that's being tormented by these locusts from hell.
So it makes no sense on so many different levels to believe that Apollyon is Satan.
But, you know, there's always going to be somebody who just says,
"Well, you know, Pilgrim's Progress said it. I believe it, and that settles it for me."
You know, there are always going to be people who don't care what the truth is,
and they just, you know, they just love their book or their commentary or their preacher.
I frankly just believe what the Bible says, and I'm interested in the truth.
And I don't see how anybody could still, after hearing what I just explained,
believe that Apollyon is Satan. It's a completely different person. Very clear, isn't it?