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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Revelation 9:5 - 9:11
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The plague of the locusts:
v. 5. 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.
v. 6. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
v. 7. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
v. 8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
v. 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 running to battle.
v. 10. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months.
v. 11. And they 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.
Here the devastating spirits are described in detail. It is said of them, first of all: And it was granted to them that they should not kill them, but should torture them five months; and their torture is as the torture of a scorpion when it strikes a man. The scorpion signified a vicious and dangerous opponent, whose attacks were always attended with excruciating pain, and might prove mortal. For a long time, for five months, but incidentally a definite time, fixed by the Lord, beyond which they did not dare to go, the evil hordes were to vex Christendom. The torture was almost unspeakably severe: And in those days men will seek death and will not find it, and they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. The very withholding of death, under this refinement of torture, would result in intensifying its power; the tortured people crave in vain for some surcease of the torment, desiring death itself in preference to this torture. But this boon would be denied them.
The impression of the destructive activity of the hordes is heightened by their appearance: And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle, and on their heads what resembled crowns like gold, and their faces like faces of men, and they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like those of lions; and they had scaly plates like iron coats of mail, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many chariots rushing to battle; and they had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails was their power to injure men five months. This description is partly fanciful, partly realistic, the former being true of the crowns gleaming like gold and of the antennae waving like a girl's long hair; the latter, of the shape of the head, of the segmented, scaly body, of their omnivorous appetite, and of the whirring noise made by them when in flight. The description is completed by the naming of their leader: They had over them as king the angel of the abyss, whose name is in Hebrew Abaddon, but in Greek he has as his name Apollyon. Surely a fitting name for the ruler and leader of the devastating hordes, for it means Destroyer.
The interpretation of this entire picture, vv. 1-11, in the absence of authentic explanation by the Lord Himself, presents the same difficulties as most of the other pictures in this book of vision and prophecy. So much seems to be certain that the fallen star is an exceptionally great teacher, but one that has fallen away from the pure truth. His doctrine is one that savors of hell and destruction, and the result of its promulgation is that the pure saving knowledge of God is darkened on the earth. Moreover, he will gain many adherents, whose heresy would act as a spiritual plague in the midst of Christendom. For where the precious Word of God is despised and not accepted in true faith, there God will finally take this Word away and permit false and soul-destroying doctrine to be taught. And finally, the fact that the leader of the false believers bore the name Destroyer and had the power to torture apostate Christendom for five months, indicates that he was a mighty ruler and great warrior, whose destructive activity would vex also the true children of God.
This description may be applied to at least two historical movements of great extent. Luther writes: "The first woe, the fifth angel, is the great heretic Arius and his companions, who tormented Christendom so terribly in all the world that the text well says the pious people would rather have died than to have witnessed all of it; and yet they had to see it all, and could not die. He even says that an angel out of hell, called the Destroyer, is their king.... For not only in a spiritual manner, but also bodily, with the sword, they persecuted the true Christians. " Arius was a presbyter of the congregation at Alexandria in Egypt at the beginning of the fourth century, who introduced the terrible doctrine that Christ was not true God with the Father, but a mere creature. In spite of all efforts of faithful teachers to have this doctrine put out of the Church, since it overthrows the very foundations of Christianity, Arianism persisted for several centuries, being spread very rapidly by various Germanic nations that had accepted it, during the so-called migration of nations. It was a truly terrible visitation upon such Christians as were members of the Church in name only, but proved a torture also for the faithful few that clung to the doctrine of Scriptures. Other commentators find in this fallen star and in the hordes that followed him, led by the angel from the abyss, the Pope and his entire hierarchy. And it is true that every detail of the picture as here drawn may well be applied to this anti-Christian system in all its ramifications, to this day the greatest enemy of the Church of Christ in the whole world. Would that all true Christians had their eyes opened to see and understand this fact and to comport themselves accordingly!