College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Revelation 9:1-12
Strauss-' Comments
SECTION 30
Text Revelation 9:1-12
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth: and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss. 2 And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up 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. 3 And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And it was given them 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 it striketh a man. 6 And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from them. 7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war; and upon their heads as it were crowns like unto gold, and their faces were as men's faces. 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 rushing to war. 10 And they have tails like unto scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men five months. 11 They have over them as king the angel of the abyss: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue he hath the name Apollyon.
12 The first Woe is past: behold, there come yet two Woes hereafter.
Initial Question Revelation 9:1-12
1.
How intensive is the torture to be which is coming upon men who do not have the seal of God?
2.
How severe does pain become before one seriously wishes that he were dead?
3.
How are the locusts described in Revelation 9:7-10?
4.
Is the power of the locusts limited?
5.
Who is the angel of the abyss?
6.
What does the names of the angel of the abyss mean? (In Hebrew it is Abaddon, and in Greek it is Apollyon.)
The Fifth Trumpet Blast, or First Woe
Chapter Revelation 9:1-12
The fifth trumpet sounded. John saw a star having fallen (peptokôta - perf. part - the star is already down, it is not in the process of falling) onto the earth, and was given to it the key of the shaft (phreatos - a long shaft leading to an abyss; (John 4:6 - Christ at the well uses the term pçgç or foundation, and at John 4:11 the term phrear is used), of the abyss. Often these well-shafts were not locked in first century Palestine, but John's readers would have understood the imagery when he spoke of a covered and locked shaft leading to the well or deep hole proper. There is no Greek word here that could be translated as the bottomless pit as we find in the K.J. (See Charles, Eschatology, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, p. 198, for discussion of the imagery of the abyss in the Book of Enoch.)
We must be clear that God is still sovereign over the universe, and that the key to release further destruction was given (edothç - 1st Aor. Passive, ind. - the passive voice means that someone (God) gave the key to the star, probably Satan) to Satan. God is permitting the coming events to occur!
And he opened the shaft of the abyss; and smoke went up out of the shaft as smoke of a great furnace.. This smoke was so dense that he darkened the whole atmosphere (Genesis 19:28; Exodus 19:19).
Out of the smoke came forth locusts to the earth.. The imagery comes from the eighth Egyptian plague (Exodus 10:14 f) Joel 2:1 ff). The fifth trumpet brings a scourge that does extensive harm, but the sixth trumpet brings actual destruction. The locust (Revelation 9:1-12) and the horsemen (Revelation 9:13-21) signify a worsening situation which is coming upon the earth.
God permitted them to have authority as the scorpions of the earth. The torment of these scorpions came from- their sting. Their sting was not lethal as is apparent from Revelation 9:5-6. (Probably power here in both places. The Greek word means both authority and power, but the authority is grounded in the power.)
And it was said to them in order that (hina clause - for the purpose that) they shall not harm the grass of the earth, nor every (any) greenstuff, nor every tree, except (ei mç - but only) the men who have not the seal (sphragida - mark of distinction) of God on the foreheads. The personification of the scorpions is clear. They were told not to kill, but to torment men.
God gave them permission to torment men. John said in order that they shall be tormented (basanisthçsontai - future indicative passive voice) give months;. the suffering was to be limited. The nature of the suffering is now defined. The torment is as the torment of a scorpion, whenever it stings a man.
The suffering will be so intense, that men will seek death and by no means will they find it, and they will long to die (epithumçsousin - fut. act. - this is a form of epithumeô, the word for lust or intense desire.) Men shall desire death more than any thing else, but there is no release from their suffering because even death flees (pheuesei - present, ind. continuously flees from them) - as though men are chasing it, but cannot catch it.
Physical death cannot bring them relief from their suffering, because it is spiritual suffering caused by their not having God's mark on the foreheads.
Note: See the present author's Death Be Not Proud! in the Christian Standard, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 6, 13, and 20, 1963. Contemporary man is preoccupied with two things: (1) The problem of death; (2) Rejecting the biblical view of man and death. In the above popular statement an attempt was made to direct the attention of every N.T. Christian to consider the insight into Death the areas of Anthropology, Archaeology, Literature, Philosophy, Psycho-Sociological, False Doctrines, and the Biblical view of man and the phenomenon of death can provide. The brief section on The Biblical Doctrine of Man and Death are included as an appendix in this present volume.
John describes the locusts as like horses having been prepared for war, and on their heads as (hôs - as or like - John does not say that they actually had crowns) crowns like gold, and their faces as (hôs - same as above) faces of men. We have here imagery of war horses. (See Joel 2:4 ff). The imagery of crowns probably signifies war helmets, because John's language makes it very plain that they did not wear actual crowns.
The appearance of the locusts is further described. They had hairs as (hôs - as or like) hairs of women.. This imagery probably represents the antennae of the locusts. And their teeth were as of lions (See Joel 1:6).
The locusts were so large that they resembled horses wearing battle armor. There were so many of them that John's imagery comes from the sound of many horsed chariots. This was a large chariot carrying many men or a very fast charger chariot pulled by many horses. The rustling wings of the locusts sound like the shuffle of the feet of the infantry charging in battle.
The tails like scorpions were to sting men and the sting is to harm men five months. In Palestine certain species of locusts are born in the spring and die in late summer or early fall. This is a period of about five months. The imagery would have been immediately recognized by John's readers.
At this point the realism of the imagery breaks down. Real locusts have no leader, but these have a king, who is the angel of the abyss. (Not bottomless pit as the King James translates.) His name in Hebrew (Hebraisti - used only in Johannine literature - John 5:2; John 19:13; John 19:17; John 19:20; Revelation 19:16) Abaddon (means Destruction, see Job 26:6, Psalms 88:1) and in the Greek his name is Apollyon - destroyer. (The Septuagint regularly translates the above Hebrew term by Apoleia - one form of destruction.) It is impossible to settle the question of whether John's personification is Death or Satan. But the general picture is clear.
This hideous imagery tells only of the first woe. There are two more to follow, and they will be progressively worse!
Note: The Principalities and Powers. Ours is an age when men deny the existence of Satan and his angels of darkness. Baudelaire describes Satan extremely well in these weighty words. The Devil's cleverest vile is to convince us that he does not exist. Paul says he turns into an angel of light.
The evil which has come upon the earth is inexplicable apart from the power of darkness! Thanks be to God light shall prevail! (See Merrill F. Unger, Biblical Demonology, Van Kampen Press, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois, 1952).
