Revelation Chapter Nine Part I

Before we begin our study of this passage, let us read from the Book of Enoch, which was is not canonical Scripture, but which was extant in the First Century during the earthly lives of Christ and the Apostles. Enoch gives us a sense of the thought processes of the First Century. We read from Chapter 21 verses 5-10:

I saw neither ³ a heaven above nor a firmly founded earth, but a place chaotic and horrible. And there I saw⁴ seven stars of the heaven bound together in it, like great mountains and burning with fire. Then ⁵ I said: ‘For what sin are they bound, and on what account have they been cast in hither?’ Then said Uriel, one of the holy angels, who was with me, and was chief over them, and said: ‘Enoch, why ⁶ dost thou ask, and why art thou eager for the truth? These are of the number of the stars of heaven, which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and are bound here till ten thousand years,⁷the time entailed by their sins, are consummated.’ And from thence I went to another place, which was still more horrible than the former, and I saw a horrible thing: a great fire there which burnt and blazed, and the place was cleft as far as the abyss, being full of great descending columns of ⁸ fire: neither its extent or magnitude could I see, nor could I conjecture. Then I said: ‘How ⁹ fearful is the place and how terrible to look upon!’ Then Uriel answered me, one of the holy angels who was with me, and said unto me: ‘Enoch, why hast thou such fear and affright?’ And ¹⁰ I answered: ‘Because of this fearful place, and because of the spectacle of the pain.’ And he said unto me: ‘This place is the prison of the angels, and here they will be imprisoned for ever.’[¹]

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.”

This passage from Enoch tells us two things First Century Jews believed about a certain figurative meaning of stars. One, they are angels, here fallen angels, and two, they are imprisoned in the cleft or pit of the abyss (bottomless pit). Stars are used figuratively in other ways as well, but we will not address them in this treatise. Compare 2 Pet 2:4-5, and Jude 1:6-7, where Peter and Jude refer to the occurrences discussed in this passage from Enoch.

The fifth trumpet sounds the beginning of the first of three woes (Rev 8:13). The number five is often associated with the Grace of God, but not here. The number five may also be identified with consecration. Consecration can be used several different ways. It means to set apart as something sacred. It also means to change the elements of communion into the body and blood of Christ (which is transubstantiation, and many believe that to be a false teaching). It additionally means to initiate or ordain for a holy purpose, such as initiating a man as a pastor or into the priesthood. Furthermore, it means to dedicate to a service or goal. This list is not exhaustive, but it is enough for us to get a feeling for the significance of the number 5.

So, what can we say here? Rev 8:13 says that the next three trumpets (five, six, and seven) will begin three woes. So the last three trumpets are set apart or consecrated to heralding three woes, and they could be said to be ordained, consecrated, or dedicated to that purpose.

The first five trumpet blasts were against the earth and caused tribulation for its inhabitants. We see grace in the first five. God provided for His people, that is, Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ through this ordeal; that is grace. Believers alive during this time will be present in the tribulation.

To begin this woe, John observes a star that had fallen from heaven. John did not see it fall; it had already fallen and was down when the fifth trumpet sounded. This is not a falling star, or meteor, like we can see nightly if we look up on a clear night. We need some help to understand this star. Remember that when the third angel sounded a star fell from heaven. That star was called Wormwood, or bitter. See comments on Revelation 8:1. This is not the star John called Wormwood. This is a different event. This star is not named and remains unnamed and we will not speculate on the name.

Some commentators reference that this was a man, a great human leader that once professed Christ as Savior, yet later denounced him[²]. Falling from heaven here, in this case, could mean fallen from grace. Others maintain that the key to the abyss was given to the fifth angel who sounded his trump. However, the only trumpeter to take any action other than sounding the trump was the sixth angel, and he was told by the LORD to take that action. There is no evidence that the fifth angel was to take any action other than to sound the trumpet. Moreover, the verse itself, in both the Greek and English, specifically states that the star that fell was given the key. This trumpeter did not fall, nor was he give a key.

Others state that the star is Jesus based on Rev 1:18, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” However, in context, Jesus was revealing Himself as the Messiah to the Apostle John, and to us, the readers of the Revelation. That context does not fit here.

Hell in that verse (Rev 1:8) is the translation of Hades, the place of the dead. The Greeks held that Hades had a place for the righteous dead, which was a pleasant place, a place for the unrighteous dead, where they were tormented, and another place, deeper down, called Tartarus, the place for the exceedingly evil dead.

