R
E V E L A T I O N
CHAP. IX.
In
this chapter we have an account of the sounding of the fifth and sixth
trumpets, the appearances that attended them, and the events that were to
follow; the fifth trumpet (ver. 1-12), the sixth, ver. 13, &c..
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The
Seven Trumpets.
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A. D. 95.
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1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star
fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the
bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there
arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and
the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 3 And
there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given
power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And it was
commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any
green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of
God in their foreheads. 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.
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. 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. 8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and
their teeth were as the teeth of lions. 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. 10 And
they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and
their power was to hurt men five months. 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. 12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come
two woes more hereafter.
Upon the sounding of this trumpet, the things to be observed are, 1. A star
falling from heaven to the earth. Some think this star represents some
eminent bishop in the Christian church, some angel of the church; for, in the
same way of speaking by which pastors are called stars, the church is called
heaven; but who this is expositors do not agree. Some understand it of
Boniface the third bishop of Rome, who assumed the title of universal bishop,
by the favour of the emperor Phocas, who, being a usurper and tyrant in the
state, allowed Boniface to be so in the church, as the reward of his flattery.
2. To this fallen star was given the key of the bottomless pit. Having
now ceased to be a minister of Christ, he becomes the antichrist, the minister
of the devil; and by the permission of Christ, who had taken from him the keys
of the church, he becomes the devil's turnkey, to let loose the powers of hell
against the churches of Christ. 3. Upon the opening of the bottomless pit there
arose a great smoke, which darkened the sun and the air. The devils are
the powers of darkness; hell is the place of darkness. The devil carries on
his designs by blinding the eyes of men, by extinguishing light and knowledge,
and promoting ignorance and error. He first deceives men, and then destroys
them; wretched souls follow him in the dark, or they durst not follow him. 4.
Out of this dark smoke there came a swarm of locusts, one of the plagues of
Egypt, the devil's emissaries headed by the antichrist, all the rout and
rabble of antichristian orders, to promote superstition, idolatry, error, and
cruelty; and these had, by the just permission of God, power to hurt those who
had not the mark of God in their foreheads. 5. The hurt they were to do them
was not a bodily, but a spiritual hurt. They should not in a military way
destroy all by fire and sword; the trees and the grass should be untouched,
and those they hurt should not be slain; it should not be a persecution, but a
secret poison and infection in their souls, which should rob them of their
purity, and afterwards of their peace. Heresy is a poison in the soul, working
slowly and secretly, but will be bitterness in the end. 6. They had no power
so much as to hurt those who had the seal of God in their foreheads. God's
electing, effectual, distinguishing grace will preserve his people from total
and final apostasy. 7. The power given to these factors for hell is limited in
point of time: five months, a certain season, and but a short season,
though how short we cannot tell. Gospel-seasons have their limits, and times
of seduction are limited too. 8. Though it would be short, it would be very
sharp, insomuch that those who were made to feel the malignity of this poison
in their consciences would be weary of their lives, v. 6. A wounded
spirit who can bear? 9. These locusts were of a monstrous size and shape, v.
7, 8, &c. They were equipped for their work like horses prepared to
battle. (1.) They pretended to great authority, and seemed to be assured of
victory: They had crowns like gold on their heads; it was not a true,
but a counterfeit authority. (2.) They had the show of wisdom and sagacity, the
faces of men, though the spirit of devils. (3.) They had all the
allurements of seeming beauty, to ensnare and defile the minds of men--hair
like women; their way of worship was very gaudy and ornamental. (4.)
Though they appeared with the tenderness of women, they had the teeth of
lions, were really cruel creatures. (5.) They had the defence and
protection of earthly powers--breastplates of iron. (6.) They made a
mighty noise in the world; they flew about from one country to another, and
the noise of their motion was like that of an army with chariots and horses.
(7.) Though at first they soothed and flattered men with a fair appearance,
there was a sting in their tails; the cup of their abominations contained that
which, though luscious at first, would at length bite like a serpent and sting
like an adder. (8.) The king and commander of this hellish squadron is here
described, [1.] As an angel; so he was by nature, an angel, once one of the
angels of heaven. [2.] The angel of the bottomless pit; an angel still,
but a fallen angel, fallen into the bottomless pit, vastly large, and out of
which there is no recovery. [3.] In these infernal regions he is a sort of
prince and governor, and has the powers of darkness under his rule and
command. [4.] His true name is Abaddon, Apollyon--a destroyer, for that
is his business, his design, and employment, to which he diligently attends,
in which he is very successful, and takes a horrid hellish pleasure; it is
about this destroying work that he sends out his emissaries and armies to
destroy the souls of men. And now here we have the end of one woe; and where
one ends another begins.