Note: John Bunyan's Apollyon. Bunyan's great work, Pilgrim's Progress reveals what baptized imagination can do in portraying great biblical themes. When Christian leaves the Palace Beautiful he descends into the Valley of Humiliation. There Bunyan's Christian does battle with Apollyon. Bunyan's imagery departs somewhat from the biblical data, but he brilliantly points Christian's encounter. (Read Pilgrim'S. Progress, and for an excellent interpretative work see Henri Talon, John Bunyan, The Man and His Work, Rockliff, London, 1951.
Review Questions for Chapter 9
See Revelation 9:13-21.
Tomlinson's Comments
CHAPTER IX
THE SEVEN TRUMPETS
Text (Revelation 9:1-12)
The Division of the Trumpet Series
1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth: and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss. 2 And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up 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. 3 And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And it was given them 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 it striketh a man. 6 And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from them. 7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war; and upon their heads as it were crowns like unto gold, and their faces were as men's faces. 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 rushing to war. 10 And they have tails like unto scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men five months. 11 They have over them as king the angel of the abyss: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue he hath the name Apollyon.
12 The first Woe is past: behold, there come yet two Woes hereafter.
However, before we begin the actual unfolding of the symbolism of the seven trumpets, it is well that we take a long view of this division of the trumpet series, in order to get a proper perspective.
As with the vision of the seals, which were divided into two parts, so in the trumpet series, likewise is divided into two groupings; first, a group of four, followed by a group of three.
This is evidenced by the fact that after the sounding of the fourth trumpet (Revelation 8:12), the action is interrupted and John sees an angel flying in the midst of heaven, saying, with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to sound. (Revelation 8:13).
We shall find, also, there is a further interruption after the sixth trumpet, where another parenthesis, the second in Revelation, is introduced, and the vision of the mighty angel with the little book is described.
Shall we recall that, in our previous study, Constantine in 330 A.D., moved the capital to Byzantium on the Bosporus and renamed the city after himself, calling it the city of Constantine, or Constantinople.
This resulted in the Empire being divided into two divisions, with Rome the most important city of the Western part of the Empire and Constantinople capital of the whole empire, and the most important city of the eastern section of the Empire.
It was upon the western half of the Empire we shall find that forces of invasion struck and brought that portion to desolation. These forces are symbolized by the four trumpets, the blowing of each, marking a new invading army overrunning the Western Empire.
In the east, however, there remained, after the desolution of the west, the Eastern Empire. Two of the last three trumpets, we shall find have to do with the invasion of the eastern division of the Empire. These last three trumpets are called the woe trumpets, because of the severity of their judgments. They stand out all to themselves, being preceded by a special threefold announcement of woe; therefore designated as the three woe trumpets.
Significance of the Trumpets
The trumpet was used to give a signal. With the peal of trumpets, God descended upon Mt. Sinai. At the blast of trumpets the camp of Israel rose up to continue the journey to the promised land. At the sounding of the trumpets of ram's horns, the walls of Jericho fell. Trumpets announced the inauguration of Solomon's reign. The seventh month, the month of atonement was ushered in by trumpets. Trumpets heralded the dawn of the year of Jubilee.
Many times it implied the march of armies. The sounding of trumpets summoned men to battle. A passage will suffice to substantiate this last use of the trumpet:
Again the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of Man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, when I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, set him for their watchman. If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people, then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, if the sword come, and take any person from among themhis blood will I require at the watchman's hand. (Ezekiel 33:1-6)
That the sounding of these trumpets severally mark distinct events or eras of time in the history of the world, is indicated by the seventh angel, in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished. (Revelation 10:7).
The First Trumpet (Revelation 8:7)
Revelation 9:7 The first angel sounded and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood.
The symbols of destruction are here enumerated as hail, fire and blood. These form a combination of destructive forces entirely outside the realm of nature. We find in another instance that hail and fire were co-mingled in the seventh of the ten plagues visited upon Egypt.
And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven; and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground, and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. And the hail smote throughtout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field. (Exodus 9:23; Exodus 9:25).
But in this trumpet scene we have another element added, that of blood. Therefore, fire and hail are symbols most suitable to represent destructive agencies, and the third symbol, blood, fittingly represents the terrible loss of life. John has presented a mingling of blood with the symbols of fire and hail, that he might point out great destruction and slaughter.
Remembering we are still walking in the realm of symbolism. A third part of the trees was burnt up.
Trees, are a familiar figure in Scripture for human greatness.
In Jeremiah 17:8, the man that trusts in God is likened to a tree. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters.
In Ezekiel 31:3, we read, Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and his tip was among the thick boughs. There follows a lengthy description and the continued comparison to him as a tree. See Ezekiel (Ezekiel 31:4-9).
In Daniel 4:20-22, Daniel in interpreting the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, likened him to a tree:
The tree which thou sawest, which grew and was strong, whose height reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth. it is thou, O King, that thou art grown and become strong. and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.
The burning up of a third part of the trees, would, therefore, indicate that portion of the leading men of the earth (the Roman Empire) being consumed. Later, we will describe more fully concerning the expression, the third part.
The expression and all the green grass was burnt up, would point to the destruction of national and earthly property.
And how the history of the Roman Empire, at this exact time fulfills this symbolism! It would seem that Gibbon in his, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, had the words of this first trumpet symbolism before him, as he wrote. This infidel historian actually uses the very language of Revelation to describe the events of this first trumpet period. As this period opens with the sound of a trumpet, in his 31st chapter, Volume 3, page 282, he describes the invasion of Rome, as follows:
At the hour of midnight, the Salarian Gate was silently opened, and the inhabitants were awakened by the tremendous sound of the Gothic trumpet.
Again he says, at the first sound of the trumpet, the Goths left their farms and rushed to the invasion.
Again he says, The Goth's conflagration consumed the Empire. He, here is describing the pillaging of the Western Empire and the sacking of Rome.
On page 271, same volume and chapter, in describing the attitude of the rulers of Rome at Alaric's attack of the city, he records, they said, If Alaric refused them a fair and honorable capitulation, he might sound his trumpets, and prepare to give battle to an innumerable people, exercised in arms and animated by despair.
In this same chapter, page 249, he describes the wealth of the Roman nobles and then proceeds, from page 249 to 268, to give in much detail the glory of the public and private buildings of the city and the indescribable wealth contained in the city, summing up at the end as follows: Such was the state of Rome under the reign of Honorius, at the time when the Gothic army forced the siege, or rather the blockade of the city. Page 268, Vol. 3. His summation of this siege reads as follows:
Eleven hundred and sixty-three years after the foundation of Rome, the Imperial City, which had subdued and civilized so considerable a part of mankind, was delivered to the licentious fury of the tribes of Germany and Scythia. Vol. 3, Page 282.