We can see that in the Scriptures: Nives[³] (the rich man) was in Hades, the place of torment; Lazarus and Abraham were in a pleasant place called the Bosom of Abraham, which Jesus called Paradise. We also see Tartarus, where the angels that sinned are held in 2 Pet 2:4

There are some commentaries that assume that if the word here translated “fall” is used in conjunction with angels, it really means to descend. The idea is that this phrase can rendered, a star (or angel) descended from heaven instead of “fell from heaven.” In Rev 20:1 we see another angel that came down, or descended from heaven but did not fall. Some suggest that was the angel in our current verse. However, that was not a fallen angel, but one in good standing with God.

A careful study of the context of this passage yields a different idea. It is apparent in the ordinary usage of the phrase, that this fallen star is a fallen angel as we see in other similar passages. Stars symbolize angels in Rev 1:20 and Job 38:7.

We see the fall of Lucifer (Hebrew הילל בן־שׁחר, Helel ben Sachar, or Daystar) in Isa 14:12. Jesus discussed the fall of Satan in Luk 10:18. Enoch tells about the angels that fell and cohabited with human women in Enoch 6:1-8, 7:1-6, and 21:1-10 (cf. Gen 6:1-2). This star, or fallen angel, was given a key, which he used to open the abyss.

The single Greek word rendered “having fallen” is in the Greek perfect tense, which represents a present state which has resulted from a past action. The fact that this angel fell from Heaven indicates he was cast out of heaven just as the dragon was (cf. Rev 12:9).

The star is presently on earth when John sees him but had already fallen there. The KJV gets this wrong, probably because the translators followed the example in the Geneva translation: ” I saw a starre fall from heauen vnto the earth.” Wycliffe has it right: “a sterre hadde falle doun fro heuene in to erthe.” The Greek here is πίπτω, pípto, Strong’s 4098. The actual inflection is πεπτωκοτα, peptokóta, having fallen[⁴]. The uninflected word means to fall, to descend, and to alight. It can be used for negative or positive consequences.

It can be used in context, to denote falling down to worship. For example, the Samaritan that was cleansed worshipped God: “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell [ἔπεσεν, hépesen—from πίπτω, pípto] down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan” (Luke 17:15-16).

An example of judgment is when Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit about the funds they gave: “And Ananias hearing these words fell [πεσὼν, pesón—from πίπτω, pípto] down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things” (Acts 5:5).

Since we are discussing angels sounding the trumpets, this fallen angel (or demon) that fell to earth was an emissary from God. An emissary need not be a righteous entity. God has often used His enemies as emissaries. For example, God used pagan Babylon to judge His people Israel (Eze 21:11-12). After this trump was sounded, God sent this angel (a demon or a fallen angel) to open the abyss, of bottomless pit.

Let us exegete the words ‘bottomless’ and ‘pit.’ After consulting several lexicons we can give some synonymous information about them. Bottomless pit is the translation of the phrase, “φρεατος της αβυσσου,” phreatos tes abussou. That is literally, ‘pit of the abyss.’

The word αβυσσου, abussou, is a neutral genitive singular noun form of the lexical αβυσσος (abussos). It can be rendered the sea, the deep, an unfathomable depth, the netherworld or underworld, the place of the dead, the home of demons/evil spirits, enormous, the great deep, an unbounded and immeasurable depth, an immensely deep space, etc.

As always, context determines meaning. Our context lines up with the home of demons and/or evil spirits. Remember “the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation” (Jude 1:6). Peter refers to them as “angels that sinned,” that were “cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness (2 Pet 2:4).” The word translated hell in this verse is ταρταρωσας, tartarōsas, or Tartarus, which is the name of the region under the earth in the lowest part of Hades that is doleful and dark, regarded by the ancient Greeks as the abode of the very wicked dead, where they suffer punishment for their evil deeds.

Φρεατος, phreatos, is the neutral genitive singular noun form of the lexical φρέαρ, phrear, which is translated pit in many translations. Here is a list of alternative definitions: a pit, a well, a shaft, a cistern, a reservoir, a deep hole in the ground, a cavity that has a narrow in opening at the top and underneath it expands into a larger area, etc. Other definitions are a vertical shaft covered by a stone, or an opening leading to the netherworld. In our context in this passage, it is an entrance to the nether world that has a narrow opening at the top and expands into a larger cavity beneath with unfathomable depth.

Both words are genitive, which indicates possession. Both are nouns, but the Greek αβυσσος can also be used as an adjective (deep, enormous, unbounded, immeasurable, etc.) In our case it is being used as an adjective. The two words complement each other; the pit possesses the abyss and abyss possesses the pit. If we take one without the other, the entire phrase becomes much less meaningful.

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.”

