Chapter Nine

Blowing of the seven trumpets - The fall of Imperial Rome: the fifth and sixth trumpets

9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

Now as the fifth angel sounds his trumpet, John sees a star fall from Heaven. We have now mentioned several times that heavenly bodies are often used to represent positions of power and authority. Here we are seeing someone who is very powerful represented by the figure of a star, just like Attila. This person is said to have the “key to the bottomless pit.” This bottomless pit is used to represent Hell, the place of abode for Satan and his angels. The word bottomless is translated from the Greek “abussos,” which Strong’s defines as “depthless, i.e. (specifically) (infernal) ‘abyss’ -:deep, (bottomless) pit.”[1] Symbolically the bottomless pit is the source of anything and everything evil and wicked.

This person that falls from Heaven has the key to the bottomless pit. A key represents authority. The one who possesses the key to a door has control over what lies behind the door. The fact that this person was given the key to the bottomless pit shows that he has the power to unleash upon the world some wholly evil force that lurks behind the door.

Who might this person be? It is very easy to pinpoint the person who has had the most impact on the world since Christ. In fact, it can probably be said that next to Jesus, this person has had the most impact on making the world what it is today since the world began. And not surprisingly, this person lived shortly after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, exactly the period of time we are looking at. This person is going to open the door to the bottomless pit and allow some wholly evil force to escape to the outside where it would have a devastating effect on the world. He is Satan’s latest ally in his efforts to defeat God’s people.

9:2 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.

This person now uses his key to open the door of the bottomless pit. As the door opens, John sees a great amount of smoke coming from the pit. He likens it to the smoke of a great furnace. Anyone who has ever been near a steel mill, a coal burning power plant, or certain other industrial facilities while they were operating, should easily be able to recall the tall smoke stacks that were spewing columns of smoke into the sky. This is a good picture of what John saw. He could not see the source of the smoke, for it was deep within the pit, but he could still see the enormous amounts of smoke billowing upward from its mouth.

John then gives us an idea of the magnitude of the smoke. He said there was so much smoke that the sun and the air were made dark because of it. This brings to mind the very disturbing pictures from Kuwait soon after its liberation from the hands of Sadam Hussein, and the Iraqi army in the first Gulf War. Before leaving, they set many oil wells on fire. The resulting blanket of smoke smothered the entire country. Often, during the middle of the afternoon, it was so dark in the capital, Kuwait City, that it resembled twilight. The streetlights were on, and motorists had to drive with their headlights turned on. It is also reminiscent of the eruption of a volcano where hundreds of tons of ash can be scattered across the skies.

The smoke that John saw rising from the pit was having this kind of devastating effect. It was overspreading the land with its evil. Just as real smoke will block out the sun everywhere it goes, this smoke blocked out spiritual light everywhere it went. This conclusion is very evident since we know that the abode of Satan is the source of the smoke in this case. One of the most well known effects of smoke is its irritation of human eyes. Satan will use this property to his advantage. He will use this smoke to “blind” people in order to deceive them. He will spread darkness, as it were, over all of the territory affected by this evil smoke.

9:3 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.

Now the picture becomes a little clearer. The smoke that John saw blotting out the sun has given rise to something else. It was a great swarm of locusts, which that part of the world is prone to periodically. These locusts have come from the smoke-screen which Satan threw up to deceive the world. Because they were blinded by the smoke, the world was unable to learn that the origin of these locusts was the bottomless pit. We can be certain that these people will not be Christians, but will work against Christianity.

One of the plagues God brought upon Egypt in persuading Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to leave, was a great swarm of locusts. These locusts brought great destruction to the land just as we can imagine the ones we are presently considering will do. “Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast: and they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field...and the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt” (Exodus 10:4-5, 14-15).

Notice how it was stated that they covered the land so thoroughly that it was actually darkened by their presence. Our locusts here in Revelation will cast a spiritual darkness over the land.

“Unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.” All of this descriptive language here, does not of course, refer to actual locusts or scorpions, but is describing some great force that God will bring to bear against the remainder of the Roman Empire. This comparison with locusts refers to the huge size of this force, and the blanketing effect they will have as they overspread the land. The comparison with scorpions refers to their ability to do harm to men. Thus we have a picture here of a very great army which will come through destroying part of what remains of the Roman Empire.

