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, 70th week of Daniel, futurists.
