Teaching Notes Book of Revelation - Chapter 10

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Teaching Notes Book of Revelation - Chapter 10

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Quarantine Day 62.  Thursday.  This needs to end.

Hugh C. Wood, Atlanta, Georgia

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Revelation 10

New International Version

The Angel and the Little Scroll

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2 He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4 And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”

5 Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay! 7 But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’[a]” 10 I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. 11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”

Footnotes
Revelation 10:9 Ezek. 3:3

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nvVVcYD-0w&

Bible Project
Revelation 1-11

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The Angel with the Little Book
Verse 1
1And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.
Commentary: The description of this angel in particular in interesting because it draws on images from several other places. Firstly, the cloud image quite possibly refers to the dream-like quality of John's revelation. The rainbow part of the description refers back to God's covenant with Noah. By using this symbol, John is emphasizing the fact that the goal of the plagues and judgments is to cause people to repent and come back to God. John's reference to the face like the sun, hearkens back to the way in which John described Jesus at the beginning of the Book of Revelation. The legs life pillars of fire evoke imagery of the pillar of fire that led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness. So far 2 angelic beings are marked as mighty or strong. The first angel identified as mighty appears in Revelation 5:2. There may be some significance or distinguishing mark about "mighty angels" versus John just using the term angel. In Revelation 5, the angel is a revelatory angel that acts as a messenger between God and man, carry critical information to pass on. This also poses the question of whether or not there is some sort of hierarchical system among the angels in Heaven. There has also been some suggestion that the mighty angel is in fact Christ, however there seems to be no good reason why the author would then identify the figure as an angle instead of Christ. The imagery of the angel complete with rainbow, a face like the sun, and legs which were as pillars of fire seems to suggest that this figure is a positive one rather in contrast with the graphic descriptions of other figures in Revelation which bring death.

The rainbow image associated with the avenging angel can be interpreted as an allusion to an older apocalyptic act by a vengeful god -- the rainbow was the symbol of the covenant between god and Noah. Witherington imagines that this then, is a sign of hope of salvation for a godfearing few.

Verses 2-3
2And he had in his hand a little book open, and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, 3and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars, and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
Commentary:

The fact that the angel is on both land and sea shows that this message is for everyone in heaven, on earth, and hell. It also shows that both land and sea are under the authority of this mighty angel. This open book can be contrasted to the scroll mentioned in Revelation 5, as this book is opened and exposed, revealing things to come to John.It speaks of the coming of Christ, the millennium kingdom, the heavens, and the final judgement. It is also interesting that this little book, or scroll, is already opened, as opposed to the previous scrolls that had all been sealed. The idea of the open book suggest that there is no secret hidden inside to reveal. The cry with a loud voice is a term that is mentioned multiple times in the book of Revelation and may be a typical oratorical communication used to convey critical messages by the heavenly beings. The planting of feet on the sea and dry land shows that Jesus has authority over all of the earth. This also shows that he inherets the earth as being Messiah.

Verse 4
4And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write, and I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.”
Commentary:

The Lord showed John a glimpse of what the end of time would bring. As John is getting ready to write about this, the Lord tells him to not write a thing. Many have said that John was shown a vision that no one else was as a means to comfort John during troubled times. Therefore, showing him a glimpse of what will happen on Judgement day gave John some relief.

This passage is especially interesting since John is instructed to not write something down, which seems counter to the rest of the book. This shows that his purpose was not, in fact, to write down everything, but only to write down what he was directed to. This makes his purpose, and the purpose of the book, much more specific. It is not meant to be all encompassing, but instead it only conveys very specific information. In other words, the book is intended to be incomplete, instead of a full record of what will come. It is not for John, or his audience to know everything.

As a syntactical point, this is first instance in the text in which the author indicates that he is recording all of these things. The voice is an example that John is to only record what he is instructed, and not what he is experiencing. Within the frame of the narrative John displays, it is now shown that these events transpire, and John records them journalistically. It is still uncertain if these images are poetic, prophetic, allusions to the past or present, or any of the other varieties of interpretations.

