CHAPTER 9

Revelation 9:1-3

1 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.

2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.

3 And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth

Fifth Trumpet: When the fifth Trumpet is sounded or blown John sees a star falling to earth, this star in reality is a person for it is referred to in the personal pronouns 'him' and 'he' and the verb tense used here (to him) indicates that he has already fallen. Satan fits this description for Isaiah 14:12 and Ezekiel 28:14-18 describes Satan as falling from Heaven and referees to him as the morning star and we can see where the star that John saw falling from Heaven could very possibly refer to Satan. Although the key to open the bottomless pit was given to this person God is still in control of all that is happening and all that is about to happen. As to where the bottomless pit is located no one really knows and all attempts to give a location are just speculation but this we do know, it is a place from what certain types of demons such as demon possessed insects as the locusts described here will come...

Isaiah 14:12

How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations.

Luke 8:30-31

30 Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him.

31 They begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. (Bottomless Pit)

2 Peter 2:4

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment

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When the bottomless pit is opened a judgment unparallel to mankind is unleashed upon them as demonic forces are turned loose to torture them and the smoke was so great that it darkened the sky and hid the sun. Some believe the locusts are demon possessed insects for they are obviously not natural locusts for they only inflict pain on men.

Revelation 9:4-5

4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. And their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.

That these are no ordinary locusts is seen by the way in which they do not touch the plant life on earth but attack men as if they were scorpions and torment them for five months. The fact that they cannot kill men is evidence of God's control over all that is happening and that they cannot harm the 144,000 men whom God has protected by putting His seal on their foreheads. It seems as if God is still trying to get men to think about what is happening and to turn from their rebellious ways and trust in Him as their only hope.

Revelation 9:6

In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

This period of demonic attacks upon mankind is directly controlled by God as we can see for death will not offer any hope of escape for them from the torment they are experiencing. They will seek death as an escape from this prolonged torment but will not find it. It is interesting to note that men will seek death as an escape from their torment instead of crying out to God for forgiveness. God is again giving man the opportunity to repent.

Revelation 9:7-11

7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.

8 They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth.

9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle.

10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months.

11 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

These five verses offer some interesting speculations and need to be addressed because we still have to be reminded of the fact that what we are reading is a description of events as seen by a man from the 1st Century observing things he has never seen or heard of before things that are happening in the 20th Century. We keep reading the word like being used before each individual thing being described and it indicates something other than a literal description of what John saw. When we look back in the Bible, we remember that God did use locusts as agents of His judgments from as far back as one of the plagues against Pharaoh to make him release the Jewish people and set them free but those locusts could only harm the crops, trees and green things by devouring them, they did not harm the people and they had no leader to direct them.

Proverbs 30:27

The locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks;

The description of these locusts given by John has caused some to consider other alternatives to what he is describing and I find the alternatives quite interesting. We do know that this period of time brings upon man himself a time of demonic torment such as normal locusts are incapable of doing and these described inflicts upon man an awesome cruelty such as they have never before experienced. They also have a leader who is the one who opens the bottomless pit and whose name is called in Greek, Apollyon (Destroyer) and in Hebrew, Abaddon (Destruction) and this could readily be Satan himself. As children of God we can be thankful that Jesus and Him only has the keys to death, hell and the grave and nothing will happen until He wants it to happen.

Revelation 1:18

I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

The following is another opinion or speculation of what the Apostle John was describing in verses 7 -10. He could be trying to describe a modern day attack helicopter such as the American Apache Helicopter. Something he could not in his wildest dreams have ever imagined.

The over-all shape of this helicopter would resemble the flanks of a horse.

He is now looking through the canopy and he sees the faces of men.

The crowns on their heads are the fancy, brightly colored helmets they wear.

The whirling rotor blades do look like a women's hair waving in the wind.

The rotating cannons in front could easily look like the teeth of lions to him.

The helicopters outer metal body would look to him like a horse with heavy leather or metal mail, flexible metal armor used to protect the horse.

