The Locust Islamic Invasion

THE LOCUST ISLAMIC INVASION

10-8-2016

Locusts from the Abyss

The fifth angel sounds his trumpet with supposedly unbelievable results.  It will be uncovered in 9:11 that the king of the imprisoned locusts is the angel of the abyss called Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek which translates as “destroyer”. A heavenly angel is given the key to the abyss or bottomless pit which he unlocks and opens.  Bullinger comments this so-called angel is Jesus Christ who has the keys of “death and hell (KJV)” or death and Hades.  However, some are of the opinion that Hades and the Abyss (the bottomless pit) are not the same thing.  Regardless, from the shaft of the pit (or from the earth) rises smoke as from a giant furnace and out of the smoke comes locusts of some ghastly type.

Revelation 9:1-3 NET  Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the abyss.  (2)  He opened the shaft of the abyss and smoke rose out of it like smoke from a giant furnace. The sun and the air were darkened with smoke from the shaft.  (3)  Then out of the smoke came locusts onto the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth.

It should be noted from verse 9:21 there is no repentance.  This comment is repeated in several other places as well.  Most commentators agree that only church people (or those convicted by the Holy Spirit) can repent.  Although certain government issues are indirectly mentioned in the Revelation, it is actually a prophecy concerning the Church as it existed from the time of John to the present.  The so-called plagues and tribulations discussed in the book are those projected mostly on the Church, both organized (Roman Church) and unorganized (secret or hidden).

The Little Horn

The prior four trumpets brought about the fall of Rome and the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD.  The development of the little horn (the Roman Church as an extension of the Roman Empire) began after the fall of the Roman Empire and came into full existence in 606 when Pope Boniface III claimed himself to be the “Universal Bishop”.  However, his predecessor (Pope Gregory), stated that anyone claiming to be the Universal Bishop would utter a “blasphemous antichristian assumption”.  Apparently, Pope Boniface III, and all consequent Popes, could be called a blasphemous antichrist.  Daniel 7:8 says the “little horn” speaks “great boasts”, which is paraphrased in Revelation 13:5 as “arrogant words and blasphemies.”

The futurist view that the “little horn” is the antichrist ruling a revived Roman Empire is partially correct.  The “little horn” actually did rule an extended version of the Roman Empire known as the Holy Roman Empire, and a certain pope was a self-proclaimed “antichrist” as well as his successors.

Commentary Descriptions

MR DeHaan:  Studies on the Major Themes in Revelation, p.144.

When the fifth angel sounds, the prison of the bottomless pit is opened and there issue forth supernatural spirit beings to torment men five months.  They are described as having faces like men, hair like women, teeth like lions and tails like scorpions.  Beyound a doubt these were a class of especially wicked demon-beings who because of their viciousness were not permitted to be at large until now.  There is reason to believe that they were the fallen angels…..

Oliver B. Greene:  The Revelation p. 250. The star John saw fall from Heaven had the key to the bottomless pit, and according to Revelation 1:18  “….. and have the keys of Hell and of Death”.  Therefore, I believe this angel to be none other than the Son of God in angelic form. 

Page 256:  Out of the smoke, millions of locusts will appear…billions of demon locusts will come out of the smoke that proceeds out of hell.

Tim LaHaye:  Revelation Unveiled, p. 171.  Out of this smog will come locust-like scorpion creatures, which have no counterpart in all history.  They have been aptly called infernal cherubim.  …. For in reality these are spirit beings that probably will not be seen by human beings but whose effects will be strongly felt.

It is interesting to note the date of 606 AD.  This was when Pope Boniface III declared himself the Universal Bishop and it is also the date when Mohammed began to receive his revelations and he began to preach his message in 612 AD. 

Legalism and Islam

The change of laws by Justinian was approved by the Church, however, they were not the laws of God but those that seemed good to the emperor and the Church.  These laws would be considered the traditions of men as were the laws of the Jews as identified by Jesus Christ during the early first century.  Legalistic Islam was then raised up by God as a revelation of the foolishness of legalism.  The Church did not repent of their legalism as indicated by Revelation 9:21.  By inflicting the church with legalistic Islamic traditions, the Christians should have repented from their own legalistic system and returned to the laws of God, but that did not happen, except for perhaps a few individuals.  The vast majority of groups calling themselves the church have continued in their legalistic ways and have not repented and returned to the laws of God.  As a result there is a continuation of Islamic judgment.

The dark furnace-like smoke of the revelation that Mohammed brought did not bring the true light of Christ to the earth. The Koran did not produce any sons of God, but only spiritual locusts.  Locusts periodically devastated the land when they swarmed and ate everything in sight.  They were considered to be a plague on account of the devastation left in their wake.  However, these locusts “were told not to damage the grass of the earth, or any green plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their forehead” (9:4).  This is another major clue that the locusts are not literal but symbolic in nature.

The Islamics were told they were not to harm or damage the people with the seal of God on their forehead.  How was this accomplished?  Muslim policy was to conquer and convert people to Islam, and if they did not convert, they had to pay a special tax.  Only by not complying with these two options was death bestowed.

