Unleashed, Untamed Horror - Revelation 8:13–9:12

Like out of a horror movie we read in Revelation 8:13–9:12.  An eagle calls out in warning of the horror that is to befall the world."This strong bird of prey screams “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth.” What a contrast to the cry, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,” spoken by he four living creatures around the heavenly throne.." [1]

In this 5th trumpet blast it appears as if a fallen "star" had been given access to the Abyss."The nuance of the perfect tense πεπτωκότα (“had fallen”) is that John did not see the star fall but saw it after it had fallen and identifies it as such." [2]  This fallen star is described as an angel. "He is not, therefore, the angel to be mentioned in 20:1, 3, who is a good angel and does not “fall” but descends on a mission, holds “the key of the abyss,” and imprisons the devil there . . . Christ is ultimately the one who bestows this key, since he has overcome Satan and now “possesses the keys of death and Hades” (1:18). Neither Satan nor his evil servants can any longer unleash the forces of hell on earth unless they are given power to do so by the resurrected Christ." [3]  Hendrickson understands this angel as Satan, but adds this insight: "When we read that Satan opens the shaft of the abyss, the meaning is that he incites to evil; he fills the world with demons and with their wicked influences and operations. John sees that the shaft, as soon as it is unlocked, begins to belch forth columns of dirty blue-black smoke just like the smoke of a great furnace." [4]

When it was opened locusts came forth, not to harm the earth, but to assault those who did not belong to God. The assault of these locusts brought people to cry for death, but death was not to be theirs. "The locusts’ visible similarities to horses, human faces, lions, and scorpions caution against reading John’s visions as physical descriptions. Rather, these images show demons to be powerful, swift, intelligent, fierce, and capable of inflicting intense mental and spiritual torment."[5]

These locusts were like scorpions and their leader was "angel of the Abyss who goes by the names of Abaddon in Hebrew or Apollyon in Greek.  Is this Satan? "This is some other archdemon that appears here in Scripture and perhaps also in 11:7. If the angels in heaven have different ranks and orders, then we should expect the same of the hosts from the underworld." [6]  But it could be Satan.  This is cryptic, metaphoric language.  The same angel that incites the evil could be described as their leader.  As Hendricksen says, "And their king is ‘the angel of the abyss’, whose name, in two languages— Hebrew and Greek— is Destroyer. The entire symbolic picture emphasizes this one idea: terror and destruction, for that is Satan’s work!" [7]

The encouragement to the Church in this horror is that those who love Christ are sealed. “They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” (Revelation 9:4, NIV).  "The seal was given only to genuine believers as a sign of God’s sovereign authority and ownership over those destined ultimately to be members of his kingdom and not of Satan’s domain."[8]

Father you do not give us any reason to think that Your children will escape the horrors that will come upon this earth; but You do give us every reason to have confidence that they will not harm us. Again our hearts are encouraged, yet fearful -- fearful for those who continue to reject You. Lord, send a mighty conviction of Your holiness and Your grace upon our loved ones and our friends who ignore the Gospel.  Turn hearts to the Savior, we ask.   Set Your sovereign seal upon those we love that they might be saved.

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1. Easley, K. H. (1998). Vol. 12: Revelation. Holman New Testament Commentary (146). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers

2. Beale, G. K. (1999). The book of Revelation: A commentary on the Greek text. New International Greek Testament Commentary (491). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.
3. Beale, G. K. (1999). The book of Revelation: A commentary on the Greek text. New International Greek Testament Commentary (493). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press
4. Hendriksen, William (1998-06-01). More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation (Kindle Locations 2161-2163). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

5. Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (2476). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
6. Easley, K. H. (1998). Vol. 12: Revelation. Holman New Testament Commentary (158–159). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
7. Hendriksen, William (1998-06-01). More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation (p. 122). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition

8. Beale, G. K. (1999). The book of Revelation: A commentary on the Greek text. New International Greek Testament Commentary (495–496). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.