Seven Trumpets Revelation 8.2- 11.18 Part 2

Recap:

Inaugural vision

7 Churches

Heavenly Throne room vision

7 seals (Rome as destroyer and victory for the martyrs)

Judgement cycles are “telescopic” and “recapitulatory”

now in the second judgment cycle where, the text continues the same idea, but with greater intensity.

Angels 1-4

exegesis vs. eisegesis

Exegesis is studying the text to withdraw meaning from the text.

Eisegesis is reading meaning into the text that is not there.

Eisegesis can happen intentionally and unintentionally

Intentionally - example: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” Col. 1.15. Some cults allow their theological system to read into the text a natural conception of Jesus and ultimately his creation. Instead the title of first born conveys authority and rank. this makes sense with the larger context of the letter. v. 18 further states that Jesus is “the beginning.”

unintentionally - example: “I can do all tings through him who strengthens me.” Many well intentioned believers seem to think this means any hard task can be accomplished with Jesus. But the Paul is talking about how he has learned to live with abundance and lack.

A Shift Rev. 8.13

Angel/ trumpets 1-4 struck the earth

now there is a shift to the inhabitants of the earth

a “woe” for each of the three remaining trumpets. - v. 12 “ the first woe has passed… two woes are still to come.”

The first group of seal-openings, now completed, describes the condition of the Empire as it revealed itself to the mind of the Seer. He saw a vast world-wide power, outwardly victorious and eager for fresh conquests, yet full of the elements of unrest, danger, and misery; war, scarcity, pestilence, mortality in all its forms, abroad or ready to shew themselves. This series of pictures repeats itself in history, and the militarism and lust of conquest, which it represents both in their attractive and repellent aspects, are among the forces set loose by the hand of Christ to prepare the way for His coming and the final publication of the secrets of the Sealed Book. (TNTC Rev. 6.9-11)

Trumpet 5 Rev. 9.1-12

A Star

Revelation 9:1 ESV

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.

the identity of the angel is unknown, although many have speculated.

it is important that we are dogmatic on this issue.

John simply does not tell us.

The most diverse identifications of the star-angel are given. He might be Nero (Weymouth), a fallen angel (Simcox, Love), the ‘angel of the abyss’ (Orr), an evil spirit (Kiddle), even Satan himself (Hendriksen, Hoeksema, Atkinson; Swete thinks ‘possibly Satan’). On the other hand he is seen as the Word of God (Torrance), an angel, possibly Uriel (Charles), our Lord himself (Berkeley). With the experts so divided it is unwise to be dogmatic. John does not identify him and we simply do not have enough information to do so. (TNTC Rev. 9.1)

it seems clear however that the star is an angel which is consistent with ancient understanding and Rev. 1.20.

The star/angel is given a key to the bottomless pit.

The star/angel does not posses the authority on his own. It is given by God.

Remember, in Rev. 4-5 we have a high view of God’s sovereignty over all things especially history.

What looks like rampant unchecked evil is actually God working. God is bringing his redemptive plan to a close and believers persevere through it by his grace and power.

A side note on the opposition believers face:

As we read Revelation we continue going back to the original audience and we should.

But what about us? We don’t have persecution like this?

It would seem that they enemy works more subtly than we would initially think.

In underdeveloped countries spiritual warfare is overt - demons, witch craft, possessions, etc.

in so-called developed countries it seems the enemy sneaks and yet is still effective.

what are some ways you think the enemy entices humans here to sin?

Locusts

Locusts come from the bottomless pit/ abyss/ the deep.

Luke 8.31 “… they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.”

Most likely a place of imprisonment

the abyss is probably not meant to be synonymous with Hades. More likely it refers to the confinement of evil spirits to their particular sphere of existence. BEB

Note that God is in total control of the situation. He gives the keys.

The locusts come out of the smoke and are let loose on the earth.

they are described as: having a power like that of a scorpion, tormentors, like horses prepared for battle, had crowns of gold, human faces, hair like a women, teeth like a lion, wearing breastplates of iron, making a noise like that of horses rushing to battle, tails that sting

locust pic

helicopter pic

Parthian Imagery

Perhaps, John has one of Romes real threats in mind, The Parthians.

John maybe taking this imagery to make his point about who these locust represent.

Modern day Iran, Parthia rose as a great empire and a threat to Rome.

They defeated Rome severely in 53BC.

Rome feared Parthia and never conquered her.

They were known for their bowmen.

[the Parthians were] militarily strong because of their famous mounted bowmen, who won many a battle by apparently retreating and then shooting at the pursuing enemy (hence the phrase parting, or “Parthian,” shot), BEB, “Parthia, Parthians.”

“after an initial cavalry charge into infantry, as they rode away, the warriors would rise and turn backward in unison to fire a deadly volley into any pursuers. So, even from behind they could inflict a deadly sting like a scorpion's tail. “ Stevens, 411.

Their horses were heavily armored in a way called the cataphract. Knights of the medieval age would adopt this.

Parthian warriors wore long hair.

parthian warrior

But, who are the locusts then?

Abbadon/ Appollyon v. 11

evidently the angel of the abyss is their king.

Abaddon - “place of destruction,” occurs 6x in the OT and used as a synonym for Sheol.

John links the Greek Appollyon for us meaning destroyer.

Appollyon plays off the name of the Greek God Apollo.

First century readers/listeners would hear the what John is doing with the name.

Both Nero and Domitian claimed to be Apollo.

Instead of gods, the emperors of Rome really are the forces of evil sweeping the earth.

Rome is not soter/savior or rescuer; instead they are destroyers.

Therefore, what John is saying here in the fifth trumpet is truly revolutionary: the king of the Abyss, the one responsible for the destruction and torture in their world, the embodiment of the destructive power of Satan himself…was none other than the Roman Emperor. Is it any wonder why Christians were considered to be unpatriotic and treasonous? https://www.joeledmundanderson.com/revelation-9-the-5th-and-6th-trumpets-fallen-stars-locusts-and-a-king-of-the-abyss-o-my-part-9/

Rome is not savior, the Lord is. Rome is not in control, the Lord is.

Application:

any nation who claims the place and role of God is actually opposed to God’s work.

While we are proud citizens, our citizenship is first in Heaven.

God works through tribulation. Even while the forces of evil think they are destroying, God is actually working all of history toward his redemptive end.