REVELATION 9

Romans 2:9-11 (NIV) says:

9 "There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but glory, honor and peace for everyone
who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism."

Perhaps nowhere is man's trouble and distress as plainly apparent than in the book of Revelation. In this chapter we read about the fifth and sixth trumpets blown by angels, trumpets which bring some of God's final warnings to mankind prior to his ultimate judgment.

Revelation 9:1 (NIV) says:

1 "The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss."

Since angels were symbolically referred to as stars in Revelation 1, we can probably interpret this as a fallen angel, probably Satan himself, as in Luke 10:18-20 (NIV) which says:

18He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power
of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

In this chapter those who do not have the seal of God upon their foreheads are not able to overcome the power of the enemy, rather they are subjected to it and to the power of demons as never before. I believe the chapter's discussion of locusts actually refers to demons, who are compared to locusts because of their multitude and because they destroy everything in their path. The conclusion that they are demons is based on their point of origin, since they come out of the bottomless abyss we call hell, and also because real locusts would require plants and vegetation for food. These locusts are given a different mission, to torment mankind for five months. While we do not know the exact nature of the torment, whether it is physical, psychological or both, Revelation 9:6 (NIV) gives us a clue to its severity:

9:6 "During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them."

I am uncertain how to interpret verses 7-10 which liken these locusts to horses going into battle and describe their crowns, faces, hair, teeth, breastplates, wings and tails. It is hard not to read this passage as symbolic, and one wonders why these details would be necessary in a symbolic description of demons, but it is clear that they have power over men and that Satan himself is their king.

Though demons are evil, we can understanding God's purpose for them by realizing that at this point in time, they are given limited power to torment mankind for a specified period of time. We are told at the end of this chapter that men will not repent because of this plague, but it seems certain that repentance is still God's wish here. Those who do not repent are destined to spend eternity in hell, a hell they will share with these same demons, who may then have both eternity and more power to torment men. It seems God is giving them this hellish preview, a preview which would undoubtably shock softer hearts into repentance.

As for the sixth trumpet, I am not sure precisely how to interpret the descriptions in verses 17-19 of the horses' breastplates, heads, mouths and tails. However, it is interesting to note that these would seem to be iron horses, the sort of horses envisioned by scripture, but never seen by mankind until the 20th century. The sixth trumpet seems to describe a military battle with a two hundred million man army, perhaps the battle of Armageddon, but the scripture does not tell us what precise nations are involved, or what the military objectives of those nations are.

Perhaps the most significant passage in this chapter is found in verses 20-21 (NIV) which says:

20 "The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols
of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.
21Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality
or their thefts."

Since verse 20 says men would not stop worshiping demons, that may explain why the plague of locusts (the fifth trumpet judgment) was necessary. If it seems far-fetched that modern men would worship idols of gold, silver, bronze, wood and stone, consider that I just listened to a couple of minutes of a radio program earlier this week which was broadcast by a psychic who was telling people they should hold a certain kind of stone in their hand when they attempt to do psychic readings. The stone was supposed to give these budding psychics wisdom, which made me wonder if these people are actually dumber than the rocks themselves. Even they themselves seem to think so.

It may be purely coincidental, but when the scripture speaks of idols of gold, silver, bronze, wood and stone, it reminds me that the medals given to athletes during the winter and summer olympics are gold, silver and bronze.

As for murders, magic arts or sorcery, sexual immorality and thefts, there has been an exponential explosion of all of them since the 1960s. Some have also connected the Greek word for sorcery with recreational drug abuse, which is described by the same Greek word. Though the connection between drugs and some types of mystical experiences is not new, it is being introduced in modern times to groups of people for whom it is not a tradition.

The significance of this chapter is that repentance is not just an option, repentance and faith in Jesus Christ is a command, and the consequence of the obedience or disobedience of each of us will follow us throughout eternity.