Revelation 9: Aliens, Evil Spirits, Rahab, the Asteroid Belt, Nibiru

Rules of Scripture Interpretation

After exploring the dated theories of the commentaries above, you may be wondering what my interpretation of this passage is. First, let me make clear the rules of the interpretation of scripture that I use:

Our Almighty God is a God of patterns, pictures and parallels. Prophetic scripture should be examined in light of prophetic patterns, pictures and parallels found with the Bible itself.

When a passage is clearly symbolic, it should be interpreted as such. An example is Revelation 12, which uses such symbols as a dragon, a woman clothed with the sun, an eagle, the earth swallowing, and so on.

When a passage is clearly literal, it should be interpreted as such.

There is a law of first mention: to understand a word, topic or concept somewhere in the Bible, it is often beneficial to go to the first place in the Word where that word, topic or concept is found.

God communicates throughout scripture in bits and pieces, here a little and there a little. To get the full picture of a passage, it is necessary to study other parts of scripture that complement and help illuminate it:

Isa 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

Isa 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

Having established the rules of interpretation I use, below are several important points regarding Revelation 9:1-11 which will help explain what I believe these creatures unleashed on the earth during the tribulation will be.

The Setting Immediately Before the Fifth Trumpet

In Revelation chapter 8, the first four trumpets are blown and the devastating effects are unleashed on the earth and its inhabiters. It is extremely important to understand what people on the earth have just experienced, and what they are being set up for. In my view, the fifth trumpet is the most important event in the first half of the tribulation period, and is instrumental in the introduction of the mark of the beast. For a detailed discussion on this idea, click here to read my paper on the introduction of the mark of beast.

In the final verse of chapter 8, an eagle is seen flying in the airspace above earth. Let's look at how several versions translate this verse from the Greek:

King James Version	Rev 8:13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
1889 Darby Bible	Rev 8:13 And I saw, and I heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to them that dwell upon the earth, for the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound.
God's Word	Rev 8:13 I saw an eagle flying overhead, and I heard it say in a loud voice, "Catastrophe, catastrophe, catastrophe for those living on earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts which the three angels are about to blow."
Good News Bible	Rev 8:13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle that was flying high in the air say in a loud voice, "O horror! horror! How horrible it will be for all who live on earth when the sound comes from the trumpets that the other three angels must blow!"
International Standard Version	Rev 8:13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying overhead say in a loud voice, "How terrible, how terrible, how terrible for those living on the earth, because of the blasts of the remaining trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!"
Contemporary English Version	Rev 8:13 Then I looked and saw a lone eagle flying across the sky. It was shouting, "Trouble, trouble, trouble to everyone who lives on earth! The other three angels are now going to blow their trumpets."

Note the two parts of each verse highlighted above. First are the three woes, which several different versions interpret different. Why didn't the eagle just scream one "Woe", rather than three consecutive? Most commentators believe it is because there are three remaining trumpets to be blown, hence three woes. My view, which very few commentators point out, is that just as in Hebrew, three consecutive words denote the INTENSITY of what they are trying to describe or warn of. This is the case when Jesus says "Verily, verily I say unto you" several times throughout the gospel. It is all about the intensity of what he was about to say.

Second, the phrase that closes the verse connotes how soon AFTER the fourth trumpet the final trumpets will occur. In Greek, the phrase is "mel-lo salpizo", and literally means "for the sounds of the trumpets which are about to be sounded." This tells the reader that there is NOT a large amount of time separating the fourth and fifth trumpets.

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