Revelation 9 - The 5th and 6th trumpets, 1st terror

Above image from www.truthnet.org/Christianity/revelation/Revelation16/

Above image from www.neverthirsty.org/pp/series/REV/REV016/R0161.html

Ryrie Study Bible: "In this chapter there are more occurrences of the words 'as' and 'like' than in any other chapter in the Bible, which shows how difficult it was for John to describe the scene which he saw in the vision." In fact, I capitalized all the "like's" to remind us that John's trying to describe something he doesn't understand. I'm sure my great-grandfather would describe a jet airplane in the sky as a fire-breathing flying bird-like monster and would have been terrified had he seen one.

We're on a new chapter, but we're on the same topic: There are still seven angels giving trumpet blasts one at a time. After each trumpet blast, something bad happens to the earth. Chapter 9 covers trumpet blasts #5 and #6.

THE FIFTH TRUMPET

(1) THEN the FIFTH angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.

• Then Greek "meta touto":
• After Revelation 8:13: THEN I looked up. And I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air, "Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets."
  • Notice there are 3 terrors mentioned here and in 9:13.
  • One clue that helps us determine time in Revelation is the Greek phrase, "meta touto," which is translated, "after these things" or "then." This tells us when something is definitely chronological.
• FIFTH angel ... trumpet:
• Revelation 8:13: Then I looked up. And I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air, "Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets.
• Trumpet:
• This trumpet is called the first terror (woe in KJV) in verse 12.
• Star ... had fallen:
• The meaning here is one of descent to accomplish the task assigned to the angel, not a fall in position. 
• We know that this star is not a literal star because this star is given a key.
• A few verses earlier (in 8:10), we were introduced to a flaming star that fell from heaven, but it is not the same star as here. Thomas notes, “The star’s receipt and use of ‘the key of the pit and the abyss’ (vv. 1-2) shows that it stands for an intelligent being.”
• It is too soon for Satan to be cast out of heaven permanently since the Beast he incarnates when he is cast out of heaven comes out of the pit months after the time of this fifth trumpet. The Beast comes out of the pit just prior to the seventh trumpet just before he kills the two prophets who have completed their 1,260-day testimony (Revelation 11:7). If this were actually the time when Satan and his angels were cast out of heaven by Michael and his angels, there should be a description of more than one star falling from heaven. This angel appears to be on an assignment and does not appear to be an angel being banished from heaven.
• Key:
• Since the key was given to another, then the giver must have the ultimate authority.
• We know that Jesus Christ holds the key to the bottomless pit. He took the key away from Satan when He (Jesus) went there, preached and brought captivity captive out with Him, Ephesians 4:8.
• This angel still has the key when he locks Satan in the bottomless pit for a thousand years after the tribulation is over in Revelation 20:1-2:
• Then I saw an angel come down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon -- that old serpent, the Devil, Satan -- and bound him in chains for a thousand years.
• Bottomless pit (abyss):
• The Greek in this case, reads phear tes abussou, literally, "pit of the abyss" or as in the NIV, "shaft of the Abyss."
• It seems to be synonymous with the term "tartarus" in 2  Peter 2:4, a place where evil angels are held in prison.
• The "bottomless pit" is a preliminary prison, not their final abode, which is the lake of fire.
• The Greek word abyssos is found seven times in Revelation (9:1, 2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3).
• Many argue it is the center of the earth, but that doesn't make sense. Is the black hole, from which nothing can escape (not even light) at the center of our galaxy the bottomless pit?
• 
  Above image from http://astrobob.areavoices.com/
• The demons of the Gerasene demoniac pleaded with Christ that He not send them to the abyss (Luke 8:31), and Satan will eventually be bound there during the millennium (Revelation 20:1-2). In Jude 1:6, we are told that certain angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, are being kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day (2 Peter 2:4).
• Luke 8:31: The demons kept begging Jesus not to send them into the Bottomless Pit.
• 1 Peter 3:19: So he went and preached to the spirits in prison --
• 2 Peter 2:4: For God did not spare even the angels when they sinned; he threw them into hell, in gloomy caves and darkness until the judgment day.
• Hell in 2 Peter 2:4 is tartarus.
• Jude 1:6: And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the day of judgment.
• Revelation 1:17-18: I am the living one who died. Look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.
• Revelation 20:1-2: Then I saw an angel come down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon -- that old serpent, the Devil, Satan -- and bound him in chains for a thousand years.

