A Short History of Cosmic Spiritual Struggle

Factions

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they handed their authority over the earth that God had given them to the spiritual powers of evil.  Their mistake allowed a massive shift in authority from humans to the powers of evil.  God had taken a big risk when he created the earth and gave authority over it to humans.  For them to give that authority up so quickly and easily to evil spiritual powers who hated him was a disaster.

Christians assume that the spiritual powers of evil are united in opposing God’s purposes, but that is not true.  They are powerful, but they are not united.  If Jesus cannot get unity in the church, we should not expect the leaders of the powers of evil would be united, given that they are divisive and rebellious.  Various factions of the spiritual powers of evil are struggling with each other for control of the earth.  They are angry and devious, so they often fight with each other in vicious struggles for dominance.

Each faction of the forces of evil is led/controlled by a powerful Cosmos Dominator.  The powers of evil love power and control, so the strongest of them are continually jockeying with each other for overall power.  Each contender has gathered a huge army of loyal spiritual powers and brought them under control.  That is why the Bible refers to these spirits as Cosmos Dominators (Eph 6:12).  They organise huge spiritual armies to fight against God, but they frequently get distracted into battles against other factions. 

Unfortunately, the spiritual powers of evil are nasty and untrustworthy, so they are not dependable.  If they see any weakness in their leader, they will betray him to gain a better position for themselves.  Evil spirits have no loyalty, so they switch sides if they believe another cosmos dominator is doing better.

The struggles between various Cosmos Dominators are far more important than we realise because people on earth are often caught in their crossfire.  Much of what happens on earth is the outcome of their wars with each other, so we need to understand what they are doing in our time.  God was not willing to give them glory by fully describing their activities in the scriptures, but there are hints about what they are doing and who has risen to power and gained control during various seasons.

Based on my study of the scriptures and examining these hints, I have developed a tentative outline of their history.  I will focus more on future activities than the struggles that occurred in the past.

The spiritual powers of evil are organised in powerful hierarchies of evil spirits under the control of Cosmos Dominators, but they are not united.  They do not like each other, so throughout history, different spirits have fought with each other for control of the hierarchies of power.  During different seasons, different Cosmos Dominators have risen to ascendancy.  Often, two of them have operated alongside each other in an uneasy but convenient unity.

Accuser — The Fall

The first attack against Adam and Eve came through the serpent.   According to Revelation 12:9, the spirit working in the serpent was called Accuser (satan).  Being clever, Accuser acted as a deceiver, not an accuser.  He did not accuse Eve of bad behaviour, but instead accused God of lying to them.  He slandered God by twisting his words to make them believe a lie.  He deceived the humans by accusing God.

When Adam and Eve submitted to Accuser’s deceptions, he and his followers gained control of the earth.   Unfortunately, Accuser was unable to control his empire by deception, as it did not give him a solid basis for accusing people before the throne of God.  God had not yet given a full list of the behaviour that he required of humans because the Spirit has been with them, so Accuser had no legal basis for accusing them.  His authority did not last long and quickly passed to a spirit called Death.

Death

Once they disobeyed God and he had them under his power, Accuser was pushed aside by a cosmos dominator called Death.  Death is strong (Song of Song 8:6) so when struggles took place following the fall of Adam and Eve, Death came out on top.  Paul explained this in his letter to the Romans.

Death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses (Rom 5:14).

Death was the name of a prominent spiritual power.  This Cosmos Dominator ruled the spiritual powers of evil from the time of Adam until Moses received the law.

Death focused on destroying the people and the earth that God had created.  The first manifestation of his work was when Cain killed his brother Abel.  Murder and death quickly became normal on earth.  Within a few generations, Lamech was threatening seventyfold deaths for any threat against him (Gen 4:24).

Understanding that Death is a powerful and controlling spirit clarifies the Hebrew expression translated as "you shall certainly die" in Genesis 2:17.  A more literal translation would be:

To Death, you will die.

