THE INTERLUDE PART 2 - MEASURING THE TEMPLE & 2 WITNESSES (Revelation 11:1-13)

Measuring the Temple
11:1-2

This chapter continues the interlude between the 6th and 7th trumpets. As with the interlude in the seal judgments, there is a picture of God’s protection of his people, the church. God’s people may suffer, but they cannot be separated from God no matter what Satan does. As Paul wrote, “no, in all these things we are more than conquerers through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present northings to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”. (Romans 8:37-39) Ultimately, believers will triumph with Christ.

What Paul told us, Jesus shows us through John the apostle, the writer of Revelation. John was given a measuring rod. He was told to measure 3 things: (1) the temple; (2) the altar; and (3) the people who worship there.

This measuring is a symbol of God’s intimate knowledge of his people and his care for them. This is similar to the vision of the 144,000 in the first interlude. God knows his believers on earth and sealed them for their spiritual protection.

There are 2 Old Testament references here.  The first is Ezekiel 40. There Ezekiel saw a man measure and describe the city of Jerusalem and the temple. Neither existed in Ezekiel’s time, having been destroyed by the Babylonians. The perfectly square measurements and the layout showed God dwelling with his people and protecting them. It was a picture, not of a physical temple to be built, but of God’s care for the church, ultimately fulfilled in the New Jerusalem we see at the end of Revelation.

The 2nd reference with to Zechariah 2. There a man again measured Jerusalem and declared it would be a city without walls with God as a wall of fire around it. It is a picture of God leading and protecting his people just as he did in the Exodus with the pillar of fire in front of the camp at night.

John was told not only to measure the temple, but the altar. The altar is where sacrifice is made and worship occurs. God shows us he will protect true worship and honor the sacrifices made by those who are faithful to Christ.

Third, John was to measure the worshippers. You cannot really measure a group of people with a rod. This reinforces the symbolism of the measuring. Christ shows us by this he knows his followers and holds them fast. Remember John 10. Jesus said he is the door to the sheepfold and will protect his sheep. He is the shepherd who protects the flock. He said “I know my own”. (John 10:14) Jesus knows us and keeps us.

Remember, though, that the scroll John ate in chapter 10 was sweet in his mouth, but bitter in his stomach. The message of Christ’s protection of his people is sweet. But, hearing of what we will suffer is not as pleasant.

John was told not to measure the court outside the temple. (2) it would be given over to the nations to be trampled. In Revelation, the “nations” means those on earth who oppose Christ and his church. God will allow them to attack the church for a time. The “holy city” is the church. It is a play on the label “the New Jerusalem” which we will see descend from heaven at the end of the book. It is the church.

The time period for this persecution is 42 months. That is 3.5 years. There are some who believe this means there will be a 3.5 year period of persecution. But, since everything else in this vision is symbolic, it is logical to assume this period is also. Since 7 years would be a complete period in God’s timing, half of that represents a period of time cut short by God.

The background for this time period is Daniel 7:25. In Daniel 7, Daniel recorded a vision of 4 beasts. There was a lion, a bear and a leopard. The beasts represented kingdoms that would rise and fall before Christ’s kingdom was established. The lion was Babylon, the bear was Persia and the leopard was Alexander the Great and his Greek kingdom.

But the 4th beast in the vision was terrifying and dreadful and strong, crushing everything before it. Beginning in 7:25, Daniel was given an interpretation. He was especially interested in the terrible 4th beast. This beast, or kingdom, was revealed to rule over the earth and oppose God. It would “wear out the saints of the Most High”. In other words, this is a powerful government that will oppose, harass and persecute the church. This government was allowed to do this for a time, times and half a time. This is the same as 42 months or 3.5 years. at the end of that time, the kingdom is given over to the saints and is everlasting. This is the story told in Revelation 11.

The Bible shows us that the church will experience tribulation during the whole period of the church age. Jesus told that to his disciples. But we know it will intensify toward the end. Paul wrote that Christ will not return until the rebellion comes and man of lawlessness, or man of sin, is revealed. He will oppose God and exalt himself against God and even proclaim himself to be God. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-5).