(2) When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air were darkened by the smoke.

• Smoke:
• In Revelation, smoke usually relates to judgment, doom and torment. What John saw resembled to him like smoke billowing out of an active volcano.
• Darkened:
• Revelation 8:12: Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of the sun was struck, and one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars, and they became dark. And one-third of the day was dark and one-third of the night also.

(3) THEN locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting LIKE scorpions.

• Locusts:
• These "locusts" are not insects of a huge plague, but fierce demons who ordinarily are kept in special confinement in the abyss. These are obviously not "natural" locusts.
• They must not destroy any plant life and they can only torment, but not kill, the unbelievers. The believers are protected by God (as they were in the Egyptian plagues).
• These locusts are led by the destroying angel who is probably Satan's commander of the dimension called the underworld.
• Exodus 10:14-15: And the locusts swarmed over the land of Egypt from border to border. It was the worst locust plague in Egyptian history, and there has never again been one like it. For the locusts covered the surface of the whole country, making the ground look black. They ate all the plants and all the fruit on the trees that had survived the hailstorm. Not one green thing remained, neither tree nor plant, throughout the land of Egypt.

(4) They were told not to hurt the grass or plants or trees but to attack all the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

• Grass ... plants ... trees:
• Grass, green things and trees are mentioned here where trees were the only vegetation listed in chapter 7.
• They are not to touch very thing natural locusts naturally devour.
• Seal of God:
• Those with the seal of God would, presumably, include the 144000 Jewish Christian evangelists and those whom they win to Christ. Therefore, this fifth trumpet must chronologically follow the sealing in Revelation 7:1-8, under the sixth seal.
• It is an allusion from Ezekiel 9:4: He said to him, "Walk through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of all those who weep and sigh because of the sins they see around them."

(5) They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with agony LIKE the pain of scorpion stings.

• Five months:
• The period of locusts is five months: May - September.
• Besides here and verse 10, I could find only one other direct reference to a five-month period of time in the Bible: Luke 1:22-25: When he finally did come out, he couldn't speak to them. Then they realized from his gestures that he must have seen a vision in the Temple sanctuary. He stayed at the Temple until his term of service was over, and then he returned home. Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months. "How kind the Lord is!" she exclaimed. "He has taken away my disgrace of having no children!"
• Genesis 7:24: And the water covered the earth for 150 days.
• 150 days = 5 months (5x30)! A time of judgment.

(6) IN THOSE DAYS people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee away!

• Revelation 6:15-16: Then the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy people, the people with great power, and every slave and every free person -- all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.

(7) The locusts LOOKED LIKE horses armed for battle. They had gold crowns on their heads, and they had human faces.

• Looked like:
• John had certainly never seen such a thing before and could only describe them in terms that he and people of his time could grasp. He was a first century man called upon to describe twenty first century warfare. But he had to do it in such a way that all the generations in between could interpret it as well. Even today, we can't relate these so-called locusts to anything in our world. They're clearly a demonic manifestation of some sort.
• Suggestions that these locusts actually describe something such as the “helicopter gunships of the Antichrist” are interesting, but purely speculative, and don’t fit all the details.
• 
  Above image from photobucket.com
• The locusts may be presented to us as an army, but if this were merely a human war, Christians would not be safeguarded either.
• Crowns: Greek - stephanos
  

(8) Their hair was long LIKE the hair of a woman, and their teeth were LIKE the teeth of a lion.

• Hair: Locusts don't have "hair", except on their legs.

(9) They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared LIKE an army of chariots rushing into battle.

(10) They had tails that stung LIKE scorpions, with power to torture people. This power was given to them for five months.

(11) Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon -- the Destroyer.

• King:
• Identifying him as Satan is tempting, but the text only calls him an angel. The appearance of Satan later (12:3, 9) is much more dramatic than the introduction of this angel.
• These are not real locusts because they have no king: Proverbs 30:27: Locusts -- they have no king, but they march like an army in ranks.
• Destroyer:
• As the destroyer, Satan himself is the one chiefly responsible for all the forms of destruction in this life, from the Garden of Eden to the last battle at the end of the Millennium (Genesis 3 - Revelation 20). In many ways, the Scripture is in essence a portrait of two, of Satan and his destruction, and the Savior and His deliverance.

