Revelation 9 vs 1–12
Revelation Chapter 9 Verses 1 – 5
Who is this star that John sees fallen from heaven? I say who and not
what because this star is referred to as a “him” in verse 1. The tense
used for the word fallen is not the present tense, it is the past tense, and
so literally we need to receive this as John sees a star that had fallen
from heaven. Many offer, and I do see that this fits, that this star, is
Lucifer himself.
Literally, the name Lucifer means “light bearer,” or, “carrier of light.”
It’s an odd name for Satan but it echoes of who he was before turning
against God. Interestingly, it’s only one place in the Bible that he is
named and that is Isaiah 14. Isaiah 14:12 says, “How you are fallen
from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” Perhaps even more
interesting, it’s only the KJV and the NKJV that render the name
“Lucifer.” The NIV for example translates this as, “Morning Star.” The
NLT translates this as, “Shining Star.” In the Hebrew, his name is
literally “Helel,” which also is ascribed to the title of the King of
Babylon!
This is actually quite wild. The name Lucifer is considered by many to
be a translation error. Why? Because the translators for the King James
Version of the Bible (and subsequently the New King James Version of
the Bible) chose to use the Latin Vulgate appropriation of this Hebrew
word which was actually a Latin word for Morning Star…, of lucifer…
(Just for understanding purposes…, the Latin Vulgate is a late 4 th
century Latin translation of the Bible commissioned by Pope Damasus)
The writer of the Latin Vulgate, St. Jerome, later wrote about this saying
that a literal or correct translation of this word from Hebrew to Latin
would have been “howler,” or “wailer.” This was further supported by
Aquile, who translated the Hebrew into Greek in the early 2 nd century
who translated it as, “wailing one.” In the Dead Sea Scrolls (specifically
Column XII, Line 12, of the Great Isaiah Scroll) we have the only
appearance of this word and all who have studied this scroll in modern
Hebrew translations render this word as “to wail,” or, “to howl.” The
great Hebraist of the 19 th Century, Wilhelm Gesenius, offered that this
word is mysteriously both a noun and a verb, meaning it means “the
howler,” and, “to howl.”
This rabbit hole goes far too deep in my opinion. Suffice it to say that
we have somewhat adopted Lucifer as the given angelic name of Satan
but we ought to know that it probably isn’t it. And we don’t really know
his name prior to him becoming who he is today, which is very clearly
Satan, the devil, the serpent of old, the one who was cast out of
heaven…
The point more relevant for today is that this star is most likely an angel,
and most likely THE fallen angel as angels are metaphorically referred
to as stars in the Bible and we’ve also picked this up for those that shine
amongst us in our culture…, today we call them stars…
We see this also in Revelation 1 where we read in Verse 16, “He held
seven stars in his right hand,” and then we find out in verse 20, “The
seven stars are the angels of the seven churches,” just to give you an
additional example…
This “him” star of chapter 9 is fallen and so most agree and conclude
that this is Satan and as this trumpet blasts…he comes tearing out of the
gates…, to open a new wave of terror upon the earth…
He opens what John describes as the “bottomless pit,” which is
apparently such a horrible place and thing that demons begged Jesus not
to send them there. Luke 8:30-31, “Jesus asked him, saying, ‘What is
your name?’ And he said, ‘Legion,’ because many demons had entered
him. And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out
into the abyss.”
This is also the place where Satan will be bound for a thousand years
during the Millennial Reign of Christ on this earth. Revelation 20:1-3,
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the
bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon,
that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a
thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him
up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more
till the thousand years were finished.”
So wherever and whatever this bottomless pit is, it’s a terrible place and
thing filled with all sorts of horrors and plagues. Here, John sees locusts
come out of the pit and these locusts, which typically eat grass, trees and
plants were released to eat people, but not kill them. To essentially eat
them alive and it would cause people to suffer like someone being stung
by a scorpion!