11:3-14
The Two Witnesses

John is told that authority will be granted to 2 witnesses. The speaker is not identified, but we can assume it is Jesus. He has authority so he can grant it. These 2 witnesses are some type of prophet. They prophesy about the need for repentance in the face of coming the judgment. This is shown by their clothes: they wear sackcloth, the clothing of repentance and morning. When Jonah preached to Nineveh, the king covered himself in sackcloth and called for the whole nation to repent. (Jonah 3)

So, who are these witnesses? Some believe they are 2 literal persons who preach and prophesy immediately before the second coming. But look at how Jesus described them. He said the are the “two olive trees” and the “two lamp stands” that stand before the Lord of the earth. What are the lamp stands? In chapter 1, the lamp stands are the churches. John saw the Lord standing in the midst of 7 lamp stands, signifying Jesus’ presence with the churches.

The two olive trees refers again to Zechariah 4. These two trees supplied endless oil to the lamps in the lampstands. Some believe this referred to Zerubbabel and Joshua. Zerubbabel was the governor and was a descendant of David. Joshua was the high priest. In effect, they were priest and king who lead Israel to restoration. They prefigured the coming Messiah who would be both priest and king. Zechariah was told the two olive trees “are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth”. (Zech. 4:14). Similarly, the two witnesses in Revelation 11 “stand before the Lord of the earth”.

So the witnesses symbolize the church standing for God in the face of governmental opposition, preaching the gospel of repentance and faith in light of the coming judgment.

it could be there are 2 of them because the Bible requires two witnesses to any crime punishable by death. Here these 2 witness and prophesy of coming judgment that leads to death and destruction.

The two witnesses have powers that resemble that of Moses and Elijah. They are like Moses in turning water to blood and striking the earth with plagues. They are like Elijah in having the power to stop rain, shutting up the heavens.   They also kill anyone who tries to harm them by fire that comes from their mouth. (5)

But the witnesses are only invincible until they have finished their testimony. This leads us to the appearance of a new entity: the beast that rises from the bottomless pit, or abyss. (7) The beast makes war on the witnesses. (7) This is another indication that the witnesses stand for the church. That is because chapter 13 shows the beast making war on the saints. The language is almost identical. In chapter 11, the beast will make war on them and conquer them and kill them. In chapter 13, the beast made war on the saints and conquered them.

When the witnesses are killed, their bodies are left in the street of the great city. Here we see the first vivid contrast between the city of man and the city of God. The city of man is in rebellion against God. It is called Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem. Sodom was so wicked it was destroyed by God raining down sulfer and fire on it. Egypt was wicked and suffered horrible plagues. Jerusalem rebelled against the Messiah and was destroyed. Later in the book, the city of man will be referred to as Babylon.

So the church looks dead and the state killed it. Rome certainly thought it stamped out Christianity at times. Jerusalem’s leaders killed James and persecuted the church, causing many to flee. The Soviets thought they had extinguished the church, as did the Chinese communists. Many governments today regulate churches. We expect restrictions to increase. And, when the church appears to be defeated, people will rejoice.

But, the church was not dead. After 3.5 days, God revived them. (11) Rejoicing turned to fear. The witnesses stood up, reminding us of Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of the bones where people were resurrected into a mighty army. (Ezekiel 37) The rebellious people not only saw the witnesses revived, but taken to heaven. (12) This was accompanied by a great earthquake, killing many people. It was so terrifying, many people began to glorify God.

This is a vision of the resurrection of believers, of the church. A loud voice cried “come up here”. (12) 1 Thessalonians 4:16 says the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel. Their ascension mimics Jesus’ ascension. They went up to heaven in a cloud. Jesus was “lifted up” and a “cloud took him out of their sight”. Acts 1:9.

But those who are not raised to heaven experience great terror at the coming judgment of the enemies of Jesus. Remember the picture of 6:15-16. People attempted to hide from God the Father and from the wrath of the Lamb. We also see that this is the resurrection by what comes next: the 7th trumpet and the scene in heaven.

THE INTERLUDE PART 1 - REVELATION 10

10:1-11:14
The Interlude

Six trumpets have sounded. But, before the seventh sounds, there is an interlude. It was the same with the seal judgments. Between the sixth and seventh seal judgments there was an interlude. The structures of the two sets of judgments are the same. They cover the same time period.

