REVELATION
CHAPTER 9, “The Sounding Of The Fifth & Sixth Trumpet Judgments”
By
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1.
In our last study,
we looked at the opening of the 7th
seal judgment and the sounding of the first four trumpet judgments upon the
earth
1.1.1. We saw that these events
most likely begin to occur ¼ of the way through the 7 yr. Tribulation
1.1.2. We saw that the trumpet judgments
are much more severe than were the Seal judgments
1.1.3. We saw that the trumpet
judgments destroy 1/3rd of everything affected by them, thus they
are called, “Third Judgments”
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at the sounding of the fifth and
sixth trumpet judgments
1.2.1. We will see that these
trumpet judgments are much worse than the previous four trumpet judgments
1.2.1.1.Demons bound in judgment are
unleashed on the world who are predestined by the Lord just for this judgment
upon men
1.2.1.2.Whereas the previous
judgments primarily affected the earth itself, these judgments affect men and
are used to torture and kill the unrepentant
1.2.2. We will see that now all of
those upon the face of the earth know that there is a God and a Devil, and
perhaps even about Jesus, however they refuse in spite of seeing and
experiencing horrific suffering and judgment, to repent and turn back to the
Lord
2.
VS 9:1-2 - “9:1 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. 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 fifth trumpet judgment sounds
2.1.
When this fifth angel sounds the
fifth trumpet, we see here not that a
star falls from heaven, but rather that one is already ‘fallen to the earth’. This has led many commentators to think that this fifth angel is Satan himself,
and there is a definite possibility that this is the case.
2.2.
However, it is also possible that the angel mentioned
is a fallen angel other than Satan.
2.3.
In any case, it is safe to say that the ‘star’ is symbolic of an
angel because:
2.3.1. In the Bible angels are
often symbolized as stars (See for
instance see Dan. 8:10, 24; Isaiah 14:12)
2.3.2. In the first chapter of this
book the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.
2.3.3. Only a fallen angel of great
authority could do what this fifth angel does.
2.3.4. The star is given a key to
open the Bottomless Pit, only an angel could use a key to do this.
2.4.
The word translated ‘bottomless pit’ is the Greek word “abussos”, which has the following entry in Strong’s Greek Dictionary: 12 abussos \{ ab’-us-sos\} from 1 (as a
negative particle) and a variation of 1037; TDNT - 1:9,2; n f AV - bottomless
pit 5, deep 2, bottomless 2; 9
2.4.1. bottomless.
2.4.2. unbounded.
2.4.3. the abyss.
2.4.3.1.the pit.
2.4.3.2.the immeasurable depth.
2.4.3.3.of Orcus, a very deep gulf or chasm in the lowest
parts of the earth used as the common receptacle of the dead and especially as
the abode of demons.
2.5.
The New Bible Dictionary has the following entry for the Greek word
"abussos" translated “bottomless pit” : ABYSS. The
Greek word abyssos (‘bottomless [pit]‘, ‘deep’) appears 9 times in the NT. It
is translated in rsv as ‘abyss’ (the abode of demons, Lk. 8:31; the place of
the dead, Rom. 10:7) and ‘bottomless pit’ (the place of torment, Rev. 9:1-2,
11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3). lxx renders Heb. tehoÆm, ‘deep place’, as ‘abyss’
(Gn. 1:2, etc.), with reference to the primitive idea of a vast mass of water
on which the world floated, or to the underworld (Ps. 71:20). (*Hell.)
2.6.
This Greek word “abussos” is used 9 times in the New Testament, 7
of which are found in the book of Revelation. It is evident from the Biblical references to
this word that it is the place (or
beside the place) referred to as “Sheol” in the Old Testament and “Hades”
in the New Testament, and that it is the place where some fallen angels are presently being imprisoned, where
the dead who have died not being God’s people are presently imprisoned, and
where Satan will be imprisoned during the millennial reign of Christ.
2.6.1. We see in Luke
8:31 that the demons whom Christ
was planning to cast out were afraid that He was going to cast them into the “abussos”,
“31 And they were entreating Him not to command them to depart into the
abyss.”