He who? He who was given the key to the pit. The demon opens it allowing those imprisoned within an opportunity to escape.

A furnace is a place where combustion takes place. There are several Hebrew words rendered furnace. One is a smelter, another an open pit of fire, another a fireplace, another a fire pot. In the NT Greek there is only one word rendered furnace and it is not as specific as the Hebrew. It strictly means furnace. Again, a furnace is a place for a fire to burn.

A furnace can get very hot. Consider a smelter or picture a giant ladle of molten metal. That is from a very hot furnace. A covered backyard barbecue grill is also a furnace. Get the coals very hot and close the cover. A few seconds later, open it again. A column of heat and smoke quickly rush up and out of the grill. If you are not careful, you will get burned or be overcome with the smoke. That is the picture here.

The abyss is opened and immediately a great column of smoke and heat rush upward and out, spewing into the atmosphere. Enoch tells us that the abyss in which the fallen angels abide is filled with “great descending columns of fire” (Enoch 21:7). When that abyss is opened smoke escapes and fills the atmosphere, obscuring the sun. There are multiple references to this event throughout the Bible (e.g. Eze 32:7, Joel 2:31, Matt 24:29, Acts 2:20). The smoke that darkens the sun and the air, which is indicative of the Judgment of God. See Rev 8:12; Exo 10:21-23; Joel 2:2 &10. Recall that Saddam Hussein set his oil wells on fire during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, and that the smoke from all these burning rigs actually obscured the sun, turning day into night.

The smoke from the abyss darkens the sun and the air. As we actually observed in Iraq when Hussein set all the oil wells afire, the day was turned to night for several weeks until the fires were extinguished. That is the same type of darkness we see here; day is turned into night. Darkness is the ninth plague God sent upon Egypt in the days of Moses.

Joel, discussing the day of the LORD, wrote, “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations” (Joe 2:1-2). That is what we see here. This is a depiction of what John saw when he was spiritually transported to the future and observed the Day of the LORD.

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.”

These locusts are not necessarily human armies but symbolic and likely demonic. ‎We know that because of their fantastical appearance and by their leader, whom we will discuss in our comments when we arrive at the verses exposing those things.

In the Bible, locusts may have several different inferences. The first is the literal locust, the insect. It is the insect that swarms and devours every green thing in its path. It is a large grasshopper that is usually tame, but in times of drought or famine or extremely dry weather they sometimes swarm in the millions and cause enormous damage to crops. In fact, they have the power to inflict enough damage on crops to cause a famine. When they swarm, they are extremely dangerous. They are also edible and are a delicacy in some quarters. Swarming locusts are also a metaphor for large, populous military armies bent on conquest, and a metaphor for the Judgment of God. We need not dwell on the literal insect that is a locust for we are familiar with those locusts.

God used literal locusts for judgment against Egypt. God used figurative locusts in the form of the armies of their enemies against Israel when they turned away from Him. The eighth plague in Egypt was a literal swarm of locusts descending on the land when Pharaoh would not let God’s people go (Exo 10:13). God said that if He ever sent locusts to devour the land of His people, if His people would humble themselves and pray and seek His face and turn from their wicked ways, then He would forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chron 7:13-14). Figuratively God called the armies of Israel’s enemies locusts (for example, see Jer 51:4). What we see here in Revelation are not literal locusts, but locusts used figuratively to describe demonic armies.

The locusts come out of this smoke; they are not a part of it. Some commentators believe that the locusts materialize out of the smoke. It is possible to arrive at this idiomatically, but one must strain to do so. The Greek is “kai ek tou kapnou exelthon akrides“, which is literally, “and out of the smoke came forth locusts.” Surely one could say that ‘came forth’ could connote ‘brought forth’ or ‘became,’ but that is not normally what this statement would be taken to mean by most people—it is not what the plain reading of the passage would mean to most. Thus, the smoke and the locusts are two different phenomena.

The locusts here are prefigured in the prophecy in Joel. He used locusts to describe invading armies. Let us learn about the locusts there. Joel divided the locusts into three groups: the gnawing locust (some translations: the palmerworm), the swarming locust, the creeping locust (some translations: the cankerworm) and the stripping locust (some translations: the caterpillar). We will stay with the chewing, swarming, crawling and consuming locusts.

Israel was invaded four times. The Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Macedonians, and the Romans all invaded and destroyed Israel and Judah over the centuries.

Babylon invaded Judah four times, each successively worse until finally they completely stripped Judah and Jerusalem bare of her religious implements, her buildings and walls and finally her inhabitants.

