Chapter Nine

Vision of the locusts, their appearance from the pit of the abyss at the sound of the trumpet of the fifth Angel (1–2); the appearance of the locusts; the torment from them for people who do not have the seal of God (3–10); their king Apollyon (11). The appearance of a mounted army at the sound of the trumpet of the sixth Angel, description of the horses and their harm to the unrepentant people (12–21).

Revelation 9:1. The fifth Angel sounded, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth, and the key to the bottomless pit was given to it. At the sound of the fifth trumpet John sees a star that fell from heaven. By the words “fallen from heaven” the seer undoubtedly means to say that the fifth plague also occurs by the sending of God and at the time indicated by the will of God. This symbol becomes clear only from what follows. To the star fallen from heaven was given the key to the pit of the abyss, which is directly connected with the abyss. The very name of the abyss is an indication of the underworld, where the evil spirits are condemned to dwell. The abyss, thus, must be distinguished from Hades and from hell, the place of suffering of the dead. The abyss is the abode of demons, where they are confined and as it were locked up by a key, that is, deprived of freedom of action. By the action of Divine Providence (the fallen star) this prison is opened, and that which is inside the abyss through a well connecting the abyss with the surface of the earth receives the possibility to appear above the earth.

Revelation 9:2. It opened the bottomless pit, and smoke came out of the pit, like smoke from a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened from the smoke of the pit. The sun was darkened by the smoke that came out. It is more correct not to give independent significance to this feature of the symbolic vision, and the indication of the darkening of the sun and air should be regarded as a transition to the clarification of the subsequent.

Revelation 9:3. And from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, such as the earthly scorpions have. Revelation 9:4. And it was said to it, that it should not do harm to the grass of the earth, and to any greenery, and to any tree, but only to those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. Revelation 9:5. And it was given to them not to kill them, but to torment them five months; and the torment from it is like the torment from a scorpion, when it stings a man. Revelation 9:6. In those days people will seek death, but will not find it; they will desire to die, but death will flee from them. From the smoke came locusts, and the earth was to receive that which came from the abyss. Consequently, the locusts themselves, surrounded by smoke, formed that dark cloud which darkened the sun and air and which completely came from the abyss. The resemblance of the locusts of the Apocalypse to ordinary locusts does not extend beyond (except for the name) that both are a huge mass. Locusts, then, appear here only as a convenient symbol, which was used by ancient prophets and the Church Fathers of the New Testament. To these locusts was given power, such as is characteristic of scorpions, under which must be understood nothing other than the ability of scorpions to produce a very dangerous sting for the life and health of a person 46. The activity of the locusts on earth is limited by Divine will, and it is directly forbidden to cause any harm to vegetation, and is allowed to harm only people, and only those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. The locusts could not kill, but only cause torment and only for five months. Taking into account that actual locusts live no more than five summer months, it is best to consider this five-month period of activity of the locusts as an indication of an indefinite period of time for people, but determined for Divine Providence, which period will be necessary for the punishment and intimidation of sinners and for the manifestation of Divine justice before the eyes of the righteous. As an indication that both the locusts themselves and the disasters caused by them are instruments of punishment in the hands of God, serves the remark that the torment from the sting, although unbearable, is not fatal.

Revelation 9:7. In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for war; and on their heads were as it were crowns, like golden ones, and their faces were like human faces; Revelation 9:8. and they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like those of lions. Revelation 9:9. They had breastplates, as it were iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of chariots when many horses run to war; Revelation 9:10. they had tails like those of scorpions, and in their tails were stings; and their power was to harm people for five months. In its external appearance the locust resembled horses prepared for war, such preparedness being limited only to their warlike appearance. And the crowns on their heads were nothing other than those bright yellow (golden) four antennae that adorn the head of an ordinary locust 47. Obviously, as one might suppose, that which was human in the heads of the locusts was only the physiognomy (face), somewhat resembling the human, but the structure of the head itself was locust-like. The hair of the locusts was like that of a woman and was a complete opposite to its actual fierce character, which is determined by the remark that its teeth were like those of a lion. As something unexpected in the depiction of the external appearance of the locusts is its iron armor, as well as the fact that the sound of its wings resembled not the gallop of horses, but the rumble of chariots.

Revelation 9:11. They have over them a king, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apollyon. Revelation 9:12. One woe has passed; behold, two more woes come after it. The final characteristic of the locusts is that they had over them as king the Angel of the abyss. Here the word “angel” stands before the word “abyss,” and the latter means the abode of evil spirits. Consequently, the king over the locusts is undoubtedly a messenger of the abyss, or rather, Satan himself, to whom the title of king is most properly applied. And the name of Abaddon, which means destruction, is also apparently used here as an indication of the devil, who is the embodiment of destruction and death. In view of all this characterization of the locusts, as a punishment from God, one cannot understand them as simply a poetic-prophetic picture of human misfortunes. If the locusts are from the abyss and are under the authority of Satan, then, apparently, they are themselves – evil spirits, demons, inhabitants of the abyss. The evil spirits at the end of time, having been freed by the permission of God (Rev 20:7) from their place of confinement, that is, from the state of being bound in their actions, will appear among people for their deception and torment 48. These torments will extend to those who do not have the power to drive off demons from themselves. The very torment from demons can be understood in the sense of constant dissatisfaction, anxiety and seeking for something better, which, being instilled in people by demons (the sting of the locusts), will make human life unbearable (Rev 9:6). The anguish of the spirit will be joined with material calamity, which will become a universal misfortune of the final time. But people of piety, sealed with the seal of God, will find their woe in the world’s sorrow and in the awareness of the ruin of sinners, tempted by the devil. These disasters will not cease until the very second coming. The expression: “the first woe has passed” does not mean that after five months the future harmful activity of the devil and demons will cease. No, these disasters will not cease until the second coming of the Lord. John had in mind only himself and only insofar as he was the seer of Divine revelation. He speaks of the cessation of the first woe only in the vision, or rather, of the cessation of the vision of the first woe. He needed to say this, as he moves on to the description of the following vision, which he characterizes in advance as two woes, one after the other in their sequence.