We have seen that at first John saw smoke, but then he was able to see a great horde of locusts emerging from the smoke. In the next few verses we will see John’s perceptions become even clearer. It appears that what he is seeing is continually moving closer and giving him a better view. Consequently, he will be able to give us more elaborate details as time passes. I feel that it is important for us to have in our minds the picture of a great army riding toward John. This will make the symbolism of this chapter much clearer.

9:4 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.

After comparing this great army with locusts, because of their number and the effect they would have, John now shows us a difference in this army and a real swarm of locusts. Whereas locusts will devastate all of the vegetation in their path, this army would not do any harm to the vegetation that it encountered. This is further evidence that he is not speaking of actual locusts here. Their aim is not to consume vegetation, but to consume territory and people.

This description gives us a clue that will help identify this army. Back in chapter eight we saw the Visigoths come through bringing destruction to the Roman Empire, and eventually sacking the city of Rome itself. One characteristic of these people was their lack of respect for vegetation. “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up” (Revelation 8:7). The Visigoths burned and pillaged the land as they went forth conquering. Being from northern Europe, they were accustomed to seeing an abundance of vegetation. It held no special significance to them, so they simply burned a path as they went.

But the force pictured here will have a completely different attitude about vegetation. They will not harm it because they will have respect for it. This indicates that this great army will arise from some part of the world that is very arid, and which lacks the great abundance of vegetation that characterized the Visigoth’s world.

Instead of harming vegetation, the goal of these locusts will be to do harm to men. But those who are sealed (faithful to God) will be spared this fate. These locusts will be very specific in who they harm. The fact that these locusts will go after men, and not vegetation, is still further proof that they are not literal locusts, but warriors in a great army.

The “seal of God in their foreheads” was discussed in depth back in chapter seven. We saw there that seals denote ownership. Correspondingly, the seal of God upon a person denotes His ownership of that person. God “owns” Christians in the sense that they have voluntarily submitted themselves to Him. This is why the seal is said to be in the forehead. The forehead represents the seat of understanding and thinking; in other words the mind. A person could only be “sealed” by God if he chooses to allow it. A person makes a voluntary decision in their mind, or in their forehead, to follow God. Thus the seal of God, the designation that they are His, is in their forehead. And those who have the seal of God will not be harmed by these invaders. In other words these people will practice religious toleration to some degree.

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.

The “hurt” which these locusts will do to the men of the Roman Empire, will not be death, but torment. The Greek word for torment here is “basanizo,” which Thayer defines as “to vex with grievous pains (of body or mind), to torment.”[2] So we can see that these scorpions will cause severe distress on those whom they come in contact with. This indicates that their motive for conquest will not simply be wealth accompanied by wanton destruction, as was the case with those who invaded Rome in the fifth century. They will not slaughter men, except for those killed in battle, but will torment them by separating them from the Empire. This might be similar to how the residents of Texas would feel if Mexico went to war with the United States and was able to take Texas away. Although the Mexicans might treat the population of Texas humanely, they would still be very distressed about the turn of events. This is exactly how the residents of the lands captured by this force will feel, even though most will not be physically harmed.

“Five months” is the period of time that these locusts will have their power to torment men. Or in other words, they will be a thorn in the side of the remains of the Roman Empire for 150 years. As discussed in the introduction, in prophesy a day translates to a literal year. And a prophetic month is exactly thirty days long. Here we have five months, which is equivalent to 150 days. So in actual time these “locusts” will have their power for 150 years.

“The torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man,” refers to the type of suffering that men will be subjected to at the hands of these locusts. They will have the ability to make men suffer the same way someone does when he has been stung by a scorpion. “The sting, which is situated at the end of the tail, has at its base a gland that secretes a poisonous fluid, which is discharged into the wound by two minute orifices at its extremity. In hot climates the sting often occasions much suffering, and sometimes alarming symptoms.”[3] “A scorpion wound is painful, but does not usually cause death.”[4] This harmonizes with the idea that this army will torment, but not kill, those who it encounters.