Verses 5-7
5And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven 6and swore by him that lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, and the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be time no longer, 7but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he will begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he has declared to his servants the prophets.
Commentary: In this translation, the mighty angel proclaims, "there should be time no longer." As many commentaries suggest, this phrase with the Greek word "chronos" (generally translated as "time") should not be interpreted literally. In other words, time will continue to exist; it will not fold or dissolve into eternity. Instead, this proclamation can be understood as an answer to the question posed by saints under the altar in Revelation 6:10. They essentially ask, "How much longer until God's judgment is carried out?" Here we see the mighty angel responding to that cry. Other translations suggest that the angel announces, "There will be no more delay." This seems to indicate that the sounding of the seventh trumpet is imminent. The mystery of God refers to all that has previously been revealed and is leading up to the end. Some believe that he is referring to "mystery of God" because man is uncertain and unable to tell what God will do next.

The confusion that may have occurred at the beginning of the chapter about who the "strong angel" is has now been cleared up. Although there are parallels that can be drawn between the "strong angel" and Jesus Christ, this passage clears that blurry line up. The angel being Jesus is really limited when John states "and the angel;" while it is indeed a unique angel, it is most certainly not Jesus Christ.

John Eats the Little Book
Verses 8-10
8And the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again, and said, “Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which stands upon the sea and upon the earth.” 9And I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.” And he said to me, “Take it and eat it, and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be sweet as honey in your mouth.” 10And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but as soon as I had eaten it, my stomach was bitter.
Commentary: The "little book" or little scroll, is mentioned earlier in the chapter. There are many interpretations of the angel's stance. The angel's dominion may be over land and the sea, this expression could be used to show that the message is applicable to everyone, or the angel may truly be a mighty or large angel. The phrase "Take it and eat it" is a parallel to the verses found in Ezekiel 2 & 3 (vv 8-3:3) in which a man is also given a scroll and is instructed to eat it, the taste of which he describes as sweet as honey. The reasoning behind eating the book and the significance of the bitter feeling, but sweet taste is widely debated and merely speculatively interpreted. Some believe the bitter coupled with sweetness demonstrates the grievous feelings that John would experience with the revelation of the impending destruction and state of the world intermingled with sweet or future hopeful events for the righteous. Ezekiel was instructed, almost 700 years earlier, to eat the scroll and deliver the message to the people of Israel, so John is most likely intended to deliver the message also. He was most likely intended to deliver the second half of the tribulation because chapter ten takes place just before the second half.

C. Koestler has speculated that this little scroll is an overture to the bloody denouement of Revelation, serving as John's further prophesies. John here sheds his role of observer and becomes an actor. That the scroll is initially sweet and ultimately bitter suggests a final hopelessness and discomfort that is contradicted elsewhere in the book. This image seems to undermine the central concern of Revelation -- that though god's judgement is violent and fearful, it is a required step toward salvation.

The idea of eating scrolls or other sacred scripture is found elsewhere in the Bible. In the ancient Hebrew context there was not a separation between the physical and the spiritual like we have in modern times. For example, the same word for heart was used to describe their ancient conception of the abstract concept of the mind and at the same time for what we know now to be a cardiac muscle. So when the writer says to "eat" the scripture he is more or less saying to read it, memorize it, and to absorb it. In general, the symbolism is meant to give the reader an idea of how important what is written on the scrolls is.

Verse 11
11And he said to me, “You must prophesy again before many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”
Commentary: This is a contrasting statement to John being told earlier that he should not write something down. It also exemplifies that John is not seeing these visions to record everything he senses, but more-so to write down what God has specifically told him in order to get a certain point across. This also adds to the idea that this work is incomplete and not an exact chronology of what the apocalypse is supposed to entail.

The term "must" is the closest translation to the Greek verb for divine necessity. John has no other choice because this is God’s implicit will. John is called to be a prophet by God, he is expected to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the message of God. The term before is from the Greek word epi, meaning against.

The next 10 chapters is focused on the wrath of God and the fulfillment of His promise, bringing justice, and God’s judgment of his people.

The Last part of this verse “many peoples and nations and tongues and kings” defines the audience of Johns prophecy, it is a list of four ethnic groups, it is the third time of seven times that it is mentioned in the book of Revelation. (Fun fact: never in these 7 times is the order of the nations, tongues, kings, and peoples in the same order. Perhaps this shows that John focused on universality, or is just a fluke)

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Here are Old Testament Citations Relevant to Revelation 10

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Here is Daniel 12

Daniel 12 New International Version (NIV)
The End Times
12 “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise[a] will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”

5 Then I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two others, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. 6 One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?”

7 The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time.[b] When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”

8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?”

9 He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.

11 “From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. 12 Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.

13 “As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.”

Footnotes:
Daniel 12:3 Or who impart wisdom
Daniel 12:7 Or a year, two years and half a year

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Here is Ezekiel 2 and 3

Ezekiel’s Call to Be a Prophet
2 He said to me, “Son of man,[a] stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” 2 As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

3 He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. 4 The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ 5 And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. 7 You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. 8 But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”

9 Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, 10 which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.

Footnotes
Ezekiel 2:1 The Hebrew phrase ben adam means human being. The phrase son of man is retained as a form of address here and throughout Ezekiel because of its possible association with “Son of Man” in the New Testament.

Ezekiel 3
New International Version
3 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

3 Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

4 He then said to me: “Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them. 5 You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language, but to the people of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. 7 But the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate. 8 But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. 9 I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.”

10 And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. 11 Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ whether they listen or fail to listen.”

12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the Lord rose from the place where it was standing.[a] 13 It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound. 14 The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord on me. 15 I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days—deeply distressed.

Ezekiel’s Task as Watchman
16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18 When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for[b] their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 19 But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.

20 “Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 21 But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

22 The hand of the Lord was on me there, and he said to me, “Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown.

24 Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25 And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people. 27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.

Footnotes
Ezekiel 3:12 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text sound—may the glory of the Lord be praised from his place
Ezekiel 3:18 Or in; also in verses 19 and 20

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Hugh C. Wood, Atlanta, Georgia

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

(c) Ben Witherington III, Revelation, Cambridge University Press: New York, 2003.

Witherington, Ben. Revelation. Cambridge Univeristy Press, 2003.

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Biblical_Studies/New_Testament_Commentaries/Revelation/Chapter_10

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END

Teaching Notes Book of Revelation - Chapter 9

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Teaching Notes Book of Revelation - Chapter 9

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Quarantine Day 62.  Thursday.  This needs to end.

Hugh C. Wood, Atlanta, Georgia

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Revelation 9

New International Version

9 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. 2 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. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 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. 5 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. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

12 The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.

13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.

17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nvVVcYD-0w&

Bible Project
Revelation 1-11

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The Fifth Trumpet
Verse 1
14And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven to the earth, and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Commentary: It is commonly accepted that the star falling from this trumpet is actually some sort of being, because of the fact that it is given a key to open the abyss. Many believe that the star could actually be seen as Satan. Part of the reason for viewing the fallen star as Satan can be found in the foreshadowing from Isaiah Chapter 14 verse 12, "How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations." Ezekiel 28 is also thought to contain a similar reference. It may also be relevant to note that in Revelation chapter 11 Satan is depicted as being thrown down to earth from heaven. The word for abyss would have brought to mind to the readers the original chaotic pre-creation waters in the beginning of Genesis. It was here also that Leviathan, the great sea monster, was thought to live. Although some might argue that the star being that opens this “Pandora’s Box” of torment is evil, John clearly tells us that it receives the key from Heaven. Again, God is in control of the divine judgment. This is not an evenly matched battle between Satan and God, but rather an attempt by God to dramatically call people to repent before the final judgment. [1]

Verse 2
2And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke rose out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.
Commentary: The bottomless pit is believed to be an abyss. The abyss is the place of residence of Satan and following demons, which are expected to deceive and destroy. The abyss is originally thought to be the flood that once covered the earth and that God confined. It is supposedly the place were evil creatures are kept, such as the sea monster Leviathan. This is a relevant theory considering what is to come out of the smoke, referring to the locusts in verse 3. It is also easy to think of the abyss as a place for the evil creatures and a great furnace for its' closeness to Hell and most peoples images of the underworld. The smoke from the furnace will not only cover and hide the sun's light but in a spiritual sense will hide the Light of God.

The concept of an abyss wherein beasts and monsters and fallen angels are trapped is not unique to Revelation; it can be found in Isiah, Enoch, and Jubilee.

Verses 3-6
3And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth, and to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power, 4and they were commanded to not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only those who have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 5And 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 strikes a man. 6And in those days people will seek death, but will not find it, and they will desire to die, but death will flee from them.
Commentary: These locusts have been interpreted in different ways. Some say that they are demons, others that they symbolize a huge army.The enemies of the Church of Christ are often noted to be locusts. This is because they come in large numbers and because they have the capability to be very destructive. Regardless, they only have authority to hurt those "who have not the seal of God in their foreheads.” In 14:1, the 144,000 are described as having God's name "written on their foreheads," and 22:4 says that God’s servants "shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads." These are among several figures of speech used in Revelation which appear to refer to the same thing: having the "seal of God" on their foreheads; having the "Father's name" on their foreheads; having access to the "hidden manna"; etc. For more on this fascinating topic, see the commentary on 3:12 [1].

Verses 7-8
7And the shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for battle, and on their heads were crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
Commentary: A theory exists that the images that John describes as locusts are actually military helicopters. Because of the time of authorship, John would not have had the vocabulary to adequately denote what he was seeing, the theory suggests. However, this theory should certainly be taken with a grain of salt. While it is true that that John would not have possessed the language to describe helicopters, there is otherwise extremely little to suggest that these could be helicopters. For example, this description uses anthropomorphic language, which indicates that these locusts resemble humans in some way. If it is a helicopter, then what are the crowns, faces, hair, and teeth? Perhaps, the teeth of lions shows the sharpness and ability to shred and break things into pieces, exhibiting the great power behind the "locusts."Furthermore, the book of Revelation is packed full of bizarre imagery which leaves countless readers perplexed. It may be the natural tendency to thrust meaning upon the more obscure passages, but these claims should be examined carefully.

Verses 9-10
9And they had breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots and horses running to battle. 10And they had tails like scorpions and there were stings in their tails, and their power was to hurt mankind five months.
Commentary: The breastplates of iron is referring to the animal like characteristics like horses equipped for battle, mentioned in verse 7. The sound of these locusts is to show the tremendous number and power they hold. The very purpose of these creature is to bother, harass, and terrorize mankind. The tails of these insects is also to show the power, authority, and terror that these creatures are have over man. This passage is similar to the plague of locusts in Egypt in Exodus 10:1-18. This verse also can remind the reader of the full armor of God in Paul's letter to Ephesus in Ephesians 6:13-14.

Verse 11
11And they had a king over them who is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue is Apollyon.
Commentary: This verse figures a very interesting character, who is portrayed in several different ways. First and foremost, he is a celestrial figure who is given charge of the locusts who plague humanity. While this may appear to make Abaddon/Apollyon a malevolent figure, it is important to remember that God has given Abaddon this appointment as part of the judgments intended to cause humanity to repent. The name Abaddon is Hebrew for destroyer or an idea likened to the Greco-Roman idea of Hades, and Apollyon has ssimiliar connotations, but, according to Witherington, also can be connected with the Greek God, Apollo, whose symbol was the locust, and after whom Emperor Domitian styled himself as.

In extra-canonical texts, Abaddon has been identified as the angel of death, but there are still other who argue that Abaddon is Satan or the anti-Christ.

