Revelation 9

Revelation 9

1 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.

12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

Commentary and Explanation:

Revelation 9

1 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 

Our first question will be WHO is this star fallen from heaven and given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit?

This star seems to be Satan himself. Reason for this:

Revelation 12:9-12

9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

But also consider: Isaiah 14:12-14. (Regarding the King of Babylon)

12 “How you are fallen from heaven,

O Day Star, son of Dawn!

How you are cut down to the ground,

you who laid the nations low!

13 You said in your heart,

I will ascend to heaven;

above the stars of God

I will set my throne on high;

I will sit on the mount of assembly

in the far reaches of the north;

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.’

NOTE: that he is given THE KEY to the shaft of the bottomless pit. (Or, abyss)

He is GIVEN the key: whether by the angel who blew the trumpet or another...apparently Christ gives him this key...for Christ’s authority has been primary throughout...He is the one who ALONE was worthy and had authority to take the scroll from God’s hand and open it...

And: Revelation 1:18

18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

But being given the key shows that Satan and all that he and his minions do is completely under the control of the Lord Jesus Christ...

Remember: Matthew 28:18

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

The KEY Satan is given is to the “shaft of the bottomless pit”

Luke 8:30-31

30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.

Jude 1:6

6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—

The bottomless pit? Possibly the place of demons, being held in bonds until their judgment. A connection between that awful place of darkness and gloom and the surface of the earth...

Then...

2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 

Remember here that John is reporting what he sees. And what he is seeing is SYMBOLIC and FIGURATIVE...which is the nature of this kind of literature and communication: apocalyptic and prophetic. And because it is FIGURATIVE, the interpretation has meaning for all believers over the past 2,000 years. It is NOT to be understood as a literal, “strange beyond belief” historical event, because then it could not have been fulfilled or meaningful for all believers of all time. And if believers were to consider the Book of Revelation irrelevant to their time, the PURPOSE of the book would not be fulfilled...they/we would NOT see themselves as living in the last days...they will NOT see the biblical interpretation of what is happening in the world around them NOR be prepared for it.

Brothers and sisters...what is happening here is happening NOW, and has been since Christ ascended and will until He returns!

SO...What is this smoke rising from the pit?

It seems to be symbolic of judgment and of the evil and wickedness that is coming up into the world from the pit...evil and wickedness that is demonic.

Judgment: Rev 6:12ff; Rev 8:12; Joel 2:10, 31; 3:15; and the judgment on Egypt in Exodus: Exodus 10:12...(we’ll see more of how the Joel passages are so relevant to this chapter of Revelation)

Also: darkness seems to involve deception and spiritual blindness...

2 Cor 4:4; 1 Pet 2:9; 1 John 1:5, etc.

And what is it that comes out of this darkness and smoke? First, vv3-6...

3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth [remember Joel], and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

Out of the smoke: locusts...with power...to harm, to torment...UNBELIEVERS!

WE hear John’s description of the locusts in vv7ff...where it becomes all the more obvious that these are NOT literal locusts of some sort, but rather, as most think (because of where they come from and who releases them from the abyss, ie, Satan, and because of what they do) they are demonic beings released to bring judgment on the unsaved.

Welwyn: Hoeksema describes [them] variously as 'the reserve troops of hell', Satan's 'special forces' or 'an infernal army of demons let loose by Satan for a definite purpose'. 

NOTE, v4, that they are not literal locusts because they do not harm the earth...but they harm PEOPLE. They are demon tormentors. And who are the people they harm and torment? 

“Those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads...”

We saw in Rev 7:3ff that those whom God sealed are true believers...ALL true believers (figurative seen as the 144,000). The Sealed are (according to Ephesians 1:13 & Eph 4:30) those indwelt by the Holy Spirit and thus sealed as belonging to God and protected and kept by God for eternity.

Could this also include unbelievers who repent and believe during this time...and therefore are sealed during this time?

NOTE that there seems to be a LIMIT put on the demons torment (5 months and 

“But not to kill them”...)

What kind of torment do these demons inflict on unbelievers during this time? NOTE: A time which stretches, as far as we know, from Christ’s ascension to His return...IE...NOW, as well!

Welwyn: At one point (10) their torment is likened to a scorpion sting, which does not actually kill but causes such agony and misery that a person longs to be dead. Chronic hardships that bring terrible times but not utter ruin, terrible diseases that cripple but do not kill, beckoning philosophies that offer the fleeting pleasures of sin but leave a nasty taste and an aching void, temptations to ambition and success which excite people and deliver temporary happiness before leaving folk dangling, dissatisfied and bitter, casting them into pessimism and despair, leading them 'up the garden path'—these are some of the effects of the contents of the fifth trumpet. And while many would long to commit suicide (6) to be free of it all, their courage fails them. What a picture of the most appalling gloom and misery!

Welwyn (2): With human eyes we cannot see them, but from his vantage point in heaven John can see the skies full of them. Now, today, Satan's hordes are at work across the earth, destroying people's lives, inciting them to commit appalling crimes against one another, making life utterly miserable for millions, holding them captive in false religions.

RHSB: As scorpions torment men (most scorpion stings are not lethal but intensely painful), so the Devil’s forces bring great psychological and spiritual miseries, so much so that people often prefer death to life, though often unwilling to kill themselves (v. 6; Job 3:20-21).

NOTE: Satan and His demonic horde are actually tormenting those who have given their allegiance to him!

It is not difficult to imagine the kind of torment like the Gadarene demoniac suffered that drove him away from men, insane, controlled by tormenting demons...

I HAVE FOUND MYSELF saying many times in recent years: “this kind of evil and wickedness is more than mere human evil...it is demonic...”

Look at John’s description of these demons:

7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.

ESVSB: Rather, these images show demons to be powerful, swift, intelligent, fierce, and capable of inflicting intense mental and spiritual torment.

12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.