So for 150 years some part of the remainder of the Roman Empire will be forced to endure a great deal of pain and suffering at the hands of a large and powerful army that God will bring against them. But this pain and suffering will be mostly mental and emotional. They will be very distressed at the way their empire is being dismantled by this powerful enemy.

9:6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

The torment and suffering mentioned in the previous verse will be so severe that men will wish they were dead instead of having to continue to endure the affliction. “And shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them,” does not mean that they will be unable to take their own lives if they desire to do so. But rather it has reference to the locusts propensity to “hurt,” but not kill. Many men will wish their oppressors would kill them so that they would not have to be subjected to their rule. The mental anguish will leave the general population very distressed. Many people will feel as if the world is collapsing, and will feel that life just is not worth living any longer.

This situation is very similar to that encountered in chapter six, where men were so distressed that they “Said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.’” Again these men could have committed suicide had they chosen to, but that is the cowards way out. They wanted very badly to be out of the terrible situation they were in, but they were not about to take their own lives to accomplish this. So here we have a similar situation where men will have a great desire to have the torment removed from them, but will not be able to do anything about it.

9:7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

Now John is able to give us clearer details about this army he is seeing. What once appeared to him to be locusts he now sees as something quite different. These locusts have moved closer and their true shapes are coming into focus for John. He tells us that they were shaped like horses that were equipped for battle. In reality these were horses John was seeing. Horses with riders prepared to ride into battle.

Although John has a much better view now than he had at the beginning, he is still just able to make out the outline of the creatures. This explains the phrase “And their faces were as the faces of men.” When you see a horse and rider at a distance, the majority of what you will see is the horse because it is much larger than the rider. The shape of the horse could be distinguished long before anything could be told about the rider. But as the object moved closer your attention would be drawn to its head. And naturally a man sitting on a horse would be higher than the horses head. So what you would see as the “head” of the creature would be the head of the rider. Thus the objects face would look like the face of a man, because that is what you would actually be seeing.

“Crowns like gold” indicates that they were wearing something, which at a distance, appeared to John to resemble crowns of gold. Obviously, no large group of soldiers would actually go into battle wearing gold crowns on their heads. These were not real gold crowns but something which gave the same general appearance. After all, John never said he actually saw crowns, but that what he saw on their heads was “as it were crowns like gold.”

Therefore we should look for some group of people who traditionally wore head gear during that time in history, which could be mistaken for golden crowns at a distance. We saw in verse four that the men most likely will come from an area of the world where vegetation is scarce. One area which will fit both of these criteria is the Middle East. The inhabitants of that area have a long history of wearing turbans on their heads. If they were wearing turbans of a yellow or orange color, it might appear at a distance that they were wearing crowns of gold on their heads. This area is also in very good proximity to both the eastern and southern thirds of the Roman Empire, which are the possible candidates for this army to afflict.

9:8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

The one thing that distinguishes a woman’s hair from a man’s is its length. So what John was referring to here is the apparent length of these warrior’s hair. But what he was really seeing was the tail of the turbans trailing behind the men as they rode along on the horses. At a distance, the cloth tail of a man’s turban waving in the wind as he rode a horse, would look very similar to a woman’s hair blowing in the wind.

The “teeth of lions,” cannot refer to any physical similarity between the teeth of these men and the teeth of real lions. Rather, John is describing their tendency to devour prey like a lion. They will be extremely ferocious and brave in battle. This great army will come through devouring everyone and everything in their path. But as we have already seen they will not kill, except in battle.

9:9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

The breastplates they were wearing actually were of iron. Armor had been used by warriors in battle since before the time of Christ. It would indeed have been strange if these men did not wear armor. Still referring to them as locusts, John says the sound of their wings was like a great herd of horses. Again, the locusts that John saw were actually mounted warriors. So, in reality, John actually could hear horses running to battle. And he indeed could also hear the sound of the chariots many of the horses were pulling.

9:10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

This is just a repetition of a couple of items from earlier verses. Their tails being like scorpions means they would harm men, but not kill them, as a scorpion’s sting will normally do. And the five months is actually 150 years during which this army will have its power to hurt men.

9:11 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.

