seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Revelation 9:1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.
It seems we have to slow down. The commentaries are really complicated with lots of interesting notions... and the majority of them handle this verse by verse rather than paragraph by paragraph... so this must be important to those who are seminary trained. So I guess I need to slow down.
We are at the seventh seal, the fifth trumpet, and the first woe. By it's description, this woe looks like a volcano to me. A volcano would be a gigantic furnace that would throw out noxious fumes and black smoke. I would assume... if it were one of those dead volcanoes... bugs would emerge in mass right before it blew. But what about the "star that had fallen from the sky to the earth". Is that a meteor that brought on the volcanic eruption? Or... was this something more... after all... there's a key so something could be opened and closed. So... I'm looking for a star, a key, and something to open and close.
The commentary from Amazing Discoveries should catch your attention.
9:1-2 The Fifth Trumpet, The First Woe: Many Christian expositors, including Martin Luther, the great Reformer; Sir Isaac Newton, the famous scientist; and the historian, Edward Gibbon; have seen in the fifth and sixth trumpets the rise and progress of Islam. In view of the tremendous military, religious, economic and cultural impact Islam has had on the Christian world in the nearly fourteen hundred years since its rise in the 600s, this interpretation deserves our serious attention.
As we have seen before, a “star” represents a leader. The “bottomless pit” comes from the Greek word “abbusos,” where we get our word “abyss,” and it means a desolate empty place; similar to the word “void” in Genesis 1:2. This star or great leader was Mohammed, the founder of Islam. The “bottomless pit” applies here to the vast desolate wastelands of present day Saudi Arabia, from which “the smoke,” the religion of Islam, issued forth, darkening the light of Christ and Christianity in all the lands that come under their control.
Islam, the religion of the followers of Mohammed, originated around A.D. 612.
As we have seen before, a “star” represents a leader. The “bottomless pit” comes from the Greek word “abbusos,” where we get our word “abyss,” and it means a desolate empty place; similar to the word “void” in Genesis 1:2. This star or great leader was Mohammed, the founder of Islam. The “bottomless pit” applies here to the vast desolate wastelands of present day Saudi Arabia, from which “the smoke,” the religion of Islam, issued forth, darkening the light of Christ and Christianity in all the lands that come under their control.
Well, that sort of startling to me. This goes all the way back to the story of Isaac and Ishmael. That is the split in the road between Christianity and Islam. They both go back to Abraham. There is a story-line brewing in the Old Testament that would support the premise.... God had plenty of opportunities to destroy Ishmael's line but He didn't. [I have to admit.... all the news about Islam is "bugging" me].
This is from revelationcommentary.org.
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw (1) a star from heaven (2) which had fallen to the earth; and (3) the key of the bottomless pit was given to him.
Revelation 11:7 and 17:8 indicate that the beast that kills God’s two prophetic witnesses and persecutes the people of God during the end times also "ascends from the bottomless pit." Revelation 9:1-11 describes a locust’s plague that is connected with the bottomless pit. Thus, in the NT the "abyss" is connected with supernatural beings.
Pit is the NASB’s translation of the Greek term phrear. This word is used three times outside the Revelation. Luke 14:5 and John 4:11-12 refers to a well from which water is drawn. The NIV uses the term shaft as a translation of phrear. Contextually, this makes better sense. A key to the shaft of the abyss is a literal translation here.
And (1) he opened the bottomless pit; and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and (2) the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit.
1. A star from heaven = is a supernatural being. To him indicates person-hood. In as much as this star is "from heaven," we can conclude that is an angelic being.
2. Which had fallen to the earth = describes the state of this angel. The tense of the verbal indicates that John did not see the angel falling, but saw it after it had already fallen. When the angel fell is not indicated. Who is this fallen angel? Theologically, fallen angels represent evil angelic beings. "Fallen angels" as a descriptive title has more extra-biblical support than biblical support. In Luke 10:18, Jesus does see Satan falling from heaven. However, here "fallen" is a part of the metaphor of "a fallen star." Therefore, no theological point is made. Rather, This is another angel that has come down to earth on a divine mission. John’s description is apocalyptic in nature and should not be taken to mean anything else.