Once we realise that Death is a powerful Cosmos Dominator, we can understand that God was warning the first humans that if they sinned, they would destroy their lives by placing themselves under the control of Death, a nasty evil spiritual power.  That is what happened.

For if by the one man's offense, Death reigned through the one (Rom 5:17).

By rejecting the wisdom of God, they surrendered to the authority of the spiritual powers of evil and these spiritual forces were soon controlled by Death.

Death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses when Accuser rose to dominance again.  However, other Cosmos Dominators were happy to have the support of his deathly army, so Death kept a secondary role as a subordinate power.  Consequently, Jesus had to come to destroy the power of Death.

His death destroyed the power of Death (Heb 2:14).

The Son of God appeared to destroy the devil's work (1 John 3:8).

Sin

A spirit called Sin worked with Death to lead humans into sin to keep them under the power of evil.

Sin entered the world through one man, and Death through Sin (Romans 5:12).

Death is sometimes called Sin (Rom 8:2; 1 Cor 15:56).

Sin reigned in Death (Rom 5:21).

Destroyer

Death also worked with another Cosmos Dominator called Destroyer.  They both had large armies of evil spirits under their control.  Death found Destroyer useful, so they often cooperated in their evil activities.  According to the scriptures, Death and Destroyer often went together.

I set before you today life and prosperity, Death and Destruction (Deut 30:15).

Death and Destruction are never satisfied (Prov 27:20).

Destruction and Death say, "Only a rumour of it has reached our ears".  (Job 28:22).

Towards the end of the Millennium of Darkness, prior to the flood, Destroyer probably gained ascendancy.  As the spiritual powers of evil had a free hand on earth, they ran amok across the earth to destroy God's good creation.  These rampaging spirits were led by Destroyer. Prior to the flood, Destroyer wrought terrible destruction on earth to such an extent that it was in danger of being destroyed.

So, the earth had become devastated before God; the earth was full of violence.  God looked at the earth: there, it had become devastated, because all flesh had devastated its way on the earth (Gen 6:11-12).

The Flood — Destroyer Locked Up

Destroyer was probably the one who came up with the idea of destroying the earth by a flood.  God warned Noah to prepare, and he was kept safe.  However, the flood turned out to be a great victory for God.  He was able to lock a huge number of evil spirits up in the Abyss so they could no longer work on earth (1 Pet 3:19-20; 2 Pet 2:4-5).

God had given authority over the earth to humans, but they did not have authority over the depths of the earth and the structure of the planet as God retained that for himself.  The spiritual powers of evil gained their authority on earth by tricking the first humans, so their authority was limited to things that happened on earth.  Provided they remained in contact with the earth, God could not touch them.  If they had attacked the spiritual realms where God dwells, they would have been defeated in a minute.  As long as they worked on the earth, they were safe, but pride caused them to overstep the mark and get into trouble.

At the time of the flood, some of the spiritual powers attacked the depths of the earth and broke up the deeps.

On that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up (Gen 7:11).

When these spiritual powers of evil attacked the great deeps of the earth, they moved away from the place where they had authority.  God was able to send a host of angels and take them captive to prevent them from working on earth anymore.  God was able to do this because they had moved into a place where they did not have authority.

I presume that what happened leading up to the great flood is that Destroyer got too big for his boots and rebelled against Death.  He must have got tired of being pushed around by Death and wanted to become top dog.  He loved destroying things, so he got his army of supporters to attempt to break up the structures under the earth and release a flood.

I suspect that Death was angry with Destroyer for messing with his plan, so he dobbed him to God.  He had authority over Destroyer, because Destroyer had previously submitted to his authority, so he was able to give God authority over Destroyer and his followers.  The angels of God captured them, and they were imprisoned in the Abyss, where they could do no harm.

Destroyer believed that he had been betrayed by Death, so he would be seething with anger, but he would be powerless for several thousand years while he was shut up in the Abyss.

