Revelation 9:5

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. THEY ... THEY. The first "they" is the locusts; the second, the unsealed. FIVE MONTHS - the ordinary time during which locusts continue their ravages (Elliott); 150 prophetic days, i.e., years, from 612 AD, when Mohammed opened his mission, to 762 AD, when the Caliphate was moved to Bagdad. THEIR TORMENT - the torment of the sufferers. This and cannot refer to an invading army; for it would kill, not merely torment....

1-12 Upon sounding the fifth trumpet, a star fell from heaven to the earth. Having ceased to be a minister of Christ, he who is represented by this star becomes the minister of the devil; and lets loose the powers of hell against the churches of Christ. On the opening of the bottomless pit, there arose a great smoke. The devil carries on his designs by blinding the eyes of men, by putting out light and knowledge, and promoting ignorance and error. Out of this smoke there came a swarm of locusts, emblems of the devil's agents, who promote superstition, idolatry, error, and cruelty. The trees and the grass, the true believers, whether young or more advanced, should be untouched. But a secret poison and infection in the soul, should rob many others of purity, and afterwards of peace. The locusts had no power to hurt those who had the seal of God. God's all-powerful, distinguishing grace wi...

Verse Revelation 9:5. _TO THEM IT WAS GIVEN_] That is, they were _permitted_. _THAT THEY SHOULD BE TORMENTED FIVE MONTHS_] Some take these months _literally_, and apply them to the conduct of the Zealots who, from _May_ to _September_, in the year of the siege, produced dreadful contests among the people; or to the afflictions brought upon the Jews by _Cestius Gallus_, when he came against Jerusalem, before which he lay one whole summer, or nearly five months.-See _Joseph_., Bell. Jud., l. ii. c. 19. Others consider the _months_ as being _prophetical_ months, each _day_ being reckoned for a _year_; therefore this period must amount to one hundred and fifty years, counting thirty days to each month, as was the general custom of the Asiatics. _THEIR TORMENT_ w

AND TO THEM IT WAS GIVEN - There is here the same indefiniteness as in the former verse, the impersonal verb being here also used. The writer does not say by whom this power was given, whether by God, or by the leader of the host. It may be admitted, however, that the most natural interpretation is to suppose that it was given them by God, and that this was the execution of his purpose in this case. Still it is remarkable that this is not directly affirmed, and that the language is so general as to admit of the other application. The fact that they did not kill them, but tormented them - if such a fact should be found to exist - would be in every sense a fulfillment of what is here said. THAT THEY SHOULD NOT KILL THEM - This is in accordance with the nature of the symbol. The locusts do not themselves destroy any living creature; and the sting of the scorpion, though exceedingly painful,...

EXPOSITION REVELATION 9:1 AND THE FIFTH ANGEL SOUNDED, AND I SAW A STAR FALL FROM HEAVEN UNTO THE EARTH; _a star from heaven fallen unto the earth _(Revised Version); not _saw a star fall. _(For the distinctive character of the last three judgments, see on Revelation 8:2.) "A star" sometimes signifies one high in position. Thus Numbers 24:17, "There shall come a star out of Jacob;" Daniel 8:10, "And it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground." In Revelation 1:20

AND TO THEM IT WAS GIVEN THAT THEY SHOULD NOT KILL THEM,.... As the power of the locusts was limited with respect to the persons they should hurt, so with regard also to the mischief they should do; for even those whom they were suffered to annoy they might not kill, that is, utterly root out and destroy, so as that they were no more: and thus, though the Saracens killed great numbers in the eastern empire, by their frequent incursions and ravages, and made large conquests, yet they could never destroy the empire itself, or bring it in subjection to them; nor did they ever take Constantinople, the metropolis and seat of the empire, though they often besieged it. And as for the western locusts, the months, friars, c. though they kill the souls, yet not the bodies of men that are under their power and influence: BUT THAT THEY SHOULD BE TORMENTED FIVE MONTHS that is, not that the locusts s...

CHAPTER 9 Revelation 9:1 . The remaining three trumpets have a “woe” attached to each. This is announced in the last verse of the preceding chapter, where the word angel should be “eagle.” An eagle, the bird of prey, proclaims the threefold woe. He acts thus as a herald of great judgments (Matthew 24:28, Revelation 19:17). The fifth trumpet is a special judgment upon apostate Israel: because those who suffer are they “which have not the seal of God on their foreheads” (Revelation 9:4). The great tribulation in the second half of the week, comes now into prominence. If we turn to...

THE FIFTH TRUMPET OR THE FIRST WOE. The seer sees a star fallen on the earth. The star seems to represent a person, possibly Satan (_cf._ Luke 10:18). ABYSS: the word properly means bottomless, and is used in OT of the abode of the dead, _e.g._ Psalms 71:20. The abyss is approached by a shaft or well, here translated pit, which is closed and kept under lock and key. Revelation 9:3. out of the smoke came. locusts: _cf._ Exodus 10:13 and Driver's quotation of the observations of a modern traveller: we observed large dark clouds resembling smoke moving to and fro. One morning these clouds came down and proved

THE FIFTH TRUMPET. We are now prepared to listen to the trumpet of the fifth angel, and to behold the symbolism described by the prophet.. quote: And the fifth angel sounded, and. saw. star fall from heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose. smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of. great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 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. 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. 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 UNLOCKING OF THE ABYSS (Revelation 9:1-2) _ 9:1,2 The fifth angel sounded a blast on his trumpet, and I saw a star failing from heaven on the earth, and to him there was given the key of the shaft of the bottomless abyss; and he opened the shaft of the abyss; and smoke went up from the shaft like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the abyss._ The picture of terror mounts in its awful intensity. Now the terrors coming upon the earth are beyond nature; they are demonic; the abyss is being opened and superhuman terrors are being despatched upon the world. The picture will become clearer if we remember that John thinks of the stars as living beings. This is common in Enoch where, for instance, we read of wandering and disobedient stars being bound hand and foot and cast into the abyss (Enoch 86:1; 88:1).