REVELATION CHAPTER 9: A FIRM LOOK AT 70 AD

> Read Revelation Chapter 9 <

STUDY NOTES:

• Fifth Trumpet:star that had fallen = angel/host fallen from Heaven may (see Revelation 9:11) suggest a rebellious spiritual being that is fallen in nature.  He has the key to the shaft of the abyss and opens the shaft which as a result shakes up of the order of the earth which means governmental changes.

Indicators of their nature:

• Verse 3: Locusts with power like scorpions. A symbolic indicator that they are spiritual in nature (Luke 10:19). This is the army of the devil.

• Verses 4-5:  The armies can’t kill or damage earth or green plant which gives the impression they are spiritual in nature not physical.  They can only terrorize and torment humans without the seal of God on their forehead.  It is most likely they are unclean spirits that come out of the abyss (Luke 8:31) and are also those ruled by Abaddon/Apollyon in Revelation 9:11.

• Verse 7: They look like a horse equipped for battle.  There is a military feel to them with a crown like gold.  They hold fake authority coming in a permitted force.  The face like men shows us intelligence.

• Verse 8: “Hair like women” is symbolic of the seducing in nature of these beings and the “teeth like lion’s teeth” are symbolic of the devouring nature of the beings.

• Verses 9-10: “breastplates like iron” + “sound of wings like noise of horse-drawn chariots charging into battle” shows that this is a united army.  In verse 10, the stinger brings people pain and torment to the point that they long for death.

• Verse 11: The leader/king of this army is Hebrew Abaddon/Greek Apollyon.

NOTE: We should reference Luke 11:24-26 and the implication of Jesus’ words.  Because of Jesus, we see Israel had been cleansed with the coming of Messiah, but they who rejected Him where left worse off (spiritually) than before He arrived.

• Sixth Trumpet: God tells an angel to set free the four angels bound at the River Euphrates. The earth should be prepared for the day and hour that they are set free to kill with unstoppable force because it is decreed by God.  This speaks of the future.  This is also alluded later in Revelation 16:12 in the image of “the drying up of river Euphrates” when the Persian army conquering Babylon in the prophet Daniel’s day.

6^th trumpet is 70 AD… when Israel is crushed and the church age fully begins.

• Verse 17: Horses and riders.  Breastplates of fiery red, dark blue, and sulfurous yellow in color  parallel the plagues they bring and are the color of burning fire which points to their spiritual nature.  The horses’ heads are like lions and have fire, smoke, and sulfur which shows the destruction from their mouths. 

• Verses 19-20: Those that survived the three plagues of fire smoke and sulfur did not repent. Forgiveness through repentance was available at least on an individual level, but also points to the fact there is only one trumpet left.  One more trumpet will complete the Trumpet Judgements.

SIDE NOTE: 7 Signs in Eusebius and Josephus before 70 AD

COMMENTS TO HELP YOU STUDY:

Trumpets at this point sound the release of spiritual consequences to rejecting God. The frame of reference is 70 AD.  70 AD is the key point of interpretation and must be understood.  This event in Jerusalem is type and shadow for the future but is not necessarily literal.  Israel fell.  Jesus said it would fall.

These are more major judgements and are three woeful.  We need to see Matthew 24 in this passage and realize this is in the past.  This passage describes the transition from the way it was to the Messianic Age.  God is moving on with His agenda and He wiped away Israel to move forward into the whole world with His message.  70 AD is key in this transition.  Israel does not repent until a future time.

Trumpets are extended to the end of the world and the last trumpet is the actual final end of the world. God hands Israel over to Satan and evil just invades the land.  God uses Rome to discipline His people.  God is after the soul of Israel and handed over to demons to make that happen.