CHAPTER NINE

REVELATION CHAPTER NINE

Revelation 9:1 - And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

At the sounding of the Fifth Trumpet John saw a "star" fall from heaven. That it was not a literal star is clear, for in the next verse the "STAR" is spoken of as a PERSON (He), and in the Old Testament angels were called "Stars." Job 38:7. Because the "STAR" was "fallen from Heaven" does not imply that the "angel," for that is what it was, was a "fallen angel," or Satan himself, as some have supposed. John simply meant that he saw the descent of the "star," or Angel, and so rapidly did it descend that it appeared to be falling. This is the same "star angel" that in Revelation 20:1-3 comes down from Heaven, having the "Key" of the "bottomless pit," and a great chain in his hand, and binds Satan, and casts him into the "pit." This makes it clear that the "star angel" is not Satan. The work of both Angels is the same, to unlock and lock the "Bottomless Pit." It does not look reasonable that God would entrust the "Key" of the "Prison House" of the "Demons" to a "Fallen Angel," or even Satan himself.

The "bottomless pit" is not Hell, or Hades, the place of abode of the "Spirits" of wicked men and women until the resurrection of the "Wicked Dead." See the Chart of "The Underworld." Neither is it "Tartarus" the "Prison House" of the "Fallen Angels" (Jude 6-7), nor the "Lake of Fire," the "Final Hell" (Gehenna) of Matthew 25:41. But it is the place of confinement of the demons, who are not Satan's Angels but a class of "disembodied Spirits," supposed by many to be the "disembodied spirits" of the inhabitants of the Pre-Adamite Earth, who, as they have liberty and opportunity, as in the days of Christ, try to re-embody themselves again in human bodies. They are wicked, unclean, vicious, and have power to derange both mind and body. Matthew 12:22; 15:22. Luke 4:35; 8:26-36; 9:42. They are the "Familiar Spirits" of the Old Testament and the "Seducing Spirits" of which Paul warned Timothy. 1 Timothy 4:1. They wander about in desolate places. Christ used them to illustrate the condition of the Jewish people in the "last days" when "Demoniacal Power" shall be increased over them sevenfold. He said, "When the 'unclean spirit' (or Demon) is gone out of a man, he (the Demon) walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out: and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation." Matthew 12:43-45. The word "Generation," means not simply the lifetime of an individual, but it means a "race," and by this "wicked generation," Christ meant those He was addressing, and they were the Jews. So we see that the Jews, as a "race," when Jesus comes back, will be sevenfold demonically possessed. This will account for their making a "Covenant" with Antichrist which the Prophet Isaiah calls a "Covenant with Death and Hell." Isaiah 28:18. When Christ cast the "Legion" of devils (Demons) out of the Gadarene Demoniac, they besought Him to not cast them into the "deep," that is, not into the "abyss," the "bottomless pit." Luke 8:26-36.

Revelation 9:2,3 - And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

These are supernatural "locusts" because ordinary locusts are stifled by smoke, and ordinary locusts "have no king"- (Proverbs 30:27); these locusts have a "king" over them (verse 11), and ordinary locusts go in swarms with no "leader." These locusts, then, are demoniac monstrous beings - half-monster and half-human, as you find them in the "Twilight Zone," "The Invaders," etc.

They erupt from the center of the earth, according to the best Chinese, Mongolian, Tartar, German, and Italian traditions, proving that all mythology and tradition is an attempt to either slander or to imitate the word of God. (There is a legend that Ghengis Khan will come up out of the earth and "take over" sometime in the future; that his hordes will roll back across Europe again. Of course, this is a picture of something that is true. These troops of Revelation 9 come from the East [verses 14-16]; they are "horsemen" [verse 16]; they are called the "kings of the east" [Revelation 16:12]. Perhaps, rather than the Mongolian hordes under Ghengis Khan being mythology or fiction, instead they may be a picture of something that is going to take place literally.) Out of this pit come demoniac "locusts," from the sides of the pit, even as Apollo is supposed to come up from Hades in Greek Mythology, and even as the Zohar (the mystic bible of Jewish tradition) says that the "Messiah" is underground in paradise, awaiting to save Israel. In the Babylonian Talmud, the Babylonian Sanhedrin, 98, Section A, it says, "The Messiah will appear at the gates of Rome!" Could this mean that unbelieving Israel would accept a Roman pope as the Messiah, at a future period?

Revelation 9:4 - And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

The locusts that John saw come out of the "Bottomless Pit" were a kind of "infernal cherubim." That is, they were a combination of the horse, the man, the woman, the lion, and the scorpion, and the sound of their wings in flying was as the "sound of chariots of many horses running to battle." Their size is not given, but they were doubtless much larger than ordinary locusts, but they were not like them, for ordinary locusts feed on vegetation, but these locusts were forbidden to hurt the grass, or the trees, or any green thing, but were to afflict only men, and they had human intelligence, for they afflicted only those men who had not the "seal of god" in their foreheads.

