Revelation 9:1-12
Introduction
Revelation 9 records the fifth and sixth trumpet judgments: the first two "woes" that the eagle spoke of in 8:13.
The first four trumpet judgments had brought disaster upon nature: the earth, trees, grass, sea, and rivers.
With the fifth and sixth trumpets, demons are sent to attack the people of the earth and torment them.
Strangely enough, it appears that the demonic forces will destroy their own worshipers. They will be sent to torment those who don’t have the seal of God.
v.1, “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him.”
· The fifth trumpet is very specific and independent of the sixth and seventh.
· The description of fifth trumpet falls into two parts:
o The effect of the locusts in vv.1-6.
o The characteristics of the locusts vv.7-12.
First, The Impact of the Locusts:
· With the sounding of the fifth trumpet, John sees another “fallen star”:
o This “star” is different from those under the sixth seal and the third trumpet.
o This “star” receives and uses “the key of the bottomless pit.”
o This tells us this is an intelligent being, not a meteor.
· There are many interpretation of who this intelligent being is:
o Some say this “star” could be any number of persons throughout history.
o Some believe that this is the antichrist, but there is very little supporting evidence.
o Some believe that this could be Mohammed or another false prophet:
§ But that would mean that this man had a heavenly origin.
· Conservative scholars believe this could only be an angel, sent by God.
· Some have argued that this must be either Satan or an unidentified evil angel:
o But in the greater context of Revelation, this “star” must be an angel, sent from heaven on a Divine mission to move to the next stage of judgments.
· Where did this “key” come from?
o God has to give it to him for use on this special occasion, “the key of the bottomless pit was given to him.”
· The term "abyss" comes from two Greek words, a-bythos. The “a” in front makes this a negative. And bythos, which means “depth.” Used together, it means, without depth, or “bottomless”:
o Here, it’s a picture of a subterranean cavern connected to the earth's surface by a "shaft" or literally a deep well, whose opening has a secured lid of some type.
o Its inhabitants include the demonic prince of 9:11 and the beast from the abyss, mentioned in 11:7 and 17:8, which we’ll see later in our study.
v.2, “And he opened the bottomless pit; and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit”:
· The angel proceeds with his mission of releasing those who are held captive in the abyss:
o The angel uses the key to unlock the shaft that leads to the underground chamber.
· When he did so, smoke rose from the shaft as from an erupting volcano, but this was no volcano:
o This was literal smoke that John saw, not a figurative representation of deceptions and errors sent forth by Satan, as some believe.
o Remember, we take the words in their plain sense unless told otherwise.
· In Revelation, we’ve seen smoke related to holy thanks in 8:4:
o But most of the time it’s in connection with judgment, doom, and torment.
o The smoke is a reminder of Divine judgment at Sodom (Gen. 19:28), and Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:18).
o The volume of smoke compares to that produced by a large smelting furnace, used for purifying metals.
o The volume of smoke is so great that it darkens the light of the sun and the air.
v.3, “And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power”:
· From the cloud of smoke comes a swarm of locusts.
· Some believe that this trumpet resembles the eighth Egyptian plague in Ex. 10:12-20, but these locusts are not ordinary locusts:
o They have a leader, unlike the locusts of the earth.
o And unlike regular locusts, their power to hurt is in their scorpion-like tails.
o These locusts are different and we need establish their identity.
· It’s important for us to see that the passage contains no hint of symbolism:
o Ordinary locusts don’t breed in the center of the earth, which is where these locusts come from.
o These locusts do not eat grass like regular ones. So, they’re not like the locusts of the eighth Egyptian plague.
· The text favors the identification of these locusts as demons, or fallen angels, who assume a locust-like form:
o They have an angel as their leader (9:11).
o They come from the abyss where evil spirits are held captive.
o That they attack men, rather than consuming green vegetation, which points to their demonic nature.
o They have a form such as no human being has ever seen.
o The ability of demons to assume an assortment of material forms will be shown later Rev. 16:13, where three demons appear as frogs.
