Verses 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. 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.
The star falling is not a literal star, but a power such as an angel. The reference to a bottomless pit only occurs seven times in Scripture, all in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It is generally thought to be the abode of demons. Since the smoke is metaphor and it comes from a pit where demons dwell and darkens the sun and fills the air, what do you, the reader, think these verses are referring to. Most likely it is a reference to the releasing of devils/demons during these last times to wreak havoc upon the Earth. Ephesians 2:2 states, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:” Jesus states that He saw Satan fall like lightning to the Earth. Satan is the prince of the power of the air. It makes sense that Satan and his fallen angels who are all spirits would be occupying the air. They are spiritually dark and the picture here is that their darkness is blocking out the light of the sun or righteousness.
Application: This writer has experienced two different events in which the air and the colors of the environment have been darkened and look smoky. When evil spirits abound in a place, the Christian believer can see their presence by the reduction of light and the greying of the surrounding area.
Verses 3-4 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. 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.
The Greek word translated as “locusts” is “akris” and it only appears in the New Testament four times: Matthew 3:4, Mark 1:6, Revelation 9:3 and 9:7. It means locust which is a large grasshopper that infests oriental countries, usually swarming in vast numbers in the spring and dying off in about five months by falling into bodies of water or into the sea. The Hebrew people were allowed to eat them either raw or cooked. When they swarm, they strip the grasses and trees in the fields and can devastate the agricultural economy of the countries they invade. Going back to the book of Exodus, God sent locusts into Egypt as one of the ten plagues of judgement. See chapter 10 of Exodus. The locust in the verses above are metaphor or symbolic. How is this known? Because the entire book of Revelation is metaphor or word pictures. Also, these locusts can sting like scorpions. Real locusts cannot sting. Furthermore, locusts are designed to devour grass, green things and trees. The locusts above are only allowed to attack men who are not followers of the LORD. These locusts represent judgement that is unleashed upon unbelieving mankind.
Application: Just as the Hebrew people in Egypt were protected by God from all the plagues sent to punish Egypt for their disobedience, the Christian believer can be assured that he/she will be protected from any judgement that comes upon the disobedient, unrepentant non-believers. The men referred to in the verses above did not have “the seal of God in their foreheads” and were not God’s people.
Verses 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. 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.
Although five months is the approximate length of time locusts in the physical Earth swarm, the number here represents death. Five is the number of death in the Bible. The judgement that comes upon the unrighteous people of the Earth will be severe and yet not kill them. People who have been stung by a scorpion report that the event is very painful and that their whole body feels like it is on fire.
Verses 7-11 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. 8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. 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. 10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 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.
These verses provide further proof that the locusts are not literal. Locusts are grasshoppers and not shaped like horses. Now this writer is not a historian, but Christian believers who are history enthusiasts report that they believe this section of the book of Revelation was predicting the rise of the Turkish empire and their conquering of much of the known world starting in the 13th century and extending into the 20th century. Also called the Ottoman Empire, it controlled much of North Africa, Asia and Southeast Europe. The capital was Constantinople, now called Istanbul. Their armies rode on horseback and they swarmed (like locusts) into a region and conquered it. They wore a hat (fez) that was cream/yellow colored until they dipped it as a triumphant gesture into the blood of their victims, usually Christians, which stained the fez red. Today members of the Shriner organization wear red fezzes and apparently are unaware of the sordid origin of this particular headdress. They had long hair, and they were ruthless. They wore long robes that flapped in the wind as they rode, producing a sound like wings, and they had crescent shaped swords that stuck out behind them when on horseback and with which they killed everyone that got in their way (like stinging scorpions). So the verses above do describe the armies and actions of the Turks of yesterday. Since this writer has not researched any of this, you, the reader, need to do the research and decide if the verses above are indeed the Apostle John writing about this period of time and this kingdom that was established and is historically verifiable.
The name “Abaddon / Apollyon” means Destroyer, and this being is identified as the angel of the bottomless pit. Going back again to Exodus 12:23, Moses wrote, “For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.”
