Wars upon the Land
Revelations Chapter 9
A War from the Pit
1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
The angel fallen from heaven is Satan. He is given the key to the bottomless pit. The pit, with its fire and acrid smoke, was already in existence, but he was allowed to open it in the seventh millennium. This fire and smoke is the same smoke that smote and darkened the “sun, moon, and stars” in the fourth trumpet blast, the nightmare of terrorism. It has enveloped the whole world. Any rational person, who contemplates the temperament and source of radical Islamic terrorism in our world today has to conclude that it truly is a satanic bottomless pit. This notion was not comprehensible just twenty years ago.
3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
Out of the smoke of terrorism fly locusts to specifically torment men who did not have the seal of God. These are evil men, “evil doers.” The locusts have faces of men, roaring wings, armor plating, flowing “hair,” and tails that sting. How else would first century John describe military aircraft? These aircraft were not sent to destroy everything in sight as the locust plagues John was accustomed to, but they were only to surgically torment the evil doers for 5 months. God did not give them power to destroy the evil doers, only to torment them for 5 months.
On October 9th, 2001, before the dust had settled from the terrorism in New York City, the United States Air Force began an air campaign to Afghanistan, for one reason: to destroy the perpetrators of 911, the “evil doers.” After four months, a new governing body was installed in Afghanistan. The surgical bombing continued and by the end of February, five months into the campaign, an anxious world began to realize that the “evil doers” might have been spared death. Bin Laden and his associates had hid in caves, and who knows where. Meanwhile, the U.S threw cruise missiles, daisy cutters, smart bombs, and laser guided munitions at them. These evil men were certainly tormented, but death was not to be their fate.
11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
Satan, the fallen angel is the ruler of all wars. He truly is the destroyer, Apollyon. He uses men, even men with just intentions, to execute his evil wars.
A Cavalry in the Desert
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.
Four angels of destruction are loosed from the Euphrates River, present day Iraq. They were preparing for war ‘for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year’, 13 months. The war in Afghanistan began October 7, 2001. Evil men were tormented 5 months into February of 2002. After 13 months of preparation, on March 19, 2003, the war in Iraq began. John describes a vast, swift, armored cavalry slaying men. He is describing personnel carriers, tanks, artillery, and long supply lines (serpent tails) all rushing to kill men. He is using his language to describe the Iraq war! John dramatizes those killed with the fraction one third again. The number 200,000,000 is most likely symbolic of an innumerable host.
Another day in Paradise
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
These two verses describe why God is issuing these plagues. Mankind is fixated on 21st century idols; cars, boats, homes, sports, computers, music, movies, TV, fashion, etc. All of us have observed how enticing and gripping our modern culture is. Children world wide, at the youngest of ages, are sucked into the abyss of material acquisition and worship of pop culture idols. Many saints weep as their own children forsake their upbringing and admire the gods of the heathen, peer pressure is tremendous. John also mentions sorceries. The Greek translation for this word is pharmakeia, the root word of pharmacy. Witches and sorcerers were the source mind altering potions, or drugs. The world is certainly awash in this endless consuming nightmare. All of these idols enslave the hearts of men. The righteous tolerate them and mold their lives around them as best they can; the wheat is amongst the tares.
In Old Testament times, God constantly chastised the Israelites because of their idolatry. They wouldn’t humbly worship the God who loved them and gave them so much. Israel turned its faith to the gods of the pagans, possibly because the pagans flourished and Israel wanted in on the take. God wants us to trust him completely; trust him in our poverty and in our abundance. God has given us great dominion; we work great miracles for the good of mankind. Yet, as men, we have turned from him as never before. Thus, in spite of the serious warnings, the materialistic idol worship and the debauchery continue.