(12) The FIRST TERROR is past, but look, TWO MORE TERRORS are coming!

• Revelation 8:13: THEN I looked up. And I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air, "TERROR, TERROR, TERROR to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets."
• Two more terrors:
• One down, two to go. It's going to get even worse!

THE SIXTH TRUMPET

(13) THEN the SIXTH angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God.

• Gold altar:
• This is an allusion to the altar of incense in the Tabernacle (cf. Exodus 30:2,3,10). There are two altars mentioned in this section: the altar of sacrifice under which the souls of the martyrs were found (cf. Revelation 6:9-11), and the altar of incense upon which the prayers of God's people are placed (cf. Revelation 8:3-5). The horns were an OT symbol of power. Both the incense altar and altar of sacrifice had horns.

(14) And the voice spoke to the sixth angel who held the trumpet: "Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River."

• Four angels ... bound:
• Because these angels are bound, it may be a reference to evil angels (cf. Jude 1:6), but these are not bound in the abyss.
• Scripture does not record when or why God bound these angels, but evidently He restricted them as punishment. Perhaps He imprisoned them when Satan rebelled against Him.
• Euphrates River:
• 
  Above map from www.thinglink.com/scene/320978959846080514
• In Revelation 16, John describes the seven bowls of wrath that will be poured out at the very end of this age.  One verse in that chapter has special application to how the armies from the east will gain easy access to the land of Israel at the end: Revelation 16:12: Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great Euphrates River, and it dried up so that the kings from the east could march their armies westward without hindrance.
• It was the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in John's day. In the first century people would have thought of the Parthians - the only warriors the Romans could not and did not defeat. This would be the area of modern-day Iran (Persia).
• The River hasn't been dried up yet allowing the Kings of the East to cross. That comes later in Revelation 16:12.
• 
  Above image from http://endtimestruth.com/world-war-iii/the-attack-of-china/

(15) And the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth.

• Hour ... day ... month ... year:
• The expression “for this hour and day and month and year” refers not to the duration of their activity, but to the fact this occurs exactly on the hour of God’s appointment, i.e., the exact hour of the day, month, and year that God ordained it. They execute God’s will in God’s timing.
• Matthew 24:36:  "However, no one knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows."
• Kill:
• The demonic locusts described earlier in the chapter were restricted to tormenting mankind. But these four angels have the authority to kill on a massive scale.
• One-third:
• If added to the one-fourth in Revelation 6:8, that would be over half the world's population (post-rapture): And I looked up and saw a horse whose color was pale green like a corpse. And Death was the name of its rider, who was followed around by the Grave. They were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals.
• This will result in approximately half the population of the earth alive at the beginning of the Tribulation being dead at the end of this judgment.
• With this additional third, that means that over 3 billion people will have died by the time this is over, and the Great Tribulation hasn't even begun yet.
• There is a repeated pattern of “a third” - which reminds one of the percentage of angels who fell from Heaven with Satan in rebellion.
• It may be that the army here described continues to fight until the time of the second coming of Christ, and the number slain is the total number involved in the conflict.

(16) They led an army of 200 million mounted troops -- I heard an announcement of how many there were.

• Army:
• The Greek word for “army” is plural. This is not one army but several armies which have come together to make war. Since the army will not come to power until the four demons are released from their bonds at the Euphrates River, it implies the demons are the leaders of these armies. This also suggests that since the leaders are demons, the 200 million army is composed of demons too!
• 200 million:
• Is this the army of Ezekiel 38-39?
• The combined Allied and Axis forces at their peak in World War II totaled about 70 million. China has 2,285,000 active frontline soldiers plus 2,300,000 active reserve personnel; fit for military service 281,240,272.
•  Is this a human army or are these demons? Most likely both!
• Incredibly, in the day that John penned these words there wasn’t even that many people in the entire world. For most of history, the fulfillment of a prophecy like this would have been impossible. Most Bible scholars considered the prediction to be more symbolic than literal.
• From the words of Daniel, Ezekiel and John, there is a picture being formed of several powerful military alliances attacking Israel at the end. Remember, the Lord said in Zechariah that he will gather all nations to do battle in the Middle East:
• Zechariah 14:2: On that day I will gather all the nations to fight against Jerusalem. The city will be taken, the houses plundered, and the women raped. Half the population will be taken away into captivity, and half will be left among the ruins of the city.
• An army of 200 million mounted soldiers would cover an area one mile wide and 85 miles deep, by some accounts.