Part of the reason for the interlude, in other words part of the delay, is to increase the drama of the final judgment. Partial judgments have occurred, but there is a pause before the final judgment of the seventh trumpet as there was before the final judgment of the sixth seal.

The interlude also directs us back to see God’s protection of his people. The interlude in the seal judgments did the same, showing us that believers are sealed by God and protected by him.


10:1-7
The Mighty Angel

John saw another mighty angel descending from heaven. The first one was in 5:2. This indicates that John is on earth (in his vision). That would be logical since the trumpet judgments show the judgments from the perspective of earth (the seal judgments showed the perspective from heaven).

This angel reflects the glory of God. Is this simply a mighty angel, or is this the glorified Lord Jesus? He had a rainbow over his head. John described the throne of the Father as having around it a “rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald”. (Rev. 4:3)

The angel’s face was like the sun. (10:1) In other words, his face radiated the glory of God. In 1:16, John said of Jesus, “his face was like the sun shining in full strength”. Moses’ face reflected God’s glory when he left his presence.

Lastly, the angel had legs like pillars of fire and he was wrapped in a cloud. This reminds us of the Lord going before Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness with a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. (Exodus 13:22) In fact, cloud and fire came with the presence of the Lord all through the Exodus experience. When Moses came to the burning bush, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bush. (Exodus 3:2) When God gave manna to the Israelites, the “glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud”. (16:10) When God came to Mount Sinai to give the covenant, there was a cloud, lightening and smoke. (Exodus 19) When God’s presence came to the Tabernacle, there was a cloud by day and fire by night. (Exodus 40:38) Daniel saw one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds to the Father to receive eternal dominion. (Daniel 7:13) In Daniel 10, Daniel’s prayer was answered by an angel with a powerful appearance, including fire, lightening, bronze and a very loud voice. So, this is either an angel close to God or even the Lord Jesus himself.

The angel had a “little scroll” in his hand. (10:2) Since we already in the context of a scroll that contains God’s plan for earth and humankind, this seems to be that scroll. This also fits the pattern of the transmission of the message as told in 1:1. God gave Jesus the revelation, Jesus gave it to his angel, who was sent to give it to John. John then gave it to the churches. What chapter 1 told, chapter 10 shows.

Before the angel gave John the scroll, he took an oath. He put one foot on the sea and one on the land. This demonstrates God’s power over all the earth, both land and sea. In chapter 13, we will see Satan’s challenge to God’s authority. He will send a beast from the land and a beast from the sea.

The angel called out with a loud voice that resembled, for John, the roar of a lion. (3) We are not told if he said anything, but it seems to be an expression of God’s wrath that will be poured out on the earth. For example, look at Amos 3:7-8. It says:

for the LORD GOD does nothing
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
The Lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The LORD GOD has spoken;
who can but prophesy.

And it was John’s job to be the prophet and convey the message the Lord spoke through his angel. In verse 11, John was told “you must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings”.

When the angel roared, the heavens respond with 7 thunders.(3) The thunders evidently had words,  for John started to write them down.  But God spoke from heaven and told him not to and to seal them up, meaning to keep them secret. We are not told why the thunders are sealed. But it may be that the time for any further delay has passed. When the 7th and last trumpet is blown, judgment has come. There is no remaining opportunity to repent. That is what the angel said when he took his oath; “there would be no more delay”. It is time for vindication of believers and judgment of unbelievers.

The angel raised his hand and swore by God. (5-6) It is the same posture used here in America to swear in a witness at trial or a politician into office. They swear “so help me God”. But here, rather than just say “God”, John gave us this beautiful description of God. He is “him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it”. God is eternal and he created all things.

As a side note, we see yet another place in the Bible where the creation of the earth is credited to God. If you attack creation in the Genesis account, and attribute it to nature, it is not only that passage that you must destroy. It is every verse of the Bible that says God created the earth, including this verse. God’s creation of the earth is the basis for his power and authority over it. And that is one reason men attack the doctrine of creation. Men want to be autonomous and not accountable to God.