Before the Babylonians, the Assyrians did the same thing to the northern tribes. After that the Macedonians led by Antiochus IV Epiphanes did much the same thing to Israel. And eventually the Romans came and did much the same thing in 70 AD. This time the Israelites did not return to their land until 1948 AD.

In chapter two, Joel tells us this will reoccur in the Day of the Lord. Joel begins by stating that the Day of the LORD is coming; it is a day of darkness, gloom, cloudiness, and illustrates a day of great doom. There has never been anything like it and history nor will there ever be again. In other words these same things (the locusts of Joel chapter 1, and the armies of Joel chapter 2) will be recapitulated in the end times:

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. (Joe 2:1-2)

Many commentators of the past considered the fifth and sixth trumpets of Revelation chapter nine to be the rise of Islam. For example, all these men of the past saw the rise of Islam in this chapter: Albert Barnes, Adam Clarke, John Foxe, John Gill, Matthew Henry, John Wesley, Robert J. Wieland, and others. Albert Barnes wrote, “With surprising unanimity, commentators have agreed in regarding this as referring to the empire of the Saracens, or to the rise and progress of the religion and the empire set up by Muhammed.“[⁵]

Many contemporary commentators, such as Joel Richardson and Walid Shoebat see the current rise of Islam in these scriptures, as well. I agree that Islam plays a major role in end-times events. For a discussion on this, there are many books available that delve into the subject of Islam and eschatology.

Throughout their history, we have seen Islamists accomplish conquest much the same way as the locusts. They begin with gnawing or slowly working their way into the countries this wish to conquer. Later they begin to immigrate into them, or swarm. They then begin creeping into their institutions and politics, and finally they completely overtake those countries by stripping away their culture and instituting Islam.

We see this happening today in western countries like Germany, France, England, Italy, etc., and even the USA. It is happening before our very eyes at this very moment in the early Twenty-first Century. Yet, many do not see it, especially the pundit class. However, some on the political Left actually welcome it. Those who embrace Shariah law may live to regret it.

The Old Testament compares large armies on the move to locusts in several passages (Judges 6:5, 7:12, and Jer 46:23 where the KJV has grasshoppers, which are locusts in the Hebrew; Isa 33:4; Joel 2:25; Nah 3:15-17). Thus, John may have had those passages in mind when he tried to describe the hordes he saw ascending from the abyss. Looking at the current rise of Islamic terror in the Middle East, we see the rise of an army sporting many thousands of troops. They could easily be compared to swarming locusts.

Roman Emperor Domitian (Titus Flavius Domitianus), who persecuted the church, called himself Apollo. Apollo was a mythical Greek god, the son of Zeus the king of gods. He was renowned for his beauty and considered by Homer to be the god of prophecy. He was also a great warrior god, having defeated the serpent Python. Additionally, Apollo was a gifted musician as well as an accomplished archer and a world class athlete, supposedly the first winner of the Olympic Games. The art world loved him and there is a large quantity of art depicting him. Apollo was considered a well-rounded individual, with many excellent attributes. It would be natural for an egotistical emperor to identify himself with the mythical god Apollo. Domitian was such a man.

A sign of Apollo was the locust[⁶]. This also helps us to understand what John is speaking of here. Domitian, like Nero before him, and Diocletian after him, persecuted the church. Since John was exiled to Patmos by Domitian, the locust army possibly depicts the army and praetorian guards of Domitian as they persecuted the church. That was a perfect picture of later persecutions, and a superb example of the coming tribulation in the Great and Terrible Day of the LORD (Joel 2:31).

How are these demonic armies of locusts like the scorpions on earth? There are hundreds of species of scorpions on earth[⁷]. They all have the power to sting and it is very painful sting. Out of all the species, there are only about 25 species identified that have stings occasionally kill humans
. Scorpion stings are very painful, and seldom require medical treatment, but most are not lethal. Only very small number are fatal and those are found in only a few locations worldwide. Like the locust armies in our study, they have exceedingly painful stings that torment but will not kill.

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.”

Remember that when the first angel sounded his trump (Rev 8:7), a third of the trees and all of the grass were burned up. Here the locusts are commanded not to hurt these things. Why? True locusts consume green plant tissue. These are not real locusts because they are told not to hurt green things. They are demonic.

We will be given a description in later verses. These locusts are a woe upon the enemies of God: those men who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads, whom the locusts will hurt. Who were those sealed? Rev 7:3 tells that they were “the servants of our God.” There were 144,000 of those servants of God who were sealed. As we saw in Rev 7:3, the 144,000 represent the total number of God’s children alive at that time. Therefore, those that were not sealed were not the servants of God.

