November 5th, 2010 by Kristi Stephens

In the last Revelation post we looked at Revelation 8:6-13, ending with the troubling warning from the angel flying in mid-heaven that there would be three great woes, three remaining trumpet judgments, yet to come on the rebellious inhabitants of the earth. Today we look at the first woe – yet another development that is so horrible it is hard to comprehend.

The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

Revelation 9:1-6

After the trumpet sounds, John sees a “star that had fallen from the sky to the earth.” This is an example of where we interpret a passage in Revelation figuratively because the text itself calls for it. Clearly this “star” is not a literal celestial body – it is given a key to unlock the Abyss and then is called “he” in the next verse. So… who is the “star?”

Isaiah 14:12-15 makes clear that this fallen star is Satan himself.

How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.

So, we have answered the “who” question for verse one… now, what is this “Abyss?” The Abyss seems to be a place where the most vile demons are imprisoned. Several times in the New Testament (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6-7), a place of imprisonment for demons and holding for judgment is referred to. One of the most clear is Luke 8:31, in the story of Jesus casting the legion out of a demoniac – the text says that “they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss” and asked to be sent into a nearby herd of pigs, instead.

This description is poignant. Satan is granted authority to open the Abyss, and demons pour out in numbers that are likened to a plague of locusts.

To be continued…