The bottomless pit was first encountered earlier in this chapter. It was explained to be a reference to Hell, the dwelling place of Satan. The true king of this great army was the angel of the bottomless pit, which is Satan. To say that Satan was the king of this great army does not mean that he will take a physical form and literally lead them into battle. But rather he is their spiritual head, just as Christ is the king over all Christians. It is from him that they derive the inspiration for their evil beliefs and practices. The king referred to here obviously could not have been a man since they had power for 150 years, which far exceeds the life span of any man. But Satan, who is behind all evil, was there the entire time, motivating this people to perform his evil desires.

At one time Satan was an angel of God in Heaven, but after sinning, was cast out into the earth. It is in the earth that he now dwells and where he continues to fight against all things righteous. Later in Revelation we will be given an even more explicit description of Satan’s fall. “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 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, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:7-9). Since the day man was created Satan has been trying to defeat God’s purposes. He is always behind the evil forces of this world.

The Hebrew “Abaddon” is defined by Strong’s as “a destroying angel.”[5] Thayer defines it this way, “as a proper name it is given to the angel-prince of the infernal regions, the minister of death and author of havoc on earth, and is rendered in Greek by Destroyer.”[6] The Greek “Apollyon” is defined by Strong’s as “a destroyer (i.e. Satan).”[7] So we should now feel secure that this king was indeed Satan. We will find more and more mention of him as we continue through Revelation. He will clearly be shown as the driving force behind all of the evil that we will see.

Now comes the time to identify the people who have been described in this chapter. We know they came from the smoke-screen thrown up by Satan, led by a very prominent man. Eventually John was able to see coming from the smoke a swarm of locusts overspreading the countryside (verse three). Then John tells us they were able to hurt men like scorpions (verse three). Which means that, for the most part, they will not kill, but will only oppress. Then we found that they would have a great respect for vegetation, which would indicate that they originated in an area with scant vegetation (verse four). We also saw that they were to practice some degree of religious toleration, so God’s people would not be harmed (verse four). The period when they would inflict pain on the Roman Empire would be 150 years (verse five). Then John begins to give a clearer description and we found that the locusts were actually warriors on horseback (verse seven). The riders were wearing something on their heads which looked like gold crowns, which we identified as being turbans (verse seven). The tail of their headdresses flowing behind them made them appear as though they had long hair like women, and they had teeth like those of lions which showed their ferocity (verse eight). They were wearing armor, and also had chariots (verse nine). And finally they had a king, who we identified as Satan.

Who would fit such a description? World history tells us that a great force matching this description did indeed make great advances against the remains of the Roman Empire in the seventh and eighth centuries. By this time the Empire no longer went by the name Roman, but was called the Byzantine Empire.

“At the beginning of the seventh century A.D., the Western world was divided between two power blocs, the Byzantine Empire consisted of the eastern and southern portions of what had once been the Roman Empire, for Italy, France, Spain and Britain had been overrun by barbarians and lost. Persia was considerably larger than it is today. It included Iraq, Afghanistan, and a part of what is now West Pakistan. Apart from faraway China, there were no other Great Powers at the beginning of the seventh century which were at all comparable to Byzantium and Persia.

These two great states were bitter rivals and were constantly either at war or engaged in a commercial or diplomatic struggle for supremacy. The state religion of Byzantium was Christianity, that of Persia Zoroastrianism. The frontier between the two great powers ran from the Upper Euphrates to the Caucasus. South of that, they were separated by the natural barrier of the Arabian deserts.

The only Arabs in existence in those days inhabited the Arabian Peninsula. The majority of them were tribesmen, looked down upon as uncivilized by the sophisticated Persians and Byzantines. In Iraq and Syria, however, there were small civilized Arab states, which were satellites of Persia and Byzantium respectively. Then, as now, the trade routes between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean crossed Arabia, and the Arab merchants who handled this trade were wealthy men of the world.

From 602 to 628, Byzantium and Persia were engaged in a long and bitter war. In 628, the King of Persia was assassinated and the country collapsed into revolution. As a result, peace was concluded, Byzantium also being bankrupt.