These beasts (Revelation 9) come out of the pit after Revelation 7:3,4 because the earth, sea, and trees are not allowed to be hurt until after Revelation 7:3,4. This means, too, that the events of Revelation 8:7 cannot occur until after Revelation 7:3,4. This means that Revelation 7 is a parenthetical chapter, as noted before, which deals with events that take place before Revelation 8:7,12 and Revelation 9:4.

Revelation 9:5 - And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

These men they were not permitted to kill, but only torment, and that for only a limited period of five months, the time limit of ordinary locusts, which is from May to September. The length of time is mentioned twice, and the character of the torment was like that, which follows the sting of a scorpion, which causes excruciating pain that often causes the afflicted person to desire to die.

In Christ's case, it is a case of "grace," but this is the only case where it is the case of grace, and even here it is still death. Like the old song says, "Five bleeding wounds he bare." Five wounds! One in one hand, the second one in the next hand, the third one in the right foot, the fourth one in the left foot, and the fifth one under the heart. One, two, three, four, five! Christ suffered D-E-A-T-H for our sins.

Revelation 9:6-8 - And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

Now we know that the "Gift of the Holy Spirit" on the Day of Pentecost was only the "first fruits" and partial fulfillment of this prophecy of Joel, for none of these terrible things occurred at that time, and there was no invasion of enemy "horsemen," or a "scourge of locusts," on, or before, or after, the Day of Pentecost such as here described. As we have no historical record of such an invasion of "locust horsemen" as the Prophet Joel describes, the event must still be future, and the description in many respects corresponds with what John tells us will happen when the Fifth Trumpet sounds.

Revelation 9:9 - And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

If these beings are not supernatural beings, they could be a 96 A. D. description of airplanes. We should hesitate to take any kind of a figurative or spiritual interpretation where it is probably literal; but we have to remember that when John sees these things, he has been carried forward to 1990s and beyond. He sees in 2000+ what we have not seen yet, and we've seen plenty in our lifetimes! When John writes, what he describes is a flying, winged, humming, roaring type of thing that comes out of the earth. When we see that description we are inclined to the literal interpretation in view of our own experiences; but if it is not literal then it is certainly a description of some kind of jet plane or rocket.

Revelation 9:10 - And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

This can be a description of a plane with missiles or rockets going out the back end, or machine guns out the back end! But it is probably a literal description of demoniac beings because of what follows.

Revelation 9:11 - And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

These "scorpion locusts" have a King, which ordinary locusts have not. Proverbs 30:27. This King's name in the Hebrew is "Abaddon," but in the Greek is "Apollyon." Now Satan is no where in the Scriptures called by either of these names, so Satan cannot be the King of the Demons, for their King is the King of the "Bottomless Pit," to which he is confined, while Satan and his angels are at liberty and roam the Heavenlies. The meaning then of this scourge of "scorpion locusts" seems to be, that an Angel, the custodian of the "Pit," will open the "Bottomless Pit," and liberate a vast multitude of Demons who shall enter into and take possession of the bodies of men, and so torment them that they shall desire to die and shall not be able.

On our chart, this is near the end of the Tribulation. In Revelation 6:8 we were told that a fourth part of the earth has been killed before this army shows up; a third of the three-quarters that are left are now killed in Revelation 9:15-18. This army (Revelation 9:16) of satanic horsemen come from the east (Revelation 16:12). They are led by "kings" and these kings will have to come from China, Mongolia, or India; this army, when it comes, is like the army of Ghengis Khan, or Tamerlane. It comes from the east to the west, across the Euphrates, headed for Palestine; it comes at a certain date, on a certain day and hour, a certain month, and a certain year (Daniel 7:12). It comes for the purpose of slaying a third part of the men who are left.

That these "Four Angels," who were bound at the river Euphrates, were bad angels is seen from the fact that they were bound, and that they are the leaders or commanders of an army of 200,000,000 "infernal cavalry."

Revelation 9:16 - And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

This army of 200,000,000 horsemen is a supernatural army. It's not composed of ordinary men and horses. The fact that these "Four Angels" were bound at the Euphrates, where Satan's seat was in ancient times, and where it is to be again in the City of Babylon restored, and from whence he sallied forth to do his diabolical work, makes it clear that this army is a part of Satan's forces. Supernatural armies are not unknown to the scriptures.

Horses and a chariot of fire separated Elijah from Elisha in the day when Elijah was taken up by a whirlwind into Heaven, 2 Kings 2:11. When Dothan was besieged by the army of Syria, God opened the eyes of Elisha's servant, and he saw the mountains around the city full of horses and chariots of fire. 2 Kings 6:13-17. When the Lord Jesus Christ shall come to take "The Kingdom," He will be attended by the "Armies of Heaven" riding on "White Horses," and it stands to reason, if there is to be "War in Heaven" between Michael and his angels, and Satan and his angels (Revelation 12:7), that Satan has his armies, and among them horsemen, and that the 200,000,000 Horsemen mentioned here are Satan's Horsemen, for no such army of ordinary horsemen ever was, or ever could be, assembled on this earth.

