01.09. CHAPTER 9.
CHAPTER 9.
Revelation 9:1-2. “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 [pit of the abyss]. 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.”
See here the righteous, retributive judgment of God. Jesus has been raised up to heaven and seated at the right hand of God, where there are pleasures for evermore. He has opened up a new and living way into the holiest, and has sent down from heaven the Holy Ghost, bringing saving, sanctifying, spiritual truth, as connected with everlasting life. Man having rejected this, God will allow Satan, a fallen angel, to bring in from the infernal depths beneath a strong delusion, leading to eternal destruction and woe.
“I saw a star fall [or fallen] from heaven unto the earth.” This star appears to represent Satan as a fallen angel. (See Isaiah 14:12; Luke 10:18.) The Spirit of God, speaking of Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, says, “Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” Destructive error comes from beneath, from the place of endless woe; great and saving truths come down from above, from the place of eternal life and joy.
Revelation 9:2. When Satan has power given him to bring in strong delusion, what can the light of nature and of reason avail? (2 Corinthians 4:4.)
Revelation 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.”
“Out of the smoke”—that is, out of the delusion— “came forth locusts.” Locusts are remarkable for their ravages of all that is fruitful and fair; such are destructive heresies, “seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1; see also 2 Peter 2:1-2).
Revelation 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. But not acting on nature—only on man—hence not literal or natural locusts; and those are exempted who have the seal of God.
Revelation 9:5-6. “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. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.” Not complete spiritual death, not total hardness of heart; still a little feeling and consciousness of their spiritual condition, which they would gladly get rid of if they could, for the remains of conscience still torment them.
Revelation 9:7-8. “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. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.”
These delusions come with a power as irresistible as a charge of cavalry (as “horses prepared unto battle “); they are apparently of divine excellency (“crowns of gold “); having the appearance of reason and human intelligence (“faces of men”), combined with the attractiveness of gracefulness and beauty (“hair of women”); and taking firm hold on the mind as with the teeth of a lion.
Revelation 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.” Their arguments appear to be unanswerable, having “the sound” of irresistible power—a torrent of words carrying all before it.
Revelation 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 tails represent the after consequences, and the effect of the doctrines is the sting. What is said of strong drink (Proverbs 23:32) may also be said of this strong delusion: “At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” The five months suggest a limited period known to God.
Revelation 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 meaning of the name both in Hebrew and in Greek is “the destroyer,” and evidently applies to Satan.
Revelation 9:12-15. “One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, “Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.” 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.”
Four angels loosed having still greater power, for the four smallest portions of time—one year, one month, one day, one hour only— “to slay the third part.” Spiritual death commences in time; a strong delusion is sent, “that they should believe a lie: that they all might be condemned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12). All this comes in answer to prayer, as is symbolised by “a voice from the four horns of the golden altar.”
Revelation 9:16. “And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.” An immense number, but not unlimited.
Revelation 9:17-19. “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. 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. 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.”
“Horses,” “and them that sat on them:” this is Satan’s grand army. Contrast Revelation 19:14 : “And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” “Breastplates”—for defence of the vitals. “The heads”— the seat of intellect, strong and dignified. “Their mouths” symbolise their teaching and their doctrines. “Fire” is the emblem of strong spiritual influence; “smoke,” of strong delusion; “brimstone,” of that which increases the force of the fire and its torment.
Revelation 9:20-21. “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, por hear, nor walk: neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”
All will not be given over to this spiritual delusion and death, yet the remainder will not learn wisdom, nor repent. The strong delusion will be sent on those who have had the Gospel and rejected it, “because they had pleasure in unrighteousness,” and no love to the truth. Meanwhile the idolatrous portion of the world will continue in their impious ways.