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