What the angel swore was:
the time for delay is over;
when the 7th trumpet sounds, the mystery of God would be fulfilled;
just as he announced through the prophets. (7)

All through the Bible, God spoke. He revealed himself. He revealed his plan one small piece at a time. He revealed these things to his prophets. The prophets revealed them to the people.

Eating the Scroll
10:8-11

After the angel made his oath, the voice from heaven told John to take the scroll from the angel. John did. The angel told him to eat the scroll and that it would make his stomach bitter but taste sweet as honey in his mouth. (9)

John took the scroll and ate it. (10) Indeed, it was sweet as honey in his mouth, but made his stomach bitter.

This reminds us of a similar event with the prophet Ezekiel, when he was commissioned to prophesy. God told him to eat a scroll written on front and back, like the one in Revelation. (Ezekiel 3:1) It symbolized Ezekiel’s obligation to take in God’s words and speak them to the people. God said “son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you, receive in our heart and hear with our ears. And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them ‘thus says the Lord God”. (Ezekiel 3:10) When Ezekiel ate the scroll, it was as sweet as honey in his mouth. (3:1) But, when he was taken away, he went in bitterness of spirit. (3:14)

This reference to Ezekiel tells us John was to receive God’s revelation and tell it to the people.

God’s word is sweet to those who believe in him and love him. Psalm 119:103 says “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth”. The gospel to us is the sweet story of redemption. But it sets the unbeliever’s teeth on edge. And it becomes bitter when taken in. Ezekiel gave a message to Israel but Israel did not repent. John gave and gives a message to all to repent and be saved. He was told to prophesy to many peoples and nations and languages and kings. (11) Certainly, the book of Revelation has been translated into many languages and distributed to many nations. But most do not repent. Instead, they reject Christ for the dragon, the beast and the harlot that will appear in the following chapters. And they will die in their sin.    

There is some bitterness in Revelation for believers also. Although they cannot be separated from the love of Christ and cannot lose their eternal life, they will be persecuted and some will be killed physically. Paul said the apostles were put to death all day long. (Romans 8:35) Church history is full of martyrs from Stephen and James to those slaughtered in Iraq this week. And it will get worse before it gets better. Thankfully, when it gets better, it gets way better.

In the world we have tribulation. But Jesus overcame the world. So, we can be courageous. (John 16:33)

THE SIXTH TRUMPET - REVELATION 9:12-21

The Sixth Trumpet
9:12-21

Three “woes” were announced by the eagle in 8:13. The eagle said “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets the the three angels are about to blow”. This tells us that these last 3 trumpets will bring judgments more intense that the previous ones.

The first 4 trumpets brought judgment on one third of the earth, affecting the plant life, the oceans, the rivers and the light. But the 5th trumpet, the 1st woe, brought torment directly to men and women. The locusts with stingers like scorpions afflicted people all over the earth for 5 months.

The 6th trumpet is then blown, announcing the 2nd woe. It is also the last warning. The 7th trumpet brings the end.

A voice spoke from the altar, where the prayers of the saints for vindication are held. These are the prayers mentioned in 6:10-11. And those prayers are answered. The 7th seal and the 7 trumpets are God’s answer to those prayers.

Again we have this reference to God’s action in delivering Israel from Egypt. Of that, God said “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their task masters. I know their sufferings and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of hat land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…” (Exodus 3:7-9) That is similar to what God is doing in Revelation.

When the 6th trumpet is blown, Jesus, through the 6th angel,  releases 4 angels who had been bound at the Euphrates River. The word “bound” indicates they were held against their will. Therefore, they are likely fallen angels (demons).

Jesus does this according to a precise time table. The angels were prepared for this hour, day, month and year. (15) We do not know the plan. Jesus said “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority”.   (Acts 1:7) He also said “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father”. (Mark 13:32) God knows the plan. He did not choose to reveal the timing of it to us.

The Euphrates River is important in Bible history. The most powerful enemies of Israel were beyond that river. The Assyrians and Babylonians, who carried Israel into captivity and destroyed their country, lived beyond the river. Ezekiel 38 speaks of Gog attacking Israel from the Northeast. That would be beyond the Euphrates. In other words, judgment came from there. For the Roman Empire, to which the 7 churches of Asia belonged, the Parthian empire was beyond the river, and repeatedly engaged in wars with Rome.