So great was the pillaging of the incredulous wealth of Rome, that he says, the clergy, were sometimes tempted to confound the destruction of the capital and the destruction of the globe. Vol. 3, page 289.
He uses the next eight pages in an attempt to describe the six day stripping of the wealth of the city.
How many pages would be required to describe the pillaging of the whole of the Western Empire!
Thousands of leading citizens were taken captive or killed. Thus, a third of the trees were destroyed and the wealth, as symbolized in the words, green grass was burnt up.
Myers describes the sack of Rome by Alaric, in these words:
Alaric turned upon the city, resolved upon its sack and plunder. The barbarians broke into the city by night and the inhabitants were awakened by the tremendous sound of Gothic trumpet. Precisely eight hundred years had passed since its sack by the Gauls. During that time the Imperial City had carried it's victorious standards over three continents and had gathered within the temples of it's Gods and the palaces of it's nobles, the plunder of the world. Now it was given over for a spoil to the fierce tribes from beyond the Danube.
For six days and nights the rough barbarians trooped through the streets of the city on their mission of pillage. Their wagons were heaped with costly furniture, the rich plate, and the silken garments stripped from the palaces of the Caesars and wealthy patricians. Amidst the license of the sack, the barbarian instincts of the robbers broke loose from all restraint, and the streets of the city were wet with blood, while the nights were lighted by burning buildings.Myers Ancient History, page 540.
The Third Part
No less than twelve times do we find in Revelation the expression, the third part. Under the first trumpet, we read, One third part of the trees were burned up. As we have already discovered that the earth meant the Roman Empire, then this would indicate that one third of that empire was burned. The third part of the sea became blood when the second trumpet was sounded. At the blast of the third trumpet, a burning star fell upon a third part of the rivers, and a third part of the waters became wormwood. Under the fourth trumpet, a third part of the sun, moon and stars was smitten.
After a careful reading and consideration of these occurrences, it appears that these four third parts refer to the same third part of the Roman Empire. The first occurrence refers to the scourging of one third of the land; the second, to one third of the sea; the third, to one third of the rivers, and the fourth, to one third of the heavens.
All combined, would indicate the devastation of one third part of the earth, or the Roman Empire. The first four trumpets announce the scourging, by land, sea, rivers and air, of one third of the earth. This is understandable when we recall that the Roman Empire, or earth of John's day, was divided into three divisions.
Said Gibbon, Vol. 5, page 364:
From the age of Charlemagne to that of the Crusades, the world (for I overlook the remote monarchy of China) was occupied and disputed by three great nations of the Greeks, the Saracens, and the Franks.
The Greeks and Arabians called the nations of the west, Franks. The Franks were the Latins.
Harris, in his Philological Inquiries, Part 3, Chapter 1, speaks of the world being divided into three parts or divisions from the fifth to the fifteenth centuries.
Three classes of men during that interval are conspicuous, the Saracens or Arabians, the Latins or Franks, inhabitants of Western Europe, and Byzantine Greeks.
It then becomes a fact that during a period of a millenniumthe time period of John's vision of the trumpetsthe Empire, or earth was divided into three parts. And history records the destruction by three separate forces, the three divisions of the earth.
The four invasions from the north destroyed the Latin, or western portion of the earth, or Empire. The fifth angel looses the Saracen invasion on the Arabian third of the Empire, and under the sixth trumpet, the four angels which were bound in the great river Euphrates, pour forth their teeming multitudes to over run and devastate the Greek third of the Empire.
The Second Trumpet (Revelation 8:8-9)
Revelation 8:8-9 And the second trumpet sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast in to the sea: and a third part of the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died, and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
The Apostle sees a great burning mountain cast into the sea and there follows a destruction of one third of the ships and inhabitants of the sea. The trumpet, the blood and the destruction of one third of the ships, all speak of war and the arena of activity is the sea, Since this is against the Latin or Western third of the Empire, the warfare will be naval and on the Western half of the Mediterranean.
An outstanding feature of this second trumpet is the prominence given the symbol of a burning mountain cast into the sea.
A mountain is a Biblical synonym for a nation. In Jeremiah 5:25, Babylon is called a mountain:
Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth; and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
In Zechariah 4:7, we read:
Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shall become a plain.
This great mountain before Zerubbabel was the Persian Kingdom which had set itself against the building of the temple.
This mountain burning with fire, indicates a great nation or power. It symbolizes a raging volcanic -mountain-' of fire smiting the sea. History corroborates this.
Shall we catch up the thread of history. After the sack of Rome, Alaric, the leader of the Gothic invasion, led his soldiers to the extreme southern end of Italy. Hear Myers:
Alaric led his soldiers to the extreme southern point of Italy, intending to cross the straits of Messina, into Sicily, and then to carry his conquests into the Provinces of Africa. His designs were frustrated by his death which occurred A.D. 410.Myers Ancient History, page 541.
Let Gibbon take up the account at this point:
The ferocious character of the Barbarians was displayed in the funeral of a hero whose valor and fortune they celebrated with mournful applause. By the labor of a captive multitude, they forcibly diverted the course of the Busentinus, a small river that washes the walls of Consentia. The royal sepulchre, adorned with the splendid spoils and trophies of Rome, was constructed in the vacant bed; the waters were then restored to their natural channel; and the secret spot, where the remains of Alaric had been deposited, was forever concealed by the inhuman massacre of the prisoners, who had been employed to execute the work.
His followers recrossed the Alps and settled in the south of Gaul and the north part of Spain and came to be known as the Kingdom of the Visigoths or West Goths.
While these Goths were thus setting up their Kingdom, about A.D. 422, another mighty horde poured down from the north and were so destructive, they gave a new word to our vocabulary. The principle tribe of this vast horde was known as the Vandals. From their ruthlessness, we get our word, Vandalism. Moving from their seat in Pannonia, they crossed the Pyrenees, where they occupied a large section of the present country of Spain. This region is now known by the name of Andalusia, preserving the memory of these barbarians.
From here, about A.D. 439, they crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and overthrew the Roman Empire in all northern Africa, making Carthage the seat of a short-lived, but dreaded Corsair empire. Hear Myers on this:
The Kings of the Vandal Empire in Northern Africa had acquired as perfect a supremacy in the Western Mediterranean, as Carthage ever enjoyed in the days of her commercial pride. Vandal Corsairs swept the seas and harassed the coasts of Sicily and Italy, and even plundered the maritime towns of the provinces of the Roman Empire in the East. In the year 455 A.D., a Vandal fleet led by the dread Geiseric (Genseric) sailed up the Tiber.
