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Revelation
By Adam Bartlett
Chapter 9
1: And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
2: And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
This star is believed by some to be satan and by some to be an angel, even an arch angel. To be consistent with the theme of this book and words and symbols used throughout this book it would agree that it is an angel. In chapter 1:20 Jesus says that the stars represent angels or messengers. Some believe because it says this “star” falls from heaven that it must be satan. I believe that this particular angel is satan and I believe that verse 11 collaborates this. It is not the same angel spoken of in chapter 20:1-3 because this angel is said to be a fallen “star” and the angel spoken of in chapter 20 is distinguished as that. This angel is said to be “given the key” and the angel in chapter 20 has the key already and does not need it given to him. I find this as additional proof because satan nor any demon will have the “keys” to these things.
There is a great smoke that comes from this pit and even darkens the sun and it says even the air was darkened. I believe it will be like the darkness described in the plague on the Egyptians where it says it could be “felt.” We have to keep in mind that these judgments will be like nothing this earth has ever seen before and they will be supernatural and spiritual in nature. If you remember back in the first Gulf War when the oil fields were set afire that the smoke covered the area for weeks and for several days nothing could be seen. Imagine this on a world wide scale as this judgment will be.
3: And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4: And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
We are told that locusts will come out of this pit and they were to target only those that did not belong to God. They were to stay away from the trees and grass which they would normally eat. We are given a more descriptive detail of them later in upcoming verses. These verses tell us two things; one, these locusts are going against their nature because of a command given to them by God. Two, there are still some people on the earth during this time that belong to God. Because these locusts come up out of this pit would also indicate that they very well could be spiritual in nature or even demonic. It is quite clear that they are not normal nor do they possess normal qualities.
It very well could be more of demonic nature because we know that satan is cast down to earth according to Chapter 12:9-12, and it would certainly agree that all his demons would also be cast down with him and confined to the earth. Therefore it is very likely that these could be demonic attacks such as we would never have seen before. It is also fitting because demons have no power over those that belong to God but they do have full access to those that do not. We know that even today they have the ability to possess and torment people so it is not beyond reason that they would be able to inflict this kind of punishment on men during this most horrible time. This is satan’s short reign on the earth during this period of the tribulation and his demons will share it with him.
5: And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6: And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
Because they are given power to hurt men but not kill them seems to fit the scenario that these are demonic creatures. The sting of a scorpion is extremely painful and the pain inflicted by these creatures will be much worse and last for five months. It was not enough to incapacitate them but it would cause them severe pain and torment.
Things are so bad by this time that it says they will seek death but what is interesting is that God will not allow it. They will not be allowed the “easy” way out if suicide is an easy way. They are appointed to this time of torment and suffering as a precursor to where their final home will be which will have this on a unimaginable scale for eternity.
7: And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8: And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9: And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10: And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
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.
Every description given uses words that associate it with something but not saying it is actually that thing. Phrases like, “like unto,” “as the,” “as it were,” are used to make these comparisons. There are many thoughts as to what these creatures actually are. We are not given any further references to them so it is impossible to speculate. Needless to say they are creatures such as the world has never seen and never will again.
It is obvious that John is not describing a natural locust but trying to give us a vivid picture of the demonic forces that will be unleashed on mankind during this time. It is not a time that man will want to be on earth or even alive as verse 6 affirms.
This angel that is their “king” has names that are defined as ‘destroyer’ and we know that as John 10:10 tells us that satan is the one that seeks to destroy us. There were several times in the Old Testament when God used locusts to execute His judgment on Israel because of their disobedience. Here we see God uses these in a typified sense to again execute His judgment on those that reject Him.
12: One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13: And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14: Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
15: And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
It is not clear if the judgment of locusts was considered this first “woe” or if it is referring to all the judgments up to this point. Regardless, it says that there are two more coming and they will be just as horrible if not worse. There are four angels that were created for this one purpose and now they are being unloosed to execute their mission. I believe that the Trumpet judgments 2-6 are partial and fulfilled in the following Bowl judgments 2-6. If you look at these judgments you can see that they are basically the same in content but it is as if they are started in the Trumpets and then finished with the Bowl judgments.
The death toll of this judgment to come will be a third part of men. At this time we have well over 6 billion people on the earth. This judgment will kill over 2 billion people at one time. To put this into perspective the U.S. has a population of right at 300 million people and this is really interesting. If you take 2 billion and divide it by 300 million it comes out to 6.66. Over six times the population of the United States will be killed in this judgment.
16: And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
17: And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
18: By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
19: For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.
This army of 200 million will come from the East and head toward Israel for the final battle. The Euphrates will be dried up to open the way for this army as chapter 16 tells us with the sixth bowl judgment. The only country east of the Euphrates that has that many people in an army is China. Whether it is China alone or a conglomerate of armies is not sure but the number is certain and that is an unfathomable amount of people killed at one time.
It is also unclear if John is describing a spiritual scene here or physical in the sense of the army. In my opinion it would tend to be more physical sense this is declared to be a real physical army of men. Therefore it is not out of order to speculate of the possibilities of what is being spoken of. Knowing what we have in our time and what John was trying to describe as he saw it could be the following.
It could be that these descriptions are of tanks, armored vehicles, and all the weaponry we know to be available in today’s armies. This would explain the fire, smoke, and brimstone coming out of their mouths. It could also be descriptions of helicopters and attack planes that are very common in war.
20: And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
We are told that even after seeing this great judgment and all the death and horrible events these people still refuse to repent. God is showing that even during this great time of judgment He is willing to accept repentance, yet mankind will refuse Him as He reaches out for the last times. This also shows the great mercy and love God does have for His creation in that even while they reject Him bitterly to the end He still offers repentance.
It is impossible to understand how man can get to that point that they cannot even acknowledge God or His great love and mercy. How hard it must be for God at this point to have to hand over His greatest of creations to the enemy because of their willful rejection.
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