Monster Emerges — Nimrod and Babel

A cosmos controller who emerged early on but did not gain full power was called Monster (most Bible translations use the word Beast, but Monster is more descriptive of his character).  His first manifestation was through Nimrod, a man who became powerful in the land (Gen 10:8).  Soon after his time, the people of Babel began a rebellion against God by building a tower to heaven.  This was a way of saying that they were trying to get control of activities in the spiritual realms.

Monster used their activity in Babel as an opportunity to begin establishing a political empire on earth.  This first attempt failed because God stymied the rebellion, but Monster persisted and eventually established a political empire in Babylon.  To achieve this outcome, he needed a huge army of spirits under his control.

Daniel received a vision of four powerful monsters that attempt to control the earth (Dan 7:1).  The importance of this vision is that it shows how Monster worked through successive empires to exert his dominance on earth.  The four empires were Babylon, Media Persia, Greece and Rome.  Other empires arose during this time, but these four were specifically controlled by the Monster.  (The Assyrian Empire was controlled by a different, very destructive spirit).  Monster eventually reached gained dominance by working through the Roman Empire (Rev 13:1-2). 

Accuser Ascendant Again— Moses and the Law

The powers of evil are not united, so they are always fighting amongst themselves for dominance and control.  The giving of the law through Moses brought a shift in control over the powers of evil, as God had given his standards in a written form, along with curses for disobedience.

What purpose then does the law serve?  It was added because of transgressions (Gal 3:19)

The giving of the law significantly weakened the power of Death in Israel.  Accuser had led Adam and Eve astray, but he had been pushed aside by Death and Sin.  However, he regained his influence once the Law was given to Moses because it provided a basis for him to accuse people before God and demand that their sins be punished.

Sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law (Rom 5:13).

Accuser was able to use the law to accuse humans who sinned.  He was able to go to God and demand the penalty that the law required.

Accuser was also able to demand the right to implement the curses required by the law.  This right to execute evil against sin allowed Accuser to ascend to dominance again.

One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Accuser also came with them.  The Lord said to Accuser, "Where have you come from?" Accuser answered the Lord, "From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it."(Job 1:6-7).

Accuser then went on to accuse Job of pride and greed.  His skill as an accuser enabled him to regain control over the powers of evil.

Zechariah saw Accuser accusing Joshua, the high priest at that time.

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the standing at his right side to accuse him (Zech 3:1).

Accuser is a sneaky character.  He does not just act as a prosecutor.  He provokes people into sin, so he can then accuse them.  He did this to David.

Accuser rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel (1 Chron 21:1).

Wrath

The coming of the law also released another cosmos dominator called Wrath into power.  Sin, Death and Destruction had controlled the evil side in the spiritual realms up until the time of Moses, but Accuser and Wrath rose above them by using the law to accuse people of sin and demand their punishment for their failures.  Accuser found it useful to work with Wrath because he and his followers would release plagues to accomplish Accuser’s purposes.  Wrath is frequently associated with plagues (Num 16:46; Ezek 6:12; 14:19).

Wrath was always one of the more powerful spirits in the hierarchy of evil.  Accuser often had Wrath with him when he attacked the earth.

The devil has come down to you having great Wrath (Rev 12:12).

The role of Wrath is confirmed in Psalm 78:49.

He unleashed against them his hot anger,
Wrath, indignation and hostility—
a band of destroying angels.

Wrath is the leader of a band of destroying angels.  He is not a manifestation of God's character as is often assumed, but is an evil spiritual being.

Wrath is sometimes referred to as the “wrath of God” because although he rebelled against God at the beginning of human history, he had originally been created by God.  His character was different when he was created, so he had probably been given a different name.  God knew when he created the angels and gave them freedom that some would go wrong, but he decided to create them anyway.  God does not disown his creation.  He does not avoid responsibility for what he has done.  The spiritual powers of evil are still his, although they have rebelled against him.

Despite their rebellion, God still uses the spiritual powers of evil, despite themselves, to accomplish his purposes.  He has sometimes incited this spirit called Wrath to do things that he needs done, particularly when restraining political powers that are doing harm on the earth.