Leo, (the bishop of Rome) went forth to intercede in the name of Christ, for the Imperial city. Geiseric granted the pious bishop the lives of the citizens, but said the movable property of the capital belonged to his warriors. For fourteen days and nights the city was given over to the ruthless barbarians. The ships of the Vandals, which almost hid with their number, the waters of the Tiber, were piled, as had been the wagons of the Goths before them, with the rich and weighty spoils of the capital. From the Capitoline sanctuary were borne off the golden candlestick and other sacred articles that Titus had stolen from the temple in Jerusalem.
The greed of the barbarians was sated at last, and they were ready to withdraw. The Vandal fleet sailed for Carthage, bearing, besides the plunder of the city, more than thirty thousand of the inhabitants as slaves.Myers Ancient History, page 545.
Thus we see how, by building ships, they crossed the Mediterranean and struggled with the Roman Empire for the mastery of that sea. For six hundred years Rome had ruled the waves of this almost land locked sea. But the fleet of the Vandals drove the Roman ships from the seas, destroying them and reddening the sea with the blood of the slain. After thirty years, since the sea battles began, the Vandals invaded Italy and beseiged and sacked the city of Rome. Thus we see the second of the four winds, which were held back until the sealing of the saints in the interlude between the sixth and seventh seals, has been released in the blowing of the second trumpet.
Rome is hurt upon the sea, but not totally conquered. In a few months Genseric, the Vandal King is dead and Rome is freed from the tramp of the second invaders.
A feature to be noted here, is that this great disaster Rome suffers, comes from the sea and the seas of a third part of the Roman Empire are conquered.
The Third Trumpet (Revelation 8:10-11)
Revelation 9:10-11 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon a third part of the rivers, and upon the fountain of waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood; and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
A different angel each time sounds the trumpetthe signal for new conquests. In our study thus far, we have found that the sounding of each of the first two trumpets opened a new phase of the gradual overthrow of the Roman Empire of the west, by some new invasion lead by some great leader.
We have found in the explanation of symbols, under the sixth seal, that a star is used in the Scriptures to represent earthly potentates and leaders. A star, we have discovered, is a notable person. In this third trumpet period, he is likened to a burning star, burning as a lamp or torch and that it fell upon a third part of the rivers.
Where it falls upon the rivers and fountains of waters, they become bitter as wormwood. This manifestly points our attention to a time when great calamities should fall upon the Rivers of the Roman Empire. This Star or mighty chieftan would center his activities upon the headwaters and river systems of the Western Roman Empire. Again shall we turn to history for corroboration. Surely, since John was to write of the things which are and the things which must be hereafter, we must constantly hold this Book of symbolism in one hand and a history book in the other. Myers gives a vivid description of the third invasion of Western Rome. While they do, at times, overlap a little, nevertheless, they were distinct invasions of the Empire of the West. He dates the beginning of this new thrust in A.D. 451:
The barbarians (Goths and Vandals), that were thus overrunning and parceling out the inheritance of the dying empire were now in turn, pressed upon and terrified by a foe more hideous and dreadful in their eyes than were they in the sight of the peoples among whom they had thrust themselves. These were the non-Aryan Huns, of whom we have already caught a glimpse as they drove the panic-stricken Goths across the Danube.
At this time, their leader was Attila, whom the affrighted inhabitants of Europe called the Scourge of God. It was Attila's boast that the grass never grew again where once the hoof of his horse had trod.
Finally he turned westward, and, at the head of a host numbering, it is asserted, seven hundred thousand warriors, crossed the Rhine into Gaul, purposing first to ravage that province and then traverse Italy, with fire and sword, in order to destroy the last of the Roman power.
The Romans and their German conquerors united to make common cause against the common enemy. The Visigoths were rallied by their King, Theodoric; the Italians, the Franks, the Burgundians, flocked to the standard of the able Roman general, Aetius.
Attila drew up his mighty hosts upon the plain of Chalons, in the north of Gaul. The conflict was long and terrible. Theodoric was slain; but at last fortune turned against the barbarians. The loss of the Huns is variously estimated at from one hundred thousand, to three thousand warriors. Attila succeeded in escaping from the field and retreated with his shattered hosts across the Rhine. Myers Ancient History, pages 543, 544.
But Attila was not one to give up. We again quote from Myers:
The year after his defeat at Chalons, Attila crossed the Alps and burned and plundered all the important cities of Northern Italy.
How minutely this fulfills John's symbolic prophesy of this falling star, falling upon the fountains of waters. An examination of a map of Italy will show how the rivers have their fountain heads in the northern section of the country.
And here a notable thing happened which emphasized the fact that the theater of this third invasion was to be upon the rivers and, particularly their head-waters.
Hear Myers again:
The barbarians threatened Rome, but Leo the Great, bishop of the capital, went with an embassy to the camp of Attila and pleaded for the city. He recalled to the mind of Attila how death had overtaken the impious Alaric, soon after he had given the Imperial city as a spoil to his warriors, and warned him not to call down upon himself the like judgment of heaven. To the admonitions of the Christian bishop was added the persuasion of a bribe from the Emperor, Valentinian; and Attila was induced to spare southern Italy and to lead his warriors back beyond the Alps. Shortly after he had crossed the Danube, he died suddenly in his camp, and like Alaric was buried secretly.Myers Ancient History, page 544.
Gibbon says:
Neither the spirit, nor the forces, nor the reputation, of Attila were impared by the failure of the Gallic expedition. In the ensuing spring, he repeated his demand of the Princess Hororia and her patrimonial treasures. The demand was rejected. and immediately the indignant loser took to the field, passed the Alps, invaded Italy and besieged Aquileia. the seige was prosecuted with fresh vigor. the Huns mounted the assault with irrestible fury; and the succeeding generation could scarcely discover the ruins of Aquileia.
After this dreadful chastisement, Attila pursued his march, and as he passed, the cities of Attinum, Concordia, and Padau were reduced into heaps of stones and ashes. The inland towns; Vicenza, Verona, and Bergamo, were exposed to the rapacious cruelty of the Huns. Attila spread his ravages over the rich plains of modern Lombardy; which are divided by the Po, and bounded by the Alps and Apennine. Gibbons Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Vol 3, pages 443, 444, 445.
Thus, we see how Attila's campaigns were carried on upon the headwaters of the rivers, and along the rivers of Northern Italy.
Then, Gibbon proceeds to relate how Leo interceded successfully with Attila to spare Rome itself. His description of Attila's death is too lengthy to give here, but this will suffice:
The remains of Attila were enclosed within three coffins, of gold, of silver and of iron, and privately buried at night; the spoils of a nation were thrown into his grave; the captives who had opened the ground, were inhumanely massacred. Gibbons Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 3, page 452.
The exact place of burial is unknown, but it is believed they lie under the waters of the Danube and there they remainthe bones of the star called, Wormwood, that fell upon the rivers.
