A Study Of The Book Of Revelation
Lesson No. 12: Chapter 9
Date: October 8th and 15th, 2003,
Wednesday Evening Adult Bible Class
Speaker: John Phillis
Note: Much
of the information for this Study of Revelation was taken from the
book “Revelation Through First Century Glasses” by W. B. West. Other sources: “The Living Word, Study
of Revelation, Parts I & II” by Dr. Frank
Pack; “Revelation” by Jim McGuiggan; “Commentary
on Revelation” by Homer Hailey; “Commentary on
Revelation” by Burton Coffman; “The Book of Revelation
– Spiritual Sword Lectureship, October 18 – 22,
1998”; “Commentary on Revelation” by Howard
Winters; “Revelation for Christians Today” by Lonnie
Woodruff; “Unlocking Revelation” by J. Stafford
North.
Objective in Studying this
Chapter:
1) To
review the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets
2) To
offer an explanation concerning the significance of these
visions
A Brief
Introduction
We are looking at what John sees, what occurs,
at the opening of the seventh seal, chapter 8.
He saw seven angels, who were given seven trumpets to
sound. Another angel makes an appearance, with a golden
censer and much incense is added to the censer. The
implication there, perhaps, had to do with the intercession
of Jesus, because those prayers of the saints came up
before God as a sweet-smelling savor. Then that censer is
cast down upon the earth.
After that is the sounding of the first four
trumpets. We noted that there is some parallelism;
there are some similarities between some of the things that we see,
with the sounding of these seven trumpets [the first four trumpets
sounded in chapter 8] and the plagues that God
brought upon Egypt in the long ago. The sounding of the first
trumpet affected the vegetation upon the earth. At the
sounding of the second trumpet, the seas were struck. At the
sounding of the third trumpet, the fresh waters of the earth were
struck. And at the sounding of the fourth trumpet, even the
heavenly bodies were affected.
We are reminded that these are not
physical things to look for, but rather, these are
symbols that we are seeing here in this great book. They are
symbols of God’s warning, God’s warning against evil,
God’s warning of things that—not specifically, not
these specific things that would come to pass—would come to
pass in due time, in God’s time.
That brings us to Revelation, chapter
9.
THE FIFTH TRUMPET: LOCUSTS FROM THE
BOTTOMLESS PIT (VERSES 1-12)
“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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 6 In those days men
will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and
death will flee from them.
7 The shape of the locusts was like horses
prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like
gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair
like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions'
teeth. 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. 10 They had tails like scorpions,
and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men
five months. 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.
12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes
are coming after these things.
You recall that at the end of chapter
8, John saw (depending on your translation) an angel or an
eagle, flying through the midst of heaven and saying with a loud
voice, “Woe, woe, woe”to the inhabitants of
the earth because of the remaining blasts of the trumpets from the
three angels, who were about to sound. The things that John
had seen, the symbolism before this, paled
in comparison to what he would see coming
next.
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