(17) And in my vision, I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them. The riders wore armor that was fiery red and sky blue and yellow. The horses' heads were LIKE the heads of lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths.

• If this describes a natural army of men, then the weird description might speak of modern, mechanized warfare. John may describe modern machinery in the only terms he can, and the result is this weird, grotesque, terrifying account.

(18) One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues -- by the fire and the smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses.

• This seems to be a picture of modern warfare rather than of ancient weapons. This indicates that though there may be a disarmament in the early phases of the time period between the rapture and the second coming, by this time, namely toward the close of the tribulation, modern means of war are once again being fully used. The world that longs for peace and seeks to attain it by the worship of the beast of Revelation 13 will learn the sad lesson that there can be no peace until the Prince of Peace rules.
• One-third:
• Refers back to the one-third in verse 15.

(19) Their power was in their mouths, but also in their tails. For their tails had heads LIKE snakes, with the power to injure people.

• Some argue this is tank warfare. Some argue it is some sort of futuristic war machines. Again, John was using his best "first century language" to describe what He saw.

(20) But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to turn from their evil deeds. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood -- idols that neither see nor hear nor walk!

• Refused:
• As God used the plagues on Egypt as a motivation for (1) Egyptians to believe and serve Him and (2) Israel to stay faithful and serve Him (cf. Deuteronomy 27-28), so these similar plagues were meant to turn unbelieving mankind back to their creator, but they refused. Their stubborn unbelief had become a settled state of rebellion (cf. Romans 1:24,26).

(21) And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their immorality or their thefts

• What a horrible and grim picture the Spirit of God has painted for us of these final days!!! Men will hold nothing sacred anymore. Not life, not marriage or the family or sex, not one’s health, nor the property and rights of others. Man will be given over completely to sensual indulgence and he will do anything to satisfy his cravings.
• Did not repent:
• The number one reason people won't accept the Gospel has nothing to do with its truth, but with the refusal to change one's lifestyle.
• Murders:
• Note that the passage says “murders” (plural). Murder will be rampant. No one will think anything of killing another human being. The ‘law of the jungle’ will prevail. This would also include abortion.
• Witchcraft (sorcery in the KJV) Greek - pharmakeia:
• We get the English term "pharmacy" from this Greek word pharmakeia for witchcraft or sorceries (plural). This may have been a reference to magical potions or poisoning, like the wormwood mentioned earlier. In the ancient world, drugs were often used to induce "religious" experience. Drugs will be a big part of the Tribulation. In the Tribulation practically everyone will be on drugs and men will kill and steal to get them.
• Sorcery per se describes an occult practice in which the adherents claim to have supernatural powers and knowledge, including the ability to foretell the future and to summon evil spirits through charms and magical spells.
• Revelation 18:23:  Her nights will be dark, without a single lamp. There will be no happy voices of brides and grooms. This will happen because her merchants, who were the greatest in the world, deceived the nations with her sorceries.
• Immorality (sexual) Greek - Porneia:
• The pace of sexual sins is increasing and lines being crossed that were unthinkable 10 years ago. Television, movies and the internet have removed any barriers to limits. Homosexual marriage is becoming acceptable and legal.
• Porneia looks at sexual sins and perversions of every type.
• Apparently, there will be a complete breakdown in the institution of marriage and we're almost there!
• More than 70,000 women are sexually assaulted every year in the US. (1 every 45 seconds) It is the most rapidly growing violent crime in the country.
• Domestic violence is more widespread than ever. Each year between 2 and 4 million women are battered; 1,500 women are murdered by their intimate partners; 1.8 million elderly are victims of maltreatment; 1.7 million child abuse reports are filed. Fornication covers living with someone before you are married, being married and dating someone else and covers all homosexual acts.
• Thefts:
• This is the Greek word klemma, “a thing stolen,” or “theft, stealing.” This too is plural and draws our attention to the complete moral breakdown where men will lie, steal, cheat and defraud at every turn.