3. The key of the bottomless pit = refers to a very important biblical concept. The term "bottomless," which is a transliteration of abussos (abyss), occurs nine times in the New Testament, seven of them in the Revelation. It refers to a place of confinement of supernatural beings. The first occurrence of this term in the New Testament relates to Jesus miraculous deliverance of a demon possessed man that lived in a local graveyard. Significantly, prior to their departure from the Gadarian demoniac, the demons requested of Christ that He not "command them to depart into the abyss (Luke 8:31)." Matthew’s account of this same incident adds the detail, "…Have You come here to torment us before the time (Matt 8:29)?" Clearly the abyss and the time of torment are connected. That the demons are aware of a future time when they will be assigned to the abyss is clear. Equally, the abyss will be a place of torment for demons. Revelation 20:3 locates the time of confinement of demons to coincide with the millennial reign of Christ. It also indicates that Satan will also occupy this place for 1000 years. The 1000-year imprisonment of Satan will not be a simple restriction of movement.
2. Which had fallen to the earth = describes the state of this angel. The tense of the verbal indicates that John did not see the angel falling, but saw it after it had already fallen. When the angel fell is not indicated. Who is this fallen angel? Theologically, fallen angels represent evil angelic beings. "Fallen angels" as a descriptive title has more extra-biblical support than biblical support. In Luke 10:18, Jesus does see Satan falling from heaven. However, here "fallen" is a part of the metaphor of "a fallen star." Therefore, no theological point is made. Rather, This is another angel that has come down to earth on a divine mission. John’s description is apocalyptic in nature and should not be taken to mean anything else.
3. The key of the bottomless pit = refers to a very important biblical concept. The term "bottomless," which is a transliteration of abussos (abyss), occurs nine times in the New Testament, seven of them in the Revelation. It refers to a place of confinement of supernatural beings. The first occurrence of this term in the New Testament relates to Jesus miraculous deliverance of a demon possessed man that lived in a local graveyard. Significantly, prior to their departure from the Gadarian demoniac, the demons requested of Christ that He not "command them to depart into the abyss (Luke 8:31)." Matthew’s account of this same incident adds the detail, "…Have You come here to torment us before the time (Matt 8:29)?" Clearly the abyss and the time of torment are connected. That the demons are aware of a future time when they will be assigned to the abyss is clear. Equally, the abyss will be a place of torment for demons. Revelation 20:3 locates the time of confinement of demons to coincide with the millennial reign of Christ. It also indicates that Satan will also occupy this place for 1000 years. The 1000-year imprisonment of Satan will not be a simple restriction of movement.
Revelation 11:7 and 17:8 indicate that the beast that kills God’s two prophetic witnesses and persecutes the people of God during the end times also "ascends from the bottomless pit." Revelation 9:1-11 describes a locust’s plague that is connected with the bottomless pit. Thus, in the NT the "abyss" is connected with supernatural beings.
Pit is the NASB’s translation of the Greek term phrear. This word is used three times outside the Revelation. Luke 14:5 and John 4:11-12 refers to a well from which water is drawn. The NIV uses the term shaft as a translation of phrear. Contextually, this makes better sense. A key to the shaft of the abyss is a literal translation here.
And (1) he opened the bottomless pit; and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and (2) the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit.
1. He opened the bottomless pit = or more literally, he opened the shaft of the abyss. This is the purpose of the angel’s possession of the key. Since this pit is the imprisoning chamber of supernatural powers, earth is safe as long as the pit is locked.
2. The sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit = this phrase serves to indicate that the opening of the pit results in a tremendous unleashing of smoke.
2. The sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit = this phrase serves to indicate that the opening of the pit results in a tremendous unleashing of smoke.
Out in Arizona there are a lot of old mine shafts. Now I'm not talking about a cave entrance to a mine. These are just holes in the ground. These are sometimes ventilation shafts.... and if you fall down one of those... it's a couple hundred feet to a solid rock floor. Once you fall in.... well you'd be lucky to survive the fall let alone luckier still to be found.
So... apparently there is, somewhere, a shaft and this shaft is going to be opened during the seventh seal, fifth trumpet, first woe. Now this place is so bad... not even the demons want to be there. They begged Jesus not to send them there. According to John, Jesus was with God when God created the universe, including earth. Jesus must have been there when humans started to die. Jesus must have been there when God came up with the plan to save humans from death. Jesus must have been there when the seventh seal was placed on the scroll. Jesus even talked about it.
So... Jesus would have no problem knowing where to find this shaft. After all... He was there when it was conceived.
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