Paul explained to the Romans the relationship between wrath and law.

The law brings about Wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression (Rom 4:15).

Prior to the giving of the law through Moses, transgression was undefined.  The law specified the behaviour that God required from the people that he had called.  The law also spelt out in detail the curse that was the consequence of transgression.

Once the law of the covenant was in place, the spiritual powers of evil demanded the right to enforce the curses of the law against the children of Israel whenever they transgressed it (I presume that they used it against other peoples as well).  Accuser and Wrath were often the leaders of this activity.  This is why Paul said that the law brings about Wrath.  The giving of the law with curses specified for disobedience increased the power of Wrath and the destroying angels working with him.

The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his powerful Wrath is against all who forsake him (Ezra 8:22).

In his letter to the Romans, Paul explains that the political powers are "agents of Wrath" (Rom 13:4).  This should change the way that we think about them.  God might use them from time to time, but the political-spirits and government-spirits (principalities and powers) that control the political powers are intent on evil.  This is why the proverb warns,

A king's Wrath is a messenger of death (Prov 16:14).

Daniel described an evil political leader who will emerge during a time of distress on earth.  He will do terrible evil on earth, because he is controlled by Wrath.  When he is disturbed,

He will go forth with great Wrath to destroy and annihilate many (Dan 11:44).

Paul warned that Wrath will often avenge people who suffer injustice.

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to Wrath (Rom 12:19).

We should often wait for him to act, rather than seeking revenge ourselves.

Sin

The cosmos dominator called Sin had worked with Death and Destroyer prior to the Flood to lead humans into sin to keep them under the power of evil.  Sin continued working after Moses gave the law because he was able to use the law to force people into sin.

Sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire (Rom 7:8).

When the commandment came, Sin came to life, and I died (Rom 7:9).

Sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to Death (Rom 7:11).

When sin gained control of people, they were pushed under the control of Death.

The Cross

Jesus defeated the spiritual powers of evil on the cross by paying the ransom price that they had demanded in return for releasing their hold of humans.  His death eliminated their right to accuse those who trust in him of sinning.  However, many people on earth failed to trust in Jesus, so the spiritual powers of evil were able to retain authority over them.  Humans failed to take advantage of the deliverance from captivity that Jesus established.

The blood of Jesus destroyed the power of the Accuser.  When Jesus died on the cross and ascended into heaven, Accuser lost his place and was thrown out of heaven and cast down on the earth.

For the Accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down (Rev 12:10).

Accuser now has to work by deception, persuading humans that he is not defeated and enticing or tricking people into sinning.

Wrath was already working on earth.  Having lost his authority to accuse the followers of Jesus, Wrath works with Accuser to destroy the people of the earth.

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Slanderer and Accuser, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.  Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea!  For the devil has come down to you with great Wrath, because he knows that he has a short time (Rev 12:9).

Destruction of Jerusalem — Wrath at Work

The Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus were followed forty years later by the Destruction of Jerusalem.  The Jewish rejection of Jesus gave Wrath an opportunity to improve his position.  He was the Cosmos Dominator who wreaked destruction on Israel.  He loves to create tribulation for God’s people.

When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near... For this is the time of punishment in fulfilment of all that has been written...  Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (Luke 21:20,22,24).

See Jesus Big Prophecy for more.

Times of the Gentiles — Death, Wrath and Monster Struggle

The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish diaspora opened up a season called the Times of the Gentiles.  During this season:

• The Jews are scattered among the nations for their safety.

• They continue to resist the gospel.

• Evil is unrestrained.

• The world is dominated by political power.

• Human government will be unrestrained.

• The church is constrained by lack of faith.

• The Holy Spirit will not go where he is not invited, so he is held back.

We are still in the Times of the Gentiles, but they might be coming to an end.

The cross had weakened the power of the law, so Accuser lost his place of privilege in the spiritual realms, but Death was able to re-impose his control again and continues to flex his power throughout the Times of the Gentiles.