* * *

The Prophet Muhammad was born in 570 in Mecca, a town which depended for its livelihood on the Oriental trade. In 613, he began to preach. He alleged that the Patriarch Abraham had taught the true faith, which had since been corrupted alike by Jews and Christians. He claimed that his religion, Islam, was a return to the true faith propagated by Abraham. Persecuted by the Meccans, he fled in 622 to Medina, whence he and his fellow converts made war on their fellow-Meccans who had driven them from their homes. Eight years later, in January 630, Muhammad and his Muslims captured Mecca by force of arms. In the course of the ensuing two years, the Prophet became virtually the ruler of the whole of Arabia. All of the Arabs of the Peninsula professed Islam. In June 632, However, Muhammad died and Abu Bekr, his principal lieutenant, took over his position with the title of Khalif or successor.

Before the preaching of Muhammad, the majority of the Arabs had been idol-worshippers, though Judaism and Christianity were spreading among them. Muhammad learned from both religions, more especially perhaps from Judaism. So great, however, was the enthusiasm produced by the Prophet, who had himself stated that to fight against unbelievers was a duty, that the Arabs set out, a year after his death, to wage war simultaneously against Byzantium and Persia.

Both of these ancient military empires had long and warlike traditions and well-equipped professional armies, which had received thorough tactical training and were fully armed and equipped. But Muhammad had promised that any Muslim who fell in battle against infidels would be instantly translated to the everlasting gardens of Paradise. So impatient were the first Muslims to reach the Heaven of their dreams that many deliberately courted death. Readiness to die is the soldier’s most invincible weapon, a fact we need to remember today when we tend to rely on scientific devices rather than on men.

Neither the weapons, the training nor the discipline of the Byzantine and Persian armies were adequate to resist the wild and suicidal attacks of the first Muslims. The Byzantines were ignominiously driven across the Taurus into Asia Minor and in the same year the Persian army was finally destroyed at Nehawand. By the year 652, the invincible Arabs had occupied the whole of Persia as far as the borders of Turkestan and India. In the west they had attacked Tripoli in Africa. More surprising still, emerging from the waterless deserts of Arabia, they had taken to the sea and their fleet had captured Cyprus and raided Sicily.

...the Arab conquests continued. On the east they crossed the Oxus into what is now Russian Turkestan, and farther south they invaded the province of Sind on the Indus. In Africa they advanced as far as what we now call Algeria, founding an advanced military base at Qairawan. But their most ambitious expedition, an attempt to capture Constantinople, the Byzantine capital, was a failure. Meanwhile their fleet had established naval command on the Mediterranean.”[8]

The Arab’s period of conquest was interrupted temporarily by a civil war. At the end of this war there emerged two distinct factions of the Arabs which remain to this day. They are the Sunnis and Shiites. Muhammad himself, was of the group which became known as the Shiites. But after this struggle a Sunni leader emerged victorious.

“As soon as the civil wars were ended, the Arabs resumed their career of world conquest. When Abdul Malik died in 705, the whole of North Africa had been conquered, up to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, the Arabs were again advancing into India and Turkestan. Seventy-three years after the death of the Prophet, the Arab Empire was the greatest Power in the world. Waleed, the son of Abdul Malik, ruled for ten years, during which the Arabs reached the highest pinnacle of their military glory. In the West, they conquered Spain up to the Pyrenees. In the East, they completed the conquest of Turkestan and invaded China. On the Indian front, they occupied most of what is now West Pakistan. Their most ambitious operation was a second attempt to capture Constantinople itself. The attack failed, and, in 717 the siege of that city was abandoned. The Arabs, however, remained the strongest military power in the world. In 724, the Khalif Hisham came to the throne and ruled for nineteen years. During his reign the Arabs invaded France, reaching Tours on the Loire, where, in 732, they were repulsed by the Franks under Charles Martel. Had they been victorious at Tours, they might have gone on to conquer France and Italy.”[9]

In 747 the Arab world was once again racked with internal struggles. By 750 the ruling dynasty had been deposed, and another took its place. Not long after that the Arab Empire began to slowly disintegrate. By 755 Spain had revolted and was lost to the Empire. In 762 the western portion of their African holdings were lost to another insurrection. Finally, in 782 a treaty was signed at Constantinople between the Byzantines and the Arabs. Although this treaty did not permanently end the hostilities between the two sides, it did mark the turning point in their relationship. After this the Byzantine Empire was gradually able to recover some of the territory it had lost to the Arabs. The following passage shows the resurgence of the Byzantine Empire after the treaty was signed in 782.

