Revelation 9:13-14

Then 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 who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”

·         When nations are ripe for punishment, those instruments of God’s anger that were before restrained are let loose upon them (MH)

·         They are angels especially “prepared” for a specific work of judgment in the end-times. (CS)

Revelation 9:12

One woe is past.  Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.

·         The worst is yet to come (DG)

Revelation 9:11

And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.

·         Satan has a hierarchy, which includes a demonic king over the locusts from the bottomless pit named “Abaddon” (Hebrew) or “Apollyon” (Greek), which means destroyer (English), thus describing his purpose.

·         This king is not Satan, who rules from the heavenly places and not the bottomless pit (Eph. 6:12). He is the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). Beelzebub is the ruler of the demons (Mt. 12:24). Satan will be thrown into the bottomless pit after Jesus’ coming (Rev. 20:1-3).

Revelation 9:10

They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails.  Their power was to hurt men five months.

·         Tails: Power of the sting in their tails (Rev. 9:3, 5, 10)  (CS)

·         They have a set time also.

Revelation 9:9

And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle.

·         Breastplates: Iron speaks of durability in battle (like the other demons in Rev. 9:17).

·         Wings: Sound of chariots running into battle will cause terror.  (CS)

Revelation 9:8

 

They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.

·         Hair: Like women's hair emphasizes their human appearance.

·         Teeth: Locusts have teeth, but not strong ones like a lion with the ability to tear apart their prey.  (CS)

Revelation 9:7

The shape of the locusts was like the horses prepared for battle.  On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.

·         Heads: Crowns with something like gold points to their supremacy (Rev. 14:14).

·         Faces: Human faces emphasize that these demons have human abilities like intelligence and emotion.  If these demons were men then they would not be likened to men.  (CS)

Revelation 9:6

In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

·         Unfortunately, this “sting” does not bring the desired repentance, but instead men desire death. (CS)

·         The anguish of a scorpion sting drives men to great despair and even panic, so that men seek suicide instead of God, but are unable to do it. In an unspecified way, God doesn’t allow them to kill themselves.

Revelation 9:5

And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months.  Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.

·         The hurt they were to do them was not a bodily, but a spiritual hurt (MH)

·         Their purpose and period is expressly governed by God, and the purpose of all this to bring repentance (Revelation 9:20-21). (DG)

Revelation 9:4

They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

·         The characteristics of these locusts make it clear that they are not natural locusts. They have a king whereas natural locusts do not have a king (Rev. 9:11; Prov. 30:27). These have the ability to distinguish between unbelievers who they hurt and believers who they do not hurt. Also, natural locusts do not come up from the depths of the earth and do not sting with their tails.  (CS)

·         The specific time must be taken literally since there is no contextual (biblical) reason to make this figurative or symbolic.  (CS)

Revelation 9:3

Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth.  And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

·         These locusts had, by the just permission of God, power to hurt (MH)

·         God lifts His restraints off the demonic realm, so their wickedness is manifest. (CS)

Revelation 9:2

And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace.  So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.

·         The devil carries on his designs by extinguishing light and knowledge (MH)

·         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.” (Walvoord)

Revelation 9:1

Then the fifth angel sounded:  and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth.  To him was given the key to the bottomless pit.

·         The text clearly shows us that this star is a person (to him), not a literal star. The verb tense (fallen) indicates that he already had fallen. (DG)

·         This key becomes the devil’s turnkey, to let loose the powers of hell against the churches of Christ (MH)

Revelation 8:13

And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

·         Here are three woes, to show how much the calamities coming should exceed those that had been already (MH)

·         If less judgments do not take effect, but the church and the world grow worse under them, they must expect greater. (MH)

Revelation 8:12

Then the fourth angel sounded:  and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened.  A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.

·         This supernatural work of God will affect heat, health, agriculture, navigation, etc.

·         This parallels the fifth bowl judgment which will cause darkness to fall on the Antichrist’s empire (Rev. 16:10-11) and the ninth plague of darkness on Pharaoh’s kingdom for three days (Ex. 10:21-23).

Revelation 8:11

The name of the star is Wormwood.  A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

·         Wormwood is a very bitter substance, and proverbial for bitterness and sadness.

·         The proportion of ecological disaster stays the same. In each one of the trumpets, a third of an ecological system is destroyed in judgment.

Revelation 8:10

Then the third angel sounded:  and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

·         A great burning star will fall from heaven. This meteoric mass will poison the fresh water (rivers and springs) causing the inland fresh water supply to be contaminated.

