Prayer – Lord, I am continually repentant and ready for Your return. Please show me if there is anything in my life that is not pleasing to You…and I’m sure there is. I’m not perfect! I just want to please You and serve You day by day while there is still time.
Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a
star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the
shaft of the bottomless pit. When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from
a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke. Then
locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given
power to sting like scorpions. They were told not to harm the grass or plants
or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain
like the pain of a scorpion sting. In those days people will seek death but
will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them! The
locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They had what looked like gold
crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human faces. They had hair
like women's hair and teeth like the teeth of a lion. They wore armor made of
iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle. They
had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to
torment people. Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in
Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon—the Destroyer. The first terror is
past, but look, two more terrors are coming! Revelation 9:1-12
 |
| Is there is always an answer to a puzzle? |
Meditate. More mysteries. Let God show you the answer to His puzzles and the terrors.
What are the mysteries in this passage for you?
Fallen star
Bottomless
pit
Bugs –
locust and scorpions
Abaddon and Apollyon
Who is the “fallen star?” The demon Satan, of course, well
actually he is identified by Matthew Henry and other commentators as the
antichrist. Jesus, the keeper of the keys to life and death, gives the key to
the bottomless pit to that antichrist. The powers of hell, all darkness, are
released from the bottomless pit, spewing forth smoke, just as John described.
Also known as the abyss or the underworld, the bottomless
pit is filled with demons. It must be so horrible that even the demons don’t
want to go there. Luke, as well as Matthew and Mark, convey the story of a
demon possessed man. The demons knew Jesus and they didn’t want to be cast to a
distant place also identified as the bottomless pit. Jesus had mercy on them
and cast them into a herd of nearby pigs who the drowned in the Sea of Galilee.
You can read the story in Luke 8.
The demons kept
begging Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit. Luke 8:31
The bottomless pit is the place to which the evil spirits
ultimately will be sentenced for eternity.
The descriptions of creatures like locust and scorpions indicate
that since they came out of the bottomless pit they are demonic. Are they
actually locust and scorpions? Not necessarily. Note size of them—as big as a
horse. When was the last time that you saw that big of any bug? Verse three says
that the locust had power, like scorpions, and they were to torment, not kill,
people for five months. Recall how the locust did so much damage to crops in
Egypt for just a few days before the exodus. There have been locust that have devastate
agricultural areas in the United States over the years. They will devour every
living plant in their path, but as annoying as they are, do they attack people?
Although the locust were not human, they had human faces, hair like woman’s, teeth
like a lion, and crowns like gold on
their head. Crowns, like gold, but imitation, not really gold, giving them only
an illusion of power. That is kind of a mysterious description.
The head angel of the bottomless pit is known in Hebrew as
Abaddon and in Greek as Apollyon. Being the leader of these demonic being, it
can be assumed that he is the evilest of all these fallen angels. He is the
Destroyer. Woe to the people who are still living on earth at this time. Evil
will be rampant and destructive.
That is the first woe or terror. Are there any other secrets
hidden here for you? Be sure that you are ready for Christ’s return.
Verse of Salvation ~ This is all the more urgent, for
you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is
nearer now than when we first believed. Romans 13:11
© 2023 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless
otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale
House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
Books by Mickey M.
Hunacek
Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com
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