Revelation Chapter 9

[Chapter 9 (the two demon armies) is regarded as one of the most difficult passages in the Revelation.] Remember: the Restrainer has been removed. It now gets pretty rough...Joel 2:1-9,15,28; 3:2,9-16;  2Pet 3:10,... etc.

Rev 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.

The fifth trumpet brings demonic locusts from the bottomless pit. Structural observation: The first four seals and trumpets presented judgments directed against the earth (such as the "four horsemen" bringing tyranny, war, famine, and death on the earth, and the ecological destruction of the vegetation, seas, fresh waters, and sky of the trumpets). The last three seals focused upon heaven (the cry of the martyrs, cosmic disturbances, and the heavenly prelude to the seven trumpets); the last three trumpets will speak of hell (in terms of the demonic).

A star fallen from heaven. This star is a person (to him); the verb tense indicates that he already had fallen. Here is a good example of how Revelation is wrongly spiritualized in its interpretation; some say that the star is the word of God; the pit is human nature; showing that if the gospel is rejected, horrors are unleashed. Who is this star? Suggestions have included Nero, a fallen angel, an evil spirit, Satan, the Word of God, a good angel, or Jesus Himself. He is best seen as an angel; whether good or bad depends on his relation to the angel of the bottomless pit in verse 11. If the angel of verse one is the same as the angel of verse 11, it is an evil angel - perhaps Satan himself; if it is a different angel, it may be a good angel sent by God to open up this bottomless pit for the purposes of judgment. Although, we have some hesitancy to give Satan the key to the bottomless pit; he is not the "lord of Hell" or one who has authority in the bottomless pit.

The key to the pit is given to the being; all is under God's control. Where is the bottomless pit? The most straightforward answer is that it is in the center of the earth, because there, one might say that all is "top" and nothing is "bottom"; but the "bottomless-ness" of the pit may be symbolic. The abyssos is a prison for certain demons (Luke 8:31; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). Or more generally, it is considered the realm of the dead (the same as Hades; Romans 10:7).

Rev 9:2 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.
Rev 9:3 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.
Rev 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.
Rev 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 strikes a man.
Rev 9:6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

Locusts from the bottomless pit. These are obviously not "natural" locusts; they avoid plants and attack men like scorpions attack; they are "A visual representation of the hordes of demons loosed upon the earth". They are not, as some have suggested, heretics, Muslims, Turks, Saracens, Jesuits, monks, or Protestants! Those who have the seal of God on their foreheads (the 144,000 and perhaps more) are protected; but none other are; this is an inescapable judgment of God. Their purpose and period is expressly governed by God, and the purpose of all this to bring repentance (9:20-21). Death will offer no escape from this prolonged torture (perhaps as the bite of a scorpion, though extremely painful, is rarely fatal).

Locusts: 8th plague of Egypt (Ex 10:14,15); those locusts were after herbs; no king; never to be repeated.) These locusts here are not normal locusts: they have no king (Prov 30:27). "Gog" is also King of locusts (Amos 7:1—LXX only). Fivemonths? Gen 7:24.

These express the same desire as Paul in Philippians 1:21-23, but with different reasons and results: for Paul, death would lead to eternal blessing; for these, death is a leap from the frying pan of present torment into eternal fire.   "Death as an escape" is a demonic deception; now is the time of repentance, to escape from sin, and to be restored.

Rev 9:7 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.
Rev 9:8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as [the teeth] of lions.
Rev 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.
Rev 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.

The appearance of these locusts. Many attempts have been made to show how this is an accurate (though poetic) description of natural locusts; this approach misses the obvious demonic connection. Then why are they called locusts? Among other reasons, because locusts are agents of God's judgment (a consistent Old Testament figure in passages like Exodus 10:4-14; Deuteronomy 28:38; 1 Kings 8:37; 2 Chronicles 7:13; Joel 1:4; Amos 4:9)

The repetition of like indicates something other than a literal description is intended; the total impact of this picture is one of unnatural and awesome cruelty. "There can be no specific answer to the question of exactly who or what is symbolized by the plague of locusts. All we can know for sure is that in the period immediately before the end the wicked will be subjected to a time of unprecedented demonic torment. Exactly how this will take place will remain unknown until disclosed by history itself." Suggestions that these locusts actually describe something such as the "helicopter gun ships of the Antichrist" are interesting, but purely speculative, and don't fit all the details.

Rev 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.

The leader of these locusts. These locust-like creatures are not literal locusts, because they have a king; Proverbs 30:27 says, The locusts have no king, Yet they all advance in ranks. Their king is given a name - Abaddon and Apollyon both have the same thought of destruction or perdition (torment, destruction). Perhaps Apollyon is Satan himself, or another high-ranking leader of demons.

As God’s people, we can be thankful that Jesus alone holds the keys of hell and death: Rev 1:18. He has His timetable: nothing will occur too soon nor too late.

