Revelation

Chapter 9
{Verses 1-12: First of 3 Woes - 5th Trumpet Judgment}
{First Demon Army Released from the Abyss to Torture Mankind}
1~~And the fifth angel
sounded {signal for 1st of 3 woe's - 5th Trumpet Judgment},
and I {John} saw a star {Satan} from heaven
which had fallen to the earth; and
to him {Satan} was given
the key to the shaft of the abyss.

{Note: RBT says this is the beginning of the first woe - mentioned as being over in verse 12. This is one of three falls of Satan. He will now be able to vent his anger in the form of real violence on mankind. See Ezekiel 28 for more on the fall of Satan.}

{Note: These demons are visible to man though they are very unusual looking. RBT says it is probably that the mythical characters like Hercules were based on these angels.}

2~~ Then he {Satan} unlocked the entrance
of the shaft of the abyss,
with the result that the smoke
'ascended from'/'went up and out of' that shaft
like the thick smoke of a giant furnace;
both the sun {radiation and light from the sun}
and the atmosphere became dark
because of the smoke from the shaft of the abyss.

{Note: In Peter we learn that the fallen angels are held in the abyss with 'chains of darkness'. Here we learn that one cause of the darkness is from thick dark smoke that is released as these fallen angels are released. The smoke is then used as a 'smoke screen' to cover the advance of the attacking army.}

{Description of the Weapons of the Demon Army}
3~~And from that smoke {behind the barrage}
locusts {the first demon assault army}
'went out against'/invaded the earth:
and power/authority was given to them,
like the scorpions have power/authority
on the earth.

{Note: Nahum 3:15-16 locusts are used as an analogy of an attacking army. The locusts generally operate in a coordinated fashion that demolish large sections of land when they attack. However, they usually do not have a 'general' in charge. These 'locusts' will have a general mentioned in verse 11.}

{Verses 4-5: Divine Restrictions on the Demon Invasion}
4~~And, they {locusts/invading soldiers}
were told/instructed/commanded
that they should not injure the grass of the earth,
nor any green thing, nor any tree . . .
{means 1st Trumpet Judgment-NOT to be repeated- Revelation 8:7}. except {the exception to the hold back order}
the men who do not have the seal of God
in their foreheads {See Revelation 7:3}.

{Note: They can attack any human being except the 144,000 with the seal of God in their foreheads.}

5~~Also they {the first demon assault army}
were not be permitted
to kill them {mankind} . . .
but to torture them for five months.
And their torture was like the torture of a scorpion
when it strikes a man.

6~~Consequently, men
in those days {the last half of the Tribulation}
will seek death {attempted suicide},
but they will not find/discover it {death}.
They will have an intense desire to die,
but death will elude them.

7~~Now the appearance {visible demons}
of the locust demons
were like cavalry horses
which had been prepared for warfare; and
on their heads , as it were,
crowns like gold {a batch designating first demon army member},
and their faces like the faces of men.

8~~Furthermore, they had hair like the hair of women,
and their teeth were like the teeth of lions.

9~~Also they have breastplates like breastplates of iron;
and the sound of their wings {of the locusts}
was like the noise/thundering of chariots
plus many {cavalry} horses charging into battle.

10~~Also they had tails plus stings like scorpions, and
in their tails was their power to torment, to hurt, to injure
those men for five months.

11~~They have a king {commanding general} over them,
the angel of the abyss.
His name in the Hebrew is Abaddon {name means destruction} . . .
while his name in the Greek
is called Apollyon {name means exterminator}.

12~~The first woe is past {1st demon army attack}.
And, behold, there come two woes more hereafter
{6th and 7th Trumpet Judgment still to come}.

{Verses 13-21: - Sixth Trumpet Judgment}
{Second Demon Army Released to Kill}
13~~Then the sixth angel {pursuivant messenger}
sounded his trumpet {gave the signal for 6th judgment},
and I heard one voice {the angelic officer}
from the {four} horns of the golden altar . . .
that is before God.

{Note: This second demon army group is headed by 4 Generals who will be released from under the Euphrates River (coming up).}

{Note: See Revelation 8:3 where the golden altar is also mentioned.}

{6th Trumpet Judgment}
14~~And he {the pursuivant officer of Cherub rank}
gave the order to the sixth angel {the pursuivant messenger}
who had the sixth trumpet,
"Release the four angels {the demon army commanders}
who have been incarcerated
at the great Euphrates river.

15~~Then the four angels
{demon commanding generals of the second attack forces}
who had been kept in a state of readiness for this hour,
and day, and month, and year, were released
in order that they might kill one third of mankind.

16~~In fact, the number of the armies {4 armies in the army group}
of cavalry is two hundred million.
I heard their number {John did not see every one of the troops - he was told the number}.

{Note: Literally from the Greek it says 'twenty thousand times ten thousand.' That is 200,000,000. Cavalry of the day represented mobility, firepower and shock. So this would be equivalent to armored forces today. If the shock troops were divided equally, then each general commanded 50 million troops.}

{2nd Demon Army Group did not have patch - instead they had Three Colors on the Breastplate}
17~~And so I {John} saw in the vision
the horses and their {demon} riders {a literal army group};
each {rider} having breastplates
the color of fire {bright red - today represents artillery},
hyacinth {blue - today represents infantry}, and
sulfurous {yellow - armored forces/cavalry}.
And the heads of the horses
resembled the heads of lions;
and fire {today - flame throwers and napalm}
plus smoke {today - chemical warfare}
and sulfur {today - gunpowder}
came out of their mouths.

{Note: The 'resembled' here means an analogy follows. This has the feeling that the horses had great power. A lion is an animal with great and strong jaws - he attacks, attacks, attacks.}

{Weaponry of the 2nd Assault Army Group}
18~~By these three {weapon systems},
one-third of mankind were killed -
from/'by means of'
these three plagues/'killer agents'/'weapons systems' -
by the fire {napalm}, and
by the smoke {chemical warfare}, and
by the sulfur {weapons using gunpowder} . . .
which had come out of their mouths.

{Weapon Systems have the Ability to Shoot to the Rear Also}
19~~For the power of the horses
keeps on being in their mouths and
their tails;
for their tails were like snakes,
having heads, and
with them they cause pain {painful death}.

{Note: Again this is an analogy to convey information. So their tails were like the head of a poisonous snake. They can cause damage to the rear area also. Poisonous snakes can kill you of course. But the point here is they cause PAINFUL death. That is the point here.}

20~~And the rest of mankind
who were not killed by these plagues {the weapon systems},
they did not even change their minds about . . .
the works of their hands,
so that they did not stop worshipping demons . . .
and the idols of gold,
and of silver,
and of bronze,
and of stone,
and of wood.
Idols . . . which are not able
to see, or hear, or walk.

{Note: RBT says the 'works of their hands' refers to the manufacture of idols, the modus operandi of the phallic cult, and the function of human sacrifice - see next verse.}

21~~Furthermore, they did not change their minds
about their murders {human sacrifice and homicide},
nor about their sorceries {the occult activities},
nor about their fornication {sexual activity of the phallic cult},
nor about their thefts {demon-inspired criminality}.

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