These angels were released to kill one third of all of mankind. (15)

Verse 16 speaks of mounted troops, or cavalry. There were “twice then thousand times then thousand” (ESV) or two hundred million (NIV). This number is likely symbolic, meaning a great number too large to count.

In verse 17 & 19, John described the horses as he saw them in the vision:
They had breastplates the color of fire (red) and sapphire (blue) and of sulfur (yellow);
 the horses’ heads were like lions’ heads;
fire and smoke and suffer came of the horses’ mouths;
their power was in their mouths and tails; and
their tails were like serpents.

The tails like serpents remind us that the power of these beings comes from the great serpent, Satan. So, it appears that these beings are demonic beings, released to inflict death on the earth.

Verse 18, though, tells us that people died from plagues. The plagues were fire, smoke, and sulfur. This brings to mind the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. Only there in the is this exact combination mentioned; fire, smoke and sulfur.

It is hard to know what is meant by all this. It appears then that demons are released. Since demons are spirit beings, they will likely work though people to bring about this plague and death. Since part of the power of the horses is in their mouth, there may be a metaphor here to deception. Satan is a deceiver. His first recorded action is to deceive Eve in the Garden of Eden. His minions, the demons, would use his methods as well, including deception.

Through deception, Satan can create much destruction. People believe they should do things that can lead to horrible consequences. Right now, men and women are studying how to use diseases as weapons, how to trigger natural disasters and how to make chemical weapons.

Idolatry is the emphasis of the sin of unrepentant mankind. (20) The teaching that idolatry is acceptable is itself a deception. There were those in the Asian churches who taught that you could worship the emperor and still believe in Jesus. Others taught you could participate in pagan worship ceremonies and still be a Christian. Jesus plainly rejected that in his criticism of those churches.

In America, we have freedom of religion. But there is a strong movement in the culture to force Christians to give up their belief that Jesus is the exclusive way to God. We hear people say we all worship the same god. Or that all worship is equally valuable. The prosperity gospel perverts God’s word to say that financial prosperity on earth is the goal of believers. Others incorporate pagan practices or ideas into Christianity. All of these ideas are deceptions calculated to distract people from the true faith in Jesus.


The vivid descriptions are to tell us they bring horrible devastation and violent death.
But the point is one third of all mankind are killed. This would be a great devastation. There are about 8 billion people on earth at present. That would mean, if it happened today, about 2.5 billion people would die. In addition to the horror of such loss, it would be difficult to have enough workers to do the things needed for the remainder of humankind to survive.

I believe this judgment is again only on non-believers. Believers have been sealed and protected. This is what happened with the plagues of Egypt. However, I do not know that it means no believers will die physically in these judgments. I do know they will not die spiritually, as they have been sealed by the Holy Spirit.

In a sense, death for the unbeliever here is physical and spiritual. Those who die in unbelief stay that way forever. They are held for the final judgment at this point. But, the time to repent is concluded for them.

Despite these losses, surviving humanity did not repent. The continued to worship idols, murder, commit sexual immorality, theft and sorcery. Certainly our headlines today are filled with these sins. I am reminded of what Americans call “9/11”, when terrorists destroyed the two World Trade Center Towers. Almost three thousand people died in that one attack. For the next three weeks, church attendance swelled, many prayer vigils were held and there was much talk of God. Within a month, almost all of that stopped and people went back to doing all that they had been doing.

As God did with Egypt and Pharaoh, as recorded in Exodus, he does with all of mankind. He brings partial or limited judgment to bring men and women to repentance so that they will avoid the final judgment. But Egypt did not repent and humanity in general will not repent.

 Proclaim the gospel this week. Do not just say God loves you. Say also, you are a sinner in need of repentance. Believe, repent and you will be saved.

THE FIFTH TRUMPET - REVELATION 9:1-11

Chapter 9

9:1-11
The 5th Trumpet: Locusts From Hell

The 5th trumpet is blown. These passages contain a vision of swarm of locusts released from Hell and powered by demon forces.