Recapitulation
The Roman Empire of the west weakened, and ready to topple to ruin has suffered the blasts of three trumpets and now, awaits the blast of the fourth trumpet.
The first trumpet heralded the invasion of Alaric, the Goth who sacked Rome in 410 A.D. The Second trumpet sounded the Vandal conquest of the Mediterranean, and the second sack of Rome by the Vandals, under Genseric. The third trumpet introduced the rush of Attila, the Scourge of God, and his Huns, upon the rivers of the Rhine, Marne of Gaul, and the river system of Northern Italy. No wonder Attila, called the scourge of God, in history and wormwood, in Scriptures, was likened to a burning star, when we recall that in just three short years from his first appearance on the borders of the Roman Empire, he had run his brilliant, but bitter course, and was dead!
Now, only one of the hurtful forces of the four, which had been withheld until the sealing of the saints of the sixth seal, remains to blast the Western Empire.
Rome, now weakened and toppling to her fall reminds us of Daniel's vision of that very empire. The feet of iron as seen in Nebuchadnezzar's vision, are now become weak as miry clay. (Daniel 2:42). Now, there was needed only the rush of the fourth wind to blast the empire into helpless ruin.
The Fourth Trumpet (Revelation 8:12)
Revelation 9:12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, so the third part of them were darkened, and the day shone not for the third part of it.
As the fourth angel sounds, the fourth wind, which had been restrained until the sealing of the saints, was loosed. The result is darkness. A third part of the sun, moon and stars were smitten.
We have already deciphered the symbolism of the sun, moon and stars, and found they are symbols of kings, dignitaries, princes and great men of the earth.
The creative work of the fourth day of the first chapter of Genesis was the appointing of the sun, moon, and stars to their respective duties in respect to the earth. The sun was to rule the day, and the moon to rule the night, and the stars also.
Thus we see the fourth day is, definitely, associated with the function of government, and the sun, moon and stars have ever been symbols of governmental authority, powers and functions.
Therefore, these symbols, collectively, represent the whole governmental system of the earth, or the Roman Empire, as John understood it.
Paul said, the powers that be are ordained of God. (Romans 13:1). So, just as in the physical heavens, God has set the sun, moon and stars with their authorities and power, he has set in the political heavens; some rulers with the power and authority of the sun; some with that of the moon, which gives a reflected light of the sun, or represents delegated authority and power; and some with the function of a star.
The blowing of the fourth trumpet, then, heralds a new war of invasion on the tottering Roman Empire of the west. And in this war, one of the rulers was to become subservient to other authority, or, in other words, be darkened.
This is just what we find to have happened in the closing events of the history of the western division of the Empire.
Hear Myers again:
Only the shadow of the Empire in the west remained. All the provinces, Illyricum, Gaul, Britian, Spain and Africa, were in the hands of the Goths, the Vandals, the Franks, the Burgundians, the Angles and Saxons, and Various other intruding tribes. Myers Ancient History, page 546.
Says Gibbon, Vol. 3, Page 513.
In the space of twenty years since the death of Valentinian, nine emperors had successively disappeared; and the son of Orestes, a youth recommended only by his beauty, would be the least entitled to the notice of posterity, if his reign, which was marked by the extinction of the Roman Empire in the west, did not leave a memorable era in the history of mankind.
During the years from A.D. 456 to 472, the real ruler in Italy was a Sueve, named Count Ricimer.Myers Ancient History, page 546.
Says Gibbon:
During that period, the government was in the hands of Ricimer alone, and, although the modest barbarian disclaimed the name of king, he accumulated treasures, formed a separate army, negotiated private alliances, and ruled Italy with the same independent and despotic authority, which was afterwards exercised by Odoacer and Theodoric.Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Vol. 3, page 484.
Continuing from Myers:
He, (Count Ricimer) set up four emperors. Upon his death, a Pannonian, by the name of Orestes deposed the emperor then on the throne and placed the emperial crown upon the head of his own son, a child of six years.
By what has been called a freak of fortune, this boy-sovereign bore the name of Romulus Augustus, thus uniting, in the name of the last Roman emperor of the west, the names of the founder of Rome and the establisher of the empire. He reigned only one year, when Odoacer, the leader of the Heruli, a small, but formidable German tribe, having demanded one third of the lands of Italy to divide among his followers, for their services rendered the empire, and having been refused, put Orestes to death and dethroned the child emperor.
The Roman senate now sent to Constantinople an embassy to represent to the Eastern Emperor, Zeno, that the West was willing to give up its claim to an emperor of its own, and to request the German chief, with the title of patrician, might rule Italy as his viceroy. This was granted; and Italy now became in effect, a province of the Emperor of the East.Myers Ancient History, page 546.
Thus Romulus Augustus, who became known as Augustulus, the little Augustus, was dethroned by Odoacer, the Roman senate that had sat for twelve hundred and twenty-eight years, was driven from the senate chambers and the mighty fabric of the empire fell to pieces. Great men were humbled. Thus, the sun, moon and stars lost their authority and power and ceased to give light.
Odoacer, in 476 A.D. assumed authority in the west and was the first barbarian, says Gibbon, Vol. 3, Page 615, who reigned in Italy, over a people who had asserted their just superiority above the rest of mankind.
Gibbon continues on Page 518, Vol. 3. One third of those ample estates, to which the ruin of Italy is originally imputed, was extorted for the use of the conquerors.
The emperors, with less dignataries and landed owners of great estates,one third of the sun, moon and stars were darkened!
Thus, in the overthrow of the Empire of the West, ends the work of the four hurtful angels, held back for a season, but released under the blast of the first four trumpets.
There now remain three angels, the woe angels, to blow their trumpets.
The Fifth Trumpet
Turning back to the seventh chapter and the last verse, we observe a pause before the sixth angel sounded his trumpet.
We have already seen how the trumpet series of seven angels sounding their trumpets is divided into two groups. Like the seven church periods, and the seven seals, so the trumpets are divided into two groups, one of four and the second of three periods. We have considered the first group of four trumpets; there remain three trumpets termed the other three voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to sound. (Revelation 8:13).
Thus we see there is a pause after the sounding of the trumpet of the fourth angel. The action is interrupted at that point by the vision of an angel, flying in the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound. (Revelation 8:13).
It is clear that the destructive work of the first four angels has been finished and that the remaining three angels perform another and distinctively different work of devastation. This is to cause great woe upon the inhabiters of the earth. Remembering that the earth to John meant the Roman Empire, and, also, the fact that the destructive work of the first four angels was done in the western half of the empire; the last three woe angels operate in the Eastern half of the Roman Empire.