·         This parallels the third bowl, which will poison the fresh water by turning it to blood (Rev. 16:4-7), and the first plague, which destroyed the water supply in the lakes and springs when the Nile turned to blood.

Revelation 8:9

And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

·         The souls of men found their ruin where they sought for their refreshment (MH)

·         God may use whatever method He desires to bring judgment, but people on earth know these events are from God, and do not think them to be merely natural disasters (Revelation 16:9; 16:11; 19:19). (DG)

Revelation 8:8

Then the second angel sounded:  and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood.

·         Something like a great mountain: John carefully says that this is not an actual mountain (note the use of like), but it is a blazing mass as large as a mountain. (DG)

·         The sea may be a specific reference to the Mediterranean and not a reference to all oceans. For a person in the world John lived in, the Mediterranean Sea was the sea, and they really had little knowledge of other oceans. (DG)

Revelation 8:7

The first angel sounded:  and hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth.  And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

·       The first four trumpets are “supernatural acts of God through nature” sent to destroy the Antichrist’s resources and his followers, while displaying Jesus’ power as superior to his. God’s judgments against the wicked in the “trumpets” affect various areas of the environment (trees, grass, sea, rivers, sky), food supply (vegetation, meat), sea trade (fish), water supply and energy (light and heat from sun, moon and stars). They are not merely “natural acts” portrayed in symbolic language, but are the supernatural power of God using and moving through God’s natural creation, affecting it in a supernatural way that has never been seen before in human history at this magnitude.  (CS)

·         The most severe calamities have their bounds and limits set them by the great God (MH)

Revelation 8:6

So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

·         Sound is associated with the seal judgments. The first four are released by a voice like thunder.  The fifth seal describes the intercessory cry from beneath the altar. In the sixth seal, the kings cry out. Here, the terrifying silence of the seventh seal is in great contrast with the other six seals.

·         We waited for the seven seals to be opened, and saw them loosed one by one. But when the seventh seal was finally loosed, the end did not immediately come. It set in motion seven trumpets that would sound upon the earth. (DG)

Revelation 8:5

Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar.  He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

·         It took the priest about a half hour to offer the incense

·         The prayers of the saints themselves stand in need of the incense and intercession of Christ to make them acceptable and effectual (MH)

Revelation 8:4

And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.

·         Prayer and incense are often associated in the Bible.  (DG)

·         The idea is that just as incense is precious, pleasant, and drifts to heaven, so do our prayers.  (DG)

Revelation 8:3

Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar.  He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

·         It took the priest about a half hour to offer the incense

·         The prayers of the saints themselves stand in need of the incense and intercession of Christ to make them acceptable and effectual (MH)

Revelation 8:2

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

·         And to them were given seven trumpets: In the Old Testament, trumpets sounded the alarm for war, and threw the enemy into a panic, or they called an assembly of God’s people.  (DG)

·         These seven trumpets will sound as God’s battle-alarm during the great tribulation. (DG)

Revelation 8:1

When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

·         Silence in heaven: when the seven angels are given trumpets, there will be silence in heaven.  There will be a dreadful yet glorious silence in heaven coming from the awful anticipation of the release of God’s judgments due to seeing the seven angels. The certainty of the impending judgment causes all to be speechless. There is no adequate response for what will come.

·         As silence fills heaven, so it will cover the earth as Jesus begins to release His final judgments.

Revelation 7:16-17

“They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

·         All their wants are supplied (MH)

·         In this He deals with them as a tender father who finds his beloved child in tears, he comforts him, he wipes his eyes, and turns his sorrow into rejoicing.  (MH)

Revelation 7:15

“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple.  And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.

·         They are happy in their employment, for they serve God continually (MH)

·         They are happy in their freedom from the inconveniences of this present life (MH)

Revelation 7:14

And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”  So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

·         The way to heaven lies through many tribulations; but tribulation shall not separate us from the love of God. (MH)

·         Blood of the Lamb – the only blood that makes the robes of the saints white and clean (MH)

Revelation 7:13

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”

·         A question asked by one of the elders, not for his own information, but for John’s instruction.  (MH)

·         The lowest saint in heaven knows more than the greatest apostle in the world. (MH)

Revelation 7:11-12

All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”
 

·         Here is the song of the angels, creatures and elders as they fell on their faces and worshiped (MH)

·         We see what is the work of heaven, and we ought to get our hearts tuned for it, and to long for that world where our praises, as well as happiness, will be perfected (MH)