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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
Revelation 9:1-5
Sunday while channel hoping in my TV I took some small time to listen to some religious pundits expound their eschatological views. All seem to have "keys" to Scripture as though God had given to them some secret information and they were willing to pass this secret to others. these so-called theological scholars touted their views and explanations of the symbols in Revelation as though what they stated was true. This type of preaching may bring in money, or have followers but in reality they do not have some "secret" or "keys" to Scripture that you do not have making them to have higher authority. You have a brain, use it, and do some critical thinking and do not accept all that is preached, no matter how intelligent, or what degrees they have or whatever, no, follow the Gospel, and read the Scripture and do not read into them what you think, or like to believe is true, keep it simple. But we do have Biblical examples to give warrant for interpretation even if not fully understood. Study, read, pray, and allow the Holy Spirit that resided in all Authentic Christians to guide you, not some inner voice that is only your imagination, no, for the Holy Spirit speaks to you through His word and can guide you to verses that will give to you the knowledge in any subject.
We come to the sixth angle in John's vision and he heard a loud sound from this angel and then John saw a star fall from heaven. Who is this star? Is it Jesus? Is it Satan? Is it another angel that rebelled? We must remember that God created angels to do ministry work (do not confuse "ministry" as only preaching the Gospel) and this work was guided by God by means of His Providence. God commands and God by His Providence ensures that His will is done. In the secular world this would be to inspect what you expect. Stars represent angels and this angel fell from heaven. We know this from Scripture that Satan opposed God, again, not His power, but His authority: Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, whence comest thou? The Satan answered the LORD, and said, from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it" (Job 1:6-7). God allowed Satan to do harm to Job, but not kill him (vs. 12). Isaiah gives us this: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most high" (Isaiah 14:12-14).
Now, God gave to this star the keys to the bottomless pit. The angel opened the bottomless pit. Remember, God is in control and by His ordaining things are done, Satan, fallen stars, stars that have not fallen, nor man can do anything that God does not allow to happen. God could have opened the bottomless pit Himself but instead as He does in all things uses means to accomplish His purposes. This fallen star could be Satan or any other fallen angel, but I do not believe that God would just give this to any angle, but to one who has opposed Him, and has brought sin upon this earth and to all angels who followed him, so in my understanding this angel has much warrant to be Satan. I do not what to go further until I address the word translated from the Greek, a word that we use in English as "abyss." Abyss is a deep immeasurable space, a vast chasm. It also means a hopeless depth, a most low place. When this pit was opened smoke arose out of it. What is this smoke? Smoke is used in various ways in Scripture: the Israelites when leaving Egypt had smoke in their read to protect them, smoke rose from the sacrifices unto God. Moses was in smoke while on the mount receiving the Ten Commandments. Smoke blinds, and anyone who has been in a burning building will testify to this, in fact, while I was in the Navy, in bootcamp, I had to lead my men to put out a fire burning in jet fuel in a building. When we went in we could see, but when the fuel was ignited, almost instantly the room was filled with black smoke, you could not see. I could not see the place where I was to put the nozzle of the fire hose, but I did know it was there so I advanced but scared. Satan blinds, blinds the innocent, those who are seeking "Keys," or some "secret" knowledge and while the seeker knows that there must be truth and advances unless that fire is put out he/she remains in darkness. Satan attempts to blind by extinguishing the light, hiding it in darkness and by this error and false teaching are promoted. Superstition, idolatry, cruelty are the results of this smoke that darkens. But, and this is important, you must grab on to this: Those who have the seal of God on them: they are not hurt. Those who did not have this seal were stung as if stung be a scorpion. A scorpion does not necessarily kill the one bitten, but the pain, the excruciating pain will not go away unto that person is healed. This injured person is sick and often wants to die. The brightness of the sun was darkened, even the air was filled with smoke and out of this darkness came poison, poison from a scorpion. Life will not be destroyed, represented by grass and trees. This torment would last a shortened time: five months. Short it may be, but awful it will be.
Do not come to Jesus due to your fear of this, no, come to Jesus when you understand that you are a sinner and in need of a Savior, not just from torment, no but because God came in the flesh to save and will save you and will elect you to have eternal life, no matter what, no matter what you may have to endure, God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Godhead, has promised this: if you are sealed by God you will be saved. Jesus Christ must be your, not your Church, your denomination, your family, or friends, but you, and to you He must be your personal Savior.
Time is of the essence.
He giveth power to the faith;
and to them that have no
might He increaseth strength.
Isaiah 40:29
Repent: commit, God will save
Richard L. Crumb
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