Following the cross, Death continued to work with Wrath to release plagues on earth.  Wrath often calls himself by the name “Wrath of God” because he likes to pretend to do God’s work.  He is delighted when people blame his activities on God by calling the calamities that he creates Acts of God.  This is why terrible plagues that have caused millions of deaths have been so common throughout the current age.

Death and Wrath have not had a free hand.  The other big Cosmos Dominator active during the Times of the Gentiles is Monster.  He has worked through political power and emerges to expand his control of the world.

Monster gained a place of dominance over the world by working through the Roman Empire.  Revelation 13:1-2 describes his initial emergence.  Monster lost power when the Roman Empire collapsed.  This is the fatal wound that was later healed (Rev 13:3).  After the demise of the Roman Empire, Monster persisted by working through the Holy Roman Empire – the Image of the Monster (Rom 13:11-15).

Time of Distress and Fullness of Jews — Book of Revelation

We are currently living during the Times of the Gentiles.  They will come to an end in a dramatic way when the Fullness of Israel comes to faith in Jesus during a Time of Distress on earth.  The Book of Revelation describes a transitional season when the Jews come to faith in Jesus and the spiritual powers of evil are fully defeated.  During this season, several powerful cosmos dominators will jockey for power in the spiritual realms.

• Wrath

• Death

• Monster (Beast)

• Destroyer is released partway through the season (Rev 9:1-11).

They sometimes work together, sometimes gang up on each other, and sometimes fight with each other.  They are all evil and dishonest, so when they work together, they are always trying to trick each other to increase their own authority.  Destroyer and Wrath both switch sides frequently during the struggle.

The Book of Revelation is not about signs of the second coming of Jesus; rather it describes the season when the fulness of the Jews come to faith in Jesus, the spiritual powers of evil are fully defeated, and the Kingdom of God emerges into victory.  Prior to their defeat, the cosmos dominators fight with each other, while struggling to maintain their power in the world.  They become so angry with each other that they will eventually destroy each other, allowing Jesus to achieve victory.

A key to understanding the book of Revelation is realising that many of the characters and events described by John do not represent nations and their activities, but are actually descriptions of various spiritual cosmos dominators jostling for control on earth. 

The Seven Seals described in Revelation 5:1-8:1 outline Jesus’ plan for an important transitional season.  Jesus controls the timing of their opening.  During this season, human political powers increase their authority on earth, but human governments make terrible mistakes, which brings horrible disasters.  They demand even greater power to put the situation right, but this makes the situation worse.

The other sequences in the book of Revelation describe the plans of the key cosmos dominators for the same season (there are more details in the following sections).  Many of their plans fail because they lack the wisdom of God.

• The plans of a cosmos dominator called Death are described in the sequence of Seven Trumpets in Revelation 8 and 9.

• The emergence of Destroyer as a powerful force on earth is described in Revelation 9:1-11.

• Monster is another powerful cosmos dominator active during this season.  His plan for seizing control of the world is described in Revelation 13 and 17.

• Wrath’s plans for coming out on top are described in Revelation 15 and 16.

Why Reveal It?

I have wondered why God revealed the plans of these powerful cosmos dominators, given that they will fail.  Would they not be tempted to adjust them?  The truth is that these spirits believed John was a fool and do not believe what he wrote.  He ended up in prison for many years, so they do not take him seriously.  They are so arrogant that they believe that their plans will be successful, regardless of what God does to prevent them.  They will persist and refuse to modify their plans because they believe they are the best possible plans.

They are so arrogant that they all believe that their plans will be successful, despite the fact that they are also fighting against each other, so if one is successful, the other will be defeated.  They all assume that they will come out on top, but pride comes before a fall.

Revelation records the activities of many angels, but this is a problem for our understanding because the Greek word “angelos” means messenger.  We assume that they are all angels working for God, but that is not the case.  Some of the messengers that John saw were serving God, whereas many others were fighting against him.  The only way that we can discern the difference is from the context.  I try to avoid the word angel when describing those who are opposing God.

