8, Abaddon
A Pilgrim’s Resolve to Face Suffering
Why Abaddon Comes
To live as a human means ultimately to face trials.
Faith does not make these trials disappear;
sometimes, faith even brings sharper suffering.
Many seek God in the midst of trials.
Yet God permits even Abaddon,
to shatter our complacency and lead us into deeper love.
"Even on this pilgrimage walking with the storks,
the blade of Abaddon was aimed at me."
The Lion of the Abyss
As soon as Christian left the Beautiful House,
the time of peace ended, and he confronted a terrifying presence.
His name was Abaddon.
The Bible calls him “the angel of the abyss” (Rev. 9:11).
Fig. 8-1: Christian facing AbaddonChristian was momentarily gripped by fear,
but he did not flee.
He knew that only one clad in the full armor of faith
could endure this battle.
"Why have you left the city of destruction?"
"You were my servant; why have you betrayed me?"
Before Abaddon’s cry, Christian spoke firmly:
"I have realized that the wages of sin is death,
and that in your realm life cannot be found.
Therefore, I have departed
and entered into God’s mercy."
In that moment, the battle became unavoidable reality.
Bargains and Threats
Abaddon tempted him:
"Return, and I will give you the wealth and success of the world."
Christian refused:
"All you offer is death."
Abaddon mocked him:
"You are already a traitor.
Was your faith not shaken? Were you not one who had fallen?"
Christian confessed:
"Yes, I had fallen. But my God is merciful.
He forgives me."
The Battle Always Comes
The dialogue was over.
Abaddon roared and attacked.
Christian fell, and the sword slipped from his hand.
Yet with his last strength, he grasped the sword again and cried out:
"Do not rejoice over me, my enemy.
Though I fall, I will rise again." (Micah 7:8)
These words were not merely a quotation,
but a declaration of faith that rises again after falling.
Abaddon Today
Abaddon is not merely a mythical figure.
He still exists in our lives today—
as suffering,
as the shadow of failure,
as the darkness of depression,
through broken relationships, illness, and loneliness.
He whispers:
"You are a failure. Has God really forgiven you?"
Yet the pilgrim must answer:
"I am weak, but my God is merciful."
"Though I fall, I will rise again."
✍ Meditation
What does the Abaddon in my life look like?
Am I fleeing or standing to fight?
Have I grasped again the sword I dropped—that is, God’s Word?
The Death of a Deacon’s Daughter and the Comfort of Job
A faithful deacon’s daughter died suddenly in an accident.
Though a woman of faith, her death shook the community,
and the deacon left the church in despair.
This is the reality of faith:
suffering comes even when faith exists.
So it was with Job.
Though righteous, he was devastated by a disaster with no apparent reason.
His question is our question:
"Why?"
Yet God said:
"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?" (Job 38:4)
We may not know all the answers,
but God remains sovereign.
Fig. 8-2: Job confronting Jehovah in the face of calamityTime in the Kingdom Flows Differently
Jesus said:
"Blessed are those who feel they have lost what is most precious,
for it is then that they can be held most closely by the One who is most precious." (Matt. 5:4, The Message)
Perhaps that deacon’s daughter is now embraced in the arms of the Most Precious One.
Jesus was not a teacher of this world,
but the One who taught the order of heaven.
His blessing is not worldly success,
but the blessing found in loss, in humility.
Fig. 8-3: Early Christians listening to the Sermon on the MountHe speaks to us:
"Do not live under the weight of guilt.
Do not be swayed by the words of the mighty.
Do not cling to life with selfishness.
Do not lose love, even amidst cynicism."
The ethics of the Kingdom may seem unfair to the world,
but they are far more beautiful.
The Parable of the Vineyard Workers – Grace Begins at the End
Jesus’ parable of the vineyard (Matt. 20:1–16)
reveals how different the order of the Kingdom is from that of the world.
Those who arrive early and those who arrive late
receive the same wages.
By worldly standards, this seems unjust,
but God’s justice is grace and mercy.
The Man Who Rose from Prison
An elderly man once said:
"I spent 45 years in prison."
Abandoned as an orphan at four,
living a life of theft,
he met Jesus while in prison,
and now serves to help alcoholics and drug addicts.
I realized by observing him:
heaven is not for the pure alone;
it is given to those who recognize God’s grace.
"The Kingdom gives the same wage to those who labor all day,
and to those who arrive in the evening."
The Return of the Storks
When the stork restoration project succeeded, producing a population of one hundred,
I dreamed:
"May our President attend the stork’s return ceremony."
But the President did not come.
On that day, I knelt in deep loss.
Then I understood:
"To keep me from becoming too proud, a thorn was given in my flesh,
the messenger of Satan to torment me." (2 Cor. 12:7)
I realized at last:
even the mission was not mine,
and all glory belongs to God.
Fig. 8-4:Stork and QueenAbaddon Today – In the Name of Power and Greed
The politics of our age, under the names of conservatism and progressivism,
dig deep trenches and raise their voices against one another.
Yet behind this division,
a deeper darkness is at work.
Today’s Apollyon is not a monster from mythic abyss,
but the embodiment of greed and arrogance, injustice and falsehood,
a heart that worships power as though it were God—
standing beside us.
When we read Numbers 16,
we encounter the scene where Korah and his company opposed Moses.
They said, “All are holy,”
yet hidden within their words was not God,
but the desire to seize their own position.
Moses did not argue.
He knelt.
To kneel is not defeat.
It is the lowest place that confronts power,
the place where one stands before the justice of God.
When today’s Apollyon challenges even this solitary pilgrim,
I, too, learn to answer not with anger or self-defense,
but with my knees.
In the end, God responded to Moses’ prayer:
“The ground beneath them split apart,
and the earth opened its mouth
and swallowed them, their households,
and all who followed Korah, together with their possessions.”
Scripture testifies
that judgment belongs not to human hands but to the hand of God.
Figure 8-5 Moses Kneeling before Korah’s Company (Numbers 16)
The Place of Prayer
Once more, upon the road, I kneel.
“Lord,
remember this people.
Break the power of darkness,
and let justice and mercy, life and truth, flow again.”
Prayer is small,
yet it is a spark that reaches heaven.
Apollyon may appear loud and immense,
but before God he is only a passing shadow.
Where even one person stands in prayer,
that place becomes an unshakable city.
And so I ask again today:
Where am I walking now?
On the path of power,
or on the path of the knees?
The pilgrim’s way is not the ascent to high seats,
but the way of lowering oneself before God.
I rise again.
For only the one who has knelt
can walk in the right direction.