Now, I’ve never been stung by a scorpion. But here’s what happens. A
mild reaction would be pain, burning, swelling and redness followed by
itching. A moderate reaction would be increased pain, nausea and
twitching. A severe reaction would be difficulty breathing, seizures, and
even paralysis! A close enough look at this and on the emotional,
spiritual side this is similar to what sin does to a life!
And one final thing here. Notice John says, “Their torment was like the
torment of a scorpion.” We are going to see John repeat this phrase over
and over again in this chapter, “It was like….,” as he is trying to give
words to things he has never seen…
Revelation Chapter 9 Verse 6
This may be one of the oddest things we read in all of scripture and I
have no choice, I’ve explored here… I have no choice but to take this
literally. That what we have read will continue for five months and
during that five months, somehow, death will be restrained. So, what
does that look like? To me, like…I know this is odd…zombies. The
undead. They should be dead, but somehow they aren’t permitted to
die… People swelling, redness all over, twitching…, difficulty
breathing…, just saying…, sounds a lot like what we get from
Hollywood!
The conditions are so bad on earth that men will want to die, but can’t…
The word here for death is very specific, “thanatos,” which literally
translated means to die with the expectation of hell. Here’s what that
suggests to me…
There are no more unbelievers on earth. What has happened as a result
of the seals being broken, Chapter 6 Verses 15-16, the kings of the earth,
the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men and every
slave and every free man hid themselves and said to the mountains and
rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the
throne…” The trumpets are blasting and with each one a new and
unprecedented other-worldly incident befalls the world…and yet the
people seek to die and just go to hell…what is going on?
The revelation of the root of unbelief… The root of unbelief is not a
lack of evidence, it’s not a lack of data or demonstration, it is a
decision…the rejection of God is the root of unbelief, and that is
plainly seen, put on display for us, right here. It’s not that people don’t
or can’t believe that God is…they just decide not to…, and God
respects their decision and confirms it just like He did with Pharoah…
Believers can even fall into seasons of this…believers can believe and
yet also…not believe. It’s called being unfaithful. Satan himself
believes with more fervent belief than any man or woman that has ever
made the confession to be a believer and yet he is not in agreement or
alignment with God in any way! You see, and I hope you don’t live
here, we all go here because we all sin but you cannot live
here…Christians say that God is and that Jesus is and that they believe
and they call that faith…., Faith is trusting God over all. That is faith.
And it’s THAT that moves mountains. It’s THAT that overcomes!
Let me show you. Hebrews Chapter 3 verse 18, “God swore by the
blood of His Son that all will not go to heaven, but only those who
obey.” That sounds so legalistic right…well read the next verse. Verse
19, “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief!” There
it is…there is the connection! If you REALLY believe, in Biblical
terms believe…then you will trust Him and trust looks like obedience!
Jesus said this is the will and the work of God, that you would believe in
the Son whom He has sent! Not believe with your brain, Jesus was
talking about trusting, about following! Believing with your heart
because the heart drives the hands and the feet! The heart controls the
mouth! The heart endures when following Jesus is hard. The brain can
even sometimes be almost a hindrance! Computing and balancing and
logicizing! Faith man…is a matter of the heart!
These folks believe with their heads, even with their eyes yet they for
five months hope to die and hope for hell…crazy! But death hides….
Revelation Chapter 9 Verses 7 – 11
Now what’s interesting here is that Proverbs 30:27 says clearly that the
locusts have no king…and so these are something else. Something
shockingly dreadful…and from John’s description… hideous…because
notice, these do have a king…the angel of the abyss, Abaddon,
Apollyon…and their command…torture.
Revelation Chapter 9 Verse 12
This is the Day of Wrath, described in Isaiah 13, Romans 2 and
Zephaniah 1. The day that has come upon the entire world because Jesus
Christ, the Savior of the world, has been rejected. Relieving that this day
is not for the Christian. 1 Thessalonians 5:9, Paul tells us, “For God did
not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus