Let's Study Revelation (Chapter 9) by E. G. Cook

CHAPTER NINE     Here in verse 1 we see "A star fall from heaven unto the earth", that is, according to our authorized version. All other versions known to me say "fallen from heaven." Here we see the last of a series of stars falling. This began in 6:13 where we saw the stars of heaven falling. Then in 8:10 we saw the great star falling, and in 8:12 the third part of the stars were darkened. Now, in 9:1 we see the last of this line of illustrious stars (in the eyes of the religious world). When we come to this one, even such literalists as Larkin and Newell and Seiss are forced to admit that he is a person. In verse 1 this star is addressed as "him", and in verse 2 it is "he". So what could the literalists do but admit that this star is a person?
    The Berkley Bible footnote tells us that this star is Christ Himself. But I am persuaded that the translators of this version are not much better at interpreting the Scriptures than they are at translating them. In the first place, why would the Lord of glory permit Himself to be arrayed in line with the stars in Revelation 6 and 8? And in the second place, who would be giving Him a key? Then in the third place, why was He fallen from heaven unto the earth? Let us keep in mind that this star must be a church dignitary in order for him to fit in with our Lord's line of interpretation set forth in the first chapter and verse 20. In 6:13 we found the stars there to be the lesser dignitaries of the Catholic Empire. In 8:10 the great star can be none other than the pope himself. In 8:12 the stars that are darkened there I hold to be the preachers and professors among apostate Baptists. Then what other great church dignitary that has fallen from heaven unto the earth could fit in with this motley crowd of stars?
    In Revelation 12:9 we read, "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth." So, to me, this is the star that is fallen from heaven unto the earth. In 2 Corinthians 11:14 we see that this one who is to be cast down to the earth during the great tribulation is today an angel of light. And certainly no one should deny the fact that he is a great church figure. He has started so many churches that are popular with the world that our Lord's true churches have come to be looked upon as an enemy to everyone.
    This fallen one is given a key to, or for the bottomless pit. This pit is not the abode of the wicked dead in this age. The Greek word for their abode is HADES while the word for the bottomless pit here in this verse is ABUSSOS. This ABUSSOS. or bottomless pit, is the demon's hell, that is, it is the place where the demons are punished. In Luke 8:31 we hear the demons begging our Lord not to command them to go into the bottomless pit. Our authorized version says "into the deep", but this word "deep" is from the same word ABUSSOS which means bottomless pit, or the abyss, and it is so translated in other translations.
    The word "key" (KLEIS) in the New Testament does not mean an instrument that is used to open a lock. The key that was given to Peter (Matthew 16:19) was a system of teaching. In Acts 2 beginning with verse 14 and in Acts 10 beginning with verse 34 we see him setting forth that system of teaching. In Luke 11:52 the lawyers are seen as having taken away the key of knowledge. That is, they have discarded the true system of teaching and have supplanted their false system in the souls of men. Here in Revelation 9:1 the key speaks of the fallen star's authority, or maybe we should say his permission to set forth his system of teaching without any restraint except that it was not to cause injury to the elect
    The smoke from the pit speaks of the results of this system of teaching. Satan's false doctrines will literally flood the world to the extent that all spiritual light will be shut out completely so far as the non elect are concerned. In 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 we see this terrible smoke hovering over the people "because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned". God sends this delusion upon this wicked people by giving old Satan permission to turn his system of teaching loose upon them. Sometimes we wonder if Satan does not already have that permission. His doctrines are sweeping the world today like a sage brush fire on a windy day. But, in the light of the Scripture before us, I am persuaded that we have not seen anything yet compared to what lies ahead. But what we do see going on all about us should cause us to lift up our heads for our redemption draweth nigh.
    If we listen to the literalists we will be forced to look upon the bottomless pit, or the abyss as an insect hatchery. But I do not believe the climatic conditions in this terrible place of torment prepared for the demons, and for a time, for the devil him self, would be very conducive to insect reproduction. The locust (AKRIS) is an insect. Those found in the Bible lands are larger than ours here in America and are more able to fly through the air for great distances. In Matthew 3:4 and in Mark 1:6 we find that John the Baptist ate them. Today the Arabs take off the head, legs and wings, stew them in butter and call them good. In the Eastern hemisphere these locusts travel in great swarms, or hordes. Sometimes they are so numerous that they almost shut out the sun like a cloud. When they come to a man's farm they devour everything green that is found on it. Here in America our species of locust can only sail through the air for a few feet at a time. Therefore, they do not go in swarms as they do in the Orient. Here we know him as the grasshopper.
    Since, according to Revelation 1:20, the candlesticks represented the churches and the stars represented the pastors of the churches, would we be changing the manner of interpretation set forth by our Lord here in 1:20 if we say that the locusts represent the neo-orthodox seminary professors, the so-called higher critics of our day? We are told that these locusts come out of the smoke which arose out of the bottomless pit, that is, they come out of the false system of teaching that is so prevalent in our day This simply means that these neo-orthodox teachers are the product of this new system of teaching. The fact that these locusts are not to eat the green grass, or any green thing should prove to us that they are not literal locusts.
    In Matthew 24:24 we read, "For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect". Here in the Scripture before us we see these false christs and false teachers deceiving the non elect to the extent that in verse 6 they seek death. But though they seek death they are not able to find it. There is absolutely no suffering to be compared to that brought on by mental suffering and anguish of soul in the spiritual realm. Sometimes God's own saints do some of this kind of suffering needlessly. How vividly do I recall the mental agony and anguish of soul that I suffered for months before I finally severed my relations with a religious system that I knew I could never be a part of. The ties that binds one so securely in these religious systems, such as the fear of losing the friends who have meant so much to you through the years, the fear of losing the seeming benefits that these systems have to offer, in some cases the fear of the loss of business, and the strongest tie of all, the fear and dread of the persecution that comes from those you love so much. These ties are very real, and they hold many of our Lord's saints in these systems until they suffer much anguish of soul. But these people in verse 6 who seek death are not the Lord's people. Rather they are demon possessed people like the one found in Mark 5:1-5. In verse 4 we see this man that no man could tame, or help. He was so possessed with demons that he continued to go day and night in the mountains and among the tombs "crying, and cutting himself with stones". What suffering and anguish of soul is brought on by being demon possessed. And the religious teachers will prepare these people for demon possession just as the farmer prepares the soil for the seed.
    These neo-orthodox teachers do their terrible work though their tails. In verse 10 we are told that these locusts had tails. And in Isaiah 9:15 we read, "The ancient and the honorable, he is the head; and the prophet (or preacher) that teacheth lies, he is the tail". These professors are the product of the false system of teaching, the preachers who teach lies are the product of the professors and the demon possessed people who wish they could die are the product of the preachers who teach the lies. In all this we see the poor Gadarene of Mark 5 multiplied by the millions.
    In verse 7 we see these locusts like horses prepared unto battle. This can very well speak of the rapid progress these professors will make when once the Holy Spirit has removed Himself from the role of the hinderer (2 Thessalonians 2:7) at the time of the rapture of the saints. Also in verse 7 we see that these professors have crowns like gold. Please note, they are not gold. They just look like gold, that is, they are just an imitation. Gold speaks of our Lord's glory. These crowns like gold speak of a glory that is not the Lord's glory, therefore, it is their own glory. We are told that these locusts have faces like the faces of men which speaks of their great intellect. These professors, even in our day, sway their pupils with their great intellectualism. They are smart and shrewd to the extent that they are able to put over their damnable teaching, and make the religious world love it. One of Theodore Clarke's former pupils said to me that Clarke was not really as atheistic in his teaching as some of the others who taught with him. According to him, Clarke was not nearly so rank in his neoorthodox teaching as St. Amant, Frank Stagg, Eric Rust, or Dale Moody and many others like them, but that he was just not smart enough to put it over. So, Clarke was dismissed from the faculty at the New Orleans Seminary while the others
who are smart enough to rip, tear and deny God's precious Word and get by with it are still on the payroll.
    Then we are told that these locusts have hair like the hair of women. In Song of Solomon 7:5 one version says, "Your head crowns you like Carmel, and your flowing locks are like purple; a king is held captive in the tresses." As the king is held captive by the tresses of hair, so the pupils of these professors are held in the net of intellectualism. Then in 1 Corinthians 11:15 we read, "But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her." As the woman's hair is her glory or pride, so the professor's false system of teaching is his pride and joy. It proves, to him that he is of the intelligentsia and therefore, he is too smart to believe what God has said in His Book. Their teeth like the teeth of lions speak of the awful agony and suffering they bring to men. Their breastplates may very well speak of their seared conscience that prevents any real truth of the Word from getting through to them.
    In verse 11 these locusts (or professors) have a king over them. And please note that he is not the King of kings, but rather he is the destroyer which is none other than old Satan himself. How awful it is to find that so many of these who are being held up before the world as authorities on the precious Word are nothing but the instruments of Satan who rules over them.
    We are too prone to jump at conclusions and give words a meaning they should not have. In the case of the four angels who are bound at (not in) the Euphrates River William R. Newell says they are Satan's most powerful princes. H. A. Ironside says they are angels who are restraining the Asiatic hordes from pouring themselves upon Palestine and Europe. That would make them good angels. Clarence Larkin calls them bad angels. Edward A. McDowell, though he purports to give us the meaning of Revelation, gives absolutely no meaning at all. Others say this and still others say that which shows the fallibility of us all. In the light of all this divergent teaching I feel so incompetent to even try. But with a prayer on my lips that I may not cause my Lord's people to err, and begging Him for, and trusting in Him for light, I shall try to shed what light He may give to me on this part of this wonderful book.
