IX. The resemblance in arrangement of the visions of the trumpets and the visions of the seals has already been noticed; but the warning cry, Woe, woe, woe! has no parallel in the seals. The trumpets which follow are fraught with woo and judgment to the dwellers upon the earth.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE FIFTH ANGEL... — Translate, _And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star out of the heaven fallen_ (not “fall,” as in English version; the seer saw not a falling, but a fallen, star) _upon the earth._ The emblem of a fallen star is used elsewhere in the Bible. Isaiah (Isaiah 14:12) speaks... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE OPENED... — Translate, _And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun was darkened, and the air, by reason of the smoke of the pit._ The first result of the opening of the pit is the diffusion of such a dense smoke tha... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE CAME... — Better, _And out of the smoke there came forth locusts upon the earth; and there was given to them power, as the scorpions of the earth_ (? land-scorpions) _have power._ The outcome of the gloom is the power of devastation and pain. We still have reference to the Egyptian plagues... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT WAS COMMANDED... — Translate, _And it was commanded them that they shall not injure the grass of the earth, nor yet any green thing, nor yet any tree; but only_ (or, _except) the men whosoever have not the seal of God on their foreheads._ The locusts which are sent not to injure the vegetatio... [ Continue Reading ]
AND TO THEM... — Better, _And it was given to them that they should not kill them (i.e.,_ those who had not the seal of God in their foreheads), _but that they should be tortured five months._ The general period of a locust plague is about five months: “as the natural locusts commit their ravages on... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IN THOSE DAYS... — Translate, _And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it; and they shall yearn to die, and death flees from them._ The change of tense from the future (“shall seek — shall yearn”) to the present (“death flees”) gives graphic force to the description. Men will... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE SHAPES... — Translate, _And the shapes (or, forms) of the locusts were like horses made ready for war._ The resemblance of the locust to the horse (especially in the head) has been remarked upon by travellers, and has found expression in the Italian and German names cavalletta and heupferd.... [ Continue Reading ]
(8)AND THEY HAD HAIR... — Translate, _And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions, and they had breastplates as iron breastplates; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of_ (having, _i.e.,_ drawn by) _many horses, running to war._ The hair:... [ Continue Reading ]
(10)AND THEY HAD TAILS... — Better, _And they have tails like to scorpions, and stings, and in their tails is their power to hurt men five months._ In this verse the secret of their power is mentioned: they have tails like scorpions’ tails, and stings which wound and so cause agony to men. On the pe... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY HAD A KING... — Better, _They have over them as king_ (not “_the_ angel,” as in English version) _an angel of the abyss; his name_ (is) _in Hebrew Abaddon, and in the Greek he has a name, Apollyon._ There is more than one point in which the seer wishes us to mark the contrast between these... [ Continue Reading ]
ONE WOE IS PASSED... — Better, _The one woe has passed; behold there cometh_ (the verb is in the (singular) _yet two woes after these things._ Here is the patience and faith of the saints. The troubles which pass only yield place to more, the rest and the victory are not yet; the powers of evil have... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE FOUR ANGELS... — Better, _And there were loosed the four angels who had been made ready unto_ (or _for, i.e.,_ ready for) _the_ (not “an hour,” but _the) hour, and day, and month, and year, that they should slay the third part of mankind._ The English version reads as though the hour, day, m... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE NUMBER... — Translate, _And the number of the armies of the cavalry was two myriads of myriads. I heard the number of them._ The writer heard, perhaps from some herald angel, the number of this vast army of horsemen; it was twice ten-thousand times ten thousand — _i.e.,_ two hundred millions... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THUS I SAW... — Better, _And after this manner saw I the horses in the vision, and those who sat upon them, having breastplates fiery and jacinth-like, and brimstone-like, and the heads of the horses were as heads of lions; and out of their mouths goeth forth fire and smoke and brimstone._ The s... [ Continue Reading ]
BY THESE THREE... — Better, _From these three plagues were the third part of mankind slain, by the tire and the smoke and the brimstone which goeth forth out of their mouths. For the power of the horse is in their mouth, and in their tails, for their tails were like serpents, having heads, and with... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE REST... — Translate, _And the rest of mankind who were not slain in these plagues did not even repent of_ (or, _out of_ — _i.e.,_ so as to forsake) _the works of their hands, that they should not worship the demons_ (evil spirits), _and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of... [ Continue Reading ]