Monster (Beast) — Restored Political Power Grows

Monster was always around, but during the Church age, he becomes increasingly dominant.  He is not just a government, but it is a really powerful cosmos dominator that controls a powerful government that gains control of large parts of the earth.

Monster dominates and controls the world by working through the political, economic and military authority of human governments.  When various tragedies strike the earth, people look to their political leaders for deliverance.  They give these leaders more and more power in a desperate attempt to turn back the troubles they face.  Empires emerge when individual nations fail in this task.

Monster gains dominance towards the end of the Times of the Gentiles when life on earth becomes unsettled (see Seven Seals above).  He hates the prophetic church and attempts to destroy it, but after much suffering, it is restored (Rev 11:6-12).

Monster’s violence is the reason for much of the tribulation during the Time of Distress.  Daniel describes a terrible Monster crushing and devouring (Dan 7:7; 7:19).  This love of destruction explains why Monster often works with Destroyer. 

Monster is the Cosmos Dominator behind the accumulation of political power in the western world.  He develops a powerful western nation into a huge empire in an attempt to control the world(see Democratic Monster).  He will have brief success, but his empire eventually collapses under its own weight.

The Bible gives a view of the Monster when it is at the peak of its power (see Terrible Monster.  It may have already passed that point now, so we need to understand what happens when this power declines.  At his peak, Monster will be able to dominate most nations of the world.  He will also be able to control buying and selling by preventing them from trading using the payment system (SWIFT).

Before he reaches peak power
Monster causes the following.

• Disruption            Economic
  Racial Violence
  Disease.

• Increased political power

• Democracy continues, but political power is imposed by military force.

After Peak Power

Monster declines

• Loses control of some nations:
  Afghanistan
  Iran
  Syria
  Iraq
  Ukraine

• Potential rivals emerge:
  European Union
  Russia
  China – a different power: economic not military.

• Borderlands break away
  Four horns (Dan 8:8,22).

• Violence increases internally

• Breakaway states are forced back in by military power (Dan 8:9:23).

• Violent enforcement
  Reckless actions against nations that refuse to acknowledge the Monster’s power.

• Posturing against rival powers
  but careful.

• Gets involved in Israel
  in an attempt to gain legitimacy.

Woman on the Monster

When the Jewish people returned to Palestine and established the nation of Israel, Monster used this event to increase his power on earth.  John saw a woman riding on the Monster.  The woman was a prostitute, and the Monster was an empire that had died but was restored again after being dead for a long time.  This was a vision of collusion between the nation of Israel and the United States.

The vision of the Woman on the Monster describes a season when the nation of Israel will control the most powerful empire the world has known.  Many other nations will be controlled by her, too.  The United States is the most powerful empire the world has ever known, with the strongest economy and military bases all over the world.  Many nations are under its power, and no other nation has been able to challenge its role as a superpower.

The surprising thing is that the dominant political force in the United States is the Israel lobby.  A presidential candidate who rejects the demands of AIPAC will have difficulty being elected.  Getting elected to Congress is difficult without the support of the Israel lobby groups.  Many members of Congress are willing to place the security of the United States at risk in order to protect Israel.  When Israel wants action against its enemies, it organises for the United States to do it.  This strange power situation is perfectly described by a woman (Israel) sitting on a Monster (United States).

John’s vision records the name of the woman sitting on the Monster.  The name on her forehead is “Babylon the Great” (Rev 17:5).  The rise and fall of a powerful government-spirit called Babylon the Great is recorded in Revelation 17 and 18.  Babylon the Great is a government-sprit that uses an army of evil spirits to control the nation of Israel.  It works up with the cosmos dominator called Monster to accomplish its purposes.  When the Monster is eventually defeated, Babylon the Great will be defeated, too.  The defeat of this powerful government-spirit that controls the nation of Israel opens the way for the Jews to hear the gospel and come to the fullness that God promised.