Revelation 9:17 - And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

Again the horses were not ordinary horses, for while their bodies were like the body of a horse, their heads were as the head of a lion, and their tails were like unto a serpent, the end of which had the head of a serpent, and it was the sulphurous smoke and fire that issued from their mouths, and the serpent sting of their tails, that killed all that crossed their path, that reveals the Satanic character of the horses and their riders. The "Riders" upon these horses had "Breastplates of fire, jacinth, and brimstone," to match the breath of the horses upon which they rode.

Compare Isaiah 5:26 and Psalm 57:4 with this passage. These horsemen are superhuman and are no more human than the locusts discussed earlier. (The Lord is peculiar in that He has ordinary horses - like you see up and down the country- and also He has supernatural horses for His own use, like the kind that took the chariot up to heaven with Elijah in it [2 Kings 2:11], and the kind upon which you will return [Revelation 19]; then again He has demoniac horses and horsemen, as you find them here.) They come tearing across the ground breathing fire, smoke, and brimstone - brimstone is like sulphuric acid, or burning sulphur. It would be impossible to muster such an army literally. We could imagine that these are, evidently, some kind of souls of unsaved dead men coming up out of hell; they are half decomposed - half-man and half-horse, like the mythological "centaur"!

Revelation 9:18 - By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

The astonishing thing about this invasion of "infernal cavalry" was the awful destruction they wrought. They slew the third part of men. If that means of the whole world, and if the present population of the earth is 6,000,000,000, then this army will destroy 2,000,000,000 persons! It probably however refers to one-third of the men of the old roman world. Another remarkable thing is, that the "four angels" were prepared for the hour, month, and year, that is, they were waiting for the exact year, month, day, and even hour, known only to God, on which to make the invasion, and not, as some think, to slay for a year, month and day, or 391 days. "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world." Acts 15:18.

Revelation 9:19 - For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

Again, the reference could be to a common language description of 20th century mobilized infantry. John speaks in the First Century language so that anybody between then and now can understand what he is saying. But, the text probably means what it says, as it says it, where it says it. These are supernatural horsemen, cavalry that comes from the East, demoniac satraps of Satan, coming to wipe out Israel.

This Plague of "infernal cavalry" was for a twofold purpose, retribution, and reformation. To punish the idolatry and demon worship of men, and their sins of murder, sorcery, fornication, and theft, and to keep others from following in their footsteps. But it appears from verses 20 and 21, that the residue of men, who were not killed, did not repent and turn from their sins, and so were left for later judgments.

Revelation 9:20 - And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:

That is, men kept right on worshipping devils, and idols of gold (money), silver (silverware), brass (cars, guns), stone (houses, buildings), and wood (houses, TV sets, furniture, etc.) They were still trying to find "security," "unity," and "togetherness," and they just ignored the fact that God was wiping them out.

You are told to worship Christ- "Kiss the Son"-that is, bow down and kiss His feet. (Of course, all of us undoubtedly know of some big, old, fat, liquor-head - a deluded Italian prince, who actually lets people bow down and kiss his finger. And although that is hard to imagine for 20th century "intelligent" people, there are scores of people so deluded in the 20th century, that they would bow down and kiss a man's finger, or a ring on the finger. When the man is nothing more than a shrewd politician! Now, let's stop and think about that. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" [Exodus 20:3]. One of our presidents went over to see one popes one time. He went into a room with him and closed the door and nobody knew what was said when he went in there! But, when he came back out of the room, he was quoting scripture for the Associated Press, talking about "one fold" and trying to make his foreign policy line up with John 10! When the president came back to the U. S. A. after talking to the pope, he was quoting scripture in his speeches on foreign policy! The scripture he was quoting was the scripture used by Pope John, Pope Paul, and the Ecumenical Council. He was quoting John 10:16 and John 17:22!) Bereans CHECK IT OUT!

The word "sorcery" is a peculiar word, coming from our word "pharmacy" in the Greek. Literally, "sorcery" means the use of drugs. They kept right on using drugs. Does this have a familiar ring too it?

The human will is more stubborn than we would think it is. Before we talk about God completely "overpowering" anybody's will, we have to remember that the human race (Revelation 9:21) is wiped out to where there is less than two-thirds of three-quarters of it left. When they get down to two-thirds of three-quarters of the population left, they go right straight on and say that it was an "accident," "bad weather," "ironic stroke of fate," or a "little bad luck," and they simply ignore the fact that God is dealing with them, not knowing that the "goodness of God leadeth" them to repentance (Romans 2:4).

STUDY QUESTIONS

What do you have in common with the people mentioned in verses 20 - 21? What will do about this today?

Is there something our home group can pray with you about?