Verse 12
12One woe is past. Behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
Commentary: This verse is simply saying that the fifth trumpet has sounded and sent devastation to the disbelievers on earth. There will be two more to come to come from the sixth and seventh trumpet blasts. This is also an indication that chronology and sequence is important to correctly understand the book of Revelation.

The Sixth Trumpet
Verses 13-14
13And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice, from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, “Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.”
Commentary: The Euphrates River begins in eastern Turkey, then flows through Syria and Iraq to the Persian Gulf. The location of the Garden of Eden was said to be at the junction of the Euphrates with the Tigris, just north of the Persian Gulf. The voice is coming from the trumpets. These trumpets are in praise of God, from the altar of God. God responds to the sixth angel, who has the trumpet. There is a difficulty in this verse, however, because we can't be sure who the four angels are. There were the angels mentioned in verse 7:1, but these are bound, indicating a different set of angels.

Witherington supposes an importance for the location of the Euphrates as a dividing line of civilization. Wicked hordes lived beyond the river -- the oppressing Babylonians and Assyrians, in Jewish histories; and the Parthian hordes in the contemporary Roman era.

Verse 15
15And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year to slay a third of mankind.
Commentary: It is suggestive that the time frame is symbolic to mean that these four angels were in a constant preparative state and could inflict pain, pestilence, and kill those in which they were assigned to slay. Some scholars, however, believe that the time specificity are divisions representative of prophetical periods. Some believe that this means that one third of mankind will be slain. These four angels are "demons of death" that are released to kill mankind. This also clearly indicates the predetermined will of God and that He had a specific purpose in mind for these angels and now their time has come.

Verse 16
16And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred million, and I heard the number of them.
Commentary: It may be that the large number is just to give the reader a picture of the vastness of the approaching multitude of horsemen and that all the soldiers were employed to fight in this battle. The battle refers to the battle of all the countries. It is possible that the attacking horsemen outnumbered the entire Middle Eastern population at the time of writing. Some conspiracy theorists believe that this number today could be seen as the Chinese who claim to have a standing army of 200 million. However, this is just speculation to try and tie the apocalypse to modern times.

Verse 17
17And 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.
Commentary: "Out of their mouths issued fire and brimstone": It is an interesting description, considering that at the time of writing, armies fought with swords and clubs. It is interesting to note the primary color vibrancy of red, blue, and yellow; the first being the color of fire, the second of jacinth, and the third of sulphur. The fire and smoke issued forth from their mouths may be a figurative expression employed to demonstrate the power of destruction, fierceness, and mighty force or it may be a representative statement of the use of gunpowder.

Witherington writes that the feared Parthian horsemen rode horses with brightly colored breastplates, and links this verse with descriptions of Parthians in Horace and Martial.

Verses 18-19
18By these three a third of mankind was killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the brimstone which issued out of their mouths, 19for their power was in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails were like serpents, and had heads, and with them they do harm.
Commentary:

Witherington finds meaning in the image of horses with biting tails in descriptions of mounted Partian archery whereby the riders could shoot arrows facing forward or back.

The fire, smoke, and brimstone appear to be a form of plague, according to John.

Verses 20-21
20And the rest of the people who 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, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk, 21repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornications, nor of their thefts.
Commentary: This verse suggests that the fundamental purpose of these judgments, specifically the trumpets, is to provoke repentance. Even though those without the seal of God are subjected to these horrific woes, they continue in their sinful ways. Most commentaries conclude that humanity actually becomes even more hardened in their wicked ways after these judgments. The Greek word "pharmakon" is translated here as "sorceries." This likely refers to use the of magical spells, charms, and potions in order to achieve some end. This verse has striking similarities to the story of Pharaoh in Exodus. Just like humanity maintains their wicked ways after the trumpets, Pharaoh maintains his hardened heart even after the plagues.

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Hugh C. Wood, Atlanta, Georgia

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

(c) Ben Witherington III, Revelation, Cambridge University Press: New York, 2003.

Witherington, Ben. Revelation. Cambridge Univeristy Press, 2003.

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Biblical_Studies/New_Testament_Commentaries/Revelation/Chapter_9

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