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The
Seventh Trumpet.
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A. D. 95.
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13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a
voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels
which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 15 And the four
angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month,
and a year, for to slay the third part of men. 16 And the number
of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I
heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the
vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of
jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads
of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the
smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. 19
For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were
like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. 20
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented
not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and
idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither
can see, nor hear, nor walk: 21 Neither repented they of their
murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their
thefts.
Here let us consider the preface to this vision, and then the vision itself.
I. The preface to this vision: A voice was heard from the horns of the
golden altar, v. 13, 14. Here observe, 1. The power of the church's
enemies is restrained till God gives the word to have them turned loose. 2.
When nations are ripe for punishment, those instruments of God's anger that
were before restrained are let loose upon them, v. 14. 3. The
instruments that God makes use of to punish a people may sometimes lie at a
great distance from them, so that no danger may be apprehended from them.
These four messengers of divine judgment lay bound in the river Euphrates, a
great way from the European nations. Here the Turkish power had its rise,
which seems to be the story of this vision.
II. The vision itself: And the four angels that had been bound in the great
river Euphrates were now loosed, v. 15, 16. And here observe, 1.
The time of their military operations and executions is limited to an hour,
and a day, and a month, and a year. Prophetic characters of time are
hardly to be understood by us; but in general the time is fixed to an hour,
when it shall begin and when it shall end; and how far the execution shall
prevail, even to a third part of the inhabitants of the earth. God will make
the wrath of man praise him, and the remainder of wrath he will restrain. 2.
The army that was to execute this great commission is mustered, and the number
found to be of horsemen two hundred thousand thousand; but we are left
to guess what the infantry must be. In general, it tells us, the armies of the
Mahomedan empire should be vastly great; and so it is certain they were. 3.
Their formidable equipage and appearance, v. 17. As the horses were
fierce, like lions, and eager to rush into the battle, so those who sat upon
them were clad in bright and costly armour, with all the ensigns of martial
courage, zeal, and resolution. 4. The vast havoc and desolation that they made
in the Roman empire, which had now become antichristian: A third part of them
were killed; they went as far as their commission suffered them, and they
could go no further. 5. Their artillery, by which they made such slaughter,
described by fire, smoke, and brimstone, issuing out of the mouths of
their horses, and the stings that were in their tails. It is Mr. Mede's
opinion that this is a prediction of great guns, those instruments of cruelty
which make such destruction: he observes, These were first used by the Turks
at the siege of Constantinople, and, being new and strange, were very
terrible, and did great execution. However, here seems to be an allusion to
what is mentioned in the former vision, that, as antichrist had his forces of
a spiritual nature, like scorpions poisoning the minds of men with error and
idolatry, so the Turks, who were raised up to punish the antichristian
apostasy, had their scorpions and their stings too, to hurt and kill the
bodies of those who had been the murderers of so many souls. 6. Observe the
impenitency of the antichristian generation under these dreadful judgments (v.
20); the rest of the men who were not killed repented not, they still
persisted in those sins for which God was so severely punishing them, which
were, (1.) Their idolatry; they would not cast away their images, though they
could do them no good, could not see, nor hear, nor walk. (2.) Their
murders (v. 21), which they had committed upon the saints and servants
of Christ. Popery is a bloody religion, and seems resolved to continue such.
(3.) Their sorceries; they have their charms, and magic arts, and rites in
exorcism and other things. (4.) Their fornication; they allow both spiritual
and carnal impurity, and promote it in themselves and others. (5.) Their
thefts; they have by unjust means heaped together a vast deal of wealth, to
the injury and impoverishing of families, cities, princes, and nations. These
are the flagrant crimes of antichrist and his agents; and, though God has
revealed his wrath from heaven against them, they are obstinate, hardened, and
impenitent, and judicially so, for they must be destroyed.
III. From this sixth trumpet we learn, 1. God can make one enemy of the church
to be a scourge and plague to another. 2. He who is the Lord of hosts has vast
armies at his command, to serve his own purposes. 3. The most formidable
powers have limits set them, which they cannot transgress. 4. When God's
judgments are in the earth, he expects the inhabitants thereof should repent
of sin, and learn righteousness. 5. Impenitency under divine judgments is an
iniquity that will be the ruin of sinners; for where God judges he will
overcome.
Contents
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