2.6.2. Before Christ was raised
from the dead, God’s people were once held in a chamber there in Hades called by
Jesus in the parable of The Rich
Man and Lazarus (Luke 16), “Abraham’s
Bosom”. In that parable we see that both those who are in Hades in torments as
well as those who are in Abraham’s Bosom are not able to leave where they are
being held. When Jesus raised from the dead, He went down into Hades and released those who
were in “Abraham’s Bosom” so that they could be forever with Him
in the Father’s presence. Now, when believers die they go directly into
God’s presence without being held temporarily in Abraham’s Bosom (in
Hades).
2.6.3. We can see from Psalm 16:10,
Acts 2:25-31, and Romans 10:7 that Jesus went down to Hades during the three days after His death upon the cross
of Calvary.
2.6.3.1.Psalm 16:10, “10 For You will not abandon my soul
to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your
Holy One to undergo decay.”
2.6.3.2.Acts 2:25-31, “25 “For David says of Him, ‘I saw the
Lord always in my presence; For He is at my right hand, so
that I will not be shaken. 26 ‘Therefore my heart
was glad and my tongue exulted; Moreover my flesh also will live
in hope; 27 Because You will not
abandon my soul to Hades, Nor
allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. 28 ‘You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of
gladness with Your presence.’ 29 “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding
the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us
to this day. 30 “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one
of his descendants on his throne, 31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the
Christ, that He was neither abandoned to
Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay.”
2.6.3.3.Romans 10:7, “7 or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’
(that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
2.6.4. Peter wrote in 2
Peter 2:4 about how that the fallen
angels were committed to that
place called Tartarus (considered
perhaps to be the deepest part of Hades or perhaps the “Bottomless Pit”)
in the Greek, “4 For if God
did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed
them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment.”
2.6.5. In Rev.
20:13-15, we see that those who
are being imprisoned in Hades are delivered up to judgment and then
thrown into the Lake of Fire, “13 And
the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead
which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their
deeds. 14 And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the
second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written
in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
2.6.5.1.
2.7.
Evidently, somewhere on the earth there is a shaft that goes from the
earth’s surface straight down to the “abussos”. Since we have
already seen that Christ holds all of
the keys, since He has the keys of death and Hades, and that He can open
and no man can shut, we thus know that
in order for this angel to be able to open the “abussos”, Christ must
let him use the key.
2.8.
This pit called The Bottomless Pit is “bottomless” however we have
no real examples in life of anything that is truly “bottomless”. However,
if we interpret the scriptures literally this place is definitely found in the
center of the earth.
2.8.1. The following are some of
the speculation about where the “bottomless pit” lies or what about it
makes it “bottomless”.
2.8.1.1.Some have suggested that if this pit were in the center of the earth that it could be spherical in
shape and therefore have no true bottom.
2.8.1.1.1.If this place is truly in the center of the earth,
then the only way out of it would be “up”.
2.8.1.2.Others have suggested that the wicked spirits that are sent there are suspended and thus there is no
bottom for them.
2.8.1.3.It is of course possible
that this place exists in another dimension than the present one which we
inhabit and that just as we normally
think of heaven as being up, and yet scientifically it could not really be so
since everywhere on the face of the earth up points in a different direction,
in the same way going down to the center of the earth could actually be
pointing to a different dimension.
2.8.1.4.I have also considered that
the “bottomlessness” could actually refer to the degree into sin which
these hideous wicked spirits had fallen.
2.9.
When this angel opens up the Bottomless Pit, smoke comes up out of it and
darkens the sun and the air. It is smoke like that of a ‘great furnace’. From the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus,
we see that the rich man is in torments and he is wishing that Lazarus could
just dip the tip of his tongue in water.
This smoke may be representative of the torments for those currently
residing in Hades as well.
3.
VS 9:3-5 - “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. 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. 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.” - Out of the smoke ascending from the
Bottomless Pit comes locust creatures who come and torment those who are not
God’s people upon the earth
3.1.
Since it is demons who are being imprisoned in the Bottomless Pit, these
‘locusts’ which come up out of the pit are demonic in origin, and it is reasonable to assume that these creatures are possessed by demons (or
are grotesquely fallen demons themselves).
3.2.
It is also obvious by the description of these
creatures that they do not exist naturally in the earth, but also that they are actual creatures, though possessed
by demons. I would assume that these angels that are being held presently in the
Bottomless Pit are of a particularly
great power and evil constitution.
3.3.
