Revelation
Chapter
9
{Verses
1-12: First of 3 Woes - 5th Trumpet Judgment}
{First
Demon Army Released from the Abyss to Torture Mankind}
1~~And
the fifth angel
sounded
{signal for 1st of 3 woe's - 5th Trumpet Judgment},
and
I {John} saw a star {Satan} from heaven
which
had fallen to the earth; and
to
him {Satan} was given
the
key to the shaft of the abyss.
{Note: RBT says this is the beginning of the first woe - mentioned as being over in verse 12. This is one of three falls of Satan. He will now be able to vent his anger in the form of real violence on mankind. See Ezekiel 28 for more on the fall of Satan.}
{Note: These demons are visible to man though they are very unusual looking. RBT says it is probably that the mythical characters like Hercules were based on these angels.}
2~~
Then he {Satan} unlocked the entrance
of
the shaft of the abyss,
with
the result that the smoke
'ascended
from'/'went up and out of' that shaft
like
the thick smoke of a giant furnace;
both
the sun {radiation and light from the sun}
and
the atmosphere became dark
because
of the smoke from the shaft of the abyss.
{Note: In Peter we learn that the fallen angels are held in the abyss with 'chains of darkness'. Here we learn that one cause of the darkness is from thick dark smoke that is released as these fallen angels are released. The smoke is then used as a 'smoke screen' to cover the advance of the attacking army.}
{Description
of the Weapons of the Demon Army}
3~~And
from that smoke {behind the barrage}
locusts
{the first demon assault army}
'went
out against'/invaded the earth:
and
power/authority was given to them,
like
the scorpions have power/authority
on
the earth.
{Note: Nahum 3:15-16 locusts are used as an analogy of an attacking army. The locusts generally operate in a coordinated fashion that demolish large sections of land when they attack. However, they usually do not have a 'general' in charge. These 'locusts' will have a general mentioned in verse 11.}
{Verses
4-5: Divine Restrictions on the Demon Invasion}
4~~And,
they {locusts/invading soldiers}
were
told/instructed/commanded
that
they should not injure the grass of the earth,
nor
any green thing, nor any tree . . .
{means
1st Trumpet Judgment-NOT to be repeated- Revelation 8:7}. except
{the exception to the hold back order}
the
men who do not have the seal of God
in
their foreheads {See Revelation 7:3}.
{Note: They can attack any human being except the 144,000 with the seal of God in their foreheads.}
5~~Also
they {the first demon assault army}
were
not be permitted
to
kill them {mankind} . . .
but
to torture them for five months.
And
their torture was like the torture of a scorpion
when
it strikes a man.
6~~Consequently,
men
in
those days {the last half of the Tribulation}
will
seek death {attempted suicide},
but
they will not find/discover it {death}.
They
will have an intense desire to die,
but
death will elude them.
7~~Now
the appearance {visible demons}
of
the locust demons
were
like cavalry horses
which
had been prepared for warfare; and
on
their heads , as it were,
crowns
like gold {a batch designating first demon army member},
and
their faces like the faces of men.
8~~Furthermore,
they had hair like the hair of women,
and
their teeth were like the teeth of lions.
9~~Also
they have breastplates like breastplates of iron;
and
the sound of their wings {of the locusts}
was
like the noise/thundering of chariots
plus
many {cavalry} horses charging into battle.
10~~Also
they had tails plus stings like scorpions, and
in
their tails was their power to torment, to hurt, to injure
those
men for five months.
11~~They
have a king {commanding general} over them,
the
angel of the abyss.
His
name in the Hebrew is Abaddon {name means destruction} . . .
while
his name in the Greek
is
called Apollyon {name means exterminator}.
12~~The
first woe is past {1st demon army attack}.
And,
behold, there come two woes more hereafter
{6th
and 7th Trumpet Judgment still to come}.
{Verses
13-21: - Sixth Trumpet Judgment}
{Second
Demon Army Released to Kill}
13~~Then
the sixth angel {pursuivant messenger}
sounded
his trumpet {gave the signal for 6th judgment},
and
I heard one voice {the angelic officer}
from
the {four} horns of the golden altar . . .
that
is before God.
{Note: This second demon army group is headed by 4 Generals who will be released from under the Euphrates River (coming up).}
{Note: See Revelation 8:3 where the golden altar is also mentioned.}
{6th
Trumpet Judgment}
14~~And
he {the pursuivant officer of Cherub rank}
gave
the order to the sixth angel {the pursuivant messenger}
who
had the sixth trumpet,
"Release
the four angels {the demon army commanders}
who
have been incarcerated
at
the great Euphrates river.
15~~Then
the four angels
{demon
commanding generals of the second attack forces}
who
had been kept in a state of readiness for this hour,
and
day, and month, and year, were released
in
order that they might kill one third of mankind.
16~~In
fact, the number of the armies {4 armies in the army group}
of
cavalry is two hundred million.
I
heard their number {John did not see every one of the troops - he
was told the number}.
{Note: Literally from the Greek it says 'twenty thousand times ten thousand.' That is 200,000,000. Cavalry of the day represented mobility, firepower and shock. So this would be equivalent to armored forces today. If the shock troops were divided equally, then each general commanded 50 million troops.}
{2nd
Demon Army Group did not have patch - instead they had Three Colors
on the Breastplate}
17~~And
so I {John} saw in the vision
the
horses and their {demon} riders {a literal army group};
each
{rider} having breastplates
the
color of fire {bright red - today represents artillery},
hyacinth
{blue - today represents infantry}, and
sulfurous
{yellow - armored forces/cavalry}.
And
the heads of the horses
resembled
the heads of lions;
and
fire {today - flame throwers and napalm}
plus
smoke {today - chemical warfare}
and
sulfur {today - gunpowder}
came
out of their mouths.
{Note: The 'resembled' here means an analogy follows. This has the feeling that the horses had great power. A lion is an animal with great and strong jaws - he attacks, attacks, attacks.}
{Weaponry
of the 2nd Assault Army Group}
18~~By
these three {weapon systems},
one-third
of mankind were killed -
from/'by
means of'
these
three plagues/'killer agents'/'weapons systems' -
by
the fire {napalm}, and
by
the smoke {chemical warfare}, and
by
the sulfur {weapons using gunpowder} . . .
which
had come out of their mouths.
{Weapon
Systems have the Ability to Shoot to the Rear Also}
19~~For
the power of the horses
keeps
on being in their mouths and
their
tails;
for
their tails were like snakes,
having
heads, and
with
them they cause pain {painful death}.
{Note: Again this is an analogy to convey information. So their tails were like the head of a poisonous snake. They can cause damage to the rear area also. Poisonous snakes can kill you of course. But the point here is they cause PAINFUL death. That is the point here.}
20~~And
the rest of mankind
who
were not killed by these plagues {the weapon systems},
they
did not even change their minds about . . .
the
works of their hands,
so
that they did not stop worshipping demons . . .
and
the idols of gold,
and
of silver,
and
of bronze,
and
of stone,
and
of wood.
Idols
. . . which are not able
to
see, or hear, or walk.
{Note: RBT says the 'works of their hands' refers to the manufacture of idols, the modus operandi of the phallic cult, and the function of human sacrifice - see next verse.}
21~~Furthermore,
they did not change their minds
about
their murders {human sacrifice and homicide},
nor
about their sorceries {the occult activities},
nor
about their fornication {sexual activity of the phallic cult},
nor
about their thefts {demon-inspired criminality}.
|
|
|
|