In verse 1, John heard the blowing of a trumpet and saw a star fallen from heaven to earth. The picture is of an angel, symbolized by the star, fallen from heaven. “Fallen” is in the perfect tense in Greek, meaning the falling had already occurred. John did not see the angel fall, but saw the fallen angel.

This reminds us that when the disciples told Jesus the demons were subject to them in his name, Jesus said “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”. (Luke 10:18) In his vision, John sees Satan.

This theme recurs in chapter 12 where Satan, this time portrayed as a dragon, is thrown down from heaven.

This angel has the authority, the key, to unlock a shaft to the pit.

Jesus has already said he has the key to Hades. (Revelation 1:18) Therefore, Satan only has the authority allowed to him by Jesus. We see this in the limitations of the attack to follow. It is only against unbelievers. It is only for a limited time.

This was true in the book of Job also. God gave Satan authority to test Job, but limited the scope of that authority. Initially, God did not allow Satan to afflict Job physically. Later, he allowed a physical attack, but not death.

When the shaft of the pit was unlocked and open, smoke rises up into the air, darkening the sun. This is to give us the clue that the pit is hell.

The smoke from its fires is so intense it darkens the day. We have seen how darkening of the sun and other cosmic events are described to show a judgment is coming. This is used in both Exodus and Joel.

Following the smoke is a huge swarm of locusts. (3) But these are no ordinary locusts. They have the power to sting like a scorpion. The cause a torment of pain so bad it makes people want to die. But they cannot die. (5-6) They must endure their torment for 5 months.

The appearance of the locusts was disturbing. John said they looked like horses prepared for battle. (7)  Then he went on to describe them. They wore head pieces that looked like crowns of gold. They had faces like humans and hair like women’s hair. These humanoid characteristics indicate that the locusts are demons. Their teeth were like lion’s teeth. They wore breastplates.

They had wings like normal locusts. But the sound of their wings, being a great number of them, was loud like many horse drawn chariots going into battle. Worst of all, they had stingers like scorpions.

The scorpions had a leader, or king. He was the angel of the bottomless pit. He was the devil himself. John said his name was “Abaddon” in Hebrew and “Apollyon” in Greek. These words both translate as “Destroyer”.

The locusts had a specific target: those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. (4) They could not attack plant life or those who had the seal of God.

So, you have the sovereign God using the powers of hell to torment unbelievers on earth. Those who are sealed to God are not hurt. You will know who the unbelievers are because they will suffer these torments. You also see that the power of Satan is limited by the power of Christ. Would not Satan rather attack believers, his enemies? Of course he would. But Christ does not allow this.

There are two Old Testament precursors for this scene. The first is the plague of locusts God sent on Egypt in Exodus 10. When Pharaoh refused to humble himself before the Lord, he sent locusts on the land to eat all the plants. They covered the land, the sky was darkened, and all the plants were eaten.

The second is Joel 2. Joel prophesies the coming of the Day of the Lord in terms very similar to the 5th trumpet of Revelation. In Joel 2, a trumpet is blown in Zion. This trumpet unleashes a powerful people to attack Judea. There is darkness. There is fire. They leave everything desolate as they pass. They have the appearance of war horses and sound like the running of chariots. All of the people suffer anguish at their coming. It is the army of the Lord and the outpouring of his wrath.  But, if we look back to chapter 1 of Joel, we see this mighty army is portrayed as a swarm of locusts. So, the locusts look like horses and symbolize an army of people.

It seems there are 2 possibilities here. One is that these creatures are literally locusts who sting and cause physical pain. The other is that God allowed Satan to unleash an unprecedented outflow of demons upon the earth. Being demons, they could not harm believers. But to unbelievers, they brought great spiritual and mental torment. The torment was so great that the victims wanted to die, but could not.

Ironically, Satan rewards his followers with torment.
 
In Revelation, the plants are not harmed, but the unbelievers are. Still, they suffer only 5 months and are not killed. Again the judgment is partial and points to greater judgment.

That greater judgment is eternal (forever). It will be applied to those who do not believe in Jesus. If you have not committed your life to Jesus, repent of your sins and confess your belief that he is the Son of God who died for you and rose again.

If you are a believer, thank and praise God that you will not suffer the final and eternal judgment because Jesus died to pay the penalty for your sins.