K-9. THE BOOK OF REVELATION CHAPTER 9.

             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 to the bottomless pit.

            First of all, it is impossible for a literal star to fall to the earth so either John saw something that looked like as if a star was falling from heaven or this is symbolic language. The word "star" is often used in the Bible to refer to an angel. And in this instance I believe it is referring to the fallen angel, Lucifer, better known as Satan, the devil, sometimes called the dragon and serpent. It can be seen in the Bible that Satan is the ruler, lord, king, head or leader of all the other fallen angels and demons of the underworld and principalities in heaven. Later on, in the book of Revelation, we will see more about this war in heaven where Satan is cast down onto the earth.

             Remember the way that this book of Revelation is written. First, we get a little glimpse and then it is magnified and we see a little more detail and then it is enlarged even more so we can see more detail. To say this another way, the book of Revelation repeats itself saying the same thing in a different way and sometimes adding a few more details. In other words, the seven trumpets are repeating what we are told in the seventh seal but adding more detail. And the seven vials are repeating what we are told in the seven trumpet but adding even more detail. 

             Rev. 9:2 "And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit of a great furnace; and the sun and air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit."

             This tells me that whatever it is that Satan lets out of the pit is a very large number, so much so, that at the first they just appeared to be a cloud of smoke so thick and so dark that they darkened the sun and the air. It could be that John saw this pit from a distance and the locust looked like smoke and then getting closer the smoke began to take on the shape of locusts. Or smoke could have come out first and then the locust came out of the smoke. John may have been seeing the mouth of a volcano. Or the underworld may have opened up and John saw the literal pit were the fallen angels are bound. Or it may be that all of this language is figurative or symbolic to describe something that was not around in the days of John so he had to described things unknown to him by the what it looked like to him.

             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."

             Again, John sees that out of this smoke or smoke like a cloud coming out something that looks like a locust, and he tells us that these locusts are given power much like the scorpions have the power to sting with their tail. So we can assume that these locusts carry some kind of venom or poison in them so that they have the effect on people that have been stung by a scorpion.

             Or if the language is symbolic John may be describing modern war machines like fighter jets and helicopters using chemical warfare. When we interpret these verses in the book of Revelation we must keep in mind what Jesus said about his coming being like the days of Noah and the days of Sodom when Lot was delivered the same day when the city was destroyed. Jesus describes these days as men going about their daily lives as usual right up to the time judgement fell and they were UNAWARE. So whatever these verses mean it would seem that men are somewhat used to them. I mean if these locusts were literal demons that could be seen attacking them, then one would think that they would repent of their sins. But we know that they will NOT repent of their sins because in verse 20 we see that even after all these plagues they repented not.

            Now again, the Islamic radical Muslims who are killing the Christians and the Jews do NOT see themselves as sinning but rather they sincerely believe that they are doing the will of God. But in truth, they are being deceived by their god Allah who we, as Christians can see from the Bible, is actually Satan himself. Even Muhammid wondered if it was Satan appearing to him. Please see the study "COULD ISLAM BE THE MARK OF THE BEAST?".

                          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 who have NOT the seal of God in their foreheads.

             The characteristics of these locusts are different than regular locusts in that they do not harm the grass or any green plant, not even the trees. But they are given power and commanded to only hurt men and women who do NOT have the seal of God in their forehead. To me, this means that these locusts only attack Muslims who have the mark of the beast. We as Christians are sealed by the Holy Spirit and in Revelation chapter 7 we learned that God will seal 144,000 Jews. This leaves only the Muslims who have the MARK of the beast and those of the nation who are NOT sealed by God. So then, if we interpret these verse as symbolic to represent war then the locust would be the armies attacking the radical Islamic Muslim armies. And in time of war, there are casualties on both sides meaning that there may be many in the world who do NOT have the MARK of the beast but they are NOT sealed either. My point is that if you are a true born-again Christian then you are SEALED by God and thus protected by God form this plague of locust no what they will be.

                            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."

             We are told that these scorpion-like locusts will not kill the man or woman who does NOT have the seal of God, but rather that they will be tormented for five months. Some thoughts that I have are that this plague of locust whatever they may be will last for five months and then the locusts just disappear, while some others I have heard think that the sting of these locusts will produce pain that will torment the body for five months. BOTH points of view could be correct, or neither interpretation may be correct. I have heard some Christians teach that these locusts are war machines like helicopters, because of the following verses.