It is perhaps a bit perplexing to think of the Lord Himself using evil
fallen angels in order to work out His plans, however He has and does do that
at times.
3.3.1. For instance, in 1 Sam. 16:14 we see that God
sent (or allowed) an evil spirit
to torment Saul after he had been rejected from being king, “Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from
Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him.”
3.4.
Even in the midst of God’s removing of His restraints against evil in the
earth, we see that these creatures are given strict limitations upon what they can do:
3.4.1. Unlike earthly locusts who eat everything that is
green, these locusts are forbidden to
eat any of the grass of the earth nor any green thing or tree.
3.4.2. The only harm that these
locusts are able to carry out is harm is upon ‘the men who do not have the
seal of God on their foreheads’. We saw that in chapter 7 the 144,000 Jewish evangelists had the seal of God placed over them
so that they could not be killed or harmed by any of the judgments which are to
come upon the earth. However, here it is probable that none of
God’s people can be harmed by these locusts, not just the 144,000 Jews.
3.4.2.1.We Christians should not be
afraid of what the Devil might want to do to us, rather we should take comfort in the fact that the Devil cannot do anything that the Lord does not allow him to do. We should also take comfort in the
fact that the Lord has all power over the enemy, and that Satan must
flee at His command. We should learn to continually go to the Lord to be our
protector. He will keep us safe
under His wings, and the Devil will not be able to harm us. We shall rest in the peace of God even though
we may be in the midst of the greatest of storms.
3.4.3. They can only torment men
for 5 months.
3.5.
All of those who are unrepentant upon the earth will be stung by these locusts which have the horribly painful
sting of a scorpion. It is very interesting that it is a
scorpion’s tail that these locust-like creatures are predestined to have for
scorpions are very formidable creatures in many ways:
3.5.1. The sting of a scorpion is
one of the most painful of experiences that
a person can have.
3.5.2. The tail of a scorpion is
designed as a natural hypodermic needle
and it is formed of metals that it has somehow extracted from things that it
has eaten.
3.5.3. Scorpions when
confined together will always fight each other to the death.
3.5.4. Scorpions are a creature that will eat their own babies.
3.5.5. A new study that was released on the CNN website shows that scorpions have a stun and a kill mode. When initially confronted by danger they arm
their stinger with a non-poisonous compound of potassium salts that creates
extreme pain upon a victim it stings. It
is only after a confirmed threat that a scorpion will then load its stinger
with the highly toxic and potentially deadly toxic peptide toxin which requires
more of its essential nutrients to produce.
3.6.
These demonically possessed creatures delight in harming men, and they are unleashed just for the purpose of
carrying out God’s judgments upon unrepentant men. One
of the parameters that is also assigned to these locusts is that they
can only terrify man and bring him horrible anguish, they can cause not men to die (just like the new study mentioned
above they use “stun” mode when stinging people).
3.7.
The duration of which these locust-like creatures can torment men is
assigned to be 5 months, and we should
assume that this number is to be taken literally. Interestingly, the normal life span of a locust is also 5 months in duration.
3.8.
We can see God’s mercy even in His judgments in the book of Revelation, for He is allowing
men to undergo these horrible sufferings in hope that since they have refused
to repent having seen the goodness of God in their lives, that they might
repent having seen and experienced the unleashing upon the earth of the power of
those wicked spirits of darkness.
3.8.1. During the 7 yr.
Tribulation, all men will come to know without a shadow of a doubt that there
is a God, as well as that there is a
devil and a demonic force of wickedness.
3.8.2. The possessing of this bit of knowledge alone ought to bring all reasonable men to come to
the Lord in repentance and experience salvation through Christ. Sadly
however, it does not.
4.
VS 9:6 - “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.” - John tells us that men upon the earth will
try to kill themselves and will not be able to do so
4.1.
We do not know how it will come about that the Lord will prevent anyone
from killing themselves or dying, however
this verse shows us that again we see
God’s power in limiting the evil works of Satan being carried out in
these judgments upon the earth.
Evidently, even if anyone were
to try to kill themselves there would be some sort of divine intervention
that will keep them from being able to fatally harm themselves (unsuccessful
suicides).
4.1.1. I’m not meaning to be
macabre, however a large percentage of suicide attempts by people today are
unsuccessful, however often the damage that is done by these attempts can so
disfigure and debilitate those who attempted suicide as to make their life
thereafter a living hell.