Though Rome itself had fallen, the eastern half of the empire still remained. How natural, then, that the further history of the Roman Empire, now centered in the east, with Constantinople as its capital, should be the burden of revelations symbolized in the last three woe trumpets.
It is quite clear that the scene has been transferred from the west to the east, and all the symbolism points with unerring precision and definiteness to one country, which so far has not, before this uncovering of the things that shall be hereafter, appeared in divine history. We shall find that country to be Arabia.
Recalling, too, that the last of the four invasions was under Odoacer, in 476 A.D., then the events of the fifth trumpet must, of necessity, be after that date.
The Era of Justinian
It seems altogether fitting that we should give here a brief sketch of events which transpired in the Eastern Empire during the interval between the fourth and fifth trumpets. Said Myers:
During the half century immediately following the fall of Rome, the Eastern emperors struggled hard and sometimes doubtfully to withstand the waves of barbarious inundation which constantly threatened Constantinople with the same awful calamities that had befallen the Imperial City of the west.
Fortunately, in the year 527, there ascended the Eastern throne, a prince of unusual ability, to whom fortune gave a general of such rare genius that his name has been allotted a place in the short list of great commanders of the world. Justinian was the name of the prince, and Belisarius, that of the soldier. The sovereign has given name to the period, which is called after him, the Era of Justinian.Myers Ancient History. page 592.
His reign was marked by two outstanding accomplishments. First, he restored to the Empire, Africa, from the Vandals. Italy was next recovered from the Goths. But the second, and most outstanding achievement of his era, was the collection and publication by him, of the Corpus Juris Civilis, the Body of the Roman Law. By this publication, Justinian earned the title of the Lawgiver of Civilization.
His reign was followed by a half century of unimportance until we come to the reign of Heraclius. For many years he struggled heroically to maintain the integrity of the empire.
This brings us up to the time of the fifth trumpet and the Saracen invasion of the empire.
This period covered by the fifth trumpet is manifestly of great importance, because of the space given it. It is also quite evident that this epoch, referred to as those days is one of considerable length; because it is described as a period of suffering and woe which would last five months, or one-hundred and fifty days. A day in prophetic history is equivalent to one year in actual history. Shall we pause in our present train of thought to consider this.
Back in the book of Ezekiel, that prophet received a command to graphically demonstrate how the city of Jerusalem should be besieged, of which demonstration it was said, This shall be a sign to the house of Israel. So like the Book of Revelation, we are moving in the realm of signs or symbols. With this understanding shall we read:
Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.
For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of days, three hundred and ninety days, so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days; I have appointed thee each day for a year. (Ezekiel 4:4-6).
That a day in prophetic history denotes a year is further revealed to us in the prophesy of the time interval between the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem and the coming of Christ, the Messiah. In Daniel 9:25.
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah, the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
It was 483 years from the going forth of the command to rebuild Jerusalem until Christ came to the Jordan and was immersed of John and there became the Anointed One, in that he was anointed with the descent of the Holy Spirit like a dove upon him.
So here again a day stands for a year in prophetic parlance. At the mouth of two witnesses, the Scripture declares, a matter is established.
Thus we see that this epoch was one of great length.
Shall we now hear the blast of the fifth angel: And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven into the earth.
The first action that follows the blast of the trumpet is the fall of a star from heaven to earth. We have already discovered in earlier studies of symbolism, that a star represents a leader. Attila, the scourge of God, you will remember was symbolized by a burning star. That a man, and not a literal star is referred to, is made clear by the next words, and to him, definitely a person, was given the Key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit.
The fact that the star had fallen would indicate that at the time the Key was given to him, he did not possess the pre-eminence he once enjoyed. We shall find this to be true, historically, when we uncover the identity of this great leader.
When this great fallen star, or leader was given the Key, he opened the bottomless pit and out of it poured a dense smoke, as the smoke of a great furnace.
Clearly this smoke that arose is a symbol of some spiritual force, for it affects the sun, or power of government we have found the sun represents great dignitaries over a government, and the air, or spiritual realm. Paul said:
Wherein in times past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. (Ephesians 2:2).
This proves that the air represents the spiritual realm. So this leader was to influence both earthly government and spiritual affairs. Shall we keep this important fact in mind.
And there came out of the smoke, (this spiritual activity) locusts upon the earth.
But they are not such locusts as men know. They do not feed upon vegetation; they attack men, but only those men who have not the seal of God upon their foreheads. They do not killthey torment with a torment as scorpions, so that men would desire death rather than endure such suffering. These, then, are a symbol and a chilling one at that.
Since we are ever in the realm of symbols, our next task is to unravel the meaning of the symbol of a locust.
Turning to the Scriptures as our unerring and infallible guide, in the interpretation of symbolism, we find in the Book of Joel, that the armies of Assyria which were to overthrow the land of Palestine, were likened to locusts, as in the passage before us in Revelation. Shall we note the similarities:
1.
First, both were likened to locusts.
And that which the palmerworm (a different stage of development of the locust) hath left hath the locust eaten, and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten. (Joel 1:4)
And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth. (Revelation 9:3)
2.
Both had teeth of a lion.
For a nation is come up (like Revelation's locusts arising out of the bottomless pit) upon the land, strong and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. (Joel 1:6). Their teeth were as the teeth of lions. (Revelation 9:8)
3.
A trumpet is sounded before each army of locusts invade.
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain. (Joel 2:1).
And the fifth trumpet angel sounded. (Revelation 9:1)
4.
Both of them had the appearance of horsemen.
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. (Joel 2:4).
And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for battle. (Revelation 9:7)
5.
Both represented a nation.
For a nation is come upon my land strong and without number. (Joel 1:6)
The locusts of Revelation are said to have a King over them, And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit. (Revelation 9:11)
Thus again the Bible clearly interprets the symbolism for us. It is plain that the locusts are conquering armies, sweeping over the earth (the Roman Empire) in great numbers. The locusts were not insects, because they hurt no green thing, but were men because they were to hurt only men, who had not the seal of God in their foreheads. (Revelation 9:4)
But this conquering people was to be unlike the Assyrians, the locusts of Joel's vision, in that the locusts of Revelation were to be a people that had spiritual power as well as physical power. In fact, it is quite evident that their spiritual power was to far exceed their physical force, although their physical power was to be very great.
The repeated reference to scorpions in Revelation 9:3; Revelation 9:5; Revelation 9:10, emphasizes the predominance of the spiritual over the physical, especially when we consider Revelation 9:10. And they had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails.
Shall we read in connection with this passage one from Isaiah 9:15: And the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail.
The tail is used symbolically to represent the deadly power of false prophesy. Shall we keep this fact in mind for future illumination.
