Title: Revelation 09:1-12 Fifth Trumpet Plague
Contents
fifth trumpet plague
We look at chapters 8 through the 1-4th trumpet plagues. There, we are showing people suffering and suffering disasters through the pollution and destruction of the natural environment such as the land, sea, rivers, and the Sun, Moon, and Seongsin. After the 4th plague is introduced, at the end of Chapter 8, there is a scene in which an eagle flying in the air shouts with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth.” It was implied that
Today's chapter 9 records the contents of the fifth and sixth trumpet plagues.
a star that fell to the ground
The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and a star fell to the ground. This star receives the key to the abyss and opens the abyss, and this star is different from the star that appeared in the third trumpet plague in chapter 8. There are many people who are often called the devil because of the fact that this star fell from the sky, but it is probably one of the angels because this star receives the key to the abyss and executes God's judgment and disaster.
However, the important thing is that this star has been given the key to the Ajax. "Abyss" refers to "a deep, bottomless pit." The word 'bottomless' is used in various places in the book of Revelation, and it is the place where Satan's prison or the beasts that have received Satan's authority are imprisoned. Also in Luke 8:31, we can see that it was also a prison for demons when the old gods asked Jesus not to command them to go into the abyss. Anyway, in today's text, the word the abyss is described as a place where fallen evil spirits are imprisoned, and at the same time, some demons come up when the 5th trumpet is blown.
locust's power
It was said that when this star opened the abyss, smoke like the smoke of a great bellows rose like a volcano erupting, and the sun and the air darkened. Then, looking at verse 3, a locust came up from this smoke. Although the locust is an insect of the locust family, it is completely different from the locust we know today. In the Old Testament, this locust is often described as having uncontrollable destructive power in countless numbers. As it soars in the sky, it becomes dark with hundreds of thousands or millions of yellow locusts. They are terrifying beings who roam like a moving carpet, sweeping away all crops. So what do these locusts do?
In verses 4-6, it says, “Only those who have not received the seal of God (unbelievers), but not the grass of the earth, green things, or any kind of trees.” are limited. It is said that this locust is not able to touch grass or various trees and only torments those who are not sealed with God. What we need to note here is that these locusts only bring disaster to unbelievers who are not sealed with God. And the pain is so great that it is like the sting of a scorpion, so it is better to die than to die, but it is a pain that cannot be killed.
the shape of the caterpillar
After revealing the authority of the locusts in this way, John describes the shape of the locusts from verse 7 onwards. It has a face like a human face, hair like a woman's hair, teeth like that of a lion, breastplates like breastplates, the sound of wings like the sounds of chariots and horses running to the battlefield, and their tails are described as stinging like scorpions.
Then, in verse 11, there was a king of locusts, whose name was called “The Lion of the Abyss,” and he called his names Abaddon (Hebrew, destruction) and Apollyon (Greek, destruction). Here, the king of these locusts clearly refers to Satan who harms and destroys humans.