             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."

             Here we see that the pain and torment of these locusts are so severe that men seek to die, but death does not come. But it is still not clear whether it is the effect of the STING that last fives months or if the plague of the locusts itself lasts for the duration of five months. Keep in mind that this plague of locust occurs during the FIFTH trumpet. So it MAY be that if these locusts represent a war against the Islamic radical Muslims then this fifth trumpet will last for five months. In other words, this war will lead to the final war at the end of days which will be ended BY Jesus himself coming in great clouds of glory to slain the wicked who are killing God's people the Christians and the Jews and to put an end to all war for 1000 years.

             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 a women, and there 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 the battle."

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

              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 has the name Apollyon."

              All I can say for sure is that an angel fell from heaven to the earth and had the key or knowledge or authority to open the bottomless pit, which I believe houses or holds devils and demons. And then this angel which appears to be Satan, releases whatever is in the bottomless pit upon the earth. These verses teach us that they have a king over them, a leader, and his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, which means destruction, and in the Greek, his name is Apollyon, which means DESTROYER. Which again, by the way, the name Satan also mean the DESTROYER and adversary. Satan is God's enemy who is making war with God.

               Verse 10 makes it pretty clear that THEIR power, the power of the locust to hurt men, will last for five months as opposed to the effect of the sting lasting five months. And if you look at some of the paintings on army warplanes and helicopters some of them have teeth and hair like a woman. So then, this may be what John saw by seeing into the future things he could only describe by things that he knew. But John may have also seen into the spiritual world of the underworld. I mean we do not SEE Satan and demons oppressing people, but we know from the word of God that the devil is the one who oppresses mankind with sickness and disease. Keep in mind that it is Satan who gives power to the beast. Satan is the INFLUENCE of the wickedness in the world. So John MAY have seen something spiritual that is INFLUENCING the world. John may have actually been describing the devils and demons who will be influencing mankind.

             Rev. 9:12 "One WOE is past; and behold there comes two woes more hereafter.

             So the first WOE is the blowing or sounding of the FIFTH trumpet. Now it is past and two more woes are to follow. The next or second woe will be the SIXTH trumpet and the third and final WOE will be the WRATH of God or the SEVENTH and final or LAST trumpet. Remember the first six, then the space of time where the rapture occurs, then comes the seventh, the WRATH of God which we as Christians are NOT appointed.

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

              Rev. 9:14 "Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Eurphates.

              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 a third part of men.

              I want you to notice that these angels were PREPARED ahead of time for this plague, and the duration of this plague is to be 1 year, 1 month, 1 day, and 1 hour. And when we compare the blowing of this SIXTH trumpet with Revelation 16:12-14 where we see the pouring out of the SIXTH vial, then we see some very similar things, like the river Euphrates and armies preparing to make war.

             "And the SIXTH angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. 

                             So you can clearly see that the SIXTH TRUMPET and the SIXTH VIAL are almost identical to each other. This is one of the things that cause me to take a closer look at how we are to interpret the book of Revelation. Before this time I was taught by the prophecy teachers of the pre-tribulation rapture theory that the book of Revelation should be read in a chronological order. But upon taking a closer look I could see that many things are REPEATED in the book of Revelation and when we interpret this book in this light then all of the pieces of the puzzle fall right in place.

              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 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."

             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, hear, nor walk:

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

              Now I do not know what this army of 200,000,000 is, or even if the number of this army is 200 million. But what we do know is that one-third of mankind is killed and they still will not repent of their sins. If these descriptions are taken literally, then these verses seem to be describing a literal war. 

               One thing I do want you to notice is that BOTH scenes of WAR here are each found written in the SIXTH; the SIXTH trumpet and the SIXTH vial. And as you will see, BOTH the SEVENTH trumpet and the SEVENTH vial are the WRATH of God. Now in the seven vials, it is very easy to see the SECOND coming of Jesus between the sixth vial and the seventh vial. Let us read the sixth and seventh vial and the coming of Jesus that is in between them before we get into chapter 10.

             Please read Revelation 16:12-21.