There is another interlude between chapters 9 and 10 (the sixth and seventh trumpet) like the interlude that separated the sixth and seventh seals. (7:1-17).

Things happen in groups of seven in the book of Revelation. First were the seven seals of the scroll, then the seven trumpet judgments followed by seven bowls of wrath. Between the sixth and seventh of each these is always a parenthesis. This structural parenthesis make a chronological summary of Revelation next to impossible. That's why it is often so hard to follow - because we assume that it is written chronologically in order of events, and that makes it hard to understand:

1. Between the sixth and seventh seals, we are introduced to the 144,000.
2. In the next chapter, between the sixth and seventh trumpets, we see John eat a book, measure the temple, and introduce us to the two witnesses.
3. Between the sixth and seventh bowls of wrath, we see the unclean spirits that prompt Armageddon.

Revelation 10:1-11: Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. And in his hand was a small scroll, which he had unrolled. He stood with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. And he gave a great shout, like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered. When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But a voice from heaven called to me: "Keep secret what the seven thunders said. Do not write it down." Then the mighty angel standing on the sea and on the land lifted his right hand to heaven. And he swore an oath in the name of the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it. He said, "God will wait no longer. But when the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God's mysterious plan will be fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced it to his servants the prophets." Then the voice from heaven called to me again: "Go and take the unrolled scroll from the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land." I approached him and asked him to give me the little scroll. "Yes, take it and eat it," he said. "At first it will taste like honey, but when you swallow it, it will make your stomach sour!" So I took the little scroll from the hands of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but it made my stomach sour. Then he said to me, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings."

C.S. Lewis from his book “Mere Christianity”: "God is going to invade this earth in force. But what's the good of saying you're on his side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else, something it never entered your head to conceive comes crashing in. Something so beautiful to us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left. This time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love, or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down, when it's become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing; it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realize it or not. Now, today, in this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last forever; we must take it or leave it."

LUCIFERIAN DOCTRINE (from www.raptureready.com/featured/kelley/rev9.html):

"There is a belief floating around that’s as old as mankind but in the last days will become a religion that deceives almost everybody. It’s called the Luciferian Doctrine and understanding it helps explain why the world won’t turn to its Creator in this, the worst time in human history.

"The Luciferian doctrine is named of course after Lucifer, a Latin name meaning, “light bearer.” It holds that Lucifer is the Angel of Light, the good guy trying to enlighten the people of the world in preparation for the spiritual evolution necessary to bring peace to all mankind. According to Luciferian Doctrine our physical evolution is finished and all we need to do now is throw off the bonds of Judeo-Christian thinking to complete our spiritual evolution and enter into our long awaited Utopian Era.

"But Lucifer’s being hindered in all this by the evil Adonai (Hebrew for Lord) Who, along with His followers, is working to thwart Lucifer’s grand plan, effectively preventing our spiritual evolution. In order for humanity to achieve Utopia those who insist on clinging to their obsolete Judeo-Christian faith have to be eliminated. The Great Tribulation is characterized in Luciferian Doctrine as the evil Adonai’s last great effort to destroy mankind’s “light bearer” and prevent our ascension into Utopia, keeping us in bondage to Him.

"Following the church’s disappearance, the Truth will become pretty scarce on Earth and the whole world will be deceived into believing the Luciferian Doctrine just as Paul warned would happen (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12). So naturally, thinking the Lord is the bad guy, they will become even more intense in their worship of Lucifer, hoping that he’ll prevail and bring an end to their suffering. (There is a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof is death … Proverbs 14:12) Lucifer, of course, is also widely known as Satan or The Devil."

NOTES:

• Unless otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois.
• Disclaimer: Source material for this study has been gleaned from many different sources. If you want further study, I have attempted to acknowledge these sources at http://revelationofjesustojohn.blogspot.com/2014/03/book-of-revelation-references.html
• Index to all our studies are at http://oakview-bible-fellowship.blogspot.com/