· What comes out of the abyss to afflict rebellious mankind is a band of supernatural creatures intent on spreading as much misery as possible:
o Remember, it’s only God’s Divine permission that gives them the stinging power of scorpions’ tails to afflict their agony.
v.4, “And they were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads”:
· The locusts have strict limitations: they are not to hurt any green thing or tree.
· The one giving them these restrictions isn’t named, but we can be pretty certain that it’s God Himself. Why?
o Because God exercises sovereign control over all the judgments.
o The demons can go only as far as He permits (remember Job?).
o In this case, men, not the earth, are the direct object of judgment.
· Ironically, it’s a group of people in rebellion against God who are victims of demons who themselves are in rebellion against God:
o We would think that they should have formed an alliance with one another.
o The demons may not afflict all humans, however, only "such ones as do not have the seal of god upon their foreheads."
o Those whose foreheads lack the seal of God will receive the torment.
o Those with the seal, the ones granted earlier to 144,000 in 7:4-8, are secure against this physical pain and those who have received Christ in that day.
o Just as Israel, while in Egypt, escaped the plagues that punished the Egyptians, the servants of God will be exempt from the attack of the locusts.
v.5, “And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man”:
· The demons receive further limitations here in v.5:
o They have permission to torment, but not to kill.
o If you remember, under the third trumpet, wormwood, death was possible, but not here.
· The Greek word, “basanizo,” means torment or pain, either physical, mental:
o The duration of the torment is five months.
o This corresponds to the normal season of ordinary locusts, beginning in May and extending through September.
· Most views search for a hidden or figurative meaning:
o Some believe that this signifies an indefinite long period of time.
o Some see a hint to a limited or brief period of time.
o Some understand the five months figuratively with no real reference to time.
o But, again, there is no indication in the text that this is to be taken in a non-literal way.
· Accepting the text’s plain meaning is perfectly fine:
o There is no good reason for changing the normal meaning of the time reference.
· Some object that normal locusts don’t remain stationary and don’t wreak havoc continuously for the stated length of time. But that’s not a valid argument:
o The torment of this plague could be intermittent and can move from place to place too.
o Ultimately, this judgment is designed and sent from God Himself.
· Such torture may be offensive to some modern minds but this is a Divinely appointed method of punishing sin.
v.6, “And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; and they will long to die and death flees from them”:
· The painfulness of the scorpion’s sting brings men to desperation.
· The words "and in those days, men will seek" mark a change of style from a witness of visions to a prophet predicting the future:
o John has been a reporter, but now he switches to be a direct conduit of the Spirit.
o "in those days," that is, in the five-month period.
· Hopefully, the scorpions’ sting would bring repentance, but instead it evokes a desire for death.
· Physical pain, not depression, is the reason for them seeking death, but death will escape them:
o Their reason for wanting to die is quite different from Paul's desire to die, so as to be with Christ and Phil. 1:23.
o This is to escape the misery on this side of death.
o For Christian's death is gain because of what is on the other side of death, eternal life with Jesus our Savior!
· The meaning of "will flee" emphasizes the elusiveness of death:
o Death will not just be hard to find, it will run away from those trying to catch it.
v.7, “And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads, as it were, crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.”
· In his description of the locusts, John uses the words "as" and "like" nine times to convey a picture of the demonic locusts:
o He begins with the head and moves progressively toward the tail of the creatures.
· Broadly speaking, there are three views of what the locusts are:
o A natural swarm of locusts.
o A picture of an army of men.
o Or a representation of the demonic locusts, which will torture men for five months.
· Viewing these as demonic locusts is best because it partially explains the unusual features of the locusts:
o They're like locusts, but their supernaturalness adds a degree of horror to their appearance.
o The resemblance between actual locusts, and horses, (particularly those wearing armor), is the description behind the words "similar to horses prepared for battle”:
§ There is no reason to think that John had in mind the mythical monsters called “centaurs,” whose upper bodies were like human beings or parts like horses.
· The creatures also had something like gold crowns on their heads:
o Symbolic meanings of these have included:
§ The yellow tipped antlers of a natural locus.
§ The gold turbans of the Muslim hordes.
§ The bronze helmets of the Roman legionnaires.
§ And a feature distinctive only to these demonic locusts.