This fatal sting in this spiritual power, likened to scorpions, be cause of its deadly poison, was in their tails. Since a false prophet who teaches lies is likened to a tail, then this deadly sting lay in the spiritual poison which was to be spread over the earth by some false propheta fallen starand his hosts of armed false religionists.
Again we wish to call attention to the statement that these armies of locusts 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. (Revelation 9:11)
1.
First, he is a King, and a King of spiritual forces, as well as of physical. Jesus spoke of the devil as being the prince of this world (John 14:30), and Paul considered the realm of satan as a kingdom, for he declared, Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the Kingdom of his dear son. (Colossians 1:13).
2.
Second, he is called an angel. In Daniel 10:13; Daniel 10:20, we read; But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days, but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the Kings of Persia. Then said he, knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? And now will I return to fight with the Prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the Prince of Grecia shall come.
From these verses, it appears that the great empires of earth have each a presiding or ruling angel over them. This vision in the apocalypse, then, reveals to us a mighty nation, having a supernatural origin, rising from some obscure region, spreading its forces, both physical and spiritual over the earth, (or Roman Empire). These armies were to be largely horsemen and the head of this nation was to come out of the bottomless pit and be called Abaddon and Apollyon.
This is quite revealing since in Revelation 20:1-2, we discover that the bottomless pit is the home of the devil:
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the Key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and satan and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit.
By this we learn that these locusts, or armies carrying on a conquest, both physical and spiritual, were led by a leader motivated by the devil himself. No wonder he is called Abaddon, which in the Hebrew tongue means, destruction; and Apollyon, which in the Hebrew tongue means, one who exterminates.
Of the devil, said Jesus:
Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. (Matthew 10:28)
So this Abaddon was able to destroy the body and this Apollyon could exterminate the very soul, the body, by conquest of war, the soul, by false teaching.
It would seem that both Hebrew and Greek names were used to warn both the Hebrew Christians and the Greek, or Gentile Christians, of his destructive and exterminating power.
Having interpreted the symbolism in the ninth chapter, we now turn to history to identify the leader, the locust army, and the physical and spiritual warriors.
The locust, the ground work of all this symbolism, is peculiarly Arabic. It was an east wind that swept from Arabia, that brought the plague of locusts at the time of the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt. Syria was often invaded by locusts which came from Arabia.
These locusts had the shape of horses. Arabia is famous as the home of the horse. From time immemorial, Arabia has produced the most famous horses of the world. The Arabian horse is sought by men of all nations. Says Gibbon, in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 5, pages 78, 79:
Arabia, in the opinion of the naturalist, is the genuine and original country of the horse; the climate most propitious, not indeed to the size, but to the spirit and swiftness, of that generous animal. these horses are educated in tents, among the children of the Arabs, with a tender familiarity, which trains them in the habits of gentleness and attachment. their powers are reserved for the moments of flight and pursuit; but no sooner do they feel the touch of the hand or the stirrup, than they dart away with the swiftness of the wind.
Truly, the zoology of the symbolism points, beyond the least doubt, to the land of Arabia.
Again, the locusts were like horses prepared for battle. The Arabians unlike the four invaders of the Western, or Latin portion of the Empire, namely Goths, Vandals, Huns and Heruli, were horsemen, and moved over the landscape with the swiftness of the locust. There was not a foot soldier among them, whereas the invaders of the Western Roman Empire were pre-eminently foot soldiers.
The vision of the flying angel in (Revelation 8:13), not only serves to set off the first four trumpets in a distinct group from the remaining three woe trumpets, but also to show that the events in the first group are separated by a substantial interval of time, possibly quite a long one from the events pictured in the voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to sound.
This we find to be manifestly true, The armies which invaded the Greek, or eastern half of the Roman Empire in 622 A.D., a century and a half after Odoacer conquered Rome in 476 A.D., were from Arabia, and horsemen that wore turbans which would give the impression of crowns being worn. The historians of that period often speak of these people as the turbaned Arabs.
The Sabeans, were a tribe of the Arabians and in the Old Testament we read of them as follows:
The Sabeans of the wilderness who wore bracelets upon their hands and beautiful crowns upon their heads. (Ezekiel 23:42).
We can readily see how yellow turbaned horsemen would resemble men wearing crowns of gold as John beheld them in the vision of the fifth trumpet.
We found that the locusts had faces of men, but to this description was added the female adornment of long hair.
The Arabs of this date, the sixth century, wore long hair. Pliny, (Nat. History 7:28), speaks of the turbaned Arabs with their uncut hair. Ammianus Marcellinus, in the fourth century speaks of the long haired Arabs, as also did Jerome, in the fifth century.
In this vision John sees the riders flash by with long hair streaming backward in their swift flight.
These horsemen also had breastplates of iron. The chroniclers of the Arabian wars often speak of the iron coats of mail worn by them. I have before me Gibbon's History, Vol. 5, page 132, and there he says, in part:
The resentment of the public and private loss stimulated Abu Saphian to collect a body of three thousand men, seven hundred of whom were armed with cuirasses.
I have the Koran before me and in it I read, God hath given you coats of mail to defend you in your wars.
By these quotations, and an array of evidence, we know this invasion comes from Arabia. Before six hundreds A.D., the Arabs were little known as they lived in the trackless sands of the desert, safe from outside nations by virtue of the nature of their habitat. But in the first part of the seventh century, they poured out of their desert wilderness and spilled out upon the Roman Empire, with a fury unparalled in the annals of warfare.
Said Myers: We have seen the German barbarians of the north descend upon and wrest from the Roman Empire, all its provinces in the west. We are now to watch a similar attack made upon the empire, by the Arabs of the south, and to see wrested from the Emperors of the East, a large part of the lands still remaining under their rule. Myers Ancient History, page 595.
This startling invasion was inspired by a fanatical religious leader, by the name of Mohammed. Hear a brief history of this man by Myers;
Mohammed, the great Prophet of the Arabs, was born in the Holy City of Mecca probably in the year 570 A.D. He sprang from the distinguished tribe of the Koreish, the custodians of the sacred shrine of the Koaba, (so named from it's having the shape of a cube). In his early years, he was a shepherd and a watcher of flocks by night, as the great religious teachers Moses and David had been before him. Later, he became a merchant and a camel driver.
He declared that he had visions, in which the angel Gabriel appeared to him and made to him revelations which he was commanded to make known to his fellow men. The essence of the new faith which he was to teach was this: There is but one God, and Mohammed is his Prophet.
The teachings of Mohammed at last aroused the anger of a powerful party among the Koreiah, who feared that they, as the guardians of the national idols of the Koaba, would be compromised in the eyes of the other tribes, by allowing such heresy to be openly taught by one of their number, and accordingly they began to persecute Mohammed and his followers.