“During the 800’^s, the empire began to expand again. Byzantine armies drove the Arabs back on several fronts. From 867 to 1025, under the Emperor Basil I and his descendants, the empire achieved another major period of success.”[10]

Although the Arabs were driven back from Europe itself, they nonetheless had a devastating effect on the entire continent.

“The extent of the Arab dominions from Spain to Turkestan cut off Europe from trade with Asia. Charlemagne, the contemporary of Haroon, was reduced to a silver currency because in the West gold was unobtainable. Arab fleets enjoyed naval command of the Mediterranean and Western Europe was reduced to a purely agricultural economy without foreign trade. The Dark Ages of Europe had come.”[11]

Now we must sift through the history and compare it with the predictions to insure a perfect match. In their early days the Arabs did indeed overspread the land as locusts, at one point controlling most of the southern and eastern portions of the old Roman Empire. They were led initially by someone who can very appropriately be called a star that fell from Heaven and to whom was give the key to the bottomless pit. It’s as if Satan gave Mohammed the key to his abode, the bottomless pit, as said “make yourself at home.” Only someone with their head buried in the sand would not recognize the tremendous impact Mohammed’s religion, Islam, has had and continues to have on the world.

The army was supposed to hurt men like scorpions, which means to do them harm without killing them. We must be realistic here, the lands the Arabs conquered did not surrender. They fought bravely and tens of thousands of men died defending their lands. But this is to be expected with any invasion. This was not the item John meant to focus our attention upon. The question is, what did they do once they had won the battle?

During the fifth century, the conquests which toppled the western third of the Roman Empire, were marked by the invaders following a policy of death and wanton destruction. Often whole cities were leveled, and the entire populations annihilated. This was an age of truly barbaric conquests. It was a time of little mercy and compassion. A good part of the reason for these conquests was the shear pleasure the warriors derived from such wanton destruction. The question now is, did the Arabs follow the same pattern?

“The caliphs did not conquer new lands solely to gain new converts, but many conquered peoples embraced Islam. Unlike the Byzantine Christians, the Muslim conquerors granted a large measure of religious tolerance. All non-Muslims had to pay a special tax in return for not serving in the Muslim army. But many worked as officers and tax collectors in the civil administration and as doctors and tutors in the court. At first, only a few were converted to Islam. Gradually the Muslims produced their own administrative and professional classes. Beginning about 750, conversion to Islam increased until Islam became the predominant religion in most of the conquered lands.”[12]

To the Arabs, the fight was more than a struggle for wealth, land, and power; it was also a religious matter. They were engaged in, what is even still called today, a jihad, or holy war. They believe in using brute force to subjugate others, and then influence them to adopt the Islamic religion. So one of the main purposes they had in enlarging their territory, was to spread their religion. When they captured an area they did not attempt annihilation but rather conversion. While this might not have been the worst fate for the individuals involved, the conquests themselves were certainly very troubling to the Empire. No one enjoys having their land invaded and conquered by someone else, especially when that someone else is a serious threat to topple your entire empire. Thus we can understand the distressed condition of the people mentioned in verse six. The Arabs brought great hurt to the Byzantine Empire, almost toppling it completely, but they did not come killing like armies of the past. Therefore the analogy of the scorpion’s sting was quite accurate. John also said they were not supposed to harm those who were sealed of God. As we just saw in the above reference, they practiced religious toleration, so Christians had little problem with their conquerors. Many people converted to Islam but this was mainly a matter of convenience. It would be much easier to be a Muslim if you lived in a Muslim country. Those who chose to thus compromise their principles and beliefs were never dedicated to God in the first place. Those who were true servants of God would not have been swayed by Satan’s lies.