Rev 9:12 One woe is past; [and], behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

The worst is yet to come. The sixth trumpet: an army of destruction. Horses and a chariot of fire separated Elijah from Elisha when Elijah was taken up into heaven (2 Kings 2:11);.

Rev 9:13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

A voice from the altar. The golden altar is the altar of incense; a representation of the prayers of the saints. John is recalling a persistent theme: the prayers of God's people play a large role in the end-times drama. The horns of the altar were at each corner; they are where atoning blood was applied.

Rev 9:14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
Rev 9:15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

The angels and their mission. These four angels have no necessary connection with the four angels of chapter seven; they may be the same four angels or they may not be. Whomever they are, they are prepared for the hour and day and month and year of the unleashing of this judgment. "Most of Satan's angels are yet free - being the principalities against which we wrestle, but some terrible offenders of high rank have been bound." (Newell). This assumes these are "bad" angels; they may or may not be (they probably are "bad"), but no matter what, they are servants of the divine purpose.

The sphere of activity of the locusts was limited to torment (verse 5); these are given the express authority to kill on a massive scale. These angels have a specific sphere of activity (a third of mankind); they execute God's will in God's timing. Why are these angels of judgment connected with the Euphrates River? The Euphrates was a landmark of ancient Babylon; the frontier of the Israel's land as fully promised by God (Genesis 15:17-21); and the boundary of the old Roman Empire (which will be revived under the Antichrist). The Euphrates is also associated with the first sin (Genesis 2:10-14), the first murder (Genesis 4:16), the first organized revolt against God (Genesis 11:1-9), the first war confederation (Genesis 14:1), and the first dictatorship (Genesis 10:8-10).

Euphrates: Eastern boundary of Israel (Gen 15:18; cf. Deut 1:7; Josh 1:4; 1 Kings 4:21,24). Also, it’s the traditional boundary of east and west (e.g., Roman Empire). The Romans lived in constant fear of the Parthian Empire on the other side of the river. Reference to this river dates from Eden! (Garden: east of Eden.) Sin began here (Gen 2:14,15; 3:6,7); the first murder, (Gen 4:8); Nimrod ("We will rebel") Gen 10, 11; Tower of Babel = Babylon: The fountainhead of idolatry and false worship. Babylon will be the scene of the last stand (Zech 5:5-11). [See The Mystery of Babylon.] A divided kingdom cannot stand. This appears to be a division in Satan’s kingdom. As far as Asia is concerned, demon religions are all east of the Euphrates. India is said to have 33 million gods. All the gods of the heathen are demons (Ps 96:5 LXX). It is interesting that in the 1991 Gulf War, the US Army’s 24th Mechanized and 101st Airborne Divisions trapped the elite Republican Guard of Iraq by pinning it against the Euphrates River.

Rev 9:16 And the number of the army of the horsemen [were] two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
Rev 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.
Rev 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.
Rev 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.

Description of the army led by these angels. They number two hundred million; but is the number literal or symbolic? "It is possible that the number is not to be taken literally, but simply suggests an army that is impossible to count and is greater than anything mankind has ever seen."

They are given a weird, grotesque description; a powerful picture of horror, destruction and demonic association. Does this speak of a natural or a supernatural army? An army of men or an army of demons? If natural, then the weird description might speak of modern, mechanized warfare. But, a human army this size has never been seen; the total size of all armies at the height of the Second World War was only 70 million. China, in 1965, claimed to have an army and militia of 200 million; (but this claim was doubted by many). Even if such an army was assembled, and marched towards the west, it is hard (but not impossible) to see it killing a billion or more people - a third of mankind . Perhaps the safest interpretation is to see this as a literal demonic army invading earth.

Rev 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:
Rev 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

The response of man. In general, mankind shows no repentance; despite the presence of some pretty overwhelming "signs and wonders". Instead, man continues with his worship of idols in a "business as usual" sort of way; they continue in their worship of demons (wittingly or unwittingly). It is amazing to see how quickly things return to "normal" after some calamity such as an earthquake - we are so quick to forget God's lessons, even the lessons that come in judgment. The list of sins in verse 21 is a striking accusation against our present age; murders, sorceries (associated with the taking of drugs), sexual immorality and thefts certainly characterize our present day.

This is demon worship (1 Cor 10:19-21). Idols can include work of their own hands, buildings, machines, cities, et al. Dead sinners worshipping dead gods (Ps 115). Few people set out to worship demons, knowing they are demons. They may seek the advice of a "spirit being" through a channel or medium. Or perhaps it begins with an amulet, a lucky charm, or a horoscope or Ouija board. Anything can be an "entry." It is amazing to observe well-educated, successful, intelligent men and women of our own culture harboring believes and practicing rituals that are repackaged pagan rituals of prior ages... We become what we believe and worship (Ps 135:18).