    If these four angels are good angels who have been restraining the enemy, why do they slay the third part of man kind? If they are bad angels, why are they bound at the Euphrates rather than under darkness in TARTARUS, 2 Peter 2:4? Maybe we are too quick to think of these four angels as super natural beings. I know that when we see the word "angel" our first thought is of the angels of heaven. But there are other angels which we must consider. If we study closely the use of the word ANGELOS in our Bible we will find that it refers to men as well as to supernatural beings. In Luke 7:24 the messengers of John are just as much John's angels as Gabriel is God's angel. This word "messengers" comes from this very same word ANGELOS. In Luke 9:52 we see our Lord sending messengers into a village of the Samaritans. This word messengers also comes from the word ANGELOS. These men who were sent on a special mission by our Lord were just as much His angels as are the heavenly angels. The difference is in their nature. One is heavenly, the other earthly. The same is true of the word "apostle". Some seem to think that this word means the twelve and Paul and no one else. But the word "apostle" comes from APOSTOLOS which is also translated messenger as in Phil. 2:25. Here Paul says that Epaphroditus is the messenger of the church at Phillipi. And this word "messenger" comes from APOSTOLOS the same word that is in other places translated apostle. I am not trying to teach a lesson in Greek. I could not do that if I tried. But I am trying to show you that the word "angel" which comes from ANGELOS means a messenger, or one sent by God, or by man, or by Satan. In 2 Corinthians 12:7 Paul tells us that his thorn in the flesh was a (not the) messenger (or angel) of Satan. One of old Satan's preachers kept buffeting Paul and thereby he was kept humble.
    In the light of all this, I contend that the four angels here in Revelation 9:14 are men. That is, they are the rulers of the countries over across the Euphrates River who would like to pour across this river and destroy Palestine and the surrounding country. They are not the ones who are restraining, but they are the ones who are restrained. They are restrained by our Lord from doing what they want so much to do until His time comes to permit them to do it. The kings are in His hand, Proverbs 21:1. The Euphrates River is the natural boundary between Asia and Europe, or the East and the West. No doubt the Russian hordes along with her satellites would have destroyed Israel and the surrounding territory long before now had it not been for God's restraining hand. He may be using the fear of America to restrain these hordes. He can do it any way He chooses. But when the hour, the day, the month and the year (God's appointed time) comes He will remove that fear from their hearts, they will throw all restraint to the wind and plunge the Biblical world into a holocaust such as this old world has never dreamed of. The word "men" in verse 15 is rendered "mankind" in most other translations. And this would seem to be saying that one third of all people then living will die as a result of this terrible war.
    Verse 16 gives us the number of men who will take part in this awful war as two hundred million. Larkin says this great army is invisible, and Newell says they are not human beings. If these brethren are right, then I surely am wrong. I am utterly unable to see how they come up with such a line of thinking. It is true that verse 20 speaks of these people having been slain, or killed by these plagues. But verse 18 makes it very plain that these plagues are to be fire, smoke and brimstone. This word "plague" comes from PLEGE which means a stripe or wound, and our English word "plague" means to affect with disease or disaster. Here in the Scripture before us it means to affect with disaster.
    The horses in verse 17 speaks, no doubt, of the army's mode of conveyance just as the lampstands in chapter one speaks of the churches. If we think of these horses as being tanks, fighter planes, etc., we should have no trouble in seeing fire, smoke and brimstone coming from their mouths. The tails are like serpents, that is, the gun in the tail of the plane can be moved. up and down, left or right just as an animal's tail can be moved. Verse 19 tells us that they do hurt with these tails. Many an enemy plane has been shot down by the tail gunner in the plane.
    The breastplates in verse 17 are presented as being actual fire, jacinth and brimstone in our authorized version. This can not help but confuse the reader. But if we read it "breastplates the color of fire, jacinth (or hyacinth) and brimstone" we will get a better understanding of these breastplates. They will be red, blue and yellow, red being the color of fire, blue the color of jacinth, or hyacinth and yellow the color of brimstone, or sulphur.
    In Revelation 6:15-16 we found that the suffering and sorrow brought on by the great tribulation did not drive people to Christ for salvation, but rather it drives them to the dens and rocks of the mountains. So here in verses 20-21 we see the people who are left alive still refuse to give up their devil worship. You just simply do not scare people to Christ with graveyard tales, or fear of death. You may scare them into the church and be able to count heads. But Jesus said, "No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent Me draw (literally drag) him." And I am persuaded that He knew what He was talking about.