The statement that they would not harm any vegetation (verse 4), is certainly consistent with the respect that those from such a desolate place as the Arabian Peninsula would have for plant life. The great Arab Khalif Abu Bekr, principal lieutenant of the Prophet Mohammed, said as he sent his troops into battle in Syria:

“But let not your victory be stained with the blood of women or children. Destroy no palm-trees, nor burn any fields of corn. Cut down no fruit trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat.”[13]

Although renowned for their ferocity in battle, the Arabs were otherwise unusually civilized as conquerors go.

There was one thing, however, that greatly enraged the Muslims and drove them to more destructive behavior. This was idolatry. Idolatry was one of the major reasons the Muslims so despised the Byzantine Empire. Like the Romans, the Byzantines worshipped idols. Images and paintings of Jesus, the Apostles, and other saints adorned all the cathedrals and churches, and part of their religion was to worship these images. During the height of the Arab threat to Byzantium, some of the emperors tried to ease the tensions by banning the worship of images.

“In the 700’^s and early 800’^s Byzantine emperors tried to end the worship of images of Jesus Christ and the saints. Churches in the western part of the empire opposed this action. The dispute nearly split the empire.”[14]

The worship of idols continued to be a center of controversy in the Churches of the East. And it is very interesting to note that the worship of images was legalized again in 787. This was only five years after a treaty was signed with the Arabs. There can be no doubt but that the entire reason the images were banned in the first place, was to try to appease the Arabs.

“In the days of the early Christian Church, people who opposed the worship of images were called iconoclasts. A long dispute had divided the church, especially in the East, about images of Jesus Christ and the saints in churches. Emperor Leo in 726 issued an order that all images and paintings in churches should be covered or destroyed. People destroyed many images, and the emperor’s order divided the church into opposite groups. The iconoclasts favored removing the images, but many of the monks and people strongly opposed them.

After the second Nicene Council met in 787, the Empress Irene of the Byzantine Empire permitted images to be worshipped, as long as the worship had a different quality from that owed to God. Finally in 843 the Eastern Church reached a settlement which permitted pictures but not complete statues or images. In the Roman Catholic Church, images are venerated as symbols.”[15]

“Theodemir and his subjects were treated with uncommon lenity; but the rate of tribute appears to have fluctuated from a tenth to a fifth, according to the submission or obstinacy of the Christians. In this revolution, many partial calamities were inflicted by the carnal or religious passions of the enthusiasts: some churches were profaned by the new worship: some relics or images were confounded with idols: the rebels were put to the sword; and one town (an obscure place between Cordova and Seville) was razed to its foundations. Yet if we compare the invasion of Spain by the Goths, or its recovery by the kings of Castile and Arragon, we must applaud the moderation and discipline of the Arabian conquerors.”[16]

If the Arabs fit the prophesy then we must find that they enjoyed power for a period of 150 years. After Muhammad died in 632, the first caliph led the Arabs to conquests outside the Arabian Peninsula. This marked the beginning of their period of conquests against the Byzantine Empire. They continued to make inroads into Byzantium for decades, but finally a treaty signed in 782 at Constantinople was the turning point.

“By the time the Abbasids came to power the vigor of the Arab conquest had spent itself and the Arab warriors had either gone back to the desert or had been assimilated. The Abbasids added very little to the territory they had inherited. Except for the bodyguard which remained in Baghdad, they did not even maintain a standing army. Consequently, most of their foreign relations depended upon the sending of emissaries and in giving and receiving gifts.

An exception to this general situation, however, was their relation with Byzantium. The riches of Constantinople were still inviting and the conquest of Asia Minor had become a challenge. Emperor Constantine V (741-775), taking advantage of the civil war between the Abbasids and the Umayyads, had pushed back the Arab invaders all along the southern borders of Asia Minor. In 782, Mahdi sent an expedition under the command of his son, Harun, which advanced to the Bosporus. Queen Irene sued for and concluded peace with the payment of tribute. The Byzantine Empire was weak enough to excite the expansionist tendencies of the Arabs, both Umayyad and Abbasid, but strong enough to withstand their attacks. Consequently, the Arabs were happy to receive money and make peace which in turn gave the Byzantines a breathing spell.”[17]

This treaty did not permanently end the hostilities between the two sides, but it did mark the time when the respective fortunes of each side changed. The Arabs began to lose territory and power back to the Byzantines after this time. And as we would hope, it was exactly 150 years from the beginning of their conquests of Byzantine lands, until this peace treaty was signed.