An interesting note: when Muslims go to war, they are told to try to preserve agriculture for their own use. So the admonition not to hurt the flora in their battlefields is an appropriate illustration to describe Islamic invaders. The destruction of agriculture is considered by the Quran to be corruption and the Quran further states that Allah does not like corruption. Surat Al-Baqarah (The Cow) 2:205 states, when
the opponent of Allah that wishes to have worldly goods
“goes away, he strives throughout the land to cause corruption therein and destroy crops and animals. And Allah does not like corruption.” Thus verse Rev 9:4, may apply to Islam as well.

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 striketh a man.”

Many commentaries that say that the natural period of the life span of the locust is about five months, from May through September. That is why, according to their comments, this woe is limited to five months. After a thorough search, there is insufficient proof that five months is the life span of an adult locust. That is incorrect and may have originally been based on a guess that was used in a commentary somewhere and other commentators picked up on it. According to the Field Guide to Common Western Grasshoppers, the average lifespan of a swarming migratory grasshoppers (locusts) is about 50 days.

Five is considered by many to be the number of grace. Why would God show his grace to unrepentant sinners that refuse to repent (Rev 9:21)? There is an easy answer to that. God was gracious to each one of us when we were yet unrepentant sinners (Rom 5:8). Christ died for all sinners, including the ones discussed in this chapter. God will allow people to be tormented five months but not killed to give them the opportunity to repent and believe in Christ as Savior. This is God’s ultimate reason for His Grace: He is “longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” ( 2 Pet 3:9).

Some suggest that the symbolic meaning of five months is that the 150 days in the five months are the equivalent of years based on the writing of the Apostle Peter. 2Pe 3:8 “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Peter based his statement on what Moses prayed in Psa 90:4 “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.”
Thus the length of time that the locust army operated was 150 years. This is the opinion of several commentators but not settled doctrine.

It is of interest to note that the conquering phase of the Ottoman Empire lasted about 150 years before the Ottomans turned their interests from conquest to the arts and sciences. During those 150 years, Muslim raiders were in a constant state of war against non-Muslims. They stung the West but did not conquer it or destroy Christianity. It is also curious to note that Islamic conquerors are currently on the rise.

The five-month locust life cycle theory is on shaky ground at best. It is the opinion of people and is placed here for reference. However, let us not use the opinions of men to impart the actual truth of Scripture to us; let us therefore use Scripture to interpret Scripture.

Where else do we find five months in the scriptures? Remember that the Hebrews numbered their months as 30 lunar days each. They had to add extra months into the calendar occasionally to make up for the 5.25 days lost per solar year, so the seasons would align with the months. Thus, in Biblical terms, five months is equal to 150 days.

The flood of Noah lasted 150 days before the fountains of the deep and the rains stopped and the waters began to subside (Gen 7:24). A horse that pulled an exported Egyptian chariot cost 150 shekels of silver (1Kin 10:29; 2 Chr 1:17). At the date of this writing, 150 shekels or about 60 ounces of silver is worth a little over $1100. The weight of silver measured in shekels has nothing to do with the modern Israeli coin, which is worth about 30 cents US. The ancient shekel was a measure of weight; the New Israeli Shekel is simply a coin and not a measurement of weight.

The sons and grandsons of Ulam (King Saul’s family), were archers and mighty men of valor, their number was 150 (1 Chr 8:40). This was the full or total number of mighty men.

Of those who returned to Israel with Ezra, the sons of Shecaniah were 150 (Ezr 8:3). The fulness of the number of sons of Shecaniah was 150.

Nehemiah regularly fed 150 Jewish officials at his table (Neh 5:17). The full amount of Jewish officials required to support Nehemiah was 150.

Psalm 150 completes the Book of Psalms.

Taking these items into consideration, we find that the number 150 is about fullness, adequacy and completion. It the fullness of time, God ended the flood. The number of men required to help Nehemiah build the wall was adequate. The price of a well-bred horse was adequate. The five months of torment by the demonic locusts ended when the fulness of time was reached, etc. Thus God’s grace prevailed; they were only tormented and not killed, giving them another opportunity to repent.

A scorpion sting is usually quite painful. It can be life threatening but is not usually so. It is usually just painful. This sting, however, seems to be much more painful than a normal scorpion’s sting as we will see in the next verse.

Go on the Revelation Chapter Nine Part II

Mark Oaks 10/5/2019. Updated 1/7/2023

Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? He is going to return to the world soon. Are you ready? When He does if you do not know Him as your Savior, you will join all those who do not know Him in “Outer Darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Mat 22:13-14).

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