Application: Often a person will question as to how God could inflict something negative upon a person, upon a community or upon a nation. God gets blamed over and over again for the sad things that occur. The verses above help demonstrate the fact that God is a loving God and He does not afflict people, communities or nations. It is not His nature. It is the devils and man himself that creates the problems and heartbreaking events in life. What God does do is remove HIs protection from people, communities or nations so that the demonic/devil world can afflict them. It is God that “will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite . . .”. It is man that invents instruments of war and death and who uses them. It is man who manipulates the weather to create flooding or drought. It is man who passes laws that prevent freedom. It is man who plays with genetics and manufactures bio-weapons. Get the picture? So God uses demonic spirits to bring judgement upon sinful, unrepentant mankind with the goal that, through the tribulation these evil spirits bring, some of the lost souls will repent and follow Jesus and be saved from sin, death and Hell.
Verse 12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
It has been stated before in this study that God does things in sets of three, the number of perfection.
Verses 13-15 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 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.
In Scripture, the Euphrates River was the separator between East and West. The number six is the number of man. All of human history is tied to the events that occurred and are occurring in the land or nations around the Euphrates River and the Mediterranean Sea. This is because God established the Hebrew nation of Israel in this region for the purpose of providing righteous government and examples to the pagan nations around it. Since Israel was taken over by the Romans and the people scattered throughout the world, the Devil has been working this region for his own purposes. Think about what has been happening in this middle Eastern region for the last 100 years and how many lives have been lost to the endless wars and political intrigues that have occurred. What is going on in this region today?
Verses 16-19 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 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. 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. 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.
An army is a military presence. An army’s purpose is to kill people and break things. They may be defending their homeland, but the results are the same. Horsemen were the military vehicles used during the Apostle John’s day. Once again John hears a number, the two representing division, and the thousand representing a large number.
A breastplate went from the neck to the naval and it was for protection of the vital organs of a soldier. The Greek word translated as “fire” is “purinos” and it means fire, fiery, or shining like fire. Jacinth is a dark red color. Brimstone is a name for sulfur. These names are representative of Hell.
Lions represent power and predators. The mouth is what is used to verbalize or communicate. Serpents are representative of deception or deceiving. Remember the serpent who deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden. In these latter days, Communism, represented by the color red, and the massive attempt to establish a one world government has risen up along with the dynasty of the Rothschild’s whose name means “red shield”. Could these verses be pointing to this system that has been running the affairs of the Earth for hundreds of years?
And how have these evil people and dynasties controlled all of mankind? Through propaganda and mind control. Through video games and Hollywood movies and television shows. Through the news media outlets that have now been proven to be fake. And what have these communication and entertainment networks succeeded in doing? Dividing the races of people and creating hatred that really does not exist. Dividing the nations so that there can be war in which people are removed from power, boundaries are changed, land is grabbed and resources are confiscated. Providing “misinformation” to the masses so that they cannot see truth when it is revealed. Creating panic and fear by reporting events in a deceptive and untruthful manner. Covering up the evil behavior of the rich, the famous, and the politicians. Lying to the people of every nation, plain and simple. Think about it.
The situation today in this world is extremely dangerous and sad. Through continued, un-relentless propaganda, millions of innocent people have accepted the lie that there is a dangerous killer called Covid-19 out there ready to take their lives. The courts in Alberta Canada have proved that no such critter exists. It has never been isolated in the natural world, and therefore cannot exist. But through the lies of the communication networks, people have willingly lined up to take a jab in their arm that really does have the potential to kill them. It is quite possible that this experimental nano programmable HIV and mad cow along with aborted baby cells jab will destroy a third of the world’s population. Time will tell. The name of Covid-19 was not accidental or scientific . It really means Certification Of Vaccination ID or identification, the number 19 representing the first and ninth letter of the English alphabet, rendering it AI for artificial intelligence. Don’t believe this writer. Do the research for yourself.
Verses 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, nor hear, nor walk: 21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. (Revelation 9)
Monies of all kinds and of all counties have, in the past, been made out of wood, stone, brass, silver and gold. Money is an idol or something to be worshipped and coveted by most people. So the reference to these idols may be talking about money and the financial systems of the world. Central banks have controlled everyone for hundreds of years. Interest rates have taken money from the masses. Printing money and causing inflation and deflation has also taken money from the masses. Financial institutions like stock exchanges are nothing more than legalized gambling and the masses have lost their money over and over again. There are people who cannot have enough money and it is their idol. Devils are behind these financial endeavors, many of which have murdered those who lose their money, if not physically, emotionally and spiritually. Remember the pictures of people jumping out of office building windows and committing suicide during the 1929 crash, a situation that lasted four long years. In today’s world, witchcraft is promoted and accepted, sex outside of the marriage institution is rampant along with pedophilia and the sex slave business. And the people behind these sins do not appear to be repenting any time soon.