4.2.
Again, we can see the Lord’s mercy even in His judgments upon the wicked, for He loves them enough in order to make it very difficult for a person to
end up in hell. He desires the wicked
to come to salvation, and He won’t even allow men who are suffering in this way
to end their own lives.
5.
VS 9:7-9 - “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. 8 And they had hair like the hair of women,
and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. 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.” - John
describes what these locust creatures will look like
5.1.
I believe that John goes into the incredible detail that he
does concerning the description of these demonic locusts of the
Tribulation in order that people will
not be tempted to interpret these judgments allegorically, not as not being
literal events that will occur upon the earth just as described. However, in spite of this effort by John some commentators have tried to interpret
these locusts as symbolizing false teachers, for instance. Such
interpretation are ridiculous.
5.2.
John describes these locusts as being like:
5.2.1. ‘horses prepared for battle’.
5.2.2. having ‘crowns of gold’ upon their heads.
5.2.3. having ‘faces of men’.
5.2.4. having the ‘hair of women’.
5.2.5. having the ‘teeth of lions’ (being ferocious).
5.2.6. having ‘breastplates like breastplates of iron’.
5.2.7. having their wings sound ‘like the sound of
chariots’ or ‘many horses rushing to battle’.
6.
VS 9:10 - “10 And they have tails like scorpions, and stings; and
in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months.” - John tells us that these locusts have tails
which sting like a scorpion, but they will only torment men for 5 months
6.1.
Interestingly, these locusts are described by John in
this verse as having tails which are
similar in function to the tails of ‘scorpions’, and, it is in ‘their
tails’ that they have ‘their power to hurt men for five month’.
7.
VS 9:11 - “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.” - John tells us that these scorpions have a
king who rules over them: Abaddon
7.1.
This is an interesting verse since in Proverbs 30:27 we read that the
locusts upon the earth have no king, “27 The locusts have no king, Yet all
of them go out in ranks.” I think that the
Holy Spirit has included this verse in the word in order to give us a clue as
to the interpretation of what these locusts in the book of Revelation
really are. These locusts in Revelation are not of this earth, but rather they are demonic
in origin and just appear to be locusts, or even “scorpions”
to John as he views them.
7.2.
These locusts in the book of Revelation have a particularly powerful
demonic authority over them who is called here ‘Apollyon’, which means ‘destroyer’. Though these creatures are performing God’s will in carrying out of
these judgments upon the wicked men of the earth, they are being led and
directed by this very powerful and wicked demon called, ‘Apollyon’.
7.3.
Joel chapter 1 is perhaps a commentary upon God’s plan of using these
demonic locusts in perform His judgments
upon the earth.
8.
VS 9:12 - “12 The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still
coming after these things.” - John warns that as bad as this judgment is,
it is just the first woe of three
8.1.
These last three trumpet judgments are called ‘woes’ because of
the great amount of destruction that occurs with their judgment upon wicked men.
In particular, these last three
trumpet judgments cause direct harm upon men, while all of the judgments that proceeded
them primarily caused harm upon men indirectly.
9.
VS 9:13-15 - “13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice
from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 one saying to
the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at
the great river
9.1.
Here with this sixth angel who is
to sound a trumpet judgment, there is ‘heard
a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God’,
and it seems logical to assume that the
voice is the voice of the Lord Himself since:
9.1.1. It comes directly from in front of the golden altar.
9.1.2. The voice directs the action of this sixth angel.
9.1.3. Who else but the Lord would have the authority to
execute such a judgment?
9.2.
The ‘golden altar’ in the temple was either in the Holy Place or
in the Holy of Holies (there seems to be
references to it being in both places), and it was the altar that was always to have the incense burning in it
which we already saw earlier in the book of Revelation, symbolized the prayers of the saints.
9.3.
Here in this
section of verses, we see that there
are ‘four angels’ who have been ‘bound at the great river
9.3.1. This is a very unusual place
to be bound unless we consider the fact that the river
9.3.2. Interestingly, in the book of Genesis before the time of the flood, the
9.4.
These angels must have been of a particularly vile and wicked nature and
possessing a great authority and power,
for they have been preserved for this very horrific judgment which causes the
death of 1/3rd of all of the people which are on the earth.
9.5.