· It's best to see these gold crowns as a feature distinctive only to these demonic locusts, where the crown represents success to be enjoyed by them throughout the five-months of torture.
· Their victory is implied from the Greek word, “stephanos,” means a “crown" or "wreath."
· That their faces “were as faces a men” suggests these creatures have intelligence like human beings, not just that of insects:
o Because of this comparison, some have concluded they are literal men,
o But the whole imagery goes against the picture of men afflicting other men.
· These creatures are not a product of nature, but are creatures of demonic evil.
v.8, “And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions”:
· v.8 adds two more attributes of locusts appearance:
o They had hair “like the hair of women,” and their teeth were “like those of lions.”
· Some see this “hair” as their antenna:
o The reason why the “hair” of the creatures cannot refer to antenna is that antennas can hardly be called hair.
o This must be another feature that differentiates these creatures from natural insects.
o It also adds to the hideousness of this demonic army.
· Ordinary locusts had teeth, but not like the powerful teeth of these creatures:
o These lion-like teeth symbolize fierceness.
o Yet, in spite of their fierceness, these demons do not tear their victims apart.
v.9, “And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle”:
· Two additional characteristics resemble Roman soldiers on the battlefield:
o One was their iron breastplates:
§ The material of which it was made, iron, suggests of the invincibility of these demonic locusts.
o The other battlefield resemblance lies in the sound made by the wings of these demonic locusts:
§ The loud rushing sound of the swarm creates a terrible psychological problem that implies the hopelessness of resisting them.
§ The prophet Joel compares the noise of locusts’ wings to the sound of chariot wheels and hoof-beat of horses moving swiftly to battle (Joel 2:4-5).
v.10, “And they have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months”:
· As awesome to the eye and ear as these locusts are, it’s their tails that cause all the damage:
o The power to inflict torture lies in their scorpion-like tails with sting's:
§ Which are not found on normal locusts.
o The Greek word, “kentron,” translated as "stings," comes from the word meaning "I prick" or “I sting."
o What was referred to as torment in v.5, becomes the power to hurt in v.10 for five months.
v.11, “They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon”:
· Another characteristic of this swarm of locusts is that they have a leader:
o Yet another indication that these are no ordinary locusts.
· They have over them, the angel of the abyss as king, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek he has the name Apollyon:
o “Abaddon,” in Hebrew means destruction.
o “Apollyon,” in Greek means destroyer.
· These locusts resemble an advancing army with a commander to coordinate the battle plan:
o Some see this king as a symbol of John’s imagination. But the text gives the leader a name (two, in fact): Abaddon and Apollyon:
§ The text calls him “an angel”.
§ The text assigns him a role as “king” of the demonic locusts.
§ We can’t just disregard him as part of John’s imagination because there’s no evidence for that.
· Another idea is that he is Satan:
o But nowhere does Satan have a connection with the abyss until he is cast into it later in Revelation 20:1-3.
· Our best interpretation is that this king is an unknown fallen angel, who, appears to be in charge of the abyss:
o Satan has leaders and sub-leaders under his command. So this could easily be one of those sub-leaders.
o The angel’s title of “king” insures that the locusts will obey his orders.
· So it appears that this is a fallen angel whose name and responsibility are revealed to us.
v.12, “The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things”:
· With the completion of the fifth trumpet, the announcement of the completion of the first woe and anticipation of the remaining two are in order.
· Mankind will welcome the passing of the first woe, but it’s too soon to breathe a sigh of relief, as two more judgments are yet to come.
· When John writes "has passed", he means in this future time of fulfillment:
o This “woe” had not been completed at the time Revelation was written.
o Remember, John is now writing prophecy, future events that have not happened yet.
· The second “woe” of 8:13, the sixth trumpet, starts at the end of this announcement:
o It continues until Revelation 11:14, with another angel, a little book and the two witnesses.
o This all takes place in 10:1 -11:13.
· We’ll take a look at these passages in the next article.
May the Lord bless you and keep you as you continue to grow in His grace and truth.
By His Grace,
Gary T. Dromi, Ph.D., D.Min.