This allusion to locusts is very similar to the army of locusts found in Joel 2.

Joel 2:2-5 NET  It will be a day of dreadful darkness, a day of foreboding storm clouds, like blackness spread over the mountains. It is a huge and powerful army — there has never been anything like it ever before, and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come!  (3)  Like fire they devour everything in their path; a flame blazes behind them. The land looks like the Garden of Eden before them, but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness — for nothing escapes them!  (4)  They look like horses; they charge ahead like war horses.  (5)  They sound like chariots rumbling over mountain tops, like the crackling of blazing fire consuming stubble, like the noise of a mighty army being drawn up for battle.

Arab and black Islamic migrants are currently invading Europe, the United States, and other places.  This could be a secondary fulfillment of the Islamic invasion prophecy during the Middle Ages although with different repercussions.  Rape and molestation appear to be the major crimes committed.  Perhaps God is indicating that women should dress and act in a more modest manner.  Of course, prayer and repentance is always a major deterrence.

The Revelation 9 locusts were generally the Muslim Arab armies.  However, it can be said that the locust’s description of Revelation 9:7-10 would specifically be the Saracen calvary who were noted for their horsemenship.

Revelation 9:7-10 NET  Now the locusts looked like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were something like crowns similar to gold, and their faces looked like men's faces.  (8)  They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth.  (9)  They had breastplates like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots charging into battle.  (10)  They have tails and stingers like scorpions, and their ability to injure people for five months is in their tails.

It has been commented that the description is relatively accurate for the Saracen riders.  They wore yellow turbans (the appearance of gold colored crowns).  They had faces of men but wore their hair long as would a woman with a full beard.  The teeth of lions is not literally, but rather a description of their fierceness.  They wore iron armor with iron breastplates which produces considerable noise when they journeyed into battle (the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots).

Abaddon / Apollyon

The king of the locust army rising from the pit is named Apollyon in Greek, which is the language of the Revelation text but the Hebrew name is also included.  The Hebrew name, Abaddon, is usually translated as “destruction” when employed in the Old Testament.  It is associated with “sheol” (the grave) in Proverbs 15:11 and with “death” in Job 28:22, therefore the name Abaddon is used as an association with the abyss or bottomless pit and is a spiritual name for the “king” of the Arab Muslims. 

Revelation 9:11 NET  They have as king over them the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.

Abaddon (or Apollyon) is the name of the spiritual principality that rules the Muslim world in general.  This entity is the ruling spiritual power behind the religion of Islam and appears in Daniel of the prince of Persia.  The principalities began their governing after the language change at the tower of Babel as indicated in Deut. 32:8.

Daniel 10:20 NET  He said, "Do you know why I have come to you? Now I am about to return to engage in battle with the prince of Persia. When I go, the prince of Greece is coming.

Deuteronomy 32:8 NET  When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided up humankind, he set the boundaries of the peoples, according to the number of the heavenly assembly (sons of God LXX).

One must always be aware that no principality (or fallen angel, demon, or Satan) can do anything without the express permission of God.  God’s use of Islamic Muslim armies in the past (which continues today) was and is to reprimand the Church for their continued lawlessness and legalism.  The invasion of Muslims into the countries that were once highly churched (but are no longer) could be a further reprimand and punishment for acts of lawlessness, indecency, and rampant sexual acts. 

The Second Woe

The sixth trumpet having the second “woe” starts in verse 9:13.  There are no soldiers bound in the Euphrates and there were not 200 million horsemen, Arab or otherwise.  An explanation by Dr. Stephen Jones is:  “It is an event occurring in the spirit that pictures spiritual beings, unclean spirits, who are empowered by God to judge the Eastern Roman Empire, using physical armies as proxies”.  The army was given authority to kill a third of mankind which encompasses the Roman Christian area and not the entire world.

John may have mistaken the Mongol-inspired gunpowder cannons used by the Arabs as horses since someone was sitting on them as a horse.

Revelation 9:17 NET  Now this is what the horses and their riders looked like in my vision: The riders had breastplates that were fiery red, dark blue, and sulfurous yellow in color. The heads of the horses looked like lions' heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths.

A picture of these unusual cannons taken by Howard Rand in London with the following explanation:  Marvels of Prophecy pp. 81-82,

“Anything with four legs used in war, John would designate as a horse. He beheld men astride these iron horses. He watched them ramming in the powder and the shot. He observed the burning of the old-fashioned fuse, serpent-like, with its sputtering flame of fire at the tail, or touchhole, of the cannon. This was followed by the fire, smoke and brimstone issuing out of the mouths of these iron horses with lion’s heads, for the cannon used in the siege of Constantinople were cast in the form of lions.”

This is only a sample of the available information for Revelation chapter 9.  Hopefully, it will give a valid indication of the actual historical view as opposed to the unreasonable supernatural picture as presented by the dispensational, pre-tribulational, 70^th week of Daniel, futurists.