Death Again - Seven Trumpets

The cosmos dominator called Death is released into fuller power when the fourth seal is opened by Jesus (Rev 6:8).  He uses war, famine, plague and beasts (political powers) to kill many people on earth.  He is the most powerful spirit on earth when the Time of Distress, an epochal event that marks the end of the Times of the Gentiles, gets underway.  However, early on in this transitional season, Destroyer takes over from Death (Rev 9:11).  This change is described in the seven trumpets of Revelation.  The big difference is that he is able to attack humans, but he is not able to directly attempt to destroy the earth.

The seven messengers with the seven trumpets were not sent by God, so they represent a rebellion against his plans (Rev 8:2).  They will attempt to destroy the earth, despite God’s instructions that it should be preserved.

In Jesus’ plan, John saw four messengers who wanted to destroy God’s good creation.  A powerful angel holding the seal of God declared that they were not allowed to harm the earth or the sea until the full number of Jews had come to faith in Jesus (Rev 7:1-4).  The four messengers wanted to bring about a change in global weather patterns that would produce dramatic global climate change that would harm the earth, the trees and the sea.  They have evil intent, but another angel carrying the seal of God prevents them from acting to harm the earth.

The cosmos dominator that controlled the initiation of the seven trumpets was Death.  He makes things die.  The Seven Trumpets describe Death's plan for the season when Jesus is bringing in the Kingdom of God.  Fortunately for the church and the world, Death’s plans fail.

Interpreting the first four trumpets is almost impossible without noting the disconnection between the actions taken and the outcomes that follow.  The key to solving this problem is understanding that the first four trumpets describe the things that Death wants to do but is unable to achieve.  They also describe what he will actually do when he fails to achieve his goals.

Death had plans to send the evil spirits that he controlled to destroy the earth, the trees, the grass, the rivers and the sea, and many of the animals living in them, and to darken the atmosphere in some way, but he was stymied by God and the prayers of the saints.  This is why each trumpet only kills a third of its target.  Its effects are partial.  When he was prevented from carrying out his plans, Death got angry and went off to destroy some other things that were important to God.

When the fifth trumpet is sounded, Destroyer will rise up to seize control from Death and his army of spirits and begin to torment people.  Death will be constrained and lose control over the situation.

Destroyer Released

At a crucial time in human history, the cosmos dominator called Destroyer will be released from the Abyss, where he has been locked up since the time of Noah.

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.  And he opened the bottomless pit (Rev 9:1-2).

When the fifth trumpet is sounded, the angel of a church that had fallen away from faith was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss, and evil spirits came out and began to torment people on earth.  They were led by a cosmos dominator whose name was Destroyer.

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 (Rev 9:1-2,11).

The Hebrew word Apollyon means destruction, and the Greek word Abaddon means destroyer, so either word can be used for this spiritual character.  His release is a terrible woe for the inhabitants of the earth (Rev 8:13).  The evil spirits that had been locked up in the Abyss since the time of Noah will be released back onto the earth again.  Their release will result in a vast increase in evil.

The angel that controls this great army is called Destroyer.  He had organised a season of terrible destruction on earth when he controlled the earth during the Millennium of Darkness prior to the flood.  Once he is released from the abyss again, he will attempt to bring terrible destruction on earth.  The gang of destroyer spirits that he leads/controls will attempt to destroy and kill everything they encounter.  They will try to destroy God's created world by wrecking rivers and seas, and damaging the land.  When their attacks on creation fail, they will attempt to kill and torment people by inflicting them with sickness and starting destructive wars.

How could this happen?  How could the angels that had been shut up from harm's way for so long be released again?  The answer is in the trumpets.  The Abyss is opened by the star that fell from heaven.  This is the angel responsible for a church that fell from grace.  Its angel was squeezed out and an evil spiritual power took its place.  A compromised church allowed the evil spirits to escape from the Abyss.