Since 1/4th of the people on the face of the earth were killed during the
fulfillment of the third seal judgment, this brings the total of all of those
who have been killed to equal 1/2 of the population of the earth!
9.6.
Those who reject the “Pre-trib” interpretation of Revelation and
take the “Pre-wrath” or “Mid Tribulation” doctrinal positions
because they claim that this first part of the 7 years is not really
tribulation or wrath puzzle me, for how can 1/3rd of the earth be
burned up, 1/3rd of the life in the sea be killed, 1/3rd
of the water supply polluted, and ½ of the earth’s population ( over 3 ½ billion
people ) be killed and this not be tribulation and the “wrath” of God being
poured out???
10.
VS 9:16-18 - “16 And the number of the armies of the horsemen was
two hundred million; I heard the number of them. 17 And this is how I saw in
the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates
the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses
are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and
brimstone. 18 A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire
and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths.” - John tells us that an unusual army of 200
hundred million is assembled
10.1. We now have the task of
determining what it is that John is describing to us in this army who is on horseback.
10.1.1.These creatures in this army
could be another bunch of demons who have
taken on a particular form.
10.1.2.They could
also be a literal army which are being inspired by a legion of demons, however in that case there are many very unusual aspects about them which we would have to explain.
10.1.3.Some have suggested that these ones John is describing might actually be a modern day army fighting
with modern weaponry.
10.2. The number of these horsemen is two hundred million, and there are now armies in our world that
contain this many soldiers.
10.3. This is an interesting
description of this army:
10.3.1.The riders have ‘breastplates the color of fire and
of hyacinth and of brimstone’.
10.3.2.The horses themselves have heads that are ‘like the
heads of lions’.
10.3.3.‘Out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and
brimstone’.
10.4. Interestingly, hell
is a place where there is fire, smoke, and brimstone, and the judgment that
produces death and is carried out by these horsemen is a judgment that comes
straight from the pit of hell: the
plagues, fire, smoke, and brimstone.
10.4.1.JOKE: Do you know
how I know what I’m talking about with these things?
10.4.1.1.Because it says that these things proceed right out of
the ‘horse’s mouths’.
11.
VS 9:19 - “19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and
in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads; and with them
they do harm.” - John describes to us these very unusual
horses
11.1. John records that ‘the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails’,
and he goes on to say that that their ‘tails
are like serpents’, plus their tails ‘have heads’.
11.2. These horses do much harm
with their tails.
12.
VS 9:20-21 - “20 And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by
these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship
demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of
wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; 21 and they did not repent of
their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their
thefts.” - John tells us that those not of God’s people
who lived through all of these judgments still did not repent of their deeds
12.1. The people of the earth now
have no doubt about whether or not there is a God, as well as a devil, and yet
this very knowledge which should
have led them to repentance has only
caused them to become even more hardened of heart towards the Lord. The men and women of the earth still are
refusing to repent of their sins.
12.2. The people on earth are
described by John as worshipping demons,
and we know from Paul’s writings that any
kind of idol worship is actually a worship of the demon behind the idol. Later in Revelation we will see people
worshipping the Beast (anti-Christ) also, yet in doing so they are actually
worshipping demons.
12.3. There appears to be a lot of
drug use by the people of the world during this time since John writes here that the people refused to
repent of their ‘sorceries’. This word translated ‘sorceries’ is
the word from which we get the word “pharmacology”, and it
literally means drug use.
12.3.1.Drug usage is a sin in God’s
sight, as this verse (as well as others in the New Testament
where the same word appears) reveals.
12.3.2.We Christians should never
think that it is OK in God’s sight to use drugs for recreation or in order to
alter our minds. The use of drugs except for legitimate and legal treatment of diseases causes a person to
become hardened to the Lord and eventually turn away from Him. Drug
induced states of mind release a person’s inhibitions and cause them to thereby
be dominated by the flesh, when we as Christians must be people who die
to self and the flesh in order to walk in the power and control of the Holy
Spirit.
12.4. Some people are using the
opportunity of these horrific judgments upon the earth in order to steal and
loot others, and thus John reveals that
the people of the earth refused to
repent of their ‘thefts’.
12.4.1.We have seen this same
tendency to use others misfortune in
order to steal and loot in the many
inner city riots which have occurred in the big cities in the United States in the last few decades.