The remainder of the description is somewhat more general in nature, and just gives us a description of a great army wearing armor, riding horses, wearing turbans on their heads, and using chariots. This certainly applied to the Muslim armies which subdued most of the Byzantine Empire.

The statement in verse eight about their teeth being as the teeth of lions has much more significance now. It was mentioned that this symbolized bravery and ferocity in battle. One of the references above spoke of “the wild and suicidal attacks of the first Muslims.” The way in which the Muslims fought, and were so willing to die for their cause, was unknown before this point in history. They were truly like savage lions on the hunt.

Was the king of the Arabs Satan, as the prophesy stated? The Islamic religion not only denied Christ as the Messiah, but even denied Israel as having been God’s chosen people. They totally corrupted the worship of God and then attempted to spread this doctrine throughout the entire world. Who else would be behind such a campaign, but Satan? A work this evil could have no other overseer. When Satan saw that the two great powers in that part of the world, Persia and Byzantium, had so weakened each other through constant warfare and economic struggles, he seized the opportunity to send forth his evil hordes from the bottomless pit and turn them loose upon the world. And according to most historians he almost succeeded. Had the Arabs been victorious at Tours in 732, it is believed that Islam might well dominate Europe today, instead of Christianity.

The sum of all these events is that the southern third of the original Roman Empire has now fallen. The areas involved were Northern Africa and Palestine. Islam is still the dominant religion in these areas to this day. All that is now left of the Roman Empire is the eastern third. It is still referred to as the Byzantine Empire, and is primarily the Aegean and Turkish Peninsulas and surrounding areas.”

9:12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

The first woe trumpet, also the fifth trumpet overall, has sounded. It has revealed the end of the southern third of the Roman Empire. There are two more woe trumpets that remain to be blown. We should suspect that we will now see the fall of the last third of the Roman Empire.

9:13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

When the sixth trumpet is blown John does not see any event on the earth which might affect Rome, but rather John hears a voice in Heaven. The voice is coming from the vicinity of the altar which is in front of God’s throne. This voice is not the angel which has just sounded the trumpet, but someone else speaking to that angel, as will be seen in the next verse.

We have seen the altar previously in chapters six and eight. Assuming this altar was of the same pattern as the one used by the Jews in the Temple, the horns were located at the corners, and were used to bind the victim to, before it was sacrificed.

9:14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

The angel which had just blown the sixth trumpet, is now told to “Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.” We need to interpret this is the light of what we have already learned, and where we know we are at in history. The four angels symbolize a force which will come against Byzantium and overcome it. Just because this force is represented by angels does not mean that it is good, because all angels are not good. “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment” (II Peter 2:4). We will find that this force will be just as evil as all the others we have seen. Satan continues to be behind these events. He is trying to overrun the Christian world with godless hordes he has duped into following him.

The Muslims had tried twice to take Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, but were unsuccessful on both occasions. Whoever is spoken of here will not fail. They will conquer Constantinople and the entire Byzantine Empire. “Bound in the great river Euphrates, simply tells us the part of the world the people will come from who are to drive the final nail in the coffin of the Roman Empire.

If we examine history we find that Constantinople stood until 1453 when it was finally captured by the Turks. They had previously taken the rest of the Byzantine Empire, and this was the final blow. Now we need to examine the following verses and see if it fits with the history of the Turks.

9:15 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.

The four angels which represent, in some way, the forces that will destroy Byzantium will have power for “An hour, and a day, and a month, and a year.” In actual time that will be a month, and a year, and thirty years, and a “year” of years respectively. The question we first need to answer is whether year is meant to be general or specific here. It appears to be quite clear in this instance that it is meant to be specific. We know this because months, days, and even hours are specified. Obviously this time period is meant to be very exact. Thus we will use the value of 365¼ days per year. So we need to add one month, one year, thirty years and 365¼ years (¼ of a year is three months). This will then give us a total of 396 years and four months. This time frame is much more exact than the one describing the Arabs earlier in this chapter. With a prediction so specific it should be diffic