Revelation 9:13. The sixth Angel sounded, and I heard one voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which stands before God, Revelation 9:14. saying to the sixth Angel who had the trumpet: release the four Angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. A new woe strikes the world at the sound of the sixth trumpet. By the golden altar, as in Rev 8:3, is meant the altar of incense, which was in the sanctuary of the tabernacle; and the four horns mentioned by John should remind of the horns of that altar (Exod 27:2). The horns, generally serving as a symbol of might, being at the altar, point to God’s mercy. By the four Angels bound at the river Euphrates are meant evil Angels, and by the Euphrates river – an inaccurate geographical name of a historical locality, since this does not correspond to the bodiless nature of Angels, but is a symbol. Evil Angels – demons after the sufferings of Jesus Christ were bound by the command of God in their harmful activity. And the indication of the river Euphrates as the place of their deprivation of freedom speaks to the fact that their freedom of activity will first of all manifest itself here; here, and not in another place, will they display their harmful actions. At the Euphrates, in the impious and depraved Babylon (Rev 16:19) or in a city (and region) similar to it in its impiety, the evil Angels will for the first time before the end of the world obtain their full freedom in the midst of the impious, fallen away from Christian faith and its saving power.

Revelation 9:15. And the four Angels were released, who were prepared for the hour and day and month and year, in order to kill a third part of mankind. Revelation 9:16. The number of the cavalry army was two myriads of myriads; and I heard their number. The evil Angels will be released then, at that very hour of the day, month, and year, in which this release is appointed by Divine predetermination, that is, when the impiety among people of the final time will have reached the highest degree of its development. This time will also be the time of the coming of the antichrist. Then, by the action of evil spirits, terrible disasters will begin, which will bring about the death of many people, – a third of them, according to the expression of the Apocalypse. The selected Christians will also be subjected to these disasters of the final time equally with the impious (Matt 24:13). Disasters will come from an innumerable force, for which the four evil Angels will be only secret inspirers, not excluding its ordinary natural leaders. And the definite number of this force – two hundred million – is taken not in the sense of the exact quantity of individual soldiers, but in the sense of an indefinite indication of its enormity.

Revelation 9:17. Thus I saw in the vision the horses and those on them, who had on them breastplates of fire and hyacinth and brimstone; the heads of the horses were like heads of lions, and from their mouths came fire, smoke and brimstone. Revelation 9:18. From these three plagues, from the fire, smoke and brimstone, coming from their mouths, a third part of mankind died; Revelation 9:19. for the power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like serpents, and had heads, and with them they caused harm. These forces, of course, are not a baseless fantasy, not a symbol of an abstract concept of the destructive influence of the power of hell, but an actual army, an army of the future, and it is extraordinary only insofar as extraordinary are the attributes with which John sees it. The multicolored breastplates of the riders appeared to him in rapid interchange and as if in the alternation of one color with another. This brilliance is a reflection of that hellish flame, which was a mixture of fire, burning sulfur and smoke, spewing from the mouths of the lion-headed horses. And it becomes completely understandable how such a multitude of people could be killed 49. The killed will be a third of all people. A definite number in place of an indefinite one – in correspondence with fire, smoke and sulfur – these three instruments of killing, which were used by the horses of the numerous force. For the horses had the ability (power) to harm people (directly killing them) not only by means of their mouths, but also by means of their tails, although the harm to people through the serpent-like tails was, so to speak, only a precursor of killing and death. – How is this plague of the sixth trumpet to be understood? – This force, like the locusts, is the force of the final time, the time of the dominion of the antichrist over the world, the messenger of hell and demons. These are the internecine wars which the Savior meant (Matt 24:7) and which will be permitted by God for the testing of the world before its final judgment.

Revelation 9:20. And the rest of mankind, who did not die from these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk. Revelation 9:21. And they did not repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their sexual immorality, nor of their thefts. John says that the rest of mankind, that is, those who remained alive after the plagues, did not repent. Here the discourse is, obviously, about the impious alone, while the righteous are passed over in silence. But they are passed over in silence only insofar as they did not need a call to repentance, although even they could be subjected to some effect of the plagues, as the Hebrews together with the Egyptians were subjected to plagues. – Among the sins is mentioned idolatry. Is it possible in the final time, when the Gospel will have been preached to every creature? Undoubtedly it is possible. Then there will be falling away from the faith; then under the influence of evil spirits there will begin a new idolatry, a new idol worship, then new gods will be invented and new idols will be set up for worship. Then the first and most widespread idol will be the idol of the antichrist (Rev 13:14). * * * Ewald, Ebrard, Kliefoth. Ewald, Suller. Andrew of Caesarea Ebrard, Suller, Kliefoth.