Rev. 9 Rev. 9:1 At the sounding of the fifth angel a star falleth from heaven, to whom is given the key of the bottomless pit, Rev. 9:2–11 he opens the pit, and there come forth locusts like scorpions, who have power to hurt men for a time. Rev. 9:12 The first woe past. Rev.

And the fifth angel sounded; the fifth of the seven angels mentioned Rev. 8:2, to whom were given seven trumpets. It denoteth the beginning of a new period of calamities and miseries to the earth, or to the church.

And he opened the bottomless pit; he was a means of hell’s breaking loose, by loosing Satan. And there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace: I had rather interpret this generally of the great influence upon the world, that the devil, being loosed, had, in filling the world…

And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth; from the influence which the devil thus let loose had upon the world, came forth a generation of men, that in their practices resembled locusts. Who are to be understood by these locusts, is not easy to resolve.

And it was commanded them; that is, these locusts; God so ordered it by his providence. That they should not hurt, &c.: this makes it appear, that these locusts were no insects so called, but typical; for natural locusts live upon green things; they were only to hurt profane men, and hypocrites.

Supposing the Saracens and Turks here meant by the locusts, here arise two difficulties: 1. How it can be said of them, that they had no power to kill, but only torment men. 2.

The calamities of those days shall be so great, that men shall be weary of their lives.

This whole description of these locusts speaks them no insects, but to be mischievous men; they were very terrible to look upon, like horses harnessed ready to fight; so Joel 2:4. And upon their heads were as it were crowns like gold; this signified they should be great and rich conquerors.

And they had hair as the hair of women; dishevelled, or hanging loose; the Arabians were wont to go so; or this may signify, that they were beautiful as well as terrible to look upon. And their teeth were as the teeth of lions; sharp and strong: see Joel 1:6.

And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; armed with the best armour of defence. And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle; like locusts, they moved very swiftly.

And they had tails like unto scorpions; a kind of venomous serpents that have their stings in their tails, with which they presently kill both men and beasts.

Solomon saith, Prov. 30:27, The locusts have no king, yet go they forth by bands; according to which these locusts cannot be understood of insects so called; or, if they have a king, yet it is certain the devil is not their king, who is here called the angel of the bottomless pit.

One period of time is over, in which God hath plagued the world with a very great judgment; but there are two more to come, which will be equally, if not more, calamitous.

That is, from God, I heard him give a command, which voice is said to have proceeded from the golden altar, ( in allusion to Ex. 30:3), because there God received the prayers of his people; and this voice proceeding from that place, might signify the following judgment to come, in answer to the…

By these four angels, or instruments of God to execute his vengeance, I find the most valuable interpreters understanding the Turks, considered as distinct from the Saracens, and succeeding of them, whose empire began in Ottoman, Anno 1296, or thereabouts. Mr.

For an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year; that is, say some, for any time whatsoever God would have them move; or for that certain time which God had determined; but Mr.

He saith nothing of the infantry, but leaves us to conjecture how great that must be, from the number of the horse; we must not think there was precisely this number, but the meaning is, that the armies should be vastly great, as we know all the Turkish armies are.

We have no such description or representation as this in any other place of holy writ. Some understand it of the several coloured breastplates that the soldiers wore; some of a red and flaming colour, like fire; others blue, like the jacinth; some pale: all such as wear them look terribly. Mr.

That is, a great part of men were killed by these numerous armies. No such devastations were ever made by any enemies that ever appeared in the world, as by the Turks have been; nor ever were there such vast great guns made, out of which came fire, and smoke, and brimstone.

By their tails some understand their infantry or foot soldiery; others, their serpentine craft and subtlety: as the locusts, Rev. 9:10, are compared to scorpions, whose sting was in their tails, and who were said to hurt with their tails; so the same thing is said of these armies, intimating that…

And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues; the two-thirds of men that should be left, for we read of one-third part destroyed; and this also must be understood of men dwelling in countries subject formerly to the Roman empire on this side of the Euphrates.

Neither repented they of their murders; of their murdering the saints of God, but go on in that practice; nor of their fornication, which is publicly allowed amongst them; nor of their theft and sacrilege, and other wickedness, but are as infamous for their debaucheries as for their superstition…