9 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key of the shaft of the bottomless pit;
2 he opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.
A very important key for interpretating this chapter and book is given to us right away here. A star falls from heaven and he is given a key. The star represents a person. So, each time you read in this book about the stars falling from the sky, do not be tempted to always understand it as a meteor shower.
The star here is Lucifer, himself, as you will see later. The point is that God is handing over to the dark side, the power to unleash hell on earth, so speak.
The pit is the dwelling place of the serpent.
The darkening of the sun and the air a symbolic of the level of evil unleashed on mankind.
3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth; 4 they were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green growth or any tree, but only those of mankind who have not the seal of God upon their foreheads; 5 they were allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torture was like the torture of a scorpion, when it stings a man. 6 And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death will fly from them.
These locusts are unlike typical locusts that ravage plants and vegetation. These locusts only torment men. The torture was like a scorpion. It meant that the suffering was very intense but not necessarily a purely physical suffering. The seal on the forehead is the seal of Baptism. the everlasting seal of the initiation into the Christian faith. This will be contrasted later with the mark of the beast, the mark of those who reject Jesus.
7 In appearance the locusts were like horses arrayed for battle; on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; 9 they had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails like scorpions, and stings, and their power of hurting men for five months lies in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abad′don, and in Greek he is called Apol′lyon.
As is the case with those who claim that Ezekial's wheel is a flying saucer, many bizarre interpretations have been made here. Dispensationalist fanatic Hal Lindsay saw them as piloted attack helicopters while psycho-killer Charles Manson said they were none other than the Beatles!
As is the case in so many other places, the physical attributes shown is meant to express characteristics of their nature. To understand what you are seeing, you only need to examine from where they came. These are demons.
The prophecies seem to have been fulfilled in the 5 months leading up to the actual siege on Jerusalem. Again, quoting from Barber (page 130)
The prophecy of this demon infested country seems to be confirmed in the accounts of Josephus. Josephus, who saw his own people plummet to the depths of wickedness in ways he could hardly imagine, described how the people of the city had an ''insatiable inclination to plunder, and for the murdering of men and the abusing of women, it was a sport to them''. They devoured whatever they found, even drinking blood. Like the locusts in Revelation, who had ''hair like women'' (9:8), the zealots became transvestites. Josephus listed numerous wicked practices, which out of decency won't be repeated here.
Anyone wanting to draw parallels to our current times, feel free.
The Hebrew Abaddon and the Greek Apollyon both mean the destroyer. One may take pause at the fact that these demons do not destroy any plant or tree nor do they actually kill the perpetrators of these evil acts. What they bring about is even worse. They destroy these people eternally because of the depravity to which they lead them. God's Justice must allow them to suffer but His mercy is what actually keeps them alive, with the opportunity to repent. Their refusal to repent manifests their evil, seals their fate and ultimately drives them insane to the point of drinking blood and giving themselves over to perversion.
12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.
Another pause gives the dramatic effect that we should reflect on what has been and what is to come.
13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphra′tes.”15 So the four angels were released, who had been held ready for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the troops of cavalry was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 17 And this was how I saw the horses in my vision: the riders wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulphur, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulphur issued from their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulphur issuing from their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; their tails are like serpents, with heads, and by means of them they wound.
The four horns of the golden altar before God is a curious phrase. It seems to call out both to the 4 living creatures and to the altar under which we saw the martyrs crying out for vengence. That vengeance is about to be unleashed.
That some of the invading Roman legions came from beyond the Euphrates is a historical fact. This includes the 10th legion that was involved in the siege on Jerusalem itself. It came from north of the Euphrates. What is stark is that the troops of demons are described right along with the troops of Romans as if they are one and the same. We see this often in this book. For examples, the dragon in chapter 7 and the beast in chapter 17. This is the only way to make sense of the number that equals 200 million. The idea of a human army of 200 million crossing the Euphrates river is pretty tough to support in our age of sophisticated and nuclear weapons.
In the gulf war, what was considered a massive military force in this region wasn't even 1% of that number.
The point of these verses is that Heaven's justice is ordained by God, driven by the demons and carried out by the Romans. The people of the wicked city choose their own destruction by virtue of their wickedness.
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot either see or hear or walk; 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their immorality or their thefts.
This is the bottom line. God gives people the Grace to repent and the space to repent but some will only double down on their wickedness and God is forced to mete out His Justice against them.
Some people will continue to associate these verses with Catholicism because Catholics have images but the comparison is absurd. God Himself allowed- and even commanded- the use of religious images in the Temple and upon the Ark of the Covenant. Catholics have statues and paintings as art. They are focal points and reminders of Jesus and Mary and the reality of Angels and Saints. There isn't a catholic in the world who believes that statues of gold or silver, wood or plaster are alive, much less Divine. Those who fell into idolatry fell into actual idolatry. They worshipped the statues of Zeus and Apollo and the other false gods and thus, gave service to the demons who actually acted through these idols. A Catholic worships the Holy Trinity- Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That's it. Any one telling you different is wrong.
Join us next time for part X
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