The first four trumpets of Revelation 8 were judgments against the earth that included: vegetation; sea; fresh water; and heavenly bodies.
The last three trumpets are called the Woe judgments and are against mankind.
Similes Like and As A simile is a figure of speech that says that one thing is like another different thing. We can use similes to make descriptions more emphatic or vivid. We often use the words as and like with similes. In this chapter, there are more occurrences of the words as and like than in any other chapter in the Bible. This shows how difficult it was for John to describe the scene which he saw in the vision. Likewise, it has been very difficult for Bible scholars to agree on the interpretation of what John saw. He has a temper like a volcano. She is fat as a pig.
1a And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth:
The star fallen from heaven is an individual. There are many different opinions concerning the identify of this individual. Some believe this star is Jesus; others believe it to be Satan; and still others believe this to be another angel.
1b and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. He is given the key to the abyss. Jesus has the keys and is the keeper of the keys. Rev. 1 1
The bottomless pit is hell. It is located in the center of the earth that is proven to be a mass of molten rock and liquid fire. Hell is always referred to as down.
The inner core of the earth is solid iron (Fe) and the Core is made up of liquid iron (Fe) and sulphur (S), reaching a temperature of 4300 degrees Celsius, that converts to 7772 degrees Fahrenheit.
Hell (hades) is the prison of the wicked spirits who have died since Adam. Demons are there, the wicked spirits are there; but Satan is walking up and down in the earth - sometimes as a roaring lion, other times as an angel of light.
2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
3 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.
4 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. This is not a literal locust, because locusts consume vegetation.
5a And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: Five months is the normal life cycle of the locust, usually lasting from May to September.
5b and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
7a And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; Until the modern age of technology, horses were the main vehicle of warfare. Often horses were clad with a protective metal called "barding." The head of the armored horse resembles that of a natural locust.
7b and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. This shows they have authority and intelligence.
8a And they had hair as the hair of women, Some believe John is describing long antennae like that of natural locusts, but he could be describing a full head of hair instead.
8b and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. John describes the teeth of the locusts like that of a lion. Both have fangs and both devour. Their bite is infectious and painful. A lion s bite never really heals since there is so much infection and bacteria in the bite.
9a And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron;. The protective breastplate of iron resembling a natural locust, was also like the head covering, and called barding. It showed they were invulnerable to attack
9b and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
Names of Satan (accuser) Devil (slanderer) Abaddon (destruction) Apollyon (destroyer) Belial (wicked) Beelzebub (Lord of the dung heap) Lucifer (light-bearer)
In Exodus 10: 1-20, the Egyptians experienced the locusts of the eighth plague.
In March 2013, once again the Egyptians experienced an invasion of locusts just before Passover.
Modern technologies are still developing. Many believe these iron clad demons are helicopters or drones.
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
Five months after the fifth trumpet blast, the sixth one sounds. This is the Second Woe.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, The voice coming from the horns denotes power over all the universe represented by the number four. Judgment is going to pour forth.
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
These four bound angels are the fallen angels who rebelled and fell with Lucifer at the time of his revolt. (Isaiah 14:12-14), These four wicked angels are set free to wreck havoc upon planet earth, bringing death and destruction.
These angels are commanded to execute their judgment in the area of the Euphrates River where God planted the Garden of Eden.
It was here that God made mankind, creating Adam, and his helpmate, Eve. Michelangelo, The Sistine Chapel God Creating Adam
It was here that the first sin was committed, when Eve was tempted by Satan to eat of the fruit of the tree. (Genesis 2; 10-14)
This is the same area where Cain murdered his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8).
It is here that God made His unconditional covenant with Abraham and established the Euphrates River as the eastern boundary of the Promised Land. (Genesis 15:18)
The ancient city of Babylon sprang to life along the banks of this river. Babylon was the birthplace of false religion, of demon worship and of idolatry. Many of the false religions practiced in our world today can trace their origins all the way to Babylon.
The Euphrates River forms the dividing line between the Middle East and the Far East.
Today, this body of water runs through Iraq and Syria, and will become the point of origin for the battle of the ages in the future. The attention of the world is focused on this area today; and this area will continue to be the focus of the world s attention until Jesus comes in glory.
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
This fearful army of 200 million an army that large could line up in a formation 1 mile wide and 87 miles long!
Communist China has had the ability since 1964 to raise a fighting force of over 200,000,000 men. The number of military men available for service today continues to grow.
it is also possible that this could be a Muslim army that declares Islamic jihad (meaning Holy War) against countries supporting Israel. Today, the Muslim world has the ability to build an army of 200 million.
17 And 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.
John s vision may possibly symbolize another modern day technology, the battle tank;
Tanks move on the ground;
move fast as horses;
Look fierce like the heads of lions;
have solid armor protection like breastplates that are thick and hard as jacinth gemstones; and,
can be driven by a man sitting on top of the tank.
When a tank fires its turret, out comes fire, smoke, and bullets (brimstone), from the barrel.
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
This leaves 3.5 billion people on the earth,1/2 the starting number. WORLD POPULATION 4 th Seal 1/4 killed 6 th Trumpet 1/3 killed 7, 000,000,000 (7 billion) 1,750,000,000 (1.75 billion) 1,750,000,000 (1.75 billion) 7,000,000,000 5,250,000,000 (5,25 billion) 3,500,000,000 (3.5 billion)
19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.
20 And the rest of the men which 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, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Fornication This is translated from the Greek word porneia. It gives us our modern word pornography
These four - murder, magic, sexuality, and stealing - have contributed to degrading the gift of life given by God, making human life today look cheap. God paid the price for our salvation through His blood shed on Calvary.