The words and actions of a weak church allowed an evil angel to open the door of the abyss and allow the trapped spirits to escape.  I presume this church will say that evil spirits are not real.  It may even say that evil is not real.  These declarations will allow the angel to open the abyss.  Christians who pray for the military success of violent nations like Israel and the United States also empower Destroyer.

After the Abyss is opened, darkness will spread across the earth (Rev 9:2).  The escaped spirits will be given power to torment the people of the earth.  They will gain control of governments all over the world and use them to spread destruction.  Destroyer will do a great deal of harm on earth by switching loyalties between various cosmos dominators.  When they are doing serious evil on earth, they will call on his assistance.

The release of Destroyer and his followers from the Abyss might be quite near.  We might be seeing the increased destruction that they will cause.  Fortunately, the season when they are free to work is quite short, because God will lure them into a trap when the sixth trumpet is sounded, and they will mostly be destroyed.

Wrath and Destroyer

Wrath has always held a powerful position in the spirit world.  His plans for dominating the transitional season are described in Revelation 15 and 16 in a sequence of Seven Bowls of Wrath.  Seven evil angels pour out seven plagues on the earth.   Wrath understands that the people of the world have turned away from God and lost faith in Jesus.  He believes this gives him the right to punish the people of the world on behalf of God, even though God had not given him this right.

The seven evil angels with the bowls of Wrath are controlled by him, but also work with Destroyer.  He became skilled in destroying the earth between the fall and the flood, so he will teach Wrath how to destroy the earth in this season.  This destruction is not the work of God, but the work of evil spirits released from spiritual prison by a weak church.

Gog — Big War

A spirit called Gog is described in Ezekiel 38,39 and in Revelation 20.  I assume that Gog is a Cosmos Dominator who has developed a skill at commanding big groups of government-spirits to work together to do evil.  They commit to following him because he offers them opportunities to enhance their power to accomplish evil.  He probably uses violence and power to keep them in line.  If one tries to pull out of an alliance, Gog would set destroyer spirits against it.  Of course, if they all rebel against his leadership, he would be powerless to keep them in line.

Gog models his activities on the example of Monster.  Near the end of the Times of the Gentiles, he will go to war against Monster.  This ruthless and violent struggle in the spiritual realms will cause the destruction of many of the spiritual forces of evil.

Cosmos Dominators Defeated

The book of Revelation describes the defeat of the cosmos dominators that control the spiritual realms during the Time of Distress that leads up to the calling of the Jews and the victory of the Kingdom.

• Wrath will turn against the Monster and eventually destroy his power.
  
  “The great day of Wrath has come, and who can withstand it” (Rev 6:17)?
  

  Monster is eliminated by the power of advance of the kingdom of God (Rev 19;20-21).

• Babylon the Great is attacked and destroyed by Wrath.
  
  ”Babylon the Great is brought to remembrance in the sight of God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fury of His Wrath” (Rev 16:19).
  
  Revelation 18 describes the destruction of spiritual forces behind the economic and political power of the nation of Israel.  Release from political power will allow the Fullness of the Jews.

• Wrath, Destroyer, Accuser, Sin and Death will be defeated by the successful proclamation of the gospel (Rev 14:20; 19:11-21).

When all the cosmos dominators have lost their power, the gospel will advance into all the world in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the Kingdom of God will come to fullness on earth.

End of the Kingdom Age

Sin and Accuser rise to power at the end of the Kingdom age, when a Man of Sin emerges in the world to stir up a rebellion against God.

That day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of sin is revealed, the man doomed to destruction (2 Thes 2:3).

This evil man and the spiritual powers that control him will be destroyed by Jesus when he returns.

The lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendour of his coming (2 Thes 2:8).

Gog will have another go at the same time as the Man of Sin emerges.  He will gather the nations of the earth for battle.

Accuser will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle (Rev 20:7-8).

Fire will come down from heaven and destroy all the remaining cosmos dominators (Rev 20:9).  God will be all in all.