Revelation Chapter 9
9 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.
star fallen from heaven- This is a being because of the use of He later in the verse. Satan is called a morning star Isa 14:12-14, Luke 10:18. Satan is the one opening the pit. He does not have the power over the pit but was given the key to open it.
bottomless pit- Luke 8:31, Rev 20:1-3, this is not the final resting place for Satan, that is the lake of fire. This is a “jail” for demons.
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.
sun and the air- Though I believe the pit to be in the spiritual realm, the effects happen in the physical realm, how, I have no clue! The sun is darkened further, this is the third time it has
been darkened at this time we must think that global cooling is a real and horrible reality
3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
locusts came upon the earth- locus have a life span for 5 months, why should we try to make them something John does not, Could these not just be crazy horrifying locust?
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.
***They had strict limitation of what they could attack and who they could attack.
5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
Five months- the lifespan of a normal locust. They could inflict horrible pain but would not kill. Not only would the inflict physical pain but also terror.
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.
prepared for battle- Roman battle horse, this is just explaining that the locusts are armored.
***if these were just demons, why would John go into such detail, no reason to not take the literal. They were to only hurt people for a specific time frame, not ongoing but limited. They could be seen, they could be heard, they could be felt. The terror here is multi tiered.
- The sun and sky darkened more
- The earth cooling even more
- Terror in seeing the locust
- Terror in hearing the locust
- Crazy pain from the locusts
- Constant fear
10 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.
***This is not Satan, because if it was, he already has a name, and John could have used that name or a myriad of other titles for Satan, but chose not to. This leads to the understanding that this is another fallen angel.
12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.
This is the end of the 5th trumpet judgment.
13 Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
heard a voice- we do not know who the voice is, but we know where the alter is.
14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
Are bound- Demons, good angels would not be bound.
15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.
Prepared- God has a job for them at a specific time.
Rev 6, 1/3 is killed
8 billion people
2.6 killed Rev 6
5.4 billion people
1.8 billion
3.6 billion people
This is not including all those who would have died in plagues, famine, war, crime.
75 million WW2
3,525,000,000 left on earth
16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.
No reason not to take literally
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.
18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. 19 For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.
***If they escaped the fire they had smoke, if they escaped that they had brimstone, if they escaped that they had the serpent.
20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
not worship demons- People look to power, or supposed power
idols- Man made Gods
murders – killing
sorceries- φαρμακειῶνpharmakeion—drugs
sexual immorality- Adultery, Fornication, Pornography, LGBTQIA2S People who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or gender expansive, queer and/or questioning, intersex, asexual, and two-spirit
thefts- Crime, selfishness.
First Baptist Church Delmar 