The familiar sound to us of the whirling rotor blades to him sounded like many horses running into battle.

The rocket in the pods on the chopper would to him be like the sting in the locust's tail.

Just a very interesting speculation of a 20th Century man trying to understand what a 1st Century man was trying to describe.

Revelation 9:12

One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.

We are being told that the worst is yet to come and if mankind thinks it is bad now they are in for a shock when the remaining two Woes are released upon the world and the second one is about to happen.

Revelation 9:13-15

13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God.

14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.

15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.

Sixth Trumpet: When the 6th Angel blew his Trumpet (2nd Woe) John heard a voice coming from the horns that were at each corner of the Golden Alter, the Alter of incense which represented all the prayers of the Saints of God. It was on the Horns of the Alter that the blood for atonement was applied. The 6th Angel was ordered to release four other Angels who were bound at the great river Euphrates. This river is viewed scripturally by God as the dividing line between the East and the West and is also the Eastern boundary of the Nation of Israel. These four evil angels are not necessarily the same four Angels we read about in Chapter 7:2. Whoever they are they apparently were bound thousands of years ago because of their vicious natures. They were prepared and held back for this for this specific time in history. 'Newell' says, "Most of Satan's angels are free to roam, being the principalities and powers which we wrestle", but some of the worst offenders of high rank have been bound. We assume that these four are some of those angels bound by God and are now being used to bring about His divine purpose. When they are loosed they are able to get the forces of Asia to launch an attack on the Western and Middle Eastern strongholds. They are able to cause the death of approximately two billion people, a third of the remaining population of the world. These four angels who have been prepared for this specific Hour, Day, Month and Year, were released so that they could kill a third of the remaining people of the world.

Revelation 9:16-19

16 The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.

17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur.

18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths.

19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

Interesting note: When the 1st Seal was opened there were approximately 7 billion people on planet earth. During the Seven Seal Judgments 1/4 of the world's population dies and during the Seven Trumpet Judgments another 1/3 is destroyed. The two added together amount to a little over 50% of the world's population wiped out due to the terrible events we have just read about, all of this occurs in a period of less than 3 years. That is more men killed in battle than if you added up all those killed in every war in the past combined, Isaiah said of this time:

Isaiah 13:12

I will make man scarcer than pure gold, rarer than the gold of Ophir.

Isaiah 24:6

Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned up, and few men are left.

John hears the number of an army assembled at the bank of the Euphrates River its number was 200 million, a number that some think is only symbolic but we know today that the Nation of China has an army in excess of 200 million, in 1997 China said they could raise an army of 350 million men and ironically the colors of China are red, yellow and blue. The army John is describing could very well be a mechanized force with men riding on top of tanks and personal carriers, and out of the mouth of the cannons comes rire, smoke and the smell, of sulfur. This is just a speculation on our part as we try to understand what John saw and the terminology he uses to describe it. He tells us that from this battle 1/3 of the remaining population is killed by the plague of fire, smoke and brimstone which could indicate the use of nuclear weapons.

Revelation 9:20-21

20 The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood-idols that cannot see or hear or walk.

21 Nor did they repent of their murders, magic arts, sexual immorality or their thefts.

At this point in the Tribulation it is amazing to read that those who have survived these plagues, this holocaust continue to turn to their false pagan gods from the devil to idols made of wood and metal, that can neither see, hear, walk or talk. They completely ignore God's mercy and grace, the only source of help available to them and refuse to turn from their wicked ways and repent of their sins of murder, sexual immoralities, thieveries, drugs and of demon worship and idols made with their own hands.

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Psalm 135:15-18

15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.

16 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see;

17 they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths.

18 Those who make them will be like them and so will all who trust in them.

Psalm 106:36

They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.

Psalm 115:4-8

4 But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.

5 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see;

6 they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell;

7 they have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but they cannot walk; nor can they utter a sound with their throats.

8 Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.