To escape these persecutions, Mohammed fled to the neighboring city of Medina. This Hegira or flight, as the word signifies, occurred 622 A.D. and was considered by the Moslems as such an important event, in the history of their religion, that they adopted it as the beginning of a new era, and from it still continue to reckon historical dates.
Myers Continues:
His cause being warmly espoused by the inhabitants of Medina, Mohammed, now, assumed along with the character of a lawgiver, and moral teacher, that of a warrior.Myers Ancient History, pages 596, 597.
The year following the Hegira, he and his followers began to attack and plunder the adjacent cities. The flame of sacred war was soon kindled. Their recklessness was intensified by his teaching that death met in fighting the infidels (as all non-Mohammedians were termed) guaranteed the martyr instant entrance into the joys of paradise.
Mohammed died ten years after the beginning of a religious war that was destined to conquer Persia, Syria, Egypt, North Africa, Spain and France. Hear Myers again:
In the year 732 A.D., just one hundred years after the death of the Prophet, the Franks, under their leader, Charles Martel, and their allies, met the Moslems upon the plains of Tours, in the center of Gaul. The Arabs suffered an over whelming defeat and soon withdrew behind the Pyrenees.Myers Ancient History, Page 600.
Here we have read the brief history of a movement that began like a whirlwind out of the desert and conducted a war that was both carnal and religious, in which Mohammedthe fallen starand a religious prophet, scorched much of the empire, and particularly the eastern section. To extend his religion, he resorted to the sword. They went forth like scorpions with sting in their tails, to poison the earth with their lies of the false prophetMohammed. A like period of conquest is unknown in the annals of history.
This had all the fatalism, fanaticism and fierceness of a holy war, whose motivation sprang from the bottomless pit.
The term translated Pit is used in (Ezekiel 31:17), and (Luke 8:31) and (Revelation 20:1), with the thought of Hell, or abode of that prince of darkness. That is evidently the meaning here, indicating that the fallen star would employ hellish means to further his work of Abaddon, or destruction. This could only be fulfilled by such a system of imposture and false religion. Out of the smoke of the new fanatical faith they rushed upon the earth to torment, to sting and to darken the minds of men.
These locusts did not destroy any green thing of the earth. They destroyed the bodies and souls of men. Said Abubeker, the successor to the prophet, after Mohammed's death:
When you fight the battles of the Lord, acquit yourselves like men. destroy no palm trees, nor burn any fields of corn, cut down no fruit trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat.Gibbons Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 5, P. 189.
Thus, we see that the policy of the Saracens was in sharp contrast to that of the Goths. The Goths destroyed the trees of one third of the earth, and every green thing. The Arabs coming out of the treeless deserts of Arabia, looked upon the tree almost with veneration. How remarkable that the Book of Revelation should emphasize the diverse actions of the armies of the first and fifth trumpets! How exactly did history corroborate the difference noted by John!
Another amazing feature of this vision is not only the command not to hurt any green thing, but they were to hurt, 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 9:4-5)
While atrocities did occur and it was a war of the sword, yet it is remarkable that they went forth not so much to slay. They went forth as missionaries of the false prophet. They fought the enemy on the battlefield, but upon cessation of hostilities, they converted the vanquished. This is just the opposite of the western spectacle. There the invaders conquered, but were converted by the vanquished. A part of the marching orders given by Abubeker, successor to Mohammed, were as follows:
As you go on, you will find some religious persons who live retired in monasteries, and propose to themselves to serve God that way: Let them alone, and neither kill them nor destroy their monasteries. (See note at bottom of page)
And you will find another sort of people, that belong to the synagogue of Satan, who have shaven crowns, be sure you cleave their skulls, and give them no quarter till they either turn Mohametans or pay tribute.Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 5, Pages 189, 190.
Note how Gibbon refers to those of the synagogue of Satan! In our study of the seven churches, the false teachers of the Smyrnan period were referred to as the synagogue of Satan. This finally developed into the depths of Satan, in the Thyratira periodthe Roman Catholic period. The invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire by the Saracens, or Arabs, met with the monks who represented the synagogue of Satan, which reached its full fruition in the depths of Satan, before the Thyratira period, roughly 400 A.D. to 1500 A.D., came to its fulness of fulfillment.
These fanatical missionaries of Mohammed were to torment the earth (those who did not have the seal of God), for five months. This period we have already found to be one-hundred and fifty yearsfive months being one hundred and fifty days, or one hundred and fifty yearsa day in prophetic history being one year.
And was this period of torment fulfilled?
(Note: M. Pauu (Recherches sur les Egyptiens, Tom. 11, P. 192, Edition Lausame) represents the Bedoweens as the implacable enemies of the Christian monks.
In 632 A.D., the Arabs broke forth in their religious war upon the nations. In 722 A.D., exactly a century after they emerged from their desert fortresses, they were defeated by Martel in the Battle of Tours, in Gaul, and driven back over the Pyrenees. In 750, the vast dominion of the Caliphs, was rent with dissention. Hear Myers:
At the close of the first century of the Hegira, the Caliphs were the most potent and absolute monarchs of the globe.
But in a short time the extended empire, through the quarrels of sectaries and the ambitions of rival aspirants for the honors of the Caliphate, was broken in fragments, and from three capitalsfrom Bagdad, upon the Tigris, from Cairo, upon the Nile, and from Cordova, upon the Guadalquiverwere issued the commands of three rival Caliphs, each of whom was regarded by his adherents as the sole rightful spiritual and civil successor of Mohammed. All however, held the great Prophet in the same reverence, all maintained, with equal zeal the sacred character of the Koran, and all prayed with their faces turned toward the holy city of Mecca.Myers Ancient History, Page 600.
After this division, the Saracens gradually gave up their designs of universal conquest and began to seek the ways of peace.
By the last quarter of the eighth century, they reached what has been called the golden age of Saracen power. Bagdad was called the City of Peace. This was the age of the Arabian Nights.
In the second year of Haroun Al Rashids-' reign (782 A.D.), we find him engaged in friendly correspondence with the Christian rulers of the empire. From that time forward, the Saracens ceased their efforts to force Mohammedanism upon the earth. They had fulfilled their mission as portrayed in the days of the fifth trumpet. And how long it had been since the beginning of this torment? It is now A.D. 782. The holy war of the false prophet began in 632. That is one hundred and fifty years, or five months! And John said, And to them it was given that they should not kill them,those sealed of God, but that they should be tormented five months!
So, we close the exposition of this fifth trumpet period with secular history substantiating and corroborating inspired symbolic predictions of that period. Verily, the Word of God is yea and amen!